This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
County Selects Design Firm for Ascarate Park Renovations
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday unanimously approved a $4.2 million contract with Exigo Architecture to oversee the first steps of the Ascarate Park renovations approved by voters in 2024.
The firm will oversee the project from community engagement to conceptual design to construction documents, and will consult with landscape architectures, ecological restoration and lake conservation experts, as well as water and well assessment infrastructure experts, for the work.
Exigo will then coordinate with the county’s construction manager at risk – a separate company that will be hired later to oversee the pre-construction and construction of the improvements to the 400-acre park at 6900 Delta Drive.
Key improvements will include a new park entrance, expanded and renovated walking trails, modern shelters, restrooms and concessions, a new festival area, and underground electrical lines. The park’s 48-acre lake will also get upgrades, including restoration of its shoreline and rehabilitation of its island.
The design development will be computed by summer 2026, with all the improvements projected to be completed by fall 2029, according to the county’s capital improvement bond tracker. El Paso County voters in November 2024 approved a $95.6 million bond for improvements to Ascarate and other county parks.
UTEP College of Nursing Receives $1 Million from Hospitals of Providence
The University of Texas at El Paso College of Nursing has received a $1.1 million gift from the Hospitals of Providence and Tenet Healthcare Foundation to enhance nursing simulation laboratories with artificially intelligent manikins.
That will allow the college to increase the size of its undergraduate classes and provide more hands-on training in clinical education, patient assessment, decision-making and emergency response, the institutions said in a news release this week. The manikins will live in the college’s Center for Simulation, a 16,000-square-foot facility where students practice various health care scenarios.
Leslie Robbins, the dean of the College of Nursing, said the manikins will help the university graduate more nurses each semester.
“These manikins can move, blink, talk and more. By equipping our students with the most advanced simulation tools available, we are ensuring they graduate with the confidence, competence, and clinical judgment needed to succeed in today’s complex health care environment,” she said in the news release.
Nicholas Tejeda, Western Group President for Tenet Healthcare, said the partnership will help strengthen the health care pipeline in the community.
“As our community grows, we have grown with it and it’s essential that we have the nursing talent available to provide that needed care,” he said in a statement.
The gift will be matched with funding from a previous grant from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation.
Regional Transit Bus Services Through City of Socorro Return
The El Paso Transportation Authority resumed transit services through the city of Socorro this month.
The transportation authority ended service in Socorro in July after the town’s council voted against joining the ETA that provides public transit services to rural areas within El Paso County.
Socorro has been providing free, on-call, on-demand transportation for residents through its Socorro ¡Avanzando! Program since July. Those services will continue alongside the ETA bus services.
WATCH: How the El Paso Transportation Authority bus service works
As part of the agreement, the Socorro City Council agreed to contribute $5,000 to ETA for the purchase of access to the regional transit system. Two city of Socorro employees were also added to the EAT board of directors as part of the agreement. Alejandra Valadez, the city development director, will serve as an ex-officio member and Lorrine Quimiro, city planner, will serve as her alternate.
The agreement restores service for seamless transportation between the rural areas of the county including Horizon City, Clint, San Elizario, Fabens and Tornillo. Passengers wanting to board are advised to signal to the driver as the bus approaches and ask them to stop at a safe location. Route 50 picks up and drops off at signed locations.
The ETA and Socorro will continue discussions about whether the transportation authority eventually takes over operation of the microtransit service as a contractor.
Information: ETA Transit Services or Socorro ¡ávanzando! Microtransit
EPISD to Hold Public Meetings; Superintendent Finalist to be Named in December
The El Paso Independent School District will hold community listening sessions later this month to gather input on what residents want in a superintendent.
The board met Tuesday to discuss a tentative date for the meetings, which will be held the week of Oct. 27 at multiple locations across the district and conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards. Details were not yet finalized.
The deadline to apply for the position is Nov. 5. Initial interviews will be held in mid-November, with follow-up interviews Dec. 2-3. EPISD will post the lone finalist for the position on Dec. 3.
In August, the board approved entering into a $25,000 contract with TASB, a nonprofit educational association that provides services and guidance to local school boards across Texas.
The school board and TASB will consider public input to recruit and select a permanent replacement for former Superintendent Diana Sayavedra, who resigned unexpectedly in June.
Martha Aguirre, the district’s Chief Financial Officer, has served as interim superintendent since Sayavedra’s resignation.
Free College Application Week for Texas Residents
Texas residents who want to earn an associate or bachelor’s degree from one of the state’s public colleges or universities are encouraged to participate in the first Free College Application Week initiative Oct. 13 to 19 using the ApplyTexas portal.
Students usually must pay from $25 to $90 per application. The event’s goal is to remove another financial barrier from a person’s higher education journey. First-time college students and transfer students are eligible. They can apply to as many institutions as they want. To earn the fee waiver, students need to use the ApplyTexas platform.
El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso do not charge residents an application fee. Texas Tech Health El Paso charges two application fees for its accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing program. They are for the Nursing Centralized Application Service fee and the supplemental application fee.
Wynn Rosser, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, promoted this initiative prior to and during the Oct. 2 Education Matters Summit in El Paso.
Students will need their address, phone number, Social Security Number (if applicable) and their emergency contact person’s information. To be eligible, students must be a Texas resident in accordance with state and federal law.
Rosser suggested that students first log into My Texas Future to research which careers align with their interests and then learn more about the degree or credential options. Once the students are comfortable with their decisions, they can shift to ApplyTexas, which will allow them to apply to the best public state colleges and universities that meets their needs.
Students can use their My Texas Future login to access their ApplyTexas account. Applications must be completed by 10:50 p.m. MST El Paso time on Oct. 19.
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