Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MISSION, RGV - Laredo-based Killam Development has acquired approximately 3,400 acres in Mission and McAllen from Hunt Valley Development.  According to Killam, the property will be the site of a “large master planned development that will include places for people of all generations to live, work and play. It will include walkable neighborhoods, walking trails and park space, connections to enter...

WESLACO, RGV - Ray Perryman says Congress should put politics aside and pass comprehensive immigration reform. The Texas-based economist was keynote speaker at a Weslaco 100 luncheon recently. The luncheon was one of a series of events held to celebrate the City of Weslaco’s 100th anniversary.  In his remarks, Perryman spoke about the economic conditions of Weslaco, the Rio Grande Valley, Texas an...

WESLACO, RGV - Gaps in access to secondary healthcare in the Rio Grande Valley will be the focus at RGV Equal Voice Network’s Rio Grande Valley Health Summit. The summit takes place at Knapp Conference Center in Weslaco on Dec. 12. To prepare for the summit, the RGV Equal Voice Network’s health working group conducted a survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers and other safety net clinics in t...

EDINBURG, RGV - The chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation says cities in the Rio Grande Valley should form a coalition to ensure their voices are heard as a new border transportation masterplan is being developed. State Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg made the suggestion during a wide-ranging interview with the Rio Grande Guardian . TxDOT, in collaboration and partnership with the...

MCALLEN, RGV - McAllen Economic Development Corporation and the Binational Council of Economic Development of Reynosa (COBIFER) recently took a potential Chinese investor on a tour of Mexican seaports.  The two groups believe there are logistical advantages for companies to use Mexican ports when moving raw materials and goods between the United States and China.  Joaquin Spamer, a Mexican busines...

MISSION, RGV - Congressmen Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez were asked at a news conference if Mexican drug cartels should be classified as terrorist organizations.  President Trump recently made this suggestion after a Mormon family from the U.S. was gunned down in Chihuahua, Mexico.  The congressmen were also asked about asylum seekers living in tents in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and th...

BROWNSVILLE, RGV - Potential developers were invited to tour Brownsville by bus recently. Those participating in the "Explore the Possibilities" program had the opportunity to take one of two bus tours. One bus focused on downtown Brownsville. The other focused on the city’s industrial parks and airports. The event was hosted by the City of Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley Partnersh...

BROWNSVILLE, RGV - The City of Brownsville, working with the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, held a “Building Brownsville Developer Event” on Monday, Nov. 18. Presentations from various Brownsville entities were given to potential investors at the Brownsville Events Center. After a luncheon at the center, attendees had the opportunity to take one of two bus tours. One bus focused on downtown Browns...

MCALLEN, RGV - The Rio Grande Valley Partnership hosted a transportation forum at the Double Tree Suites in McAllen on Friday, Nov. 15, 2109. The event came about after U.S. Sen. John Cornyn promised Valley leaders that he would bring Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., to the region to address flooding issues on I-2.  Cornyn had visited the Valley last month to learn abou...

MCALLEN, RGV - Sales tax revenue collections across the Rio Grande Valley dipped in the most recent reporting period. However, Matt Ruszczak, who analyzes the figures, says there is no cause for alarm. The Rio South Texas Economic Council executive director said that when comparisons between the numbers for September 2019 and the numbers for September 2018 are looked at, a caveat should be introdu...

EDINBURG, RGV - Region One Education Service Center says it is one step closer to closing the “digital divide” for students in the region. That’s because of the approval of a 10-year $6.7 million funding application by the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) for the ORION project.  ORION (One Regional Interconnected Optical Network) is a regional fiber optic network which provides a fa...

PHARR, RGV - Vanguard Academy Charter Schools has received a School Climate Transformation Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez recently announced. Vanguard was awarded $739,887 for a period of five years, which will total $3,699,435.  “This grant is a game changer for the communities of Pharr, San Juan, Alamo and Edinburg as it will provide a school psychologi...

MCALLEN, RGV - Recently, South Texas College hosted the 7th Annual Binational Innovation Conference at its technology campus in McAllen. Experts from both sides of the border analyzed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, how it differs from the North American Free Trade Agreement and how South Texas can benefit from the new pact.  In the above podcast we hear the remarks from the podiu...

MCALLEN, RGV - Recently, South Texas College hosted the 7th Annual Binational Innovation Conference at its technology campus in McAllen. Experts from both sides of the border analyzed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, how it differs from the North American Free Trade Agreement and how South Texas can benefit from the new pact.  In the above podcast we hear the remarks from the podiu...

Recently, South Texas College hosted the 7th Annual Binational Innovation Conference at its technology campus in McAllen. Experts from both sides of the border analyzed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, how it differs from the North American Free Trade Agreement and how South Texas can benefit from the new pact.  In the above podcast we hear the remarks from the podium of Adrian Gon...

MCALLEN, RGV - Recently, South Texas College hosted the 7th Annual Binational Innovation Conference at its technology campus in McAllen. Experts from both sides of the border analyzed the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, how it differs from the North American Free Trade Agreement and how South Texas can benefit from the new pact.  In the above podcast we hear the remarks from the podiu...

HARLINGEN, RGV - Birders from across North America have given two thumbs up to the 26th Annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, which has just concluded in Harlingen, Texas. Birders interviewed by the Rio Grande Guardian says the festival was “very well organized,” and that it was “good value.” They say everything that was promised in the brochure, such as field trips to see rare birds, was ava...

The president of the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company has urged TxDOT to add a new east-west corridor from Matamoros to Camargo to the Texas-Mexico Border Transportation Master Plan it is developing.  Sam Vale made his case at a stakeholders meeting the Texas Department of Transportation held recently in Reynosa. Bridge leaders from South Texas, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon were present.  “If you look at...

MCALLEN, RGV - Steve Johnson, chancellor of Western Governors University in Texas, was recently in the Rio Grande Valley to build more alliances with education institutions in the region. In May of this year, Johnson, on behalf of WGU, signed an agreement with South Texas College President Shirley A. Reed aimed at furthering students’ education by utilizing course offerings available at WGU. WGU T...

HARLINGEN, RGV – The president of UT-Rio Grande Valley has praised Harlingen leaders for having the foresight over many years to bring medical education to their city. Dr. Guy Bailey sung the praises of Harlingen in an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian while hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the eagerly-awaited UTRGV School of Medicine Institute for Neuroscience. “This work predates my be...

MCALLEN, RGV - Matt Ruszczak, executive director of Rio South Texas Economic Council, fears he is beginning to sound like a broken record because the sales tax revenue reports he has given for the past few months all sound the same. The good thing, though, is that the message he is delivering is always positive - the Rio Grande Valley is outperforming the state of Texas as a whole when it comes to...

HARLINGEN, RGV - The co-founder of IDEA Public Schools says just like competition is good for business, it is good for the parents of students also. Tom Torkelson spoke about the need for competition at a groundbreaking ceremony for IDEA’s first school in Harlingen. The nonprofit charter is now the largest of its kind in the nation.  “People are asking us, why are we we opening up a school in Harl...

MCALLEN, RGV - This week’s news-wrap looks at the week ending Nov. 2, 2019.  Among the topics discussed with Rio Grande Guardian editor Steve Taylor are: The life of a campesino in rural México; The Texas Border Coalition’s efforts to ensure a complete census count along the Texas-México border; Greater Brownsville Incentive Corporation’s ‘We Grow Our Own’ program; Greater McAllen Realtors’ look a...

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, RGV - The Texas Border Coalition held its 2019 annual meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Blue Marlin Room at Pearl South Padre Resort on South Padre Island. The meeting included a wide-ranging panel discussion on the innovative ways border communities are preparing for the 2020 Census. The panel discussion was titled “Counting the Whole Number of Persons in Each State: 2020 C...

MCALLEN, RGV - Texas A&M University celebrated the first anniversary of its Higher Education Center in McAllen last week with an event titled Founders Day. In his remarks, Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp explained the rationale for A&M’s investment in South Texas. “Many of realized a long time ago that South Texas and particularly the Rio Grande Valley is really what the future of Texa...