Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

PHARR, Texas - Victor Perez, executive director of Pharr Economic Development Corporation, says his work recruiting new businesses to Pharr is about to get a whole lot easier. The reason? TeamPharr. Net , the City of Pharr’s much-lauded fiber-optic cable broadband internet network service.  The network will provide an internet speed of 1 gigabyte, which Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez says is 100 t...

SAN JUAN, Texas - San Juan City Manager Ben Arjona says his city will be catapulted to the next level thanks to a number of exciting new retail and commercial developments. Arjona spoke about the fast growth of San Juan during a recent webinar hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.  The San Juan EDC Commercial & Investment Virtual Tour allowed those on the webinar to learn about San Juan...

MISSION, Texas - Cliffe Killam, president & CEO of Killam Development, says he is excited to “work with community stakeholders and empower them to help continue to make great things happen in Mission, Texas.” Killam give an exclusive interview to the Rio Grande Guardian recently about the 3,400-acre master planned community his company is building in south Mission. The interview is contained i...

U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kyrsten Sinema and U.S. Representatives Henry Cuellar and Tony Gonzales have introduced The Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, in response to the recent surge in migrants coming across the southern border.  The authors of the bill say the legislation would improve both the Department of Homeland Security’s and the Department of Justice’s capacity to manage migration inf...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Direct, nonstop, Viva Aerobus flights between Harlingen and Monterrey will start May 6. The company will use the Airbus A320 aircraft.  It is the first time Valley International Airport has had international passenger flights for 26 years.  “It is exciting to open a new nonstop service in Texas as part of our strategy to expand Viva Aerobus’s reach to the U.S. We are looking for...

Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell recently held this year’s State of the City Address. He said the state of the local economy is strong, with more jobs coming to the city.  He also spoke about how Harlingen coped with the coronavirus pandemic. Here is his speech: Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos. 

MCALLEN, Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez says cartels in Mexico could have earned $1.2 billion this year through smuggling undocumented migrants into the United States.  The McAllen Democrat arrived at this figure by multiplying 172,000, which is the number of migrants known to have crossed the southern border in the last three months, by $6,000, which is the going rate to get an undocumented i...

MCALLEN, Texas - For the latest in our Meet the Candidate series we met up with Dr. Shahid Rashid, who is running for mayor of McAllen. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Dr. Rashid is a physician and public health expert, trained at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He has a practice in McAllen that specializes in pain management. He is happily mar...

MCALLEN, Texas - For the latest in our Meet the Candidate series we met up with Veronica Vela Whitacre, who is running for mayor of McAllen. Currently, Vela Whitacre is a McAllen City Commissioner. She has represented District 6 on the commission for the past eight years. Born and raised in McAllen, Vela Whitacre has also served on the boards of Easter Seals, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, th...

WESLACO, Texas - While the Rio Grande Valley is in the national spotlight due to the surge of unaccompanied children arriving at the southern border, there is no local NPR or PBS news service to cover it. This outrages a nonprofit set up to bring NPR back to the Valley. The group is called: Grassroots Public Radio RGV. “It is outrageous to me that one of the most economically distressed areas in t...

LAREDO, Texas - A huge solar energy project is underway in Webb County, thanks to financing from the North American Development Bank and others. NADB, along with a syndicate of three other lenders, and global renewable energy developer BayWa r.e. signed a credit agreement for up to $216.1 million to finance the design, construction, and operation of the 200 MWAC Corazon Solar Project. It is being...

HARLINGEN, Texas – With tax season underway it is safe to say that this season has been a complicated one.  Many people received unemployment benefits this past year and people are wondering if these benefits are taxable or not.   Rev Torres, a paralegal with Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project,  answers some tax questions on this issue. The Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project is a division of Texas R...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Composer and pianist Robin Spielberg believes in "old school" technology.  Yes, she is in the top one percent of artists featured on Pandora Internet Radio, has over 200,000 listeners monthly on Spotify and has sold over a million CDs.  However, Robin told me that one of her top-selling platforms is still the old-fashioned vinyl record. I recently had an enjoyable conv...

RIO GRANDE CITY -  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is to fully reopen its Starr County office, says the agency’s area district for rural development. Roel Ruben Gomez made the announcement at a recent town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar on South Texas College’s Starr County campus. Gomez spoke about all the programs the agency has to help rural communities. Gomez pointed out tha...

Local community leaders and advocates recently hosted a virtual roundtable to discuss the importance of processing unaccompanied children safely, humanely, and swiftly. Dr. Bob Sanborn, president & CEO, of Children At Risk, and Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, were among those to participate in the webinar. Go to www.riograndeguardian.co...

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas invited fellow Republican senators to visit the Rio Grande Valley to learn more about the recent surge of unaccompanied migrants crossing the Rio Grande. It could have been the largest number of senators ever to visit the Valley at one time: 18. They held a news conference at Anzalduas Park, right next to the Rio Grande. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com...

Several leading organizations focused on national security and immigration policy convened a roundtable discussion to share the solutions they have developed to address the current situation at the U.S. southern border.  Among those participating was McAllen businesswoman Monica Weisberg-Stewart, representing the Texas Border Coalition. Other groups on the webinar included the Council on National...

MISSION, Texas – Killam Development announced that construction will begin on their 3,400-acre master planned community , El Milagro, within the next two months.  Rolando Ortiz, real estate manager for Killam, made the announcement in a RGV Partnership Zoom meeting that highlighted the City of Mission and the Mission Economic Development Corporation.  A year after receiving feedback from their pub...

AUSTIN, Texas - The director of TxDOT’s freight, trade and connectivity section says she is looking for some “quick wins” as the new Texas-Mexico Border Transportation Master Plan starts to get implemented. Caroline Mays spoke about the new plan at a recent Texas Transportation Commission meeting.  The BTMP is a comprehensive, multimodal, binational long-range plan crafted by the Texas Department...

MCALLEN, Texas - Two members of Congress from South Texas have given their analysis of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and specifically what it will mean for the region. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo discussed the package via a webinar. U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen discussed it at a news conference held at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.  Here is the audio from the two events...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ton Garza has told border communities to tell their story and not let those from outside the region set the narrative. Speaking on a webinar hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Garza said border residents should also hold its elected leaders accountable. “Continue to hold them accountable for the things that are import...

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen Mayor Jim Darling is fed up with all the negative publicity surrounding the Rio Grande Valley perpetrated by national politicians and news outlets. At a news conference held to announce new non-stop flights between McAllen and Monterrey, Mexico, Darling said his city is safe. He said the city is helping Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley provide testing for COVID-...

MCALLEN, Texas - During this election season, the Rio Grande Guardian is running a Meet the Candidate series. The series comprises audio interviews with candidates seeking elected office to city councils and commissions.  Mario Reyna, a veteran and former dean of business at South Texas College, is running for McAllen City Commission, District 3. Here, attached, is the interview with Reyna. Go to...

MCALLEN, Texas - During this election season, the Rio Grande Guardian is running a Meet the Candidate series. The series comprises audio interviews with candidates seeking elected office to city councils and commissions.  We caught up with Pepe Cabeza de Vaca at his campaign kick off event at the Radisson Hotel in McAllen. Cabeza de Vaca is running for McAllen City Commission, District 6. Here, at...

HARLINGEN, Texas - In this month’s taxation advice podcast, Rev Torres discusses the new tax season. Torres is part of Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project, a division of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. Torres was a regular contributor on taxation issues when KHID 88.1 FM and KJJF 88.9 FM were running NPR programing in the Rio Grande Valley. Now the stations are longer part of NPR, 88 FM radio presenter M...