New transmission towers are marching across CameronCounty as construction moves forward on a project that will bring 345-kilovolts worth of new electrical capacity to the LowerRio GrandeValley.

It’s part of the Cross Valley Project, a transmission line running from a substation northwest of Edinburg and connecting to Sharyland Utilities’ new Palmito Substation near the Port of Brownsville.

Sharyland is building the 46-mile CameronCounty portion of the $309 million project and Electric Transmission Texas LLC — a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power Texas and MidAmerican Energy Holdings — is building the HidalgoCounty portion.

Dallas-based Sharyland is privately owned by Hunter L. Hunt and other members of the Ray L. Hunt family.

The Electrical Reliability Council of Texas in 2011 deemed the project critical to the reliability of ERCOT’s system grid in the LowerValley after rolling outages in February of that year. ERCOT manages the electric grid and the deregulated electricity market that covers roughly 85 percent of the state.

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SAN BENITO — The race cars slowed into the hairpin turn of the speedway.

Coming out of the turn, with a burst of speed they zoomed down the straightaway.

Then one car slammed into the barricade and went airborne, flipping over and landing on its top.

It was hit immediately by another car, which flew into the air end over end before crashing onto its side.

But at this speedway, no one gets hurt. That’s because these aren’t Indy 500 cars.

They’re one-tenth scale, battery-powered cars controlled by members of the Zoomers R/C Car Club. These “drivers” use hand-held radio transmitters to maneuver their cars around the race track.

Every Sunday afternoon, December through March, club members meet at the Fun N Sun RV Resort “Speedway” in San Benito to test their skills against each other.

It’s become a popular spectator sport among the residents of the RV park and others who come to see the race track action.

Many of them watch from golf carts that line the sides of the track. Others bring lawn chairs — all to see what the drivers call pretty much close to the real thing.

Why do they do it? Many of the club members are just plain car and race enthusiasts.

“A lot of these guys had cars, maybe hotrods or something like that, when they were younger and they’re racing enthusiasts. This is a nice way for them to renew their passion for cars,” club president Paul Sterkowitz, a permanent park resident who is a former Winter Texan from Chicago.

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AUSTIN — The Texas Lyceum last week announced that a pair of Harlingen residents — Cameron County Commissioner Dan Sanchez and Rosalinda Mercado-Garza, CEO, E-Colors Education Inc. — have been selected as new directors for 2016.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization announced 18 new Lyceum directors have been selected to join the organization, which is focused on cultivating the next generation of Texas leaders by engaging them in an array of invaluable statewide and international programming sparking lively and respectful public policy debate.

Dave Shaw of Austin, president of Arrow Media, an Austin-based branding and public relations firm, was sworn in as its president Jan. 12 at the Texas Capitol.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead the Texas Lyceum into its 36th year,” said Shaw. “The Texas Lyceum plays a vital role by bringing together diverse leaders from across the state and creating a space for civil discourse about the policy issues that are important to the future of Texas. It’s an organization where we leave partisan politics at the door to create a statewide network of leaders who can work together for the betterment of our state.”

In 2016, Lyceum directors, who are from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and other areas, will engage in a valuable list of statewide programming including the year’s first meeting later this month in Galveston entitled, “Facing the Storm: Preserving a Resilient Texas,” which will focus on state preparedness for natural disasters, as well as the economics of recovery.

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SAN BENITO — The 10th annual “Noche De Ronda” Valentine benefit dance is scheduled Feb. 13 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in San Benito.

Music for the event will be provided by Grammy Award winner Eddie Perez and the West Side Band.

All proceeds will go to the San Benito Museums Building Fund.

“This is a historic event for the West Side Band. It will be the first time that they have performed at the San Benito KC Hall,” said Rey Avila, founder of the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the organization sponsoring the event.

“They generate quality music that is great for dancing and for listening.”

Tickets are now on sale at the San Benito Chamber of Commerce at 223 South Sam Houston, the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce at 311 E. Tyler, at the San Benito KC Hall, 826 E. Stenger, or at the door.

Admission is $20 per person.

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The robots have taken over at Gutierrez Middle School. What began as an after school club for students at Gutierrez Middle School has expanded into a full-fledged operation with added teams, summer camps, and a growing fleet of robots.

Harlingen FIRST Robotics, headquartered at GMS, has added two new teams – Jag Tech and RGV Rotors – to its existing Robo Jags in order to accommodate its increasing members and diverse age group.

Last year, HFR began its first year as participants of FIRST Lego League (grades 4-8) and was successful in advancing to the Regional Competition.

Members of the Jaguar Tech and RGV Rotors teams have advanced to the next level of competition – the FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 7-12). Participants in these teams have been building and perfecting their design for this year’s game the FIRST RES-Q competition.

“Our students have a lot going for them,” said Veronica Baca FIRST Senior Mentor and GMS Library Media Specialist. “We have hosted ‘mini’ meets with other FTC teams and we’ve mentored other teams. Our goal is to get more Harlingen schools involved in FIRST at the middle and high school level.”

Currently ranked first, this will be the league to beat at competition.

“I feel really proud of being ranked first,” said seventh grade student Jerome Trevino. “Our teams have worked so hard on the robots and it shows. We have the advantage in the competition and other teams will have to catch up to us.”

The 2015-2016 FTC game, FIRST RES-Q, is modeled after rescue situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe. Played by two Alliances of two robots each, robots will score points by strategically accomplishing as many tasks as possible within the allotted time. Each match begins with a 30-second autonomous period followed by a two minute driver-controlled period, which includes a 30-second end game.

Members of the Robo Jags have also been meticulously programming their robot to outdo other teams in the FLL’s Trash Trek Challenge.

Sixth grade student Marco Lopez explains that when it comes to building and programming robots, you really need to get your creative juices flowing.

“You mostly need creativity,” says Lopez. “No instructions are given when you start building your robot. You have to make the blueprints in your mind and make changes as you go along.”

Their challenge asks teams to explore the hidden but fascinating world of trash, from collection, to sorting, to smart production, and reuse. They must also invent a solution to help the trash problem and create their own Lego Mindstorms robot to accomplish trash-themed “missions” on a playing field.

On February 6, all three groups will head to Pharr for FIRST-Rio Grande Valley’s FTC and FLL Qualifier where they will compete against other teams from the RGV.

Texas history has long forgotten another Tejano hero, Jose Francisco Ruiz, one of the 59 Texas patriots who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836.

Ruiz would serve Texas as an educator, a city civil servant, a legal advisor, a military officer, a public servant in the Senate as well as a Texas patriot.

In 1803, he was San Antonio’s head school master and was elected to the City Council in 1805. Later, in 1809, his duties would soon include being the city attorney, administering the legal affairs of the city.

His long military career started when he joined Bexar (San Antonio) Provincial Militia on Jan. 14, 1811, with the rank of lieutenant.

Several years later, he joined the Republican Army at Bexar and took part in the Battle of Medina for Independence from Spain on Aug.

18, 1813. With the defeat of the revolutionaries by the Spanish General, Joaquin Arredondo, he and his nephew, Jose Antonio Navarro, would live in exile in Louisiana until there was a general amnesty for the Ruiz family in 1822.

With his long exile ended, Ruiz returned to Texas and was appointed to the Mounted Militia, where he took an active part in negotiating a peace treaty with the Lipan Indians in Mexico City in September 1822.

Eventually, Ruiz would be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and be given a command at Fort Tenoxtitlan in 1832 in Texas to prevent any further American colonization.

After retiring from military service, he later joined the Texas cause for liberty and traveled to Washingtonon- the-Brazos, along with his nephew, Jose Antonio Navarro, as delegates from San Antonio, to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Ruiz’s life and contributions for Texas Independence will be honored and remembered at the 8th annual Texas Independence Day celebration at the San Benito Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 12.

At the opening of the event, all the visitors will be asked to resign the Texas Declaration with the names of our 59 Texas patriots, and who will want to personally resign Jose Francisco Ruiz signature to this famous document, just like this Tejano patriot did 180 years ago.

Jack Ayoub, Harlingen

BY NORMAN ROZEFF

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is next part in an ongoing series on San Benito’s Sam Robertson. The previous parts can be found at www.valleystar.com.

“This region got its first real shock in June, 1904, when I crossed the Arroyo Colorado with an army of Irish, Negro and Mexican laborers and some old wheezy wood — burning locomotives, pile drivers building the railroad through the jungles to Bessie, now San Benito, and on to Brownsville. All the wild animals and young and old Mexicans were scared to death of these wild Irish, Negroes and locomotives and their fears were well founded for it meant so–called civilization and progress was about to arrive and these people’s happy lives were about to end.

The wild animals were killed and ran away and these real Americans whose ancestors had lived happily in the jungles for a thousand years, had to go to work with pick, shovel and hoe or go bootlegging for an existence. They are now often unable to find work with which to buy corn and frijoles. I am not overly proud of my part in helping to bring progress and civilization to this region to help ruin the lives of those who were here before me.

In June, 1904, while laying the railroad track through Bessie, I made the acquaintance of Oliver Hicks and James Landrum of the Powers Estate and made a verbal contract to build the San Benito irrigation canal, the town of San Benito and to purchase thousands of acres of land from the owner of the old Powers Estate. They knew I had no money at that time. I was on crutches with a broken leg and several broken ribs and had to get around on my old white horse which would lay(sic) down to let me get on his back. But these gentlemen had through two long year to put over the San Benito project.

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…a few days after meeting Mr. Hicks and Mr. Landrum, I rode up the Fresno resaca through the Quates Ranch into Rancho Viejo Resaca near your school and on the river near Las Rucias and selected the route to what was to be the San Benito canal.

The following two years, I spent a large part of my time in surveying and raising the capital to put over the San Benito project. Finally, in November, 1906, after having finished the Santa Maria canal, first section of the Mercedes canal, and a railroad contract for the T. & B. V. R. R. on all of which jobs I had made some money, I moved in my team outfit from Mercedes and started construction of the San Benito canal.

First work was done near Lock No. 2. I continued on this canal construction until 1913.

In 1907, the three Heywood brothers, Judge Batts, Mrs. Ed. Rowson, William Stenger and Mr. Swanson came in with me and we formed the San Benito Land and Water Co. with a capital of $500,000.

Later we sold the company’s bonds for $1,050,000, sold town lots and thousands of acres of land at a good profit, used every dollar of all this money in development

of the San Benito project.

The stockholders who stayed with the company never saved a dollar of their capital and there was some loss to bondholders but I had ten years of hard, interesting work, made some enemies and many friends.

Early in 1917, I left the country for the American Army in France, broke but happy.* Thus ended my part of the crime of building the San Benito project.

After the formation of the San Benito Land and Water Co., thousands of men grubbed out this jungle, killed the snakes, ticks and fleas, killed most of the wild animals and birds and scared the balance away.

The first orchard was planted near Highland in 1908. H. G. Stilwell, Sr., now of Brownsville, started the San Benito Nursery, planted alfalfa, red clover, grapes, bananas, coconuts, pineapples, pears, oranges, lemons, kumquats, aguacates, Japanese plums, none of which did well. A hard frost ruined most of the fruit and the clover and alfalfa died out. Mr. Stilwell also put out English walnuts, almonds, pecans and Japanese tung nuts. But he was succeeded by a cotton farmer and the trees died.

Colonel Coleman quit and went to Florida but his orchard still carries on. The country around Highland settled rapidly from 1908 to 1913. But alfalfa, sugarcane, fruit, low markets, boll weevils and other things discouraged many farmers who were forced to quit the country. The canal got in the hands of receivers, and bandits from the Mexican side of the river raided the country and sacred away more people in 1915 and 1916 but the Army came to the border in 1915 and business got good by 1917.

In 1910 and 1911, in order to encourage land sales, I promoted and built the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway from Sugarland through Rio Hondo, San Benito, Highland, La Paloma, Carricitos, Los Indios, Rangerville to Santa Maria and from Madero through Mission to Monte Carlo. This railroad was called the spiderweb and the “Back Door Railroad.”

I sold the railroad to the Equitable Trust Co. of New York for the account of B. F. Yoakum and associates. I made a nice profit on its construction and put it all into the San Benito project and lost it but the railroad is still here and has been acquired by the Missouri Pacific System. The little railroad operated with a gasoline motor car for passengers and express and did a good business until put out of business by autos and trucks. It always used steam locomotives for freight service.

The World War coming on in 1914 in which America joined in 1917 and the shipping of 125,000 soldiers to the Valley in 1915 and 1916 made a period of about 14 years of great financial prosperity for the Valley and the nation. This prosperity built on the killing and destruction of millions of people caused wild speculation, lavish extravagance, foolish spending and the voting of enormous bond issues which you, your children and your grandchildren won’t have paid off for many years. Us older folks have left you a heritage of debt, which to try to pay off you will have to study hard, work hard and think clearly and not try to get by on optimism, boasting, bragging and luck as most of us older people have done for 15 years.

It is up to you to prove that progress of 20th Century civilization, paved roads, the automobile, radio, picture shows (Note: Television had not been invented.), the 1930-31 system of education and what our President calls the ‘high plane of living’ is an improvement over the more primitive life lived by the people here previous to 1904.

In 1904, it was my good fortune and privilege to be a guest at Rancho Cipres at the Landrum home on the Military road. This was the most, delightful, hospitable home it was ever my privilege to enter. They had a dozen servants, well fed, happy and contented and all loved their dear patron who was a real father, protector to all his people. In 40 years he never had a lock on home or storehouse.

During the bandit troubles, the young girls stayed at home under protection of the servants as safe as if in Washington, D. C. but on this ranch there was discipline, all obeyed orders and no one touched a thing which did not belong to them. No traveler ever passed Rancho Cipres who was not invited to rest, feed his horse in the corral and dine with the family. There were flowers, good music, splendid food and soft beds and a royal welcome for all.

It is up to you young folks to make the Highland District as happy as it was previous to 1904. By hard work, hard study, wide reading and the substitution of sound thinking for optimism and boasting and trusting to luck, I have confidence you will do this and win. Del Mar, Texas, Dec. 1, 1931, Sincerely, Sam A. Robertson.” (Editor’s Note – Del Mar was on Boca Chica beach which Robertson owned at the time).

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s lives.”

Richard Bach, American Author and Aviator

The definitions for “family” are many and varied, but the essence remains the same: Family is comprised of those individuals in our lives who provide unconditional love and respect to one another.

The Family may not be just having a Mother and Father, or of those other kindred related by blood, but may be a circle of close friends and companions who come into our lives on our Journey of life. Family is indeed comprised of those individuals who have unconditional love and friendship for one another; those who help us maintain our good mental health; and those of whom we are saddened when we are separated from them.

In today’s American society many children are being raised in unconventional and broken families; whether it be by a single parent brought on by death of a mate or divorce, a Foster Parent, extended family members…often left with making choices and decisions on their own regarding life’s essential values. Those choices that they make, whether they are good or bad, set the stage as to the direction they take on the path toward adulthood.

Parental figures in one’s life that provide good discipline and love are essential to our growth and development; paving the way for our life’s journey. Role models provide us with our values. Good role models teach virtuous behaviors…the difference between good and bad, truth and dishonesty, etc…. not to take things that do not belong to us, to respect others’ lives, not to cheat or lie, etc.

As all behaviors are learned, beginning at a very young age, it is essential that parental figures begin teaching values to their children as toddlers…not wait until they go beyond the age of reason to learn them on their own. Teaching virtuous behavior, good values, to our children is not the responsibility of the schools or other organizations and agencies in our communities; but the responsibility of the parents or other care-takers in the child’s life.

So often in counseling sessions, I would hear statements of excuse for one’s behaviors not due to their being persons with a mental or substance abuse diagnosis…”what do you expect, I was raised in a broken home!,” etc. There have been volumes written on those individuals that grew up to accept good values and behaviors despite their being raised in a dysfunctional family setting.

Life, my friends, is comprised of the choices we make; blame cannot be assigned to others for the choices we make. I remember as a child being told that “you are known by the company you keep…” a phrase that always stuck with me, as most of you know as well. Keeping “good company” means that we are choosing to accept virtuous behaviors over non-virtuous behaviors…we are choosing to do that which is right and honest.

Parents and parental figures in a child’s life very often forget this in contemporary society with the problems the child faces from day to day…drugs, violence, etc. Children must not only be taught what virtuous behaviors are, but also be taught the proper coping methods and techniques to live virtuous lives; they do not just begin doing so on their own.

Before children accept and develop virtuous behaviors, however, they must be taught with proper discipline about good behaviors. So often people tend to forget or disregard this. In communities, as well as our larger society, our children are often abused and neglected due to the choices that their significant adults make…the abuse of alcohol and other chemical substances, not obeying traffic signs, leaving children unattended in stores, stealing, etc. If the child learns that this is acceptable practice, then they may choose (and they often do) to follow a path of these behaviors.

Of the thousands of individuals I have counseled with, the vast majority of them were taught, and chose to, follow in the footsteps of their parents/significant adults in developing unhealthy attitudes about consuming ethanol beverages, the abuse of other substances, to disregard laws, etc; and to repeat the cycle with their own children.

On the flip side, I have been witness to extraordinary parenting by adults in our community: The mother protecting her child from harm by constantly watching and being there for the child, the parents not allowing their children to “run wild” in a store, the parents engaged in the responsible drinking of adult alcohol beverages, the parent giving good counsel and guidance to the child when they engage in bad behaviors, the parents giving praise to the child who exhibits good behaviors, the parents attending church services with their children, etc.

These are instances of learning and development for the child…so that they may learn to develop respect and love for their immediate and extended societal families.

Nowhere can the courage and perseverance of the family can be viewed as in the family who suffers from the burden of a family member with a disability. I have the deepest empathy of those families who are coping day to day with a family member with a disability…their courage and conviction is admirable. Despite the frustration and anxieties they experience on a daily basis they manage to persevere…to hold their family together.

Yes, my friends, family is the glue that holds the fabric of our society together. We need to keep up the emphasis on this. Until next time, Stay Healthy my Friends!

Reading is a wonderful experience, especially when a child discovers how. For children with autism, communication is a major challenge. Reading can be very difficult for many of these children as well.

Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) read incredibly well. Yet, they do not comprehend what they are reading. Other children with more severe or classical autism have a tremendous hurdle in comprehending that a group of letters even means a word. For them, just learning to communicate with pictures to express their wants in needs can become a lifelong challenge.

Ideally, over time, the more severe ASD individuals may learn to use a single written word to replace a picture to express themselves.

Chris was one of the newest boys in the class and had not yet learned to read. He was a first grader and had been through the PPCD (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities). The boy could identify most of his letters but didn’t understand how to put them together to make words. Like all children with ASD, pictures are the best way for them to learn.

The first step in reading was for Chris to be able to match the same pictures from a group of pictures. For example, a picture of a fish on the left was presented on a computer screen. To the right were four choices, a horse, a train, a fish and a ball. Chris learned quickly to match the fish with a fish. Gradually, the pictures moved on to letters, then to groups of letters and finally to words.

Once Chris could match word to word, he was ready to learn how to read.

For Chris the gift of reading opened through the Edmark Reading Program. This particular program had been in the classroom for several years. Though an old program, it still worked its magic. Horse was the first word in the program that the children learned. It was followed by a, car, see, I, and, yellow and ball.

After a few repetitive oral lessons of “Find the word horse. Read the word horse. Find the word a. Read the word a…” Chris moved on to the next section. In that section, a train comes across the computer screen. The word horse appears above the train. Then several doors open on the train including pictures of a horse, a blue car, a blue ball, and a yellow car.

The child must choose the picture that goes with the word. More words are presented with new train doors. The student continues to match the word with the correct picture on the train.

In a short time, simple sentences appear on the screen. Finally, Chris began to read his first sentence “See a horse.” He read it perfectly. The teacher moved the boy into worksheets. She handed him one where he had to circle the word that went with the picture from an array of two. Gradually, more words appeared on the computer including a two word combination of yellow ball.

The first time Chris saw the word combination he immediately picked a green ball. When the computer program shut the train car down, the boy realized he did something wrong. The teacher told him to read the phrase again. Sure enough, this time Chris picked the right train door with the yellow ball. The boy had discovered the magic of reading. Like any child, he was quite proud of himself and rightly so. So was his teacher and family.

Another exciting thing about reading with pictures was that Chris was improving in his communication. Picture based learning for children with ASD is critical. They generally do very poorly with phonic based reading or oral listening skills. At least 25 percent of the general population are visual learners. Visual Learning is especially useful for children with ASD.

Unfortunately, that is not the way reading is generally taught today. Yet, for those with severe ASD, teaching communication and reading best begins with simple picture icons followed with picture words for those who have higher functioning ASD.

Pamela Gross Downing, a special education teacher, can be contacted at [email protected].

HARLINGEN — As flu season reaches its peak, the Rio Grande Valley was listed as the area with the highest flu rate in the nation for the week of Jan. 31, according to the Walgreen’s Flu Index.

The index illustrates the areas experiencing the highest rates but does not show the severity of the sickness and is based on the consumption of retailed prescription medications.

Though the Valley is the area with the highest flu index, Texas as a whole ranks third in the nation, after Arizona and Nevada.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests these methods to prevent and minimize chances of getting the flu this season.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

– Stay home when you are sick to prevent the spreading of illnesses.

– Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

– Clean your hands to protect yourself and others from germs.

– Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

– Practice other good health habits like getting plenty of sleep, being physically active, managing your stress, drinking plenty of fluids and eating nutritious foods.

For more information on preventing the flu, visit cdc.gov.