Happy holidays and see you in the New Year

MARFA — The Big Bend Sentinel staff wishes our community a peaceful holiday season and a happy new year. We appreciate your continued readership this year and look forward to covering Far West Texas with you in 2021. As usual, The Big Bend Sentinel will not publish issues for the final two weeks of the year, so our next edition will hit newsstands on January 7, 2021. Happy holidays!

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Documentary from Sentinel editorial team will premiere at Sundance Film Festival

PARK CITY, UTAH — Sundance Film Festival announced this week that At the Ready, a new documentary film directed by Big Bend Sentinel Editor-in-Chief Maisie Crow, is slated to premiere on January 31, 2021, in their U.S. documentary competition.

The film follows students at Horizon High School in El Paso as they train to become police officers and Border Patrol agents, while grappling with the reality that their personal beliefs and family life are sometimes at odds with their career goals.

The film is produced by Crow, along with Big Bend Sentinel Managing Editor Abbie Perrault and Marfa resident Hillary Pierce, who most recently produced the West Texas documentary The River and the Wall.

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Relatives providing childcare may qualify for new financial support

WEST TEXAS — Workforce Solutions Borderplex (WSB) announced last week that the organization will be broadening child care services, offering financial support to pay for child care centers or to pay unemployed relatives who provide childcare.

Open enrollment for general child care is active now, allowing families the opportunity to potentially qualify for coverage of child care expenses. Due to circumstances surrounding the pandemic, WSB is only accepting applications electronically at https://www.borderplexjobs.com/what-we-do/child-care. For more information or assistance, please call (915) 500-7665.

“Now more than ever are we seeing a surge in child care center enrollment. With parents working and so many students in distance learning mode, it is critical that we make sure our children are cared for properly,” said Leila Melendez, CEO of WSB.

Due to the rising demand in child care, WSB will be opening the program to a new group of caregivers by expanding support to unemployed relatives serving in roles as providers. The process to become an approved provider begins with a background check with the Department of Family and Protective Services. Once qualifications are confirmed, WSB determines eligibility and pay rate for the listed provider. The timeline to complete the entire process could take up to 75 days. It is critical that the child’s parent also qualifies for child care services.

“We know there are so many extended family members caring for children of relatives and often helping them with distance learning from home. It would be great to see those family members earn a little income while doing so,” added Melendez.

WSB is also prepared to assist existing child care centers with the qualifications needed to become part of its Child Care Services network. Interested child care centers should visit https://bit.ly/WSBProviders, email WSB at eligibility.ccs@borderplexjobs.com or call (915) 500-7665.

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Death notice for obituary section:

Brit Webb, a longtime Marfa resident and former city council member, passed away on Tuesday, December 15, at the age of 92. Full obituary to come.