LA FERIA — Omar and Mohammed Mughrabi shared a winning tradition in sports as Lions.

The twin brothers were both accepted to attend Texas A&M.

But at A&M next fall, they plan to focus on their studies and hit the books hard.

After all, they know a lot about hitting as they both helped the football team win a district championship.

Mohammed was a defensive stopper at safety and Omar was at fullback hitting defenders to protect the quarterback.

La Feria might not have run the option play to Omar, but the brothers had options when it came down to selecting the college they wanted to attend. They could have been Baylor Bears if they wanted to.

But they both decided on A&M, not just because the school colors matched their hometown team, but because the school reminded them of La Feria.

To them College Station and the tradition of the university reminded them of their way of life at La Feria.

“They are a really good school and they have a sense of tradition, so it made good sense to go to A&M,” Omar said. “It made sense coming from a small town school to go to a small town college.”

Omar’s major is chemical engineering and Mohmmed’s major will be bio-medical science.

Omar and Mohammed ranked two and three in their class respectively.

“I wanted to be an Aggie since the first grade,” Mohammed said. “I have a picture of me wearing an Aggie hat and T-shirt.”

The both agreed they are very happy to be taking their next step in life together at college.

“It makes going to college easier knowing I will have my brother by my side,” Omar said.

Omar is a recipient of the Terry Scholarship award. The scholarship will pay his entire school tuition depending on his college success in the classroom.

Mohammed received the Texas A&M Presidential scholarship, a $10,000 award to help pay college tuition.

“Our parents are a very big part of our lives,” Mohammed said. “They are always there helping us to succeed.”

They said their mom and dad said no to letting them take their cars to college. And it didn’t seem to bother the twins.

Next fall they will be riding bikes and public transportation to get to class and around town.

They said they can’t wait to join the tradition of Texas A&M and attend college football games on Saturday with their friends from La Feria High who will also be attending Texas A&M.

BROWNSVILLE —The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season forecast has been released, and federal officials expect a “near-normal” hurricane season.

This year’s forecast calls for 10 to 16 tropical storms, four to eight hurricanes, with one to four to become major hurricanes, said Kathryn Sullivan, administrator for NOAA or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Near normal may sound kind of encouraging — relaxed things are OK — but I want to emphasize that the predicament level of activity that I just read off compared to the past three years that we’ve experienced actually suggests we could be in for more activity than we’ve seen in recent years,” Sullivan said.

Officials said an average hurricane season has 12 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two to three major hurricanes.

Sullivan’s announcement was made yesterday morning during NOAA’s press conference in which officials released the hurricane forecast for the 2016 Atlantic season.

Forecasters also want to remind residents to not focus on the number of hurricanes predicted, because it only takes one hurricane to bring devastation to an area.

“It’s not necessarily about where that eye of the hurricane makes landfall or the winds around that hurricane, because as we have seen more times it’s the flooding that is the greatest impact,” said Laura Furgione, deputy director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Nine out of 10 fatalities associated with hurricanes are water related. It’s that inland flooding and coastal storm surge that are more costly and more dangerous.”

The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season started early this year, with the January formation of Hurricane Alex. Alex reached hurricane strength for about one day before heading toward Greenland. Yesterday, the National Hurricane Center was monitoring a tropical depression near the southeastern United States that officials anticipated would become the next named storm.

During the past few years, a strong El Niño has prevented the development of hurricanes in the Atlantic because an El Niño weather pattern tends to push storms away. However, officials said it appears the current El Niño is winding down and that there is a 70 percent chance that a La Niña could develop at the peak of hurricane season, which could favor more tropical storm activity.

The peak of hurricane season occurs during the months of August, September and October.

“In the Atlantic , La Niña favors more hurricane activity, but model predictions show uncertainty as to how strong the La Niña impacts will be,” Sullivan said.

“Although the outlook is predicting a near-normal season, I again want to underscore this leaves in place still the potential for considerable activity. A near-normal season does not mean we are off the hook or that there will be hurricane-related impact. It only takes one storm anywhere, however intense the season is, to be really devastating to homes, families and communities,” Sullivan said.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

RAYMONDVILLE — A tall gravel stone now stands in the small yard where Marine Lance Cpl. Anthony Aguirre played as a little boy.

Yesterday, members of the local American Legion post unveiled the stone bearing the dates of Aguirre’s birth and death.

Aguirre was 20 when he was killed Feb. 26, 2007, after a roadside bomb exploded while he was on foot patrol in Iraq’s Al Anbar province.

On his father’s front yard, about 100 veterans joined community leaders at a flag-raising ceremony where they honored the Marine as their hometown hero.

“I’m real proud,” Arturo Aguirre, 78, said after the ceremony in front of his home on East Gem Avenue. “When my son passed away, I thought people didn’t care. I thought people forgot. But here, people still remember him.”

A color guard fired a 21-gun salute after veterans unveiled the rough granite stone bearing the Marine Corps’ emblem.

“The stone being unveiled today is a way to help us remember Anthony Aguirre,” state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. told the crowd huddled in front of Arturo Aguirre’s front porch. “It hits at the heart of what this country is all about. We lose our sons and daughters in the act of bringing peace to the world.”

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HARLINGEN — Big waves and bigger winds have prompted the National Weather Service at Brownsville to issue a high threat of rip currents in the Gulf of Mexico surf for today and possibly into tomorrow, forecasters said yesterday.

Wave heights of 3 to 5 feet are forecast for the gulf through today, with winds 20 to 25 mph today and 10 to 20 mph tomorrow.

Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away or parallel to shore. They occur most often at low spots or breaks in a sandbar or near structures such as jetties or piers.

“What really makes them more likely is when you have longer period waves, or the swell is coming in at a more or less right angle to the coastline,” NWS meteorologist Josh Schroeder said yesterday.

“Right now it’s being exacerbated by the wind-waves coming in from a south-southeasterly direction,” Schroeder said.

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HARLINGEN — San Benito High School’s Career and Technical Education Program is the proud owner of a new truck.

Yesterday, Gulf States Toyota, The Friedkin Group and Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Texas turned over the keys to four new Toyota trucks to San Benito High School, Texas State Technical College, Gladys Porter Early College High School and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Early College High School.

The high schools also received $250,000 worth of parts, to be split between the three as part of a commitment to educate the next generation of technicians entering the automotive service industry.

Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega, who expressed his enthusiasm for the new vehicle and the program, said the gift is a perfect example of real world experience education.

“When you think about our charge of preparing our kids for the real world, this is a perfect example of collaboration for the good of our society,” Vega said.

“Anything that we can do by way of resources and putting them in the hands of kids is wonderful.”

The parts donations are part of an ongoing education commitment from Valley area Toyota dealers, alongside Gulf States Toyota, to build partnerships with local technical educators and schools, continue the workforce development pipeline and train qualified automotive technicians for years to come.

In addition to the vehicles and parts, each high school received a grant for $5,000 to purchase shop equipment and service and diagnostic tools needed at each individual school.

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Prior to last year, La Villa’s Refugio Montelongo had never run cross country before.

The Cardinals sophomore was a self-proclaimed basketball junkie who enjoyed running inside on a hardwood court, not distance running outside in the hot sun on varying terrains.

But after one of his coaches encouraged him to give the sport a try, Montelongo not only took to cross country like a fish to water, he discovered that he was a natural.

Last season, Montelongo not only qualified for the Region IV-2A meet, he also qualified for the UIL state meet in Round Rock where he fared quite well for his first time, finishing in 79th place with a time of 21:13.13.

For his outstanding effort, Montelongo is a finalist up for the Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year Award at the 2016 All-Valley Sports Awards Banquet, which will be held on June 14 in McAllen.

The VMS sat down with Montelongo to discuss his nomination:

Q: How does it feel to be nominated for this award?

A: It’s a great honor knowing that there are many other hard working runners in the Valley.

Q: What would it mean to win this award?

A: To win this award would mean the world to me because coming from a small school, we are sometimes limited to the things we do.

Q: How would you sum up this past cross country season?

A: In all honesty, it was the greatest experience and the best season that I’ve participated in all my athletic seasons.

Q: You set the bar pretty high this past season? Do you worry that you won’t live up to your expectations come your junior season?

A: I try not to let it bother me, but I also use it as motivation now that I’ve already started training for my junior season.

Q: You still have two years of high school? What are your goals athletically?

A: My goals ultimately are bringing gold to my school, home, and the Valley.

Q: What is you favorite memory of running cross country at La Villa this past season?

A: My favorite memory was going to state with my family and the whole town’s support behind me the whole way. It’s such a great feeling having everyone congratulate you and them telling you that they have you in their prayers.

Q: What goes in to preparing for a cross country meet?

A: A good night’s rest, a lot of stretching and a good mindset.

Q: Describe how hard it is to run a cross country meet?

A: Everyone’s there to win, but it’s ultimately who wants it more in the end.

Q: Who is your favorite professional athlete and why?

A: My all time favorite is (boxer) Julio Cesar Chavez. Every fight of his was fought with heart and passion. His 87 straight wins are awesome, but my favorites have been his losses. His losses were taken to heart, which didn’t bring him down, they only made him stronger in a sense where it showed him that there’s better competition out there so that means work even harder.

Q: Who are the heroes in your life and why?

A: I have two and they aren’t Superman and Batman, but Mom and Dad. In all my 16 years of life, they have developed a great conscious in me and I wouldn’t want to have it any differently.

Q: You play basketball as well as you run cross country. Are there any other sports you wish you could play?

A: Football. It’s a sport that I’ve played since peewee. It’s a great sport, but a decision has got to be made.

Q: If you could only play one sport, which sport would that be and why?

A: If this question would’ve been asked to me a year ago, I would’ve said basketball, but I’ve found so much more in cross country. Running those three miles gives me such a great peace of mind. I feel like I’m free and there’s nothing to do other than breathe.

Q: What served as your motivation to succeed this past season?

A: My mother. She has done so much for me and has opened so many doors, and I feel like I needed to be generous enough and pay her back by closing them myself and locking them so no one would break through them.

HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Police Department is alerting the public to a recent and new phone scam perpetrated by IRS impersonators.

Telephone scams continue to be a serious threat and remain on the IRS “Dirty Dozen” list of Tax Scams for the 2016 filing season.

According to the IRS, aggressive and threatening phone calls made by criminals impersonating IRS agents remains a major threat to taxpayers during this 2016 tax season.

Even though the tax deadline has come and gone, scammers continue to use varied strategies to trick people, in this case students. In this newest twist, they try to convince people to wire money immediately to the scammer.

If the victim does not fall quickly enough for this fake “federal student tax,” the scammer threatens to report the student to the police.

The IRS has seen a surge of these types of telephone scams where scam artists are threatening police arrest, deportation, license revocation and other things.

The police department along with the IRS reminds taxpayers to guard against all sorts of scams or con-games that arise during this season.

“These scams and schemes continue to evolve nationwide, and now they’re trying to trick students,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

“Taxpayers should remain vigilant and not fall prey to these aggressive calls demanding immediate payment of a tax supposedly owed.”

Scam artists frequently masquerade as being from the IRS, a tax company and sometimes even a state revenue department. Many scammers use threats to intimidate and bully people into paying a tax bill.

They may even threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the driver’s license of their victim if they don’t get the money.

Some examples of the varied tactics seen this year are:

* Demanding immediate tax payment for taxes owed on an iTunes gift card.

* Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals — IR-2016-34

* “Verifying” tax return information over the phone — IR-2016-40

* Pretending to be from the tax preparation industry — IR-2016-28

There are variations to this particular type scam which may include, but are not limited to the following.

* Caller may threaten you with arrest or court action to trick you into making a payment.

* Caller may threaten deportation if a payment is not made.

* Some schemes may say that you’re entitled to a huge refund.

Protect Yourself — If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for payment or money and you don’t to think that you do:

* Do not give out any personal information. Hang up immediately.

* Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to report the call (using “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting”)

* Report it to the Federal Trade Commission (add “IRS Telephone Scam”)

* Report to local Law Enforcement if needed.

SAN BENITO — Some days, one of the first faces they saw was that of Jestin Sauceda.

He and other students from the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District would come to Windsor Atrium Rehabilitation Center in Harlingen to perform their clinicals.

Part of a four-year journey through the district’s Health Sciences program, clinicals were required to earn their credential as a certified nurse’s assistant.

“The majority of the patients there were elderly,” said Jestin, 18. “I would help feed them, and I would take them to the waiting room so they could interact with each other. We would change them as well.”

Jestin is one of 51 students in the San Benito Health Science Technology Program who were awarded certifications Tuesday in five health science fields, including emergency medical technician, medical office assistant and medical assistant.

“This is the largest number of students we’ve had,” said Hector Rendon, director of the school district’s Career and Technology Education program. The Health Sciences Technology program is at least 10 years old, he said.

“We have the Health Sciences program beginning in the 9th grade,” Rendon said. “It’s a four-year program.”

During the first three years, students in the program learn medical terminology, health science technology and principals of health science. They also visit hospitals and nursing homes and then ambulances.

“They have a health science practicum,” Rendon said. “They practice being in a hospital room setting, changing linens while the patients are still there.”

Medicine was once a rather simple affair, at least by our standards. However, development of wound care, hygiene, trauma care, cardiology and germ theory have advanced medicine considerably.

The field of medicine has proliferated into many different fields, as reflected by the various certifications offered through San Benito’s program.

Students have a choice of numerous pathways to the medical field, and Laura Leon is working on her second certification as a medical assistant. She received her medical office assisting certification with her classmates on Tuesday.

As a medical office assistant, Laura, 18, knows how to work with billing and insurance.

“Medical assistant is helping more with the doctor, like taking vitals and setting up for the doctor,” she said. “If he’s going to do a certain test you set up a tray for the doctor so it will be ready for him.”

She recently did her clinicals in wound care.

“I was able to see different types of wounds, and I was able to administer creams and help out with dressings,” said Laura, who hopes to be a physical therapist.

Jestin saw his share of heartache while working at the Atrium.

“You see the patients, and you can tell they’re kind of sad because they don’t really have anybody,” he said. “I have a heart of giving.”

He would eventually like to become a trauma surgeon in the U.S. Army. First he’d like to study psychology at the University of Houston and then transfer to a university in Dallas or San Antonio to become a registered nurse.

“If the trauma surgeon in the Army doesn’t work out, I’d like to become a physician’s assistant,” he said.

SANTA ROSA — A Santa Rosa man has been sentenced to 70 years in prison for the continuous sexual assault of a child.

Fernando Esquivel, 30, was convicted of sexual abuse of a child under 14 years old.

The abuse started when the victim was in the second grade and continued until the outcry was made when she was in third grade, prosecutors said.

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office Child Abuse Unit secured the guilty verdict Thursday.

The jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before their verdict was announced in the 103rd Judicial District Court.

The Cameron County District Attorney’s office said the outcry from this victim was made after a counselor from Maggie’s and Monica’s House spoke to her class about “Good Touches and Bad Touches.”

These presentations, according to the district attorney’s office, have proven effective in making children aware about good touches and bad touches and how important it is to speak out if bad touches are occurring.

“I’d like to thank all the counselors and staff and Maggie’s and Monica’s House, who have to deal with these difficult cases on a day-to-day basis,” said Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.

“They have these difficult conversations with children who suffer the repercussions of abuse. Their expertise in dealing with these children empowers them and gives them the courage to ‘outcry’ about the abuse they have suffered.”

Prosecuting a child abuse case can be very difficult and emotionally draining, but the Cameron County District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit never waivers from even the most challenging of cases, Saenz said.

The Child Abuse Unit was conceived in 2013 and is led by unit supervisor Assistant District Attorney Brandy Bailey and her team that consists of Assistant District Attorney Omar Saenz, Assistant District Attorney Melanie Palomo-Zamora, Investigator Eduardo Limon and Paralegal Gabriela Cruz.

Child abuse cases require a lot of work and it is vital for everyone to come together as a team for the safety of the children.

Maggie’s and Monica’s House, law enforcement agencies and medical personnel all come together as one with the district attorney’s office to prosecute these cases aggressively for the safety and well-being of the children.

SAN BENITO — A pair of Valley Veterans have spent several hours of the past few days on their motorcycles.

They have had one destination in mind — Washington, D.C.

Johnny Montemayor and Tony Mendoza, both of San Benito, have been making their way to the Capital for the past week.

They made it.

Along with hundreds of other riders, the pair reached Washington yesterday and today will tour some of the sites.

It is all part of the XXVIII annual Run for the Wall ride.

Run for the Wall is an annual cross-country motorcycle 10-day event ride from Ontario, California, to Washington, DC.

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