A few months ago, Manuel Israel Lopez, who everybody calls “MI,” took home some hardware at the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) World Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Dallas.

Fast-forward a bit and it’s like déjà-vu as the 12-year-old Gutierrez Middle School sixth-grader recently took home a title belt at a NAGA event in Houston.

When asked how he felt after winning the competition, MI, who is a shy young man of few words, simply said: “Good.”

MI doesn’t like to talk much, but that’s only because he prefers to do all of his talking out on the jiu-jitsu matt.

“That’s just the way he is. He’s shy in front of people but when he’s fighting, he’s like a different person,” said MI’s father, Matthew Lopez.

MI has been involved in jiu-jitsu since he was 6 years old and his passion for the sport continues to grow along with the number of title belts he keeps winning.

“I like to compete and I like being in the gym,” he said.

His father says that MI actually trains seven days a week and the days that he competes are his only real “off days.”

“It’s hard to get him out of the gym,” Matthew said. “He just really loves to practice so that he can continue to get better all the time.”

MI will get a chance to prove how good he this weekend at a jiu-jitsu tournament being held at Marine Military Academy and, after that, he’ll compete in an event in Corpus Christi toward the end of the month.

However, the event he is ultimately working toward this year is the Kids World International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which will be held on Aug. 27 in Ontario, California, which is located east of Los Angeles.

“We are doing different fundraisers to help get money for the trip out there, including a chicken and sausage plate barbecue on March 19 in Combes.

“He’s working hard and looking forward to competing out there.”

With MI’s work ethic and determination, one can bet he won’t return from California empty handed.

On March 6, 1836, 180 years ago, 189 Texans and Tejanos died, defending the Alamo against Mexican General Santa Ana’s Army of 2,400 soldiers.

Texas history remembers Lt. Col. William Barret Travis, commander of the Alamo, Col. Jim Bowie, the famous knife fighter, and the living legend Davy Crockett, frontiersman and politician, but who remembers Capt. Juan Seguin and his Tejanos (Texas born citizens of Mexico and Spanish ancestry).

On the third day of the siege, Seguin was sent out to get reinforcements and supplies as well as several other Tejanos, but at least eight stayed behind to defend the Alamo, such as Gregorio Esparza that help fire the cannon and pray those cannon balls would not kill his own brother, Francisco, who was in General Santa Ana’s army.

The final assault came before daybreak from all sides of the Alamo, and the Tejanos and the Texans paid the ultimate sacrifice when they were overwhelmed by superior numbers.

By sunrise, the Battle of the Alamo has ended. All the defenders’ bodies of the Alamo would be laid and burned in three funeral pyres with the exception of Gregorio Esparza, because Francisco would ask Santa Ana for permission to give his brother a Christian burial.

Texas history has forgotten the contributions of Capt. Seguin’s company of Tejanos, but on Saturday, March 12, at the San Benito Fairgrounds, the Valley is invited to celebrate Texas Independence Day, Juan Seguin’s favorite holiday and see the Texans and Seguin’s Tejanos defend the Alamo, as well as Capt. Seguin leading his Tejanos at the Battle of San Jacinto with General Sam Houston.

Viva Tejas y Vivan Los Tejanos

Jack Ayoub Harlingen

Voters in Cameron County were out to the polls in droves, and both parties saw more local participation than usual in last Tuesday’s primary election, said Remi Garza, elections administrator.

Of the 185,720 eligible voters in Cameron County, 44,475 made it to the polls. That’s an approximate 24-percent voter turnout, which is high for a primary, Garza said.

In the Democratic primary, 31,737 voters participated. In the Republican primary, that number was 12,738.

“The average for the Democratic Party is usually 24,000 to 26,000. So 31,737 is a really good indication. The Republicans are closer to between 6,000 and 7,000, so that was phenomenal,” Garza said.

Although presidential hopefuls Sen. Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton were victorious in the Texas primaries, several local candidates didn’t have the same luck and are forced into a runoff election on May 24.

Although the results of Super Tuesday have not determined the party nominees, it does offer some direction as to which candidates people are leaning toward for the White House.

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HARLINGEN — A police officer was suspended without pay for 25 days more than a month after an encounter with a motorist.

Officer Alan Ramos was suspended from Jan. 30 to Feb. 23 as a result of a Nov. 19 incident in which he encountered a driver whom he believed was following him in a black Mercedes Benz.

Ramos was traveling in his personal vehicle at about 7:50 p.m. when he noticed the car “tailgating” him as he drove from Brownsville to Harlingen along Interstate 69.

“Officer Ramos stated he was afraid of the driver of the black Mercedes Benz that was following him,” a document states. “However, when he exited his vehicle, officer Ramos did not draw his weapon or take cover, nor did he take action to show he was under any duress.”

On Nov. 20, Commander Valdemar Guajardo ordered Ramos not to discuss the incident.

An investigation found Ramos violated Guajardo’s order and other policies including “unsatisfactory performance or conduct,” “failure or refusal to follow lawful orders” and “insubordination or other disrespectful conduct.”

See more on this story in Tuesday’s Valley Morning Star.

BY Melissa Vasquez

Demonstrating the wonders of physics and inspiring the next generation of physicists has earned the UTRGV Society of Physics Students (SPS) honors as an Outstanding Chapter for 2015 by the SPS National Council.

This is the first time the student group has earned “Outstanding” honors among schools in Zone 13. It is the top accolade from the National Council for community efforts and student outreach. Last year, the UTRGV SPS Chapter won the Distinguished Chapter award.

“Our chapter’s main goal when interacting with our community, both on and off campus, is to raise awareness in physics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields,” said Kareem Wahid, UTRGV SPS Chapter president. “This can range from giving talks about the benefits of studying physics, to giving interactive demonstrations of physics experiments to the general public.”

Wahid said the group enjoys providing hands-on demonstrations that help the public experience physics, with experiments like cooling superconductors to sub-zero temperatures with liquid nitrogen and demonstrating quantum levitation by having participants “walk on water” using a pool filled with shear-thickening non-Newtonian fluid. Students also get a hair-raising encounter with the Van de Graaff generator experiments.

“Mainly, we want to show that physics isn’t the boring subject that many people believe it to be. We love to capture the public’s attention with interesting and interactive demonstrations,” Wahid said.

The UTRGV chapter has about 20 student members.

Wahid said very few SPS chapters receive this distinction, and UTRGV was one of six chapters in Texas Zone 13 to get the award. There are 50 SPS chapters in Texas.

“The honor is a tremendous indication that our club has reached outstanding excellence in community outreach, scientific research, and professional development,” Wahid said.

Dr. Liang Zeng, SPS faculty adviser and associate professor in physics, said she is proud of the student organization and its efforts to get the Rio Grande Valley youth and community excited about physics and other STEM-related fields. She is grateful to the university for their encouragement, which helped earn them this moment in the spotlight.

“I greatly appreciate all the opportunities and support that the university gives to student outreach activities,” Zeng said.

Moving forward, Wahid said, the UTRGV SPS members are excited about the future for the UTRGV Society of Physics Students and the Department of Physics.

“With the groundbreaking contribution to the discovery of gravitational waves coupled with record numbers of students presenting their research at conferences, there will be no shortage of scientific development in years to come,” he said.

HARLINGEN — As if low commodity prices weren’t enough, Rio Grande Valley farmers are facing a weather whipsaw from heavy rains last fall to very dry conditions this spring.

And these rainless days have complicated spring planting.

Planting is important to the economic well-being of South Texas. In the four-county Lower Rio Grande Valley, agriculture has an annual economic impact of $1.6 billion, according to a 2011 study by Texas agriculture economists.

Texas ranks third nationally in annual agriculture cash receipts at $19.2 billion. California is first at $36.2 billion and Iowa second at $24.75 billion.

The last major rainfall recorded at Valley International Airport in Harlingen occurred on Jan. 2 when 1.16 inches of rain fell.

A residual rain of .017 inch was recorded Jan. 3.

That is significantly lower than the average rainfall for January through March in the Valley, which ranges from 2.5 inches a year in Starr County to an average of 4.5 inches a year on the Gulf Coast.

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Hold on to your hats, skirts and steering wheels.

The National Weather Service in Brownsville has issued a wind advisory for the majority of the Rio Grande Valley.

The advisory will take effect from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties.

The NWS reports the difference between a high pressure across the southeast United States and an intensifying trough of low pressure across West Texas will increase winds late this morning and throughout the afternoon.

According to the NWS, wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are expected. Higher gusts of 45 mph or more are also anticipated.

The intensifying winds could make driving difficult for lightweight vehicles and cause unfastened loose objects to blow around, the NWS reports.

Residents are urged to tie down or move items indoors such as patio furniture, trash cans or portable basketball posts.

Drivers of high profile or light weight vehicles may find it difficult to drive on bridges and over passes.

HARLINGEN — An analysis of racial profiling reports filed by local police agencies indicates that tourism and traffic patterns may be key factors in how the numbers add up.

The mandatory reports are filed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or TCOLE. The reports indicate whether a police agency may have been targeting certain racial or ethnic groups.

In practically all the traffic stops listed in the South Texas reports, police say they did not know the race or ethnicity of the driver prior to the stop.

The number of traffic stops by the police departments studied ranged from a low of 110 by the Willacy County Sheriff’s Office to 5,997 traffic stops by the Los Fresnos Police Department. Most ranged from a few hundred to around 1,500 for the year.

The TCOLE profiling reports break down drivers this way: Hispanic, Caucasian, African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Native American.

By comparing the ethnic and racial breakdown of the drivers who were stopped with the same breakdown of the population of the city, some anomalies become apparent.

Other numbers contained in the report did not match the racial and ethnic makeup of the cities where the stops occurred.

For example, Los Fresnos has a population that U.S. Census figures show is 88 percent Hispanic and 11 percent Caucasian.

But in its profiling report, Los Fresnos officers pulled over Hispanic drivers at a rate of 61 percent, and Caucasian drivers at a rate of 38 percent. The latter number is far higher than the city’s Caucasian population would indicate.

Yet Los Fresnos sits astride Texas Highway 100, which serves as a tourist corridor into South Padre Island. Travelers to the Island would not necessarily reflect the city’s ethnic and racial breakdown.

In fact, in Port Isabel, which recorded 1,308 traffic stops in 2015, 80 percent of the drivers pulled over were Caucasian; 19 percent were Hispanic. Port Isabel, Census figures show, is 79 percent Hispanic and 20 percent Caucasian.

On South Padre Island, which is 67 percent Caucasian, 29 percent Hispanic and 1 percent African-American, police made 1,228 traffic stops and 86 percent of the drivers pulled over were Caucasian. Hispanic drivers made up 11 percent of those pulled over, and African-American drivers were 0.03 percent.

In Laguna Vista, with a population that is 53 percent Caucasian and 46 percent Hispanic, the percentage of Hispanics among drivers pulled over was 76 percent, and Caucasian drivers were 21 percent.

Those numbers, said Police Chief Tony David, are a reflection of the demographics of the Valley as a whole.

“I just did a grant, and we get over a million people visiting South Padre Island every year,” David said. “And we have a thoroughfare straight to the island through our town.

“And as for it being a different demographic from our community, including me there are eight officers, and they’re all Hispanic,” David added.

“The main issue is the high volume of traffic that flows through our town.”

In Raymondville, the racial profiling report filed with the state is being questioned by police and officials there. The report found that 84 percent of the 901 drivers stopped were Caucasian, and 16 percent were Hispanic. That is just about the opposite of the city’s ethnic makeup, with Hispanics making up 87 percent of residents, and Caucasians 9 percent.

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EDINBURG — Science behind neurological responses of victims of sexual assault is prompting a special kind of training and new protocols to be followed by all University of Texas System police officers.

A collaboration between the UT System Police Department and the Institute for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at the UT-Austin School of Social Work, sparked the ongoing changes, which started being implemented last fall.

The institute has more than 15 years of experience in dealing with sexual violence particularly in college campuses, said UT System Police Director Michael Heidingsfield, and they worked together for two years to develop a new protocol to better handle these cases.

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WESLACO — City leaders have announced a partnership with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to open a mixed-used incubator designed to promote education, entrepreneurship and economic development in the area.

Officials with the Economic Development Corp. of Weslaco confirmed Thursday evening that Mayor David Suarez and city leaders recently signed a memorandum of understanding with UTRGV to begin a partnership between the three entities. This was described in a news release as a commitment to broaden UTRGV’s presence in the Mid-Valley.

“This is not just a win for Weslaco but for all of South Texas,” Suarez said in a prepared statement.

UTRGV President Dr. Guy Bailey added, “This MOU is a testament to UTRGV’s goal to provide regional opportunities to not only our students and faculty, but to the community as well. The City of Weslaco is now considered a valuable, long-term partner and is a community that believes in the same core values as we do.”

City property located at 275 S. Kansas Ave. will be leased to UTRGV over a 10-year period — the cost of which remained unclear as of Friday.

What officials did confirm is $1.3 million the EDC will commit to renovating the 16,225-square-foot facility, which is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2017. A floor plan also shows that UTRGV will add four classrooms and incubator space as well as a collaborative share space. Specific use also entails UTRGV College of Business and Entrepreneurship plans to expand its existing Center for Innovation and Commercialization at the property.

“Once renovated, the facility will be a modern innovation center for post-secondary education and training, business incubation and locally-based research,” the release read. “It will also provide space for lectures, workshops and events.

COBE Dean Mark Kroll said CIC will “strengthen the economic development and entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting businesses that have the potential to create new, higher-paying jobs and grow the economic base of the Rio Grande Valley.”

Bolstering programs as well as services via a business and technology incubator was identified as one of CIC’s current aims.