Tag Archives: Harlingen

The City of Harlingen and the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation have established the Harlingen’s Emergency Loan Program (HELP) for Small Business with $1,000,000. The HEDC will provide the emergency loans at zero interest to qualified businesses. Repayment of the loans will then start a year after fund disbursement. “Our business community is so interconnected and when businesses are hurting, it impacts others as well,” says HEDC President Mickey Boland. “The decision…

Medical School Dean Predicts Early-May Peak in RGV

April 10, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Community Featured Healthcare News Comments

The dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine believes strict stay-at-home orders will likely lead to the coronavirus spread peaking in early May in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. John Krouse said models he is seeing suggest the Valley is coming up to its COVID-19 peak time. “The latest models I’m seeing coming out of the state are looking at a peak, perhaps in early May,” Krouse said during a…

50-Cent Wings Now at Wing Barn

April 7, 2020

VBR

Featured Food & Entertainment Comments

The Local Rio Grande Valley’s own Wing Barn restaurant is now offering all wings for 50 cents each until things are back to ‘normal’. This includes both bone-in and boneless. The local family restaurant most recently received accolades from Big 7 Travel one of the “Top 25 Best Places for Chicken Wings in Texas” and is also featured in the April 2020 edition of VBR. “We know things are changing and…

Harlingen Farm Grows Green Sensibilities

April 1, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Agriculture Featured News Comments

Diana Padilla describes it as seeing a piece of land and knowing it’s where she wanted to be. The Chicago native and retired federal government employee chanced upon the farmland near the corner of Rangerville and Morris roads in Harlingen and had a good feel for it. She and her husband Saul purchased a 15-acre plot, including the old farmhouse where they live, and then began farming. It was 2004…

Local Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing Begins

March 23, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Community Featured Government Healthcare News Comments

Starr County began offering drive-through coronavirus testing on Sunday while Cameron and Hidalgo counties saw their number of COVID-19 cases grow over the weekend. The first coronavirus-confirmed patient in Hidalgo County is from McAllen. The second also resides in the county, but health officials did not state in which city the patient lives. Both patients were infected away from the Rio Grande Valley before returning home and showing symptoms. Cameron…

RGV Sees First COVID-19 Case

March 20, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Community Featured Government Healthcare News Comments

The Rio Grande Valley reported its first travel-related coronavirus case Thursday evening. This comes on the same day Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the temporary closing of schools, restaurant dining areas, gyms and bars statewide. A 21-year-old man from Rancho Viejo tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to Spain and Ireland from March 5-12. He began feeling the coronavirus symptoms of fever and cough and then went to Valley Baptist Medical…

RGV Communities Limit Size Of Public Gatherings

March 18, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Featured Government Healthcare News Comments

Counties and cities across the Rio Grande Valley moved quickly on Tuesday to enact new measures to encourage social distancing and limit the number of people allowed in public places to counter the dangers and potential outbreak of the coronavirus. Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez issued a disaster declaration due to a public health emergency after conferring with leaders of the county’s 22 cities. The declaration became effective Tuesday and…

Bringing Vitality & Versatility To Downtown Harlingen

March 1, 2020

Ricardo D. Cavazos, VBR content editor

Food & Entertainment News Comments

Belle Gonzalez-Myers has a variety of talents and is confident in utilizing all of them. She is a serious baker of all sorts of pastries and cakes. Gonzalez-Myers is also handy with a hammer. “I’m not afraid to build things,” she said. Her range of skills could earn a distinction of “Jack of all trades,” but she says that label does not fit her. “I’m not a Jack,” she said. “I’m…

Valley Vets Invited to Free Appreciation Dinner

February 20, 2020

VBR

Community Events e-Brief Features Featured News Comments

Rio Grande Valley veterans will receive honors during a Rudy’s Barbeque-catered Veterans Appreciation Dinner Feb. 25. The free event is complements of senators Donna Campbell and Eddie Lucio Jr. “There is no more honorable title than to be a veteran. We want to honor and thank all veterans of the Rio Grande Valley and hope they will join us,” said Campbell. A public hearing of the Texas Senate Committee on…

Harlingen EDC Donates to TSTC Scholarships

February 13, 2020

VBR

e-Brief Features Education Giving Back News Comments

The Harlingen Economic Development Corp. recently donated $100,000 to the TSTC Foundation scholarship fund. The money will help TSTC students residing in Harlingen or HCISD who face hardships and need assistance. “Our chancellor always says, ‘Sometimes our students are one flat tire away from not graduating,’ and there’s truth in that,” said TSTC Provost Cledia Hernandez. “These scholarship opportunities will not only change their current situation, but they will also…