So, serious question… is the moon made of cheese? 🧀 😂

Tonight’s gorgeous waning gibbous rising over the horizon 🌖 captured from Transmountain

Hope everyone’s been having a good week so far!

Is there a way we could find the person who ripped open that dog? Is there any updates on who did it? Genuinely sickening what is up with this city

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I went through 4,100+ public records about our region. These 5 raise big questions about the data center projects in El Paso and Santa Teresa.

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TL;DR: Two giant data center projects are coming to our border region: Meta's campus in Northeast El Paso and Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa, NM. I found 5 public documents that most people have never seen. They show who judges the permits, what El Paso gave up in taxes, who could pay for a new power plant, whose air got checked, and what a public university agreed to keep quiet. None of them prove anyone broke the law. But they raise questions we should all be asking. Every document is linked so you can read it yourself.

Quick background

• Meta in El Paso. Meta is building a data center campus in Northeast El Paso. On paper, the company is called Wurldwide LLC. El Paso Electric wants to build a new gas power plant, called McCloud, that is linked to this project.
• Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa, NM. A giant data center campus just a few miles from the border. It would make its own power on site, using natural gas. The company asking for the air permit is Yucca Growth Infrastructure (YGI). BorderPlex Digital Assets is one of the developers.

1. The "neutral" judge came from the state's own contractor

Project Jupiter, New Mexico

Before Jupiter's power plant can get its air permit, there is a public hearing. A hearing officer runs it, kind of like a referee. The hearing officer decides what evidence counts and writes a recommendation.

What the documents show:

• The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has a contract with a private company called Eastern Research Group (ERG). It can pay ERG up to $9.5 million. That is the limit, not what was actually paid.
• Under that contract, ERG helps NMED with permits, air pollution modeling, and expert testimony at hearings.
• In September 2025, NMED added a new job to the same contract. ERG would also supply hearing officers who are "independent and neutral."
• ERG can bill the state $550 an hour for a hearing officer, rising to about $600 by the fourth year. That is ERG's rate, not the officer's pay.
• In July 2026, the officer picked for this hearing wrote that he could not do any hearing officer work until ERG finished his "new service contract."
• The filing also says the hearing was moved up by five weeks. It says a way to get information from the other side (called "discovery") was allowed at first, then taken away.

What happened next: On Aug. 22, one day after this filing, the hearing officer removed himself from the case, "effective immediately." He gave no reason.

What it does NOT show: That the officer was unfair. The filing itself says the records do not prove bias.

Questions:

• Who picked the hearing officer: the state, or ERG?
• Who pays him, and who decides if he gets more cases?
• How can the same company help the agency and also supply the "neutral" judge? What keeps those two jobs apart?
• Did ERG do any other work on this permit?
• Who replaced him, and was the new officer hired the same way?

Read it: Aug. 21 filing with the contract (PDF pages 12 to 19 and 108 to 118) and the Aug. 22 order.

2. Meta's tax break: what El Paso gave, and what it asked for

El Paso, Texas

On Dec. 5, 2023, El Paso City Council approved a tax break deal with Wurldwide LLC (Meta). It covers about 1,039 acres that Meta was buying from the city, north of Stan Roberts Sr. Ave. and west of U.S. 54.

What Meta gets:

• 80% off the city's property taxes on the added value of the land and buildings, and on the equipment inside.
• The break lasts 10 years for each phase, for up to 5 phases. Each phase must cost at least $800 million.
• This covers the city's taxes only.

What Meta promises back:

• 50 full-time jobs. Total. Not 50 per phase. 50 for the whole campus.
• The jobs must pay at least the area's middle (median) wage. The floor is $16.43 an hour.
• The jobs are not due until 4 years after the building deadline. That can be 11 years after the buildings start going up, or later if there are delays.
• The deal says nothing in it shall "require the Company to achieve" the jobs goal. If jobs fall short, the city's only fix is to cut or skip that year's tax break. Tax breaks already given before the jobs deadline are not affected.
• Spending construction money with local El Paso businesses, or with minority- and woman-owned businesses, is up to Meta's "sole discretion." Not doing it does not break the deal.

Other terms that stood out:

• Inspections: The city can inspect at most once a year, with 30 days' notice, at a time Meta picks. Only 2 city workers can go. Meta can make them sign a promise not to talk about what they see.
• Public records: If you ask the city for records about this deal or the project, the city must tell Meta within 2 business days. It must send Meta a copy of your request. Then the city must argue to the Texas Attorney General against releasing anything that counts as Meta's confidential business information.
• Meta can end the deal at any time, for any reason. It is not required to build anything.
• The deal says it is part of a bigger incentive package under a second deal, called a "380 agreement." That deal is not in this document.

What it does NOT show: That Meta broke any of these terms. It also does not show how much tax money the city will give up.

Questions:

• How much city tax money will this break cost each year?
• Why only 50 jobs for a project this big?
• Has the city inspected the site yet? What did it find?
• How many records requests about this project has the city fought?
• What is in the 380 agreement?

Read it: Tax break agreement (PDF pages 3, 10 to 16, and 27 for public records).

3. Judges want El Paso Electric customers protected from a new gas plant's costs

El Paso, Texas

El Paso Electric (EPE) asked Texas to approve McCloud, a 366-megawatt natural gas power plant. Two state judges reviewed the case. In September, they said to approve it only if EPE's other customers are protected from paying to build and run it.

What their Oct. 21, 2026 letter says:

• The protection covers every EPE customer "other than Wurldwide" (Meta).
• Every outside group in the case said that protection was too narrow. That included the City of El Paso and the state office that speaks for home and small business customers.
• The judges agreed to widen it. They wrote that "there could be cost impacts beyond capital and operating costs." But they said the record does not clearly show what those costs are.
• So now they want it to also cover "any other costs shown to be directly related" to the plant.
• The protection would last for the life of the plant, unless and until EPE later proves the plant passes the state's approval test for its Texas customers.

What it does NOT show: This is only a recommendation. The Texas Public Utility Commission makes the final call. It does not show that anyone has been charged.

Questions:

• Will the commission accept the wider protection?
• What "other costs" could show up? Could things like grid upgrades end up on our bills?
• What would EPE have to prove to end the protection?
• If Meta uses less power, or leaves, who pays for the plant then?

Read it: Judges' letter, PUC Docket 59076 (pages 2 and 3).

4. Project Jupiter's air pollution study stops at the border

Santa Teresa, New Mexico

To get its air permit, Jupiter's power company (YGI) ran a computer model. The model estimates how much pollution lands at thousands of spots around the plant, out to about 31 miles (50 km) away.

What the October 2026 filing shows:

• For each grid of spots in the model, the form says the same thing: "Receptors located outside of the United States are not included in this analysis."
• In plain words: the model did not check any spot in Mexico.
• I used the map points in the filing to measure. The spots where the model found the most pollution from the plant are only about 2.5 to 3 miles north of the border. Most of Ciudad Juárez, a city of about 1.5 million people, is inside that 31-mile zone. (This is my own rough math.)
• The company says pollution stays under federal limits at the U.S. spots it checked. At full power, its worst U.S. spot reaches about 87% of the yearly federal limit for fine particle pollution (PM2.5). That counts pollution already in the air.

What it does NOT show: That anyone in Mexico will be harmed. It shows this study did not look. I did not find a separate cross-border study in this filing.

Questions:

• Why does the study stop at the border when the air doesn't?
• Has anyone checked what this plant would add to the air in Juárez?
• Were people in Juárez told about this permit, or asked for comments?
• Did NMED agree to draw the line at the border? Why?

Read it: October 2026 air model filing (PDF page 171; results on pages 180 to 183).

5. NMSU signed a secrecy deal with a Jupiter developer about local water

Las Cruces and Santa Teresa, New Mexico

In February 2025, New Mexico State University signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with BorderPlex Digital Assets, one of the companies behind Project Jupiter.

What it says:

• The stated purpose is to support the state water office's study of the brackish (salty) water in the Santa Teresa area. That office is the Office of the State Engineer.
• Each side must keep the other's information secret if it is marked confidential.
• What if a law or court order says NMSU must release BorderPlex's confidential information? NMSU must warn BorderPlex first. If BorderPlex decides to fight the release, NMSU must "provide reasonable aid and assistance."
• The NDA ends after 1 year, but the duty to keep secrets does not. Information can stay protected for up to 5 years after it was shared.
• The PDF says "Draft." But the last page is signed by both sides, in February 2025.

What it does NOT show: That NMSU hid any records, or that any research was changed. The NDA also says some information is not secret, like anything that is already public.

Questions:

• Why does a study for a state agency need a secrecy deal with a private developer?
• Who is paying for this water research?
• Will the water findings be made public? When?
• Has NMSU ever used this clause after a public records request?

Read it: Signed NDA (pages 1 and 2; signatures on page 4).

Why this matters

Put the five together and you get five simple questions:

1. Who judges the permits?
2. What did El Paso get for its tax break?
3. Who pays for the power?
4. Whose air gets checked?
5. Who gets to see the water research?

These projects are huge. They will shape our air, water, power bills, and taxes for decades. People on both sides of the border deserve clear answers.

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not saying anyone broke the law. These are public records. I'm sharing what they say and what they leave out. If I got something wrong, tell me and I'll fix it. If you know more, please share.

What would you ask? Has your city council member, county commissioner, or state lawmaker talked to you about any of this?

Wait…there’s more

Data Corpus

Preparing for a four day (long weekend) trip to El Paso!

Would love any and all recommendations, but specifically dinner and nightlife recs. Big into hole in the wall, local joints.

Hi all, this is so random, but I've moved away from El Paso recently and have been missing Healthy Bite so much as I used to frequent there so much before work. Lately, I've had a real craving for their house salad dressing, and I'm just wondering if any one has any clue as to what's in it, or how one might be able to replicate it? I'm desperate here! Can't wait to be back home for Christmas just to have a chance to get a salad bahaha. <33333

As a child in East El Paso in the late 1970s or early 1980s, I remember seeing an enormous, oblong, mothership-like craft hovering low and silently over the Pebble Hills and Yarbrough area at night. It had multicolored lights along its edges, appeared solid-bodied, and I seem to remember windows or viewports on it. Other people in the street were watching it too. My memory ends while I am still looking up at it. There was a sighting reported in 1979 near Biggs Army Base which was 5 miles away from me but I've found limited information about it? Is anyone familiar with this?

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A police report was filed and my insurance was contacted, etc. to get things rolling so I can be back in a car sooner than later.

Today...6 days post-crash, I was contacted by a "potential spam" number that I answered (due to me expecting calls from anyone tied to the accident, particularly insurance companies/representatives/lawyers). The lady on the other end of the line briefly asked how I was doing after my crash and I answered that still sore, etc.. She also said that she was related to/tied to TX DOT and that they were checking in to see if the at-fault driver's insurance company had been in contact with me at all since we are nearing a week after the accident.

I told her that they have not. And she connected me to a personal injury law firm right then & there sayyingf that due to the severity of the crash the DOT helps people get advocates to help them get the full claim amount we should get including medical.

I guess my question is...have any of you gotten a similar call after an accident? I was currently trying to secure a lawyer on my own, but had yet to hear back from the firm I contacted initially. I'm just trying to ensure this isn't an elaborate scam run by people who somehow knew about the accident last week and wants to get some money out of me.

Hi, I do read a lot myself, but honestly i find myself disappointed with a lot of local and general bookclubs because my favorite genre tends be overlooked. This is already kind of a thing I started, but I really wanna do this locally. I feel like El Paso is honestly at the forefront and center of some of the most consequential events of the 2020s. I hope to eventually write my own noir and crime novels featuring El Paso, hopefully shaping the city like hardboiled did LA or NYC.

I'd like to find like-minded writers, enthusiasts, or just people who want to meet in person to discuss this genre. Later on, I'd like to do things as well like workshops on writing crime fiction, or perhaps just lectures on topics in the field. To start I'm thinking of meeting at a local coffee shop, or perhaps arranging something at the library. Either way looking forward to working with yall! Here's my overall mission statement for the group, along with the rules, and reading list. Dm or comment if youd like more info.

Mission Statement:

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Crime Book Club! The goal of this club is really to dig into what composes noir and detective fiction, all under the broader umbrella of crime fiction.

You may have heard of authors like Agatha Christie (And then there were none... or Murder on the Orient Express) or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), but how often have you heard of names like Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler? Despite them making the most lasting iconography of the 20th century throughout with its impact still seen today in films, games, etc. How many stores carry their work or give them the same attention as they do those older authors?

Well we aim to rectify that. Noir alongside being one of the most definitive American genres, being born from WWII and the great depression. Is also the most prescient. Throughout the months we will be going through different authors over different periods of time to come closer to the unvarnished truth of the American Dream and experience Americana through a darker, rawer lens.

Of course we expect to dive through topics that will touch over explicit depictions of racism, violence of all kinds, language, and graphic media. Engage at your own discretion

Rules:

1. Though we are touching explicit content, don't bring your own prejudices. Be kind to others. Respect other's opinions. Keep your focus on the media and not the person besides you.

2. NO TRUE CRIME. NONE. NOTHING. NONE WHATSOEVER.

This rule exists because I believe the goals of crime fiction, and true crime are inherently separate. Crime fiction is built into the analysis of the way that law and crime interacts, or intersects. Whilst true crime is built more so on the psychology and events of a specific person/moment. In my opinion beginning with In Cold Blood, exploitation is inherently built into the genre. You may feel free to disagree, but we will be not be focusing on non-fiction.

1. Use common sense for everything else. If you have to be told no, its probably not a good idea.

LINE UP FOR THE YEAR OF 2026

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammet - April

Pop 1280 by Jim Thompson - May

King's Ransom by Ed McBain - June

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - July

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - August

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy - September

The Killers by Ernest Hemingway (suggested reading Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor) - October

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - November

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler - December

Are there set trick or treating hours this year since Halloween is on a Saturday? I can’t find any info online.

Recommendations for great caldillo or green chile stew in central or west El Paso would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi,

Moving to EP from Canada in 4 months, in the west side. Are there any MMA clubs there ?

Thanks!

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Have you seen a number of condescending ads stating something equivalent to "whether or not you vote is a matter of public record, though who you vote for remains completely secret?" My personal favorite is the bigoted "your abuela knows your voting record" even though your grandmother is a luddite whose idea of a cell phone is the simplest phone from Cricket that has no data plan. These ads are all forms of social pressure and in some instances a mild form of intimidation from 501c Political Action Committees (PACs) like the Voter Participation Center A.K.A. Center for Voter Information.

After voting on the first day of Early Voting last week, I received a total of 3 different "Report Cards" from Voter Participation Center. I have never in my life needed someone to "pressure" me into voting nor do I need their President, Tom Lopach, to thank me for doing what I have always done since Ross Perot was running for President. Apparently, some voters forget about their civic responsibility to vote, which my voting record obviously indicates that I do not. However, Voter Participation Center wanted to remind me anyways because apparently their own data just was not good enough.

This group thinks they have a right and a duty to inform me of my voting record in Texas since 2018 (arrived that year due to an employment opportunity) ... This is the same group who caused all kinds of chaos during the 2020 election as described in the attached article titled "A Nonprofit with Ties to Democrats Is Sending Out Millions of Ballot Applications. Election Officials Wish It Would Stop."

If you do receive one of these letters, you can request that they remove you from their distribution lists. However, numerous people have reported that they have tried to be removed from their mail lists over the years only to continue to receive this Political Spam.

If only "Voting Day" were a Federal/State Holiday where non-voters would be fined and publicly chastised by PAC groups like the Voter Participation Center. But that would only work if voters were also allowed to vote "None of the Above."

Unlike these Political Action Committee "concern troll Karens," I trust that my fellow El Pasoans will participate in the election as they see fit. After all, we are educated tax paying adults who do not need a nanny to dictate how we live our lives. Thanks again El Paso and have a great Voting Season!

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Looking for a bible study group to join tonight? Anyone know of one?