Area News

The Mission City Council named Andy Garcia and Juan Pablo “JP” Terrazas co-interim city managers Wednesday night following the departure of former City Manager Mike Perez earlier this month.     Leadership of the city fell to Garcia and Terrazas last month after Perez asked to be placed on administrative leave.   Both Garcia and…

The La Joya School District dropped from a B to a C in state accountability ratings, but seven campuses still achieved academic improvement. One of the district’s success stories is Camarena Elementary — the only campus at LJISD to maintain its A rating and improve the score between the last two school years. Camarena was…

After Mission City Council removed Mike Perez as city manager without explanation last week, it hoped to keep him on as a consultant, to help complete the sale of the Club at Cimarron and work on a few other projects.     This week, Perez declined to sign the proposed consultant agreement, and the council…

The Sharyland ISD Board of Trustees added a year to Superintendent Dr. Elaine Howard’s contract and included a raise that she opted to donate to the Sharyland Education Foundation. Howard’s amended contract extends to June 2028 and includes a 10% bump in pay, bringing her salary to $258,500 for the 2025-26 school year. Her original…

Sharyland ISD can once again boast an A in state accountability ratings for 2025. The Texas Education Agency recently released three years’ worth of accountability ratings following the dismissal of two lawsuits that stalled their release. The 2023 ratings became available in April, but TEA finally released the scores for 2024 and 2025 on Aug.…

Edinburg CISD this week joined a new association of school boards that hopes to unite school board trustees in deep South Texas regionally.   The South Texas School Board Association is aiming to channel the legislative concerns of deep South Texas’ school boards into a central organ that will win ears in Austin while simultaneously…

Sullivan City terminated an emergency services agreement with the city of La Joya in favor of one with the city of Palmview earlier this month.   City Manager Richard Ozuna told Sullivan City Council at its August 19 meeting that switching to Palmview would reflect a savings for the city.   “The benefit is they…

The Mission Audit Committee retraced its steps at its August 27 meeting to clarify how and when city departments will be reviewed and agreed that more in-depth inspections of the fire department, police department, utility billing and information technology (IT) still hold top priority and should begin immediately.   The committee members originally planned to…

The La Joya City Council Tuesday voted to appoint a new alternate municipal judge who says he’ll work for free and focus on the city’s night court.     Edinburg native Andrew Perez, 36, forged a career in law enforcement before becoming an assistant city manager in Edcouch.   He started a new job as…