HARLINGEN — Questions have arisen over a $4.5 million project to renovate the city’s tallest building to include affordable housing units.

Last night, city commissioners approved a resolution supporting developer MRE Capital’s plan to apply for affordable housing tax credits to help fund the $4.5 million renovation of the Baxter Building into an apartment complex that would include at least some affordable housing units.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs requires the developer submit the City Commission’s resolution as part of its application for financing.

During the city’s presentation, builder Desi Martinez argued the proposed development would accept Section 8 vouchers.

“This project is not affordable housing. This is for low- to moderate-income,” Martinez, who said he builds affordable housing developments, told city commissioners.

But Mayor Chris Boswell strongly denied the claim.

“It does not involve Section 8 housing,” Boswell told Martinez. “That’s completely wrong and incorrect.”

Martinez disputed Commissioner Tudor Uhlhorn’s previous statement the developer plans to rent to “young professionals and retired couples.”

Martinez said the Baxter Building’s downtown location would not give the proposed development a family atmosphere.

“It’s not for family quality-of-life,” said Martinez, a former board member of agencies that include the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation and Harlingen WaterWorks. “There are a lot of bars, railroad tracks.”

Boswell said market rents would help fund the proposed development.

“It’s going to be a market-driven issue,” Boswell said after the meeting. “MRE Capital is an experienced developer of this kind of project. I don’t think they’d invest $4.5 million in a project that’s not feasible.”

Daniel Sailler, MRE’s co-founder, has said the proposed development would be made up of apartments that would rent at market value while others would rent to lower-income residents.

Based on the amount of tax credits the company would use, he said, MRE would determine the number of apartments that would be rented at market value and the number that would rent to lower-income residents.

But Sailler said MRE has not determined the number of affordable housing units it would offer.

Under the program, applicants with family incomes of about $35,000 and below could qualify for housing, Sailler said.

Sailler said MRE would determine the applicants who would become tenants.

The project to renovate the vintage 1927 building likely will hinge on developers’ success in their application for affordable housing tax credits.

On the condition the company qualifies for state and federal tax credits, MRE would pay the Harlingen Community Improvement Board $250,000 for the building while investing $4.5 million to renovate it to its original condition.

The city paid $300,000 for the building a few years ago.

HARLINGEN – The teachers have spoken.

Veronica Kortan, administrator for organizational development, spoke Tuesday about the feedback received from teachers after a furniture expo in early January. The expo had featured classroom furniture presented by eight vendors. The desks had innovative new shapes, the sweeping curves and rounded corners. Teachers at the expo relayed what they liked best.

During the Tuesday meeting of the Transforming Teaching and Learning Committee, a picture on a screen showed a desk with a shallow curve, reflecting preferences shared by teachers.

“That’s the shape they like,” Kortan said at the meeting at the school district’s administration building. The Teaching and Learning Committee is made up of school board members Gerry Fleuriet, Dr. Bobby Muniz and Greg Powers.

“The curve feels very flexible, and it should promote collaboration,” Kortan said. “It promotes a team environment. We’re in a modernization mode.”

Kortan spoke with great exuberance about the district entering a new era. That era includes the purchase of new furniture that would be more accommodating to new technology. Teachers are expected to receive Mac Air computers and they’ll be able to project information onto an Apple TV for the class to view. Classes will have iPads students can use for some assignments. Those and any other digital devices can also project onto the screen.

The district plans to spend $400,000 of TRE funds for the purchase of the furniture. TRE funds are additional dollars collected as a result of the recent tax increase. Current plans are to furnish the fourth and fifth-grade classrooms in all 17 of the district’s elementary schools next year. More grade levels will be furnished in the following years.

A mock classroom had been set up with samples of the furniture that could be purchased not only this year but in the following years. Committee members and others attending the meeting flooded into the room. Brightly-colored desks with pleasing gentle curves on each side were placed together for collaborative learning as well as teacher’s desks with computers.

The colorful student desks seemed to draw people’s attention.

“This is for a flexible teaching space,” Kortan said. She was referring to the way the desks can be pulled apart for individual learning and placed back together in a different arrangement.

She said the furniture and new technology would help implement the four Cs: Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking Skills. The district has emphasized the four Cs as an integral part of its Strategic Plan.

Beatrice Cruz, fifth-grade teacher at Zavala Elementary, was excited about the new furniture.

“The idea of modernizing the classroom, we’ve come a long way,” Cruz said. “Harlingen CISD is moving forward.”

Lori Romero, administrator for elementary education, also liked what she saw.

“This furniture is focused on student-centered learning,” Romero said. “The furniture we have is teacher centered.”

She was referring to the traditional rectangular desks in neat rows where students face the teacher at the front. This design is apparently being phased out.

The next step now is to go out for bids. Feedback from the teachers will be used to provide the specifications, said Kimberly Anderson, senior buyer for the district’s purchasing department. She said bid proposals would be sent to about 70 vendors later this month.

The new configuration is important for learning in the 21st-Century, said Nolan Perez, school board president.

“I commend the staff involved in creating a system by which our teachers and students have a voice in the modernization of our classrooms,” Perez said.

HARLINGEN — Local department stores are encouraged to be vigilant when it comes to possible theft in their stores.

During the past month, the Harlingen Police Department’s Crime Fusion Center has discovered a pattern of thefts occurring at local department, clothing, and home improvement stores.

According to information provided by the affected stores to the police department, the suspect selects items without paying.

He or she then goes to the customer service desk and returns the items, claiming they had been paid for but the receipt had been lost.

The policy at some local stores is to allow people to return items without receipts and receive store credit, police said.

Depending on the affected store’s procedure, the service desk then issues the suspect a gift card for a specific amount of the item.

The suspect then uses the gift card to make another purchase, usually the next day or so.

In other reports, the suspects search the outside garbage cans for receipts or locate them in the parking lot.

When a receipt is found, the suspect walks into the store, selects an item listed on the receipt, and returns the item for store credit, as if the item had been legitimately paid for, police said.

“The police department is currently investigating several theft cases throughout the city, where the above tactics have been used. The thefts are being committed by individuals, teams, and by both male and female suspects,” police said.

Police said these types of thefts also are happening in other Valley cities.

HPD encourages local businesses to report these types of incidents, as well as any other crime activities occurring at their businesses.

SAN BENITO — A bomb threat at a local middle school prompted an evacuation yesterday morning.

At approximately 7:45 a.m., San Benito Riverside Middle School received an anonymous phone call. The person on the line made a “bomb threat.”

San Benito CISD school and police personnel immediately placed the campus on a “code black” and evacuated Riverside Middle School prior to the start of the day yesterday morning.

This was done to allow school police officers and law enforcement personnel to conduct an investigation involving the threat placed to the school.

The building was declared safe at approximately 8:45 a.m. Students and staff were deemed safe and classes were back to normal.

Officers will continue to investigate.

District officials encourage anyone with information about this incident to call local Crime Stoppers at 361-2125.

All calls are kept anonymous and confidential.

Students were sent home with a letter for parents explaining the situation and parents were also notified by the district automated messaging system of the situation.

“San Benito CISD and Riverside Middle School take matters like this very seriously and as such, we are cooperating with school officials, school district police and local law enforcement while they investigate this incident,” stated the letter.

San Benito school district is no stranger to threats that result in the lockdown or evacuation of its schools.

Last year, around the same time, the whole district was placed in lockdown because of threats made against the police and schools.

During a press conference that same day, Police Chief Martin Morales said the department received a call about 9 a.m. and police identified a former San Benito man as a “person of interest.”

Police said they were looking for a former resident in connection with the threat received that morning.

Morales said the caller threatened to shoot schools and law enforcement, but that the threat was directed more toward police.

That case was referred to the district attorney’s office.

Police are still investigating yesterday’s incident.

SAN BENITO — Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega knows the exact moment he was in complete awe of San Benito’s spirit.

It was Halloween and Vega was in town for his first interview with the school board.

It was also homecoming and the big game was that night. The Greyhounds were playing Harlingen South.

After settling in and grabbing some food, Vega decided to attend the game.

Sitting in a sea of purple and gold, Vega could remain anonymous.

“I’m like, alright. This is exciting,” Vega said. “The stands were filled and the drums and cheerleaders and the purple and the gold and the kids and the families.”

The intensity of the school spirit was all so exciting for him.

Vega sat there taking it all in thinking, “If I get this job, then I want to see what I get to be a part of,” he said. “I was blown away.”

The rock-n-roll styling’s of AC/DC started to play loudly pumping up the crowd and that’s when Vega heard it.

“Release the Hounds!”

“I jumped up! I was like wow, that’s powerful,” Vega said.

The phrase used at every football game made him think.

The reason that phrase was and is so powerful, Vega said was because every one of us human beings has a different side to us.

Everything from the loving side to the angry side of us. We are all human.

“Imagine if every single day we released the best side of us. What that could transpire or become,” Vega said. “Every day we have an opportunity to impact the lives of kids and imagine what we can do if we release the best side of us.”

Releasing Vega’s best self is something he is in the process of doing when moving the district forward.

After a little more than a month at the helm, he has made definite strides and plans to make more.

He discussed his plans yesterday morning with the San Benito Chamber of Commerce at their new weekly coffee and breakfast meeting.

Right now, he is in the process of gathering data from every facet of the district.

So far, he has spent time with personnel at every campus in the district, including the bus barn, food service, district police and maintenance department and staff.

He also has met with secondary principals, department directors and the superintendent council.

During every meeting, Vegas said he has asked three questions in an effort to gain feedback.

With the purpose of listening, the questions touch on what the district does well, could do better and any concerns on what is and what isn’t working.

Vega will continue to meet with various groups until he gains a large enough sample size of feedback.

Last week, the school board approved his request to conduct a comprehensive district-wide efficiency audit and a curriculum audit.

“The purpose of these two audits is to provide me, parents, community and staff with a picture of the state of the district,” Vega said.

“From these findings we will be able to better plan around the district’s strengths and address the district’s shortcomings.”

The findings from the questions and audits will eventually be shared with everyone.

This information, Vega hopes, will lead to a stable five-year strategic plan.

HARLINGEN – Dave Rempe has a dream. Actually he has two.

One is to regain the gym he had here in Harlingen for eight years, called Dave’s Weight Club, located on 1st Street. The other is to build a kids program called Christian Soldiers for Kids – an anti drug and alcohol program, which he hopes to motivate and inspire kids to live quality lives.

Right now he’s fighting for both dreams to come true.

“I don’t care what I have to do to make this happen,” he said. “We don’t know why things happen, but this has to be the reason.”

About two years ago, Dave fell on some hard times. He said he was knocked unconscious and robbed one evening. What he didn’t know at the time was he had a brain injury. During the months following, he was not himself. He was having physical pain and problems with his mental health.

He went back to his hometown of Iowa, where he said his mother barely recognized him. Soon after, the injury was realized and he had emergency brain surgery.

That was in June. It’s also when he fell far behind on his rent at his gym. He said he was evicted from the building over the Thanksgiving holiday as he rehabbed miles away in Iowa.

Now he’s back in the Rio Grande Valley and working to build everything back up again.

It’s been a struggle. He admits he has been homeless for several weeks and walks everywhere he needs to go.

But he won’t give up on his dreams.

He said he even spent some time living in a crack house in Harlingen to see what drug addiction does to people.

“I have never done any drugs, but I have seen firsthand how pathetic people are when they are addicted to crack,” he said.

He wants to show kids that is not a good option for their lives.

“I am passionate about this,” Dave said. “I am going to show kids they can have all kinds of fun without doing any of that. I got high on playing sports. I never did any of that.”

He said he will reach kids from second grade on up with his program throughout the Valley. He has a goal to give out 100,000 T-shirts that states the kids need to “Fight the Good Fight in everything you do.”

“A lot of this program is about getting a good foundation built up for kids and give or instill in them a good heart and mindset,” Dave said. “If we can help make a kids’ heart and mind good, he can make better decisions throughout his whole life.”

He said he wants to let kids know they can do whatever they want in life if they avoid smoking, drugs, alcohol and gangs.

Dave said he can do that through churches and other organizations, but the kids program will benefit greatly if he can obtain his gym back. He called it the foundation of the program.

There, he plans to add parking and basketball courts. Other activities at his facility for the kids would include a mechanical bull to ride, obstacle course, zip line and climbing walls. Rempe had the first and only Octagon ring in the entire Valley, which still is the building where his gym once was located and he hopes can be again. But, if he can’t have his gym, he says he will still go on with a kids program, it will just have to be different, working through churches and other ministries.

“I know many big sports figures and actors personally that will get behind this program and help make it a success and make a different in hopefully millions of kids lives,” he said. “An in the meantime keep America a light and beacon of hope for millions all over the world.”

BROWNSVILLE —Three of the five men accused of the murder and decapitation of Honduran native Jose Francisco “Franklin” Rodriguez Palacios Paz were arraigned in the 107th state District Court on Wednesday afternoon in Brownsville.

Joel Luna Rodriguez, Eduardo Luna Rodriguez, and Aaron Rodriguez Medellin pleaded not guilty to charges of capital murder, murder, and two counts of engaging in criminal activity before state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr.

“We were here present for arraignment so that way the accusation is presented to the client. (Joel Luna) is confident to plead to the indictment not guilty,” said Carlos A. Garcia, Luna’s lawyer.

Nestor Manuel Leal Cedillo and Fernando Luna Rodriguez waived their arraignment. The suspects remain jailed under a $500,000 cash surety bond.

Authorities found Paz’s headless body last March in the Laguna Madre after local fishermen reported it.

Palacios Paz, of Edinburg, had been reported missing four days before his body was found. Edinburg police had said Palacio Paz’s common-law wife told investigators they had been arguing before he left and never returned. She also told police that Palacios Paz was from Honduras and had been living in the country without legal status.

According to law enforcement officials, Palacios Paz was killed in Edinburg. Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio previously said Palacios had been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Edinburg police officers in prior cases and his body was identified through fingerprints. Palacios’ criminal history included drug related arrests, the sheriff said.

Suspect Joel Luna is a former U.S. Border Patrol Agent accused of drug cartel ties. After his arrest last year, the county sheriff’s department found more than a kilo of cocaine, $90,000 in cash, firearms and Luna’s Border Patrol badge in a safe at the home of his mother-in-law, according to investigators.

Luna was also found to have two birth certificates. One is from Hidalgo County, Texas, and the other is from Reynosa, Mexico, according to the Texas Tribune.

HARLINGEN — The Sunshine Country Club Estates Women’s Club pulled into the Loaves & Fishes parking lot yesterday with a trailer hitched to a truck carrying more than 200 large cans of food.

“We like to give back to the community and people who are needy,” said Linda Davis, organization chairwoman. “Its one of the best things we’ve done for the community and it was rewarding to everyone involved.”

Pastor Bill Reagan, executive director of Loaves & Fishes, had been waiting for the delivery during lunch as many community members were eating soup and sandwiches with a cup of juice.

Members of the Women’s Club were excited and happy to have worked together for one month gathering the 1,300 pounds of food for the organization.

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Loaves & Fishes hands out food bags on Wednesdays and Thursdays and prepares breakfast, lunch and dinner to help feed the hungry and the homeless every day.

The group consists of members who live in the Sunshine Country Club Estates, comprised of Rio Grande Valley natives and Winter Texan residents.

The club has been around for 35 years and works together on monthly projects.

“We asked all of the residents to participate by bringing in one or as many cans as possible,” said Carolyn Anderson, president of the women’s club.

She said they accomplished their goal of collecting the 200 cans or more in one month.

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SAN BENITO — Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega has made definite strides in what he originally set out to do when he started with the district last month.

So far, he has spent time with personnel at every campus in the district, including the bus barn, food service, district police and maintenance department and staff.

He also has met with secondary principals, department directors and the superintendent council.

During every meeting, Vegas said he has asked three questions in an effort to gain feedback.

The questions touch on what the district does well, could do better and any concerns on what is and what isn’t working.

“The purpose of this is to listen and get feedback,” Vega said.

He will continue to meet with various groups until he gains a large enough sample size of feedback.

“I have also asked principals to conduct the same exercise with their staff and provide feedback to my office,” Vega said.

The school board hired Vega as Marc Puig’s replacement in November.

Before beginning his new position as head of the district, Vega was deputy superintendent for Teaching & Learning at the Tucson Unified School District in Arizona.

Vega, who originally is from Texas, will be paid an annual salary of $155,000, which is $15,000 more than his predecessor, Puig.

Last week, the school board approved his request to conduct a comprehensive district-wide efficiency audit and a curriculum audit.

“The purpose of these two audits is to provide me, parents, community and staff with a picture of the state of the district,” Vega said.

“From these findings we will be able to better plan around the district’s strengths and address the district’s shortcomings.”

The findings from the questions and audits will eventually be shared with everyone.

This information, Vega hopes, will lead to a stable five-year strategic plan.

RAYMONDVILLE — A job fair will offer employment opportunities and career training to residents who were among the 149 Walmart workers laid-off last week.

Tomorrow, Workforce Solutions will hold the job fair featuring eight companies and government agencies, a college and a vocational school.

Friday, the agency will hold an informational session offering face-to-face advice to job hunters.

“We’re in desperate need of that,” Raymondville Mayor Gilbert Gonzales said yesterday. “We hope we can get people jobs.”

Walmart has offered transfers to 90 percent of laid-off employees to other company stores, said Laura Cavazos, spokeswoman for Workforce Solutions.

But Cavazos said company officials have not released information to help determine the number of laid-off employees who have accepted transfers to other Walmart stores.

“We don’t know what to expect yet,” Cavazos said of the number of laid-off Walmart employees who will attend the job fair.

The fair is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion post at 211 Hidalgo Ave.

“We’ll be there to help the people who may want to train or look for other opportunities in the area,” Cavazos said. “Our job is to assist in placing them in a job that’s something the job seeker is looking for.”

The job fair will feature companies such as International Educational Services, Time-Warner Cable and Dish Network and government agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which will offer openings for Border Patrol agents.

Texas State Technical College and Valley Grande Institute will offer job training services.

“People are going to have options — they can train or work,” Cavazos said. “We try to have a little bit of everything so people can see what they have available in their area.”

Friday’s informational session will offer laid-off employees face-to-face contact with potential employers and career counselors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Workforce Solutions, 700 FM 3168, Cavazos said.

“That will be one-on-one,” Cavazos said. “They get to see a career counselor or a business representative. We’re really going to take time to answer their questions.”