Home Care In El Paso, TX

Pan Am Speedway is coming to the Fabens area. August 20, 2025. Credit: KFOX14/CBS4

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — County officials announced the construction of a racing venue near Fabens, a project that they hope will become the Borderland's next major tourist destination.

On Wednesday, El Paso County held a press conference to announce the planned construction of the "Pan American Speedway," a new racing venue that will open north of the Fabens area.

"So they'll have racing tracks, they'll have outdoor space, space for community activities, concerts," said El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 3 Iliana Holguin.

Holguin believes the $17 million project will boost the local economy by adding jobs and attracting tourism.

"We're going to see visitors from all over the Southwest and Mexico come to our county for this recreational activity," Holguin said.

What will Pan Am Speedway look like?

According to Pan Am Speedway, the venue will have tracks for go-karts as well as another course for cars, sports cars and other types of racing vehicles, modeled after the Circuit of the Americas tracks in Austin.

There will also be garages for rent and condominiums on-site for racing enthusiasts to buy, so they can keep their sports car and other equipment by the track.

The company hopes the project will grow into a "huge compound," adding that there is land in the adjacent area to build hotels and restaurants.

"There is nothing like this in El Paso, there's nothing like this within six hours," said the CEO of Pan Am Speedway.

When asked why the company chose Fabens, the company said that it was due to how close the area was to the international border crossing, adding that the racetrack is expected to attract racing enthusiasts from Mexico and South America.

The project is expected to break ground sometime between September and October, adding that construction will be handled by Aztec Contractors, Inc.

Possible opening will be in late 2026.

Furthermore, for the next 30 days, Paul Karsko, Pan Am's CFO, said the company is looking to meet with local investors and businesses interested in becoming partners or sponsors.

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El Paso, Texas’ quintessential border city, has begun its resistance against the implementation of the Camp East Montana immigration detention center, built on the Fort Bliss military base, less than 15 minutes away from downtown. The facility — whose first inmates arrived in mid-August — is projected to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history, with a capacity for 5,000 people. To this end, the Department of Defense has approved an investment of approximately $1.2 billion for its expansion over the next two years.

Around the military base in the Texas desert, hundreds of protesters have been demonstrating for days against the extreme conditions at the site, a vast open-air tent facility. The accusations center primarily on the heat experienced by detainees in a desert region of a state suffering a heat wave since early August, with temperatures almost constantly above 40°C (104°F). Furthermore, deficiencies in the water and food supply, as well as inadequate medical care, have also been reported.

The center, informally known as the “Lone Star Lockup,” began operating with an initial capacity of 1,000 people. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it will eventually include medical services, recreational areas, and libraries. However, local activists report that its current conditions are precarious and detainees’ rights are systematically violated.

Melissa López, director of Estrella del Paso, an organization that provides legal assistance to migrants, highlighted at a press conference Thursday the contradiction between what ICE told Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett — who had visited the site shortly beforehand — and the reality her organization deals with every day. For example, Crockett was informed that in-person legal visits were already possible without supervision, while Estrella del Paso attorneys have only been authorized for telephone contacts. “Yesterday we were told one thing, today the congresswoman was told another. This contradiction is dangerous, and we will continue to demand that access to legal representation be guaranteed,” López stated.

At the meeting, Jovanny Sebastián Hernández, organizer of the New Mexico Dream Team, a support group for undocumented immigrants, highlighted the enormous expense involved in the construction of the site. “The opening of this concentration camp violates our shared values. That money could be used for healthcare, education, and housing, not mass detention,” he argued. He also recounted the testimonies of detainees suffering from weight loss, lack of medical care, and limited access to clothing and shoes.

Meanwhile, attorney Becca Sheff of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated that the opening of this detention center “is not about security, but about instilling fear and accelerating deportations without due process.” Sheff recounted the case of a Venezuelan immigrant who was found unconscious after not receiving timely medical attention and was also denied visits from his legal representatives. “Each bed is not a number; it’s a person who came seeking dignity and safety. History has taught us what happens when we let fear dictate policy. We cannot repeat those horrors,” the attorney said.

During World War II, Fort Bliss housed people considered “enemy aliens,” primarily of German and Italian descent. While it was not one of the main internment centers for people of Japanese descent, it was part of the military system that managed prisoners of war and targeted detentions. Decades later, during Trump’s first presidency, it was used to house unaccompanied migrant minors. And, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, it welcomed thousands of refugees as part of Operation Allies Welcome.

Now, the use of military facilities to detain migrants en masse is causing fear among activists and progressive politicians. Human rights organizations such as the ACLU and Human Rights Watch have warned that the Trump administration is using sites designed for war and national defense to detain civilians. This is a problem, they say, because it complicates oversight and limits transparency.

These two oversight mechanisms were demanded by El Paso County Commissioner Jackie Butler in a resolution filed this month. In the document, Butler warned that the multimillion-dollar contract for the construction and operation of the facility was awarded without public consultation to a firm with no experience in civil detention (called Acquisition Logistics LLC). She also emphasized how the center will affect the area’s infrastructure and public services.

Democratic Congresswoman Verónica Escobar of El Paso also visited Camp East Montana this week and criticized the waste of resources used for its construction. “How much good would that money do if it were spent on childcare, healthcare, or preschool education?” she asked. Meanwhile, Republican politicians like Texas Senator John Cornyn have supported the initiative. Cornyn recently toured the facility and called it an improvement over previous conditions. He also asserted that the new center will alleviate the overcrowding that exists at other immigration detention centers and allow for more efficient processing of cases.

The Trump administration has repeatedly announced that it is seeking to expand its detention capacity for migrants in the deportation queue, which already exceeds historic records with some 60,000 detainees, which is also well above the 40,000 total beds available to ICE. In recent months, some of the largest, previously unused facilities have reopened and new migrant prisons have been built; the most notable of which has been the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, built in just days in the middle of the harsh swamp and mangrove ecosystem of the Everglades, west of Miami. If those who oppose it fail to halt its expansion, Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss will dwarf all others.

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August continues to be a great month to check out the skies. This month offers one of the best opportunities to see the Milky Way.

The center of our galaxy is teeming with billions of stars that generally are visible from Earth, but at certain times of the year, they are even more vibrant.

As summer nears its end, so does the so-called Milky Way season (February to October) in the United States. Fortunately, stargazers still have a chance to glimpse the Milky Way's iconic arc of lights in the night sky.

Here's what to know about the Milky Way and how to see it.

What is the Milky Way galaxy?

The Milky Way is our home galaxy with a disc of stars that spans more than 100,000 light-years. Because it appears as a rotating disc curving out from a dense central region, the Milky Way is known as a spiral galaxy.

Planet Earth sits along one of the galaxy's spiral arms, about halfway from the center, according to NASA.

The Milky Way sits in a cosmic neighborhood called the Local Group that includes more than 50 other galaxies. Those galaxies can be as "small" as a dwarf galaxy with up to only a few billion stars or as large as Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor.

Why is it called the Milky Way?

The Milky Way got its name because, from our perspective on Earth, it appears as a faint, milky band of light stretching across the sky.

How to view Milky Way

Though the Milky Way is generally always visible from Earth, certain times of year are better for stargazers to catch a glimpse of the band of billions of stars.

But because visibility from Earth depends on the latitude, the further south you go, the longer the Milky Way season will last. For instance, in the Northern Hemisphere, which includes the continental United States, the best time to see the Milky Way is generally from March to September, according to Capture the Atlas.

What you're looking at when the Milky Way is visible is the bright center of our galaxy, "seen edge-on from our position within the galaxy's disk," Preston Dyches, who hosts NASA's "What's Up," a monthly video series that describes what's happening in the night sky, wrote in June for NASA.

When to watch the Milky Way in August 2025

The center of the Milky Way, which Dyches refers to as "the core," became visible in June and is expected to shine every night through August as it gets higher in a darker sky.

Typically, the sky is darkest from about midnight to 5 a.m., according to Capture the Atlas. You can check sunrise and sunset times at your location using the website TimeAndDate. El Paso, Texas, currently has sunrise at about 6:30 a.m. MT and sunset at 7:42 p.m. MT.

"This doesn’t mean that as soon as the sun goes down you can see the Milky Way," writes Dan Zafra, co-founder of Capture the Atlas. "Even if it’s in the sky, the Milky Way will be barely visible during blue hour, so you’ll have to wait at least until the end of the astronomical twilight to see all the details of the Milky Way."

This month, the Milky Way will be diagonal at the beginning of the night, vertical during the middle of the night, and low above the horizon at the end of the night, according to Capture the Atlas.

Tips on best way to see Milky Way

Spectators will have the best luck on cloud-free nights and in locations away from city light pollution.

Of the 159 locations in the United States that are designated dark sky communities, there are more than 10 locations in Texas. They include:

Big Bend Ranch State Park near Terlingua, Texas

Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve in Fort Davis, Texas

Black Gap Wildlife Management Area

Devils River State Natural Area in Del Rio area.

South Llano River State Park in Junction, Texas.

Copper Breaks State Park in northern Texas.

UBarU Camp and Retreat Center in southwest Gillespie County, Texas.

Stargazers can observe the Milky Way galaxy by looking for the Summer Triangle, a shape formed by "three bright stars" that spans across the Milky Way, according to science news website LiveScience.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way rises in the southeast, travels across the southern sky and sets in the southwest, according to Weather.com.

Source: USAToday.

Texas Border Business

By Roberto Hugo González

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newest Palenque Grill in El Paso, Texas, on August 20, 2025, José Ochoa reflected on what the brand represents.

“For me, Palenque Grill is more than a restaurant with delicious food and warm service. It represents tradition, it represents family, and above all, it represents the human connection we want to build with the community through hospitality and warmth,” he said.

José, a trained chef and the youngest of Don Pancho’s sons, credited his father as the visionary behind the group’s growth. “None of this would have been possible without the vision, leadership, and inspiration of a great man—my father and our founder, Don Pancho Ochoa.”

Juan Francisco “Don Pancho” Ochoa, founder of El Pollo Loco and later the Palenque Group restaurants, has built one of the most enduring entrepreneurial legacies in Mexican and Texan culinary history. Over five decades, Ochoa and his family expanded their vision of authentic Mexican dining into more than 50 restaurants across Texas, creating thousands of jobs and strengthening both the U.S. and Mexican economies.

Taking the microphone after his son, Don Pancho spoke about the family’s journey. “My wife sends her regards. She couldn’t be here today, but she has always been a pillar since we began this dream over 50 years ago,” he said. He recalled the early expansion of El Pollo Loco throughout Mexico, later bringing it to Los Angeles, and the creation of Palenque Grill in 2005. “Today we are opening the seventh Palenque Grill, and in a few months, we’ll open the eighth in Brownsville, Texas,” he added.

The founder emphasized gratitude to God, his family, and his team. “We started with family, and later added managers, marketing experts, and professionals who made everything possible,” he explained. Above all, he thanked the kitchen staff and front-line workers who “create the unique flavors we are known for.”

In recognition of the family’s contributions, Daniel Flores, representing Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, presented a U.S. Congressional Recognition at the El Paso ceremony. “First, congratulations to everyone who has been part of this project in our city. It is my pleasure to present this U.S. Congressional Recognition to the Ochoa family. Congratulations, and much success,” Flores said.

Faith also remains central to the Ochoa family’s journey. At the El Paso opening, Father Germán of the Diocese of El Paso offered a blessing, praying for the restaurant, its employees, and future endeavors. “Christ dignified work by being called the son of a carpenter and working with His own hands. Work is no longer a curse but a blessing,” the priest noted before sprinkling holy water.

The recognition of Don Pancho extends beyond Texas. Pablo Castro Zavala, President of Public Relations and Hispanic Affairs for the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, recalled honoring Ochoa in Nevada for his business and social contributions. “Las Vegas honored him with his own star in front of the Paris Hotel Casino. Authorities even proclaimed an official ‘Juan Francisco Pancho Ochoa Day.’ His star is right next to José José, Engelbert Humperdinck, Martín Noriega, Carmen Salinas, and others,” Castro Zavala said.

Since its founding in 2005, Palenque Grill has expanded to San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, and now El Paso. The Palenque Group also includes Taco Palenque, bringing the total to more than 50 establishments across Texas. Speaking about the group’s formula for success, Don Pancho explained, “Our success lies in serving the best authentic Mexican dishes with top-quality ingredients, balanced recipes, and ensuring the best service at fair prices.”

Beyond food, the group has created thousands of jobs and supported humanitarian causes, reinforcing the Ochoa family’s reputation as both entrepreneurs and philanthropists. “Thank you infinitely, because without you, we could not have come this far,” Don Pancho said, addressing staff, guests, and community members at the opening.

The El Paso location, inside Cielo Vista Mall and less than four miles from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, represents more than just expansion. For the Ochoa family, it is the continuation of a legacy that blends cuisine, tradition, and community spirit—values rooted in family but shared across borders.

Texas Border Business

EDINBURG, Texas – Attorney and lifelong Edinburg resident Omar Ochoa plans to ignite excitement and officially kick off his mayoral campaign at a special celebration this Thursday in Edinburg. The event will bring together family, friends, supporters, and Edinburg leaders and community members, as Ochoa shares his vision for a stronger, thriving Edinburg.

The Omar Ochoa for Edinburg Mayor Campaign Kickoff will be held at 5:30 pm TOMORROW, Thursday, August 21, 2025, at The St. Michael Event Gallery (205 Conquest Blvd.) in Edinburg. All media and the public are invited to attend and learn more about his priorities for Edinburg.

The son of hardworking parents, Ochoa carries a lifelong commitment to sacrifice, grit, and determination. With deep community roots and a strong educational and professional background, including a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s Degree in Accounting, CPA certification, and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, he is well-prepared, knowledgeable, and experienced to serve as Mayor of Edinburg.

An accomplished attorney, Ochoa runs his own law firm and previously served for six years as City Attorney for Edinburg, acting as the city’s chief legal advisor. With his leadership, vision, and real-world experience, he is ready to bring bold, effective leadership to the City of Edinburg. As Mayor, he will focus on creating high-paying jobs, keeping taxes low while advancing major projects, and ensuring every family in Edinburg feels safe and supported. With his experience, education, and dedication, Omar Ochoa is ready to keep Edinburg Moving Forward!

Come celebrate with us, hear Omar’s plans for Edinburg, and enjoy an evening filled with food, music, community spirit, and more. Learn more at www.VoteOchoa.com.

All media and the public are invited to attend.

DETAILSWhat: Omar Ochoa for Edinburg Mayor Campaign KickoffWhen: Thursday, August 21, at 5:30 pmWhere: The St. Michael Event Gallery (205 Conquest Blvd., Edinburg, TX 78539)

What’s That? This is a regular series that follows construction projects in El Paso. Discover what’s being built, the locations, and the potential impact on your community. If you notice a construction site and ask yourself, "What's That?" send us the location and we'll work to get you an answer: [email protected].

A new coffee spot is coming to Northeast El Paso.

7Brew Drive-Thru Coffee is a national chain that launched in Rogers, Arkansas, and now boasts dozens of locations across the country, from New York to Alabama, North Carolina to Utah.

The company began with a simple mission to revolutionize drive-thru coffee service. Beginning with only seven specialty coffee drinks, 7Brew now offers a wide variety of coffees, energy drinks, fizzes, teas, lemonades, smoothies and shakes.

Where is it?

The new 7Brew Drive-Thru Coffee location will be setting up shop at 9601 Dyer St., according to the city's permit and licensing website.

The building sits at the corner of Dyer Street and Hondo Pass Drive, next to the Walmart Neighborhood Market and across the street from a shopping center that's home to PB's Pizza, Dollar Tree and other shops.

What was there before?

The future home of 7Brew Drive-Thru Coffee was previously the headquarters for Ultra Electrical Service, now located at 7900 Craddock Ave.

It’s unclear how long the building has been vacant; multiple calls to Ultra Electrical Service went unanswered.

Who is the contractor?

The application for the project was submitted by Erin Dudley of CEI Engineering Associates of Bentonville, Arkansas.

The development is valued at $750,000.

The new coffee shop is owned by 7B New Mexico LLC. It is unlikely that the building currently standing at the location will be used for the coffee shop, as the application calls for a 510-square-foot prefabricated building and six new parking spots.

Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached at [email protected].