September 26, 2014 - Progress Times Issue

Mission museum honors Wall of Fame inductees See story page 3A

Friday, September 26, 2014

inside Wynonna & the Big Noise to headline

www.progresstimes.net | 50 Cents

MCISD trustee faces theft, forgery charges

By Julie Silva Irma Patricia “Patty” Bazaldua, vice president of the Mission CISD school board, was arrested Monday afternoon.

According to a Mission Police spokesman, Bazaldua has been charged with two counts of theft and two counts of forgery.

Bazaldua, an entrepreneur, was elected to office in 2008.

Mission Consolidated Independent School District released a statement Monday night emphasizing that Patricia

Sharyland ISD benefit concert

Patricia Bazaldua

Proceeds from foundation’s annual event will support educational programs at SISD campuses.

See story page 2A

Alton remembers the 21

Members of the community gathered last week to honor the students killed in a bus wreck 25 years ago.

See story page 8A

newsbriefs Mission to join Run, Ride and Share program

By Julie Silva The city of Mission is looking at joining the local Run, Ride and Share program to help protect riders and cyclists on the road.

Citing the death of a 50-year-old man by a motorist in Harlingen two weeks ago, McAllen City Commissioner Veronica Vela Whitacre told members of the Mission council the Valley needs to work together to make streets safe. The Run, Ride and Share program is intended to do just that. Vela Whitacre said she’d like to see it gain statewide support.

“What we’d like to do now is try to reduce the number of fatalities and accidents that take place on our streets,” she said.

Edinburg has agreed to work with the program, and Vela Whitacre said she plans to ad-

See PROGRAM Pg. 14A County increases proposed indigent care payment

By Julie Silva The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court bowed slightly Tueday to a request to increase the county’s contribution for indigent to $7 million.

Instead of the $7 million requested by Carlos Zaffirini on behalf of Hidalgo County hospitals, the court agreed to pay $6 million. That’s up from the $5.6 million the county originally budgeted for the upcoming fiscal year.

“We want to look at it historically,” Zaffirini said. “In 2006, Hidalgo County was funding at about $10 million. The economic crisis hit, and we had some challenges. We want to be part of the solution. It went down to $8 million last year, and we could live with that, and we know there’s

See COUNTY Pg. 9A La Joya ISD approves natatorium contract

By Julie Silva LA JOYA–The price tag for the proposed natatorium at La Joya Independent School District has increased from $9.5 million when it was introduced in June 2013 to more than $16 million.

Last month, the district’s board of trustees agreed to negotiate with the lowest bidder, Texas Descon, on construction of the facility, which will be built on the district’s new Howling Trails Golf Course. However, Monday, the board approved the full bid of $16,386,833 million. It’s expected to take 12 to 14 months to construct.

Information given to the board states that the school district attempted to negotiate with Texas Descon to lower its bid, but the contractor was unable to do so. Trustees approved the item with

INDEX

See LJISD Pg. 9A

Entertainment | pg. 2A

Bazaldua is not an employee of the district.

“Therefore, any criminal charges filed against her are a matter for the full board to address once a final determination is made regarding allegations or charges against Ms. Bazaldua,” reads the statement. “Mission CISD will continue to focus on providing its students with educational opportunities in order to prepare them for college and careers.”

Bazaldua’s in-laws, Mario Bazaldua Sr., and her sister-inlaw, Michelle Bazaldua Peu-

gh, filed complaints against Patricia Bazaldua in June and July. Patricia Bazaldua’s sisterin-law first met with Mission police investigators in June and stated she was approached by an insurance agent in April 2012 who asked her to verify a signature on an application for a $5,000 loan on her policy, according to a probable cause statement.

Peugh said she didn’t know anything about it, and the agent came to her workplace to show

See BAZALDUA Pg. 9A

Illegal Immigration: Desperate Measures

Editor’s Note: An influx in people crossing into the United States, particularly through the Rio Grande Valley, illegally has stirred nationwide debates on the need for immigration reform. This is the first in a twopart series offering a close-up look at immigration and the people involved.

By Mary Alice Nichols Rick Sanchez is 23 and a retired coyote who said he has transported his fair share of criminals.

“I was hired to do a job. A lot of times I wasn’t aware of who I was taking north past the checkpoint, until they were already in the vehicle,” he said.

“I’ve taken drug smugglers, kidnappers and even gang members.”

Sanchez quit working as a coyote two years ago. He said the job was starting to weigh him down emotionally and mentally. Several incidents led him to quit. One traumatic incident occurred when Sanchez was driving a couple and a baby north passed the Falfurrias checkpoint. The baby had been stuffed with balloons filled with cocaine to be transported. One

U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a group of people who crossed into the country illegally down by Anzaldua Park, south of Mission. Progress Times photo by Luciano Guerra of the balloons exploded internally and the baby became gravely ill. Sanchez thought the infant had surely died. He

dropped them off at the hospital and drove off. He later learned the baby survived.

“Incidents like that haunt me

to this day. It was heartbreaking. It affects you if you have

By Julie Silva Hidalgo County watchdogs vowed to take action when the South Texas College board followed through with plans to increase the tax rate Tuesday night.

The approved tax rate is 18.5 cents per $100 property valuation–that’s a 3.5-cent increase, which would increase property tax revenue by 26 percent. The figure opponents seem most focused on is the 26 percent.

Les Rydle, a retired professor from University of Texas-Pan American, said he’d

never seen a budget jump more than 20 percent. He suggested the board compromise and stick with the rollback rate, the highest tax the board could set without going to a voter election.

“You’ll still enjoy more than a 10 percent increase in your budget, which by any standard is a very good increase,” Rydle told the board during public comment before the vote on the tax rate. “We all know like junk in the closet, budgets expand to fill space. Budgets expand to fill revenue. I suggest you go back to your budget, look where you

can trim. It’s a win-win. You save time, effort, expense, and the public saves.”

Fern McClaugherty, a member of the OWLS (Objective Watchers of the Legal System), a local watchdog group, already has said she plans to gather signatures to petition for a rollback election, which would allow voters a second chance to vote down the increase.

The 3.5-cent hike was rejected in Hidalgo County in the November election, but Starr County voters pushed the measure to victory. STC services

both counties. The tax hike was split into two propositions on the November ballot. One proposition authorized a 3-cent increase for maintenance and operation costs and the second proposition allowed for a halfcent increase to pay for $160 million in bonds for construction projects across all of STC’s campuses.

The increase means an additional $35 annually for $100,000 house.

In a presentation prior to the

By Lea Victoria Juarez Seven officers from La Joya and Sullivan City will receive increased training and new equipment after they join the San Juan Police Department Law Enforcement Emergency Region Response Team.

LEERRT is the San Juan SWAT team, composed of smaller agencies and trained to respond to violent incidents.

The team assisted in the July 22 shootout in La Joya with gang member Joaquin Cibrian. The 29-year-old was shot and killed after he injured two Edinburg police officers. The standoff lasted three hours,

according to San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez.

“One of the main priorities here is to get the right training, equipment and the right tools to respond to emergency situations like the one we had six weeks ago,” La Joya Police Chief Geovani Hernandez said.

“We’re very motivated and happy to be accepted by LEERRT, and we’re ready to contribute.”

Five officers from La Joya and two officers from Sullivan City will start a three-week training in late October for the response team. Training consists of various topics like using tactical handguns and long

rifles.

Gonzalez started LEERRT in 2009 because he felt the smaller agencies of Hidalgo County didn’t have the resources to form their own tactical teams. The program is funded

by Homeland Security and recently received $56,000 that will fund the seven new officers. The grant money pays for training, and head-to-toe equipment. LEERRT has been funded more than half a million dollars in the last four or five years, according to Gonzalez.

The SWAT team has a max of 32 members, but due to resignations and relocations, it

recently lost seven members.

Because of this, Hernandez and Sullivan City Police Chief Miguel Martinez were able to get their officers involved. It was a mutual agreement between the chiefs and city managers, according to Gonzalez.

“The only way they get chosen or accepted into the team is there has to be a need for it and there is a need for these two agencies to join us,” Gonzalez said. “They’re in the area that is going to continue to see violence, so we just want to be proactive.”

See BORDER Pg. 10A

STC tax hike opponents prepare for fight

See STC Pg. 9A

La Joya, Sullivan City officers join SWAT

Lifestyle | pg. 6A

Opinion | pg. 4A

Sports | pg. 1B

Obituaries | pg. 11A

See SWAT Pg. 14A

Classifieds | pg. 12A

September 26, 2014

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ll you have to say is “Wynonna.” No last name needed for the five-time Grammy winner.

Now Valley fans will be treated to hear Wynonna & the Big Noise live when she comes to Mission Saturday, Oct. 11, for the annual Sharyland ISD Education Foundation benefit concert. The annual concert is becoming one of the premier, must-attend fundraisers in the Valley as they draw bigger stars with each new event.

Tickets are still available, including VIP seating. It’ll be staged at Las Palmas Race Park, 9809 N. Taylor Rd., beginning at 7 p.m. with opening bad Costello. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Preparing for an alien invasion

The Edinburg World Birding Center (EWBC) is preparing residents for an “alien invasion” with their upcoming survival series, “Tools of the Trade: Creating Your Survival Tool Kit.” It will be held on Wednesdays Oct. 1 through 22.

The invasion they are questioning is who or what has caused the dramatic decline of bees around the world. According to a May, 2014, cnn.com report, bee colonies have dropped 30 percent in the United States every winter since 2007.

Out of 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of food globally, 71 are pollinated by bees. The article goes

to headline Sharyland ISD benefit concert

A 30-year veteran in the music industry, she’s sold over 30 million albums worldwide, had 20 No. 1 hits and received over 60 awards in the music industry. This new show is high energy with Wynonna performing some of her biggest hits along with new ones.

Everyone knows her strong, independent personality, her vocal talent with a clarity that draws the listener

in, and, yes, even her mama, Naomi Judd—when they first started on the road together and rose to superstar status together in the early 1980s.

She’s been successfully on her own since 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. With all the success, she’s a busy, multi-faceted lady.

Wynonna released a new single in 2013, “Something You Can’t Live Without,” produced by her husband and band leader, Cactus Moser, while she did an hour-long television documentary, a national magazine cover and competed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” She took her story telling talents into print with the fiction novel, “Restless Heart,” and has now become a designer and opened a new line of women’s shoes. She’s done all this while working on her eighth studio album and prepping for the current “Big Noise” tour. The Big Noise holiday tour begins December 3.

Proceeds from the event help to support the Sharyland ISD Education Foundation’s efforts to assist teachers and campuses with education programs that benefit students. The focus is on awarding initiatives that are underfunded or not funded by the general operating budget.

VIP sponsor tables are as follows for a table for 10 guests: $2,000, sil-

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ver; $5,000, ruby; $7,500, diamond; and $10,000 platinum. Each table includes the VIP steak dinner with beverages and additional benefits according to the level.

Platinum sponsors receive two, front row tables. Individual VIP tickets for $200 are also available and include the VIP dinner and beverages.

Individual general admission ticket prices are $45.

Purchase tickets at Cavender’s Western Outfitter or online at ticketfly.com or www.laspalmasracepark.com.

Tickets can also be purchased through the Sharyland ISD administration office by calling 580-5200, Ext. 1080.

Coming Attractions on to state that a number of factors are involved in the collapse of bee colonies worldwide. (See www.cnn. com/2014/05/17/opinion/ spivak-loss-of-bees/) The EWBC survival series focuses on the tools necessary to survive in the event of a food shortage caused by the loss of cross pollination and possible loss of technology. Participants will learn about surviving on non-bee-pollinated foods, es-

sential knot-tying and paracord skills and how to make cooking tools, purify water and create food-gathering tools.

Workshop times are 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 1 and 8, 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 and 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 22. The series is for ages 10 and older, and the fee is $2 per session.

The EWBC is located at 714 S. Raul Longoria Road. Call 381-9922 for information or to register.

October 8 Tim McGraw makes a stop at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo for his Valley fans.

The performance, featuring special guest Jana Kramer, begins at 8:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $75 to $175 and are available at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

October 24-26 The three-day Conjunto Music Festival sponsored by the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center in San Benito features accordion-driven sounds featuring 17 of the top bands in the area and beyond.

Events on Oct. 24 will run from 6 to 11 p.m. and will

feature Conjunto Delta Boys, Los D Boyz, Los Morales Boyz, Los Badd Boyz and Tejano Boys. Music begins at 4 p.m. on Oct. 25 and features San Benito High School Conjunto Estrella, Conjunto Fuego, La Clica, Johnny Degollado y Su Conjunto, Los Monarcas de Pete y Mario Diaz and Mingo Saldivar y Sus 4 Espades. On Oct. 26, music again begins at 4 p.m. and will highlight Crystal N Crew, Chano Cadena y Su Conjunto, Los Layton, Los Fantasmas del Valle and Los Dos Gilbertos.

For vendor/booth information, contact Yolanda Lopez at 571-3325, or for other information, Rogelio

T. Nunez at 367-0335. No outside beverages or food allowed. Admission is $5 per day. The public should bring their own chairs for seating.

October 31-November 2 It’s time to “Make A New Friend” in the new Sesame Street Live production coming to State Farm Arena in Hidalgo. Performances are held at different times each date.

Tickets range from $15 to $28 for ages 1 year and up, with packages offering pre-show meet-and-greets and premium seating. Go to ticketmaster.com or call 800745-3000 for more details and to purchase tickets.

September 26, 2014

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

Mission museum

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honors Wall of Fame inductees From a man that makes the news to the man that reports the news, with businessmen and volunteers in between, Mission residents with decades of service to the community were honored last week.

Six honorees were recognized by the Mission Historical Museum as the 2014 Wall of Fame inductees at a banquet Sept. 18. Honorees were Jim Brunson, publisher of the Progress Times; Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa; Don Riter Lester, chair of barbecue at the Texas Citrus Fiesta since 1995; Blanca Vazquez Marroquin, longtime volunteer for the Texas Citrus Fiesta and the museum; Amador and Alicia Esqueda Requenez, owners of Valley Welding Services.

To qualify, honorees must have lived in or worked in the community for 30 years or more. Proceeds from the awards banquet, which included a silent auction, go to support programs at the museum. Luis Contreras II, museum director, expected this year’s total to top $22,000.

Contreras said this year, organizers changed things up in the presentation of the honorees, playing videos with pictures of honorees new and old.

“Every year, the presentations obviously stir up some very strong emotions,” Contreras said. “But this year, there were a lot of people crying.”

Lester could hardly speak when he took the microphone after accepting his award, choking up as he said everything he did was for his wife, who died Sept. 6.

Jim Brunson Brunson grew up in Edinburg, graduating from Edinburg High School. After majoring in electrical engineering at Brigham Young University, he worked at

Houston Lighting and Power Company. In 1981, he moved to Mission to join June Brann as a partner in the Progress Times newspaper, then known as the Upper Valley Progress.

At the newspaper, he served as general manager and vice president from 1981 until June 2003, when he purchased the newspaper from Brann as she retired from a lifelong career in journalism.

In 1987, Brunson and Ms. Brann co-founded the Winter Texan Times, which quickly grew to become the premier Winter Texan newspaper in the entire Rio Grande Valley.

Since 2003, Brunson has served as publisher of both the Progress Times and the Winter Texan Times, and he launched a new publication, the Sharyland Times, in 2012.

He has served as Kiwanis Club president, Lions Club member, Mission Chamber of Commerce chairman of the board, Mission Downtown Merchants Association vice president, and as a member of Mission Citizens Advisory Board and Mission Economic Development Authority Board.

Through the Progress Times, Brunson continues the tradition started in 1981 of selecting and presenting the annual Citizens Awards for Mr. Mission, First Lady of Mission, Man of the Year and Woman of the Year.

In scouting, he has served many years as Scoutmaster, Varsity Team Coach, Explorer Advisor and Scout Committee Chairman.

As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he has served as early morning seminary teacher, Sunday school teacher, elders quorum leader, bishop’s counselor, bishop, high councilor, young

2014 Wall of Fame Inductees Blanca Vazquez Marroquin, Jim Brunson, Don Riter Lester, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, Alicia Esqueda Requenez, and Amador Rquenez.

Luis Contreras men’s president, young single adult leader and public affairs specialist.

Brunson and his wife, Mendi, have five children – Trent, Daniel, Heath, Lindslee and Amy – and 15 grandchildren.

Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa Before Hinojosa led the Rio Grande Valley at the state Legislature, he led the Mission Eagles football team as quarterback.

Hinojosa was born Dec. 9, 1949, to Juan de Dios and Esperanza Vela Hinojosa in McAllen, but he grew up attending Mission CISD school and working as a farm worker as a teen. When he graduated high school, Hinojosa volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps, serving at Vietnam from 1966 through 1968.

When Hinojosa returned home, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas-Pan American and a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He was hired as a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Nueces County and later was an assistant attorney general for the Texas Attorney General. In 1970, Hinojosa began his own private practice in McAllen.

Hinojosa was elected a state representative in 1981 and served until 1990. He again was elected in 1997 and served until 2002. In 2002, he was elected to the Texas Senate.

And during the 2013 legislative session, Hinojosa authored Senate Bill 24, merging University of Texas-Pan American and UT-Brownsville and creating a medical school in South Texas.

The senator was named one of the “Top Ten Best Legislators” by Texas Monthly in 2013. It was the third time he’d earned the honor.

He has worked tirelessly to make South Texas a better place, from farmworker rights to children receiving a quality education to authoring legislation to bring a medical school to the Rio Grande Valley.

Don Riter Lester Lester was born in Greenville and came to Mission in 1966.

He married Mary Jane Block in Quitman, Texas, and they have two children, Scott and Rhonda. He has been involved in the citrus industry since he came to Mission

back in 1966. Lester worked in the grove care business with his brother-in-law Don Holbrook as owners of Rio Grande Valley Grove Care.

He went to work for Hidalgo Orchard of Mission from 1975 to 1977.

Lester then went to work for Sharyland Plantation Produce, where he worked for more than 20 years. His dedication to Texas Citrus Fiesta began before 1973 when he became one of the Citrus Cavaliers – a group of individuals who were in charge of cooking the barbecue sirloin sandwiches to sell during the Texas Citrus Parade.

Lester served on the fiesta board from 1973 to 1994 and served as president several times. He and other Cavaliers drove the Texas Citrus Fiesta Queens float all over Texas to promote Mission and the Texas Citrus Fiesta. He was crowned King Citrus in 1977.

one great-grandson who was born in December 2013.

In 1974, Vazquez Marroquin went to work for the McAllen Chamber of Commerce as their bookkeeper and retired after 25 years.

She has been a member of El Mesias United Methodist Church in Mission for 47 years, serving as the church bookkeeper for many years.

In her spare time Vazquez Marroquin volunteered at the Texas Citrus Fiesta office helping with the parade activities. On several occasions she and her husband Sol represented the Mission Historical Museum in the parade.

For several years Vazquez Marroquin participated as Mrs. Santa Claus for the City of Mission, Crime Stoppers, Mission Hospital and several elementary schools. She also volunteers with the Friends of the Speer Memorial Public Library.

In the early 1980s, Lester was appointed chairman over the building of the Veterans Pavilion on South Inspiration Road by Mission Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas who at that time was Hidalgo County commissioner. Lester made sure it was equipped with a kitchen for cooking.

Lester and his wife Mary Jane celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 8, 2006, in Austin with their family and friends. Lester is a proud great-grandfather of Riter Boon James, 2.

Blanca Vazquez Marroquin Vazquez Marroquin was born in McAllen in 1937 to Leonte and Luisa F. Vazquez.

She is one of eight siblings: Beatrice, Bertha, Velia, Leonte Jr. Luisa and twins Luis and Lucy. Vazquez Marroquin attended elementary schools in McAllen and graduated from McAllen High School in 1956.

Vazquez Marroquin married Salomon S. Marroquin at La Trinidad Methodist Church in Pharr on July 22, 1967. They have two children: Carl and Melinda. They have two granddaughters and

She has been a volunteer for the museum since its inception. When the City of Mission approved the old city hall at 900 Doherty as the museum on Aug. 26, 2002, Vazquez Marroquin, Gen Long and Modene Johnson were instrumental in preparing the building to open on Nov. 11, 2002. In May, Vazquez Marroquin donated eight scrapbooks to the museum.

Amador Requenez Requenez was born in Mission on Sept. 19, 1943, to Pedro and Maria Cristina Requenez and is one of five children.

He attended and graduated from La Joya Independent School District in 1963. He worked in the oil field industry before graduating from high school.

On Jan. 4, 1964, he married Alicia Esqueda who has been instrumental in their business for more than 40 years.

In 1970, Requenez’s dream came true when he established his business, Valley Welding Service, serving the Rio Grande Valley with structural steel fabrication

and erection and Crane Service. His company has manufactured and erected the steel for structures of hospitals, colleges, commercial buildings, schools, courthouses and the most recent addition to McAllen Airport. He and his wife have expanded their business to Laredo, Pflugerville, Beaumont and Houston.

Requenez has been a member of the Mission Chamber of Commerce, and he served on the Board from 1979 through 1982. He also was a member of the Citrus Cavaliers. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club and a member of the Associated General Contractors. Requenez currently is serving on the Appraisal District Board where he has served a total of 22 years. He has participated and supported many local organizations with fundraising events in the community.

Alicia Esqueda Requenez Esqueda Requenez was born on Feb. 19, 1943, in Durango, Mexico, to Pablo and Teresa Esqueda. She is one of eight brothers and sisters.

Esqueda Requenez attended and graduated from La Joya ISD. In 1964, Esqueda married Amador Requenez and they are proud parents of three daughters. They lived in the Palmview area for 20 years and moved to Mission in 1998.

Before receiving a degree as a registered nurse in 1973 from Pan American University, Esqueda Requenez worked for Mission Hospital as a licensed vocational nurse for three years and La Joya ISD for three years.

She served on the La Joya ISD Board of Trustees for 11 years. In 2003, she succeeded Kenneth White to serve on the board for Region One Service Center, and she still is a board member. She has also served nine years on the Mission Regional Medical Center Board, and the Foundation Board of the hospital for three years. She also is a member of the Lions Club of Mission.

She has been instrumental in helping run the family business for the past 40 years, and she said she’s ready for retirement but the man of the house says “No way, Jose.”

The Requenezes are proud parents of three daughters all graduates of La Joya ISD, Cynthia graduated from Texas Women’s University, Linda graduated from the University of Texas and Lisa Marie graduated from A&M in Kingsville.

September 26, 2014

By Ed Sterling Texas Press Association

STATE CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS

AUSTIN — With less than six weeks until election day on Nov. 4, the first of two scheduled gubernatorial debates was held in the Rio Grande Valley city of Edinburg on Sept. 19.

Democratic Party nominee for governor Wendy Davis, a state senator from Fort Worth, and Republican Party gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott, Texas attorney general, fielded questions from Carlos Sanchez, editor of The Monitor, a daily newspaper in McAllen, and Telemundo’s McAllen news anchor Dalila Garza. Abbott and Davis responded to questions for 60 minutes on topics such as border security, economic development, education and education funding, abortion and visions of the future.

On education, Abbott said, “I want to put our trust where it belongs, and that is with our teachers, and get all these one-size-fits-all mandates from Austin, Texas, off the backs of our teachers.” Davis said she voted against legislation that cut $5.4 billion from the state education budget and that Abbott has been defending those cuts in court ever since they were passed and those cuts have led to overcrowded classrooms and teacher layoffs, and shortchanged school children.

Davis said as governor she would “fight to make sure our schools have more resources, not less.”

Davis confronted Abbott over a comment he made in February, in which he seemed to express a view that law enforcement problems in the Rio Grande Valley were like “third-world country practices that erode the social fabric of our communities.” Abbott said he was in Dallas when he made the comment, and he was not referring to the Rio Grande Valley in particular, but to fighting corruption

statewide.

The next gubernatorial debate is set for Sept. 30 in Dallas.

Texas adds jobs in August Texas Workforce Commission on Sept. 19 reported Texas added 20,100 seasonally adjusted total non-farm jobs in August, and over the year, employers have added 395,200 total non-farm jobs.

And while the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in August — up slightly from 5.1 percent in July — it remained below the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.

Every major industry in Texas showed positive annual growth, said TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Hope Andrade.

Andres Alcantar, chair of the Texas Workforce Commission, encouraged Texas veterans to visit their local Workforce Solutions office “to take advantage of the many tools and services that allow them to translate their military skills and experience into good-paying civilian jobs.”

Statue honors innocent man Gov. Rick Perry was present in Lubbock on Sept. 17 for the dedication of a statue honoring the late Timothy Brian Cole, a Texas Tech University student who was wrongfully convicted of rape and died in prison in 1999, after 14 years of incarceration. Perry granted Cole, who always maintained his innocence, a posthumous pardon in 2010.

At the ceremony, Perry spoke in honor of Cole and recognized Cole’s late mother, Ruby Cole Session, who was instrumental in passing legislation that created the Tim Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions, allowing families of deceased exonerees a process to receive funds from the state for

their wrongful conviction.

Cole’s case was brought by the Texas Innocence Project, an organization that fought for DNA testing in 2008 that ultimately proved his innocence.

Deposit sets state record The Texas General Land Office on Sept. 17 reported its deposit of more than $1 billion into the state’s Permanent School Fund, “crushing all previous records.”

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said the record earnings that made such a large deposit possible “are due in large part to hydraulic fracturing technologies, which has private companies competing to outbid each other for access to Permanent School Fund lands that previously were of marginal value.”

Now valued in excess of $34 billion, the Permanent School Fund helps pay for the state’s share of elementary and secondary public education.

Included in the record-breaking deposit was more than $461 million from “savvy investments,” Patterson said. “We’ve had a good run,” added Patterson, who will leave office when his term expires in January.

Agriculture chief to step down Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples on Sept. 18 announced he would step down as head of the Texas Department of Agriculture “within the next two months to ensure a smooth transition.”

On the same day, the Austin-based Texas Oil & Gas Association named Staples president of their 5,500-member organization. Staples will succeed Rob Looney, who is retiring at the end of 2014 after 26 years with the association.

Gov. Rick Perry helped break ground on the SpaceX commercial launch facility located near Boca Chica Beach, which will launch commercial satellites into orbit.

“This announcement represents a huge step forward for our state and continues our nation’s proud legacy of scientific advancement,” Perry said. “It builds upon our pioneer heritage, our tradition of thinking bigger, dreaming bolder, and daring to do the impossible. SpaceX is the latest in a long line of forward-thinking companies that have made Texas home.”

This week’s groundbreaking is the result of years of cooperation between Texas and SpaceX. The idea for a commercial spaceport in Texas was first discussed on a TexasOne trip to California

in 2011. The Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) was instrumental in bringing SpaceX to Texas, with a $2.3 million grant in August that will bring 300 jobs and create $85 million in capital investment in South Texas. The State of Texas is also offering $13 million from the Spaceport Trust Fund to the Cameron County Spaceport Development Corp.

“We appreciate the leadership of Governor Rick Perry and numerous other federal, state and local leaders who have helped make it possible for SpaceX to build the world’s first commercial launch complex designed specifically for orbital missions,” Musk said. “With today’s groundbreaking at Boca Chica, we will begin an investment in South Texas that will create hundreds of jobs

and over time contribute hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy.”

Perry also announced a Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant to The University of Texas at Brownsville for $4.4 million that will be matched by the University of Texas System for $4.6 million. The TETF grant will go toward the construction of the Stargate complex, which will use TETF funds to test and commercialize a new phased-array antenna system that will replace fixed satellite-dish tracking communication systems. The Stargate complex will co-locate laboratories and the SpaceX launch command-and-control center, and will provide opportunities for education in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields.

Perry helps break ground on SpaceX commercial launch facility

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Senate Natural Resources subcommittee hears testimony on impact of Mexico’s energy reforms on Texas AUSTIN – The Senate Natural Resources Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, heard key testimony from invited witnesses on the impact Mexico’s energy reforms may have on Texas this week.

The committee heard testimony from a dynamic group of witnesses. The lineup included experts on Mexico’s socioeconomic policies and Mexico’s energy reforms, economists, and experts in academia, infrastructure, industry, law, local government, and regulatory practices. Chairman Christi Craddick of the Texas Railroad Commission and Chairman Carlos Rubinstein of the Texas Water Development Board were among the witnesses that delivered testimony before the Senate Subcommittee.

Hinojosa issued the following statement: “I am pleased with the testimony delivered by our

expert witnesses today. It was educational and informative. We now have a better understanding of what Mexico’s reforms are and what they mean for Mexico and Texas’ economy. We can expect billions of dollars in increased economic activity and the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

“Mexico’s recent energy reforms, opening oil and gas exploration and development to private businesses, domestic and foreign, is a historic economic shift in Mexico’s long reliance on PEMEX’s oil and gas monopoly.

“The expansion of oil and gas production in Northern Mexico is expected create a new energy paradigm for North America. By combining the United States, Canada, and Mexico, oil and gas production in North America will be bigger than OPEC. “Taking the lessons we have learned from the booming Eagle Ford Shale, we

are positioned to address the challenges so that the state, local communities, and businesses can seize this transformative opportunity.

“No region stands to gain more from Mexico’s energy reforms than South Texas.

With the Eagle Ford Shale to the north, and the Burgos Basin, also known as the Eagle Ford Shale, to the south, South Texas is at the epicenter of this energy revolution happening in Texas and Mexico. “ The subcommittee is charged with (1) examining the impact on Texas’ economy and businesses of the recent expansion of oil and gas production in Northern Mexico; and (2) assessing opportunities for economic growth in Texas and collaboration between Texas businesses and Mexico resulting from Mexico’s energy reform, including Mexico’s efforts to recover shale gas from the Eagle Ford Shale.

Rio Grande Valley leaders endorse Greg Abbott for governor

AUSTIN- Following a widely praised performance in the historic Rio Grande Valley gubernatorial debate Friday evening, Greg Abbott campaigned across the region at a series of grassroots events on Saturday, where he received endorsements of local leaders, including: • Mission Mayor Beto Salinas • Harlingen Mayor Christopher Boswell • Rio Grande City Mayor Ruben Villarreal • Edcouch Mayor Robert Schmalzreid

• Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos • LaGuna Vista Mayor Susie Houston • Palmhurst Mayor Ramiro Rodriguez Jr. • McAllen Mayor Jim Darling Introducing Greg Abbott at a block walk in McAllen, Salinas praised his record of fighting for Texans, calling him “the best Attorney General Texas has ever had,” and said that Greg Abbott “is going to be a governor for everyone in Texas.”

“Bold, trailblazing, vi-

brant, and as reliable as a ray of sun – these words well describe our great State of Texas and its future governor, Greg Abbott,” said Villareal in a statement.

“There is no one who understands better the absolute of preserving Texas values for future generations than Greg Abbott,” said Judge Cascos in a statement released following Friday’s debate, “Whether in education, healthcare, border security or jobs, Greg Abbott has a plan to make Texas even greater than it already is.”

Senate passes bill for reward for information on the murders of American journalists

WASHINGTON, DC– U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeanne Shaheen (DNH), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) last week hailed the Senate’s unanimous passage of a bill authorizing up to $10 million in rewards for information leading up to the arrest and conviction of any individuals involved in the kidnapping and murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who were natives of New Hampshire and Florida, respectively.

The bill would update the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program to offer a reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual responsible for committing, conspiring or aiding in the commission of the kidnapping and murders of Foley and Sotloff. Since the inception of the Rewards for Justice Program in 1984, the U.S. has paid more than $125 million to over 80 peo-

ple who provided actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide.

“One way we can honor the memories of James Foley and Steven Sotloff is to bring their evil murderers to justice, which this measure will help do,” Rubio said. “I hope the House approves this at the earliest possible opportunity so that the President can sign it into law. It’s important that we send a powerful message to the Foley and Sotloff families, to the American people and to the world that the United States will work tirelessly to ensure that the deaths of these beloved journalists does not go unpunished.”

“The threat ISIL poses was brought home to us in New Hampshire with their barbaric murders of two courageous and inspiring journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff,” Shaheen said. “Our country lost two of its own and we must do

everything possible to bring the terrorists who committed these atrocities to justice.”

“James and Steven bravely risked their lives to help the world better understand the tragedy in Syria, and we will not rest until their murderers are brought to justice,” Ayotte said. “Terrorists should know that if they harm Americans, we will hunt them down.”

“ISIS represents a direct and growing threat to the United States,” Cruz said.

“They have brutally murdered Americans on the world stage and there are reports of jihadists being urged to strike targets such as Times Square, the Las Vegas Strip, and even locations in my home state of Texas. I am encouraged by passage of this bill and it is my hope the House will join in unity with the Senate, and give President Obama the opportunity to send an emphatic message to the world that we will hunt down and punish these killers and anyone else who seeks to harm U.S. citizens.”

Become a fan on Facebook and be notified of updates, the latest headlines and more. www.progresstimes.net Keeping our community safe is everyone’s responsibility. If you observe suspicious activity or witness a crime, be a good neighbor and report it to the police. And remember, you don’t have to give your name or personal information to report a crime.

1217 N. Conway • Mission, TX (956) 585-4893 MEMBER 2014

TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION

The Progress Times (USPS 971-420; ISSN 0890-2666) is published each Friday by Mission Publishing Co., 1217 N. Conway, Mission, Texas 78572, (956) 585-4893. Subscriptions $20 annual in Hidalgo County; $25 outside of Hidalgo County. Second class postage paid in Mission, Texas 78572. ©2014 Mission Publishing Company, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the PROGRESS TIMES, P.O. Box 399, Mission Texas 78573.

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Anonymous cards or letters are neither read nor printed. Letters may be submitted by e-mail to letters@progresstimes.net, but must include the author’s name and daytime phone number.

September 26, 2014

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page 5A

September 26, 2014

Annual Mission Pink Walk/Run kicks off Oct. 4 The Sixth Annual Mission Pink Walk/Run for Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention kicks off Oct. 4 at Mission Regional Medical Center. Last year more than 3,200 people of all ages registered for the walk. It is one of largest breast cancer walks in the Rio Grande Valley and draws people from as far away as Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Monterrey.

Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from this pink 5K event will provide free digital screening mammograms to uninsured women over the age of 40 who live in the Rio Grande Valley.

The remaining funds benefit the Foundation at Mission Regional Medical Center.

Gina Martinez of Mission applied and received a certificate for a free mammogram.

“There is a sense of pride when you see so many people come together to help

Mission Pink Walk/Run sets record crowds each year for the annual event held at Mission Regional Medical Center. make it easier for women ilar circumstances. It is a to get a mammogram. I ad- highly inspirational, educamire them and will always be tional event that is also fun grateful,” she said. for the entire family.”

“We have all kinds of Registration fees are $10 people participating in this for children ages 7 to 12; event – from mothers walk- $15 for teenagers, ages 13ing with strollers to runners 17; $25 for adults over age competing for first, second 18; and $10 for breast cancer and third place awards,” said survivors. A free neon pink Evelyn Sáenz, marketing event T-shirt will be availcoordinator. “Mission Pink able to the first 4,000 regishas been a meeting place for tered participants. those survivors and families Participants can still regthat are going through sim- ister at the packet pick-up

Mission Hope offers free health seminars

Pastor Encile Brown with Mission Hope Seventh Day Adventist Church has extended an invitation to the public to attend a new series of health seminars at the church. Located at 203 W. Mile 3 Road in Mission, “In Step to Health” will be held on Sundays and Wednesdays through Nov. 23. The entire series is free.

Presenters include Dona Cooper-Dockery, M.D., and Marlene Chang-Brown, M.D.

Sunday seminars, to be held from 3 to 5 p.m., will feature health lectures, healthy cooking classes and screenings for blood pressure and obesity.

The Wednesday sessions run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will focus on exercise, marriage and relationship enhancement, financial empowerment and addiction support.

For more information or to register, call 454-4596.

and registration event set for Saturday, Sept. 27. Hospital staff will be present at the hospital meeting rooms ABC, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., to register those that have not and prefer to pay in person.

Packets will also be available for pick-up for participants that registered online.

Registration will also be open the weekdays before the event by paying the fees at the hospital’s business office. Packet pick-up arrangements can be made that day. Registration and packet pick-up will also be held the morning of the walk, starting at 6:30 a.m. Early registration is encouraged to avoid heavy traffic and to find the best parking spaces.

For more information about registration, visit www.MissionPink.org or call the hospital marketing department at 323-1150.

Laura Ling is next UTPA Distinguished Speaker

EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American will welcome Laura Ling as the first guest of its Distinguished Speakers Series for the 2014-2015 school year on Sept. 30 at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

Ling is an award-winning journalist and author. She is co-author of “Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home” that she penned with her sister Lisa Ling. The lat-

Free Society News Announcements

Quinceanera, engagement, wedding, milestone anniversary* and milestone birthday** announcements are run FREE of

charge in the Progress Times.

The quinceanera, wedding, anniversary and birthday announcements should be submitted no later than two months after the event date. Engagement announcements must be submitted no later than three weeks prior to the wedding date.

Quinceanera and milestone birthday photos are upper body, single column of the individual only; no group shots.

Engagement, wedding and anniversary photos of the couple are run two columns in size.

For questions or to obtain the appropriate form to submit with a photo, send an email to communitynews@progresstimes.net, call the Progress Times at 585-4893. Please include a contact name and phone number for all inquiries.

ter is a journalist, writer and host of “Our America with Lisa Ling” on OWN. In 2010, Lisa Ling spoke in the 2009-2010 Distinguished Speakers Series at UTPA. “UTPA was fortunate to previously host her sister Lisa Ling and the committee found bringing Laura Ling would be an incredible addition to our series,” director of Student Union and Resident Life Sergio Martinez said.

“Ling shares with audiences the challenges international journalists face when reporting on hot spots around the world.”

While reporting on the trafficking of North Korean women in March 2009, along with her colleague Euna Lee, Ling was arrested and held captive for 140 days. It was not until she was granted

See LING Pg. 7A

page 6A

Events Calendar

Sep tember 26 - The Mission High School Class of 1994 will be having their annual get-together during the Sept. 26 football game against McHi at Mission’s home stadium.

Kick-off is at 7:30 pm. Classmates will gather for dinner at Buffalo Wings and Rings on South Shary Rd. after the game. Classmates should ask for the “Class of 1994” section for game tickets to be assigned to the correct area and for seating at the restaurant. For more information, contact Angie Jimenez at 533-5595 at angiem1994@yahoo.com.

Sep tember 27 – The Sharyland Pioneer High School Diamond Belles Booster Club is holding a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 1219 N. Glasscock. Items range from basic household items, clothes and children’s games to office equipment.

Sep tember 27 – The International Museum of Art & Science (IMAS) annual benefit fundraiser, “Collage 2014: Legacy of Generosity” will be held from 6 p.m. to midnight at the museum, 1900 Nolana in McAllen. Tickets are $150 for IMAS members and $175 for nonmembers for the cocktail hour, dinner, valet parking and Aprés Féte. Tickets to the Aprés Féte only, the official Collage after party, are $35 per person and $60 per couple which includes cocktails, valet parking and heavy appetizers. Live music and museum exhibits round out the evening’s festivities. For tickets or more information, call IMAS at 682-0123.

October

Oct ober 2 – Learn all about native plants from Betty Perez at 6 p.m. at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center, 600 Sunset in McAllen. Perez has been growing native plants on her family’s ranch since 1997. The program fee is $3 per person; no advance reservation is required. For more information, call 681-3370 or visit www.quintamazatlan. com.

Oct ober 2 – Buckets of Fun – Fun with Beans! begins at 10 a.m. at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center, 600 Sunset in McAllen. Preschool children and their parents will explore nature-inspired lessons through various activities.

The program is $3 for adults and $2 for kids and seniors.

Call 681-3370 for more information or visit www.quintamazatlan.com Oct ober 4 - The Special Olympics Texas (SOTX) Fire Truck Pull will be staged at the McAllen Convention Center at 12 p.m. A Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) fundraiser, it is open to the public. The event wraps up with a ceremony and awards going to the Fastest Team Pull (first, second and third place), Most Money Raised by a Team, and Most Money Raised by an Individual. The entry fee is $300 per team of 10 or $30 per person. For more information, contact Gloria Cruz at gcruz@sotx.org, Lauro Garza at lgarza@sotx.org or 630-3434.

Oct ober 11 – Jessica Monroe will lead a series of children’s art classes, “Fall into Art,” beginning Oct. 11 at the Upper Valley Art League, 921 E. 12th in Mission. Geared for ages 7 to 10 years, it runs for six weeks on Saturdays from 1:30 to 3 p.m., ending Nov. 15. Students will use a variety of materials to explore color, texture, pattern and rhythm. Cost is $120 for the six sessions, plus a one-time $15 supply fee. A minimum of five students is needed for the class to make. To sign up, contact Maxilou Link at maxiloulink88@gmail.com or Monroe at jmonroeart@ gmail.com.

Weekly

Monday TOPS #415 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), 3 p.m. weigh-in, Mission Historical Museum, 900 Doherty. For info: Shirley Earp, 254-258-2380.

Crossroads Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1101 Doherty. For info: Lydia, 330-6559, or Shirley, 581-8084.

AARP Driver Safety Classes, 12:30 p.m., Salvation Army, 1600 N. 23rd, McAllen. AARP members, $12; non-members, $14. Checks or money orders only. Class size limited to 15.

For info: 682-1468.

Tuesday Quinta Mazatlan: Songbird Strolls, 8:30-9:30 a.m., 600 Sunset, McAllen. Included in regular admission. Call 6813370 for info.

Wednesday Mission Lions Club, 12 p.m., Danny’s Mexican Restaurant, 122 W. Tom Landry. Meals are $8. Fellow Lions welcomed.

Upper Valley Art League open painting for members, any medium, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., 921 E. 12th St., Mission. Annual dues, $30. Info or to join: 583-2787.

Quinta Mazatlan: Garden Walk and Talk, 10 –11 a.m., 600 Sunset, McAllen. Included in regular admission. Call 6813370 for info.

Helping Other Patients Emotionally (H.O.P.E.), cancer patient support group, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., McAllen Library at Nolana and 23rd, Conference Room B; Marsha Nelson, Ph.D., facilitator. Info: 624-3840.

Thursday Mission Rotary Club, 12 p.m., Club at Cimarron, 1200 S. Shary Rd. Salad bar buffet, $10; Mexican food buffet, $15.

All Rotarians and interested persons welcomed.

“Family Fun Night,” $1 admission to IMAS, 4 to 8 p.m., Bicentenntial Way & Nolana Ave., McAllen. Info: 682-0123.

Friday Upper Valley Art League, open clay/pottery group (coil method), 9 a.m. to noon, 921 E. 12th Street, Mission. Participants furnish their own clay or contribute toward purchase.

No instructor, no fee. UVAL membership required/$30 annually. Info: 583-2787.

Quinta Mazatlan: History of Quinta Mazatlan Tour, 10 –11 a.m., 600 Sunset, McAllen. Included in regular admission.

Call 681-3370 for info.

Saturday Quinta Mazatlan: Songbird Strolls, 8:30-9:30 a.m., 600 Sunset, McAllen. Included in regular admission. Call 6813370 for info.

Weekends McAllen Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., McAllen Public Library, 4001 N. 23rd St. To see an extended Events Calendar for the coming weeks, go to www.progresstimes.net.

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

September 26, 2014

MCHS Joselyne Rodriguez, Christian Navejar, Bianca Rodriguez

MHS Carolina Briones, Violeta Rivera, Jasmin Vega, Eri Longoria

page 7A

VMHS: Lee Sanchez, Henry Davis, Judith Haro, Darius Davis

Mission CISD students earn AP Scholar designations

A total of 22 students from all three Mission CISD high schools—Mission High (MHS), Veterans Memorial (VMHS) and Mission Collegiate (MCHS)—have recently received recognition when they were designated as AP Scholars in the College Board Advanced Placement program.

In its third year of existence, three juniors at MCHS are the first to receive the designation as AP Scholars at their school. To quality, they had to receive grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams. They are Joselyne

Rodriguez, Christian Navejar and Bianca Rodriguez.

A total of six students at MHS earned APR Scholar designation under the same requirements. Two graduated with the class of 2014: John Diaz and Miguel Reyna-Bravo. Current seniors who qualified are Carolina Briones, Violeta Rivera, Jasmin Vega and Eri Longoria.

At VMHS, a total of 13 students earned AP Scholar Awards for their achievement. One student, Darius Davis, qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of the exams.

Three VMHS students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award. This is granted to students who receive an average score of at

least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams.

They include two current VMHS seniors, Darius Davis and Judith Haro, and one from the Class of 2014, Benjamin Garcia.

Three other students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by receiving an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams.

Current senior Lee Sanchez earned this designation.

Members of the Class of 2014 who earned it include Janessa Farias and Matthew Sparks.

Seven students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars in the current senior class are

McALLEN – Letters, monetary donations and volunteers for the Operation Interdependence-RGV organization’s next “Packing Party.” The community-based organization raises funds to prepare and ship care packages shipped to active U.S. troops stationed abroad. The next one is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army at 1600 N. 23rd St. (23rd and Pecan) in McAllen.

“We are grateful for the service our troops provide and are honored to come together as a community to show our gratitude,” said Dora Brown, IBC Bank-McAllen senior vice president and OI-RGV committee chair.

To become a sponsor for the campaign, make a monetary or in-kind donation by contacting Jennifer Nava at 632-3589. Every penny goes directly to buying supplies

for the soldiers.

Volunteers are then needed at the Nov. 13 event where the care packages will be put

Donations, letters needed for the troops

National Merit semifinalist Veterans Memorial High School senior, Darius Davis has been named a semifinalist in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program and is in competition for one of 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million. About 1.4 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. Finalists will be announced in February, 2015.

LING

special pardon that she was allowed to return to the United States.

Since her imprisonment, she continues to expose human trafficking and bring greater awareness to the seriousness of imprisoned journalists around the globe.

Currently, she hosts and reports for E! Investigates, a documentary series that addresses a variety of serious

from pg 6A

social issues.

This event is free and open to the public with seating available to 1,500 persons. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for UTPA students, faculty and staff with a valid UTPA ID and at 7:20 p. m. for the general public.

For more information or special accommodations, call 665-7989.

2015

Princess Anna Pageant Saturday, October 11, 2014 2-4pm at the Mission Community Center 1420 E. Kika De La Garza Mission, TX Application Deadline: Friday, October 3, 2014

Must be 6 years old on or before Jan, 31, 2015.

Participants from all over the Rio Grande Valley are encouraged to participate.

5 princesses will be selected to be a part of the 2015 Texas Citrus Fiesta Tangerine Court.

2015 Valley Duchess Applications Also Available

Call Texas Citrus Fiesta For Information About These Events:

(956) 585-9724

See TROOPS Pg. 8A

Noel Barsenas and Henry Davis. The AP Scholars from

the Class of 2014 are Alexandria Gonzalez, Jaquelyn

Gonzalez, Alfredo Munoz, Joel Ocanas, Anyssa Vela.

page 8A

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

September 26, 2014

Students, families honor the 21

By Julie Silva ALTON–The ceremony to remember the 21 was solemn, but families and students couldn’t help but smile as they released butterflies Friday morning to honor the students who died in a bus accident 25 years ago.

“We chose the butterflies because like our 21 students, although their lifespan is short, it is long enough to leave its legacy for others to follow,” Carla Femat, chairwoman of Alton Memorial Junior High’s Remembering the 21 Committee.

On the morning of Sept.

21, 1989, a Dr. Pepper truck hit a Mission Consolidated Independent School District school bus filled with junior high and high school students at the intersection of Mile 5 and Bryan Road, sending the bus into a caliche pit filled with water. Sixty students survived.

To mark the 25th year since that tragic event, MCISD held a ceremony at Alton Memorial, attended

by Rafael Cantu, superinten-

dent of the district in 1989, and Cynthia Del Bosque, a student on the bus who survived.

Band and choir students at the junior high participated in the ceremony, with the band playing “Amazing Grace” and the choir singing “You Raise Me Up.” Del Bosque was crying as she stood to address students and family members attending the ceremony. It’s the first time she’s attended a memorial ceremony since 1989, she said, because it was too hard, so she made excuses.

Del Bosque was a senior at Mission High School when the bus accident occurred.

At the ceremony, she’d hoped to thank Gus Zapata, then principal of Mission High School, who in the aftermath of the tragedy, rode the bus with her after the incident to make sure she got to school.

Del Bosque, now an attorney married with two sons, has used the tragedy to motivate herself to achieve success.

“I promised myself early on that I would not let the children’s tragedy be in vain,” she said.

Del Bosque said she thinks a lot about why she survived and others didn’t.

She doesn’t have any answers, but it did force her to examine her life and how she lives it.

“All I can think is that I had unfinished business to attend to,” Del Bosque said.

“I’d like to believe that my purpose on earth is to serve God through his people.”

Students could be seen wiping their eyes and Cantu recounted watching the scene unfold that September day in 1989.

“As the number increased, the more devastated I felt, and that began a long period of time of being in a fog, in a daze,” Cantu said.

It’s appropriate for the students to be there, he said, because the community needs to remember to live life to the fullest and the families of the victims need to know that the community

remembers their children.

The school was named in honor of the 21 students, and Femat said the butterfly garden, first dedicated 10 years ago, always would stand as a symbol of love and dedication to those students.

Families of the students at the ceremony were given 21 butterflies, one for each stu-

dent, to release in the garden, and many took the time to visit trees dedicated to each of the students killed in the 1989 tragedy.

Each tree had a wooden cross posted in front of it with a student’s name engraved: Maria Alfaro, Roberto Bazaldua Jr., Margarita Buentello, Carmen Canales,

Elda P. Cruz, Raul Flores, Elizabeth Flores, Abdon Garcia, Armando Gonzalez, Ruby Lopez, Marta Amelia Lozano, Jose L. Ortega, Veronica Perez, Yesenia Perez, Roman Quintero, Apolonia Regalado, Maria Regalado, Anna Rodriguez, David Saenz, Michael P. Saenz and Alberto Vasquez.

Family members of the 21 students killed in a bus wreck in Alton 25 years ago release butterflies to honor the victims. Progress Times photo by Julie Silva

TROOPS

from pg 7A

together. It’s a suitable activity for families, church groups, co-workers and individuals. Refreshments will also be provided.

Also included in each care package is a letter of support to a soldier overseas. To submit a letter, drop it off at any IBC Bank or Texas Regional Bank branch in Hidalgo County by Nov. 10. They may also be mailed to OIRGV, PO Box 579, McAllen, TX 78505. Letter writing guidelines are available on the orgainzation’s Facebook page, facebook.com/oirgv.

For more information, email oirgv2014@gmail. com or call 632-3589.

September 26, 2014

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

still some challenges.”

Paying out the $7 million in the upcoming year would still save the county $1 million from what it paid this current year, Zaffirini said.

He then corrected himself,

recalling the figure was closer to $9 million this year because the county made up for a $1 million from the previous year.

The money is sent to the state, which uses a multiplier to divide the money amongst area hospitals to help offset the costs of uncompensated

indigent health care.

County Judge Ramon Garcia said the $5.6 million would generate an additional $7.7 million on the state level for a total of $13.3 million.

The requested $7 million county contribution would generate a $9.7 million for a total of $16.7 million.

“We’re trying to weigh the need for hospitals to be compensated for uncompensated medical care because of our indigent population, which we all realize is substantial,” Garcia said. “At the same time, we’re trying to balance it out with the need of our taxpayers.”

her the application. According to her affidavit, Peugh recognized the handwriting and suspected Patricia Bazaldua, but Peugh didn’t do anything because the money was not paid out to anyone.

Then, in May of this year, Peugh received a call from her mother, stating that Patricia Bazaldua had taken out a $5,000 loan in August 2012, she stated in her affidavit. She called the insurance company, requested a copy of the application and found someone forged her and her husband’s names, the affidavit states. The check had been mailed to her parents’ address, and Peugh said Patricia Bazaldua lived next door at the time and always got the

mail.

Two days after Peugh received the call from her mother, Mario Bazaldua Jr. found a folder at Patricia Bazaldua’s place of business when he went to look for speakers, according to Peugh’s affidavit.The affidavit states while Mario Bazaldua Jr. was at the office, he saw several notices for delinquent accounts and found a folder inside the desk with Peugh’s application for the life insurance loan and a blank paper where it appeared Patricia Bazaldua had been practicing Peugh’s signature. Also inside the folder was the Peugh’s application to work at Mission CISD, the affidavit states.

In the probable cause

statement, the investigator states he found Patricia Bazaldua deposited a $5,000 check made out to Maribel Bazaldua in August 2012.

A separate probable cause statement signed Sept. 16, accuses Patricia Bazaldua of obtaining a credit card using information for Mario Bazaldua Sr. He found out in July when he received a collection notice notifying him of an outstanding balance for an account he never authorized. A few days after making his first complaint to police, Mario Bazaldua Sr. provided a sworn statement that Patricia Bazaldua sold him an annuity with Woodmen of the World, and he had deposited $15,000. Several

times, he told police, Patricia Bazaldua had him sign paperwork, telling him they were standard forms to keep his policy active, but he couldn’t read them because he cannot read English.

Mario Bazaldua Sr. told police there were two withdrawals from his annuity without his permission. Investigators found two checks made out to Mario Bazaldua Sr. and deposited in Patricia Bazaldua’s account, one for $3,320 and a second for $3,279.

Patricia Bazaldua was issued a $5,000 bond for each of the two theft counts and a $2,500 bond for each of the two forgery counts.

board’s vote, STC President Shirley Reed emphasized the school has not increased taxes since 2001 when I had 12,472 students enrolled. This fall, there are 31,325 students enrolled, she said. She projected the college would be at 42,000 by 2020. To keep up with the growth, Reed said the college currently is using 56 portable buildings, each with two classrooms, that it purchased used from a school district 20 years ago.

“It’s through South Texas College that people get out of the colonias. They get a better life,” Reed said.

She displayed charts showing that less than 24 percent of the college’s revenue comes from property taxes. More than 40 percent is raised through tuition and

fees and another 30 percent comes from state appropriations.

Paul Rodriguez said as the newest member of the STC board he tends to be skeptical and critical. But he’s visited the college’s facilities and was swayed in favor of the increase.

“What we ended up proposing and voters approved is a number significantly less than what some people thought was ideal,” Rodriguez said. “These are difficult times, and I undstand fully that nobody wants to pay more taxes. We’re facing all kinds of demands from our constituents.”

But, he said, he doesn’t want to have to turn people away because there is no space for them in STC’s pro-

grams or the college doesn’t have enough staff.

Tuesday’s vote, which was unanimous in approving the tax rate, wasn’t unexpected McClaugherty said, and she hopes voters will link the STC tax with the proposed 8-cent hospital district tax rate. The STC increase will give people a taste of what happens when a new entity is added to the tax roll, she hopes.

“Once they get on there, they’re there forever, and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren are going to have to pay,” McClaugherty said. “It’s just battle time.

“Everybody, if you don’t want to pay more taxes, your taxes are fixing to come up.”

She said young college

students were the reason the tax increase was approved in November, and she pointed out voting booths that were located on STC campuses.

But when the young people who voted for the tax rate increase get a job, McClaugherty said, they’ll likely leave the Valley, leaving their parents to pay the higher tax.

But she’s confident there will be enough votes in opposition to the increase to stop it, judging by the number of phone calls she’s received from people asking how they can help.

“This time it’ll have to be up to the parents and to the people that own property to say, ‘We can’t do this again,’” McClaugherty said.

“We have a chance to undo something that was bad.”

COUNTY

from pg 1A

BAZALDUA

STC

from pg 1A

from pg 1A

page 9A

Hidalgo County Commissioner Joe Flores said $7 million is out of the question, but he suggested $6 million as a compromise. With the multiplier, Flores said, the hospitals would get more than $14 million. Commissioner Hector Palacios took it a step further and suggested $6.25 million, reasoning that the hospitals are doing good work.

“As close as we can get to $7 million would be great,”

Zaffirini said.

Commissioner Joseph Palacios said there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He hopes to see a balanced county budget within the next year or two, and the county is being as optimistic as it can be.

The court ultimately agreed to the $6 million payment, which will be worked out in the proposed budget set to be presented Sept. 30.

no discussion.

The work includes construction of the 20,000-square-foot natatorium itself, a planetarium and a water park. As the project has grown, so has the budget, which had been set at

more than $14 million. The district already is planning to use $50 million from its fund balance to keep up with its $363 million budget, which includes a 4 percent raise for staff.

LJISD

from pg 1A

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page 10A

BORDER

from pg 1A

some type of emotion,” he said. “I know others that still do it and don’t get emotionally involved.”

Sanchez is originally from Chicago, but he’s now residing in the Valley. He is also a U.S. citizen. He came across human trafficking at 14 years old. He grew up in poverty and saw working as a coyote as a way to help his mother and four younger siblings. He soon dropped out of school and became a smuggler north of the Falfurrias checkpoint.

“I would wait on the other side. Then I was given a vehicle by my boss and pick up whomever had paid for transport to places like Houston, San Antonio, etc.” he said.

The immigrant smuggling operation Sanchez was a part of was intricate and well prepared. He was given a different vehicle to use each time, different clothes, fake student IDs, color contacts and rehearsed stories to feed checkpoint agents.

“It was like role-playing. To really sell it, we had to make sure there was two adult passengers and one had to be of the opposite sex to make it look like a family,” he said. “Then the illegal children in the back seat. Depending how many children you could fit.”

Sanchez was paid 40 percent of whatever was being paid to his employer, which ranged $250-$300 per person. He was caught twice, but continued to work in human trafficking.

Over the years, Sanchez said he’s illegally transported hundreds of immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America. He’s seen the desperation in many of them.

“I’ve had individuals in the vehicle that were dehydrated, on the verge of death, some starved and even sexually abused, “ he said.

“They were all suffering for a chance at the American dream.”

The American Dream Luisa Ramirez remembers her heart was pounding.

She watched drops of blood hit the muddy floor. It was blood from cuts she received running and hiding through sugar cane fields. She inhaled dirt from a helicopter, throwing dust up above her. Lights flashed from all around and dogs’ ferocious barks were deafening. She held her daughter tight, hoping to remain invisible when suddenly a flashlight illuminated her face.

She knew her attempt to cross the border illegally was over.

Ramirez is one of the 245,000 apprehensions the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made in 2014 in the Rio Grande Valley sector. She is one of the many who flee the turmoil in their countries in search of a better future.

Luisa and Diego Ramirez attempted to cross illegally four times before being successful. They were caught each time. The most frightening was when they were surrounded by immigration officers in a sugar cane field.

“To this day my daughter still remembers. She will say,

‘Mommy, remember when the dogs found us and we got arrested.’ It’s something that I think traumatized her,” Ramirez said with tears in her eyes.

The couple has been married for six years and is originally from Zacatecas, Mexico. When they crossed successfully this year, Ramirez was pregnant with her second child. The family used a raft made out of tractor tire tubes on the Rio Grande. Her first born was 3 years old and on the raft battling the strong currents.

“My husband had to pull us along the river,” she said. “At one point he almost drowned because the river kept rising in areas we thought were shallow.”

They traveled with a coyote they met in Reynosa, Mexico. He charged them $300 dollars per person, including Ramirez’s unborn child. Each time they attempted to cross they paid about the same, if not more.

“We had to leave Mexico.

There’s a lot of violence and it’s increasing. There’s no work. The little work you get, you make about $10 a day,” Diego Ramirez said. “To try and maintain my family with $10 is impossible.”

The family rents out a small, worn down shed behind another house, where other illegal immigrants live.

Diego Ramirez works as a farmhand, picking cabbage everyday. Luisa Ramirez stays home to take care of their three young children.

“Our life has changed.

They pay a little more here.

There are opportunities for the kids to get a proper edu-

cation,” Diego Ramirez said.

“Life is still hard. We need to work harder than most because we are not legal.”

The couple has wanted to file for legal status in the states, but is afraid they will be denied since they entered the country illegally four times. They also fear being taken advantage of by lawyers or organizations, because many of their friends had that misfortune.

“One struggles to cross, then once here, continues to struggle,” Luisa Ramirez said. “I think there are many misconceptions from Americans, which is understandable. Many do come here to do criminal things, but I want people to know we are not all the same. There are two sides to everything. We are here to work, raise our families and try to live better lives.”

Immigrant Influx The RGV has had a constant flow of Mexican immigrants, like the Ramirez family. However, in 2014, there has been an influx of immigrants from Central and South American countries.

According to Omar Zamora, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande sector, that influx has surpassed Mexican apprehensions.

“There have been 185,000 apprehensions from Central and South America alone,” he said. “In comparison to the 60,000 Mexicans arrested. It’s a big difference from previous years and definitely a first for the RGV.” Zamora said many of those arrests have been of family units. These family units consist of a mother and

child or unaccompanied minors.

“Many of these mothers and their children make the thousand-mile journey through our borders and turn themselves in,” Zamora said. “ Many have been raped repeatedly along the way, malnourished and dehydrated.”

Border patrol evaluates these individuals after they have been arrested. They treat them for any emergencies, before taking them to the station to be processed.

The Sacred Heart Church Once processed, many of the children and mothers are taken to respite centers, like the one provided at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen.

They stay temporarily at the respite center waiting to go to their final destinations, any number of cities across the country, where they have family members. They are also assigned a court date hearing for illegal immigration.

“We provide them with basic necessities. Volunteers help provide them with clothes, meals and a safe place to play,” said Brenda Nettles Riojas, spokeswoman for Sacred Heart. “ We even give them a bag of food to take on their journey.”

On average, the center is helping 40 to 70 people a day. Between Brownsville and McAllen, more than 7,500 people have been helped since June 10.

“It is a humanitarian crisis. We can all be really proud of the RGV community. They have been so generous of their time and donations needed for the center,”

September 26, 2014

said Rojas.

Some immigrants are not lucky enough to have help from a respite center. Diana Morales, 21, from San Salvador, crossed illegally a month ago. She traveled with her 1-year-old son and allowed border agents to apprehend her in Arizona. There she had to await another long journey to Indiana. In Indiana, Morales’ parents, who also entered illegally, awaited her arrival.

“It took a month to travel by foot and bus from San Salvador to Arizona,” she said. “It was a very hard journey and I was scared for my son. But once I reached the border wall and climbed over it, I knew I would be safe.”

She traveled in small group with other women and children led by a coyote. She paid the coyote $7,000 dollars to get her to America.

Now that she is in America, Morales has found a job as a farm worker picking corn. She works Monday-Sunday from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., or later. She also has to appear at her court deportation hearing in October.

“I’m a single mother. I wanted to find a better job to make money for my son and me,” she said. “It’s going to be a struggle and a lot of work. I know I’ll have a better chance at life in this country.”

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page 11A

Catholic Extension honors three women for work in Peñitas

Three women from the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are being recognized nationally for their work among the poor and immigrant people of Peñitas.

Catholic Extension has named the sisters as the 2014 recipients of its Lumen Christi Award, which in Latin means “Light of Christ.”

Catholic Extension is a national organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening the Catholic Church in the poorest regions of the United States. For the past 37 years, through its Lumen Christi Award, Catholic Extension has recognized a priest, woman religious or layperson whose work is transforming the hearts and lives of the people they serve. As the 2014 recipients, the sisters will receive a grant of $25,000 in support of their ministry; in addition, the Diocese of Brownsville, which nominated the sisters, also will receive a grant of $25,000.

The three women, Sister Carolyn Kosub, Sister Emily Jocson and Sister Fatima Santiago, first came to the tornado-­ stricken colonia of Pueblo de Palmas, in Peñitas, in 2003 at the request of then-­ Bishop Raymondo J. Pena. Upon arrival, the sisters were shocked not only by the destruction they encountered, but also by the poverty.

Moreover, they were deeply moved by the richness of faith they found there. They decided to make this colonia the focus of their missionary efforts and moved into the community to live in solidarity with the residents.

Since that time, the sisters have worked tirelessly to listen to the residents, establish trust and meet their most basic needs. In 2004, they created Proyecto Desarrollo Humano (The Project for Human Development), an outreach center dedicated to health, social services, education and evangelization.

Through the center, the sisters have worked to develop human potential, strengthen family bonds and help the residents of Pueblo de Pal-

mas obtain the basic skills to succeed. The center contains classroom space for instruction and activities, a kitchen and hall space for large assemblies, a computer lab, a medical and dental clinic, and a pre­-kindergarten classroom.

According to Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, no other ministry like Proyecto Desarrollo Humano is serving the needs of the colonia.

The sisters have empowered the residents of Pueblo de Palmas and built a true faith-based community. The people served by the center live at or below the federal poverty level, relying on irregular income, which the men earn from day labor jobs in agriculture and construction. Most of the women are mothers who are learning English through the center’s English as a Second Language classes. They are realizing their full potential by means of the Women’s Wellness Program and leadership training.

In 2009, the sisters took yet another step to form community – they secured donations, found a plot of land, and supervised construction of a brand new church, which was dedicated in 2013 and is home to the newest parish in the Diocese of Brownsville.

Today, in an area that was once a drug-smuggling highway, St. Anne Church gleams as a symbol of hope and possibility.

“Having this church, the community center and these sisters here with us is to have the presence of God among us,” said a Saint Anne parishioner and resident of Peñitas.

“The work of the sisters on the border shows why women religious are the ‘unsung heroes’ of the Catholic Church,” said Catholic Extension Vice President of Mission Joe Boland. “They represent hope to the people of the Rio Grande Valley, particularly the women and children, who face daily battles with extreme poverty. The sisters are living out what Pope Francis has called all of us to do – to go out into the streets and serve. We hope that by honoring them they might inspire others to do the same.”

In addition to building faith among the people, the sisters have developed a strong network of volunteers whose lives also are being transformed. The volunteers, who come from all areas of the United States, are helping with everything from cooking and serving a community Thanksgiving dinner to supporting other major sac-

Notices

Carlos N. Cobas PALMVIEW - Carlos N. Cobas, 52, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, at Doctors Hospital in Edinburg.

Emma Elysa Garza MISSION - Emma Elyse Garza passed away on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen.

Felix Melchor Lopez ALTON - Felix Melchor Lopez, 79, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen.

Howard L. Reese MISSION - Howard L. Reese, 84, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, at

ramental and liturgical celebrations.

In reflecting upon the sisters’ work, Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, said, “From the moment we had an opportunity to visit Proyecto Desarrollo Humano, we were awed by the work of these sisters and by their love for the people they serve. We also were struck by Mission Regional Medical Center.

Jose Sepulveda MISSION – A funeral mass for Jose Sepulveda was held on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Abram.

Burial followed at Garden of Angels Cemetery in Abram.

Allen Dale Thornton MISSION - Allen Dale Thornton, 80, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, at Mission Regional Medical Center.

Matilde Vasquez MISSION - Matilde Vasquez, 54, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, at his home in Mission.

CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD 4501 N. McColl. - McAllen CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS 29th & Dove - McAllen 618-0884 CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS Missonaries • 580-2570 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH 911 N. Main - McAllen 686-4241 CONWAY AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH 1 Mi. N. Conway • 585-2413 EL FARO BIBLE CHURCH 15 miles W. of Mission on Exp. 83 Sullivan City, TX • 585-5617 EL MESIAS UNITED METHODIST 209 E. 6th • 585-2334 FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH 3 miles N. Shary Rd. • 581-1465 FAITH FELLOWSHIP BIBLE CHURCH 1 mile N. Exp. 83 on Tom Gill Rd. 519-6311 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 1300 Doherty • 585-1442 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH 12th and Miller - Mission 585-7281 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1102 Ash St. • 585-4829 for worship schedule.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 1101 Doherty • 585-1665

ROAD TO SALVATION ASSEMBLY OF GOD 239 W. 2nd St. - La Joya 1312 Oblate • 585-3261

OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS One-half mile South Leo Avenue La Joya • 585-5223

SAN CRISTOBAL MAGALLANES & COMPANIONS PARISH

3805 Plantation Grove Blvd., Ste. 5

OUR LADY OF FATIMA CHURCH 6634 El Camino Real • Granjeno 279-4159

SAN MARTIN DE PORRES 5 mi. N. Conway, 1/2 Mile West Alton • 585-8001 & 585-8002

IGLESIA BAUTISTA BETANIA 851 S. Breyfogle Rd. • 585-5688

OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH 2.5 miles S. Conway (FM 1016) Mission • 279-4159

ST. JOHN OF THE FIELDS CATHOLIC CHURCH 1052 Washington Ave. • 585-2325

IGLESIA BAUTISTA CRISTO EL REY 1600 E. Bus. 83 - Mission

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH 620 Dunlap • 585-2623

IGLESIA BAUTISTA COLONIAL 3713 N. La Homa Rd. • 585-5332

OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY CHURCH 923 Matamoros St. • 581-2193

ST. PETER & ST. PAUL EPISCOPAL CHURCH 2310 N. Stewart Rd. 585-5005

IGLESIA BAUTISTA DEL VALLE 217 W. Mile 3 Rd. • 424-1602 Palmhurst

PALM VALLEY CHURCH 1720 E. Griffin Pkwy.

585-3203

SHINING LIGHT BAPTIST CHURCH 6 1/8 N. Doffing Rd. (FM 492) 580-4078

GRACIA DIVINA MINISTRY 4122 N. Conway • 584-3112 GREAT OAKS COMMUNITY CHURCH 2722 N. Conway • 451-5500 Mission IGLESIA ADVENTISTA DEL SEPTIMO DIA 1725 W. Griffin Parkway 581-9008

IGLESIA DEL PUEBLO 7500 West Expressway 83 581-1900 IGLESIA DEL DIVINO REDENTOR 1020 North Los Ebanos Rd 585-5898

PEÑITAS BAPTIST CHURCH 1/3 Mile S. of Exp.83 on FM 1427 583-6236 PRIMERA BAPTIST CHURCH Corner of 6th & Oblate 585-4711

LA RESPUESTA CHURCH 405 W. 12th Street • 585-0787

PRIMERA IGLESIA DEL VALLE APOSTOLIC ASSEMBLY 210 St. Marie. • 585-8651

MISSION CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE 1 mi. E. 495 • 585-6683

PROMISE LAND CHURCH 2300 E. Palm Circle (Corner of 495) Mission, TX 78572 • 624-9307

NEW HOPE AT THE BORDER 905 N. Conway • 585-4122

RIVER OF LIFE CHURCH 901 S. Shary Rd. (Located in the Holiday Inn Express Conference Room) 451-4838

NORTH MISSION CHURCH OF CHRIST 1410 E. 3 Mile Line • 585-0146

Mission • 580-4551

ST. PAUL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH 1119 Francisco • 585-2701

Commercial Lawn Equipment “Since 1954”

915 West Bus. 83 • Mission, tX 78572 • (956) 581-7433

KING, GUERRA, DAVIS & GARCIA

ATTORNEYS AT LAW DAVID H. GUERRA NEAL KING (retired) DARRELL DAVIS ESMERALDA GARCIA (retired) 301 E. Tom Landry • Mission • 585-1622

MISSION THE FATHERS: †FR. JIM, FR. PHILION & FR. ROY (†MAGNA, †SENTINEL, †MAGNO, †AUGIE, †DIDYMUS, †CHUNkLY, VALENTINE, NEWLY, BENDITO & FRITZ)

TEMPLO BIBLICO 5 Mile/Conway • 581-4981 or 585-3831 TEMPLO EVANGELICO, M.B. CHURCH La Joya THE DOOR CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

810 E. Veterans & La Homa Suite F.

Palmview Crossing Plaza 212-1594/424-1984

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 3701W. 3 Mile Line • 585-3261 WEST MISSION LUTHERAN FELLOWSHIP Pleasant Valley Ranch 7320 W. Exp. 83 • Mission 583-7667 VALLEY FELLOWSHIP 1708 E. Griffin Parkway Mission • 424-7200

MISSION AUTO ELECTRIC, INC. DBA

ER MAE EPQOU IW PMENT

THE SPIRIT OF LA LOMITA LIVES HERE AT THE SPIRIT THAT CONQUERS SIN AND DEATH! CELEBRATE LIFE & LOVE WITH US

NORTH PALMVIEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH 7612 W. 6 Mile Ln. Mission • 735-2569

FREEDOM LIFE CHURCH 2214 W. Griffin Pkwy. • 519-7000 Mission

they are more than their impoverished circumstances.

Catholic Extension is privileged to witness the sisters’ life-changing work.”

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE PARISH

ChurCh DireCtory BREAD OF LIFE CHURCH 2820 N. Conway Ave. • 581-1411

how, through faith, the sisters have visibly transformed this community. It is their faith that reveals to the people of the Rio Grande Valley that

IMPLEMENT COMPANY, INC. MISSION 585-1618

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PADRES OBLATOS

THE MISSIONARY CATECHIST OF THE POOR: SR. LUPITA THE SISTERS OF ST. DOROTHY: SR. CINDY, SR. COLLEEN DAUGHTERS OF MARY MOTHER OF MERCY: SR. ELIZABETH, SR. BIBIANA & SR. MADONNA †DEACON AYALA, DEACON CASTANEDA

DO WE RESPOND TO THE LORD EVEN THOUGH IT’ S TOUGH, OR JUST TELL HIM, “ SURE LORD, NO SWEAT!” AND THEN IGNORE HIM? “Texas Friendly” spoken at all masses (and confessions).

Saturday (English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4:00 P.M. Saturday (Spanish) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7:00 P.M. Sunday (Spanish) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7:30 A.M. Sunday (English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9:00 A.M. Sunday (English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10:30 A.M. Sunday (Tex-Mex) Mariachi Mass . . . .(Noon)12:30 P.M. Sunday (Tex-Mex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5:30 P.M. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday (Tex-Mex)6:55 A.M. Thursday (Tex-Mex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7:00 P.M.

CONFESSIONS

Thursday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:00 P.M. Saturday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3:00 P.M.

620 DUNLAP, MISSION, TX • 585-2623 ONE BLOCK WEST OF CONWAY ON MAGNA DRIVE (6TH ST.)

theclassifieds page 12A

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AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION FOR ZONING PURPOSES OF THE FOLLOWING TRACT OF LAND: A 4.98 ACRE TRACT OF LAND OUT OF THE SOUTH 10.00 ACRES OF LOT 42-1, WEST ADDITION TO SHARYLAND SUBDIVISION, ALTON, HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF ALTON, TEXAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOREGOING ZONING CLASSIFICATION CHANGES; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS AND REPEAL CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE, WAIVING SECOND AND THIRD READING. READ, APPROVED, AND PASSED on this the 26th day of August, 2014.

Salvador Vela, Mayor ATTEST: Baudelia Rojas TRMC|CPM, City Secretary

ORDINANCE 2014-09-0812 AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING A 4.98 ACRE TRACT OF LAND OUT OF THE SOUTH 10.00 ACRES OF LOT 42-1, WEST ADDITION TO SHARYLAND SUBDIVISION RECORDED IN VOLUME 1, PAGE 56 OF THE MAP RECORDS OF HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS INTO THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF ALTON, HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS; DESIGNATING A ZONING DISTRICT; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; WAIVING SECOND AND THIRD READING. READ, APPROVED, AND PASSED on this the 12th day of August, 2014.

Salvador Vela, Mayor ATTEST: Baudelia Rojas TRMC|CPM, City Secretary

ORDINANCE 2014-08-0812 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO “LANDSCAPING AND BUFFERING” WITHIN THE COMMERCIAL ZONES IN ALTON; PROVIDING FOR PROPER REGULATORY MANAGEMENT OF LANDSCAPING AND BUFFERING; PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS OF PROVISIONS OF SAID ORDINANCE; REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING WAIVER OF THIRD READING; READ, APPROVED, AND PASSED on this the 12th day of August, 2014.

Salvador Vela, Mayor ATTEST: Baudelia Rojas TRMC|CPM, City Secretary

ORDINANCE 2014-10-0812 AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE CLASSIFICATION FOR ZONING PURPOSES OF THE FOLLOWING TRACT OF LAND: A 10.02 ACRE TRACT OF LAND, BEING THE WEST 658.46 FEET OUT OF THE SOUTH 683 FEET OUT OF LOT 401, JOHN H. SHARY SUBDIVISION, ALTON, HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF ALTON, TEXAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOREGOING ZONING CLASSIFICATION CHANGES; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS AND REPEAL CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE, WAIVING SECOND AND THIRD READING. READ, APPROVED, AND PASSED on this the 12th day of August, 2014.

Salvador Vela, Mayor ATTEST: Baudelia Rojas TRMC|CPM, City Secretary

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ADVERTISEMENT/INVITATION FOR BIDS REQUEST FOR SEALED PROPOSALS PROJECT:

City of Alton – Alton Town-site Drainage Improvement Project

DESCRIPTION: Work of the Project consists of relocating an existing detention pond and installing an underground drainage system. The new detention area will be excavated at an adjacent existing drainage ditch. The project is located at the City of Alton on 5 Mile Line Road (FM 676), between Delaware St. and Florida St. PROPOSAL DUE DATE:

October 29, 2014

TIME:

10:00 A.M.

The City of Alton will receive sealed bids for the Town-site Drainage Improvements until 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 addressed to the City of Alton in the office of the city manager, Alton City Hall, 509 S. Alton Blvd., Alton, Texas 78573. The bids will be publicly opened and read aloud as near as practical after 10:00 a.m. on the date of submittal at the Alton City Hall. Bids received after closing time will be returned unopened.

Bid/Contract Documents, including Drawings and Technical Specifications are available from LeFevre Engineering & Management Consulting, LLC. located at 612 Nolana, Suite 520, McAllen, Texas 78504 the phone number is 956-687-5362, upon request and payment of $100.00. The payment is non-refundable.

A pre-bid conference will be conducted by the Owner on Wednesday, October 15, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. The pre-bid conference shall be conducted at the City of Alton City Hall office located at, 509 S. Alton Boulevard, Alton, Texas 78573. Subcontractors, suppliers, and equipment suppliers may attend.

A bid bond in the amount of 5 percent of the bid issued by an acceptable surety shall be submitted with each bid. A certified check or bank draft payable to the City of Alton or negotiable U.S. Government Bonds (as par value) may be submitted in lieu of the Bid Bond.

Equal Opportunity in Employment – All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin. Bidders on this work will be required to comply with the President’s Executive Order No. 11246, as amended by Executive Order 11275, and as supplemented in Department of Labor regulations 41 CFR Part 60.

The City of Alton is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer.

The City of Alton reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to waive any informality in the bidding. In case of ambiguity or lack of clearness in stating prices in any bid, the Owner reserves the right to consider the most advantageous construction thereof or to reject the bid. The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.

Bids may be held by the City of Alton for a period not to exceed 60 days from the date of the bid opening for the purpose of reviewing the bids and investigating the bidder’s qualifications prior to the contract award.

City of Alton Salvador Vela, Mayor

Date Published: September 26, 2014

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September 26, 2014

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ORDINANCE NO. 4147 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MISSION, TEXAS GRANTING A REZONING OF THE SOUTH 1.0 ACRE OUT OF TRACT OF LAND CONTAINING 6.37 ACRES OUT OF LOT 205, JOHN H. SHARY SUBDIVISION, FROM AO-I (AGRICULTURAL OPEN INTERIM) TO C-3 (GENERAL BUSINESS) READ, CONSIDERED AND PASSED, this the 22nd day of September, 2014.

Norberto Salinas, Mayor ATTEST: Anna Carrillo, City Secretary

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PUBLIC NOTICE The Mission City Council will hold a Regular Meeting on October 13, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. at the City Hall Council Chambers, 1201 East 8th Street, Mission, Texas in order to consider the following: Rezoning: The West 75’ of Lots 4, 5, & 6, Block 179, Mission Original Townsite Subdivision, from (R-1) Single Family Residential to (R-2) Duplex-Fourplex Residential; and Rezoning: A 1.0 acre tract of land, more or less, out of Lot 24-1, West Addition to Sharyland Subdivision, from (AO-I) Agricultural Open Interim to (C-3) General Business If a zoning is amended during the public hearing, it shall be pursuant to the City of Mission’s Amendatory Zone Policy Statement. Anyone interested is invited to attend. Anna Carrillo, City Secretary

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS Mission Consolidated Independent School District’s State Financial Accountability Rating Mission C.I.S.D will hold a public meeting at 6:00 p.m., October 15 , 2014 in the Mission C.I.S.D. Boardroom, 1201 Bryce Drive, Mission, Texas.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss Mission C.I.S.D.’s rating on the State’s financial accountability system.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS LA JOYA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT’S Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) LA JOYA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT will hold a public meeting at 5:30 P.M., October 15, 2014 in the Central Administration at Nellie Schunior Staff Development Center 200 West Expressway 83, La Joya,Texas The purpose of this meeting is to discuss La Joya Independent School District’s rating on the state’s Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST).

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ORDINANCE 2014-11-0826 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBERS 2000-10 AND 2000-11, THE CITY OF ALTON SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE; ADOPTING NEW SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND ORDAINING OTHER MATTERS WITH RESPECT TO THE SUBJECT MATTER HEREOF, WAIVING THIRD READING. READ, APPROVED, AND PASSED on this the 26th day of August, 2014.

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September 26, 2014

PROGRAM

dress Pharr, Weslaco and Hidalgo next.

McAllen plans to add decals to its sanitation and police vehilces and 15,000 are being printed with help from the Hidalgo County Metropolitan Planning Organization. McAllen leaders also committed to placing signs along trails on Bicentennial Road and on Second Street, and Vela Whitacre asked Mission city leaders to consider placing signs at places like the Mission Hike and Bike Trail and Conway Avenue and Inspiration Road.

“Most of you know that riders and cyclists, runners, are usually at the Mission

from pg 1A

Hike and Bike Trail, and we go all around Shary Road. We go to Inspiration. Most riders don’t just ride 10 miles, they ride 10, 20, 40 even up to 60 miles a day,” Vela Whitacre said. “They need to be aware

legalnotices ORDINANCE NO. 4148 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MISSION, TEXAS GRANTING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR THE SALE & ONSITE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL AT SOLO EMPANADAS Y MAS, 1522 E. EXPRESSWAY 83, STE. 114, LOT 4, STEWART PLAZA SUBDIVISION READ, CONSIDERED AND PASSED, this the 22nd day of September, 2014.

Norberto Salinas, Mayor ATTEST: Anna Carrillo, City Secretary

ORDINANCE NO. 4149

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MISSION, TEXAS GRANTING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR A DRIVE-THRU CONVENIENCE STORE AT T-REY’S, 2502 W. BUSINESS 83, LOTS 131132, ALA BLANCA #4 SUBDIVISION READ, CONSIDERED AND PASSED, this the 22nd day of September, 2014.

Norberto Salinas, Mayor ATTEST: Anna Carrillo, City Secretary

SWAT

of the cyclists and runners.

The cyclists and runners also need to be aware of the drivers. I’m not blaming this on the runners; I’m not blaming this on the drivers.

“I’m blaming this on the community. Everybody needs to be aware.”

Mission Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas said the city will help. And Mission City Manager Martin Garza said he would get with McAllen to get the logos and dimensions of the signs for local streets.

“Anything we have to do, we’ll do because we’ve actually experienced it with some friends of ours who got run over,” Salinas said. from pg 1A

Hernandez stressed that the problem is not La Joya, but the activity that runs through town and nearby cities.

Other agencies involved with LEERRT include: Palmview, Palmhurst, Alamo, Mercedes, Progresso, Peñitas and medics from the McAllen Fire Department.

“At one point or another, we’re all going to need each other’s help and the Cibrian case here in La Joya was a great example of that,” Hernandez said. “Even though San Juan was one of the lead agencies there, we were able to work together. That’s why we’re here.”

legalnotice ORDINANCE NO. 4150 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MISSION, TEXAS, AMENDING SECTION 86-155 (4)(b)(4) OF CHAPTER 86- SIGNS OF ITS CODE OF ORDINANCES; AND PROVIDING A CODIFICATION CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING A PUBLICATION DATE READ, CONSIDERED AND PASSED, this the 22nd day of September, 2014.

Norberto Salinas, Mayor ATTEST: Anna Carrillo, City Secretary

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September 26, 2014

page 1B

BATTLE-TESTED Rattlers face undefeated Edinburg Vela in district opener

By Ed Salas Recovering from their first non-district loss since 2010 and the first in the Ron Adame era, Sharyland got back to work the very next day to prepare for their District 31-5A opener against a much-improved and undefeated Edinburg Vela at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Richard Thompson Stadium.

“We have goals of winning the first game of non-district and the first district game,” Sharyland head coach Ron Adame said. “It sets you up with some momentum and it’s key, especially against a team like Vela that in my opinion is going to be a playoff team, if not a contender for the title. We work one week at a time at eliminating those contenders.”

Despite racking up over 500 yards of offense in Week 4, the Rattlers (3-1) fell to Laredo Alexander 36-35 on Sept. 19 in their non-district finale on a rain-soaked night that didn’t end until almost midnight due to a lightning-induced one-hour delay.

Sharyland led the game for three and a half quarters before the Bulldogs (3-1) rallied to defeat the Rattlers.

The heart-breaking loss was a “life-lesson and a learning experience” for Sharyland, expressed Rattlers third-year head coach Adame after the game. The loss against Alexander was the first regular-season game Sharyland lost since Adame took over the program in 2012.

“We’ll bounce back. We just have to keep working hard and keep doing the things that got us to this point,” Adame said. “We have to make sure that we do things like protect the football a little bit more than we did (on Friday) and cash in on red zone opportunities, and not walk away without anything.”

Rattlers quarterback Lance Madden rushed for 253 yards on 12 carries and scored three times. Through the air he passed for 158 yards, including a TD strike, and was intercepted once.

Defensively, Sharyland struggled and gave up 434 yards of offense and 36 points to Alexander.

The Rattlers also had more than their fair share of miscues against the Bulldogs last week, and it came back to haunt them later in the game.

Sharyland fumbled the ball twice and missed a 35-yard field goal, all in the open-

ing quarter against the Bulldogs. Penalties and another fumble dashed Sharyland’s hope of a last minute come back late in the fourth quarter.

“Every game has got key moments and key game changers,” Adame explained.

“When you look at it, we had every opportunity to win that game and that’s all I can ask our kids to do. Put us in a situation to win the game.”

Refocused and learning from last Friday’s mistakes, Sharyland will face a revamped and undefeated Edinburg Vela (4-0) squad intent on upsetting the Rattlers and getting pay back for the previous two season’s blowout losses.

Sharyland defeated Vela 52-28 last year and shut out the Sabercats 69-0 in their inaugural season in 2012.

“When they first started out they were young and those kids have bought into what is being run, and the overall program,” Adame said. “We’re expecting a good game.”

Thus far, Vela has overwhelmed their non-district opponents by a combined score of 199-75, including a 42-17 dismantling of Harlingen South two weeks ago and a dominant 42-20 victory over PSJA Memorial in Week 4.

Left: Sharyland defensive end Beto Ruiz makes the tackle during the Rattlers’ 36-35 loss to Laredo Alexander last Friday night. Above: Rattler fullback Mauricio Martinez brings the ball up field during Sharyland’s 36-35 loss to Laredo Alexander last Friday night. Progress Times photo by Doug Young

page 2B

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

September 26, 2014

COYOTES NOT INTIMIDATED

by top ranked Mustangs feat and play one of the top in the Valley last week FOOTBALL PREVIEW teams to within one point is a testaBy Luciano Guerra The bigger they are the harder they fall. That is the attitude the La Joya Coyotes are taking as they prepare for tonight’s district opener against the McAllen Memorial Mustangs - the same Mustangs that are currently sitting atop the Valley’s Top 10 high school football poll.

At first glance a game between the 1-3 Coyotes and the 3-1 Mustangs might look like a blowout in the making.

However the fact that Coach George Espinoza’s Coyotes could very easily be at 3-1 themselves plus the fact that they fell just short in their 2120 loss to fifth-ranked Weslaco East last week could result in a much more competitive game tonight than many are expecting.

“Weslaco East is a tough and physical ball club and they’re undefeated for a reason,” said Espinoza. “They’re one of the top offenses in the Valley but our kids were mentally prepared and worked hard all week. Our season record right now does not reflect the kind of team we have.”

The only game the Coyotes were not in at all was a 59-7 loss to Edinburg Vela in Week No. 3. The fact that Espinoza’s boys were able to bounce back from that de-

ment to the resiliency of the 2014 Coyotes’ squad.

“We shot ourselves in the foot against Vela,” explained Espinoza. “We’re still a young ball club. You look at the kids we have and there are still a lot of juniors and a lot of sophomores and quite a few first year varsity players out there. But when it comes to the mental aspect of our team the kids were focused and after we reviewed the game film we explained the situation to them. We told them about how some things are out of their control but there are others that they can control and how by eliminating the mistakes they would be able to play with anybody.”

As for tonight’s matchup against Memorial, Espinoza is not letting the fact that the Mustangs are expected to be one of the top teams in 30-6A this year intimidate him or his team.

“Right now the slate is clean,” shared Espinoza.

“Non-district schedules don’t mean anything. Everybody has a 0-0 record right now and even though they just got moved up to No. 1 in the Valley our kids have realized that they can play with anybody.

The fact that we’re getting a few of our athletes back that have been out with injuries since the scrimmages will be

Out of Reach La Joya had plenty of opportunities but had trouble eliminating big plays Thursday night in Edinburg.

Fighting Back The Sabercat's opening drive resulted in seven points. The ensuing kickoff gave hopes to the Coyotes as Isaiah Calderon returned the ball within the red zone. Progress Times photos by Mike De La Garza a key factor for us.”

La Joya senior wide receiver Joel Casas was one of the main reasons the Coyotes were able to go head-to-head against Weslaco East last week. He caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Casas expressed how having other teams not take his Coyotes seriously due to their recent losing records motivates him and his teammates.

“It gets us mad,” expressed Casas. “We want to go 100 percent against all of them and have them go 100 percent against us. That’s what we did on Thursday against Weslaco East and we took it at them.”

Coyotes’ senior defensive end Tony Cerda is in his third year on the varsity squad. He explained how he and his teammates were able to bounce back from such a lopsided loss to Vela and give

Weslaco East a run for their money.

“It was hard practice and motivation to be better and to take on an excellent team,” shared Cerda. “The big thing is that we wanted to prove everybody wrong. Everybody has doubts about us and we just wanted to prove them wrong.”

Senior Overlin Montes is a running back and receiver for La Joya. He shared how go-

ing up against the top ranked Mustangs will give his Coyotes an opportunity to prove that they’re a team to be taken seriously.

“It does motivate us more to go up against the No. 1 team because we want to prove to them that we’re coming to,” said Montes.

“One of our goals this year is to make the playoffs. Another

See COYOTES Pg. 3B

Prep Schedule Friday District Football – Sep. 26 Valley View at Sharyland Pioneer (TH) 7:00 Edinburg Vela at Sharyland High 7:30 McAllen High at Mission High 7:30 Juarez-Lincoln at Nikki Rowe 7:30 McAllen Memorial at La Joya High 7:30

p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m.

Saturday Volleyball – Sep. 27 Mission High at Nikki Rowe 12:00 p.m.

Veterans Memorial at Valley View 12:00 p.m.

Sharyland High at Sharyland Pioneer 12:00 p.m.

L.J. Palmview at L.J. Juarez-Lincoln 12:00 p.m.

Tuesday Volleyball – Sep. 30 Nikki Rowe at La Joya High 6:30 p.m.

Valley View at Sharyland High 7:00 p.m.

Sharyland Pioneer at Roma 7:00 p.m.

L.J. Juarez-Lincoln at Mission High 6:30 p.m.

Rio Grande at Veterans Memorial 7:00 p.m.

McAllen Memorial at L.J. Palmview 6:30 p.m.

September 26, 2014

www.progresstimes.net | www.sharylandtimes.com

page 3B

Friday night lightning strikes again

By Luciano Guerra Texas might be known for its Friday night lights, but the Valley is quickly becoming known for its Friday night lightning. For the third time in the first four weeks of Valley high school football thunderstorms and lightning caused delays in the start of many games across the Valley last Friday night.

Such was the case with the Mission Eagles at Edinburg Bobcats game which was

originally scheduled to kickoff at 7:30. A line of thunderstorms that made its way through the Upper Valley between 6:30 and 7, and the subsequent lightning flashes, resulted in an hour and a half delay in the start of the game.

While the final non-district game of the season for both teams did finally kick off at 9, it seemed as if neither team’s offensive unit received the memo about the game having actually started.

The only points either team managed to put up on the scoreboard came as a result of the Bobcats’ special teams – a first quarter blocked punt that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety making the score at the time and the final score 2-0.

Explaining why his team failed to put any points on the board against a previously winless Bobcats team, Mission head coach Mario Pena said, “We made a lot of mistakes. We had drives going, but we fumbled the ball and we shot ourselves in the foot.

We lost three or four guys to injury so I couldn’t run some of my plays. We also lost R.J. (Veliz) who is our holder so

that’s why we didn’t attempt the field goal when we had a chance of going ahead.”

Prior to the game Pena said he expected quarterback Jesus Cuellar to see only limited action against the Bobcats. The Eagles’ starter has been out of the lineup since he suffered an injury in the first half of the Week 1 game against the Patriots. However as the game progressed, Pena opted to let Cuellar take most of the snaps from center.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of offense going so we were trying to see if he could get us going offensively,” said Pena. “He was rusty but we needed to get him some playing time.”

After the game that ended at midnight, Cuellar shared how it felt to finally get back on the field and behind center.

“I felt good out there but when I tried to execute I felt a little rusty,” shared the senior signal caller. “I’ll get to it, I just need more work. I need to work with my team and we’ll be good.”

“What we need is better execution, especially in the red zone,” added Cuellar. “Usually we get into the red zone but we can’t finish.

We kick a field goal or we just can’t finish. That’s what we’ll be working on, execution in the red zone.”

Weather permitting Mis-

sion will be opening its district schedule at Tom Landry Stadium tonight at 7:30 against the McAllen High Bulldogs.

“We will now be going up against 6A competition,” Pena said. “McAllen High is a heck of a lot better than Edinburg. We won’t be able to do much if we can’t get any kind of offense going.”

With a win against Donna North and losses to Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Hanna and Edinburg, the Eagles are 1-3 going into tonight’s game. The Bulldogs are 2-2 with wins against Edinburg and Harlingen and their losses to Odessa Permian and Corpus Christi Carroll.

night when they fell to the La Feria Lions by a score of 28-13.

Pioneer junior quarterback Alex Ramirez completed 15 of 27 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns on the night while junior running back Gabriel Benavidez led the way for the Diamondbacks on the ground with five rushes for 44 yards. Sergio Lopez and Alec Garcia were each on the receiving end of a Ramirez TD pass to account for Pioneer’s only scores of the night.

Defensively, Diamondbacks junior linebacker Joe Garza led the way in tackles with three solos and nine assists while sophomore Jesus Sanchez contributed to the cause with five solo tackles and four assists. R.J. Avila, A.J. Cervantes and Sean Colunga each registered a quarterback sack for Pioneer.

On special teams for the Diamondbacks junior Chris Villarreal blocked a punt.

PSJA North 39 at Veterans Memorial 47 The Veterans Memorial Patriots improved their record to 3-1 Friday night by handing the PSJA North Raiders a 47-39 loss in front of the home crowd at Tom Landry Stadium.

Patriots senior quarterback Santos Villarreal completed 19 of 45 passes for 265 yards, three touchdowns, one two-point conversion and no interceptions. Villarreal also carried the ball ten times for

147 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Bobby Tovar caught eight passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns for VMHS, while junior John Garcia caught six passes for 90 yards and one two-point conversion. Garcia also carried the ball eleven times for 79 yards and one touchdown to contribute to the winning effort.

Defensively, Patriot Adrian Martinez led the way with 13 tackles, one pass breakup and one interception. Joel Mares accumulated a total of 10 tackles, five for a loss and three quarterback pressures for VMHS while Damian Soliz had six tackles, four for a loss, two quarterback sacks and one interception on the night.

As a team, VMHS accumulated 492 yards offensively (227 rushing and 265 passing) while giving up 470 total yards (330 rushing and 140 passing).

Edinburg Economedes 21 at Juarez-Lincoln 7 Juarez-Lincoln closed out their non-district schedule with a 0-4 record last Friday night as they suffered a 21-7 loss at home to the 2-2 Edinburg Economedes Jaguars.

Juarez-Lincoln quarterback Edward Garcia completed six of 12 passes for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Garcia was the Huskies’ top rusher on the night with 17 yards on eight carries while Freddy Martinez had seven carries for 14 yards against Economedes. In total LJJL

managed to accumulate only 39 yards rushing against the Jaguars.

Through the air, however, the Huskies fared better during their final non-district game of the season as Anthony Mora had three receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown on the night while Zeke Rodriguez caught two passes for 26 yards.

Defensively, the Huskies’ top performer was defensive lineman Rene Loredo who made his presence felt with 12 1/2 tackles.

Big 7 Football Week 4 in Review

Palmview 7 at Roma 7 Entering their Week 4 matchup the La Joya Palmview Lobos and the Roma Gladiators both had 2-1 records and they both opened their seasons with back-toback wins before suffering losses in Week 3. With the two teams having such similar results through the first three weeks of non-district play, it came as no surprise that the Lobos and the Gladiators Week 4 matchup was a close one. However, nobody could’ve predicted that the game would end in a 7-7 tie.

After losing starting quarterback Andrew Puente to a high ankle sprain in the first quarter, costly turnovers kept the Lobos from putting more than seven points on the board during regulation despite having outgained Roma by a substantial margin. Fortunately, the Lobos defense managed to hold the Gladiators to only seven points.

With a tied score at the end of regulation play, just as both teams were lining up to start the first overtime period a lightning flash across the night sky, which would’ve caused a minimum of a 30-minute delay in the game, led Palmview head coach Mage Requenez to push for the game to be called resulting in the tied finish.

Sharyland Pioneer 13 at La Feria 28 The Pioneer Diamondbacks suffered their second consecutive loss last Friday

COYOTES

from pg 2B

goal is to get better as the season goes on and with every practice we’ve had we’ve been practicing better.”

La Joya senior defensive back and linebacker Jorge Munoz is in his third year on the varsity squad. He is among the Coyotes’ players that is not at all intimidated by the fact that the Mustangs are so highly ranked.

“It doesn’t matter to me how tough the other team is or if they’re ranked No. 1, I play what I play,” said Munoz. “People said that Weslaco East was a powerhouse but to me it was like a normal game. This week against Memorial, Trevor Speights is one of their running backs but I don’t care who he is because I just play the game like it’s a normal game. He can be 6’7” or it can be raining, snowing or whatever I don’t care. I just play my game.”

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September 26, 2014