The El Paso Matters Podcast

Nearly seven months after elected officials in Doña Ana County approved a large tax break for the massive and controversial Project Jupiter data center campus, New Mexico journalist Heath Haussamen joins the El Paso Matters Podcast to talk about his reporting on the lack of transparency and ongoing questions about Project Jupiter's water usage, electricity consumption and economic impact on the Borderland. You can read Heath's reporting at haussamen.com.

AI technology that would have seemed like magic to students a generation ago is now in use in classrooms every day in El Paso. But whether students benefit from using artificial intelligence for schoolwork remains an open question.

On this episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast, education reporter Claudia Lorena Silva discusses her reporting on how students are using artificial intelligence in El Paso schools, the different approaches to AI across districts and what the upsides and risks are of widespread AI use in education. You can read Claudia's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

In early 2019, a trail camera captured a beaver sitting at the Rio Bosque wetlands park at dawn. It wasn't the first time the park's managers had seen signs of a beaver at the park -- a kind of sanctuary for wildlife in El Paso's urban landscape -- but it's the first time a beaver made the park it's home and began developing beaver dams and changing the park's landscape. El Paso Matters reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert joins the podcast to share her experience reporting on El Paso's celebrity beaver. You can read Priscilla's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

As Meta Platforms continues to construct a $10 billion data center in El Paso, the region's investor-owned utility El Paso Electric is advancing its own plan to develop an onsite power plant for Meta's data center. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers and editor Pablo Villa talk about El Paso Electric's plan to deliver electricity to Meta's facility, potential impacts to El Pasoans' utility bills and broader concerns that have fueled public backlash to the project. You can read Diego's coverage of data center issues in El Paso at elpasomatters.org.

We're back. Our journalists talk primary election results in El Paso and preview November's midterm election. You can read El Paso Matters' coverage of the recent primary election at elpasomatters.org.

On this episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast, reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers speaks with Andy Vargas, a veteran of the tech and finance industries and a managing partner of the El Paso-based investment firm No Border Ventures. Vargas has been critical of the subsidies local governments granted Meta in exchange for the tech giant developing a data center in Northeast El Paso. He offers his thoughts on the deal and his own vision for economic development in the borderland. You can read Diego's reporting on data center developments in the El Paso region at elpasomatters.org.

Nov. 18 is now Eddie Guerrero day in El Paso, Texas, a celebration of the native El Pasoan's life and impact on wrestling fans worldwide. El Paso Matters editor -- and WWE superfan -- Pablo Villa joins the El Paso Matters Podcast to talk about Guerrero's legacy and how the regional lucha libre scene carries on today. You can read Pablo's feature on Eddie Guerrero at elpasomatters.org.

The natural gas utility Texas Gas Service wants to raise El Paso household gas bills by around 25 percent. El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers talks through different aspects of the rate request. You can read Diego's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

Voters in Socorro Independent School District rejected a ballot proposition during the Nov. 4 election that would have provided more revenue for the cash-strapped district. The decision could affect how SISD navigates its way out of a financial bind and whether it can avoid a state takeover. El Paso Matters education reporter Claudia Silva joins the podcast to discuss why voters rejected Proposition A and what it means for the future of the school district. You can read Claudia's reporting at elpasomatters.org.

As Texas voters prepare to decide on a ballot proposition in early November that would allocate $20 billion to shore up the state's water supply, El Paso Water Vice President Gilbert Trejo joins the El Paso Matters Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on the water situation in El Paso. You can read El Paso Matters' coverage of water issues in El Paso at elpasomatters.org.