FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Former U.S. Congressman (1997-2017) Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and his wife, Martha López Hinojosa, and Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, at the 46th Annual International Museum of Art & Science Collage Gala held in McAllen on Saturday, September 6, 2025.
FEATURED: Dr. Leonel Vela, a Valley native and the first physician in his family, is retiring after years of service as Division Chief for Population Health at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, where he helped turn the long-standing dream of a South Texas medical school into a transformative reality for the region.
FEATURED: From a decade-long career as an IDEA Public Schools counselor, Executive Director of Rio Grande Valley LEAD (Linking Economic and Academic Development) to now Executive Director of the South Texas College Foundation and External Affairs, Marcos Silva, Ed.D., has made it his mission to serve his community through education. STC recently welcomed Silva to the higher education system, tasking him with the duty of raising funds that will provide life-changing scholarships to students. Silva is seen here on Friday, May 3, 2024 at the City of McAllen’s MXLAN International Economic Summit, which was held at the McAllen Convention Center.
Photograph Courtesy RIO GRANDE VALLEY LEAD FACEBOOK
Rep. Janie López, R-San Benito, was a coauthor of House Bill 1522, which is intended to improve government transparency by extending the notice posting requirement for open government meetings from 72 hours to three business days and requiring notices about budget meetings to include a publicly accessible copy of the budget, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa. House Bill 1522 will become state law on Monday, September 1, 2025. She is featured here during a gathering of the Texas Counseling Association in Austin on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Texas Sen. Adán “Adam” Hinojosa, R-Brownsville, celebrate the passage of Hinojosa’s Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 by the Texas Senate, which urged the U.S. Department of State and International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to take immediate diplomatic action to ensure Mexico fulfills its obligations under the critical 1944 US-Mexico Water Treaty. SCR 13 was then approved the House of Representatives and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
FEATURED: Maricela “Mari” De León, MPA, CPM, whose extensive public service credentials also include more than 20 years of professional experience in the Texas Legislature, higher education, and economic development, on Friday, August 1, 2025, was selected Interim Director, Rio Grande Valley LEAD (Linking Economic and Academic Development). She succeeds Dr. Marcos Silva, the former RGV LEAD Executive Director. RGV LEAD (pronounced “/li?d/” and rhymes with “feed”) is a nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Weslaco, linking employers to support both opportunities for students and economic development.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Edinburg mayoral candidate Omar Ochoa and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at La Taquiza restaurant, 319 Sugar Road in Edinburg. Canales hosted the event to publicly announce his support for Ochoa. Former Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina and former Edinburg Mayor Pro Tem Johnny García are also seeking the city’s top municipal office. The election will take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Dr. Jesús Roberto Rodríguez, President, Texas Southmost College; Dr. Fred Farías, III, the recently-appointed Associate Dean for External Relations and Associate Vice President for Governmental Relations, the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley; and J.J. De León, former member, Board of Trustees, Texas Southmost College. The South Texas leaders are shown here in December 2023 during a break from a meeting in Austin of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Farías, former Chair of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, resigned his position from that state agency effective Saturday, June 21, 2025, in order to go work with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
FEATURED: Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo/Starr County, received legislative approval for House Bill 4219, of which she was the Senate sponsor, that will require government agencies to respond to public information requestors or face consequences – an important step in making government more accountable. Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, was a cosponsor of the measure. “Once again, our Valley state legislators are in key leadership positions, serving as champions to make all state, regional and local governments in Texas transparent to the people,” Ochoa noted. As sponsor and cosponsor. In this image, taken Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Zaffirini addresses Laredo leaders in their hometown at La Posada Hotel during an event honoring her for appointment as Dean of the Texas Senate.
FEATURED: Scholars from around the world are fascinated with the Rio Grande Valley, a region whose political beliefs often are covered by newscasts and newspapers, but not through published research. To combat that information gap, a group of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professors have collaborated on a new compilation book, Politics of the Rio Grande Valley: An Insider’s Perspective to Regional Politics, in an effort to showcase the area’s complex and deep-rooted politics.
