Jobe called out for desert trail destruction on land leased from state for quarry

Jim Tolbert at the blog El Paso Naturally has this take on actions recently taken by Stanley Jobe to begin a quarry on land leased from the state. Here is the opening of the posting:

Stanley Pruet Jobe has destroyed the Lower Sunset Trail and with it the cherished mountain to river corridor. With bulldozed trails he has marked his territory much like many male mammal beasts mark theirs with their odorous urine. His No Trespassing signs are aligned like a barbed wire fence over and around the hills above Arroyo 42 and dip down into what was once scenic walkways of sedimentary rock and animal habitat.

Just this past Monday evening Jobe met with the Borderland Mountain Bike Association who first discovered his clandestine slashings of huge swaths of desert. He told them pointedly that he intends to quarry 480 acres of the land that the State of Texas General Land Office leased to him. He is in the right place where transporting mountainsides of dirt and gravel to developers, road builders and landscapers will be cheap and easy and very profitable.

Another gubernatorial candidate, Debra Medina

From the NPT Inbox:

The El Paso Campaign for Liberty to Host Meet and Greet With Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Debra Medina

EL PASO, TX (October 7, 2009) – The El Paso Campaign for Liberty will welcome Debra Medina to the Sun City by hosting a meet and greet session followed by a Town Hall Meeting October 23, 2009. The event will take place at the El Paso Police Department Westside Regional Command Center located at 4801 Osborne, El Paso Texas 79912. The public is welcomed to shake hands with and talk to Debra Medina from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm and is encouraged to participate in the Town Hall Meeting that will take place from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There will be light refreshments served.

To learn more please visit www.medinafortexas.com or watch Debra Medina’s message at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNsMJiS0l7g.

Shapleigh’s Supreme wedding judge

Former EP Times reporter Brandi Grissom reported recently that state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh got married. Here’s another tidbit: Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who grew up in El Paso, officiated at the wedding.

Burnt Orange Report on TTC Commissioner Houghton: ‘Arrogant’

See the video here. Maybe they don’t get much of Ted Houghton out there, but from here, sounds like he’s being sarcastic, a reference to the heat he took from among others, state Rep. Joe Pickett, chairman of House Transportation and a leading critic of the Texas Department of Transportation, which the Texas Transportation Commission oversees.

Daily Kos on Shapleigh’s ‘Texas on the Brink’ series

A writer on the DailyKos named jfester posted an item about state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh’s reports, “Texas on the Brink.” Here’s an excerpt of his piece. For the full article, click here.

My family moved down to Dallas a few years ago from New York. To my early surprise, Dallas was a progressive urban sprawl city that seemed like it was expanding on a daily basis. The mixture of young professional, Mexican, Tejano, gay, and cowboy culture made for a city that should lead the way for the rest of the state. But when you dig deeper, and pull back the, “facade of progress,” Texas is no more than a failed attempt at creating a ideologically conservative state.

Over the last few months, Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry has been ranting and raving about the potential for Texas seceding from the union. He has been prophetically calling for the importance of, “states rights,” which for many, have recalled memories of anti-segregation speech during the Civil Rights Era. And recently, when Gov. Perry was asked about the terrible problems facing his state, and the effect of the recession on Texans, he responded by questioning that there even was a recession. The leadership of the state is not only delusional, it is dangerous, and Texas is slowly sinking into irrevocable damage.

A Texas State Senator from El Paso, Eliot Shapleigh, over the last few years, has run series of reports on the state of Texas entitled, “Texas on the Brink” (google doc). In this post, I will present some of the striking statistics about Texas, and how the leadership and failed policies have left it’s citizens in a worse position than another other state in the country. I will go back to his article throughout this piece, it is an important article, not only for Texans.

Judge Bill Moody ready for another long walk

From the NPT Inbox:

Campaign Announcement JUDGE BILL MOODY

EL PASO – Please join Judge Moody and his family as he announces his candidacy to become El Paso’s first statewide office holder in 160 years!

For 23 years, Judge Bill Moody has been a strong leader and voice for El Paso in state and local government.
His knowledge, fairness and experience are known across the state. He walked over 1,000 miles across Texas to bring awareness to El Paso and to campaign reform.

Judge Moody led the Democratic statewide ticket in 2006 with over 45% of vote and received almost 2 million votes. Moody strives to become the first El Paso statewide office holder as he continues to serve El Paso with commitment, enthusiasm and passion.

Elect EXPERIENCE, WISDOM and INTEGRITY. Vote for 23 years of proven leadership.
What: Moody Campaign Announcement
Date: October 7th
Time: Noon
Where: In front of the El Paso County Courthouse

EP Commissioners Court restores mobile voting

After a contentious discussion this morning, Commissioners Court voted 3-2 to restore $57,200 in funding for mobile voting in next spring’s party primaries.

UTEP political science professor Greg Rocha and others said parking the county’s three mobile voting vans for 11 days in the primaries would significantly reduce voter turnout.

Those vans would provide election polls at 33 locations during that period.

But the only organizations to speak up for restoring the funds commissioners cut last week were the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization and its sister group, Border Interfaith.

Voting against the funding were County Judge Anthony Cobos and Commissioner Dan Haggerty.

— David Crowder

Report on Lomas de Poleo: “Some legal victories”

From the NPT Inbox. For background, click here/u>:

Dear Friends of Lomas del Poleo: October 2, 2009

As always, thank you for your prayers, advocacy and generosity in accompanying the settlers in Lomas del Poleo.

This update contains two items: First, a brief translation/summary of a longer report in Spanish by Cristina Coronado re. the audience in Chihuahua September 28. (If you would like the entire report in Spanish, let me know and I will send it to you.) Second is a report on the official from the Agrarian court who returned to Lomas to investigate the trespassing of the Zaragoza and City, State construction vehicles onto the property of Vicente Estrada and Carmen Quinones.

Filling the art of El Paso

From the NPT Inbox:

ARTSPACE LAUNCHES EL PASO ARTIST HOUSING & WORKSPACE MARKET SURVEY

WHAT: Minneapolis, MN-based ARTSPACE Projects — recognized as being the nation’s
leading nonprofit organization behind innovative, quality, and affordable housing for
artists — will hold a press conference and public presentation about its efforts to
explore affordable housing and workspace for local artists in Downtown El Paso.
The public — especially artists interested in living or working in the Downtown El
Paso area — are strongly encouraged to attend.

WHEN/WHERE: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
The La Fe Culture and Technology Center Auditorium
721 S. Ochoa — Rear Building, EPTX 79901

WHO: In attendance at this event will be representatives from: ARTSPACE Projects; The City
of El Paso’s Museums and Cultural Affairs Department; The El Paso Community
Foundation; and Artists’ Communities/ Downtown Core (AC/DC), a local arts
advocacy committee.

Our sincere thanks to Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc. — a nonprofit health, social‐justice,
and arts organization — for hosting this event.

Perry doesn’t like the gay marriage thing

Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued this statement in response to a ruling in a Dallas court that two men could get a divorce:

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today made the following statement regarding a Dallas judge’s ruling that Texas’ definition of marriage is unconstitutional:

“Texas voters and lawmakers have repeatedly affirmed the view that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman. I believe the ruling is flawed and should be appealed. I am confident that Attorney General Abbott and the will of Texas voters will prevail, and traditional marriage will be upheld in our state.”