HARLINGEN — Jacob Huerta is 5-foot-9, weighs 190 pounds and is an eighth grader at Vernon Middle School.

He has some high aspirations.

Jacob wants to play in the National Football League.

The hard-working, self-described team player recently took his first step toward reaching that lofty goal.

He has been named an EPS All American and will compete against some of the best middle school players in all of the country in a bowl game set for New Orleans in mid-June.

“I am excited to be able to get out and represent South Texas and be able to see how I rank among the best in the country,” Jacob said. “This game is an opportunity of a lifetime and I am excited to be a part of it.”

Jacob was selected as one of about 100 out of more than 5,000 applicants throughout the United States.

His uncle, David Gonzalez, also of Harlingen and a coach, nominated him for the “elite” all star bowl game.

He had to compile information about Jacob along with a highlight video and submit his school grades. Jacob didn’t know his uncle had nominated him.

“When I got the email he was chosen, I went to school and they brought him to the office,” David said. “I told him. It was pretty special; he had tears in his eyes and was very excited.”

Jacob has been playing football since he was 7 years old and for the past few years, David has helped coach him.

Along with competing against some of the best middle school players in the country, Jacob also will be exposed to scouts from 250 of the top universities and be included in databases of future young stars of the game.

At this age, the quiet defensive tackle names his favorite teams based on uniform colors — stating he would like Oregon or Texas Tech to have interest in him.

“They have the best jerseys,” he said about Oregon.

But David knows this opportunity is much more than that for Jacob.

“Here in the Rio Grande Valley, Division 1 seems like it’s a million miles away,” he said. “Something you only see on TV.”

This trip, which will be Jacob’s first out of the state of Texas and his first on a plane, could show the possibilities for many athletes in the area.

“When you can get the boys out of here and show that they can actually do something, where they can get out and see it and talk to college recruits and NFL players, that is something,” David said.

It allows the local kids to experience a taste of what college football may be like, especially because many RGV families don’t have the opportunity to go up to Austin to see the University of Texas play or Waco for the Baylor squad.

“This way, they see, it’s in their grasp and they can shoot for that goal,” David said. “It’s not like they are shooting for space.”

Right now, Jacob is doing everything he can to reach his goal — working out every day on his agility and strength.

“For this to be his opportunity in eighth grade, it is going to be a good deal for him,” David said. “But it’s also a big deal for other kids in the Valley to see he is doing it.”

HARLINGEN — God and the Gulf Cartel will collide in a movie scripted by John Macias from San Benito.

And he’s looking for extras while he films scenes in the Valley this weekend.

“We will be filming on South Padre Island and Brownsville on Saturday and Sunday,” said Macias, 44.

Macias said he’s coming back to the Valley for the first time in more than 20 years to film parts of his first movie called, “Redirected by Grace.”

Macias is looking for people ages 16 to 55 who want to be in the movie.

“We are looking for people who are willing to participate in this movie,” Macias said. “I’m picking the people who we need.”

The movie is based on a true story and follows a young boy named Diego who is recruited by the Mexican Gulf Cartel to run drugs and be an assassin at the tender age of 12.

“During the course of killing people, Diego grows a conscience and starts thinking about the horrible things he’s done,” Macias said about the main character in his movie.

His movie is being compared to Christian drama films like “God is Not Dead” and “War Room.”

“At the age of 14, Diego is kidnapped and tortured in Mexico,” Macias said.

However, Diego does not learn his lesson and is still drawn to the violence of killing and hurting people for the cartel.

Then on assignment to assassinate a man who is in debt to the cartel, Diego is sent to torture and kill a person but accidentally abducts the wrong man.

The man tries to reason for his life with Diego while he is being tortured for days, using the word of the gospel and telling Diego God loves him and forgives him.

“Diego didn’t know what remorse was until that day,” Macias said. “And then he started sneaking into churches to listen to the gospel until so many years had passed and he was sent to prison.”

The movie director, Jason Wilkinson, and some of the actors and actresses from the movie will be in the Valley during the filming.

Macias said a private screening of the movie will be presented in Brownsville.

“This is my first movie I will write and produce,” Macias said. “And it’s been a great experience so far.”

WANT TO BE IN THE MOVIE?

Contact John Macias by calling 254-214-7938 or email him at [email protected]

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Tomorrow, bikers from the Valley and all across the state will be descending here to the sunny tourist area known as SPI.

But, they won’t be hitting the beach like most do when they visit.

Instead, there’ll be music, rides, a bike and car show, parade, poker run and much more.

It’s the 13th annual Beach-N-Biker Fest held at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

But, beyond the burnouts, chrome-covered bikes, food vendors, rock ‘n’ roll tunes and massive motorcycle parade, this event is much more.

What most people likely don’t know … the Beach-N-Biker Fest also is a fundraiser for Valley nonprofit organizations.

Sponsored and led by the Magic Valley Riders motorcycle clubs, it is the reason organizers say they spend months preparing for the event they call “for motorcycle and car enthusiasts” along with families.

“Everything we make, except to rent the facility next year, goes back to the community,” said event co-chair Dianna Reed. “None of us makes a dime off of this and we are very proud of that fact.”

According to Reed and her co-chair Troy Allen, volunteers from various area nonprofit organizations volunteer their time to the event. It’s a win-win as the Beach-N-Biker Fest planners don’t have to pay for workers and the volunteers are given money for their charities following the help they provide at the event.

“Instead of hiring agencies for workers, every dollar goes to help,” Allen said.

He admitted many people who attend probably don’t know their fees for the event go to help local charities.

“It’s a great feeling and it allows us to give back,” Allen said of the rewarding experience. “That’s why I do it.”

This year, both Reed and Allen are hoping to break records. Reed mentioned hopes of 10,000 in attendance, while Allen said he would like to break the $50,000 in funds raised for the local organizations.

Typically the attendance hovers between 5,000 and 7,500 and it often is dependent on the weather forecast as riders are coming from other areas of Texas. Reed said in the past, riders have come from as far away as Chicago.

When bikers are riding their motorcycles down to SPI, the weather around all of Texas is key for them to determine if they hop on their two- and three-wheelers to make the trip.

Reed said efforts are being made to market the bike fest to people from San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Lubbock among other areas of the state.

“People are starting to find out about it through word of mouth,” Reed said. “We are seeing dividends in our marketing efforts.”

This is Allen’s 10th year as part of the event. He is the current vice president of the Harlingen chapter of the Magic Valley Riders. He called South Padre Island a great destination and suggested the rally is both affordable and entertaining.

Reed also called the event a “friendly one and hopes it is the best yet.”

The event, which started in 2003 and was held at Schlitterbahn with one concert, has grown into a three-day spectacle of music, vendors and bikes.

This year, there’s even a new event — a car show, which coincides with the bike show Saturday and Sunday.

The idea is to bring in additional interest and attendance to the event. The cost to enter the car show is $50 and that includes entry into the rally all three days.

“We want more people to come here,” Reed said. “This opens it up. Usually motorcycle enthusiasts enjoy cars, too. We will see how that goes.”

While the president of the Hidalgo Magic Valley Riders chapter, Reed, is thrilled to see the new car show, she most is looking forward to the musical entertainment. She missed the first Beach-N-Biker Fest, but has been involved in the past 12. Now she books the bands.

There’s music on the main stage basically from the start of the event to the end of each night and she is especially thrilled about the arrival of Whiskey D. She said they are a popular band that will draw folks to the event, just like the other activities.

Allen is ready for the motorcycle parade, biker events and the fact that the event keeps people’s interest in many different ways.

Overall, the event brings tourists and Valley residents to South Padre Island.

“They want people to come back to the island,” Reed said about the business owners and leaders on SPI. “This brings a lot of money to the island.”

The goals are high for the 2016 event.

“Our hope always is to have a successful event,” Allen said. “That allows us to give back to the Valley.”

IF YOU GO

How much does it cost to attend?

3-day pass at the door – $30

Friday or Saturday day pass — $15

Beach-N-Bike Fest Schedule

Friday April 15

Doors Open at 9 a.m. with Music, Rides and Bikes Show

Main Stage

11 a.m. -1 p.m. – Rob Garcia Band

1:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – Supercell

3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Veronique

5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. – Break

6 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Auranova

8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – David Marez

10 p.m. – 11:45 p.m. – Jimmy Gonzalez y Mazz

Saturday April 16

Doors Open at 9 a.m. with Bike Parade, Burn out, Live Music by AuraNova & Whiskey D

Main stage

10 a.m. – Noon – Pelican West

Noon – 1 p.m. – Tattoo Contest

1 p.m. – 3 p.m. – Mars Overdrive

3:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – The Rovers

5:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. – Break

6 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. – Draft

7:45 p.m. – 8 p.m. – Mystery Event …. shhh

8 p.m. – 10 p.m. – Lucha Libre

10 p.m. – Midnight – Whiskey D

Sunday, April 17 – Kids Day for family fun

Main Stage

9 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Biker Church – CMA

10 a.m. – Noon – Rob Garcia Band

12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – TBD

2:15 p.m. – 4 p.m. – Car and Biker Show Awards

Yet another employee from the Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collectors office has been arrested in the undercover operation dubbed “Operation Dirty Deeds,” authorities said.

Marizol Sifuentes was arrested today at work by Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division, marking the sixth arrest for the office this year.

According to a news release from the DA’s office, Sifuentes is charged with breach of computer security and is being held at the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito.

Sifuentes had been employed by the tax assessor-collector’s office since 2000. She was based out of Cameron County Courthouse Administration Building in Brownsville

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 as the result of a two-year Texas Department of Public Safety investigation of the operations of the tax assessor-collector’s office. Claudia Elisa Sanchez , who works at the assessor-collector’s office in San Benito, was arrested March 30.

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.

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 that 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 Justice of the Peace 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.

Every day, the disparity between broadband access in cities versus small towns and rural areas grows wider. Slow and unreliable internet service used by most rural Americans and many Valley residents lags far behind that available in large cities such as Austin and San Francisco. Therefore, efforts must be made to bring broadband service to those currently beyond the reaches of fiber optic and cable systems.

Firstly, Internet access is essential to all businesses in our increasingly connected world, and without a quality connection, a growing business may move away along with all the jobs it provides from a small town to an area with better service.

Also, a business might avoid expanding into an area where broadband is unreliable or prohibitively expensive.

Secondly, students in rural areas are at a significant disadvantage. Over 70 percent of teachers hand out homework that requires Internet access.

Stifled by low bandwidth or long delays, online video sites such as YouTube suffer from constant buffering, preventing students from watching helpful and educational videos. Taking online classes may be impossible.

Finally, without the Internet, urgent information spreads slower. Emergency management may have a more difficult time relaying information to those who need it most.

Unless we can expand broadband to areas outside of cities, approximately 20 million Americans will be left behind as Internet speeds increase and the Internet of things grows.

Ethan Floyd Harlingen

I do not want to start a “tennis match” with N. Rodriguez over his letters to the editor, so I will be brief.

He says I missed his point.

Perhaps I did. Right from the start, I should have said in my reaction to his March 25 letter that as a Catholic, I objected to his disrespectful and demeaning suggestion that Pope Francis invite Muslim refugees to the Vatican for a “slumber party” during Holy Week, the holiest week of the Christian year.

It was not humor. It was certainly not satire. At best it was an inappropriate attempt at political commentary. He called Pope Francis a hypocrite. Name calling is not commentary.

When we quote from Scripture, we often fail at what we desire most to do. That is, to show that our thinking is in line with the Gospels.

Often it turns out for everyone that we use it to justify thoughts and actions that are sadly contrary to what the Gospels teach.

I am speaking of both N. Rodriguez and myself.

I will not cast the first stone. We have a long way to go in following Jesus. Christian love and unity would not be a bad place to begin.

Bertha Campos Harlingen

HARLINGEN — Many of us like to visit our old haunts, the homes where we lived, the schools we attended, the vacant lots where we played.

We sometimes feel a painful loss because we see nothing of ourselves there. Nothing indicates we were ever there, and it seems as though we’ve been erased from its history.

Abby Garza and her fellow student council members at Travis Elementary won’t have that problem. They’ll be able to drive by their school in 20 years, 30 years or even 40 years and remember they planted the 12 oak trees lining the fences.

“It made me feel good, it made me feel special, it made me feel like I was part of something,” said Abby, 9, a third grader.

“They are the example for us,” added fellow councilmember Chris Cantu, 10, a fourth grader.

The student council members and Student Advisory Board members planted the young oak trees a few days after they returned from Easter vacation in late March. The project was carried out through a combined effort of the Student Advisory Board, Keep Harlingen Beautiful, the Travis Elementary School Student Council, and the Harlingen school district.

Darlene Duncan, president of the Student Advisory Board, said she looks forward to driving past Travis Elementary in the coming years and seeing the mark she helped make on the community.

“It’s actually pretty cool to know that the Student Advisory Board planted those because 20 years from now when we come back to the Valley and visit, we’ll be able to say, ‘Oh, hey look. We planted those oak trees,’” she said.

The Student Advisory Board consists of 15 students from HCISD’s high schools and provides an avenue for participation and involvement of student leaders in the district.

Shane Strubhart, school district spokesman, approached Darlene, 17, about a volunteer project. Each year, the Student Advisory Board must decide how it wants to give back to the community. This is one way of building great leaders on the board.

The day everyone went outside to plant the trees, he was quite impressed.

“I was extremely proud, not only of our students but of our staff and the students at Travis Elementary,” he said.

The school district assisted by digging the holes and installing the drip system. The Student Advisory Board and Travis Elementary students filled in the dirt and the mulch.

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HARLINGEN — A Harlingen man has been sentenced to prison for the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy, prosecutors said.

On Thursday, Israel Leyva, 34, was sentenced to 27 years in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

After taking less than an hour to deliberate, the jury came back with a guilty verdict for Leyva, who police said was originally arrested for the crime in December 2014.

The incident occurred when the child was 12 years old but, as with many cases, the sexual abuse was not immediately reported because of fear or shame that victims often feel, the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

It is not until victims feel safe that they will make an outcry about the abuse, the DA’s office said.

Officers were called at 2:18 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2014, to a home in Harlingen where the caller stated he had seen a 12-year-old boy performing a sex act with Leyva, police said.

The caller said the boy was threatened and drugged before the sex act, a police press release said.

The conviction was a collaborative effort by Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Child Abuse Unit Supervisor Brandy Bailey, Assistant District Attorney Carlos Martinez, Harlingen Police Department, Department of Family and Protective Services, Cameron County Children’s Advocacy Centers, “and most importantly the child who bravely testified against the abuser in the trail,” the District Attorney’s Office said.

“This case personifies what a child that has been sexually abused goes through,” District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said.