Area News
Commissioners christen new park ‘Camp McAllen’
The McAllen City Commission voted Monday to name a new 20-acre park on the northside of town Camp McAllen, which a survey found was the third-most popular name with residents. Formerly known as the Kappler Property, the undeveloped land the park will be built on is located at 8701 N. 23rd Street. …
Read MoreStaffing underway for ACE schools at La Joya
Garza and Seguin Elementary will have a complete restart next year under the Accelerated Campus Excellence (ACE) program, and administration wants to finalize as much staffing as possible by March 17. The ACE model is a rigorous academic improvement program designed to transform low-rated schools into A or B-rated campuses, as determined by the state.…
Read MoreNew member joins La Joya ISD’s chief staff
La Joya ISD welcomed technology and data expert Haissam Mayasi, who joined the superintendent’s cabinet as the chief information officer. Mayasi will manage all things technology at La Joya ISD, everything from the network to devices, analytics and cybersecurity. He joined the district after about 23 years at PSJA ISD, where he was a software…
Read MoreHidalgo school board accepts interim superintendent’s resignation in split vote
The Hidalgo school board voted 4-3 Monday to accept a resignation letter submitted by Interim Superintendent Fernando Castillo that night after just four months on the job. Castillo’s resignation will become effective on April 4. The board named Castillo interim superintendent in late October after former Superintendent Xavier Salinas retired from education. …
Read MoreCity Needs Investor To Buy Cimarron ASAP
It was standing room only inside the city council’s chambers on Monday, as Cimarron property owners attended the public hearing on the creation of a public improvement district (PID) that could bring the golf course and country club back to life. Despite the large showing, only two Cimarron property owners addressed the council and…
Read MoreSullivan City postpones potential censures for mayor, councilman
Sullivan City Council voted Monday to postpone potential censures for Mayor Alma Salinas and Councilman Ruben Villalon until the city can sit down for mediation over a lawsuit filed by a Salinas-helmed slate of candidates. Council was supposed to meet earlier this month to discuss censuring Salinas and Villalon, however no councilmembers showed up…
Read MoreMission school district may scrap failed food truck program
In September of 2021, Mission CISD announced with some fanfare the opening of seven new food trucks that would feed children at various schools through the district in what its leadership described as an innovation that was already attracting enquiries from admiring neighboring school systems. That food truck fleet would not remain the…
Read MoreLa Joya mayor’s grievance denied by school board
La Joya Mayor Isidro Casanova saw a grievance requesting he be reinstated to his old job at La Joya ISD be shot down by the district’s board last month. Casanova served as an armed attendance truancy supervisor with the school district for about 20 years. Last April, however, La Joya ISD’s new…
Read MoreWeslaco man arrested for threatening to “shoot up” McAllen charter school
Police arrested an 18-year-old Weslaco man last week who allegedly threatened to “shoot up” Triumph Public High School in McAllen because he was upset over an altercation his girlfriend, a student at the school, had been involved in. McAllen police arrested Jacob Lee Vela last Wednesday and charged him with terroristic threat, a…
Read MoreHidalgo County opposes possible countywide elimination
The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court Tuesday passed a resolution opposing legislative efforts to eliminate countywide polling and make other changes to how Texans vote that County Judge Richard F. Cortez repeatedly called “insanity.” At least four bills filed in the current Texas legislative session relate to those topics, seeking to eliminate countywide polling, electronic…
Read More