Roel Villanueva was enthralled with fireworks as a boy growing up in Mercedes. The Mexican-style palomas were his favorites, the triangle shaped firework known for packing a punch with their concentrated amounts of gunpowder and being loud enough to trigger car alarms in neighborhoods. Villanueva was just shy of 10 years of age when he didn’t flee the scene fast enough from a paloma ready to go off. It went…
The drive from Buffalo, NY to McAllen takes approximately 28 hours. That road has led Evan Thielman on personal and professional journeys he could not have foreseen. Born and raised in Buffalo, Thielman earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. He accepted a job with a medical device manufacturer in his native state that had a manufacturing facility in Reynosa. Every few months, Thielman flew to South Texas to work…
It’s the sort of 70s-degree January day that draws Winter Texans to the Rio Grande Valley as Cathy Sutton stands on a riverside pavilion at one of the two RV parks she manages in Mission. It’s the weekly hamburger lunch day at the Chimney Park RV Resort, a Wednesday treat that features live music played by Winter Texans from area parks. Sutton calls it “coming up with ideas on what…
It was an idea whose origins came from social media. Dinah Sanchez saw on TikTok where the sweet novelty of freeze-dried candy was garnering a considerable amount of attention and viewer numbers. She was intrigued by the concept of candy in freeze dried form. How does it taste? What is its texture? A further look around revealed there was almost none of this sort of product in the Rio Grande…
It was well established in the literature that leaders who had the ability to inspire, motivate and intellectually stimulate followers saw positive organizational outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, high employee morale, lower turnover rates and more employee motivation. However, there is emerging research that suggests transformational leadership is not always the best way to lead. In fact, there are a handful of studies that found that the use of…
Ben Little describes his South Padre Island restaurant as being “a bit off the beaten path,” on the bay side a block off Padre Boulevard. Lobo Del Mar Café is on Palm Street at a spot adjacent to where the road ends before getting to the Laguna Madre. A recent visit to the restaurant on a late January weekday morning was busy, even during an off-season winter month when tourist…
Raudel Garza’s first year as executive director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has been “100 mph from day one.” Garza is hardly complaining in making that assessment with Edinburg. The city is growing at such a rapid clip, he said, and bringing with it “lots of opportunities and challenges.” For an economic development specialist, it’s a fertile field to grow jobs and recruit new industries while nurturing small businesses…
Chief Juan Gonzalez of the Pharr Police Department announced a reduction in the city’s crime rates based on the Uniform Crime Reporting system. Gonzalez recently presented statistics outlining the positive trend in crime reduction. Key statistics are: 2020 Crime Rate: 19.6 percent 2021 Crime Rate: 18.9 percent 2022 Crime Rate: 17.9 percent Gonzalez emphasized the department’s consistent success in steadily decreasing the crime rate by approximately one percent annually over…
McAllen ISD is set to welcome all 4-year-old children to Pre-Kindergarten next year. Pre-Kinder is the way to establish a foundation to a child’s education and now all children can participate at no cost. In the past, certain criteria applied for students to qualify for Pre-Kinder or parents had to pay tuition, but now, the program is free to all children who meet the age requirement. “Our world-class Pre-Kinder program…
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program returns on Jan. 29 to South Texas College to help taxpayers process their returns ahead of the filing deadline of April 15. VITA offices at STC will be at the college’s Pecan and Mid-Valley campuses. Both locations will service the community for a six-week period until March 6 (Mid-Valley) and March 7 (Pecan). The Mid-Valley campus office will be open on Mondays from 9…