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A.D. Ibarra -San Antonio, TX
Preliminary reports from the Alamo City have cited the resignation of former EPISD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Becky Robinson from her position as Superintendent of the South San ISD effective immediately Thursday morning. The educator whose reputation of objectivity and effectiveness as an instructional leader capable of analyzing a school's needs and a district's points of academic objectives that require focus, apparently ran into opposition when attempting to hire key staff to address SSISD's needs in the coming school year. Five other top-level administrators are following suit and have left the district to fend for itself in terms of improving state test scores and achieving required accountability measures by the state. According to an article in the San Antonio Express-News, Ramiro Nava, South San's Executive Director of Curriculum, will be the interim superintendent. Robinson left the EPISD to take the superintendent's job at South San which in her letter of resignation she stated "Have been personally rewarding."
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Bennie Rodriguez, III was selected unanimously by the EPISD Board of Trustees in a special meeting held on Monday. Rodriguez, a local businessman and a graduate with honors of Texas A&M University in College Station, Rodriguez was selected to replace outgoing board member Claudio Heredia among a pool of at least four who were considered for the position, an unexpired term which will run through 2016. EPISD Board President Ignacio Saucedo informed The News Gram that three others showed interest in serving, Jesus Casas, Jose Reyna and Marcos Villalpando, however, Mr. Rodriguez' record, his academic resumé and his willingness to serve as well were the reasons behind the recommendation, "He's very intelligent as he was at the top of his graduating class at A&M, he's an accountant, he's someone who is not controversial, he's a successful business man whose business ventures have also been successful and I know he will be an asset to the board."
Press Release
-Eagle Pass
On July 16, 2013 at approximately 7:50 am elements of the Maverick County Sheriff's Department were operating in the area of FM 2644 (The highway from El Indio to Carrizo). The Deputy in the area was running stationary radar when he observed a white in color Chevy pickup with several Border Patrol vehicles which appeared to be in pursuit of said vehicle. The officer could observe the red and blue emergency lights of the U.S. Border Patrol units and the white Chevy failing to yield to the emergency vehicles. He then engaged the white Chevy pickup which was traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour and could tell that said pickup was getting away from the Border Patrol trucks. The unit managed to catch up to the truck, however the chase ensued all the way through FM 2644 west bound coming to the intersection with FM 1021.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
One never knows where help is going to come from when we are most in need.
When The Eagle Pass News Gram learned of a very generous donation of $18,000.00 of food which was graciously donated by Amy's Kitchen Inc. based out of Petaluma, California, we immediately reached out to Becky Ballou who let us know where the donation had come from.
We caught up with Norma Mery, Director of Manufacturing Services, who works to develop sourcing opportunities from the Southern Hemisphere and is also responsible for co-packing, plant automation projects, and process improvements for the company. Norma Mery is working in developing growers from Mexico, Ecuador, and Spain who provide ingredients for Amy's products to keep up with the company's growth. These ingredients include tomatoes, onions, broccoli, asparagus, and beans to name a few, that are used to make the many fabulous organic products provided by this highly successful corporation which had incredibly humble beginnings and has now turned into a multi-million dollar industry in just 25 years.
Amy's kitchen began as a labor of love when Rachel and Andy Berliner, Rachel in particular, was looking for organic food to eat and stay healthy when she was pregnant with Amy, their first and only child and the name sake for the company, and she was not able to find food that appealed to her.
They began cooking organic pot pies out of their own kitchen before the business moved to a barn in Petaluma which became their first processing plant. When the demand for their pot pies became too big for their kitchen they started their first plant in Santa Rosa CA and the rest as they say, is history. The company has been featured in major US publications such as Parents, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day and Better Homes and Gardens and even made #11 on the list of the top 125 packaged foods for women with their amazing Amy's Organic Pound Cake last year. They have also been filmed many times by the Food Channel for programs like "How It's Made".
Now with processing plants in Santa Rosa, California and White City, Oregon, business is better than ever and they are selling an incredible $380,000,000.00 a year. According to Norma, they export to Europe, Australia, India, and Mexico with whom they have a relationship with Comercial Mexicana. Amy's Kitchen has local distribution through Walmart and HEB. They employ 1,200 workers at each of their processing plants.
"Our products are very healthy and we work with organic growers to get everything we use for our products," added the director of manufacturing services, "When Andy and Rachel heard of the tragedy in Eagle Pass they immediately asked what they could do to help, that's the kind of humanitarian approach they always have".
Amy's Kitchen was in Eagle Pass on Friday distributing 22,000 cans of soup and Norma Mery, a proud Eagle Passan herself, descendant of the Buentello family, will be on hand to assist in the distribution at the Maverick County Food Pantry.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
You look into the eyes of a youngster, 8, maybe 9 years old and see the killer instinct of having to dodge and weave into traffic in the paint, where the most intense basketball is played at any level. The sheer determination of getting to the hoop and laying it up in true Tony Parker fashion as his teammates, all dressed in brilliant blue and orange practice jerseys high five him on the way to the other side of the court.
These were the scenes at Coach Neto Reyes' EPHS Fundamental Skills Camp held over the week where 77 youngsters from across the city picked up the basics and worked on individual basketball skills in an intense crash course on the basics of Dr. James Naismith's brainchild which is now an international phenomenon.
"The kids were very excited," stated Reyes, the Head Coach of the Eagle Pass Eagles, " The camp started on Monday and ended on Thursday. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my staff Diego Nava, Juan Garza and Jaime Flores as well as Jose Lombraña, Carlos Tapia and Sergio Ruiz for their assistance in the success of the program."
The children participated in controlled games, scrimmages and skill drills throughout the week.
"We focused a lot on fundamental skills The kids are learning proper ball handling and proper shooting," concluded the EPHS mentor, "The kids are going to become better basketball players in the future."
Cites nepotism laws as main reason for resignation
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
In a surprise aspect of Tuesday night's EPISD Board of Trustees meeting, Claudio Heredia, member of the board, tendered his letter of recognition effective Wednesday.
The Eagle Pass Rotary Club will be donating bulk onions to the Maverick County Food Bank. The onions will be ready to be distributed tomorrow, Thursday, 10am at the Food Bank located at 1609 Del Rio Blvd. ( In front of the old Jr. High.)
We ask citizens to bring their own bags to fill with onions as we will not provide any.
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.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Maverick County Commissioner's Court was definitely upbeat on Monday at their Regular Meeting held at Commissioner's Court Chambers as County Judge David Saucedo mentioned the fact that their receipt of the monthly auditor's report which they received prior to the meeting was a welcomed sight and would be beneficial to them as 'Budget officers' to know exactly what's in their individual coffers at any given point in time.
"As a budget officer, I can let those departments know this is where we're at if I have the information in hand, I can make decisions," stated the judge.
"When I look at Road & Bridge it really makes me feel good," stated the county leader as they have $600,000.00 remaining as of now and $500,000.00 remaining in the General Fund Report.
"Personally, I'd like to digest the report before we approve it," stated County Commissioner Robert Ruiz who also questioned wether they could post the report on the website.
Karla Mazuka along with two other members of the Auditor's Office were also on hand to answer any questions they might have about the report itself as County Auditor Fidencio Ortiz was not present due to an illness.
County Commissioner Gerardo Morales wanted to know where the funds collected for different rentals and fees for Maverick County Lake were and those were included in the report, but not specified.
Commissioner Rosales wanted to know where rentals were for the Radar Base and airplane hangars and he was directed to those figures as well.
"This is good, very professional," stated Rosales.
The county finds itself at 36% of budget for the rest of the fiscal year, a 3% increase from last year which constitutes a savings of $500,000.00.