Texas Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX11) told Odessa Headlines in a statement that over 600 Afghan pilots, service-members, and family members of his constituents are stranded in the country of Uzbekistan, and that he is working to get them extracted to safety as the Taliban puts immense pressure on the Uzbek government to repatriate them back […]
Posted inLocal
Ector County Commissioner’s Vote to Allocate $20 Million in ARPA Funds Lacked Transparency
On Wednesday, Ector County Commissioners entered their last day of a three-day meeting working to craft the annual budget for all elected offices and departments, and it was during this process the commissioners suddenly distributed roughly $20 million in federal aid funds – a move that is being questioned for a lack of transparency and […]
Posted inLocal
Councilman Thompson: “I Was Trying to Shame Them”
Emails and text messages between Odessa City Council-members published on social media appear to reveal a series of instances in which three elected officials where chastised and criticized by District 2 Councilman Steve Thompson for asking questions. The communications, published by the Odessa Accountability Project (OAP) which is a watchdog organization headed by businesswoman Jamie […]
Posted inState
15 Local Texas Pensions Are Less Than 50% Funded, Total $2.9 Billion in Unfunded Liabilities
Over a dozen local public pension funds in Texas have accounted for less than half of what they’ve promised pensioners, according to data from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The 15 pensions have nearly $3 billion in unfunded liabilities — money promised but not currently accounted for in their current budget forecasts. The largest share of […]
Posted inLocal
Grassroots Group Holds First Meeting to Discuss ECISD Reforms 
Residents from across Ector County came together Tuesday evening for a first-of-its-kind meeting to discuss how best to go about assessing the needs of the Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) with a hopeful goal of presenting their eventual findings to the school board. Two Odessa business owners, Jeff Russell and Jamie Tisdale were inspired […]
Posted inLocal
Tribune panel discusses higher education enrollment in Odessa
Citing a significant drop statewide in student enrollment in higher education institutions, Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith led off a paneled discussion Thursday at Odessa College sharing how three West Texas education leaders were selected not because their respective institutions reflect the statewide decline, but rather because their institutions are seeing increases in student populations […]
Posted inLocal
Headline’s Opinion: ECISD Has a Golden Opportunity to Rebuild Trust
The ECISD Board of Trustees recently announced the process of filling the District 7 seat vacated by Nelson Minyard with his resignation in January. The process began on a positive note as the Trustees outlined the process to fill the empty seat by publicly announcing the selection process via local news and social media outlets […]
Posted inLocal
Odessa College Board of Trustee Vacancies Will be Filled by Appointment
Two positions on the Odessa College Board of Trustees have become vacant, and applications are now being accepted by the college from qualified residents of each district to be appointed into the offices for the remainder of the unexpired terms. The districts include Places 4 and 5 on the Board of Trustees, which is the […]
Posted inLocal
Citizen-led Group Announces Intent to Address ECISD Infrastructure Needs
Citing frustration with the direction taken by past ECISD bond committees, a citizen-led group headed by local business owners Jamie Tisdale and Jeff Russell has announced the formation of “A Better Way Forward.” According to a press release issued today “A Better Way Forward” seeks to address ECISD facility needs in a manner that is […]
Posted inOpinion
Russell: OPD Deserves Big Thank You
It seems that many – if not most – of the comments that are posted online have to do with someone expressing a gripe or a grievance. I know in my own business it is often difficult to get customers to post positive comments the vast majority of times when everything goes to plan but […]
Posted inFeatured
Crutcher Defeats Nutter in GOP Runoff for State District Judge
Odessa attorney Lori Ruiz-Crutcher has defeated opponent Cindy Weir-Nutter in the Republican Primary Runoff Election for the office of State District Judge of the 244th District Court covering Ector County. Crutcher led Nutter consistently with a roughly 60/40 lead as early voting results were released. Final results showed Crutcher sweeping the election with 2,122 or […]