HARLINGEN — They’re on their way and they are bringing irons and drivers with them.

Golfers from as many as nine states are expected to descend into the Harlingen area for this weekend’s National Pan American Golf Association Winter Meeting.

About 250 are expected to attend the event, which will be held on three different area golf courses, including Harlingen Country Club, Treasure Hills Golf Course and Rancho Viejo Country Club.

Events start Friday morning with the delegate meeting at the Best Western in Harlingen. About 40 chapters are expected to discuss business matters related to the organization after they are welcomed to the area by Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell. Other hospitality events will follow as the day progresses.

Freddy Elizondo, the vice president of the Harlingen PAGA chapter, is thrilled to have the winter meeting back in the area. It was here in 2014, too.

“We are happy to host it and proud of Harlingen,” Elizondo said. “We are honored to have it here and show them what a great city we have.”

Saturday is when the serious fun starts for most of those headed into town.

Shotgun starts for all flights at all three golf courses are at 8 a.m. Following the tournament, all are expected to gather at Casa de Amistad for dinner, awards and live music by Rudy G & The Texas Tejano Band. Tickets for the evening’s activities are $15 per person, which includes the dinner and dance. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m.

Those who attend and participate in the golf event don’t just leave some lost golf balls in the water hazards or out of bounds out on the courses.

Harlingen PAGA president Sam Cavazos said all the people who attend leave some big money in the area.

Cavazos said the event brings into the Harlingen area as much as $300,000 to $350,000 into the economy.

“That’s new money that didn’t exist before,” he said.

The next national event for the Pan American Golf Association is set for Oklahoma City in July.

The national organization has been in existence for more than 50 years. Its purpose is to promote golf for men, women and juniors through community involvement and fundraising activities. The National PAGA is established in nine states, with 43 chapters and a membership of more than 2,600.

BROWNSVILLE — The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office will not seek the death penalty against five men accused of beheading a Honduran national and dumping his body in the Laguna Madre last year.

Fishermen found the remains of Jose Francisco “Franklin” Rodriguez Palacios Paz floating in the bay in March 2015.

According to court records, state prosecutors in February filed motions to not seek the death penalty in the capital murder charges filed against Joel Luna Rodriguez, Eduardo Luna Rodriguez, Aaron Rodriguez Medellin, Nestor Manuel Leal Cedillo and Fernando Luna Rodriguez.

All have entered not-guilty pleas to charges of capital murder, murder, and two counts of engaging in criminal activity. Their trials are scheduled to begin April 25.

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Court records indicate 107th state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. granted motions filed by attorneys for Leal and Medellin to sever their cases from the other three men.

Palacios Paz, of Edinburg, had been reported missing four days before his body was found on March 16, 2015. Edinburg police had said Palacio Paz’s common-law wife told investigators they had been arguing before he left and never returned. She also told police that Palacios Paz was from Honduras and had been living in the country without legal status.

According to law enforcement officials, Palacios Paz was killed in Edinburg.

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio previously said Palacios Paz had been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Edinburg police officers in prior cases and his body was identified through fingerprints. Palacios Paz’s criminal history included drug related arrests, the sheriff said.

Joel Luna Rodriguez is a former U.S. Border Patrol agent and was arrested in November 2015 after the county sheriff’s department found more than a kilogram of cocaine, $90,000 in cash, firearms and Luna’s Border Patrol badge in a safe at the home of his mother-in-law.

The five men remain in custody at the Cameron County Carrizales Rucker Detention Center in Olmito.

MISSION — A Mexican double-decker tour boat named “Pachamama,” Inca for mother earth, sailed freely past Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday afternoon during his tour of the Rio Grande with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations.

Cornyn, accompanied by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA, spent the day touring the Rio Grande Valley learning about border security, trade and economic development issues crucial to both the region and the nation.

Following their tour, a joint press conference was held on the river’s edge along with local, state and federal law enforcement and government officials at Anzalduas Park.

“Sen. Cornyn is really a true friend of the Valley who understands our uniqueness and understands that the river behind us is not just the border. It’s the drinking water for almost 3.2 million people, its irrigation water for tens of thousands of acres of agriculture on both sides of the border. He understands that a safe border is not a closed border,” said McAllen Mayor Jim Darling during the conference.

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Cornyn, who last visited the Valley in September, said every time he visits he learns something new and is always welcomed by those standing next to him during Tuesday’s event, including Mission Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas, Mayor of Hidalgo Martin Cepeda and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Sector Chief Manuel Padilla.

“When people talk about the border they often forget the advantages of our proximity to Mexico,” Cornyn said speaking over cumbia music blasting from the Mexican tour boat. “Six million jobs in the United States depend on bi-national trade between the U.S. and Mexico.”

“There is so much more than what you hear on the evening news about this wonderful and charming part of the state and great part of the country and it’s important for my colleagues to experience it first hand,” he added.

This was Sen. Cassidy’s first official trip to the Rio Grande Valley and to the U.S.-Mexico border and said he came with certain expectations, but ended up seeing and learning much more. During a tour of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, Cassidy witnessed how CBP agents inspect thousands of commercial trucks every day and process refrigerated goods being imported from all parts of Latin America.

During his short visit with Border Patrol, Cassidy met a 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old sister from Honduras who said they were fleeing the violence in their country in hopes of finding a better life in the United States.

“There is a multilayer process of having to protect our borders,” Cassidy said. “There is this kind of dual purpose of folks who, on the one hand, have to confront someone who may have a gun, and on the other hand, may have to jump into the Rio Grande to save someone who has been pushed over a boat.”

“This is probably going to be the major impression I come away with — good people working on behalf of our country and sometimes on behalf of those who are not of our country, but showing our country’s values as they work,” he added.

serves: 24 small bars

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

½ cup salted butter (coconut oil is a good alternative)

⅓ cup raw honey

4 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate

1¾ cups rolled oats

1 cup nuts, coconut, or seeds (I used ½ cup pecans and ½ cup coconut)

1 cup dried fruit (I used figs)

coarse sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. OPTIONAL (but highly recommended): In a food processor, pulse 1 cup of the oats, your filling, and your fruit. This really helps the texture of the bars not to feel so much like chunky health bars and more like a well-mixed yummy chocolate bar. For my filling, I ended up using ½ cup nuts and ½ cup coconut and I pulsed them both through the food processor as well as my figs – see picture in the step-by-step photo above. I left ¾ cup of oats un-processed to add variety to the texture.

2. Put all your oats, filling, and fruit in a large bowl. Line a 9×13 or smaller pan with parchment paper.

3. In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter, butter, and honey over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into the bowl with the oats, nuts, and dried fruit. Mix well (and work quickly so it doesn’t start to get too sticky on you). Press into the prepared pan, sprinkle generously with sea salt, and chill for 2-3 hours to harden (I put mine in the freezer). When solid, cut into 24 bars and store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

Makes about 24 cookies

Each cookie is approx. 72 calories

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces)

3 large egg whites, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, divided (plus 1/2 cup for cookie coating)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Set aside.

2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Set aside and let cool slightly.

3. Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow cream.

4. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Then, on a low speed, add these dry ingredients into the marshmallow cream mixture.

5. Next, add remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips to lukewarm chocolate mixture (dough will become very stiff).

6. Add chocolate mixture to cream mixture and blend well.

7. Place remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart.

8. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes.

9. Transfer to rack, cool.

Ingredients

1. 2 frozen bananas

2. 1.5 tsp dark chocolate cocoa powder

3. 1/2 cup coconut milk

4. 1/2 cup cold water

5. 1 tbsp almond butter

6. Pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

1. In a large cup (if using an immersion blender) or a blender, combine ingredients and blend until smooth. Add more water if necessary to reach desired consistency. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 SERVINGS

Prep time: 25 MINUTES

Cook time: 35 MINUTES

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa, optional

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup strong black coffee (I used Green Mountain Coffee’s Vermont Country Blend)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

2. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin.

3. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

5. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

6. Frost as desired. I used a simple and delicious Chocolate Buttercream Frostingfrom Savory Sweet Life. One batch was perfect for this layered chocolate cake.

If I tell you that someone’s annual compensation is twenty five million it just kinda floats by and you say “so.” I’d like to add a bit of perspective to that.

Stated another way, that $25,000,000 translates to $120,192 plus or minus a few thousand per hour. How many people do you know on a personal basis that earn over $100,000 per hour.

The CEO of American Express had a salary of $25,000,000 and this coming year he has agreed to a pay cut to around $23,000,000. What a tough break. This CEO, if he is like most others, has a multi-million dollar deal, commonly referred to as a golden parachute so if he fails at his job he has a generous severance package.

So you say what difference does that make to me. If you own American Express stock and the company paid the CEO $5,000,000 per year, $20,000,000 would not have been an expense, it would have gone directly to the bottom line as profit. Oh you say, I don’t own American Express stock, ok, do you have an equity based retirement plan or a mutual fund, it is highly likely that there may be American Express shares in it.

Oh, and lest I forget, if you have an American Express card just think how many more reward points they could have awarded you if the CEO hadn’t taken such a big bite out of profits.

Tony Bos Harlingen

A new parking area is being planned for South Padre Island tourists.

The new area, which will hold 125 cars, is the first phase of the city’s new multimodal facility.

It will be built near the causeway so travelers coming off the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway can have easy access.

Aside from the parking area, the Island’s recent improvements to the multimodal park and ride area include a central transfer point for the metro buses.

Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and should be completed in 2017.

A candlelight prayer vigil will be held Thursday for the Texas spring breaker who disappeared on the Island.

Organizers say the community vigil for Justin Kirby Walker will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31 outside the Island Baptist Church, 107 W. Mesquite St., South Padre Island.

Walker, 18, was visiting South Padre Island during Texas Week when he disappeared after attending the UME concert at Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark.

His body was discovered Wednesday afternoon at Costa Azul in Matamoros, which is across from Boca Chica Beach. His parents later identified the remains of their only child.

His funeral will be held on Thursday in Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas.