HARLINGEN — A capacity crowd was on hand Monday night as two of the Valley’s best girls teams collided at the Harlingen High gymnasium.

With a spot in the Region IV-6A tournament up for grabs, the Weslaco Lady Panthers rallied from an early deficit to defeat the state-ranked Lady Cardinals 56-46, snapping Harlingen’s 24-game win streak and ending their season at 34-2.

The Lady Panthers’ win avenged a 65-41 non-district loss to the Lady Cardinals earlier in the season and earned them a trip to San Antonio this weekend where they will face either Converse Judson or San Antonio Wagner in the regional semifinals.

“In the first game here, we got humiliated and we vowed that that wasn’t going to happen again, but the biggest thing that I can give credit to is obviously the kids because they got in the gym every single day and worked, worked, and worked,” said Weslaco head coach Griselda Fino.

“When I talked to them today. I told them, ‘One thing you have to believe is that all the work that you put in is going to pay off and we are such a better team than we were in November.’”

“I felt that there was some parts of their (Harlingen) game that we could expose and we did, but all the credit goes to the kids that went out and executed the game plan almost to perfection.”

Full story at RGVSports.com

SAN BENITO — Police have identified the three people who were involved in a wrong-way crash Saturday morning.

Two of those people, Adriana Sosa, 30, of Pharr and 58-year-old Federico Montelongo of Harlingen were killed when the two vehicles they were driving hit head-on.

San Benito police responded to Expressway 77/83 at the Harlingen/San Benito city limits line about 2:12 a.m. in reference to a vehicle traveling against traffic, southbound in the northbound lanes.

During the search for the vehicle, officers found the wrong-way vehicle, a 2010 Mazda four-door driven by Sosa, had crashed head-on into a 1992 Dodge pickup truck driven by Montelongo.

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HARLINGEN — A study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found nearly 40 percent of children riding in Texas vehicles are either improperly buckled or not buckled at all.

The study, conducted in the spring of 2014, observed more than 13,500 Texas children across 14 cities. Of the children observed, 61 percent were properly buckled into a safety seat while 25 percent were not.

Another 14 percent of children in Texas vehicles were not buckled at all.

To combat this issue, the Harlingen Police Department encourages anyone with a car seat to take part in a car seat inspection event.

The event will take place Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Target parking lot, 1002 Dixieland Road.

They also will be hosting a Child Passenger Safety Technician course today at the city of Harlingen Emergency Operations & Training Center off of FM 509.

Instructors from around the state will be involved in the training and instruction. Training participants include nurses, firefighters, police officers, state health and services employees and interested civilians.

“The law in Texas requires all children younger than 8 years old, unless they are taller than 4 feet, 9 inches, to be in a child safety seat whenever they ride in a passenger vehicle,” said John Barton, Texas Department of Transportation deputy executive director.

“If they’re not, the driver will be ticketed or fined. For the safety of your child and for your own peace of mind, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of these free safety seat checks.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates roughly three out of four child safety seats are not used correctly.

Common child safety seat mistakes include installing the seat too loosely, putting the harness straps through the wrong slots, leaving harness straps too loose, positioning the chest clip incorrectly and using the wrong seat belt path.

TxDOT encourages drivers to always refer to their specific child safety seat manufacturer’s manual for instructions on how to install the safety seat.

National debt climbing.

Did I mention $32 trillion in offshore accounts.

Did I mention the clusters of welfare along with huge profits finding their way over seas.

Did I mention these Corporations used to pay up to 90 percent in Taxes.

Somehow they have suckered their followers into believing that more cuts in taxes are the right thing to do. It has greatly enabled their opportunity to keep stashing their welfare and profits overseas.

Instead of paying taxes, both corporations and their measly-paid employees keep bleeding the government.

Foreign aide to approximately 150 countries doesn’t help, especially aide to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, China etc.

The debt just keeps climbing and guess who’s stuck trying to lower the debt. On another note, there is a writer that is not happy living in the USA. He wants to secede and take only what makes him happy.

He is shoving the Bible in our faces as if he reads it and abides by Jesus’s teachings and Gospel messages.

I thought Moses had destroyed the golden calf, but he won’t let go of his. He can move right next door to Mexico, where they’ll welcome his lifestyle. He wants to take us back to the 1930s, where the wealthy kept every thing and workers got paid in peanuts.

He probably dreams of owning the company stores that enslaved the workers with outrageous prices and kept them indebted for life.

He wants to take the military with him, but he’d probably only take the officers, since lower paid enlisted men wouldn’t cut it.

Imagine a bunch of old enlisted white men, tongues hanging out, charging the enemy. If you are not a criminal, nor are mentally impaired, nobody is preventing you from buying a gun.

Your input about being afraid of guns in invalid. Just a little bit of common sense. Have a great day.

Juan Gonzales Harlingen

Two thumbs up … take a bit of out of crime … for City Commissioner Ruben de La Rosa and the Harlingen Police Department. Great job with our neighborhood.

Rosa Reyes Harlingen

HARLINGEN — Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a man who was found dead in an irrigation canal in west Harlingen.

The victim, an adult male, appears to have been shot at least once. Police have a possible identity, but they haven’t confirmed it.

Gregorio Ramirez, 33, of Primera and Mayra Camera, 22, of Brownsville were both charged with murder, arson, tampering with evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity. His bond was set at $800,000. Her bond is set at $500,000

Jesus Antonio Ramirez 30, of Primera was charged with a failing to report a felony, tampering with evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity, with bond set at $195,000.

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The case started about 4 a.m. Friday morning when witnesses heard people arguing inside a late model Ford pickup truck in the parking lot of the Best Western Hotel at 4317 S. Expressway 77 in Harlingen.

As the truck was leaving the lot, the witnesses told police they heard a gunshot and saw a muzzle flash.

Four hours later, a pickup matching the description of the truck was found burning on a canal bank in a farm field off of Wilson Road, just west of Bass Boulevard. It was a late model Ford F150 four-door truck.

An intensive investigation ensued involving Harlingen police, sheriff’s deputies and state and federal law enforcement officers, Police Chief Jeffry Adickes said.

That led to the arrest of the three people Saturday night and the recovery of the victim’s body Sunday.

Andrew Pena, a sixth-grade student at Vernon Middle School, is building up his strength and endurance to prove he has what it takes to join the school’s varsity football team next year.

Through Vernon’s Pre-Athletics program, Pena and other students in his grade are getting a preview of the upcoming UIL sports, which they will be eligible to participate in at the start of their seventh-grade year.

“I plan on trying out for running back or fullback,” says Pena. “To be effective in these positions you have to have strength and agility. This class is preparing me for all that.”

Since joining the program this year, Pena has learned about self-discipline, teamwork, and how to push his limits.

“This program has done a lot for me. On top of preparing me for UIL sports, I’ve learned to pace myself during cardio and strength training. I feel healthier and stronger overall.”

Laying the foundation for high school athletic careers, the pre-athletics class teaches values like sportsmanship, responsibility, leadership, performing under pressure, and teamwork across a variety of sports.

Kayla Flores, who hopes to join basketball in seventh grade, is working on perfecting her shooting technique.

“Our coach works a lot with us on our fundamentals,” says Flores. “I am getting better at dribbling and shooting. She helped me arc the ball more and shoot the ball higher so it will go in the basket.”

The students express that they enjoy the class because they are experiencing activities that go beyond their experiences in a regular physical education class.

Playing sports at any level can be a key part of the school experience and have an immense and lasting impact on a student’s life.

“Adding the pre-athletics class to the current curriculum has been very beneficial, and it gets the students excited about being able to participate in UIL sports next year,” says Coach Sergio Cavazos. “We’ve seen a big difference in our seventh grade program because of pre-athletics. The kids come in knowing what to do and the expectations we have for them.”

Along with developing the skills and knowledge to be physically active as part of a healthy lifestyle, students also learn about proper nutrition.

“In our health lessons, we have learned that we need to lay off the junk food,” says Flores. “Diet and exercise go hand in hand; a poor diet can decrease your stamina. If you give your body the right food and stay hydrated, you will feel more energized.”

The Pre-Athletics program, now in its second year at Vernon, offers students the opportunity to experience sports that coincide with sports being played during that particular time of the year.

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott appointed Julian Alvarez of Harlingen to the Texas Workforce Commission for a term set to expire on February 1, 2017.

The Texas Workforce Commission is charged with overseeing and providing workforce development services to employers and job seekers of Texas.

Julian Alvarez previously served as president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership and also served as a Texas regional director for the U.S. Senate.

HARLINGEN — Mayor Chris Boswell stands strong behind the city’s plans to build a $14 million convention center.

However, some people aren’t as sure of the concept as concerns are being raised about numbers showing decreases in incoming flights and concerns the 150-room up-scale hotel would take business from existing area hotels.

The city plans to use sales tax revenue ear-marked for economic development to pay back debt tied to the construction of the 43,000-square-foot convention center at the Harlingen Heights business district.

Meanwhile, developer BC Lynd would fund the construction of an upscale 150-room hotel while leasing, operating and staffing the convention center.

“It’s a total home run,” Boswell said Friday. “That’s one of the upsides of this project — we have a great partner.”

But some local hotel executives are concerned a big, luxury hotel would take away business in the city in which two new hotels already have opened in just more than a year.

“After that, the market will be saturated, so business would slow down for anybody else,” said Eddie Aguirre, general manager at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Harlingen. “It sucks away some business (other hotels) normally would get.”

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At 6:45 p.m., a crowd begins to gather in front of a building in Weslaco not many out-of-towners know.

It’s dark and the only light illuminating the dimly lit parking lot emanates from the gas station next door.

One by one, cars arrive and people grab their bags, and immediately rush to the door only to find that it is still locked.

By 7 p.m. a crowd of around 25 has congregated in the parking lot of the still-locked building. However, rather than wait for someone to open the locked doors, the people begin to put on skates along with other gear and roll around the dimly lit lot.

Finally, at 7:15 the owners of the building, which turns out to be a roller rink, unlock the doors and the skaters begin to flood inside, eager to get down to business.

But these aren’t just any skaters. They’re the RGV Bandidas — the only roller derby team in the Rio Grande Valley.

For those unfamiliar, the sport of roller derby dates back to the early 1900s, but didn’t make an impact until the 1970s when Hollywood films like “Kansas City Bombers” and “Unholy Rollers” thrust the sport into the spotlight.

Most recently, the sport was featured in the 2009 film “Whip It,” starring Ellen Page and, before that, in a 2007 documentary tilted “Blood on the Flat Track” that takes viewers into the world of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which is roller derby’s international governing body and something the RGV Bandidas are working toward becoming a part of.

For now, however, the Bandidas are an independent team, playing the hand it was dealt and starting from scratch. In fact, this is the first season of the team’s existence as, up until this year, the Bandidas were two separate squads — the Mac Town Rebel Rollers and the South Texas Rolleristas.

However, to increase their odds of being accepted into the WFTDA, both teams decided to band together and become one.

“It was more advantageous for us to get together,” said co-president Berina Beltran Sanchez. “We were both working toward a common goal and it’s been beneficial to both sides.

“We shaved both names and came together as a group of skaters to form a brand-new name, create a color and logo for the league, and basically start from square one again.”

With a sport as unique and colorful as roller derby, the personalities of the skaters have to match.

The Bandidas consist of women between the ages of 18-45 and come from all walks of life, including college students discovering their passions, business professionals wanting to experience a different side of life and mothers who are looking for some stress relief.

“I’ve traveled, I’m educated, I have a great job, I raise kids and now I’m thinking, ‘what next?’ I’ve done everything already,” said Rena Vela, a second-year skater. “For me, it was a chance to do something that women sometimes don’t get a chance to do.”

SPELLING B

As unique as the sport itself, the names the athletes choose for themselves while they are on the track are just as imaginative.

One-of-a-kind names include, Flying-Hellfish, BEAT-e Smalls, Ann Hooligan, Shockira and Diablo Blanco.

No two monikers are alike. In fact, to prevent skaters from copying each other’s names, players must register in an online database.

“Your derby names are kind of your alter ego and they are supposed to be fun and catchy,” said Beltran Salinas, aka, JalapenYoAzz. “Nobody in the world can have the same derby name.”

NUMBERS GAME

Perhaps the biggest issue for the Bandidas since the merger has been adjusting to the team’s size. Going from two separate, smaller teams to one big unit has raised a few concerns.

“On a personal level, I think we were all skeptical of merging because we thought maybe we would loose the friendships that we gained or lose people because perhaps they didn’t want to merge,” said Anazette Cano.

“For me, it was more of a question of ‘Am I good enough?’ We were a small team and now some were wondering if we were still going to be able to play or maybe lose our spot,” added Yaritza Hernandez. “Were we still going to have that sisterhood bond? I believe that on the Mac Town Rebel Rollers we all loved each other and we were scared of losing that bond.

“But I can honestly say that merging was a good idea because it brought a lot of us out of our shells more, and it made us stronger and more motivated.”

For others the merger brought more than just numbers to the squad.

“There’s been more positive energy because everybody is on the same page and we all have one goal, and it’s an awesome feeling to have all these girls with the same goal,” said Heather Moreno, a six-year veteran.

“I don’t know what it is, but I feel it. Instead of having two girls on the same page we have 40 girls that all want the same thing.”