School officials in both Midland and Odessa say they are pleased with the progress their districts made in school accountability ratings.

            Ector County School officials are especially pleased that none of their campuses showed up on the “academically unacceptable” list.  Last year, there were five Odessa campuses rated as unacceptable.  This year, four Odessa schools reached “exemplary” status, while 18 others were listed at “recognized”.

            Midland reported three elementary campuses were “academically unacceptable”, but there were three others that were rated as “exemplary”.  13 schools were rated as “recognized”.

            Texas Education Agency accountability ratings are based on TAKS test results, along with dropout rates and graduation rates.

            A Midland man has been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two young girls.  33 year old Martin Arevallo-Guerrero was convicted on three of four counts on indecency with a child.  Judge John Hyde ordered that the sentences be “stacked” for a total of 32 years in prison.  Guerrero will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least half of his sentence.  Testimony revealed that the abuse took place at three different residences in Midland.  The girls reportedly kept silent about the abuse to avoid family turmoil.  However, they finally reported it to their mothers when they feared the abuse would resume when Guerrero returned to Midland after a long absence.

            Ector County Sheriff’s deputies arrested one man at a traffic stop Thursday evening.  They confiscated about four ounces of cocaine.  Investigators with the Special Investigations Unit stopped a vehicle at Kermit Highway and Golder Street.  Charges were filed against 31 year old Jacob Delossantos.  Officers say further investigation led them to search Delossantos’ residence in the 1500 block of North Jackson.  The search turned up more cocaine, bringing the total amount to 233 grams.  Deputies also seized about 700 dollars in cash.  Delossantos is being held pending the filing of federal charges.

            The city of Odessa has received a 1.4-million dollar grant to build a pedestrian corridor along U.S. Highway 385 and Fifth Street in Odessa.  Main Street Odessa director Nancy Wells says the pedestrian corridor is intended to improve sidewalks and bike paths in the downtown Odessa area.  She says right now, there is not a lot of pedestrian traffic.  However, she believes a corridor would encourage more foot traffic.  Wells says the construction timetable is largely in the hands of the Texas Department of Transportation.  She expects it will take several months to develop engineering plans for the project.  She believes actual construction could begin a year from now. 

            The Republican candidate for a West Texas congressional race had an arrest warrant issued for him back in 2004 when he failed to pay a speeding ticket.  Francisco Canseco is running against incumbent Democrat Ciro Rodriquez in a district that includes San Antonio, Fort Stockton, Monahans, and Alpine.  The Associated Press says Canseco was issued a speeding ticket in 2004.  An arrest warrant was issued when he failed to pay the ticket.  He eventually paid the ticket in full ten months later, along with an additional 50 dollar fine.  Canseco’s campaign manager says Canseco was in a primary for a U.S. House seat at the time and lost track of the ticket.