Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MCALLEN, Texas - The co-chair of the National Republican Committee, Thomas “Tommy” Hicks, Jr., says the Republican Party has to do a better job of engaging with minority populations across the United States. Hicks was in McAllen recently to officially open a new RNC Hispanic Engagement Center. The center, on Nolana Avenue in McAllen, was packed with Republican Party members and supporters for the...

HARLINGEN, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley is far short of the national average for neurologists and the UT-Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine wants to do something about it.  UTRGV SOM, along with its clinical arm, UT Health RGV, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for its eagerly-awaited Institute of Neuroscience (ION). Medical students will be trained at the 30,000-square-foot facility in or...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Having visited the offices of the Port of Brownsville a few times over the years, I was always aware of a proud sense of Rio Grande Valley history when I looked at the photos and newspaper accounts displayed on the wall in the main office. With our a doubt, the 85th Anniversary of the Port of Brownsville is a major news item in the Rio Grande Valley. Referring to the Port of B...

LAREDO, Texas - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is predicting a great Christmas for border communities now that land ports of entry are being re-opened to tens of thousands of Mexican visa holders.  Mexican nationals who do not work in so-called “essential” industries have been prevented from crossing via land ports into the United States since March 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Now, however, the...

EDINBURG, Texas - Dr. Narciso Garcia, superintendent at Vanguard Academy, is pleased with the progress his charter school system has made in preparing students for collage, career and the military. Collage, career and military readiness (CCMR) is part of the accountability process expected of school systems under House Bill 3. In a recent podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian, Dr. Garcia pointed ou...

PHARR, Texas - The start of the fresh produce season 2021-22 was celebrated at the Pharr International Bridge on Oct. 7. Produce growers, importers, distributors, and consumers from the United States and Mexico were in attendance for the annual event. The Pharr International Bridge is No. 1 in the nation for moving fresh produce. It averages 200,000 fresh produce shipments per year. It is No. 1 in...

HARLINGEN, Texas - As a regular feature in the Rio Grande Guardian, audio editor Mario Muñoz talks to Rev Torres of the Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project. The TTAP is part of the nonprofit community group Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. In this podcast, Torres explains what the TTAP is all about. Among the questions he answers are: what is the mission of TTAP; how do you qualify for assistance from TTA...

PHARR, Texas - The City of Pharr, the Texas Department of Transportation, and Dragados-Pulice Joint Venture (DPJV) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, to celebrate the ongoing construction of the I-2/I-69C Interchange Project in Pharr. The $303 million dollar project, which has been years in the making, will be eight miles long, consist of new connectors to expand the in...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has outlined a way in which the Rio Grande Valley can benefit from the bottleneck faced by dozens of containers ships waiting to unload their cargo at Long Beach, California.  Cortez has suggested the ships dock at Mexico’s west coast ports and transport shipments destined for the east coast of the United States via truck through the Valley....

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn held a news conference at the Port of Brownsville on Sept. 16, 2021. The attached podcast features the news conference. The news conference, which is featured in the attached podcast, was dominated by discussion on Covid-19 vaccines and reopening the U.S.-Mexico land ports of entry to Mexican visa holders. Cornyn also spoke about a visit he made the same...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Rio South Texas Economic Council is a nonprofit membership organization that brings together the economic development interests of the cities, counties, chambers and educational institutions, workforce boards, ports, businesses and other stakeholders working towards regionally prosperity.  Our mission is to successfully promote the economic expansion and diversification of...

WESLACO, Texas - Nine new retail projects are coming to Weslaco, with six of them on the frontage of I-2/US 83.  Steve Valdez, executive director of the Economic Development Corporation of Weslaco, announced the projects in an exclusive Zoom/podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.  Valdez said the demand for more retail establishments in his city is great, with the number...

MCALLEN, Texas - A discussion took place at a recent McAllen Economic Development Corporation board meeting on whether McAllen International Airport could become a major hub or a mini hub for flights into Mexico. McAllen EDC President Keith Patridge said an excellent partnership being developed between Aeromar and the City of McAllen could just catapult McAllen International Airport to mini-hub st...

HARLINGEN, Texas - As a regular feature in the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, Podcast Editor Mario Munos talks to Rev Torres of the Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project about tax issues. The Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project is hosted by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. What will you do if you expect to receive a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service, but receive a letter instead? I...

MCALLEN, Texas - The new president of South Texas College says he will be unveiling some “great projects” in the near future, primarily in the automotive and transportation sectors. Ricardo Solis spoke at a recent McAllen Economic Development Corporation board meeting. He said he is excited to be working with MEDC to improve workforce training. He said his big focus right now is developing higher...

HARLINGEN, Texas -  A news conference was recently to discuss the ongoing hospital capacity overload and staffing shortage in Cameron County. Other topics discussed included testing, vaccines, and the Regional Infusion Center.  Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell hosted the news conference.  Other speakers included Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Manny Vela, CEO of Valley Baptist Health System...

WESLACO, Texas - Dr. Michael B. Hocker, recently appointed dean of UTRGV School of Medicine, has given an overview of the college’s work to a local council of government. Hocker spoke about securing full accreditation for UTRGV SOM within the next 12 to 18 months, bringing more health research funds to the region, and expanding the college’s community clinics. “We are looking at expanding and grow...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - The esteem in which Dr. Antonio “Tony” Falcon, MD, is held in his native Starr County was on display at a recent VIP luncheon held at the Julabe Ballroom in Rio Grande City. Community leaders came together to recognize the Dr. Falcon’s decades of service and to celebrate his recent appointment as a trustee of Baylor College of Medicine.  Among those to praise Dr. Falcon we...

Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, recently spoke about the implications of the 2020 Census on redistricting for South Texas and the border region. Perales, who has litigated on behalf of Latino communities in two previous redistricting cycles, spoke at a board meeting of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council. Perales s...

MCALLEN, Texas - The Republican National Committee is set to open an Hispanic Engagement Office in McAllen in the coming weeks, having just launched one in Laredo. Macarena Martinez, the RNC’s Texas communications director, said the move shows how serious the Republican Party is about building support in Hispanic communities.  “This is the first time we will be opening up a Hispanic Engagement Off...

EDINBURG, Texas - The chief medical officer for DHR Health says the efforts he and his colleagues are making to help patients recover from Covid-19 are not being helped by misinformation about the vaccine. “It is important for people to get their information from good, newsworthy sources, not social media jokers. That is important,” Dr. Robert Martinez said, in an in-depth interview with the Rio G...

MCALLEN, Texas - The commissioner for higher education in Texas has admitted that the challenge of getting Texans the skills they need for today’s jobs is keeping him up at night. Harrison Keller spoke in depth about the impact the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent recession has had on higher education and workforce training at a breakfast gathering hosted recently by the McAllen Chamber of...

At two years of age, that’s not a typo - two years of age - self-taught composer and performer, RIOPY began to play his own music on a discarded piano. In his new Warner Classics release “Bliss”, RIOPY has fused minimalism, pop, jazz, and cinematic idioms into a distinctive crossover piano style.  RIOPY studied at Oxford University and built a successful career both as a performer and as a compose...

MCALLEN, Texas - A “pop-up” British Consulate’s Office is going to be open for a couple of hours in McAllen on Tuesday, Aug. 24, and Brownsville on Wednesday, Aug. 25. The events are part of the Great British Tour of Texas, organized by the British Consulate in Houston.  “We are going to park up the Jag and the trailer and put out a whole bunch of bunting, some flags, a cardboard cutout of Winston...

AUSTIN, Texas - UT-Rio Grande Valley students can get their tuition and fees paid for four years and two years of free housing - but they will have to agree to stay in the Valley for five years after graduating.  Details on the Pinnacle Scholarship program - designed to stop the Valley’s Brain Drain - were outlined by UTRGV President Guy Bailey during a virtual meeting of the UT System Board of Re...