SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Sand dunes are South Padre Island’s first line of defense against Mother Nature.

On Wednesday, the beach benefitted from volunteers planting 6,000 native species plants, Sea Oats and Bitter Panicum, to establish a foundation for a healthy dune system.

“With the help of over 70 volunteers which included 40 students and families with young children, our Spring Break Dune Planting was a huge success,” said Mary K. Hancock, SPI special events manager. “This program was developed to educate our visitors while giving them opportunity to give back to the beach they love.”

The planting group was largely made up of 40 students from Beach Reach South Padre, city staff, and a large number of visiting families with young children.

“The students were very thrilled to do that,” said Buddy Young, Beach Reach organizer. “What they saw was the fact that it’s not about just coming down for Spring Break, but for caring for God’s creation.”

The planting was located at Beach Access 9, Blue Water Circle in front of the Suntide III condominiums.

The planting captured the attention of families and individuals, many of which asked about the types of plants that were being used, why it was necessary and what the plants actually did for the dunes.

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HARLINGEN — Two space launches in the coming days will head for the orbiting International Space Station, and one of them has a distinctly Harlingen connection.

The first launch from Kazakhstan on Friday at 4:26 p.m. CDT will send NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and two Russian Roscosmos cosmonauts, Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin, to the space station.

But it is the second launch that will have Harlingen written all over it.

That one’s an unmanned launch and is scheduled for Tuesday when Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft heads up on a resupply mission to the space station.

The 30-minute launch window will begin at around 10:05 p.m. CDT.

That Cygnus space freighter will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket, with key components fabricated in Harlingen at the ULA facility at Valley International Airport.

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HARLINGEN — After a four-year delay, a Plano company is ready to start construction on a $400 million power plant.

Coronado Power Ventures will build the 650-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant on 80 acres just east of Valley International Airport.

The plant will create about 25 to 30 permanent jobs and as many as 700 temporary jobs during a 30-month construction period.

The company, which announced the project in 2012, delayed plans for about four years to secure financing.

The power plant will help meet the region’s growing demand for energy, HarlingenMayor Chris Boswell said yesterday.

Boswell said the plant will generate power to help draw industry and manufacturing to the area.

“For the future growth in the Valley, we have to increase our capacity to access power,” Boswell said. “It will be difficult to attract more industry and manufacturing without it.”

The plant, projected to fuel as many as 700,000 homes, will help reduce the region’s power outages.

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MERCEDES — Students from more than 20 schools squared off in the agriculture shop competition at the livestock show.

“Students continually surprise me with the increased level of quality,” said Dan Froneberger, judge and retired ag teacher. “Kids keep getting more complex with their designs.”

Froneberger said he has judged more than 20 shows from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and the competition is pushing students to come up with bigger and better designs in order to win.

This year’s competition consisted of more than 480 entries in 21 divisions, including home and yard, farm and ranch, livestock equipment and shop equipment, to name just a few.

Each category had five winners.

The grand champions were Matthew Salce and Mario Bocanegra of Santa Rosa for the design of an entertainment center.

One particular team of students showed off their custom steel 18-foot trailer, fit for a dragster car.

The trio from Edcouch-Elsa had an equal role in the project they took on at the request of their teacher to build and design a trailer for the dragster car.

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Beginning today, Gustavo C. Ruiz is the next Cameron County Precinct 4 commissioner, and holdover commissioner Dan Sanchez will step down immediately.

Ruiz will be officially appointed to the position today.

Ruiz became the Democratic Party nominee for the position after defeating Chino Sanchez in the March 1 primary election. The position became available when Dan Sanchez announced his bid for county judge.

Although County Judge Pete Sepulveda Jr. could have appointed someone right away to Dan Sanchez’s seat, he said he would wait for the election so residents of Cameron County could decide.

“He’s being appointed by me right now, but in the general election come November, then he becomes officially elected,” Sepulveda said. “He’ll take over the reins right now instead of versus Jan. 1.”

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HARLINGEN — They’ve made it past the halfway point of the Slim Down challenge. How are they doing?

Well, let’s drop in and find out how locals Michelle Giles, 47, and Chelsea Childress, 27, are progressing. A total of 30 participants are in the Sixth Annual Slim Down Showdown held by HEB.

Giles, who works at United Healthcare in McAllen, has made drastic changes in her eating habits since she began the challenge in January.

“Before, it was a lot of fast foods, whatever was easy to eat,” said Giles, one of 30 participants in the event.

“Now the meals are cooked,” said Giles, of Harlingen. “They’re not fried. There’s a lot of baking and grilling.”

The Showdown is a 12-week contest to provide contestants with the information they need to develop a healthier lifestyle. They also can win cash prizes.

Each week she and the other contestants receive a call from their health wcoaches.

“They talk to us about about how the week went and what do we need to improve on,” Giles said.

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HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Police Department is pleased with the grand jury’s decision to no bill an officer who shot a suspect in the face when the man allegedly tried to run over the officer and his partner.

Last week, the grand jury decided officer Alan Dienstbier was justified when he fired his service weapon at Francisco Sanchez, 32, of Primera.

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 16 on the 2500 block of Chuparosa Court.

No bill means the grand jury declined to indict him on any charges.

Police Sgt. David Osborne said the grand jury’s decision confirms Harlingen PD’s own internal findings.

“This should give everyone confidence, everyone’s reviews were confirmed,” he said.

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HARLINGEN — Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush is looking for applicants to join the new Commissioner’s Coastal Resiliency Advisory Group.

“It’s great to see the State reaching out to the stakeholders who live and work along the Texas coast,” said Eduardo A. Campirano, Port Director & CEO, Port of Brownsville.

“The Port of Brownsville has long been active in past discussions on coastal planning and resiliency.”

Campirano said this advisory committee is a great example of a way to balance economic development and sensible conservation.

“When we make decisions at the GLO that impact the coastal regions of our great state, I want the input of folks whose daily life is directly tied to promoting a dynamic coastal economy and protecting our shared heritage for generations to come,” Bush said in a press release.

Bush is looking for three of 15 advisory members to be from the Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.

“We look forward to submitting an application,” Campirano said.

Applicants must be an elected or government official from a county or municipality.

The second will be a representative from a coastal conservation or regional planning organization.

The third will be a representative from a regional port or member of the coastal business community.

The advisory group members will serve two-year terms.

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After another winter of severe snowstorms and floods, I look forward to March 20th, first day of spring, balmy weather, and blooming flowers.

Hundreds of communities welcome spring with an observance of Great American Meatout, asking neighbors to explore a healthy, compassionate diet of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains.

Indeed, 56 percent of respondents to a Global Meat News poll said that they were or are reducing meat intake. U.S. per capita red meat consumption has dropped by more than 16 percent since 1999.

Mainstream publications like Parade, Better Homes and Gardens, and Eating Well are touting vegan recipes. Even the financial investment community is betting on plant-based meat start-ups, like Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, while warning clients about the upcoming “death of meat.”

The reasons are ample. Last year, the World Health Organization found cancer to be associated with consumption of processed meats.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended reduced meat consumption. The media keeps exposing atrocities perpetrated on factory farms. And, animal agriculture remains chief contributor to climate change and water scarcity and pollution.

Each of us should celebrate our own advent of spring by checking out plant-based foods at our supermarkets and vegan recipes on the Internet.

Sincerely, Hector Cheverly Harlingen

My name is Sonia Gonzales and I read your article on Ms. Hernandez and I am sorry to hear what happened.

I reside on FM 2925 and have to say that we get a lot of speeding vehicles some of whom are fisherman with their boats or people leaving the local bars here. I have experienced dangerous drivers here both night and day where I am heading home on this road and I will see a vehicle speeding to pass another vehicle and in doing so they veer into my lane barely missing me and that’s because I slow down.

I don’t drive here at night because there’s too much high speeding going on here and we don’t have troopers that drive here unless someone may have called for some reason or another.

At night is when we get a lot of speeders and they zoom by going about 80 and this road is 55.

We also have curves and animals like deer that cross the road suddenly and most times they are found dead on the road which means the speeder had no time to slow down.

If you’re going the speed limit and have the lights on bright you can see way in advance. I have a daughter who will turn 18 and I fear every day for her safety.

She is not allowed to drive without me right now but I know one day she will. I just wanted to inform you on what I experience here where I live. My condolences go out to Ms. Hernandez and her family.

Thank you, Sonia Gonzales Rio Hondo