Category Archives: Featured

McAllen In The Top Five Safest U.S. Cities

(photo City of McAllen TX Government)

McAllen is the third ranking safest city in the country for 2023 according to SmartAsset.com’s Top 10 Safest Cities list. The financial website analyzed a core set of common safety factors to identify and rank the safest cities in America, looking at data from 200 of the largest cities. The fiver metrics taken into consideration for rankings are violent crime, property crime, vehicular mortality rate, drug poisoning mortality rate and…

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UTRGV Hosts 2023 Manufacturing Expo & Exhibition

UTRGV will host its second National Manufacturing Expo and Exhibition, Feb. 16 and 17 on the Edinburg Campus. The event is geared toward middle, high school and college students as well as teachers and parents. The College of Engineering and Computer Science will host the two-day event to promote and cultivate public interests in manufacturing innovation and STEM. The event is possible with support from two national consortia – DoD I-DREAM4D and DOE CA2REERS. Jianzhi Li,…

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McAllen To Administer Firefighter Entrance Exam

McAllen firefighter

The City of McAllen Fire Department is looking for a few good public servants with interests in becoming McAllen firefighters. “The McAllen Fire Department is a workforce of men and women dedicated to keep the residents of our community safe,” said Interim McAllen Fire Chief Juan Gloria.  “A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as…

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McAllen Airport Sees Record Passengers

(photo McAllen International Airport)

In 2022, McAllen International Airport welcomed 875,899 passengers, exceeding the prior year’s all-time high. As one of the top ten busiest airports in Texas, McAllen International Airport’s commercial airline traffic has steadily grown. In 2022, McAllen International Airport led the region with 45 percent of the RGV’s commercial air service market share. The airport’s leading market share fostered new opportunities for travelers in 2022, starting with becoming the South Texas…

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Grammy Award Winner Headlines Fiesta Edinburg

Los Tigres Del Norte

The 54th annual Fiesta Edinburg takes place March 2-5, 2023 at the Bert Ogden Arena and is expected to draw thousands of spectators to the city of Edinburg. Among its lineup of musical acts will be Grammy Award winner Los Tigres Del Norte on March 3. This will mark the return of Los Tigres Del Norte since their last show in 2018, according to Edinburg Chamber of Commerce Executive Director…

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Cameron County Parks Receive $1.5 Million

Bejarano-McFarland Memorial Park

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved more than $9.8 million in local park grants to help create and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities. Two grants totaling $1.5 million will be going to Cameron County. The Cameron County Parks and Recreation Department is the recipient of a $750,000 Non-Urban Outdoor grant for its Bejarano-McFarland Memorial Park improvements project. Proposed developments include a recirculating splash pad, trail, sidewalk and covered basketball…

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Free Tax Preparation At STC Returns

STC’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance office is now open until March 10 by appointment. (photo STC)

South Texas College’s longest-standing community events, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant program for taxpayers, returns this year after a two-year hiatus.  The program has long assisted Rio Grande Valley community residents by offering free tax preparation for those who make $60,000 or less. People with disabilities or limited English-speaking taxpayers also qualify. The STC VITA office at the Pecan campus, Building T, Room 1.702, is now open from 9 a.m.…

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Boutique Hotel Highlights PI Charm 

The Lighthouse Boutique Hotel is “coastal but subtle.” It’s a description of the Port Isabel hotel as given by one of its owners, Ana Martha Diaz. The two-story, 8,000-square-foot building sits across the street from an 1850s-era lighthouse, providing a name and sense of place for the specialty hotel. It stands on the land that was the site of a military depot built during the U.S.-Mexican War of the mid-19th…

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STC And Matamoros University Enter Partnership

South Texas College continues to expand its partnerships across the border with a new letter of intent for collaboration with the Universidad Tecnológica de Matamoros that could promote the economic development of the region. “Texas and the Valley, like the rest of the country, are facing a manpower shortage and Mexico and the border partnerships we forge may well be the solution to the continued prosperity of our region,” said…

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STC Holds Law Enforcement Suicide Prevention Training

Michael Mata trains members of the local police on counseling peers who may be suffering from mental health issues at STC's Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence. (photo STC)

  At the South Texas College Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence in Pharr recently, local police received training on becoming peers to help fellow officers who may be suffering from mental health issues that could lead to high divorce rates, paranoia, social isolation and rising suicide rates. Attendants were trained to serve as peer mentors to other law enforcement agents who download and benefit from the new Green Light…

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