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…
A commercial lane expansion at the Pharr International Bridge is nearing completion and full operational status as the 3.2-mile span dramatically increases its trade capacity. “We are going to have 100 percent more capacity,” said Luis Bazan, the bridge’s director, in a Mexico Business News article. “Four new lanes will allow us to significantly improve wait times, but the objective is no longer just to reduce them, but to eliminate…
McAllen Honors Clark Chevrolet Clark Chevrolet’s contributions to the city of McAllen were highlighted recently when the auto dealership was recognized as a SHINES Champion. McAllen SHINES is a community-wide civic pride and environmental initiative that focuses on promoting cleanliness, respect and responsibility among residents, businesses, and visitors. Among its key focus areas are honoring local businesses for their beautification efforts through mural creations and a commitment to keeping the…
The Port Isabel Lighthouse is more than a nearly 175-year-old landmark that once guided ships safely through the Gulf of Mexico and past the dangerous shoals near the Rio Grande. It shone a bright beacon that was visible for up to 16 miles in preventing shipwrecks and also acted as a strategic observation post for both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. Today, the historic lighthouse still stands…
Saronic Technologies will begin construction later this year of a $3.2 billion next-generation shipyard at the Port of Brownsville. The 835-acre facility – which is to be named Port Alpha – will build autonomous maritime vessels and is expected to create up to 10,000 direct jobs over the next 10 years. The shipyard site in Brownsville has the potential to expand to 4,400 acres as it ramps up the manufacturing…
Ricky Hernandez was the neighborhood kid who never left Joe Henry Castillo’s side for over 30 years. “He treated me like his son,” said Hernandez, the manager of Joe’s Oyster Bar & Gulf Seafood Market in Port Isabel. “Yes, I was an employee, but he shared everything he knew with me. I was with him 13 or 14 hours a day.” Hernandez so absorbed Castillo’s life lessons and ways of…
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…
The outdoor college graduations that became hallmarks of community life in Brownsville ended abruptly in late 2024. Brownsville Mayor John Cowen was not pleased when learning that UTRGV was moving all graduation ceremonies – including those of its Brownsville-based students – to Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg. What made it worse for the mayor was that he first heard of the move as “a rumor prior to the official announcement,”…
John Cortino was in the construction business in the Rio Grande Valley of the 1960s when he got home from work one day and made an announcement to his wife Mary. “We’re going to build a restaurant next door,” he said. It was 1966 and the Cortinos were living on Highway 83 in Mercedes with the Weslaco of that era miles away. The highway was the Rio Grande Valley’s regional…
Harlingen has been named by the National Civic League as an All-America City for its efforts in civic engagement and inclusiveness in solving local problems. For Harlingen, it is the second time the city has received the All-America honor, with its first designation being in 1992. Seven other cities in the Rio Grande Valley have received the honor since the 1960s, and they are Brownsville, Edinburg, Hidalgo, McAllen, Mission, Pharr…