McAllen police have arrested and charged two teenagers, after investigating two separate incidents involving the teens in possession of firearms.
In the first case, police received a report of a threat sent through social media, in which a teenager held a firearm and threatened the receiver of that message Sept. 5, police said in a news release.
The victim received a second threat on Sept. 6, which was viewed by officers on-scene. The second video showed a different teen holding the same firearm and threatening the receiver.
The release stated officers were able to identify the senders of the threats, who were detained after the initial report, and police seized the firearm used in the threat, a 9mm masterpiece defender and located marijuana, THC cartridges and paraphernalia.
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Alan Ronaldo Zamarron
This photo shows a 9mm Masterpiece Defender. (Courtesy: McAllen Police Department)
Alan Ronaldo Zamarron, 17, was arrested and an unidentified juvenile was detained. Zamarron was charged with terroristic threat, unlawful carrying weapons, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bonds totalled to $12,000.
The juvenile detained was charged with terroristic threat, unlawful carrying weapons, possession marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. That juvenile was transferred to the custody of the Mario E. Ramirez Jr. Juvenile Justice Center.
In the second case, police investigated a report of a weapon disturbance on the 2800 block of Nolana Avenue on Sunday, Sept. 8. According to the release, a reporting party said a male was “displaying a firearm in the parking lot.”
A police officer located the male, with the release stating the male fled from detention shortly after. He was identified as Adrian Velasquez, 18, and was arrested. Police said in the release that a Glock model 22, .40 caliber handgun was found in his possession, adding that the handgun was equipped with a switch, which turns it into a fully automatic firearm.
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Adrian Velasquez
This photo shows a Glock model 22, .40 caliber handgun equipped with a switch, which turns the handgun into a fully automatic firearm. (Courtesy: McAllen Police Department)
This photo shows the switch equipped on a Glock model 22, .40 caliber handgun. The switch turns the handgun into a fully automatic firearm. (Courtesy: McAllen Police Department)
This photo shows the switch equipped on a Glock model 22, .40 caliber handgun. The switch turns the handgun into a fully automatic firearm. (Courtesy: McAllen Police Department)
Velasquez was charged with evading arrest or detention, resisting arrest, search or transport, unlawful carrying weapons, prohibited weapon, fictitious/false drivers license, possession of tobacco product by minor and local municipal court warrant. His bonds totalled to $15,000.
Police urge anyone with information about this type of crime to call the McAllen Crime Stoppers at (956) 687-TIPS (8477). An anonymous tip can also be submitted through the P3 Tips cellphone app. The release states information that leads to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.
The U.S. Small Business Administration Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office is accepting nominations for Small Business Person of the Year and other award categories for the 2025 national and district Small Business Week Awards. (Courtesy: U.S. Small Business Administration/Facebook)
The U.S. Small Business Administration Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office is accepting nominations for Small Business Person of the Year and other award categories for the 2025 national and district Small Business Week Awards. (Courtesy: U.S. Small Business Administration/Facebook)
The U.S. Small Business Administration Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office is accepting nominations for Small Business Person of the Year and other award categories for the 2025 national and district Small Business Week Awards.
The national and district award categories are for Small Business Exporter and SBA 8(a) Business Development Program Graduate of the Year in addition to Small Business Person of the Year.
District-only awards categories are Family-Owned Business of the Year, Home-Based Business of the Year, Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year, Rural-Owned Small Business of the Year, Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year, Women-Owned Small Business of the Year, and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
National Small Business Week recognizes the achievements of small businesses around the country and the contributions they make to their local communities and the nation’s economy.
“Small Business Week is one of my favorite weeks as we elevate the importance of small business ownership, commemorate model entrepreneurs and celebrate small business resilience,” said SBA Lower RGV District Director Angela Burton.
The Lower Valley District Office serves Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties in addition to the counties of Aransas, Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio, Starr and Zapata.
To learn about nomination criteria, download forms, and see guidelines for submitting district and/or national nominations, go to sba.gov.
In order to help nominators prepare a successful package, the Lower RGV District Office will host two webinars explaining the nomination guidelines, Burton said. The webinars are scheduled for Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. For more information on them, visit sba.gov/events?district=34. Nominations can only be submitted electronically and must be received by the Lower RGV District Office no later than 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.
“I encourage interested stakeholders to nominate exceptional small businesses and inspired small businesses to self-nominate,” Burton said.
SBA describes itself as “the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government.” The agency says its mission is to “empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster.”
SBA delivers services through a network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. For more information go to sba.gov or contact Veronica Ortega at [email protected].
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, shares remarks on June 27, 2024, after the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act was marked up and passed by the House Ways and Means Committee by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 38-0. (Courtesy: U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell/YouTube)
My story is not unlike that of many others who have heard those devastating words, “You have cancer.” Having been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 49 — and 28 years later, being diagnosed with a metastatic recurrence, I am all too familiar with the fight against cancer. As a survivor, senior citizen and founder of the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation, I can say it is far better to invest funding on the early end of the cancer journey — for early detection — vs. the latter end — for treating late-stage cancer.
That’s why I’m thrilled the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act (H.R. 2407) continues to gain momentum in Congress. The bipartisan bill has united hundreds of lawmakers and millions more advocates who want to establish a pathway to Medicare coverage for transformative new cancer technology.
U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington
Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Texas’ Rep. Jodey Arrington, the House Ways and Means Committee recently advanced this bill with a unanimous vote (38-0), a major step toward better care and prevention for American seniors, who face the highest risks of cancer.
While this is a critical step forward, their work is not done until Congress passes this bill into law. There’s no time to waste.
For years, Rep. Arrington and leading partner Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., have championed this legislation with the country’s health and optimal cancer care in mind. Their passion and dedication to pairing transformative advances in health care with policy action for all Americans has led more than 295 members of the House and more than 60 senators to follow as formal co-sponsors. ding
Through blood analysis, MCED tests have the ability to detect the presence and location of dozens of types of cancer, with great accuracy. The results of this test can help patients and their physicians catch cases before symptoms arise.
Currently, screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies are available for just five types of cancer. MCED can fill the gaps — and save lives — for many more. Pathways to Medicare coverage established by Congress for previous medical breakthroughs in cancer screening set a powerful precedent and have transformed care.
The five-year survival rate for many cancers when caught early is at least 90%, while 70% of cancer deaths are due to cancers without screening – causing patients to more often receive their diagnoses in later, harder-to-treat stages. All seniors — who face the highest cancer risk of any population — deserve meaningful, equitable access after the FDA gives the green light to new detection tools.
Late-stage treatment also costs more – for patients and the government. Approximately 1 million Medicare beneficiaries will be diagnosed with cancer this year, with 1,200 of those every day receiving a late-stage diagnosis. Overall, that sums up to cost the U.S. approximately $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Average annual costs for Medicare cancer care are up to seven times higher for cases diagnosed in later stages.
Just think of how many more patients, families and loved ones could celebrate survivorship thanks to accessible early cancer detection through H.R. 2407. With the potential to deliver life-saving care while lowering treatment costs, the legislation is a win-win.
As Rep. Arrington shared before the House Ways and Means Committee vote, “nobody is untouched by this insidious disease one way or the other.” This underscores why this is such an urgent, personal initiative for many in Congress and millions across the U.S. MCED tests will help ensure those who do face a fight with cancer have a better chance at gaining the upper hand. We stand fully behind Congressman Arrington and others throughout Congress to pass H.R. 2407 and make that a reality.
Dale Eastman is founder of the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation in San Antonio.
James Earl Jones arrives at the Tony Awards on June 12, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
By MARK KENNEDY | AP Entertainment Writer
James Earl Jones arrives at the American Theatre Wing benefit to honor CBS and Leslie Moonves, Chairman of CBS, Monday, April 11, 2005, in New York. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93. His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning, Sept. 9, 2024, at home. (Diane Bondareff/AP File Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) — James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York’s Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who in 1965 became one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama (“As the World Turns”) and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was also given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of “The Gin Game” having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn’t get him.”
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the writer Alex Haley in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.
James Earl Jones poses with his honorary Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Chris Carlson/AP File Photo)
“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the pavement in these streets looking for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.
Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three blockbuster Tom Clancy adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.
LeVar Burton, who starred alongside Jones in the TV movie “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones,” paid tribute on X, writing, “There will never be another of his particular combination of graces.”
Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”
Actor James Earl Jones poses for photos in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 7, 2013. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Rick Rycroft/AP File Photo)
As a rising stage and television actor, he performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.
Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.
When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.
“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”
Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.
James Earl Jones accepts the special Tony award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP, File)
Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.
At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.
In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.
True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.
Jones’ two wives were also actors. He married Julienne Marie Hendricks in 1967. After their divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson in the CBS police drama “Paris,” in 1982. (She died in 2016.) They had a son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.
James Earl Jones, left, greets the press along with his wife Cecilia, center, and son Flynn, right, at the premiere of “The Lion King” in Los Angeles, June 12, 1994. Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen has died at age 93, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Tara Farrell/AP File Photo)
“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”
Citing his stutter as one of the reasons he wasn’t a political activist, Jones nonetheless hoped his art could change minds.
“I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you cannot change anybody’s mind, no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel.”
Oziel Capetillo, a TSTC alumnus and a TSTC Biomedical Equipment Technology instructor, is celebrating six years as an instructor at the college. (Courtesy: Texas State Technical College/TSTC)
HARLINGEN — Texas State Technical College Biomedical Equipment Technology instructor Oziel Capetillo is gratified that his 25 years of industry experience in the electronics and medical fields have helped lead graduates to career success.
“This is my sixth year teaching in the program,” Capetillo said. “It’s important that students grasp hands-on training. I’ve seen what medical equipment can and cannot do. We help patients from behind the scenes.”
Capetillo, who earned an associate degree in Laser Technology from Texas State Technical Institute (now TSTC) in 1988, followed by an Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology from TSTC in 2007, never imagined that his talent for troubleshooting and repairing electronic devices would bring him back as an instructor to TSTC.
Capetillo gained experience as an electronic engineer technician with Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1988. He relocated to the Rio Grande Valley for family reasons in 1995, then worked as a biomedical equipment technician with DHR Health in 2005. He first taught Biomedical Equipment Technology at TSTC in 2015. He returned to DHR Health for three years before making his way back to teach at TSTC in 2019.
Among the graduates that Capetillo trained is Edward Garcia, who has worked as a biomedical equipment technician team lead with GE Healthcare at DHR Health for three years.
“Mr. Capetillo was passionate about how he taught,” he said. “It reflected the way he did his lessons, the advice he gave us, and that motivated us to show our commitment to the program.”
Ray Longoria, team lead for TSTC’s Biomedical Equipment Technology and Wind Energy Technology programs at the Harlingen campus, said Capetillo is a good mentor to his students.
“Oziel helps students not only academically, but also coaches them into adulthood,” he said. “His connection with medical professionals has placed many of our graduates in jobs.”
Oziel Capetillo, a TSTC alumnus and a TSTC Biomedical Equipment Technology instructor, is celebrating six years as an instructor at the college. (Courtesy: Texas State Technical College/TSTC)
Capetillo said the Biomedical Equipment Technology program welcomes any individual who wants to learn more.
“People will be amazed by how many hands-on activities we do,” he said. “The preventative maintenance our students learn will stay with them forever.”
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology at its Harlingen and Waco campuses, as well as an Associate of Applied Science degree in Medical Imaging Systems Technology Specialization at the Waco campus.
According to onetonline.org, the average annual salary for medical equipment repairers is $50,600 in Texas, where the number of jobs in that field was forecast to increase 18% between 2020 and 2030.
Socrates: “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”
Maximilien Robespierre: “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”
The greatest enemies of knowledge and freedom are misinformation, half-truths and lies, and the greatest enemy of the truth is censorship. For more than 100 years, America’s greatest enemy has been and still is the corporate-owned media.
Anyone who believes that liberals aren’t tyrants is sadly mistaken. For generations the liberal media have done an excellent job of keeping people ignorant and in the process silenced dissent and and almost singlehandedly destroyed America.
Wikipedia: “Operation Northwoods was a proposed false flag operation that originated within the U.S. Department of Defense of the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for CIA operatives to both stage and commit acts of terrorism against American military and civilian targets, and blame them on the Cuban government, and use them to justify a war against Cuba.
“The possibilities detailed in the document included … a fabricated ‘shoot down’ of a US Air Force fighter aircraft off the coast of Cuba, the possible assassination of Cuban immigrants, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, blowing up a US ship, and orchestrating terrorism in US cities. The proposals were rejected by President John F. Kennedy. …
“The previously secret document was originally made public on 18 November, 1997 ….”
Why is it that most of you have likely never heard of Operation Northwoods? It’s because liberals censor the truth! How many of you had never heard of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group or the Trilateral Commission, the secretive organizations whose members and meeting participants actually run America and the world?
Do any of you know that lies led to the Spanish American War or that lies were used to justify the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam in 1965 and to justify the 2003 Iraq War? Does anyone consider it just a little odd that such important information has been and is still kept from the general public?
It seems to me that rigging/stealing an election and staging an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol l would be child’s play for individuals like those who proposed committing acts of terrorism against their own troops and fellow citizens to justify a war with Cuba as well as those who lied to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam to justify invading Iraq in 2003 and to start a war with Spain in 1898.
And Democrats say Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy. What democracy? America morphed into a communist nation long ago and most people don’t have a clue. Socialists, communists and liberals like you know it.
I will no longer view, subscribe to or help fund your leftist, treasonous and satanic propaganda. You and your satanic ilk can go to hell!
Natividad Rodriguez
Harlingen
Unscientific observation
I guess we have all heard the saying, “He couldn’t see the trees for the forest.” Some things are obvious, but because they are in plain sight we don’t see them.
Forty years ago, you never saw commercials on TV advertising lots things like drinking water, feminine hygiene products, and least of all, adult diapers. Of these three, the adult diapers were the harbinger that rang my inner alarm bell. Where 30 years ago they were nearly unheard of, they now occupy a growing amount of space at your local big box and grocery store, and in addition are available for discreet purchase online and delivered in unlabeled boxes for privacy and dignity’s sake.
If you were born between 1946 and 1964, consider yourself a member of the baby boomer generation. This generation contributed greatly to the American economy, lifting it to great levels. Cities, neighborhoods and schools grew across America thanks to to the boomer generation.
The COVID pandemic gave me time to think and notice things and put things in perspective, as it were.
My observation and unscientific evaluation is that the boomer pendulum reached its zenith about five years ago and has begun its reverse swing.
What does this all mean, you might ask? My unscientific observation based on adult diaper sales steadily increasing is that there could be a calamity of sorts in the future for the other birth generations X through Z.
Each succeeding generation has gotten smaller. Couples putting off starting families equals lower birth rates. We see this manifesting itself locally where school districts here and across America are closing and reorganizing campuses due to decreased student populations.
So far we are seeing small ripples, but what happens when the boomers reach full retirement and draw down Social Security? Will the succeeding generations’ payments into Social Security keep the ripples from becoming an economic tsunami? I guess time will tell.
So the next time you pass the adult diaper section at the big box or grocery store, does it seem that you entered a dimension of sight and imagination, mixed with unscientific observation and economic superstition? No, you are not in the Twilight Zone, but you must admit, it is thought provoking and submitted for your approval.
Jake Longoria
Mission
Light bill too high
I just got a notice from my energy supplier: “Your A/C is costing you an average of $2 per day.” This is a bald-faced lie! In non-A/C months my electric bill averages about $90 a month. The bill I received for July is $201. That’s $110 a month for A/C or $3.67 per day.
Want to know the real kicker? My thermostat is set at 82 degrees, two bedrooms are not cooled and the doors are shut, plus the A/C is shut off from 11p.m. till 7 a.m.
This is what the Republican-appointed and led PUC and ERCOT have installed Texas. Don’t bother to complain to your supplier. It has nothing to do with generation, transmission, distribution or pricing. Just remember it at the polls in November.
Ned Sheats
Mission
Commentary draws praise
Bravo for Louise Butler’s commentary, “Misogyny dies hard” (Aug. 16), and for her advocacy for women and their empowerment.
We older women who have experienced the freedom of reproductive choices in our lives as well as those of us who have made independent life choices to decide our future — without male dominance — are encouraging young adults to participate in a new generation banding together to vote and recover women’s rights.
“If you wanted rights you should have been a corporation or an embryo.”
Vote like your life depends on it — as it does.
Hear us roar in November!
Diane Teter
Edinburg
Does Trump Know work?
Do you think Donald Trump ever mowed a lawn or shoveled snow? Do you think he ever had a paper route or was a grocery store carryout? Do you think Trump’s mother ever served him creamed peas on toast or buttered noodles because she could not afford meat? Do you think he ever worked second shift pounding stator cores together with his hands for electric motors? Do you think Donald Trump ever worked third shift running a press to make grinding wheels? How about working in a paper factory making plates or in a cherry processing plant? Do you think he ever put boat trailers together in the heat of the summer?
If he never did any of these or similar jobs, how on earth do you think he can relate to the middle class?
Gerard Pahl
Edinburg
Not voting for Trump
Who in their right frame of mind would vote for someone with the resume of a convicted felon, a traitor with high-ranking Republicans acknowledging the fact, an adulterer, downgrading Medal of Honor recipients as they can’t afford to donate millions to receive the Medal of Freedom, calling war dead suckers and losers, a filthy mouth that dishes out sarcasm but can’t tolerate receiving it but his sarcasm is embraced by many, endorsing and rewarding someone who persuaded fellow wimpy spineless congressmen to suspend a bill that would have alleviated the immigration problem.
“We want a jury of your peers, but we’re going to have a tough time finding 12 people with 91 felony charges, 2 impeachments and a dictator fetish.”
Interesting how this last statement has benefitted his political agenda, pitting party affiliation against welfare of country. Yep, this suspended bill has attracted an abundance of ignorance that has worked tremendously as supporters keep clamoring for border relief that could have already been solved.
I would gladly vote for Micky Mouse over someone with this resume.
Juan Gonzales
Harlingen
Who’s evil?
Kamala Harris, according to Imelda Coronado, is an evil woman (Letters, Aug. 10). Yes, the lady whom millions of us would want to call president of the United States is the “embarrassing” force behind the “defund the police” movement, allows millions of illegals to pour into our country and causes the “horrific annihilation” of “unborn” babies. Good grief, man, this is really disturbing — if you believe it!
Fortunately for those of us who are not inclined to swallow such nonsense, this spreading of disinformation and misinformation is just typical right-wing hogwash.
TOP LEFT: “Biden’s letting his son go to jail to save his re-election campaign.” “But I thought you said he’d rigged the trial to keep his son out of jail!” TOP RIGHT: “A classic switcheroo! Part of Biden’s ingenious plot to use the Justice Department to persecute Christians and Republicans!” BOTTOM LEFT: “Ingenious! Yesterday, you said Biden is a senile, blithering idiot!” BOTTOM RIGHT: “Hey, you’re sounding like one of those liberal elitists trying to trip up a real American with fancy logic!”
But the good thing is that Imelda believes “we can’t afford any more evil against our country,” and many of us totally agree. It’s precisely the reason Donald Trump is no longer our president! Heck, the guy blatantly and openly demonstrated his satanic evilness! Gathering a mob of rioters to savagely storm the Capitol so that he could stay in power, establish his dictatorship and yes, hang Mike Pence, is the epitome of evilness!
But hey, if the MAGAS want to support Trump who praises dictators and wants to be America’s Vladimir Putin, to each his own. After all, we still live in a free country. So far, anyway.
Italo J. Zarate
Brownsville
Police chief draws praise
Sometimes a wish does come true.
The McAllen Police Department in the past had many problems with their police officers and policies; it seemed unfixable. Daily reports of citizen complaints of abuse fell onto deaf ears; it seemed that way because the problem continued, non-stop.
About this time a young police officer (Victor Rodriguez) from Brownsville was noticed for his way of engaging with the public and soon after became a police chief for that city.
When I read that about him, I thought McAllen really needs an officer like him to clean up their police department. Then I thought, why should he? Why go into a problem, a city police department where not even the city manager can handle that problem?
McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez at the McAllen Police Department on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in McAllen. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
It took more than a decade to see Police Chief Victor Rodriguez come to the McAllen PD and correct the problem, and that he did, in his well-mannered way of handling problems. Today the McAllen PD runs like a well-oiled machine, smooth and quiet. It took hard work to make it happen.
When I see victor in public a picture from the past pops in my mind, from a newspaper clip of a young police officer with a dream to make things better. Yes, sometimes a wish does come true.
Rafael Madrigal
Pharr
Gonzalez criticized
Wow — talk about choking on your coffee. Watching the evening news when suddenly a political ad came out about a new candidate office. It was the new and polished “bipartisan” Vicente Gonzalez.
I know that Henry Cuellar is bipartisan as his history shows that he’s willing to work with all parties to help Texas and his district. Gonzalez has just a history.
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez speaks during a press conference at Texas Southmost College Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
If Gonzalez is “bipartisan,” why didn’t he meet with President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott and others when they came to the RGV to discuss border problems? He has only met other Democrats on his “dog and pony shows.”
If Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are proud Democrats, why isn’t Gonzalez one? His ads used to proclaim that. Why the change? Inquiring minds want to know.
Macedonio Lopez
Edinburg
Project 2025 raises fears
Recent news here in Texas is causing me great concern. The Donald Trump campaign is suggesting that he will implement Project 2025 upon being elected president in November. But the state of Texas is not waiting for the election to begin the transition to totalitarian rule.
Earlier this year, Greg Abbott declared that he would not oppose the idea of shooting people trying to cross the Rio Grande, except that the Biden administration might prosecute them for murdering the victims. Should Trump win in November, those reservations would be removed and Texas would be encouraged to stop immigrants by any means possible.
The other threat contained in Project 2025 is that voter suppression would become the principle means by which Trump would maintain his power. Elections would be unnecessary because the results would be declared before the first votes were cast, just like in Venezuela.
Attorney General Ken Paxton is beginning that process by attacking and investigating Latino organizations long recognized for their efforts to engage the Latino population of Texas in the electoral process.
LULAC has long been recognized for its advocacy on behalf of Latinos’ rights to vote. But just a few days ago Paxton sent Texas Rangers, armed with assault weapons, to the home of an 81-year-old grandmother to confiscate her cellphone and question her for seven hours about her efforts to register voters.
“The Running Mate”
Paxton knows that his “investigations” will yield no voter fraud, and that does not cause him any concern. When they come up “empty,” the AG will declare that voter fraud does exist and that the investigations will continue.
The true purpose for the investigations is to suppress Latino voters’ participation, and further fruitless investigations will still advance that goal.
Certainly, a new Trump administration would only encourage Paxton to continue his search for non-existent voter fraud, since that would only bolster the myth that Latino immigrants are involved in illegal voting schemes.
I urge everyone to carefully consider the consequences of your votes in November.
Vaughn Cox
San Antonio
Response to letter
In response to Jamey Honaker’s letter of Aug. 19, right-wingers are very upset and scared that now Vice President Kamala Harris is running against their guru. As predictable, they are coming up with all kinds of wild conspiracy theories about the move to make Harris the Democratic Party candidate.
One of Mr. Honaker’s theories is that Vice President Harris got an “icy reception even even by Democrat voters.” The truth is that Democrat voters are super excited to have her as their presidential candidate. That fact can be proven by the tremendous number of supporters who are attending her rallies.
Another conspiracy theory by Mr. Honaker suggests Vice President Harris has a “dubious political history” without offering any evidence whatsoever. Kamala Harris fought her way from humble beginnings to where she is now on her own skills and persistence. The fact is Kamala Harris was elected as district attorney for the city of San Francisco. After that she was elected as attorney general for the state of California and served for six years. After that she was elected to the U.S. Senate where she served for four years. Nothing dubious about her quite significant accomplishments.
“I don’t actually care where she stands on the other issues”
For a dubious background you might want to look at Donald Trump. Trump inherited millions from his father. Everything he has was handed to him on a silver platter. He is always bragging about how rich he is while at the same time fleecing his clueless minions selling bibles and tennis shoes. Trump has a proven, documented history of fraudulent activity. Facts, Trump’s history, 91 felony convictions, six bankruptcies, one convicted company, one fake charity shutdown, one fake university shutdown, 26 sexual assault allegations, one sexual assault conviction, $25 million fraud settlement, $5 million sexual abuse settlement, $2 million charity abuse judgment. On top of all that criminal history Trump is still pending trials on a number of serious charges.
MAGAs have come up with all kinds of conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden stepping down. They can’t understand a genuine American patriot like President Biden who would sacrifice his personal position as president for the good of the country. He has and always will put country above politics. What a contrast to Trump’s inciting an insurrection trying to stay in power after the American people fired him.
Make the sensible choice in November.
Beto Conde
Rancho Viejo
Editor’s note: We welcome your letters and commentary. Submissions must include the writer’s full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters of 200 words or fewer will be given preference. Submissions may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Letters may be mailed to P.O Box 3267, McAllen, Texas 78502-3267, or emailed to [email protected].
While there’s a high chance of 80% of a tropical cyclone developing over the next 48 hours, the NWS said there’s a 90% chance of that development over the next seven days. (Courtesy: National Weather Service Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley)
While there’s a high chance of 80% of a tropical cyclone developing over the next 48 hours, the NWS said there’s a 90% chance of that development over the next seven days. (Courtesy: National Weather Service Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley)
The National Weather Service Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley says there’s a high chance of a tropical cyclone development over the next two days.
According to an update released Sunday, the NWS said the National Hurricane Center is monitoring a broad area of low pressure over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, adding that environmental conditions are expected to become conducive for additional development.
While there’s a high chance of 80% of a tropical cyclone developing over the next 48 hours, the NWS said there’s a 90% chance of that development over the next seven days.
“A tropical depression is likely to form during the next few days as the system moves generally northwestward and then northward near or along the Gulf coast of Mexico and Texas through the middle of the week,” the NWS said in its report.
Regardless of any tropical development, the NWS said hazardous beach and marine conditions will continue into next week, with the threat for heavy rainfall increasing, which may result in isolated to scattered flash floods.
As a result, the NWS is strongly encouraging the clearing of drainage ditches, canals, clean-outs and any other flood-prone area of any debris that has built up through the summer. They also urge residents to revisit their preparedness plans and restock “stay” or “go” kits.
EDINBURG — A renewed push to expand the number of judges able to serve the Edinburg Municipal Court has once again failed here.
On Tuesday, Sept. 3, the Edinburg City Council was set to discuss the possibility of creating an ordinance that would empower them to appoint associate municipal judges; however, the effort proved fruitless after the council took the discussion behind closed doors.
Tuesday marked the second time in recent months that a portion of the city council has pushed to expand the court, which is currently presided over by Municipal Judge Hector Bustos, whom voters elected last November over challenger, Armando Guerra.
Initially, the council had hoped to put the matter in the hands of Edinburg voters as part of an expansive charter amendment election this November. But that effort failed when a split council voted to remove the proposition, then known as “Proposition K,” from the final version of the charter amendment ballot.
Edinburg may amend its city charter via one of two methods — by asking voters to approve a proposition, or by a majority of the city council passing an ordinance.
With Prop K dead before it had a chance to reach voters, the city turned to the latter method.
When the subject of associate judges returned to the council’s deliberations this week, it was again met with a mixed response from the five men sitting atop the dais.
As soon as Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. called for a motion on the issue, Place 2 Councilman Jason De Leon motioned to table the discussion.
Place 3 Councilman David Salazar Jr. — the city’s newest elected official — instantly seconded De Leon’s motion.
But the mayor noted the issue nonetheless involved outstanding legal questions that he had hoped to discuss with his colleagues.
“I had spoken to our city attorney. I think there was some — I mean, if that’s your wishes, that’s fine — but, I understand there were some legal issues that we need to discuss regarding this item,” Garza said.
Councilmen Dan Diaz and David White echoed the mayor’s concerns, saying they, too, wanted to have their questions answered.
“That’s what I would rather do,” Diaz said about moving the discussion to the executive session portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
“Do you guys mind if we just move it to the back?” White added.
But several hours later, when the council emerged from their closed-door talks, they neither took action on, nor again mentioned, the proposal to create an associate judges ordinance.
Edinburg City Hall on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])
According to supporting documentation included as part of the meeting agenda packet, Edinburg currently only has the authority to appoint “temporary judges” who may only serve “when the elected municipal court judge is not available.”
Further, it is the municipal judge’s responsibility to appoint those backup judges. But there are currently “no temporary judges for the municipal court,” the agenda packet reads, in part.
An associate judge differs from a temporary judge in that they can be appointed or removed by the city council itself, rather than by the elected judge. Associate judges can also serve day or night, regardless of whether or not the elected municipal judge is on duty at the same time.
A draft copy of the failed associate judge ordinance further explains that associate judges would have all the same authorities and powers as the elected municipal judge, but clarifies that the elected judge would serve as “presiding judge” over them.
This summer’s discussions aren’t the only time that Edinburg has tried to change how the municipal court is run.
In 2018, the city held a charter amendment election that, in part, asked Edinburg voters to make the municipal judge position an appointed office, rather than an elected office. But the effort failed by a vanishingly narrow margin.
Of the 17,705 people who voted for 2018’s Proposition A, some 9,032 people, or 51.01% of the electorate, voted against making the judge an appointed position, while 8,673 people voted for the measure.
During discussions earlier this summer, White, the Place 4 councilman, said he had been against changing the judge’s position to an appointed one back in 2018, but since then, his opinion has changed — largely due to the current judge’s unreliable schedule.
“Right now, you’re paying a guy $90,000 a year and we’ve appointed a bunch of visiting judges to come do the work,” an audibly frustrated White said during a council meeting in July.
The councilman added that Bustos’ sporadic office hours have begun to negatively impact not just residents seeking to address traffic citations, but the Edinburg Police Department, as well.
“The PD is not being serviced, our community is not being serviced, our citizens are not being serviced,” White said in July.
The Monitor filed a public information request seeking timecards or other records that reflect when Bustos has served on duty since he was appointed in December 2021 until this summer.
The newspaper also requested records regarding temporary judges who have served in Bustos’ absence, as well as any complaints that may have been filed against the municipal judge.
However, the court denied the requests, saying any such records are not subject to public disclosure.
“It is my opinion that your request seeks records that are exempted by the Public Access to Judicial Records Rule 12.2 and 12.3 and thus, by definition, are not ‘judicial records,’” Senior Court Clerk Cecilia Jimenez stated in a July 29 correspondence with the newspaper.
An Andes Organ Pipe Cactus towers above a roof line. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Night blooming cereus is the common name that refers to many flowering cacti that bloom at night, have columnar or elongated growth with well-defined ribs. The word cereus means that the plant is a cactus.
Flowers of night blooming cacti are generally white, or quite pale shades of a color, like pink, yellow or lavender; blooms are often large, from six to nine inches in diameter when open and fragrant. Blooms begin opening around 9 p.m., become fully open about midnight and begin wilting by dawn.
Night blooming cacti are tropical; they are perennial where they grow native. Bats in their region are the native pollinators; they visit the flowers after midnight when they are open at their fullest. Hawk moths and sphinx moths, as well as bees and beetles can also pollinate night blooming cacti. Not all of the night blooming cacti bear fruit.
Triangle Cacti buds and spines at South Texas Ecotourism Center. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Triangle cactus Acanthocereus tetragonus, is a species native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley and to Florida and south to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. Its flowers are five and one-half to nearly eight inches in diameter when fully open, with a tube up to six inches in length.
The plant is relatively fast growing for a cactus. Stems can appear spindly and sprawling, they arch and recline and travel over other vegetation. The plant forms branches and produces numerous smaller offsets; it is capable of forming thickets that can become impenetrable.
Triangle cactus is highly spiny. The areoles are gray. In botany, areoles are small light to dark colored bumps on cacti, out of which grow clusters of spines. Triangle cactus has seven to eight spines in each cluster; the spines can be one to one and one-half inches long.
Triangle cactus bears red, roundish three-inch fruits that have shiny black seeds. Birds, tortoises and coyotes feast on the ripe fruit. Rats and rabbits will eat the cactus stems.
The plant blooms June through September, pollinated by hawk moths, some sphinx moths and bats. Triangle cactus grows along the trails and paths in many of our local nature parks, but the gates will most likely be locked if you’re looking to view the spectacular midnight blooms.
The good news is, there is a place where blooms may be viewed, for those night owls amongst us — at the South Texas Ecotourism Center in Laguna Vista, along Texas state highway 100. The center has a special section of triangle cactus in their pollinator garden adjacent to the parking lot, in the open forecourt in front of the visitor center building. Take your flashlight, keep to the paths and have your phone camera ready.
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A Night Blooming Cactus in thorn scrub forest. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
A Triangle Cactus bloom beginning to wilt. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Triangle Cactus tube and bud. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
A Giant Red Dragon Apple Cactus. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Fruit and seeds of Triangle Cactus. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
An Andes Organ Pipe Cactus towers above a roof line. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Triangle Cacti buds and spines at South Texas Ecotourism Center. (Courtesy: Anita Westervelt)
Other night blooming cereus have prospered in the Rio Grande Valley, such as giant red dragon apple cactus (queen of the night), Harrisia bonplandii. It is native to Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia. About three dozen have been recorded on www.iNaturalist.org in Hidalgo County. Andes Organ Pipe Cactus, Cereus hildmannianus, native to southern South America, grows tree-like to 30 feet in height; it has been documented locally. Night blooming orchid cacti in the Epiphyllum Genus make successful potted patio plants.
These sources were helpful in writing this article: iNaturalist.org, Wikipedia.org, assessment report at plantpono.org, nativeplantproject.com and Richardson, A. & King, K. (2011). Plants of Deep South Texas: A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Paul Sancya/AP Photo)
I believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to succeed here in Texas. To have the opportunity to get ahead, take care of your family and retire with dignity. But Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the fight to make that harder.
I was raised by a single mom who was a public school teacher. She sometimes worked two jobs to make ends meet. I remember what it was like to go to the grocery store, swipe our debit card and say a little prayer or those times we had to put things back because we couldn’t afford them that week.
The odds that I’d be where I am today were small. My story is only possible in Texas because of the teachers, coaches and good folks at the YMCA who helped my mom raise me and gave me the opportunity to earn a scholarship to play football at Baylor, make it to the NFL, law school and Congress.
When it came time for my mom to retire, she had earned every bit of her retirement benefits, and to this day she relies on Medicare and lives on the fixed income of a retired Texas teacher. No one has to tell me how important these benefits are to our seniors.
More than 4.7 million Texans rely on Medicare to get the health care they need. 4.6 million Texans rely on Social Security benefits every month, and retirees account for 70% of those recipients. Our seniors earned these benefits through a lifetime of hard work, which is why I’ve always fought to lower costs and protect these programs.
I have worked hard to strengthen and protect these foundational programs that hardworking Texans pay into every month. In Congress, I worked to cap the cost of insulin at $35, out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000, allow Medicare the ability to negotiate lower costs of certain drugs for seniors, and require pharmaceutical companies that raise prices faster than inflation to pay Medicare back. I helped make vaccines free for all Medicare beneficiaries. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these reforms will result in an average savings of $400 for 1.3 million Texans on Medicare. I am proud that I took on Big Pharma and helped get this done, lowering costs for seniors and strengthening Medicare’s finances.
Ted Cruz voted against this legislation, and helped stop a bipartisan amendment to cap the cost of insulin at $35 for Texans with private insurance. This is no surprise, as Cruz raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Pharma. He has made it his life’s work to cut earned Social Security and Medicare benefits, supports weakening Medicare and repeatedly called for privatizing and cutting Social Security.
He supports raising the retirement age for both programs, including for people who are about to retire. Cruz even backed privatization plans that would raise existing costs, and cut Medicare Part D – which helps seniors pay for prescription drugs.
It’s hard enough to retire with dignity now, but if Ted Cruz gets his way, it would be a nightmare for our seniors who’ve paid into these programs all their lives.
Texans need a senator who understands what families and retired Texans face when costs go up, not somebody who will abandon us when the lights go out to fly to Cancun, or who has spent his career trying to cut programs that Texans rely on.
Ted Cruz has shown us time and again that he only cares about himself.
I believe there is another way. We can keep investing in Medicare to strengthen it and lower costs. We can build on the progress we made with prescription drug reform. We can protect Social Security by working together and reaching across the aisle to protect it for future generations.
The good news is that we don’t have to be stuck with Cruz in November. We have a choice in this election.
I promise to be a senator who will fight for all 30 million Texans and your freedoms — including the freedom of our seniors to retire with dignity and the Social Security and Medicare benefits they have earned.
Colin Allred, D-Dallas, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate from Texas.
Commentary: Pass cancer detection bill
My story is not unlike that of many others who have heard those devastating words, “You have cancer.” Having been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 49 — and 28 years later, being diagnosed with a metastatic recurrence, I am all too familiar with the fight against cancer. As a survivor, senior citizen and founder of the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation, I can say it is far better to invest funding on the early end of the cancer journey — for early detection — vs. the latter end — for treating late-stage cancer.
That’s why I’m thrilled the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act (H.R. 2407) continues to gain momentum in Congress. The bipartisan bill has united hundreds of lawmakers and millions more advocates who want to establish a pathway to Medicare coverage for transformative new cancer technology.
Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Texas’ Rep. Jodey Arrington, the House Ways and Means Committee recently advanced this bill with a unanimous vote (38-0), a major step toward better care and prevention for American seniors, who face the highest risks of cancer.
While this is a critical step forward, their work is not done until Congress passes this bill into law. There’s no time to waste.
For years, Rep. Arrington and leading partner Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., have championed this legislation with the country’s health and optimal cancer care in mind. Their passion and dedication to pairing transformative advances in health care with policy action for all Americans has led more than 295 members of the House and more than 60 senators to follow as formal co-sponsors. ding
Through blood analysis, MCED tests have the ability to detect the presence and location of dozens of types of cancer, with great accuracy. The results of this test can help patients and their physicians catch cases before symptoms arise.
Currently, screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies are available for just five types of cancer. MCED can fill the gaps — and save lives — for many more. Pathways to Medicare coverage established by Congress for previous medical breakthroughs in cancer screening set a powerful precedent and have transformed care.
The five-year survival rate for many cancers when caught early is at least 90%, while 70% of cancer deaths are due to cancers without screening – causing patients to more often receive their diagnoses in later, harder-to-treat stages. All seniors — who face the highest cancer risk of any population — deserve meaningful, equitable access after the FDA gives the green light to new detection tools.
Late-stage treatment also costs more – for patients and the government. Approximately 1 million Medicare beneficiaries will be diagnosed with cancer this year, with 1,200 of those every day receiving a late-stage diagnosis. Overall, that sums up to cost the U.S. approximately $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Average annual costs for Medicare cancer care are up to seven times higher for cases diagnosed in later stages.
Just think of how many more patients, families and loved ones could celebrate survivorship thanks to accessible early cancer detection through H.R. 2407. With the potential to deliver life-saving care while lowering treatment costs, the legislation is a win-win.
As Rep. Arrington shared before the House Ways and Means Committee vote, “nobody is untouched by this insidious disease one way or the other.” This underscores why this is such an urgent, personal initiative for many in Congress and millions across the U.S. MCED tests will help ensure those who do face a fight with cancer have a better chance at gaining the upper hand. We stand fully behind Congressman Arrington and others throughout Congress to pass H.R. 2407 and make that a reality.
Dale Eastman is founder of the Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation in San Antonio.