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Find all election results on our Vote 2022 pageWatch live election night results, reaction with KSAT 12 anchors Steve Spriester and Stephania Jimenez
Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2022 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.
With Texas House District 124 Rep. Ina Minjarez seeking the Bexar County Judge seat, three Democrats and one Republican are vying to represent the West Side district in 2022.
In the Democratic primary, Josey Garcia, a leader of local grassroots group Reliable Revolutionaries; Steven Gilmore, a criminal defense attorney; and Gerald Brian Lopez, a Northside ISD trustee; are running for the nomination.
On the Republican side, Johnny Arredondo, who is retired, is running unopposed.
Lopez currently holds the financial edge over his opponents, according to fundraising records. He has been a trustee with NISD since 2015, with his current term set to expire in 2023.
Garcia is a political activist who spent the last legislative session in Austin advocating for police reform.
As a defense attorney, Gilmore has focused on criminal justice issues.
Because the district is reliably Democratic, the winner of the Democratic primary will have the momentum heading into the general election in November.
If neither Democratic candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will be set between the top two candidates.
Find all election results on our Vote 2022 pageWatch live election night results, reaction with KSAT 12 anchors Steve Spriester and Stephania Jimenez
Proceeds from Black Restaurant Week will be doubled by the Tim Duncan Foundation in support of the food bank’s summer meals program for local children.
The honoree rankings will be revealed at our awards event on April 14.
Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2022 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.
Democratic district court judge candidate Lisa Uresti-Dasher outpaced opponent Nadine Nieto in both campaign contributions and spending, according to their latest filings with the Texas Ethics Commission.
The two attorneys are vying to win the March 1 Democratic primary for the 285th District Judge seat, in what has been the most contentious race for a judge position in Bexar County in recent memory.
For the campaign reporting period covering Jan. 21 through Feb. 19, Uresti-Dasher reported receiving $6,241 in political contributions. She made nearly $69,000 in political expenditures during the same period, Texas Ethics Commission records show.
Additionally, Uresti-Dasher loaned her campaign $3,000, records show.
For the same campaign reporting period covering Jan. 21 through Feb. 19, Nieto reported receiving $700 in political contributions. Nieto made more than $32,000 in political expenditures during the same period, records show.
Nieto in late January and then again in early February injected a total of $25,000 into her campaign in the form of two loans.
State records show Uresti-Dasher submitted a corrected contribution report earlier this year, for the reporting period covering Jan. 1 through Jan. 20.
Reached via email this week about the corrected report, Uresti-Dasher wrote, “As for the corrected report, I am not exactly sure what was corrected. I believe I saw some things appear in statements that I hadn’t seen the moment I submitted my report or I made a clerical report.”
The corrected report states that it included amounts from prior periods as well as some small amounts that hadn’t posted yet.
The campaign has been marked by bad blood between the two sides dating back to last year.
Nieto late last year filed a lawsuit claiming that Uresti-Dasher’s application for the judge position contained “several facial defects” that made the application invalid.
A two-day virtual hearing to determine Uresti-Dasher’s political fate revealed an ongoing dispute between the two campaigns.
The hearing focused on whether Uresti-Dasher had applied using her legal name and had provided inaccurate information about how long she has resided in Texas and Bexar County.
Uresti-Dasher is the daughter of Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti and the niece of disgraced former Texas state senator Carlos Uresti, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for federal fraud and money laundering convictions.
At the conclusion of the hearing visiting Judge John Gabriel denied Nieto’s request for a temporary injunction, allowing Uresti-Dasher to remain on the primary ballot.
A Defenders investigation last month revealed that Nieto was accused of defaulting on more than $100,000 in student loans and interest.
Nieto was sued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010 after they alleged she owed $101,580.20 in student loans and accrued interest. Nieto has also been the subject of multiple liens, tax lawsuits and court filings dating back to the late 1990s, the KSAT 12 Defenders found.
After the government was awarded a judgment for the full amount in early 2012, Nieto appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, records show.
Nieto said she agreed to drop the appeal later that year as part of a confidential settlement that required her to pay back around $78,000, about $30,000 less than what the amount she owed had ballooned to at that point.
Nieto said she made a lump sum payment of $10,000 and then payments of just over $328 a month for close to a decade.
She cleared the final approximately $6,000 owed in early September, but disputes that the payment was made because she had decided to run for judge of the 285th District Court.
“I do know it has nothing to do with me running for office, if that’s the implication,” Nieto told the Defenders last month.
“It’s concerning. It’s concerning that Nadine Nieto would run for this position, despite her background and despite her habitual disregard for the law. It appears she’s unfit to be judge,” Uresti-Dasher said when asked about her opponent’s past financial issues.
The winner of the Democratic primary for 285th District Court will face Republican Mark Thompson in the November election.
Find all election results on our Vote 2022 pageWatch live election night results, reaction with KSAT 12 anchors Steve Spriester and Stephania Jimenez
Texas is lagging behind other states in home loans secured by women. Female borrowers also received $20,000 less per loan than women nationally.
There’s a familiar restaurant name now delivering pancakes to your door: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, the family-dining restaurant chain, has launched a virtual concept called The Pancake Kitchen by Cracker Barrel, and it delivers breakfast all day. The concept was first introduced in Los Angeles in 2021, and is now expanding to more than 100 Cracker Barrel locations in 2022, bringing it to 200 locations across the U.S., including San Antonio. The Pancake Kitchen…
“You can’t complain if you don’t come out and vote,” Ron Greenberg, a Bexar County voter said.
Just get out and vote. That was the message from Bexar County voters Tuesday morning who arrived early to cast their ballots at the Lions Field polling location located on Broadway.
“Your vote makes a difference regardless,” Cindy Cuevas, another Bexar County voter said.
Cuevas arrived before the polls opened at 7 a.m. with her best friend. She said when you have a voting buddy, you can keep each other accountable.
“If we don’t vote together, we are constantly reminding each other, we need to make sure to make it a point to get out,” Cuevas said.
Greenberg was the second person in line to vote at Lions Field before the polls opened at 7 a.m. He said just because it’s a primary midterm election it doesn’t mean it’s not an important one.
“Presidential (election) is one thing, but this is a state election. We got two big choices for governor,” Greenberg said. “(There are) big choices between Democrat and Republican, we would change the state dramatically depending on how it goes.”
Cuevas said the recent invasion of Ukraine and watching the emotional situation of people having to flee their home country and fight for their freedom made her appreciate her right to vote more than ever.
“I thought about everything that is happening in Ukraine where people don’t have rights right now and we are really blessed to be able to have decisions that make a difference,” she said.
Read more on our Vote 2022 page:
Last minute campaign announcement creates opening for Bexar County commissioner in Pct. 3. What happens next?Bexar County Judge candidates tell KSAT why they’re running
Marissa Martinez is a proud third grade teacher at Boone Elementary and for her, it’s not just a job — it’s about her students.
Marissa Martinez is the recipient of KSAT’s Teacher of the Month Award and for Marissa’s family, they say the recognition means a lot because they know how hard she works.
“You know, for her, teaching, it’s not just a job,” said Mike Martinez, Marissa Martinez’s husband. “She genuinely cares about the kids and when she’s at home, she’s working. I don’t think people realize how much time and effort teachers really put in. I mean, they’re at home coming up with the lessons, trying to make things better for their students.”
“I’m super excited because she’s the best teacher ever,” said Kyndall Houston, a third grade student. “And, she always does fun things for us.”
Marissa Martinez said it has always been important to connect with her students and, during the pandemic, when students were stuck at home Marissa still found a way.
“I made signs for them that go in their yard that say, ‘Miss Martinez misses me,’” said Martinez. “And, we delivered them to their house, along with some of my administrators and my oldest daughter and with care packages that we put together for them with new books and snacks just to connect with them.”
Martinez says she is thankful for her family’s support and that they even help her with things like decorating the classroom.
And speaking of her family, Marissa’s mother was also a third grade teacher.
“I’m the daughter of an educator,” Martinez said. “It’s definitely, a really big reason why I do what I do. I learned from the best. So, I’m definitely following in her footsteps.”
Martinez is also working to help the students on the Boone campus by leading the Pennies for Literacy campaign once again.
And, this year, she says she hopes to collect enough change to get books for another campus as well.
“We are collecting this change to get each of our students on the campus, brand new books that they can take home with them to be able to share with their families and to be able to read,” Martinez said. “So, they’re not just reading at school, they have an opportunity to read at home.”
CPS Energy customers can expect higher bills this month as the first of several planned rate increases goes into effect.
A rate increase of 3.85% went into effect on Tuesday and the utility is planning more rate hikes over the next five years.
CPS Energy officials say that the rate increase will add an additional $3.84 to the average residential customer’s monthly bill.
In addition, there will be an average increase of $1.26 per month in the fuel adjustment portion of a customer’s bill that CPS Energy says will help recover $418 million in “paid legitimate fuel costs” the utility incurred during February 2021′s winter storm. The additional fuel adjustment is being spread over the next 25 years of bills.
“Combined, the total rate increase costs would be approximately $5.10 for the average electric and natural gas residential customer,” said CPS Energy officials.
Customers can find these charges on their monthly bill in the Service Availability Charge and Energy Charge sections for both electric and natural gas. The winter storm fuel costs will be included in the Fuel Adjustment Charge, which fluctuates monthly with the cost of fuel.
This new rate hike is expected to bring in about $73 million, according to a previous KSAT report.
CPS Energy officials say they plan to have annual rate evaluations and are projecting a 5.5% rate increase in 2025 and an additional 5.5% increase in 2027.
If those projected increases take effect that would bring about a nearly 15% rate increase from CPS Energy in just 5 years.
The San Antonio utility said the four key components it plans to invest in with the initial 3.85% rate increase are:
Infrastructure Resiliency – Power generation and distribution projects to support operations during extreme weather.Technology – Design a future technology platform to replace the 20-plus-year-old system.Growth – Keep up with the community’s continued strong growth.People – Retain and hire qualified employees needed to serve customers.
CPS Energy has been embroiled in controversy over the last several years. A recent Defender’s investigation revealed that former CPS Energy President & CEO Paula Gold-Williams received over $1 million in her final paycheck.
She announced her resignation last October, in addition to former Chief Operating Officer Fred Bonewell who resigned days after the Defenders exposed past ethics and spending complaints against him.
CPS Energy has promised transparency moving forward and the utility’s board is planning a probe into the company’s structure and operations.
Customers who are looking to save money on their bills can the My Energy Portal feature on the CPS Energy website. The portal provides customers the opportunity to track energy with behaviors and activities to make changes instead of waiting for the final bill.
The Affordability Discount Program also offers customers a way to help offset the new rate increase by offering discounts to low-income households.
Final paycheck for Paula Gold-Williams topped $1 million, CPS Energy records showEx-ERCOT chief testifies that Gov. Abbott’s order led to energy price hike during storm: reportCPS Energy attempting to block information on natural gas purchases from latest winter storm
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