RGV Life

Currently, the disaster relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is undergoing some challenges. Getting people and supplies in and out of the disaster area is the biggest problem. It isn't that people and supplies are not available, they are. The main problem is that much of the infrastructure is in such bad shape or underwater. Once there, another problem of the relief effort is what to do with the thousands of victims who are homeless. We dodged a hurricane in the Rio Grande Valley this year. The problems in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama could easily have been us. Please help our fellow Americans by donating money to charities. My preference is the American Red Cross. After the September 11th attacks, I am wary of United Way. You can call the American Red Cross at 1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) to donate over the phone. You can also visit the Red Cross website and donate online. Their servers are running slow right now, so wait for the pages to load or try again later. Th...

Last night after driving home from work, I had $6 for gas and was riding on empty. I stopped at the Circle K on 23rd and Buddy Owens in McAllen. $2.99 a gallon! Two blocks away at the Circle K on Ware and Buddy Owens, it was $2.49. As you drive around the Rio Grande Valley, you see this huge gulf between the prices of gasoline at some stations and the prices at another. HEB gas station on 10th and Trenton has been able to hold off price increases. There are a few mom and pop stations that are in the $2.49 range. Usually, you don't really have to shop around. Most stores will have gasoline priced within 10 cents of their neighbors. Last night, and today, it would pay off to look around for the best prices. When you only have $6 for gas like me, a poor Mexican, a 50 cent price difference is a big deal. I sympathize with those who have gas guzzling SUVs with 40 gallon tanks. That's a $20 difference if they refuel at the higher price versus the lower price. I think I will have to s...

Here is a post by Ben Christensen at the Brownsville Herald regarding the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our our men and women victims or heroes? I vote heroes.

Staff Sgt. Nick Martinez (left), of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Staff Sgt. Jose L. Padilla of San Antonio, Texas, hand out drinking water to Bedouin children in their patrol area. Members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, the Guardsmen are assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment, based in Lubbock, Texas. Master Sgt. Lek Mateo Here is a recent blog post by Rep. Aaron Peña : Did Cindy Sheehan's Vigil Work? WASHINGTON Cindy Sheehan's month of fame - or infamy, depending on one's vantage point - is drawing to a close. The grieving mother of a US soldier slain in Iraq will end her vigil at the president's ranch on Wednesday, almost certainly having failed in her stated goal of a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Bush.If nothing else, the spectacle she launched added an American point of focus to the larger tableau of bad news for the US effort in Iraq, dominated by a US military death toll approaching the symbolically significant 2,000-perso...

We all know how government works. If you are in charge of a department, you ask for a certain amount of money that is more than you really need. You do this so that the powers that be will grant you the same amount you had last year or more. You know, and they know that you will not receive what you request. If for some reason you happen to be efficient at spending your money, you splurge it all at the end in order to spend all the budgeted money. If you have any money left over, your next year's budget is cut. If you have taken managerial accounting, you know how a company determines its budget. First, accounting asks marketing how much product they can sell. If Marketing thinks it can sell $1 million in goods and services, then you go to the production managers. You ask them, how much will it cost to make $1 million in goods? You then go and take that figure, add fixed expenses, and you have a budget. Not so with government. It doesn't matter how much production costs are or...

I am going to tell you of a recent adventure that I had. I don't know that what I did was illegal or not. I do know that it was a 10 foot pole situation. Those of you who know me, know that I do some work for a Chinese restaurant. Logically, my boss is Chinese. This means that he often gets calls from Customs and the Border Patrol to translate for them when they catch Chinese OTMs crossing the river. Of course, they ask for asylum, which gives them a chance to roam around the country until they get their court hearing. Some show up at court and others don't, choosing to remain as illegals rather than risk being deported. Well, being Chinese, the OTMs sometimes come asking my boss for help. If you know a Chinese person in the RGV, you know that they work their tails off to get ahead. My boss is the same way. These two Chinese OTMs came asking for help to get to Houston for their connection to New York City. They asked him to rent a car and send them on their way. Of course, he s...

I've been working on a new blog that houses the menu for China Wok in McAllen and the Quick Woks in Edinburg and Mission. You can see the the work at http://www.thewoks.com , feel free to visit whenever you feel like eating Chinese food. I still need to work on the site a little bit.

I was reading through the current issue of the Mesquite Review . There is an article by Lisa Valadez about the drive-in theaters here in the RGV. We used to have one until recently when a new theatre, The Cactus Drive-In, opened. McAllen used to have the Buckhorn Drive-In on the expressway. Towards the end, it wasn't as good because the surrounding area was developing and more lighting was installed, which interfered with the ability to see the movies. As a kid, I used to go with my family. It was a lot of fun. You take whatever food you want. You can lay in the bed of your truck or on the hood with a radio to listen to the movie. If you get a chance, be sure to visit one of the existing theatres. Cactus Drive-In 1919 W Business 83 Weslaco, TX $8 per car 956-969-2999 Wes-Mer 2 Mile West Rd and Business 83. Rain or shine, Mon. thru Thurs: $5 per car Fri., Sat., and Sun $10 per car 956-565-9050 956-514-9292

If you live in Mission, McAllen, or Edinburg and visit China Wok or one of the Quick Woks for Chinese food, I've been working on putting the menus on the web for the last couple days. Visit TheWoks.com to check it out. As of now, I still need to finish the Quick Wok Menu. Afterward, I will be adding descriptions of the plates to help visitors choose.

I took the plunge today. Laura Hinojosa visited the store and I asked her how the campaign is going. She says that she has been receiving support from the community. I would like to see what goes into a campaign, so I volunteered to help her get elected. Laura accepted and has invited me to help her campaign do some work on Thursday. The election is still a long ways off; she is starting early to maximize her support. It's easy for anybody to be a backseat politician. So, in order to get vicarious experience in the electoral process, I volunteered to help Laura. It's exciting to be part of a campaign again. Last campaign I worked was Dukakis when I was in Jr. High. I was confused at that age and did not realize that I am conservative. Laura is probably Democrat too, but she's a nice enough lady. I'm willing to help her win for District Clerk. Besides, if I wait for a Republican to run a campaign and win in the Rio Grande Valley, I'm in for a long wait.

You can't help finding news about high school football. The Rio Grande Valley is big on supporting our local teams. This year, look out for Bradley Stephens of McAllen Memorial High School. Scrimmages are still going on. Here are some early results: Link 1 , Harlingen , Sharyland . Keep checking The Monitor and The Brownsville Herald for updates on our local football teams. I don't have any info on the Eagles yet. You can log into http://www.rgvsports.com forum for sports discussions. They also have a page of links for more information.

At first glance, it seems that all the recent cases of political corruption in the Rio Grande Valley are a sign of the overall culture being corrupt to some extent. A friend of mine who worked in Brazil for a few years tells me that officials will ask you for their "gratificazion" openly, their bribe. He learned that that is their way of doing business. The way he puts it is, "it's in their mother's milk". That is, they are born to it and is a part of life. After reading about the politiqueras and voter fraud (San Juan elections and McAllen elections), bribes for contracts (PSJA school district and City of Alton), gross mismanagement of a public utility (La Joya Water Supply Corporation), and police protection for drug traffickers (Conrado Cantu), you would think it's in the milk of Rio Grande Valley mothers' milk. I see all these cases as a sign of the good changes coming to the Rio Grande Valley. What is happening is that our cities and officials ...

There is some wishful thinking that the I-69 project will develop two spurs that use existing Hwy 77 and Hwy 281 for the Trans-Texas corridor. It's unlikely. Steve Ahlenius says it best. There is no reason for the federal government to spend money developing two spurs of the same highway. The McAllen side of the Rio Grande Valley has the advantage that McAllen itself is a destination for tourists from the south. If you doubt me, watch the novelas on the Mexican channels. Whenever the characters come to the U.S., they head for McAllen. I-69 would make the McAllen side more attractive because it would facilitate travel to the rest of the U.S. The Harlingen side has the advantage that it's right in middle of the whole Lower Rio Grande Valley. From Harlingen you can go to Brownsville or McAllen in about the same time. Well, maybe not the same time, but better than having to cross from McAllen across the Valley to get to Brownsville. No matter where the Interstate highway goes, it...

Here is a story about a Cameron County attorney who displayed stupid behaviour on 2 separate occasions. Knowing how to work the system, his first offense got him deferred adjudication for something that would get most of us arrested. With the second offense, also a misdemeanor, we will have to see what happens. No doubt he'll continue to work for the county. The commissioner's court will "probably" address Wright's indiscretions at the next meeting.

Laura Hinojosa is running for Hidalgo County District Clerk. Laura is known as U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa's daughter, but she has plenty of public service under her belt. This will be her first elected office. Her experience includes the following: President of Boys and Girls Club of McAllen Executive Board Member of Boys and Girls Club of McAllen Member of Leadership McAllen Class 13 Board Member of Valley AIDS Council Committee Member of Our Lady of Sorrows Fund Raising events Committee Member of Cattle Baron Ball American Cancer Society Board Member and Gala Co-chair Discovery School Board Member Palmer Drug Abuse Program Past Board Member Junior League of McAllen Committee Member and Chairman Auction CommitteeMcAllen Internatioal Museum Teacher La Joya High School, South Texas ISD, Educational Certification Alternative Program, Oratory Academy That's quite a bit of work that Laura has done. I've only met Laura when she stops by to do some shopping where I work. She has a...

Aaron Pena has a post that has me concerned. The legislature's failure to get school finance going will end up sending the matter to the Texas Supreme Court. This is a bad thing for the RGV because while such matters are handled by the Legislature, we and our interests are represented. If our local Rep. believes that an amendment or any part of a bill is detrimental to our region, our Rep. can vote against it or try to have changes made. We don't have that if the courts take over. I don't know that this was the intent of the stalwarts in this last special session or not. We stand to lose money for our schools, under any plan other than the current Robin Hood system. There is nothing we can do at this point except wait and see what happens. We have no voice in the matter once the court takes over.

I want to announce the kickoff of the Mission High School Class of 1993's 15th Year Reunion. All members of the Class of '93 should visit the Forum Topic to participate in the planning.It is extremely important that you get the word out to as many of our classmates as possible. We want to start early and make this as good or better than the last one.Let's get the ball rolling!

I was speaking to a friend yesterday, who happens to be an illegal immigrant. I was curious about why he decided to gamble on coming over to the U.S. to try to make a living. I wasn't exactly shocked to hear what he told me, but I can understand his motivation. There are some things that we take for granted on this side of the border that our neighbors to the south cannot. Amongst these are jobs, standard of living, transportation, and trust in government. These can be compelling reasons. Jobs Firstly, jobs in Mexico are of two kinds. There are jobs for the educated and jobs for common laborers. The vast majority of Mexicans cannot afford and are not encouraged to seek higher education past high school. Laborers will perform jobs in construction, food service, and anything else that commands low wages and hard work. For the majority of the population, this is the only option available. Education helps command better wages but is still not as well compensated. In order for your educ...

While considering the purchase of the domain RGVLife.com, I went searching for availability. Wouldn't you know it? RGVLife.com is taken. It is a site that features artists. The first and only featured artist at this time is Omer Garcia, III. By the looks of the site, other artists will be added soon. So, the site is worth checking out. I also checked into RGVLife.net as a backup. No luck. It's already taken by somebody who has it parked. I wonder what will be done with it. Let's just leave it as a blog. There's no harm in it.

Many people who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley have a dim view of how good things are here. This year, Allegiant Air made McAllen one of its destinations to and from Las Vegas, NV. If you visit their website, you can see that the only other Texas city to have Allegiant is Wichita Falls. Not Dallas, not Houston, not San Antonio, or Even Corpus Christi. They came to McAllen. Our region has the demand for such a service. There are an increasing number of affluent families in the Rio Grande Valley. In addition, we have many affluent resident aliens and tourists from Mexico that come to McAllen to live or touch base before heading into the interior of the U.S. Stop by their website to see the rates available.

Update by the Progress Times on the criminal investigation of the La Joya Water Supply Corporation. This is an example of the corruption I have claimed in the past. Most often, corruption takes the form of misappropriated funds or illegal kickbacks. Most of the corruption that is caught happens in small towns like La Joya.

Here is an article by the Progress Times discussing the wake-up call our county commissioners received with the aftermath of Hurricane Emily, which, fortunately, did not hit us with all her wrath. We received about 6 inches of rain, which was enough to max out parts of our drainage systems that were built long before we had so much development. Read more about it.

I was reading A Capitol Blog , Dos Centavos , and Rio Grande Valley Politics , today. There are some posts about the recent DNC Hispanic Summit held in San Antonio. Many of the recent news articles and blogs I have read are essentially saying the same thing: We are losing Latinos to the Republicans because we no longer connect with them and we don't give them positions of power within the party. It's true. The Rio Grande Valley is Democrat territory. It's rare when a Republican can win an election, even when the Republican is Hispanic and the Democrat isn't. Since our area is so dependable in voting Democrat, we are pretty much ignored by campaigns. With the recent drift towards Republicans, the Dems are taking notice. Was it something they said? Nope. It's what they've done or failed to do. What they are failing to see is that many of us are or want to be mainstream Americans. Many of our brothers, sisters, and children are over in Iraq and Afghanistan. You don...

If you live in the Rio Grande Valley, you are probably a bit jaded when it comes to finding opportunities. After a lifetime of hearing that there's no jobs in the Valley, you may begin to believe it. I'll tell you, it's true. It's tough to find a job insofar as blue-collar work is concerned. No, let me rephrase that. It's tough to find a well paying blue collar job. You'll always have somebody work for far less than you want and may do an equally good or better job than you to boot. Do you want to know where the opportunities are? Well, there are two. White collar jobs are one way to make decent cash. Educate yourself and don't hold out for the perfect job. You're NOT going to make $40k right out of college. Salaries aren't as high in the Rio Grande Valley as in other parts of the country or state, but our cost of living is lower. This means that your meager $40-$50k salary will buy you more than in other parts of the United States. The dirty little ...

There have been class reunion updates at both http://www.rgvreunions.com and at http://www.missionhsreunion.com . Most of the reunions are for the classes of 1996.

Rep. Aaron Peña will be on KURV on Thursday morning. See his blog for more details.

According to Tompaine.com, some of the RGV Reps voted for CAFTA. In the article, it is expected that organized labor will "retaliate" against defecting Democrats. Ha! Fat chance of that happening in the Rio Grande Valley. As is well known, the only political party in the RGV is the Democrat party despite the populace being socially conservative. It's an unexplainable phenomenon. Amongts the CAFTA 15, as the defecting Dems are called, are Henry Cuellar (D) from Laredo, Rubén Hinojosa (D) from Mercedes, and Solomon P. Ortiz (D), from Corpus Christi. My Rep is Lloyd Doggett (D), Austin, not one of the dissenting Dems. Notice that the Democrat Reps voting for CAFTA are along the border. Lloyd is an Austin boy, he doesn't get it and doesn't get us. Our districts stand to make some serious cash with more trade. Much of the goods made in Central America have to pass through the Rio Grande Valley. It will trickle down. First, the customs brokers make money. The truckers p...

In a prior posting, I failed to mention Judge Ed Aparicio as an example of the local corruption. I've never met the judge, so I cannot refute any of the reports in the news. I focused on Conrado Cantu in Cameron County in the last article. Here in Hidalgo County, there was Judge Ed Aparicio who probably committed suicide a while after his office was raided by the FBI and they walked out with boxes of records. His death is still under investigation to be 100% sure that it was suicide and not something else. According to the article, there were traces of marijuana and alcohol in the judge's body during the autopsy. Unofficially, as in, you won't find this in the news, the judge left a letter and incriminating evidence that points to other corrupt officials. That is just a rumor and could easily be false. I'm not a journalist, so I don't have the high standard of proof. I only tell you what I hear and read. One thing is certain, you have to wonder, did the judge smoke ...