KRTS 93.5 FM Marfa Public Radio

The Presidio County 4-H Club held its 2^nd Annual County Fair at the big red barn in Marfa last weekend. Although it drew many spectators, the focus of the event was on showcasing the accomplishments of young 4-H members in the community.

The day’s activities included youth roping, horse riding, and archery, with contests in baking, quilting, veterinary science, wildlife identification and Ag-Mechanics. At the Outdoor Challenge table, participants were invited to test their ability to identify the skulls and pelts of local wildlife, including many species of deer and large predatory birds.  

I spoke to Zorayma Lackey, whose son won first place in the Junior Level Photography contest. 

“I mean we like the leadership skills that he has gained, and then also the responsibility. I think 4H has helped him a lot in his growth and development, too,” she said.

The 4-H spirit permeated the event. Banners hanging around the barn were printed with the motto, “Yes, 4-H is more than cows, pigs and chickens!” Texas 4-H Leader Kimberlie Kirkpatrick echoes this sentiment.

“It’s just teaching you what you can do outside of school and sports. You can make stuff with your hands, and it’s just learning about different things that might help you in the real live world,” she said.

Bailey Walker, a senior at Marfa ISD, won first place in the Ag-Mechanics contest. Her entry was a hand-forged, hand-bent metal table designed to look like a tree. And not just any tree – it’s modeled after the Whomping Willow, a tree in the Harry Potter series. It took Bailey four months to make her table.

“It kind of fits into the contemporary art that we have going on in Marfa now, which is something new, and I’m not against or fully for. I’m just kind of in the middle, and this is my creation to go into it,” she said.

Bailey sees her place in the larger community of makers here in Marfa.

“At this point I’ve been inspired and I want to become an Ag teacher, to continue, and to let people know that agriculture is definitely the way to go, and you really still need it.”

The Terlingua Common School District’s Board of Directors met last night, which wouldn’t usually attract much attention were it not for next month’s Democratic runoff for Brewster County Judge.

County politics wasn’t on the agenda and wasn’t discussed at the board’s meeting, but Lorne Matalon reports it’s still a development that’s drawn attention.

Matalon joined us during Morning Edition to talk about how it’s still not clear whether the district’s apparent foray into politics was intentional or not.

While Congress is showing no signs of moving forward on passing comprehensive immigration reform, the complicated issue was spotlighted Tuesday night in a heated debate between state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro.

Patrick and Castro aren’t running against each other for political office; Castro isn’t running for anything right now.

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A state appeals court has thwarted a challenge to a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in West Texas – a ruling that signals growing difficulties for those trying to scrutinize the decisions of Texas environmental regulators.

Depending on whom you ask, such a trend would either rightly save companies time and money or unjustly bar citizens from fully sharing their environmental concerns.

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Thanks again to all of our listeners and members for your support during our Spring Membership Drive!

Listener support is essential to this non-profit station, and we’re eternally grateful for your pledges and feedback. We like to keep these drives short and sweet, and we’re excited now to get back to bringing you in-depth reporting and quality news and entertainment around the clock.

Remember if you haven’t yet chipped in, you still can! Just click here to make your pledge.

Special thanks to all of our local business sponsors for offering up special premium gifts for the drive. Our thanks to:

Hotel Paisano
Kiowa Gallery
Celebration Liquor
Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Marfa Gliders
Food Shark & Future Shark
Maiya’s Restaurant
Cochineal
Marfa Maid Goat Dairy
Pretty Bird Salon
Twin Peaks Liquors
Artisan Randy Glover
Big Bend Brewing Company
Big Bend Coffee Roasters

A huge thanks as well to all of our dedicated members who offered up match challenges during the drive!

Federal prosecutors in Texas and New Mexico are dealing with a series of unusual cases.

Ten drug smuggling crimes have been traced to a man from a Mennonite community in Mexico who is alleged to have duped the victims.

The seduction starts with a classified ad in the paper, one that 23-year-old named Juan was drawn to. He asks that his last name not be revealed; he’s frightened there may be retribution if the man who placed the ad — identified by U.S. attorneys and the victims as David Giesprecht Fehr — finds him.

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On a Tuesday afternoon, the sun set over Kokernut Park in Alpine while a group of hula hoopers enjoyed the scenery to exercise, dance and converse about their daily lives. Marlys Hersey of The Big Bend Gazette started this hula hoop meet-up — or what’s also known as a “hoop jam” in the hooping community — back in March of 2013. The group has grown to over 50 people, where they meet each week — with meetings at the Granada Theatre every 1st and 3rd Monday and every 2nd and 4th Sunday at Kokernut Park.

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It’s not as though Gabby Carballo is trying desperately to escape her hometown of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She is wary of what the “escape the violence” media narrative has done to the city’s image in recent years.

Gabby does, however, live on this side of the border in El Paso, Texas. She has the same visa as hundreds of other Mexican nationals living in far West Texas. It’s the F1, issued to full-time international students studying in the US. Currently there are 51 F1 students enrolled at the University of Texas Permian Basin, 14 at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, and 1800 at the University of Texas El Paso. Out of those 1800 at UTEP, around 1200 are Mexican citizens. UTEP is a “commuter school” – and more than 500 students cross the border from Ciudad Juárez to the El Paso Campus every day.

Gabby is a recent graduate of UTEP. She commuted from Juárez to El Paso for her first several years of school, a trip that could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. She moved to El Paso in 2011, when she decided that the commute was no longer worth it. She has graduated and is nearing the end of her 60 day grace period in the US.

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We made it! Thanks to your generous support, we’ll be bringing youth media back to West Texas for a second year of the KRTS Youth Media Project.

Over 80 donors contributed a total of $7,876 to our Kickstarter campaign, exceeding our goal by more than $700. Some of those funds will go to this year’s student producers, who will pitch, write and produce their own radio stories at the KRTS studios over the next 8 weeks. The students will present their work to the community at a Listening Party at the Marfa Book Company in early May.

The project begins next week. We can’t wait to find out what kinds of stories the next generation of public radio producers and reporters are interested in telling. Stay tuned!

Never miss a city council meeting? Always finding interesting stories in the Big Bend? Go to a lot of community events or concerts? If you’re interested in sharing your knowledge and experience with Marfa Public Radio listeners, become one of our volunteer Community Correspondents.

We’re looking for engaged citizens from across the Big Bend. A Community Correspondent assists Marfa Public Radio with news gathering and producing stories from the community you live in.
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