FEATURED: U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa of McAllen, center, accepts a framed legislative measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 41, from Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, and Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre, honoring the Rio Grande City native on the 40th anniversary of his “exemplary service as a judicial official.” This image was taken at McAllen City Hall on Monday, June 12, 2023.
FEATURED: South Texas attorneys, and husband and wife Omar Ochoa and Leah Wise, flash the Hook ‘Em Horns hand signal of their alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, during a reception held on April 15, 2023 honoring the most recent group of Rio Grande Valley students to be admitted to the school. Both are graduates of UT-Austin; Ochoa is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin Law School, and Wise is a graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law.
FEATURED: Dr. Luis “Louie” G. Alamia, PT, DPT, who serves as Secretary, Board of Trustees, Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, helped congratulate Edinburg school graduates as part of the ceremonies held at the Bert Ogden Arena on Friday, June 2, 2023 and Saturday, June 3, 2023.
FEATURED: Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, makes his introductory remarks on behalf of Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, August 17, 2023 during the inaugural Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Economic Summit held at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg.
FEATURED: The McAllen Rotary Club, in partnership with H-E-B and the Salvation Army in McAllen, on Thursday, July 27, 2023, will be hosting “Help Families Stay Cool This Summer,” a regional community service by those three organizations to raise awareness and prevent heat illness during the ongoing sweltering summer hot spells in Hidalgo County. As part of the event, which will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., families will drive up to the Salvation Army’s facility, located at 1600 N. 23rd in McAllen, and one indoor fan will be donated per vehicle by being placed inside the trunk.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Abraham Hernández, Nyles Dos Santos de Oliveira, Autri Ormond, and Efe Martins, who are four of the seven scholarship recipients recently provided by Village in the Valley (ViVa), a prominent community organization dedicated to elevating and uniting the Black community while fostering connections with other cultures in the Rio Grande Valley, recently announced the recipients of its annual scholarship program. Not shown in this image, which was taken at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Saturday, June 10, 2023, are fellow scholarship recipients Ketny Nicoleau, Allen Jordan, and Albert Mabadeje.
FEATURED: Beginning in 2024, every March 4 in Texas will be observed as “COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day” under a new state law developed by Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, seen here on the floor of the House of Representatives in January 2021. His House Bill 2166 establishes a uniform statewide date to honor Texans who put their own health and safety on the line, especially during the worst periods of the coronavirus pandemic, to keep society from falling apart. In addition, “COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day” will be a time to memorialize the almost 95,000 people in Texas who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 4, 2020 – the date that airborne disease was first diagnosed in Texas.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Manny Vela, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Higher Education Center at McAllen, Texas A&M University; and John Sharp, Chancellor, The Texas A&M University System. Vela will be one of the keynote speakers during FuturoRGV: Building a Thriving RGV/The Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force Forum, which is set for Thursday, July 13, 2023, from 8 a.m. to noon at South Texas College in McAllen.
FEATURED, FROM LEFT: Former longtime Edinburg Mayor Joe Ochoa; Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen; and attorney Omar Ochoa, a son of Joe Ochoa, at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. This summer, congressional debate in Washington, D.C. is building over a federal proposal known as the “AM for Every Vehicle Act”, as major automakers plan to eliminate AM radio in vehicles in the coming years, reports attorney Omar Ochoa.
FEATURED: New Texas mothers who are Medicaid recipients would receive better access to primary and preventative care – for up to 12 months instead of the current two months after giving birth – under a measure supported by Valley legislators and DHR Health leaders that was signed into law on Sunday, June 18, 2023 by Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor is shown here on Monday, June 12, 2023 at the Texas Capitol.