SAN BENITO — The time has come for two San Benito seniors to say goodbye to high school and hello to Notre Dame and Yale universities.

As transitions go, valedictorian Jennifer Torres and salutatorian Aaron Adame, both 18, admit being a part of two hugely popular institutions will be a great and exciting adjustment.

But these two are not scared.

In fact, they are both very confident in their choices.

Adame, who has visited Yale once already, described walking past the initial gates and feeling at home.

“When I entered the gates the bells were ringing and they sounded so pretty and it was in that moment I knew,” he said.

“It will be hard at first but I visited and already have friends there,” Torres said of Notre Dame. “My first falling in love experience was when it snowed there.”

Both have high hopes when they go off to school. Adame hopes to meet new people and Torres looks forward to the traditions and football games.

Being the top students of the senior class requires a lot of work and dedication. Like most, the journey to the top starts earlier, in 10th or 11th grade.

As a freshman, you don’t really worry about rank, said Adame.

“Eleventh-grade is when I started to worry more and I learned that AP classes were worth more, so I took all of them,” he said.

“You have to be really strategic about which AP classes you take,” Torres agreed.

A bulk of their time in high school was spent mostly on studying.

“Junior year, you go hard at studying,” Torres said.

While she climbed to the top, Torres said she also worked, putting more pressure to succeed on her shoulders.

However, there were those times during the year when they made time for friends and fun.

Adame and Torres have known each other since they were freshmen.

Although, they admit they are not very close, they agree, it helps, being in this together, to lean on each other for support, and cheer each other on.

In their respective colleges, both students will study topics in science, Torres, a mechanical engineering and chemistry major and Adame, a molecular biophysics major, who also is considering medical school.

As an engineer, Torres said she wants to lend a hand to Engineers without Borders, an organization that partners with developing countries to build a better world through engineering projects.

While Torres attends school at Notre Dame, Adame will attend school at Yale. Both say they’ll miss San Benito, their hometown, very much.

“I’ll miss the friends I’ve grown up with,” Torres said. “The teachers, I had many I liked,” Adame said.

Their teachers, they said, were a major support system throughout the years.

“They were more supportive than anyone else,” Torres said. “They would be there any time offering tutoring and help.”

Some, Adame said, offered their support on the weekends and whenever he needed that extra help.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Liquefied natural gas projects took another hit as the Island community’s opposition to the development of natural gas export terminals just got bigger.

Three liquefied natural gas facilities have been proposed for the Port of Brownsville close to the United States-Mexico border and the Gulf of Mexico.

Last night the South Padre Island city council took its next step in its opposition of the proposed LNG projects by voting unanimously to file a motion to intervene with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC.

“What this does is preserves our right to have a legal standing in the future,” said Alita Bagley, SPI mayor pro-tem. “It also allows us to receive all the information there is pertaining to this issue.”

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Bagley said it is important to become an intervener in the action as it goes further.

A motion to intervene is not a vote for or against LNG. It will, however, involve the city and assure them a seat at the table to be part of any proceeding involving the proposed projects.

The companies that have proposed LNG export facilities are Texas LNG, Next Decade LNG, including Rio Grande LNG, and Rio Bravo Pipeline.

Last fall the city council voted against the development of LNG and they also issued a resolution against the proposed operations.

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MERCEDES — Ida Castillo is hanging up her hat even though she doesn’t want to.

Ida has served for 50 years as the principal’s secretary for the same school, Mercedes Early Childhood.

“If my health would have allowed me, I’d keep going,” Castillo said recently.

Castillo, 70, started in 1965 when she was only 19 at West Elementary, which she also attended as a student in Mercedes.

Castillo said she was recommended by her first-grade teacher who helped her land the job.

And since then, she has handled front office duties and was even acting principal when the school had no one in that position during leadership changes.

She said she has worked with more than 10 principals throughout her tenure.

“I’ve gone through a whole lot of principals and I’ve learned a lot from them,” Castillo said.

Castillo never left her post as she stayed at West Elementary working with four- and five-year-olds, and continued with the school when it was remodeled and renamed Mercedes Early Childhood in 2001.

“I have enjoyed working with all the staff and the children,” Castillo said.

Her work spans four generations. In some cases students who went through the Mercedes elementary education pipeline are now grandparents with students who graduated kindergarten this year.

“I love doing what I do,” Castillo said. “I’ve done the bookkeeping, nursing, custodial work, we used to do everything.”

Castillo worked the attendance records for years at the school.

During her time, she knew everybody in town and she could tell who was who and where so and so lived.

She said year after year, students who came back with their children would ask her, “Ma’am you’re still here?”

Her reply was yes every time, with a giggle added in.

She said she likes her work but it is time to go.

“Your body tells you when,” Castillo said

She said she doesn’t want stop working as she holds back her tears because work was always a top priority for her.

“I used to be here Saturdays and sometimes Sundays because I felt it was my responsibility,” Castillo said.

She said she looks forward to spending more time at home and traveling with family during her retirement.

HARLINGEN — Vascular screenings which are offered at Harlingen Medical Center are helping in the prevention of heart and vascular disease – and can be a potentially life-saving Father’s Day gift for many men who may be at risk in the Rio Grande Valley.

During the month of June, in observance of Father’s Day, Harlingen Medical Center will offer its vascular screenings for a special rate of $139. During the three-part non-invasive vascular screening, the Radiology and Imaging Services Department at Harlingen Medical Center will take an image of the patient’s:

1.) Carotid Artery

2.) Abdominal Aorta

3.) Peripheral Arteries

The carotid artery (in the neck area, leading to the brain) is screened for buildup of fatty plaque, which can lead to a stroke or “brain attack” if left untreated.

The abdominal aorta (located in the area near the intestines, kidneys and stomach) is screened for the presence of a dangerous aneurysm (a bulge in the blood vessel), which can lead to a ruptured artery and cause instantaneous death.

The peripheral arteries (in the legs) are screened for plaque buildup in the lower extremities, which if present can lead to Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). This condition increases the risk of heart attack or stroke, and if left untreated can result in the patient having to have their leg amputated.

Rio Grande Valley residents can receive the three screenings in one convenient visit, all in the same room at the Radiology and Imaging Services Department at Harlingen Medical Center), 5501 S. Expressway 77 in Harlingen. The tests take a total of about 45 minutes to complete. Most insurance companies usually do not cover the cost of this screening unless the person has already suffered symptoms of heart disease.

If you wish to register for the vascular screenings, please call the Scheduling Department at Harlingen Medical Center at (956) 365-1839 to schedule your appointment.

RAYMONDVILLE — Soon, many teenage defendants here will be tried by juries of their peers.

City commissioners have approved Municipal Court Judge Felicita Gutierrez’s plan to start a teen court program aimed at showing teenagers the inside of the judicial system.

“The kids learn about the judicial process and they get to be on the other side — on the jury panel — so they learn from both sides of the fence,” Gutierrez said yesterday.

In the Rio Grande Valley, Raymondville joins cities such as Brownsville and Mission, which run teen court programs.

As part of the program overseen by the Texas Municipal Courts Educational Center, teenage defendants charged with Class C misdemeanors with the exception of domestic violence will be eligible to participate for a $20 administrative fee.

In exchange for the teenagers’ participation, the Municipal Court will waive civil penalities such as traffic fines.

“We’re going to work with these kids,” Gutierrez said.

In this city struggling with high poverty rates, the program gives teenagers an alternative to paying Municipal Court fines.

“The parents don’t want to pay and the kids don’t have the money,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said a volunteer attorney would help train the teenagers to staff the teen court.

Meanwhile, students taking Raymondville High School’s criminal justice class will serve in the roles prosecutors and defense attorneys, she said.

A bailiff will oversee the jury made up of six teenagers who will preside as part of their community service assignments, Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said she will present the teenage jurors with a range of punishments before they hand down their verdict.

Verdicts will include periods of community service at area schools, she said.

“It helps kids get involved in the school so kids get a sense of belonging,” she said.

Gutierrez said teenage defendants will be limited to annual participation in the program expected to begin in July.

Harlingen voters are returning to the polls this week to elect a school board member. Early voting got underway on Tuesday for the Place 7 seat being sought by Rosalinda Mercado-Garza and Eladio Jaimez.

During the May 7 election the candidates ended in a tie with 1,422 votes each.

Early voting is being held weekdays at the HCISD offices located at 407 N. 77 Sunshine Strip from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Tuesday, June 7. Voting is also being held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday night and all day Saturday.

The runoff election will be held June 11.

Mercado-Garza and Jaimez had the option of flipping a coin to determine the winner. The Texas Election Code gives them that option.

However, both candidates declined the coin toss, stating they had a responsibility to their supporters to continue their campaigns.

LA FERIA — Some day in the coming months, the city will have a monument to honor those who have given their lives for freedom.

On Monday, Ignacio Galvez played “Taps” at the groundbreaking ceremony for the city of La Feria’s Veterans Memorial.

“We had the memorial site dedication and it was a good turnout and unique ceremony and the community is coming together,” said Sunny Philip, La Feria city manager. “We are hoping to have the monument complete within the next few months.”

The monument will stand as a memorial to the men and women who served in the Untied States military to honor the veterans who gave their lives in service to country.

“It was a touching ceremony,” said Mario M. Prado, a U.S. Marine and retired La Feria fire chief.

Prado, who was in attendance at the groundbreaking, was a corporal in the first Marine Division 2nd Battalion supporting the 11th Marines in the 1970s.

The community has the opportunity to purchase pavers to memorialize the military service of veterans that will be placed throughout the area in front of the monument.

A message on the pavers may include the name, rank, branch, years of service, and conflict.

“The city is looking forward to working with the Veterans Memorial Committee and to have the monument in town,” Philip said.

In February, the La Feria Veterans Committee presented a check for $10,555 to the City Commission and asked the city to take over the Veterans Memorial project. And the city accepted.

The city has designated the spot for the memorial near the city signage on Business 83 and Main Street.

The Veterans Committee worked together selling tickets, taking donations and selling food plates over the years.

“We can’t wait to get the memorial going,” said Julian Guevara, Jr., city commissioner. “It will be a nice day for La Feria when it’s complete.”

Designating the people of the WWII era as the Greatest Generation has brought questions to my mind, but I have come to this conclusion.

We in this nation were a united people dedicated to winning the war, and our patriotism at that time has never been exceeded.

It was a time when everyone was involved in buying war stamps or bonds, collecting string, metal, chewing gum wrappers or anything that we were told would help the war effort.

People who smoked rolled their own so that the service men could have theirs. We had rationing of gas, shoes and sugar among other things.

We had box suppers to raise money, knitted sweaters for the Red Cross to deliver to the soldiers, marched in parades, sang patriotic songs and felt we were an active part in protecting our country.

Movies and newsreels were centered around the war effort and its progress. Everyone’s attention was centered on the war.

We have not seen anything like this before or since.

Those of us who lived through that era still remember what it was like to love our country unconditionally and to back our military in our activities and prayers.

The servicemen of that era are now dying so rapidly that they will soon be game as will those of us who were too young to be in the military or serve on the home front.

They should always be remembered with an outpouring of respect and love for their dedication and unity.

That being said, we should also recognize the soldiers who came back from an unpopular war to be met with jeers and malice.

They perhaps are our greatest heroes for fighting a war without the backing and loving assurance from “back home”or of having the expectation of a heroes welcome.

They came back quietly and with patience waited for our tormented national soul to find an outlet in a black marble wall built to finally recognize them as the heroes they truly are.

In recognition of all those who have chosen to serve their country including those with their lives, I salute you. May we never forget. Got Bless you all.

Norma Christian Raymondville

Donald Trump is the best con artist of our time.

Being a con artist, his influence transcends race, ethnicity, and other factors needed to influence people to do his well-cloaked deeds.

He will be followed by the disenchanted of the status quo, the naïve who know nothing on the effects of racism, those who think there is a rainbow of fortune to be gotten, and by those who have simply forgotten the history of the human race.

We should not fear Donald Trump. We should fear those that will follow him with their own type of hate of others different than themselves.

They will make up their own rules and excuses to beat, kill or afflict others who they hate while Donald Trump will be looking for ways to enrich himself at the expense of America.

His moral and ethical (personal and business) behavior is on record.

His boasting and lies is on record. If anyone just simply wishes to ignore it; Well, that’s the problem we have today.

Whatever the outcome of the next presidential election is going to be, we will get what we deserve.

Santiago Perez San Benito

LYFORD — Soon, the city’s animal shelter will put up its dogs and cats for adoption.

Now, officials are reviewing state requirements to begin the adoption process, City Secretary Lydia Moreno said yesterday.

Adoptions will cut down on euthanizations.

This week, the city had about 10 to 12 dogs and cats in its shelter.

“We can only keep a number of animals before we have to put them down to make room for others,” Moreno said.

The city will work with the Harlingen Humane Society to launch its adoption program.

“It’s great,” said Pat Turman-White, the humane society’s president. “Any chance the animal has to be re-homed is awesome.”

Moreno said the city plans to use Facebook to feature dogs and cats available for adoption.

As part of the city’s animal control program, a $27,600 budget funds the salary of a part-time animal control officer while operating its animal shelter.

The city holds dogs and cats for up to three days before euthanizing animals, Turman-White said.

Moreno said the city keeps euthanized animals in freezers until Allied Waste takes the animals’ remains to certified landfills.