HARLINGEN — Downtown property owners and merchants argue the downtown area lacks parking spaces for a proposed $4.5 million project that would turn the city’s tallest building into a largely low-income apartment development.

In a public hearing last night, property owners and merchants urged officials with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to deny a developer’s request for federal tax credits to help fund the Baxter Building’s renovation.

The agency’s board of directors will consider the comments as it decides whether to award developer MRE Capital the tax credits July 28.

Bill DeBrooke, chairman of the Harlingen Downtown Improvement District, argued the developer’s plans appear to lack parking for the proposed 24-unit development.

“My biggest problem is parking,” said DeBrooke, who owns several downtown buildings. “There are no parking accommodations in the plans. This project makes no sense at that location.”

Downtown merchant Leo Garza said his customers have trouble finding parking spaces as more businesses open along the Jackson Street area.

But City Commissioner Tudor Uhlhorn and attorney Curtis Bonner argued the downtown area had enough parking spaces to accommodate the Baxter Building’s tenants during its heyday as a bustling nine-story office building.

“We have plenty of room for parking in downtown Harlingen,” Uhlhorn said.

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BROWNSVILLE — A liquefied natural gas facility has existed in Lusby, Maryland, on Chesapeake Bay since the early 1970s, though only as an LNG import and storage terminal.

Dominion, the energy giant that acquired the facility in 2003, is in the process of converting it into an LNG export terminal in response to a massive surplus of U.S natural gas in recent years created by fracking.

Stefanie Herweck of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club visited Lusby recently and delivered a presentation on her experience to a well-attended gathering of LNG opponents last night.

Herweck said the experience of residents of Lusby contains lessons for what Valley residents could face if LNG export terminals are built at the Port of Brownsville.

Three companies, Annova LNG, Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG, have announced plans to develop facilities at the port. Those plans are being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must approve the projects before they can move forward.

One of the lessons from Cove Point, however, is that FERC won’t necessarily deny a permit even if a project negatively affects the surrounding community, Herweck said. Although remote siting is the industry standard, FERC approved construction of Dominion’s export terminal in an area with nearly 2,500 residential homes within the two-mile radius hazard/evacuation zone, she said.

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The Harlingen Cardinals boys’ golf team put itself into position to qualify for the UIL state tournament after a solid first round at the Region IV-6A tourney on Monday at Republic Golf Course in San Antonio.

The Cards, who qualified for regionals after finishing second at the District 32-6A tournament a week ago, finished Monday tied for fourth place with Brownsville Hanna, which won the 32-6A tourney.

The Cards shot a team total of 308 and trail third-place New Braunfels by just three strokes. San Antonio Johnson was in first place with a 295 while SA Brandeis was in second with a 296.

Big Red was led by Nicholas Galvan and Cole Charvat, who both shot a 75 to finish the day tied for 14th place. Meanwhile, teammates Brandon Garza and Dylan Martinez both shot a 79, while John Ortega added a respectable 88 to the Cards’ total.

“We played really well and put ourselves in good position for tomorrow (today),” said Cards head coach Chris Milligan. “I’m very pleased with how comfortable our guys were. If we can keep that mindset (today), it should be a fun day to compete.”

But as good as the Cardinals preformed, Hanna will be a tough team to hold off, especially with sophomore Santiago Garcia leading the way. The District 32-6A gold medalist shot a 69 and is in first place heading into today’s final round. Meanwhile, teammate Alex Cortez carded a 73 and is tied for eighth place.

The top three teams and top three individuals not on a qualifying team, advance to the state meet, which, for Class 6A, will be held on April 25-26 at Legacy Hills Golf Course in Georgetown.

The Region IV-6A girls’ tournament, meanwhile, gets underway Wednesday with Harlingen High’s Hannah Greer and Harlingen South’s Amanda Alvarez looking to qualify for a trip to Georgetown.

Greer tees off on Wednesday at 9:52 a.m. on tee 10 alongside Rachel Yu of SA MacArthur and Laredo United’s Yu Ri Kim. Greer, a senior, is looking to qualify for her second consecutive trip to state.

Meanwhile, Alvarez tees off at 9:52 a.m. on tee 1 along with Allison Duffy of SA Churchill and Anissa Chaires of Laredo United. Alvarez, also a senior, last qualified for regionals as a sophomore and has not yet quailed for state.

SAN BENITO — Tonight, school board members will vote on whether to move the district’s election day from May to November.

The school district doesn’t have an election this May. But it is thinking ahead to 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.

In March, school board members considered the change.

However, they voted to table action on that item pending further consideration.

If approved tonight, the new date also would extend the terms of those in office.

When it came time to vote on the agenda item in March, trustee Hector Leal made a motion to table the concept.

“I just think it needs more consideration,” he said.

Vice President Oscar Medrano seconded the motion and the board unanimously voted to table the decision at that time.

Leal also suggested meeting with city officials to get their point of view on the change.

“I think we should also run a survey to see what the community thinks,” he said.

Four school board trustees’ terms will expire in 2017.

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.

HARLINGEN — Dr. Luis R. Venegas, DPM, ABPM, a podiatrist, is opening a new office in Harlingen to treat patients with foot problems — including many diabetes patients in the Valley who may develop wounds on their feet which are difficult to heal.

At his new office in Harlingen Medical Center’s Medical Office Building, Venegas hopes to increase access to foot care for patients in the Harlingen-San Benito area.

But Venegas is no stranger to treating Valley patients with foot problems.

For the past seven years, Venegas has been seeing patients at the Wound Healing Center at Harlingen Medical Center — as well as treating patients in the Brownsville area for the past 17 years.

During recent years, Venegas said he has been seeing more young patients in the Valley, including some in their 30s and 40s, developing foot wounds related to diabetes.

Dr. Venegas said that diabetic patients should check their feet every day, to look for lesions, ulcers or any other problems, which could lead to damage and dangerous infections of their feet.

If foot problems are not properly cared for, diabetes and other patients run the risk of progressively-increasing problems which could result in having to have their foot or leg amputated.

In some cases, this could result in the patient becoming disabled, unable to work, or needing care in a nursing home.

“Since we are having this surprising increase in younger people having complications with their feet, I believe it is time to increase education and awareness, not only among the elderly population, but among the younger population, in colleges, high schools, etc., regarding the importance of diet, exercise and general health awareness,” Venegas said.

Venegas, who currently serves as Medical Director for the Wound Healing Center at Harlingen Medical Center, previously practiced in podiatry and wound care in Miami for four years.

He is board certified by the American Board of Podiatry, and is a Fellow of the American Professional Wound Care Association.

Venegas completed a residency at a U.S. Veteran’s Administration hospital in New York (the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Hospital), and a fellowship in foot care and surgery at New York Downtown Hospital, and at foot clinics in New York.

He graduated from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland.

Fluent in Spanish and English, Dr. Venegas also attended Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico, where he met his wife, Jannette.

After living in big cities, including New York and Miami, for several years, Dr. Venegas and Jannette decided to come to the Valley in search of a more family-friendly environment.

“We came to visit and fell in love with the Valley,” Venegas said. “The lifestyle was really good, and it was really family-oriented.”

While living in the Valley, they have raised three sons, including their youngest son who recently became an Eagle Scout.

Their oldest son is working as an aerospace engineer in Florida after graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the middle son is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Houston.

SAN BENITO — La Posada Providencia is one of a kind.

According to the shelter’s annual report, it’s the only shelter of its kind in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

During the past fiscal year, 2014-2015, the shelter provided services to more than 300 clients from 15 countries across the world, almost half of whom were women and children.

It is a stark difference from the year before when the area saw a major influx of immigrants from Central America.

In fiscal year 2013-2014, the shelter served about 1,411 clients.

“It was a trying year, where we were overwhelmed by the amount of clients served,” said La Posada Development Coordinator Alma Rock.

In 2014-2015, La Posada staff provided 6,630 bed nights, 21,228 meals and drove clients more than 25,000 miles to and from appointments, bus stops, health centers and social service agencies.

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The San Benito High School (SBHS) SkillsUSA “4 Man Building Search Team” participated in the SkillsUSA Law Enforcement Building Search Competition held at South Padre Island, Texas. The team earned the second place finish after having competed against 46 building search teams from districts such as Brownsville, McAllen, La Grulla, Weslaco and Rio Grande City.

SBHS participated with two building search teams and one felony stop team at the event. Both building search teams made the top six, and the Justice Team was awarded the second place finish that qualified them for the SkillsUSA state competition. Though the team did not place at the state competition, the knowledge gathered and the camaraderie experienced was immeasurable.

The SBHS award-winning Justice Team includes, from left, Alejandro Cerda, Christopher James Valencia, Grace Faith Covarrubias, and Sarah Ashley Martinez. The students’ Law Enforcement teacher is Lizette M. Lucio.

The San Benito High School Law Enforcement, Justice Club bring together students interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement; participation in club events reinforces the concepts of discipline, responsibility, accountability, and competition through the use of teamwork and dedication.

I enjoyed reading the editorial letter on the differences between political parties.

I think it was really well done.

The editorial sparked my thinking, regarding political parties. In the private sector we have unions, and professional organizations.

My thinking is that these entities are designed to protect the workers interests, and in some cases, limit the number of members. That, having been stated let’s consider another thought or two. In Wisconsin, they enacted legislation that banned public workers from organizing into unions.

Governor Walker spearheaded that legislation.

By the by, it was overturned by the United States Supreme Court. This preamble leads me to my introspective observations.

I have difficulty discerning the difference between professional organizations, unions, and political parties. It seems they all try to protect their members, and in some cases limit the number of members.

The goal of political parties is to get their members elected to various posts, and to keep them there. They do not exist for the welfare of the country.

Unions and professional associations make a nominal effort to control the quality of the member’s work. Political parties do not do this. Unions hold out the threat of strikes, parties hold out the threat of government shut down. I guess my inference is that many individuals deplore labor unions yet strongly embrace political parties.

This just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me.

Ken Cantine Laguna Vista

MERCEDES — A father drowned yesterday afternoon after he jumped into a canal to rescue his 5-year-old daughter.

The family was fishing at a canal bank along Florida Avenue when the daughter fell in.

Both the mother and the father jumped into the canal to save her, police said.

“When the officers arrived, all of them were not out of the canal,” Police Chief Olga Maldonado said.

“Two officers jumped in and they managed to get the little girl and the mother out. But the father had already swept away.”

Officers pulled him from the water about 3 p.m.

Other information was not immediately available.

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HARLINGEN — Valent Moton gazed in wonder at the 1930 Dodge truck parked on Jackson Street.

“Tell me about the lights,” said Moton, 34. “I’ve never seen lights like that before.”

Moton, who was visiting from Louisiana, was one of many car enthusiasts yesterday at the 9th Annual Jackson Street Car Show. The event was organized by the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America.

About 200 cars were parked along Jackson Street between Commerce and 4th streets, a significant increase from last year when about 150 cars were entered.

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Moton appeared fascinated by everything on the truck. In the 1930s, a Dodge truck was simply a Dodge truck. He was intrigued by the tail light mounted on a curved bracket, an eye catching feature so different from anything found on cars today — unless they come from yesterday.

Jerry Sprague, 62, and his friend Vern Trent, 74, seemed to gravitate toward cars from the 1930s.

“They are beautiful,” Sprague said. “I just like this style of hot rod cars, no fenders.”

He was referring to the 1932 Ford Roadster presented by Leo Gonzalez and his wife Tita. Yellow flame rushed from the grill and turned dark orange, a powerful contrast against the black background. The Gonzalezes purchased the car about a month ago for $35,000. The previous owner had installed new cream-colored upholstery. Shiny reddish brown wood covered the steering wheel.

“Oh, that’s cool,” said a young boy as he stopped to take a second look before moving on to the next car. For just a moment, the so-called “generation gap” between children and adults had closed.

It’s not surprising that so many people were stopping to look over the Roadster.

“They are rare here in Texas,” said Leo Gonzalez, who owns LGs Paint and Body Shop in Harlingen

Gonzalez said the previous owner, who lives near Edcouch-Elsa, invests in cars and then resells them. The owner had a particular vision for the car which he then made a reality and sold to Leo and his wife, Tita.

“I feel like a teenager when I get in that car,” Tita Gonzalez said with a playful laugh.

They also had a 1932 Ford Coupe, also a shiny black. The car, with its top and other features, was markedly different from the Roadster.

“I feel it’s one of a kind,” said Leo Gonzalez.

Across the street, Ken Harrison was admiring the 2006 Corvette on display by Kjell Lovdal.

“It’s cleaner,” said Harrison, 73. He was referring to what he felt was excessive detailing on the back of the Corvette next to Lovdal’s.

“I really love Corvettes,” said Lovdal, 68, a Winter Texan who spends part of the year in his native Norway. The rest of the time he’s in South Texas.

“I love South Texas and I love the U.S.,” he said with a laugh.

He’s a member of the South Texas Corvette Club and keeps his cars in storage while he’s gone.

“It’s a really special car,” Lovdal said. “All my cars are GMs.”

Moton thought the red Dodge truck was pretty special.

“I love Dodge anything,” he said.

“We do, too,” said Diane Decker, 62.

She and her husband Bill purchased the truck about four years ago and refurbished it.

Bill Decker said most of these particular trucks were exported oversees after their manufacture. Only a small number remained in the U.S., and most of those apparently fell into disrepair. Decker has searched diligently on the Internet for another truck like this one and he couldn’t find any.

Moton continued looking over the truck in awe.

“They put a lot of work into it but it looks pretty original,” he said. “Check out the bumper. They don’t make bumpers like that. Check out the suspension.”