News

The City of Fort Stockton City Council held a public hearing and proceeded to approve the 2022-2023 budget and tax rate on Sept. 6 at a special meeting.

The Fort Stockton Independent School District School Board officially approved the order of a bond election at a special meeting on Aug. 17 following a bond workshop that was designed for public feedback on Aug. 11.

Fort Stockton Community Theatre’s Barrio Fest, A Celebration of the Hispanic Culture in Fort Stockton, will open 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at the Nelson Street Theatre, and will conclude Sunday, Sept. 18, at 1 p.m. with a mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. After the opening ceremony on Sept. 15, Fort Stockton Film Society will show a Spanish language film, “Por Mi Pistolas,” from 7-9 p.m. The 1968 film, sponsored by Designer Carpets and Interiors, stars Cantinflas, who died in 1993, but is still considered to be a widelyaccomplished Mexican comedian. His humor lives on through his films. Admission is free. Plan to attend an evening of history when another Spanish language film, “The Lost Reels of Pancho Villa,” will be shown by the Film Society on Friday, Sept. 16, from 8-9:30 p.m. at the Nelson Street Theatre. Eternity Funeral Home will sponsor this documentary about a filmmaker’s search for a movie about the Battle of Ojinaga, led by Pancho Villa. In 1914, Villa commissioned the American Mutual Film Company to have cameramen follow him into war. The footage includes some of the first battle scenes captured in moving pictures. Historian Kirby Warnock will lead a discussion about the relevance of Pancho Villa to Fort Stockton and Pecos County following the film. A live performance of a bilingual play, “The Panza Monologues” by Teatro Audaz from San Antonio, will be performed from 7-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17. The play, sponsored by Humanities Texas, is a compilation of women’s stories, featuring the words of Chicanas speaking with humor and candor about their panzas, those rolls of belly that women try to hide. The stories boldly place the panza front and center as a symbol that reveals the truths about women’s thoughts, lives, loves, abuses, and living conditions.

The Pecos County Senior Citizens Center will hosts its Labor Day Potluck on Friday, Sept. 2, at noon at the Senior Center, located at 1010 West 14th Street in Fort Stockton.

A single vehicle rollover accident on US Highway 67, 20 miles south of Fort Stockton, left one person dead in the early morning hours of Aug. 23. Efrain Garcia-Palacios, 55, of Chihuahua, Mexico, was traveling southbound on US 67 at 1:30 a.m. at unsafe speeds before veering into the northbound lanes and barrow ditch according to the Department of Public Safety.

Attorney Michael J. Bagley from the Bagley Law Firm secured two directed verdicts of not guilty on two state criminal cases tried in Fort Stockton on Aug. 22-23 in the 83rd Judicial Court and District Judge Robert E. Cadena. His court appointed client, Casey Ann Gregory Free, was charged with a first-degree felony of manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance (meth) and a third-degree felony of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Ballroom Marfa will present a free premiere of MXTX: A Cross-Border Exchange on Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Marfa Visitor Center Pavilion at 7 p.m. with DJ sets from Beats of Burden and DJ Calle of Las Reinas de la Noche. The live, 10-piece ensemble will take stage at 8 p.m. There will be free drinks and a food popup from Cloudy’s.

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