Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The official Grand Opening of the eBridge Center for Business & Commercialization is scheduled for Thursday, March 9 beginning at 3:00 PM, sponsored by PNC Bank.   The Center is the culmination of over three years of design and construction efforts in partnership between the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC), the City of Brownsville, the Lower Rio Grande...

MISSION, Texas - Mission city leaders are expecting great things from NewQuest Properties’ development of the old Kmart building on the northeast corner of I-2 and Bryan Road. The Houston-based company is bringing in Montana-based Murdoch's Ranch & Home as the main anchor. It’s the fourth store of its kind in Texas. There will also be a Burlington store. And negotiations are underway for...

MISSION, Texas - In addition to looking for more retail and restaurant businesses to bring to the I-2 corridor in Mission, the city’s economic development team is also working to land industrial projects near Anzalduas International Bridge. In an exclusive audio interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service , Teclo Garcia said he would be heading a trade mission to Mexico later...

MERCEDES, Texas - The leadership of South Texas ISD cannot understand why the school district is coming in for criticism this year. The complaints have centered on the funding STISD receives, with some of the smaller public schools in the Rio Grande Valley leading the way. But, officials with the magnet school district point out that their funding has been the same for years.  At a news conference...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Asked how big a deal it is that Avelo Airlines chose Brownsville for its first flights in Texas, Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez said: “It’s huge.” From May, the Houston-based low-cost carrier will be offering $69 for a one-way ticket from Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport to Orlando, Florida, and $89 for a one-way ticket from Brownsville to Burbank,...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - When, last fall, DHR Health announced it was ending its affiliation agreement with UT-Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, there was concern in Starr County. That is because county leaders were eagerly anticipating a residency program DHR had promised. A medical residency is the period of training a doctor undertakes after completing studies at a medical school.  If UTRGV...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - State Rep. Erin Elizabeth Gámez of Brownsville has filed legislation to set up a state recognized and supported county mental health task force. House Bill 1904 would set up a pilot program in Cameron County to prove its success. If it successful it could be replicated across the state. “Our county has recently been making strides in increasing access to mental health services...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Things are full steam ahead at the Port of Brownsville today and there a lot more things to come for the entire Rio Grande Valley. A huge multibillion project is in the works and it will take the region another dimension once completed.  Yes, it’s billions with a B and there are quite a few of them. “This is an $11.4 billion investment,” Ed Campirano, the port’s director, said...

HARLINGEN, Texas - We’re approaching a new tax season. Some taxpayers have not received their refund and have also learned that their tax returns are being audited. In a podcast, Rev Torres, a paralegal with the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid’s Taxpayer Assistance Project, explains how the Internal Revenue Service selects which tax returns to audit.  The podcast with Torres is a regular feature in the...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Helen Ramirez, the new city manager for Brownsville, says there are now 60-plus companies based at Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport. "I always talk about the Brownsville Airport as an economic driver, as a regional driver, but it's a regional driver not only because it provides a service, which is air service, but also because it has everyone from...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Dr. Javier La Fontaine is the inaugural dean of the UT-Rio Grande Valley School of Pediatric Medicine. He was appointed to the post on July 1, 2022. La Fontaine was interviewed by the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service just before the start of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership’s 2023 Valley Legislative Tour. During the tour, La Fontaine spoke on a healthcare panel he...

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas - Ron Mills, Willacy County Navigation District’s port director, won a round of applause when he said Port Mansfield is about to bring 500 to 700 high-paying jobs to the county.  The reason the jobs are coming, Mills said, is because Port Mansfield has signed contracts with 11 companies that want to develop the port. He said Port Mansfield is being transformed from a sleepy fis...

MISSION, Texas - Dale Murden, president of Texas Citrus Mutual, has given veteran broadcaster Ron Whitlock an update on the state of the citrus industry in South Texas. In a podcast for Ron Whitlock Reports and the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service , Murden discusses the history of the group, the impact of the recent freeze in the Rio Grande Valley, the value of the citrus industry to...

EDINBURG, Texas - State Rep. Terry Canales, the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, let rip when he spoke at the most recent Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board meeting. The Edinburg Democrat blasted the group, accusing them of passing up the opportunity to move on shovel-ready transportation projects in favor of projects that are going to take years to...

MEXICO CITY - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Olof Palme Center co-hosted a webinar to discuss the recent 10th North American Leaders Summit. The academics discussing the summit were: Tony Payan, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice University, Kim Nossal, professor emeritus in the De...

MCALLEN, Texas - The FIRST Robotics Competition season kicked off recently in the Rio Grande Valley at the McAllen Elks Lodge. The theme this year is “Charged Up” and focuses on the energy sector. The robots the students build are about 130 pounds and can stand up to six feet tall. The students are usually from grades nine through 12. “We've got about 16 teams here in the Rio Grande Valley fr...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Building developers, engineers and surveyors say they like what is happening in Harlingen these days. The City of Harlingen, led by Mayor Norma Sepulveda, has streamlined procedures so that is easier to build in the city, representatives of the building community say. Before Mayor Sepulveda took office, they say, there was too much bureaucracy and “red tape”. The changes in proc...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Building developers, engineers and surveyors say they like what is happening in Harlingen these days. The City of Harlingen, led by Mayor Norma Sepulveda, has streamlined procedures so that is easier to build in the city, representatives of the building community say. Before Mayor Sepulveda took office, they say, there was too much bureaucracy and “red tape”. The changes in proc...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Building developers, engineers and surveyors say they like what is happening in Harlingen these days. The City of Harlingen, led by Mayor Norma Sepulveda, has streamlined procedures so that is easier to build in the city, representatives of the building community say. Before Mayor Sepulveda took office, they say, there was too much bureaucracy and “red tape”. The changes in proc...

HARLINGEN, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley can attract thousands more Winter Texans from the Upper Midwest thanks to the daily flights Delta Air Lines is putting on from Minneapolis to Harlingen. This is the view of Nicolás J. Mirman, director of air service and business development at Valley International Airport.  “Via Minneapolis, Delta has connections to more than 35 Upper Midwest and Canadian d...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – The Rio Grande City Economic Development Corporation and Rio Grande Valley Partnership recently co-hosted the Rio Grande City EDC Commercial & Investment Tour at UTRGV Starr Campus. Rose Benavidez, president of Starr County Industrial Foundation, gave updates on the projects her group is currently involved in. These include building an industrial park near the Starr-Ca...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - The Rio Grande City Economic Development Corporation and Rio Grande Valley Partnership recently co-hosted the Rio Grande City EDC Commercial & Investment Tour at UTRGV Starr Campus. Dalinda Guillen, executive director of the Rio Grande City EDC gave updates on her city’s anticipated upcoming projects. These include a public fire safety building and emergency shelter, u...

MCALLEN, Texas - The Index Reynosa Foundation presented checks to various charities at an event at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in McAllen this week. The money, totaling over $100,000, was raised at a charity golf tournament the group held at Tierra Del Sol Golf Club in Pharr in the fall.  The groups the foundation helped were Miradas de Esperanza, Children’s Haven International, Rio Bravo Ministr...

EDINBURG, Texas - Research shows that when a community has policies and investments to help those in poverty, it not only helps those in need, but it also helps government and ultimately the taxpayer. So said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez at a recent Prosperity Task Force meeting, held at Hidalgo County Commissioners Court. Cortez set up the task force to tackle his county’s high rate of pov...

HARLINGEN, Texas - When Rio Grande Guardian heath reporter Julia Rodriguez interviewed Rita Goodarzi, director of Valley Baptist-Harlingen’s 38-bed New born Intensive Care Unit, she said she knows people her age that were born in the NICU. Goodarzi said she can top that. She proceeded to tell an amazing story. “Twenty years ago, we delivered a set of twins, preemie twins that were in here. They we...