Chronic illnesses must become a higher legislative priority to help reduce “never-ending spiral of additional costs,” says Susan Turley, President, DHR Health
Featured: Susan Turley, President, DHR Health. Turley was one of more than a dozen statewide figures who on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, participated in The Future of Health Care Symposium hosted by DHR Health at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, and carried live on the Internet by The Texas Tribune.
Photograph Courtesy DHR HEALTH
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read more…Sen. Zaffirini appointed to key Senate committees; UT System regents approve plan for a medical school at UT Health Science Center at Tyler
Featured: Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, participated at the Texas Capitol in a joint meeting of the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee and the Senate and Water Resources Committee. Featured, back row, from left, are Sen. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper; Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney; Sen. Peter Flores, R-Pleasanton; Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola; Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills: and Zaffirini, who is Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development. Front row, from left, are Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston; Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas; Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham; Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood; and Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso.
Photograph by SENATE MEDIA SERVICES
read more…Grand opening of Rep. Canales’ District Office in Edinburg set for 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10
Featured, from left: Val LaMantia Peisen, Guy Bailey, President, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Rick Villarreal, and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, who also serves as Chair, House Committee on Transportation. This image was taken on Monday, December 2, 2019 during the third annual Christmas Bash & Toy Drive, hosted by Congressman Vicente González, D-McAllen, and his wife, Lorena Sáenz González, at the Embassy Suites in McAllen.
Photograph By ISMAEL GARCIA
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read more…Rep. Canales/Sen. Creighton protect Texas landowners, especially farmers and ranchers, by setting key standards for decommissioning of wind turbine generators by wind project owners
Featured: A wind turbine generator, or alternatively referred to as a wind energy converter, is a device that converts the wind’s kinetic energy into electrical energy. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state. If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world. During 2020, wind is on track to generate 10 percent of the country’s electricity, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Photograph Courtesy AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION
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read more…Three postgraduate programs proposed for UTRGV, including establishing Texas’ first School of Podiatry, set for action by UT System regents on Wednesday, reports attorney Omar Ochoa
Featured: Members of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) gathered on Friday, February 14, 2020, for the group’s Southwest Regional Conference, which took place at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine in Edinburg. LMSA, a national non-profit organization, represents, supports, educates and unifies Latino medical students in the United States, including those at UTRGV’s School of Medicine. This was the first time the university hosted the event. From left are: Jonathan Guajardo, President of LMSA chapter at the UTRGV School of Medicine; Luis De La Fuente, President of LMSA chapter at UTRGV; Valeria Patino, Vice President of the LMSA chapter at UTRGV; and Sabrina Orta, Fabiola Beltrán and Noe Rodríguez, LMSA chapter members.
Photograph Courtesy THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY
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read more…Valley lawmakers, led by Sen. Lucio, helped pass Senate Bill 750 to increase preventive health and family planning services for low-income women
Featured: Sen. Lois W. Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, shown here on the floor of the Texas Senate Chamber during the Spring of 2019, authored Senate Bill 750, which changed the Government Code and Health and Safety Code to require the executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services by rule to ensure that women receiving services under the Healthy Texas Women program are referred to and provided with information on the primary health care services program. All Valley state lawmakers voted for Senate Bill 750, which was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, June 10, 2019, and went into effect immediately.
Photograph By SENATE MEDIA
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read more…Sen. Zaffirini receives Lifetime Achievement Award from LULAC Council 12 of Laredo
Featured: Carlos Zaffirini, Sr., and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, on January 30, 2020, celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. “How did 55 years of wonderful marriage pass by so quickly? Happy Anniversary to us!” she said. “On this day in 1965, Carlos Zaffirini Sr. and I were married at St. Peter’s Church in Laredo. I was 18, and he was 21.” The following September, both enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed his law degree and she completed her B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. “Seventeen years later we were blessed with our beloved son, Carlos Zaffirini Jr. His greatest gifts to us are his beautiful wife, Audrey Pieper Zaffirini, and our equally amazing grandsons, Asher Maxwell and George William. God is good. Life is blessed.”
Photograph Courtesy SEN. JUDITH ZAFFIRINI FACEBOOK
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read more…Landmark Texas law requiring private insurance and Medicaid to pay for diagnostic mammogram praised by RGV lawmakers, DHR Health leaders
Featured, from left: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen; Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, Ricardo Martínez, MD, DHR Health General Surgeon, and Assistant Trauma Medical Director; and Carlos García-Cantú, MD, DHR Health General Surgeon and Chairman of the Board for the Renaissance Medical Foundation. This image was taken at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Wednesday, November 6, 2019.
Photograph By GERARDO GARMENDIA
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read more…Part of history: STC professor Dr. Darrial Reynolds’ journey from segregation to higher education
Featured: South Texas College political science instructor Dr. Darrial Reynolds says growing up, he attended segregated schools in Talladega, Alabama, about 50 miles east of Birmingham. Shown here at the STC campus in Rio Grande City, Reynolds says like many first-generation students, he had to overcome significant hurdles to succeed in higher education.
Photograph by BEN BRIONES
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read more…Senate Bill 494, supported by Valley legislative delegation, designed to strike balance between open government laws and abilities of elected leaders in Texas to save lives, reports Omar Ochoa
Featured, from left: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, who also serves as Chairman, House Committee on Transportation; Erika Canales; Miguel Guerra; former longtime Edinburg Mayor Joe Ochoa; and Edinburg City Attorney Omar Ochoa. The group was participating in the third annual Christmas Bash & Toy Drive, hosted by Congressman Vicente González, D-McAllen, and his wife, Lorena Sáenz González, on Monday evening, December 2, 2019, at the Embassy Suites in McAllen.
Photograph By ISMAEL GARCÍA
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UT System Board of Regents authorize negotiations to buy The Monitor’s home facility in McAllen as newspaper plans to downsize and relocate, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa
Texas Legislature approves measure by Sen. Juan Hinojosa to help create new source of drinking water from potential floods in deep South Texas
Open Government Hotline that provides Texans with information about open records laws would be improved under House Bill 4990 by Rep. Canales, says South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa
News media outlets want authority from Texas Legislature to allow journalists to use aerial drones for video and photographs as part of their news gathering, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa
Kendall Scudder, new Chair, Texas Democratic Party, to meet with Valley residents and news media journalists at McAllen Public Library from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2025
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley honored at Texas Capitol ahead of its 10-year anniversary
Valley’s three state senators vote for $3 billion Dementia Prevention and Research Fund, which is supported by DHR Health; measure now before the Texas House of Representatives for its action
At least two proposals by Valley State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would increase government transparency, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa
Sen. Hinojosa credits Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp for influencing University of Texas System to create UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Proposed purchase of more than 26 acres for future UTRGV campus expansion in Edinburg, which may include more parking for Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium, set for action by the UT System Board of Regents on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, reports attorney Omar Ochoa