WESLACO, RGV - Rio Grande Guardian reporters have picked their Top Ten news stories of 2019.
The parameters were that the subjects covered had to be about or have a direct impact on the Texas-Mexico border region.
“It was so difficult to pick the top ten. We had dozens of topics we took pride in reporting, and hundreds of stories to review,” said editor Steve Taylor.
In ascending order, here are the Top Ten:
News that a multi-million dollar retail and commercial investment was finally coming to Rio Grande City was met with disbelief by many local residents. Why? Because they had heard such a deal was on the cards for years.
The arrangement took so long because the implications of building in a flood plain had to be dealt with and a rail yard moved. After years of negotiations and to the relief of many, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in August hosted by Starr County Industrial Foundation.
St. Ives Realty, LLC and Rio Grande Village, LLC, a Dallas based group of national developers, finalized the acquisition of more than 150 acres of land opposite Walmart on U.S. 83. In the first phase, 40 acres of mostly retail development is planned.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
So confident are McAllen leaders that Chinese companies will invest in the city that they have sanctioned four visits to the world’s most populous country over the next year. The City of McAllen and McAllen Economic Development Corporation sent representatives to the country a few times in 2019, with the State of Tamaulipas also participating.
The reason for their optimism is based on provisions within the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The successor trade pact to NAFTA makes it more advantageous for manufacturing companies from Europe and Asia to have a presence in the United States. And because Mexico has numerous free trade agreements, having that presence on the U.S.-Mexico border makes even more sense, say McAllen EDC leaders.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
In June, Governor Greg Abbott signed the paperwork to merge the Rio Grande Valley’s three metropolitan planning organizations into one. As a result more federal and state dollars will be available for the region’s transportation projects. A lot more.
“I dare say that over the next several decades, we are not talking about tens of millions, hundreds of millions, we are potentially talking about billions of dollars in transportation and infrastructure projects,” said Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., who was appointed vice chairman of the new Rio Grande Valley MPO.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
Brownsville’s tagline used to be On the Border, By the Sea. Now, with space exploration a real possibility thanks to SpaceX, the city has adapted the phrase to On the Border, By the Sea, and Beyond!
Experts from New York City and Silicon Valley were on hand in July for the launch of the nonprofit Expanding Frontiers. They said the city is poised to take advantage of the trillion dollar NewSpace industry.
Signs of growth and innovation in the Rio Grande Valley’s biggest city were in abundance in 2019. Mayor Trey Mendez was elected and immediately ushered in measures to further promote the city’s historic buildings and expand broadband access.
And the Port of Brownsville continued to be a major economic driver, welcoming a decision by federal regulators to sanction liquefied natural gas export terminals and looking forward to the building of a steel mill.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
The Texas Education Agency announced in August that every school district and charter school in Region One, which covers the Rio Grande Valley, achieved an “A” or “B” in the state accountability rankings. Those results have catapulted Region One to No. 1 in the state of Texas.
Given the Rio Grande Valley’s socio-economic profile, these results were, according to Cornelio Gonzalez, Region One’s executive director, “almost miraculous.”
In a podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian, Gonzalez said: “Thirty years ago when I started in education, this area was the lowest performing area in the state,” Gonzalez added. “These are very exciting times for us. We are very proud.”
Region One aims to keep Valley schools at the top by adding higher speed Internet opportunities.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
In December, the U.S. House of Representatives ratified the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. This development thrilled Texas-Mexico border leaders and they urged the U.S. Senate to do the same.
USMCA is the successor trade pact to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“USMCA delivers an agreement that will create more jobs, modernize trade in the digital age and foster innovation,” said Dennis Nixon, president of IBC Bank.
“The upcoming congressional ratification of this trade agreement will continue to build upon the economic progress we have made for more than twenty-five years, and further strengthen the integration of our economies by giving our region an unprecedented level of competitiveness in the global economy. North American free trade is estimated to generate approximately $3.8 billion in commerce daily.”
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
The Rio Grande Valley lost its National Public Radio station in May when the Diocese of Brownsville sold KHID 88.1 FM and KJJF 88.9 FM to Immaculate Heart Media/Relevant Radio. The new owners dropped NPR programming in favor of a Catholic Talk Radio format.
It is claimed the Valley is the most populated region in the country not to have NPR. In June, Valley supporters of NPR held a town hall meeting in McAllen to strategize on ways to bring NPR back. Coming out of that meeting, a grassroots nonprofit was formed, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez said he would help bring it back, and UT-Rio Grande Valley said it was setting up working group to consider running an NPR station.
Later in the year, KEDT News, the Corpus Christi NPR station announced it was streaming its programing into the Valley. The station is looking to to see if it is feasible to run an NPR station in the Valley.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
Around 100 members of numerous religious denominations from around Texas visited the Rio Grande Valley in August. Among other things they came to learn more about the plight of asylum seekers. They were told that if they had come a few weeks earlier they would have seen hundreds receiving care at a respite center in McAllen run by Catholic Charities RGV.
However, a change in the Trump Administration’s policy meant hundreds of these asylum seekers were now living in tents just across Brownsville’s Gateway International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico. So, the church leaders went to Matamoros.
Migrant Protection Protocols was the name given to the administration’s new policy. Under the policy, the government said, “certain foreign individuals entering or seeking admission to the U.S. from Mexico – illegally or without proper documentation – may be returned to Mexico and wait outside of the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings, where Mexico will provide them with all appropriate humanitarian protections for the duration of their stay.”
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
Agustín Barrios Gómez is not a resident of the U.S.-Mexico border region and his real estate work does not require him to visit the region.
However, in a speech at the Pathways for Trade Symposium held at Texas A&M International University in Laredo in September, the founding member of the Mexican Council of Foreign Relations and member of the Association of Mexican Entrepreneurs produced a roadmap for how the region should make its case, in both Washington and Mexico City.
“I am one of those weird chilangos who is actually interested in the border,” Barrios Gómez said, at the start of his presentation.
Border communities deserve to be recognized for what they are, he said. “They are incredible, they are incredibly entrepreneurial, they are incredibly active, they are making North America as people want North America to be.”
Barrios Gómez pointed out that, unlike the European Union, which was fashioned by “wise men” after World War II, the interconnectivity of the United States and Mexico came about by ordinary people doing business and travel.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
In an exclusive series of stories that raised eyebrows among healthcare leaders throughout Texas, the Rio Grande Guardian reported in September that the Rio Grande Valley’s diabetes rates are falling, bucking the statewide trend.
The information was revealed by Dr. Belinda Reininger, regional dean of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health in Brownsville, at a healthcare summit hosted by Unidos Contra la Diabetes in Weslaco.
“The report uses multiple data sources and it is showing that while the diabetes rates in the state of Texas are increasing, in the Rio Grande Valley the rates and the trend on diabetes is starting to not only flatten out but to tip down,” Reininger said.
The goal of Unidos Contra la Diabetes is to reduce the number of new cases of type II diabetes in the next five years. The nonprofit group believes this will result in a ten percent reduction in the prevalence of diabetes by 2030.
Later in the year, to great acclaim, Harlingen CISD students unveiled a marketing effort aimed at reducing the prevelance of diabetes in the Valley by reducing the consumption of sugary drinks. The campaign was developed with Unidos Contra la Diabetes and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health in Brownsville.
Here are links to three of the Rio Grande Guardian’s stories on the subject:
