Area News
Palmhurst to hold special mayoral election
This article originally ran in the May 13 issue of the Progress Times. With Mayor Ramiro Rodriguez Jr. winning the election, posthumously, the city now has to hold a special election to determine who will become the new leader of Palmhurst. A special election is like a reset, nullifying the original election. Within 120 days…
Read MoreMission CISD incumbents sweep election
Veronica “Betty” Mendoza, Hermina “Minnie” Rodgers and Petra Ramirez will retain their positions on the Mission CISD board of trustees. The three women earned more than 50 percent of the votes in each of their races. Mendoza, who earned 3,109 votes, went up against Amanda Salinas O’Caña, who earned 1,850, according to the unofficial results…
Read MoreFormer coach wins election, incumbents remain on Sharyland board
David Keith defeated Irene Becerra Thompson by 15 votes in the race for place 7 on the Sharyland ISD board of trustees. According to the unofficial results on the Hidalgo County website, Keith earned 1,266 votes (37.19 percent), Thompson earned 1,251 votes (36.75 percent) and Leonor Garcia earned 877 votes (26.06 percent). Even though Keith…
Read MoreMission canvasses election results, prepares for runoff elections
Mission welcomed former City Attorney Abiel Flores back to City Hall on Monday. Flores, though, didn’t show up to dispense legal advice. Voters had elected him to serve on the City Council he once advised. “It’s time to get to work,” said Flores, 41, of Mission. “And I’m ready to work.” Flores advised the…
Read MoreFormer mayor who defrauded La Joya will pay just $22,000 in restitution
A judge reduced the amount of restitution that former Mayor Fito Salinas must pay to La Joya from nearly $321,000 to just $22,000 on Monday. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane reduced the restitution amount during a brief hearing Monday morning. “If I made a mistake, I want to correct it,” Crane said. Jose A. “Fito”…
Read MoreMission CISD chooses contractor for turf projects
This article originally ran in the May 6 issue of the Progress Times At the April board of trustees meeting, the school board finalized a contract with Hellas Construction for the baseball and softball field turf projects. The board approved the contract for $3,852,000 for synthetic turf on all four fields and their bullpens. Hellas…
Read MoreIn the wake of corruption scandal, La Joya ISD adopts strict new policies
The La Joya Independent School District approved new policies Wednesday designed to prevent businesses from improperly influencing members of the school board. Under the new policies, businesses are prohibited from contacting members of the school board with unsolicited proposals. Members of the school board, meanwhile, must notify the superintendent about conversations with people who do…
Read MoreFaced with slower growth, Amazon abandons Peñitas project
Amazon recently abandoned plans to build a massive, multi-story warehouse in Peñitas. The company had planned to build the warehouse — what Amazon calls a “fulfillment center” — near the intersection of U.S. 83 and North 23rd Street. Amazon, though, apparently killed the project after concluding it already had enough warehouse capacity. “Basically what we’re…
Read MorePolitiquero arrested on federal bribery charges, Edinburg public officials implicated
A federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday implicated two members of the Edinburg City Council in a bribery scheme. The indictment charged local politiquero Miguel Angel Garza, 51, of Edinburg with one count of bribery and one count of violating the federal Travel Act by using a phone to carry out the bribery scheme. Along with…
Read MoreVisitor side construction underway at Tom Landry
After running into issues with the repairs at Tom Landry Hall of Fame Stadium, which delayed the project for months, Mission CISD leaders and the board of trustees decided to split the repairs into two projects. G&G Construction would continue work on the home side while the district put the visitor side out to bid…
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