Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MCALLEN, Texas - RioPlex plans to hold meetings every month across the region to explain to communities what the group is doing to bring in more investment and better paying jobs.  Mario Reyna, RioPlex’s executive director, spoke about the group’s vision, mission statement, core values, and strategic direction at a leadership gathering, held recently at McAllen Country Club. “We're going to h...

Josie Arellano is crime victims liaison for Pharr Police Development. Arellano sat down for an in-depth interview with Rio Grande Guardian anchor Mari Regalado to discuss her work. She said it is important for the victims of crime to come forward and report a crime, no matter what their legal status. She said Pharr Police Department can help. Here is the interview. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com...

Josie Arellano es enlace para víctimas de delitos en el Departamento de Desarrollo Policial de Pharr. Arellano conversó a fondo con la presentadora del Rio Grande Guardian, Mari Regalado, para hablar sobre su trabajo. Regalado comentó que es importante que las víctimas de delitos se presenten y denuncien, sin importar su estatus legal. Añadió que el Departamento de Policía de Pharr puede ayudar. ...

PHARR, Texas - Mario Guerrero, CEO of the South Texas Builders Association, says the region’s banks are also being impacted ICE’s raids on construction sites in the Rio Grande Valley. Guerrero called a meeting recently with U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar to discuss the economic impact the raids are having on the building industry. More than 20 construction company owners attended.  The building industry...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Former state Sen. Eddie Lucioo, Jr., has not been able to give away as many turkeys to the less fortunate this year, in part because federal funding to the food banks has been cut. Normally, Lucio would purchase the turkeys at a competitive price from local food banks and distribute them to those in need in Cameron, Willacy, and Hidalgo counties. This year, however, the 25th y...

MCALLEN, Texas - Ralph Garcia, interim chief operating officer for McAllen Economic Development Corporation, has given a brief update on the various projects the group is working on.  “Right now, the EDC is working with about 25 active projects. This represents a total of about three million square feet of space. Estimated jobs are about 8,000 and the economic impact of that is roughly about $5 bi...

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen International Airport continues to capture the biggest share of the passenger market in the Rio Grande Valley, the city’s director of aviation reports. Jeremy Santoscoy gave an update on airport activity at a recent McAllen Economic Development Corporation stakeholders meeting.  “Through Quarter 3, we’re at about 863,000 total passengers, which is a slight decrease year-ov...

MCALLEN, Texas - Ruben Alfaro, development engineer for Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority, gave an update on the group’s strategic plan when he spoke at a McAllen Economic Development Corporation stakeholders meeting. That strategic plan includes the long-awaited Hidalgo County Loop. Alfaro said HCRMA is making good progress. “The key point I wanted to get across is the progress that we a...

PHARR, TEXAS – RioPlex fu eel anfitrion de una ceremonia de colocacion para La Bonanza Avocados, una compañia familiar de aguacates proveniente de Uruapan, Michoacán el 14 de Nov. Invitados de la ceremonia incluyeron mas de 20 lideres de Negocios de Michoacán, que se encontraban en una mission commercial que incluyo una visita a SpaceX en Starbase. La ceremonia de colocacion se llevo a cabo en la...

PHARR, TEXAS – RioPlex fu eel anfitrion de una ceremonia de colocacion para La Bonanza Avocados, una compañia familiar de aguacates proveniente de Uruapan, Michoacán el 14 de Nov. Invitados de la ceremonia incluyeron mas de 20 lideres de Negocios de Michoacán, que se encontraban en una mission commercial que incluyo una visita a SpaceX en Starbase. La ceremonia de colocacion se llevo a cabo en la...

EDINBURG, Texas - Ruben Cortez is vice president of the Texas Association of Education Service Centers. In a recent interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Cortez spoke about a larger than average drop off in school attendance by students living in heavily Hispanic areas. Cortez was reticent about blaming the reduction on raids by ICE. However, leaders within La Joya ISD, Sharyland ISD, Brownsvill...

MCALLEN, Texas - The North American Development Bank is to allocate up to $100 million from its retained earnings over the next five years for urgent water conservation projects along the U.S.-Mexico border. NADBank Managing Director John Beckham made the announcement at the two-day Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Binational River Symposium hosted by the Texas Water Foundation at the Embassy Suites by Hilton...

PRIMERA, Texas - The City of Primera recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Richmond Hills Drainage Project. Cameron County Drainage District No. 5 played a key role in the project. CCDD5 provided a timeline of the events: Developer Julio Carranza required CCDD5 to use five acres on his property for drainage purposes. CCDD5 then partnered with La Feria Irrigation District to carry out the...

HARLINGEN, Texas - The Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios is the crown jewel of Cameron County’s international bridge system, according to the county’s economic development director, Ramiro Aleman. The bridge is also known as “Los Indios-Lucio Blanco Bridge”, “Puente Lucio Blanco-Los Indios”, “Puente Internacional Libre Comercio” and “Los Indios Free Trade Bridge”. It is owned and operated by Cameron...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Rick Carrera, COSTEP's economic development director, gave an update on a project his group is working on to map all the automotive companies in the Rio South Texas region. COSTEP stands for Council for South Texas Economic Progress. The Rio South Texas region comprises northern Tamaulipas, the Rio Grande Valley, and Laredo. Carrera spoke briefly about the Binational Autocl...

LAREDO, Texas - Webb and Starr are leading South Texas in clean energy growth with new solar panels, wind power, and battery storage, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar reports. The Laredo Democrat released a new update showing that Texas’ 28th Congressional District - his district - is a powerhouse in clean energy production – pairing renewable power with traditional oil and gas to lower energy costs for fa...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court is moving ahead with plans to purchase an ownership interest in the Brownsville & Matamoros Bridge Company from Union Pacific Railroad. Brownsville & Matamoras Bridge Company co-owns Brownsville & Matamoros Bridge with the government of Mexico.  Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., said a complex negotiation process to acquire...

PHARR, Texas - The wild fluctuations in bridge crossing numbers have made it hard to analyze longterm trends, says Pharr International Bridge Director Luis Bazan. In his most recent report to the Pharr Bridge Board, Bazan said he will likely not have a clear picture of how things are going until the second quarter next year. The fluctuations have been caused in part by changes in U.S. tariff polic...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - CIL Capital held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new manufacturing plant on Texas 48 in Brownsville, close to the Port of Brownsville. The 181,000 square foot facility will be known as Anchor Industrial. The developers believe the $20 million project will generate 120-plus jobs.  Carlos Garcia, a customs broker and president of Border Trade Alliance-Mexico, invited CIL to part...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Cameron County Drainage District No. 5 is partnering with the City of Harlingen to improve drainage. The first drainage project is the widening of the North Main Drain that the drainage district owns.  The City and CCDD5 held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to kickoff the project. At the event, CCDD5 President Steve Jennings gave the Rio Grande Guardian an exclusive interview. He said...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Jesse Acevedo just completed a pipefitting course at Texas Southmost College. In an interview with Ron Whitlock of Ron Whitlock Reports he said he would recommend the program to anyone because pipefitters are in big demand and the wages are good.  Acevedo is about to start work for Bechtel at the Port of Brownsville. The company is building a liquefied natural gas export termi...

PALMVIEW, Texas - U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz spoke about congressional redistricting and Mexico’s water debt to the U.S. at a top GOP dinner in Palmview. The event - titled the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner - was hosted by Hidalgo County Republican Party and held at the Stallion Event Center. De La Cruz introduced the keynote speaker, U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton. De La Cruz recalled a time she met P...

PALMVIEW, Texas - U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton says he wants to take to the Washington the same sort of creativity and courage he has shown as Texas attorney general.  Paxton was keynote speaker at the Hidalgo County Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. The event was held Aug. 21 at the Stallion Event Center in Palmview. “I want to bring something different to Washington. The kind of crea...

PHARR, Texas - Dub Taylor is COO of Texas PACE Authority. He recently spoke at an event hosted jointly by the Pharr Economic Development Corporation and the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. It was titled the Pharr Commercial & Investment Summit and it was held at the Pharr One Center. At the event, Taylor gave a presentation that included slides showing where a PACE project had worked in Texas....

MISSION, Texas - The Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce held the latest in its Buenas Tardes Luncheon series on Aug. 13, 2025.  It centered on a panel discussion titled “The State of Current Business.”  There were six panelists: Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez; Rick Carrera, director of economic development for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress; Joe Quiroga, president of Texas Nat...