Sam Karas

BREWSTER COUNTY — On Monday morning, Terlingua Ranch resident Lawrence Foy was booked into the county jail after making an anonymous call to 911 dispatch threatening “Big Bend hospital and all law enforcement.” Deputies were quick to secure Big Bend Regional Medical Center and reported all clear. (The hospital is open and continuing to serve […]

TERLINGUA — Folks from around the world are pouring into Terlingua this week for the 57th Annual Chili Cookoff — or more accurately, two dueling cookoffs that swell sunbaked South Brewster County to a population upwards of 10,000 people.

TERLINGUA — Construction is underway on the future Dollar General in Terlingua, located just west of the junction between Highway 118 and FM 170 in Study Butte. The site of the former EMS building has been leveled, and crews are working to clear a space for the store and attached parking lot. Apart from Aramark, […]

BREWSTER COUNTY — Last Thursday, a judge dismissed a lawsuit by Jeff Leach of Basecamp Terlingua against Katy Schwartz of Marfa. The Honorable Stephen Ables — sitting in for a series of swapped judges on the 394th District Court — ruled for the second time in the defendant's favor, citing the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), which is intended to protect state residents from lawsuits retaliating against their expression of free speech.

MARFA — At Wednesday morning's meeting, Presidio County Treasurer Frances Garcia announced her retirement from her position at the end of the year, just halfway through her third term in office. The commissioners voted to approve the resignation, but all expressed appreciation for her hard work.

PRESIDIO — On Tuesday evening, more than three dozen Presidians showed up to City Council to protest a proposed truck bypass route from Highway 67 to the port of entry. The route — which would allow trucks alternate access to the railroad and port of entry during traffic backups — would cut a path around the eastern edge of the city to FM 170,

FAR WEST TEXAS — Hikers, bikers and horseback riders will one day have a new adventure to cross off their bucket lists in the form of the Cross Texas Trail, or xTx (“ex-Tex”) — a 1,500-mile trail across Texas from Orange to El Paso. End to end, the route winds through all types of terrain from swampy bayous and sky islands to salt flats and sand dunes.

TERLINGUA — Over the past six months, Brewster County healthcare advocates have been carefully monitoring the progress of a clinic in Terlingua. Thanks to a major grant from the USDA, local patients can receive top-quality care without having to drive all the way to Alpine or Presidio.

PRESIDIO — On Tuesday, the City of Presidio and the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA) announced that they had been awarded $12.7 million by the federal government toward supporting green infrastructure. The grant is the largest ever awarded to a nonprofit in the region and will support a variety of ecological goals in the tiny border city.

MARFA — On Monday, the Presidio County Commissioners Court tapped current Deputy Clerk Carolina Catano to take over the office of clerk in the new year. Catano — who has served under current County Clerk Florcita Zubia since 2021 — will take the department's top spot on January 1 when Zubia assumes office upstairs as the new county treasurer.