City Council has been looking for ways to cut back on costs associated with El Metro.

Dr. Michael Landeck asked City staff to come up with a proposal for an experimental bus hub near the HEB on Zapata Highway and the HEB on Loop 20

City Council decided to table the item tonight. They will discuss it in further detail at the next meeting.

It was judgment day for the Laredo Broncos as they battled the Ventura Sports Group at City Council, both groups vying for the opportunity to be awarded a chance to operate a new baseball stadium set to open in 2011.

In recent years, the Laredo Broncos have struggled not only on the field but also in the stands and City Council says paying the bill at Veterans Field has even been tough.

"The Laredo Broncos say a new stadium may be just what they need to get the type of attendance they are looking for."

At City Council, the gloves were off as both the Laredo Broncos and Ventura Sports Management Groups were taking a swing at the chance to operate in a new stadium, but it was the cost of the stadium that seemed to be holding things up for the Ventura Sports Group.

The Broncos ownership however says they would be willing to work with a smaller budget, but financial uncertainties seemed to hurt their chances of being selected.

Finally the City Council voted 4 to 3 giving the Ventura Sports Group the chance to operate at the new stadium.

Council members say the group has the characteristics they were searching for.

In 30 days the City Council will discuss how much money to spend on the contruction of the new ballpark.

It's expected to be complete for the 2011 season.

City council is expected to make a big decision at their meeting Monday night.
They will choose who will manage the new baseball stadium, either Ventura Sports or Laredo Sports Equities, managers of the Laredo Broncos.
Two weeks ago city council heard from both sides during a 30 minute presentation from each organization.
Now the question remains: who will be the team who gets to play in the brand new baseball stadium that the people of laredo voted for?
In a meeting two weeks ago, the Broncos asked city council for a chance to call the stadium home.
But some council members gave them a hard time asking questions, specifically about the Broncos finances.
One council member asked the Broncos general manager, Jose Melendez about not being able to afford rent at Veterans Field.
Here are some of the amenities each organization is offering.
The Broncos goal include bringing the yearly Tecolotes exhibition games.
Outdoor concerts, holding high-school, colleges and little league tournaments and more.
Ventura sports group offered something different, a stadium experience for the audience.
Including a 17 thousand square foot kids zone.
A pool in right field, a sports bar restaurant in left field and sitting and eating options.
City council will have to make a decision between the two organizations.
We will bring you the latest information coming up on Pro 8 News at ten.

Three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez are gunned down.
A U.S. Consulate employee and her husband were shot to death in their car near the Santa Fe International Bridge linking Ciudad Juarez with El Paso.
Their baby was found unharmed in the back seat.
The Chihuahua state prosecutors office estimated the child to be about one year old.
A relative identified the dead couple as 35-year-old consular employee Lesley Enriquez and her 34-year-old husband, Arthur Redelf.
Redelf was a detention officer with the El Paso County Jail.
Officials say a third person with ties to the U.S. consulate was killed at a different location.

Laredo police make a marijuana bust of more than a ton today near a local forwarding agency.
Officers tell us they received a call from the agency on the 13-hundred block of Port Drive off Uniroyal Drive north of Laredo.
That’s where they were alerted to several unknown men driving back and forth in the area.
Police later found the men were in search of a trailer load of 3 thousand pounds of marijuana.
They tell us the load was seized and they called Immigration and Customs inspection to further investigate the suspects.

Residents of a north Laredo neighborhood say they're fed up with constant vandalism in their area.
They’ve filed police reports but now want the suspects to know they're watching.
“Somebody spray painted one of our vehicles egging our vehicles,” says Stephanie Estrada.
A rash of vandalism is leaving its mark in a north Laredo neighborhood.
The recent incidents have people wondering who will be next.
“The world is what it is but this is supposed to be a safe neighborhood.”
One of Estrada’s dogs was stolen from a gated area Friday, making it the third family dog stolen this year alone.
“There's a teenage boy picking up the dog and running to the car and driving away. My dad yelled at them and saw them but they skidded away.”
Right across the street, another homeowner says she's worried after waking up to find several broken windows and planters gone.
“It’s kinda hard. We wake up during the night when we see our lights turn on. We go ahead and come and check,” says Norma Moncivais.
Neighbors are now banning together, hoping to put an end to months of headaches. Some have even installed security cameras, and even caught the suspicious vehicle on camera.
They hope the suspects realize that not only police, but also an entire neighborhood is watching.
“It’s kind of sad that it's our property, those are our animals, these are things we provide our family with.”
Estrada says she's filed a police report and hopes more police will patrol the area.
At least four of her neighbors say they plan on doing the same hoping the vandalism will stop.

Its been a few months since Laredo officials decided to no longer provide fire or emergency services to El Cenizo or Rio bravo.
But with an exceptionally small budget, members of the small El Cenizo community have come together to fend for themselves.
Like many organizations, El Cenizo firefighters turned to good music and good food to help raise some money.
When El Cenizo learned it would no longer have fire department services from Laredo, officials of the small town knew they had to act fast.
“It was kind of hard but we didn’t give up and finally we said lets raise some money.”
Officials recently appointed a volunteer fire chief and several volunteer firefighters.
But they needed equipment.
The solution: a festival of music and plenty of food that has the community buzzing.
“It is marvelous, people coming from all over and support from the community.”
“Other volunteer fire departments do something similar. Lets do this.”
Over 600 tickets were sold for this first ever chicken and beer festival that has become more of an event of pride for the people of El Cenizo, showing they're willing to stand up for themselves.
“When you do things like this engage the community get more pride they become more supportive.”
As people danced the night away, Mayor Raul Reyes commented on how proud he was to see the smiles of faces of families, who will not only be better protected but now have a celebration of their own.
“At the end of the day its about making sure our children are provided with the same opportunities that other children in the state and country are provided with.”
Mayor Raul Reyes hopes to make the event an annual one to benefit the fire department and was extremely glad with tonight's turnout.

Sensors went off along the river by LCC South Campus this morning.

When agents arrived, nobody was there, but moments later they heard a growling sound; that sound came from a beautiful Bengal tiger.

The four-month-old cub was kept in a small, cramped cage.

Border Patrol says somebody paid a big amount of money for the tiger as a pet, and agents say smugglers don't care about the animals well being.

The tiger cub is being kept safe before he is sent to Taylor, Texas.

Officials across the border have been very reluctant to admit to the violence, but on Wednesday night we presented you with recordings from the night of February 19th as gunfights broke out in Nuevo Laredo.

We have more audio recordings from that night.

This time we get to hear what police officers were saying to each other in their radio transmissions.

City officials are now back in laredo after a trip to Washington.

On the agenda were issues dealing with border security and Laredo’s infrastructure, but also high on the list was the need for funding for el metro, something Washington officials say they just couldn't help with.

According to those on the trip, Washington officials pretty much said, “we feel your pain, but right now, there's nothing we can do.”

Now city officials have hit another roadblock with El Metro.

El Metro has been plagued with problems when it comes to staying within budget.

Losing money fast, city officials decided to head to Washington for help.

The population in Laredo is growing, but government funding is not. Other cities on the border have experienced the same problem before, so Washington’s answer for Laredo:

“They empathize with us, they sympathize with us, but ultimately there’s not much they’re willing to do right now.”

City officials are remaining optimistic, but will be forced to make changes in the way El Metro operates very soon.

For now it’s all they can do.