AUSTIN — A total of 18 business professionals of Leadership Harlingen Class XXX traveled last week to the state capitol in Austin for their annual state government session.

The two-day trip included meetings with various state government representatives and a dinner at the Austin Club on Tuesday night.

“Being informed about how government works is instrumental to our success as a region,” said Chris Gonzales, President and CEO of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce. “Our leadership program accomplishes this each year by scheduling our Austin trip and lining up a stellar group of speakers.”

Secretary of State Carlos Cascos welcomed the leadership class on Tuesday afternoon and discussed his travels across the state and his new radio campaign to increase voter turnout in Texas.

Leaders also were able to meet with representatives from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner Sid Miller of the Texas Department of Agriculture and legislative consultants for the city of Harlingen, Terral Smith and William Yarnell.

“This trip really clarified our Chamber’s role in keeping Harlingen and its interests fully represented at the state level, especially the hard work that has to be done with elected officials from outside the Valley,” said Joseph Albury, Leadership Harlingen participant and Small Business Relationship Manager III of Lone Star National Bank.

On the second day, there were morning meetings in the capitol with George P. Bush, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, and representatives from the Texas Railroad Commission Office, Texas Education Agency Office, Speaker of the House Office and the Office of the Governor.

“It was very intriguing to hear from Texas General Land Commissioner George P. Bush, not only for the pertinent information on what his office does but also to get a firsthand account of what presidential primary politics looks like in Texas regarding voting and delegates,” said Albury.

HARLINGEN — Voters going to the polls will be asked some serious yes or no questions aside from voting for federal, state and county candidates in the primary election.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY ELECTION

Referenda Item #1 On Economic Security & Prosperity

Should the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress pass an economic security and prosperity plan for families that includes higher incomes by raising the state minimum wage to a livable wage, passing the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure equal pay for equal work, guaranteeing paid family leave to care for a child or ill loved one, fully funding public neighborhood schools, and making a debt-free community college education a reality for hardworking students?

Referenda Item #2 On a Fair Criminal Justice System

Should the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress pass criminal justice reform legislation that ensures equal justice throughout our society without respect to race, socioeconomic status, geographic location, or other factors unrelated to behavior, ensuring as well common sense policies to protect the rights of law enforcement officers, the community, and defendants in the criminal justice system?

For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.

Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.

HARLINGEN — The city’s new geocache challenge launches its version of “finders-keepers” this week.

City workers have hidden 25 geocaching sites in the city over the past few weeks. The treasure hunt will cover parks, historic downtown and other landmarks.

The city of Harlingen’s GeoQuest program uses GPS coordinates to find hidden and camouflaged sites which contain a log that finders can sign to show they found the cache.

Geocaching is an outdoor activity involving using a mobile phone or other device that links to the satellite Global Positioning System, hence GPS. The “caches” are usually a waterproof container in which a log is provided for the hunter who found the cache to enter his or her name, and the date it was discovered. They close the box, and leave it for the next geocacher to find.

No money or treasure is awarded to the winners, alas, but they do have the satisfaction of outwitting the city workers who created the secret geocache sites.

“The GeoQuest Program is essentially a technology-driven, guided tour of the city of Harlingen,” City Manager Dan Serna said in a statement. “It also goes hand-in-hand with the objective of the mayor’s (Mayor Chris Boswell) newly-established Wellness Council. We’re getting the community interested in the city with exercise as a direct benefit.”

The GeoQuest challenge launches at 10:30 a.m. today at Pendleton Park Pavilion. Once that happens, participants can go to www.geocaching.com for their clues.

Parks and Recreation Director Javier Mendez said 25 locations were chosen for the hidden geocache treasures. He said in most cases, once GPS gives you a geocache location, it is only a general location.

“You will then need to rely on your senses to search for and find the geocache,” Mendez said.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

Dill Buttermilk Ranch Dip

1 tablespoon fresh baby dill

½ cup mayo

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup milk

¼ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

salt, to taste

Oven-Fried Pickles

1 (24 oz) jar dill pickle spears

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

½ cup Panko bread crumbs

½ cup stone-ground cornmeal

¼ cup plain bread crumbs

1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. In the bowl of your food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients for the ranch. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a small bowl and cover. Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

2. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F and spray a large baking sheet with a non-stick spray. Set aside.

3. Drain the jarred pickles and place them on a paper towel-lined plate. Pat completely dry. Set aside.

4. In one shallow bowl, add the flour. In another shallow bowl, add the eggs and whisk to combine. In a third shallow bowl, combine the panko, corn meal, regular bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Toss the ingredients until evenly distributed. You shouldn’t need any more salt, as the pickles are already extremely salty. If you need more salt, then feel free to salt away.

5. Starting with one pickle, dredge in flour, then coat in the whisked eggs, and then transfer to the bread crumb mixture. Toss the pickle to make sure it is evenly coated, pressing to adhere where it is needed. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat this step for the rest of the pickles. Spray the pickles with a non-stick canola oil spray.

6. Place the pickles in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating them halfway through. Spraying again with a non-stick canola oil spray. Make sure they are crispy before pulling them from the oven. This may take more or less time, so keep a close eye.

7. Serve immediately out of the oven with homemade dill buttermilk ranch.

Yield: 16 pieces

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

½ cup oil

1 large egg

1 cup apples, peeled and diced

10 soft caramel candy squares

2 ½ tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8×8 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

2. In another medium-sized bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together sugar, oil, and egg until smooth and blended. Add flour mixture and beat until well-combined. Batter will be thick. Fold in diced apples.

3. Spoon about 2/3 of batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt together caramel candies and heavy cream, stirring constantly so mixture doesn’t burn. Once caramel is completely melted and smooth, drizzle over batter.

4. Spoon remaining batter in dollops over caramel, then swirl it in gently with a knife. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out with a few, moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

Apricot Mustard

¼ cup mustard seeds

½ cup dried apricots

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup apple cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Herb Fried Chicken

peanut oil

6 cloves garlic, slightly smashed with skins intact

6 sprigs hard herbs: thyme, oregano, and rosemary

4 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3 pieces

½ cup Greek yogurt

1cup milk

1 teaspoon hot sauce/chili sauce (optional)

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Apricot Mustard

1. Soak mustard seeds and apricots in a glass bowl along with wine and vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak for 3 days at room temperature.

2. Transfer mustard seeds, apricots, white wine and apple cider vinegar to a food processor. Add salt, brown sugar and nutmeg and blend until the mustard reaches your desired coarseness and consistency.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until it’s the size of small peas. Add buttermilk in a pool in the middle, then mix until just combined. Turn out the biscuit dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently by folding it in half, rolling out the dough, then repeating the fold and roll two additional times. Cut out biscuits using a 2-inch cutter, place on parchment-lined baking sheet, then brush them with melted butter.

3. Bake at 475 degrees fahrenheit for 12 minutes. Remove biscuits from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Herb Fried Chicken

1. Fry chicken in three batches using a medium skillet. Add 1½ inches of peanut oil to the skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Add garlic and herbs immediately so that they infuse while the oil comes to temperature.

2. Meanwhile, pat dry the chicken and set aside. Whisk together greek yogurt, milk and chili sauce (if using) in medium bowl. Sift together flour, salt and black pepper in a separate medium bowl. Drench the chicken first in the flour, then in the milk and again in the flour.

3. Begin frying chicken. The oil is ready to start frying when it sizzles from a drop of water. Fry the chicken for 3 minutes on each side. Check for doneness by cutting into the center of a piece, then adjust heat and cooking time accordingly. It’s better to keep the heat in the medium to medium-high range and cook longer than to crank the heat and end up with burnt chicken. Trandsfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined plate, then serve with biscuits and apricot mustard.

This is ironic. Cubans are coming to the United States asking for asylum. They claim they live in a suppressive regime. The fact is every day they come by the hundreds. The United States just lets them in. Criminals and all.

The United States his number 1 in the total population in prison. We have approximately 2,217,000 men and women detained.

Cuba is number 32. They have approximately 57,337 in prison.

The United States has 698 prisoners per 100,000 population. Cuba has 510 prisoners per 100,000. Worldwide the United States is number 2 while Cuba is number 6.

Here is the ironic part. Cubans are asking to come to a country where the population rate in prison is higher than their own.

They are asking to come to the United States where our government is more suppressive and less tolerable.

Facts are facts. Could it be the freebies? Maybe they want to be part of our national debt?

Santiago Perez, San Benito

Investigators with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office confiscated bundles of money on Valentine’s Day during a planned traffic stop in San Benito. They also arrested three men in connection with the bust.

According to a news release from the DA’s office, on Sunday some of their uniformed officers stopped a white Mercury Villager van for traffic violations on the southbound lanes of Expressway 77 near the Sam Houston exit in San Benito.

During the stop, they say officers noticed the men appeared nervous and gave different stories. The officers were given permission to search the minivan.

“During the search the officers found a bundle of an undetermined amount of US Currency wrapped in tin foil. Further investigation revealed that the vehicle contained an aftermarket electronic hidden compartment in the floor board of the vehicle, which contained 7 additional bundles of an undetermined amount of US Currency,” according to the news release.

In all eight bundles of cash were seized.

Officers arrested Jose Morales Lopez, Luis Ernesto Lopez Morales, and Javier Garza. More arrests are expected.

NEW BRAUNFELS — Downtown Harlingen is home to a popular farmer’s market, educational walking tours, musical jams, art walks, running events and much more.

With a 93 percent occupancy rate and a mixture of businesses spread across the 18-block area, some could say the revitalization of the downtown area during the past 25 years is a model to other communities around the state.

This past weekend, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) commended Harlingen for successful annual progress as a designated Main Street community, one of 58 to be recognized this year.

This is the 10th year in a row Downtown Harlingen has attained national accreditation. Harlingen is the only downtown in the Rio Grande Valley to achieve the accreditation.

Downtown Harlingen manager Cheryl LaBerge said although she was on hand to pick up the award, it was on behalf of all the people who are involved in Downtown Harlingen, all the events that occur there and anyone interested and passionate about the downtown.

“This is not about me,” she said yesterday, a day after returning from New Braunfels. “This is about what we do as a community. We are all out there making a huge difference.”

Downtown Harlingen is a public improvement district established in 1989 to foster economic growth and redevelopment in the historic city center.

Since the 1980s, Downtown Harlingen has gone from abandoned to more than 93 percent occupancy.

Today there are more than 170 businesses and organizations in the 18-block downtown district, as well as families that reside in spacious upper-story lofts.

Several criteria are analyzed to determine whether the downtown is recognized. That includes the partnerships formed, volunteer efforts, events, building renovations, reinvestment, financial status, reports, training and preservation.

Accredited programs show above average performance in the 10 categories on an annual report.

The state office also works with programs throughout the year by providing various services based upon local needs.

LaBerge called it a huge accomplishment.

“This is not just us saying it,” she said about the honor.

The Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) began in 1981 as one of the first state coordinating programs in the country. 2016 marks TMSP’s 35th anniversary.

Local Main Street programs focus on responsibly utilizing a community’s historic assets for economic benefit and to increase quality of life. During 2015, more than $216 million was reinvested into Texas’ 90 Main Street districts. Additionally, 327 small businesses and 1,710 jobs were created.

LaBerge said efforts in downtown Harlingen show a consistency, especially being recognized 10 years in a row.

“We are making progress,” she said. “We have had a lot of new thing the last year.”

Those include new businesses and events, some of which are engaging a younger group of people to come downtown.

For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.

Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.

HARLINGEN — Police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a robbery.

At approximately 3 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to the 1500 block of North Commerce Street regarding an aggravated robbery.

Police found a man who said two male subjects had assaulted him and stolen personal items. Police said the incident occurred around 2 p.m. along the railroad tracks at the rear of an apartment complex on Commerce Street.

The victim said he was repeatedly punched and kicked. At one point, the assailants grabbed the victim’s skateboard and used it to strike him. The suspects took the victim’s backpack and contents and left the area.

The victim was hospitalized for treatment of various injuries he sustained during the attack.

Through the course of the investigation, detectives said they identified the suspects, ages 15 and 16, both from Harlingen.

For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.

Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find any-where else.