KRTS 93.5 FM Marfa Public Radio

It’s been a year since a formal border crossing linking Big Bend National Park and the tiny Mexican village of Boquillas del Carmen was opened.

For generations, Boquillas was a popular tourist stop for visitors to the national park, but the crossing was sealed after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Over the last decade the economy in Boquillas crumbled – families moved away looking for work, businesses shut down and houses were left to the elements.

But now that tourist dollars have started flowing south again, people in Boquillas say the town is coming back to life.

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A wildfire that spread into West Texas from Mexico is coming under control, according to Presidio Fire Chief, Miguel Gonzalez, on Wednesday (April 23).

The fire began in Mexico and high winds spread it across the border to the north, into a rugged area of south Presidio County. It burned in the country roughly between the towns of Candelaria and Ruidosa. Crews fought the fire late into the night on April 21-23, with volunteers staying as late as 2 AM.

On Tuesday, the blaze threatened the town of Candelaria, until strategic back burning helped to divert the flames.

“The fire was behind a house, close to a backyard of a home (in Candelaria),” said Gonzalez, “and we were able to extinguish it there.”

Gonzalez told KRTS News that at least four electrical power poles in Mexico were destroyed, causing power loss along the border there.

The City of Marfa drains water lines on Tuesday (Tom Michael/KRTS)

The City of Marfa says water service will not be shut off today, but that water will be shutoff again Thursday morning. 

The interruption will begin at 8:30 am tomorrow morning, and water will remain shut off until work is finished for the day.

The city is currently working on repairs and maintenance as a part of a valve replacement project that’s expected to take several months.

Residents of Marfa are reminded to have a stockpile of water supplies ready for tomorrow’s shutoff, and to pour water into toilets when flushing while the water off.

The city says not pouring water into toilets while flushing is likely what caused problems with yesterday’s repairs and led to delays.

Marfa Public Radio (KRTS 93.5 FM) won six regional Edward R. Murrow Awards today from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).

The 2014 awards recognize the best electronic journalism produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world. Marfa Public Radio competes in Region 6 and captured top honors in six categories:

• Newscast
• Breaking News   (on the Fall 2013 Ice Storm)
• News Series   (Taramuhara: Challenge in the Sierra Madre)
• Hard News Reporting   (USDA Pullout From Mexico)
• Use of Sound   (Holidays in West Texas)
• Website

“The Murrow Awards honor journalism at its finest,” said Mike Cavender, Executive Director of RTDNA. “Local newsrooms serve their communities 365 days a year, and we’re proud to recognize the great work they do.”

Fronteras Desk Reporter Lorne Matalon won for Breaking News, News Series, and Hard News Reporting. News Director Tom Michael won for Use of Sound. Matalon and Michael appeared on the winning Newscast, along with K Yoland.

Marfa Public Radio was one of only five small-market stations across the country to win in six categories. In the large market radio, WBHM, in Birmingham, Ala. paved the way with eight regional Murrows. Their news department is led by former KRTS staffer Rachel Osier Lindley.

Regional winners automatically advance to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition, which will be judged in May. A complete list of the 2014 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards winners can be found here.

With budgets already reduced and with more cuts on the way, federal environmental regulators are expected to be doing fewer inspections of industries that pollute. And if state environmental regulators were expected to take up the slack, many of them — including those in Texas —- are dealing with budget cuts of their own.

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(Living Off Grid via Flickr CC BY-SA)

Two new solar plants are one step closer to construction in Presidio County.

Last night (Monday, April 21), the Marfa ISD School Board voted 4-1 to approve partial property tax abatements for two electricity generators. The Alpine 1 Solar project would be located near Paisano Pass, and Solar Star Texas II would build a plant just east of Marfa.

Both firms agreed to pay the school the maximum allowed supplemental payment of $100 per student per year, which means each firm would pay the school about $32,000 each year for the next ten years.

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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.”

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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