March 2026

The Brewster County Commissioners held a special meeting on Tuesday morning at 9:30, along with the Alpine City Council, to hear the recommendation of the EMS Task Force regarding the funding and operation of Emergency Medical Service (ground ambulance transportation) in north Brewster County.

The Alpine City Council held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with all council members present, where they discussed a collaboration with Alpine ISD, the likely renewal of the contract with the Alpine Country Club, and a more concise breakdown of the capital improvement plan to be implemented over several years from 2026-2031 at a total cost of $17.2 million. The council also passed eight action items, and Mayor Eaves gave a report on a meeting with the U.S. Border Patrol concerning the border wall.

Conversations in the Big Bend lately have focused almost exclusively on the possible construction of a border wall in the region. These conversations are complex, emotional, and deeply important to the people who call the Big Bend home.

“There’s only one thing you have to know.” — Dr. Heber Taylor, former Communication Chair at Stephen F.

James Douglas “Jim” Spitler departed this life on February 24, 2026. He was born May 28, 1930, in Dallas to the union of Marion and Willie (Billie) Spitler and siblings, brother’s Sterling, Bucky, Marion, and sister, Billie Francis Burton-Anger and brother-in-law, Kent Anger. Jim married Betty Jo White of Alpine on February 18, 1961, in Dallas, a marriage which lasted 21 years. During their marriage, they raised two children, a son of Betty, Bradley Brahm, and their beautiful daughter, Amy Driscoll.

Tomi Jo McDaniel was born in Sweetwater, Texas, in 1937. After attending Abilene Christian College, she moved to Odessa, where she met Richard McDaniel and married in 1960. There they lived and worked until 1973, when they moved to Alpine so Richard could finish college at Sul Ross State University. Tomi started her Alpine career at the SRSU print shop, followed by the Texas Highway Department, and then she went back to SRSU to work at the physical plant. Her most recent and final job was with the City of Alpine, working as the Financial Director for 21 years. She collected many lifelong friends at every one of her jobs.

The Alpine High School Varsity Fightin’ Lady Bucks battled through wild West Texas winds and a packed three-game stretch last week, opening district play with an emphatic win after facing a pair of tough opponents.

The Alpine High School Fightin’ Bucks came within one play of securing a road victory Friday, March 13, but fell to the McCamey Badgers 4-5 on a walk-off play in the bottom of the seventh inning. The loss was Alpine’s only game over the past two weeks after high winds forced the cancellation of the Bucks’ scheduled March 10 matchup against Monahans.

The Alpine Fightin’ Buck boys golf team earned a 2nd place overall finish in Monday’s Alpine Invitational, with all varsity players shooting below 100. Ace Granado was the lead golfer for Alpine, finishing in first place with a score of 79.

More than 350 landowners, scientists, groundwater conservation district leaders, legislators, judges, nonprofit partners and community members gathered at Sul Ross State University for Water in the Desert 2026 — the first major event hosted by the newly launched Meadows Research Institute for West Texas Water. The strong turnout, up significantly from the inaugural 2024 conference, underscored both the urgency of water challenges in Far West Texas and the growing momentum behind a coordinated, science-driven response.