City of Odessa and Project One-Eleven Held Fentanyl Awareness for Parents

Odessa, Texas/October 31, 2023-The City of Odessa and Project 1:11 hosted a Fentanyl Awareness for parents at Woodson Park in South Odessa. Parents brought their children in costumes to the Halloween themed event. 

(Denise Swanner, Councilmember At-Large-City of Odessa, Texas) 

Odessa Fire Rescue and Odessa Police Department brought emergency vehicles and the SWAT team assault vehicles and hardware. Information was handed out to parents on the dangers of Fentanyl. 

(Jason Cotton, Fire Chief-Odessa Fire Rescue/Odessa, Texas) 

NARCAN, which is used to neutralize an overdose of a controlled substance, is available over the counter. 

This is DRB Media Communications Digital News. 

City of Odessa Parks and Recreation Department Host Fall Festival 2023

Odessa, Texas/October 22, 2023-The City of Odessa Parks and Recreation Department hosted the annual Fall Festival at Mckinny Park. The fun family event featured food trucks, games, jumpers and Fire Trucks and Police Vehicles from Odessa Fire Rescue and Odessa PD. as well as a concert by Tall City. 

(Meagan Mendenhall, Special Events and Recreation Coordinator-Parks and Recreation Department/Odessa, Texas) 

Kids and parents dressed up in costumes and enjoyed the unofficial kick-off to the fall season celebrating Halloween and the Holiday Season. 

((Meagan Mendenhall, Special Events and Recreation Coordinator-Parks and Recreation Department/Odessa, Texas) 

Follow the City of Odessa website and Facebook for upcoming family fun events for the remainder of 2023 and for the New Year 2024. 

 For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera.   

City of Odessa Held Special Memorial Wall Ceremony

Odessa, Texas/October 13, 2023-The City of Odessa held a special ceremony in the east parking lot of City Hall to honor those employees who have served the City of Odessa. A past Mayor and City Council administration that included then Councilman Javier Joven came up with the idea to create a memorial wall to honor those city employees that have since passed away. 

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa/Odessa, Texas) 

Families of employees that served the City of Odessa came to the ceremony as far as Houston. Mayor Javier Joven plans to continue the tradition of a remembrance ceremony.  

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa/Odessa, Texas) 

Odessa Fire Rescue Chief Jason Cotton has a personal connection to the Memorial Wall. 

(Jason Cotton, Fire Chief-Odessa Fire Rescue/Odessa, Texas) 

The City of Odessa Memorial Wall is located on the front east corner of City Hall near the main entrance. 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera. 

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Officially Celebrating the Opening of Odessa College Downtown

Odessa, Texas/July 28, 2023-Odessa College held the official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Odessa College Downtown Phase 1 project. The special event began at 8am with a light breakfast followed by the ceremony. The new downtown site will be open to the public starting on Tuesday, August 1st. 

(Jaqui Gore, Vice President Advancement, Business and Governmental Relations-Odessa College/Odessa, Texas) 

Odessa College Downtown was designed for entertainment and education and includes two stages and an amphitheater, a splash pad, seating areas, and parking for food trucks. 

(Jaqui Gore, Vice President, Business and Governmental Relations-Odessa College/Odessa, Texas) 

Long time residents of Odessa, have always heard-” You raise your family in Midland, and you raise hell in Odessa.” Mayor Joven believes that this attitude is slowly changing due to partnerships with Odessa College, the City of Odessa, the ODC and the Medical Center Health System and other institutions changing the image of Odessa. 

(Javier Jove, Mayor-City of Odessa, Texas) 

Odessa College is experiencing 8 thousand plus in college enrollment. Odessa College Downtown will be a location that OC students can enjoy and generate more enrollment growth. 

(Gregory Williams, President-Odessa College/Odessa, Texas) 

Phase 2 will be the Odessa College Business and Entrepreneur Center. The project is now in progress raising funds. 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera. 

Odessa City Council and the City of Odessa Re open the Odessa Recycling Center

Odessa, Texas/June 21, 2023-The City of Odessa and the City Council have re-opened the Time Machine Recycling Center located on West 42nd Street. Residents can now drive into the facility and drop off cardboard and plastic into the marked containers. 

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa, Texas) 

The City of Odessa had 373 containers for recyclables throughout the community. Approximately 80% of the recyclables that reached the containers ended up in the landfill. 

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa, Texas) 

The City of Odessa may be close to an external partner in collecting recyclables and other contaminants, which would decrease costs and save the city money.  

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa, Texas) 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera. 

City of Odessa Announces Sports Complex to be Located at Parks Bell Ranch

Odessa, Texas/May 31, 2023-On Tuesday, May 30th, Mayor Javier Joven along with Mark Matta, Odessa City Councilman, District 1 and Denise Swaner, Odessa City Councilwoman at Large announced the new sports complex that will eventually be built in the Parks Bell Ranch area 

(Javier Joven, Mayor-City of Odessa, Texas) 

The Sports Complex will have indoor sports-Basketball and Volleyball and an outdoor multi-purpose complex that will have football, soccer, and will include La Crosse. The Sports Complex Committee hopes that it will be able to bring in tournaments to the City of Odessa and be competitive with Midland 

(Mark Matta, Councilman, District 1/Odessa City Council-Odessa, Texas) 

It was announced at the presentation by Councilman Mark Matta, that an Ice-Skating rink was not included in the plan of the Sports Complex. 

(Mark Matta, Councilman, District 1/Odessa City Council-Odessa, Texas) 

Several people that attended the Sports Complex announcement hoped that the ice-skating rink would be included in the design of the Complex. 

(Christine Holcomb, Figure Skating Mom/Odessa, Texas) 

The Odessa City Council will have items related to the Sports Complex on the council agendas regarding infrastructure, costs and other Sports Complex challenges. 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera