Engineering students are at work inside a new innovation lab building on the Mercedes campus of the South Texas Independent School District campus. They peer over laptops and move from table to table, conferring over projects and looking over numerical formulas that offer solutions. “These kids know they’re not on an island,” said Gabe Valdez, an instructor at the school. “They collaborate. They look for opportunities to teach each other.”…
Diana Padilla describes it as seeing a piece of land and knowing it’s where she wanted to be. The Chicago native and retired federal government employee chanced upon the farmland near the corner of Rangerville and Morris roads in Harlingen and had a good feel for it. She and her husband Saul purchased a 15-acre plot, including the old farmhouse where they live, and then began farming. It was 2004…
Robert Treviño winds his city-issued truck through 20-foot-plus high piles of brush – grinded and raw – at the McAllen Composting Facility. The city’s renewable resource manager oversees a facility that annually sells 25,000 bags of compost and mulch, and also hauls and delivers products all over South Texas. It’s a valuable commodity among growers and gardeners for the nutrients and microbial activity it provides to soils for plant use…
Esteban Mejia Jr. has the restless energy of an Air Force veteran who once worked long shifts as a nuclear cruise technician. Returning home, the Mercedes native built an information technology business from scratch. He’s now working to extend his brand. “My dad would tell me, growing up, ‘Never back down from work,’’ he said. “So I’m always thinking, ‘what else, what else can I do?’” Mejia is the founder…
The new place still feels like the old place. That’s the vibe Rodney McClanahan was going for when he transplanted his Hardknox Strength & Performance Club across town in Brownsville. It looks like he succeeded. The new 10,000-square-foot facility just off Pablo Kisel Blvd. near Sunrise Mall is over twice the size of the old club on the Military Highway in the west Brownsville neighborhoods where McClanahan grew up. The…
Small businesses across the Rio Grande Valley are moving quickly to adapt to a new and shocking environment they were thrown into by the coronavirus crisis. New days, new paths Linda’s Cakes & Desserts in Brownsville is now selling essential items such as eggs, milk, potatoes and beans in addition to their usual assortment of sweets. Hardknox Strength & Performance, also of Brownsville, is using its social media outlets to…
Starr County began offering drive-through coronavirus testing on Sunday while Cameron and Hidalgo counties saw their number of COVID-19 cases grow over the weekend. The first coronavirus-confirmed patient in Hidalgo County is from McAllen. The second also resides in the county, but health officials did not state in which city the patient lives. Both patients were infected away from the Rio Grande Valley before returning home and showing symptoms. Cameron…
The Rio Grande Valley reported its first travel-related coronavirus case Thursday evening. This comes on the same day Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the temporary closing of schools, restaurant dining areas, gyms and bars statewide. A 21-year-old man from Rancho Viejo tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to Spain and Ireland from March 5-12. He began feeling the coronavirus symptoms of fever and cough and then went to Valley Baptist Medical…
Counties and cities across the Rio Grande Valley moved quickly on Tuesday to enact new measures to encourage social distancing and limit the number of people allowed in public places to counter the dangers and potential outbreak of the coronavirus. Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez issued a disaster declaration due to a public health emergency after conferring with leaders of the county’s 22 cities. The declaration became effective Tuesday and…
The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville has begun a two-year, $24-million campaign to address key issues, including its growth in rural areas and colonias. Bishop Daniel Flores has titled the campaign “Love Builds Hope,” covering six key areas. The building of new mission churches and community centers is among those priorities. The Diocese is focusing on areas like those north of Donna. Here, it is planning to build a new mission…