Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

HARLINGEN, Texas - In this month’s taxation advice podcast, Rev Torres discusses the economic impact payments and past due child support. 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...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Harlingen business owner Nydia Tapia-Gonzales has spent most of her professional career promoting the City of Harlingen in different capacities.  Tapia-Gonzales has also contributed eco-tourism reports for the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.  More recently, Tapia-Gonzales has become concerned about the issue of flooding and drainage in a historically significant...

EDINBURG, Texas - In one of the most innovative census data collection efforts in the Rio Grande Valley, the City of Edinburg launched a Census Mobile Ice Cream machine.  Edinburg’s census self-response rate is the highest in the RGV and better than the state’s average.  Rio Grande Guardian editor Steve Taylor interviewed Edinburg City Manager Ron Garza. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the...

EDINBURG, Texas - When Ron Garza took over as city manager of Edinburg, he wanted to introduced more transparency, so that local residents are better informed on how their tax dollars are being spent.  One of the innovations introduced allows residents to track the progress of ongoing city projects. Another innovation was changing the structure of the city's economic development corporation....

EDINBURG, Texas - The City of Edinburg used $2 million in CARES Act funds to create a two-tier COVID recovery plan, called SPARK.  Only local businesses were eligible for COVID recovery funds.  Rio Grande Guardian editor Steve Taylor interviewed Edinburg City Manager Ron Garza. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos. 

SAN JUAN, Texas - Sister Norma Pimentel believes impediments to immigration and economic activity between the United States and Mexico need to be relaxed, with border security moved 25 miles inland to checkpoints such as Sarita and Falfurrias. The executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley gave interviews to reporters at the San Juan Basilica soon after being named one of th...

MISSION, Texas - Killam Development’s real estate manager believes the much-anticipated Shary Village Industrial Park in Mission is now on the fast track. Rolando Ortiz participated in a webinar hosted by Congressman Henry Cuellar last week. During the webinar, Cuellar announced $3 million in federal funding for Mission Economic Development Corporation. Cuellar said these funds will help develop a...

PHARR TEXAS - The City of Pharr held a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday for $40 million worth of infrastructure projects at the Pharr International Bridge.  Funding for the projects has come about thanks to the Donations Acceptance Program, a mechanism by which local funds can go towards federal projects.  Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez gave remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony. He said tha...

LAREDO, Texas - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says it is time to reopen the international bridges so that Mexican shoppers and tourists can cross in the United States. He said this could be done safely by testing all visitors at the bridges for COVID-19. He said advances in technology mean the results of the tests could be known within five minutes. “I stand in support of employees, owners, and customer...

SAN JUAN, Texas - Bishop Daniel Flores is urging parishioners to complete their 2020 Census form. Flores held a news conference at the Basilica in San Juan on Wednesday to announce the census outreach the Diocese of Brownsville will be doing between now and the Sept. 30 deadline. “We want to get the word out about how important this is for the (Rio Grande) Valley,” Flores said.  He pointed out tha...

HARLINGEN, Texas - UT-Rio Grande Valley, in partnership with the City of Harlingen and the Harlingen CISD held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new UTRGV Early College High School. It is located at 2901 Medical Drive in Harlingen. This campus helps replace the current ECHS on Pecan Street with a 64,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility on 6.3 acres gifted by the City of Harlingen. The design p...

WESLACO, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley Partnership recently hosted a webinar with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as its guest. RGVP President Sergio Contreras asked the senator a number of questions, many related to COVID-19. The questions had been formulated by RGVP members and those who tuned in to hear the conversation. Among the topics covered were the chances of another major relief package bein...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Unemployment compensation benefits are constantly in a state of flux so to hear about the latest we are interviewing Rev Torres. 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...

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute hosted a webcast to discuss the latest report from Mexican thinktank Signos Vitales.  “ The Pandemic in Mexico: The Scope of the Tragedy ” is a two-part analysis of  the devastating economic impact of COVID-19 in the country.  Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute, moderated the discussion with panelists Eduardo Gonzalez-Pier, fellow a...

EDINBURG, Texas - Hidalgo County’s health authority says he is speaking in a personal capacity when he calls for the prioritization of primary care clinics over more profitable lines of service in the health industry. Dr. Ivan Melendez appeared on a webinar about COVID-19 hosted by Futuro RGV. Asked by moderator Felipe Salinas how the Rio Grande Valley can be better prepared for the next pandemic,...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - U.S. Rep. Will Hurd says the North American Development Bank, which invests in infrastructure projects along the southwest border, has exceeded exceptions. NADBank was set up in the early 1990s as part of the negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement. Hurd, a Republican from San Antonio, said that, initially, the bank had the aim of  fostering environmental pol...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Starr County’s new health authority, Dr. Tony Falcon says the pressure on the county hospital caused by the coronavirus is easing. Falcon said the number of positive cases to date in Starr County is 2,603, while the number of fatalities is 117. Number of recoveries from COVID-19 is 1,383. And, the number of active cases is 1,069. There have been zero deaths in emergency ro...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity, held a webinar with Cameron County International Bridge System titled “2020 Cameron County Trade Trends Webinar.”  The program, in English and Spanish, also featured Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Cameron County International Bridge System Director Josue Garcia, Jr., and Bob Parker, port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protec...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The next step in moving Brownsville away from the bottom of the digital divide table is conducting a comprehensive survey. Lit Communities has been hired by the City of Brownsville to conduct the survey, which is titled Bring Better Broadband to Brownsville. “This is going to be the primary way we are going to capture the needs here in Brownsville, whether you are a resident o...

PHARR, Texas - Each week, Pharr International Bridge holds a “virtual” town hall meeting for the international trade community. The series is called BridgeConnect LIVE. Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the Pharr International Bridge Board would hold the events in-person once a month.  Now, because of the threat of COVID-19, the events are held once a week on Facebook. The series is called “...

HARLINGEN, Texas - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made his first trip to the Rio Grande Valley since the coronavirus pandemic struck. He came on a fact-finding mission, to learn how the Valley, one of the nation’s hotspots for the virus, was coping with the healthcare challenge. Cornyn hosted a roundtable discussion in Harlingen that included three of the Valley’s four county judges, as well as hospital an...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell spoke about the spike in coronavirus cases in the Rio Grande Valley in an in-depth interview on Fox News. Asked why the Valley has higher percentage of COVID-19 cases than the state of Texas as a whole, Boswell said part of the problem was the culture of the region.  He also said the people of the Valley let their guard down once the economy was reo...

WESLACO, Texas – Economist Luis Torres of the Texas A&M Real Estate Center says the path to recovery for the Rio Grande Valley economy depends on COVID-19 outcomes. By way of an example, Torres said the number of unemployment claims in the region grew around July 4, just as the number of coronavirus cases increased. He called this “worrisome.” Torres made his remarks as keynote speaker during...

EDINBURG, Texas - Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has set up a task force to look at a new way of stopping the spread of COVID-19. The problem the COVID Shield Task Force has identified is that a large number of Hidalgo County residents live in three-generational homes: kids, parents and grandparents. The task force also found out that most of the people testing positive for the coronavirus ar...

MISSION, Texas - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says residents in South Texas will play a role in clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. Cuellar said the National Institute of Health wants to ensure the volunteer pool is as diverse as possible. Along with members of the Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American Congressional caucuses, Cuellar participated in a meeting with Dr. Francis Collins and Dr....