SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Many people took their bait and tackle to the Island for a day of fishing to try and snag a big catch or the ugliest fish — all for a good cause.

The Cameron County Mental Health Task Force held its 3rd Annual Fishing Tournament Saturday at Pier 19 on the Island. More than 75 people attended the event to fish or volunteer.

The fishing tournament was part of Mental Health Awareness Month.

“The goal is to teach positive family activities and provide an opportunity for families to just enjoy a day of fun at the Island,” said Shauna Ortiz, CCMHTF board member. “Throughout the morning we would see and hear children saying this was the first time they had ever caught a fish.”

Many children and adults cast their fishing lines for the chance to win a $50 cash prize and trophies for catching the ugliest fish, longest fish, longest stingray or most unique species.

“Not only did children and families have fun, but we’re meeting our mission in promoting community awareness and education in support of our scholarship program,” said Rose Gomez, CCMHTF chair.

The non-profit organization is planning to award five $1,000 scholarships to high school and graduating students from around Cameron County.

CCMHTF recognizes the Valley as one of the most underserved communities in regard to mental health and strives to invest in the future by supporting higher education for mental health related professions.

Local hospitals and business such as Valley Baptist Health Systems, Palms Behavioral Health, Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, Dr. Antonio Vega, Boggus Ford Harlingen, KOA at SPI and The Sportsman helped sponsor the tournament.

The CCMHTF has more than 25 organizations and concerned citizens who meet monthly to bring mental health awareness to the forefront of the community.

For more information contact Rose Gomez at 399-3075.

RIO HONDO — Diana Bates was thanking the Delta Kappa Gamma ladies group the same day other people were heading to the polls in the May 7 election.

The Deltas had helped her raise monies for three scholarships handed out to Rio Hondo graduating seniors through the Lois Bates Scholarship Fund, which is named after a former district teacher who passed away in 2007.

Bates, 63, a Rio Hondo resident for more than 20 years, said had she known there was a $20 million school bond proposal on the ballot she would have voted early.

She said she and other voters are upset and looking into challenging the outcome of the $20 million bond election on the basis she believes the majority of taxpayers were not adequately informed about the bond election.

“Twenty million in bonds is a huge amount of money,” Bates said “How can 80 people make this decision when it’s going to affect the community for generations to come?”

Rio Hondo voters passed the $20 million proposal 80-42.

According to the Cameron County Elections Department the City of Rio Hondo had 1,474 registered voters eligible to vote in the May 7 election.

Rio Hondo Superintendent Ismaiel Garcia emailed a response to the Valley Morning Star about the challenge of the bond election.

“The district is pleased with the results of the May 7, 2016, bond election and is looking forward to implementing the project of building a new middle school for our students,” Garcia stated. “The district is confident that it has complied with all aspects of the law throughout the bond election process.”

The Rio Hondo School Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Feb. 15 to order the bond election for May 7.

The bond election authorizes the school district to issue bonds for various purposes, including the construction, acquisition and equipping of school buildings and the purchase of the necessary sites for school buildings.

According to the election code, notice for the election must be given by mail, published in the newspaper and posted in a public place at least once not earlier than the 30th day or later than the 10th day before Election Day.

The district published a notice for the bond election in the San Benito News in April, and posted the order at a public place in Rio Hondo continuously through Election Day.

The calculated amount of the debt is $18.3 million, and the amount of interest is $7.8 million for the bond.

The ad valorem debt service tax rate for the district is 20 cents per $100 of taxable assessed valuation. There was no information located about what the new tax rate will be now the bond has been approved.

Bates is not the only voter in the community who isn’t pleased with the results of the bond election.

Rio Hondo resident Margarita Greer, 63, wants to know why the district needs another campus.

Greer said she is upset the district didn’t inform the community about the bond election as well as it could have.

“I heard about the bond that same week, and then on Monday I found out it had already been voted on and passed,” Greer said. “It makes me wonder how many people knew the bond election was going to happen that day.”

Greer said in the past she has been aware of the school district holding meetings about bond elections to inform the public and get community input.

She said that wasn’t the case in this election.

“It’s a little too late now,” Greer said. “I would just like to know what the purpose is of having a new campus.”

HARLINGEN — Frank Puente knows the odds are stacked against him.

But today, officials will conduct a manual recount of votes cast in the May 7 election in which District 2 City Commissioner Tudor Uhlhorn won 287 votes to Puente’s 266.

“I’m doing it for my supporters and my peace of mind,” said Puente, who served on the city commission from 2003 to 2006. “They wanted to make sure everything came out the way it did.”

Uhlhorn called Puente’s request for a recount “part of the process.”

“That’s his right,” Uhlhorn said.

Some ballots might shave Uhlhorn’s 21-vote margin, Puente said.

Puente said nine mail-in ballots went to Uhlhorn while he took seven mail-in ballots.

City Secretary Amanda Elizondo said eight provisional ballots, or ballots cast by residents whose voter eligibility is in question, have been rejected.

Puente said he paid $300 for the recount for the District 2 election, paying $100 for a recount of the Bonham Elementary School ballot box; $100 for a recount of the Zavala Elementary School ballot box; and $100 for a recount of the early vote.

Former City Commissioner Robert Leftwich and Richard Alvarez, a retired state dental technician, will serve as his inspectors, Puente said.

Uhlhorn said his inspectors will be attorney Randy Whittington and Nick Consiglio, the president of Harlingen Proud who serves as a member of the Valley International Airport board and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The election marked a rematch for Puente and Uhlhorn.

In 2013, Uhlhorn won 479 votes to Puente’s 335 votes.

HARLINGEN — City officials are tight-lipped about a business prospect code-named Project HQ.

But today, city commissioners might be ready to disclose details.

In a meeting, commissioners are expected to consider entering into negotiations with the business.

But first, commissioners are scheduled to meet in closed session to consider “the sale of city property, the receipt of donated property and commercial and financial information from a business known as Project HQ,” according to the meeting’s agenda.

Commissioners are expected to return to open session to consider approving the sale of city property before accepting the donation of property.

HARLINGEN — The city’s push to lift a Cameron County tax continues.

Today, city commissioners will reconsider approving a resolution supporting Cameron County’s adoption of an exemption to its freeport tax on warehoused inventory.

Two weeks ago, commissioners delayed action to search for ways to help the county offset the tax’s $1.6 million in annual revenue.

And the search to offset lost revenues continues, City Manager Dan Serna said yesterday.

“We’ve been talking to them but we haven’t got to the point where there’s a definitive path,” Serna said.

In Harlingen, officials argue the tax drives away warehousing and manufacturing companies.

“I think it puts us at a disadvantage not to have a freeport tax exemption,” Mayor Chris Boswell said.

Boswell cited a study by the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley that found the tax puts Cameron County “at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting businesses with millions of dollars in inventory.”

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The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries Division decided May 15 was a good time to close the state’s shrimp season because, according to its sampling, the average size and number of brown shrimp in Texas coastal waters is higher than the 20-year average.

Texas closes its waters to shrimping from the coast to nine nautical miles out for roughly two months each year to give little shrimp time to grow before being harvested. The National Marine Fisheries Service typically imposes a closure out to 200 nautical miles at the same time.

More, bigger shrimp is potentially good news for the state’s struggling shrimp industry, since big shrimp fetch higher prices, according to Andrea Hance, shrimp fleet owner and executive director of the Texas Shrimp Association.

Despite profitable years in 2012 and 2013, due largely to foreign shrimp operations being ravaged by Early Mortality Syndrome, Texas shrimpers are making little, if any, profit these days because of low prices per pound, she said.

Even during the two years when prices were high, most of revenues went to the IRS or into boats suffering from years of deferred maintenance, Hance said. Now foreign imports are once again flooding the market and Gulf shrimpers aren’t making any money.

“Most of us this year probably will not make a profit, especially if you have to make boat repairs,” she said.

When Texas closes its season, some trawlers from the Brownsville-Port Isabel fleet head home and others steam off to Louisiana, Mississippi and even Florida waters, Hance said. Those states allow shrimping year round, with the result that Texas waters produce the largest shrimp, she said.

It’s the big shrimp — 16/20 count, which means 16-20 shrimp per pound — in which Texas is the most competitive, and much less so in the 20/25 count market, where farm-raised imports dominate, Hance said.

“The large shrimp are the only thing keeping us in business,” she said. “Last year we didn’t have enough large shrimp. We need a lot of the large shrimp.”

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SAN BENITO — Veronica Rodriguez doesn’t remember the exact moment she wanted to become a teacher.

“I’ve always known I wanted to be a teacher,” she said.

Rodriguez’s mother was a teacher and she was actually a student in her class.

“Being able to experience that was a blessing and I have had the best teachers in elementary,” she said.

“I knew I wanted to be in elementary.”

For Rodriguez, seeing a progression in her students she says “makes her heart smile.”

“My students are my babies, they are my students,” she said.

“At the end of the year when I get to see how much my kids have grown, not only academically but in character, that makes my heart smile.”

Rodriguez’s dedication was a running theme yesterday as she and 17 of her colleagues were honored for their effort and service in teaching.

A teacher from each of the 18 campuses in the school district was honored yesterday at a luncheon along with a guest and the principal from their school.

These teachers now hold the prestigious title of San Benito CISD Teachers of the Year.

Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega had a special message for his teachers he holds in great esteem.

Every teacher has a journey, according to Vega. Every teacher has that one adult or teacher that made an impact in their life.

“I am referring to that spark, that indescribable feeling that wells up inside your heart, that caused you to want to make a difference,” Vega said.

“When you think about what we do in life, the thing about public education is we’re here to serve all. We don’t pick and choose who crosses the threshold of our classrooms and so it might be that you are the only one in the lives of our kids who believe in them.”

What the teacher writes on the chalkboard of life, Vega said, can never be erased.

“What we learn with pleasure we never forget,” he said.

Teacher Kourtney Leal is a product of San Benito. The teachers who have taught her are now her colleagues.

“If I share my personal life with my students and they realize that I am real like they are, then they are going to value me and what I have to offer,” she said.

“I need to make sure that I make the best of my time that I have. Children are very impressionable, they’re going to take what you give them and if I give them a positive attitude, then they are also going to have that positive attitude.”

After teaching for a while, Leal said some of her former students are now in middle school and high school.

They still come by to see her to reminisce.

“It’s always about the outcome,” Leal said.

“It’s very rewarding to see what a good education, positive influence, positive attitude and motivation can do on a child. The possibilities are endless.”

HARLINGEN – The city’s parks master plan has been whittled down to five priority projects.

The total price tag for the priority plans, which range from completing an Arroyo Colorado trails system to major improvements to Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, is $9.85 million. Some, if not most, of the projected cost would be covered by grants and partnerships.

“This came out of the Harlingen Comprehensive Master Plan, One Vision, One Harlingen,” said Javier Mendez, parks and recreation director. “We can look for funding in the future, whatever funding sources are out there, but at least they’ll know what our priorities will be.”

The parks and recreation recommendations from yesterday now go to the City Commission but will have to compete with the priorities of other city departments. While all the projects from each department were contained in the master plan, selecting absolute priority projects for the next five years will sharpen the focus for commissioners.

Priority one is completing the Arroyo Colorado trail from Dixieland Drive to Hugh Ramsey Nature Park.

Cost of the project will be $825,000 per mile, with a total of about four miles. Mendez said the project could be broken up into two phases, the first from I-69E to Dixieland Park, and the second phase from McKelvey Park to Hugh Ramsey.

The second priority plan is an ambitious proposal to use drainage corridors and streets to complete a trail that would run southwest to northeast from I-69E and M Street to Harrison Avenue and Loop 499.

Mendez said the 3.2-mile project would take advantage of rights-of-way already controlled by the Cameron County Irrigation District along the canals and ditches.

City Manager Dan Serna suggested the board find a way to link the trail project to the Harlingen City Library on 76 Drive.

“We could make it a second priority, but that connection is kind of important,” Serna said. “We should be trying to connect the library to a hike and bike trail system to all our other trails so that folks from TSTC (Texas State Technical College) or in this case from the other side of town can gain access to our library without having to drive there. They can walk or ride a bike there.

“That would in turn maybe remove some cars from the street and ease some congestion,” he added.

Serna added, when it comes to applying for grant funding for the project, a trail system that links to the library would likely make the project more attractive.

The board voted to modify the project and add the library link before it is presented to the City Commission.

Project three is improving amenities at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park. The plan calls for construction of a new nature/education/welcome center, improving the park’s trail system and its wetland ponds and adding new bird blinds for birders and photographers.

Mendez said potential funding could come from the Texas portion of the settlement from the British Petroleum spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Project four would expand the Soccer Complex on East Harrison Avenue by upgrading the irrigation system, enhancing the condition of the soil at the site and adding restrooms. An additional proposal would cover two championship fields with turf.

The fifth project, a feasibility study for an indoor recreation center, would cost the city $50,000.

Serna noted the city has no such facility, and suggested the request for the study be incorporated into a plan to renovate Lon C. Hill Park instead of being presented to the City Commission as a separate request.

The board agreed, and moved to modify the proposal to shift the rec center study to the overall Lon C. Hill plan.

SAN BENITO — They run toward shots fired.

They leap into burning buildings.

They speed to major accidents.

While most people race away from these kinds of scenes, police head toward them.

1 of 3

It’s not because they want to, it’s because they are trained to.

They do it for us, to protect the people – service above self.

They are trained to serve and protect us.

“We know that if we call 911, they will be there,” said Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.

As chief law enforcement of the county, on Monday night Saenz gave thanks to the police officers and encouraged the community to do the same.

“Even though lately police officers have been picked on and disparaged, I am here to tell you that I stand with you, that I believe in you and that we need you,” Saenz said.

Monday, the San Benito Police Department honored those who have and are currently serving on the force for their 2nd Annual Police Officers Memorial Service.

Different law enforcement agencies from the area, including the U.S. Border Patrol, FBI and city leaders were in attendance to celebrate the dedication of local police.

Every year, law enforcement officials come together to stand in solidarity and salute the fallen.

Over generations, protection and justice have been the responsibility of police officers, said Interim Police Chief Michael Galvan.

Since the establishment of National Police Week in 1962, the United States has lost more than 10,000 police officers in the line of duty.

“Their duty was to serve and it is our duty to remember,” he said.

As the son of a former sheriff’s deputy, keynote speaker Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. knows the sacrifice law enforcement makes.

“I was very privileged to be the son of a law enforcement officer,” he said.

“I was thinking right now, regardless if you’re on the street patrolling, work as a radio dispatcher or work in the office, it’s a team that makes it possible for us to feel safe and sound in our community.”

Lucio’s father served more than 30 years in Cameron County and retired as chief office deputy, working under four different sheriffs.

“We were fortunate to live in a home that not only taught us right from wrong but taught us respect for law enforcement,” Lucio said.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

4 ounces (1/2 cup) bleu cheese crumbles

4 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese

1 Tbsp white vinegar

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

pinch black pepper

~ 1/4 cup 2% or whole milk

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

8-10 sprigs asparagus and/or 1/2 red onion

12-14 slices wheat baguette

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to low broil and position rack on second from top position. Slice baguette into 1/2 inch pieces and arrange on baking sheet. Plan for 1-2 per person. Set aside.

2. Prepare bleu cheese dip by placing bleu cheese, cream cheese, vinegar, olive oil, and pepper in a food processor and mixing until well combined. Drizzle in milk 1 Tbsp at a time while mixing until desired consistency is achieved. It should be thick like frosting. Scoop into a large plastic bag and set aside.

3. Sautee asparagus and/or red onion in a large saucepan over medium heat until tender. Season with salt and black pepper. To properly caramelize the onions, make sure to keep the lid on to lock in moisture and get them really soft. Set aside.

4. Prepare balsamic reduction by placing balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally and being careful not to boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about half and a wooden spoon scraped across the bottom leaves a visible line – it should appear somewhat “syrupy.” Pour into a small ramekin for serving.

5. Pop baguette in the oven and watch closely, toasting until light golden brown. Then remove from the oven, pipe on whipped bleu cheese, and top with sautéed asparagus and/or caramelized onion. Drizzle with balsamic reduction and serve immediately.