A Life Changed Forever

Andy is being released from University Medical Hospital Monday. His family is asking for your help. He still has no way of paying for his medical supplies and no rehab center will take him because his medicaid is still pending.

Andy's family does not have the equipment or training to be able to take care of him at their home. The family is looking for a rehab center that will take him in. They can call 915-504-3488 or contact the family by e-mail at getwellandy@gmail.com if they are willing to help the family out. The family is running out of time and running out of options.










These pictures show how Andy's life was changed forever due to the actions of an off duty police officer.

He will never be able to jump into a pool again, he will never be able to hug his little cousins, he will never be able to live a normal life.

"He is still just a kid that did not deserve this, no one does." said his aunt who lives in Austin. "All we can do now is trust in God. God has a plan for our "Indio" I know it."

It is amazing to read and hear all the good things about Andy. Family, friends and even strangers have sent well wishes and shared stories about Andy with me. It is good to know that there are alot of people who love him and stand by him during these tough times.

Please share these pictures with someone, you never know they might be the one that will be able to help Andy.

Be Thankful

This weekend the LNRC was invited to take part in the First Thanksgiving hosted by the El Paso Mission Trail Association in San Elizario.

There was a whole lot of things going on. You had the First Thanksgiving reenactment, art displays, vendors, equestrian show, performances by gun fighters, ghost chasers,speakers, music, car show, bikers, food, there was definitely something for everyone.

I didn't see too many elected officials out there. But I do have to mention El Paso Mayor John Cook was out there with his guitar in hand. But there was another elected official out there.

State Representative Chente Quintanilla was out there early Saturday morning. Unfortunately he wasn't representing himself very well. He walked passed by our booth, looked back over his shoulder and muttered "What the hell are Republicans doing here? Don't you know you can't be Mexican and a Republican?"

Chente must have thought that I did not know who he was. In his defense, the way he was dressed he just looked like any grumpy old man. His attire did not reflect that of a State Representative and neither did his racialist remarks. I'm surprised he didn't say I wasn't Mexican enough because my name isn't Pancho or Chito or Paco.

I bit my tongue and pretended that I didn't know who he was. I wasn't going to stoop down to his level in public. I rather do it on my blog where more people can enjoy it.


Representative Quintanilla isn't exactly your model State Representative. He has a reputation in the House for being a laydown. He will sign anything that is put in front of him and untill recently had never sponsored a bill himself.

Chente Quintanilla had some students write up a bill to make the sopapilla the official pastry of Texas as a school project. It's bad enough that it was the only bill he has ever sponsored on his own but he didn't even draft it himself, he had kids do it for him.

He has been in office way to long and for someone whose campaign logo is "Chente por la jente" he definitely needs to learn how to speak to la jente. Treat people like you would like to be treated Representative Quintanilla, you never know, you just might insult someone who will blog about it. Be thankful you weren't in a Socorro city council meeting or it would have been up on you tube. Politics in the lower valley can get interesting.

El Paso Latino National Republican Coalition

El Paso LNRC Hosts Luncheon for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst

The El Paso Latino National Republic Coalition held its very first fundraiser Monday April 26, 2010. We were honored to host a luncheon for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. Over 200 people heard the Lt. Governor speak on issues like taxes, the state budget and immigration. When asked about the controversial Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and if the state of Texas would pass a similar bill the Lt. Governor told the group that there was a better way to have handled the immigration issue. “We all came from somewhere else” he said and focused on the fiscal security of our state. According to the Lt. Governor having the federal government hire more border patrol agents to secure the borders instead of having the state of Texas pay millions of dollars to handle federal law is better way of handling the issue.

The El Paso LNRC is one of the newest chapters of the Texas LNRC. Our chapter has only been around for a few months but we are tackling a problem that has plagued El Paso for way too long. For many years conservative Latinos in El Paso have felt like they were left out, like they weren’t apart of something and have not participated in the local political process because of it. Our chapter is determined to change that and do everything we can to engage, empower and elect those of Latino heritage in our border community. We have taken a step closer to achieving those objectives by bringing in a speaker like Lt. Governor David Dewhurst to El Paso and introducing conservative Latino candidates at our event. Francisco Canseco candidate for Congress, Dan Chavez candidate for Senator District 29, Jaime O. Perez candidate for El Paso County Judge and Rene Diaz candidate for El Paso Community College Board of Trustees District 1 were all in attendance and introduced to the group. Two more candidates, Charlie Garza candidate for Texas State Board of Education and Gracie Valenzuela candidate for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 were not in attendance due to scheduling conflicts but equally contribute to the conservative movement by Latinos in El Paso. The demand for conservatism by Latinos in El Paso is nothing new; it just hasn’t been tapped into properly by any group. We hope that the El Paso LNRC is the catalyst that finally makes this a reality in El Paso.

We Turn Our Backs

We moan and groan about how tired we are of what happens in our community. We claim to be bothered by the same 'ol same 'ol mentality from our leaders. We ask for help and are offended when we are turned away. We want to hang our city representatives by their toe nails on the drop of a dime yet when one of our own asks for help we turn our backs on him.

Not too many people know how it feels to be in real need and have people turn their backs on you when you don't know who to turn to. They don't know how it feels to not have anyone by your side when you feel so alone. I think this is one of those times where we need to listen more and doubt less. We as a community need to unite and stand up for what is right. We need to stop closing the doors on the possibility that there is a flaw in our system. After all no one is perfect.

This song has played in my head and in my heart many times. We all feel this way at some point of our lives. We feel like we have no one and are alone to take on the world. Lets work together and show each other that we are here for those who need us. Lets not give these people our backs, lets give them our attention instead. We might learn a thing or two.

Police Officer has a history of changing the facts.

There has been many people who are defending Andy and there are many people who are defending the police officer on this issue.

People have posted on the Internet that the police officer did the right thing and that he should be commended. Some have gone all out and attacked Andy and said he got what he deserved.

People from across the country have posted their support for the officer stating that we were not there to see what really happened and shouldn't question his actions. The officer is considered a hero on many blogs.

Lets take a look at this so called hero, this officer that is being put on a pedestal for his so called off duty heroics. I'm leaving out all the extra curricular activities, the rumors, the chisme, the he said she said stuff.

Lets take a look at some facts. It seems that some new information has come out in the last couple days. Here is a Notice of Suspension for officer Jorge Gonzalez. Seems that he had 10 violations on this suspension alone. Officer Gonzalez was put on an 80 suspension for lying about what happened when he pulled over a man who was speeding to his business because of a security alarm that went off. Read the document yourself and ask, Could this officer have lied to cover up what really happened?

It was hard for me to justify a yes answer before this document surfaced but now it I can easily shout HELL YEAH he might have lied about what he did to Andy. I can't gurantee he did but the odds are definately stacked against him on this one.

There are plenty of hard working, respectible police officers on the force. Unfortunately this is not one of them. Good officers have to work twice as hard to get half the respect they desrve because of bad apples like him. Let's toss put the bad apples.

Thank you! Andy's fundraiser was a success.

Thanks to everyone who drove by and donated to Andy's cause. Many were kind enough to drop loose change and dollar bills into the buckets.

There was about 40-45 people who collected donations in buckets, waved signs and passed out fliers. It was the most fulfilling four hours of our lives.

Family and friends wanted to accomplish two things at this event. They wanted to raise money for Andy and they wanted to find anyone who might have seen anything that would come forward with information.

The final count has not come in on the bucket full of money, but I am happy to report that we gathered some new information. Andy's family got what they were looking for......they got answers.



Stay tuned, I should have more details coming soon.........

Andy's Fundraiser

As many of you have heard Andy Cortes was in a shooting involving two off duty officers. He now has a bullet permanently lodged in his neck and has had two surgeries since the shooting April 1st. Andy's life has been drastically changed by this event. Andy did not have any health insurance and his family is struggling to take care of the staggering medical bills and does not have the means to purchase the medical equipment he will need on a daily basis. The family is asking for your help.

A fundraiser will be held Monday April 19th from 3pm-6pm on the corner of Yarbrough and Gateway West. Friends and family will hold containers with pictures of Andy collecting loose change at the same corner he was shot at on April 1st. It only takes a split second to help Andy, just like it only took a split second to change his life. Your participation would be greatly appreciated.

An account has been set up at Wells Fargo in Andy's name for those who can't attend but would like to contribute financially. The account number is 7606316987.

If you have any questions or would like to help please feel free to contact Sammy Carrejo at 915-633-4724 or at sammyctalkradio@yahoo.com. The family asks that anybody with information about the events that occurred on April 1st contact them by e-mail at GETWELLANDY@GMAIL.COM or by phone on a special hotline at 915-504-3588.