El Paso City Council District 5 debate: Ivan Niño, Richard Genera

Mauricio Casillas

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Four El Paso City Council races will be on the ballot this November. ABC-7 hosted the District 5 Candidates for an in-studio debate.

City Rep. Ivan Niño, the incumbent, has served as District 5 city representative since 2025. He is a lifelong resident of El Paso with more than a decade of experience across city and county government.

He’s facing off against Richard Genera. Genera was born and raised in El Paso. He’s an El Dorado High School and UTEP graduate. He works as a community organizer specifying in helping El Paso youth engage in local politics.

ABC-7 asked the candidates about affordability, data center development and what they consider the biggest issue facing the District.

Watch the full debate above.

Find ABC-7’s Voting Guide here.

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Lower Valley stabbing victim’s family speaks with ABC-7

Mia Okubo

UPDATE (Oct. 13, 2026): The El Paso Police Department said 20-year-old Francisco Martinez III died in Sunday night’s stabbing.

The Crimes Against Persons Unit is still investigating the stabbing. Anyone with information can call 915-832-4400 or Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 915-566-8477 to remain anonymous.

Police haven’t taken any suspects into custody.

ABC-7 spoke with Martinez III’s family, who called him Frankie. They said the stabbing punctured his heart, and that he wouldn’t make it.

His family described him as a loving and caring person. His brother-in-law, Daniel, said the two lived together and Frankie said bye to him as usual the night he died.

He was also a young father to a baby boy.

“Frankie didn’t deserve this at all. He didn’t deserve it. We just want him to be brought to justice,” Adrianne Medina, his aunt, said.

Medina and Daniel had a final message for Frankie:

“I want to tell Frankie that I love him. He’s never gonna be forgotten. We’re always gonna keep him close to our door and it’s just. So unreal, it’s like. We’re here, but we’re not here.”

UPDATE (7:05 A.M.) — El Paso police said they found a man in his 20s stabbed outside the Columbia Apartments in Lower Valley El Paso. He died in the hospital.

According to the El Paso Police Department, the stabbing happened around 11:40 p.m. Sunday night. Police closed a portion of the apartment complex through Monday afternoon.

Police haven’t taken any suspects into custody.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso Police Department has confirmed to ABC-7 that the department is investigating a stabbing in 7900 block of Knights Drive.

According to officials, the Crimes Against Persons Unit are currently investigating at the scene.

We will continue to keep you updated on air and online as soon as we learn any new details.

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Deputies arrest man accused of throwing rocks at driver in road rage incident

Gabrielle Lopez

UPDATE (Oct. 13, 2026): Investigators documented interviews with Edgar Sanchez, who is accused of throwing rocks at a BMW in a “road rage” incident. Deputies also spoke with the BMW’s driver.

Deputies went to Mill Hill Court off Darrington Road in Horizon City after a crash report. When deputies arrived, those involved in the crash had already left. Investigators found a video of the reported incident on FitFam El Paso.

The video showed Sanchez and the BMW driver, identified as the victim in documents. The victim is seen standing in a “defensive fighting stance” with a knife in his right hand, documents said. Investigators wrote that the video showed Sanchez backing away when he saw the knife.

In the video, the victim also grabs pepper spray before going back into his car, documents said. Sanchez then allegedly threw rocks at the side of the BMW twice.

The video shows Sanchez allegedly throwing rocks at the victim’s car during a “road rage” incident.(Courtesy: El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, FitFam El Paso).

Documents said Sanchez reported the incident after his neighbor suggested he should. He had the victim’s license plate since it was left at the scene.

Deputies later met with Sanchez. He allegedly claimed the victim rear-ended him. Sanchez said he got out of his vehicle and stood in the gap between the driver’s door and the vehicle, documents said.

Sanchez alleged the victim “drove towards him, causing him to jump out of the way to avoid being hit,” documents said. He allegedly said the BMW hit his open door while it drove off.

Sanchez told deputies he followed the victim to the intersection of Eastlake and Rojas and approached the victim, documents said.

He said the victim got out of the BMW with a knife above his shoulder, pointed at Sanchez, according to documents.

Sanchez told deputies he saw the knife and started to walk backwards, documents said. He allegedly said he threw “little rocks” at the victim’s car after the victim put the knife back into his car and started to leave.

Sanchez said he threw the rocks “because he was panicking,” according to documents.

Investigators wrote that Sanchez’ vehicle didn’t have any damage consistent with the claim that the victim rear-ended him. Deputies noted damage on the outside hinge of the driver’s door, which matched Sanchez’ statement about the door being pushed outward.

Deputies interviewed the victim. He said Sanchez cut him off on the road, documents said.

The victim told deputies he pulled to the side of Sanchez to confront him, investigators wrote. Sanchez allegedly cut off the victim again, stopped in the middle of traffic, got out and threw a coffee at the BMW. The victim allegedly said the coffee caused a large crack in his windshield.

The victim told deputies he drove away because Sanchez was “being hostile,” documents said. The victim also said he was unsure whether he hit Sanchez’ door as he drove off. Sanchez allegedly followed him to Rojas and Eastlake.

The victim saw Sanchez allegedly get out of his vehicle, pick up rocks, and throw them at the BMW. The victim told deputies the first rock went through the rear passenger-side window. Documents said the victim got out of his BMW to get away from Sanchez. As he neared the back of his vehicle, Sanchez allegedly threw three more rocks.

Documents said the first two rocks missed the victim. One of them shattered the driver’s side window. The third rock hit the victim’s back, investigators wrote.

The victim said he went back to his car to get mace and a pocket knife to protect himself, documents said. Sanchez got into a “fighting stance” and was “in [the victim’s] face,” investigators wrote.

The victim told Sanchez to “just touch him,” and Sanchez stepped on his foot, according to documents. Investigators wrote that the victim tried to punch Sanchez but missed.

Sanchez ran to get more rocks, documents said. The victim then pointed at Sanchez and told him to get back into his car, investigators said. The victim got back into his car to leave while Sanchez allegedly threw more rocks.

The victim told authorities the damage to his car cost $5,000, documents said.

According to documents, the victim didn’t report the incident at the location where it happened to avoid more issues.

The victim’s BMW had a small crack on the windshield, according to a deputy. Investigators noted the victim’s car also had a shattered window on the driver’s side and a circular hole in the rear passenger-side window. The BMW also had dents and chipped paint on the passenger-side door.

Investigators said the victim had a large circular bruise on the right side of his back.

Deputies later obtained another video of the alleged incident. Documents said the video showed Sanchez picking up rocks and throwing the first rock “like a baseball.” The video showed the BMW’s windows breaking, investigators said.

Authorities charged Sanchez with criminal mischief and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Deputies arrested a man accused of throwing rocks at a driver during a road rage incident.

Deputies learned about the road rage incident on Friday at 1 p.m. It happened near the intersection of Eastlake Boulevard and Rojas Drive.

Investigators determined that a fight escalated into a “violent confrontation” between two drivers, EPCSO said.

The sheriff’s office said Edgar Sanchez threw rocks at another driver and his BMW, shattering windows and causing $,5000 in damage. The victim, age 27, sustained injuries after one of the rocks hit their back.

EPCSO’s Special Operations Unit started an investigation after seeing video on social media, collecting physical evidence and obtaining additional video.

On Saturday, SOU deputies found and arrested Sanchez at a home on Mill Hill Drive. Deputies booked him into the El Paso County Downtown Detention Facility and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. His bond totaled $15,000.

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First ever ‘Mission Trails Music Festival’ leaves people wanting more

Carpio Griego

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – Destination El Paso and El Paso County partnered to bring the first ‘Mission Trail Music Festival’ to the historic nine mile stretch along Socorro Road.

The event is free to attend, scheduled to last from 1 p.m. until 10 p.m. meant to be a day of cultural celebration according to organizers.

The booths with food and cutouts allowing people to take photos as their favorite Loteria squares and even a place to play cornhole all encircle the main courtyard with enough tables and chairs for everyone as the stage and dancefloor are where people’s attention is drawn to.

Energy from the performers on stage reflects back onto the audience as every song draws a new crowd to the dance floor reflecting the moves seen on stage with the smiles on the people as big as the ones on the singers in between verses.

Each song change brings a different color of light filling the stage, the main reason people like Adri Munez Lopez enjoyed coming in addition to being ‘in the middle of history’.

“It’s amazing, the food is delicious, the music is insane,” Lopez said. “To be here in the missions, in the middle of history it’s amazingly beautiful and I can’t wait for this to be an annual thing.”

An aspect of the set list Lopez liked was a reflection of the cultural celebration the festival is meant to be and was definitely one of the highlights for her.

“They started everything out with a Danza Prehispanica that was beautiful, it was theatrical and also honoring our roots,” Lopez said. “La Cumbia, la comida, the gorditas were top notch.”

Now that the community has had a taste of this festival, at least in Lopez’s opinion, there should be more for them to enjoy to bring people together through culture as she said.

“I think we need more of these kind of festivals that bring together our culture, our heritage, our food so that we can come together as a community,” Lopez said. “We need more of this in different pockets of our area.”

Lopez said she really hopes this festival returns and becomes a regular occurrence for her to look forward to in her community because in her opinion ‘it’s important and we need it’.

For more information you can go to Destination El Paso’s website here.

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El Paso candy shop sees ‘sweet’ success after starting on TikTok

Carpio Griego

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A University of Texas at El Paso alumni started a candy business from his home. Now, Antonio Esparza said his work paid off as the business upgraded to a warehouse in East El Paso.

Esparza established Sabores de Mexico three years ago, and it all started with TikTok. He sold sweets out of his house after losing his job.

His marketing degree from UTEP helped him start his journey as an entrepreneur.

Esparza steadily grew from there. He told ABC-7 it’s been exciting knowing he can give people a little bit of their childhood with traditional Mexican candy — and even with his own creations.

The business has stayed in the family, Esparza saying he works with his sisters, his parents, and his aunt all pitching in to help filling box after box of order he says go all over the country now.

Esperza said he’s continued seeing growth at Sabores de Mexico, just as he’s outgrown his house for his warehouse.

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El Paso public health director resigns

Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The City of El Paso’s Public Health Department Director resigned, the city confirmed with ABC-7 on Sunday.

Dr. Veerinder “Vinny” Taneja’s last day with the city was on Sept. 4. The city said Taneja left the position for “personal and family reasons.”

His annual salary at the time of his departure totaled $204,056.23.

Sera Cera now serves as interim director, the city said. She has been working with the City of El Paso since 2013 and most recently served as assistant director.

The city said it expects to start a national search for a permanent public health director in November.

“The City appreciates Dr. Taneja’s service to the organization and the El Paso community and wishes him and his family well,” a city spokesperson said.

The city announced Taneja as the director of the department of public health back in June 2024. He started the position in August 2024.

Taneja earned his medical degree from Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India.

Back when the City of El Paso hired Taneja, the WFAA/Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a story about a complaint filed against him while he worked as the Tarrant County public health director. He resigned 24 hours after the story published. HIs tenure there was 10 years.

THe 2021 complaint stemmed from an investigation by the Tarrant County Human Resources Department into allegations of a toxic and hostile work environment. HR interviewed 16 staff and former staff.

The staff interviewed who filed the complaint said the pandemic made the leadership problems, whic they described as bullying and micromanagement.

Tarrant investigators said they didn’t find anything that would lead the county to be subject to discrimination lawsuits or that Taneja broke the law.

A recommendation to address Taneja’s management and the assistant director at the time, Angela Hagy, was made to prevent “loss of talent” due to the environment.

ABC-7 reached out to the City of El Paso about the complaint and his hiring back in June 2024. The city sent the following statement:

“Dr. Taneja was formally hired by Interim City Manager Cary Westin, this is standard protocol for all new directors. The City of El Paso is aware of the accusations against Dr. Taneja during his time at the Tarrant County Public Health Department, but these accusations were not substantiated and were thoroughly discussed during the hiring process. He was selected because he has more than two decades of experience spanning local, regional, and state levels in public health expertise and he has a proven track record in public health leadership that led to Tarrant County Public Health being honored as the Large Local Health Department of the Year in 2017 by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Dr. Taneja is still completing the onboarding process. His salary details can be made available via the Open Records Request process once he is officially a City employee in August. We will also work to make Dr. Taneja available for interviews once he is settled in his position and has had time to familiarize himself with his new role.”

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UTEP enrollment hits record 27,000 while students face parking shortages

Nina Gallegos

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – Fall 2026 marks the first year UTEP’s enrollment has surpassed 27 thousand, a 10% increase from 2020, when the university had fewer than 25,000 students, according to the university communications.

Students say the number of parking spots isn’t keeping up with those higher enrollment rates.

Limited parking spots is forcing commuters to plan for extra time on their drive and possibly a long walk to class.

Parking permits range from $165 to $400, depending on the lot:

$225 Blue Perimeter Lot $300 Silver Perimeter lot $400 Gold garage permit $165 Green Remoter Permit

One lot on Glory Road costs students $225, but it has been blocked off for construction of the new Miner Crossing residence hall.

Major concerts featuring artists such as BTS, Karol G and Usher have also contributed to parking challenges by temporarily closing additional lots along Glory Road.

“We all have to like move to other parking spots and then they get mad at us. And so, you know, it starts becoming an issue. It usually takes a week. Last one was when usher came. They closed Glory Road one, two and three,” UTEP freshman Luis Avalos said.

Students said parking is generally manageable on a regular day, but concert-related closures can make it difficult to find a space. Some said the added time spent searching for parking has caused them to arrive late to class or miss it entirely.

“When we have those events and we get our product in spots, you know, displaced and everything, and just messes everything up,” UTEP freshman Sebastian Gonzalez said. “It does get a little more difficult.”

Gonzalez said students sometimes have to search for parking on the other side of campus when their usual lots are unavailable, adding more time to their commutes.

The problem has also affected faculty members. Tawanda Chabikwa, a professor of theater, dance and African American studies who has worked at UTEP for six years, said finding parking has become more challenging in recent years.

“Well, I think over the last couple of years, this has been the most challenging it’s been to find parking,” Chabikwa said.

Chabikwa said students have struggled to find parking and have arrived late to class as a result.

Although UTEP sends emails in advance to notify the campus community about parking changes, students said they have limited options beyond arriving early or searching elsewhere for available spaces.

UTEP Communications declined an interview but provided a statement acknowledging the parking challenges:

Parking has been tighter than usual on campus in recent weeks. Ongoing construction has closed part of one major lot, and additional spaces closed temporarily in preparation for major concerts – all during some of the busiest weeks of the semester.

Parking and Transportation is contacting affected permit holders directly and arranging alternate parking. Students having trouble finding a space can access real-time parking updates by calling the Parking and Transportation Office at 915-747-5724.

As in previous years, we expect conditions to ease over the coming weeks as demand levels off and closed spaces return to service.

For students and faculty, the combination of enrollment growth, construction and major events has made finding a parking space an added challenge during the academic year.

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How satellite tech, AI could help El Paso prepare for the next big storm

Mia Tricarico

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — University of Texas at El Paso’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering team is working on a two-year research project that combines satellite imagery, Earth observation data and artificial intelligence to map areas affected by flooding in El Paso.

After heavy rainfall left extensive damage across parts of El Paso in September, UTEP researchers used space technology and A.I. to learn how the region can prepare better for future monsoon seasons.

A multidisciplinary team designed its project to map flood-affected areas in real time.

Partnering for Faster Emergency Response

The researchers are collaborating with El Paso Water, the city’s municipal water utility, to explore how advanced satellite data from NASA can aid ground crews during post-storm recovery.

By analyzing high-resolution data immediately after a severe storm, the system aims to help utility teams identify flood zones, prioritize infrastructure inspections in high-risk areas and assess damage faster.

Urban environments present unique challenges for A.I. Buildings, parking lots and standing water could confuse standard optical imagery. To move past this obstacle, the research time combined standard satellite pictures with Sentinel-1 radar data, which can penetrate thick cloud cover during active storms.

By fusing these distinct data sources, the researchers hope to evaluate whether A.I. can reliably distinguish actual floodwaters from urban structures, giving city officials a much clearer operational picture when every minute counts.

An Interdisciplinary Effort

The project brings together experts across civil, environmental, and systems engineering. Participating UTEP faculty members include:

Jaeyoon Kim, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering) Jeffrey Weidner, Ph.D., Associate Professor (Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering) Sungmin Youn, Ph.D., Associate Professor (Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering) Niamat Hossain, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering)

UTEP’s research aims to transform raw satellite data into a proactive shield, ensuring El Paso is safer and more resilient before the next monsoon season arrives.

ABC-7 reached out to the research team to learn more about the research project.

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One person airlifted to hospital after semi-truck crash near Eastlake

Armando Ramirez

UPDATE (11:52 AM) — The El Paso Fire Department has confirmed that one person was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition after a crash on I-10 near the Americas exit.

According to the El Paso Fire Department, the driver of a semi-truck had to be extricated and was then airlifted to a local hospital.

Crews also worked on containing a fuel leak from the crash.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), there was a crash reported around 10 a.m. Sunday at Gateway East and Eastlake.

TxDOT traffic cameras in the area show a large response from the El Paso Sheriff’s Office and the El Paso Fire Department. Officials are also blocking off traffic from passing through Gateway East and have closed the off-ramp to Eastlake.

The El Paso Fire Department’s FireSTAR helicopter was also seen landing near the area.

ABC-7 has reached out to officials for more information regarding the crash. Once more information is provided, we will update you on air and online.

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Gadsden ISD employee placed on administrative leave after allegations involving students

Armando Ramirez

CHAPARRAL, N.M. (KVIA) — In a post on Chaparral High School’s social media Saturday, the Gadsden Independent School District (GISD) said a district employee was placed on administrative leave following allegations involving the employee and students.

The statement below was posted regarding the status of the employee being placed on administrative leave:

“Dear Gadsden ISD Families, Staff, and Community Members,

We are aware of allegations involving a district employee and are taking them seriously. We understand that many of you are concerned, and we share that concern.

The employee has been placed on administrative leave while a thorough and impartial investigation is conducted. Placement on leave is a precautionary step and is not a conclusion about the outcome of the investigation.

The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our highest priority, and it will guide every decision we make. Because this is an active personnel matter, and to protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of everyone involved, including students, we cannot share further details at this time. We will provide updates when we can do so appropriately.

We also ask for your help in protecting students’ privacy and the integrity of the process. Please avoid sharing unverified information or speculation, especially anything that could identify students. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the district at (575) 882-6225.

Thank you for your trust and for your partnership in keeping our students safe.

Sincerely,

Gadsden ISD Administration”

District officials did not specify the allegations against the employee or identify the individual involved.

ABC-7 has reached out to district officials for more information. This is a developing story.

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