Omar Juarez started boxing at age 8 under a father’s watchful eye at gyms in Brownsville. Rudy Juarez was an amateur boxer as a youth in Matamoros before family responsibilities obligated him to work and give up the sport. The elder Juarez wanted something different for Omar. Rudy then began taking young Omar to tournaments and other boxing-related activities where the youngster could sharpen his skills. Some of those treks…
A tour of the Clever Foods & Supplements operating facility shows shiny white floors and gleaming silver equipment that’s intertwined and can churn out over 30 million vitamin gummies a month. The Clever facility is a new addition to the Mid Valley Industrial Park in Weslaco. Three executives with deep experience in manufacturing and sales are its owners and operators. They see the Mid-Valley city as an ideal location to…
The overcast summer morning was putting Malia Quinn’s artistic assessment of South Padre Island to the test. Gray skies had moved over from the Gulf of Mexico to replace the usual August Island sunshine. Even then, the shades of coastal grays validated Quinn’s belief in the Island. “There’s something special about the lighting here,” the artist said looking out the windows of her gallery on Padre Boulevard. “I don’t know…
Javier Villalobos set out clear priorities when elected McAllen’s new mayor in mid-2021. “Water, sewer, public safety and the police department,” he said, recalling some of the key issues of his campaign. What Villalobos didn’t figure is that education would emerge early on as a pressing issue in his tenure. More than 20,000 students in the McAllen school district were suddenly put into remote learning situations. Public health concerns in…
Shortage of employees? Juggling skeleton crews’ vacation schedules? Searching for qualified team members? Everyone is dealing with staffing concerns. Most companies, big and small, are experiencing the same challenges. These are unprecedented times of organizations and businesses not being fully staffed add to ownership and management stress. Seeking to fill position vacancies, interviewing, hiring and training can raise the blood pressure. These challenges became universal issues about 18 months ago,…
Lou Ann Sarachene was already well-versed on David’s Law. It was passed by the Texas legislature in 2017 to strengthen the penalties for cyberbullying while teaching ways to combat all forms of bullying. Sarachene reached out earlier this year to Maurine Molak, the co-founder (along with husband Matt and sons Cliff and Chris) of David’s Legacy Foundation. Sarachene is the former principal of Ruben Hinojosa Elementary School in Sharyland. She…
Elon Musk and SpaceX recently declared they were “one step closer to the first orbital flight test of Starship.” The reference was to the nearly 400-foot-tall rocket that’s perched at Starbase on Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville. The Federal Aviation Administration announced in June after a two year-study that SpaceX could expand its footprint on Boca Chica. The FAA, however, did not grant a rocket launch license. It cited 75…
The headlines and buzz in recent years when it comes to higher education has been focused on the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and South Texas College. In Brownsville, the oldest college in the Valley has been quietly and steadily building momentum of its own. Texas Southmost College was established in 1926. Some of its programs and offices are based out of historic Fort Brown buildings that date back…
The City of McAllen recently earned 82 multiple awards, as well as an international designation and a coveted industry award, at the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Awards and the IFEA World Festival & Event City Awards. The accolades came during the 65th annual International Festival & Events Association Annual Convention, Expo and Retreat, held just recently in McAllen. “I am proud and honored of the amazing work that the…
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will develop a McAllen Academic Medical Campus and its first piece is a major one. The university is planning an Oct. 14 groundbreaking, commemorating the start of construction for a $145.7 million UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center in McAllen. It is being described as the single largest project in UTRGV’s history. The campus and its signature building will sit on Pecan…