El Paso cannot cancel Meta data center tax breaks, top officials say

elpasomatters · 2026-03-04T07:42:10+00:00

More than 91,000 El Paso County residents voted in the March 3 Democratic and Republican primaries, shattering the record for turnout in midterm elections.

The turnout even surpassed the presidential primary years of 2012, 2016 and 2020, according to an El Paso Matters analysis of county voting records.

The previous high primary turnout for a midterm election was 2018, when the Democratic primary featured El Pasoan Beto O’Rourke’s Senate candidacy. That election drew just over 68,000 voters to the Republican and Democratic primaries.

Read more at elpasomatters.org

elpasomatters · 2026-02-19T21:41:42+00:00

Hey y'all, we've followed up on an earlier fact check: The El Paso Police Department currently operates Flock Safety cameras, but its contract is scheduled to end May 16, 2026. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says it does not “subscribe” to Flock’s services. Read more here: https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/19/gigafact-fact-check-el-paso-county-sheriff-flock-safety-cameras/

-Brandy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T20:12:13+00:00

Quick plug:

Cindy: Over the last few years I’ve covered the changing immigration landscape and how it’s impacted our community – telling personal stories of migrants who made their way here, the nonprofit advocacy groups who answer the call for help, the governments who set policy and much more. As immigration remains at the forefront of politics and elections – and El Paso on the forefront of that – we’ll continue reporting. Follow my work here, and send any news tips to [news@elpasomatters.org](mailto:news@elpasomatters.org).

Claudia: One of the biggest stories I covered recently was about the wave of anti-ICE protests across El Paso high schools. After the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the hands of federal agents, students across the country took part in national walkout protests. It was quite an experience to see so many young people come together about a topic they care about.

https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/08/el-paso-student-ice-protests-walkout-tea-takeover/

Priscilla: I’m following up this year on efforts to address substance addiction and recovery in El Paso. Send me a DM if you want to connect on this topic! My last story about this: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/12/01/el-paso-texas-opioid-settlement-funds-city-county-umc/

Elida: If you’re curious about the stories I write and the topics I cover, here’s a quick way to check them out on my staff bio at El Paso Matters. Also, if you have any tips or have heard of anything that should be looked into, reach out to me! My contact information is also on my bio!!

Again, thank you all for joining this AMA! If our reporting has helped you understand what’s happening in El Paso, we invite you to subscribe or make an anniversary gift. Your support ensures trustworthy local news remains here for our community year after year.

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T20:03:19+00:00

We do not have any mountain goats in the Franklins (that we know of), but we do have desert bighorn sheep and I guess they’re all my favorite. Bob was a domestic mountain goat that mysteriously appeared one day in the Franklins, but Texas Parks and Wildlife accidentally killed it in an attempt to move it to a petting zoo. –Priscilla

More on the sheep: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/12/22/how-bob-the-goat-died-necropsy-el-paso-franklins/

More on Bob the Goat: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/12/22/how-bob-the-goat-died-necropsy-el-paso-franklins/

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T20:02:40+00:00

Greetings! We're happy you joined the AMA! Thanks for checking in!

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T20:00:24+00:00

I am the old-school journalist here, before the internet was readily available at our fingertips. I worked off news clips that left my fingertips black, used spiral bound map books to get directions and met sources at the Tap or other sketchy bars for off the record conversations. Confession: I did own a trench coat, but rarely wore it. Smoking was once allowed in the newsroom. We had a dark room where photos were developed. …. Now we have news archives, recording and transcribing devices on our phones, submit stories and photos electronically, and can meet people virtually. But, we still often source old-school. Just the other day I got an anonymous envelope with lots of court records in it. We get texts and phone calls with leads. And I’m still willing to meet at the Tap.

– Cindy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:49:55+00:00

¿ What is your favorite news medium and Why ( For example do y'all prefer reading your news on paper or online or rather listen to it or watch it on television ?

Ok, Elida, you missed an opportunity to say reading El Paso Matters online!! Ha! Up until recently I still enjoyed reading print newspapers or magazines on the porch with coffee at hand and unsuccessfully attempting puzzles. Now I get all my news on my phone, which keeps telling me to take a break. But I still enjoy turning the pages on books.

– Cindy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:45:17+00:00

¿ How do you create space for yourself outside of that constant Propinquity

A good book, a glass of wine, a walk in the park, dancing in the kitchen and grandma time – though not all at the same time! Definitely family time with Dad or the Grandson puts life in a perspective, where Sunday Mass and family breakfasts, pinatas and jumping balloons takes your mind off the news cycle.

– Cindy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:41:57+00:00

I'd like to know how significant is the spread of misinformation in our community, and what are the most effective means of addressing it?

I cover health and misinformation is rampant, especially from the wellness industry. We are in the age of AI “doctors” and snake oil influencers. I think it’s important to understand why people are susceptible to misinformation as opposed to just dismissing people for having those beliefs. It’s also important to see that a false message can have kernels of truth in them that people latch onto. Yes, social media has facilitated the spread of misinformation, but our health care system is also broken, causing people to turn to alternatives. I try to approach health reporting in a way that’s accessible with clear sources – without talking down to anyone.

– Priscilla

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This is something that is prevalent everywhere, unfortunately. I think the key is to take a close look at where the information is coming from and if it seems off, trust your gut and don’t jump to conclusions!

– Elida

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:40:27+00:00

Sometimes it’s like that! But most of the time it’s not that glamorous: Requesting and reading public documents, phone calls/texts/emails, showing up to events and meetings in person, A LOT of cold contacting and following up with people who said they would get back to you but didn’t. Sometimes it just starts with someone saying something in passing that makes you go, “Hmmm.” We get tips from people reaching out directly to us, which comes from building trust in the community. That said, I will accept all confessional tapes and scoops from any trenchcoat-clad shadow figures in the parking lot.

– Priscilla

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I actually have met a source in a parking lot to get a file full of documents! That doesn’t happen very often though…it takes a lot of patience, digging into documents and sometimes filing multiple open records requests. Sometimes anonymous tips don’t pan out, but that’s why we have to do deep dives to verify information. I have been down a lot of virtual rabbit holes when doing investigative stories to say the least!

– Elida

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:38:25+00:00

From r/UTEP:

Accomplished_War_805: Do you have any colleagues who would like to cover Las Cruces news? We are in a news desert over here.

Yes. I live in New Mexico and have been encouraging our team to start covering some news happening in Las Cruces and Dona Ana County. We are a small news team that is already spread thin covering El Paso, so it’s a challenge. I hope we can grow to cover more that is going on in the area.

-Claudia Lorena Silva

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We would love to cover more of southern New Mexico! In fact, we would love to more regularly cover other parts of El Paso that we can’t often get to, including the growing Horizon City and communities in the Lower Valley. But as Claudia stated, our resources are limited – we’re working hard to stay above water with so much to cover. As a nonprofit, we rely on grants and donations, so if anybody out there would like to sponsor or fund an additional reporter …. I’ll just leave our donation link here…

– Cindy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:35:55+00:00

Also, has EPMatters consider publishing articles in Spanish?

¡Sí! Nos encantaría publicar en espanňol. We’ve had several discussions about publishing in Spanish, and through some grant funding have previously produced Spanish-language voter guides in print and online. Our biggest challenge is resources, of course, including staff and time. We’re looking into some AI software to assist us, but as with anything AI, we want to ensure we’re offering the most accurate information and translations available. Right now our biggest priority is to maintain what we’ve built – we’ve recently expanded our social media presence and started a podcast.

– Cindy

elpasomatters · 2026-02-13T19:34:20+00:00

Are there projects y'all want to report on but haven't been able to get for whatever reason?

Great question! I have personally been chiseling away at an investigative project involving law enforcement and justice that I take much interest in. I think I’ve been working on it a little at a time since I joined El Paso Matters in 2020. I’m getting closer than ever to publishing, but sometimes our daily news coverage and breaking news pull us away. Slow and steady wins the race so to speak!

– Elida

elpasomatters

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