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.
Hunt Foundation Establishes $5 Million Matching Grant for Planned UTEP Law School
The case for a proposed law school at the University of Texas at El Paso took an additional step Wednesday after the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation promised a $5 million matching grant for this effort.
The award is the latest high-dollar pledge for a planned law school in the past year. The Paul L. Foster Family Foundation announced a $5 million matching grant in October 2025, and the El Paso law firm of Tawney, Acosta and Chaparro, committed to a $5 million gift last April. Those two commitments put the UTEP project halfway to its startup goal of $20 million.
Several law firms in El Paso and beyond have made their donations that will be matched by the Hunt Family Foundation’s grant. They include Farah Law, Flores Mendez Law, ScottHulse Attorneys at Law and Dallas-based Kastl Law.
Woody L. Hunt, chairman of the Hunt Family Foundation, said El Paso has unique legal needs and a UTEP law school would help prepare the next generation of legal professionals to serve the Borderland.
“We are proud to support this effort and encourage individuals, businesses, and organizations to join us,” Hunt said in a prepared statement.
The university announced the grant during a morning ceremony on the fourth-floor terrace of UTEP’s Texas Western Hall. The audience included leaders from the institution, business, the legal community and members of the El Paso legislative delegation.
The community’s financial backing will help the university as it prepares to present its concept for the law school to the Texas Legislature in 2027. With the state and philanthropic support, UTEP leaders believe it can open its law school in 2030.
University officials have said that the school would focus on public and private international law that involves the United States and Mexico with an emphasis in contracts, estates, taxation, imports and exports, customs and immigration, and international water law. It also would address the shortage of fluently bilingual lawyers.
El Paso County Declares Disaster In Response to Severe Flooding
El Paso County Judge Richard Samaniego signed a disaster declaration Tuesday to activate emergency resources for flood victims. Heavy rainfall last weekend caused severe flooding in parts of the county, including Northwest El Paso and Horizon City area, damaging homes and triggering evacuations.
The disaster declaration allowed the county to use resources, such as government personnel, for recovery efforts ahead of expected rainfall before Halloween weekend.
“One of the things the declaration of emergency allowed us to do is to be able to immediately contract for certain types of services without having to go through all the purchasing requirements,” said Precinct 3 County Commissioner Iliana Holguin, who represents Horizon City.
One of the emergency contracts the county activated was with a pumping company to remove standing floodwater.
The county is providing sandbags and has set up an emergency shelter at Horizon High School, providing overnight lodging, hot meals and water for residents affected by flooding.
The El Paso Community Foundation, city of El Paso and El Paso County also launched a flood relief fund with 100% of donations going toward families recovering and rebuilding. United Way is also seeking volunteers to help remove debris and clean homes affected by flooding.
People can make a donation to support flood relief at: epcf.org/floodemergencyresponse. Volunteers can contact United Way at 915-273-3484.
New World Screwworm Case Detected in El Paso County
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday that New World screwworm infested a dog in Socorro. It is the first reported screwworm case in El Paso County during the current outbreak. El Paso joins the active infestation zone, where screwworm was detected in cattle in neighboring Hudspeth County, as well as Doña Ana and Otero counties in New Mexico.
Since reopening the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port of entry to livestock trade, screwworm cases have spiked in the United States with 19 cases reported in October, mostly in New Mexico and Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is the highest number of monthly cases since the first U.S. case was reported in June. The Santa Teresa port of entry is the busiest cattle crossing in the country.
Cattle, especially newborn calves, are particularly vulnerable to New World screwworm. The parasitic fly burrows and lays eggs in wounds such as the umbilical stump. The first case detected in a wild animal was Oct. 21 in an elk.
City Calls for Closure of ICE’s Camp East Montana
The City Attorney’s Office will draft a resolution that will call on the federal government to close Camp East Montana, the mega tent immigrant detention facility located on Fort Bliss land in far East El Paso.
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to draft the resolution and bring it back for a vote in 30 days. City Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo was absent.
LEARN MORE: El Paso leaders want to limit ICE detention centers. Here are 6 things to know
The resolution will show formal opposition to the detention facility. The city does not have the authority to shut it down. Camp East Montana has been under scrutiny since it opened in August 2025 as the largest immigration detention facility in the country for alleged human rights violations, in-custody deaths, operational failures and alleged mistreatment of detainees.
The resolution will cite reports by news media, members of congress and civil rights organizations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is denying basic human and civil rights to detainees at Camp East Montana. It will also cite reports on how the facility poses a public health risk to the city and how operations have lacked transparency while using taxpayer funds to operate.
The City Council adopted a similar resolution in February in opposition to the mega warehouse detention center that was planned in the city of Socorro before the government canceled its plans.
U.S. Senate Nominee Paxton Cancels Planned Sunday El Paso Stop
The campaign of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton announced Thursday that it canceled a planned Sunday stop in El Paso as part of its “Come and Take It” tour. The campaign did not give a reason for the cancellation.
This would have been Paxton’s second campaign stop in El Paso before Tuesday’s midterm election. The first was Sept. 30 when he met with more than 200 supporters at the Summit Ballroom on the Westside. The candidate, 63, has been Texas’ attorney general for more than 11 years.
Paxton, 63, is locked in a tough race against the Democratic candidate, James Talarico, who is in his fourth term as a state representative from the Austin area. Talarico, 37, has made four campaign stops in El Paso, the last being Oct. 26.
This race has national implications as it could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. A Talarico victory also would be notable because a Democrat has not won a statewide race since 1994.
The Texas Tribune has reported that high-risk industrialist, technology entrepreneur and Texas resident Elon Musk has contributed at least $190 million to political action committees that support Paxton since September.
“Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas,” Talarico said during his recent stop in El Paso. The candidate, a Presbyterian seminarian and former teacher, has focused his campaign on affordability and fighting government corruption.
During Paxton’s Sept. 30 “Protecting the Texas Promise” visit to El Paso, he talked about his accomplishments as attorney general against Meta and opioid manufacturers, and his plans to help Texas families through tax breaks for health care and doubling the child tax credit.
Paxton is scheduled to meet supporters at an afternoon rally in Mission, Texas, which is east of McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley. That is his last listed campaign stop before Election Day.
The race is one of 35 Senate seats to be decided next week. U.S. senators serve six-year terms and are paid $174,000 a year.
- Election 2026 Voter Guide: Everything you need to know about the Nov. 3 general elections in El Paso
City To Work With TxDOT To Evaluate Transmountain Commercial Traffic
The city and the Texas Department of Transportation will review options to address commercial traffic on Transmountain following recent serious multi-vehicle crashes at Transmountain/Loop 375 and North Desert Boulevard, near Interstate 10 on the Westside.
The city and TxDOT will evaluate potential restrictions on heavy commercial truck traffic, including whether alternative truck routes are feasible, and will review state and federal regulations to determine whether they can be implemented. City staff will return to the City Council in 30 days with potential recommendations and action plan.
The city and the El Paso Police Department last week addressed public safety concerns during a news conference after a deadly crash Oct. 19 along Transmountain Road after a semitrailer driver reported brake failure that resulted in an accident involving eight vehicles.
The Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office have been inspecting commercial trucks on Transmountain Road since Oct. 21, but El Paso police Chief Peter Pascillas on Tuesday told the City Council that approach is not sustainable.
In May 2025, a deadly crash occurred at the same intersection when a heavy-duty tow truck hauling a disabled semitruck failed to stop at the intersection and struck vehicles waiting at a red light. About 12 vehicles were involved in that traffic crash and left seven people injured and one dead.
TxDOT in July opened a mechanical runaway truck ramp, touting it as the first of its kind installed in El Paso and in Texas. The mechanical ramp system is designed to safely stop a 90,000-pound truck traveling 90 miles an hour using eight energy absorbing net stations bolted into reinforced concrete walls, according to a TxDOT news release.
The ramp was not used by the driver in the October crash.
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