March 2009 - Posts

• Cesar Chavez Holiday - County offices to close

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Thursday, March 26, 2009  Public Information Office       Aracely Lazcano I PIO    County of El Paso, Texas       500 E. San Antonio I  Suite 301                                               (P) 915.546.2000 I Ext 4106 I                                               I http://www.epcounty.com/ I    El Paso County Recognizes Cesar Chavez Day Courthouse and Satellite Offices to close for State Holiday (El Paso, Texas) -- El Paso County courthouse and its satellite offices will be closed Tuesday, March 31, 2009 in observance of the Cesar Chavez Day. Commissioners Court will hold its regular session on Monday, March 30 at 9:30 a.m. The county parks and the Ascarate Golf Course will remain open to the public. Normal business hours will resume on Wednesday, April 1, 2009.  ------Adelantar el Cursor para Informacion en Español------- Condado Honra la Memoria de Cesar Chavez (El Paso, Texas) – El edificio administrativo de el condado de El Paso y sus oficinas satélites cerraran sus puertas al público el día martes, 31 de marzo del 2009, en reconocimiento al día festivo estatal designado para honrar la memoria del activista campesino Cesar Chavez.  La corte de Comisionados realizará su sesión ordinaria el día lunes, 30 de marzo en punto de las 9:30 A.M. Los parques del condado y el campo de golf de Ascarate permanecerán abiertos al público durante el dia martes.  Las operaciones administrativas se reanudaran de forma normal el día miércoles 1 de abril.   (CC.03-09-025) Posted Mar 26 2009, 04:38 PM by alazcano with no comments

• COMMISSIONERS COURT HIGHLIGHTS FOR MONDAY, MARCH 23,2009

  The County of El Paso Commissioners Court met in work session on Monday, March 23 at 9:30 a.m. and considered an agenda that included the following highlights:       Decision for funding the Star on the Mountain delayed El Paso County Commissioners Court postponed for two weeks the decision whether or not to support the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce's petition to assist them in funding the expenses for the operation of the Star on the Mountain. Richard E. Dayoub, President of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, explained to the court that their yearly expense to operate the star is $45,000. Dayoub asked the court to consider an agreement with the city of El Paso to share operational expenses and fund them with the Hotel-Motel Occupancy Tax Funds. County Commissioner Pct. 2, Veronica Escobar, made the motion to postpone any action made by the court and revisit the issue in two weeks.          Matching Funds to Help West Side Communities Approved El Paso County Commissioners Court members approved $300,000 in match funding to help Westway and the Village of Vinton communities with a $1.5 million project that includes the construction of a 600,000 gallon storage reservoir and water line upgrades to meet the needs of the business community. The application submitted to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) will also improve fire protection for these communities as well as enhancing the future residential and business growth of the area. The court approved unanimously the provision of matching funds.   Court Adopts Resolution Promoting Multilingual Education The members of the court unanimously adopted a resolution declaring March 26-28 as "BEEMS Conference Days: Sixteen Years Leading for the Future: Promoting Multilingual Education for All Children" to be held in El Paso County. El Paso is home to exemplary bilingual education programs -including dual language program models-, and this conference emphasizes that the future of our county is largely dependent on an articulate and well-educated citizenry. A group of distinguished keynote speakers and presenters, coming from various parts of the nation, will address conference participants to such issues as the academic practices in bilingual education, reforms, parent involvement and technology in the classrooms. Posted Mar 23 2009, 04:53 PM by alazcano with 1 comment(s)

• County Commissioner Pct. 1 Anna Perez Monthly Community Meeting

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Thursday, March 19, 2009  Public Information Office       Aracely Lazcano I PIO    County of El Paso, Texas      500 E. San Antonio I  Suite 301                                              (P) 915.546.2000 I Ext 4106 I                                              I http://www.epcounty.com/ I    Pct. 1 Monthly Community Meeting Guest speaker, County Commissioner Pct. 3, Willie Gandara Jr.   (El Paso, TX) - County Commissioner Pct. 1, Anna Perez will hold her monthly Community Meeting, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center located at 10780 Pebble Hills. Guest speaker, County Commissioner Pct. 3, Willie Gandara Jr. will brief the attendees on the status of the Tornillo-Guadalupe International Port of Entry. The new port of entry will serve the lower valley community and it is expected to bring growth to the area and new revenue for the county. The construction is scheduled to start in April 2011 and its completion is expected by June 2012. Community meetings will be held every last Thursday of the month and are open to all interested members of the community and the media. For additional information please contact Cindy Hernandez at (915)546-2014 or CiHernandez@epcounty.com In Brief:   What:     County Commissioner Pct. 1 Community Meeting   When:    Thursday, March 26   Time:      7:30 a.m.   Where:    Community Conference Room, Pebble Hills Regional Command Center                 10780 Pebble Hills   ***SCROLL DOWN FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH*** Reunión Comunitaria Mensual Orador Invitado, Comisionado del Condado del Pct. 3, Willie Gandara Jr.   (El Paso, TX) - La Comisionada del Condado, representante del precinto uno, Anna Perez, presidirá su junta comunitaria mensual el día Jueves, 26 de marzo en el Centro de Comando Regional de la Policía de El Paso ubicado en el 10780 de la calle Pebble Hills. El orador principal de la reunión será el Comisionado del Condado, representante del precinto tres, Willie Gandara Jr. quien explicara a los asistentes sobre el progreso del Puerto de Cruce Internacional Tornillo-Guadalupe.             El nuevo cruce fronterizo dará servicio a la comunidad del Valle Bajo y se espera que su funcionamiento genere crecimiento en dicha región al igual que nuevos ingresos a las arcas del condado. La construcción de dicho cruce esta programada para iniciar en el mes de Abril del 2011 y se espera que el proyecto sea terminado para Junio del 2012.             Las reuniones comunitarias de la Comisionada del Condado por el precinto uno se llevaran a cabo el ultimo jueves de cada mes y las puertas están abiertas a todos los miembros de la comunidad y la prensa.             Para informacion adiciona puede contactar a Cindy Hernandez al (915)546-2014 o al e-mail Cihernandez@epcounty.com En Breve: Que:                            Junta Comunitaria de la Comisionada del Condado Anna Perez Cuando:                       Jueves, 26 de marzo del 2009 Hora:                           7:30 A.M. Donde:                           Cuarto de conferencias                                       Centro de Comando Regional de la Policía                                      10780 Pebble Hills (Area Este)     (1CC3-09-004) Posted Mar 19 2009, 11:15 AM by alazcano with 1 comment(s)

• DEADLINE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION APPROACHING

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Tuesday, March 10, 2009  Public Information Office       Aracely Lazcano I PIO    County of El Paso, Texas      500 E. San Antonio I  Suite 301                                                       (P) 915.546.2000 I Ext 4106 I                                                       I http://www.epcounty.com/ I    (El Paso, Texas) –The Elections Department Administrator, Javier Chacon, reminds all prospective voters in El Paso County that the deadline to register to vote to be eligible to participate in the May 9th Election is Thursday April 9 at 5:00 p.m. and the first day to apply for a ballot by mail is Tuesday, March 10, 2009. “State law requires that voters be registered 30 days prior to the election in which they wish to vote”, said Elections Administrator, Javier Chacon. During the upcoming election, nine entities will have candidates in the ballot including; the races for Mayor for the cities of El Paso, Anthony, Horizon and Clint, as well as city Representatives, Municipal Judges and Appellate Court Judge, School Trustee Board members for the Anthony ISD, El Paso ISD, Socorro ISD and Ysleta ISD. The voter registration applications are available at the County Elections Administration Office located at the lower level of the courthouse, city libraries and postal offices. Online registration forms can be downloaded from the El Paso County Elections Department at http://www.epcounty.com/elections/   or the Texas Secretary of State at http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqvr.shtml  Voter Registration Applications must be postmarked by midnight Thursday, April 9, 2009 and shall be mail to the County of El Paso Elections Department at 500 E. San Antonio, Room L-115 El Paso, Texas, 79901 or delivered to the Elections Department by 5:00 p.m., the end of the business day on April 9, 2009. To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, you must: Be a U.S. citizen; Be a resident of the county Be 18 years of age (You may register at 17 and 10 months); Not a convicted felon (unless a person’s sentence is completed, including any probation or parole) Not declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law According to the Elections Department Administrator, Javier Chacon, there are almost 383,338 people registered to vote in El Paso County. IN BRIEF:  What: Deadline for registering to vote  When: Thursday, April 9th, 2009 Where:  El Paso County Elections Administration, Postal Offices and Public Libraries. For further information, please contact Elections Administrator, Javier Chacon at (915)546-2154 or visit www.epcounty.com/elections/             (CC-EA.03-09-024)   Posted Mar 10 2009, 02:37 PM by alazcano with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Voter registration deadline, Wo's elegible to vote, Register to vote, elections

• COMMISSIONERS COURT HIGHLIGHTS FOR MONDAY, MARCH 09,2009

  The County of El Paso Commissioners Court met in work session on Monday, March 9 at 9:30 a.m. and considered an agenda that included the following highlights:  EL PASO COUNTY SEEKS BOARD NOMINEES By unanimous vote, County Commissioners Anna Perez and Veronica Escobar were tasked by the members of the court to the nomination committee and the review of the resumes of the interested parties; Commissioner Escobar will chair the committee.  El Paso County is one of 8 institutions that can submit nominees to the Children's Hospital Board of Directors for consideration for appointment.    The County has two seats on the 11 member governing board and can submit up to six names.  El Paso County is now accepting names and will make the nominations to the Children's Hospital no later than the end of May.   To submit a resume, please fill out the board application posted at the following link:  http://www.elpasochildrenshospital.org/epchildrenshospital.nsf/72ae6521ee2218b087257522007cdd8c/a88fede221b2e08287257529005f7b9b/$FILE/ChildrensHospitalBoardApplication.pdf      TOOLS DONATED TO THE AGUA DULCE SELF-HELP CENTER  The non profit organization Keep El Paso Beautiful donated a fully stocked tool shed to the Self-Help Center located in the Agua Dulce Community. The tools will be lent to east county residents wanting to clean up their backyards or gardens. The tool shed provides county residents with a “lending library” of gardening tools like: Push brooms, shovels, rakes, hoes, cultivators, gloves and trash bags- all the necessary items for clean up and beautification projects. Residents who want to borrow tools - at no charge- must be 18 or older and present a valid ID at the time of pick up.    Posted Mar 09 2009, 02:49 PM by alazcano with 1 comment(s)

• NEWLY LIGHTED DRIVING RANGE DEBUTS AT ASCARATE GOLF COURSE

  (El Paso, TX) - Golfers now have one more way to enjoy the game at Ascarate Golf Course, now they can hit a bucket full of balls at night with its brand new lighted driving range offering a magnificent view to the Franklin Mountains. Golfers can buy a small bucket for $2.75 or a large for $4 dollars and perfect their swings at the 300-yard target shooting range or warm up before they play golf. The newly lighted driving range is located next to the Ascarate Golf Course, at the south end of the Ascarate Park on 6900 Delta Drive. A grand opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 07, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Golf Pro Tips, Refreshments, Free buckets and much more will be provided after 7:00 p.m. For additional information you may contact Esther Ramirez at (915) 772-7381.   IN BRIEF: WHAT:                                    GRAND OPENING                                                ASCARATE LIGHTED DRIVING RANGE                                WHEN:                                    Saturday, March 07, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. WHERE:                                   Ascarate Golf Course                                                6900 Delta Drive, El Paso, TX 79905 Equipment:                              The Course will PROVIDE                                                 FREE Buckets after 7:00 p.m.             (CCP.R.03-09-019) Posted Mar 06 2009, 04:45 PM by alazcano with no comments

• Commissioners Court Highlights for Monday, March 2, 2009

  The County of El Paso Commissioners Court met in work session on Monday, March 2 at 9:30 a.m. and considered an agenda that included the following highlights:   COUNTY RECOGNIZES MARCH AS "CESAR E. CHAVEZ AND SOCIAL JUSTICE MONTH" The members of the Commissioners Court approved and adopted a resolution declaring the month of March as the "Cesar E. Chavez and Social Justice Month." The resolution sponsored by County Commissioner Pct. 2 Veronica Escobar and seconded by the County Judge Anthony Cobos was approved by unanimous vote. The adopted resolution recognizes the life-long struggle and legacy of civil rights activist Cesar E. Chavez and his continuous fight to defend the rights of farm workers. By seeking social justice, equal rights, education, housing and fair treatment, Chavez gave hope to workers and peace activists alike throughout this nation. A third-generation Chicano farm worker, Chavez lived his life with dignity and nowadays is an icon for his profound dedication to human rights and social justice. By joining forces with Chicano activist and leader Dolores Huerta, he launched a people's revolution and together established the National Farm Workers Association, later to be known as the United Farm Workers. Representatives from the Centro de Salud Famiiar La Fe were present in today's meeting to receive the signed resolution.     COUNTY APPROVES 30-DAY OUTSIDE BURNING BAN In a five to cero vote, members of Commissioners Court approved a 30-day ban to outside burning in the unincorporated county areas. The fire restriction prohibits all open burning by private individuals; however, farmland and agricultural land were excluded. Farmers with a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will be allowed to burn in open land. Emergency Management officials encouraged the Commissioner's Court to approve the prohibition due to the upcoming windy season and the region's continuing drought. Unauthorized trash or bush burning is a class C misdemeanor offense punishable with a fine up to $500.   Posted Mar 02 2009, 04:30 PM by alazcano with no comments