Elsa was once a city off the Rio Grande Valley’s beaten path. Tucked away from the region’s vehicle-heavy corridor – Expressway 83 – Elsa’s location along state Highway 107 formerly made it appear as if nothing of significance could happen here. Times change, however, as do growth patterns and emerging traffic routes where commuters seek new ways to get to work. Elsa has become one of those places where remoteness…
McAllen’s ongoing efforts to grow more trees within its urban landscape got a significant boost recently with the Texas A&M Forest Service awarding the local school district a $2.7 million grant. The grant will benefit seven elementary schools that are part of the McAllen Independent School District. Each campus will receive $390,000 to purchase and plant trees over the next three years from the $2,730,000 grant. A key goal at…
Highlighting Daniel Silva’s two-year tenure as the chief executive officer of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership is his organization’s “one region, one voice” message. Silva’s predecessors also preached regional unity when it came to the Valley’s nearly 50 cities working more collaboratively when marketing and promoting the region. He has tried to intensify those efforts by having the many economic development corporations in the Valley band together under one regional flag…
The space now taken by The Deep End restaurant and entertainment center has lived many lives over the years on the west side of Harlingen. The spacious Business 83 location has been a dance hall, a honky-tonk and sports bar, among other variations. Under new ownership, there is a fresh concept with investments in facilities that have reimagined dance floors and traditional bar setups into a place suited for family…
Edinburg’s legacy of civic engagement and improvement reached another milestone recently as the fast-growing community was named an All-America City for the fourth time in its history. The award, as given by the National Civic League, celebrates communities that exemplify the best projects and achievements in innovation, civic engagement and collaboration. The organization chose Edinburg as one of 20 finalists this year from a pool of several hundred applicant cities…
Heriberto Reynoso is a high school graduate of the early 2000s and was the type of kid “building robots in my garage” when such technological skills were a bit rare among American youth. His parents wondered what he was doing, while at school, he recalls teachers that “didn’t understand what I was asking.” Reynoso was perhaps a bit ahead of his time at his high school in Brownsville. His technological…
Marisa de Leon was a child of music growing up, playing piano and then the viola in her high school orchestra. Music, she says, was her “safe space.” It was during her high school years when de Leon saw a “60 Minutes” report featuring the recovery of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords from a gunshot wound to the head. In early 2011, Giffords of Arizona survived an assassination attempt in…
At age 21, Holly Hargrove had already earned a licensed vocational nursing degree to go with an associate of applied science degree in business management. The latter came from Texas State Technical College in Harlingen. The LVN nursing degree was achieved during Hargrove’s high school years at the Harlingen School of Health Professions. Hargrove has an appreciation for the healthcare field and is proud to have earned her nursing degree.…
The road to Isla Blanca Park being named USA Today’s Best Beach in Texas for 2024 began decades before when the South Padre Island park’s old pavilion featured a lean-to metal roof and an open view to the Gulf of Mexico. Isla Blanca Park for decades was the place for Rio Grande Valley families to gather with homestyle picnics. The venue provided a fun and inexpensive getaway. The amenities were…
The first time Lamar Jones saw his bottles of gourmet barbecue sauce lined up on the shelves of an H-E-B store he felt like a musician hearing one of his songs on the radio for the first time. “It was surreal to see it,” Jones recalled of that 2016 memory. “To see something I started making in my kitchen and then developing it to a brand being sold at H-E-B,…