Free Republic

EL PASO, Texas — A month after going online, a network of Internet cameras trained on the Texas-Mexico border is being credited with the arrest of three people and the seizure of about 550 pounds of pot. Donald Reay, executive director of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said more than 1.8 million hits had been recorded since November's launch of the Web site where anyone can take a peek at more than a dozen cameras aimed at the border. Reay, whose group has partnered with private Internet company BlueServo for the $2 million project, said "upward of 1,000 e-mails" have...

EL PASO — Hidalgo County will not receive any additional funding for border security from the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition because, according to interim executive director Rick Glancey, the coalition is concerned about the county’s "accountability." After hearing 16 presentations and budget proposals from the leaders of the border counties that make up the coalition, the coalition’s board, chaired by Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, entered executive session Thursday evening. They were to decide how $8.7 million in state and federal grant money would be dispersed for the counties’ programs to bolster border security. When the board emerged with a...