cameron county

In this episode we discuss the Happy Face Killer, Keith Jesperson, his crimes, and one of the unsolved cases where the victim is possibly from the Rio Grande Valley.

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BROWNSVILLE, Texas - At a recent ceremony at the Cameron County courthouse, County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., and VTX1 CEO Patrick McDonnell signed an MOU to bridge the digital divide that exists in the county by expanding broadband services

At the signing ceremony, Cameron County leaders were asked why those chose to partner with VTX1 rather than another internet service provider. The other ISPs that made a bid for the project were AT&T, Charter Communications, and SmartCom.

In answer that same question - why partner with VTX1 - Cameron County Judge Treviño said: “I think the one of the overriding factors was the fact that they (VTX1) were not requesting nor requiring that the county foot the bill. Some of the other proposals we looked at wanted quite a bit of money from the county. Not that that was the only determining factor.”

Another reason, Treviño said, was the fact that VTX1 is a local cooperative, based in Raymondville.

“They have been very aggressive in helping to provide services for those most underserved areas. I mean, they're based in Willacy and they're having good success. And I know that they're utilizing up to date technology. So to us, it just made it made sense (to choose VTX1).”

Here is an in-depth audio interview with Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño about the new Cameron County-VTX1 partnership. It is conducted by Rio Grande Guardian editor Steve Taylor.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - At a recent ceremony at the Cameron County courthouse, County Judge Eddie Treviño and VTX1 CEO Patrick McDonnell signed an MOU to bridge the digital divide that exists in the county by expanding broadband services

At the signing ceremony, Cameron County leaders were asked why those chose to partner with VTX1 rather than another internet service provider. The other ISPs that made a bid for the project were AT&T, Charter Communications, and SmartCom.

In answer to that question - why partner with VTX1 - Cameron County Commissioner David Garza said: “The key attribute was that VTX1 was willing to sit down and work with the county and allow us to put a system in place for broadband service in Cameron County that involved Cameron County having to spend zero tax dollars. That was one of the main attributes, besides the reputation VTX1 brings to the table.”

Here is an in-depth audio interview with Cameron County Commissioner David Garza about the new Cameron County-VTX1 partnership. It is conducted by Ron Whitlock of Ron Whitlock Reports.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

RANCHO VIEJO, Texas - Three leaders from the lower Rio Grande Valley have been asked how they think 2024 will go for their respective organizations.

Eduardo Campirano, port director for Brownsville Navigation District, said: 

“Obviously, the continued progress of the Port (of Brownsville). The growth and the construction is still ongoing. And, of course, the biggest one of all is going to be the Rio Grande LNG project. That project is underway and is going to be very, very significant. That will probably suck up a lot of the attention over the next year or two or three or four or five or six or seven. It is growing and, of course, we've got projects in addition to that as well. We're looking at a great 2024, another record year.”

Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez said the City of Brownsville has been awarded almost $180,000 in grant money from the North American Development Bank. It is the first time the City has received money from this bank, she said, pointing out that the City’s matching fund is about ten percent. Ramirez said the funding will be used to help develop a rapid transit system between the Port of Brownsville and the City in order to get cars off the road. 

“NADBank is allowing us to be more innovative in how we handle road congestion. They're great partners, it was easy to get funded,” Ramirez said. “Right now, part of the scope of work… is to study the best route between the City of Brownsville, the city limits and the Port of Brownsville and all the companies that they're serving. Companies such as Rio Grande Valley LNG, SpaceX, Keppel, Steelcoast. Where can we put some park and rides where the employees are happy, the company is, and the city and the county also wins as well?”

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., said his city commission colleagues are hoping to end 2023 on a high.

“We're hoping to end with a bang and thankful for all of the progress and development that we've had over this past year. Hopefully we're going to start the new year with some very exciting development and, as soon at it happens, you'll know what I'm talking about. I don't want to jinx it. We're looking forward to continuing to work on all of the projects that we've been working on over the last several years. We hope some of them will come to fruition in a very short period of time,” Treviño said.

The lower Valley leaders were interviewed at a NADBank listening tour hosted by Estrada Hinojosa and Company and held at Rancho Viejo Country Club. Here is an audio recording of the interviews.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.”

The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet. 

 “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron County,” said Cameron County Commissioner David Garza.

“We want all of the kids to be able to access it and be able to do distance learning. We want to make sure that folks that need telemedicine can get counseled and taken care of at home if they need to be. It's a critical piece of a utility now. It is not a luxury. As the judge said, its a necessity.”

County commissioners issued a Request For Proposals under the “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” It is RFP No. 230102. Four ISPs were asked to make their pitch to be the County’s partner. 

One of the four is Charter Communications, otherwise known as Spectrum. Here is an audio recording of the presentation Charter Communications made to county commissioners. Their representative was Thomas Aguillon. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.”

The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet. 

 “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron County,” said Cameron County Commissioner David Garza.

“We want all of the kids to be able to access it and be able to do distance learning. We want to make sure that folks that need telemedicine can get counseled and taken care of at home if they need to be. It's a critical piece of a utility now. It is not a luxury. As the judge said, its a necessity.”

County commissioners issued a Request For Proposals under the “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” It is RFP No. 230102. Four ISPs were asked to make their pitch to be the County’s partner. 

One of the four is AT&T. Here is an audio recording of the presentation AT&T made to county commissioners. Their representative was Mario Barragan. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.”

The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order so that the entire county has access to high-speed internet. 

 “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron County,” said Cameron County Commissioner David Garza.

“We want all of the kids to be able to access it and be able to do distance learning. We want to make sure that folks that need telemedicine can get counseled and taken care of at home if they need to be. It's a critical piece of a utility now. It is not a luxury. As the judge said, its a necessity.”

County commissioners issued a Request For Proposals under the “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” It is RFP No. 230102. Four ISPs were asked to make their pitch to be the County’s partner. 

One of the four is VTX1. Here is an audio recording of the presentation VTX1 made to county commissioners. Their representative was Jeffrey Patterson. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Commissioners Court has launched a “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.”

The Court wants to work with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to draw down millions of dollars from the state and/or federal government in order that the entire county has access to high-speed internet. 

 “Our goal is to make the service available to all the people of Cameron County,” said Cameron County Commissioner David Garza.

“We want all of the kids to be able to access it and be able to do distance learning. We want to make sure that folks that need telemedicine can get counseled and taken care of at home if they need to be. It's a critical piece of a utility now. It is not a luxury. As the judge said, it's a necessity.”

County commissioners issued a Request For Proposals under the “County-Wide Broadband Expansion Project.” It is RFP No. 230102. Four ISPs were asked to make their pitch to be the County’s partner. 

One of the four is SmartCom. Here is an audio recording of the presentation SmartCom made to county commissioners. Their representative was Daniel Saenz. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - State Rep. Erin Elizabeth Gámez of Brownsville has filed legislation to set up a state recognized and supported county mental health task force.

House Bill 1904 would set up a pilot program in Cameron County to prove its success. If it successful it could be replicated across the state.

“Our county has recently been making strides in increasing access to mental health services for our community members. Today we took another step in the right direction in filing legislation which will create a state recognized and supported county mental health task force,” Gámez said.

In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, Gámez said the task force would focus on all aspects of mental and behavioral health.

She said these would include “identifying and removing barriers to mental health access, identifying best practices in law enforcement response to individuals suffering a mental health crisis, and connecting and building upon existing resources to fill in gaps and maximize the use of our public money.”

Additionally, Gámez said, the task force would coordinate and take input from existing efforts at the local, state, and national level to address the mental health needs of the community.

“The task force will be composed of community members who are already on the front lines and meeting individuals where they are. Passing this legislation will help continue our county's efforts to meet the mental health needs of our community,” Gámez added.

The attached audio file features an interview with Rep. Gámez about House Bill 1904.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., says a proposal from one of his predecessors to build an arena on South Padre Island is not viable.

Former Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos has been vocal in his opposition to building an arena as part of the Madeira master planned project on the corner of I-69 East and State Highway 100. Instead, said Cascos, such an arena should be built on SPI.

Voters will decide on the Cameron County Arena project in the Saturday, May 7, elections. 

In an interview with Ron Whitlock Reports, Treviño said Cascos’ idea has already been considered by Cameron County Commissioners Court and deemed not viable.

“Perhaps he (Cascos) has not been to the island any time in the recent past but now it is bumper to bumper in the evenings,” Treviño said. “One of the issues we want to address with the location is to avoid that delay in getting to and from a particular concert.”

Treviño said even if a second causeway was up and running there could still, potentially, be bumper to bumper traffic. He also noted that concert goers from Brownsville, Harlingen, and the upper Rio Grande Valley would have further to travel if an arena were built on SPI. 

“We are trying to create it so that it is quicker to get to these events, not delay it and make it even longer,” Treviño said.

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian website.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

HARLINGEN, TEXAS - Valley Baptist Health System CEO Manny Vela said he was brought up with the mantra that one always gave credit where credit was due.

He said he wanted to give credit to the leadership of Cameron County during the COVID-19 pandemic because, led by County Judge Eddie Treviño, the county leadership had made an “incredible effort.”

Vela said the public-private partnership the county created in response to the pandemic was the best in Texas. He said that partnership has saved countless lives.

Vela asked the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce if it would co-host a Leadership Appreciation event with Valley Baptist. He said the chamber jumped right on board. The result was a mixer held at the chamber on Monday, Feb. 28.

This podcast features the remarks of Manny Vela and Judge Treviño from the Leadership Appreciation event.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Davis Rankin and Professor and Historian Tony Knopp talk about the History of Cameron County.

HARLINGEN, Texas - Immediately following a news conference hosted by Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell, Valley Baptist Health System CEO Manny Vela asked for forgiveness for being so impassioned.

In his remarks from the podium, Vela had made an impassioned plea for Cameron County residents to adhere to best practices in the fight to stem the surge of COVID-19. He noted that hospitalizations for the virus had quadrupled at Valley Baptist-Harlingen over the past eight weeks. 

“Forgive me, I get a little impassioned. This is the reality. We are seeing our numbers quadruple for COVID patients at Valley Baptist Harlingen over the last eight weeks. I think that holds true for most hospitals in the county,” Vela said, in an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian.

Vela said he had two messages to give to the community.

“One, thanking everybody in our community who has helped us by following the best practices. It got us to the position of being manageable for our COVID numbers. Unfortunately we have had Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. We have seen our numbers escalate. So, the first part of the message is thank everybody. We just need you to keep toeing the line with us.”

The second message was aimed at those who have not been wearing masks, not washing their hands regularly, and not practiced social distancing.

“The second part of my message is for that small part of our community who are simply not following the best practices because of ignorance or arrogance or absolute lack of self respect for others. They have got to receive this message. It is not too late for them to get on the bandwagon and protect our community.”

Vela said if the community as a whole will follow best practices, his team of frontline healthcare workers will be better protected from COVID.

Editor's Note: To read the full story, including Manny Vela's thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccine, go to riograndeguardian.com.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County health authority Dr. James Castillo said the people of the Rio Grande Valley are going to have to get used to living with the coronavirus for at least a year, even if a v vaccine for COVID-19 is found.

Castillo spoke at a recent news conference hosted by Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. At the event he said 80 percent of the COVID-19 infections are being traced back to gatherings where people were not earring a facial covering.

“It is driving a majority of the infections,” Castillo said of such gatherings. “That is why these measures are so important and all the advice that everybody is going about staying at home, especially if you are vulnerable and not being in crowds is so critical to trying to slow the spread of this illness.”

Castillo went on to predict how long COVID-19 will be with us. 

“We are going to have to live with this illness for at least the next year, no matter a vaccine. This is going to go on for at least another year. So, this is going to be the new normal. People are going to hav e to learn to adapt and live with it,” Castillo said.

“That is why all the recommendations about the hand washing, about the physical distancing, preventing the spread of large events or gatherings, birthday parties or family gatherings in the back yard, is critical to slowing this thing down.”

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Cameron County health director issued a dire warning Monday about COVID-19.

Dr. James Castillo said he hopes his county is not looking at an exponential curve when studying the number of new cases.

Cameron County has seen 49 deaths due to the coronavirus, many connected to four nursing home facilities and one detention center. There were 101 new cases reported on Monday.

“After we re-opened (the economy) I think everybody was really excited, after shelter-in-place,” Castillo said, at a news conference hosted by Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino.

“We did such a good job with the shelter-in-place, we thought it did not affect us. We thought it was only infecting elderly people and nursing homes. But, since the re-opening, the science is telling us it is not over. We did not have our first wave, yet. The wave is coming now.”

Editor's Note: For the full story go to The Rio Grande Guardian website.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A top doctor in Cameron County’s public health department says if the current spike in COVID-19 cases continues there will not be enough hospital beds for infected patients.

Dr. James Castillo gave the warning at a news conference held Wednesday with Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr.

“Hospitalizations are going up. If that trend continues on that path, a lot of patients who get hospitalized, especially in the ICU, they could be there for a month. For weeks, not a few days. If this trend continues, hospital capacity will start approaching its limits.”

If Cameron County starts seeing that, he said, officials will have to start thinking about restricting the movement of residents again.

On the day of the news conference, Cameron County has received confirmation of two additional COVID-19 related deaths. The individuals were 65 and 67-year-old males from Brownsville.  This raised the number of COVID-19 related deaths in Cameron County to 42. The county also received confirmation of an additional 39 case reports of COVID-19. A few weeks ago, before the economy was re-opened, Cameron County was reporting only ten or so additional cases per day. 

On Thursday, more alarming figures were released by Cameron County. There were two more COVID-19 related deaths. The individuals were a 100-year old female and 59-year-old male from Brownsville. This raised the number of COVID-19 related deaths in Cameron County to 44. Cameron County also received confirmation of an additional 41 case reports of COVID-19.

In his remarks, Judge Treviño said: “As the state began to open up I reiterated the fact that even though it is no longer mandatory to wear a mask or a facial covering, we were requesting or recommending that people still do that. Some people have continued to still do that and I thank you. Those who are not following we reiterate it. You are putting yourself, your family and others at risk.”

The attached podcast features highlights from the news conference, which was held at Cameron County Courthouse. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - In an exclusive interview with Ron Whitlock Reports, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño was told by a reporter that it took two hours to find and buy a gallon of milk. 

“And we do not even have a confirmed case yet. What is going to happen when we have a confirmed case?” Treviño asked, in response to the observation by veteran reporter Ron Whitlock.

“Everybody has to remain calm and be mindful. Having five gallons when you only need one every two weeks or a week and half, that is not what we should be doing,” the county judge said.

Whitlock had pointed out that he drove for two hours around Willacy County on Sunday looking for milk. He said he visited HEB, Dollar General and a few convenience stores. 

“I ended up with the last two gallons of milk in Willacy County. It took me two hours to get those last two gallons of milk. It was just like Beulah,” said Whitlock, remembering back to the famous hurricane of 1967. 

Due to the heavy floods, Whitlock, then a radio broadcaster, was the only reporter operating in the Rio Grande Valley for a week in the aftermath of Beulah. His title was news and public affairs director at K-RIO 910 AM.

“Let’s be positive, be prepared and not panic,” Treviño told Whitlock, referring to the current coronavirus pandemic.

Treviño gave an update on the number of potential cases of coronavirus in Cameron County. At a news conference last Friday, Treviño said two people had been tested and were found to be negative. Results were not yet in for the other two tests, he said. Monday’s update, was that there four tests that had come back negative and the results of five other tests were not yet known. 

“We’re going to see the numbers spike,” Treviño predicted. 

The interview with the Cameron County Judge came before the City of South Padre Island declared an emergency. Treviño spoke about the situation on South Padre Island in his interview with Whitlock. He has a news conference planned for Tuesday, March 17, 2020. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Cameron County Commissioner David Garza does not give interviews to the media very often. He said he wanted to make an exception on this occasion because of the importance of the topic - securing federal disaster relief funds for the Rio Grande Valley. Garza was part of a delegation from the Valley that visited with officials from the Department of Housing & Urban Development in Washington, D.C., this week. Other Valley leaders on the trip included Hidalgo County Commissioners David Fuentes and Ellie Torres and Willacy County Commissioner Eduardo 'Eddy' Gonzales. Garza said Valley leaders are, thankfully, now taking a regional approach to drainage issues.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.