Latest Posts

A gift of $19,000 was given to the Sul Ross State University Department of Nursing from the Big Bend Regional Hospital District on Dec. 4, by Executive Director J.D. Newsome,and Board Chairman Buddy Cavness. The funds were received by Dr. Geraldine M. Goosen, Director of the BSN Nursing Program, and Dean Bonnie Warnock College of Agriculture, Life and Physical Sciences, to assist with providing equipment to enhance learning opportunities required by the nursing curriculum. Six students are currently enrolled in the nursing program. Courtesy photo

Things are slowly changing for the better for our local animals. Last weekend we hosted Animal Balance (animalbalance.org) to help us with the horrendous pet overpopulation problem in West Texas. On Saturday they spayed or neutered 30 dogs and cats in Presidio, and on Sunday an additional 26 in Marfa. This was the fourth Big Bend Big Fix Spay and Neuter pop-up, with the goal of having fewer unwanted and unloved animals suffering in our region. Fifty-six animals may not sound like a lot, but when one considers the hundreds of offspring they could have produced, it makes a tremendous difference.

Dennis and Donna (Boyd) Yadon Once upon a time in the 1960s, there was a Pik Nick convenience store in Alpine. Donna Boyd worked there.

Noah Daniel Zunker graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Government and a secondary in Astrophysics. A Midyear Graduate Recognition Ceremony was held on Dec. 3 in Cambridge, Mass.

With the right training and responsible use, owning a gun can play a crucial role to safeguard liberty, safety, and property. Alpine resident Zach Vaughn, coowner of Gunsmoke Training & Defense, does that with simple, realistic, and effective firearms training.

On Dec. 15, Border Patrol agents assigned to the Alpine Border Patrol Station arrested five subjects from a failed smuggling event at the Highway 118 Border Patrol checkpoint. All five subjects were taken to the Alpine Border Patrol station for processing. It was discovered that one of the subjects, a citizen of Mexico, was convicted of murder and felony assault, and was sentenced to 20 years.

Members of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church Matachines Danza Guadalup pause for a photo at the church in Alpine on Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patroness of the Americas, and considered the Mother of the Catholic Church. The celebration commemorates the Virgin’s appearance to Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant, on Dec. 12, 1531, near Mexico City, according to the Catholic Church. Danza Guadalup dancers celebrated the occasion by dancing outside the church as well as leading a procession. Photo by Teresa Huckaby

Our Avalanche reporter asked, “What is the best Christmas gift you have ever received?” Maribel Ramirez, Alpine: When I was about eight, there was a doll that I’d been wanting. It would eat, and you could feed it.