PASO DEL NORTE-CENTRIC NEWS
EL PASO AND JUAREZ ARE “OFFICIALLY” SISTER CITIES! THIS IS LIKE WHEN PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING TOGETHER FOR YEARS RANDOMLY DECIDE TO JUST GET THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE – Although most people know that El Paso and Juarez (and Las Cruces) make up the core of the Greater Mogollon region, the sister city/twin city designation was apparently never official. That all changed this week with a signing ceremony at the Plaza De Los Lagartos that made the sister city agreement official and concluded the surprisingly complex “sister city” process that began last year. As a result of the event, El Paso Mayor Dee Margo and Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada stated that they hope this helps bring a common vision to the area and strengthens economic ties in the region. So basically everyone will keep on doing what they were already doing but now there will be a fancy framed certificate on the wall! If not already, I hope Las Cruces gets in on the act and signs a sister cities agreement with both Juarez and El Paso. We don’t want Las Cruces to get left out. (cbs4local.com)
LOOKS LIKE SUNLAND PARK MALL ISN’T DEAD AFTER ALL – Kudos to the Kimmelman family for expanding their Starr Western Wear empire and helping the ailing Sunland Park Mall in the process. They did this for business and financial reasons, obviously, but It is nice that a local company is one of the first major entities to step up and try to set up at the struggling mall. The latest Starr Western Wear will take up the space where Macy’s used to be thanks to the Kimmelman’s buying up that empty space. This news pretty much came out of nowhere but it is extremely welcome news. Good luck to Starr Western Wear in their latest expansion. I’m not much for western clothes, but I might just go buy a pair of new boots from the store once it opens up to support a great local business. (elpasoheraldpost.com)
EVEN LAS CRUCES IS GETTING IN ON THIS CONSTRUCTION BOOM – Lost in all the news of development and store openings in Downtown El Paso and the rest of the city is the fact that Downtown Las Cruces is also going through its own redevelopment boom. The two projects that are about to open in Downtown Las Cruces are the Amador Project and the new Las Cruces Visitor’s Center. The Amador Project will bring a much needed late night venue to the area and will include a bar, restaurants and a rooftop lounge. The Visitor’s Center will open next door and give people a taste of all there is to do in Las Cruces as well as offer shuttle rides to Spaceport America. Things are looking up in the region and Las Cruces has some pretty cool projects coming up. (cbs4local.com)
REST OF THE WORLD-CENTRIC NEWS
WHEN YOU ARE OUT THIS WEEKEND, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT A SPACESHIP DOESN’T FALL ON YOUR HEAD – As is the custom with large space stations that go out of control, China’s Tiangong-1 Space Lab will fall to Earth and some portions of the craft will survive re-entry and make it to Earth’s surface. Scientists are expecting the largest pieces to hit harmlessly in the ocean, but the cone of uncertainty is still a bit worrying. So be careful out there and possibly wear a hat and take your umbrella just in case. You can’t really trust a giant mass of space junk that lost control years ago. (bbc.com)
I’LL NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT AN EL PASO DUST STORM EVER AGAIN – If you thought the dust storms in the Chihuahuan Desert were bad, then thank your lucky stars that you don’t live in Beijing. Not to be outdone by the weirdo wind storm that brought sand from the Sahara to parts of Europe, a massive sandstorm hit Northeast Asia and took aim right at Beijing and other cities in the vicinity. The storm was so massive that it even reached Korea and Japan. The sand was bad, but coupled with Beijing’s pollution this led to a very grim scenario for the Chinese capital. So next time you get stuck in an El Paso dust storm, you can think of how good you have it compared to other dusty parts of the world. (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
FACEBOOK IS FUCKING GARBAGE – There really is nothing more to say. Facebook is really shitty. Most social media companies are data mining assholes, but Facebook takes the skeeviness to a whole new level. Not only do they not give a damn about the security of their users’ data, they practically sent out a memo that said that it was okay if people inadvertently died because of their service as long as they turned a profit. Seriously, fuck this data mining social media bullshit. (bbc.com)
