Area News

  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…

This article appeared in the Nov. 19 issue of the Progress Times.   The Agua Special Utility District plans to adopt a nearly $11.5 million budget in December that absorbs higher operating costs without increasing water and sewer rates. General Manager Roberto J. Salinas and the utility board discussed the proposed budget during a workshop…

Following an incident in which a high school student brought a gun to campus, Mission CISD is administering district-wide changes to ensure student and staff safety. On Nov. 1, Mission police arrested a Mission High School student after discovering a firearm in his backpack. The weapon was loaded, but the student did not use it…

Sharyland ISD suspended a 5-year-old boy at Martinez Elementary for having long hair, and now the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is fighting on his behalf. On Nov. 11, the ACLU filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights citing gender and religious discrimination. For about a month, the…

Before he pleaded guilty to bribery and bankruptcy fraud charges, former Peñitas City Manager Omar Romero sent a cryptic message to members of the Texas City Management Association. Romero, who had just become the president of the South Texas region, said he needed to resign. “I know in the coming days and weeks that there…