The bright blue waters of the Laguna Madre can look calm and relaxing and be just the place to get away from it all. Tranquility can turn into worry – and quickly – when something goes wrong with a fishing boat. It won’t start. The boat is running low on gas or is out completely. The vessel has drifted into being grounded on the bay’s soft and shallow waters. “You…
The Gladys Porter Zoo is refreshing itself with new exhibits and property acquisitions that will meet the standards of national accreditors as the facility overhauls and redesigns its presentations. The Brownsville zoo opened in 1971 and had begun to show its age in recent years. Space restrictions were addressed in late 2024 when Brownsville city government and the zoo entered into an agreement with the local school district to acquire…
Three South Padre Island community leaders met in 2009 to advance an idea that their city could be more than a beach resort destination. Dennis Franke, Steve Hathcock and Rod Bates founded the South Padre Island Historical Foundation with the expressed goal of establishing a museum of history. The wish of having a museum featuring the history of the Island seemed like a longshot given the resources it would take…
A birdwatching industry that generates over $400 million annually for the Rio Grande Valley’s economy is about to add a new wrinkle amidst the nature enthusiasts. The Valley’s first birdwatcher lodge is set to open in late October near Mercedes in the heart of the region. The 10-acre lodge sits on farmland that once grew cabbages and is being returned to its natural state. Tamaulipan thorn forest, mesquite grasslands, and…
Growing up in Harlingen, Javier de Leon like many Rio Grande Valley youth, were warned about straying too far from the safety of a backyard. “People were afraid of the monte (brush),” said de Leon, who today is the park superintendent for the Estero Llano Grande State Park in Mercedes. “There were a lot of negative things attached to the word monte. Things that can bite you. You’re going to…
Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes admired the completed project of a neighboring colleague and knew he wanted the same for his precinct. It was 2020. The Precinct 2 commissioner, Eddie Cantu, invited Fuentes and other county and community leaders to view the finishing touches on his nearly eight-mile-long hike-and-bike trail that connects McAllen, Pharr and San Juan. “I told Eddie, ‘I’m going to figure out a way to connect to…
Joey Lopez took office in 2019 as Cameron County’s Precinct 2 commissioner. He took office with $500,000 for park development as made available from a successful 2012 bond vote. The funds, Lopez said, were just sitting there and not being utilized in his northwest county precinct. Lopez began scouting for landowners who could donate tracts of land to the county for park development. The county commissioner set his focus on…
The walk up to La Sal Del Rey gives hints of what lays ahead in glimpses of white between the thick and thorny green stands of South Texas brush. Then it opens in full view, a stunning expanse of an ancient lakebed with four million-plus tons of salt under shallow waters that reflect like mirrors to the clouds above. In dry months, the water recedes and then is completely gone.…
Alexis Wooderson takes a look up a 40-foot tower that Brownsville’s Camp RIO calls its Treehouse and begins to unpack what it can do. “It can seem like a puzzle,” said Wooderson, who manages the camp’s new ropes course that runs through the tower. “It looks like a daunting course, but once you’re up there, you can feel how secure it is.” With the help of a nearly $600,000 grant,…
The City of McAllen recently earned 49 awards, including an international designation and a coveted industry honor, at the Pinnacle Awards and the World Festival & Event City Awards during the 70th Annual International Festivals & Events Association Convention, Expo and Retreat in Palm Springs, Cali. The awards recognize the outstanding accomplishments, top-quality creative, promotional, operational and community outreach programs produced by events around the world. The professional competition drew…