HARLINGEN — The Rio South Texas Economic Council will move its offices from Edinburg and merge its administrative duties with the regional Chamber of Commerce in Weslaco, officials said Friday.

Approval for the move to the Rio Grande Valley Partnership offices at 322 S. Missouri St. in Weslaco was delivered Thursday by the RSTEC board, said board Chair Melissa Gonzales, special projects director for the city of Alamo.

“The RGV Partnership staff is going to perform all the administrative duties for RSTEC,” Gonzales said. “They’ll be doing our bookkeeping, our finances, keeping our minutes at our board meetings and they’ll be sending out notices.”

RSTEC is a public-private association that operates as a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit to promote regional economic development. It would generally be the point of contact for site selectors, commercial builders and major developers seeking to locate a plant or major project in the Valley in Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.

“We’re going to work together and set up a workshop with both boards on how we can work together with two organizations,” Gonzales said. “I’m excited about that.”

The merging of administrative duties and offices for RSTEC comes as the regional economic development agency continues its search for a new chief executive. As reported earlier this month, two candidates rejected job offers to fill that position.

RSTEC has been without a director since the resignation of Alma Puente Colleli last fall.

Gonzales says the new arrangement merging RSTEC’s administrative chores with those of the RGV Partnership makes the director’s position more attractive.

“Trust me, it’s going to be a big relief for the new person,” she said.

The RGV Partnership also is seeking an executive director of its own. Julian Alvarez resigned recently after being appointed to the Texas Workforce Commission by Gov. Greg Abbott.

MERCEDES — It’s a family tradition for many of the participants in the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show.

Livestock show judge Joe Behrens, 67, and his family know all about it. He operates a cattle business in Voca, Texas. And he’s judged many livestock shows over the years, just as his father had.

Behrens said his father judged animals at the livestock show in Mercedes 30 years ago.

“I bet you, me and my daddy are the only father and son to judge here,” Behrens said.

He knew what he was looking for in the cattle, too.

Behrens zeroed in on the cow’s foundation to predict if it’s going to produce good cattle in the future.

“They got to have body and muscle,” Behrens said. “If they don’t have muscle they don’t sell.”

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MERCEDES — Raising a 1,200-pound animal is hard work.

Keeping the animal under control is another animal in itself.

Take it from Jocelyn Boyle, a Sherryland FFA student.

A large heifer slammed Boyle against the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show ring wall yesterday.

Boyle was competing in the Junior Santa Gertrudis competition. Her accident happened during the showmanship round.

“The heifer was about to step on me and I had to crawl out of the way,” Boyle said.

She lay face down in the ring for a moment before getting up as her friends rushed to help her.

“The barn animal was upset and took its anger out on me,” Boyle said.

She said the mom just didn’t like her at the moment while she was showing the heifer’s calf that was acting up.

“It hurt and my shoulder is hurting right now, but I’m used to it,” Boyle said. “It’s happened before.”

Boyle recovered quickly and was ready to continue showing her animals in the competition.

Taking care of cattle is nothing new to Boyle. She said she has been around farm animals all her life and has been showing cows for competition for five years.

“I’ve been having a lot of fun showing cows and trying to do my best and having a lot of fun with friends and family at the stock show,” Boyle said.

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HARLINGEN — The long dormant One Vision-One Harlingen comprehensive plan leaped back to life last week.

The plan, produced by the engineering firm Halff Associates, originally was going to take a year to 18 months to finalize when the idea was made public in September 2013. But for the past year, the plan has been in a coma.

When Assistant City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez presented a revised comprehensive plan to the city Planning and Zoning Board earlier this week, commissioners balked at signing off on a version they had not reviewed.

Municipal comprehensive plans determine a city’s goals and can be used to shape public policy in areas such as land use, parks and recreation, housing, transportation and utilities. Such plans can be tailored to serve as a guide for cities for several years or even decades.

In presenting what he said was a revised plan to the commission Wednesday, Gonzalez emphasized that it was nothing new, but had been changed to address criticism about grammatical errors and to rearrange the order in which the content was presented.

But Tre Peacock, chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said he was a member of the special advisory committee on the comprehensive plan and said he had not signed off on it, or even seen the revised proposal.

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A Republican Party candidate for Cameron County sheriff, John Chambers, was dropped from the runoff race after Party Chair Morgan Graham received a legal opinion from the Office of the Secretary of State declaring the candidate’s ineligibility.

Chambers said he disagrees with the opinion. Instead, he said it was a collaborative effort by several individuals to keep him out of office.

“It’s a way to circumvent the will of the people,” he said.

Chambers, the former Indian Lake Police Chief, was convicted on 14 counts of tampering with government records. According to prosecutors, Chambers created false entries in governmental records concerning firearm qualification for some of his deputies.

As a result, his peace officer license was revoked.

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Brownsville resident Leo Lopez has decided to throw his hat in the ring as a write-in candidate for Cameron County tax assessor-collector.

Lopez, the former insurance administrator of the Brownsville Independent School District Insurance and Employee Benefits, said he is running for office because he wants the public to have a choice.

“Over 20,000 people did not vote for Mr. Tony Yzaguirre, and I want to give them an alternative,” Lopez said.

Lopez understands that overcoming the odds will be difficult, but he intends to run a grass-roots and social media campaign to spread the word, he said.

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“It will not be an easy race,” Lopez said. “If people vote palanca, meaning straight party, Democrat or Republican, Mr. Yzaguirre will stay in office. In the last general election, at least 30,000 people voted palanca. If that happens again, change fails.”

People would need to take the time to bubble-in and write-in the name “Leo Lopez” on the ballot, he said.

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HARLINGEN — The Lady Greyhounds are on a roll this season largely due to their well-rounded squad, and it showed in their latest outing.

Fueled by a pair of three-run homers by Erica Cortez and Sarah Garcia, the Lady ‘Hounds cruised to a 11-1, five-inning win over the Harlingen Lady Cardinals Friday night at Lady Cards Field.

The bats weren’t hot for everyone, as San Benito (16-0, 3-0) recorded just five fits, but alert base running and plays on defense helped make it an early night.

“Everybody is playing their role as well as understanding their role,” said first-year San Benito head coach Kristy Leal. “We’re playing team softball really. It’s selfless, solid softball. The team is producing at the plate and defensively we’re playing really well.

“These kids are hungry and they play every team like they’re playing the best team in Texas. We want to keep enforcing that and getting those Ws.”

Full story at RGVSports.com

RAYMONDVILLE — For the second year, a program offers Willacy County children a week of fun while helping them learn the dangers of drug abuse.

Communities Against Substance Abuse, or CASA, will hold KidsFest from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Reber Memorial Library, 149 North Fourth St., Raymondville.

“We want to support programs like CASA here in Willacy County because of the awareness and education they are bringing to our families on drug prevention,” County Judge Aurelio Guerra said in a statement.

The free event, to honor U.S. service men and women, veterans and other “superheroes,” will feature a carnival, parade, arts and crafts, archery, a pet show and other activities.

Law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol, local police and sheriff’s departments and the San Benito Police Department SWAT team will offer information.

Other agencies offering information will include the Willacy County Emergency Medical Services, the American Red Cross and the Harlingen Humane Society.

For more information, contact the library at 956-689-2930 or Rosalie Tristan at 956-966-0714.

SAN BENITO — A 35-year-old Harlingen woman is listed in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle.

Thursday night, around 7:40 p.m., San Benito police officers responded to an auto/pedestrian accident in the 700 block of West Business 77.

Police said Carmen De La Rosa of Harlingen was hit by a 2016 black four-door Dodge Dart as she tried crossing the street in traffic.

The 41-year-old female driver of the Dodge Dart remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, police said.

De La Rosa was transported to Valley Baptist Medical Center and is currently listed in critical condition.

The accident is still under investigation at this time.

Anyone with information on this accident is encouraged to contact investigators at 956-361-3880.

SAN BENITO — Every home needs a smoke alarm. That’s what any safety official will tell you.

“More lives are lost every year to home fires than to all major disasters,” according to Fire Chief Raul Zuniga.

To combat this issue, the San Benito Fire Department, in partnership with the American Red Cross along with other community members, will be offering free smoke alarm installations April 16 between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon.

Other cities, such as Harlingen and Brownsville, will be participating in this event too in their communities.

This project is part of an American Red Cross nationwide public initiative that aims to reduce the number of fire deaths and injuries in the U.S. by 25 percent within five years, said American Red Cross South Texas Chapter Executive Director Iris Martinez Juergens

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