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Monday, September 7 Morning News


William Hayes Mitchell Jr. of Marfa passed away early last month (AUGUST). He was 90 years old. 

A rancher by birth, William was the fourth generation of the Mitchell family to ranch in West Texas. Hayes married his childhood sweetheart, Maxine Oliver, on January 9, 1955, and added three girls to the Mitchell clan: Marla, Debbie and Laurie.

He was a legacy cattleman who brought innovation to his ranching heritage. He piloted his plane to watch his cows with a bird’s-eye view. He covered a lot of country while flying around Texas doing cattle trading. Hayes served on several boards, including the Marfa National Bank board for 28 years; Highland Soil and Water Conservation District; Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; and Cattlemen’s Roundup for Crippled Children.

William is survived by his sweet friend Marie Clarie Kyle, his three daughters, seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and even one great-great-granddaughter.

A memorial service for William will take place on Saturday, September 12 at First United Methodist Church of Marfa at 10:00 a.m.

William’s family is so very grateful for the amazing staff who lovingly cared for him at The Springs Memory Care in San Angelo.


A reminder: the city of Alpine offices are today (MONDAY) for the Labor Day holiday. The city will return to its normal business hours tomorrow (TUESDAY).

Other closures today due to the holiday include the Brewster County Courthouse and Alpine ISD campuses.


Tomorrow (TUESDAY), the Alpine City Council will hold a special meeting to consider insurance benefit options for city employees.

According to an agenda for the meeting, council members will receive a presentation by Hotchkiss Insurance for the coming year and talk about the employee health, dental and vision insurance benefit options. 

The council meets Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the city council chambers. 


Over the weekend, the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office and search and rescue teams looked for an injured hiker in the Fort Davis area.

According to a social media post from the department, the rescue teams have paused their initial “investigative phase” of the search – having looked through every trail in the Fort Davis National Historic Site and Davis Mountains State Park areas. The search so far has been conducted on foot and in the area with rescue teams using aircrafts and drones to scan the area. 


The apparently injured hiker has yet to be found and the search is currently on pause while the agency says investigators and search personnel QUOTE “evaluate all available information and await any additional information that may help identify a new search area or direction for search efforts.”

The Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s office stresses that the search remains active and has not been suspended or closed. They say personnel are prepared to resume the search with new information or leads.


On Friday, in recognition and honor of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks,the Big Bend Border Patrol Sector will hold a memorial and remembrance ceremony. 

The event takes place at the Alpine Border Patrol Station at 9:00 a.m. The ceremony will be at the station’s 9/11 Memorial, which is made of recovered ruins of the World Trade Center.


Also on Friday, the Big Bend Arts Council hosts its next gallery show, “Delicious…All About Food.”

An opening reception for the show is Friday, Sept. 11 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The show runs to October 27.

More information online at bigbendartscouncil.org.


This weekend, the Alpine Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation will host its third annual banquet and fundraiser.


As part of the event, there will be games, raffles and a live auction.

The event will be Saturday, Sept. 12 th at the Alpine Civic Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. 


And at the end of the month (SEPTEMBER), St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marfa will host a golf tournament fundraiser. 

The tournament will be a two-man scramble. Entry is $120 per team with lunch included.

All proceeds go to the operation of St. Mary’s Church. 

The two-man scramble takes place Sept. 26 with registration beginning at 8:00 a.m. and the shotgun start at 10:00 a.m.

For more information, contact Eddie Pallarez at 432-295-3105.


This has been your local and area news report for KVLF 98.7 FM, 1240 AM and KALP 92.7 FM

Local news can be found on our website at bigbendradio.com.