UPDATE: An additional 6,116 new unemployment claims were filed the week ending March 27, bringing the two-week total to almost 10,000. In the two weeks prior, just over 600 initial unemployment claims were filed. The number of El Pasoans filing for unemployment jumped tenfold last week as businesses began to close or scale back operations […]
Posted inCoronavirus
You Just Panic-Bought a Gun. Here’s How to Handle It Safely.
By Alain Stephens/The Trace You did it. You just joined the ranks of the millions of Americans who own a gun. I’ve had years of experience handling firearms — as part of my work in the military and law enforcement, recreationally, and for home defense. For many people, however, the novel coronavirus has been the catalyst […]
Posted inCoronavirus
El Paso issues ‘Stay Home, Work Safe’ order, closing non-essential businesses and keeping people at home
Beginning Wednesday, El Pasoans will be under orders to stay home and nonessential businesses must close their doors, the latest and most extreme measure yet taken to slow the spread of coronavirus. The new order — which is called “Stay Home, Work Safe” — will further disrupt El Paso’s economy, where new unemployment claims have […]
Posted inCoronavirus
El Paso’s YWCA is caring for first responders’ children while facing its own financial crisis. How coronavirus is hammering nonprofits.
Medical professionals and first responders are relying on the YWCA of El Paso for child-care services while they respond to the coronavirus pandemic. But the agency’s CEO worries how long that can continue as the YWCA Paso del Norte Region faces its own unprecedented financial crisis. “We have an amazing team and they are committed […]
Posted inCoronavirus
El Paso hospitals prohibit visitors, with limited exceptions
El Paso’s major hospitals are prohibiting visitors effective Monday as part of the growing effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. The county’s three major systems — The Hospitals of Providence, Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, El Paso Children’s Hospital and University Medical Center — announced the change in a rare joint statement. “While we […]
Posted inCoronavirus
How to spot coronavirus fake news – an expert guide
By Samantha Vanderslott, University of Oxford The proliferation of fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic has been labelled a dangerous “infodemic”. Fake news spreads faster and more easily today through the internet, social media and instant messaging. These messages may contain useless, incorrect or even harmful information and advice, which can hamper the public health […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Free bus rides and greater restrictions on border crossings. Here’s what’s new in El Paso’s coronavirus response.
El Paso’s Department of Public Health has implemented new restrictions effective Saturday in line with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order earlier in the week. The United States and Mexico limited who will be allowed to cross borders. The city also has waived fares on Sun Metro transit vehicles. Here’s an update on how life […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Texas restaurants are asking for tax relief from the state. But officials say they need those revenues during the pandemic.
By Mitchell Ferman and Ross Ramsey/Texas Tribune HOUSTON — Up against a Friday deadline, the broad base of workers in the Texas restaurant industry have asked Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials to waive monthly sales taxes due by the end of the day. Bobby Heugel, owner of several popular bars and restaurants in Houston, said many […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Coronavirus could overwhelm El Paso area hospitals if not slowed, Harvard projections show
Local, state and federal officials have taken unprecedented steps to control the spread of coronavirus. School and churches are closed. Restaurants can only serve to-go meals and bars are shuttered. “Social distancing” has become a part of our lexicon. These are all steps to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus cases, meaning to avoid sharp increases […]
Posted inCoronavirus
New El Paso coronavirus restrictions that workers, business owners and parents need to know
The El Paso Department of Public Health issued a series of new orders this week that will alter much of day-to-day life during the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the attention has been on the impacts on bars or restaurants, but many other establishments are affected. How workplaces must change Businesses must have staff work remotely […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Here’s what you can do if you’ve lost your El Paso job because of coronavirus
Tens of thousands of El Pasoans are likely to lose their jobs in the coming weeks as businesses close or drastically scale back because of the coronavirus pandemic. State and regional workforce offices are offering quicker unemployment benefits and trying to place some people in new jobs. What to know about filing for unemployment “As […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Social distancing is key to slowing coronavirus. That’s a shock to border culture
The Trejo family has been careful about handwashing and using hand-sanitizer to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but when it came time to part ways near the Paso del Norte international bridge, they hugged each other. “As we were hugging, I thought, ‘Oh no, we should have given each other a little elbow tap,’” […]
Posted inCoronavirus
El Paso City Council orders bar closures, restaurant restrictions to fight coronavirus
The El Paso City Council ordered bars closed and placed strict limits on restaurant operations, part of ongoing responses to the coronavirus that have suspended normal life. Health officials said they were worried about St. Patrick’s Day celebrations planned hours later, though the order later posted by health officials said the closure requirement takes effect […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Migrants brought from Mexico to El Paso court hearings, despite coronavirus objections
EL PASO – Despite opposition from judges, government attorneys and immigration lawyers, 31 migrants were brought from Mexico on Monday for court hearings in El Paso, a city with two presumptive coronavirus cases. The migrants, including about a dozen children, were wearing face masks as they walked from vans into the immigration court building Monday […]
Posted inHealth
El Paso allowing restaurants, bars to continue operations during coronavirus pandemic
Restaurants and bars are an increasing focal point in efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, with some cities and states ordering closures or other limits. But El Paso officials Sunday said it was still OK for people to go out for food and beverages, though they urged caution. “We don’t have big restaurants where […]
Posted inImmigration
Freed hunger striker describes the past four months in ICE custody as “torture”
An asylum seeker who went on a 110-day hunger strike to force his freedom describes his recent months in an El Paso immigration detention center as repeated torture. “When they force-fed me they tortured me a lot. They come to me and they tell me, we’ll send you back to your country, you can’t stay […]
Posted inHealth
El Paso’s food bank is scrambling to feed hundreds of seniors during the coronavirus emergency. You can help
The city of El Paso has temporarily closed its senior centers to protect the population most at risk from the coronavirus. But the move has cut off about 900 senior citizens from their regular weekday lunches. The community’s food bank, El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, is moving to quickly fill the nutrition void by assembling food […]
Posted inEducation
El Paso schools offering free breakfast, lunch to children during extended closings
El Paso school children are on spring break this week. The city’s Department of Public Health has ordered that no children be allowed to return to school until at least April 6. Children and school employees who have traveled outside the El Paso region will not be allowed in school until 14 days after their […]
Posted inElection
El Paso primary voters were older this year than in 2016
El Paso primary election voters were older this year than in the last presidential primaries four years ago, an El Paso Matters analysis of county voting records shows. The median age of El Paso voters this year (meaning half were older and half were younger) was 58 years old, up from 56 years old in […]
Posted inImmigration
ICE will free an asylum seeker it has force-fed for 3 months in El Paso
An asylum seeker from Nepal who has been force-fed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso for more than three months could be released from custody this week, his attorneys said. The asylum seeker, a 22-year-old man who asked to be identified only by the initials KC because his political opponents in Nepal want […]
Posted inJustice
Juárez joins in Mexican protests of violence against women and girls
CIUDAD JUAREZ – Protesters in Ciudad Juárez joined others across Mexico on International Women’s Day in marching to demand justice amid escalating violence against women and girls. About 500 demonstrators gathered at the Paso del Norte Bridge ahead of the march through downtown Juárez to remember missing and murdered women and girls in El Paso’s […]
Posted inBusiness & Economy
El Paso, Doña Ana county wages show strong growth but continue to trail national levels
Strong growth in the private sector and most government sectors sharply pushed up wages in El Paso and Doña Ana counties in the third quarter of 2019, according to new federal data. Doña Ana County average weekly wages increased 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2019 (July-September) compared to the same period a year […]
Posted inGovernment
Lawsuit against city of El Paso in 2015 police shooting can go to trial, judge rules
UPDATE: The trial for this lawsuit has been postponed because of COVID-19. District Judge Philip Martinez has said he will set a new trial date sometime after May 31. A jury should decide whether a 2015 police shooting death of an El Paso man in a mental health crisis may be traced to poor training […]
Posted inImmigration
ICE has force-fed an asylum seeker in El Paso for almost three months
A 23-year-old asylum seeker from Nepal has not eaten voluntarily in more than 100 days and has been force-fed for most of the last three months, the latest and longest in a series of hunger strikes at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in El Paso. The man, who asked that El Paso Matters […]
Posted inElection
Bernie Sanders won El Paso, but Joe Biden showed a late rush
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won El Paso County in the Super Tuesday Democratic primary, but former Vice President Joe Biden made a late surge after gaining endorsements from prominent Democrats in El Paso and across the country. Biden won a large victory in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, which led Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former […]
Posted inElection
Primary early vote points to signs of Trump-era political shifts in El Paso
El Paso is showing signs of partisan realignment since the election of President Trump, according to an El Paso Matters analysis of early voting data for Tuesday’s primary elections. Early voting ran Feb. 18-28. The Republican early voting electorate looks much different than the 2016 GOP primary voters in El Paso. The changing electorate has […]
Posted inElection
Bloomberg, Sanders push for El Paso votes ahead of Super Tuesday primary
On a sunny, breezy day, Taylor Sanchez knocks on doors in a neighborhood on El Paso’s west side, campaigning for presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. Most of those answering the door have seen the flood of campaign ads airing on local television. Her mission now is getting people to the polls. “El Paso doesn’t vote and […]
Posted inFeatured
Astronaut Danny Olivas is one of UTEP’s most celebrated alums. A bungled contract shattered their relationship.
A 10-month investigation by El Paso Matters shows that UTEP was slow to answer Olivas’ concerns and those responses were incomplete and inaccurate at times. The investigation found that errors by the university’s Office of Research and Sponsored Projects went undiscovered for years, in part because the university’s internal controls didn’t call for regular financial […]
Posted inElection
Early voting, Day 8: Democrat turnout surpasses 2016 with 3 days left
Early voting in the March 3 Texas primary elections is underway and continues through Friday, Feb. 28. El Paso Matters is tracking the demographic profile of El Paso voters and will update the turnout details as data become available each day. If you have a question about voter demographics, email bmoore@elpasomatters.org. Here’s how things look […]
Posted inElection
Early voting, Day 7: GOP voters much younger than 2016, Democrats older
Early voting in the March 3 Texas primary elections is underway and continues through Friday, Feb. 28. El Paso Matters is tracking the demographic profile of El Paso voters and will update the turnout details as data become available each day. If you have a question about voter demographics, email bmoore@elpasomatters.org. Here’s how things look […]