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.
Second Phase of 80-acre Eastside Sports Complex Completed
The second phase of the Eastside Sports Complex, 14380 Montwood Drive, was completed in June 2025. The complex
offers 16 lighted fields, including the championship-style field allowing for tournaments and major events. There is also a hike and bike trail, an inclusive playground built for children of all abilities, expanded parking and a covered picnic area with space for food trucks. (Courtesy city .of El Paso)The recent completion of the Eastside Sports Complex off Montwood Drive east of Loop 375 marks the end of a quality of life bond project that started in 2017. The $24 million complex for regional soccer and football tournaments was first approved for about $10 million under the voter-approved 2012 quality of life bond.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson kicks a soccer ball to inaugurate the second phase of the Eastside Sports Complex, 14380 Montwood Drive, June 12, 2025. (Courtesy city of El Paso)The complex was developed in two phases. The first cost about $12 million and was funded by general obligation bonds. The phase included seven sodded, irrigated competition flat fields, one championship-style field, shaded seating for up to 500 spectators, perimeter fencing, parking, landscaping and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms. The first phase was completed in 2018.
The second phase, completed earlier this month, added eight competition-grade flat fields, field lighting, expanded parking, landscaping, additional ADA-compliant restrooms and perimeter fencing. The $12 million phase was funded by Public Improvement District 2 and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 9 funds. The reinvestment zone and improvement district generate revenue from property owners within designated areas of the sports complex.
The city celebrated the completion of the complex June 12.
The expanded complex now offers 16 lighted fields, including the championship-style field, allowing for tournaments and major events. There is also a hike and bike trail, an inclusive playground built for children of all abilities, expanded parking and a covered picnic area with space for food trucks.
For more information about city parks, visit the city’s parks website or the park finder.
Texas Gas Service Seeks Rate Hike, City Council Contesting
El Paso City Council last week agreed to contest a rate increase sought by Texas Gas Service, which would lift household gas bills in El Paso by around $1.81 per month. City Council unanimously agreed to hire legal counsel and file an intervention in the case, which is adjudicated by the Railroad Commission of Texas.
City representatives only discussed the natural gas rate hike proposal behind closed doors, so details on the city’s involvement and its strategy for now are scant.
The Railroad Commission is the state agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industries; it does not oversee railroads in Texas. The three commissioners on the industry-friendly commission OK’d Texas Gas Service’s requested rate hike May 13 with no discussion.
Texas Gas Service said the rate increase is meant to allow the company to recoup money it invested in 2024 in its gas delivery system. Commercial customers of Texas Gas Service in El Paso would see a rate increase of just over $6 per month.
If the rate increase goes through, average household gas bills in El Paso would range from about $22 to $38 per month depending on usage.
In recent years, the city’s protests have been successful at slightly reducing rate increases from the initial request. The city is contesting El Paso Electric’s proposed rate increase that would raise monthly residential bills by more than $20.
Meanwhile, unlike the privately-held electric and gas utilities that serve the city, El Paso Water is city-owned.
‘None of This Makes Me Want to Stop’: Escobar on Minnesota Shooter’s List
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, who was on the Minnesota shooter’s list of targets, said that was not the first time she has experienced threats.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso addresses the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Screenshot from Democratic National Convention video feed)“Unfortunately, I have experienced, like many of my colleagues, a lot of threats of violence, threats to safety – and it shouldn’t be this way,” Escobar told El Paso Matters this week. “Our country is in a really dark place right now and it shouldn’t be.”
Capitol police notified Escobar that she was on the hit list of Vance Luther Boelter, who is accused of stalking and killing state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Boelter was arrested Sunday.
Escobar was among 45 elected officials – all Democrats – on Boelter’s list.
She said she thought about other elected officials who have been victims of politically motivated crimes and feels fortunate that she, her family or staff have not suffered through what others have. She cited former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who suffered a severe brain injury after an assassination attempt in 2011, and Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalisi, who was wounded by a gunman in 2017.
“I do worry about my staff and constituents who gather at events,” Escobar told El Paso Matters. “This is not just about the danger that impacts the public official, but also public servants and the public in general.”
Escobar, who is serving her fourth term in Congress, launched her reelection campaign in April for the 2026 midterm elections.
“None of this makes me want to stop doing the work that I feel so privileged to be able to do for my community,” she said.
El Paso Family Violence Shelter Receives $30,000 for Upgrades
The Texas Council on Family Violence is awarding $30,000 this summer to El Paso’s Center Against Sexual and Family Violence, one of 13 grant recipients in the state. The nonprofit coalition awards Swalm Grants to cover operations not usually covered by government funds, with most grants going toward improving infrastructure for shelters.
The Center Against Sexual and Family Violence serves survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at its family resource center in the Lower Valley, connecting eligible clients to counseling, housing, crisis intervention, safety planning, support groups and case management. The center also has an emergency shelter.
The emergency shelter housed more than 800 people, more than half of them children, in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to data provided by the center. Outside of the shelter, the family resource center served nearly 2,300 people, including more than 550 children.
The center intends to spend the grant funding on updating outdated equipment and closing security gaps across facilities, such as replacing the electronic door systems that control and monitor access to buildings and updating security cameras to include audio.
Paula Fernandez, director of development for El Paso’s Center Against Sexual and Family Violence, told El Paso Matters the electronic door systems and security cameras help create a safer environment for families escaping violence. The technology, she said, helps better protect client data and provide reliable, trauma-informed care.
“These upgrades are critical to ensuring the safety and well-being of survivors who come to us seeking refuge,” she said.
El Paso Judge Receives National Recognition for DWI Intervention Program
All Rise, the national organization for treatment courts, inducted Judge Robert Anchondo into the Stanley Goldstein Treatment Court Hall of Fame for his more than two decades of leading El Paso’s DWI Drug Court – the first of its kind in Texas, according to the Texas Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Robert Anchondo speaks to the graduates of El Paso County’s DWI Drug Court Intervention and Treatment Program, an 18-month program that Anchondo credits with lowering recidivism rates for DUI and DWI charges, May 22, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)The specialty court is an 18-month intervention program for people with a misdemeanor, felony or federal offense for driving while intoxicated. The program’s goal is to reduce participants’ chances of driving while intoxicated again by treating underlying causes – substance use disorder, often with co-occurring mental illness.
El Paso County Commissioners Court recognized Anchondo for his national honor Monday at its weekly public meeting. The DWI Drug Court, which does not receive funding from El Paso County taxes, is funded by state and federal grants, a program coordinator told El Paso Matters.
The program has a 15% recidivism rate – the percentage of participants who completed the program and have since been rearrested under suspicion of a DWI. This is lower than the state’s recidivism rate of about 31% for DWI arrests in 2024, according to Texas Department of Public Safety quarterly data reports.
Anchondo has presided as judge over El Paso County Criminal Court at Law No. 2 since 2022, an elected position with four-year terms. His current term ends Dec. 31, 2026.
EPCC Administrator Among First to Earn National Coaches Legacy Award
El Paso Community College’s Felix Hinojosa was among the first recipients of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Coaches Legacy Awards, which recognizes the all-time winningest coaches in 28 categories in the association’s 87-year history.
El Paso Community College’s Felix Hinojosa was among the first recipients of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Coaches Legacy Awards, 2025. (Courtesy EPCC)Hinojosa, EPCC athletic director and coach of long-distance running teams, was among the more than 220 honorees at a June 17 luncheon at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The El Paso honoree, who also is a professor of kinesiology, has coached six national championship women’s half marathon teams. He estimates that he has coached about 160 student athletes at EPCC.
Hinojosa said he understood the magnitude of the personal honor, but called it a team effort that included administrators, assistant coaches and the student athletes.
“(The event) was awesome,” he said during a phone interview the day after the ceremony. He thanked the EPCC administration for allowing him to attend the event. “I enjoyed bringing kudos to our institution.”
EPCC President William Serrata said this honor recognized Hinojosa’s commitment to students in their academics as well as athletics.
“He is a positive role model who has made an important impact on our college and community,” Serrata said in an EPCC news release.
While recognized for the women’s half marathon teams’ accomplishments, many of Hinojosa’s other squads and individual athletes have been honored. Two of his men’s half marathon teams, one of his women’s cross country teams and several athletes have earned national championships.
Some of his past student athletes mentioned Hinojosa’s enforcement of rigorous standards in athletics and academics. As a result, his athletes often are recognized as NJCAA Academic All-Americans for their high grade point averages.
Among Hinojosa’s other accolades is the 2010 induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame for his decades of work in sports and education.
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