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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Featured: As a young girl anticipating Christmas 2019 wishfully looks on, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, delivers wrapped presents for deserving South Texas children to the third annual Christmas Bash & Toy Drive, hosted by Congressman Vicente González and his wife, Lorena Sáenz González, on Monday evening, December 2, 2019, at the Embassy Suites in McAllen.
