Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 2009 Page: 1 of 6
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THURSDAY
WEEKLY
EDITION
February 26, 2009
96th YEAR No. 9
Rio Grande
HEFLALD
A Newspaper Serving the People of South Texas
Federal disaster help denied for Starr flooding victims
Lopez serving as 2009 Fair Parade Marshal
Mario A. Lopez, pictured above, has been named the Parade Marshal for the 2009 Starr Counts Youth
Fair parade, scheduled for this Saturday at 10 a.m. Lopez has served as Lamb Superintendent for the
Fair since 1996 and also helps organize the Parade of Champions. Lopez has been involved in such
community organizations as the Rio Grande City Rotary Club, the Rio Grande City Chamber of
Commerce, the Rio Grande City Beef Syndicate, and the Rio Grande City Little League Association.
As a Rotarian, he has held the offices of president, secretary and treasurer.
Mario Lopez honored as 2009
County Fair Parade Marshal
Mario A. Lopez is being
honored as Parade Marshal at
the head of the annual Starr
County Youth Fair parade on
Saturday, February 28 at 10:00
a.m.
Lopez, who has helped with
the Fair for many years, stated,
"The Fair gives kids an
opportunity to do something on
their own and get recognition for
it. It gives them a sense- of
accomplishment for what they
have done when they are able to
exhibit something that shows off
their talents and skills."
He has been Lamb
Superintendent for the Fair since
1996 and also helps organize the
Parade of Champions. As a
member of the Rotary Club, lie-
is very involved with the Wild
Game Dinner, which earns
money for eight annual
scholarships for Starr County
youth.
He grew up watching his
mother, Gloria Lopez, helping
with the Fair, and his brothers,
Danny and Roy, were very
active in 4-H and FFA. He has
seen many changes since its
inception and tries to follow the
example of many wonderful
volunteers, such as Bobby
Margo and James Peterson.
Lopez encourages others to get
involved with the fair and other
volunteer activities in the
community. I was approached
by County Agent Enrique Perez
to be in charge of the lambs. "I
had never helped before because
nobody really asked me. So I
encourage others to get involved
and to ask others to volunteer.
Sometimes a person just needs
to be asked."
When told of his selection as
Parade Marshal, he stated, "I
was surprised and honored to be
chosen. There are many people
who help with the fair and are
deserving of recognition."
Mario and his wife. Esmeralda
C. Lopez, have two sons,
Matthew Alonzo and Mark
Aaron. Matthew is a freshman
at the University of Texas-
Austin, and Mark is a junior at
Rio Grande City High School.
Lopez, who has a bachelor of
business administration degree
from Pan American University,
is Vice President-Collateral
Evalu ation for Capital Farm
(See MARSHAL, Page 6)
Corrected times announced
for Baking, other categories
Baking and Decorated Baking
are being conducted differently
this year It will be a one-day
event, with admittance of entries
from 9:00 a.m. until 12 noon, on
Friday, February 27, followed
by judging. Entries will NOT be
accepted until 2.00 like last
year.
Cuellar says South Texans
will benefit from stimulus
Washington, D C On
Tuesday, Feb. 17, Congressman
Henry Cuellar issued the
following statement following
President Obama's signing of
the historic American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
which is expected to put
269,000 Texans to work and
deliver tens of billions of dollars
in tax cuts and infrastructure
investments to jumpstart the
Texas economy.
"I applaud the efforts of
President Obama to help find a
fix to the American economy It
took a long time for the
economy to get to this point, and
just three weeks into his
presidency. President Obama
has already found a way to help
jumpstart the economy.
"This jobs bill isn't a silver
bullet, but it is a bold and
decisive step in the right
direction. Its impact on Texas
families is impossible to
overstate and should not be
overlooked
"In the urgent drive to fix the
American economy, haste must
not make waste. The next step
will be aggressive,
unprecedented oversight to
make sure that every penny is
accounted for and spent wisely."
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The federal government has
denied federal assist ,ce for
individuals who sustained
property damage from the major
Hooding in the Roma and
Escobares areas in August and
September 2008, but private
entities, especially churches,
have done their best to try and
pick up the slack with their
relief efforts.
County Judge Eloy Vera told
The Rio Grande Herald in mid-
January, "We did not get the
federal declaration. The hurricane
hitting the upper Texas coast
later led to our situation being
somewhat forgotten. The federal
people didn't deem it appropriate
to declare us a disaster area."
Vera lamented, "It's
disheartening to see people lose
property and belongings and not
get assistance provided to them.
We made our best effort; our
federal legislators went to bat for
us. I think the last word has
been spoken."
On the positive side, Vera
noted, "We did get FEMA
assistance for roads and bridges
and other infrastructure damaged
by the storms. There are two
types of assistance: public
assistance, largely for
infrastructure; and individual
assistance."
"The county did get some
FEMA assistance in the public
assistance category," explained
the judge. "FEMA will basically
provide assistance at a 75 percent
rate. The county needs to provide
a 25 percent match."
Vera declared on Monday, "I
think approximately 900 homes
sustained some type of damage,
with some homes being damaged
more severely than others. The
flooding was basically a
continuous event over roughly a
month."
The flooding problems in the
Roma area first mushroomed on
Aug. 17-18 as many areas
received 10 to 15 inches of rain.
The situation worsened with up
to eight inches of rain on Aug.
24.
Starr County Emergency
Management Coordinator Gene
Falcon commented last week,
"The hurricane on the upper
Texas coast did seem to hamper
our situation...The federal
government, namely FEMA, did
not come through with any
individual assistance."
Falcon emphasized. "We have
(See DISASTER, Page 6)
Lineup for Fair Parade
Saturday to be different
"Hats Off to Our Youth" is the
theme for the parade, which will
begin at 10:00 a.m. Parade
Marshall Mario Lopez will lead
the parade, and the 2009 Starr
County Fair Queen Elsa De
Leon and court will be featured
on the Queen's float sponsored
by the Starr County Fair
Association.
Parade lineup will be done
differently this year, with lineup
south of Main Street on Water
Street, with all floats and
vehicles facing east. It will still
proceed east on Main Street to
historic Fort Ringgold. There
will be no lineup near the
courthouse.
Lineup for the parade begins
at 8:00 a.m., and pre-registration
is not required. The fee of $10
per vehicle and or float is
payable the morning of the
parade Entry numbers may be
obtained from Parade Chairman
Tissa Peterson at the USPS
mailbox on South Britton
Avenue next to tne Compass
Drive-In Bank.
Out-of-county entries, horses,
and marching groups, including
bands, are encouraged to
participate free of charge.
Walking groups will line up on
the median of South Britton.
They are required to keep
(See LINEUP, Page 6)
Man faces likely federal
charges in pipe bomb discovery
A La Rosita man is very
likely to face federal charges in
the near future related to the
discovery of a pipe bomb at a
residence in La Rosita on
Thursday. Feb. 19.
Eduardo David Rosa, 50, also
faces local charges of possession
of a controlled substance and
possession of marijuana. Rio
Grande City Police Chief B.A.
"Dutch" Piper indicated Monday
that crack cocaine and 106
pounds of marijuana, along with
a pipe bomb, were discovered at
a residence on Highway 83 in La
Rosita.
Piper stated, "The Rio Grande
City Police Department, the
Starr County Interdiction Task
Force, and the Starr County
Sheriff's Department conducted a
narcotics search warrant at a
residence on West Highway 83
in La Rosita...The raid took
place at 6 p.m. on Thursday,
Feb. 19."
Piper added. "ATF (Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms)
was called in due to the
discovery of the pipe bomb and
took over the investigation
involving the pipe
bomb.. .Charges by ATF are
pending against Rosa."
The chief noted, "The pipe
bomb was about 10 inches long
and one inch w ide."
Elias Bazan. Resident Agent
in Charge at the McAllen ATF
Office, declared on Monday,
"ATF is following up with
federal charges in that matter.
(See CHARGES, Page 6)
At 6:00 that same evening, on
Friday, all entries except the top
winners and champions may be
sold and/or removed.
Regrettably, the schedule
advertised in last week's papers
mistakenly had last year's entry
times. Top winners and
champions will be sold at live
auction after the Parade of
Champions on Saturday
evening.
Wednesday evening from 4:00
to 6:00, the Adult and Senior
Citizen Arts and Crafts entries
may be brought to the coliseum
building of the Starr County
Fairgrounds for admittance.
They will be judged at 6:30 p.m.
Ail entries will be on display
during the day on Thursday,
with removal of the entries on
Thursday beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Grand Champion and Reserve
Champions may be kept on
display or may be removed and
brought back for the Parade of
Champions on Saturday evening
at 7:00 p.m.
Youth Arts and Crafts entries
will be admitted from 12:00
noon until 2:00 p.m. on
(See BAKING, Page 6)
i
Rotary sponsors successful Wild Game Dinner
The annual Wild Game Scholarship Dinner sponsored by the Rio Grande City Rotary Club was a big
success. The proceeds will enable the Starr County Fair Association to present eight scholarships to
graduating seniors from Rio Grande City, Roma, and San lsidro High Schools The Rotary Club is
grateful to all the individuals and groups who donated items to the silent auction and live auction,
providing the stimulus for donations by those attending. They also want to thank the many cooking
teams and volunteers who worked together to make this such a successful event. Some ot the
Rotarians are pictured exhausted but happy at the end of the event. Rotarian Mario A. Lopez will
serve as the 2009 Starr County Fair Parade Marshal on Saturday, February 28, at 10:00 on Main
in Rio Grande City. (See related article on Page 3).
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 2009, newspaper, February 26, 2009; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196348/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.