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.
El Paso Doctor Arrested for Allegedly Groping UMC Patient
Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested emergency physician Dr. Edward Allen Michelson after a patient accused him of groping her in her private area at University Medical Center of El Paso, local news outlets reported this week.
County jail records state the alleged incident occurred Aug. 28 and Michelson was booked Sept. 30 with a charge of indecent assault by a healthcare or mental health services provider. He was released the same day after posting a $100,000 bond.
Jeep Darnell, the attorney representing Michelson according to county records, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Michelson has worked at Texas Tech Health El Paso since 2016 and chaired the emergency medicine department, according to his LinkedIn. The medical school still lists him as a professor on a faculty and staff page online, as of Oct. 8.
A spokesperson for Texas Tech Health El Paso said Michelson has been suspended from his university duties.
Estefania Morgan, a spokesperson for UMC, said in an email that Michelson is a contracted medical provider who is not an employee of UMC.
“Pending internal and third-party investigations, UMC took swift action to suspend this medical provider from the hospital,” Morgan said. “UMC is fully cooperating with and assisting in the investigation conducted by outside agencies.”
Policy Brief Shows Tangible Benefits of UTEP’s Miner Teacher Residency Plan
A recently released policy brief showed that graduates of UTEP’s Miner Teacher Residency program performed better than their peers who participated in a traditional four-year teacher education setting, and their students benefited.
The brief compared teachers during their first five years in the classroom who worked at the same campuses. It showed that students in classes led by the University of Texas at El Paso’s MTR graduates were the only group that scored significantly higher in STAAR math and reading compared with non-MTR peers.
The STAAR test, or the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, is a mandatory standardized exam used by public and charter schools starting in third grade to measure students’ mastery of state curriculum.
Additionally, students in the MTR-led classes experienced an additional 18-24 months of learning compared to peers in classrooms led by non-MTR teachers, according to the brief from the Texas Tech University Center for Innovative Research in Change, Leadership & Education.
The brief’s authors, Erika Mein, associate dean of academic affairs and strategic initiatives at UTEP’s College of Education, and J. Jacob Kirksey, associate professor of education policy at Texas Tech, analyzed statewide data from 2021 to 2024 that included 390 campuses and 312,000 students including 35,000 students taught by MTR graduates.
The report also showed that MTR teachers stayed in their profession longer and were 50% more likely to earn a Teacher Incentive Allotment designation than their peers with similar experience. The TIA is a state funding source to help school districts reward, retain and recruit highly effective classroom teachers.
The MTR program places student teachers in classrooms with a trained host teacher for a full academic year. The students also are coached by a full-time UTEP faculty member based within a school district.
Each student teacher earns stipends up to $30,000 primarily through House Bill 2’s PREP Program Allotment, which the Texas Legislature passed in 2025 to strengthen teacher recruitment and preparation through partnerships between school districts and teacher preparation programs.
El Paso County Commissioners Weigh $1 Million in Sheriff’s Office Overtime Transfers
Sheriff Oscar Ugarte and his staff on Monday presented the Commissioners Court with about $1 million in overtime requests they need prior approval for in the new fiscal year.
The requests for budget transfers include about $652,000 for overtime to be moved from the contingency back to operations for overtime, about $223,000 for DWI operations throughout the year including holidays and major concerts, and about $93,000 for two special operations in Red Sands, a desert area near Montana Avenue in far East El Paso.
The Commissioners Court did not take action Monday, but will decide at a later meeting whether to approve the budget transfer from a $6 million contingency fund set aside for potential Sheriff’s Office overtime in fiscal year 2027.
The Sheriff’s Office ended the 2026 fiscal year with a deficit of about $6 million largely due to overtime at the two county jails.
As part of a letter sent on behalf of the Commissioners Court, Ugarte was asked to regularly seek approval for budget transfers for certain special overtime operations as a way to curtail overtime expenses.
Ugarte, during the meeting said he had Commander Ruben Soria of the patrol division assess staffing at the jails to identify where overtime reductions could be made, though he said current staffing levels require continued evaluation.
Soria said he worked with jail command staff to reduce some staffing positions while maintaining minimum jail standards.
Soria said the changes led to a reduction in overtime of about 43% at the Downtown jail and about 44% at the annex, though he did not provide a specific dollar amount.
City Appoints Joaquin Rodriguez as Public Works Director
Joaquin Rodriguez, a certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners, is the city’s new director of Public Works.
Rodriguez has experience in engineering, transportation planning and capital project delivery that he will be able to use in his new role. He previously served as the city’s director of grant-funded programs and interim director of Capital Improvements, according to an Oct. 7 news release.
Rodriguez has held leadership positions with the city, El Paso County and the El Paso Independent School District. His career includes engineering, urban planning, public policy, transportation and capital project delivery.
He has worked with the city for eight years and will be paid about $205,000 per year.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Rodriguez, in his new role, will focus on coordinating infrastructure operations including in capital improvements, street maintenance and aviation.
The post El Paso doctor faces assault charge; UTEP teacher program shows student gains appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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