city of harlingen

HARLINGEN, Texas - One of the top education events in the Rio Grande Valley occurred in November when UTRGV, the City of Harlingen and Harlingen CISD hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new UTRGV Harlingen Collegiate High School.

The new campus, covering 6.3 acres, houses 64,000 square feet of state-of-the-art classrooms and teaching labs.  

UTRGV HCH offers bachelor’s degree programs that focus on academic core, engineering, computer science and education. Students can earn up to 60 hours of college credit by the time they graduate high school.  

UTRGV President Guy Bailey said the new facility is a milestone for Valley students.  

“This is a great facility for Harlingen and it’s great for the Rio Grande Valley,” Bailey said. “There is nothing like this in the state of Texas or UT System – not to this degree of collaboration.  

“For all of you students, we are fully committed to your success. We want you to graduate and we want you to stay in the Valley. We couldn’t provide this kind of education without partners like HCISD and the leaders we have here,” he said. 

The attached podcast includes an interview with Harlingen CISD Superintendent Dr. Alicia Noyola, along with other VIPs at the ribbon-cutting.

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 -  A news conference was recently to discuss the ongoing hospital capacity overload and staffing shortage in Cameron County.

Other topics discussed included testing, vaccines, and the Regional Infusion Center. 

Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell hosted the news conference. 

Other speakers included Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Manny Vela, CEO of Valley Baptist Health System and Valley Baptist Medical Center, Matt Wolthoff, CEO of Harlingen Medical Center, Dr. Michael Mohun, City of Harlingen Health Authority, Rene Perez, RN, BSN, paramedic director of Patient Transport Services at South Texas Emergency Care Foundation, Inc., and Esmeralda Guajardo, Cameron County Health Administrator. 

The news conference took place at  Harlingen City Hall.

The attached podcast includes the remarks of all the speakers at the event. 

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

Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell recently held this year’s State of the City Address.

He said the state of the local economy is strong, with more jobs coming to the city. 

He also spoke about how Harlingen coped with the coronavirus pandemic.

Here is his speech:

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 - According to civil and structural engineer, J.V. Garcia, a drainage ordinance being considered by the City of Harlingen should be rejected by the City Commissioners because it does nothing for the City of Harlingen. 

On October 3, Garcia organized at Trail of Floods tour of Harlingen to highlight flood-prone areas. 

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III opened the tour, which began at Victor Park in Harlingen. 

Lucio said Garcia was relentless and passionate in advocating for issues he believes in.

“What is happening here today is an important part of the policy-making process. I assure you that as you organize and speak loudly, you will be heard,” Lucio said.

The tour concluded at the Harlingen Convention Center. 

In an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian following the tour, Garcia proposed the creation of a Rio Grande Valley Flood Control District. And he rejected a proposed new drainage ordinance developed by the City of Harlingen.

“We are trying to encourage them to do something more, something better. At a minimum standard, adopt what the City of McAllen and Hidalgo County has, which is like the Gold Standard,” Garcia told The Rio Grande Guardian. “Even the City of San Benito has a better drainage policy than Harlingen.”

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 - Harlingen business owner Nydia Tapia-Gonzales has spent most of her professional career promoting the City of Harlingen in different capacities. 

Tapia-Gonzales has also contributed eco-tourism reports for the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service. 

More recently, Tapia-Gonzales has become concerned about the issue of flooding and drainage in a historically significant part of Harlingen.

In a Zoom conversation, Tapia-Gonzales spoke with Harlingen resident and engineer J.V. Garcia about an update to the City of Harlingen Drainage Ordinance.

“As a civil engineer, I will never say stop building. I am pro-development. But let’s build in a smart way that isn’t going to flood our neighbors and isn’t going to be detrimental to our citizens,” Garcia said. 

Garcia gave details about a Trails of Floods event this Saturday at Victor Park, Harlingen. 

For more information about the Trails of Floods event email: jvgarcia@casaengr.com.

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 - UT-Rio Grande Valley, in partnership with the City of Harlingen and the Harlingen CISD held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new UTRGV Early College High School.

It is located at 2901 Medical Drive in Harlingen.

This campus helps replace the current ECHS on Pecan Street with a 64,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility on 6.3 acres gifted by the City of Harlingen. The design phase began in spring 2019, with the new campus expected to open fall in 2021. 

UTRGV ECHS offers students a direct path to a bachelor’s degree with a focus on academic core, engineering, computer science or education. 

Through this program, students can earn up to 60 hours by the time they graduate from high school.

Among the dignitaries to speak at the groundbreaking ceremony were UTRGV President Guy Bailey, Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell, UT System Regent Dr. Nolan Perez, MD, and HCISD Superintendent Art Cavazos.

This podcast features their remarks.

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 - Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell spoke about the spike in coronavirus cases in the Rio Grande Valley in an in-depth interview on Fox News.

Asked why the Valley has higher percentage of COVID-19 cases than the state of Texas as a whole, Boswell said part of the problem was the culture of the region. 

He also said the people of the Valley let their guard down once the economy was reopened. 

Boswell says he tells local residents to follow the three Ws. “Wear your mask, wash our hands, and watch your distance.”

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

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Physicians in Starr County’s only hospital will soon have to chose which COVID-19 patients they will treat and which ones will be left to die.

That was the grim message from Starr County Health Authority Dr. Jose Vasquez. Interviewed by Dave Brown of Texas Standard, Vasquez said: “We are getting to the point where we are going to have to make tough decisions about who should be getting ventilatory support and a high level of care here or who do we believe is not going to be able to make it alive. So resources will have to be redirected for those that have better chances.”

Starr County, with a population of about 61,000, has 1,432 confirmed coronavirus cases. Its only major medical facility, Starr County Memorial Hospital, cannot cope, said Vasquez.

Vasquez said deciding who lives and dies is the hardest decision a physician will ever have to face.

“We have to swear a duty to protect every life equally regardless, no discrimination. But here, it is just basically a matter of applying mass critical care guidelines and choosing between people who actually have a fighting chance to come alive of this significant intentness care procedures versus the ones who because they are so sick or aged or have chronic conditions, they are not going to have a chance so we will redirect those resources that have actually a chance to survive.”

Texas Standard reporter Brown also interviewed Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell. 

Texas Standard is part of the National Public Radio network. Although the Rio Grande Valley does not have an NPR station, NPR programming is being provided on a digital streaming service by KEDT-FM of Corpus Christi. KEDT is media partner of the Rio Grande Guardian.

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

HARLINGEN, RGV - The co-founder of IDEA Public Schools says just like competition is good for business, it is good for the parents of students also.

Tom Torkelson spoke about the need for competition at a groundbreaking ceremony for IDEA’s first school in Harlingen. The nonprofit charter is now the largest of its kind in the nation. 

“People are asking us, why are we we opening up a school in Harlingen. Two reasons, one our San Benito School, three miles that way, has over a thousand students on the waiting list. We have got to open up a new school to alleviate that waiting list,” Torkelson said. “The second thing is… competition makes us better.”

He went to on to give examples of how competition in the Rio Grande Valley is healthy.

“I am sure Valley Baptist wishes they were still the only hospital here in the Harlingen area but now there are several. I am sure all you elected officials wish that every single year you got to run unopposed but competition keeps us honest and makes us better,” Torkelson said.

“I am sure that those of you who own a business or a car dealership wish that you had a total monopoly on your community. But, the reality is consumers and citizens and residents win when there is competition.”

Other speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony included state Sen. Eddie Lucio and Harlingen City Commissioner Mike Mezmar. Jill Dominguez, regional superintendent for IDEA in the Valley, emceed the event. 

The above podcast has the entire raw audio from the IDEA Harlingen groundbreaking ceremony.

Editor’s Note: To read a full report on the groundbreaking ceremony for IDEA Harlingen, click here. 

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