Category Archives: News

The South Texas Boom Is Here

News Comments

Opportunity Zones, best practices for investment and community development, and international development were just a few of the topics discussed at the STCAR First Annual Commercial Summit on June 4 in San Antonio. Attendees were enlightened of facts, opportunities and tools to take advantage of while the Texas boom, particularly the South Texas boom, is hot. South Texas Commercial Association of REALTORS, which services 44 counties, brought together a stellar group…

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#HurricaneStrong Rio Grande Valley

News Comments
Remnant street flooding of two to three feet of water depth in south McAllen, early on June 22, 2018, after the last of the flooding rains fell. (Courtesy)

The Valley’s climate has often been jokingly referenced as consisting of two seasons: Hot and Hades. While average temperatures in the region are among the highest in the Lower 48, there is much more to the region’s climate than heat. The Valley’s proximity to the Tropics – just 160 miles south – leaves it prone to nature’s “heat engines,” hurricanes.  That same proximity to the gateway of prodigious atmospheric moisture…

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Entertainment Is the Main Event

Featured Food & Entertainment News Comments
The main attraction at Main Event is the bowling alley complete with video screens and neon lights. (VBR)

Rob Neagle was on his way to becoming a journalist before he took a job delivering pizzas. That’s when he made a discovery. “I found out that I love the hospitality industry,” he said. The delivery job while making his way through college – where he was at one time the sports editor of the University of Texas-Pan American newspaper – introduced Neagle to Pizza Hut. He would go on to…

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Rise of the Food Trucks

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Decisions, decisions, decisions! Customers debate the menu selections at the La Discada taco truck.

Although food truck parks aren’t new to some cities in the Lone Star State like Austin, the Rio Grande Valley has literally been jumping on the bandwagon of these mobile facilities that offer food and music for nearly every taste and type. RGV cities with food trucks parks include Brownsville, McAllen and now South Padre Island.  In Los Fresnos, city and economic development officials have been toying with the idea…

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Clinic Takes Insurance Out of Healthcare

Healthcare News Comments
Michael Menchaca, family nurse practitioner, runs Menchaca Family Clinic with a basis of membership and not insurance.

Michael Menchaca was less than a year into running and owning his own night clinic and navigating the maze of health insurance requirements and documentation when a thought came to him on his daily commute home from Harlingen to Weslaco. “I thought, ‘there has to be a better way,’” he recalled. “Why can’t healthcare be like gym membership?” Menchaca describes it as an “overnight” change. The young nurse practitioner went…

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Big Boots Are Filled

Manufacturing/Industrial News Retail Comments

In the mid-1990s, Carlos Rodriguez found himself back in his native Mexico. He had an industrial engineering degree in hand, but with an economy in tatters, he found no real jobs in his field. “I had no job, no car, no nothing, but a lot of enthusiasm to start a new adventure,” he recalled. Rodriguez had just returned from Canada. Here he took intensive English classes in Vancouver to bolster…

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Play in San Benito’s Southside

News Recreation & Tourism Comments
Existing park in SB, Landrum Park, is the starting point for the city to improve their park system. (Courtesy)

The San Benito residents living south of Expressway 77/83 will soon have something they have never had -– a comprehensive park. What is currently being called Southside Park is nearing completion. The six-acre project is the first phase of what is hoped to be a 12-acre park. The first half of the project will have plenty for residents to enjoy. It will include a splash pad, walking/jogging trail, two soccer…

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Collaboration Improves Community Homes

Giving Back News Non-Profit Comments
Pastor Ricky Sanderford from First United Methodist Church McAllen blesses the family’s home at the completion of the service week. (VBR)

For 38 summers, youth from churches across the state have been visiting the Rio Grande Valley to participate in Mission Service Project. MSP is a week-long service opportunity where teenagers work with adult sponsors to improve a home for someone in need. This project began at the Mission United Methodist Church in 1981. It was inspired by a trip their group had attended in the Appalachian Mountains. They went on…

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Celebrating 100 in Weslaco

Events News Recreation & Tourism Comments

Debby Rektorik has a signature saying when it comes to describing the lengthy list of activities that are celebrating her hometown’s birthday in 2019. “You’re only 100 once,” she will say. Weslaco began on Dec. 8, 1919 when the W.E. Steward Land Company invited one and all to buy property lots that were put up for sale. Prices ranged from $50 to $400 per lot. For the next two days,…

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Operation Lone Star Offers Free Health Services

Events Healthcare News Comments
Texas State Guard Lt. Col. Richard Male performs a patient screening in Mission during Operation Lone Star.

Texas State Guard Lt. Col. Richard Male performs a patient screening in Mission during last year’s Operation Lone Star.Operation Lone Star makes its return to South Texas the week of July 22 as the state oversees an emergency preparedness exercise. The event features an array of health services offered for free at six locations. Five of those locations are in the Rio Grande Valley. The sixth location is in Laredo.…

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