Luis Saldana was coming to the end of a three decades-long career with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service when a job offer came along involving the leadership of a historic organization in his hometown. Saldana’s fellow board members of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show approached him in early 2023 with the possibility of the general manager leadership post. Saldana grew up the son of an agricultural education instructor…
Abraham Feliz travels all over the world monthly as a UPS cargo pilot flying 747 jets. McAllen is Feliz’s home base where he lives with his wife, Valerie, and their two young children. Feliz flies out the midpoint of every month from his home city on a UPS plane or a commercial jet to Louisville. From that Kentucky city, Feliz will help pilot UPS jets to Hawaii, then to Australia…
The roughly 100,000 Winter Texans in the Rio Grande Valley do more than enjoy each other’s company at social events and spend their dollars at local restaurants and stores. They also give back to Valley communities. Winter Texans do so through their volunteerism benefitting hospitals, schools and nonprofit organizations. Many provide financial donations as well in supporting a wide variety of worthwhile efforts and projects in the RGV. Kristi Collier…
The 150,000 visitors who streamed into the Holiday Village Brownsville to celebrate the Christmas season meant more than enjoying the merriment of December. It reaffirmed again just how far the renovation of Dean Porter Park has come over the last two decades and the rise of the Mitte Cultural District in Brownsville. The park and district are intertwined in being located next to each other. The whole area where Ringgold…
The roughly 300 irrigation pipes found by roadsides and canals throughout McAllen predate the city’s rapid growth and industrialization of recent decades. McAllen’s founding (like the rest of the Rio Grande Valley) has its roots in agriculture. The network of pipes played a key role in controlling and directing the flow of river water to area farmland. Much of the latter are no longer there but the pipes remain. They…
The City of Mission comes into a new year with expectations of having commercial trucks crossing a nearby international bridge by the end of 2024. The Anzalduas International Bridge is located just south of Mission. It is going through a revamping as the necessary facilities are constructed that will allow for the inspection and processing of commercial truck traffic. When completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, the city’s economic…
Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement has received a $60,000 grant from Methodist Healthcare Ministries. This contribution will allow VIDA to expand its impact and continue its essential efforts in advancing career training opportunities for allied health professionals. The grant acknowledges the pivotal role of community organizations in driving positive transformation, addressing influential factors impacting health such as socio-economic challenges, and fostering avenues for economic advancement. “We are immensely grateful…
The International Museum of Art & Science is partnering with the UTRGV Community Historical Archeology Project with Schools to host its traveling exhibition “Ancient Landscapes of South Texas: Hiding in Plain Sight” beginning Jan. 6. The exhibition explores 50 million years of geological history and 15,000 years of cultural history in South Texas. Residents and visitors of the Rio Grande Valley may step over millions of years of history that…
Before assuming her new role as director of the newly created International Relations department for the City of McAllen, Daniella Plata served as the international business manager for the McAllen International Airport, where she was recognized by Airport Business Magazine as a Top 40 Under 40. Plata was chosen from among hundreds of nominations from across North America, with four other winners from Texas and throughout the United States and…
Texas State Parks is inviting citizens to kick off resolutions to explore the outdoors in 2024 with a First Day Hike at a state park. Various parks will host ranger-guided and self-guided walks, bike rides, paddling trips and polar plunges in honor of the national initiative aimed at getting people outdoors. Last year, nearly 8,000 participants shattered the previous attendance record New Year’s Day by ringing in Texas State Parks’…