TALL ORDER: #9 SEED BAYLOR VS. #1 DUKE TODAY
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Saturday, March 22, 2025
LOCAL BOXING FAN SAYS GOODBYE TO HIS FRIEND GEORGE
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
One of those is his own son Brandon "Kid Cameron" Avila Rubalcava, who is climbing up the boxing ladder with his best fan, his own dad.
Today, Avila has reached out to us to inform us that his good friend, former heavyweight champion George Foreman has passed away.
Today, Avila has reached out to us to inform us that his good friend, former heavyweight champion George Foreman has passed away.
"He was my good friend," Silva wrote. "May he RIP."
Friday, March 21, 2025
RESEARCHING TED WILLIAMS' MEXICAN-AMERICAN ROOTS
By Bill Nowlin
Society for American Baseball Research
There was one sentence that I read in Ted Williams’ autobiography, My Turn At Bat, which set me off on a personal research journey that took me some unexpected places and raised a few eyebrows along the way. It was a 44-word sentence about his mother, which I really only focused on the third time I read the book:
“Her maiden name was Venzer, she was part Mexican and part French, and that’s fate for you; if I had had my mother’s name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, the prejudices people had in Southern California.”
I was re-reading his autobiography while trying to organize material for the 1997 Masters Press book that I co-authored with Jim Prime: Ted Williams, A Tribute.
There was one sentence that I read in Ted Williams’ autobiography, My Turn At Bat, which set me off on a personal research journey that took me some unexpected places and raised a few eyebrows along the way. It was a 44-word sentence about his mother, which I really only focused on the third time I read the book:
“Her maiden name was Venzer, she was part Mexican and part French, and that’s fate for you; if I had had my mother’s name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, the prejudices people had in Southern California.”
I was re-reading his autobiography while trying to organize material for the 1997 Masters Press book that I co-authored with Jim Prime: Ted Williams, A Tribute.
I hadn’t read My Turn At Bat for maybe 10 or 15 years, but the sentence probably caught my eye that time around because early in the 1990s I had married a woman of Mexican-American ancestry. I wanted to find out more about May Williams’ family background, but her surname was misspelled in Ted’s book (Venzer for Venzor) which stymied further research.
After Jim and my book came out, we heard from one of Ted’s nephews, Manuel Herrera. He was a treasure trove of family lore and put me in touch with Sarah Diaz of Santa Barbara. She was May’s sister — Ted’s aunt. She was 94 years old at the time, but very sharp.
After Jim and my book came out, we heard from one of Ted’s nephews, Manuel Herrera. He was a treasure trove of family lore and put me in touch with Sarah Diaz of Santa Barbara. She was May’s sister — Ted’s aunt. She was 94 years old at the time, but very sharp.
Talking with both Manny and Aunt Sarah, I was able to put together a kind of family tree. Both of Ted Williams’ maternal grandparents had come to the United States from Valle de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico. Pablo Venzor and Natalia Hernandez Venzor entered the U.S. at El Paso around 1890. May Venzor was born in El Paso in 1891. The family ultimately made its way to Santa Barbara.
May met her future husband, Sam Williams, in the Salvation Army. They made their home in San Diego. (Ted Williams, left, poses with his mother May and brother Danny, circa 1921. Notice he is barefoot. (MAY WILLIAMS COLLECTION)
One of May’s brothers, Saul Venzor, was an accomplished baseball pitcher in Santa Barbara. When I learned the names of Ted’s uncles and aunts, I dug into more research. In Saul Venzor’s case, his 1963 obituary in the Santa Barbara News-Press said that he had given Ted Williams’ his first baseball lessons and that Ted had told friends that “Mr. Venzor was his first instructor.”
While I was accumulating more information about Ted’s family background — on both sides of the family — I had the opportunity to have lunch with Ted at his Florida home in April 2000. I asked him about Uncle Saul. He said, “He was my mother’s brother…He was a pretty good baseball player. Santa Barbara. I don’t know any other relatives that had much ability.”
And then he changed the subject. It didn’t feel awkward, but it was clearly something he preferred not to talk about. As Ted himself had written in My Turn at Bat of growing up in San Diego in the 1930s, he was well aware of the racial prejudice he would have faced, with “no doubt” about it.
May met her future husband, Sam Williams, in the Salvation Army. They made their home in San Diego. (Ted Williams, left, poses with his mother May and brother Danny, circa 1921. Notice he is barefoot. (MAY WILLIAMS COLLECTION)
While I was accumulating more information about Ted’s family background — on both sides of the family — I had the opportunity to have lunch with Ted at his Florida home in April 2000. I asked him about Uncle Saul. He said, “He was my mother’s brother…He was a pretty good baseball player. Santa Barbara. I don’t know any other relatives that had much ability.”
And then he changed the subject. It didn’t feel awkward, but it was clearly something he preferred not to talk about. As Ted himself had written in My Turn at Bat of growing up in San Diego in the 1930s, he was well aware of the racial prejudice he would have faced, with “no doubt” about it.
As Al Cassidy, the executor of Ted Williams’ estate, told writer Ben Bradlee about Ted’s early days, “Ted didn’t want anyone to know he was part Mexican. It concerned him. He was afraid they wouldn’t let him play. He’d say, ‘It was an entirely different time back then.’”
The greatest hitter in baseball history carried a secret – one he was told to bury. His mother was Mexican, but in a time when Latinos were erased from the spotlight. Ted was forced to pass.
"If I had my life to do over again, I would have proudly told everyone I was Mexican."
To read the rest of the article, click on link: https://sabr.org/journal/article/researching-ted-williams-latino-roots/
46,000 TESLA CYBERTRUCKS RECALLED; PROTESTS GROW WORLDWIDE
The recall of about 46,000 vehicles includes all models that were manufactured from Nov. 13, 2023, when the Cybertruck was first produced, to Feb. 27. In a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday, Tesla said that only about 1 percent of the electric vehicles from this model were defective but that it would recall all the vehicles as a precaution.
As of March 14, Tesla had identified 151 warranty claims that might be related to the trim panel issue, according to the report, but the company said it was “not aware of any collisions, fatalities or injuries that are or may be related to the condition.”
The announcement marks one of the largest recalls for Cybertrucks in the model’s short and at times flawed history on the road. Other issues with the vaunted model have included losing drive power, its front-windshield wiper malfunctioning and an accelerator pedal getting stuck. Cybertrucks sell for about $80,000 to $100,000, depending on customization.”
Tesla and Elon Musk are embroiled in a “brand tornado crisis moment” and the electric carmaker’s chief executive needs to cut back on his work for Donald Trump to stem the damage, one of the company’s biggest supporters has said.
The warning came as Tesla announced a recall of 46,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. on Thursday to fix an exterior panel that could detach while driving.
On Wednesday, protesters said they were planning what they described as their biggest day of action yet against the EV maker, with 500 demonstrations expected at Tesla showrooms around the world on 29 March.
It also emerged that the Vancouver International Auto Show has removed Tesla from its event hours, citing security concerns.
TRUMP: SEAL TEAM SNUFFS OUT UNIVERSITY PROTESTER
La Cebolla
“Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Daniel J. McLeigh, the notorious activist responsible for dozens of peaceful protests on the University of Pennsylvania campus,” said the commander-in-chief, describing the moment in the Situation Room when he ordered a Navy SEAL special missions unit to land on the university’s quad, raid a freshman dormitory, and eliminate the undergrad with extreme prejudice as “the proudest of his presidency.”
“These boys flew in under the cover of darkness. They used night-vision goggles and thermal tracking to make sure we never lost track of the target. We did have to abandon one Black Hawk helicopter after it crashed into the dining hall, but that’s a small price to pay for making sure we’ll never again live in fear of this English major.
''More details will be released in the coming days, but for now I’ll just say this: We got him. We got him, folks. Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.”
The White House also released a statement confirming the 19-year-old’s body had been buried in the Delaware River so that he would not have a grave that became a site of pilgrimage for other politically engaged citizens.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
ERASING HISTORY: HOW CAN YOU RUN WHEN YOU KNOW?
One of the pairs of hands that you see outstretched to raise our National flag on the battle-scarred crest of Mount Suribachi so many years ago, are those of a Native American ... Ira Hayes ... a Marine not of the ethnic majority of our population.
Were Ira Hayes here today...I would tell him that although my words on another occasion have given the impression that I believe some Marines...because of their color...are not as capable as other Marines...that those were not the thoughts of my mind...and that they are not the thoughts of my heart.
I would tell Ira Hayes that our Corps is what we are because we are of the people of America...the people of the broad, strong, ethnic fabric that is our nation. And last, I would tell him that in the future, that fabric will broaden and strengthen in every category to make our Corps even stronger...even of greater utility to our nation.
I would tell Ira Hayes that our Corps is what we are because we are of the people of America...the people of the broad, strong, ethnic fabric that is our nation. And last, I would tell him that in the future, that fabric will broaden and strengthen in every category to make our Corps even stronger...even of greater utility to our nation.
That's a commitment of this commandant...And that's a personal commitment of this Marine.
AND..
By Michael Sykes, For The WinUSA TODAY Sports Media Group
The page honoring the famous baseball player was deleted as part of a mass removal by the Donald J. Trump administration targeting, among others, Black and other minorities' military contributions.
Robinson's military history was scrubbed from the Department of Defense's website by Tuesday evening. The DoD removed a section from its website dedicated to Robinson's military service as part of its "digital content refresh" focused on removing what the Trump administration considers the promotion of "diversity, equity and inclusion." Robinson's story was included as part of the "Sports Heroes Who Served" series on the site before it was temporarily removed — and then restored Wednesday following public outcry.
MORE JACKIE ROBINSON: Here's why the Department of Defense removed Robinson's history from its website .
Not only was Robinson's history erased, but it was also mocked. The canonical URL on the story originally included the term "sports-heroes." The department marked the beginning of the URL with "DEI" like it has done with similar pages, as if being a Black man serving his country in the Jim Crow United States during the 1940s was some cakewalk.
Robinson's military history was scrubbed from the Department of Defense's website by Tuesday evening. The DoD removed a section from its website dedicated to Robinson's military service as part of its "digital content refresh" focused on removing what the Trump administration considers the promotion of "diversity, equity and inclusion." Robinson's story was included as part of the "Sports Heroes Who Served" series on the site before it was temporarily removed — and then restored Wednesday following public outcry.
MORE JACKIE ROBINSON: Here's why the Department of Defense removed Robinson's history from its website .
Not only was Robinson's history erased, but it was also mocked. The canonical URL on the story originally included the term "sports-heroes." The department marked the beginning of the URL with "DEI" like it has done with similar pages, as if being a Black man serving his country in the Jim Crow United States during the 1940s was some cakewalk.
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
WTF? CAN SOMEONE SOLVE THIS RIDDLE?
DESI NAJERA, FABLED 1969 B.H.S. GOLDEN EAGLE QB, DIES
Garza Memorial Funeral Home
1025 E. Jackson
Desiderio Gamboa Najera, 73, of Brownsville, passed away on March 15, 2025, surrounded by the beautiful memory of his beloved wife Carmen, who passed just a year before him.
He lived a life full of energy, love, and joy, leaving a legacy of God's mercy and grace. Born on November 5, 1951, in
Brownsville, Desi was the fourth of eight children of Israel and Maria (Gamboa).
1025 E. Jackson
Desiderio Gamboa Najera, 73, of Brownsville, passed away on March 15, 2025, surrounded by the beautiful memory of his beloved wife Carmen, who passed just a year before him.
He lived a life full of energy, love, and joy, leaving a legacy of God's mercy and grace. Born on November 5, 1951, in Brownsville, Desi was the fourth of eight children of Israel and Maria (Gamboa).
From an early age, he had an explosive personality and many friends. Desi would tell hilarious stories of growing up in the valley in the 1950s and 60s, where he played pick-up baseball games with his brothers and neighborhood friends on Wilson Street.
He and his buddies built make-shift go-karts, fished, and climbed trees. Even as an adult, Desi honored his mother and father, regarding them with deep respect. Desi's father was his ultimate hero. His brothers and sisters were his anchors in his early life. He would often beam with "Najera pride" at their accomplishments, sharing with anyone who listened about his siblings' successes.
During his teen years, Desi made history. Without argument, he is regarded as one of Brownsville's best quarterbacks ever to play high school football. During his 1969 senior season, Desi led Brownsville to the District 26-4A championship and a 10-2 season record. He was a dual-threat quarterback who passed for 1,300 yards with 19 touchdowns and rushed for 1,000 more with 12 TDs in his senior season.
But Desi would have said none of those accolades compared to his true teenage highlight- meeting his future wife, Carmen Guerra. Nothing could keep them apart, not even football. Desi would walk Carmen home from school despite having to be at football practice! He loved visiting her at her home and being a "big brother" to her eight younger siblings, often playing the guitar while his future father-in-law played the accordion.
This love for family surpassed his football dreams. While Desi received 26 college offers, he chose Texas A&I University in Kingsville because it was close to his family and beloved Carmen. During his sophomore year of college, Desi married Carmen, and they spent the next 52 years together until her passing.
After playing with the Javelinas for two seasons, he and Carmen moved around, briefly living in Alabama and New Mexico, where they enjoyed the snow and began raising their growing family.
After settling in Brownsville, Desi worked many jobs but ultimately began his 16-year career with the Brownsville Fire Department, where he later served as Lieutenant and Fire Chief. Like his father before him, Desi was a highly regarded department member who made long-lasting friendships and supported his community with tenderness and strength.
After playing with the Javelinas for two seasons, he and Carmen moved around, briefly living in Alabama and New Mexico, where they enjoyed the snow and began raising their growing family.
After settling in Brownsville, Desi worked many jobs but ultimately began his 16-year career with the Brownsville Fire Department, where he later served as Lieutenant and Fire Chief. Like his father before him, Desi was a highly regarded department member who made long-lasting friendships and supported his community with tenderness and strength.
His children remember the mornings he would return home from his shift smelling like the smoke from a house fire that happened overnight. They would help him take off his shoes and socks while Carmen made him his favorite flour tortillas, bien tostadas, as a reward for his loving provision for the family. Desi loved sharing about his work with his kids when they were very young, making sure they visited him at the station when he was working to look at the firetrucks, snack in the station kitchen, and simply sit on his lap and cuddle him.
His love for his kids continued as they grew up and began making their own lives. He always made time to teach his children and grandchildren how to enjoy the world around them through fishing, building, playing sports, gardening, whistling, or savoring a good meal.
One of his favorite ways to show love to his family was to organize a cookout as often as possible or make them pancakes. He also loved visiting his daughters, who lived outside the valley, soaking up new sights, and visiting garage sales with his Carmen.
One of his favorite ways to show love to his family was to organize a cookout as often as possible or make them pancakes. He also loved visiting his daughters, who lived outside the valley, soaking up new sights, and visiting garage sales with his Carmen.
Desi loved his children relentlessly through joy and pain. He attended their countless sporting events, award nights, performances, and graduations with great pride, but he also sat with them through heartbreaking doctor visits and personal sorrows. He showed his kids not to worry but to trust and believe in God's goodness. He babysat grandkids, making sure the cookie jar was always full. Desi always answered his kids' phone calls and was ready to save the day for them, fixing pipes, changing tires, opening his home, and giving rides or advice. Like his father was to him, Desi was his kids' hero.
After his time with the BFD, Desi worked as an emergency management coordinator with Cameron County. He retired before completing his bachelor's in Kinesiology from The University of Texas at Brownsville.
It was around this season of his life that Desi learned about God's love more deeply than ever before. He began praying, attending church, and meeting others who loved and honored God. He studied the Bible, and soon, a deep love for God was ignited in him.
It was around this season of his life that Desi learned about God's love more deeply than ever before. He began praying, attending church, and meeting others who loved and honored God. He studied the Bible, and soon, a deep love for God was ignited in him.
Desi was grateful to spend a few years of his retirement as a coach at a private Christian school, where he taught physical education to hundreds of children. He loved working with kids as a mentor, sharing his faith and athletic expertise.
His love for God never faded, and even in his final days, his kids would often see him worshiping God from his bed, surely thanking God for his great love and abundant blessings.
While some knew him as chief, coach, brother, grandpa, or daddy, Desi will always be remembered as a powerhouse of faith and a prayer warrior. He inspired his children, grandchildren, friends, relatives, and strangers to know God more deeply and live in peace with one another.
While some knew him as chief, coach, brother, grandpa, or daddy, Desi will always be remembered as a powerhouse of faith and a prayer warrior. He inspired his children, grandchildren, friends, relatives, and strangers to know God more deeply and live in peace with one another.
Desi is survived by his six children, Desidero Jr. (Yvonne), Andy (Zoraida), Rebecca (Aaron), Ricardo (Liliana), Theresa (Rigoberto), and Monica (Rodrigo). He and Carmen were also abundantly blessed with 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Tuesday March 18, 2025 from 12-6 p.m. His life will be celebrated with an evening service at 6:00 p.m. at Garza Funeral Home. Friends and family will gather to honor and remember him as he wanted.
Monday, March 17, 2025
"GOODBYE CONSTITUTION" BY D.J. TRUMP AND THE SUPREMES
Sunday, March 16, 2025
BCIC BOARD BREAKS GROUND (WALL?) ON NEW $1/2 MILLION OUTHOUSE
They actually had a ground breaking ceremony to celebrate the new restroom at Oliveira (now we're told it was Gonzalez) Park and spending the $500,000 they voted to construct it. Then the intrepid board of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation paid a few thousands for the event to celebrate their giving away your tax dollars for a fancy shithouse. I mean, who has a ground (or is it wall) breaking for a shitter? Don’t forget that the restroom will be bulletproof. Not stink proof, mind you, just bulletproof. It will also be hurricane proof and vandal proof, we think. Hope everything comes out well.
Saturday, March 15, 2025
MUSK MUST BE GETTING TIRED OF WINNING SO MUCH...
Opinion
So Canada responded to Trump's tariff escalation with a collective eye roll, middle finger, and a resounding "not today, Satan." Trump got mad because the Canadians raised electricity prices on American homes that rely on their grids.
And now, he has announced that he will double steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada to 50 percent.
This is yet another example of his impulsive, egomaniacal, self-sabotaging approach to economic policy. This ain't some sound strategy. The real reason behind this latest move is Trump’s fragile ego and his obsession with performative economic aggression.
He don't know shiggidy about trade. He don't understand diplomacy. And he damn sure doesn’t understand that economic wars don’t have winners, only collateral damage. He's sabotaging American business and workers who will bear the brunt of his idiocy.
And now, he has announced that he will double steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada to 50 percent.
This is yet another example of his impulsive, egomaniacal, self-sabotaging approach to economic policy. This ain't some sound strategy. The real reason behind this latest move is Trump’s fragile ego and his obsession with performative economic aggression.
He don't know shiggidy about trade. He don't understand diplomacy. And he damn sure doesn’t understand that economic wars don’t have winners, only collateral damage. He's sabotaging American business and workers who will bear the brunt of his idiocy.
Trump is so reckless that he is willing to burn bridges, jack up prices, and sabotage American industries just to look ‘tough’ to his MAGAT So what's g'on happen now?
Higher costs for companies and consumers. He's gonna kill more jobs and weaken the very economy he pretends to be defending. This is a self-inflicted wound masquerading as patriotism. Trump is too damn vain and too incompetent to engage in actual negotiation, so instead, he throws tariffs around like a drunk swinging a barstool.
His desperate need for dominance is not only isolating the U.S. from its closest allies but actively damaging its own economic future. If history has taught us anything, it’s that Trump would rather wreck the economy, punish working-class Americans, and create unnecessary conflict than admit he doesn’t have a clue what the hell he’s doing.
Friday, March 14, 2025
BISD BOARD STALEMATE: NO APPOINTMENT, NO ELECTION
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
A divided 3-3 board of the Brownsville Independent School District could not appoint any of the 25 applicants on a list fill the unexpired term of the late Erasmo Castro or to approve a special election May 3.
However, they still remain under the Texas Education Code requirement that a replacement for a member on the board should be made within 180 days of the vacancy, whether by appointment or through a uniform election. An item to hold a joint election May 3 was defeated and the November election falls outside the 180-day required by law.
There were three finalists of the 25 candidates who
applied, and there was a motion by Daniella Lopez to appoint the one who received more votes, Agustin Anduiza, and it failed to garner a second and the item failed. The next uniform election is in November.
Leading the charge against the appointment and insisting that an election be held were Carlos Elizondo and Minerva Pena, apparently unaware that by voting against holding the election this May they were, in effect, denying the voters a chance to elect their choice. Ironically, Elizondo had just said that he supported attorney John Shergold in having district voters choose their representative. Frank Ortiz feebly joined the duo.
Now the board is under the gun to appoint someone or risk sanctions by the TEA. The circus has come to town.
The November uniform election falls outside the 180 day window required by law to fill the board so the board will have to appoint someone before then.
And if they do not do either, legal counsel advised them, they should be prepared to face "consequences" from the Texas Education Agency for being legally out of compliance with the 180 day requirement. Castro passed away February 15 and the the board has until mid August to make an appointment or be out of compliance.
Onward through the fog.
WHAT'S KEEPING BROWNSVILLE BEHIND THE REST OF THE VALLEY?
Wanna achieve equitable economic development? Don't do what Brownsville does.
When news that the City of Brownsville Commission had appointed one of their own – At-Large "B" commissioner Rose Gowen – as chairperson of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, everyone knew that business would continue as usual.
The BCIC, which controls its share of sales tax revenue to the tune of almost $6 million a year for "quality of life" projects, has long been a source of public cash for a select section of pretentious, well-to-do residents who have formed their own social club with public funds to which they believe they are entitled. Gowen, a gynecologist, is one of the worse, funneling public funds to her nanny government causes such as hike and bike trails, so-called wellness projects like the Cannery Project, and other gentry pursuits trying to get the city – the poorest in the state and nation – to emulate Austin, the wealthiest in the state.
Her justification? That it would lower diabetes and obesity rates. She claimed – without any clinical proof – to have achieved that through the trails during her last campaign.
True? Of course not. But who's going to call her on it? Now, as head of the BCIC ATM, she has a majority on that well-heeled board to do her bidding. The so-called Cannery Project, for example, is way over budget through numerous change orders. And you will notice that most of the companies and the workers on the projects are not local.
At best, this can only be called the provincialist sociopolitical incest that has cursed this border city. People of Gowen's ilk actually believe that only they know what is best for the rest of us mere mortals whose reason for being is to follow them as leaders and kick into the public kitty.
That's the reason why the local boards and their staffs – from the City Commission Public Utility Board, the BCIC, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), and others like Texas Southmost College, the Port of Brownsville, the Brownsville Housing Authority, and the Brownsville Independent School District – are filled with their clubby members and dole out goodies and jobs to their friends and political cronies.
Take the PUB, for example. It's often referred to by locals as the Primos, Uncles, and Brothers for its insularity, and once you get on the staff, like the city, you are on there for life if you toe the line and don't misbehave.
Once the board of the PUB had the son of a local university president elected chairman whose only qualifications to run the utility was that he was her son. He later went on to become a major vendor to the PUB before his ineptness was made public and he limped away with only one lucrative contract. And so it goes...The $125 million Tenaska electric plant debacle paid with artificially-high utility rates by local residents was partly fueled by inept yes-men and yes-women on the board who sat by while the residents were fleeced and no plant was ever built.
The result is that local qualified administrators and professional staff who seek employment with the city and these boards are also bypassed by this socioeconomic incest and provincial thinking that pervades the city and they move on to other places where their talents are appreciated. Meanwhile, Brownsville stays with mediocre administrators and professionals whose only claim to fame is that they are the Primos, Uncles and Brothers of local politicians and members of the "club," and the city's resources hemorrhage to other communities instead of benefitting local residents and the taxpayers who fund the city.
Everyone but the residents made money from the Tenaska scam.
And, to the woe of local businesses and vendors, they have developed a knack for using buy boards to bypass local providers – even with a five percent local preference – in favor of vendors and providers from outside. Everything from building maintenance to security services are being handled by outside providers even though there are plenty of local vendors who hire local workers.
So while local vendors and businesses pay their taxes, hire local workers, and are part of the community, they see the contracts go to outside providers. They cringe when they see their services bypassed by these boards, and the city commission, and handed to outsiders, even when their fees for their services are lower than theirs.
"I go and sit in on the BCIC meetings and see the same people get the grants, and when you look for the BCIC staff to help you, they are never there," said a local businessman. "The worse is when these city-appointed boards dole out money to the city itself. It's like you already paid taxes to the city and then they get even more money from these boards. It's double dipping."
Even so, the city and BCIC and GBIC, not to mention the port, periodically are awarded prizes for excellence by their industry group to who they pay exorbitant membership fees. So while the city has a hangdog appearance to casual visitors, their walls are filled with plaques attesting to the "excellence" of their performance.
Doing business in the city – despite promises from every politician at an election cycle – remains a mine field, with some business waiting for months (we know of one case where it took 8 months) to get the right permits from the permitting department and beguiled by the thicket of rules and regulations about which they are not told until their applications are rejected. And they pay months of rent awaiting their approval without being able to do a cent of business. Many just give up in discouragement and move somewhere else.
The use of buy-board purchases over local providers is another sticking point for local vendors.
We remember when Cameron County commissioner David Garza inquired about a buy-board purchase of sheriff department patrol cars and asked why they were going to a firm in Central Texas instead of local car dealers. The purchasing department told him it was part of a buy board, but upon comparison – including shipping and other costs – it was discovered that the cost of local units was the same, if not lower, than the buy-board purchase. The award was voided and the local car dealer got the bid. Why can't the city, BISD, PUB, etc., do the same?
Until this system of socioeconomic incest and the grandiose illusions to emulate other municipalities which have nothing in common with ours are abandoned, we will remain comfortably dragging the rear in economic and professional development.
RESTORED 1927 FIRE TRUCK MADE ITS REAPPEARANCE ON CHARRO DAYS
By Juan Montoya
If you watched the Charro Days parade this year, you probably saw an antique fire engine that has been restored to its original condition.
But would you believe that it took the labor of love by a Pennsylvania antique lover who – after spending years restoring it – insisted that it belonged in the city where it rolled helping local firefighters put out fires and saving people?
His son Ronald Earl, told firefighters that his father had always wanted the truck to go back to Brownsville.
Ronald Earl said his father, who died in 2006, had the truck restored to its original paint and colors that include the original city logo. Photos of the condition of the truck when it was purchased indicate that the restoration job was well done and that the engine work allowed the Browns to drive it in local parades.
Then-Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970 President Jorge Lerma said at the time the family had reached out to city officials and the fire department because the late John Brown had included the restored truck in his will and left it to his son and daughter. Lerma said that his son had told him that the father had told them that Brownsville should have the chance to buy it first so that it could go back to its place of origin.
"The family has been really patient with us about getting it," Lerma said. "I first started talking to them about five years and we actually gave the city a check for $1,000 in earnest money to offer the family so they cold hold it until we could come up with the money."
Lerma said he credited the late city commissioner Ben Neece who, when he heard that the fire truck
was available, did what he could to try to get the city to cough up the money. The Browns had originally asked for more than $100,000, a not unreasonable sum given the time and effort it took the family to restore it to its original specs.
"They easily spent that much just resorting it," Lerma said. "They even kept the original gold-leaf paint and the original Brownsville firefighters' logo. Imagine getting a fully-restored 91-year-old aerial fire truck with a tiller seat for $50,000 plus transportation. It easily could cost double or triple that."
The firefighters' money was eventually returned after Neece and the city administration sought funding from various city accounts. Lerma said that Neece had been stumped on a funding source that did not involve restricted funds and that the city had eventually found an appropriate fund for the purchase of the truck.
Some local firefighters remember that the truck was kept in storage at a warehouse at the Brownsville airport and that the last time it was used in a parade was during the Bicentennial in 1976. A 1975 edition of the Brownsville Herald shows firefighters cleaning the truck and in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Brownsville Fire Dept.
Retired (and now the late) firefighter Pete Avila remembered that he was in the parade Bicentennial parade in 1976 and that he remembers firefighter Margarito Davila at the wheel and Ruben Garza at the tiller driving it down Elizabeth Street.
"The truck backfired and went out near the Palm Lounge and officer Geronimo Camarillo (who was a mechanic) got out and opened up the hood and got it started up again," Avila recalled. "The crowd thought it was part of the show and clapped and clapped."
Neece and Lerma both said that the truck needed to be displayed in a prominent place given its historical significance to the city and the firefighters. They say a showcase like the one for Simon Celaya's locomotive in front of the Historical Brownsville Museum on 7th Street would be ideal.
"We are lucky to have been able to acquire the fire truck," Lerma said at the time. "I can't give enough credit to the city commission and city administration for making its return possible...It's an important piece of our local history."
Ronald Earl said his father, who died in 2006, had the truck restored to its original paint and colors that include the original city logo. Photos of the condition of the truck when it was purchased indicate that the restoration job was well done and that the engine work allowed the Browns to drive it in local parades.
Then-Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970 President Jorge Lerma said at the time the family had reached out to city officials and the fire department because the late John Brown had included the restored truck in his will and left it to his son and daughter. Lerma said that his son had told him that the father had told them that Brownsville should have the chance to buy it first so that it could go back to its place of origin.
"The family has been really patient with us about getting it," Lerma said. "I first started talking to them about five years and we actually gave the city a check for $1,000 in earnest money to offer the family so they cold hold it until we could come up with the money."
Lerma said he credited the late city commissioner Ben Neece who, when he heard that the fire truck
"They easily spent that much just resorting it," Lerma said. "They even kept the original gold-leaf paint and the original Brownsville firefighters' logo. Imagine getting a fully-restored 91-year-old aerial fire truck with a tiller seat for $50,000 plus transportation. It easily could cost double or triple that."Some local firefighters remember that the truck was kept in storage at a warehouse at the Brownsville airport and that the last time it was used in a parade was during the Bicentennial in 1976. A 1975 edition of the Brownsville Herald shows firefighters cleaning the truck and in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Brownsville Fire Dept.
Retired (and now the late) firefighter Pete Avila remembered that he was in the parade Bicentennial parade in 1976 and that he remembers firefighter Margarito Davila at the wheel and Ruben Garza at the tiller driving it down Elizabeth Street.
Neece and Lerma both said that the truck needed to be displayed in a prominent place given its historical significance to the city and the firefighters. They say a showcase like the one for Simon Celaya's locomotive in front of the Historical Brownsville Museum on 7th Street would be ideal.
"We are lucky to have been able to acquire the fire truck," Lerma said at the time. "I can't give enough credit to the city commission and city administration for making its return possible...It's an important piece of our local history."
1927 American LaFrance tiller fire aerial truck at far right in 1975
Thursday, March 13, 2025
SEVEN TRANSMIGRANTE EXTORTIONISTS PLEAD GUILTY IN FED COURT
By U.S. Attorney's Office
Southern District of Texas
HOUSTON – Another individual has pleaded guilty in a long-running and violent conspiracy which involved price fixing, extortion and money laundering.
Jose de Jesus Tapia Fernandez, 47, Brownsville, admitted to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He joins seven others who have entered guilty pleas for their various roles in a scheme to monopolize the transmigrante forwarding agency industry in the Los Indios border region near Harlingen and Brownsville.
Those convicted include the leader in the conspiracy - Carlos Martinez aka Cuate, 38, Mission – who had previously admitted to conspiracy to fix prices and allocate the market for transmigrante forwarding agency services and one count of conspiracy to monopolize the same market as well as interference with commerce by extortion, conspiracy to do so and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Transmigrantes are individuals who transport used vehicles and other goods from the United States through Mexico for resale in Central America. Transmigrante forwarding agencies are U.S.-based businesses that provide services to transmigrante clients, including helping those clients complete the Mexican customs paperwork required to export vehicles into Mexico.
“Price fixing harms both the public and the business community,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas. “Schemes like this artificially drive up prices, forcing consumers to pay more than they ordinarily would. At its core, such market collusion is nothing more than theft from consumers.”
“These guilty pleas bring to justice individuals who used violence and extortion to fix prices and monopolize the market for essential services that Americans rely on to earn a living,” said Director of Criminal Enforcement Emma Burnham of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division will continue to use every tool at its disposal to protect the public by prosecuting violent criminals – including those who aim to corrupt America’s free markets.”
“Today’s pleas reflect the relentlessness of the federal government’s pursuit of transnational criminal organizations that exploit international trade and the U.S. economy,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio. “This violent scheme was fueled by greed that undermined the safety and economic security of the border region; HSI has prioritized significant resources to protect the U.S. and our legitimate trade.”
“These defendants tried to rule through fear, using threats, violence and intimidation to eliminate competition,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Their guilty pleas send a clear message that price fixing and market allocation are serious crimes, and we will hold those accountable who put profits over the law and fair commerce.”
The co-conspirators fixed prices and monopolized the market for transmigrante forwarding agency services by requiring participants in the transmigrante industry to pay money into a “Pool” and dividing revenues among themselves. Market participants who were not part of the conspiracy had to join and pay into the Pool. Pool members enforced the rules by monitoring whether forwarding agencies were charging the agreed-upon prices, including by posting prices publicly on social media and monitoring whether agencies were paying into the Pool as required.
Some involved in the scheme also conspired to force forwarding pay other extortion fees, including a “piso” for every transaction processed in the industry as well as a fine for operating in the market outside of Pool rules. Conspirators perpetrated acts of intimidation, coercion and violence in furtherance of the antitrust and extortion conspiracies.
Martinez was responsible for at least $9,500,000 in extortion payments.
Martinez and Tapia Fernandez also laundered extortion proceeds. Cash obtained from the extortion conspiracy was deposited into bank accounts Martinez and his family controlled. Those deposits were made to conceal and disguise the nature, source, ownership and control of the proceeds.
HOUSTON – Another individual has pleaded guilty in a long-running and violent conspiracy which involved price fixing, extortion and money laundering.
Jose de Jesus Tapia Fernandez, 47, Brownsville, admitted to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He joins seven others who have entered guilty pleas for their various roles in a scheme to monopolize the transmigrante forwarding agency industry in the Los Indios border region near Harlingen and Brownsville.
Those convicted include the leader in the conspiracy - Carlos Martinez aka Cuate, 38, Mission – who had previously admitted to conspiracy to fix prices and allocate the market for transmigrante forwarding agency services and one count of conspiracy to monopolize the same market as well as interference with commerce by extortion, conspiracy to do so and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Transmigrantes are individuals who transport used vehicles and other goods from the United States through Mexico for resale in Central America. Transmigrante forwarding agencies are U.S.-based businesses that provide services to transmigrante clients, including helping those clients complete the Mexican customs paperwork required to export vehicles into Mexico.
“Price fixing harms both the public and the business community,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas. “Schemes like this artificially drive up prices, forcing consumers to pay more than they ordinarily would. At its core, such market collusion is nothing more than theft from consumers.”
“These guilty pleas bring to justice individuals who used violence and extortion to fix prices and monopolize the market for essential services that Americans rely on to earn a living,” said Director of Criminal Enforcement Emma Burnham of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division will continue to use every tool at its disposal to protect the public by prosecuting violent criminals – including those who aim to corrupt America’s free markets.”
“Today’s pleas reflect the relentlessness of the federal government’s pursuit of transnational criminal organizations that exploit international trade and the U.S. economy,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio. “This violent scheme was fueled by greed that undermined the safety and economic security of the border region; HSI has prioritized significant resources to protect the U.S. and our legitimate trade.”
“These defendants tried to rule through fear, using threats, violence and intimidation to eliminate competition,” said Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Their guilty pleas send a clear message that price fixing and market allocation are serious crimes, and we will hold those accountable who put profits over the law and fair commerce.”
The co-conspirators fixed prices and monopolized the market for transmigrante forwarding agency services by requiring participants in the transmigrante industry to pay money into a “Pool” and dividing revenues among themselves. Market participants who were not part of the conspiracy had to join and pay into the Pool. Pool members enforced the rules by monitoring whether forwarding agencies were charging the agreed-upon prices, including by posting prices publicly on social media and monitoring whether agencies were paying into the Pool as required.
Some involved in the scheme also conspired to force forwarding pay other extortion fees, including a “piso” for every transaction processed in the industry as well as a fine for operating in the market outside of Pool rules. Conspirators perpetrated acts of intimidation, coercion and violence in furtherance of the antitrust and extortion conspiracies.
Martinez was responsible for at least $9,500,000 in extortion payments.
Martinez and Tapia Fernandez also laundered extortion proceeds. Cash obtained from the extortion conspiracy was deposited into bank accounts Martinez and his family controlled. Those deposits were made to conceal and disguise the nature, source, ownership and control of the proceeds.
To read rest of statement, click on link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/eight-guilty-wide-ranging-scheme-monopolize-industry-serving-transmigrantes
DID DIAZ KILL SABAS CAVAZOS AND EXILE HIS BROTHER JUAN CORTINA?
By Juan Montoya
When Porfirio Diaz was fomenting revolution in northern Mexico in 1875 against the democratically-elected government of Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, who succeeded Benito Juarez upon his death in 1872 and was later elected, he came to Brownsville and met with many leading men of the time.
Diaz – who claimed Lerdo stole the special presidential election held later that year and defeated him – met with several U.S. supporters of his "revolution," including James Stillman and other bankers who promised to help him with men, money and arms in return for concessions in Mexico's railways, electric grid, and other public services.
In fact, the Stillmans let Diaz stay at the family home, now next to the Stillman House Museum while he planned his insurrection against the Mexican government.
Among some of the local leaders of the Mexican-American community who met and supported Diaz was Sabas Cavazos, the half brother of Juan Cortina, the colorful character in local history who was the bane of the newly arrived U.S. settlers and military. Family lore is that Cavazos loaned Diaz a sizeable amount to carry out his revolution.
In 2004, P.G. Cavazos, Sabas Cavazos' great-great-grandson, told a newspaper reporter that in the mid-1870s, Porfirio Diaz came to Brownsville to lead a revolution against Benito Juarez's successor – Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada – and that Cavazos lent Diaz $50,000 in gold coins – and other prominent Americans – including Stillman and and Richard King – lent Diaz money to help finance the revolt that would eventually take the Mexican revolutionary to power.
John (RIP )Ford wrote in his Memoirs: "Diaz asked if the Americans would loan him cash. He was told 'you are no doubt fully aware of the trouble that General Cortina is causing on this frontier. If you will give your word that, if successful in the revolution you are about to inaugurate, you will order Cortina to be removed from this frontier, Americans will loan you money.' General Diaz gave his word. He obtained money from American citizens. General Cortina was ultimately under Diaz's surveillance for nearly 20 years and forced to move to Mexico City. Can any gentleman dare say President Diaz has not fully redeemed his pledge?"
When Cavazos tried repeatedly in vain to collect on the debt after Diaz was president, he traveled to Mexico City to demand his money. Coincidentally, this came about after his brother Juan Cortina had been ordered to be shot on suspicion of treason, but was instead taken prisoner and sent to Mexico City.
That account has been disputed by other sources, including Francisco DeWitt Foster, a former aide to Tamaulipas Gen. Servando Canales, who says that Diaz was shown compromising correspondence indicating that Cortina was conspiring with Gen. Julia Quiroga and Gen. Ignacio Revueltas in early 1877 to thwart his efforts to unseat Lerdo.
Ford said he personally delivered the correspondence to Diaz as he advanced on Guadalajara and that Diaz ordered all the conspirators captured and shot. But he also mentions that when Sabas Cavazos heard of the capture of his half brother and Diaz's orders to execute him, he telegrammed Diaz and himself later traveled to Mexico City and offered that the loans he made to Diaz be used as ransom for his life.
The Cavazos-Diaz correspondence was dated August 1877.
When he was placed under custody by rival Tamaulipas caudillo Servando Canales, who was ready to carry out the death sentence ordered by Diaz, General Manuel Gonzalez, a general who was himself later to become president of Mexico, also intervened. Diaz relented and had Cortina put aboard a Mexican warship at Bagdad and transported under guard to Mexico City.
In a June 4, 1877 telegram obtained by Dr. Marie Theresa Hernandez, Professor of World Cultures and Literatures at the University of Houston, from her sources provides more details. Gonzalez, born in Matamoros, cautioned Diaz not to execute Cortina based on any information of possible treason provided by his arch-enemy Canales.
"From the newspapers in this capital (Morelia, Morelos) and from visitors from (Mexico City) I learned
that General Cortina has again been reduced to a prisoner, and although I'm unable to judge their veracity at a distance from those events, we both know, and especially me, that General Cortina behaved loyally with us in the times of adversity: he placed more than 300 troops at our disposition and his brother (Sabas) facilitated all kinds of resources to us. Cortina, then, is our loyal companion."The conduct of Canales has ignited hatreds and rancors that did not exist, at least on Cortina's part," the telegram continues. "When Cortina was about to be arrested by Canales, he did not believe that Canales harbored those hatreds because he believed the letters that Canales sent him expressing his friendship. What a surprise it was to him to find out that friendship was turned into a prosecution for death.
"I have no idea whether Cortina is guilty of (the accusations) against him; but in any case, it would be better for him to be transported to Mexico City. Putting him in Canales' hands would amount to a sure death over mere vengeance; but the responsibility (of his death) would not be limited to Canales, but also over the federal executive (Diaz)."
They believed that in 1878, Diaz threw a big fiesta for him. But Diaz wasn't going to pay back the money, said P.G. Cavazos, who was a longtime member of the Cameron County Historical Commission. Amid the fiesta, Diaz poisoned Sabas Cavazos' drink, he said.
“The story goes that when Sabas Cavazos attended the banquet to toast to Diaz’s victory, he had two glasses of wine and that after he drank them he became violently sick and later that night he died,” Cavazos said. Many of his relatives thought that Diaz had poisoned him so he wouldn’t have to pay him back the 50,000 gold pesos."
Days later, the Mexican president financed a lavish funeral that carried Sabas Cavazos to his grave in a black, silver-trimmed hearse, he said.
Cortina was held in the military prison of Santiago Tlatelolco until his release to house arrest where he died October 30, 1894. Many historians attribute his banishment from the border with Diaz's efforts to gain recognition of his illegally government from the United States.
But that wasn't the end of the story. As a result of Sabas Cavazos undersigning the loans of cash and war material, his widow Hilaria G. de Cavazos was forced to sell some of his family's 41,124-acre ranch to pay the debts, some of them to the Fernandez brothers, who ran several mercantile houses in Brownsville.
To pay off the large debts incurred to raise the loans, or ransom money, De Cavazos offered the huge ranch Los Veladores on which J.T. Canales (related to Servando Canales, Sabas and Cortina) had just been born, to her neighbor Capt. Richard King. Thus, wrote Canales, "Los Veladores passed out of our hands in 1878."
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