For the third year, the Mission Historical Museum’s annual banquet program centered around a tribute to people who have contributed personally to Mission’s history and success over the past 30 years or longer. Seven local residents were named to the museum’s “Wall of Fame” during the event held Sept. 22 at The Club at Cimarron.

The 2011 honorees were Bill Dondlinger, former Congressman Eligio “Kika” and Lucille de la Garza, Mary Guerra, Estella Salinas, and Pat and Virginia Townsend.

Read more: MHM presents ‘Wall of Fame’ honorees

EDINBURG — Ai Nhan Ngo moved from Vietnam to earn a master’s in English as a second language at the University of Texas-Pan American last month. With her degree, Ngo plans to open a business back home teaching English to the Vietnamese.

“The economic situation in Vietnam is not great, and there is a very high need to know English there, especially if you want a good job working either with the government or international business,” Ngo said.

Ngo is among hundreds of other students that come to UTPA with an academic F1 visa to study in the United States. According to UTPA’s Office of International Admissions and Services Director Pam Chapa, there are 486 foreign students attending UTPA with an F1 visa.

Read more: A foreign education

MISSION — Junior highs at in the Sharyland Independent School District are two of 26 Texas public and private schools to receive a 2011 Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education last week.

“When the person from (the Texas Education Agency) called in the spring about the nomination, they were actually excited,” said Superintendent Scott Owings this week. “If you look at that list, even the huge cities that have more than one, many of them are magnet campuses. I think that’s an extra feather in their cap that we’re regular public school campuses and have both of them in the same year, like, that is just really fantastic.”

Nationwide, SISD’s Sharyland North and B.L. Gray junior highs are two of over 300 recognized schools. The schools will be formally honored at an event in Washington, D.C. in November.

Read more: SISD junior highs receive Blue Ribbon honors

EDINBURG — Hidalgo County officials said their campaign to collect on over $30 million in overdue fines and fees in the justices of the peace department is off to a good start, collecting over $8,000 in its first few days.

Operation Clean Slate started late last week, offering individuals a chance to pay up before they’re unable to renew their vehicle registration or driver’s licenses and met by a third-party collector.

County officials said 46 people had visited their website to determine whether they had any outstanding fines due. As of Tuesday, $8,396.50 in fines had been collected.

Read more: Collection initiative collects $8K in first days

MISSION — Seniors crowded the Neuhaus Gym floor at Mission High School during a College Fair Tuesday morning asking college, university and military representatives about continuing their education. Over 1,300 students were able to walk through and visit with the representatives.

The Mission Consolidated Independent School District has made the College Fair available to seniors for over 20 years. Now with two high schools, the school district alternates which school hosts the event each year. Juniors from the hosting high school were also given the opportunity to attend. While some students may know what they want to do after high school, many more students are still trying to decide. The fair gives the students a chance to touch base with recruiters face-to-face, district officials said.

Mission High School Principal Joe Lopez said it is a great opportunity for the students to network and establish relationships with the university recruiters and admission counselors.

Read more: College excitement starts with MCISD fair

McALLEN — Former Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chairman R.D. “Bobby” Guerra last week told supporters in the newly reconfigured District 41 that they should be represented by someone who’s dedicated to the ideals of the district.

“This is not about Democrats or Republicans,” Guerra said at an event kicking off his campaign to be the Democratic candidate for the state representative seat in the 2012 election. “This is not about being in power, it’s about what’s right. It’s time to make things right.”

District 41 in the last Legislature was reworked, cutting out chunks of McAllen, formally covered by Democrat Veronica Gonzales. It’ll now be represented by Republican Aaron Peña, who previously belonged to District 40, which extended west to some of the most Democratic parts of the county. Under the new plan, District 41 represents parts or all of the cities of McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Palmhurst and Pharr.

Read more: Bobby Guerra pledges to support education, healthcare for District 41

No action on new county court

EDINBURG — The Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court on Tuesday took no action on selecting a judge for Hidalgo County Court-at-Law No. 7 after not being able to agree on a candidate last week.

But on Wednesday, commissioners said they were inclined to forgo funding for the new court this budget cycle all together, citing budget and space constraints.

“We’re shooting from the hip,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Joel Quintanilla of funding the court. “We’re not ready.”

By delaying the court’s creation and omitting its costs, which includes staffing, the county can save about $600,000 this year, Budget Officer Sergio Cruz said Wednesday.

Read more: ‘We can’t afford it’

Nomination deadline for the Mission citizen awards is 5 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 21, said Jim Brunson, publisher of the Progress Times. The awards for Mr. Mission, First Lady of Mission, Man of the Year and Woman of the Year will be presented by the Progress Times at the annual banquet of the Mission Chamber of Commerce on October 11.

Nominations may be submitted in person at the Progress Times office at 1217 N. Conway or by mail to Citizen Awards, c/o Progress Times, P.O. Box 399, Mission, Texas 78573. Nomi­nations may also be submitted by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by fax to 956-585-2304.

Read more: Citizen awards nominations close Wednesday