Saturday marked exactly six months since a gunman stormed into First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and left 26 people dead. However, the small town observed the day not with sorrow but with a sense of rebirth as they broke ground at the site of their new church building.
Pastor Frank Pomeroy crumbles bread onto the ground where the new church will stand. (JOEY PALACIOS / TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO)
Six Months Later: Sutherland Springs Community Breaks Ground On New Sanctuary
(Photo: Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Report: After Donald Trump took office, ICE transfers jumped 60 percent in most populous Texas county
Even before last year’s protests, lawmaker scuffles and marathon committee hearings over “sanctuary” legislation, Texas counties were some of the most compliant when it came to immigration enforcement, a new study shows.
Pat Olivias, fire chief for Fort Davis, unloading ATVs at the base of Brown Mountain/Crows Nest. (Photo by Sally Beauvais / KRTS)
UPDATE: McDannald Fire Footprint Above 19,000 Acres, Now 61 Percent Contained
By late Monday the McDannald Ranch Fire — that’s believed to have been started by a lightning strike last week — had a footprint just above 19,000 acres and was 61 percent contained.
As of Sunday night, there were more than 400 personnel on the ground fighting the fire. (Photo: Texas A&M Forest Service)
Containment of the McDannald Fire Now at 59 Percent
As of late Sunday, fire officials reported the McDannald Ranch fire was now 59 percent contained.
The wildfire that’s believed to have been started by lightning strike early last week has affected an estimated 18,970 acres as of Sunday night.
A federal emergency management team is assisting local volunteer fire departments and the Texas Forest Service in coordinating response to the McDannald Ranch Fire. (Photo: Texas A&M Forest Service)
McDannald Fire Day 7: Containment at 39 Percent
Containment for the McDannald Ranch fire is now up to 39 percent, officials said Sunday morning.
The wildfire that’s believed to have been started by lightning strike early last week has affected an estimated 18,966 acres as of Sunday morning.
(Erik Hersman via Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
May Election Results Across West Texas
Voters across West Texas have decided on a range of issues and elected candidates to fill positions from city council to their local school board. This is a collection of some of the results.
McDannald Fire Day 6: Containment at 33 Percent
Containment for the McDannald Ranch fire is now up to 33 percent, officials said Saturday morning.
The wildfire that’s believed to have been started by lightning strike early Monday has affected an estimated 18,892 acres as of Saturday morning.
May 4th West Texas News Round Up
Like the region itself, the news of West Texas is sweeping in its scope. So to help us break it all down, we have news editors from across the region joining us. In this roundtable, we hear from Laura Dennis with the Odessa American and Robert Halpern at the Big Bend Sentinel-Marfa.
By Friday morning more than 350 personnel were in Fort Davis to help respond to the McDannald fire, including crews from up to 14 states. (Photo: Sally Beauvais / KRTS)
Friday Update: McDannald Fire Now Estimated at 19,000 Acres
This morning the new estimate for the McDannald Fire is now estimated at 18,892 acres and is 23 percent contained at this time.
Marfa Public Radio spoke with reporter Sally Beauvais who was at a fire briefing this morning.
Ilana Panich-Linsman/KUT
‘Jade Helm’ Conspiracy Theories Were Part Of Russian Disinformation Campaign, Former CIA Chief Says
The former head of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency says the hysteria over a 2015 U.S. military exercise in Central Texas, known as Operation Jade Helm 15, was caused or fed by Russians working to use information warfare.
MIGUEL GUTIERREZ JR. FOR KUT
What To Expect During The NRA Convention In Dallas This Weekend
Tens of thousands of people, including the president, vice president and top Texas elected officials, are gathering in Dallas later this week for the National Rifle Association’s 147th annual meeting. And protesters will be active throughout.
McDannald Ranch fire, as seen from Highway 17 south of Fort Davis Tuesday afternoon. (Photo: JP Schwartz)
UPDATE: McDannald Ranch Fire Now Estimated at 19,000 Acres
A wildfire that’s believed to have been started by lightning strike early Monday morning on McDannald Ranch, west of Brown Mountain in Jeff Davis County, is still burning.
Late Thursday night, the wildfire was reported to be down to 19,000 acres with 23 percent of it contained. That acreage represents the fire’s total footprint not the size of the active blaze. The fire’s Friday footprint is a drop from the 22,053 acres fire officials said the fire had spread across early Thursday morning.
(Photo Credit: Kendra Luedecke DuBois)
Report: Sparks from Train Start Fire Along Highway 90
Fort Davis Fire Department is now reporting a new start near 505 & Highway 90 that may have been caused by a spark from a train.
Initial reports say the blaze is an 1 acre in size. Valentine, Marfa, Fort Davis, and Texas Forest are responding.
The fungus that causes Valley fever is found in soil in the southwestern U.S., including parts of West Texas. (Photo: Jamie Loya/Flickr)
This Fungal Infection Can Be Found In Parts Of Texas, But It’s Hard To Track
Texas is among a small group of states with cases of Valley fever, a lung infection caused by breathing in a fungus called Coccidioides. The illness has been around for a long time, but hasn’t really gotten much attention – until recently.
Pat Olivias, fire chief for Fort Davis, unloading ATVs at the base of Brown Mountain/Crows Nest. (Photo by Sally Beauvais / KRTS)
Davis Mountains Resort Shelter Information
The McDannald ranch fire has grown on the northwest region of the Davis Mountains, affecting 12,000 acres as of Tuesday night. Fire crews will be in the Davis Mountains Resort setting up protective efforts this morning.
There is no mandatory evacuation for the DMR community, but officials are strongly encouraging residents to evacuate if they feel unsafe.
AG Ken Paxton at a press conference to recognize January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month on January 12, 2017. (Photo by Marjorie Kamys Cotera)
Texas and 6 other states sue to end DACA
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing to fight an Obama-era immigration measure that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants nationwide from deportation.
By Tuesday night, the McDannald ranch fire has affected 12,000 acres. This is the view from Highways 166 and 505. (Photo by Joe Williams)
McDannald Ranch Fire Still Burning in Davis Mountains
A wildfire that’s believed to have been started by lightning strike early Monday morning on McDannald Ranch, west of Brown Mountain in Jeff Davis County, is still burning.
Wednesday, May 2, 7:30 AM UPDATE: There is no formal evacuation order for residents of the Davis Mountains Resort. But fire officials in Jeff Davis County are encouraging residents to evacuate if they feel uncomfortable.
Crews will be in the DMR neighborhood today, setting up protective measures.
Tuesday May 1, 7:36 PM UPDATE: The McDannald fire is now estimated at 12,000 acres, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire is now 15 percent contained.
Tuesday May 1 @ 2:00 PM UPDATE: This afternoon, the Texas Forest Service updated the McDannald Ranch Fire at 10,000 acres, 10 percent contained.
The Blackwell School Alliance celebrated the unveiling of Marfa's new community mural with a performance by Mariachi Santa Cruz Saturday. (Photo: Diana Nguyen / KRTS)
Blackwell School Mural Tells Lesser-Known Stories of Marfa
As you drive west on Highway 90 into Marfa, you’ll spot a new landmark from the road: a community mural, painted in vivid colors on a wall of the Casner building adjacent to the Stripes gas station parking lot. Commissioned by the Blackwell School Alliance, the mural tells the lesser-known stories of the city’s history.
Company officials said. their New Shepard rocket reached an apogee of 351,000 ft.. (Photo Courtesy of Blue Origin)
Blue Origin Completes First Rocket Launch of 2018
The commercial space company Blue Origin completed another test launch this weekend at its West Texas facility in Van Horn. The mission is the company’s first of 2018.
Local volunteer firefighters from Alpine, Marathon, and Terlingua worked quickly to contain a grassland fire on Thursday south of Alpine. (Photo: Brewster County Sheriff's Office)
South Double Diamond Grassland Fire Contained
Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson says a grassland fire that broke out south of Alpine Thursday afternoon has been contained, following several flare ups this morning.
(Photo by Austin Price for KUT)
Women Incarcerated In Texas Have Fewer Opportunities Than Men, Report Finds
Incarcerated women in Texas have access to fewer educational and vocational programs compared to incarcerated men, a new study finds.
Photo by Martin do Nascimento/KUT
Federal Judge Gives Trump Administration 90 Days to Explain Why DACA Ended
If the administration cannot come up with an explanation that suits the court, then the DACA program will be reinstated in full.
Marfa Public Radio Wins Nine Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards
Marfa Public Radio has won nine regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for excellence in electronic journalism.
It’s the highest number of awards the station has received since its founding in 2005.
Signs point the way to the Border Patrol's Big Bend Sector headquarters in Marfa, Texas. (Travis Bubenik / KRTS)
In Big Bend Sector, National Guard Troops Arrive for Training, Assignments
As part of President Trump’s call to curb illegal immigration, earlier this month he asked border states to send National Guard troops to the U.S./Mexico border. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to eventually send 1,400 troops.
In West Texas’s Big Bend sector, guard members arrived on Monday.
Lower courts have ruled that the district represented by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett was drawn in such a way that it discriminates against members of minority groups. (Photo by Austin Price/KUT)
U.S. Supreme Court Set To Hear Texas Redistricting Case
The High Court will hear oral arguments in a case stemming from maps drawn by the Texas legislature in 2011 that have been ruled invalid by lower courts.
Chris Estrada has pleaded no contest to charges related to the disappearance of Sul Ros student Zuzu Verk. (Photo Courtesy of Brewster County Sheriff's Office)
Estrada Pleads No Contest to Charges in Zuzu Verk Case
A West Texas man has pleaded no contest to charges he was involved in the disappearance of a Sul Ros student in 2016.
Dr. Ron Green (Image Courtesy of Southwest Research Institute)
Dr. Ron Green on Understanding West Texas Water
In the early 1950s, over-pumping water in Pecos County led to Comanche Springs drying out. In an effort to not repeat history, researchers are now trying to better understand West Texas’ water systems and how to properly manage them. This research is spurred by growing interest in the Balmorhea area from the oil and gas industry.
Dr. Ron Green is a groundwater hydrologist with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. He joined us to talk about the current understanding of water systems in West Texas, and some of the research that will happen in the near future.
Manny Varona-Torres and Dr. Zacariah Hildenbrand (Diana Nguyen for Marfa Public Radio)
U.T. Arlington’s C.L.E.A.R. is Researching Produced Water Recycling
The upswing of oil and gas production has spurred scientists and researchers to look at ways to diminish the potential impact of oil and gas production on water resources. In West Texas, part of the solution could mean finding effective ways to recycle produced water — waste byproduct made during oil and gas production.
Diana Nguyen speaks with Dr. Zacariah Hildenbrand from the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis Remediation(C.L.E.A.R) about recent research on recycling produced water. The organization partnered with the company Challenger Water Solutions to conduct this research, which Hildenbrand says has been successful.
“The implications for this are…to improve environmental stewardship, but also to save companies money in their operating costs,” Hildenbrand says.
He joined us to talk about the research, its implications, and the water monitoring C.L.E.A.R has been conductingin Balmorhea since 2016.
Molly Adams/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Congressmen Push A Rare Strategy To Debate A Replacement For DACA
A seldom used rule would put pressure on Speaker Ryan to bring the DREAM Act and other immigration bills to the floor.
Alpine High School students walk out to protest gun violence (Carlos Morales/KRTS)
PHOTOS: In Alpine and Across the Nation, Students Walk Out to Protest Gun Violence
Students from across the country walked out of their classes today to protest gun violence in schools. The National School Walkout also marks 19 years since a shooting at Columbine High School that killed thirteen people.
In Alpine, students joined the protest – marching from their campus to downtown – even after the school’s administration said there would be disciplinary action for those that chose to walk out.
Photo provided by family.
Brewster County Officials Searching for Missing Man
Forty-nine-year-old Jesus Jose Estrada Valles has been reported missing. The Brewster County Sheriff’s office is seeking any information concerning his whereabouts.
State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, debates an amendment to HB1 on April 1, 2011. (Photo by Bob Daemmrich)
Texas regulator says “misunderstanding” is making millennials shun oilfield jobs
Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian told House lawmakers on Wednesday that the biggest threat to a burgeoning oil boom is “the acceptance of the politically-correct-driven environmental anti-oil and gas science.”
Texas Is Resettling Almost 80 Percent Fewer Refugees
Texas has resettled dramatically fewer refugees in the past year, figures from Refugee Services of Texas show.
Here’s Why the Best Wildflower Grow Along Texas Highways
Thanks to TxDOT, thousands of Texas wildflowers bloom for family photos.
Thu. May 3 Interview: Music and Community in Terlingua
On this episode, William “Chase” Peeler talks about his research on music and its vital role in community and identity building in Terlingua. Peeler received his doctorate in ethnomusicology at the University of Colorado Boulder. His dissertation is called “On the Porch: Music and Community in Terlingua, Texas.” He is currently working on turning his research into a book.
Peeler discusses the uniqueness of the inclusive participatory music scene in the town. “You have people who have only been playing their instruments for a matter of weeks playing right along side people who have been playing for decades,” he says. “That’s a really special thing that doesn’t happen often enough, but it should.”
Peeler also discusses some of the changes residents are experiencing in south Brewster County.
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The Porch (Courtesy of Chase Peeler) -
The Porch (Courtesy of Chase Peeler) -
The Porch (Courtesy of Chase Peeler) -
The Porch (Courtesy of Chase Peeler)
West Texas Talk is broadcast live at 6:30 pm each weekday.
Tagged Music, Terlingua, The Porch, the starlight theater
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Students from the Art School of Nantes perform one-time-only concert in Marfa
Marfa is once again visited by students of the Art School of Nantes in France. This year, five students; Eva Dauga, Meg Boury, Paul Garcin, Louise Masson, and Opale Mirman, have formed Tape8, a band created to perform once, and only once, in Marfa, with songs written for the one-time Marfa audience. The group of students, who are not musicians, performed at the Lost Horse Saloon and joined Ian Lewis in the studio to talk about their performance
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Tape8; students from the Art School of Nantes in France.
Walls
On this edition of The Rambling Boy, Lonn gives his thoughts on walls of all shapes and sizes – From the Great Wall of China to proposed, modern-day iterations.
The Rambling Boy is broadcast Mondays after the 10 am newscast and again after the 7 pm newscast.
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Encountering an Epic Story, at Big Bend’s Fossil Discovery Exhibit
Shining peaks and blood-red desert wastes. Canyons that overwhelm the human scale. Big Bend National Park is an international destination, and a West Texas wonder. Its landscapes have the power to awe and humble. But scientists have found that these … Continue reading
Nature Notes is broadcast Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:35 am and 4:45 pm.
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Thu. Apr 26 Interview: Ballroom Marfa’s Stone Circle and Blackwell School Alliance’s Marfa Storybook Mural
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stone circle (Alex Marks, Courtesy of Ballroom Marfa and Lisson Gallery) -
Haroon Mirza (Diana Nguyen for Marfa Public Radio) -
Martin “Blastr” Zubia, Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado, and Victor “Mask” Casas (Diana Nguyen for Marfa Public Radio) -
Cimi prepares the mural for installation (Carlos Morales for Marfa Public Radio)
On this episode, Diana Nguyen speaks to two artists with work debuting this weekend in Marfa.
First, internationally acclaimed artist Haroon Mirza joins us to talk about stone circle, his newest work with Ballroom Marfa.
“The work features black marble boulders that produce patterns of electronic sound and light from energy generated by solar panels. Each of the eight stones in the circle is carved to integrate LEDs and speakers. The ninth stone, the “mother” stone, sits outside the circle. The mother stone’s solar panels charge a bank of batteries that will power a sound and light score that we will activate with each full moon.”
Mirza hopes that people will forget their own relationship with the sculpture, regardless of what activities may be involved. “It’s not up to me to judge or prescribe. It can be whatever it needs to be. And I think that’s what these monuments sort of represent,” he says.
The “solar symphony” will take place on Sunday, April 29th at 9:03 pm. The location of the sculpture is at the end of Golf Course Road, across from The Marfa Municipal Golf Course.
El Paso-based Muralist Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado also joins us to discuss Marfa’s newest mural. The work is commissioned by the Blackwell School Alliance, and seeks to celebrate the culture and heritage of Marfa.
Alvarado discusses the importance of telling stories of Mexican Americans, how murals can serve as a point of pride, and how El Paso’s Segundo Barrio has influenced his work.
The mural will be unveiled during the first Blackwell Block Party on April 28, 2018. The celebration will begin at the mural on the east side of Marfa’s Casner Building at 11 am.
West Texas Talk is broadcast live at 6:30 pm each weekday.
Tagged Ballroom Marfa, Blackwell School Alliance, Cimi, Stone Circle
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