Month: July 2026

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Popular Dry Goods building in Downtown El Paso will soon get a makeover. The building, which once hosted a Fallas Paredes location, has been there for more than 100 years.

The El Paso City Council recently greenlit an additional $1 million in city funds to subsidize the sweeping transformation of the historic building. The council previously approved a $6.72 million incentive package.

While the project promises to inject much-needed life and housing into the heart of the city, the growing reliance on taxpayer dollars is drawing scrutiny from local residents.

The pushback centers on a simple question: Why is local government injecting massive public funds into a private redevelopment project?

Because the Popular Dry Goods building is cemented on the National Register of Historic Places, the construction guidelines are rigid.

Developers can’t simply gut the building; they must restore and preserve its architectural integrity. This extra care raises construction costs and creates a financial gap developers claim they can’t bridge alone.

Despite the financial friction, city officials and urban planners argued leaving the iconic building empty is more costly in the long run.

A proposed transformation would bring “moderately apartments” to the Downtown area, according to developers. It’s completion date is set for 2028.

In May 2025, Grayce Property Consultants said the building was sold.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Tuesday, El Paso Community College (EPCC) held a grand opening, ribbon cutting for the Tejano Esports Hive — a central video gaming location for the college’s newest sport at the Valle Verde campus’ student union.

Starting this fall, EPCC will now have an official varsity program where student athletes compete in video games in teams with other colleges.

About 200 other school across the nation will make the league called the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE).

The Hive consists of 14 gaming computers for the student athletes and will serve as the competition area for their inaugural 2026 season. There are also computers that all students can play on.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – On Tuesday, the El Paso City Council did not second an item that would ban cellphones and electronic devices on the dais during meetings.

District 7 Representative Lily Limón proposed the item after community members expressed frustrations during public comment. People said they felt disrespected as mayor and council were not paying attention to the speakers because they were focused on their phones, according to the item.

The City of El Paso Code of Conduct said during public meetings, council members must “practice civility, professionalism, and decorum during discussions and debate.”

It also says council members must be respectful of everyone’s time.

The item said council members being on their phones is a “clear violation of the Open Meetings Act and goes against our rules of conduct.”

Council’s reason for not taking the item was that there are already guidelines in place to prevent council members from being on their phones.

Rep. Limón asked El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson how he’s enforcing those rules.

“This is not to implement a new rule. This is simply the question now, mayor to you becomes, how are we going to enforce that rule that we have,” Limón asked.

“Well, the the answer is that we already have rules of order that address this. And and if I see it happening, I will certainly address it on the dias,” Mayor Johnson answered.

When asked about the rule’s lack of enforcement, Johnson said, “I’m conducting a meeting and I’m not looking for the cell phone use.”

During public comment on the item, one community member pointed out City Attorney Karla Nieman for being on her cellphone during meetings for personal use.

“I have photographs a few years ago, prior to when those reservations covers report when Karla Nieman was sitting there on scrolling Facebook and on messenger. And I sat there in the peanut gallery making comments behind her, ‘Facebook? Is that what we pay you for,?'” someone said during public comment.

City Spokesperson Cruz-Acosta explained that the Texas Open Meeting Act specifically outlines guidelines for elected officials, which means it does not apply to city staff.

Cruz-Acosta further noted that city staff, such as the city attorney, are expected to continue their work during meetings.

“The work doesn’t stop for us. We’re actually multitasking,” Cruz-Acosta said.

Mayor Johnson pointed out Section 16 of the Rules of Order.

“Electronic devices within Council chambers shall be used in accordance with all established City practices and procedures and as directed by Information Technology Department staff providing support services during a meeting.

City staff, other than the dignitary protection officers, and members of the public shall turn off the signals of all pagers, cellular telephones and other devices capable of making an audible signal and shall not make or take any telephone calls while in Council chambers once a Council meeting has been called to order.

Members of the City Council shall not use any electronic devices other than the desktop computers provided by the City of El Paso located at their seats during any City Council meeting or City Council work sessions.

The use of communication devices of any kind, including but not limited to: handheld portable communication devices, cellphones, computers, tablets, laptops, watches, etc. is expressly prohibited during City Council meetings and shall not be allowed in the room during closed sessions unless they are being used to aid in executive session presentations.

If the City Council member needs to take a telephone call, respond to a text message, etc. during a meeting, he or she must excuse themselves from the dais or room where the closed session is taking place to engage in that communication.

The use of the desktop computers during City Council shall be limited to voting, viewing presentations, research to aid the council member and communication via email to staff. During meetings, City Council members shall not text, tweet, blog, post on Facebook, Instagram or use any other social media platform.”

The item to ban cellphones during city council meetings will not move forward.

ABC-7 will reach out to the mayor and council members to ask how they plan to enforce the existing rules moving forward.

El Paso, TX ( KVIA-TV)- Veterans can meet with a VA representative to submit a PACT Act claim or learn more about VA health care benefits and eligibility.

Families are welcome to attend a Veteran resource fair, arts and humanities fair, and a special Veteran Car Show.

Free back-to-school supplies will be available for children who are present, while supplies last. Enjoy food trucks and live music from the 1 AD band. The event takes place on Saturday, July 25, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. El Paso VA Main Facility, 5001 N. Piedras, El Paso, TX 79930.

by Priscilla Totiyapungprasert

El Paso City Council candidate Arturo Alluin spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on clothing and restaurants, according to his campaign finance report filed July 16, raising legal and ethical questions about the expenditures.

Alluin is running to represent District 8, which includes Downtown, the Southside and Westside. Alluin owns several restaurants in El Paso: Sushiitto in Downtown; Mykonos Mediterranean Steakhouse, formerly known as Meduza, on the Westside; and the Melting Pot located at the Fountains at Farah.

The businessman has raised more than $30,200 in monetary contributions, loaned his campaign $35,000 and spent $42,750 so far on his bid for office. More than $6,000 of his expenditures went to restaurants, including Cafe Central, Los Arcos in Ciudad Juárez and his own restaurants Mykonos and Sushiitto. Alluin often paid for food and beverages using personal funds and reimbursed himself.

The law prohibits a candidate from using campaign contributions to pay a business they own for personal services, but campaign services are allowed as long as the reimbursement doesn’t exceed the expenditure, said James Tinley, executive director for the Texas Ethics Commission.

Tinley declined to comment specifically on Alluin’s finances.

“I would have advised him not to claim,” said Roger Borgelt, an Austin-based attorney who practices in campaign finance. “I think it can be misconstrued as a personal benefit. That’s kind of a gray area … It doesn’t look good.”

El Paso political blogger Jaime Abeytia first reported on some of Alluin’s campaign expenditures.

Filing season for the Nov. 3 election officially opened Saturday, though Alluin filed his campaign treasurer report in February, allowing him to begin fundraising then. Matthew Guzman has also filed a campaign treasurer report for his candidacy for the seat. The District 8 seat is currently held by city Rep. Chris Canales, who has not filed to run for reelection as of July 20.

Alluin said he met with a variety of people and groups at restaurants, including government officials, local representatives, news reporters, neighborhood associations and unions. Alluin said he didn’t think hosting campaign activities at his restaurants benefited him personally because he applied a 50% discount to meals, meaning his business took a loss with each expenditure because of the operating margins, he said.

Borgelt said the 50% discount covers the candidate pretty well, but, “We just have to assume that that’s true.”

No state law prohibits candidates from campaigning abroad, though they cannot accept donations from foreign nationals.

Alluin said he met with constituents who were U.S. citizens in Juárez because they own maquilas on both sides of the border and it was sometimes easier to meet them for lunch in Juárez. Neither he nor his family own the Juárez restaurants listed in campaign expenditures, Alluin said.

“I’m not doing anything out of line,” Alluin said. “I’ve been living on the border my whole life and as a community I think it’s important to hear everybody’s side of where we want to go, especially business owners that have businesses on both sides of the region.”

Elsewhere in Alluin’s campaign finance report he lists multiple expenditures for “campaign clothing” at Brooks Brothers and Dillard’s, totaling more than $2,500.

Generally, campaign contributions cannot be used to purchase clothing that is adaptable to ordinary use, including business attire, Tinley said.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Alluin said.

Alluin purchased suit attire, such as dress shirts and pants, because he “didn’t dress like this before” and those clothes are part of a candidate’s “uniform,” he said. Alluin said he had campaign shirts made, though he doesn’t think they were made at Brooks Brothers or Dillard’s.

Borgelt said he didn’t think that was an acceptable use of campaign funds. Clothing, even when worn for a campaign, is a personal expenditure unless it’s something such as a T-shirt with a campaign logo on it, he said.

More than $10,000 in expenditures also went to Isabel Salcido, a former city representative who made an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2024. Salcido acted as a campaign advisor and provided marketing material, according to the report.

Salcido said she only advised Alluin on some questions and was not his campaign manager. Alluin said he reached out to Salcido for help getting his campaign started because she had experience running for office, but he acts as his own campaign manager.

In addition to his monetary contributions and loans, Alluin received $3,500 in in-kind contributions, one of which was $1,000 worth of “hair look for social media” from a local hairdresser. Alluin said the hairdresser has been cutting his hair for the last 15 years, but since he wasn’t able to make a monetary donation, he is contributing by giving Alluin a free haircut about every two weeks.

Borgelt questioned whether Alluin even needed to report the contribution because it was for personal services and he wasn’t sure how haircuts qualified as campaign finance.

“People are permitted to donate their personal services in connection with a campaign,” Tinsley said. “Whether a particular expense is ‘in connection with a campaign’ is a fact question.”