News

Tonight at 8:30 p.m. CST, the McDonald Observatory will be hosting a live stream on their YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram about T Corona Borealis, a binary star that is expected to explode as a dazzling nova in the next few weeks. The program will explain what causes these novas and let you know how or if you can see it as it happens.

Remote areas of Big Bend National Park to close for wildlife project To control non-native populations of aoudads, otherwise known as Barbary sheep, Big Bend National Park (BBNP), in conjunction with Texas Parks and Wildlife, will conduct a survey of desert big horn sheep and remove aoudads using helicopters and staff trained in aerial shooting operations. For the last several years, the National Park Service (NPS) has continued these measures to protect the desert big horn by reducing the increasing numbers of aoudad that have continued to thrive within West Texas and Big Bend over the past 30 years.

Ty Ritchie performed a chemical reaction experiment as part of the STEAM approach to teaching at Alpine Middle School last week. Students explored the chemical changes that took place with the “elephant toothpaste” experiment, which is a chemical reaction in which hydrogen peroxide rapidly decomposes into water and oxygen when a catalyst such as potassium iodide or yeast is added. This results in a foam forming due to the oxygen bubbles being trapped in dish soap.

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First responders from Terlingua Fire and EMS, along with members of the Marathon VFD, and area park rangers train constantly to improve skills and response time to the myriad of situations they can encounter in the Big Bend region.

Drought is a prolonged absence or marked deficiency of precipitation, and as of September 2024, most of the Trans-Pecos is in either severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. Drought not only plays a big role in forage production, but also affects wildlife and the plans set beforehand from the producers.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will visit Sul Ross State University from September 30 through October 2, offering students and the public a rare opportunity to witness the state’s highest criminal court in action.

The Brewster County Commissioner’s Court held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 24, at 9:30 a.m. in the commissioner’s courtroom. Both Pct. 3 Commissioner Ruben Ortega and Pct. 4 Commissioner Mo Morrow were absent.

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