Category: kvia-local-news

Ilyhanee Robles

The City of Sunland Park will host its 2026 State of the City Address on May 27 at the Sunland Park Municipal Sports Complex.

According to the city, the event will highlight recent milestones, public safety priorities, infrastructure updates, and long-term plans for the community.

Mayor Javier Perea, alongside city council members and municipal leaders, is expected to discuss ongoing developments and initiatives designed to support residents and businesses across the region.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Sunland Park Municipal Sports Complex located at 4700 McNutt Road in Santa Teresa.

The official program includes opening remarks from City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante, a moment of reflection led by Daniel Carranco, and the formal State of the City Address from Mayor Perea beginning at 10:15 a.m.

City officials say the event will also serve as an opportunity for residents to hear directly from local leadership regarding the city’s progress and future goals.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The City of El Paso released its preliminary budget for the 2027 fiscal year Wednesday. It totals $1.405 billion across all funds, which the city said is a 1.7% increase compared to FY 2026.

The city cited rising costs, public safety operations, infrastructure obligations, contractual costs and voter-approved commitments as reasons for the increase.

The city started its budget process six weeks earlier than in previous years to host public budget meetings throughout June. At the meetings, residents can ask questions and give feedback about the preliminary budget.

The preliminary tax rate is estimated at at $0.783 per $100 valuation, the city said. The FY 2026 adopted rate was $0.760 per $100 valuation. The city said this is an early estimate, and the budget will not be adopted until August.

Based on current projections, the city said the average single-family home taxable value is estimated at $233,549. It also said at the preliminary tax rate estimate, the average homestead tax bill would increase by $105 a year, or about $8.75 per month.

The preliminary budget included annual salary adjustments, the city said, including a proposed minimum wage increase for non-uniform employees from $15.75 to $16.25.

“The preliminary budget also reflects the financial pressures facing the City, including rising operational costs, voter-approved debt obligations, and the impact of unfunded state property tax exemptions,” said Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas in a statement.

Here’s the city’s schedule for public budget meetings:

Monday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Irving Schwartz Library (1865 Dean Martin Dr.)

Tuesday, June 2 at 6 p.m. at the Westside Regional Command Center (4801 Osborne Dr.)

Tuesday, June 2 at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Service Center, Cotton Patch Room (7968 San Paulo Dr.)

Monday, June 8 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, Main Conference Room on the second floor (300 N. Campbell St.)

Tuesday, June 9 at 6 p.m. at the Memorial Senior Center (1800 Byron St.)

Tuesday, June 9 at 6 p.m. at the Northeast Regional Command Center (9600 Dyer St.)

Wednesday, June 10 at 5 p.m. at the Valle Bajo Community Center & Library (7380 Alameda Ave.)

Thursday, June 11 at 6 p.m. at the Beast Urban Park (13501 Jason Crandall Dr.)

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Rishi Oza

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Martin Aceves has been legally blind his whole life. He’s an El Paso native and University of Texas at El Paso graduate trying to find a way to involve the blind community in public more.

For the last three years, he worked to make a game of billiards for the blind. A guide maker, whose son is blind, helped Aveces make wooden guides for the game.

The game is similar to normal billiards; the goal is to get the balls into the pockets, but you can’t see. Players can’t fully see what’s going on, but they can feel it.

“When they could see, they actually played the game. And that comes back, the full feelings get into effect and getting involved with the game,” said Aceves.

The first Tuesday of every month, the players get together at the Marty Robbins Rec Center in East El Paso. The group calls themselves the “Sharp Shooters.”

“Living on your own is hard, but it’s possible,” said Carlos Mosqueda, a member of the group.

Another member, Frank Rodriguez, said he never thought he would be able to play pool again.

“We want the people to get involved and come and do something, you know, to get them out of the house,” said Rodriguez.

According to Aceves, about 5,000 people are visually impaired throughout El Paso. He wants to get as many involved in his game as he can.

“Blindness is a major tragic issue, more so than other disabilities. It completely cancels a person’s life until they get retrained into society,” said Aceves.

His next steps are getting all of Texas involved, and creating a tournament around the state.

“I’m 70. Between now and 80, I want to see a state championship of this,” he said. “Let’s say I see a thousand individuals playing pool and that I started this? Give me a break. That’s very enjoyable.”

To get involved, Aceves says that you can meet them at the Marty Robbins Center and get started.

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Gabrielle Lopez

ALBUQUERQUE (KVIA) — Three inmates face federal charges after allegedly attacking a correction officer at the Doña Ana County Detention Center, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Mexico said Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the inmates allegedly beat the officer unconscious and tased him.

Court documents said the officer helped the U.S. Marshal service at the detention center May 11. He walked upstairs to monitor inmates and met Juan Gabriel Torres, Sergio Seanez and Titus Josiah McGaw Bulger, who were not allowed to be on the second floor.

Torres allegedly lunged at the officer and tried to punch him, but he was able to avoid it, officials said.

Seanez and Bulger attacked the officer to the ground, officials said. Seanez held the officer down while Torres and Bulger punched, kicked and stomped the officer’s body, causing him to lose consciousness.

According to officials, Torres used the officer’s taser on his unconscious body.

Officials say the attack lasted 22 seconds before guards entered the scene. The officer received care and went to the hospital. He survived and regained consciousness, officials said.

Torres, Seanez and Bulger are charged with assault involving a dangerous weapon and infliction of bodily injury on a person assisting U.S. officers, officials said. They will stay in federal custody pending trial.

If convicted, all three men face up to 20 years in prison.

The Las Cruces police and the city’s Resident Agency of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office helped investigate the case.

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Joseph Montero

UPDATE (5:02 a.m.) — According to the El Paso Police, all lanes are now open.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — According to the Texas Department of Transportation, all lanes are closed on US-54 North following a single vehicle rollover.

The El Paso Fire Department has confirmed to ABC-7 that the crash happened on US-54 at Diana Street.

The call came in at 3:09 a.m. Wednesday morning, no injuries have been reported.

The El Paso Police Department say all lanes will remain closed for another hour.

This is a developing story and we will update you as we learn more.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso Police said one person is in the hospital with serious injuries after a crash involving a motorcycle Tuesday.

Police said they learned about the crash at 5:19 p.m. It happened at Corazal Drive and Giles Road in Lower Valley El Paso near the Chapoteo Water Park.

El Paso Police Special Traffic Investigators went to the scene.

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Nina Gallegos

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Ysleta Independent School District is offering free breakfast and lunch meals to children starting June 1.

The 2026 Ysleta ISD Summer Food Service Program is available for children ages 1-18 from Monday through Friday during the summer break.

Campuses participating in the summer food service program include:

Del Valle High School

Eastwood High School

Parkland High School

Valle Verde Early College High School (919 Hunter Dr.)

Breakfast will be served from 7:30-9 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Summer Food Service Program runs through June 26.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Tuesday, the City of El Paso released a draft of its Data Center Policy Framework for the public to look at and give feedback. It comes as part of the city’s mission of a “transparent process for evaluating future hyperscale data center development.”

“This draft framework reflects the concerns we’ve heard from people across El Paso about water, infrastructure, energy demand, and the long-term impacts on our community,” said Mayor Renard Johnson.

More than 814 residents participated in meetings and an online survey to build the policy draft, according to the city. Residents gave feedback focused on water use, electricity demand, utility rate, environmental impact, land use, community protections and other issues.

The draft framework includes proposed policy recommendations like:

Requiring hyperscale data centers to obtain special permits instead of being allowed “by right” in eligible zoning districts.

Establishing stronger environmental and utility performance standards related to water use, energy use, noise and emissions.

Encouraging Community Benefit Agreements tied to future developments to support workforce, infrastructure, hiring locally and other community priorities.

Expanding state and federal advocacy efforts related to transparency, utility protections and infrastructure impacts.

Recommending a pause on public land sales for hyperscale data center use until policies are formally considered by the city council.

Also Tuesday, the city council unanimously voted to adopt a policy opposing the recruitment and incentivization of future hyperscale data centers in El Paso.

You can read the full draft below. The city said you can comment feedback on the document through its website.

City of El Paso Data Center Policy Framework draftDownload

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Yvonne Suarez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — There’s a new principal at Alicia R. Chacon International School. Tuesday, the Ysleta Independent School District announced Juan Guzman will take over leadership at the campus.

Guzman serves as Scotsdale Elementary School now, where he started as a special education teacher, YISD said. He’s been principal for the last seven years.

His leadership experience includes his time as an assistant principal at Glen Cove Elementary, where he held the position for four years. The campus earned consecutive A-ratings during this tenure, YISD said.

He later worked as the principat at Tierra Del Sol Elementary before returning to Scotsdale Elementary.

Guzman graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, YISD said.

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