Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX– CREEED will host the 2nd annual Education Matters Summit on Thursday, October 2nd at the Starlight Event Center.
When: Thursday, October 2nd
Timeline: 8:30 am, registration and continental breakfast begins;
9 am, summit begins
Where: Starlight Event Center
Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV)-El Paso Bicycle Club will host the Chile Pepper Challenge – Charity Ride on Sunday, September 28 at Grace Gardens (start 7:00 AM), benefitting UMC’s Cardiac Care Fund (early screenings, awareness, and life-saving treatment for adults in our region).
Heriberto Perez Lara
Editors note: We originally reported on air that the statement provided was from Chief Administrator Betsy C. Keller. However, the El Paso County has issued a correction, the statement was from El Paso County Commissioners Court, not Chief Administrator Keller.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The County’s Tax Collector’s Office has been experiencing a significant backlog of vehicle registration transactions since Texas House Bill 718 went into effect on July 1.
According to the County’s Tax Office, they currently have a backlog of approximately 5,400 vehicle registration transactions since the implementation of HB 718.
According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, this bill was enacted to address concerns related to the fraudulent use of paper license tags.
ABC-7 reported this week that local auto dealers are struggling to get vehicle registration stickers for their customers due to the webDEALER backlog the County’s Tax Office is experiencing.
ABC-7 spoke with the Tax Collector’s Office; more updates in later newscasts.
Read the full news release corrected by the County of El Paso below:
NEWS RELEASE – EL PASO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT STATEMENTDownload
Nicole Ardila
The Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo returns to Las Cruces this year with plenty of exciting events and activities.
On Wednesday, the fair kicks off and there will be an exceptional rodeo.
On Thursday, there will be a traditional ranch rodeo where the contestants compete as teams from ranches, instead of as individuals as in a “regular” rodeo.
From Friday through Sunday, enjoy a glass of wine from Lescombes Family Vineyards in the special events building while shopping with local vendors.
On Saturday, they will have the Borderland A’s Model A Ford Club with a variety of beautiful, historic vehicles manufactured from 1928 through 1931.
They’ll also have a stick horse race at the Pete Domenici Rodeo Arena.
There will also be two concert performances this weekend, Rick Trevino will be performing on Friday, Sept. 26 and Randall King will be there on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Tickets are available online and at the gate.
Heriberto Perez Lara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 718 back in 2023 to address concerns related to the “fraudulent use of paper license tags.” Now, however, auto dealers in El Paso County say that since the new rule took effect on July 1, 2025, it has created a backlog and an increase in permit transaction times.
“We’re expecting the state of Texas to realize the problem that we’ve encountered already,” said Luis Fierro, owner of LGF Motors in El Paso’s Lower Valley.
According to Fierro, once a customer buys a vehicle, they submit everything to webDEALER, but they are taking between 24 to 48 days to complete the transaction and that’s what’s causing the delay and not the auto dealerships.
The County’s Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office is the one in charge of fulfilling these permits once a purchase is made.
County Assessor Gonzalez says his office needs personnel to fill out a 6,000-application backlog.
Gonzalez also mentioned that in one day, they had 18 trained clerks work on a Saturday, a queue of 5,800 transactions; they worked over 1,700 of them.
“For that one day of collections, I collected $2.2 million for those 1700 transactions; the majority of that money, sales tax money, goes to the state, but it also is money that eventually comes back to us immediately, or a year later,” Assessor Gonzalez said.
The County’s Tax Collector’s Office also conducts inspections where they have found stolen vehicles, recovered stolen vehicles and the commission fee they get during property tax season.
“This is going to be continuous; we not only have the work that we have to do for the dealer community, but we also have a lot of mailing work, you wouldn’t believe the drop-off work that we get,” said County Assessor Gonzalez. “We also have work that cannot be done in webDEALER that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is telling the dealers to walk it in.”
ABC-7 reached out to the office of County Chief Administrator Betsy C. Keller for comment; we are still waiting for a response.
Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV) — The 5th Annual Mija Market is a free, family-friendly event featuring live entertainment, raffles, and activities for all ages:
Event details:
Where: Cowtown Event CenterWhen: Saturday, September 27, from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PMFREE Admission | Family-Friendly
Olivia Vara
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A chihuahua was surrendered to Animal Control after multiple calls to 311 by community members who say they were appalled at the condition of the dog.
They say calls to Animal Services went unanswered. A local rescue made additional calls and asked the public to contact 311.
Community members say that the dog was “skin and bones” while the other dogs at the residence appeared to be in better condition.
Members of the Northeast El Paso community posted pictures of the seemingly emaciated chihuahua on social media platforms.
Animal Control issued citations to the owner but no animal cruelty charges were filed.
Animal Control says that the owner received a citation and was not charged with animal cruelty because they took the emaciated chihuahua.
Nichole Gomez
El Paso, TX (KVIA-TV) — University Medical Center of El Paso invites the community to take part in this year’s Better Health 5k Run, 1 Mile Walk and Kids’ Dash on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the UMC Northeast Clinic on 9839 Kenworthy St. Registration and additional information for the UMC Better Health 5K Run, 1 Mile Walk and Kids’ Dash can be found by visiting www.tinyurl.com/UMCRun25
Nicole Ardila
UTEP’s school spirit comes to an all time high with their Miner Morning Mania event.
This event brings together alumni, students and staff for a display of miner spirit.
The UTEP marching band, cheer and dance teams, Paydirt Pete, members of the student government association and the department of athletics will come together bright and early to energize the campus.
It will start on Monday from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. in Centennial Plaza.
The UTEP band, cheer and dance teams will spark miner spirit at the annual homecoming pep rally on Sept. 25.
Rosemary Garcia
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)— At just 16 years old, Desiree Arzaga’s artwork is now part of an exhibit at the El Paso Museum of Art.
It’s part of Enfoque Community Spotlight: EPISD Transformation Through Art. The exhibit highlights the work of 42 El Paso ISD high school students.
Desiree’s art teacher at Irvin High told her about the exhibit last year, and she immediately got to work.
“I drew a cathedral door that’s on Milan Cathedral. I just appreciate that art so much. So I wanted to draw it, and I tried to do that the best I could.”
Desiree told ABC-7 that she worked on the piece for months and devoted countless hours to completing it. She said she worked on it during school and at home. It took nearly a year to complete.
Desiree’s art was only one of three selected at Irvin High, and then she advanced to the next phase.
Her art teacher, Delma Vargas, said Desiree was committed to perfecting her art piece.
“Desiree has always been the detail kind of girl. Anything that she draws, she makes it come to life. So when I saw her drawing, the detail, the intricate detail of every single piece, I was just wowed. I was; it’s phenomenal. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Vargas said.
Vargas said it was a difficult task selecting which pieces would move to the next round, but she was confident in all of her students’ abilities and creations.
“They communicate their emotions. They communicate their stories, their culture through these pieces. So it’s very important not only to teachers but to their students, for everybody to know what they’re about.”
Vargas said she was excited to see her students’ artwork on display at an art museum.
Desiree said her black-and-white piece challenged her as an artist.
“Actually. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a struggle. Like mentally, I was, like, a little bit overwhelmed. I was like, ‘Is this going to work? Should I restart?’ I actually did restart a couple times because I just didn’t like the way I measured the segments and everything, because it does involve architecture. So everything has to be symmetrical, or it had to look right. And I struggled with that because I’ve never done that. So I think this was the third attempt, the third big piece of paper, and it worked.”
She felt proud when she finally completed the piece, and it was a special moment when she saw it on display at the El Paso Museum of Art.
“When I was in the museum, I was like, wow, this is like, I did that. And it was such a good experience to see.”
Desiree also witnessed other art enthusiasts admire her work at the museum.
“I saw this woman, and she, like, got teary. She started tearing up, and I talked to her, and it just, it’s, like, a it’s such a crazy feeling, like I made something that affected someone in that way,” she said.
As an aspiring graphic design artist, Desiree said this special moment has motivated her to keep pursuing art.
“It was such a good experience to see it there. It made, like, everything, like all the stress that I had and those little doubts, it made all of that, like, worth it. Like, yes, like I did it. I did it.”
The junior said that while she isn’t currently taking any art classes, she is still very dedicated to art.
Desiree has been a busy student as she juggles her coursework between her high school classes and college-level classes. She is on track to receive her associate’s degree from EPCC at the same time she graduates high school.
The exhibition is on view through Sept. 30 at the El Paso Museum of Art, 1 Arts Festival Plaza.
If you have a Good Vibes Only idea, please e-mail news@kvia.com.
