SPOTLIGHT EP NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2011 PAGE 2 Rep
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www.spotlightepnews.com Publliished by E..P.. MASS MEDIIA ADVERTIISIING IINC.. Voll.. X No.. 367 February 25th,, 2011 SPOTLIGHT EP NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2011 PAGE 2 Rep. Eddie Holguin Honored by Senior Center Participants New Faces @ the Holguin given a commemorative Eagle by Senior Citizens City Council Rep. Eddie Holguin was honored for his continued support of the seniors by the Foundation for Senior Advisory Council on February 18th at the Father Martinez Senior Center during the Senior Center Queen Coronation Celebration. El Paso Community College Recently, the Foundation for El Paso Community College elected new officers to guide the Foundation towards new opportunities and ambitious goals to support students at El Paso College in 2011 and beyond. The newly elected Chair is Eduardo J. Cadena, Attor - ney, Cadena Law Firm, P.C.; Vice Chair is Edward McCormick, Principal, McCormick Architecture; Treasurer is Tom Thomas, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army; and Secretary is Blanca Soforo, Agent, State Farm Insurance. Also on the executive leadership team are familiar faces and long time advocates for the Foundation, Mervin Moore as De - velopment Chair, Principal, Moore, Nordel, Kroeger Architects; and Scholarship Chair is Richard Barraza, President, Italian Imports. Also new to the Foundation and leading the Foundation office at EPCC is Dr. Christy Ponce, the newly appointed Interim Executive Director for Foundation & Development. (L to R) David Lopez (El Paso Parks and Recreation), Rep. Eddie Holguin with Award, Esperanza Yee – Parks and Recreation, Father Martinez Senior Center Queen – Maru Mora , Graciela Olivas - Advisory Council President, Maru Mora’s husband – Mario Mora As the Foundation moves forward and seeks to support a greater scale of students, we have also recruited fantastic new talent including Bob Snow, President, JP Morgan Chase Bank; Don Melendez, President, Wells Fargo Bank; Karl Murphy, CEO, First Light Credit Union; Susan Austin, Grant Writer, Ysleta Independent School District; and Hector Puente, Vice President of Transmission and Distribution, El Paso Electric. We are very fortunate to have a strong group of newly committed individuals eager to assist more stu - dents through college. For more information on how you can get help these individuals get students through college please contact the Foundation office at (915) 831-6614. SPOTLIGHT EP NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2011 PAGE 3 Deep Freeze Heroes Story and photos by Ricky J. Carrasco During the Deep Freeze of 2011, most El Pasoans found themselves at home trying to stay warm, perhaps under the covers, with cups of hot cof - fee, and enjoying their days off. All El Paso area schools were cancelled for almost a week and many businesses advised their employees to stay home in the name of safety. But for some, the freeze brought with it many hours of difficult, often dan - gerous, work. Emergency workers from across the Bor - derland were called to duty. Police officers, utility work - ers, and firefighters worked in the harshest weather in recent memory to help out the regu - Central Station “A” Shift lar citizen. Firefighters al - ready have a dangerous job, but the recent weather Fire Station “A” Shift were El Paso Fire Department re - enced some kind of fall due to brought new, unexpected dan - on call during the worst of the sponded to over 3000 calls black ice on sidewalks and gers. weather, where temperatures during the Deep Freeze. Most streets. One of our guys fell bottomed out at -15 degrees were simple calls to shut-off at an apartment fire, spraining The men of Central with the wind chill factor. The water and electricity. Though his ankle, but he kept working that might seem mundane, and remained on duty. The even those had inherent dan - cold only aggravated his in - gers to the firefighters. jury. He responded to all our calls but finally, after the fuel Central Station is spill, he went to the hospital largely a Hazardous Materials to get checked out. station, responding to all Haz - Mat calls within the county. “We responded to a On this day, they supported call at a vacant downtown the entire city’s stations, re - building that had burst pipes. sponding to calls city-wide. The basement had at least 8 In their own words, the fire - inches of standing water that fighters of Station 1 describe we had to cross to turn off the their experiences that day that water supply. Our quick- reflect those of most firefight - hitches (fire suits) got wet up ers. to the knees. As soon as we got back to the rig, the boots Lt. Ben Rodriguez, froze and the leather split 13 year in EPFD: “We are a from the cold. After that, we dedicated HazMat team. But had to respond to a HazMat on that day, we responded to situation on Mesa near Uni - many floodings, burst pipes, versity and Kirby from 3 to medical calls caused by the 7am, when it was the coldest. ice, and apartment fire and a We are thankful to the gas spill caused by a vehicle Wataburger on the corner for hit and run. It was difficult to donating coffee and a place to get around, but we equip our warm up.” rigs with snow chains. Many of our firefighters experi - Continues on next page SPOTLIGHT EP NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2011 PAGE 4 National Girls and Heroes... Women Day in Sports Continued from page 3 Five Individuals Honored for Lt. Michael Welch, Volunteerism 18 years of service: “We re - sponded to that flooding, Five individuals were honored on Sunday, February 20th at after which our boots froze. the Larry Durham Center at UTEP for the National Girls and We could feel the cold in our Women in Sports Day Celebration. Guest speaker was Nancy eyes, as if the eyelids were Croom, (maiden name Aaronson,) a former prolific golfer in freezing and sticking to our El Paso and the country, now residing in California. eyes, especially when it be - came windy. Many of us did - UTEP and the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Depart - n’t notice how cold it was ment teamed up for the Flo Hyman Memorial Award. Hyman, because our skin and feet be - who was captain of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Volleyball team, came numb after a while. brought women's volleyball in the United States from virtual Even our Micro-Blaze (a obscurity to worldwide recognition and respect. She died sud - chemical/microbe agent used denly from Marfan Syndrome in 1986. to neutralize many haz-mat materials) began to freeze. The Women Sports Foundation started the Flo Hyman Memo - Some of the agencies we rial Award in 1992 and the City Parks and Recreation Depart - called to re-supply us ment and UTEP created the local program in 1998 which is couldn’t because their supply given to an outstanding student athlete who exemplifies Flo had frozen solid. Hyman's dignity, spirit and commitment to excellence. The 2011 winners honored last night are: “Thankfully, it was not a storm, as many have Flo Hyman Memorial Awards called it. It was a freeze. Had Elementary School it been an actual storm, it Chief Rafael Reyes (in white) with some of the firefighters from Central Station. Andrea Abeyta, Lujan - Chavez Elementary School could’ve been disastrous. The Middle School best piece of advice I would Rochelle Rodriguez , Ricardo Estrada Middle School give because of this freeze city down to Socorro Road to home, and the owners would The day of the freeze was High School Lacey Odell , Eastwood High School would be that home and shut off water and back up ask us what they could do for only his second shift on duty. building owners should know the other stations. After the water, and we couldn’t re - “I was almost overwhelmed El Paso Parks and Recreation Circle of Excellence where the water and utility apartment fire, I found my spond adequately. We are an from the sheer number of Awarded to shut-offs are and how to op - regulator on my breathing emergency service and there calls. Knowing that every - Edgar Fino erate them.” apparatus froze. In the two is only so much we can do. body is on the move. On Lisa Campos minutes that I took off my most days, we use maybe 4 Lt. David Marquez, gloves to change, I found that “We still learn to channels on the radio. That The celebration continues on Thursday as the 18 years of service: “Our they froze too. At the fuel expect the unexpected. I day we were using all ten UTEP Softball team plays New Mexico State University at shift starts at 11:45 and we spill, I got some wind burn think we performed well, but channels and they were all 5pm at the Helen of Troy Complex, followed by the UTEP were out on calls almost im - on my cheeks, even under the there’s always something to busy all day. All my seniors Womens Basketball Game at 7pm against Southern Missis - mediately. We were so busy, mask and balaclava. learn.” have told me that even if I sippi. Everybody gets in free to both events and children get a nobody had a chance to sleep stay for ten or fifteen more souvenir poster at the basketball game. UTEP Women ath - in our 24 hour shift. I was on “Sometimes, we’d Charles Singleton years, I may never see a day letes will sign autographs in the concourse of the Don Hask - (rescue vehicle) Squad 1 feel a little helpless because is recently graduated from like that day again. ins Center also.