Here are the early voting statistics:

Have you noticed the lack of activity from the candidates?

The election is today (Saturday, December 15, 2018).

Please vote.

We deserve better

Brutus

How can you be a legal resident seeking to become a legal resident?

The amendment to the year-end spending bill would end "catch and release" and provide $5 bill...

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A loyal reader sent this in:

On the night of a full moon this fall my wife was driving west on Robinson shortly after moonrise. She came around one of those blind bends in the road and almost ran over a photographer with a tripod in the middle of the road, obviously attempting to get a good photo of a gorgeous full moon. He was wearing all black – there was no warning that he was in the middle of the road.

One morning shortly afterwards I was standing at the traffic light at Mesa and Baltimore waiting for the ‘walk’ sign to light up – it was around 8 o’clock, in the heart of the morning rush. A gentleman with a cane left the Baltimore side of the intersection while the walk light was flashing red and counting down from 9. Naturally, he didn’t make it all the way across so he was stranded on the median. He waited until the crossing southbound traffic ebbed then continued to cross – against the light.

My mind flashed to the news of the Thanksgiving morning fatality on Mesa just a block south of there, and to the news of the recent conviction of the driver involved in the March 2017 death of a nurse at another nearby intersection.

There have been several pedestrian fatalities in the area and, except for the elderly couple hit in broad daylight while crossing Mesa near the Village Inn, they seem to have several things in common:

• They were late at night or early in the morning,
• The drivers involved some mixture of alcohol, speeding, and/or running red lights.
• The victims had been drinking/partying/celebrating/socializing in the Kern Area.

Our natural reaction is to be outraged at the drunk driver. Obviously we should blame the driver. Let’s also blame the state – Mesa Street is a state highway, they ought to do something. Also, blame the city, the police department should have prevented it.

Many people have proposed solutions, including:

• Narrow Mesa down to one lane each way (forget that it is one of only two alternatives to I-10 when it is congested by an accident).

• Construct a pedestrian bridge (it would have to be ADA compliant and there is little space to work with, but be honest, people probably wouldn’t use it anyway).
• Install speed bumps, or add automatic bollards that pop up when the light is red.
• Increase police presence (and more importantly, increase enforcement).
• Add more lighting.
• Tunnel the road under the area or elevate the road over the area.
• Close the bars.

• Someone’s Grandma said, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”
• Mesa Street is dangerous.
• Dark clothes may be stylish, but they also make you hard to see at night.
• You may be in the right, but you could be dead right.

It is not my intent to blame the victims of the Kern Area pedestrian accidents, or to minimize the recklessness and possible criminality of the drivers. The incidents were tragic; young lives were shortened and the survivors grieve.

Pedestrians in the Kern Area have to be aware that there is danger. If you are crossing Mesa Street on foot, you are playing Frogger and you are potential splatter. Even if you cross at a controlled intersection, with the pedestrian walk light in your favor, it is still dangerous. Watch the traffic, be prepared to evade it.

If pedestrians are not careful, IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.

PASO CANOAS, Costa Rica ? At least every other day...

In a little more than a year after opening, the bookstore Literarity has become an important fixture in El Paso’s literary community in promoting regional authors and poets for readings and book sales.

The locally owned store sells new and used books as well as collectible books, rare books and signed first editions. Owners Bill and Mary Anna Clark wanted to create a welcoming shop for book lovers to browse through and included events where they can mingle with writers.

“With most authors, it’s really focused on their new book,” Bill Clark said. “At the same time, we did an event with Alfredo Corchado and his new book Homelands, which deals with Mexican-American migration and immigration.”

Homelands author Alfredo Corchado discusses the books themes of identity and borders at Literarity in El Paso. Photo by Kate Gannon, Borderzine.com

Corchado, a border-Mexico correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, turned his book reading event into a conversation with border journalist Angela Kocherga about immigration, journalism and cultural identity that was followed by a Q&A session with attendees.

Other writers featured at Literarity events include acclaimed poet Rosa Alcala, a creative writing professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, and Ron Stallworth, author of Black Klansman, which made the New York Times Best Seller list.

Ron and Patsy Stallworth at book signing for Black Klansman at Literarity. Photo courtesy Robert Moore.

“It’s not just selling books, these days are more like old- home week,” said photographer and New Mexico State University professor Bruce Berman, who came to Literarity on Nov. 10 to promote his latest collaboration with poets Lawrence Welsh and Ray Gonzalez, Cutting the Wire: Photographs and Poetry from the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It’s beyond a commercial thing. It’s not about the money so much as it’s about affirmation, like, people must really like it,” Berman said.

Not far from UTEP at 5411 N. Mesa in Pepper Tree Square, Literarity carries a good selection of books written by university faculty as well as other notable authors who have called El Paso home at one time or another.

“I think anybody who’s a creative, or not even creative, any person who’s not from here that becomes from here has a very interesting story to tell (about El Paso),” Berman said, “This is a special place.”

Inside Literarity, taken on October 25th, 2018. Photo credit: Andrea Sandoval

Co-owner Bill Clark also tries to encourage up-and-coming writers and poets. “We’re always interested in talking with emerging voices in the local literary world in how we can possible help them and support their efforts.”

Independent brick and mortar bookstores face a lot of challenges in today’s digital culture where ebooks can be downloaded from massive online catalogs. But the Clarks are dedicated to providing a more personal experience.

“We didn’t do this for the money, we did it because we believe that El Paso needs an independent bookstore,” Bill Clark said. “We’re doing this out of commitment for the community.”

The post Indy bookstore Literarity nurtures unique space for readers and writers in El Paso appeared first on Borderzine.

City council last week  consided giving $80,000 to a company that plans to operate in El Paso.  They have to employ at least 19 people and spend money training them on their systems.

Discussion and action that the City Manager be authorized to sign a Chapter 380 Economic Development Program Agreement by and between CITY OF EL PASO (“City”) and CURACUBBY, INC., (“Applicant”) for the establishment of the Applicant’s digital marketing and customer rewards company in El Paso, Texas. The project will include an investment of $276,000 in personal property and staff development and the activation of a minimum of 19 new full-time jobs all paying at, or above, the current Median County Wage. The City shall provide economic incentives in the form of a Skills Training Grant in an aggregate amount of $80,000.00 to be paid over four years.

Give us a break.

We deserve better

Brutus

Simply appearing at a port of entry, even without documents, is enough for an alien to ga...

Had the agency lost, the decision would have more than doubled the size of the program, by not counting dep...

Isn’t it a shame that their were no passengers on the streetcar that was recently involved in a traffic accident?

Of course we are thankful that no one got hurt.

Does anyone know what the ridership numbers are on the streetcars?

We deserve better

Brutus