february 19, 2016 - winter texan times

By Lea Victoria Juarez

City Manager Martin Garza said he remem-bers picking up food at

115 S. Mayberry Street with his mother when he was a child. The building has since been renovated and will now serve as a center for all fam-ilies struggling to provide food for their household.

A ribbon cutting ceremo-ny was held to celebrate the opening of the Mission Food Pantry’s new headquarters on Mayberry Street.

Adela Ortega, who found-ed the pantry 30 years ago, said she can’t wait to start servicing the community from the new location.

“We have come a long ways from the county ware-house to the city building on Kika de la Garza loop to this building on south Mayber-ry,” the food pantry director said. “This facility is going

to be wonderful to offer our families better service.”

The pantry will be open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the past, the pan-try was only open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. - noon, and it served about 400 families a week, Ortega said. With a full time sched-ule, Ortega said she hopes to serve even more families in the area.

The new location won’t officially open until Ortega receives the building’s occu-pancy permit from the city council, but she hopes to get to work on Feb. 26.

In addition, the building is complete with a social event room which can house small-scale gatherings, and confer-ence room.

The pantry works solely off of donations from people in the community. Mission


Nine candidates are vy-ing for the 15th Con-gressional District

seat that is being vacated by Congressman Ruben Hinojo-sa. Hinojosa announced his retirement after serving for 10 terms.

A forum was held Feb. 15 for the candidates in the running for the next Unit-ed States representative for District 15, which includes Alton, Palmview, Palmhurst and part of Mission.

In the order of appearance on the ballot, the Democratic candidates are:

1. Dolly Elizondo2. Juan “Sonny” Palacios

Jr.3.Vicente Gonzalez4. Ruben Ramirez5. Rance G. “Randy” Sweeten

6. Joel QuintanillaIn the order of appearance

on the ballot, the Republican candidates are:

1. Xavier Salinas2. Ruben O. Villarreal3. Tim WestleyThe democrats were

posed questions about bor-der security, their skill sets, education and the workforce and the legalization of mar-ijuana. The panelists asked the republicans about drug trafficking, Obamacare, im-migration reform and voter turnout.

The two parties were not asked the same questions, but some of the candidates on both sides failed to prop-erly answer questions before they ran out of time.

In terms of balancing bor-der security and the residents’ civil rights, the consensus

among the democratic can-didates was that they didn’t want to see a militarization of the border. The depart-ment of public safety hired 250 new troopers for Hidal-go and Starr counties last year. However, a few of the candidates did not address how they would maintain the security and civil rights bal-ance, with the exception of Ruben Ramirez.

According to Ramirez, the way to uphold the resi-dent’s civil rights is by utiliz-ing technology, such as the aerostats he used when he was stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army.

“We need to be able to capitalize on that technology and invest in more technolo-gy to be able to combine with our Border Patrol agents, so we can have that balance that

we need,” Ramirez said. Palacios, Ramirez and

Quintanilla each said they advocate for putting more agents on the border to in-crease security and remove Department of Public Safety agents.

Regarding the subject of voting to repeal the Afford-able Care Act, all of the re-publican candidates said they would vote to do away with the law that aims to increase the number of Americans covered by affordable health insurance.

ACA, also known as Obamacare, requires certain employers to offer coverage to their employees. Instead, the candidates said they would rather give more con-trol to employers.


Precinct 3’s Team Liber-ty has been clear about the members that make

up the slate. But while those candidates were banding to-gether, their opponents inad-vertently found themselves joining forces.

The group consists of county commissioner can-didate Daniel Diaz, tax as-sessor-collector candidate Abel Prado, justice of the peace (Place 1) candidate Jozabad “Jay” Palacios, State Representative Sergio Muñoz Jr. and justice of the peace (Place 2) candidates Leo Gonzalez Jr. and Arnol-do Corpus. Also part of the group is 449th district court Judge Jesse Contreras and democratic chair candidate Patrick Eronini.

The cohort gathered Feb. 14 at Quinta Las Cuatro Lu-nas for a “baile pachanga” to prepare for early voting. The members said that they are not running on a slate, but the partnership happened organically, according to Prado.

“It’s not like we sat down and formed a team,” the tax assessor candidate said. “But our opponents were working together so we thought ‘Why don’t we pull resources?’ Our supporters kind of over-lap so it makes sense.”

Diaz said that a lot of the incumbents naturally gravitated to one another to learn about how they were reaching out to constituents. Some of them ran into each other while block walking and even showed up at one another’s events. The baile pachanga was the first public event that the group held to-

gether. “We’re tapping into a lot

of the same supporters who want change,” Diaz said. “We haven’t drawn the line because we also understand that there are people who may vote for one of their candidates and vote for me or vote for Sergio (Muñoz) or Leo (Gonzalez.) And it probably happens vice ver-sa.”

The event was held for the volunteers that have helped the candidates campaign for elections. A lot of the attend-ees have helped block walk or spread the word about the elections, and Diaz said the event was meant to keep them excited and informed about early voting.

Two of the candidates at the gathering are actually each other’s opponents in the JP Place 2 race – Leo Gon-zalez Jr. and Arnaldo Corpus.

Gonzalez said he has no issue being at the same po-litical gathering with Corpus because they have a civil re-lationship and do their own campaigning.

“The reason we invite that type of environment, even though somebody’s oppo-nent is here, is because that’s the type of politics that we want to show our communi-ty,” Diaz said. “We can be in the same room and have con-versations about issues that matter.”

Mission Food Pantry housed in new location

CONGRESSIONAL FORUM HIGHLIGHTS

TOP: Community members gather to celebrate the ribbon cuttting for the new Mission Food Pantry location.

ABOVE: Pantry Director Adela Ortega (left) hugs Mayor Norbeto Salinas.

Photos by Lea Victoria Juarez

See FOOD 12

“The whole community needs to remember that they are feeding the needy, not the greedy.” --Adela Ortega

CAF preserves WWII artifacts

Sports teams advance to state

Artesano Market Days

INSIDE

Wing Museum offers a glimpse into the his-tory of flight and its im-pact on preserving the freedom in the United Sates.

Boys and girls wres-tlers from area schools qualified for the state tournament, four quali-fy as first alternates.

International crafters set up shop in Mission for the second annual Artesano Market Days Feb. 12 and Feb. 13.

See story page 5 See story page 8 See story page 10

See HIGHLIGHTS 12

Candidates unite in Pct. 3 elections

Area map of District 15

Friday, February 19, 2016 www.ptrgv.com | 50 Cents

INDEX Entertainment | pg. 3Lifestyle | pg. 2 Opinion | pg. 4 Sports | pg. 8 Obituaries | pg. 10 Classifieds | pg. 11

MMA parade honors Iwo Jima heroes

HARLINGEN – The Marine Military Academy (MMA)

will hold its annual Iwo Jima Parade on Friday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. on the MMA Parade Grounds. This year marks the 71st anniversary of the Bat-tle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Open to the public, the event honors the sacrifice made by those who fought to preserve freedom during the battle. Because of the subtropical climate of South Texas, MMA is the only or-ganization in the country that holds a battalion-size parade on the actual anniversary of the Feb. 19, 1945, event at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Last year, more than 350 people attended.

There will be special re-served seating for Iwo Jima survivors in front of the pa-rade stand, which directly faces the historic Iwo Jima

Monument. During the pa-rade, the Iwo Jima survivors will join the MMA superin-tendent for the ceremonial pass in review.

Event-goers are encour-aged to stop by the Iwo Jima Museum before 3 p.m. to watch a video depicting the Battle of Iwo Jima. They are also encouraged to view the Iwo Jima Monument and the gravesite of Cpl. Harlon Block before or after the pa-rade.

Since April 1982, MMA has been home to the Iwo Jima Monument. The mag-nificent statue depicts five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the Amer-ican flag on Feb. 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Block, the Marine depicted at the base of the flagstaff, was a native of Weslaco.

For more information, call 421-9225 or e-mail [email protected].

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February 19 , 2016 page 2

St. Paul’s holds annual Lenten Fish Fry

St. Paul’s Catholic Church is holding their annual Lenten Fish Fry

every Friday now through March 18.

Serving time is from 5 to 7 p.m. at the St. Paul’s parish hall, 1119 Francisco Ave. in Mission.

Cost is $7.50 for a gener-ous portion of fish with two sides, hush puppies and tor-tillas or bread. People can dine in or take advantage of the drive-thru. Drive-thru

pick-up is located down the alley between the parish hall and the school parking lot. Free beverages – iced tea, coffee or water – are avail-able for those who dine in.

Plates can be purchased at the door or tickets can be purchased in advance at the parish office or after any mass. Tickets are good for any Friday.

Call Charlie Ramirez at 956-867-1882 for informa-tion.

By William Renner

“Sometimes you stumble across a treasure when you’re looking for some-

thing else entirely.” Join us at Speer Memorial

Library in Mission, on Tues-day, March 1, at 6:30 p.m., for a discussion of “The Apple Orchard,” taking place in the library’s Community Room. The general public is invited.

Twenty-nine year old Tess Delaney works in San Fran-cisco for a firm that deals in antiques. She specializes in restoring valuable heirlooms and other treasures to their rightful owners.

Tess never had a brother or sister, and her mother told her almost nothing about her fa-ther, who died before she was born. So she is quite surprised when, one hectic morning, a tall, handsome, mysterious stranger—a banker named Dominic Rossi—visits her at work. He is there on behalf of her grandfather and half-sis-ter—two people whom she never knew existed.

Mr. Rossi explains that her

grandfather is in a coma after falling from a ladder at his 100-acre apple orchard, his prognosis uncertain. Mean-while, decisions have to be made—her grandfather has willed his entire estate to Tess and her half-sister.

Set among the lush or-chards and vineyards of beau-tiful Sonoma County, Cali-fornia, “The Apple Orchard,” written by Susan Wiggs and first published in 2013, is a story about finding unexpect-ed treasures, some of which money cannot buy. You might say that the book itself is a treasure—complete with rec-ipes.

Copies of the book avail-able for check out to those who sign up for the book dis-cussion. Stop by the library or call 580-8754.

For more information, or to sign up for the book dis-cussion, call 580-8750 or 580-8754 or email [email protected].

Speer Memorial Library is located at 12th and Kika De La Garza in Mission.

Teacher retirement seminar offered

The Palm Valley As-sociation of Retired School Personnel and

the Texas Retired Teachers Association are offering a seminar to inform future re-tirees about the retirement process. A representative from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas will be the presenter.

It’s scheduled for Satur-day, March 5, from 7:30 a.m.

to noon. Registration and the conti-

nental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m. at the Lone Star Nation-al Bank corporate office, 520 E. Nolana, McAllen.

Reservations are required. Send name, phone number and school district to Ele-na De los Santos Mycue at [email protected] or Jerry Albrecht at [email protected].

UTRGV hosts event for prospective students

EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is

looking to connect with po-tential students interested in joining the UTRGV family, and their parents. A dis-covery day of activities and events is scheduled for the UTRGV Edinburg campus at the Wellness and Recreation-al Sports Complex at 499 N.

Sugar Road in Edinburg.Griselda C. Castilla,

UTRGV director of Recruit-ment and Scholarships, said the event is ideal for any stu-dent who wants to learn what it takes to become part of the university.

“They will experience a day filled with activities, information sessions, food, door prizes, entertainment, and a chance to meet with their future friends, student organizations and profes-sors,” Castilla said.

Students who already have been admitted to UTRGV can attend and be the first to sign up for student orientation. They also will have an opportunity to meet with faculty and staff, who can answer their questions about a variety of academic fields and majors.

Activities include motiva-tional speaker Aric Bostick, a presidential welcome, Uni-versity Fair with student or-ganizations and departments, mock classroom presentation led by UTRGV professors, acterial meningitis vaccina-tions will be available and there will be scholarship giveaways.

To reserve a spot or to learn more, visit www.utrgv.edu/discover.

Purple Martin watch kicks off Feb. 20

EDINBURG – The Ed-inburg World Bird-ing Center (EWBC)

has installed its first Purple Martin house in conjunction with Project Martin Watch, a citizen science program. A kick-off event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, fol-lowed by weekly monitoring starting in April.

Purple Martin Watch is a continent-wide scientif-ic project where volunteers monitor martin nests from the beginning of nest con-struction until the last fledg-ling has left. The data col-lected by the Project Martin Task Force will help scien-tists determine the popula-tion’s reproductive success throughout its habitat range.

EWBC is inviting inter-ested individuals, ages 16

and up, to attend an “Intro-duction to Project Martin Watch” on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 10 to 11 a.m. The program will include a pre-sentation on Purple Martins and their migrating habits, information on how to vol-unteer for the project, and training on collecting data and installing/maintaining a Purple Martin house.

The fee for the introduc-tion is $2 for participants ages 16 and older. The fee is waived for those with a EWBC family membership.

Project Martin Task Force members will meet to collect data every Tuesday and Sat-urday from April thru July. For more information or to register, call 381-9922. The EWBC is located at 714 S. Raul Longoria Rd.

Feb ruary 20 – The Museum of South Texas History, 200 N. Closner Blvd. in downtown Edinburg, invites the public to celebrate Pioneer & Ranching Crafts Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s theme will include the role of leña (firewood) and la cerca de leña (mesquite fence) in the lives of early settlers of the region experience the history of live ranch-style cooking and craft demonstrations with music and dance performances. The event is included in regular museum admission. For more information, call 383-6911.

Feb ruary 20 – The Aglow International McAllen Community Lighthouse will host a complimentary prayer breakfast at 9:30 a.m. For location and directions, contact Criselda Al-varado, president, at 534-7941 or email [email protected]. This month’s speaker is Sara Ann Neie.

Feb ruary 23 – Michael Delesantro and Renee Rubin will share their “Birding on a Budget” adventure in Alaska during a presentation at Frontera Audubon at 6 p.m. The presen-tation is free for Frontera Audubon members and $3 for non-members. For more info, call 968-3275.

Feb ruary 25 – The Mission Historical Museum will host a “History of Mission” presentation by Amancio Chapa. Call 580-8646 for more information. The museum is located at 900 Doherty Ave.

Feb ruary 25 – Hidalgo County Agriculture Extension Agent Brad Cowan will visit Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Cen-ter for a program at 6 p.m. to give an inside look at agri-cultural production in the Rio Grande Valley. Cowan has 36 years of experience as n extension agent, 25 of which have been in Hidalgo County. The program is included in the price of admission. Quinta Mazatlan is located at 600 Sunset in McAllen. Call 681-3370 for more information.

Feb ruary 25-27 – The Upper Valley Art League hosts Veronica Jaeger presenting a three-day workshop, “Surreal Portrait,” in oils. Thursday and Friday classes run 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Kika De La Garza Fine Arts Center, 921 E. 12th in Mission. Cost is $110 members and $140 non-members (includes $30 membership fee). The course is limited to 10 students, and a minimum of four is required for the class to be held. The class is for ages 17 and up. Students will learn techniques to build an oil painting in layers with a personal twist. For more information, contact Jaeger at [email protected].

Feb ruary 27 – Hidden Valley Ranch, 7600 Long Dr. in Mis-sion, will hold a quilt show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The quilters present and discuss their quilts and talk about them and includes quilts from the community, as well as projects from the park’s quilting class. Admission is free. Hidden Valley Ranch is located west of Mission off Highway 83 at the Showers Rd exit, then north to the end of Western Rd.

MarchMar ch 4 – The Rio Grande Valley Quilt Guild will be offering

classes as part of their “Schoolhouse” program. The classes held on Fridays, run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Tex-as College campus in Weslaco, Building G. Classes are $10 for members and $35 for non-members. The $25 pays for membership in the RGV Quilt Guild. Nancy Reisinger will teach “Sunburst Flowers: No Sew Applique.” For more in-formation contact Karen Kill at [email protected].

(For daily events and upcoming weeks, see the full calendar at ptrgv.com.)

BETWEENthebookendS

Speer Memorial Library12th St. & Kika Loop • Mission • 580-8750

Events Calendar

Get ready for fun times in Brownsville as the 78th Annual Charro

Days celebration begins on Feb. 21. D u r i n g the Great Depression, Char-ro Days was started as an antidote to the gloom over the economic crisis in Brownsville and the rest of the country. It celebrated Brownsville’s unique her-itage as a border town with Mexico and the rich culture enjoyed by Brownsville res-idents. Brownsville residents dressed in the traditional costumes of Mexico and the Mexican cowboys called charros, who were the heroes of the borderlands. Today, it has grown into a large festi-val that celebrates the unique culture of Brownsville and nearby Matamoros, Mexico.

Things kick off with the Baile del Sol Street Dance at the Charro Days head-quarters, 455 E. Elizabeth. The event will be held Sun-day, Feb. 21, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. There will be food, music and folkloric dances.

Festivities continue that day with “A Little bit of Mex-ico” held at the Arts Center at Texas Southmost College. A

reception starts at 5:30 p.m. and the program starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call 546-4486 for information.

From Feb. 20 to 27, there will be a Charro Days Art Contest display at the Brownsville Fine Arts Mu-seum.

Look for numerous pa-rades throughout the week. The Brownsville Independent School District’s Children’s Charro Days Parade begins on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 2:30 p.m., and the illuminated parade on Feb. 26 starts at 7 p.m. A Color Guard Parade begins at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, with the Grand Interna-tional Parade held at 1 p.m. All parades go down Eliza-beth Street through Historic Downtown Brownsville.

Several dances are planned in conjunction with Charro Days. Tickets must

be purchased in advance at the Charro Days office. Call 542-4225 for information.

On Thursday, Feb. 24, Noche Mexicana features food and folkloric dancers and music by Mariachi 7 Le-guas and Noe Pro. It runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Amigoland Event Center, 1010 Mexico Blvd. Admis-sion is $25 per person, and tickets are required at the door.

On Saturday, Feb. 27, the Charro Days Fiesta Costume Ball with be held from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. at Amigoland Event Center featuring musi-cal groups Mariachi 7 Leguas (five-time Grammy winners) and Little Joe & la Familia. Admission is $25 and tickets are required at the door.

The, Sombrero Fest, held in Washington Park in down-town Brownsville, was start-ed in 1986 with an array of events to enhance the annu-

al Charro Days Celebration. It’s non-stop events and en-tertainment Feb. 25 to 27.

Not to be missed is the traditional Grito Contest. Events include a chili and Frijolympics cook-offs, adult costume contest, beard con-test, 5K Run & Mile Run/Walk and High School Tug-O-War followed by Adult Light Weight Tug-O-War and Heavy Weight Tug-O-War.

There’s more contests with a Hat Stack Relay, Tor-tilla Frisbee Toss and Taco, Hot Wing and Jalapeño Eat-ing Contests.

Scheduled to perform are Frecuecia Nortena de Ricar-do Alcantar, Retano, Grupo Mojado, Tiger del Norte, Amos de la Noche, Grupo El Roble, Dos de Oro, La Sono-ra Dinaminta, Los Huracanes del Norte,

Gar Hobbs, Emilio Navai-ra with special guest Raulito Navaira and Jimmy Gonzalez

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February 19 , 2016 page 3

ComingAttractionsComingAttractions

February 19 • The Harlingen Concert Association will present

Savannah Jack at 7:30 p.m. at Christian Fellowship Church, 901 N. Loop 499 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call Jan Ayoub at 399-5294.

February 19-21 • Ballet Folklórico UTRGV presents Alegría 2016

with six shows on the Edinburg campus. Alegría Gira brings to life Mexico’s beautiful art of folk dance with a cast of 30 dancers. Show times are Feb. 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m., with matinee

Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the PAC Box Office one hour

prior to the event. Tickets prices are $12 for adults; $10 for seniors and students; and $8 for children. For advance ticket information, contact the Dance Program office at 665-2230 or visit utpa.edu/balletfolklorico.

February 20 • Lovers of country music don’t want to miss three

country music legends when Moe Bandy, Janie Fricke and T.G. Sheppard come together on stage at the Boggus Ford Event Center, 3000 N. Cage Blvd, in Pharr. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the Riverside Club, the Boggus box office, ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

February 20-21 • Take in the colorful dances of Mexico during the

La Joya I.S.D. mariachi and folklorico concerts. Palm-view High School Folklorico and Mariachi will perform Feb. 13 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. La Joya High School Folklorico and Mariachi performances are Feb. 20 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.

All performances will be held at the Alejandro H. Saenz Performing Arts Center, 604 N. Coyote Drive, in La Joya. Tickets are $8. Ticket can be purchase at the PAC Box Office, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. For information, call 323-2897 or 323-2898.

February 21 • The Rio Grande Valley Concert Band will per-

form at First Presbyterian Church in Mission at 3 p.m. For now and in the future, musicians with band performance ex-perience are invited to join. The band has a special need for players of clarinets, flutes and percussion instruments. Con-tact Gene Goede, director, at 682-9225 for information.

February 25-28, 2016 • William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is

the third featured performance for the 2015-16 season of the STC Theatre. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 2 p.m. for Sunday matinees which are interpreted by stu-dent interns.

Individual ticket prices for Main Stage productions are $5 for students/faculty/senior citizens/military and $10 general admission. Individual Studio productions cost $5 general admission. All productions will be at STC’s Cooper Center, 3201 W. Pecan Blvd. in McAllen. For information, call 872-2301.

‘Late Bloomers’ about Winter Texans

“Late Bloomers,” a stage comedy about Winter Texans, written by Eric

Wiley and produced by Thir-teen O’clock Theatre, has become a Rio Grande Valley classic with multiple sold out performances over the years. The comedy will run Feb. 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. and with a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 28. The play will be held at the Edin-burg Municipal Auditorium, 415 W. University Drive.

True to its comedic title, this show brings laughter and tears when George Finch, an unusual older man who owns a fictitious RV park in San Benito, decides to stay put for the summer while he pursues a new love. Finch soon claims

to have fallen in love with a promiscuous young woman quite out of his league.

When his daughter Connie finds out about her father’s new love interest, she races down from their hometown and does everything she can to keep her father from what she believes will be complete embarrassment. Comedy en-sues and the remaining RV park residents and employees are brought along for the ride.

Tickets are $8 general ad-mission and $6 for seniors and are available online at edinburgarts.com and at the Dustin Michael Sekula Me-morial Library in Edinburg. Call 383-6246 for more in-formation.

All Valley Boat Show is Feb. 26-28McALLEN – The

30th annual All Val-ley Boat Show is set

to sail into the McAllen Con-vention Center on Friday, Feb. 26, to Sunday, Feb. 28. The Lower Rio Grande Val-ley Boating Trades Associa-tion (LRGVBTA) will cele-brate its 30th annual show in the Valley.

With almost 60,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, the show will be able to feature an impressive se-lection of boats, fishing gear, apparel and more. The pub-lic will find a variety of boats and personal watercraft pro-vided for exhibit by eight lo-cal dealers in the Rio Grande Valley.

To commemorate the

30th anniversary, all general admission adults will get a chance to win $50,000 to-ward the purchase of a new boat and Ford truck to pull it. If they enter the correct unique winning combination to the on-site vault, they win $25,000 toward the purchase of a boat or watercraft from one of the eight LRGVBTA boat dealers and $25,000 to-ward the purchase of a vehi-cle from Boggus Ford.

There will also be an ar-ray of special events and fun and educational activities in-cluding the Fishin’ Simulator Sailfish Tournament for the men and women’s division and the Youth Fish Catch Tank where youth can fish.

78th Annual Charro Days starts Feb. 21

STATECAPITAL

HIGHLIGHTS

By Ed SterlingTexas Press Association

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Supreme Court halts EPA pollution abatement rule

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Feb. 9 heralded the U.S. Su-

preme Court’s 5-4 order that put on hold a U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency rule requiring power produc-ers to cut back on the release of pollutants emitted mainly from coal-burning opera-tions.

In reacting to the order, Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the leaders of a co-alition of 29 states and state agencies, declared victory over the rule referred to as the Obama Administration’s “Clean Power Plan” or as the EPA “Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Ex-isting Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units.”

Texas and West Virgin-ia originally challenged the rule on Oct. 23, 2015, the day it was published in the Federal Register. The coali-tion requested a halt to rule on Jan. 26. Coalition mem-bers argue that the Clean Power Plan “fundamentally changes the nation’s energy policy in violation of feder-al law,” according to Paxton. “The Obama Administration clearly exceeded its author-ity in imposing this plan, which would cost taxpayers and consumers alike hard-earned money in exchange for less-reliable service,”

Paxton added.However, EPA Director

Gina McCarthy said she “re-mains fully confident in the legal merits of this rule” and that the rule “squarely fits within the Clean Air Act.”

In accordance with the Supreme Court order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has been scheduled to hear oral arguments on the merits of the case on June 2.

Tax revenue to be sentTexas Comptroller Glenn

Hegar on Feb. 10 announced that his office would send cit-ies, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $867.1 million in local sales tax allocations for February.

The amount, based on sales made in December 2015, is 0.7 percent less than the amount distributed in February 2015.

“Energy-centric cities such as Odessa, Midland, Corpus Christi and Houston continued to see decreases in sales tax allocation,” He-gar said, but added that other areas of the state “helped to somewhat offset those losses as cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and Dal-las saw moderate increases in allocations.”

Texas leads in exportsLast week the U.S. Bu-

reau of Economic Analysis released a report ranking Texas as the top exporting state in the nation for the

14th consecutive year.Gov. Greg Abbott on Feb.

9 praised the state’s perfor-mance and said, “This year I plan to lead more business development missions to bolster our state's economy and create opportunities for Texas businesses to further compete in the global mar-ketplace.”

Abbott pinpointed three facts in the report:

- Texas exported more than $251 billion in goods in 2015;

- Texas exports alone ac-counted for more than 16 percent of U.S. goods ex-ported in 2015 and for the third year in a row; and

- Texas surpassed Califor-nia for high-tech exports for the third year in a row.Request for aid is granted

Gov. Abbott on Feb. 9 an-nounced that his request had been granted in the form of a presidential disaster decla-ration for 25 Texas counties that sustained damages in severe weather in late De-cember.

Abbott thanked Presi-dent Obama and the Feder-al Emergency Management Agency for granting his re-quest. “We will continue to work with our FEMA part-ners to rebuild these counties and ensure that they come back stronger than ever,” he said.Formation rate increases

Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos on Feb. 8

announced a four-percent increase in new businesses formed in January, compared with January in the previous year.

“The increase of new businesses formed in the state reflects a belief that Texas is still a great state for business,” Cascos said. “I applaud all the entrepreneurs and business leaders continu-ing to invest in and grow the Texas economy.”

The 14,281 certificates filed in the month of Janu-ary were for the formation of for-profit and professional

corporations, limited liability companies, limited partner-ships and professional asso-ciations.

The year-over-year growth for January echoes the overall trend in 2015. Last year, a total of 165,026 businesses were formed in the State of Texas, an in-crease of almost 5 percent from 2014, according to Cas-cos.

Recruitment initiative begins

Gov. Abbott on Feb. 10 announced the launch of his University Research Initia-

tive to help Texas institu-tions of higher education recruit nationally recognized researchers as faculty mem-bers.

Under the initiative, eli-gible institutions can apply online for matching grants to assist them in attracting distinguished researchers, Abbott said.

The Governor’s Univer-sity Research Initiative grant program was enacted in 2015 by the 84th Texas Legisla-ture.

Officials mourn the passing of ScaliaU.S. Supreme Court

Justice Antonin Sca-lia found dead at

West Texas ranch Feb. 13. Scalia, 79, was a guest at

the Cibolo Creek Ranch was found dead of apparent nat-ural causes.

San Antonio Express News reported that Scalia arrived at the ranch on Fri-day and attended a private party that night, according to a federal official.

He left the party and retired to bed earlier than others, according to Don-na Sellers, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Marshals Ser-vice.

When he failed to appear at breakfast, a person in-volved with the ranch went to his room, where he dis-covered his body. A priest was called to administer last rites.

A federal official, who asked not to be named, said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes.

On Feb. 14, Justice Sca-lia’s body was flown to Vir-ginia, where he lived for many years with his wife, Maureen McCarthy Scalia, in McLean, after being held in a funeral home in El Paso. The justice’s body is at Fair-fax Memorial Funeral Home in Fairfax, Va.

Justice Scalia’s body will lie in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court on Friday, surrounded by marble busts of former chief justices.

The following are state-ments relesed from Texas politicians regarding Scal-ia’s death.

Governor Greg Abbott “Justice Antonin Scalia

was a man of God, a patriot, and an unwavering defender of the written Constitution and the Rule of Law. He was the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution. His fierce loy-alty to the Constitution set an unmatched example, not just for judges and lawyers, but for all Americans. We mourn his passing, and we pray that his successor on the Supreme Court will take his place as a champion for the written Constitution and the Rule of Law. Cecilia and I extend our deepest con-dolences to his family, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.” Texas Lt. Governor Dan

Patrick“America suffered a ma-

jor loss with the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He was an unwavering champion of our Constitution and the rule of law. Justice Scalia said what he meant, and undoubtedly meant what he said.

“A man of principle and a true constitutional textu-alist, his legal opinions fol-lowed the text of what con-stitutional authors wrote and not the wavering notions of the day.

“Perhaps no other ju-rist coming before, or after Justice Scalia will have a better understanding of the separation of powers, or the importance of protecting states’ rights or sanctity of individual liberties. But the enormity of finding his re-placement will impact us all.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Justice Sca-lia’s wife Maureen and his family.” U.S. Senator John Cornyn

“Justice Scalia dedi-cated his life to upholding the Constitution. Brilliant, principled, and resolute in his beliefs, he embodied the virtues of a prudent ju-rist. The author of some of the most consequential and best-written Supreme Court opinions, Justice Scalia will be remembered as a giant of American jurisprudence.

“Justice Scalia’s commit-ment to the law was unwav-ering, and his devotion to his faith and to his family was unquestionable. Sandy and I are saddened by today’s news, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz “Today our Nation

mourns the loss of one of the greatest Justices in histo-ry – Justice Antonin Scalia. A champion of our liberties and a stalwart defender of the Constitution, he will go down as one of the few Jus-tices who single-handedly changed the course of legal history.

“As liberals and conser-vatives alike would agree, through his powerful and persuasive opinions, Jus-tice Scalia fundamentally changed how courts inter-pret the Constitution and statutes, returning the fo-cus to the original meaning of the text after decades of judicial activism. And he authored some of the most important decisions ever, including District of Colum-bia v. Heller, which recog-nized our fundamental right under the Second Amend-ment to keep and bear arms. He was an unrelenting de-fender of religious liberty, free speech, federalism, the constitutional separation of powers, and private prop-erty rights. All liberty-lov-ing Americans should be in mourning.

“Justice Scalia’s three de-cades on the Court was one of President Reagan’s most consequential legacies. Our prayers are with his beloved wife Maureen, their nine children, and their precious grandchildren.”

opinion www.ptrgv.com | www.strgv.comNEWS | SPORTS | ENTERTAINMENT | PHOTOS

February 19, 2016 page 4

By Jamie Treviño

Vibrantly color-crafted items and an array of musical performanc-

es and food brought Winter Texans and Mission resi-dents closer to Mexican cul-ture last weekend.

Artesano Market Days, an event held Feb. 12 and Feb.13 at the Mission Histor-ical Museum, allowed Win-ter Texans the opportunity to shop from both Mexican and local artisan craft and food vendors without making the trek into Mexico. This event highlights and celebrates the prominent cultural influence Mexico has had in the area, both artistically and histori-cally.

Luis Contreras, Mission Historical Museum’s direc-tor for almost four years, said that this event is a prime opportunity for not only the museum, but the city of Mis-sion, and most importantly, the community in the Valley. Each vendor participating in the event brings a new and interesting facet of the Mexi-can culture into light.

“We wanted to do some-thing to both celebrate our cultural heritage and cele-brate our winter visitors that are here for three to four months,” Contreras said. “We (the Mission Historical Museum) wanted to contrib-ute both to the quality of life of our local community and our visiting community. It was a collaborative effort.”

A free event in its second year, Artesano Market Days had vendors from Mexico as

well as local vendors from across the Valley set up shop outside of the museum. Ven-dors sold both hand-crafted artisan items and food to anyone who came by. The museum also provided live entertainment from the Bliss Brothers, Grupo Jarocho del Valle, Juan Guerrero y Los Sheekanos, and Los Libera-dores.

“This event is in associ-ation with the Mega Win-ter Texan Fiesta, run by the Chamber of Commerce,” Contreras said. “We provide music, we provide the artisan vendors, which the event is aimed to highlight a cultur-al awareness for, handcraft-ed artisan work inspired by history and tradition, both domestic and foreign… It’s a way to say thank you and honor them coming back here. It’s kind of like their welcome and their farewell.”

The event took three months to organize. Because of last year’s success, even more interest was generated in both the public and ven-dors this year, according to Contreras. The vendors from Mexico who participated last year called early to see if the event would be happening again.

Last year, Artesano Mar-ket Days had about 3,200 visitors, both Winter Texans and local Valley residents. This year, the event brought in more, generating roughly 5,000 people.

“We really wanted to push the numbers,” Contre-ras said. “The museum gets to not only educate, but pro-

mote the museum and the quality of life. We’re able to provide these programs and events to the community and bring them in through our doors.”

Because of the positive feedback about the event from the community, a lot more attention was placed on this year’s event. More promotion was done in or-der to increase community awareness for the upcom-ing Artesano Market Days. When people walked along the rows of vendors, about 55 in total, both traditional and culturally blended crafts were on display.

According to vendor Ana Marie Ramirez and her parents Amador and Janie, Artesano Market Days is important in its role in cul-tivating and celebrating cul-tural artisans and their craft. They said that the event was a great way to promote not only themselves and their art, but culture as well. This is their second year partici-pating in the event.

“This is one of the only events in Mission that we’ve ever done,” Ramirez said, “and we like the atmosphere, and it is fun to do and differ-ent. And we get to meet new people and new customers that haven’t seen us yet.”

Ramirez, who goes by Robot Annie when selling her merchandise, is able to gain new customers and generate even more of an in-terest in her current and up-coming projects. Her father sells Mexican artisan crafts designed by several artists.

“It promotes our tradi-tions,” Amador Ramirez said. “It exposes the artisans and different kinds of crafts that are available. A camara-derie is formed, where you meet other artisans and new products.”

Adriana Ortegon and her daughter, Adrienne, also from McAllen, who sell up-cycled lights made from var-ious kinds of bottles, are new to this event. They called in when they saw an ad in the paper asking local vendors to reserve a spot.

“This is really nice, it brings the people out here, and you have music, and you have food. And I see so many Winter Texans here, and they’re having a good time and talking, and it’s very peaceful,” Adriana said.

During the event, visitors could go inside the Museum and see the current exhibits, further increasing their cul-tural awareness and knowl-edge of Mission’s history.

February 19, 2016 page 5www.ptrgv.com | www.strgv.com

Artesano Market Days promotes Mexican heritage

Teen found dead in rural Mission


A 15 year old is in custo-dy after being accused of shooting and killing

17 year old in rural Mission, Feb. 15. The victim, later identified as Miguel Angel Alcala Romero, was shot once in the back and died at the hospital.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies re-sponded to a home at the 5200 block of Coyote Circle in rural Mission for a report of shots fired. When depu-ties arrived they observed an adult male with multiple gunshot wounds outside the home.

Sheriff’s investigators met with witnesses who re-ported seeing a black SUV, possibly a Ford Expedition model.

At a press conference Feb. 17, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said Romero went to the home with the suspect and a third person to buy drugs from homeowner Felix Rodriguez Jr, with the intention of rob-bing Rodriguez.

Once the transaction was completed, shots were fired

from the passenger side of the vehicle. Rodriguez ran back inside his home and Romero was caught in the line of fire, according to the sheriff.

The suspect and the victim are alleged gang members. In addition, Romero was an undocumented citizen with a criminal background and a history of smuggling other immigrants into the country.

The 15-year-old suspect is being held at a juvenile facility. Neither the suspect, nor the victim was enrolled in school.

Sherff’s investigators are searching for the driver of the vehicle.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Investigations Di-vision can be reached at 956-383-8114. Anonymous callers can provide infor-mation through the Hidal-go County Crime Stoppers hotline at 668-TIPS (8477). Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the smart phone app “P3 Tips.” If the information provided through the crime stoppers program leads to an arrest, the tipster may be eligible for a cash reward.

Fate of Guadalupe school up to public

The fate of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church is in question with dwindling enrollment and increased costs over the past few years.

A task force, reports the Dioceses of Brownsville, has re-cently completed a study of the school.

The study was based on the need for a Catholic school in Mission and what financial planning needs to be done to assure the future of Catholic education.

City wants Delta Systems to pay for damages

The Mission City Council has decided to take a tougher stance in negotiations with Delta Systems Inc. for damages the city incurred with the recent EPA sewer project.

The council authorized the city attorney and city manager to send a “demand letter” to Delta Systems detailing the spec-ified damages.

Alvarez leads Eagles to fourth place

David Alvarez sparked the Mission Eagle boys’ track team to a strong fourth place finish in the 38th annual McAllen Invitational Relays.

The Eagles scored 60 points to finish behind the team champion Corpus Christi Miller with 91.

Photo 2014-2015 Spanish Creed pictured from l-r: Sebastian Martinez (2nd Place – Agri-Scince Fair), Julissa Alvarez, Andrea Gonzalez, Rebecca Nolan, Brandon De La Cruz, Jose Calderon(9th Place- Spanish Creed Competition), Christopher Venecia (Lone Star Degree Recipient), Amanda Granados, Brianna Saenz, Sebastian Carrillo

STATE FFA COMPETITIONMCISD district-wide community service challenge. 45,336 cans were collected and donated to the Food Pantry of Mission and Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church.

Amanda Granados - Three Time Champion – Brahman Heiffer Sponsored by Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas

RGV District Livestock Show

Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve.Mission High School FFA Leading the Way

MISSION HIGH SCHOOL FFA

Temple Grandin, Autism & Animal Husbandry Activist speaks about Understanding Cattle Behavior at UTRGV auditorium.

9th Annual Legacy Gala

Citrus Judging

Welding Students Ready For Competition

Grand Champion, AlanHinojosa & Reserve Grand Champion, Marco Garcia

Reserve Grand Champion, Brandon De La Cruz & Grand Champion, Jacob Flores

Reserve Grand Champion, Eric Ramirez & Grand Champion, Amanda Granados

Rebecca Nolan, Brandon De La Cruz, Alan Hinojosa, Brianna Saenz, Samantha Young, Nelida Garza

Shop Project Exhibit Ariana Pena, Jacob Flores, Alan Hinojosa with D.J. Wernecke, alumni show judge

Sebastian Carrillo, Amelia Perez, Annie Gonzalez, Nelida Garza,Christopher Venecia

Mission FFA Alumni Livestock Show

3rd Place Float @ Texas Citrus Fiesta Parade of Oranges

Donated to MRMC Foundation Gala

Leadership FFA

Metal Arts Projects

Region OneAdriana MezaArt's Auto Transport Brenda L. Salinas Chick-fil-A Sharyland Towne Crossing Clean Tech Auto Care Supplies Debbie Harrison - LA Vista Trailer Park Dr. Rafael Avila - Avila Plastic Surgery

Academy Best Buy Cavender's Chick-fil-A Sharyland Towne Crossing Clean Tech Auto Care Supplies Coca Cola Dr. Rafael Avila - Avila Plastic SurgeryDr. Roman Garza and Family Flores Floral Home Depot

IncrediBowl Event Center Mia's Mirror HEB Plus Mission Auto Electric Mission High School FFA Point Blank Shooting Range Ramon Ayala Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Shooter's Alley The Boot Barn The Feed Warehouse

iScape Video and Audio LLC Norie Garza - REIC Realtors PrintShip Salinas Show TeamSofia Villarreal Taco Ole Weaks Martin

BELT BUCKLE SPONSORS Chili Supper Auction Sponsors

Celebrates 70th Anniversary and Student Success

1st Annual Mission FFA Syndicated Bar B-Q & Auction - Paddle & Memorabilia: All the items were crafted from repurposed materials from the old cafeteria and library. (recycled all lumber, bricks, etc. featured on FOX 2, Channel 5 “Con Mi Gente” & Channel 4

Hands-On Instruction Welding StudentsHands-On InstructionHands-On Instruction

Belt Buckle Show

The Mission High School FFA Chapter would like to thank the following individuals for their generous contributions, time, and continued support throughout the year. These individuals have helped in a number of ways ranging from cooking, cleaning, monetary, auction items, guest speakers, and countless other ways that have helped our MHS FFA members and MHS FFA Chapter achieve success.Mayor Norberto “Beto” SalinasGarcia Citrus Farms LLC (Jesus & Tommy Garcia)Constable Larry GallardoVictor GallardoHumberto “Beto” Garza IIIRick Diaz “Con Mi Gente”Imelda ArriagaCris GonzalezDiana NewtonBelinda GonzalezRolando GonzalezLacho GarzaJesus FuentesPrincipal Mr. Edilberto FloresMission FFA AlumniCraig VerleyAaron CanulEloy GarzaCTE Director Sergio PeñaRene Garza (Pearson Elementary)Mario Guillen

All MHS FFA ParentsMAETractor Supply (Weslaco)McCoy’s (Mission)Home Depot (Mission)Hugo and Linda SanchezAndrew and Dulce De Los SantosMario and Laura GarciaTommy and Pearl CamposDavid BazanEloy ReynaWillie CoyLorenzo GarciaRey RiveraAlex VillarrealHector RodriguezSuperintendent Dr. Ricardo LopezMCISD School Board of TrusteesMCISD AdministratorsFelix Meat MarketJerry Saenz State Farm Insurance

Leadership Camp with Keynote Speaker Larry GallardoParliamentary Procedure Workshop

Area Competition Team State FFA Competition

Community Service Project - Metal Arts

Picnic Table PrizePicnic Table Prize Production Freshmen at Greenhand Camp Leadership Development

page 6 February 19, 2016www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com February 19, 2016 page 7www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

See WRESTLING 09

Leslie Oliva of Juarez Lincoln pinned Alicia Messer of SA Johnson to win the silver medal at the 2016 UIL Region 4 Wrestling Tournament in San Antonio.

Progress Times photos by Paul Brick

By Luciano Guerra

Wrestling is one sport in which Valley ath-letes compete well

against the best of the best from across the state. While local football, basketball, baseball and volleyball teams rarely succeed against teams from the Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Houston areas, local wrestlers win regional championships and qualify for the UIL’s State Wrestling Tournament year-in and year-out.

Such was the case last week as boys and girls from all local Big 7 schools trav-eled to either the Blossom Athletic Center in San Anto-nio (6A) or the AISD Delco Activity Center in Austin (5A) to compete in the UIL Region IV Wrestling Tourna-ments. Of those that made the trip, five returned as region-al champions, four as run-ner-ups, four as third place finishers, three as fourth place finishers and four as fifth place finishers. As a re-sult, 16 Big 7 schools’ wres-tlers qualified for the state tournament while four others will be making the trip to the Cypress-Fairbank ISD’s Ber-ry Center as first alternates.

While Juarez-Lincoln’s Leslie Oliva fell one win short of earning a regional championship in the 95 lb.

weight class, the fact that she is a two-time state silver medalist makes her one of the favorites to return from this weekend’s state tournament sporting one of the highly coveted state medals. With this being her senior year, Ol-iva is well aware of the fact that this is her last chance to make school history by be-ing the first three-time state medalist at Juarez-Lincoln High School. However just winning another medal is not enough. Oliva wants the gold.

“The first time I went to state was my sophomore year,” shared Oliva. “When I won the silver medal I knew that I had two more years to win the gold. Then last year when I won silver again, I told myself that I had my senior year to win gold. But with this being my senior year, it’s now or never.”

“Knowing that I can make school history motivates me but even if I do win a medal, I will be a little disappointed if I don’t win the gold,” added Oliva. “But at the same time if I win the silver again I will be proud of myself because being in the championship match three times in a row is something to take pride in.”

This past summer Oliva had the word “Fearless” tat-tooed on her right forearm. When asked why she did so, she said, “I got it there be-

cause when you start a match you shake hands with your opponent. This way my oppo-nents see the word “Fearless” just before the match starts and I’m hoping that intimi-dates them.”

Other Juarez-Lincoln wrestlers that qualified for the state tournament are se-nior Pedro Perez, who placed fourth in the 145 lb. weight class, and junior Jesenia Gay-tan, who took the regional championship in the 215 lb. weight class.

With four state qualifi-ers, Veterans Memorial High School led the way among the Big 7 schools with the most wrestlers competing at the state tournament. Junior Armando Bustillos (120 lbs.) took the regional champi-onship in the 120 lb. weight class, while Seniors Klaris-sa Blanco (185 lbs.), Mari-ah Gonzalez (165 lbs.) and Leslie Alaniz (148 lbs.) all qualified for state by placing first, second and third in their weight classes respectively.

Pioneer High School and Palmview High School each had three wrestlers qualify for the state tournament. For the Diamondbacks, junior Matthew Faucette (113 lbs.) and sophomore Dominique Rodriguez (170 lbs.) both placed third in their respec-tive weight classes at re-gionals while senior Robert Underhill (195 lbs.) placed fourth in his.

For the Lobos, senior Gustavo Arpero took the re-gional championship in the 195 lb. class at the regional tournament and senior Jere-miah Esquivel placed fourth in the 120 lb. weight class to qualify. The Lady Lobos’ junior wrestler Keyla Gutier-rez placed second in the 215 lb. weight class to punch her ticket into the state tourna-

February 19, 2016 page 8

Big 7 wrestlers advance to stateLady Huskies’ Oliva going for the gold

SPORTS BRIEFS

Lady Rattlers’ Maddie Garza Makes

School HistoryDuring the third quar-

ter of the Sharyland Lady Rattlers basketball team’s bi-district playoff victory against the Edcouch Elsa Lady Yellowjackets Tuesday night, 5-foot 11 senior Mad-die Garza made a free throw that caused the Sharyland faithful to jump to their feet and cheer. That’s because

with that point, Garza be-came the first Lady Rattler in school history to have 1,000 rebounds and score 1,000 points over her high school career.

Garza, who collected re-bound No. 1,000 earlier this season, entered Tuesday night’s game having scored 989 points over her four-year tenure at Sharyland. Her nine-point first half left her just two points shy of the mil

mark making each shot she took in the third quarter the potential milestone maker.

Garza only scored two of her 15 points on the night in the third quarter but that was all it took to hit the 1,000 point milestone.

When asked what having reached those two milestones means to her, Garza said, “It means that I’ve accom-plished my goals and even more. Howeve,r I couldn’t have done it without my coaching staff and my team-mates. I can’t score if they don’t pass me the ball and I can’t rebound if they don’t shoot. It means so much to me that I’ve been able to do it right here on this court be-cause I couldn’t even imag-ine having played at any oth-er school.”

Garza will be looking to add to both of her career totals tonight as the Lady Rattlers take on the Victoria West Lady Warriors in the Area round of the state play-

See BRIEFS 09

Gustavo Arpero of Palmview HS (left) pinned Tres Davis of Westlake to win the gold medal in the 195-lb. class at the

2016 UIL Region 4 Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 13.

OLG

obituariesSan Juanita Alaniz

GRANJENO – San Juan-ita Alaniz, 68, passed away Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016.

Mrs. Alaniz was born on Aug. 12, 1947, in Corpus Christi to Felicitas Hernandez and Pedro Mun-guia.

Survivors include her children, Carlos Alaniz, Daniel Alaniz, Esteban Ala-niz, Leonardo Alaniz III and Teresa Alaniz, and five sib-lings, 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonardo Alaniz Jr.

A funeral was held on Feb. 18 at Ric Brown Fami-ly Funeral Home in Mission. Burial followed at Granjeno Cemetery.

Laura CarterMISSION – Laura Carter,

95, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at Waterford Gardens in Mission.

Mrs. Carter was born in Center, Neb. on July 26, 1920 and graduated from South High School in Omaha, Neb. in 1937. She worked for the FBI in Wash-ington, D.C., during WWII and graduated with a RN de-gree from United Methodist Hospital in February, 1948. Her nursing career includ-ed positions with Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Public Schools and Head Start Pro-gram.

She married Leslie D. Car-ter in Omaha in 1948. They retired to the Rio Grande Valley in 1977 after 10 years as Winter Texans. She was a volunteer for many years in the gift shops of Mission Regional Medical Center and the International Museum of Art and Science and was ac-tive member of Eastern Star for over 60 years.

Survivors include her daughter, Susan Klem, and a grandchild and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held on Feb. 15 at Ric Brown Family Funeral Home in Mission.

Hilda EscobarPALMVIEW – Hilda Es-

cobar, 84, passed away on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at Amara Hospice in Edinburg.

Mrs. Escobar was born on Nov 21, 1931, in Guardado de Ariba, Tamps., Mex., to Fernando De La Garza and Sofia Bazan.

Survivors include her children, Jose Luis Escobar, Maria Elvia Alvarez, Rosal-ba Garcia, Anabel Inocencio, Jose Angel Escobar Jr. and Artemio Escobar; brothers, Fernando and Rene De La Garza; and 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jose Angel Escobar.

A funeral mass was held on Feb. 15 at Sacred Heart Parish in Escobares.

Magda M. GarzaMISSION – Magda M.

Garza, 52, passed away on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at her home in Mission.

Mrs. Garza was born in Reynosa, Tamps., Mex., on Sept. 8, 1963, to Rafael Sali-nas and Otila Torres. Survivors include her hus-band, Saul Garza; children, Jaqueline Garza, Saul Garza Jr., Magdaeva Lorena Garza and Giselle Teresa; and three grandchildren.

A funeral mass was held on Feb. 15 at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in La Joya.

Eleanor Dawn Herman Oost

MISSION – Eleanor ‘El-lie’ Dawn Herman Oost, 90, of Mission, passed away on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, at Comfort House in McAllen.

Mrs. Oost was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 4, 1925, to Joseph and Cordelia Herman. She mar-ried Robert C. Oost on June 28, 1947.

She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Rob-ert; daughters, Linda Van-derPloeg, Nancy Watson and Lois Breckon; and three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A private burial and ser-vice was held at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery, and a celebration of life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memo-rial donations may be made in her name to Comfort House, 617 W. Dallas Ave.,

McAllen, TX 78501. Robert Rodrigue Jr.MISSION – Robert Ro-

drigue Jr., 80, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, at Mission Regional Medical Center.

Mr. Rodrigue was born in Mercedes on Nov. 25, 1935, to Robert Rodrigue and Eu-nice Bonds.

Survivors include his children, Robert Rodigue III and Patricia Ann Rodrigue Rosales, and eight grandchil-dren and 19 great-grandchil-dren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, James W. Rodrigue.

A funeral mass was held on Feb. 18 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Sullivan City.

Ignacio RodriguezMISSION – Ignacio “Na-

chito” Rodriguez, 91, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, at Grand Terrace Nursing Home in McAllen.

Mr. Rodriguez was born on April 26, 1924, in Mexi-co.

Survivors include his sib-lings, Caleb Rodriguez Jr., Esther Bocanegra and Ra-quel Guerrero.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Caleb Sr. and Eloisa Rodriguez, and his siblings, Juan Alonso Ro-driguez, Rosaura Alvarez, Hortencia Carrasco, Jose Adolfo Rodriguez and Artu-ro Rodriguez.

A funeral service was held on Feb. 12 at El Mesias United Methodist Church in Mission. Burial followed at San Jose Cemetery in Mis-sion.

All obituaries must be sub-mitted by the funeral home. Obituary notices are run FREE OF CHARGE in the Progress Times if they are submitted in a timely manner to run the same week of the date of death. Otherwise, there is a fee for notices submitted later than the closest possible publication date. Late obitu-aries will be subject to a $50 charge.

Obituaries can be found online and are updated as they are received. Visit www.pro-gresstimes.net to stay current with obituaries and other news that matters to you.

By Kathy Olivarez

BROWNSVILLE – Among the many unique sites the Rio

Grande Valley has to offer, one offers a glimpse into the history of flight and its im-pact on preserving the free-dom United States citizens enjoy today.

“The Brownsville Com-memorative Air Force Wing Museum…is dedicated to preserving the artifacts of World War II to educate people about the cost of freedom,” explained Tom Santos, volunteer tour guide. The museum is locat-ed at 955 S. Minnesota Ave. near the Brownsville-South Padre Island Airport.

Santos explained the Commemorative Air Force got its start at Rebel Field in Mercedes when a group of former World War II pi-lots decided they wanted to buy a plane. Buying the first plane encouraged the pur-chase of another and then another. Naturally, like any other good idea, it snow-balled.

Soon the CAF outgrew the Mercedes field and moved to Harlingen in the 1960s where they spent 25 years at the Harlingen Air-port until the airport expan-sion caused them to have to move again.

This time the CAF had grown to a point it was de-cided to split up and have planes and other artifacts in a variety of locations. The headquarters moved to Midland while a wing of the CAF was established at the Brownsville airport.

Because there were dif-ferent numbers of planes in different locations around the country, designations were assigned according to the number of planes in each location.

Santos said a Wing has more planes than a squadron, which has more planes than a detachment. Today there are more than 70 branches of the CAF with over 8000 members located across the world. Santos said there over 700 air shows are held worldwide each year.

And, it all started in Mer-cedes, Texas.

In the Valley, the muse-um has a Fleet Finch, which is the oldest plane in the fleet. There is also a FW-44 German training plane on display. A rare plane, it is the only one of its kind still known to fly.

Most pilots are familiar with the American trainers on display, the PT-26 – the easiest plane to fly along – along with the PT-22, the most difficult to fly. There is a Bamboo Bomber, a multi-engineer trainer, an L-17 used during the Ko-rean War Era and a Taylor Craft used as a spotter plane in WWII.

In addition to the planes, there are a number of Mili-tary vehicles such as a com-mander’s car, a jeep and even a Model-T on display.

Information displays are housed in the museum, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Britain, along with details about the B-17 and B-24 bombers and the Flying Ti-gers that fought in China against Japan.

Santos went on to say not many people realize how important the Brownsville Airport was in prior years. The museum has a collec-tion of artifacts relating to its history.

General Claire Chen-nault, commanding officer

of the flight training school in San Antonio, flew in for the grand opening with a fleet of training planes. Charles Lindbergh also at-tended the grand opening.

Amelia Earhart spent time in Brownsville where she earned her commercial license.

Santos explained the Port Isabel Yacht Club was known all over the country and many notables came down to visit it, including Howard Hughes and Teddy Roosevelt.

In 1927, Pan American Airlines was founded by Juan Trippe and was orig-inally headquartered in Brownsville, added Santos. The airline was one of the first to serve Mexico and Latin America and had reg-ular flights into Mexican cit-ies and went as far as Pana-ma from Brownsville.

Operating hours are 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednes-day to Saturday. Admission is $6 for adults and $5 for seniors. Santos said groups of 10 or more can make ar-rangement for a guided tour and pay as little as $3 per person to enter the museum. For information, call 541-8585.

The museum will not be open during the upcoming CAF Air Fiesta 2016 on Feb. 13-14.

CAF Museum dedicated to preserving WWII artifactspage 10 February 19, 2016www.ptrgv.com | www.strgv.com

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Make it happen, we’re located at 1217 N. Conway in Mission, TX Come on in! Our hours of operation are Mon. - Fri. 8 - 5 p.m.If you can’t drop by, mail it! P.O. Box 399, Mission, TX 78573Order by phone 585-4893 with a major credit card.The deadline to get your classified in is Tuesday at 3 p.m.

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Autos2001 DODGE RAM Diesel 3/4 Ton Pickup, 206,000 miles, good shape, 2 door, 2 w/d, $5,600 OBO, 618-917-1429. 1996 DODGE AMER-ICAN Cruiser Camper Van; 114,000 miles,19’ Long, Generator, A/C, RV Stool, Black Water Tank, Sink, Refriger-ator, Cook top, Mi-crowave, Wardrobe, Dinette/Queen Bed, Plenty of Storage. SALE PRICE $6,500 Gooding RV Center Mission, Tx (956)-585-4481. I PAY CASH for your travel trailers, park models, fifth wheels and cars. I’ll make you a good deal. Call Jerry Garcia at 956-929-

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Valley RV Park, Feb. 20, 8am -3pm, lot 441. RUMMAGE SALE - OUR Savior Luther-an Church, 1105 W. Fern, McAllen, Friday

Feb. 19 & Saturday Feb. 20th, 8am-noon. YARD SALE FEB. 20, Hidden Valley Ranch, leather recliner, table, two chairs, more RV

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February 19, 2016 page 11www.ptrgv.com | www.strgv.com

CONSTABLE’S SALE

The State of Texas County of Hidalgo

Notice is Hereby Given that by virtue of a certain Writ of Execution issued out of the honorable COUNTY COURT AT LAW #1 OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, on the 11TH of DECEMBER 2015, for the sum of $18,367.75 on interest thereon at the rate of 5% per annum from the 26th of JUNE 2015 and cost of suit, under a judgment in favor of TRAVIS TILE SALES INC., in a certain cause in said court, No. C-1-CV-15-000813 And styled TRAVIS TILE SALES INC. Vs. JUAN CARLOS CER-VANTES INDIVIDUALLY, D/B/A PANGEA FLOOR COVERINGS And placed in my hands for service for service on 13th of JANUARY 2016, I, Lazaro Gallardo Jr., as Constable Pct.3 Hidalgo County, Texas, did on the 23rd of JANUARY 2016, levy on certain real estate in Hidalgo County, Texas, described as follows, to-wit Legal Descrip-tion: WEST ADDN. TO SHARYLAND S330’ LOT 34-2 10.00 AC GR 9.85AC NET. , And levied upon as property of JUAN CARLOS CERVANTES INDIVIDUALLY, D/B/A PANGEA FLOOR COVERING and that on the first Tuesday in MARCH 2016, the same being the 1ST day of said month, at the court house door of Hidalgo County, TEXAS in the City of Edinburg, Texas, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (sale starts at 10:00 a.m.) by virtue of said levy and said writ of execution, I will sell said above described real estate at public venue for cash, to the highest bidder, as the property of said JUAN CARLOS CERVANTES INDIVIDUALLY, D/B/A PANGEA FLOOR COVERINGS and in compliance with the law, I give this notice by publication, in the English language, once a week for three consecutive weeks immediately proceeding said day of sale, in The PROGRESS TIMES a newspaper published in Hidalgo County.

Witness my hand, this 2ND day of FEBRUARY 2016

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NOTICE OF INTENDED SALE OF CANAL RIGHT OF WAY

The Hidalgo County Irrigation Number 6, pursuant to the requirements of all applicable statutes regarding the sale of land or interest in land governmental units, hereby gives notice of its intent to sell a portion of a Canal Right of Way being a 0.88 of an acre tract of land situated in Porcion 52, Mission, TX 78572. Said land is more particularly described as follows:

Being 0.88 of an acre tract of land situated in Porcion 52, Hidalgo County, Texas, and being out of existing Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 6 Canal 3D5A Right of way, as described in Volume 424, Page 428, of the Deed Records, Hidalgo County, Texas, and being out of Goodwin Tract Subdivision No. 3, as recorded in Volume 6, Page 49, of the Map Records, Hidalgo County, Texas, and New Caledonia Unit No. 3 Subdivision, as recorded in Volume 6, Page 47, of the Map Records, Hidalgo County, Texas, said 0.88 of an acre tract of land. Save and except all rights to any oil, gas, wind and other minerals in and under and that may be produced from the above described property, owned by Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6, if any, together with the right of ingress and egress at all times for the purpose of mining, drilling, exploring, operating and developing said lands for oil, gas, wind and other minerals and removing the same therefrom the “Property”.

All interested persons must submit bids for the purchase of the Property. Such bids must be submitted as sealed bids. Those submitting sealed bids should deliver all sealed bids in person to the main office of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6 located at 3735 N. FM 492 (Goodwin Rd.), Mission, Texas 78574 on or before March 18, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. (Central Time).-(the Bid Deadline”) and any bids received after the Bid Deadline will be deemed untimely and rejected. The sealed bid should indicate the amount of the bid, the specific property being bid on, the person or company making bid, as well as an address and phone number for the bid-maker, along with any other information the bid-maker feels necessary. Please indicate on the outside of the sealed bid, what property the bid is in reference to. Pursuant to applicable law, any and all bids below the appraised fair market value that has been obtained by the District will be rejected.

Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6 reserves the right to reject any and all bids at its sole discretion, including, but not limited to, bids that do not satisfy the legal requirements necessary for sale of the Property.

Pursuant to applicable law, notice regarding the interest of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6 to sell the above-described real property will be published once a week for two consecutive weeks. After the 14th day of the second publication, the Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6 is lawfully entitled to commence with the sale of the property. A Contract for sales of the property will be negotiated after the successful bidder is selected. The Property will be sold “as is” with no warranties or representations as to suitability for any particular use. Hidalgo County Irrigation District Number 6 will publicly open, read and tabulate the bids on March 21, 2016, during its Board Meeting which is scheduled for 1:00 P.M. at 3735 N. FM 492 (Goodwin Rd.), Mission, Texas 78573.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Notice is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary for the Estate of ESTRELLA NORMA GARDNER, Deceased, were issued on February 8, 2016, in Cause No. P-37231, pending in the Probate Court Of Hidalgo County, Texas, to: VERN L. BAGSTAD.

All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being admin-istered are required to present them to the undersigned within the time and in the manner prescribed by law.

c/o: LOUIS C. BROWNAttorney at Law1207 ConwayMission, TX 78572

DATED the 16th day of FEBRUARY, 2016.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The City of Alton will hold a public hearing on Monday, March 7, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall Legislative Chambers located at 509 S. Alton Boulevard to consider the following request:

Si desea información en español, llame al departamento de Planeación de la Ciudad de Alton, (956) 432-0760.

CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT:

Blesson George, d.b.a. El Portal Food Mart is requesting a Conditional Use Permit to obtain a Wine and Beer Retailer’s Off-Premise Permit at 1701 N. Alton Blvd., also legally described as the 25.32AC of Lot 45-6, West Addn. to Sharyland, Alton, Hidalgo County, Texas.

The public is invited to attend and express support for or opposition to this application. You may also file written support or opposition to by 12:00 noon on March 8, 2016, for the Planning and Zoning and the City Commission.

For questions please call Jeff Underwood, Assistant City Manager at (956) 432-0760.

For Sale1989 PRAIRIESCHOONER byMallard, 32X8 withone slide out, lots ofupgrades, Skirting,carport, stepsincluded, must bemoved, $4,500, callBev 956-351-5659.MISSION/LAURELHILLS Cemetery Lot5, Block 5, 2 spaces,$1,500 each/$2,500both, 830-237-3229.RICOS TAMALESVERACRUZANOScon aceite de olivo,de carne, de dulce yvegetarianos.Catering para susfiestas Dona Mary,956-655-4661.

Help WantedLOOKING FOR FRYcook/kitchen, servers,bartenders, RiversideClub, Mission, call581-1033 and ask forJennifer.

WantedFULL TIME, PARTtime NP or PA at amedical office in LaJoya, email resumeto [email protected].

Total Sales: $24.752/17/2016 - 9:36:46 AM

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Total Sales: $24.752/17/2016 - 9:36:46 AM

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Total Sales: $24.752/17/2016 - 9:36:46 AM

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FOOD from pg 1

HIGHLIGHTS from pg 1

page 12 February 19, 2016www.ptrgv.com | www.strgv.com

“I would propose to re-place it with ACOs – ac-countable care organiza-tions,” Villarreal said. “It’s a component within healthcare that allows a healthcare pro-vider to monitor people to make sure they stay away from the emergency room for chronic illnesses.”

When the democratic candidates were asked what

will they do to help schools produce a skilled workforce to land jobs at international companies and manufactur-ing plants, the candidates of-fered various approaches.

Gonzalez said the answer was getting together with universities and business communities to find what types of education fits for public school students.

Ramirez said he wants all students to be armed with a trade by the time they grad-uate from high school, so even if they decide against college, they will still have a marketable skill. In addition, he wants to provide a tuition free trade school for students that have already graduated high school.

Sweeten and Quintanilla each said there needs to be a focus on creating jobs for locals who already have a strong work ethic.

Palacios and Elizondo said the key was to invest in the infrastructure to meet corporate needs and increase educational funding.

The republicans split on the pathway to citizenship is-sue. Both Wesley and Salinas said they are against provid-ing a pathway to citizenship, while Villarreal is in favor.

Wesley and Salinas ar-gued that people can’t pick and choose which laws to follow, or provide incentives for people to break the law. But Villarreal, a former may-or of a border town, said it’s time the U.S. followed the example of former president Ronald Reagan and provided amnesty for the undocument-ed citizens.

“The FBI can’t find the 10 top most wanted, and we’re sure as heck not going to find 10 million immigrants living here that don’t want to be found. My solution is a path to legal status,” Vil-larreal said. “If they’ve been

lawful, if they’ve worked hard, if they’ve been pro-ductive parts of our commu-nity, there’s no reason why we cannot immerse them into our community because they’re already part of it.”

There was also a split when it came to the legaliza-tion or decriminalization of marijuana in Texas. Ramirez, Elizondo and Palacios were for the decriminalization. Sweeten and Quintanilla were against. Gonzalez was undecided.

“We need dialogue with experts and see what other states have done and what the results are before we jump at making a change that drastic,” Gonzalez said.

There were complaints from crowd members say the caliber of questions were not equal between the parties and that other important is-sues were not addressed such as veterans services, the fed-eral deficit and the Valley’s financial state.

“The questions were just giving them a lot of wiggle room to just give their 30 second stump speech. There wasn’t any substance there,” Enoch Gowarty said. “We all know about the power of incumbency. Once you be-come an incumbent, it’s so hard to really get you out. So it really seems like we’re not vetting these guys. There’s a lot of just, in the words of the famous justice that passed away, a lot of applesauce questions.”

High School’s Future Farm-ers of America collected and donated more than 45,000 cans for the new location’s grand opening. Other donors include the Mission Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Mission.

“We don’t have a bound-ary for who we serve. We serve whoever needs it,” Ortega said. “The whole community needs to remem-ber that they are feeding the needy, not the greedy.”

Father Roy Snipes from Our Lady of Guadalupe

gave the invocation at the ribbon cutting ceremony. He compared the Mission Food Pantry to the people of La Lomita Mission who helped nurture lost missionaries that came through the area in the early 1900s.

“There’s something about this town,” Snipes said. “It’s that sense of hospitality that you can pick up, that sense of ‘if you’re lost and can’t find your way, come on in and get a taquito and a cup of coffee. We’ll be your friend on this journey.’”

MJH Science Bowl team qualifies for National Science BowlFor the third year in a row,

Mission CISD will be send-ing a junior high school team to the National Science Bowl competition in Washington, DC. However, this will be the first time a team from Mission Jr. High School (MJH) has earned the honor. Only 50 middle school teams from around the country ad-vance to the national compe-tition. The team from MJH earned the chance to com-pete at the National Science

Bowl when they won the Re-gional Science Bowl Cham-pionship this past weekend. This qualified them to com-pete at the national event that will be held April 28-May 2. The members of the MJH team are: Briana Diaz, Lu-cas Dovalina, Rodrigo Mo-ran, Paul McCoy, Damian Gonzalez. Two other teams from Mission CISD junior high schools placed toward the top. The Alton Memorial Robo-Rangers team and the

team from K. White Jr. High School tied for fifth place at the regional competition. The team members from AMJH are: Brandon Balde-ras, Sebastian Ortiz, Adam-aris Sanchez, Miguel Gar-cia, Cristian Navarro. The team members from KWJH are: David Medina, Isabella Ayala, Joseph Casas, Lisa Garza, Yazmin Cortes. The 2016 Regional Science Bowl brought together teams from several counties, includ-

ing magnet schools, charter schools, and private schools. The Regional Science Bowl was sponsored by HESTEC at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The National Science Bowl is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It is a nationwide ac-ademic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of Science and Math.

february 19, 2016 - winter texan times

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