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A.D. Ibarra
-Del Rio, TX
Sheriff Tom Schmerber will be representing Maverick County at the Texas Sheriff's Coalition Conference which will be held in Del Rio on April 4th and 5th where South Texas sheriffs will descend on the Queen City to discuss items of interest in terms of the latest in information viable to departments across the state. Schmerber informed The News Gram that sheriffs from as far as Houston may be there to get the latest information on Federal and State grants available to assist county departments as well as to listen to the expertise of guest speakers who will be attending. "It will be a good opportunity to get together with my colleagues on the border," stated our sheriff as he added that the Texas-Mexico Border is always well represented at these meetings. Schmerber also informed us about the upcoming plans for the 2013 Special Olympics which they will be participating in with the MCSD Explorer group as they will be selecting a group from the approximately 300 applications they have received from both high schools to assist them in community events such as this.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Sacred Heart Church culminated its 'The Living Way of the Cross' event on Friday as a congregation of parishioners dramatized the Way of Sorrows, which personifies the fourteen stations which marked the final act of Christ on Earth as a mortal man.
The event began at 2:00 P.M. on the corner of Williams and Travis and wound its way to La Lomita, the area adjacent to the church marked visually by the three crosses which stand proudly on the hill overlooking the garden outside the Priest's quarters on the grounds of Sacred Heart Church.
We recall that the crosses were built back in 2001 and donated by Eagle Pass High School CC Winn Campus and elaborated by the students in Hassen Moses' welding classes to be used especially for this event each year.
The part of Jesus was played by Adrian Hernandez and the part of mary was played by Yajaira Ibañez.
A communion service was held at 3:00 P.M. immediately following the Via Crucis. A second reading of the Via Crucis was held inside the church at 7:00 P.M.
Via Crucis; also called the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, or simply, The Way) is a series of artistic representations, very often sculptural, depicting Christ Carrying the Cross to his crucifixion in the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus before he died, and the devotions using that series to commemorate the Passion, often moving physically around a set of stations. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of Lent, especially on Good Friday and on Friday evenings during Lent.
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death. Station 2: Jesus carries the cross. Station 3: Jesus falls the first time. Station 4: Jesus meets his mother. Station 5: Simon helps Jesus carry the cross. Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. Station 7: Jesus falls the second time. Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. Station 9: Jesus falls the third time. Station 10: Jesus' clothes are taken away. Station 11: Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross. Station 12: Jesus dies on the cross. Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the cross. Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Commissioner of Precinct 2 Daniela Aleman will be attending a workshop this week in order to somehow reduce the incredible amount of discarded tires which has been stockpiling for many years.
Should one go out to the isolated patch of land adjacent to the Maverick County Fairgrounds, you would be shocked as the amount of tires found there.
Commissioner Aleman has a crew of workers from her precinct, Precinct 1 and Precinct 3 working on organizing the massive mountain of rubber which was piling higher and higher every day.
"If we wanted to send them off to be disposed of, it would cost the county approximately $1,500.00 for every 800 tires," stated Aleman, "We have anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 tires out there, do the math. We can save the county $30,000 to $60,000 by processing them ourselves."
Commissioner Aleman informed The News Gram of the need to establish a more efficient system which won't be as expensive.
"First of all, a system must be in place in order for us to get the necessary help to reduce the amount of unwanted tires in our county, stated the commissioner, "We must create a system that will provide the accountability in order to meet TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) requirements."
"If we had the stack the way it was, TCEQ would fine us $10,000.00 a day because it would've been considered an illegal stockpile," as the stockpile was over twenty feet tall at one point before they started separating the tires by category.
What is being considered is a manifest system, a way to calculate how many tires are coming into the area, a document which determines tonnage for record keeping.
City of EP to receive an $833,000 lump sum
City Attorney gives details on proposed lease agreement
With GSA for International Bridge II Admin. Bldg.
A News Gram Exclusive
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
City Attorney Eddie Morales graciously informed The News Gram of the details surrounding the long-awaited lease agreement with GSA (General Services Administration) the federal body governing federal projects which coincide with municipal entities housing government facilities.
Essentially, we got a brief history lesson on how the Camino Real International Bridge began to be built back in the late 1990's, an agreement, which has officials wondering how and why the details actually went down back then, to have the city be responsible for the construction of the facility, for a lease amount of $1 a year for the first ten years which were up on July of 2010, plus details on an agreement which took many months to years to agree on a fair market value for the lease of the property on which the Administration Building sits.
The presidential permit back then which called for the city to build the administration building, the dog kennels and the canopies for the facility for the $1 a year lease agreement, was established in the late 1990's when Eagle Pass jumped from 12th on the bridge building list of the federal government to 2nd or 3rd.
Cut to 2013 as City administration and Morales awaited the resolution of the agreement which we now know will pay the city a lump sum amount of $833,000.00 for the period of July 2010 to May 2013 on or around may 31st of this year.
What was also agreed was the amount of $172,000.00 per year for the lease of the land on which the building sits.
These welcomed revenues are in addition to the funds generated by tolls which run in the millions.
"we're finalizing these documents now with GSA," stated Morales who added, "Once we donate the 40 acres, the deal will be in place and we can finally move forward."
Department of Justice
United States Attorney’s Office
Western District of Texas
In Del Rio, 62-year-old Jose Luis Aguilar of Eagle Pass, TX, faces up to five years in federal prison after
pleading guilty this morning to aiding and abetting bulk cash smuggling announced United States Attorney
Robert Pitman and FBI Special Agent in Charge Armando Fernandez.
Appearing before United States District Judge Alia Moses, Aguilar admitted that on January 4, 2011, he and codefendant,
28-year-old David Gelacio, brought a total of $13,000 in U.S. Currency from Mexico through the
Eagle Pass Port of Entry without declaring it to federal authorities. According to the factual basis filed in the
case, Aguilar was carrying $7,000; Gelacio, $6,000. Aguilar also admitted that the money was the proceeds
from selling a Ford truck owned by former Maverick County Precinct 2 Commissioner and co-defendant
Rodolfo Heredia to individuals associated with the Los Zetas Cartel in Piedras Negras, Mexico. At the behest
of Heredia, Aguilar had sold the truck in Mexico. The factual basis further states that after selling the truck,
Heredia did not want Aguilar to declare the money to law enforcement when he entered the United States. So,
he sent Gelacio to assist Aguilar in transporting the money from Mexico into the United States. Aguilar
admitted that he knew he was assisting Heredia in his efforts to smuggle the funds back into the United States
without having to declare the funds to the appropriate authorities.
Aguilar and Gelacio have remained in custody since their arrest in October 2012. Sentencing for Aguilar has
yet to be scheduled. On January 24, 2013, Gelacio pleaded guilty to the same charge. Gelacio, who faces up to
five years in federal prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 8, 2013. Heredia is currently scheduled for
jury selection on May 21, 2013.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Department
of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Galdo is prosecuting this case on behalf of the
Government.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
The Texas Department of Transportation is presently conducting a clean-up campaign of the major highways in and around Eagle Pass.
A company out of Corpus Christi, Ground Solutions has been here eight times this fiscal year which runs from May to May and take care of sweeping the major thoroughfares in and around Eagle Pass as well as to pick up litter on both sides of the highway.
"Ground Solutions have come for 8 cycles this fiscal year and took care of sweeping downtown Eagle Pass very early this morning," stated Eagle Pass Area Maintenance Supervisor Celestino Henandez, "They have a contract to do the same to Veteran's Blvd, Highway 277 in Seco Mines, Highway 57 from the bridge and around 277 past CC Winn High School as well as El Indio Highway past the entrance to the casino."
The crews have picked up litter six times this fiscal year as well.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Newly appointed Commissioner of Precinct 4, Robert Ruiz, in an exclusive interview with the Eagle Pass News Gram, introduced us to the new Parks and Recreation Director for Precinct 4, Sergio Angulo.
Angulo, a former coach and lifelong enthusiast of local athletics who competes on the national level in track and field, having attended the National Championships in Landover, Maryland just last week, will come on board to coordinate activities and maintain existing facilities within Precinct 4 which includes the Nick Carr Sports Complex.
Commissioner Ruiz, a former Texas and US History teacher himself, gave us a short history lesson of what the complex was before it became a major gathering place for local athletes and families in the Loma Bonita area. He said that it used to be a small pond or lake which was drained around the time that he served as commissioner 20 years ago, a large retaining wall which was adjacent to the pond was torn down and the existing parking lot and street was lain down as you could actually drive on the retaining wall back then as it would be another access to the residential area which has since grown.
The new facility now houses a softball field, a Little League baseball field, a soccer field, a pavillion/basketball court, a children's play area, a walking track and even a boxing facility.
Coach Angulo has been called upon to oversee the operations and to supervise the maintenance of these existing facilities. He also has some ideas as to how the area can be improved.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to invite the representatives of all local softball teams to come by our offices and visit with me in order to begin organizing activities for men and women's programs and even for veterans," added the new Precinct 4 Parks Supervisor.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
When one sees road construction or in this case, the closing of El Indio Highway, you may think to yourself, 'What an inconvenience' before taking the customary detour.
What you may not know is that projects such as this begin as a gleam in the eye of a TxDoT Director or the futuristic vision of an engineer or architect.
The designs which are visible at the new overpasses on the outer loop, the eagles and Texas Star designs came to fruition at meetings back in the 1990's under Mayor Raul Treviño's administration when present TxDoT Eagle Pass Maintenance Supervisor Celestino Hernandez was Planning Director for the city.
"The aesthetics of projects such as these are usually ironed out in meetings and organizational planning sessions between city officials and TxDoT at times many years before the projects are carried out," stated Hernandez who informed The News Gram of all the exciting plans for the new overpass, "The aesthetics of this new project will have very impressive 3-dimensional designs which depict the history of Eagle Pass in the cattle trade in the 1800's and early 1900's."
Hernandez let us in on the design which will be embossed and de bossed images of wagons, horses and cattle on the cattle drives which Eagle Pass cattlemen and cowboys would undertake many years ago, an interesting conceptual design which highlights our history while touching the future with civil engineering, asphalt, concrete and rebar.
The new super-structure will begin to form and be visible to the public within the next thirty days as crews are in the process of drilling 40-60 foot holes in the ground to anchor the massive pillars which will hold up the new overpass.
"The closure of the highway is mostly for public safety purposes, but thanks to the garrison St. overpass and the advent of the Cardona Unit on El Indio, this closure will not impact the fire department," added Hernandez.
Hernandez along with Antonio Perea, P.E., Area Engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation have been on top of the progress of the new super-structure while still maintaining our existing highways and byways as it is their job to insure the upkeep of these as well as looking to the future as much as they possibly can.
“The project is well underway and within 30 days you will actually start seeing the above ground construction”, commented Perea.
"As of the beginning of the month, the project was about 15% complete. Currently the contractor is installing the remaining storm sewer items like pipes and inlets. Also, the contractor has started the overpass work by constructing the drill shaft foundations."
As with any TxDOT project the public is encouraged to drive with caution in any construction zone, obey all warnings, and to be safe.
So next time you drive by the construction, rest assured that it'll be very soon that we will all be enjoying the newly designed overpass and reaping the benefits of a lot of work and logistics which needed to be in place in order to see a project of this magnitude come to fruition.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
County Commissioner Daniela Aleman made significant strides to insure that the second cell which needs to be completed at the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority to come yet closer to fruition as she and Maverick County Judge David Saucedo, and Landfill Board Chairman Rolando Jasso had a quality meeting on Friday at the judge's chambers.
In an effort to avoid any type of closure of the landfill should cell 2 not be in place by June, the estimated date of capacity for cell 1, then the city and the county would find themselves in dire straits without an option for trash pickup.
The project which at the onset was estimated to be at $3.3 million has now been determined to only cost $2.2 million with the aid of the landfill budget and its machinery and manpower.
Flores acted as the mediator for the financial aspect of the gathering and they three were in a teleconference with financial advisor Robert Rodriguez who has found an as of yet unnamed group willing to take the burden of the second cell project.
According to Flores, finding someone to help the county financially was not difficult as due to the payments which have been forwarded consistently for the landfill have been on time which has put the county in good financial standing.
"We want to make sure that it stays open because it generates much needed revenue for the county," stated Aleman.
The money that is generated by the landfill goes primarily for debt reduction for the county which still finds itself in need of working its way out of a multi-million dollar deficit.
"The proposal is in the negotiation phase, but everyone's on the same page and it's looking very positive," Aleman concluded.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
A juvenile who had only recently arrived to the new Border Hope Juvenile Residential Center at the Radar Base made an attempt to escape using a metal bar to get past the officer in charge of supervising the boys who are housed there.
According to Bruce Ballou, Director of Probation for the Tri-County area, the youth who is not from Eagle Pass used the metal object to attack the officer, striking him at least three times, twice to the top of the head and once to the side of his head, causing significant injury, however the officer still tried to subdue the individual and the two struggled for a while, but the youth was able to escape into the cold Saturday night as the incident occurred at approximately 9:30 P.M.
The youth was on the run all night, but was apprehended on Highway 277 the next morning with the aid of US Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety officers.
The unidentified youth has been charged with Aggravated Assault on a Correctional Officer and taken to a more traditional detention center where he awaits his date before the district judge.
Ballou added that he has already spoken with District Judge Cynthia Muñiz and County Judge Saucedo in regards to the incident. What is next is a report to District Judge Abascal and one to the Juvenile Board which is standard procedure in an incident of this nature.
When asked which precautions had been taken in retrospect of this highly volatile situation, Ballou mentioned the fact that the entire facility has been cleared of any objects which can be used as a weapon and strict guidelines as to how the youths move around the facility have also been implemented.
What may come of this is that two officers may have to be stationed at the facility as opposed to the one officer to eight residents ratio which by law is the official ratio which was adhered to in this instance.
The Border Hope facility is not a jail, it is a facility which is the last alternative before these youths are actually sent to a juvenile detention center, and/or prison for violation of probation guidelines set forth by their P.O.'s and District Court.
In this setting, the youths are guided by licensed substance abuse counselors and YSO's (Youth Supervision Officers) who are there to help rehabilitate these wayward youths, giving the hope for their futures away from the perils of organized crime and the drug trade.