SANTA ROSA — Three men are in critical condition after the truck they were passengers in rolled over.

Seven other occupants of the truck remain at large, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety who is currently investigating the crash.

The accident happened this morning at 6:23 a.m. on F.M. 1425 south of S.H. 107 east of Santa Rosa. Preliminary investigation revealed the 2002 brown Chevrolet Silverado had 10 people inside as it headed south on F.M. 1425.

DPS says the driver was speeding at a curve when he lost control and veered onto the eastside shoulder and into an open field. Three men were transported Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen and are listed in critical condition.

The other seven are being searched for via a DPS aircraft and U.S. Border Patrol.

EDINBURG — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley released its recommendations for the implementation and exclusion zones for carrying concealed handguns in its campuses.

University officials are recommending that the exclusion zones include residential facilities, child care facilities, patient care areas, athletic events, laboratories, watercraft, disciplinary grievance hearings, animal care areas and vivariums, programs camps for minors and the mathematics and science academy in Brownsville.

Senate Bill 11 was passed into law last May allowing license holders to carry concealed handguns in higher education institutions in Texas. The law goes into effect Aug. 1, 2016.

Officials also recommended additional implementation measures such as handgun training, mental health services and handgun holding services.

The recommendations have been approved by UTRGV President Guy Bailey and he will present these to the UT Board of Regents later in the Spring for approval.

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RIO HONDO — His kindness and spiritual leadership already is missed.

So city officials presented Father Rigobert Mot the key to the city to show he will always be welcomed back.

Father Mot will leave the area tomorrow to head back to his home country of Cameroon, Africa.

The bishop of Africa has requested his return and will give Father Mot his new assignment.

Father Mot served as the father of Rio Hondo Saint Helen’s Catholic Church for the past four and a half years.

“I’m going back to Africa, but let me tell you something really true,” Father Mot said Tuesday. “My heart is going to be with you all the time.”

City commissioners and the Mayor proclaimed Jan. 12 Father Rigobert Mot Day.

Father Mot is known to many of his parishioners at Saint Helen’s Catholic Church as Father Rigo. Many of them joined him at the city meeting Tuesday night.

Mayor Gustavo Olivares said, “You have done so much for us and the city of Rio Hondo.”

Many of the Catholic congregation were at the meeting to celebrate with Father Rigo and see him one last time.

Many were sad to see him go because he had made a huge impact in many of the people’s lives in Rio Hondo.

“We’re very blessed to have Father Rigo in our lives,” said Maria Cardenas, Rio Hondo resident. “We were very blessed and thank God for allowing him to stay with us for as long as he did.”

Laura Zepeda and her family were at mass on Sundays with Father Rigo. He would visit their home and he was there for them when they needed him.

“He’s an angel,” Zepada said. “I miss him already.”

Father Rigo was with the Zepeda’s when their mother was battling breast cancer.

The two became friends and it was as if they had known each other all their lives.

“Every visit we had with him in our home felt like it was Jesus in our home,” Zepeda said.

“I was very comfortable serving the Lord with this congregation,” Father Rigo said. “I have never seen people this nice.”

Father Rigo said he was born Catholic and grew up with the devotion of prayer from a very young age at home.

He and his parents would pray every morning together in Africa long before he went into the priesthood.

He came to the Rio Grande Valley six years ago serving the Brownsville Diocese as a hospital Chaplin.

He helped the poor, fed the hungry, and visited the sick at the hospital or their home.

Father Rigo held his last mass on Sunday in Rio Hondo at St. Helens. The community organized a going away party. More than 600 people attended the event.

Father Rigo said he delivered the message of the gospel centering on love, love for God and love for one another.

Father Rigo prayed for the city of Rio Hondo on the first Thursday of May for the last two years.

He also led in the repair of St. Helen’s Church that was originally built in 1933.

The church ceiling was falling apart and with his effort, Father Rigo also was able to fix the air conditioner, replace the carpet and the pews.

“He’s always welcome to come back and that is what the key signifies,” said Ben Medina, city administrator. “He’s been very supportive of our city and very supportive of the community.”

RAYMONDVILLE — The Willacy County Correctional Center’s operator has scrapped a plan to build a facility next to the so-called tent-city prison.

On Tuesday, Raymondville city commissioners voted to return $12,000 to Management & Training Corporation, or MTC, City Manager Eleazar Garcia said yesterday.

Garcia said MTC had offered the earnest money as part of a purchase-option agreement to buy 50 acres on which to build a prison next to the tent-city, which the company had operated since it opened in 2006.

In February 2015, an inmate uprising destroyed much of the tent-city prison weeks before the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, terminated its contract to hold its inmates at the facility.

As a result, MTC shut down the prison.

Meanwhile, MTC and Willacy County officials continue to search to replace the BOP.

The prison’s closure slashed $2.7 million from the county’s $8.1 million general fund budget, plunging Willacy County into an economic crisis as it tried to offset a monthly revenue shortfall of $220,000.

In Raymondville, the closure of the 3,000-bed prison led city commissioners to slash about $600,000 to offset a plunge in water sales.

Officials are counting on the BOP to accept MTC’s new proposal to hold inmates at the prison.

MTC has offered to accept the BOP’s request for a company to operate a 1,200- to 2,000-bed “low-security” prison.

The BOP has proposed a company hold male “criminal aliens” with about 90 months or less remaining in their sentences in Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico or Oklahoma.

The BOP is expected to respond to proposals by MTC and other prison operators by April 2017.

HARLINGEN – Dr. Todd Shenkenberg, Oncologist, has been named the 2015 “Physician of the Year” for Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen.

Since coming to the Valley 28 years ago, Dr. Shenkenberg has been an advocate for education on prevention, early detection, and early treatment of cancer. He was voted “Best Oncologist” by readers of the Valley Morning Star in the 2015 “Best of the Best” contest — as well as a “Texas Super Doctor” in state-wide polls of doctors and health-care providers by Texas Monthly magazine.

One of Dr. Shenkenberg’s goals has been to help develop the cancer program in Harlingen so that fewer South Texas residents have to leave the Valley for care. He notes that going to Houston or other distant cities for cancer care can be a financial burden for many Valley residents — as well as separating them from their support system of family and friends in the Valley.

“We have been very innovative with comprehensive cancer treatment right here in Harlingen at Valley Baptist Medical Center,” Dr. Shenkenberg said.

Valley Baptist employees, who participate in balloting to select the annual Physician of the Year for the hospital, said that Dr. Shenkenberg is known for “his hard work, putting in long hours throughout the week and on the weekend, and for his dedication to his patients.”

“Dr. Shenkenberg is well-known in the community as a kind and caring doctor, who genuinely cares for his patients,” Valley Baptist employees stated. “He is also very faithful in supporting efforts to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer in the Valley during national Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and throughout the year.”

When he’s not working, Dr. Shenkenberg enjoys fishing and wood-crafting, including making furniture. Dr. Shenkenberg is married to Jan Shenkenberg, and they have two sons, both of whom are Eagle scouts.

For more information on the treatment and prevention of cancer, consult your physician and visit www.ValleyBaptist.net.

HARLINGEN – Losing weight. It is not an easy task to accomplish. It takes a sincere commitment, on your behalf, to eat healthier, exercise, and make healthier choices for yourself.

This commitment begins with making the conscious decision that you are going to change your life. Then comes the conscious decision to eat healthier foods. And, finally comes the conscious decision to incorporate daily exercise into your life.

If you are someone who is trying to lose weight, and cannot; someone who is 100-pounds over their ideal weight; someone who suffers from comorbidities – brought on by excess weight; then, you may be a candidate for surgical weight loss.

The Surgical Weight Loss Program at Harlingen Medical Center will offer an information seminar on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. to introduce the program and its services.

“Weight loss is something that many people are looking to accomplish in their lives,” said Manny Chacon, Director of The Surgical Weight Loss Program at Harlingen Medical Center. “Many are looking to accomplish this because they want to be healthier, more physically active, and they want to improve their overall lifestyle. Surgical weight loss is a tool that is available for people to lose weight.”

The Surgical Weight Loss Program information seminar will feature an in-depth PowerPoint presentation featuring:

– General overview of program services

– Surgical procedures offered

– Available management/guidance through the program

– Available nutritional management/guidance through the program

– Nutritional management/guidance after the surgery

– Financing options available for the procedure

– Exercise regimen after the surgery

– Available support group after the surgery

Those who attend the information seminar will also be given the opportunity to ask questions and receive immediate feedback regarding the program, procedure, exercise regimen, financial assistance and more.

The Surgical Weight Loss Program at Harlingen Medical Center offers the laparoscopic adjustable band and the laparoscopic gastric sleeve, which are available to men, women, and young adults.

“The ideal candidate for surgical weight loss is someone who is a minimum of 100-pounds over their ideal weight, suffers from comorbidities such as: diabetes, hypertension, and/or osteoarthiritis, said Chacon. “There are a number of qualifying factors that someone looking to get surgical weight loss should meet before they consider this path. This is a serious procedure, which gives people a great tool to begin their weight loss, but, there are serious matters to consider before one chooses surgical weight loss.”

According to bariatric experts, surgical weight loss is ideally for someone who has a need to resolve medical problems related to obesity. That is because surgical weight loss has shown that it can improve the health status of a patient. In some instances it has shown to dissolve diabetes. It has shown to resolve issues with hypertension. And, if the patient follows specific dietary, exercise and vitamin instruction, it can have great benefit to the patient’s health.

Surgical weight loss is designed to alter the anatomy of a patient’s stomach, limiting their ability to in-take food. With the laparoscopic adjustable band a ring, also known as a band, is placed around a portion of the stomach in order to restrict the in-take of food. This creates a smaller stomach pouch – allowing for lesser food in-take; helping the patient reduce their weight. With the laparoscopic gastric sleeve, 80% of the stomach is removed surgically – creating a smaller stomach pouch that is then stapled. The newly created smaller stomach pouch will allow for lesser food in-take, helping the patient reduce their weight.

“The goal of our surgical weight loss program is to improve the patient’s health, quality of life and life span, by inducing weight loss,” said Chacon. “Through our program, the patient will also be able to improve self-image and cosmetic appearance, while moving forward with a new healthier life.”

The Surgical Weight Loss Program at Harlingen Medical Center features multidisciplinary support before, during and after surgery. Comprehensive pre-surgical evaluation and physical, sophisticated surgery and post-operative follow-ups that help transform the health and life of the patient. The program and resources combined with the highly experienced staff at Harlingen Medical Center will give patients the best opportunity for successful long term weight loss and improved health.

If you would like to attend The Surgical Weight Loss Program information seminar, please RSVP at (956) 365-1140 or at [email protected].

The seminar will be held in the Medical Office Building (MOB) Conference Room at Harlingen Medical Center, located at 5505 S. Expressway 77 in Harlingen.

BROWNSVILLE —A Cameron County grand jury Wednesday indicted five men including a U.S. Border Patrol agent on charges of capital murder in connection with the killing of a Honduran man whose decapitated body was found floating in the Laguna Madre last March.

The office of the Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz made the announcement yesterday afternoon.

In June, investigators said Honduran native Jose Francisco “Franklin” Rodriguez Palacios Paz was killed, likely in Edinburg. Four men were arrested and charged in connection with the killing of Palacios Paz, whose decapitated body was found March 16 in the Laguna Madre.

The four men were identified as Fernando Luna Rodriguez, 35; Aaron Rodriguez Medellin, 22; Eduardo Luna Rodriguez, 24; and Nestor Manuel Leal, 18. U.S. Border Patrol agent Joel Luna was arrested in November.

The five men were charged with capital murder for retaliation, first-degree murder and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity, a first-degree felony. According to the DA’s office, Joel Luna has been placed on indefinite leave from the Border Patrol.

SAN BENITO — Deemed unsafe by city officials, the bridge on Rio Grande Street will be closed until further notice.

City leaders made the decision to close the bridge indefinitely as a precautionary measure to prevent possible accidents.

Officials say the instability of the bridge was revealed after a routine inspection found structural concerns.

The bridge is located between Rio Grande Avenue and the corner of 2nd and Fresno streets.

After meeting with commissioners Tuesday, Interim City Manager Art Rodriguez was given permission to proceed with engineers who together will come up with a plan of action to repair the bridge.

They will then come up with the cost, which Rodriguez declined to estimate at this time.

Last week, Rodriguez discovered the erosion issues on the bridge support.

“After an inspection of the bridge, it was decided that it is unsafe at this time and that the Rio Grande Street bridge should be shut down from Fresno Street to Second Street,” he said.

“When I was out there looking at it, I saw two school busses pass by. It is a serious problem and we don’t want any accidents or problems.”

Buses going to the school in that area have since been rerouted.

The bridge spans a Cameron County Drainage District ditch that takes water runoff away from the Rio Grande Street area.

Rodriguez said he has been looking for old paperwork to check and see how old the bridge is but has yet to find any information on its age.

However, he did say the irrigation canal was built in 1915, so the bridge can’t be much older.

Now that the bridge is shut down indefinitely, no one is allowed to drive on the bridge, officials warn.

Barricades have been placed along the roadway to prevent motorists from crossing the bridge.

The city is asking for the cooperation of people traveling on Rio Grande Street and encourages them to respect the placement of the barricades.

Due to the instability of he bridge, ignoring the barricades could lead to danger.

It is illegal to remove safety barricades, Rodriguez said. People who are found moving the barriers will be ticketed and could face a fine.