A judge heard arguments Monday on whether or not a controversial deal between the city of Mission and Performance Services Inc. created an illegal debt. The hour-long hearing, though, didn’t end with a decision. Before making a decision on the debt, state District Judge Noe Gonzalez must decide if the lawsuit was filed in a…

Concerned that heavy trucks are damaging city streets, Sullivan City plans to restrict tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles to major roads. During a meeting on Monday, the Sullivan City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would ban trucks that weigh more than 10,000 pounds from residential streets. Sullivan City, however, may allow…

  Former La Joya Mayor Jose A. “Fito” Salinas will spend the holidays at home after a judge delayed his sentencing hearing until January. Fito Salinas, 83, of La Joya — who dominated local politics for nearly a decade — confessed to participating in a kickback scheme that involved his daughter, Frances Salinas, and her…

  The Palmhurst City Council wants a self-styled “animal rescue” organization to stop operating from a house on Stewart Road. Members of the Franklin All Animal Rescue Team — an organization managed by Maria “Marisa” Wade, 49, of Palmhurst and Jesus Meave, 61, of Palmhurst — keep dozens of dogs in homemade kennels near the…

  Two federal agents showed up at La Joya City Hall last month with questions about Associate Municipal Judge Alex Cantu. The agents — one from the FBI and one from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General — met with Interim City Manager Leo Olivares on Oct. 28. They had questions about…

IDEA Public Schools had a pilot on the payroll in 2019 and 2020. The pilot — Flyder DeCastro, 49, of McAllen — worked for IPS Enterprises, a nonprofit organization created and controlled by IDEA. “Mr. DeCastro was employed from June 2019 until March 2020 by IPS Enterprises, Inc., the nonprofit entity that supports the establishment…

Former McAllen City Manager Mike Perez is advising the Peñitas Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone on a major project. The Peñitas TIRZ hired Perez — who previously worked in McAllen, Hidalgo and Weslaco — to handle a major project that may create thousands of jobs and pay millions in property taxes. “I think it’s a project…

  Louis Vuitton purses. Chanel perfume. Ray-Ban sunglasses. They’re sold at flea markets across the Rio Grande Valley — and they’re almost always fake. While knockoffs may seem harmless, they hurt legitimate businesses and pose a threat to public health, said Maria Michel-Manzo, the assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in McAllen.…

  The kickback scheme apparently started with a text message. “I’m with my Dad,” Frances Salinas wrote to her friend Sylvia Garces Valdez on June 1, 2018. “I have a proposition for you.” Three years after that fateful message, Frances Salinas and her father, former La Joya Mayor Jose A. “Fito” Salinas, are scheduled for…

This article appeared in the Nov. 19 issue of the Progress Times.   A judge on Tuesday denied Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina’s request to disqualify the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office from handling the voter fraud case against him. Attorney Carlos A. Garcia of Mission, who represents Molina, argued that Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo…