Featured, from left: Evan Smith, CEO, and founder of the Texas Tribune, J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., Chairman, Texas Transportation Commission, and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, Chair, House Committee on Transportation, during a live-streamed conversation from Austin on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
Photograph By CURTIS SMITH
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Featured, from left: Hidalgo City Council Member Abram Ramírez, Council Member Linda Ayala, Mayor Sergio Coronado, and Mayor Pro Tem Gustavo “Gus” Sánchez were among city and state leaders present on Saturday, October 6, 2018 for the groundbreaking of Lepowitz Park at the Villa Garza Flores Subdivision. On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, the Hidalgo Mayor, his six colleagues on the Hidalgo City Council, and the Board of Directors of the Hidalgo Economic Development Corporation will host another ceremony, which will take place at the city-owned, $23 million State Farm Hidalgo Arena, to announce the first phase of a major commercial and industrial development, known as the The Hidalgo Infrastructure Project 2018, that will be built near the multi-event complex. The State Farm Hidalgo Arena is located at 2600 N. 10th Street (Hwy. 336).
Photograph By CHARLIE BARRIOS
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Featured: Erika Stubberud, left, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Nursing student from Brownsville, and Alejandra Benítez, UTRGV Environmental Science student from Reynosa, Mexico, in front of the UTRGV sign as winter weather brought rare snow to the campus on Friday, December 8, 2017 in Edinburg. Edinburg’s retail economy during the November and December 2017 holiday season – which feature Thanksgiving and Christmas – showed an improvement of 0.51 percent over the same two months of the 2016 holiday season, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council, along with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and its Board of Directors, lobby the Texas Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents on matters that benefit and protect UTRGV and its School of Medicine, which have major campuses in the city.
Photograph By PAUL CHOUY
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Featured, from left: Roberto González, Publisher, Texas Border Business and Mega Doctor News; Peter Higgins, Managing Partner, Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg; and Juan Luis Mussenden, General Manager, Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg, on Thursday, June 22, 2017 inside the multi-million dollar, nationally-rated restaurant, which is one of dozens of construction projects valued at $1 million and higher that have been built in Edinburg during the past two years. Bob’s Steak & Chop House has scheduled its grand opening for the Valley for Friday, July 14, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. It is conveniently located by Interstate Highway 69 (U.S. Expressway 281) at The Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley. More information is available online at https://www.facebook.com/bobsedinburg/. “I had the honor of visiting the new Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg during its preparation for their grand opening. The only comment I have is that the venue is a magnificent place to gather and dine. It will bring patrons from 250 miles’ radius to include South Texas and Mexico,” said González.
Courtesy Photograph
As Bob’s Steak & Chop House, one of the latest construction projects in Edinburg valued at $2.5 million, prepares for its grand opening on Friday, July 14, 2017, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation announced that total construction activities in the city reached more than $150 million from January through May 2017, including $10.1 million for the month of May. The year-to-date figure of $150.6 million continues to outperform last year’s pace, when total construction in Edinburg for the first five months of 2016 had reached slightly more than $100 million. For the month of May 2017 – the latest figures available from the city – Edinburg saw construction permits issued for work valued at $10,186,236, with single-family homes and multi-family residences leading the way, at $4 million and $2.7 million, respectively. Those totals do not include the value of any building-related activities at The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and the UTRGV School of Medicine in Edinburg because the state government, not the city, oversees all construction at the Edinburg campus. As a result, the city – through its Code Enforcement Department – does not issue building permits for any construction work at UTRGV or its School of Medicine, or count the value of those activities in the city’s monthly and year-to-date figures. The Edinburg EDC, of which Gus García is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mayor Richard García as President, Harvey Rodríguez, Jr. as Vice President, Elías Longoria, Jr., as Secretary/Treasurer, and Richard Ruppert and Dr. Peter Dabrowski as Members. Mayor Richard García and Edinburg EDC Executive Director Gus García are not related. In general, a building permit is legal permission given by the City of Edinburg, through the Code Enforcement Department, to erect, construct, renovate, maintain, or conduct any other specified activity on any building or structure, or on any installations or facilities therein. The term “building permit” includes but is not limited to building permits, electrical permits, mechanical permits, and plumbing permits.
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Featured, from left: Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler; Rep. Mike Lang, R-Grandbury; Rachel Wetsel, Clerk, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence; and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. Canales was serving as Chair of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Subcommittee on Asset Forfeiture during its meeting in Austin on Wednesday, March 29, 2017.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, along with a bipartisan supermajority of the Texas House of Representatives, wants President Trump and Congress to avoid any actions that would threaten almost $92.5 billion in annual Texas exports to Mexico, which is the largest trading partner for the Lone Star State. Exports are goods or services sent to another country for sale. Mexico’s relationship to Texas is so important to state lawmakers that they want to make sure their federal counterparts in Washington D.C. also don’t jeopardize hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs because of negative stereotypes or ignorance of Mexico’s roles in creating jobs and prosperity for all Americans. Through the use of a legislative measure, House Resolution 1025 by Canales, the Texas House of Representatives is urging the nation’s top elected leaders to recognize the huge significance of trade between Texas and Mexico. “As Texans, we understand the importance of the Texas-Mexico relationship to the economic success of state. 382,000 Texas jobs are supported by trade with Mexico” said Canales. “Should this relationship be impacted negatively, the social and economic security of the Texas border region would be devastating.” HR 1025, which is being sent to President Trump and Congress, calls on national leaders – many who are unfamiliar with U.S. international commerce involving Mexico – “to fully evaluate the impact of proposed federal trade policies, legislation, executive orders, and other actions on Texas-Mexico commerce.”
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Border security, stopping use of deepfakes technology and artificial intelligence by child predators, further cutting property taxes, and broadband infrastructure among legislative issues to be examined by Sen. Hinojosa and other state senators in the coming weeks and months
Edinburg City Attorney Omar Ochoa, champion of open government, to leave position in order to focus more on his successful private legal practice
Futuro RGV, McAllen officials to bring leaders of government and nonprofit organizations to meet and serve residents of Commissioner Castillo’s District 4 on Saturday, April 6, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in first-ever “Government for a Day” gathering at Palmview Community Center
DHR Health, Texas hospitals praised for “keeping the lights on during a total time of darkness” during COVID-19 pandemic disaster in America
In honor of Vackar family generosity to UTRGV, newly-acquired football stadium in Edinburg named Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium
Sen. Hinojosa, Rep. Canales pay tribute to Edinburg’s successes, future as part of 2024 State of the City Address by Mayor Ramiro Garza, Jr.
“Lives lost, lives saved, and those who saved them.” – Rep. Guerra, Sen. LaMantia, DHR Health preparing for first-ever, statewide COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day, with event open to the public, to be held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Monday, March 4, 2024
Luis Antonio Alamia, Jr., and 12 other Edinburg residents, are honored by citizens and Mayor/City Council as Hometown Heroes for “extraordinary public service or exemplary contribution”
“It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and raise hell.” Longtime Valley journalist Gilbert Tagle, Jr., 68, passes away, leaves behind legacy of speaking truth to power, fighting for the underdog
John Villarreal Rigney and Michelle Vallejo, Democratic candidates for Texas Congressional District 15, to participate in public forum to be broadcast by Futuro RGV, on Thursday, February 15, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McAllen Public Library