By Mitch Borden
Permian Basin roads are buckling under the strain of commercial traffic as the region’s oil industry booms. Congested roads are stifling production and creating public safety hazards, but a recent federal grant may relieve some of the stress put on the region’s infrastructure.
Dr. Katie Ray checks on pregnant patient Reba Griggs at a rural community clinic in Marfa. Griggs spent the first half of her pregnancy traveling to hospitals three hours away in Odessa before transferring to Ray’s clinic. (Natalie Krebs)
By Natalie Krebs
Forty years ago, nearly all of the state’s rural hospitals delivered babies, but today, that only happens in about 40 percent of those facilities. That’s because many obstetrics units are closing down.
This week Wisconsin retailer Shopko announced it would close 39 stores in 19 states across the country, including one in Presidio.
The announcement comes as the company is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
Aerial view of the tent city at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. The shelter opened in June and has grown approximately 10 times in size, compared to file photos. Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune.
After receiving several contract extensions, the tent city’s operators say they want the government to find a long-term solution. But they also don’t want to abandon the children held there.
Roseland Klein, host of “Classical Midday,” posing with her mannequins while enjoying a glass of champagne. (Diana Nguyen)
There’s no denying it — Classical Midday host and longtime Fort Davis resident Roseland Klein is in great shape. Roseland, lovingly known as the matriarch of Marfa Public Radio, is celebrating her 90th birthday on Saturday, December 8th. And like many of us … Continue reading
An Austin Police officer on a motorcycle on I-35 near downtown Austin on May 10, 2016. (Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / KUT)
A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit is suing the Texas Department of Public Safety over its automatic driver license-suspension program. The suit alleges the state’s Driver Responsibility Program has unconstitutionally suspended 1.4 million Texans’ licenses for failure to pay fines.
For a long time, 911 calls for car wrecks and traumatic accidents in Glasscock County were few and far between. But the calls have now doubled. (Mitch Borden/Marfa Public Radio)
By Mitch Borden
Driving in the Permian Basin can be dangerous. Roads are packed, huge commercial trucks barrel down the highways, drivers can be careless. The rate of fatal car crashes in the region is rising steeply.
This increase can be difficult and personal for first responders who see these wrecks and take care of the injured.
A Health and Human Services-operated tent shelter housing migrant children in Tornillo, TX will remain open until at least the end of the year. (Courtesy HHS)
A federal agency says they will now retroactively perform FBI-fingerprint checks on all employees at a temporary shelter for migrant children in West Texas.
Initial background checks were less rigorous.
Currently, Presidio residents have to drive 85 miles to Alpine or 150 miles to Fort Stockton to get in-person driver's license services. (Sally Beauvais / Marfa Pubic Radio)
In Presidio, a drivers license office that’s been shuttered for months is on track to reopen in January. The Department of Public Safety halted services there in August, as local branches grappled with a staffing shortage.
Now, city officials in Presidio say DPS is training former employee Alma Martin — who worked for department for 28 years before retiring in 2016 — to reopen the office. She’ll be able to offer both license renewals and driving tests for area residents.
On this edition of the Rambling Boy, Lonn investigates the colorful history of Fort Davis through the historical markers in the area.
For the rest of December, we’ll be revisiting our favorite interviews and stories from the past year on West Texas Talk.
In September, Rachel Monroe spoke to writer Claire Dederer when she was in town for a residency with the Lannan Foundation. Dederer is the author of two acclaimed memoirs –Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses and Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning.
She’s currently working on Monsters, her forthcoming book that investigates good art made by bad people. The book is based on her viral 2017 essay for the Paris Review, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”
Dederer is a long-time contributor to the New York Times, and her essays, criticism, and reviews have also appeared in the Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, Vogue, Slate, Salon, New York, Elle, and many other publications.
Hueco Tanks State Park, east of El Paso, contains an ancient rock art legacy unlike any in West Texas, or in North America. Thousands of painted images on stone outcroppings suggest this was a place of tremendous importance, of sacred … Continue reading
Union Pacific Locomotive 4141 will transport George H.W. Bush’s remains from Spring to College Station.
By Mitch Borden
In less than a week, some Midland voters, will decide who will be the latest to join the Midland Independent School District’s Board of Trustees. A race for the District 5 seat is in a runoff between former teacher Heidi Kirk and Midland County Library Director John Trischitti.
And voters in this corner of the district have a lot on their minds when it comes to education.
