The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court Tuesday called for May elections that would give voters the opportunity to create two new emergency services districts in Precinct 3.   Emergency services districts are local political subdivisions and taxing entities.     The prospective new districts —District #5 and #6 — would provide emergency medical services and fire…

Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Sullivan City Councilman Ruben Villalon last Friday for allegedly selling cocaine at a tire shop he owns last year.     Villalon, 52 is charged with two felony counts of manufacture or delivery of controlled substances.   According to a probable cause affidavit, in August an Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office…

Sullivan City extinguished its current special projects attorney Monday and hired new counsel to work on special projects after some difficulty deciding whether or not to discuss that decision in front of the public.   Council didn’t ultimately do much discussion in front of the public.   The city hired Frank Garza, its former primary…

Other ESDs may increase tax cap   Hidalgo County’s eight westernmost cities considered this week whether to participate in two new taxing emergency services districts that voters might decide to create in a May election which would provide fire and ambulance service in Precinct 3.   Meanwhile, the other four existing emergency services districts that…

The city of Mission celebrated the reopening of Lions Park Thursday morning, now the city’s first all-inclusive park with innovative amenities geared toward making the park accessible to residents of all ages and abilities.   The park boasts an impressive array of accessible features, things like a splash pad, a multi-generational basketball court and a…

The McAllen school board voted last Friday to extend Superintendent Rene Gutierrez’s contract through 2028 and increase his salary by $10,000.     McAllen ISD hired Gutierrez as superintendent in 2023, agreeing to pay him a base salary of $300,000 a year with perks that added up to an additional $95,000.   A product of…

Orlando Reyna, one of La Joya ISD’s executive directors of school leadership, will resign at the end of January after a months-long suspension prompted by the district’s discovery of a fatality wreck he was involved in in 2016.     In September of that year court documents say Reyna was driving down a highway in…

At least 13 current or former La Joya Independent School District employees alleged in federal court last week that they’d been victims of adverse employment action related to politics.   The allegations outlined in the 48-page suit took place from 2021 to 2024, though the lion’s share of them center on events in 2023, when…

The Mercedes Independent School District Board of Trustees named Benjamin Clinton lone finalist for superintendent during a special meeting Saturday.     Clinton is currently the deputy superintendent at Raymondville ISD.   Before that he served in a variety of other posts as an administrator, principal, educator and coach.   “I am deeply honored to…

A new development promising to bring retail, restaurants and hotels broke ground recently on the long-derelict property on South 10th that used to be the site of the McAllen Civic Center.     In 2016 the city of McAllen closed the old Civic Center and had it demolished.   The vacated property was predicted to…