Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr. announces reelection bid for the sixth term to represent all or parts of Hidalgo, Granjeño, McAllen, Mission, Palmview and Pharr
Featured: Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, on Friday, October 4, 2019, announced that he is seeking a sixth two-year term in the Texas House of Representatives for House District 36, which includes all or parts of the cities of Hidalgo, Granjeño, McAllen, Mission, Palmview and Pharr. Muñoz is one of only two Rio Grande Valley lawmakers who serve on the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, which shaped the two-year $250.7 billion state budget that went into effect on September 1, 2019.
Photograph By PAUL CHOUY
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read more…Rebecca Flores, a champion for farmworkers, to receive Lifetime Achievement Award from La Unión del Pueblo Entero on Friday, October 11
Featured: Rebecca Flores, as a young woman, with two of her three children.
Photograph: https://www.sampsoniaway.org/about/
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read more…DHR Health’s efforts at Texas Capitol in 2019 result in key advances for medical education, health care, and disaster preparedness for Valley
Featured: The DHR Health Medical Office Building at 1100 E. Dove Avenue in northeast McAllen is home to the DHR Health Imaging Center, Women’s Imaging Center, Transplant Institute, Surgery Institute, Vein Institute, Ear, Nose and Throat Institute and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Institute. The medical complex is one of the numerous major facilities located on the 130-acre site, which is headquartered in southwest Edinburg.
Photograph Courtesy R-MYNA EVANS
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read more…Sens. Hinojosa/Zaffirini, Reps. Canales/Guerra take leadership roles on SB 1640, which benefits the Texas Open Meetings Act, reports Omar Ochoa
Featured, right: Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-Brownsville, Chair, House Committee on Insurance, was part of a united Rio Grande Valley state legislative delegation which coauthored, sponsored, and/or voted for Senate Bill 1640, which clears up confusion on requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act in order to prevent members of a governmental body from meeting in a series of small, private gatherings to avoid a quorum. The measure, which became law on Monday, June 10, 2019, was co-authored by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo/Starr County, and sponsored by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, and Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen.
Photograph By PAUL CHOUY
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read more…Francisco Guajardo, Ph.D., succeeds Shan Rankin – both renowned figures in chronicling region’s borderland heritage – as CEO for MOSTHistory
Featured: Francisco Guajardo, Ph.D., the new Chief Executive Director for the Museum of South Texas History (MOSTHistory) in Edinburg, and Shan Rankin, the former Executive Director of MOSTHistory who has retired after a stellar career that spans more than 30 years, will be honored at the cultural/historical center on Thursday, September 26, 2019.
Photograph By PAMELA MORALES
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read more…Rep. Canales leads effort to shorten driver license wait times at DPS offices throughout Texas
Featured, seated, from left: Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina; Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernández; Gov. Greg Abbott; and Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell. Standing, from left: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; and Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen. The South Texas leaders were on hand at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, June 14, 2019, in support of the signing of an agreement by Abbott that created the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (RGV MPO).
Photograph Courtesy OFFICE OF THE TEXAS GOVERNOR
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read more…Congressman González to be keynote speaker on Monday, September 16, for Edinburg Chamber of Commerce’s Public Affairs Luncheon
Featured, from left: Verónica Reyna, Executive Assistant/Office Manager, US Citrus, LLC; Congressman Vicente González, D-McAllen, who serves on the Financial Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.; and Lorena González, on Monday, May 27, 2019, promoting Persian lime produced by US Citrus, LLC, which is located in Hargill northeast of Edinburg. (https://uscitrus.com/products/persian-lime-tree)
Photograph By ISMAEL GARCÍA
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read more…Sen. Zaffirini announces 78 new laws that she shaped are effective as of September 1, including bills dealing with hazing, guardianship reform
Featured: Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, whose Senate District 21 includes Starr County, on Thursday, March 17, 2016, in the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom at the University of Texas at Austin.
Photograph Courtesy UT MOODY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATIONS
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read more…Economic growth, government efficiency, more resources for seniors, and promoting Prairie View A&M key goals for Darryl S. Johnson, Democrat for Pct. 3 Waller County Commissioner
Featured: Darryl S. Johnson, an independent businessman with more than 30 years’ experience in the Texas Legislature and in Congress, says that as Waller County Commissioner, he will use his leadership skills and influential friends in the business and political corridors of power to benefit all voters in his precinct.
Photograph By WILLIAM HARRIS
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read more…Rep. Terry Canales, Chair, House Committee on Transportation, says of Air Med 1: “I hope you never need them, but it’s a blessing to have them.
Featured: Ken Ponce, Founder and CEO, Hidalgo County EMS/South Texas Air Med, addresses state, county and city leaders and area residents during the ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at the South Texas International Airport at Edinburg to celebrate the addition of Air Med 1, a multi-million dollar rotor (helicopter) air ambulance. Air Med 1 is the newest advanced life-saving resource for the privately-owned firm’s fleet of ground and air emergency medical transportation services, which includes more than 100 ambulances, wheel chair vans, supervisor units, a communications bus used for disasters, a special operations trailer equipped for mass casualty incidents, and two fixed wing Beechcraft King Air 90 air ambulances dedicated to emergency transfers. (https://www.hidalgocountyems.org/services/
Photograph Courtesy CITY OF EDINBURG
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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