Area News

A judge Monday reset a hearing on a temporary injunction application regarding the city of La Joya’s electioneering ordinances for Friday. Sitting City Councilman Esequiel “Chuck” Garza received a temporary restraining order last month preventing La Joya from enforcing a recently adopted electioneering ordinance and is seeking an injunction against the ordinance. Garza argues that…

Monday, the Texas Humane Legislative Network (THLN) will meet with local animal organizations at the McAllen Library to propose a chapter for animal welfare advocacy in the Rio Grande Valley. With administrations across Texas, THLN works to bring awareness to statewide and nationwide animal issues. Shelby Bobosky, Executive Director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network,…

Sharyland ISD recently acquired a tract of land where they plan to build an educational home for the 18+ special education program. The district is still in the early stages of the planning process, but the goal is for the facility to be ready by the start of the 2024-25 school year. SISD offers a…

Incoming McAllen Independent School District Superintendent Rene Gutierrez will start his job in the middle of a paused cost saving plan meant to rectify the district’s finances. This summer the district’s board of trustees approved a budget that included $7.295 million in proposed cuts. Before the budget process ended, the board began reassigning 11 administrators,…

With Election Day slated for Tuesday, the end to a race for four seats on the La Joya City Council — and a bitter campaign for those seats — is now in sight. As of Wednesday, 1,088 early voters had cast a ballot at the La Joya Youth Center, the town’s sole polling place. Incumbent…

Two former Hidalgo County employees who worked for former Justice of the Peace Homer Jasso are suing the county for between $250,000 and $1 million apiece, alleging that the judge caused them to be terminated in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint against him. In an interview with the Progress Times Wednesday, Jasso, 79,…

Trustees on the La Joya Independent School District Board voted 4-3 Monday to accept a state-appointed conservator at the district and tender the board’s resignations to that individual as an alternative to a possible takeover by the Texas Education Agency, a decision on which is expected after Election Day. It’s not clear whether the state…

Police did not arrest a Sharyland ISD teacher discovered asleep and allegedly intoxicated in a classroom at John H. Shary Elementary last month, though the district formally addressed the incident in a letter to parents for the first time Wednesday — almost a full month after it happened. According to the district, an internal investigation…