Call Center Company in El Paso, TX

Go home, Texas. You’re drunk and TOO HOT TOO SOON!!! It’s not even Summer yet and all of Texas is melting… sorta.

Read More: Texas Heat Wave Arrives Early—and It’s Breaking Records Fast |

The borderland has been dealing with record breaking wind storms and now it seems as if record breaking heat will be added to that list!

According to the National Weather service, El Paso will be seeing about a ten-degree jump from Tuesday’s high, which means El Paso is expected to sizzle at 96°, and our friends up in Las Cruces aren’t far behind with a forecasted 92°. It’s like spring said, “I’m out,” and summer barged in uninvited. RUDE!!

Read More: LIST: Easy Hacks to Sleep Better During This Texas Heatwave

And here’s the kicker: Thursday and Friday could bring El Paso its first triple-digit day of the year. Yep, 100°+ and we’re not even officially in summer yet. The solstice hasn’t even RSVP’d and we’re already sweating through our eyebrows.

All jokes aside, this heat wave is part of a larger trend across Texas, with cities statewide dealing with record-breaking temperatures earlier than usual. ‘

So, keep the water bottles full, check on your abuelita, and maybe go ahead and take the kids out to a local spray park!

Read More: FREE Family Fun Alert: Movies & Spray Parks Hit El Paso! |

We are still in the middle of Mental Health Awareness month and Texas Just Scored a Big Win for Student Mental Healthand I am here for it!!

Cue the confetti, because Texas students are about to get the mental health support they deserve! Senate Bill 207, championed by Senator Angela Paxton and State Representative Terri Leo Wilson, is officially headed to the Governor’s desk.

What does that mean exactly? According to my amazing investigative skills, that means that the bill has officially passed through both the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, and now it’s in the final stretch.

At this point, the Governor can:

A post was shared on NAMI Texas Facebbok page sharing the exciting news. Starting in the 2025–2026 school year, Texas school districts will have the green light to grant temporary excused absences for mental health appointments.

What does that mean? Just like a trip to the doctor or dentist, students will be able to prioritize their mental well-being without worrying about getting penalized for missing school.

This bill is a major step forward in acknowledging something we should’ve been shouting from the rooftops years ago: mental health is just as important as physical health.

Whether it’s seeing a therapist, attending a counseling session, or just taking the time to regroup, students can now get the support they need without the stigma or stress.

A huge shoutout to Senator Paxton and Rep. Leo Wilson for recognizing the urgency of this issue and putting students first. Your leadership is helping break down barriers and normalize the conversation around mental health in schools.

Let’s hope this is just the beginning of more policies that protect and uplift students across Texas. Mental health matters and it’s a great thing to see that Texas is making it official.

If you would like more information on El Paso’s NAMI chapter, Click Here.

Texas Border Business

EL PASO, Texas – The City of El Paso is proud to announce the appointment of Carolyn Patrick as the City’s new Chief Information Officer (CIO).

A native El Pasoan and dedicated public servant, Carolyn brings more than 25 years of experience in information technology, having served in both federal and local government sectors. She officially assumed her new role this week.

As CIO, Carolyn will coordinate the City’s broad and complex information technology operations and serve as the principal expert advisor on strategic technological initiatives, infrastructure modernization, digital services, and innovation.

Carolyn has been a member of the City of El Paso team since 2012 and has served in several key leadership roles, including IT Operations Program Manager, Project Management Office Manager, Assistant Director of IT, and most recently, Deputy Chief Information Officer.

Throughout her career with the City, Carolyn has led numerous enterprise application projects and high-impact initiatives. She has been instrumental in streamlining internal processes, improving project management practices, and strengthening collaboration across departments. Her leadership has supported the City’s recognition as a top ten Digital Cities Survey Award recipient for cities with populations of 500,000 or more, multiple times since 2019.

“Carolyn’s deep technical expertise, commitment to service, and strong leadership make her an exceptional choice to lead our Information Technology team,” said City Manager Dionne Mack. “Her strategic vision will help the City advance digital transformation and continue delivering reliable, secure, and innovative services to our community.”

Carolyn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and a Master’s degree in Computer Information Resources. She is a certified Project Management Professional and is experienced in Lean Six Sigma methodologies.

For more information about the City of El Paso’s Department of Information Technology Services, visit www.ElPasoTexas.gov.

Billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to launch Starship again in South Texas after two test flights failed earlier this year.

SpaceX last launched its Starship rocket on March 6, but that launch ended in an explosion, causing the vehicle to come apart and a cascade of fiery debris rained down.

Following the botched demonstration, both of Starship's test flights in 2025 have ended prematurely after the rocket's upper stage, where crew and cargo would be transported, lost power and broke apart midair.

Musk and SpaceX are preparing for Starship's ninth flight test from South Texas, hoping to get the Starship program back on track. SpaceX just received key federal approval to ramp up testing of a vehicle that will play a massive part in future crewed missions to both the moon and Mars.

Here's a look back at the first two Starship launches of 2025, as well as a brief look at how the vehicle has fared since its debut flight two years ago.

SpaceX Starship launch date?

Musk hinted earlier this month that SpaceX could launch its Starship on its ninth flight test from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas.

SpaceX hasn't officially announced a target launch date, and the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't yet issued a launch license.

But maritime warnings over the Gulf of Mexico suggest the launch is being targeted for Wednesday, May 21.

El Paso Times contacted the FAA on Wednesday, May 21, for an update on Starship's next flight date. Press office officials referred us to a statement released on May 15. While the FAA approved license modifications for the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission, the launch may remain grounded for now.

"SpaceX may not launch until the FAA either closes the Starship Flight 8 mishap investigation or makes a return to flight determination. The FAA is reviewing the mishap report SpaceX submitted on May 13," the statement said.

What is the SpaceX Starship?

Starship, the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, is SpaceX's massive spacecraft composed of a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage vehicle.

At over 400 feet, Starship towers over SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, which stands at nearly 230 feet.

Super Heavy alone is powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor engines. The upper section, also called Starship or Ship for short, is the upper stage powered by six Raptor engines that will ultimately travel in orbit.

SpaceX is developing Starship as a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. In the years ahead, Starship intends to carry cargo and humans to Earth's orbit and deeper into the cosmos.

What happened on last Starship test?

Explosions marred the first two Starship tests of 2025.

In the most recent launch March 6, flight operators lost contact with the upper portion of Starship, which exploded less than 10 minutes into the flight, creating debris visible from Florida to the Caribbean.

Despite the failure of the Starship vehicle, the spacecraft's rocket booster has now managed to navigate back to the launch pad twice in a row. The maneuver, first completed in October 2024, involves SpaceX catching the booster with giant mechanical arms known as chopsticks.

Having the capability of catching the Starship booster is crucial for SpaceX, giving the company a completely reusable vehicle that can fly again.

Explosion was second of 2025

The first Starship demonstration of the year was on Jan. 16 and ended in a fiery explosion after the vehicle was lost during its suborbital flight.

Mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft within 8 1/2 minutes of its flight before determining that it was destroyed in what the company called a rapid unscheduled disassembly.

Video on social media showed the explosion and its aftermath as remains of the spacecraft were seen breaking up in what looked like a meteor shower.

SpaceX, which investigated with the FAA, determined that the mishap was due to a series of propellant leaks and fires in the aft section of the vehicle that caused “all but one of Starship’s engines to execute controlled shut down sequences." This led to the communication breakdown and the vehicle to trigger its self destruction.

When did SpaceX begin Starship flight tests?

Prior to the January launch, SpaceX's fourth and final Starship flight test of 2024 unfolded in November in front of a newly elected Trump. Two test flights were completed a year prior, beginning with the maiden launch in April 2023.

While the Starship has reached space, it has yet to reach Earth's orbit. The vehicle has also not exploded on every iteration. In three tests between June and November of 2024, Starship flew halfway around the world before reentering Earth's atmosphere and splashing down as planned in the Indian Ocean – critical proof that its basic design is functional.

Source: USAToday

El Paso Times reporter Natassia Paloma contributed to this report.

Meredith Abarca, curator of “El Paso Food Voices,” says food is “one thing that unites us.”

Arts & Culture, Food & Drink, Texas Standard Original

The term “Tex-Mex” can be a loaded word for some folks when talking about the rich tradition of the state’s cross-border cuisine. And yet, under that term are nuances which those outside of Texas could hardly understand without firsthand experience.

Take the multigeographical, yet hyper-regional, culinary world of El Paso. The city sits at the nexus of New Mexican, Texan, indigenous, U.S. and Mexican cultural traditions. So of course the food will taste like no where else on the globe.

Meredith Abarca, a professor of food studies and literature in the Department of English at the University of Texas at El Paso and founder, editor, and curator of the “El Paso Food Voices” project, joined the Standard to discuss what makes El Paso cuisine so unique.

Abarca says that even beyond the borders we can see, the influence of other cultures and histories is what makes El Paso’s culinary landscape just as beautiful and rich as it’s geographical one. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: So we’ve all thought about how would you define this, but you’re the person to answer that question. How do you define the food of this region?

Meredith Abarca: Unique. Kind of hard to define the food, given one word.

You mentioned Texas. What we need to remember about El Paso is that it has always been, before it was El Paso, it’s always been a place of intersections, of crossing, of different communities, different indigenous communities going from what is now New Mexico to Santa Fe to Mexico City.

So this being a region of intersections, every group of people that has come here, comes through here, leaves its signature, its little flavor. Its sazón.

You know, I came to El Paso. I’m not native of El Paso. I’ve been here 23 years/24 years, and I had to come to El Paso to go to a Celtic festival. I had come to the festival to go to a chuckwagon cooking event.

So what I want people to think about food in El Paso is that yes, we are predominantly Mexican, Mexican-American, Hispanic, Latinx, whatever the word you wanna use, but we’re not only that. Here you can find sausages made with pico de gallo. You can find sausages made with asadero cheese.

The mixture… We need to remember that the Lebanese community has been here for a very long time. We need to the remember the Chinese influence. We need remember that with the 1990s with maquiladoras, we had a lot of Japanese influence. So Juárez started developing, having all these sushi places. We have Korean barbecue.

With Fort Bliss, we have an incredible flux of people from all over the United States and the world. With the development of the medical centers, we have a huge population of people from India and that changes the flavors of food.

I want to ask you about your podcast, [El Paso Food Voices]. It looks into a lot of this history that you’re describing here through the lives… It’s sort of an oral history in a sense. Why do you feel capturing those stories is so important?

El Paso Food Voices is a couple of things. It’s more than a podcast. A podcast is part of it. We also have a website where there are oral stories and there are recipes and resources. So I invite everybody to just Google “El Paso Food Voices” and listen to the intimate history that people carry with their foods.

One of the persons who shares her story, she refers to the intimate history that we carry. When I was invited to participate here, I had to make it clear that I’m not a historian. I gather stories, and it is through the stories that we hear the history.

We remember restaurants that no longer exist, and we keep them alive. Recipes that no long exist, but we keep em alive. So food is about that intimate history.

I also want to say that one of the reasons about this enterprise, El Paso Food Voices, that I’m very committed to, is that – and in this show we’ve been talking about the challenges that we have, the devices that we have – I want to talk about food because it’s one thing that unites us. So keep thinking about food and how it brings us together.

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