The Rio Grande Valley is facing the double whammy with the 2020 hurricane season and the continuing pandemic as the region heads into the fall months. Area residents shouldn’t let their guard down to other factors that could impact their lives. Bee swarms are an example of that. These flying insects can appear unexpectedly either ganged up on the limb of one’s favorite backyard tree. They can be crawling up and down,…
Juan Rosales started out small, buying used books, figurines and old music albums. He called it “Just Trying To Make A Buck” back then in 2012, declining his wife’s suggestion of “Juan’s Junk” for his nascent surplus business. “I bought a few Just Trying To Make A Buck things and I got hooked,” said Rosales, a retired manager of the cigarette distribution business. He then began attending government and school auctions. His…
The front lines of hospitals and nursing homes are under severe duress – and help isn’t coming just from universities and nursing schools. Employers are in need of nurse assistants, medical assistants and phlebotomists in caring for surging numbers of patients. Career schools with licenses from the Texas Workforce Commission are training and educating these essential workers. Schools such as Careers Unlimited and South Texas Training Center are working to…
The MS community in the Rio Grande Valley is abuzz with the news of a new doctor in town. Multiple sclerosis is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. It causes the immune system to attack the myelin, or protective sheath, around nerve fibers. This makes it difficult for the brain to properly communicate with the rest of the body. As nerves…
Hometown pharmacies in Mercedes mean featuring orange-and-white themes and a community’s love for high school football. At Mid-Valley Pharmacy, a Mercedes Tiger football helmet sits up high on a main counter. Around the corner at Coach’s Pharmacy on Texas Avenue, the pharmacist is a former football coach. He also wears something orange to work every day. The down-home connections are especially pertinent these days. Customers throughout the Mid-Valley depend on…
Texas wineries and distilleries are facing a crisis. As Texas continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, tasting rooms at hundreds of wineries and distilleries remain closed. This limits consumer access, negatively affects sales, impacts jobs and reduces tax revenue for local and state governments. Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order closing bars had the consequence of forcing Texas winery and distillery tasting rooms to close. Industry leaders recently announced the launch…
Karla Ugarte and Juan Palma were coming off nine solid months of new business success when they reached for more in opening their second Keto Sweets & Treats. The husband-and-wife team were building from solid ground with the customer and revenue gains from their Alamo bakery along Expressway 77/83. Moving into the bigger McAllen market with a location near the always busy intersection of 10th Street and Trenton Road was…
UTRGV will offer a new Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity starting Sept. 1. The program will teach students about information assurance, network and computer security, digital forensics, operating systems security and more. Students in the 120-hour program will study the security aspects of computing and cyberspace. This is central to the rapidly expanding security concerns in an ever-changing technological world. The program requires 50 advanced hours of instruction for core,…
The third – and largest – of South Padre Island’s Sea Turtle Art Trail turtles has “hatched” at Beach Park on South Padre Island. Painted by mother and daughter artists Beth and Chelsea Fedigan, the enormous turtle is near the entrance of Beach Park Water Park. The 11-foot-tall sea turtle depicts the beauty of living on the island. The Fedigans have spent months on the design depicting sea life, palm…
The City of Pharr held its annually Pharr First Responders Festival last weekend. Originally planned as a traditional festival, this year’s event became a drive-thru. During the successful event, the city and first responders gave away 2,000 bags of school supplies to the community. “It was wonderful to witness our city departments, first responders and employees join together to help our community,” said Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez. “These past few months…