A Harlingen man is being held without bond after he was arrested near Houston on charges he tried to smuggle crystal methamphetamine.

Ricardo Lozano, 40, was arrested on Tuesday when the Fort Bend County narcotics task force stopped him for a traffic violation on U.S. 59 north near Rosenberg.

According to a news release from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department, during the roadside stop a detective and his canine discovered 17.7 pounds of meth hidden in the headliner of the Ford Explorer Lozano was driving.

Lozano is charged with manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a criminal instrument. Both charges are felonies. He is being held in the Fort Bend County Jail without bond.

Officials say the methamphetamine has a street value of $123,900.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Meteorologists from across the country met today in South Padre Island to go over the 2016 seasonal forecast during the National Tropical Weather Conference.

“We put this together to bring broadcast meteorologists together to learn what os coming in the new hurricane season,” said Tim Smith, conference founders and KRGV meteorologist. “With the forecast of Dr. Koltzbach now at least we have an idea what to expect this season.”

Dr. Phil Koltzbach announced the initial hurricane predictions for 2016 going into the peak of hurricane season.

Koltzbach predicts an average season this year with 12 named storms, 5 hurricanes and two major hurricanes for 2016.

He said Texas has a one in three chance of a major hurricane making landfall along the coast.

Koltzbach said luck was the primary factor for the reason of not having any major hurricanes over the last few years.

Koltzbach is a research scientist in the department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University.

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SAN BENITO — The San Benito School Board wants the folks to weigh in.

Earlier this week, school board officials discussed at length whether to move the district’s Election Day from May to November.

In the end, they voted to table the action. But that didn’t stop them from discussing what they wanted to do.

Several options were weighed, but all agreed that a decision regarding an election would be better left up to the people in the community – the voters.

The school district doesn’t have an election this May. But it does have one in 2017.

As it stands now, elections are held in May to fill the school board member positions, which are on a three-year rotating basis.

Board member Hector Leal was first to express his concerns.

“It has more cons than pros,” he said.

There were two concerns Leal expressed. One was the fact that once the date is changed, it can never be changed back again, according to a ruling by the Texas state attorney general.

Two, Leal expressed the need for feedback from the community to determine the impact.

Leal suggested putting the decision to a vote. However, in order to make that happen, the option would have to be added to the ballot by December.

Board member Angel Mendez, who put the item on the agenda, said there were several indicators why he thought they should change the date.

“The sharing cost would be reduced because more elections will be run at that time. The cost of renting equipment and organizing wouldn’t cost us much. The numbers of people voting tends to increase in November,” Mendez said.

Moving the election to November, Mendez said, would give people more time to reflect on their position.

Instead of putting it to a vote, trustees also discussed issuing a survey to the public.

The topic of a survey was met with more enthusiasm than putting the decision to a vote.

As a political science teacher, board secretary Michael Vargas said it would be a disservice to the public if they didn’t get a voice in the decision.

“We are a democratic society and when we have a group of individuals, like a council, who influence the way elections are held, to me is a disservice to our community and students, even to the idea of government,” he said.

Since the community voted for the board, they agreed to let the community have its say.

Four school board trustees’ terms will expire in 2017.

A change would mean their election would be in November instead of May, adding five months to their terms.

They are Arnold Padilla in place 4, Leal in place 5, Medrano in place 6 and Angel Mendez in place 7.

The other terms expire in 2018.

Before tabling the decision, the board decided they would conduct research and come back at a later date with more information.

“The last thing I want is for anyone to think we’re making decisions to strengthen political agendas or ties,” said board member Arnold Padilla. “That’s something I don’t like.”

Adding, “We have a lot of homework to do.”

HARLINGEN – When a patient has to be in the hospital, their stay is made brighter by caring doctors, attentive nurses and other healthcare workers – and in some cases by a volunteer who will sing the patient’s favorite inspirational song.

At Harlingen Medical Center, Samuel De Corse is the “singing volunteer” who visits patients just to see who how they’re doing – or if the patient wishes to sing or pray.

“When I visit a patient’s room, I ask them if they like for me to sing a song for them – and if they and their family members would like to join me,” Mr. De Corse said. “I enjoy sharing God’s love to them through singing.”

Examples of spiritual songs that Mr. De Corse sings with his patients include “How Great Thou Art,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Be Not Afraid” – but he also takes requests.

“I always carry a song book with me,” he said. “I really enjoy singing whichever song the patient picks out.”

Mr. De Corse, a retired U.S. State Department employee, has been trained as a “pastoral services volunteer” who has been assisting Harlingen Medical Center Chaplain Jesus Reyes for the past four years in visiting patients at the hospital along the Expressway.

“I visit with the patients and families, and pray with them, if they wish to,” Mr. De Corse added. “It’s been a blessing for me as well. I’ve developed many good friendships because of this. It’s a privilege to share God’s blessings with them.”

Mr. De Corse, 80, visits patients regardless of their denomination, tailoring his prayers and songs for each person’s needs and preferences.

“When I give God’s blessings, I work with all people, regardless of which religion they are,” he said. “I’ve learned to respect all religions.”

If the patient is Catholic, Mr. De Corse is available to give them Communion if they wish, and on Ash Wednesday, he also helps distribute ashes to patients and visitors. He also brings small gifts, such as rosaries which are hand-made by local church parishioners, as well as pamphlets with the words of several prayers.

Mr. De Corse also sings at church, as he is a member of the choir at St. Anthony’s in Harlingen, as well as a lector (reader of passages from the Bible) and Eucharistic minister. Mr. De Corse estimates he puts in over 20 hours per week volunteering at two local hospitals as well as his participation at the church.

With all of that volunteer work, Mr. De Corse has become quite a conversationalist, able to chat or pray with 12 to 20 hospital patients on any given day, in either English or Spanish.

“I have a type of personality where I like to greet people and talk to them, and put them at ease,” he said.

But Mr. De Corse first started doing volunteer work not in the Valley, but in Mexico, where he was working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help eradicate the screwworm parasite in Mexican cattle. While working in the southern state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, Mr. De Corse would drive for 30 minutes into the rural areas to do volunteer work with impoverished families.

“I helped teach religion classes to the children – and in turn I learned to appreciate their culture and religion,” he said.

Most of the people in that area lived in extreme poverty – and shared an ancestry background with Mr. De Corse, as they came from a Native American or “American Indian” background. Mr. De Corse was born on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation in Arizona – and one of his great-great grandfathers (Chief Pascual) was the tribal chief of the Quechan Tribe.

The chief’s daughter, Luz Pascual, married Mr. De Corse’s great-grandfather, Dr. Albert De Corse, who later became the mayor of Yuma, as well as the physician at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona.

Mr. De Corse followed in his great-grandfather’s footsteps somewhat, by also helping with healthcare for the Native American population while working for the U.S. Public Health Service in Phoenix, Arizona. He later became the first Native American to serve as a Regional Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, where he worked to secure training and education for Native Americans and to prevent discrimination again them in employment opportunities.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, Mr. De Corse served with the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean War.

After the war, Mr. De Corse finished up his college education at San Diego State University – where one of his classmates, Raquel Tejada, later became a famous movie star and singer, Raquel Welch.

Mr. De Corse and his wife Silvia first came to the Valley in 1992, when he served as a Regional Management Analyst for the USDA in Brownsville.

“We were very happy here in the Valley, and decided to stay here after I retired from working with the government,” Mr. De Corse said. “We’ve been involved in a lot of church activities, as well as my volunteer work at the hospitals, which I plan to keep doing as long as I am able.”

Mr. De Corse is one of nine “pastoral service” or chaplain volunteers who help brighten the day of patients at Harlingen Medical Center by bringing them a smile, a word of hope and consolation.

In addition, other volunteers at Harlingen Medical Center bring flowers and newspapers to the patients — while still others serve in various areas of the hospital, including the Emergency Room and the Finance, Human Resources and Marketing departments.

PORT ISABEL — A new innovative approach to teaching, called blended learning, will be fused into Point Isabel schools next year.

Four years from now, students in the district will be working at their own pace and juniors and seniors will have flexible attendance as blended learners.

“Students will be able to learn at their own ability level, and move as quickly as they are capable of learning,” said Dr. Lisa Garcia, superintendent.

The district is one of five school districts in Texas awarded a $500,000 grant to test the blended learning teaching model sponsored by Raise Your Hand Texas.

Raise Your Hand Texas is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization advancing public education by igniting fiercely innovative leadership and advocacy for our state’s five million plus students.

“This is an opportunity to transform the educational experience for our students,” Garcia said.

The district will transition gradually into the new innovative blended learning style next year.

As defined by the Christensen Institute, blended learning is a mix of online learning and brick-and-mortar schooling that takes place when students learn at least in part online, with some student control over the time, place, path and pace of their learning.

“Students will be able to work ahead or work on more courses, or internships in their career path,” Garcia said. “The school day won’t look like a traditional school day.”

Point Isabel competed against 75 other school districts in the state for the grant since applying in June 2015.

“Our parents, our school board and our students and all of the teachers have followed this process of applying for the grant,” Garcia said. “To find out we were selected as one of the demonstration sites really validates all the work that we’ve been doing all year.”

Garcia said blended learning is a more personal path of learning for each student and the money received will be used for student content, teacher training, technology, software and to modernize learning spaces in the district.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity for us to change the educational world,” Garcia said. “This is a better opportunity to prepare our students for college.”

Another employee from the Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector’s office has been arrested in the aftermath of the undercover operation dubbed “Operation Dirty Deeds,” authorities said.

Marizol Sifuentes was arrested Wednesday by agents from the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Unit at the tax office, where she is employed as an office clerk, authorities said.

The undercover operation by the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety has resulted in six arrests of tax office employees this year.

Sifuentes was charged with one count of felonious breach of computer security. No other information pertaining to her arrest was immediately available.

Earlier this year, Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre Jr. was arrested along with county tax investigator Pedro Garza, dealer/notary supervisor Omar Sanchez-Paz and Chief of Investigations Lt. Jose Mireles . The arrests were followed a two-year Texas Department of Public Safety investigation of the operations of the tax assessor-collector’s office.

The arrests of the four men on Jan. 6 led to a shutdown of the tax office for three days in order for state and federal authorities to search and seize documents from the tax office.

Claudia Elisa Sanchez, also a county employee, was arrested at the tax office in San Benito on March 30.

Yzaguirre was charged with four counts of bribery, a second-degree felony; engaging in organized criminal activity, a first-degree felony; and official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor.

Garza was charged with bribery, engaging in organized criminal activity and official oppression.

Sanchez-Paz was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and abuse of official capacity, a Class A misdemeanor.

Mireles was charged with bribery, engaging in organized criminal activity and official oppression.

Sanchez was charged with one count of tampering with government records.

A pre-trial hearing for Yzaguirre, Garza, Mireles and Sanchez-Paz is scheduled for Friday in the 103rd state district court before visiting Senior State District Judge Manuel Banales.

Yzaguirre has been ordered to stay away from the Tax Office until his Friday hearing.

SAN BENITO — This isn’t the first time a child in the care of Amber Marie G. Molano has died.

On Tuesday, the 20-year-old San Benito woman was arrested in connection with the apparent drowning death of her infant son.

In the days leading up to her arrest, police discovered that in 2012 Molano had a baby that also died in infancy.

Interim Police Chief Michael Galvan said it was cause for concern.

“We reviewed it with the district attorney’s office and once they saw that, they requested we get a warrant for her arrest,” he said.

Molano was arrested Tuesday after she turned herself in.

She is being charged with a first-degree felony for injury to a child causing death.

The charge stems from the March 31 drowning incident. According to police, she left her 7-month-old son Traviz Luke and a 2-year-old unattended in the bathtub at her Vista Park Apartment on Cornejo Drive.

When she came back, Traviz was laying face up and not breathing. He was transported to the Valley Baptist Medical Center and placed on life support.

He was removed from life support after five days and died shortly thereafter.

Galvan could not confirm whether her baby died suspiciously in 2012 but did say they were looking into it.

“Child protective services has that case and the district attorney’s office will subpoena those records,” Galvan said.

Galvan also said there were several posts on Molano’s Facebook page he considered questionable.

According to police, Molano admitted to leaving the children alone in the bathtub for about a minute.

“Since she was negligent and by admitting it she was arrested,” Galvan said.

The baby showed no brain activity after being taken off life-support, Galvan said.

After the investigation, police turned their findings over to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.

With their assistance, the warrant for Molano’s arrest was obtained.

She was arraigned Tuesday by Judge David Garza, who set her bond at $25,000.

Molano is being held at the Cameron County jail in Olmito.

If found guilty, she could face up to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

HARLINGEN – The Global Youth Service Day mobilizes young people throughout the world to improve their communities through a variety of service projects.

Those service projects can fall under the heading of Health, Environment, Poverty and Hunger, Education, Human Rights, and Community Building. They can include employers participating in job fairs, job skills training, and financial literacy classes.

“GYSD is the largest service event in the world and the only one dedicated to the contributions that children and youth make 365 days of the years,” says the organization’s website.

GYSD, established in 1988, is celebrated each year by young people working together in more than 135 countries. Those young people also work with schools, youth organizations, and nonprofits, plus numerous other organizations.

The organization’s website says this cooperative effort works to address the world’s most critical issues and change their communities.

HARLINGEN – The food drive started as a slow trickle, but over the next few days a flood of canned goods began pouring into the school.

“Sometimes we had six-year-olds dragging the bags into the office because they wanted to do their part,” said Minnie Ramirez, principal at Bonham Elementary.

Yesterday, Bonham Elementary was recognized for collecting the most canned goods for the Harlingen Neighborhood Food Pantry. All 17 elementary schools in the Harlingen school district participated. Yesterday, at the food pantry, they were congratulated for collecting 9,115 pounds of nonperishable canned goods.

Boxes and crates sat in front of the pantry filled with pinto beans, corn, Ramen noodles, Vienna sausages, potted meat and other foods.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” said Jim Coffman, director of the food pantry behind the Church of Christ at 801 E. Harrison Ave.

“I can’t thank the schools enough for their participation,” Coffman said.

The pantry serves members of the local community on Wednesdays and Fridays, said Frieda Barnes, a volunteer for the food pantry which is open Wednesdays and Fridays. Those wishing to obtain food must prove they are Harlingen residents and register. They are given a card which they must show when they obtain food. There are limits on how often they can visit the pantry.

The food drive was a challenge from Ruben Treviño, human services specialist for the Edna Tamayo House. The facility is a halfway house for juveniles, and it’s part of the Texas Juvenile Justice System. The food drive was this year’s Global Youth Service Day project for the Edna Tamayo House.

Treviño was surprised by the food drive’s success.

“My goal was 5,000 pounds,” he said, his eyes widening as he looked at the groceries.

“We gave these kids the opportunity to learn and give back to the community,” he said.

Treviño was visibly pleased as he spoke to principals, Superintendent Art Cavazos and other school administrators at the food pantry. Several food pantry volunteers also were present.

“I want to thank each and every one of you who joined us to do our big mission,” Treviño said. He held three plaques. One was awarded to Lamar Elementary for collecting 1,750 pounds of food. Crockett was recognized for collecting 1,800 pounds. Everyone let loose with sounds of surprise and congratulations as Treviño announced Bonham had taken first place for collecting 1,820 pounds.

Ramirez had no idea Bonham had collected the most goods, and she was caught totally by surprise. She couldn’t rave enough on her students.

“I am so proud of them,” she said. “They really took this to heart. They wanted to help out. They would bring by the big loads.”

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