Sheriff’s investigators are asking for the public’s help to locate an aggravated robbery suspect accused of targeting multiple drive-thru convenience stores in western Hidalgo County.

The man is described as heavyset and in his mid-30s with a mustache and dark-colored hair, according to a Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office news release. He wore a cap, pantyhose over his face and carried a gray or black handgun during the robberies.

He most recently robbed JJ’s Southern Express Corner Store in rural Palmview on April 20 around 10:44 p.m., according to the release, and took approximately $1,114 before fleeing on foot.

Investigators believe he is targeting stores with female clerks, according to the release.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at (956) 383-8114, the anonymous Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers hotline at (956) 668-8477 or the Mission, Palmview or Penitas Police Departments.

McALLEN — A Mission man claims he was fined $250 by his apartment complex management because an adult other than himself was watching his children outside his unit.

This and other similar complaints made by Robert Padgett, a resident of the Rio Grande Valley, and at least one woman from San Antonio, resulted in a federal lawsuit earlier this week accusing the property management companies that own the apartment complexes of discriminating against people with children.

On May 2, the Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio, who according to its website, operates as a nonprofit private corporation, “dedicated to promoting fair housing and eliminating discriminatory housing practices in the areas of rental housing, real estate sales, mortgage lending, and homeowners’ insurance,” sued the owners of the apartments alleging they discriminated against Padgett and Lisa Arellano, by enforcing rules and handing out fines to renters with children, the lawsuit states.

The civil suit filed in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division names Texas Regional Asset Management LLC; Vesta Corporation d/b/a First Vesta Corporation; who manage the El Patrimonio Apartments LP; and Gates of Capernum Apartments LP as defendants.

Calls for comment made to numbers listed for Texas Regional Asset Management LLC and Vesta Corporation d/b/a First Vesta Corporation went unreturned as of press time.

According to the lawsuit, the management companies’ “rules preclude children from accessing common areas and amenities and thus make rental housing unavailable to families with children.”

The suit claims the management companies enforced rules that don’t allow children in any area on their properties without a parent, at any time and under any circumstance.

“These over-broad rules have been enforced to preclude children from taking out the garbage, crossing through common areas while walking home from school, or even sitting outside on their own patios,” the court record shows. “Defendants’ rules concerning children are memorialized in fliers Defendants routinely distribute to residents and, in some instances, on signs posted at Defendants’ properties.”

Due to the management companies’ rules, the plaintiffs claim that children are also prohibited from being outside the unit after 8 p.m., regardless if parents are with them, the suit states.

“Further, children at Defendants’ properties cannot use or play with bicycles, scooters, skateboards, sidewalk chalk, balls, or play or gather at all in common areas. The purpose and effect of Defendants’ policies are to discourage children from taking advantage of the privileges of the housing that are readily available to other residents,” the lawsuit reads.

Families who break the rules concerning children have been subject to fines, including Padgett, who was fined $250 by the management at the El Patrimonio Apartments in McAllen because they alleged Padgett’s children were playing outside his unit unsupervised. Padgett said an adult was supervising the children the night in question.

The management company, Texas Regional Asset Management, told Padgett he was being fined because the children could only be with a supervised by a parent, and not some other adult.

“Defendants informed Mr. Padgett that his children could only be outside with a parent, not just any adult, and that he would be evicted for any further violations of this policy,” the suit states.

Padgett, who paid the fine under protest, subsequently moved away from the El Patrimonio Apartments, the court record shows.

In addition to the El Patrimonio Apartments, Texas Regional also manages Padre de Vida Apartments in McAllen, Island Palms Apartments and The Galilean Apartments in Edinburg, La Estancia Apartments in Weslaco, Amistad Apartments in Donna, El Pueblo Dorado Apartments in Pharr, La Herencia Apartments in Mercedes, Pueblo De Paz, Rio De Vida, and Vida Que Canta Apartments in Mission, the lawsuit states.

Arellano, who lived in the Gates of Capernum Apartments in San Antonio, managed by Texas Regional, and subsequently Vesta, was also reprimanded for breaking rules at the complex.

“Defendants threatened to evict Ms. Arellano because she violated Defendants’ strict curfew for children by barbecuing on her patio with her children at or around 8:30 p.m. Like Mr. Padgett, Ms. Arellano left Defendants’ property because of Defendants’ discrimination,” the suit states.

The nonprofit became involved after hearing similar complaints from other former and current renters who lived at properties owned by the defendants.

“FHCOGSA’s investigation confirmed that Defendants routinely impose conditions upon families with children designed to make common areas, amenities, and other areas of Defendants’ rental properties unavailable to them and to deny residents with children various privileges associated with their rental housing,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are asking for the court to enter a permanent injunction directing the defendants, their agents and employees to take all affirmative steps necessary to remedy the effects of the illegal, discriminatory conduct described herein and to prevent similar occurrences in the future, the suit states.

Plaintiffs are seeking to be awarded compensatory, punitive damages, as well as reasonable “attorneys’ fees and costs,” the suit states.

In a news release regarding the lawsuit from the FHCOGSA, the group’s executive director, Sandra Tamez, said the suit was filed to continue defending families and children against housing discrimination.

“We have filed this lawsuit to ensure that families with children have an equal right and opportunity to use and enjoy housing in South Texas,” Tamez said in the release.

EDINBURG — For Army veteran and former sergeant Lupe Treviño Jr., remembering his time in Vietnam comes with highs and lows. 

The 70-year-old Edinburg resident, originally from Kenedy, Texas, was one of 15 veterans and their families to attend the 50th anniversary celebration reunion at the Echo Hotel. The gathering was hosted by Sgt. Francisco Barrientes of Edinburg.

The attendees wore black shirts with an American flag and lettering that read “Sacrifice for Freedom” on the front, and a pictorial of military boots on the back.

Treviño said he was just 19 when he was drafted to Vietnam in 1969.

“I was picking cantaloupes at the time I was drafted,” he said. “I was a migrant when we were young.”

Draftees served only two years with this group in particular, beginning their journey Aug. 5, 1968.

He attended basic training in El Paso, then moved on to advanced training to be a supply clerk at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Treviño was stationed for a year in Vietnam and was a supply clerk for 168th combat engineer battalion. After returning to the states, he was placed at Fort Benning, Georgia, to finish out his final five months.

During his time in Vietnam, he explained that he was a traveler through various cities.

“My job almost every day or every other day, I was on the road traveling from Quần Vợt to Saigon to where Long Binh was and picked up supplies and the new guys that would arrive I would pick up in my truck and take the old guys going home,” Treviño said. “I would take the officers over to Saigon to go R&R (rest and recuperation), so my job was on the road every day.”

In addition to being a supply clerk, he was in charge of weapons as well.

“It was pretty bad, but thank God I survived,” Treviño said. “Every morning, I thank God for being here one more day.”

Treviño added that his war experiences are something he usually never speaks about publicly, only to his wife, Esther, who he has been married to for 47 years. He said he knew he was going to marry her since the age of 5.

“We came down (from Kenedy) to school in 1954 and she was there in the neighborhood and I told everybody that one is mine, don’t mess with that one,” he said. “It turned out alright; she gave me a great family and has put up with me all this time.”  

While he was in the army, most of his communication was through writing letters.

“The first time I got a letter, I wrote home, I wrote the whole Valley. I got 36 letters,” he said. “The guy that was in charge of that, he was the driver for the CO (Commanding Officer) and said this is not going to happen; now you want mail pick it up in the mail room.”

Once the letters arrived to his home, the mailman would give the letters to his mother personally as she was expecting them.

She would say, “¿Que dice mijo? What did he say?” The mailman would respond that he was OK.

The written notes would occasionally be six-pages and were meant for Esther, his girlfriend and neighbor that his mother hadn’t figured out while he was overseas.

He also explained that one time he was able to call home while standing near artillery since they were shooting day and night.

“I called home and she said, ‘You OK?’ I responded, “Yes, mom, I’ll be home soon,’” he said. 

After leaving the service, he worked for H-E-B and the U.S. government. In his spare time he was involved in several sports including serving as a basketball referee.

He is now retired and spends his time with his wife, three children and grandchildren.

The veterans and their families spent the afternoon enjoying a warm meal by the hotel while they retold stories and shared experiences.

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A three-vehicle accident in Rio Grande City has landed several people in the hospital this morning, according to Rio Grande City Police Chief Noe Castillo.

The collision, which took place off of U.S. Highway 83, occurred when a van traveling westbound, collided with a vehicle emerging onto the road, causing it to veer into the center lane.

That then led a school bus traveling west to swerve and hit a telephone pole.

No fatalities have been reported, only minor injuries, Castillo said. All parties, including several students, were transferred to Starr County Memorial Hospital.

An investigation of the collision is ongoing.

McALLEN — Dozens of students spread throughout the outside of Lamar Academy on Saturday morning pasting 201 large portraits of their fellow classmates, teachers and school staff on the outside of the campus for all passers-by to see, all in the hope of sparking up conversations about what their school stands for.

The initiative is part of the global art project, Inside Out, created by street artist JR who won a TED prize to develop the idea. Inside Out is known as The People’s Art Project and has gathered more than 260,000 participants throughout 129 countries.

The project is intended to allow people to share their photo and make a statement of who they are and what they represent. In this case Lamar Academy was selected through Teach For America as one of the few schools in the Rio Grande Valley, as well as Raymondville High School, to participate.

“The students are getting an opportunity to experience how their project fits into the overall Inside Out project,” said Andrea Gutierrez, a Lamar Academy teacher. “They are getting to learn how they can spread a message through art and really, that is the purpose of the project.”

Gutierrez is a McAllen native and TFA alumni, who decided to apply to participate, she said, with the intent to spark up conversations about what the academy is about, as people sometimes misconstrue the campus as it only being for a select amount of top students.

“Our campus is very unique in that we have two different programs: IB and Options,” she explained. “And people are constantly asking me what is the difference. … Also, sometimes there is a stereotype of who an IB student is and who an Options student is.”

The project at the academy is titled, We Choose Lamar, and Gutierrez said the intent is to depict the uniqueness of the campus that houses about 400 high school students from throughout the district who apply to be part of the only high school International Baccalaureate program — an international degree program intended to offer college-level rigor to high school students — or the Options program, which offers more of a one-on-one feel for students who want accelerated learning or those who are struggling with a traditional classroom setting.

“I think this will really unite classes,” said Kimberly Bui, 15, a freshman in the IB program. “It just makes everyone feel really happy and really united as one school, instead of having all the freshmen and all the sophomores (separate) … and also, not only IB but also Options.”

Gutierrez received notification of her pitch being selected last fall and they shot more than 200 pictures in December to send to Inside Out headquarters for printing. Earlier this year, they received the large prints all featuring the different personalities within the classrooms, including those of teachers and staff members who were also volunteering to put these up on Saturday.

Jon Stevens, Teach for America managing director of Development, was also among the volunteers battling the wind to put up the portraits and said they were happy to facilitate access for area schools to become part of a global art project.

“We wanted to make sure that our teachers and the schools that they teach at have access to this project because this exists mainly in large cities,” Stevens said. “We wanted students to have their faces up on the wall and sort of understand public art and schools could come together and form this community project.”

McALLEN — As school year winds down, students looking for ways to keep busy during the three-month summer break now have help finding volunteer opportunities.

The United Way of South Texas can match volunteers with opportunities during the summer months, as well as throughout the year.

It all begins with a simple online platform organized by the organization that serves both Hidalgo and Starr counties called Volunteer South Texas. There, in a few simple steps, someone’s spare time can be made valuable to a local nonprofit organization.

Eloise Montemayor, community relations and public sector associate for United Way of South Texas, said Volunteer South Texas is a resource to connect agencies to volunteers.

“Volunteer South Texas is just another way to connect with people and give back,” Montemayor said. “If they’re not going to give back financially, but give back through their time and it’s just another way for them to connect.”

Since the program launched in the fall of 2015, 130 agencies have registered through United Way of South Texas in search of volunteers. The following year, the volunteer program merged with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley-Office of Student Academic Success Engaged Scholarship & Learning to broaden volunteer opportunities to university students.

Some of the agencies that have listed their needs are International Museum of Arts and Science, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Rio Grande Valley and The Salvation Army, among others.

“We help guide them through the process and help navigate the portal and on the site on their own, but we provide the instruction for them,” Montemayor said about how agencies could connect with volunteers. “We suggest, since the merge, that they use the university sign-up and they’ll have access to university students.”

Most of the agencies posted through Volunteer South Texas are nonprofit organizations within the area. The registration asks simple questions, but all that is needed is a working email address and a password to enter the portal.

One agency that has benefitted from Volunteer South Texas is the International Museum of Arts and Science, who relies on volunteers to assist with museum duties.

Claudia Martinez, IMAS volunteer and marketing coordinator, said they get the most volunteers through the university.

“Each semester we get a new group of students and some of them stay as volunteers. Seventy percent are UTRGV students, but also just general people who are looking at Volunteer South Texas,” Martinez said. “We had an event on Earth Day for Volunteer South Texas Week and we had some people from different high schools in the area and students from UTRGV show up and help around the museum.”

The minimum age to volunteer at the museum is 16, but in some cases agencies require they be 18 years and above. Details about volunteer requirements are listed on the website.

“We usually have anywhere between 30 to 45 volunteers around each (school) semester and the summer we will have more for the summer camps and probably higher end of the 40s, but throughout the year, it stays in the 30s,” Martinez added about the volunteer impact.

Additionally, Martinez said volunteers enter the museum shy and unsure of their future, but when they end their term, whether it’s a year or longer, most volunteers show growth and leave with confidence.

If you would like more information on United Way of South Texas and how to volunteer visit, www.unitedwayofsotx.org or call their office at (956) 686-6331.

HIDALGO — Trays filled with dishes like cream of chicken, green beans and rice, were laid in a buffet-style line. Slices of cakes where arranged on a nearby table and students waited patiently behind a ship-shaped counter for some of their first customers to arrive.

The ones conducting the operations of the first bistro to open inside Hidalgo Early College High School are 10 special education students enrolled in a class intended to provide skills by letting them run their own restaurant, Pirate Bistro.

“I just love the way we all work as a team,” said Samantha Ortiz, 17, as she prepped the meals that were soon to be served to her classmates. “This will teach me if I ever work in a restaurant how to be clean, to be mature, be nice to my customers, (and) responsible in anything I have to do in a job.”

Hidalgo Independent School District held an official opening for the restaurant Friday morning, which caters to teachers and administrators by serving breakfast during the first class period, all prepared and served by the students.

The class is part of the district’s program called Live, which was developed to provide life skills that prepare juniors and seniors in the special education program for the workforce.

“The vision for the program is to give special-needs students work skills so that they could advance,” said Lenore Salinas, special education coordinator in the Hidalgo school district. “Prior to the development of this program, we didn’t have any kind of program for students with special needs to access any kind of skill. So that’s why we created this program, to give them a fighting chance.”

The idea was in the works for about a year and administrators formed a committee to identify what needs the program would focus on, Salinas said.

Along with the class, the school began partnering with two local businesses, Walmart and Smokey Moe’s, where they would take the students to learn about the work process and atmosphere.

Then they designed the bistro idea to allow the students to apply the skills they are learning in a place they could call their own. The students are scheduled to train at these businesses twice a week and run the restaurant three days out of the week.

“Some of the students have planned to go into the culinary arts school, so we said, ‘Why don’t we run a restaurant and have you train here?’” said Janie Salazar, special education department head. “They learn responsibility, (and are) learning to be dependable, learning to work with each other.”

Students must qualify to participate in the program, which started with four and has expanded to include about 10 students. They must have a mild or moderate disability, be 17 years old or older, have completed all of their freshman and sophomore credits and have teacher recommendations.

Hidalgo school district Superintendent Xavier Salinas said the district is prepared to support the program’s growth, considering the positive feedback they’ve received from students, parents and teachers involved.

“It’s already growing, and as the program grows, we will continue to add more equipment and we will probably have to go to different periods,” Salinas said. “We are talking about aligning this with a CTE (Career and Technology) so these kids could have the skills they need.”