Elizabeth Davis grew up with the curiosity of a child who wanted to figure out how things work. She dreamed of someday owning her own business. “I was that kind of kid,” she said. It takes imagination and ambition to start and maintain a successful business. Davis would add other qualities are essential as well. “Tenacity, solving problems and being open-minded to options,’’ said Davis, who owns and runs Mi…
The old railroad tracks heading northward from Brownsville were removed 10 years ago, crossing over some of the city’s busiest streets and setting off a decade-long debate between developers and emerging exercise enthusiasts. The debate at times grew heated between those wanting to create a new north-south thoroughfare and proponents advocating for a hike-and-bike trail to add to the miles of such trails currently crisscrossing all parts of the city.…
Jeff Shooshtari started with one antenna atop the Chase Bank tower in downtown McAllen. It was 1997 and the beginning of Twin Communications of McAllen/Edinburg. It was then the era of dial-up to the Internet. Moving large volumes of data online was the province of large companies. What is commonplace today was a rarity 20 years ago when Shooshtari, an engineer by training, began with microwave technology to launch wireless…
The last Thursday of each month, a little slice of Nashville comes to the Rio Grande Valley city known for its country western roots. Mercedes is the home of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and with a renowned history of boot-making. The city also hosts Little Nashville, now in its third year, on the corner of Fourth and Ohio streets in its downtown the last Thursday of each month.…
Every city has a story to tell and San Benito, with the new San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum, is now better able to tell it while also attracting traveling exhibits that can bring new insights to the city. The 7,000-foot-square museum opened in November 2018 and has already featured photo and artistic elements highlighting border life and culture. Luis Contreras II, the city’s cultural arts director, says those exhibits are…
It was months in the making and took a community-wide collaboration, but after a busy Saturday on April 27, the organizers of the 2019 Mission Arts Festival look back on the event with delight. “We’re incredibly happy with the turnout in the community,” said Ariel King, the owner of the Historic William Jennings Bryan House. King also led the efforts for the first annual arts festival. “It’s all about networking…
San Benito’s early years reflected the mark the city was trying to make in a new frontier called the Rio Grande Valley. It was an agrarian community like all others in the early 1900s, as towns in the region began to emerge along the newly laid tracks of the St Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. One of San Benito’s early festivities was a Cabbage Day Parade. One key aspect of…
Going from one classroom to another, Janie Garza Reyes gives a tour of a barber school that started with a handful of chairs 30 years ago, and is now the largest school of its type in the Rio Grande Valley – and one of the largest in Texas. “We opened this school from zero,” Reyes said, referring to the longtime partnership between herself and Angie Moreno in starting and building…
A one-acre blast of fun is now part of the City of Pharr’s park system. The Victor Garcia Skate Park has been a long-awaited addition to the city and its young skateboarders. Officials say the V-shaped layout skate park gives Pharr’s recreational offerings a big boost. “This skate park was built based off of ideas put forth by our own kids and skating enthusiasts,” said Sergio Alanis, director of the…
Juan Guerrero has the mind of an engineer … analyzing, probing, figuring out a problem in using a well-honed process. “I do enjoy having projects that interest me,” said Guerrero, a retired electrical engineer with more than 20 years in the maquiladora industry for companies like Zenith and TRW. One idea that Guerrero latched on to came about when spending time with construction workers and carpenters who were building his…