Byrd Breakfast to Host Balliew

John Balliew, the newly appointed President and CEO of El Paso Water Utilities/Public Service Board, will speak at Rep. Susie Byrd’s breakfast this Thursday morning, January 31, at 7:30 a.m. at Tierra Del Sol Restaurant on Alabama and Hamilton.  Mr. Balliew will discuss the drought, water conservation and his vision for the future of EPWU.  Read more about John Balliew.

Gun control/safety is controversial to say the least.  The Mayor’s office issued this announcement about a gathering tomorrow at City Hall:

“Come join a group of concerned citizens urging Mayor John Cook to come out in support of President Obama's Gun Safety proposals, and encouraging him to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Help us make the statement that not all of Texas is in lockstep with the NRA!

Wednesday, January 30, 11:00 am. Meet on 1st floor, then proceed to:

10th floor of City Hall
2 Civic Center Plaza
El Paso, TX 79901
Info: Pat Delgado 740-3962”

Speaking of City Hall, keep up with all the departmental moves to new locations downtown ahead of the demolition of the City Hall Building.  Go here for relocation information.

Make plans now for the official Dedication of Our New Newman Park Sign, Saturday, February 9 at 10:30 a.m. Tom Lea Institute Founder, Adair Margo, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, Mark Weber, and other dignitaries will be on-hand for this celebration.  Cake, chai tea and coffee will be served. 

The grant for the sign came through Neighborhood Services of the Community & Human Development Department.  Mr. Todd Jones of Wright & Dalbin Architects, Inc. designed our sign.  (BTW Fred Dalbin, a principal of Wright & Dalbin, is a Newmanista.  His wife, Pat, is the Public Art Program Coordinator for the City of El Paso.)  El Paso Graphics did the amazing tile work.  JJT Construction Services, LLC (Mr. Jose Torres, owner) was the contractor.

Check out events and hikes at your Franklin Mountains State Park.   Do the Peak Fitness Challenge.  Walk, bike, run Scenic Drive on all Sundays from 7 a.m. until Noon.  All vehicular traffic is prohibited on these Scenic Sundays.

Vaya con Dios!

¡Hola Vecinos!© is an emailed newsletter for the people and businesses in the Newman Park neighborhood of El Paso, their friends and other interested persons. It is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to this letter or email jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com.

Please visit www.newmanpark.blogspot.com and www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

The mission of the Newman Park Neighborhood Association is to improve the quality of life in the Newman Park neighborhood through care and attention to the park and surrounding areas, and to build a community network of care, watchfulness and concern for each other and our beautiful desert environment.

This is Volume 8 and Number 3 published on January 29, 2013

Community Leaders Support EPISD Board of Managers

Many of us are interested, of course, in the current difficulties at EPISD. Here is a letter from El Paso community letters to the Department of Justice and the Texas Education Agency expressing support for a Board of Managers who, in effect, replace the current school board:



Senator Shapleigh emailed this message with instructions urging people to contact the Department of Justice:

"We have learned that the Department of Justice is taking comment on EPISD.

Specifically, the issue is how the community views the removal of the Board and installation of the new Board of Managers.

I have submitted a strong letter to DOJ sharing my view that the current EPISD Board has no trust and that a new Board of Managers is necessary.

I hope that you will contact DOJ and submit your opinion as well.

Here is the contact information:

*JOI HYATT 202.307.3109

*Email at: Section5.comments@usdoj.gov (Please insert the submission number in the subject line of your email or the server will reject your email. Here is the submission number: 2012-5818.)

Please deliver your strong message today about reform at EPISD.

Con ganas!

Eliot Shapleigh" 

New EPWU CEO John Balliew To Speak at Byrd Breakfast

CITY REPRESENTATIVE SUSIE BYRD

COMMUNITY MEETING

Susie Byrd with John Balliew at Skateboard Park Dedication, May 2012

GUEST SPEAKER

John Balliew, President and CEO

El Paso Public Water Utilities

Date:                     Thursday, January 31, 2013

Time:                     7:30 A.M.

Location:                4201 Alabama, Tierra Del Sol Restaurant (Map)

EL PASO, TEXAS – Representative Susie Byrd will host a community meeting at 7:30am at Tierra Del Sol Restaurant. Guest speaker will be John Balliew, the newly appointed President and CEO of El Paso Public Water Utilities.  Mr. Balliew will discuss the drought, water preservation and his vision for the future of EPWU.

New Sign Finished!

Click on image to enlarge.

Area Closures

KVIA has released a list of area closures due to weather along with links to school district sites. Also keep an eye on the City of El Paso and on El Paso County.

If the weather gets below 20°, then the City does not pick-up the recycling bins. The Director of Environmental Services, Ellen Smyth, explains: “The trucks are hard to start (hydraulics) so we start late and only get trash.” To keep track of the temperatures, I’ve added the Weather Bug widget to our Newman Park blog.  It’s at the top of the right hand column.

By the way, check out Recycle El Paso and Environmental Services. Good information and tips.

Email me your snow photos please. They can be shared on our blog page.

Finally, please note that a Chihuahua is not in the punch line:

Vaya con Dios!

¡Hola Vecinos!© is an emailed newsletter for the people and businesses in the Newman Park neighborhood of El Paso, their friends and other interested persons. It is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to this letter or email jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com.

Please visit www.newmanpark.blogspot.com and www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

The mission of the Newman Park Neighborhood Association is to improve the quality of life in the Newman Park neighborhood through care and attention to the park and surrounding areas, and to build a community network of care, watchfulness and concern for each other and our beautiful desert environment.

This is Volume 8 and Number 2 published on January 3, 2013

Hola Vecinos Begins 8th Year of Publication

Today's e-letter begins the 8th year of publishing. It's been a pleasure. - Jim Tolbert

It’s snowing! Donna Stephens took some great pics of the park this morning. See them and get the inside scoop from our local National Weather Service office.

Big thanks to Laura Zweber who single-handedly repaired the doors on our Little Free Library. Not only did Laura repair a broken door, she improved the hinges and made the doors more wind-resistant. Thank you, Laura!

Speaking about the Little Free Library: We are very low on books. Remember this is a library. Take a book; return a book. Or give another book.  This is our library. Anyone can use it. That’s why we want to take care of it. Our LFL “offers a way to share good things to read – favorite books from your childhood or books you would recommend to friends; books that teach, intrigue and engage you. All of us can help by keeping this collection stocked with good reading material.”  It’s really simple: Take a book.  Share it by returning to any Little Library or pass it on to a friend.  Give books. Leave notes in the book. Let others know about your reading experience. Pass it on.  Bottom line: we are good at borrowing books but need to be better about returning or putting other books into the library. Please help.

We’ve been informed that the lettering for the new park sign will be delivered to the contractor this Friday. So – any time after that our new Newman Park sign should be completed. See a picture here if you haven’t already.

You know the routine. There weren’t any trash and recycling services on Tuesday (New Year’s Day) – so pick-up is this Saturday, January 5^th.  Services return to normal Tuesday pick-ups beginning January 8^th.

Finally, with this e-letter I begin the eighth year of ¡Hola Vecinos! It has been a joy to write these often weekly letters with news about our neighborhood association, city or more. Thanks for reading them and our blog.

Prospero Año Nuevo!

¡Hola Vecinos!© is an emailed newsletter for the people and businesses in the Newman Park neighborhood of El Paso, their friends and other interested persons. It is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to this letter or email jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com.

Please visit www.newmanpark.blogspot.com and www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

The mission of the Newman Park Neighborhood Association is to improve the quality of life in the Newman Park neighborhood through care and attention to the park and surrounding areas, and to build a community network of care, watchfulness and concern for each other and our beautiful desert environment.

This is Volume 8 and Number 1 published on January 3, 2013

It's Snowing!

Newman Park in the snow. 3 pictures above courtesy of Donna Stephens

It's snowing and there's more to come today.  So what's going on? Mike Hardiman of the National Weather Service explains:

"It's a fairly 'classic' setup for snow in the Borderland.  Basically, a backdoor cold front came in last night, while an upper low moved in from the west earlier today, scooping up subtropical moisture out ahead of it, and pushing it 'up and over' the cold front.  The result is saturation and precipitation, and thanks to the colder air - it's snow."

Mike's prediction:

"There will be an initial band of light snow this morning, followed by more showery/spotty snow showers throughout the day.  Then the heavier snowfall will occur between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday as the best dynamics associated with the upper level system swing through the area.  The highest snowfall amounts will *generally* be focused over SE El Paso County and especially Hudspeth County.  (Thu Night/Fri probably will not be a good time to be on I-10 east of town).  However, with an easterly low-level flow, terrain will amplify snowfall amounts . . .  Expect 2 to 5 inches in El Paso County - but the higher amounts will be in Northeast El Paso (upslope flow on the east-facing slopes of the Franklin Mountains), and down in the far SE part of the county.  If you live on the West Side or Upper Valley, you'll be in a downslope 'shadow' west of the Franklin Mountains and will see amounts on the lower end of the scale.  Areas west of the Hueco Mountains will probably see slightly lower amounts too due to the 'shadowing' effect."