News

Fort Stockton’s police department will soon receive new camera systems in its police cruisers thanks to the American Rescue Plan. The Fort Stockton City Council on Monday approved the use of some of the city’s rescue plan funds to purchase an Axon Fleet 3 Camera System that will be placed in new FSPD cruisers once those vehicles are purchased. Police Chief Ernest Velasquez said he hopes to have the vehicles in the next 4-6 months and the new camera systems will be installed at that time.

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Barrio Fest 2023 will have several entertainment venues scheduled for this year starting Thursday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 17. The music on Saturday will be hosted by Tejano Mix from El Paso starting at 10 a.m. And up until The Cumbia Movement from Austin takes the stage at 8 p.m.

The Pecos County Sheriff’s Department will purchase a Taser Docking Station and one taser thanks to a donation of $7,667 from Eagle Claw Midstream that the Pecos County Commissioner’s Court approved at its Sept. 11 meeting.

Part of the FSISD bond approved by voters last November included beefing up security at all the campuses across the district. The school board approved new security fencing districtwide and approved the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) from BTC – the district’s Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) at its Aug. 30 board meeting. BTC is a construction management company specializing in school construction with offices in El Paso and Fort Worth.

More than 100 high school students will visit the Sul Ross State University campus in Alpine as representatives of the Future Farmers of American (FFA) on two occasions in September. On Monday, Sept. 11, 116 freshman students in the first year of agriculture classes will attend the “Greenhand Day” conference for beginners. They will visit from Alpine, Fort Stockton, Crane, Iraan, Pecos and Wink to participate in activities ranging from friendly competitions within and across FFA chapter groups to personal and organizational leadership to sessions on building knowledge of the opportunities available through school-based agricultural education and FFA from the local, state and national levels.

It is important to note that an arrest should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Fort Stockton Independent School District met in its first regular session of the 2023-24 school year on Aug. 30, approving its budget for the sear and setting its tax rate. Much of the total $56,959,690 budget (22,728,181 of the $38,269,399 general fund budget) is set aside for payroll costs. The tax rate was set at $1.0600 per $100 of assessed property value.

Belding Farms, a pecan grower in Fort Stockton, filed a petition with the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) to strengthen rules intended to protect the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer that underlies Pecos County and feeds Comanche Springs. The petition asks the district to introduce a yearround threshold for the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer that would trigger cutbacks in groundwater pumping if aquifer water levels fall too low at any time and bolster the current winter recovery thresholds that are manipulable and overly complex.

The Fort Stockton Independent School District Board of Trustees recognized the August Students of the Month during its meeting on Aug. 30.