Area News

The city of Mission approved the 2019-2020 budget during this week’s city council meeting after several workshops in the last few months. City Manager Randy Perez presented the total budget along with the specific amounts being allocated to different funds overseen by the city. The total budget for the next fiscal year is $118,238,499. The…

Hidalgo County Precinct 3 Constable Larry Gallardo plans to run for a sixth term in March, when he’ll face a challenger for the first time since 2004. Gallardo will run for re-election against La Joya police Officer Miguel Flores in the Democratic Party primary. “It’ll be my sixth term,” Gallardo said. “And, possibly, my final…

While rain is usually seen as a cause for delay in most construction projects, engineering students at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley viewed last week’s rains as the opposite of that. In a partnership between the city of Palmhurst’s stormwater department and UTRGV students, the city will build a bio-retention pond as part of…

When school started on Aug. 19, teachers in western Hidalgo County had slightly fewer students than last year. The Sharyland school district had 287 fewer students. The Mission school district had 360 fewer students. And the La Joya school district had 247 fewer students. When she briefed the La Joya school board last month, Superintendent…

The Mission Consolidated Independent School District approved the 2019-2020 school tax rate, and it’s going down by 10 cents. Following the passing of House Bill 3 by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, the district is lowering the maintenance and operations (M&O) part of the school tax rate. The I&S (interest and sinking) part of…

Editor’s note: On Sept. 12, 2019 — after this news article was written but before the print issue of the Progress Times appeared on newsstands — the drunken driving case against Palmview Mayor Rick Villarreal was filed in Hidalgo County Court at Law #7. Nearly a year after his arrest, the drunken driving charge against…

7th and 8th grade students at De Zavala Middle School took Wednesday morning to memorialize 9/11, even though they weren’t born when the Twin Towers collapsed. 18 years after the tragic event that sent shockwaves throughout the country, campuses in the La Joya Independent School District (including Lorenzo De Zavala Middle School) remembered September 11,…

After receiving a letter from the Mission Housing Authority informing them of a hold in their funding for a local senior center-and to complain about two of its board members- the city of Mission is discussing meeting with the housing authority. On Monday, Mission Mayor Armando “Doc” O’Caña received a letter from Mission Housing Authority…

A teenager accused of smuggling migrants through Los Ebanos in a Lyft pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Jose C. Vigil, 18, of Mission is charged with smuggling of persons, a third-degree felony. “Not guilty,” Vigil said Wednesday morning, when he appeared before state District Judge Keno Vasquez for arraignment. Attorney Daniel R. Reyes of McAllen, who…

Randy Perez walks into work every morning ready to serve the citizens of Mission. Born, raised, and educated in the city, Perez is a true Missionite. Throughout his lifetime he worked diligently to make the transition from migrant student to Mission City Manager – a journey that did not happen overnight. “I’m the youngest of…