The Rio Grande Valley now has another voice representing the region’s healthcare needs on the Texas Hospitals Association Board of Trustees that represents 85% of the state’s acute-care hospitals and healthcare systems.
Lance Ames, chief executive officer of South Texas Health System Children’s and STHS Edinburg was appointed to the board Tuesday in which his term began immediately and will end on Dec. 31, 2026.
The THA is an organization whose goal is to advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care throughout the state.
Ames, who joined STHS in 2013 has since helped expand and develop “much needed” hospital services at both hospitals and overseen the completion of a $105 million new patient tower project.
Throughout his time with the hospital system STHS Edinburg has been named a Best Regional Hospital by the U.S. News & World Report for three consecutive years as well as other national recognitions.
Now as a member of the board, Ames hopes to advocate for the Valley which is one of the state’s medically underserved areas with issues such as poverty and lack of access to health care.
“I’m honored to receive an appointment to the board of the Texas Hospital Association, an organization that has spent decades advocating for hospitals, caregivers and support team members to ensure adequate funding and resources are dedicated to meet the needs of each community in Texas,” Ames said in a news release.
“I look forward to representing the great people of the Rio Grande Valley and serving as a voice in the decisions being made about healthcare across the state, including our medically underserved communities across the region.”
In this March 20, 2020, file photo, vehicles drive into the Hidalgo port of entry at the Hidalgo-Reynosa bridge in Hidalgo. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])
United States Customs and Border Protection officers at the Hidalgo Port of Entry apprehended a man attempting to enter Mexico with 1,850 rounds of ammunition in a stolen vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
Kevin Alexander Garcia, who was born in 2005, was charged with knowingly and unlawfully attempting to export merchandise, namely 1,850 rounds of various ammunition and three magazines without a license or written authority to export.
On Wednesday, Homeland Security Investigations in McAllen received a request for investigation assistance from CBP in Hidalgo.
According to the complaint, CBP officers detained Garcia when he attempted to depart the U.S. with undeclared ammunition and magazines concealed within the rear driver side corner panel and the engine bay of the white GMC Yukon he was driving.
“CBPOs conducted an outbound inspection on a white GMC Yukon … due to it matching the description of a stolen vehicle lookout out of Houston,” the complaint said.
Garcia gave a negative declaration for fruits, food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, weapons and currency over $10,000.
A physical search of the vehicle conducted during secondary inspection resulted in the extraction of the ammunition from behind the driver side headlight within the engine bay and rear driver side corner panel.
During an interview with HSI special agents and task force officers, Garcia admitted to knowing the vehicle was stolen and the ammunition inside the vehicle.
He added that he was going to be paid $200 for crossing the vehicle and that it was illegal to do so.
Garcia is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis in McAllen federal court for his preliminary examination and detention hearing Monday afternoon.
The monitor of specialist Anthony Matesic is seen through his glasses as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)
It’s been a crazy week in the financial markets all around the globe. On Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,033 points, or 2.6% of its value; Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 3% and the North American Stock Exchange dropped by 3.4%. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei market fell by 12.4% and South Korea’s Kospi index dropped by 8.8%.
All in all, stock markets lost some $6.4 trillion of their value in one day. Worse, it continued a massive selloff that began last week as employment numbers, high-tech profit reports and other financial indicators were released and showed worse-than-expected performance.
Such plunges aren’t frequent, but they’re not unheard of; similar drops occurred in 2008, 1987 and other years. And they give the securities game a reputation for volatility that scares many Americans — increasingly so, as more and more of the money that feeds the markets is coming from everyday Americans through their individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans and even the phone apps that growing numbers of people are using to make small investments on their own.
Currency traders watch a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)
However, we should heed the advice of financial experts: Don’t panic, and focus on long-term returns rather than short-terms swings.
In fact, even with the losses of the past week, most stock exchanges still carry higher total values than they had at the beginning of the year. After Monday trading leveled off, although it still experienced minor swings, and the markets enjoyed a rally on Thursday.
Previous high values, driven in part by the euphoria of record-setting performance so far this year, led some analysts to expect a market correction, since stock prices were rising faster than the profits of companies being traded. The Federal Reserve also has kept interest rates high to counter inflation, and that has slowed economic activity in many areas.
It behooves us to become more knowledgeable, and less fearful, of financial markets, as we are likely to have to depend more on our retirement accounts than on Social Security benefits. The program’s trustees say that under current policies the Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in 2033 — less than a decade from now. And they’ve only managed to keep it going this long by periodically raising both employment taxes and retirement ages.
Trader Robert Moran works in his booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)
Those actions aren’t sustainable, however; at some point people are bound to reject further tax increases and as their benefits are cut.
The risky nature of investments means we can’t escape the possibility that a market downturn could affect the amount of money we’ll have when we retire. Many plan managers begin moving individual account holdings to more secure securities such as bonds and utility stocks as people near retirement age. While the yields on such holdings might be lower, they could be better insulated from wild market swings that could occur just as a person is getting ready to retire.
In the end, our retirement security will always require an element of trust — in our economy, in our retirement account managers, and in the financial markets, which might drop on occasion but have always rebounded in the long run.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) head football coach Travis Bush announced on Thursday the addition of two graduate student coaches, including Gunnar Henderson, who will work with the offense, and Brandon Palomares, who will work with the defense.
Gunnar Henderson
A graduate of McAllen High School, Henderson comes to UTRGV after playing in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship game with TCU.
“We’re extremely excited about the addition of Gunnar Henderson to our staff,” Bush said. “Gunnar will be a big-time coach one day and his experiences from McAllen High School all the way to the CFP National Championship game will add great value to our staff. Gunnar also played wide receiver in our offensive system and will be a great mentor to our young student-athletes.”
In two seasons at TCU, Henderson saw time at wide receiver and on special teams, making 13 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns in 26 games. A two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, Henderson averaged a team-best 20.3 yards per completion as a senior before competing in the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 rookie minicamp.
Henderson began his collegiate career at Incarnate Word, helping his team to the 2018 Southland Conference Championship. He was elevated to team captain as a sophomore while earning Academic All-Southland Conference honors.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity Coach Bush and the rest of the staff have given me,” Henderson said. “It is truly a blessing to start my college coaching career in the Valley. I am going to work extremely hard and do my part so the product we put on the field in 2025 is something the Valley is proud of.”
While at McAllen, Henderson was an offensive most valuable player, all-region and all-district wide receiver as a junior and senior. He was also a three-time all-district return specialist and, as a sophomore, an all-district defensive back.
Henderson graduated from TCU in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies.
Brandon Palomares
Palomares played football at Seguin High School from 2014-17, including his final two years for Bush, who was the head coach, and UTRGV Defensive Line Coach Nathan Langford, who was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of Brandon and how happy we are to have him on staff,” Bush said. “I sat in his living room on a home visit in Seguin in 2016 when he was a junior in high school, and now I look down the staff room table to see him as a grown man and a coach. He understands the culture of toughness and competitiveness we will build here and will be a great role model for our young student-athletes.”
As a student-athlete at Seguin, Palomares rushed for 1,573 yards on 231 carries while scoring 15 touchdowns in 29 games across three varsity seasons. He also caught 37 passes for 479 yards over his final two seasons after passing for 331 yards on 38 completions as a sophomore.
Palomares returned to Seguin full-time in 2022-23, coaching three varsity sports, including football, over the last two years.
“I’m incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to attend UTRGV and work under Coach Bush and alongside Coach Langford,” Palomares said. “They have not only served as my coaches but have also been mentors who have poured into me and inspired me to pursue a career in coaching. I look forward to being a part of history and serving the Rio Grande Valley. I’m excited to be a Vaquero. V’s up!”
Palomares graduated from Texas A&M in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management.
We are told, and we like to believe, that the purpose of our juvenile detention centers is to rehabilitate young offenders at ages when they are most vulnerable and impressionable. According to behaviorist theory, with the right guidance many minors can put their delinquent past behind them and become constructive, responsible adults.
Failure to provide that help can be considered an abuse itself. It does a disservice to the youth, their families and to society in general if it denies us the chance to eliminate delinquent elements by helping them become positive members of our communities.
Unfortunately, the reality appears to be that at Texas’ five secure facilities, including the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg, those young people are merely warehoused or, worse, abused.
That’s the assessment reached in a U.S. Justice Department report released last week that found children held at Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities endured widespread abuses including excessive use of pepper spray. Many were placed in isolated confinement for days and even weeks at a time. Stated policy limits isolation to one to two hours at the most.
At the Evins center, the Justice Department found evidence of violence against detained children as far back as 2007. Other incidents of physical and sexual abuse were documented in July 2021, June and December 2022 and June of this year.
The federal review was a response to reports of widespread physical and sexual abuse at the facilities, as well as safety and operational problems and allegations that when agency officials were told of the abuses, they worked to cover them up rather than correct them.
In addition, only half of the children with moderate to severe mental health needs had treatment plans on file. Many of the children who harmed themselves or displayed other behaviors showing mental health issues received discipline rather than treatment.
It’s worth noting that during much of the time covered in the report, the agency already was under federal conservatorship due to the many abuses found at the centers.
TJJD officials responded to the report saying that they have “a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse and neglect and have always fully rejected any abusive behaviors at our campuses.”
So why were so many of those behaviors uncovered, and why were they so widespread across all five of the state’s facilities?
Where was state oversight over the department that should have discovered the abuse at the centers long before it was?
Obviously, corrective action must be taken, and not only by imposing reforms at each center. Oversight at both the state and federal level needs to be improved so that reported abuse is investigated and addressed quickly. Unannounced inspections are needed. The problems at Texas juvenile facilities — which apparently go back more than two decades — never should have been allowed to continue so long.
If officials agree that young offenders can be steered straight with the proper rehabilitation, then they must dedicate their efforts and resources to pursuing that rehabilitation. Otherwise, our juvenile justice system has no reason to even exist.
LEFT: This image provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in July 2024 shows a label for Boar's Head liverwurst. The company recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, 2024, expanding an initial recall on July 25 after a liverwurst sample collected in Maryland tested positive for listeria. (USDA via AP) RIGHT: This image released by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, shows the product label for Boar's Head Virginia Ham meat, one of 71 products recalled as an investigation into a deadly listeria outbreak. The popular deli meat company is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as the investigation continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (FSIS/USDA via AP)
1 of 2
This image provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in July 2024 shows a label for Boar's Head liverwurst. The company recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, 2024, expanding an initial recall on July 25 after a liverwurst sample collected in Maryland tested positive for listeria. (USDA via AP) Screenshot
This image released by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, shows the product label for Boar's Head Virginia Ham meat, one of 71 products recalled as an investigation into a deadly listeria outbreak. The popular deli meat company is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as the investigation continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (FSIS/USDA via AP)
By DEVNA BOSE | AP Health Writer
Three people have now died in a listeria food poisoning outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats, federal food safety officials announced Thursday, and the overall number of people sickened rose to 43.
The additional death happened in Virginia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a news release Thursday. The other two deaths were in New Jersey and Illinois. The CDC also said nine more cases were reported since a July 31 release about the outbreak, which started in late May.
Boar’s Head recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, expanding an initial recall on July 25 after a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. The CDC said Thursday that a New York health officials tested a liverwurst sample and confirmed the same strain of listeria.
This 2002 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. Health officials have announced a recall of liverwurst and deli meat products, Friday, July 26, 2024, in connection with a national listeria outbreak that has sickened nearly three dozen people in 13 states. (Elizabeth White/CDC via AP, File)
The recall includes more than 70 products — including liverwurst, ham, beef salami and bologna — made at the company’s plant in Jarratt, Virginia.
Boar’s Head already faces two lawsuits over the outbreak, one in a Missouri court and the other a class action suit in federal court in New York.
The meat was distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama. Consumers should not eat the recalled meats and should discard them or return them to the store for a refund. Listeria bacteria can survive and grow in the refrigerator, so officials say people who had recalled products should thoroughly clean and sanitize the fridge to prevent contamination.
The CDC estimates 1,600 people a year get listeria food poisoning and about 260 of those people die.
The most common symptoms include fever, muscle aches and fatigue, though infections may also cause confusion and convulsions. Infections are most dangerous for people older than 65, people with weak immune systems and pregnant people. Symptoms may not appear for weeks after eating contaminated food.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) head football coach Travis Bush announced on Thursday the addition of two graduate student coaches, including Gunnar Henderson, who will work with the offense, and Brandon Palomares, who will work with the defense.
Gunnar Henderson
A graduate of McAllen High School, Henderson comes to UTRGV after playing in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship game with TCU.
“We’re extremely excited about the addition of Gunnar Henderson to our staff,” Bush said. “Gunnar will be a big-time coach one day and his experiences from McAllen High School all the way to the CFP National Championship game will add great value to our staff. Gunnar also played wide receiver in our offensive system and will be a great mentor to our young student-athletes.”
In two seasons at TCU, Henderson saw time at wide receiver and on special teams, making 13 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns in 26 games. A two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, Henderson averaged a team-best 20.3 yards per completion as a senior before competing in the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 rookie minicamp.
Henderson began his collegiate career at Incarnate Word, helping his team to the 2018 Southland Conference Championship. He was elevated to team captain as a sophomore while earning Academic All-Southland Conference honors.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity Coach Bush and the rest of the staff have given me,” Henderson said. “It is truly a blessing to start my college coaching career in the Valley. I am going to work extremely hard and do my part so the product we put on the field in 2025 is something the Valley is proud of.”
While at McAllen, Henderson was an offensive most valuable player, all-region and all-district wide receiver as a junior and senior. He was also a three-time all-district return specialist and, as a sophomore, an all-district defensive back.
Henderson graduated from TCU in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies.
Brandon Palomares
Palomares played football at Seguin High School from 2014-17, including his final two years for Bush, who was the head coach, and UTRGV Defensive Line Coach Nathan Langford, who was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of Brandon and how happy we are to have him on staff,” Bush said. “I sat in his living room on a home visit in Seguin in 2016 when he was a junior in high school, and now I look down the staff room table to see him as a grown man and a coach. He understands the culture of toughness and competitiveness we will build here and will be a great role model for our young student-athletes.”
As a student-athlete at Seguin, Palomares rushed for 1,573 yards on 231 carries while scoring 15 touchdowns in 29 games across three varsity seasons. He also caught 37 passes for 479 yards over his final two seasons after passing for 331 yards on 38 completions as a sophomore.
Palomares returned to Seguin full-time in 2022-23, coaching three varsity sports, including football, over the last two years.
“I’m incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to attend UTRGV and work under Coach Bush and alongside Coach Langford,” Palomares said. “They have not only served as my coaches but have also been mentors who have poured into me and inspired me to pursue a career in coaching. I look forward to being a part of history and serving the Rio Grande Valley. I’m excited to be a Vaquero. V’s up!”
Palomares graduated from Texas A&M in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management.
South Texas Health System in Edinburg is seen in this Sept. 2022 file photo. (Courtesy: South Texas Health System/Facebook)
STHS Edinburg is among only 53 regional hospitals nationwide recognized for providing high-quality care to a medically underserved community
Across the nation, low income and working families lack access to medical care for a variety of reasons including geographical barriers, the inability to afford to pay for a doctor’s visit and a lack of health insurance.
In the Rio Grande Valley, economic and income inequality have resulted in great disparities in healthcare access, leading to each of the region’s four counties – Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy – to be declared as medically underserved communities.
Between 25.3 to 32.8 percent of people in the Valley are currently living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census, while the uninsured rate throughout the region is approximately 30 percent, much higher than the statewide average.
Despite the healthcare disparities reported throughout the Valley, residents can count on South Texas Health System Edinburg and its sister facilities to provide high-quality care to underserved populations.
South Texas Health System Edinburg has been recognized as a Best Regional Hospital for Equitable Access by U.S. News & World Report for the facility’s success as a high performing hospital providing excellent care to patients in our underserved communities.
“The Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access demonstrate by their example that a hospital can both excel in overall quality of care and provide a substantial amount of that exceptional care to historically underserved communities, said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor, U.S. News & World Report. “Recognizing community hospitals that lead in this respect is a modest but necessary step toward ensuring everyone in the U.S. has access to high-quality medical care.”
Along with being one of only three hospitals in Texas to earn the distinction, STHS Edinburg is the only Valley hospital recognized for its equitable access.
“It’s imperative that all individuals have access to the care they need, regardless of age, race, gender or socioeconomic status; and we’re proud of the staff and physicians at South Texas Health System Edinburg and our sister facilities who work tirelessly every day to provide quality, compassionate care to all patients,” says Lance Ames, Chief Executive Officer, STHS Edinburg & STHS Children’s. “South Texas Health System is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all people in the Rio Grande Valley. Through our relentless focus on quality, we’re working to change lives and transform the delivery of healthcare for all.”
To earn the distinction, STHS Edinburg and the other 53 Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access had to meet at least two of the following criteria: 1) had 40 percent or more of its patients from a community of greater socioeconomic deprivation (according to the Area Deprivation Index), 2) served 20 percent or more racial/ethnic minority patients or was in the highest tier in at least 1 o f 5 measures of racial and ethnic patient representation and 3) served 20 percent or more Medicaid patients or was in the highest tier in the measure of low-income patient representation.
In 2022, STHS Edinburg opened a $105 million patient tower, which more than doubled the size of the facility, to provide expanded healthcare services in the City of Edinburg and its surrounding communities, including a new cardiac catheterization laboratory to help diagnose and treat heart conditions, an expanded laboratory department to more efficiently facilitate testing on biological samples and enhanced emergency, intensive care and rehabilitation services.
STHS Edinburg, which was also recently named a Best Regional Hospital by U.S. News & World Report for the third consecutive year, is part of South Texas Health System, the largest integrated network of care in the Rio Grande Valley. To learn more about the facility, its services and its commitment to health equity, visit www.sthsedinburg.com.
About South Texas Health System
South Texas Health System is a multi-hospital health care system serving patients throughout the Rio Grande Valley. The system includes four hospital campuses with specialties in pediatrics, heart and vascular services, maternity and women’s health and trauma services. Treatment for behavioral health needs and addictive disorders is also provided through the system’s South Texas Health System Behavioral Health campus location. South Texas Health System is affiliated with the South Texas Clinical Partners ACO, Prominence Health Plan, and Cornerstone Regional Hospital. The system operates an advanced Level I Trauma Center at South Texas Health System McAllen, the first and only pediatric ER at South Texas Health System Children’s, a specialized cardiac ER at South Texas Health System Heart, and six freestanding emergency rooms located in and around Weslaco, Mission, Edinburg, McAllen and Alamo. For more information on the system, please visit www.southtexashealthsystem.com.
Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of South Texas Health System. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.
Hidalgo County Precinct 3, Place 1 justice of the peace candidate Ramon Segovia, left, confers with his attorney Gilberto Hinojosa as trial continued in Edinburg on Monday, July 29, 2024. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
EDINBURG — After three weeks of trial, a judge has overturned the results of a May 28 Democratic Primary runoff for the Hidalgo County Precinct 3, Place 1 justice of the peace seat.
Visiting Senior Judge Jose Manuel Bañales not only overturned the election that initially saw incumbent Sonia Treviño win by just 31 votes, he also found sufficient evidence to instead declare Ramon Segovia the true winner.
“The Court heard the evidence and arguments of counsel and found that it could ascertain the true outcome of the election,” Bañales stated in a two-page final judgment handed down Wednesday.
“The Court found that 78 illegal votes were cast for Contestee Trevino (sic) and that 3 illegal votes were cast for Segovia. … Because the Court finds that Contestant Segovia received 44 more true votes than Contestee Treviño, the Court hereby declares Ramon Segovia the winner…” he further states.
Speaking after the trial ended Wednesday, Gilberto Hinojosa, of Brownsville, said he was happy with the outcome declaring his client the winner.
“We were very pleased. I believe the judge made the right decision. He listened very carefully to the evidence in this case, followed the law and found what I thought was very obvious from the evidence,” Hinojosa said.
That “obvious” finding Hinojosa referred to was an unprecedented amount of “illegal votes” that had been disqualified from the race at a level that came as a shock even to an attorney with decades of experience litigating election contests.
“There was a lot of illegal voters cast by the supporters of Judge Sonia Treviño and that a lot of the conduct in this election was something that I personally had never seen before in my life,” Hinojosa said.
Hidalgo County Precinct 3, Place 1 Justice of the Peace Sonia Treviño looks on during a court hearing on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Edinburg. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
Much of the case hinged on the theory that campaign workers or volunteers for the Sonia Treviño campaign had provided assistance to voters that were not legally eligible to receive help.
Texas law lays out a narrow list of qualifications that allow a voter to receive help in the voting booth, such as if they cannot read or write in English or Spanish, or if they have a disability.
But, as Hilda Salinas, the Hidalgo County elections administrator, testified on Monday, poll workers cannot ask a voter what their disability may be when they ask for help.
Nonetheless, as he heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, Bañales repeatedly disqualified their vote, then — one by one — asked which candidate they had voted for.
The judge heard from naturalized citizens who had difficulty with English, from people with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, from functionally illiterate people, from elderly voters who spoke of how the ballot machine technology intimidated them.
And, in at least three instances, the judge heard testimony from people who are so intellectually disabled he said the coercion of their votes seemed criminal.
After three weeks of such testimony, the judge disqualified 86 ballots.
Of those, he found 78 had been cast for Treviño and another three had been cast for Segovia. He could not make a definitive determination on the few remaining disqualified votes.
Rick Salinas, right, an attorney from Mission, looks on as a Hidalgo County voter testifies during an election contest at the 430th state District Court room on Monday, July 15, 2024, in Edinburg. To the left, his client, Sonia Treviño, the Democratic candidate for Precinct 3, Place 1 justice of the peace, also listens in. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
But for Rick Salinas, the Mission attorney who served as Treviño’s lead counsel, that’s only half the story.
Salinas doesn’t disagree with Hinojosa that scores of west county voters received help at the polls. Where he does differ is in his opinion over the legality of that assistance.
As the trial came to a conclusion Wednesday, Salinas said the real losers are the voters themselves.
“This is clearly a case where there was some gamesmanship and that worked against the voters,” Salinas said.
Since the trial began on July 15, Salinas has contended that Ramon Segovia and his political workers and volunteers also assisted large numbers of voters cast their ballots.
But Segovia’s campaign simply didn’t assist “enough” voters to win the runoff outright, the attorney said.
“They were running around assisting voters. They were picking people up and they were assisting voters. I don’t believe that’s criminal,” Salinas said of the Segovia campaign.
“But don’t lie to me. Don’t tell me it’s raining when you’re peeing on my back, you know what I mean?” he added.
Like Hinojosa, Salinas had planned to call dozens of people to the stand to prove that they, too, had received assistance at the polls.
Attorney Gilberto Hinojosa, center, speaks during a court hearing on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Edinburg. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
If Hinojosa’s strategy was to call those assisted votes illegal, then Salinas hoped he could similarly chip away at Segovia’s tally by proving the same thing with ballots cast for the challenger.
But late last week, Bañales issued a ruling stating that Treviño and her attorneys could not call nearly any of the 170 people they had subpoenaed, finding that Salinas’ legal team did not properly disclose what the witnesses may have testified to.
It was a decision that shocked Salinas.
Election contests are different from most civil litigation. They operate on an accelerated timeline. Everything from naming witnesses, to rendering decisions, to appealing judgments, it’s all on a statutory fast track because of the strict deadlines laid out in the Texas Election Code.
“I have never seen a … judge deny the parties a right to air out their differences,” Salinas said.
That ruling crippled Treviño’s ability to not only prove the similar conduct she says her opponent engaged in, it also prevented her from defending herself.
Salinas pointed to the testimony of one voter in particular, a 25-year-old intellectually disabled man who testified that a woman picked him up from his adult daycare center against his will and took him to the polls.
The man further testified that the woman had told him he would get in trouble with “the law” if he resisted.
While questioning the man, Hinojosa repeatedly spoke of that woman as Ilianna Parras and claimed she works as a clerk in Treviño’s court.
Attorney Rick Salinas, far right, addresses a witness during an election contest trial on Monday, July 15, 2024, in Edinburg. Behind him, attorneys Gilberto Hinojosa, center, Carina Garza de Luna, and political candidate Ramon Segovia look on. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
Bañales, the judge would go on to refer to the coercion of the young man’s vote as one of the “most egregious” voter abuses he had ever seen, adding that it may have been criminal.
But Parras was one of the many witnesses whom Judge Bañales excluded from testifying.
“That’s why the judge’s comments without hearing the other side of the coin are somewhat unfair because we didn’t really get to hear from Mrs. Parras,” Salinas said.
The attorney further denied that Treviño had any knowledge of such conduct, saying she was “floored” when she heard the man’s testimony.
Soon after the judge rendered his judgment Wednesday morning, Salinas initiated the process for an accelerated appeal.
Despite the judge’s ruling, the attorney is still hopeful that his client’s name, not Segovia’s, will be on the November ballot.
“The only way he wins is if the (13th) Court of Appeals affirms the judgment. And even if they affirm the judgment… (Treviño) wins anyways because he won’t make the ballot in time. The issue will be moot,” Salinas said.
A view of the Port of Brownsville Ship Channel near Texas State Highway 48 on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
The D.C. Circuit Court on Tuesday ruled against approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal and related pipeline projects at the Port of Brownsville, effectively canceling prior approval of three such projects by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Sierra Club, in announcing the ruling, said this is the first time a court has vacated FERC approval of an LNG terminal. FERC approved Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG and the Rio Bravo Pipeline “despite widespread concerns for the harm the projects would cause to the surrounding communities and the climate.”
A lawsuit was filed against FERC by the Sierra Club, the city of Port Isabel, Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, a Floreville-based nonprofit organization, claiming that FERC failed to “adequately consider the environmental justice impacts and greenhouse gas emissions of the three projects, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act.”
The D.C. court upheld the petitioners’ arguments, vacating FERC’s approvals, meaning the agency now has to reconsider the impacts of the three projects. This will require a new draft supplemental Environmental Impact Statements and public comment period before FERC decides whether to issue new project permits.
NextDecade Liquid Natural Gas development company continues construction Thursday, April 4, 2024, along Texas State Highway 4 at their Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
The petitioners and other LNG foes have argued that the projects would destroy endangered species habitat and many acres of wetland, while releasing hazardous air pollution that could cause asthma, cancer and other health conditions. The court’s ruling follows two other rulings in July that “call into question the adequacy of FERC reviews,” according to the Sierra Club, which noted that last week the D.C. Circuit Court ruled FERC had failed to consider greenhouse gas emissions as well as market need for expansion of Real Energy Access, a Williams company pipeline project in the Northeast.
Also last month, the same court ruled that FERC failed to adequately assess Commonwealth LNG’s air pollution impacts and greenhouse gas emissions, the Sierra Club said, adding that “it is unacceptable for FERC to conduct insufficient environmental justice analysis and to decline to make determinations on the significance of climate-warming emissions.”
A spokesman for Texas LNG said “we are studying the opinion, which is a procedural decision to correct a technical deficiency.”
“We have full confidence FERC will address this matter judiciously and efficiently and look forward to working with them on this important issue,” he said.
“Texas LNG is an industry-leading export facility designed to be the greenest on the planet once operational. Our project has undergone environmental impact studies previously and received tremendous support from government officials and financial and export partners. Our team is committed to resolving this issue quickly and completely to continue our progress toward (final investment decision) and construction in the near term,” the spokesman said.
NextDecade, which owns Rio Grande LNG, had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Across the nation, low income and working families lack access to medical care for a variety of reasons including geographical barriers, the inability to afford to pay for a doctor’s visit and a lack of health insurance.
