Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

PHARR, Texas - State leaders are fully aware of the importance of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, says state Sen. Juan Hinojosa.  By way of an example, Hinojosa cited the $20 million the Legislature gave the City of Pharr earlier this year to assist in the construction of a second span. This will double the capacity of the bridge. “This bridge is a huge economic driver. The commerce with M...

AUSTIN, Texas - Raise Your Hand Texas is a non-partisan nonprofit organization supporting public policy solutions that invest in Texas’ 5.4 million public school students.  On its website the group says it envisions a world-class public school system that fuels a brighter public future for all Texans.  “Our statewide advocacy team works in communities throughout the state to raise the voices of pa...

MISSION, TEXAS - The program notes for a recent healthcare conference in the Rio Grande Valley pointed out that the region’s “expensive and tough-to-access” healthcare system came under the microscope in 2009 thanks to a landmark article in The New Yorker by Dr. Atul Gawande. The article, titled “The Cost Conundrum” became “mandatory reading during the debate surrounding President Obama’s Affordab...

Because of agriculture, the Port of Brownsville and the maquiladora industry, logistics is an important part of the Rio Grande Valley economy.  Well, there is now a degree program on offer locally that helps students learn about global supply chains. Robert D. Morrison, program manager and professor of the practice of Maritime Business Administration at Texas A&M University, spoke about the op...

PHARR, Texas - Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez says the Pharr International Bridge could be given over exclusively to commercial trucks in the coming years, with passenger vehicles having to use other ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley. Hernandez spoke to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service about the future of the Valley’s busiest bridge for trade during his city’s recent Start...

MISSION, Texas – An in-depth discussion on healthcare in the Rio Grande Valley took place at a recent conference hosted jointly by Western Governors University and AltaCair. The WGU/AltaCair event was titled “Accelerator 2023 RGV Health Equity Conference.” It was held at Mission Event Center.  In their program notes, WGU/AltaCair explained why they hosted the conference. “The RGV region has 24.7 p...

MISSION, Texas - An in-depth discussion on healthcare in the Rio Grande Valley took place at a recent conference hosted by Western Governors University.  The WGU event was titled “Accelerator 2023, RGV Health Equity Conference.” It was held at Mission Event Center.  One of the speakers was state Sen. Juan Hinojosa of McAllen. Towards the end of his speech, Hinojosa spoke about rising healthcare co...

MISSION, Texas - An in-depth discussion on healthcare in the Rio Grande Valley took place at a recent conference hosted by Western Governors University.  The WGU event was titled “Accelerator 2023, RGV Health Equity Conference.” It was held at Mission Event Center.  The title for one of the panel discussion was, “Translating the Data - Celebrating the Impact in the Valley.” The four panelists were...

WASHINGTON, DC - US Sen. Ted Cruz says the focus on Israel is no excuse for the State Department not making a decision to approve permits four new international bridges on the Texas-Mexico border. Cruz, with bipartisan support from the South Texas congressional delegation, has been trying to speed up the process for approving the go-ahead on the bridges for the past two years. His efforts include...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A recent webinar hosted by Connect Humanity was titled, ““Digital Equity in South Texas: Paths Forward.” The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region. The webinar was moderated by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Huma...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A recent webinar hosted by Connect Humanity was titled, ““Digital Equity in South Texas: Paths Forward.” The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region. The webinar was moderated by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Huma...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A recent webinar hosted by Connect Humanity was titled, ““Digital Equity in South Texas: Paths Forward.” The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region. The webinar was hosted by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanit...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A recent webinar hosted by Connect Humanity was titled, ““Digital Equity in South Texas: Paths Forward.” The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region. The webinar was hosted by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanit...

EDINBURG, TEXAS – The RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosted a “State of Congress” luncheon with senior US Senator John Cornyn at the Edinburg Conference At Renaissance on October 9.  The moderator was Julian Alvarez, senior vice president for business development at Lone Star National Bank. Alvarez asked Senator Cornyn about the state of the economy. He responded by saying: “Texas remains the ec...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Alberto Gomez Isassi, PhD, is CEO of the San Antonio-based Better Futures Institute. Gomez recently spoke at a webinar hosted by Connect Humanity. The webinar was held to discuss the need for better broadband infrastructure in South Texas.  Here is an audio recording of Gomez's opening remarks.  Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and wa...

EDINBURG, TEXAS - The RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon with senior US Senator John Cornyn at the Edinburg Conference At Renaissance on October 9.  The moderator was Julian Alvarez, senior vice president for business development at Lone Star National Bank. Alvarez asked Senator Cornyn about the issue of legitimate trade and travel through the land ports of entry on the southwest b...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A recent webinar hosted by Connect Humanity was titled, ““Digital Equity in South Texas: Paths Forward.” The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region. The webinar was hosted by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanit...

EDINBURG, Texas - Thomas Ray Garcia, lead coordinator for the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force, has provided more information on the RGV Recompete Coalition. The Coalition, consisting of the four counties of the RGV, along with various higher education institutions, has made an application to the US Department of Commerce to secure an $85 million grant under the Recompete Pilot Project.  Accor...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Janie Barrera is founding president and chief executive officer of LiftFund, formerly Accion Texas Inc. Created in 1994, LiftFund has grown to be one of the nation’s largest micro and small business lender.  The nonprofit agency provides small loans and management training to microenterprises of all kinds — from startups to long-established businesses — and operates in the sta...

EDINBURG, Texas - The four counties of the Rio Grande Valley have come together to apply for what could be the biggest federal grant ever awarded to the region - $85 million. Brief details of the $200 million Recompete Pilot Program were referenced by Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez during a press conference held by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Mond...

EDINBURG, Texas - According to U.S. Sen John Cornyn, tens of hundreds of border crossers fly into Mexicali Airport in Baja California and then take an Uber to the nearest Border Patrol station to claim asylum. Cornyn said he learned about this from visiting with the Border Patrol chief in Yuma, Arizona. Cornyn spoke about border security at a luncheon hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce...

At a luncheon hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño was fulsome in his praise of the guest speaker, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. “I want to thank you for your professionalism, your bipartisanship and your leadership over some very trying times,”  Treviño told Cornyn. Later, however, the Treviño acknowledged there was daylight between where he and Cornyn stand...

MCALLEN, Texas - Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham visited south McAllen this week to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new multifamily housing complex. Buckingham said the General Land Office was awarding $5 million to build Jackson Road Apartments, a 36-unit affordable rental community. She said all 36 units are guaranteed for low- to moderate-income (LMI) residents.  The fund...

AUSTIN, Texas - Cameron County’s general aviation airport will benefit greatly from the construction of a second causeway to South Padre Island, according to Cameron County’s commissioner for Precinct Three. David Garza spoke in support of additional funding for general aviation airports in the public comment portion of a recent Texas Transportation Commission meeting in Austin. One of the agenda...

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas and VelocityTX recently hosted the first event in their Community Health Innovation Seminar Series. It was held at the eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization in downtown Brownsville. VelocityTX is a San Antonio-based bioscience innovation center. It is a subsidiary of the Texas Research and Technology Foundation. MHM is...