The headline atop the easel paper pad was in all caps and featured “SIGNIFICANT SIGHTINGS.” Underneath the big letters there were 23 bird species listed that had been seen across the Rio Grande Valley over the first three weeks of April. Next to that column were another 13 bird species spotted at South Padre Island. “It has been an exceptional year,” said Keith Hackland, who owns and operates the Alamo…
San Juan for years was on the periphery of the growth that came to define the McAllen-Pharr-Edinburg metro area. It was a stop of little notice when it came to business, heading east on Expressway 77/83. The feel began to change in the late aughts, around 2008, when H-E-B left Pharr to build and open one of its superstores in San Juan right along the expressway. It added a buzz…
The Weslaco Economic Development Corporation has a new executive director and its new leader comes from within the organization. Steven M. Valdez was selected as the executive director by the EDC’s board on May 19. Valdez formerly served as the EDC’s director for nearly five years. He comes into his new job with an understanding of the organization’s key functions. He also knows how it interacts with city government. Those…
The owners of Reserva Coffee Roasters began a new chapter recently when they opened their doors at the UTRGV School of Medicine’s Team-Based Learning Center in Edinburg. Owners Michelle and Danny Quiroz are two legacy UTRGV alumni. The construction planning for the Team-Based Learning Center started in 2018 and included a space for a potential café. UTRGV officials explored different service operators but settled on teaming up with a locally owned…
The Texas Association of Community Colleges, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services Inc., is launching a statewide initiative to enable access to cloud computing education courses and certifications for students in community colleges. It aims to train, reskill and certify 50,000 Texans, over the next three years, to qualify for cloud computing jobs in their local communities. This statewide program is part of the Texas Reskilling & Upskilling through Education…
Hidalgo County has launched ConsiderMe, an online vendor enrollment solution, offering an equal opportunity for all providers of goods and services to adequately fulfill the needs of county government. The new tool is a development by the county to help fulfill the need to secure qualified vendors and allows potential vendors consideration for Hidalgo County projects. Local, state and national vendors can apply by using the online registration form. The…
Texas law now lets customers and businesses safely partake in alcohol-to-go options. Temporary waivers to provide relief to businesses have been updated and made permanent due to recent action by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature. The change comes as part of House Bill 1024. The bill was recently approved by the legislature on April 28 and signed into law by Gov. Abbott on May 12. The law, which…
Health information technology enables people to work wherever they want to do their part to keep patients’ health care records organized. Beyda Ramirez, an instructor in Texas State Technical College’s Health Information Technology program in Harlingen, said graduates do more than handle billing and coding. They also maintain the accuracy of electronic medical records and work with medical facilities’ clinical documentation improvement plans. “The medical field is always updating and…
Starting June 10, Aeromar will add nonstop service from McAllen International Airport to both Guadalajara International and Puerto Vallarta International airports. The routes will fly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. “These new routes expand our connectivity from McAllen to four important destinations in Mexico: Mexico City, Monterrey, and now Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta,” said Danilo Correa, Aeromar CEO. “Our strong alliance with the City of McAllen positions us to…
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is urging members of the alcoholic beverage industry to prepare now for a month-long pause from TABC in accepting applications for new licenses or permits. The pause begins Aug. 1 and will remain in place until Sept. 1 for new primary licenses, subordinate licenses and supplemental changes. The licensing pause will affect any industry member looking to apply for an original permit, TABC Executive Director…