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.
FEATURED: AIM Media Texas recently announced its plan to move its personnel and printing press out of the current home facility for The Monitor, which is located at 1400 East Nolana Avenue in McAllen, and is in negotiations that could lead to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley buying that newspaper’s 88,970-square foot office and warehouse/production building and surface parking lot, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa. As the process moves forward, The Monitor leadership will begin looking for a new location for their office and reviewing their printing facility.
FEATURED: Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, announced the Texas Legislature’s passage of his Senate Bill 1967, which will increase the state’s ability to manage flood risks and improve water resource management, including helping finance the Delta Reclamation Project in Hidalgo County. When completed, the Delta Reclamation Project will convert daily drainage runoff into a new source of drinking water while also providing flood mitigation through proposed detention ponds. Hinojosa is seen here about a year ago on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at Texas A&M Corpus Christi for the groundbreaking of the university’s new Arts and Media Building.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, meets with Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, March 22, 2025 at the Texas Capitol to discuss key legislative priorities for the South Texas lawmaker. A legislative measure authored by Canales would require the Office of the Attorney General to establish, maintain, and improve an existing toll-free hotline to provide Texans with information regarding open records, according to South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa.
FEATURED: A drone with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is used for search and rescue work. With the 89th Texas Legislature in the final half of its 140-day regular session, the Texas Association of Broadcasters is leading efforts to have state lawmakers restore the ability of Texas newsrooms to use drones for aerial photography in their news gathering mission, reports South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa.
Photograph Courtesy TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
FEATURED: Kendall Scudder, newly-elected Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, will meet with Rio Grande Valley residents and mainstream and social media journalists on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at the McAllen Public Library, located at 4001 North 23rd Street. The event, which will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., will be held in the auditorium. The gathering is free and open to the public.
