Category: San Antonio News

Brandon and Allison Harding were worried about their ability to start a family — so they launched a product to help other prospective parents grow theirs.

A veteran San Antonio firefighter has been removed from active duty after being charged with drunk driving late Saturday, city officials confirmed.

San Antonio Fire Department Engineer Marco Martinez, 48, was taken into custody around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday after San Antonio police officers responded to the 11900 block of Interstate 10 West.

Martinez, who has worked for SAFD since 1996, was later booked on a Class A misdemeanor charge of DWI with a blood alcohol content over .15, booking records show.

Additional details about Martinez’s arrest were not made public Monday.

A spokesman for SAFD said the department is aware of the arrest and that Martinez has been removed from active duty, pending further investigation.

Martinez was released from custody Sunday morning.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in County Court 5 on March 15.

Once again, Texas Monthly has published its list of the state’s best new restaurants. Led by food critic and executive editor Pat Sharpe, the 21st edition of the list highlights the magazine’s favorite dishes from around the state. Texas Monthly utilized the same format for its 2021 list, opting not to publish a ranked list due to the difficulties restaurants faced during the pandemic. “This year, in the wake of the delta and omicron coronavirus…

The iconic automaker plans a reentry with a new electric vehicle model.

The DeLorean Motor Company is heading to the future — the future of electric vehicles.

DeLorean and the City of San Antonio on Monday announced that the brand is making a comeback and planting its global headquarters at Port San Antonio on the Southwest Side.

The headquarters will bring 450 jobs in the areas of executive, management and engineering, a news release states. The plan still needs the final approvals of incentive packages.

DeLorean said it will create a new electric vehicle production, a market that Mayor Ron Nirenberg called “increasingly competitive.”

“By planning to establish their global headquarters in San Antonio, DeLorean is validating the talent, strategic preparation, and adaptability our region provides for EV manufacturers to thrive,” he said in the release.

Monday’s announcement came after the company teased a return in a 15-second Super Bowl ad.

The car became iconic thanks to its main role in the “Back to the Future” movies. The ad shows the rebooted, electric version will have the gull-wing doors, the car’s most recognizable feature.

With the news out, DeLorean says it will focus on growth nationally and internationally while providing jobs in San Antonio.

“We are grateful for the tremendous support we’ve received from the community. San Antonio boasts a growing component and vehicle manufacturing sector as well as a wide array of global advanced manufacturing operations,” Joost de Vries, CEO of DeLorean Motor Company, said in the release. “This allows us countless synergies between established companies and suppliers in the broader region. A deep talent pool and a strong local academic ecosystem will foster further innovation.”

Port San Antonio, located in District 4, has transformed the former Kelly Air Force Base into a hub for innovation, technology and education.

One of the sites under construction is the Tech Port Center + Arena, a 130,000-square-foot venue. It includes collaborative lab space, a technology museum and industry showroom and a 3,200-seat arena.

“Port San Antonio is a growing and nationally important destination for innovators and their collaborators—from other industries on our campus and in our region to a world-class array of educators and research partners,” Port San Antonio CEO Jim Perschbach said in the release. “We are thrilled to welcome DeLorean into our network of leading technology creators all working towards a safer, more productive connected future.”

A fire in a vacant West Side home early Monday morning quickly became a problem for the people who lived next door.

The flames wasted no time in spreading from that vacant house, located near S. General McMullen and Monterey Street, to one occupied by two women in their 70s.

RELATED: Fire started in vacant West Side house spreads to home next door

Both homes were destroyed.

John Roberts says he was glad to learn his 78-year-old mother, Martha, and her caretaker had made it out safely.

“I know we’ve been experiencing a lot of fires here in San Antonio where older folks have been passing away. Fortunately my mom didn’t become one of the stats,” he said.

Roberts stopped by to view what was left of the family home hours later.

He said he found out about the fire when he got a call from his mother shortly after 3 a.m.

“She said somebody passing by is the one who actually knocked on the door and got them out,” Roberts said. “And truly I’m just grateful to that person, whoever that lady was.”

Despite the efforts of firefighters, there was not much else that could be saved.

The vacant house where the fire started burned to the ground.

Martha Roberts’ home sustained heavy damage throughout it.

Her son says she will come to live with him and his family.

Arson investigators are still trying to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Firefighters say they had reports that homeless people had been staying inside the vacant home.

In fact, at one point, they were not sure that all of them had escaped the fire.

“We originally had heard that there may be a person unaccounted for, but we have since located him,” said Battalion Chief Doug Reed with SAFD.

Reed confirmed that investigators are looking at the possibility that some of the homeless people may have had a hand in the fire.

He said they will be reviewing surveillance video provided by a neighbor for possible clues.

According to Mindy Kaling, unstoppable comedy writer and truth teller, “A best friend isn’t a person. … It’s a tier.” This is good news at the dog park, where man’s best friend sprints away into the paws of another and the humans are left to make their own connections. Last October, four dog-loving organizations that recognized the power of dog park friendship — the San Antonio Parks Foundation, Texas Public Radio, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and…

Before the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles hosted the Rams and Bengals for Super Bowl 56, it was a design from the mind of a North East ISD graduate.

Lance Evans, the lead architect for the $5 billion stadium, graduated in 1999 from Churchill High School, where he first got his start in architecture.

He went on the graduate from Texas Tech, then he joined the HKS architecture firm in Dallas and helped design the AT&T Stadium.

“It was just by chance that the firm I had decided to work at … was going to design the future stadium of the Dallas Cowboys,” Evans said in an HKS article. “And that’s where the whole trajectory of my life changed.”

Now a principal and director of sports at HKS in Los Angeles, the Southern California venue is his biggest project yet.

And it is big — the league’s first indoor-outdoor stadium was built around a lake, has a two-sided oval video board and a translucent roof, and can seat up to 100,000 if needed.

“I love how the site, the district, Hollywood Park is centered around a public lake,” Evans told NEISD in a Facebook post. “It’s a 25-acre public parkland and lake that anchor the district and the stadium. I take pride in that the team really embraced and wanted to do something more than just put a stadium in a sea of parking. So I’m really proud of that.”

He added that he wanted to keep sports fans connected to the landscape of Southern California.

The designers did that by adding natural topography of the area, like palm trees, inside the building.

“Our spirit is this beautiful panoramic of the city, but you’re also connected to the action, whether it be the playing surface or the infinity screen, the large video board– you’re always connected into the action and you get a sense that you’re in a really unique place that can only be built in Inglewood and Southern California,” he said.

Evans and his wife and daughter live a few miles away from the stadium, so it was an obvious fit for him, he told HKS.

He added that the designers captured Rams owner and chairman E. Stanley Kroenke’s two necessities: to create an entertainment palace and capture the spirit of Southern California.

“Our design team took this to heart, and it led every decision on this building,” Evans said. “This was a chance to build an entertainment destination in the entertainment capital of the world. It was about authenticity and how you can capture the essence of a community in the ultimate fan experience.”

Evans was also the lead architect on the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, home to the Vikings.

But his roots can be traced back to architecture class at Churchill High School.

“Churchill had an architectural studio,” said Evans. “So, that was my first inkling into the profession. If that was going to be a trajectory for me in high school, I was like, ‘Oh, goodness, this can be a career path and something I could parlay into a passion.’”

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A Chinese restaurant on the city’s West Side was ordered to go through a reinspection in December after large, dead roaches were found throughout the establishment.

Beijing Express, located in the 8000 block of Marbach Rd., received a score of 75 and was also cited for storing raw chicken above fresh produce and for having metal bins and a colander that were cracked and chipped.

The restaurant was scheduled to be reinspected by Metropolitan Health officials at the end of last year, city records show.

To see more health inspection scores and to go Behind the Kitchen Door with Dillon Collier, click HERE for our special section.

Score Guide:

100-90 = A (Very Good to Acceptable)89-80 = B (Acceptable to Marginal)79 or lower = C (Marginal to Poor)

Metro Health indicates that scores of 69 or lower are failing scores

Other scores this week:

Fuego Tortilla Grill, 5618 UTSA Blvd., 100Papouli’s Greek Grill, 11224 Huebner Rd., 100Tommy’s Restaurant, 938 Wurzbach Pkwy., 100Whataburger, 2203 E. Evans Rd., 100Ito Ramen, 14395 Blanco Rd., 98Sichuan House, 3505 Wurzbach Rd., 98El Senor Fish Seafood Bar, 1915 Broadway, 95Sepio’s Sports Bar, 4219 Culebra Rd., 95Lung Fung Chinese Restaurant, 4503 Lakewood Dr., 94Kiku Garden Restaurant, 4527 Goldfield Rd., 93La Marginal, 2447 Nacogdoches Rd., 93Bill Miller BBQ, 2750 Bill Miller Ln., 92Botika, 303 Pearl Pkwy., 92Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant, 1005 Old Hwy. 90 West, 91Laguna Madre, 25127 IH 10 West, 89Pizza Classics, 3440 N. St. Mary’s, 88Esmerelda’s Mexican Restaurant, 8750 S. Presa St., 86Sylvia’s Cafe, 6624 San Pedro Ave., 77Golden Wok, 1410 SW Loop 410, 76Beijing Express, 8003 Marbach Rd., 75

For food establishment complaints in the city of San Antonio, send an email to Metro Health or call 210-207-8853.

Check out more restaurant scores by clicking here.

“Now it’s incumbent upon the educators to turn around curriculum faster to upskill students more quickly,: says California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who advised the Biden administration last year on higher-education issues.