“Topics for the 87th Legislature” provides an easy-to-understand, trustworthy guide of hottest issues facing Texans in 2021, says attorney Omar Ochoa

Featured: Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, with Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, on Sunday, June 9, 2019, following Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Mission. On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, Sister Pimentel was selected by Time magazine to its list of “The Most 100 Influential People of 2020”. Writing for Time, Julián Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said, “Sister Pimentel has been on the front lines of mercy for three decades, supporting migrants who are seeking refuge in the U.S. along Texas’ border with Mexico. As executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, she directs efforts to provide shelter, food, sanctuary, and comfort to people often treated as less than human. Her organization has housed and assisted well over 100,000 people at the border.”
Photograph Courtesy SEN. JUAN HINOJOSA FACEBOOK
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read more…DHR Health’s Carlos Cárdenas, MD praises the roles of print and broadcast news journalists in 2020: “We couldn’t do public health without you.”

FEATURED: Carlos Cárdenas, MD, Chair, Board of Managers, DHR Health, temporarily slips off his face mask to address the Annual Office Manager 2020 Holiday Luncheon, held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, where all attendees met face covering, social distancing, and all other public health recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Photograph Courtesy DHR HEALTH FACEBOOK
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read more…Proposed Rio Grande Valley School of Law, supported in 2019 by likely Speaker of the House Phelan, reintroduced by Rep. Armando Martínez for action during 2021, says attorney Omar Ochoa

Featured: Rep. Armando “Mando” Martínez, D-Weslaco, prepares to discuss one of his legislative measures before the Texas House of Representatives during Spring 2019.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
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read more…University of Texas Rio Grande Valley partners with South Texas College to create undergraduate education degrees in early childhood studies

Featured, from left: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; Alyssa Palacios, Staff Member (in the background), Boys and Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV; Judi Flowers, Member, Board of Directors, Boys and Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV; and Adriana Rendón, Chief Executive Officer, Boys and Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV, join clubs members Leovanny, Héctor, Kalysa, Isabella, and Daniela on Tuesday, December 1, 2020. In recognition of Giving Tuesday. Canales, along with Walmart Inc., presented a $5,000 check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV to support its ongoing efforts to building a stronger community. Giving Tuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world”. Wikipedia
Photograph By KARLA PONCE
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read more…Edinburg City Council unanimously nominates DHR Health for state tax incentives possible for the hospital system’s planned $76.8 million expansion

Featured: Marissa Castañeda, Senior Executive Vice President, DHR Health, on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, addresses DHR Health employees gathered at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance as their frontline health care professionals waited to receive their COVID-19 vaccine. On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 5,840 doses of the Pfizer-VuiBTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived with local and national media documenting the transfer. “The first allocations are going to the people that protect you and work to keep our community in good health,” explained Robert Martínez, MD, Chief Medical Officer, DHR Health. Carlos Cárdenas, MD, Chairman, Board of Managers, DHR Health, emphasized, “This is the best Christmas present we could have received.” https://www.facebook.com/DHRhealth/videos/3052556821510498
Photograph Courtesy DHR HEALTH
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read more…DHR Health: Texans’ in-person access to the Texas Capitol and to the Texas Legislature will be very different in 2021, say Reps. Guerra, Canales

Featured, from left: Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, and Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, following their respective presentations before the McAllen Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, January 23, 2020, as part of a legislative forum.
Photograph By PETER SALINAS
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read more…University of Texas at Austin reports that more than 25 percent of its students, for the first time, are Latino, announces attorney Omar Ochoa

Featured, from left: Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo; Congressman Adriano Espaillat, D-New York; former Edinburg Mayor Joe Ochoa; and Congressman Vicente González, D-McAllen. Cuellar and Ochoa hold degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, which earlier this year earned the prestigious Seal of Excelencia, which is granted to an exclusive group of colleges and universities committed to accelerating Latino student success. This image was taken on Monday, December 2, 2019 during the third annual Christmas Bash & Toy Drive, hosted by González and his wife, Lorena Sáenz González, at the Embassy Suites in McAllen.
Photograph By ISMAEL GARCÍA
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read more…Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering for UT Rio Grande Valley approved November 19 by UT System Board of Regents, announces Rep. Canales

Featured: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine residents at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine students had to work on the front lines in circumstances most residents could never dream of, UTRGV officials recalled on Thursday, November 19, 2020. In medicine, a resident is a physician who has finished medical school and is receiving training in a specialized area, such as surgery, internal medicine, pathology, radiology, and so on.
COURTESY PHOTOGRAPH
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read more…RGV journalists and students encouraged to compete for Barbara Jordan Media Awards with their print or broadcast stories and images about Valleyites with disabilities, says Omar Ochoa

Featured: Gov. Greg Abbott, in this undated image taken in McAllen. Abbott was paralyzed below the waist on July 14, 1984, at age 26, when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging following a storm. He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since.
Photograph Courtesy GOV. ABBOTT FACEBOOK
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read more…DHR Health plan for $76.8 million expansion in Edinburg, which would create and retain 500 employees, praised by EEDC Board of Directors

Featured: Ernie Aliseda, Legal Counsel for DHR Health, and a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Judge Advocate General Corps – where he served as an Army trial judge – stands at attention during the Presentation of Colors on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, in honor of Veterans Day. The celebration, hosted by DHR Health at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, 118 Paseo Del Prado, in Edinburg, paid tribute to employees and patients at DHR Health who are veterans of the U.S. military.
Photograph Courtesy DHR HEALTH FACEBOOK
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