El Paso native Michelle Franco-Mar fell in love in the aughts and moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 2009. “I married a Valley boy,” Franco-Mar said of her husband, Greg, who is from Brownsville. Once here, the former newspaper graphic artist sized up her job possibilities, and wondered, “What can I do here?” Her new husband, an accountant, advised Michelle to do something she liked and to think about…
The McAllen International Airport is looking to build out its 150,000-square-foot-plus terminal during a time when the airfield is setting all-time total traveler records on a monthly basis. In July, 114,694 passengers utilized the McAllen airport, which set an all-time monthly traveler record. The July traveler number marked an eight percent improvement over June, which at the time with 105,508 passengers represented a new monthly record. In all, for 2024,…
The “pan chiquitos,” as Albaro De La Garza calls them, started out as miniature versions of sweet bread for his then-young children. De La Garza’s kids often didn’t finish off a full-size empanada or a fluffy concha pastry. So, De La Garza and his baker at the time at the Mercedes panaderia made them smaller. The child-sized Mexican sweet bread of De La Garza Bakery and Cake Shop in Mercedes…
The Gladys Porter Zoo opened in 1971 as a gift from a foundation to the city of Brownsville. The Earl C. Sams Foundation envisioned the only zoo south of San Antonio as a place to feature endangered species and to give Brownsville a distinction of its own. The 31-acre site on Ringgold Street in central Brownsville has more than proven its worth to the city. It has become a prime…
The McAllen Police Department is looking to hire motivated individuals who desire a career in public safety and want to make a difference in their community as police officers. Individuals looking for an opportunity to earn a competitive salary with benefits and are able to perform at a professional level should apply at the City of McAllen website. Benefits include a retirement system, paid holidays, paid vacation and sick leave,…
Thanks to a new partnership, high school students from South Texas Independent School District’s Science Academy in Mercedes can now participate in a dual credit program in Welding Technology with Texas State Technical College. “The dual credit program pairs well with our hands-on approach to the engineering program of study,” said Vanessa Rivera, the school district’s career and technical education director. “We encourage our students to learn and earn stackable credentials…
The City of McAllen has hired David R. Vasquez as its new director of finance. The Rio Grande Valley native has 13 years of experience in municipal work, serving most recently as the finance director for the City of Donna. Vasquez has a broad range of expertise in finance, including both serving as a senior finance analyst for Valley Baptist Health System and an accounting supervisor for Amigos del Valle…
When friends of Weslaco resident Clarissa Magaña told her about the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, her goal suddenly seemed more viable. Acceptance into VIDA would allow her to obtain the degree she always wanted. Earning an associate degree in nursing would also be an important lesson for this single mother’s six children. Already a licensed vocational nurse, Magaña longed to return to school to become a registered nurse. …
In its 85th Annual Report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to Congress, published Aug. 28, the Port of Brownsville’s FTZ No. 62 ranked third in the nation marking a 12-year-consecutive streak the value of exports at $7 billion. For the first time, FTZ No. 62 broke through the Top 20 list for the value of imports, ranking 14th with $3.2 billion worth of commodities imported. “Our foreign trade zone is an…
McAllen International Airport set an all-time total traveler record for July in 2024 with 114,694 total passengers, an 8.7 percent increase over the previous record set in June 2024. Overall traffic in 2024 has increased 23 percent year over year, with 70 percent more flights since same time in 2023. “McAllen International Airport has set records in four of the past five years, however this year we have taken it…