Michael Menchaca was less than a year into running and owning his own night clinic and navigating the maze of health insurance requirements and documentation when a thought came to him on his daily commute home from Harlingen to Weslaco. “I thought, ‘there has to be a better way,’” he recalled. “Why can’t healthcare be like gym membership?” Menchaca describes it as an “overnight” change. The young nurse practitioner went…
In the mid-1990s, Carlos Rodriguez found himself back in his native Mexico. He had an industrial engineering degree in hand, but with an economy in tatters, he found no real jobs in his field. “I had no job, no car, no nothing, but a lot of enthusiasm to start a new adventure,” he recalled. Rodriguez had just returned from Canada. Here he took intensive English classes in Vancouver to bolster…
The San Benito residents living south of Expressway 77/83 will soon have something they have never had -– a comprehensive park. What is currently being called Southside Park is nearing completion. The six-acre project is the first phase of what is hoped to be a 12-acre park. The first half of the project will have plenty for residents to enjoy. It will include a splash pad, walking/jogging trail, two soccer…
Debby Rektorik has a signature saying when it comes to describing the lengthy list of activities that are celebrating her hometown’s birthday in 2019. “You’re only 100 once,” she will say. Weslaco began on Dec. 8, 1919 when the W.E. Steward Land Company invited one and all to buy property lots that were put up for sale. Prices ranged from $50 to $400 per lot. For the next two days,…
Texas State Guard Lt. Col. Richard Male performs a patient screening in Mission during last year’s Operation Lone Star.Operation Lone Star makes its return to South Texas the week of July 22 as the state oversees an emergency preparedness exercise. The event features an array of health services offered for free at six locations. Five of those locations are in the Rio Grande Valley. The sixth location is in Laredo.…
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…