Interview with El Paso Mayor John Cook
Brandi Grissom
Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.
Posted inState Government
2010: Trouble in the Chavez Camp
Three sources close to the campaign of Democratic state Rep. Norma Chavez in Austin and El Paso today are reporting that some of her closest local campaign staffers are abandoning ship just a week before the April 13 election.
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Demographics
Two Hours in Juárez
What I saw was not entirely what I expected. I expected charred buildings. I expected soldiers with automatic weapons everywhere. I expected empty streets and residents skulking around in fear. To be sure, there were signs of danger — but in many parts of Juárez, there were also people determined to remain, to do their best to live as normally as possible.
Posted inState Government
2010: Chavez Regrets Bringing Up Rival’s Sexual Orientation
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, this afternoon apologized for making her opponent Naomi Gonzalez’s sexual orientation an issue in the campaign.
Posted inState Government
2010: Chavez: No to Gay Marriage. Yes to Civil Unions?
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, says the reason her opponent Naomi Gonzalez’s sexual orientation is important as a political issue is because it could affect her vote on legislation involving gay marriage. Texas legislators and voters statewide already prohibited gay marriage in this state with a constitutional amendment in 2005. So, the story got me wondering whether Chavez voted against that measure.
Posted inState Government
The Runoffs: HD-76
Naomi Gonzalez calls state Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, a GOP darling, a drinker and a public embarrassment. Chavez calls Gonzalez homosexual, naive and a Republican. The bashing and brawling in this heavily Democratic district is truly something to behold — and there’s still more than a week until runoff day.
Posted inState Government
The Runoffs: Our Final Four
With a few days to go before the April 13 runoffs, we check in on the last four on our list: three of them with incumbents in Bryan, El Paso, and Lubbock defending their seats, and a fourth for an open seat, also in Lubbock.
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Demographics
Worse Than Colombia
That’s how Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw described the violence raging in Mexico’s drug war at a House hearing on Tuesday.
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Demographics
TribBlog: McCraw Says Mexico Worse Than Colombia
The situation in Mexico is worse now than the Colombian drug war of the 1980s and 1990s ever was, Texas Department of Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw told state lawmakers today.
Posted in
Demographics
Remember Immigration?
Lawmakers are reeling from the bruising political battle over health care reform and are loath to take on another divisive issue and additional risky votes. So the prospects remain dim for legislation that would improve border security, provide a pathway to citizenship for millions and crack down on unscrupulous employers — but that doesn’t mean everyone’s forgotten about it, as the hundreds of thousands of advocates who marched on Washington, D.C., last weekend can attest.