A former Santa Maria school board trustee pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges on Tuesday. Oscar Saldivar Jr., 56, of Weslaco appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker by videoconference on Tuesday afternoon. Wearing an orange jail uniform, Saldivar said he understood the charges and wanted to plead not guilty. “His only…

Faced with a slow, steady decline in enrollment, the La Joya Independent School District plans to close two campuses and eliminate nearly 140 jobs when the school year ends. La Joya ISD plans to shut down Leo J. Leo Elementary School in Palmview and Rosendo Benavides Elementary School in Sullivan City. The district also plans…

The city of McAllen may spend $21 million to expand City Hall. During a meeting on Monday afternoon, the City Commission voted to budget $21 million for the project. “Traditionally, for an expansion of this magnitude — for a project like this — we would borrow money,” said City Manager Roy Rodriguez. “Except that, in…

A former police corporal who sued the city of Palmview for “unlawful gender/sex discrimination” received a $33,000 settlement in November. Palmview settled with police Cpl. Jorge Padron in November but admitted no wrongdoing. “Mr. Padron will always appreciate the opportunity to serve and protect the residents of Palmview,” his attorney, Mauro F. Ruiz of McAllen,…

When the Mission Police Department started investigating whether or not a teacher at IDEA Mission had sex with a student, the teacher asked the student to “delete all the messages and pictures between them,” according to an affidavit filed with the Mission Municipal Court. The affidavit, which a police investigator filed on Jan. 18, reveals…

The city of McAllen and Med-Care EMS parted ways Monday after the privately owned ambulance company demanded a $4.8 million annual subsidy to maintain the current level of service — and the City Commission refused to pay. During a meeting on Monday afternoon, the City Commission voted to accept a termination letter from Med-Care EMS.…

The city of Pharr sued the Texas Attorney General’s Office last week to keep a sexual harassment complaint against Deputy City Manager Edward M. Wylie secret. When they filed the lawsuit, however, attorneys for the city inadvertently made the sexual harassment complaint public. The complaint revealed that Wylie was accused of sexual harassment in September…

A former state trooper accused of assisting his father’s drug trafficking organization plans to plead guilty. Attorneys made the announcement Tuesday morning, when former state Trooper Pablo Talavera Jr., 35, of Pharr appeared before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez for a pre-trial hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesse Salazar said Talavera planned to plead guilty. Attorney…

The Agua Special Utility District agreed Wednesday to take a fraud case against Performance Services Inc., the company at the center of a major corruption case in western Hidalgo County, to arbitration. Agua SUD filed a lawsuit against Performance Services Inc. last year, which demanded more than $1 million in damages. Performances Services Inc. denied…

A former Border Patrol agent who shepherded cocaine shipments through the Falfurrias checkpoint was sentenced to about 10 years in prison Friday. Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Oberlin Cortez Peña Jr., 23, of La Joya to 121 months — about 10 years — in prison during a hearing on Friday morning. “I know…