A.D. Ibarra

-Del Rio, TX

Daryl Fields, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Texas informed The News Gram of the myriad of sentencing hearings which are upcoming in the cases stemming from the extensive investigations which have come out of Eagle Pass and Maverick County. First of all, Fields mentioned the latest in the case of former County Commissioner Cesar Flores whose re-arraignment has been pushed forward to August 13th. In reference to former Precinct 1 Foreman Jaime Flores, sentencing will be on October 21st in relation to the charges before him of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds when signing for a forklift allegedly purchased from Jose Rodriguez' company Capitol Construction. Rodriguez is set for sentencing on August the 19th. Jose Aguilar who is accused of four counts including money laundering, conspiracy to smuggle cash into the United States as well as aiding and abetting will be up before The Honorable Alia Moses, US Judge for the Western District of Texas for sentencing on August the 26th. Eduardo De La Garza is set for sentencing on October 21st, Alejandra Garcia, the former County Auditor's office employee will be sentenced November 4th, Jose Telles is set for sentencing on December 9th and former County Commissioner Rudy Heredia is set for sentencing on November 25th.

A.D. Ibarra

-Eagle Pass

When The Eagle Pass News Gram ran the first images of the tireless and selfless first responders who assisted flood victims last month, I personally took it upon myself to call the two agencies I have almost daily contact with, the Eagle Pass Fire Department and the Maverick County Sheriff's Department to thank them in these hours of most distress for the invaluable labor of dedication to their crafts as well as to commend them for the work we witnessed on that fateful day.

By Rey Sifuentes Jr.

     Approximately two years ago at this time, Eagle Pass High School head football coach Tom Gonzalez knew his very young team was going to need some significant grooming. 

     “We started a rebuilding process two years ago,” Gonzalez said. “We knew it was going to take us a couple of years to build up this program and this is the season that follows that two-year progression.”

     Gonzalez (who is about to enter his eighth year with EPHS) and everyone on his sideline just rolled up their sleeves and led the Eagles to two consecutive playoff appearances.

     Despite that, the Eagles  - who anticipate about six offensive and seven defensive starters to come back this fall - were recently forecasted to finish fourth (out of seven teams) in District 29-5A this season.  

     “Every year we have been predicted to finish fourth,” Gonzalez said. “Actually, we have only ended up in fourth place once or twice in my eight years here. I don’t go by what other people predict, and I know what we have as a program. Our kids are always ready to go, and I think we are going to be much better than fourth place this season.”

     Gonzalez said that a good number of his players have consistently shown up on their own to workout.  

     “We are going to start our strength and conditioning workouts next Monday – from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.,” Gonzalez said. “Since we let out school, we have also had a good number of kids showing up every day to work out on their own. We have a good group of leaders who are lifting and running on their own - have taken the initiative. We told them what they needed to do in order to be ready for when football two-a-days started again in August, and they have done a very good job of following through.”

     The Eagles are going to need to be in tip top shape with the caliber of teams occupying 29-5A.  

     “I think this district is going to be tougher,” Gonzalez said. “Every team is pretty much on a level playing field right now, and has a lot of kids with a bunch of experience coming back. There have also been some changes like in Del Rio and C.C. Winn who have new head coaches.”

     And if everything clicks, the Eagles’ two-year investment should pay off nicely this season.  

     “This group is full of guys who started on the varsity while they were sophomores,” Gonzalez said. “Mike Montalvo was a freshman who started the last three games that season, and he is a junior now. Kevin Chisum is also a senior, and we have other guys who have plenty of experience like R.J. Ruiz. So all of the experience of our younger guys that are still with us when we started rebuilding two years ago should help us have a great season.” 

     EPHS football players are to show up at the campus gym at 7 a.m. on Monday, August 5.  

     (Rey Sifuentes Jr. is the sports editor of the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune which is located in East Texas. He is also a 1992 graduate of Eagle Pass High School. Sifuentes can be reached on Facebook and at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You can also follow him through Twitter at @eaglesmavericks.)