A business leader in the Midland oil and gas industry, Kevin Sparks, announced his candidacy this past week to run for the District 31 seat in the Texas State Senate. According to a campaign press release, Sparks is the president of Discovery Operating, a family-owned, and operated oil and gas company based in Midland that […]
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Odessa Hispanic Chamber Fires CEO Citing Misappropriation of Funds
Odessa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Garza has been fired effective immediately, according to chamber board president Ben Quiroz. Odessa Headlines spoke with Quiroz Tuesday afternoon, who said the chamber let Garza go after discovering a “misappropriation of funds” and went on to say the chamber would be pressing criminal charges. Quiroz stated that taxpayer […]
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Odessa Councilmembers Launch Accusations Against Republican Led Petition Effort
(Update) As of Friday afternoon, the Ector County Elections Office says the petition lacks a sufficient number of verified signatures to force a public election on the debt issuance. An effort by four members of the Odessa City Council to circumvent voter approval to issue $95 million (plus interest) in debt to pay for water […]
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An Effort to Bring High-Level Nuclear Waste to West Texas Meets Strong Opposition
State and federal officials across Texas have signaled a unified front of opposition to an effort by a waste disposal company to bring the nation’s high-level nuclear waste to Andrews County in West Texas – but the opposition hasn’t stopped the company or the federal government from moving forward with considering the approval of the […]
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Odessa City Council’s Latest Attempt to Circumvent Voters May Be Blocked by Citizen’s Petition
Odessa residents who say they are frustrated with the Odessa City Council’s latest attempt to circumvent voter approval for millions in taxpayer-backed debt have launched an unpreceded petition effort to block the issuance and order an election that restores the voices of the voters, and forces city management to be more transparent with major spending […]
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Big Spring Businesswoman Declares Candidacy in GOP Primary for West Texas Senate Seat
Big Spring businesswoman and school board official Stormy Bradley has declared her candidacy in the upcoming 2022 Republican Primary for the District 31 seat in the Texas State Senate. According to information from Bradley’s campaign website, Bradley is the owner of Bulldog Steel in Big Spring and serves on the Coahoma Independent School District Board […]
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Officials: Schlemeyer Border Security Story “Based on a Lie” – Ector County Rejects Funding
The Ector County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on Tuesday to reject $15 million from a rider amendment in the state transportation budget that was passed without the county’s knowledge or consent this past legislative session. The amendment, which was allocated to lengthen the runways at the airport, caught county officials by surprise when they learned […]
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Landgraf Responds to Questions on Schlemeyer Funding – Conflicts with Past Statements
State Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) has responded to questions from Odessa Headlines regarding the state budget provision that directs $15 million to be spent toward expanding the runway at Schlemeyer Airport at the expense of capital improvement projects for local airports across Texas. After DPS officials issued a statement shooting down a story Landgraf told […]
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DPS Says No Plans for Schlemeyer Airport – Did Not Request Funding
Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) have stated they are unaware of any attempts by the agency to request funding from the legislature to lengthen the runways at Odessa’s Schlemeyer Airport, and that DPS currently has no plans for the airport. This stands in stark contrast to an explanation State Rep Brooks […]
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Watchdog Group Says OA Reporter Tweeted Racial Slur
A citizen-led watchdog organization dubbed the ‘Odessa Accountability Project’ says they discovered a Twitter account that is believed to belong to a local newspaper reporter, and that the account shows multiple past tweets of a controversial nature. The Accountability Project pointed to the Twitter account @fmloco65, which appears to be an old account belonging to […]