With hard work, penny-pinching and a goal, Janie Garza and her friend Angie Moreno were able to open Advanced Barber College & Hair Design Inc. in Weslaco nearly 30 years ago. Success hasn’t come easily. At age 14, Garza was kicked out of school for talking back to a school secretary. “The state required that my mom put me in school. The only school that would accept me was beauty school,” Garza said. She…
Hurricane season brings an annual flurry of disaster mangement forums focused on being prepared to respond when a disaster overwhelms a community. In contrast, disaster resiliency emphasizes a proactive rather than a reactive approach to a weather-related calamity by trying to avoid or lessen the impact on humans and the built landscape. The Disaster Resiliency Symposium, organized by the FIRE (fire, insurance and real estate) students of UTPA’s College of Business Administration, addressed topics such as hazard mitigation planning, cross-border resilience, and examples of successful resilience strategies and policies. “We flood…
For years the Valley has prided itself on its bicultural food traditions: barbacoa and barbecue, pecan pie and flan. Ethnic foods remain the most durable link to our heritage and our families. Yet the Valley is becoming visibly multi-cultural as seen in the proliferation of ethnic markets catering to immigrants and visitors from Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East and South America. On McAllen’s 10th Street alone, you will find Japanese,…
Who hasn’t passed an old building and wondered what it was like in its heyday, when shop owners lived above their stores? To highlight contemporary loft living on Jackson Avenue, Downtown Harlingen Manager Cheryl LaBerge partnered with the Harlingen Board of Realtors for a Living It Up Downtown tour. Harlingen is the only Valley city developing and promoting loft living, which is popular in big city downtowns. Downtown Harlingen is a destination with family-owned restaurants,…
When you notice a car with Cazares Driving School lettered on its side, you tend to give the student drivers plenty of leeway. But the students, who range in age from 15-72 years old, are learning driving skills from a corps of skilled instructors. Jose Luis Cazares had retired from careers as an Army master sergeant and a teacher before he opened the Cazares Defensive Driving School in 2000. The next year, he asked his daughter Aida Martinez, a teacher, to…
Music, particularly live music, has the power to reach us no matter our age. A great evening out or a memorable party can be enhanced by live music. It might be a black-clad classical guitar virtuoso playing “Malaguena,” a duo singing ballads for a supper crowd, or a rock band moving feet that bopped to the same music 50 years ago. Prized for soothing the savage beast, live music can also tempt others to rock the night away or come a…
The 500,000 backyard citrus trees in the Rio Grande Valley represent the biggest problem facing the Rio Grande Valley’s citrus industry as it tackles the devastating disease known as citrus greening. The annual farm-gate value of the Valley’s citrus crop is $72 million. Associated businesses — packers, shippers, implement and crop care suppliers — bring the industry’s overall economic contribution to the region to $134 million “If we go by Florida’s experience since 2004, 100% of their citrus has been infected” with citrus greening, said…
“It’s astonishing how many places use hydrogen,” said Sergio Martinez, president/CEO of Pan American Hydrogen, Inc. The engineer said his company designs, builds and installs hydrogen generating plants worldwide for the petrochemical, automotive, stainless steel, electronics and plastics industries. They have installed plants in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. Hydrogen typically functions as a component or raw material in these industries or as a tool or utility in their processes. After 15 years at the Port of Brownsville, Pan American relocated to the Harlingen Industrial Park last year. “Three or four years ago,…
The largest naval vessel ever scheduled for dismantling in the U.S. arrived at the Port of Brownsville in February. The ex-USS Forrestal, the Navy’s first super aircraft carrier at 1,067 feet in length and 60,000 tons, was towed from Philadelphia to the All Star Metals dock on the Brownsville Ship Channel. Nik Shah, president of All Star Metals, said the 18-month process of dismantling and recycling the towering flat top is another stage in the continuing growth of the business he…
The sub-tropical RGV looks lushly green most of the year, but a new definition of green is becoming part of the landscape of palms and poincianas. The contemporary greening of the Valley encompasses environmentally sensitive practices that are becoming visible in green buildings and green walls and in the spreading use of native plants and water-wise irrigation systems. Companies involved in green construction, water conservation and ecotourism are finding opportunities for…