UTEP Working On New Rocket For NASA + More Local News

Jury Considers Punishment For Former Socorro Councilman

A former Socorro city councilman could be going to prison.  An El Paso jury will reconvene this morning to consider the punishment for Jesse Gandara, Jr., who was convicted yesterday of bribery charges.  He could be sentenced to as much as 20-years behind bars and a fine of up to ten-thousand dollars.

UTEP Working On New Rocket For NASA

NASA is asking for some help from the University of Texas at El Paso.  The space agency is giving UTEP a five-million-dollar grant, to help develop a new methane-powered rocket engine.  Methane, which could theoretically be harvested from Mars, would be useful for deep-space exploration.

State Senate Debates Ethics Reform Package

The fate of an ethics reform package now rests with the state Senate.  House members gave their approval yesterday, adding an amendment that sets the conditions under which people are allowed to record lawmakers' conversations.  Another controversial section of the bill would restrict so-called "dark money," a term used to describe anonymous political donations.

Governor To Decide Shark Fin Bill

Governor Abbott has a shark bill on his desk.  State lawmakers have voted to make it a crime to buy or sell shark fins.  Fishermen cut off the fins to sell for soup, but animal rights activists complain that the practice of "finning" is cruel because it leaves the sharks to drown.  They say Texas produces about half of the nation's shark-fin supply.

Texas Spellers Advance To Semifinals

Texas spellers are in pretty good shape, going into today's semifinals of the National Spelling Bee in Maryland.  Five Texas students are through the preliminary rounds, which were based on spelling and vocabulary tests.  They'll now compete against 44 other contestants from across the country.  The semifinals begin this morning at 10:00, Eastern Time.