Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 6, 2004 Page: 1 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rio Grande City Public Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THIERS DAY
WEEKLY
EDITION
May 6, 2004
91st YEAR No. 19
#215
IIOACi H(X)K BINDERY
127 RAIL ROAD
SPRINGPORT, Ml 49204
ZONE 6
Rio Grande
H ERALD
A Newspaper Serving the People of South Texas
Doggett talks tourism, other issues at City Hall luncheon
O
Rotary honors veterans of Iraq, other wars
Starr County veterans of the current Iraq war and other conflicts were honored at this meeting of the Rio
Grande City Rotary Club on Friday, April 30. Pictured in the first row are M.Sgt. Joe Guerrero, 1st Sgt. Noe
Muniz, Alberto Barrera, John Shuford and Lauro Lope/,. In the second row are Ramiro Molina, 1st Lt Jose
Manuel Sanchez, Cpt. Andres Lopez, Rotary President Rosa Gonzalez. 1st Sgt Jaime Garza. Jr. and C ounty
Judge Eloy Vera. In the third row are Samuel Ramos, County Commissioner Jaime Alvarez, and RGC VI or
Baldemar Garza.
en insists new sci
tax plans not in Texans' interests
By State Representative Ryan
Guillen
AUSTIN - As the Select
Committee on Public School
Finance moves to create a bill to
change how Texas public schools
are funded, I and many others have
profound reservations about (he
level of funding being provided for
Texas students and the level ot
education the new plans will
produce across the state.
For many years, the current
system has brought greater equity
to schools of Texas lor the first
time in the state's history. In recent
years, because of a lack of funding
from the state, that system has
come to cost local property owners
more and more taxes to the point
that state mandated limits
threatened school funding.
In recent weeks I have been
involved in numerous meetings
STCC Starr Campus plans
Saturday recognition ceremony
The Starr County Campus of the
South Texas Community College
will host the Fifth Annual
"Recognition Ceremony" for thei
students from Starr County who
will be graduating from STCC this
Spring. The "Recognition
Ceremony" will take place on
Friday, May 7, 2004, at 7:00 p.m.,
at the Starr County Campus
.amphitheatre
Ruben Saenz, Campus
■"■dinator, indicated that one
hundred thirty Starr County
students will be graduating from
STCC. Saenz stated, 'The
"Recognition Ceremony" is for the
purpose of celebrating the
accomplishments of our students. It
is a special time in their lives and in
the life of the entire Starr County
community. As the level of
education and professional skills of
our citizens increase, the quality of
life in Starr County improves."
(See CAMPUS, Page 8)
turnout at rabies clinics
evaluated as good
Rabies vaccination clinics
throughout the county over a two-
week period in April featured strong
overall turnout, according to
veterinarian Dr. Roberto S. Margo
of Rio Grande City.
Noting that roughly 1050
individuals vaccinated their pets at
the clinics, Margo emphasized, "I
was very pleased with the response.
People seem to be taking this
seriously."
"The rabies clinics went very
well," commented the veterinarian.
"We vaccinated over 1000 animals
in the clinics over a two-week
period. Roughly, the total was
1050 animals."
Margo indicated that the free
rabies clinics for Rio Grande City
residents on Saturday, April 3 at the
Quiosco in front of Texas State
Bank brought about over 500
(See RABIES, Page 8)
Stephen F.
planted at
RGCCISD New Release
The Rio Grande City C1SD 21st
Century Community I earning pro-
gram organized the planting of a
Stephen F. Austin tree at the Robert
E. Lee House on February 27, 2004.
"1 he tree that was planted originated
from an acorn harvested from a live
oak tree. This acorn was extracted
from the site of where Stephen I
Austin died (West Columbia, Texas)
Austin tree
Robert E. Lee House
'The tree that this acorn came from
has been classified as a Texas His-
torical Monument in tribute of where
Stephen F. Austin died on December
27, 1836.
This property has been transtormed
into a beautiful area dedicated to the
memory of "The l ather of Texas" as
recognized by General Sam Houston.
Each November 3. the date of
Stephen I Austin's birthday, a err
emonial flag is raised over the site in
his honor.
Through Stephen F. Austin's tire
less efforts and dedication that the
state of Texas was created and the
territorial size of the United States
was increased by one-fou: th. He was
born to Mary Brown and Moses Aus-
tin in Wythe County, Virginia on
Novembet 3. 1793
.4 special thank von toJanie and Billy
price for donating this tree
U.S. Congressman Lloyd
Doggett focused on infrastructure
needs in the Rio Grande City area
and ideas for achieving tourism's
full potential during a special noon
hour luncheon Friday at City Hall
in Rio Grande City.
Doggett is seeking election as the
congressman for the newly redrawn
25th Congressional Disirict, which
stretches from southeast Travis
County to the McAllen area in
Hidalgo County Doggett, an
Austin native, was first elected to
represent the 10th Congressional
District in Congress in 1994.
Doggett won a decisive
districtwide victory in the March 9,
2004 Democratic primary over
Leticia Hinojosa a former state
district judge from Hidalgo County.
He faces Republican opposition in
the November 2004 general
election.
Doggett emphasized, "I want to
help you obtain the most federal
rciuurces possible to advance the
interests of this community. I've
had a long-time interest in historic
preservation. The issue that people
are more concerned about than
anything else is jobs. The many
historic properties in Rio Grande
City and Roma will help you in
your development."
"Right now, I'm having more
inquiries for assistance from the
Valley than from Austin," noted the
congressman. "I can't have any
staffers or offices here until early
next year, but I'll assist you in
every way possible in the
meantime."
Stressing the city's drainage
needs, Alderman Ruben O.
Villarreal declared, "In some areas
of the city, there is up to six to
eight inches of water in homes after
a heavy rain." Mayor Pro Tem
Manuel Canales insisted, "There's
so much work to be done in
drainage, especially in areas like El
Ogadero."
Villarreal lamented, "Some
Rotary honors Iraq
other Starr County
dealing with the proposed changes
in the school finance system
Superintendents and officials from
a wide range of school groups have
met in my Austin office and held
weekly meetings to share
information about the proposed
changes.
I support the idea of a drop in
local property taxes to ease the
burden on local taxpayers, but the
proposals that the committee has
come up with are not enough,
according to school experts, to
meet the needs of the schools
across Texas and insure equity in
education for all Texas school
children. Many of the funding
proposals are also doubtful in their
ability to provide long-term funds.
1 strongly asserted my
opposition this week to many of the
proposals for new taxes on the
people of Texas proposed by the
committee.
These taxes proposed by the
committee ranged from increasing
the sales tax, the auto sales tax,
taxes on boats and motors, a $ I tax
on cigarettes and smokeless
tobacco, to taxes on movie tickets
and entertainment tickets, internet
access, newspapers, newspaper
inserts, magazine subscriptions,
coin operated services, data
processing, management and public
relations services, barber and
beauty shops, legal services,
accounting services, architectural
and engineering services,
veterinary services, management
consulting the public relations,
contract computer programming,
research and development
laboratories, economic and
sociological research, testing labs,
financial brokerages, other
financial services, real estate
brokerage services, automotive
repairs, car washes, travel planning
(See GUILLEN, Page 87
On April 30 2004. the
Rio Grande City Rotary Club
was honored to welcome
members of the United States
Army that returned to Stan-
County from the Iraqi war this
month. These members are all
Rio Grande City and Roma
natives. They are reservists
Cpt. Andres Lopez, 1st Lt. Jose
Manuel Sanchez, 1st Sgt. Noe
Muniz and M. Sgt. Jose
Guerrero. They were joined
by 1st Sgt. Jaime Garza, Jr.,
regular army. Members of the
Rotary also honored other
veterans of other wars: World
War 11 John Shufford. Rotary
member Lauro Lopez, Korean
Conflict- Alberto Barrera, Viet-
Nam- Rotary mernbers-
Ramiro Molina and Samuel
Ramos. Mr. Molina and Mr.
Ramos have sons serving in
Iraq.
Cpt. Lopez, I st Lt. Jose
Manuel Sanchez, 1st Sgt. Noe
Muniz , M. Sgt. Jose Guerrero
and 1 st Sgt. Muniz related
about their roles in Kuwait and
Iraq. 1st Lt. Sanchez and 1st
Sgt Muniz were in a Quarter
Master Unit, while Cpt. Lopez
was involved with the logistics
of keeping the soldiers
supplied with needed items.
M. Sgt. Guerrero was stationed
in Kuwait with the logistics of
arriving and departing
American and Allied soldiers.
1st Sgt Jaime Garza, Jr. is a 17
year veteran who involved in
several fire fights as well as
some very interesting
encounters with members of
the Saddam regime.
Ail the soldiers
expressed their appreciation for
the welcome and urged
everyone to continue to support
the troops in Iraq with letters
and packages. They stated that
soldiers are overjoyed
whenever they receive mail
from home and all the goody
packages received are shared
drainage ditches have been
overgrown with brush." Alderman
Hernan R. Garza III commented,
"Some of the natural drainage
patterns have been diverted because
of the tremendous growth in recent
years. Many drainage areas have
beer, filled in or built upon."
S'arr County Industrial
Foundation Executive Director
Rose Benavidez indicated, "FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management
Administration) has said there's no
sense in redrawing flood plain maps
until a drainage study is done for
the entire county."
Doggett asked, "What needs to be
done to attract more tourists and get
them to stay longer than a few
hours?" Canales responded, "We
need a lot of infrastructure,
especially drainage."
Alderman Garza stressed, "Traffic
is a very serious problem." RCC
Economic Development
Corporation (EDC) President Leo
(See DOGGETT, Page 8)
soldiers;
veterans
with their fellow troops.
Other members of the
community to welcome the
Iraqi War veterans were Starr
County Judge Eloy Vera,
County Commissioner Jaime
Alvarez, and Rio Grande City
Mayor Baldemar Garza, also a
Rotary Member. Rotary
President Rosa Gonzalez
express the thoughts of Rotary
members and other guests in
thanking the men for their
sacrifices in serving their
country.
Olivares new president of
Valley city managers assn.
The Rio Grande Valley's city
manager's association has elected a
Rio Grande City native as its new
president.
Leonardo Olivares will be the
new president of the Texas City
Management Association Region
10 and serve on the association's
statewide board. Olivares assumes
the title held by Mike Perez,
McAllen City Manager.
"Valley cities are challenged daily
by increased water demand, higher
traffic volumes, more policing
requests and other development
needs," said Olivares. "Our
challenge as managers is to ensure
that we have the skill and
professional training to respond to
these needs and provide service to
our residents. The level of public
management in the Valley is
improving dramatically."
Leonardo Olivares has 17 years
experience in national, state and
local public policy, having worked
in the U.S. Congress and the Texas
Legislature. He also served as
director of the UTPA Center for
Local Government before becoming k
City Administrator for Rio Grande
City. He is also a member of the
International City/County
Management Association.
Olivares earned his Bachelor
degree in Economics from the
University of Texas-Austin and his
Master of Public Administration
from the University of Texas-Pan
American.
■m
Jm
RGCCISD hosts tree planting ceremony
The Rio Grande City C1SD recently hosted a Stephen F. Austin Tree Planting Ceremony at the Robert E Lee
House. Several members of the Daughters of the American Revolution were present to witness this event and
they are Mrs Janie Price (Lady Washington Chapter-Houston), Mrs. Ruth Goddard (Lady Washington
Chapter Houston), Mrs. Betty Bass Hiles (Betty Martin Chapter-Temple), and Mrs. Lone Hiles Hance (Betty
Martin Chapter Temple) Pictured are Ringgold Middle School students Jordan Hiles, Karah Hiles and
KeKev Hiles and Mr. Fred Margo. (RGCCISD photo). r
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 6, 2004, newspaper, May 6, 2004; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196267/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.