The El Paso Matters Podcast

El Paso Matters editor Cindy Ramirez joins this week's podcast to talk about how the legal system is working -- or not -- for young migrant children living in the U.S. alone often in foster-like care. Cindy's emotional story shows how many children are forced to navigate their court cases without representation. You can read Cindy's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

EPISD considers a $445M bond after declaring financial exigency, YISD faces a shrinking savings cushion, and Socorro ISD may soon exit state conservatorship. Education reporter Claudia Silva explains the financial situation at each of El Paso’s three largest school districts. You can read Claudia's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

El Pasoans recently got a first look at the wide-ranging renovations El Paso County is planning for Ascarate Park, the region's biggest park. El Paso County Commissioners have tried for years to find ways to clean the lake, improve fishing and add new amenities at the park. Plans have shifted in recent years, but the county is now planning to deploy $31 million in voter-approved bond funds to elev...

Trustees overseeing El Paso Independent School District voted to declare financial exigency last week after the district's leaders discovered a $52 million hole in EPISD's budget. Afterward, two elected trustees resigned. On this episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast, education reporter Claudia Silva and CEO Bob Moore discuss the situation EPISD is in, what the trustees' resignations means and wh...

El Paso's largest school district is experiencing a financial disaster weeks after the district's former finance chief resigned and district officials discovered she was withholding the truth about EPISD's finances and budget overruns. El Paso Matters education reporter Claudia Lorena Silva talks through how EPISD got here and what comes next for the public school district. You can read Claudia's...

New Census data show the city of El Paso saw a significant population decline between 2024 and 2025. El Paso Matters CEO Robert Moore discusses his reporting on El Paso's population trends, what declining population figures mean for the Borderland and what local leaders can do in the face of a declining population. You can read Bob's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

Lack of communication and coordination between different levels of government led to confusion and delayed a response to contain the measles outbreak in the El Paso area. El Paso Matters Health Reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert joins the El Paso Matters Podcast to discuss her investigative reporting on how the government response increased the risk of measles exposure in El Paso. You can read P...

Nearly seven months after elected officials in Doña Ana County approved a large tax break for the massive and controversial Project Jupiter data center campus, New Mexico journalist Heath Haussamen joins the El Paso Matters Podcast to talk about his reporting on the lack of transparency and ongoing questions about Project Jupiter's water usage, electricity consumption and economic impact on the Bo...

AI technology that would have seemed like magic to students a generation ago is now in use in classrooms every day in El Paso. But whether students benefit from using artificial intelligence for schoolwork remains an open question. On this episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast, education reporter Claudia Lorena Silva discusses her reporting on how students are using artificial intelligence in El...

In early 2019, a trail camera captured a beaver sitting at the Rio Bosque wetlands park at dawn. It wasn't the first time the park's managers had seen signs of a beaver at the park -- a kind of sanctuary for wildlife in El Paso's urban landscape -- but it's the first time a beaver made the park it's home and began developing beaver dams and changing the park's landscape. El Paso Matters reporter P...

As Meta Platforms continues to construct a $10 billion data center in El Paso, the region's investor-owned utility El Paso Electric is advancing its own plan to develop an onsite power plant for Meta's data center. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers and editor Pablo Villa talk about El Paso Electric's plan to deliver electricity to Meta's facility, potential impacts to El Pasoans' utili...

We're back. Our journalists talk primary election results in El Paso and preview November's midterm election. You can read El Paso Matters' coverage of the recent primary election at elpasomatters.org .

On this episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast, reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers speaks with Andy Vargas, a veteran of the tech and finance industries and a managing partner of the El Paso-based investment firm No Border Ventures. Vargas has been critical of the subsidies local governments granted Meta in exchange for the tech giant developing a data center in Northeast El Paso. He offers his thought...

Nov. 18 is now Eddie Guerrero day in El Paso, Texas, a celebration of the native El Pasoan's life and impact on wrestling fans worldwide. El Paso Matters editor -- and WWE superfan -- Pablo Villa joins the El Paso Matters Podcast to talk about Guerrero's legacy and how the regional lucha libre scene carries on today. You can read Pablo's feature on Eddie Guerrero at elpasomatters.org.

The natural gas utility Texas Gas Service wants to raise El Paso household gas bills by around 25 percent. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers talks through different aspects of the rate request. You can read Diego's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

Voters in Socorro Independent School District rejected a ballot proposition during the Nov. 4 election that would have provided more revenue for the cash-strapped district. The decision could affect how SISD navigates its way out of a financial bind and whether it can avoid a state takeover. El Paso Matters education reporter Claudia Silva joins the podcast to discuss why voters rejected Propositi...

As Texas voters prepare to decide on a ballot proposition in early November that would allocate $20 billion to shore up the state's water supply, El Paso Water Vice President Gilbert Trejo joins the El Paso Matters Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on the water situation in El Paso. You can read El Paso Matters' coverage of water issues in El Paso at elpasomatters.org .

Meta Platforms, the technology giant that owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, is building a $1.5 billion data center project in El Paso. Public anxiety about data centers and their water and electricity usage has escalated in arid communities throughout the southwestern U.S. like El Paso. El Paso Matters journalists Diego Mendoza-Moyers and Pablo talk about the resources the data center will us...

The city of El Paso will hire a new director for the city's animal services department likely early next year. The next director will be the sixth person since 2015 to lead the department, which has faced public criticism along with leadership turnover over the last decade. El Paso Matters Senior Reporter Elida Perez discusses the challenges the department has faced and the search for a new leader...

Unlike the other major metro areas in Texas, El Paso is more spreading out than truly growing. And new projections published this week by Texas’ state demographer show, even in the most optimistic scenario, our population is likely to grow at a much slower pace than it did in the 1990s or in the 2000s. Bob Moore, the founder and CEO of El Paso Matters, joins the podcast to talk about his reporting...

The massive Project Jupiter data center campus was first unveiled at a public meeting in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Aug. 26. Nearly four weeks later, the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners approved incentives for the project despite major debate among the community and concerns about the campus' water and electricity consumption. The project -- among the biggest private investments ever made --...

Two people living in El Paso who received "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" - DACA - were recently arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and set for deportation despite their protected status. But an immigration judge terminated their removal proceedings. Cindy Ramirez, editor of El Paso Matters, joins the podcast to discuss their cases and what will come next amid the Trum...

An Austin-based company is proposing to invest an almost-inconceivable $165 billion to build a huge data center campus in Santa Teresa, New Mexico near El Paso. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mend0za-Moyers talks through the proposal, which has raised intense concern and skepticism among residents. You can read Diego's reporting at elpasomatters.org .

City planners in El Paso proposed a couple of policies at the most recent city council meeting that were designed to increase the number of housing units in the city and reduce parking requirements, The big, overarching goal is to increase the supply of housing so affordability here improves, and also increase the density of the historic core of El Paso, make it more walkable and ultimately slow t...

As climate change and drought pressure El Paso's water supplies, pecan farmers in one of the nation's biggest pecan-growing hubs are testing out new techniques to sustain agriculture in the face of heat and increasingly salty groundwater. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers speaks with Orlando Flores, the county extensions agent with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, about agriculture in...