Author Archives: Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Ricardo D. Cavazos is a Rio Grande Valley native and journalist who has worked as a reporter, editor and publisher at Texas newspapers. Cavazos formerly worked as a reporter and editorial writer at The Brownsville Herald, Dallas Times Herald, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and San Antonio Light. He served as editor of The Monitor in McAllen from 1991-1998 and from there served for 15 years as publisher at The Herald in Brownsville. Cavazos has been providing content for the Valley Business Report since 2018.

McAllen Adds Flights, Sets Passenger Records

News Transportation & Travel Comments
McAllen International Airport opened in the mid-1990s and its growth in passenger traffic has led to a study looking at facility expansion. (Courtesy)

The McAllen International Airport is looking to build out its 150,000-square-foot-plus terminal during a time when the airfield is setting all-time total traveler records on a monthly basis. In July, 114,694 passengers utilized the McAllen airport, which set an all-time monthly traveler record. The July traveler number marked an eight percent improvement over June, which at the time with 105,508 passengers represented a new monthly record. In all, for 2024,…

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Mercedes Bakery Offers ‘Taste of Mexico’

Food & Entertainment Comments
Miniatures versions of pan dulce were the original creations of the De La Garza Bakery in Mercedes.

The “pan chiquitos,” as Albaro De La Garza calls them, started out as miniature versions of sweet bread for his then-young children. De La Garza’s kids often didn’t finish off a full-size empanada or a fluffy concha pastry. So, De La Garza and his baker at the time at the Mercedes panaderia made them smaller. The child-sized Mexican sweet bread of De La Garza Bakery and Cake Shop in Mercedes…

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Zoo Doubling In Size With Land Buy

News Recreation & Tourism Comments
The Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville houses a diversity of animals and attractions and will be expanding over the next five years. (Courtesy)

The Gladys Porter Zoo opened in 1971 as a gift from a foundation to the city of Brownsville.  The Earl C. Sams Foundation envisioned the only zoo south of San Antonio as a place to feature endangered species and to give Brownsville a distinction of its own. The 31-acre site on Ringgold Street in central Brownsville has more than proven its worth to the city. It has become a prime…

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TSTC Program Meeting Mechatronics Demand

Education News Comments
Mechatronics program team lead Carlos Reyes views a completed electrical box that is a requirement to complete the TSTC Program.

Carlos Reyes opens an empty electrical box in one of the labs of the mechatronics technology program at Texas State Technical College. The box represents something of a starting point for students in the program. As the program progresses, students will be tasked with filling those empty boxes with the circuits, sensors and other components to make it a fully functional electrical unit.  “We build them up from scratch,” said…

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Anzalduas Expanding Trade Possibilities

News Transportation & Travel Comments
Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza welcomes Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, the governor of San Luis Potosi, to Mission during a recent ceremony at the Anzalduas International Bridge. (Courtesy)

The $83 million project to transform the Anzalduas International Bridge into a full-service cross-border commercial port is entering its final stages of construction. A first quarter completion in 2025 is now anticipated. In late July, the governor of San Luis Potosi, Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, visited the bridge south of Mission to see the work being done and to meet with city leaders from Mission, McAllen and Hidalgo. The bridge opened…

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Merchandisers Tout 956 Culture & Pride

News Retail Comments
Pride in the 956 is promoted by the merchandising company, 9INE 5IVE 6EIS. (Courtesy)

David Salinas and his creative partners at 9INE 5IVE 6EIS grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of the 1990s.  The touchstones of their RGV era included listening to B104 on the radio and shopping for groceries at Carl’s Supermarkets. The nostalgia connected to their youth is one reason for starting a merchandising company that celebrates the region’s culture and history. The 956 as in the region’s area code has…

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Academy Program Links STC, Texas A&M

Education News Comments
The Texas A&M Engineering Academy saw enrollment more than triple from its first to second year of existence. (Courtesy)

A partnership with Texas A&M University is bringing the Aggie spirit to South Texas College students who aspire to be part of the university’s renowned engineering program.  The Texas A&M Engineering Academy at the STC McAllen campus is one of 10 such partnerships in Texas. The program links Texas A&M’s flagship campus in College Station with higher educational institutions around the state. The academy introduces A&M’s engineering program to first-…

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Hardware Store Serves ‘Working Town’

News Retail Comments
Rafael Aguilera is now owning and running a hardware store in his ‘retirement’ from a state agency job.

The motto of a local hardware store speaks to its place in its community and the area around it. “Heart of a Working Town,” it says on a store window by an entrance of Express Hardware in Elsa. The store is located about a block away from the intersection on FM 88 and state Highway 107. It has become a crossroads corner for the communities that make up what’s known…

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Entrepreneur Lights Way In Harlingen

Featured Retail Comments

Alexandrea Peralta’s business is located across the street from an inner city park that needs an image boost. Putting her Jade Candle Co. shop across the street from a park in Harlingen some local residents avoid points to two of Peralta’s great passions. One is for candle making from scratch and creating products to the specifications of her customers. The other is love of her community and a commitment to…

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Hospital Launches Residency Program

Education Healthcare Comments

Anchu Ann Vincent moved with her family to Harlingen in 2022 to work as a medical records specialist at Harlingen Medical Center. Vincent, a native of India, received medical training in her country before coming to Chicago in 2019 to continue her education. She is an MD and when coming to Harlingen, she had no idea her hospital was making plans to establish an internal medicine residency program. Such a…

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