Eminent Domain Back on Track

During the first special session the eminent domain bill made it out of the house but got stuck in negotiations before approval by the senate. Rep. Aaron Peña has resubmitted the bill in the second special session to ensure that property owners are protected from local government taking their property to give to corporate developers who will increase the tax base. The government is able take your property for public works like roads, civic centers, etc. Now, due to the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, the government can take your land and give it to somebody else to build a hotel, mall, or plaza on the premise that those owners will provide more tax revenue than you would if you owned it.

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Cleaning Mold and Mildew From Your Window Air Conditioner

I don't think cleaning mold and mildew from your window air conditioner is a problem specific to the Rio Grande Valley. After all, there are plenty of other places with high temperatures and high humidity. However, given that there are so many of us who rely on window units to cool our homes, allow me to share some experience in cleaning these things out. Why I'm Cleaning My Own A/C Obviously, our window units grew some black stuff on the blower and its enclosure. This generated allergies in my little one, who is sensitive to such things. Not having my own laboratory, I couldn't tell you if it is mold or mildew. It matters not. What I've Tried Other than replacing the window unit every couple months, I've tried washing the unit with Clorox products. I figure bleach kills everything; but, I guess it doesn't. We still had to use cotton swabs to wipe and scrub surfaces on the blower and enclosure, which is almost impossible on some models. You can't d...

Fall 2024 in the RGV

It's that time of year again when Winter Texans start to make their way south from the northern states. I have already had phone calls with a Winter Texan client who is getting ready to come down. I think it is fascinating that we can make friends from people who are visiting only seasonally. Looking at the blog stats, I seem to get a peak in traffic every year. So I suppose it must be partly due to many of our friends coming back from up north. Image generated by Gemini 1.5 Pro AI Speaking of seasons, we still have a couple of months to go before the end of hurricane season for 2024. We have been fortunate this year, compared to other parts of the USA. Although, south Texas could use the rain. This time of year makes me happy as we finally have nights that are below 78F like we had all summer. This week we have had mornings in the 60s. While we still have hot days in the 90s, we at least get some respite in the evenings, leading to cool mornings. Returning to RG...

The Mad Mexican

Years ago, there used to be a DJ at B104, a local radio station. Until recent years, B104 had a large audience. They played pop music. The Mad Mexican used to do the morning show with Gary Rodriguez, who is now involved in McAllen politics. Well, the Mad Mexican is still working, but on a national level. I heard him this morning on Aguila, XM 92. Aguila is the Mexican music station on XM Satellite Radio. It's great to hear from him again. He's still pretty wild. Gary Rodriguez? He worked for 107.9 for a while before going to KURV and then entering politics.

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