El Paso News

A federal judge has set a June 18 trial for former El Paso school district superintendent Lorenzo Garcia, who’s charged with multiple counts of fraud related to school programs that receive federal money.

Garcia is free on bond and has pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of mail fraud and another count of aiding and abetting theft.

A 15-year-old boy shot by police on Tuesday allegedly threatened an officer with a pair of metallic scissors when he was shot in the upper arm and in the lower leg, police officials said Thursday.

The El Paso Police Department continues to investigate the shooting, which occurred during a foot chase after an afternoon beer run in South-Central El Paso. The officer involved in the shooting, Sgt. Alonzo Torres, was placed on administrative duty pending the results of an investigation.

The Board of Directors of El Paso Electric (NYSE:EE) has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.22 per share. The dividend is payable on March 30, 2012 to shareholders of record on March 15, 2012.

El Paso Electric is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission, and distribution service to approximately 380,000 retail and wholesale customers in a 10,000 square mile area of the Rio Grande valley in west Texas and southern New Mexico. El Paso Electric has a net dependable generating capability of 1,795 MW. El Paso Electric’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EE.

The El Paso Zoo is in mourning after the death of its oldest California sea lion, Cleo, at age 25. The female sea lion died Thursday night from complications from anesthesia that was administered during a medical check, Zoo Director Steve Marshall said.

Sea lions typically have a life expectancy of 15 to 25 years, he said.

Police responded to the 1200 block of Airway around 8 p.m. on Thursday night after a 2004 Ford Taurus driven by Cynthia Dominguez, 26, veered over the median and hit a 27-year-old motorcyclist Michael Paauwe head on. More >

Beer runs, one of the most prevalent crimes in El Paso, dropped by about 17 percent last year, according to El Paso Police Department figures. Beer runs — in which a thief grabs beer and flees without paying — dropped in all of the city’s police regions last year except for the Northeast, which had a 4 percent increase.

This crime is so common that photos of unidentified beer-run suspects are regularly posted on the Police Department’s website.

When Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI ) announced its intent to purchase El Paso (NYSE: EP ) in October, it made it very clear that it was not interested in the exploration and production side of the company. Now, as the deal moves closer to regulatory approval, Kinder Morgan is faced with the very thing that has haunted mankind since the beginning of time.

El Paso police have located a private ambulance stolen from an East Side hospital possibly by a psychiatric patient. Police said the ambulance was found about 9:30 p.m. outside the Albertsons store at 5636 N. Desert on the West Side. A man suspected of taking the vehicle was also in custody. More >

There is now just one Bank of the West in the Las Cruces/El Paso region. California-based Bank of the West has branches in Las Cruces and Anthony. El Paso-based Bank of the West – a different company – has decided to change its name to WestStar Bank to avoid confusion, especially if the California company opens locations in El Paso one day.

The California bank, founded 137 years ago with a different name, has a trademark on the Bank of the West name. But it did not ask or require the El Paso bank, founded 22 years ago, to change its name, said Rick Francis.

El Paso Pipeline Partners LP said Friday that the board of its general partner raised its quarterly cash distribution to 50 cents.

The Houston-based natural-gas pipeline company said the distribution, which represents a 2 percent boost from El Paso’s previous distribution of 49 cents, will be paid on Feb. 14 to unitholders of record as of Jan. 31.