TRUMP GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE MOVIE TOY STORY...

NOE URGES VOTERS TO CONSIDER QUALIFICATIONS, ASKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT TODAY

By Noe Garza

I am deeply grateful to the voters of Cameron County for the support and confidence you showed in the primary election earlier this month..

In a three-candidate race, I was honored to finish first. I am humbled by the trust so many of you have placed in me.

I also want to recognize Erin Hernandez Garcia. This was a clean and respectful race. I have great respect for her as a lawyer, as a professional and as a human being. It was truly an honor to share this race with her.

Today we move forward to the runoff election.
I humbly ask you to please come out and vote for me in the runoff.

If elected, Cameron County would make history. I would become the first district judge in our county’s history who was born in Mexico as well as bringing nearly 40 years of legal experience to the bench.

Early voting runs from May 18 through 22 from7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day is May 26

Please consider sharing this post so we can reach more voters across Cameron County.
Thank you again for your trust and support.

TREVINO WARNS OF GUERRA CAMPAIGN HACKING VOTERS' INFORMATION

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

"I got a “survey” call asking who I was voting for County Judge. When I said Trevino they asked if I was aware he gave himself a raise and knowing that would I still vote for him. I told I was sick of the mudslinging and hung up." Voter commenting to El Rrun-Rrun

An aggressive phone bank campaign on behalf of Cameron County Judge challenger Steve Guerra is backfiring and has drawn a response from incumbent Eddie Treviño waring voters to beware of the tactics and protect their privacy and identity as well as the identity of the contacts on the recipients' cell phones. 

In response, the Treviño campaign has posted a warning across social media as early voting kicks off today for the runoff election between the two men. Early voting continues until Friday, May 22. Election day is May 26.

DON'T BE AFRAID AND PLEASE SHARE THIS POST.

We are aware that some people have felt pressured or intimidated during this election. But no threat, pressure, or influence can determine your vote except you. When our campaign calls you, we identify ourselves clearly and immediately.

If they call or text from someone you do not know:

1. Do not open suspicious text message attachments or download any apps. They want to scan your phone and then use it to send text messages to your friends on your behalf.

2. You do not have to answer who you support, but if you do tell them you support us, they will bombard you with lies or intimidate you.

3. You do not have to text back or respond to suspicious messages.

4. You do not have to send them or show your “I Voted” sticker.

5. You do not have to send them a picture of your ballot.

6. You do not have to meet anyone at a shady place or vote at any specific polling site.

7. Never accept money in exchange for your vote.

8. If someone pressures or threatens you, report it or let us know.

9. If you hang up on them and they keep calling back, threatening you, block the number, report it, and let us know.

10. If you see a suspicious person watching you at any polling site, write down the plate number and let us know, even if they have Mexican plates.

YOUR VOTE decides this election, not threats, influence, lies, phone hackers, or intimidation.

And if you simply want to avoid problems, tell them whatever they want to hear, then privately vote for the person YOU choose. They will never know who you voted for.

GONNELLA CONCEDES TO GARCIA HALFWAY THROUGH RECOUNT

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

David A. Garcia, one of three candidates for Place 2 of the Brownsville Navigation District will be sworn into office this Wednesday after one of his opponents, Sharif Gonnella, stopped a hand recount of the votes Saturday he had requested about halfway through the recount of the ballots.

The BND held the election for Commissioner Place 2 and Commissioner Place 4. Luis Villarreal, the winner of Place 4, was sworn in, but Garcia, the top vote-getter in Place 2, had to wait until the recount declared him the winner.

Sharif halted the count after about 8 and one half hours with over 60 people hand counting every single ballot precinct after precinct. Box after box he literally saw every ballot counted and nothing changed. Once it got to the mail in ballot count, he finally decided to concede. He had to sign a affidavit to make sure he didn’t come back to continue the recount.

It was clear that 2,000 votes weren't going to magically go his way. The recount stopped after only 58 precincts of the 102 precincts that get to vote on the BND election.

Gonnella, who stands to pay some $7,000-$8,000 for the hand recount, said he requested it to remain true to his campaign's calls for transparency and accountability in the election process. 

"This request is not about challenging the will of the voters, refusing to accept the outcome, or creating division within our community," he said. "It is about transparency, accountability, and public trust - principles my campaign has remained committed to since the very beginning. Mr. Garcia is the legitimate winner based on the current reported results, and this recount request was not intended to change that reality."

XI JINPING TO A BOWING TRUMP: NO HAY ARROZ, COMRADE!

President Jimmy Carter was respected.

 

CHAQUETEROS IN SEASON? PEDRO DEFECTS TO REPUBLICANS

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

City of Brownsville commissioner Pedro Cardenas – a staunch supporter of former Port of Brownsville commissioner Steve Guerra for the nomination for Cameron County judge in the Democratic Party runoff election against incumbent Eddie Treviño – has apparently defected to the Republican candidate for District 34 Erick Flores in his challenge of Democratic District 34 incumbent Vicente Gonzalez.

This, surprisingly, since Guerra has been one of the Democratic congressman's known confidants and political allies in his previous campaigns. Now, in a congressional district gerrymandered by the state to one which Trump won by 10 percent, Gonzalez is depending on Cameron County voters to defeat his Nueces County Republican opponent Flores in November.

Reports indicate that Cardenas has been seen driving around Flores and showing him around and introducing him to people in Brownsville. Does Cardenas have a job with Flores if the Republican wins?

Does that mean that the Guerra "team" – who supported their candidate in his run for the Democratic Party primary against Treviño – will now jump and support Republicans at the county, state and federal level should Treviño defeat Guerra? 

Former Cameron County sheriff Erick Garza pulled the same stunt when he lost the Democratic nomination against Manny Treviño and endorsed Jimmy Manrrique, the Republican candidate in November. 

Cardenas wouldn't be the only one suddenly exhibiting Republican spots. Remember the Fourth of July rally the Texas Republican District 27 Senator Adam Hinojosa held last year? That's Guerra loyalist and Brownsville entertainment district hustler Turi Treviño sporting his MAGA gimme cap at the time.

Turi likes to say that he wants to build "new traditions" in Brownville. Is seeking political office in one party and then switching when it's convenient one of them?

With friends like this.... 

TRUMP CONTINUES GRIFT AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF THE U.S.

Senator Mark Warner laid out a damning sequence of events in a single breath that Donald Trump sued his own IRS for $10 billion, and is now using that lawsuit as leverage to secure a $1.7 billion slush fund for January 6 rioters. Warner's framing connected the two moves as part of a single calculated maneuver, painting a portrait of a president willing to weaponize federal legal mechanisms to reward those who stormed the Capitol.

THE FIGHT IS ON FOR THE HEART AND SOUL OF CAMERON COUNTY

By Juan Montoya
Various Sources

After two candidate forums that basically turned into debates, the gloves have come off between Democratic Party contenders for Cameron County Judge, incumbent Eddie Treviño and challenger Steve Guerra, formerly a commissioner with the Port of Brownsville.

Neither candidate garnered the required 50 percent plus 1 vote to win in the primary and are contending in a runoff.

Unlike the first forum, where Treviño countered Guerra's facile statements on flooding and drainage in the county's rural areas, the use of autonomous districts, etc., Guerra came out on the offense making unfounded allegations of Treviño's supposed corruption, serving special interests, and his association with political supporters in various business dealings.

He criticized the incumbent for voting for raises for elected officials and county workers, for his law firm acting as local legal counsel to Tenaska and the Brownsville Public Utilities Board and earning a $1.2 million fee over five years, and for supporting the construction of an arena that was turned down by county voters. He also said Trevino was responsible for steering the award of the county jails' commissary to an associate.

And while Guerra took personal credit for advances at the port, he blamed Treviño for his actions on Boca Chica Beach, the LNG tax exemption, and what he called the lack of infrastructure.

"Doesn't he realize that it takes a majority of the county commissioners  just like it takes a majority at the port to pass any initiative," said a city commissioner watching the forum. "You've got to count to three at the county, and four in other boards of the different districts. In fact, I think Treviño is the one only county commissioner who voted against giving LNGs the tax exemption they wanted. It's not like one hand clapping. You have to build consensus."

Guerra's campaign has relied heavily on nebulous social media platforms to level unsubstantiated charges of corruption, money laundering, and kickbacks for his "suspicious support" to all SpaceX abuses in Boca Chica Beach." 

In a pro-Guerra post, La Pulga Online – among others – charged, without citing any source or authority, a "corruption alert" that Treviño was considering dropping out of the runoff election because of an alleged "federal investigation."

And they charged – again, without any proof – that a construction company that SpaceX hired to build workers' housing at Starbase was actually owned by "the corrupt county judge" Treviño using a "shady local bail bondsman (Juan "Junior" Andrade") as a "front man" in the "corruption-money laundering scheme. The contract will be a kickback to Treviño for his suspicious support to all SpaceX abuses at Boca Chica Beach."

And even though all these charges have been denied by both men, the anonymous posts disappear and later reappeared in other anonymous posts on social media and repeated across the world wide web.

Andrade is the owner of a bail bond company and his family rose from poverty setting up business in the Cameron Park Colonia and strongly denied the allegations in the social page posts.

"My family and I have worked all our lives to better ourselves," said Andrade. "I challenge anyone to prove that I have ever done anything illegal. Over the years I have supported the judge and consider him a personal friend. If I was Guerra and/or his supporters, I would be very careful on what they allege. I happen to know several port officials that have confirmed that federal agents have been making inquiries out there about the way they do business."

Andrade first won a contract for the jails' commissary under the late Sheriff Omar Lucio and when Cameron County Sheriff Manny Trevino let it out for bids, emerged as the winner. County Judge Trevino has nothing to do with the awarding of the commissary contract. In fact, most people don't know that the sheriff is not obligated to bid it out under Texas law but can award it at his discretion.

For his part, Guerra has ben plagued by his relationship with various figures associated with organized crime in Matamoros where his family has several businesses. His detractors point to the fact that his grandfather – since deceased – was Juan N. Guerra, the founder of the Gulf Cartel, and that he is related to Juan  Garcia Abrego. A famous picture featuring both men at the older man's restaurant in Matamoros surfaced on social media after Guerra announced his candidacy for public office.

Privately, and publicly, Guerra has denied any involvement with the crime cartels, but critics often point to his blood lines as an indication of where his familial loyalties lie. The old saying that you can't chose your in-laws seems to apply in spades.

Likewise, the surname Cardenas is long associated with both political and commercial influence in Matamoros and Tamaulipas, including a state governor and mayor of Matamoros. One of their kin, Pedro Cardenas, is now a city commissioner and local businessman with extensive ties in Brownsville's sister city. 

Unfortunately, the name Cardenas has also gained notoriety when Osiel Cardenas, a former Mexican drug lord and the former top leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas in Matamoros, was sentenced to a  25-year sentence for drug offenses, money laundering and threatening to assault and murder a federal agent.

He served for some time in the federal corrections system and in December 2024 was transferred back to Mexico after serving time in the U.S., and is now held in Mexico's Altiplano maximum-security prison.

It doesn't help their image when some of the 12 recently arrested defendants who were implicated in the control of commerce through extortion at Los Indios Bridge of transmigrantes bear their name.

Among the 12 defendants is a woman named Guerra, a cousin of the port commissioner. As we said earlier, you can't pick your in-laws.

Locals' fears that the cartels have infiltrated South Texas grow as disclosures in the media detail the massive amounts of fuel that have ben "laundered" and sold as petroleum byproducts on the Mexican side of the border. Guerra was linked to such a scheme operating under Warrior Fuel Traders LLC that did business with a Mexican fuel dealer identified by Mexican federal investigators as running such an operation. The Texas Secretary of State has since  forfeited that LLC. https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-proof-is-in-huachicol-lawsuit-for.html

“Fuel theft, colloquially referred to in Mexico as huachicol, is the most significant non-drug revenue source for Mexican cartels and other illicit actors,” according to information published by the U.S. Treasury Department.

That leads local residents to ask: Have the cartels found a home on the U.S. side, including, the city, school district, the Port of Brownsville, and now, perhaps, Cameron County? 

To quote a local blogger "As 'Los Juniors' fatten their bank accounts in Brownsville...they are presently seeking control of the different political entities from whose spigots flow millions. And from their Mexican roots they recognize that Brownsville politicians, public servants and community leaders can be bought for a pittance."

In a recent mailout, Treviño hammered on this subject warning about the county being allowed into the hands of "questionable entrepreneurs and associates." 

Early voting in the runoff starts Monday, May 18 and ends Friday, May 22. Election Day is Tuesday, May 26

NEW GRAPHIC IN WASH. D.C. REFLECTING POOL MAKING TRUMP BLUE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

As of May 2026, the cost to repair and repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., has risen to $13.1 million, more than seven times the initial $1.8 million estimate. 

The project, aimed at waterproofing and painting the pool "American flag blue" for the 250th anniversary, is being handled by Atlantic Industrial Coatings under a no-bid contract.

Key details regarding the project include:
Final Cost: The Interior Department added $6.2 million to the contract, bringing the total to $13.1 million.

Contractor: The project was awarded to [Atlantic Industrial Coatings], a Virginia firm previously linked to repairs at a Trump golf club.

Funding Source: The project is funded through the [Department of the Interior's existing budget], impacting taxpayer funds.

Controversy: The project is facing a lawsuit from preservationists regarding the change in appearance and the use of a non-competitive bidding process

DISTRICT 34 CONGRESSMAN CHENTE GONZALEZ LAUDS TREVINO'S COMMITMENT TO VETERANS

By Eddie Treviño
Cameron County Judge

I want to sincerely thank Congressman Vicente Gonzalez for his kind words and for his continued commitment to the veterans of South Texas.

Our veterans deserve our respect, our gratitude, and our support not just with words, but through action. Throughout my time as County Judge, I have always worked to support the men and women who served our country and sacrificed so much for our freedoms.

I am grateful for Congressman Gonzalez’s friendship and for the work he continues to do to ensure our veterans and their families receive the care, services, and recognition they deserve.

Cameron County will always stand with our veterans. 

SEE HOW MUCH GAS YOU CAN GET FOR $50 BUCKS...

 

OBAMA IN TEXAS TO HELP GINA BRING ON THE BLUE WAVE

Team Gina

President Obama came down to Texas yesterday to see firsthand the momentum we’re building on the ground.

Texans are fired up and fighting back to create the change Texas needs. And now the whole country is taking notice — even President Obama.

Getting to show President Obama what Texas grit truly looks like means a lot. But what matters most to me is why people are paying attention.

It’s because this campaign isn’t powered by billionaires or corporate PACs. It’s powered by people like you who believe Texas deserves better.

We’ve proven that a grassroots campaign can compete in Texas. But only if we keep building the momentum that got us here.

New state-by-state projections are showing Donald Trump’s approval down about 19 points here in Texas.

This is huge news for this race because Greg Abbott has chosen, time after time, to tie himself to Trump.

Trump has endorsed Abbott three times. And when Trump called to redraw maps to favor Republicans, Abbott rushed to redraw our congressional maps to help hang onto power.

Abbott has spent years behind Trump’s MAGA movement. So right now, when Trump’s chaos turns on Texans, voters will turn on Abbott, too.

Because we’re all tired of Abbott. We’re tired of the corruption. Tired of the chaos. Tired of watching our schools, healthcare, and basic affordability lose priority while he plays political games just to stay in power.

That is the opening we have right now — and we’re already seeing voters reject the GOP at the ballot box in recent local elections.

But we can’t just take advantage of this moment. Right now is the perfect moment to reach voters across the state and share Gina’s message with them and why they should reject Abbott at the ballot box this fall.

NOE GARZA TO CHUY: A JP IS A WEE BIT DIFFERENT THAN A DISTRICT JUDGE

By Noe Garza

I want to respectfully correct the record.
At the public forum, Jesus Garcia unfairly accused me of saying that Justices of the Peace are not judges and that I disrespected them. That accusation is false.

I never said that and I have never disrespected the office of Justice of the Peace. Justices of the Peace serve an important role in our justice system and in our community.

What I did say — and what I will continue to say — is that my opponent is not a DISTRICT Judge.
This race is for District Court, and there is a real difference between serving as a Justice of the Peace and serving as a District Court Judge. That is not an insult. That is a fact voters are entitled to understand.

For months, my opponent’s signs have used “Judge Chuy” and “Judge Garcia,” which may give voters the impression that he is already serving as a District Judge. He is not. Clarifying that distinction is not disrespect. It is transparency.

I will continue to run a campaign based on truth, experience, qualifications, and respect for the voters of Cameron County. I respectfully ask for your vote for Judge of the 107th District Court.

GOING TO THE CANDIDATES' DEBATE TONIGHT AT 6:30?

SORRY GORDON'S, BUT NO TEXAS LOTTO CIGAR!

Gary Williams, owner of Gordon's Bait & Tackle in Brownsville, didn't receive a single cent after selling a winning $78 million Texas Lotto ticket.

By Michael Shapiro

The Chron

Brownsville resident resident Gary Williams thought he hit a mini-jackpot last Friday night.

Williams, 67, is the owner of Gordon's Bait & Tackle, a convenience store and gas station opened in 1957 (and later purchased by his father, Gordon in 1972). The shop now has a claim to fame across the Lone Star State, as it sold a $78 million Lotto Texas ticket in November 2025. The ticket was officially claimed by an anonymous winner on May 8, and that evening , Williams received a call from his sister and shop co-owner Amanda Burress.

"Amanda called me up real late at night and told me [about the winning ticket] and I got real excited," Williams told Chron. "I thought we were going to get a real nice payout since we sold the ticket."

Williams' assumption was quickly proven incorrect. He says he spoke with a Texas Lottery representative the following day, in which he was informed his shop would receive a grand total of $0 for selling the winning lottery ticket. Williams was perplexed, and fairly so.

Texas Lottery rules award $250,000 to retailers who sell the winning ticket in a given Powerball and Mega Millions games (the previous rule awarding one percent to retailers ended in August 2018). But that rule doesn't apply to Lotto Texas games, like the one purchased by the anonymous winner in Brownsville. A lottery representative explained the discrepancy to Williams and his sister, who weren't exactly thrilled with the news.


Texas Lottery rules award one percent of prize money to retailers who sell the winning ticket in a given Powerball and Mega Millions games. But that rule doesn't apply to Lotto Texas games.

"Well, we're real upset about it," Williams said "My sister said she wish she took the receipt and threw it onto the highway so cars could drive over it. That's how upset we are."

Williams lamented the lack of payout Tuesday, noting he's sold lottery tickets at Gordon's Bait & Tackle for 30 years in the hopes of someday cashing in alongside a lucky lottery winner. But Williams doesn't plan to stop selling Lotto Texas tickets anytime soon, even after his recent disappointment. He now hopes for another winning ticket to be sold at his shop, in which he'll then earn something money can't buy.

"Oh we'll keep selling 'em," Williams said. "Maybe we can get some good karma from this."

ON THE EVE OF TONIGHT'S DEBATE (FORUM), A REVIEW OF THE LAST ONE

 

TRUMP WANTS THE NOBEL PRIZE, IRAN SAYS NOT SO FAST...

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Trump says he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize more than anyone in history, claiming that “nobody else settled wars.” 

But Iran’s response was the kind of political clapback that instantly goes viral. Instead of letting the statement pass quietly, Iran fired back with a brutally sharp message, arguing that Trump did not end the conflict — he helped start it, failed to win it, and then tried to sell the world a story of victory and peace.

That response hit hard because it challenged the entire narrative in one sentence: how can someone claim to be a peacemaker while standing in the middle of the very chaos they helped create? 

Whether people agree with Iran or not, the reply was bold, direct, and impossible to ignore. In an age where leaders carefully polish every word, this was raw diplomacy with zero filter — and that is why many are calling it absolutely epic.
#iran #us #israle #TrumpAdministration #TrumpetChallenge #IsraelWar #DonaldTrump #america #NuclearThreat #Irannews

THE PROOF IS IN THE HUACHICOL LAWSUIT AGAINST STEVE GUERRA

By Juan Montoya

After months of denying any link between him and the importation of petroleum products into Mexico, documentation from the Mexican government, the Texas secretary of State, and district court records have  linked Brownsville Navigation District chairman Steve Guerra directly to shipments between his Warrior Fuel Traders Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) and Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV, named by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico as a principal in the smuggling of fuel by the Mexican cartels.

Guerra was first elected to the BND board in 2018 and appointed chair in 2022. He was reappointed to the position in May 2024. He is currently a candidate for the Democratic Party runoff for  Cameron County Judge against incumbent Eddie Treviño.  And to the uninitiated, Guerra – through slick, pious campaign ads – promises voters a rosy future of economic prosperity from "the port that works," for him and his cronies anyway. His ads insinuate Trevino legal office payments from PUB as criminal, somehow.

These revelations were first published in Frankie Olivo's Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/FrankieOlivo10/posts/this-is-how-steve-guerra-is-linked-to-huachicol-he-was-buying-diesel-in-the-us-a/1221688939939605/ outlining a debt of Guerra's LLC to non-payment to Key Performance Petroleum Company of Navasota, Texas.

In that lawsuit, Key Performance president Mark Jackson filed an affidavit October 26, 2022 in support of his company's lawsuit demanding payment of an outstanding balance of $333,484.47 and attached copies of 24 invoices totaling shipments of diesel and other petroleum products they had shipped at Warrior Fuel Traders' request over a two-month period in 2020 that had not been paid. Guerra was served the next day, October 27.

Before that, Warrior Fuels had been doing business for close to two years. Key Performance local agent Lindsay Clark was named as the local agent in Brownsville. 

In Cause No: 2022-DCL-5154-I plaintiff Key Performance lists a systematic record of transactions that make up the outstanding balance of Warrior Fuel Traders, LLC.

Government investigations revealed that Warrior Fuel Traders/Steve Guerra was in direct business with Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV. Pyrodiesel has been named as a principal in fuel smuggling activities (huachicol) of petroleum by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico. https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/huachicoleros-controlaban-puertos-pa%C3%ADs-060000638.html

Invoices to Warrior Fuel Traders from Key Performance indicate the diesel and petroleum products were shipped through Eagle Pass, Texas and delivered to Pyrodiesel. The Warrior Fuel Traders LLC was registered with the Texas Secretary Of State April 13, 2020 and its certification was forfeited June 24, 2022.

"The identification of the modus operandi: First modus operandi, the fuel is purchased in the United States and then imported into Mexico, where it is sold to various companies. These companies are responsible for distributing it through marketing and transportation companies, selling the fuel at a lower price than the one established in the national market.

"To this end, they use cloned gasoline and diesel import declarations to simulate the legal origin of the hydrocarbons, allowing them to legitimize the multiple sales they make," the Federal Center for Criminal Intelligence (FGR) analysis details.

Early voting begins Monday, May 18 thru Friday, May 22. Election Day is May 26.

SHRIMPERS FROM BEAUMONT TO BROWNSVILLE FEEL THE DIESEL PINCH RESULTING FROM TRUMPS' WAR ON IRAN

Capt. Wilmer Ruíz's boat has been tied up at Port Isabel since the start of the Iran war. The company he works for reduced workers to part time because of diesel prices. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for NBC News

By Daniela Taboada-Palau, Brett Strahan

KBMT-TV, 12News

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Rising fuel prices are forcing shrimpers across Southeast Texas to reconsider whether they can afford to leave the dock.

Shrimpers say diesel prices that were once near $2 a gallon have climbed to around $5, while low shrimp prices are making it difficult to turn a profit. The combination is leaving many boats tied up along the coast.

At Kimball Brothers Shrimping, brothers Lecel Kimball and Kyle Kimball say the uncertainty has made an already risky industry even tougher.

“We cannot operate on these prices. There's just no way,” Lecel Kimball said.

The brothers, who run smaller shrimping boats, say the rising cost of diesel is affecting shrimpers across the region.

“It was coming down quite a bit. And then now it's gone up to — we've seen as high as $5,” said Kyle Kimball, president of the Port Arthur Area Shrimpers Association.

Shrimpers say fuel costs can quickly add up. Smaller boats may burn up to 12 gallons of diesel per hour, while larger vessels can burn between 20 and 40 gallons per hour during trips that can last up to a month.

Kyle Kimball said some shrimpers may spend between $150,000 and $200,000 on fuel for extended trips at current prices.

“We're better off just leaving boats tied up right now,” Lecel Kimball said.

Lecel Kimball said he has only taken two trips so far this year. With shrimp selling between $1.80 and $3 per pound, he said much of the earnings go right back into fuel costs.

Shrimpers also say imported shrimp continues to undercut local prices, adding to the financial strain.

“The import prices are anywhere from $1.50 to about $3.50 more a pound than what we get,” Kyle Kimball said.

Shrimpers say the uncertainty has made the future of the industry unclear.

“I don't see much of a future in it,” Lecel Kimball said. “Nobody wants to get in it, and nobody wants to keep fishing in the industry.”

BORDER TALE: A MOM'S LOVE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

By Juan Montoya

Many lifetimes ago I used to work for a county commissioner from the barrio.

Among some of the duties I was asked to perform was community outreach, although we never really gave it a title. When someone got hospitalized, jailed, etc., this particular commissioner made sure that they knew we would do whatever was in our power to assist the families.

Once in a while we attended funerals, and although it was not considered a part of our political tasks, it melded with the rest of our work.

On this particular day, the matriarch of a large Southmost barrio family died suddenly after a short illness. My boss knew the family well and had grown up with them and considered them his friends.

He asked if I wanted to accompany him to the rosary (el rosario). I am no fan of funerals, but I tagged along dutifully to keep him company.

The rosary was being held at the Treviño Funeral Home on Old Port Isabel Road. When we got there, the parking lot was nearly full almost all the way to the resaca bordering it on the south side.

Her many sons and daughters, nieces, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren were there. Some of the kids were munching on pan dulce. Some adults sitting in the lobby were drinking coffee and talking about the deceased.

We walked in through the back entrance and greeted some of the people in the lobby before the rosary started. My boss noticed his friends outside the front door and we made our way there through the people. Some men were huddled outside and talking softly among themselves as they tend to do on serious and somber occasions.

We said hello and the oldest son went on to tell us how his mother had taken suddenly ill and within a day or two had died in her sleep. We commiserated with him and his brothers and then my boss asked: "Does your brother in El Paso know she died?"

At that question, his friend looked at him queerly and motioned us to step aside of the larger group.
His brother wasn't really in El Paso, but rather, serving time for a drug conviction at the La Tuna Federal Penitentiary, about 12 miles north of the city limits of El Paso on the Texas-New Mexico border.

"I called the prison the day after my mother died and they told me it would be impossible for him to attend her funeral," he said. "But they said that since it was a serious matter they would allow me to speak to him and give him the news.

"When he came on the line I told him I had some bad news.
"Es de la jefa, verdad (It's about Mom, isn't it)?,' he said his brother asked. "Se murio, verdad? (She died, didn't she)?"
"How did you know," the brother asked.
"Hace dos dias vino a despedirse de mi en la noche(Two days ago she came to say goodbye)," the brother answered. "Ya sabia, carnal (I already knew, bro)."

A chill went down my spine when I heard that, and shortly thereafter we left.
There are a few lessons I have learned over my seven decades on earth, and this is one of them: A mother's love never ends, and not even the grave can stop it.

Love her if she's still here, and treasure her memory if you've lost her. But her love is never ending.

WE SHOULD BE WORRIED

We should be worried

that the cockroaches are dead

    And no cricket chirps at dusk

to hear the brittle crunch

of bee carcasses

underfoot,

That the lightning bugs went dark

and that only vultures fly

That

skeletal cicadas are mute

and that pale fishes float,

Bloated and

face up in our putrid seas

HANTAVIRUS COMES BACK TO HAUNT RFK WITH PASSENGER DEATHS

TREVINO SCHOOLS GUERRA DURING CAMERON DEMOCRATS FORUM: QUE NO TE CUENTEN...

TODAY IS VETS' SPOUSE APPRECIATION DAY! LET'S GO GALS!

 

ELECTED OFFICIALS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR TREVINO IN RUNOFF

YEAH, THAT'S HIM! HE WAS ALSO ARMED WITH A CAMERA...

RED STATES: IF WE CAN'T WIN, WE'LL JUST CHANGE THE PLAYING FIELD

Redistricting Season is Open

Every 10 years, U.S. states redraw their congressional and state legislative maps to account for changes in population. In many states, the politicians who control this process draw district lines in a way that maximizes their party’s partisan advantage and makes it effectively impossible for their opponents to win power.

This practice is called gerrymandering. And if you look at the map above, it is obvious  and contrary to their actual votes – that Republicans want to change the playing field to favor their party. The rest is noise and political posturing.

A WIDOWER, IN SPRINGTIME: I STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO EMPTY YOUR CLOSET

Six years after, 

I still haven't wanted to empty your closet

or erase the memories of you...

but light a candle

on your birth and death...

the bottom two drawers of the dresser

still hold your clothes

but still can't get myself 

To empty them

some things we can't - nay, won't - forget,

for good or ill

Notes, letters,

and messages left

on my cell phone

Are still there

And everyday, 

Your picture, with our kids 

In the living room

Greets me, and sees me leave

CAMERON COUNTY JUDGE FORUM SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY

LAMBISQUIANDO A LOS GABACHOS A VER QUE ME QUEDA!

(Ed.'s Note: We received this obviously AI-generated photo using a picture taken at a port event recently and the sender suggested that the surreal manipulation of the image is deceiving and creates a culturally-friendly environment that is far from the reality of an industrial port.

There is no papel picado out there, and the scene looks more like a Mexican colonial city than it does Brownsville. 

Guerra, chairman of the Port of Brownsville, is now in a Democratic primary runoff with incumbent Eddie Treviño and has to make up more than 4,500 votes to equal Treviño's 14,479 total (44 percent). Guerra dew 9,948 (30 percent). 

Looks pretty, mighty pretty, though! 

Former Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza – a stalking horse injected into the race to draw votes from Treviño – almost equaled Guerra's total with 8,548, or 26 percent of the votes cast.

Early voting begins May 18 through May 22. Election Day is May 26.)

PSST! HEY, MAGAS, GUESS WHO'S PAYING FOR ALL THIS WINNING?

MEETING MARK TWAIN (HIS BOOKS) IN A BROWNSVILLE THRIFT

(Ed',s Note: We noticed in the wake of our local election coverage that we had been remiss in noting that April 21 marked the 116th anniversary of the death of our favorite American author, Samuel Clemens, otherwise known by his nom de plume Mark Twain. Twain was never in our Rio Grande delta and his writing focused more in the delta of the Mississippi River. However, his writing touched readers in the USA ad around the world. Our encounter with Twain – or rather his works – took place right here in Brownsville, very close to our river. )  

By Juan Montoya

As we have noted in a previous post, sometimes one is surprised at what can be found in some of the local thrift shops.

In our case, it is books, some more than 100 years old.

One such find was the (incomplete) set of Mark Twain's Complete Works which we found in a small mama-y-papa thrift shop which used to be just off the alley across 11th Street from the late Ben Neece's old Crescent Moon Saloon.

Passing by the quaint little store, our eye caught the spines of some old books stacked under some knickknacks and asked the señora if we could see them. She, of course, agreed and removed the stuff that lay on top of the books.

To our surprise, they were part of a third printing of a set of Twain's works with the latest copyright dated 1913. We bought the lot at 50 cents apiece. The tomes included pristine copies of Twain's "Life on the Mississippi", "The Gilded Age", and "Following the Equator," among others. All these tomes set us back about $6.

Each of these has a facsimile of Twain's signature confirming that the books are authentic copies of his works.

We were excited at the find and returned to the segundita often to see if other literary treasures would appear because the lady said she had "a lot of old books" in storage and that she would bring them to the store. Unfortunately, her husband's health deteriorated and she had to close the business to tend to his illness.

Some of the books had never been read, since some of the pages had not been separated and two pages remained as one folded paper sheet. And later, when we were leafing through them, saw a hotel receipt that named a Brownsville man who was well known to local residents.

It was a hotel receipt issued to Jesse Sloss, who was named city manager in 1975, 11 years later. The receipt was from the Hotel Genova , which we learned is still one of the best in downtown Guadalajara. At 110 pesos a night, it was  bargain for Americans, since the exchange rate back then hovered between 8 to 12 pesos per U.S. dollar. The receipt states that four persons were in Sloss' party on September 8, 1964.

Sloss was well known in town and worked for years with the city as was his wife Tencha, a former Brownsville Herald reporter who was involved in the arts and had been a volunteer at the Brownsville Art League for over 50 years and then was the Administrative Director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts. 

Tencha Sloss was related to many well-known families in town, including the Neeces, Saldivars, and Hinojosas , among others. Jesse died in 2001 and Tencha died in 2014.

The Twain books were a great find, but leaves us with the question of what Sloss was doing in Guadalajara in 1964 which remains – like an Ellery Queen novel – a mystery.

TIME FOR TEXAS DEMOMEXES TO TAKE OFF THE RED BLINDERS

Opinion

By Frank Bruni

New York Times

Around the country, in key Senate and House races, Democrats will be presented with some Democratic nominees who are more progressive or moderate than they are and who have discrete positions that unsettle them, individual warts that offend them, biographies that aren’t to their liking.

But this time around, the risks of being turned off and turning away are much greater than usual. There’s a kind of reckoning at hand. Either Trump is the threat that his impassioned detractors have made him out to be and they’ll cast ballots that reflect that or they won’t, because the specter of an unimpeded, full-throttle Trump actually pales next to their quarrels with and pique at Democratic candidates they dislike. He’s not all that terrifying to them after all.

In my newsletter a week ago, I pushed back at any Democratic overconfidence about the midterms, noting all the wild cards in play over the next six months. I mentioned ongoing gerrymandering, and on Wednesday, the Supreme Court further gutted the Voting Rights Act, a decision that could clear the way for new, more Republican-friendly congressional maps in several states, including Louisiana and Tennessee. Around the same time as that ruling, Florida finalized plans for an aggressive new gerrymander.

But I also warned about tensions within the Democratic Party and whether the outcomes of primaries in crucial states could have a negative impact on party enthusiasm and turnout.

Democratic leaders have identified Texas as a plausible opportunity to flip a Senate seat from red to blue; a recent poll by Texas Public Opinion Research bolstered that thinking by showing the Democratic nominee, James Talarico, with a slight lead over either of his possible Republican opponents, who are headed to a runoff on May 26. 

But Talarico’s victory in the Democratic primary in early March came after a nasty battle with his rival, Jasmine Crockett, some of whose supporters accused Talarico of racially bigoted comments. Will they nonetheless turn out for him in November? They should if they see Trump as the greater evil. What they wind up doing hinges partly on the strength of that conviction.

If I had my way, I’d elevate moderate Democrats in every state and district that’s not firmly in the red or blue column and that’s genuinely up for grabs. I concur with an important essay by the editorial board of The Times in October that laid out the wisdom of that approach: 

“Candidates closer to the political center, from both parties, continue to fare better in most elections than those farther to the right or left. This pattern may be the strongest one in electoral politics today.”