Area News

The president of a solar power company pleaded guilty Monday in the western Hidalgo County corruption case. Chirag Patel, 46, of Austin — the president of Ecolectrics, which provided the Agua Special Utility District and the La Joya Independent School District with solar panels — pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge on Monday…

A businessman who bribed a member of the Mission school board pleaded guilty Monday in the western Hidalgo County corruption case. Antonio Gonzalez III, 43, of Weslaco wanted the Mission Consolidated Independent School District to approve a contract with Performance Services Inc., an Indiana-based company that specialized in energy savings projects. Performance Services Inc. suggested…

A judge on Tuesday sentenced a local attorney to nearly four years in prison for selling court documents to drug smugglers. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa sentenced Eric Samuel Jarvis, 48, of Mission to 45 months in federal prison during a hearing on Tuesday afternoon. “I have fallen short,” Jarvis said. “And I have made…

In September 2020, a former Louisiana sheriff’s deputy named Johnny Domingue headed to Edinburg in search of easy money. Someone he met in jail had arranged for Domingue to pick up 8 kilograms of cocaine and deliver the drug shipment to Houston. When he arrived in Edinburg, however, agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Domingue.…

The city of La Joya plans to buy an ambulance and start providing EMS service. Mayor Isidro Casanova and the City Council unanimously approved the plan during a meeting Tuesday afternoon. “I think it’s time to step up and provide service for our community,” Casanova said. La Joya signed a contract with Med-Care EMS, a…

Officers arrested a physical education teacher at Enrique Camarena Elementary School again last week after two more students accused him of sexual assault. The La Joya Independent School District Police Department arrested Ricardo Garza, 38, of Mission on April 6. Garza is accused of sexually assaulting three students at Camarena Elementary, according to criminal complaints…

The Agua Special Utility District may request that former Peñitas City Manager Omar Romero, who bribed a member of the utility board, pay at least $30,000 in restitution. During a meeting last week, the utility board authorized General Manager Roberto J. Salinas to submit a formal request for restitution. First, though, the utility district must…

The La Joya Independent School District missed the deadline to hold a special election in May — and, as a result, the school board must appoint two new members by Sept. 6. During a meeting on Wednesday, attorney Jaime “Jerry” Muñoz briefed the school board on the situation created by the resignations of Place 5…

A state trooper arrested an off-duty investigator with the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force Sunday. Dario Marquez, 36, of Rio Grande City is charged with driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor. Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez, who oversees the HIDTA task force, said he plans to meet with Marquez…

With the place 7 incumbent Keith Padilla not seeking reelection for the Sharyland ISD school board, three people are vying for the coveted role of trustee — Irene Becerra Thompson, David Keith and Leonor Garcia. While each candidate has a differing professional experience, they all have children in the school district and expressed a desire…