Kim Smith

A City of Odessa department head under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Texas Rangers was the subject of four complaints filed within days of each other with the human resource department one year ago. According to records obtained by the Odessa American under the Texas Public Information Act, Equipment Services Director Chris [...]

The Odessa City Council meeting Tuesday night was a contentious four-hour affair with arguments springing up over an inland port, the TGAA contract and some east side roadway improvements. Members of the public also repeatedly called the council out over the contract, a proposed bathroom ordinance and campaign tactics. The council spent 70 minutes alone [...]

By Kim Smith

The feud between city officials and former Odessa Development Corporation Vice President Jeff Russell turned downright vicious Thursday, when Russell took to his social media platform and painted City Manager John Beckmeyer and Beckmeyer’s wife as Machiavellian characters so ruthless they’ll use race and city resources as a means to further their political ambitions. Beckmeyer [...]

In the 16 months since the Bell family donated 100 acres to the city for a new sports complex, the city has had it designed, found someone to operate it, spent $1 million on it, created a nonprofit foundation that can accept donations for it and collected donation promises from businesses and corporations. What they [...]

In the 16 months since the Bell family donated 100 acres to the city for a new sports complex, the city has had it designed, found someone to operate it, spent $1 million on it, created a nonprofit foundation that can accept donations for it and collected donation promises from businesses and corporations. What they [...]

Ector County Hospital District Board member Wallace Dunn has filed a defamation lawsuit against Matt Coday, president of the Oil & Gas Workers Association. According to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Ector County District Court, Coday has been attacking Dunn on social media since February 2022 and falsely accusing him of violating HIPAA [...]

Nearly two dozen people living on Golder Avenue, West Hillmont, 81st and 83rd streets and one business filed a lawsuit Monday against Permian Basin Containers alleging the company was a “environmental disaster waiting to happen” and the recent fires there have caused them to suffer ill health effects, lose their well water and suffer property [...]

Local bar and restaurant owners will soon be invited to a town hall to discuss potential changes to the permitting process and city ordinances governing their businesses. Odessa Planning Director Elizabeth Shaughnessy said the city is moving from a small urban setting to a more mid-range setting so she and the rest of the city’s [...]

By Kim Smith