Category: San Antonio News

The Blue Santa program is an effort by San Antonio Police Department to help local children and families in and around San Antonio, making sure there are no Christmas trees left without a present.

“It is a joy, it gives us an opportunity to give back,” SAPD Officer Alonzio Hardin said.

On Monday, Hardin was at the Blue Santa warehouse as a Blue Santa helper.

“The Blue Santa program is a program that was begun in the seventies, consisting of officers who were giving back to the community. What we do, is we work at this warehouse, as you can see, and this is where we make bags for children,” Officer Menell Orosco said.

The warehouse is full of everything from basketballs to barbies and the goal is to help thousands of children.

“Right now (we’re able to help) over 5,000 kids by the end. We hope to be able to help a little over 7,000 children that will receive gifts from Blue Santa,” Orosco said.

If you want to help local families this Christmas there are ways you can still help out. You can donate money by clicking here, or you can donate gifts.

“They (people donating) can go to any substation nearest them, any police substation at any hour and we accept any type of donations. They can just come up and just drop them off and we’ll be more than glad to receive,” Orosco said.

As for Officer Hardin, it is his sixth year on the Blue Santa team and he doesn’t plan to stop helping out anytime soon.

“Taking the bags to the families, knocking on the door — you just see the joy and excitement when they see a police officer standing with gifts. And so it’s just a beautiful feeling,” Hardin said.

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When seniors enter retirement, a good amount of them rely solely on Social Security checks as income and sometimes, the checks aren’t enough to cover groceries.

That’s why the San Antonio Food Bank steps in with help, called the Convoy of Hope.

For 15 years, the city of San Antonio has partnered with the San Antonio Food Bank for its Convoy of Hope, a program that delivers thousands of boxes of food to eligible seniors in San Antonio.

But this is not the only time of year when the food bank provides boxes to seniors –in fact, it’s every month. Monday’s event, however, involved city council members delivering the boxes personally for the holiday season.

“Those boxes are more crucial than ever during the holiday season and pandemic. With the price of food rising, a lot of our seniors are going home with less food in their grocery cars and leaning on us a little more,” Eric Cooper, CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank said.

The trucks are filled with boxes that thousands of area seniors depend on every month. It’s a program that provides free groceries to seniors at city operated senior centers.

The food goes to seniors like Yolanda Sing and her husband, who say life for them has not been easy. The food helps them out very much.

”It means a lot because he’s got dementia, and I’ve got cancer,” Sing said. “We don’t work, we are living on a tight budget. I love them so much. God bless them.”

Simone Biles is truly having a gold-medal year. Take her stalwart Olympic run and not long after, her positively heroic Senate appearance, in which she condemned the FBI and U.S. Olympic Committee for their botched handling of the sex abuse case against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar that involved Biles and her teammates. Finally, there was the triumphant and sold-out stadium tour that included her performing with her Tokyo 2020 teammates. Now, the longtime…

San Antonio police are continuing to search for the gunman involved in an early morning shooting outside a home just north of downtown.

The 36-year-old victim was shot three times and was in serious condition as he was rushed to a hospital.

Officers at the scene, in the 1200 block of Edison Drive, said the victim told them he heard what sounded like noise coming from his truck around 12:30 a.m. Monday.

RELATED: Man investigating noise outside home shot by masked gunman

He says when he went outside to investigate, he was confronted by a masked gunman.

Officers say the gunman demanded to see the victim’s son, but the victim did not speak English and could not understand.

After the shooting, the victim was rushed to a hospital by ambulance.

The gunman ran away.

Police searched the area, including with the help of a helicopter, but they did not find him.

A downtown San Antonio penthouse that supplies spectacular views of the city is now on the market for $3 million. The 5,668-square-foot duplex penthouse, in The Alteza at 610 E. Market St., features five bedrooms and six bathrooms. A custom glass stairway connects the two floors of the penthouse. The Alteza, with 147 condos, is located above the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk. The penthouse’s four balconies afford views of the River Walk, the…

“King of Rancheras” Vicente Fernández died Sunday at the age of 81.

His death was announced on his Instagram page with a message thanking fans for their support and many celebrities took to social media to express their sadness at the passing of the music legend.

Country superstar George Strait called Fernández one of his “heroes” in a Twitter post.

“Sad news today. We lost The amazing legendary Vicente Fernández this morning. One of my heroes,” Strait said. “May he Rest In Peace and may God bless and comfort his family. Hasta la Cruz Chente!!”

Sad news today. We lost The amazing legendary Vicente Fernández this morning. One of my heroes. May he Rest In Peace and may God bless and comfort his family. Hasta la Cruz Chente!! gs

— George Strait (@GeorgeStrait) December 12, 2021

Many fans were quick to reply to Strait’s tweet with gratitude that the kind of country recognized the King of Rancheras.

Fernández died in a hospital in Guadalajara. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has sold more than 50 million records.

Related: Vicente Fernández, revered Mexican singer, dies at 81

The U.S. has a shortage of 6.8 million rental homes for extremely low-income renters, or households earning at or below 30% of their area median income, according to a National Low-Income Housing Coalition report from earlier this year. That doesn’t account for households at 60% AMI, 80% AMI and 120% AMI,

Welcome to the Business Journal’s 2021 Fast Track Awards! This annual event recognizes local high-growth companies and ranks them by percentage increase in revenue from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020.

Two years into launching, Nexford University is growing its enrollment and taking on a lofty goal: addressing global economic inequality.