When 18-year-old Priscilla Cavazos walked through the doors of Fred Loya Insurance in 2003 to begin her new job, little did she know that 18 years later, she would walk into another insurance office every day. This office is in Edinburg and bears her name – Priscilla Cavazos Insurance Agency. At the time, Cavazos also did not realize the role that first insurance job would play in shaping her future.…
Miguel Lozano holds a tiny wooden box with a mesh top and points to what’s crawling underneath it. There’s a queen bee in there of European origin. It’s an important distinction, he said, because when she’s put in a hive, this queen will center a cluster of bees with Africanized roots, the ones dubbed “killer bees.” “She will calm the box,” Lozano said, looking out toward several hives in boxes…
There’s a little patch of green on Texas Boulevard in downtown Weslaco. The morning sun lights up a beautiful courtyard that’s lush and green with oak trees and a small playhouse with hanging plants. It’s the sort of place of calm and reflection that Yvonne Reyes seeks in bringing her patients for therapy. Reyes, an occupational therapist, works to improve the focus, motor skills and sensory perceptions of her patients.…
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,…
Cynthia Duran is gearing up to start another school year – in whatever form that may take – but she’s always teaching. The Weslaco school district art educator has navigated through an interesting summer at her Busy Bristles Art Studio. The downtown Weslaco business also had its COVID-19 ups and downs. The enthusiasm for art never waned. The interest of children and adults to get before a canvas again ran…
Adam Shidler stayed busy in the two weeks his Weslaco business was closed. Government-mandated shutdowns due to COVID-19 kept his downtown coffee shop temporarily shuttered. Shidler used the time to do maintenance and upkeep at Weslaco’s Daily Grind. Working in his shop, customers would see him inside and knock on windows and wave hellos. Weslaco’s Daily Grind’s customers missed their coffee shop – and the feelings were mutual. “Our friends…
Shopping or dining Harlingen local businesses may pay off for some customers. The Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the “Shop Local” Lucky Draw contest the entire month of May. Each week, the Harlingen Chamber will hold a drawing and give away a $50 give card from a Harlingen business. To enter the weekly drawing, customers need to make a purchase at a participating business. Then they must write…
Rio Grande Valley businesses, like those around the country, are dealing with disruptions and an upheaval in a way of life unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes. Here’s a look at how three RGV businesses prepared for what they knew was coming and how they are doing in adapting to a new normal. Menchaca Family Clinic Michael Menchaca didn’t wait for any official announcements for Menchaca Family Clinic. The family…
Robert Treviño winds his city-issued truck through 20-foot-plus high piles of brush – grinded and raw – at the McAllen Composting Facility. The city’s renewable resource manager oversees a facility that annually sells 25,000 bags of compost and mulch, and also hauls and delivers products all over South Texas. It’s a valuable commodity among growers and gardeners for the nutrients and microbial activity it provides to soils for plant use…
The new place still feels like the old place. That’s the vibe Rodney McClanahan was going for when he transplanted his Hardknox Strength & Performance Club across town in Brownsville. It looks like he succeeded. The new 10,000-square-foot facility just off Pablo Kisel Blvd. near Sunrise Mall is over twice the size of the old club on the Military Highway in the west Brownsville neighborhoods where McClanahan grew up. The…