After three years without one, Sullivan City hired a permanent city manager. Ana Mercado, a Sullivan City native who has been working for the city of Peñitas for over a decade, was appointed as Sullivan City’s new city manager Wednesday. Mercado starts her new position on Monday. “I’m excited to join the team, there’s a…

For the last few decades, Jaime Acevedo has made it his mission to be a public servant. The California native started his career in 1998 as director for Hidalgo County’s Urban County Program before working  for the city’s Community Development Block Grant program and becoming Mission’s planning director. “I’ve been a public servant all my…

An estimated 186 million shoppers spent a total of $24 billion during the five-day Thanksgiving shopping period, a 20 percent increase from last year. According to a Tuesday report from Newsweek, nearly 96 million of those shoppers were online only and $10.8 billion of those sales occurred during Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day…

As thousands of people succumb to the COVID-19 disease daily, people around the world were asked to remember those lost in a global pandemic that started 40 years ago and continues to collect victims. Tuesday marked the 32nd anniversary of World AIDS Day, which was founded to commemorate the 35 million people around the world…

As the total number of new positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise, local health officials are also monitoring the amount of people hospitalized in area hospitals with complications from the disease. On Wednesday, the county reported 607 new cases of the disease, 328 of which were results from tests made within 14 days while the…

A chance for the public to enjoy food from their favorite restaurants in an outdoor setting is providing a second home for a handful of restaurants. Last month, the Mission Economic Development Corporation unveiled the Mission Food Park where a handful of food trucks are parked to serve the public right outside the Mission Center…

For seven months, business owner Homer Garza was struggling to make ends meet. Garza, owner of the Mission movie rental place Movie Night, was one of the many local business owners who made the difficult decision to shutter their business at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic making its way into the Valley last spring.…

Thanksgiving looked a lot different this year. Following recommendations from health experts, many practiced social distancing during the holidays to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by celebrating the holiday with less people. This adjustment is one that even local leaders went through based on conversations with the mayors of the city of Alton, La Joya,…

After years of rumors and false starts, the city of La Joya officially commemorated IDEA Public Schools opening a campus in the city. On Wednesday, the charter school system hosted a groundbreaking for a location in La Joya, their newest campus and the second one in western Hidalgo County. “For years we’ve heard that IDEA…

A new administration next January would mean big changes to the Valley, and the rest of the country. That was the message U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar touted last week as he visited multiple areas in his district as part of a “Thank You” tour to celebrate his 58.3% victory during the November 2020 general election…