Hidalgo County will soon have a Human Trafficking Unit created by Criminal District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez Jr. The unit will address forced labor in the agricultural sector, being the first of its kind in the United States. The unit is possible due to funding via a Buffett-McCain Institute Initiative to Combat Modern Slavery grant of $356,783. “In forced labor, workers are often tied to the employers who hold them hostage to the job…
Five businesses in small and rural communities in Hidalgo County are the recent recipients of funding to consequently spur prosperity in their respective communities. The funding comes from Hidalgo County’s first-ever Small Town Economic Development program with grants totaling $100,000. More than 40 businesses applied to the program with 21 chosen to participate. Businesses receiving $20,000 grants are Reybotics, Green Thumb Nursery, Cappadona Ranch, Ashley Nicole Boutique and Hernandez Barns. “This economic…
Looking out over drought-parched ranchlands in 2012, Victoria Cappadona noticed one native type of vegetation holding forth, keeping its green amidst the dryness. It was the mesquite, the indestructible and ubiquitous South Texas tree with its golden string of bean pods hanging down like ribbons. Cappadona, a McAllen native now living in the Linn-San Manuel ranch country of northern Hidalgo County, remarked to her father-in-law about the tenacity of the…