I read Jack King’s comments today on the origin of rights.
Yes, we Americans have an abundance of rights won on the battlefield and secured in a godless constitution.
But where did the ideas for those rights come from in the first place?
Caroline Steele Harlingen
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Martin Luther King Great words from a great man. But what I’ve observed in my 63 years is that just about everyone, white, black, brown, yellow, red has some type of prejudice or bias toward others.
Sad fact is that it’s not just the color of our skin that others will judge us by, but it is just about every aspect of our lives that can and will be criticized.
We are judged by our stature, the car we drive, the house we live in, our income, education, appearance, social status, religious beliefs, the list is endless. Human nature I guess – we want to be superior in some way.
Just maybe, planet earth could be a whole lot better if all mankind took the following words to heart in our daily lives, “Therefore, whatever you want man to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the Prophets,” Matthew 7:12 NKJV.
N. Rodriguez Harlingen
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Martin Luther King Great words from a great man. But what I’ve observed in my 63 years is that just about everyone, white, black, brown, yellow, red has some type of prejudice or bias toward others.
Sad fact is that it’s not just the color of our skin that others will judge us by, but it is just about every aspect of our lives that can and will be criticized.
We are judged by our stature, the car we drive, the house we live in, our income, education, appearance, social status, religious beliefs, the list is endless. Human nature I guess – we want to be superior in some way.
Just maybe, planet earth could be a whole lot better if all mankind took the following words to heart in our daily lives, “Therefore, whatever you want man to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the Prophets,” Matthew 7:12 NKJV.
N. Rodriguez Harlingen
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — After 30 years on the job Assistant Fire Chief Juan Loya has hung up his fire hat for good.
It was a heartfelt moment for Loya and the city at the last council meeting.
Loya accepted an award of appreciation from Mayor Bharat Patel on behalf of the City and Council for all of his hard work and dedicated service to South Padre Island.
“He’s just a great guy, and did a great service for the city,” Patel said.
HARLINGEN — Officials are taking big steps to curb the number of dogs and cats euthanized in the city’s animal shelter.
One way they hope to do that is to require dog and cat owners microchip their pets. That is expected to help keep them out of the Humane Society’s animal shelter.
Officials also have proposed hefty fines for pet owners who fail to neuter their dogs and cats.
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MERCEDES — Jose Cano is out on bail.
He went to jail last week for sending a Tweet that caught the attention of authorities.
Cano was released on a $10,000 bond yesterday morning. His bond was originally set at $250,000 by Mercedes Municipal Judge Juan Alvarez.
Cano’s bond conditions are no social media use, he must stay away from Mercedes High School, no contact with co-defendant, must wear an electronic monitor and has a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily curfew.
Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez said his office had been in talks with parents and attorneys about possible bond reductions.
Cano and Roen Lerma both 17 were arrested Jan. 13 for making terrorists threats against Mercedes High School. Lerma still is in custody.
“Because they are felony offenses, the students may be expelled,” said Dr. Daniel Trevino, Mercedes superintendent of schools.
Trevino said chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code of procedure states felony offenses are expellable violations.
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HARLINGEN — They’re learning to make their voices heard.
Students in Mary Garcia’s broadcasting class listened attentively as she explained the steps necessary for creating and editing quick spots on the radio.
“We’re going to do a drop,” said Garcia to a class of sixth graders at Memorial Middle School.
“Do you know what a drop is?” she asked. “A drop is what you hear on the radio between songs. It’s transition. You may have the name of the radio station.”
Garcia, a radio personality on Q94.5, is now sharing her years of experience in radio broadcasting. She has one class of sixth graders and two classes with seventh and eighth graders. The class is only a half semester long, so the current one began this week.
She flipped a switch and a loud “drop” rushed from a speaker, clips of different songs strung together before a high-octane voice declared, “Memorial Raiders Radio.”
The young broadcasters seemed suddenly energized by the quick radio segment.
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HARLINGEN — It’s been a busy couple of days for local law enforcement.
Neighboring communities Harlingen and San Benito have experienced their fair share of crime related deaths as well as major traffic accidents in just two days.
The latest occurred Wednesday night in San Benito when a local man was killed after he was struck by a vehicle and left for dead south of San Benito.
The Texas Department of Public Safety stated the accident happened near South Sam Houston Boulevard and FM 675.
DPS believe the victim, David Ortiz Rosales, 36, was struck sometime Wednesday night.
Anyone with information is asked to call the DPS at (956) 565-7600.
Harlingen had its own incident in the early morning yesterday. Three people were hospitalized after a head-on collision on the expressway. Police say one man was driving the wrong way.
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HARLINGEN — Officials are taking big steps to curb the number of dogs and cats euthanized in the city’s animal shelter.
One way they hope to do that is to require dog and cat owners microchip their pets. That is expected to help keep them out of the Humane Society’s animal shelter.
Officials also have proposed hefty fines for pet owners who fail to neuter their dogs and cats.
“It’s a huge step for the shelter,” Pat Truman-White, the Human Society’s president, said yesterday.
Last year, the animal shelter euthanized 6,299 dogs and cats.
“It’s horrible that we have to kill, or euthanize, that many dogs and cats,” said City Commissioner Tudor Uhlhorn, part of a committee proposing a new ordinance.
In a meeting Wednesday, city commissioners approved the first reading of the ordinance that would require dog and cat owners to microchip their pets by Jan. 1, 2017, or face a $266 fine.
Commissioners also proposed raising a $90.27 fine to as much as $2,000 for dog and cat owners who fail to spay or neuter their pets.
Pat Truman-White called it the biggest increase in fines in 20 years.
“We want to make people take responsibility,” she said. “Let’s make them pay for their irresponsibility.”
Under the proposed ordinance, the city will require dog and cat owners to install a microchip in their pet that would allow the animal shelter to identify the pet owner.
That cuts the risk of pets being euthanized, Truman-White said.
“It’s so we can identify the owner as quickly as possible and to have the animal in our system,” she said. “That way we can eliminate a lot of unnecessary euthanizing.”
Truman-White said a microchip, smaller than a grain of rice, is injected in the animal’s neck.
The shelter charges $10 to install microchips, she said.
Officials are counting on the proposed fines to push dog and cat owners to spay or neuter their pets.
The proposed ordinance would not impose fines on first-time offenders if their pets have been microchipped and spayed or neutered.
City commissioners are expected to consider the ordinance’s approval Feb. 3.
Fines will become effective upon the ordinance’s approval.
MERCEDES — Jose Cano is out on bail.
He went to jail last week for sending a Tweet that caught the attention of authorities.
Cano was released on a $10,000 bond yesterday morning. His bond was originally set at $250,000 by Mercedes Municipal Judge Juan Alvarez.
Cano’s bond conditions are no social media use, he must stay away from Mercedes High School, no contact with co-defendant, must wear an electronic monitor and has a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily curfew.
Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez said his office had been in talks with parents and attorneys about possible bond reductions.
Cano and Roen Lerma both 17 were arrested Jan. 13 for making terrorists threats against Mercedes High School. Lerma still is in custody.
“Because they are felony offenses, the students may be expelled,” said Dr. Daniel Trevino, Mercedes superintendent of schools.
Trevino said chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code of procedure states felony offenses are expellable violations.
“The school district will take action based on the outcome of the authorities,” Trevino said.
Mercedes Police Chief Olga Maldonado said, “the law is the law, and they are entitled to make bail.”
Maldonado said the Mercedes Police department hand delivered the investigation last week to the district attorney’s office.
Maldonado also said the district attorney’s office was requesting the report quickly to consider bond reductions.
Roen Lerma the other senior arrested is still in jail. His $250,000 bond has not been reduced.
District Attorney Rodriguez said, “Incidents like this are very sensitive because what has happened around the country.”
The Sandy Hook Elementary, Virginia Tech University and Columbine High School shootings left many students dead in cold blood when gunmen entered those schools with automatic weapons.
Rodriguez said the message needs to be sent out that this kind of messaging will not be tolerated.
Rodriguez also said if they were joking, there will still be consequences.
“We are not going to put up with this,” Rodriguez said. “At this point they’re adults and they have been arrested as adults.”
Cano and Lerma both senior students were charged with a third degree felony for terrorist threatening messages posted on Twitter.
At 9:11 a.m. Lerma tweeted “9/11 make a wish,” while sitting in class at the Mercedes Early College.
Cano, sitting in class at Mercedes High School liked Lerma’s message.
At 9:16 a.m. Cano responded to Lerma, “I wish for another 911.”
Lerma responded at 9:24, “JC should come by the school and shoot it up.”
Authorities from the Tactical Institute contacted the high school soon after the tweets were posted on the social network around 9:30 a.m., according to the Dr. Trevino.
“We have to take these situations very seriously because the outcome of the events could have been a lot worse if those threats had been followed through,” Trevino said. “We were commended by authorities on how we responded and how the situation was handled.”
