AUSTIN — Next month, hundreds of birders will flock to the coast, forests, prairies and mountains of Texas to compete in the nation’s biggest, longest and wildest bird watching tournament.

The registration deadline for the 20th annual Great Texas Birding Classic, which runs from April 15 to May 15, is April 1.

Since the Classic started 20 years ago, a lot has changed. The competition has expanded statewide to record participation, and it’s no longer just for experts since new categories appeal to budding naturalists and avid birders alike.

Competitors can choose from more than 40 tournament categories to test their birding skills, participating for as little as half a day or as long as a week in a statewide tourney. Participants form a team and compete in such categories as the Big Sit!, in which birders must remain within a 17-foot-diameter circle to count their birds.

Other categories include a sunrise-to-noon event, youth-only tournaments, a human-powered contest and one tournament held entirely within Texas state parks.

“The Birding Classic is a wonderful opportunity for bird watching enthusiasts and all nature lovers to gather with family and friends to see how many bird species they can spot in a few hours, a full day, or even a few days in a row,” says Shelly Plante, nature tourism manager for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

“This is a fun event that anyone, regardless of their age or ability, will enjoy.”

Last year, more than 530 competitors competed in the Birding Classic, documenting 413 out of 643 documented avian species in Texas. The 2015 event attracted a record-breaking 100 teams that competed from Far West Texas and the Texas Panhandle to the Golden Triangle in southeast Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The Birding Classic sported family teams, teams of work colleagues, birding buddies having their spring birding get-away together and more.

Registration fees and team sponsorships for the event raise money for birding and habitat conservation, restoration and enhancement grants throughout the state, helping preserve critical bird habitat and support nature tourism.

Overall last year, the tournament raised $25,000 for conservation grants — a 40 percent increase from the previous year. Since its inception in 1997, the Great Texas Birding Classic has awarded conservation grants totaling $844,500.

One of last year’s participants, teen birder Hannah Franklin of San Antonio, joined a team sponsored by the Texas Ornithological Society that competed in an age group competition in Central Texas.

“It was an amazing day with wonderful friends, fantastic birds and great leaders,” Franklin says. “I can’t wait for next year.”

This event is made possible by sponsorship and registration fees, donations from event sponsors Toyota and Texas Ornithological Society and the awards ceremony sponsor Audubon Texas.

BY JENNIFER L. BERGHOM

EDINBURG — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has gained another 42 medical school graduates from around the country who now will begin post-graduate training as UTRGV resident physicians in Valley hospitals.

The 42 residents in training were chosen through a computer-based selection process generated by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), which matches each medical student with a hospital with a residency program.

The day residents and medical schools find out who will enter their residency programs is called Match Day.

With this latest group, UTRGV now has 100 medical residents training at three area hospitals.

“Match Day is considered by many to be the most exciting day of the year,” said Dr. Yolanda Gomez, associate dean of Graduate Medical Education at UTRGV’s School of Medicine. “This is the second year UTRGV has participated in the match, and we look forward to training this next group of physicians who will serve our community.”

UTRGV received six new residents each for its Family Medicine residency programs at McAllen Medical Center (MMC) and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance; 10 residents for its internal medicine residency at Valley Baptist Medical Center (VBMC); 12 for its internal medicine residency program with Doctors Hospital at Renaissance; and four each at its obstetrics and gynecology and general surgery residency programs at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance.

“We are eager to welcome our new residents this summer and excited that our residency programs continue to grow,” said Dr. Francisco Fernandez, inaugural dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine.

“Thanks to our residency collaborations with area hospitals, we are able to train each new group of medical residents to become top-notch physicians,” he said. “And that means we are constantly moving closer to improving the lives and well-being of the people of the Rio Grande Valley.”

Last year, UTRGV welcomed 42 new residents, in addition to the 27 it had through previous residency programs that the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen had with VMBC and MMC. Of the original 27, 11 have now completed their residencies.

Nationally, this year’s match was the largest on record, with more than 42,000 registered applicants vying for more than 30,000 positions, according to the NRMP.

UTRGV’s medical residents will begin their orientation on June 23-24, and their programs begin July 1.

PALMVIEW — On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the day before families would gather to celebrate the resurrection of their Lord, a crowd of relatives and friends came together to mourn the loss of Lourdes Elizondo.

Elizondo was one of two women found dead Wednesday morning. She and her coworker, Oneida Balderas Garza, were found shot in a bedroom of Garza’s home. District Attorney Omar Escobar said there was evidence the women had been tied up.

Elizondo was an accountant in the business department of the Rio Grande City CISD and Garza was a compliance officer.

Few details are known about their deaths as the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety continue to investigate the shootings. For Patricia Montes, one of Elizondo’s sisters, the important thing is that her younger sibling is in a better place.

“It’s my baby sister, and I love her very much,” Montes said. “We know she’s already with God and that’s what matters.”

The burial was held at the Lord & I Cemetery in Palmview, where Elizondo’s family had already purchased plots for their family.

Some in attendance wore purple T-shirts that read, “In Loving Memory of Lourdes M. Elizondo.” The shirts were purple because that was her favorite color.

Mourners lined up to pay their respects to the Elizondo family. The grief of the slain woman’s mother, Sanjuana Elizondo, was most pronounced as cries for her daughter could be heard alongside the hymns played by a guitarist.

When the time came for the final farewell, the family gathered at one end of her grave. Together, they released white balloons as her casket was lowered into the ground.

Montes said it was very tough for her because she saw her sister right before she died.

“I saw her Wednesday morning and I got after her because, to me, she was late to work,” she said. “It was tough on me seeing her leaving home and then not seeing her again.”

Montes said her daughter had spent Tuesday night at her mother’s house with Elizondo. She stopped by the house on Wednesday morning and saw her leave for work. She said authorities were not keeping her up to date on the investigation but said she has been preoccupied with a house full of relatives.

Many of family members came in from out of town to pay their respects to Elizondo.

“My mom’s side is a big family, and we have a lot friends, people who que querian mucho a mi hermana ,” said Montes, switching to Spanish to say there were a lot of people who loved her sister.

BROWNSVILLE — With the guidance of his mother, Denisha Requenez, 3-year-old Andrew was able to slowly and delicately paint a blue eye on the Easter Bunny cutout he was given at the Children’s Museum of Brownsville yesterday afternoon .

Requenez, a resident of Edinburg, helped Andrew wash his brush so he could color the ears. One became purple, the other yellow.

Andrew’s little sister, Alyssa, was intrigued and reached over to add colors of her own.

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LA FERIA — The Lionettes began aggressive and stayed aggressive throughout Saturday’s Class 4A bi-district soccer playoff clash against Monte Alto.

La Feria scored two goals midway through the first half and four goals in the second as the Lionettes defeated the Lady Blue Devils 6-1 to move on to the area round where they’ll face Pleasanton at Kingsville’s Mopac Field on Friday.

“It was an excellent win for us, the girls did very good,” said La Feria head coach Norma Tamez. “Their passing was excellent and I think our week of conditioning paid off. I felt that they kept on going and going, and everybody just clicked.”

Full story at RGVSports.com

The Texas Supreme Court has denied a request by Republican sheriff’s candidate John Chambers to have his name placed on the Republican ballot for the May 24 runoff election in Cameron County.

Chambers had filed a lawsuit for injunctive relief against Cameron County and the county’s Republican Party requesting that the county refrain from printing the ballots for the runoff election until the issue regarding his ineligibility had been resolved.

Chambers argued his name should be on the ballot. The county’s Republican Party maintained he was ineligible because of his conviction on 14 counts of tampering with government records.

The Texas Supreme Court did not give a reason for denying Chambers’ request on Thursday. It merely stated “motion for injunctive relief denied.”

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LA FERIA — The cities of La Feria and Los Fresnos will continue working on their local park systems.

The two communities were awarded recreation grants from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

La Feria was awarded a non-urban outdoor grant for $500,000 to develop Veterans Memorial Park.

Proposed amenities include picnic tables, a playground with sun shade, bleachers and scoreboards for existing baseball fields, aquatic playground equipment, lighted tennis courts, a small amphitheater and a jogging trail.

Los Fresnos was awarded a small community grant for $75,000 to develop Ninth Street Park. Proposed developments include a trail, benches, an accessible playground, picnic tables with grills, invasive plant removal, butterfly and scent gardens with drip irrigation and interpretive signs, area lighting, fencing, a drinking fountain and landscaping.

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BROWNSVILLE — A local funeral home is making preparations to take the body of spring breaker Justin Kirby Walker to Boerne, Texas, where his family will hold the funeral services, according to the funeral director.

Walker’s remains will be taken to Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral Home in Boerne. Officials hope to transport the body by this morning at the very latest.

“We’re having (the transport) taken care of as soon as possible, but the family was there with him and we wanted to give them their time,” Garza Memorial Funeral Home funeral director Albert Vega said.

Authorities had been searching for Walker, 18, since Sunday after his parents reported him missing. He was last seen leaving the Ultimate Music Fest on March 19 at the Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark on South Padre Island.

Walker’s body was found Wednesday afternoon at Costa Azul in Matamoros, which is across the Rio Grande from Boca Chica Beach. The clothing on the body matched what Walker was last seen wearing.

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Staff writer Christina R. Garza contributed to this report.

BY Amanda Sotelo

Texas State Technical College continuously aims at providing all of its students with training that includes the latest technologies being used in the industries. Recently, two programs at TSTC have made big investments for their students to prepare them for the workforce after graduation.

Telecommunications Technology and Architecture Design and Engineering Graphics have purchased drones that are the same ones used by companies their students have the possibility of working for after graduating from their programs.

“Having the opportunity of making this purchase and investment for our students in invaluable,” said David Sanchez, instructor for telecommunication technology. “This allows us to expose them and get them familiar with equipment they will use when they enter the workforce.”

The classes within telecommunications currently incorporating the drone into curriculum is Wireless Fundamentals and Introduction to Telecommunications. Students are given step by step instructions on how to properly handle the drone. This latest technology is then used to teach students how to complete aerial inspections of sub towers, compile the photos taken during flight and translate them into inspector reports.

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“These drones are already being used by prominent companies such as AT&T, which hires a large number of our students,” said Sanchez. “This not only makes an inspector’s job easier, but it also reduces accidents out in the field.”

Sanchez said his department is also using the drone for research and recruitment purposes, to attract more students to the program.

“Everything is telecommunications, we use it every day,” said Sanchez. “And it’s not going anywhere as long as we all want to stay connected.”

With similar use, but under a different concept, Architecture Design and Engineering department chair David Campos has also included a drone in a couple of his classes.

Currently, the students in his Civil Design and Surveying courses use a drone to study land patterns and elevations. Students design the program that will control the drone and the readings it provides for their reports. Because this drone is designed to break apart at landing, they also learn how to assemble it.

“This is new technology in the Valley in terms of industry,” said Campos. “Our job is to expose our students to the changing technology.”

Campos said the drones cut the surveying workload in half, but he still makes it a point to train students on the traditional surveying systems.

“In order for students to truly appreciate the advantages of technology, they need to know traditional systems also,” said Campos. “It’s important that they become well-rounded in all aspects of surveying equipment.”

Francisco Gallegos, a student in Architectural Design and Engineering Graphics, said the training he received in this program has prepared him for the workforce. He expects to graduate in August 2016.

“Everything we’re learning how to use, like the drone, definitely opens doors for us,” said Gallegos. “Not a lot of programs have this type of opportunity, but here at TSTC we have every option available to us.”

For more information on Telecommunications Technology call 956-364-4732.

For more information on Architectural Design and Engineering Graphics call 956-364-4694.

Registration for summer and fall 2016 begins April 4. Apply online anytime at tstc.edu.

BY Amanda Sotelo

It was a full house at the Texas State Technical College Culinary Art’s first Food Festival. More than 50 people gathered at the TSTC Cultural Arts building to taste and experience cuisines from across the globe.

“I’m so impressed with what our students did here today and how they handled the crowd,” said Chef Emma Crepps, culinary arts department chair and instructor. “We didn’t expect to have this many people. The main objective was to help students learn how to showcase their food, and today’s event has made that possible.”

The food festival consisted of 14 teams made up of culinary art students who prepped and cooked dishes based on their chosen location. There were more than 40 items that attendees were able to sample. Everything from Peruvian, Indian to French and German cuisine was available.

TSTC Culinary Arts advisory board member and owner and chef of Rio Grande Grill Stefani Trimboli-Wright said she was impressed with what students had to offer.

“I make it my responsibility to get involved with these students. This is my hometown and we have a great culinary program here,” said Wright. “I’m impressed so far with a few students here and although I’ve only been able to hire one to help me with restaurant events, I can’t wait to hire and work with so many more.”

Wright called this event a perfect opportunity for the students to showcase their talents and for potential employers to see who stands out and who has real passion to take their career and food to the next level.

One team definitely made an impression with their German cuisine. Winning the People’s Choice Award, team leader Marianne Sanchez and her team Mike Meriwether and Nicolas Perez, earned the most votes from attendees to take home the medal. What did they cook?

“This win for our team today, is actually a win for all us,” said Sanchez. “I’m proud to accept this award for our team and for TSTC. Everything was well executed and all of our instructors are here today making sure we succeed while getting the experience we need.”

From Harlingen High School culinary students to Winter Texans, the feedback was positive and the food was enjoyed.

“This event was a great success,” said Crepps. “A lot of people have already approached me and asked if we’re going to do this again. This was amazing.”

For more information on Culinary Arts call 956-364-4755.

Culinary Arts is also available at our Abilene, Waco and Williamson County campuses. Registration starts April 4, apply online anytime at tstc.edu.