The UT Health RGV/Knapp Family Health Center in Mercedes sits across the street from a high school for medical professions. For Dr. Miguel Tello, the proximity of the health center he oversees to the South Texas ISD High School of Medical Professions is more than symbolic. It points to the range of possibilities now available to Rio Grande Valley youth. “The whole cycle” is how Tello puts it in noting…
South Texas College is offering a new pilot program to match the needs of low-income students with the ongoing demand for skilled first responders. The program will target 80 low-income students as well as existing firefighters and first responders. The goal is for participants to complete or re-certify their first responder certification. With a grant from AT&T, the pilot program will cover all costs associated with the first responder certification.…
Two new mobile harbor cranes arrived Jan. 16 at the Port of Brownsville. The Brownsville Navigation District ordered the Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 mobile harbor cranes in June 2019 to increase the port’s on-dock lifting capacity due to higher demands of cargo volumes. “These cranes are one of the latest investments by the Port of Brownsville to meet the needs of our port tenants and growing list of clients,” said…
Workforce Training and Continuing Education at Texas State Technical College is introducing a new course that will help both the region and state fill a need for endorsed bus drivers. As early as next month, the School Bus Driver Endorsement course will begin and is already enrolling students. “We’ve been working on bringing this program to life for a little over a year, and we’re excited to finally launch it,”…
Aime Bautista was a single mother of an 8-year-old daughter, working as a sales associate and earning $8.25 per hour. A lifelong resident of Mercedes who was raised by her grandparents, Bautista and her daughter were living with her grandmother. In the summer of 2019, Bautista gave birth to another daughter and no longer had a job. A student in the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement told Bautista about…
Hidalgo County will hold a surplus auction by AMT Auctions at the Precinct 3 Citizen Waste Collection Site Jan. 15. The auction will include vehicles, trucks, tractors, backhoes and construction equipment. This event is open to the general public. Interested buyers can pre-register and view items on Jan. 24, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and then Jan. 25 from 8-10 a.m. on site at 8116 N. Los Ebanos Road in Mission.…
Research by two UTRGV professors is monitoring the critical honeybee population in South Texas via tiny cameras placed on their hives. The research by Dongchul Kim and Joanne Rampersad-Ammons is receiving funding from a federal research grant from the USDA. Kim is an assistant professor of computer science and principal investigator on the project. Rampersad-Ammons is co-PI and professor in the School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences. “Applying Computer Vision…
The 2020 Census brings jobs and on Jan. 10, the public was able to learn more about them and apply in person thanks to the City of Pharr. The Census 2020 Job Fair was open to the public with computers onsite for job applications. Available jobs are temporary and end when the Census 2020 is complete. However, positions offer individuals the opportunity to be a part of their community while earning…
Hidalgo County will hold a surplus auction by AMT Auctions at Palmer Pavilion (301 E. Hackberry Ave., McAllen) on Jan. 18. The auction will include the sale of office furniture, computers, IT equipment, security cameras and office chairs. Also on auction are filing cabinets, commercial washers and dryers, printers, IP phones and more. Items will sell by the pallet load. Interested buyers can pre-register and view items on Jan. 17…
The Los Fresnos Volunteer Fire Department made history this week by donating thousands of dollars in equipment to their counterparts from Matamoros, Mexico. Representatives of the two departments met Thursday night in the year-old LFFD/Emergency Medical Services. Here, all witnessed the generosity from a department that has 35 volunteer firefighters. Chief Gene Daniels estimated the equipment at some $40,000. It includes a brush truck, the jaws of life, boots, tanks…