"INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST" JOSEPHAT LOZANO UNDER INVESTIGATION

By Allen Essex
Raymondville Chronicle

myRGV.com

A story and photo posted on social media claiming a privately owned white Chevrolet Corvette was worked on in a Raymondville Independent School District maintenance shop posted on social media are a total fabrication, RISD Police Chief Oscar Gutierrez said last Friday.

The photo of the car was apparently Photoshopped into a garage of some kind, but only part of the hydraulic lift shown in the photo can be seen, the rest is not visible, the police chief said.
The online article is topped with Josephat Lozano’s byline and the title “Independent Investigative Journalist.”

(At right, Raymondville ISD Police Chief Oscar Gutierrez is pictured Monday, April 8, 2024. (Allen Essex | Raymondville Chronicle)

Since an active investigation is under way, the chief said he cannot reveal more details.

He said the story and fake photo were likely created to harm the school district and the reputations of himself and the two top administrators.

In addition to being police chief, he is also in charge of vehicles, school buses, buildings and grounds maintenance as well as other responsibilities.

Also, he is chief of the Raymondville/Willacy County Volunteer Fire Department.

He said he resents an attack on his reputation by the implication he would allow improper use of school district resources.

Lozano, who uses the nickname “Hoss,” has worked as a teacher and as a Cameron County constable. He has sued the Raymondville school district unsuccessfully in the past.

He has not yet responded to an email requesting comment sent by the Raymondville Chronicle.

Then, on February 2025, Progreso police charged Lozano, 61, with harassment, a Class B misdemeanor after he allegedly ignored instructions to stop sending emails to another school district employee.According to Valley Central, Lozano works for the Progreso Independent School District.

In December, a disagreement over how to handle special education services resulted in a series of emails between Lozano and other Progreso ISD employees. Lozano claimed other school district employees had broken the law, threatened him and violated his civil rights.

During the dispute, two Progreso ISD employees accused Lozano of making threatening comments. They warned Lozano to stop contacting them.

Lozano, though, continued to send emails to one of the employees, according to a complaint filed with the Progreso Municipal Court.

“Complainant stated that she received 5-6 emails after she verbally and in writing (email) told Mr. Lozano 3-4 times to stop ALL communication with her,” according to the complaint. “Complainant wants to file proper charges.”

The Progreso Police Department arrested Lozano on Jan. 22. At the time, Superintendent Sergio Coronado said he couldn’t comment on the incident because Progreso ISD was conducting an internal investigation.

HELP GINA TAKE ON ABBOTT IN THE BATTLE OF BILLBOARDS

Team Gina

Let me make something very clear, data centers are flooding into Texas for one reason: Greg Abbott rolled out the most corporate-friendly tax giveaways for data center companies in the entire country.

And everyday Texans are the ones bearing the crushing costs.

Working Texans must hear about Abbott’s corrupt tax breaks for data center companies, which is exactly why we placed these new billboards across downtown Corpus Christi. But we can only keep running major ad campaigns like this one with your immediate support.

Because of this reckless rush to build massive, energy- and water-hungry data centers across Texas. These mega-projects are backed by some of the wealthiest corporations and tech billionaires in the world. If they want the massive amounts of energy and water required to run these facilities, they should foot the bill themselves.

Greg Abbott should be focused on making life more affordable for our families. Instead, he’s selling out our land, our grid, and our communities to benefit his wealthy donors while leaving you to pay the price.

We just launched our massive new billboard campaign to expose exactly how Greg Abbott has sold out our grid for his own political gain. But to keep billboards like these up and visible in a high-traffic area, we need the grassroots resources to match the moment.

We have set an urgent goal to raise $10,000 by this Friday, June 26th to fully fund critical ad campaigns like these billboards.

Rush a donation of any amount today to fund our billboards and help us spread this message across Texas.

MEXICO BEAT CZECHIA 3-0 LAST NIGHT: TONIGHT IT'S THE U.S.'S TURN

ARE YOU SURE BROWNTOWN ISN'T WEIRD ENOUGH FOR YOU YET?

(Ed.'s Note: It's doubtful that anyone knows the city's downtown core better than the Kraken's Danny Alvarado, whose joint at 1123 E Adams St. has been open – even through COVID – since 2015. He was even been named the Honorable Catrin Of The Year in 2025. A purveyor of "hot beer and cold pizza," he also provides live music throughout the week. But you must be ready for a raucous, loud time and a lively crowd. Alvarado, one of the first supporters of each month's downtown First Friday fiesta, is an enthusiastic live music advocate, but your taste must be eclectic, or don't even walk in the door. For him and Kraken regulars every Friday is a first Friday. You go, boy!)

Danny get a new paint job from downtown artist Alejandra Zertuche.

And a few familiar faces outside The Kraken Bar.

SERENATA A TODOS LOS JUANES: FELIZ DIA DE SAN JUAN!

El 24 de junio

El mero día de San Juan

Un baile se celebraba

En ese pueblo de Ixtlán

Micaela, desde temprano

Sonriendo le dice a Juan

"Por ser el día de tu santo

Al baile me has de llevar"

No quiero hacerte el desaire

Pero algo presiento yo

De que esta noche en el baile

Se me amargue la función

Mira, Micaela, que te hablo

No vayas a esa reunión

Que está tentándome el diablo

De echarme al plato a Simón

Llegó Micaela primero

Se puso luego a bailar

Y escogió a por compañero

Al mero rival de Juan

(Photo credit: Ben Neece)

¡Ay, ja, ja! No lo hubiera hecho

No lo hubiera hecho, Micaela

Porque se la echaron

¡Ah, ah, ah!

Alegres pasan las horas

Las 12:00 marca el reloj

Cuando un tiro de pistola

Dos cuerpos atravesó

Vuela, vuela, palomita

Párate en ese panteón

Donde ha de estar Micaelita

Con su querido Simón

EL TRI PLAYS WORLD CUP MATCH AT 8 P.M. VS. CZECHIA TODAY

    AT MEXICO CITY STADIUM, MEXICO CITY D.F.

TRUMP TO BUILD WALL AROUND REFLECTING POOL, MAKE ALGAE PAY FOR IT

Is a blockade of the pool next?

CELL AT RIGHT ALSO RESERVED FOR THOSE NAMED IN THE EPSTEIN FILES

JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP'S I.C.E. COURTHOUSE ARRESTS NATIONWIDE

By Priscilla Alavarez

CNN

A federal judge in California on Tuesday issued a nationwide block against the Trump administration’s policy of making arrests at immigration courts, putting an end to a practice that garnered national attention.

Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began detaining migrants in courthouse hallways across the country, sometimes moments after pleading their cases. The move raised alarm among attorneys and advocates who said the practice was turning immigration courts from places of due process into zones of fear and punishing people who were following the rules.

Tuesday’s ruling marks a major blow to the Trump administration, which rescinded long-held guidance that had limited immigration enforcement in or near courthouses. Trump officials had argued the previous guidance hampered the ability of immigration enforcement officers to apprehend dangerous individuals.

In a 71-page ruling, Judge P. Casey Pitts acknowledged the “chilling effect” of ICE’s policy, finding that it was “arbitrary and capricious.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, simply extending the 2025 courthouse-arrest policies to cover immigration courthouses would not cure those policies’ fatal defects. As the Court has previously detailed, the policies entirely fail to address the chilling effect of courthouse arrests on noncitizens’ attendance at court proceedings, which is both a critical factor underlying ICE’s 2021 guidance and an ‘important aspect of the problem’ in its own right,” Pitts said.

“In sum, ICE’s 2025 courthouse-arrest policies are devoid of rational explanation for (or even acknowledgement of) the agency’s choices (1) to remove its earlier restrictions on civil arrests at immigration courthouses and (2) not to extend the new policies’ limitations to immigration courthouses,” Pitts added.

Jordan Wells, senior staff attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Fransico Bay Area, applauded the ruling.

“The courthouse is meant to be a refuge for the pursuit of justice, not a hunting ground for ICE. No immigrant, whether appearing in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, or New York, should be forced to choose between their liberty and their day in court,” Wells said in a statement to CNN.

Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival also weighed in on the ruling on X, saying: “When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen. A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda.”

KRISTOFFERSON HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR BROWNTOWN, JUANITA

Did he ever come back to Brownsville, Montoya?

Don't think so.

Commenter: June 22, 2026 at 11:52 AM

(Ed.'s Note: Kris Kristofferson did come back to Brownsville, many times. He came back to look for his Nana Juanita, the Mexican woman from Brownsville – originally from Matamoros – who watched after him and his siblings. She was 13 and Kristofferson was six months old when she was first hired to work for the family. After he left and she retired, she would eat regularly at El Charrito Restaurant, and he gave them an autographed photo where he thanks them for taking care of her. The ownership has changed and the photo is no longer there. This article is from August, 2013.)

By Juan Montoya

I had a yen for a small bowl of menudo today and as I had just dropped off my son for his summer job, I saw a sign for an El Charrito Restaurant off Central Boulevard and Jefferson where the old Lopez Supermarket used to be.

I sauntered in and sat while the two ladies waited on some diners. The place has a Mexican movie decor with black and white photos of the likes of Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Maria Felix, male and female revolutionaries, even Vicente Fernandez astride a fine horse.

And then, there, just off to the side of the altar with the votary candles and aloe vera sprigs, I saw a photograph of a smiling man that looked somewhat out of place in the clutter. 

I thought I recognized the grin and longish hair and I walked over to the southern wall. It was him. It was an autographed studio black and white photo of Kris Kristofferson, one of the few Brownsville residents who went off to the Big Lights and actually made it.

You know, the guy who wrote hits like "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Morning Coming Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night."

What would his picture be doing on the wall of El Charrito Restaurant?

I asked one of the ladies if I could take a picture of it and she said to go ahead. The lighting was bad and I was slightly off focus but I took it anyway. 

The message that Kristofferson had scribbled on the photo read: 

"Thanks El Charrito, for taking care of my mom, Juanita, Peace, Kris."

The woman asked me why I wanted to take the picture and if I knew the man on it. I explained to her that he was a movie star composer and singer who had been born in Brownsville.

She, of course, didn't know who he was but said that his mother (Juanita) came to eat there often and that out of appreciation and gratitude to the waiters' help and the owner (one Walter Morton?), he had given them his autographed picture.

Like I said, the lighting was bad and I was off focus, but I would be willing to bet the small menudo I had that it has to be one of the few autographed photo by Kristofferson to people in Brownsville. Maybe – I thought then – next time I walk in I'll actually get to meet Juanita, his mom. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too late.

To read a story about this special relationship, click on link to Texas Border Business: https://texasborderbusiness.com/love-comes-heart-lasts-forever-kris-kristofferson/  

COMO CAMBIAN LAS ROLAS EN LOS CONGALES DE LA 14

EL COLESTEROL

(With apologies to Fito Olivares)

Quieres que te role un chicharrón

Bolsita de pasesón

o prefiere un toquesito, mi amorcito?

No, muy sabroso el chicharrón, pasesito, toqueson

Pero ahorita nada de eso, cariñito

¿Qué es lo que te pasa, corazón?

Siempre has sido un borrachón

Todo el tiempo bien locon

Ahora chupe su churrito, mi gordito

No, muchas gracias, pero no

Que el doctor ya me ordenó

Que le baje al pasesón

Pa que baje la presión

Mamacita

Es que me sube el colesterol, mi amorcito

Me sube el colesterol

Es que me sube el colesterol, mamacita

Me sube el colesterol

Es que me sube el colesterol, mi chaparrita

Me sube el colesterol

Es que me sube el colesterol, mi puchunguita

Quieres que te forge un chacuacón

Te consiga un pasesón

O quizas un toquesito

Papasito?

Es que 

Me sube el colesterol

Mamacita

Me sube el colesterol...

DIAPER DONNY? TRUMP THE DUMP? LYING EMBUSTERO P.O.S.?

Grandiloquent Word of the Day's Post

Typocrat [TY-poh-krat]

(n.) - Someone who attempts to maintain rulership by controlling the press.

From Greek “typos" (blow, mark, impression) later (type, printing, the press)+ “-crat” from Greek “-krates” (ruler, governor, one who possesses power)

The word “typocrat” is used to describe politicians, publishers, or media moguls who hold disproportionate control by deciding what information is printed and distributed.
Used in a sentence:

The typocrat does not silence the press so much as curate it, pruning the thorny correspondents until only the decorative shrubbery remains, while reserving ‘Quiet, Piggy!’ for any woman with a voice and the audacity to use it.”

HAPPY B-DAY TO BROWNTOWN HOMEY KRIS KRISTOFFERSON THIS MORNING..

 

(Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas June 22, 1936. The family relocated to San Mateo, California, during his childhood. He enlisted in military service during the early 1960s. After one single for Epic Records. Kristofferson was signed by Monument Records in 1969. Throughout his career, he recorded a total of 10 albums for Monument, two albums for Mercury Records, one

album each for Justice Records and Atlantic Records, and two albums each for New West Records and KK Records. In September 1971, Kristofferson made his film debut in The Last Movie and devoted much of the later decade to making Hollywood films. Some of his most famous films include Cisco Pike (1972) A Star is Born (1976), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004), and Payback (1999).

Kristofferson was also a member of the country music supergroup the Highwaymen between 1985 and 1995. He charted 12 times on the American Billboard Hot Country songs charts; his highest-peaking singles there are "Why Me" and "Highwayman", which reached number one in 1973 and 1985, respectively. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Grammy Lifetime Award in 2014. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, out of 13 total nominations. Kristofferson died in 2024 at the age of 88, three years after announcing his retirement.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Well, I woke up Sunday morning

With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad

So I had one more for dessert

Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes

And found my cleanest dirty shirt

And I shaved my face and combed my hair

And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day

[Verse 2]

I'd smoked my brain the night before

On cigarettes and songs that I'd been picking'

But I lit my first and watched a small kid

Cussin' at a can that he was kickin'

Then I crossed the empty street

And caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken

And it took me back to somethin'

That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way

[Chorus]

On a Sunday morning sidewalks

Wishing, Lord that I was stoned

Cause there's something in a Sunday

That makes a body feel alone

And there's nothing short of dying

Half as lonesome as the sound

On the sleepin' city sidewalks

Sunday morning coming down

ANDY BOWIE PARK IMPROVEMENTS TO BE UNVEILED THIS FRIDAY

You're invited!
Join us on Friday, June 26, at 10:00 a.m. as we celebrate the completion of the Andy Bowie Park Improvements Project with an official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

Be among the first to see the park’s new and improved amenities, including upgrades to the pavilion, showers, parking lot, and more. These enhancements will help ensure an even better experience for the thousands of residents and visitors who enjoy Cameron County’s coastal parks each year.
We hope to see you there!

Cameron County Parks and Recreation

Sofia C. Benavides, Pct. 1

Commissioner Joey Lopez, Pct. 2

David A. Garza, Pct. 3

Gus Ruiz Jr., Pct. 4

ARE WE ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR TRUMP FIASCO THRESHOLD, MAGAS?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

BREAKING: All the grass on the White House lawn has been utterly destroyed by Trump's stupid UFC ring.

You can be assured this will somehow cost millions more in taxpayer dollars to fix.

It is just the latest disaster in Donald Trump's never-ending trail of destruction.

He's ruined so many beautiful things around Washington and around the nation, all because he is a stupid, selfish, narcissistic pedophile with the taste and maturity of a twelve-year-old.

Can you imagine the right-wing response if Obama had done even ONE of these things?

He likes to call himself a builder. But destruction follows wherever he goes.

SATURDAY FUNNIES: TEX-MEX FUSION ASTOUNDS N. TEXAS GABAS

La Cebolla

AMARILLO, TX—Expressing astonishment over the unorthodox combination of the two distinct cuisines, local customers described the remarkable culinary innovation they experienced Thursday at the grand opening of a daring new fusion restaurant that mixes Texan and Mexican flavors. 

“It sounds kind of gimmicky, but somehow the flavors work together,” said local resident Harrison Peters, who was surprised the sharp, herby flavors of northern Mexico and the beefy, cheesy decadence of southern Texas worked together on the same plate. 

“I’d never dream of dipping tortilla chips in queso. They have a burrito loaded with a wild mishmash of sour cream, beans, and guac, but it tastes incredible. This place is taking modern cuisine to unimaginable new heights.” 

The customers went on to express shock after discovering tortillas made of flour instead of corn.

WORLD CUP CO-HOSTS USA, MEXICO ADVANCE TO ROUND OF 32

Yahoo Sports

The official list of 32 teams advancing to the knockout stage is still being determined, as the group stage concludes in late June. However, early results have confirmed the progression of several nations, including co-hosts Mexico (who clinched the top spot in Group A) and the USA (who won Group D)

The 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 features 32 advancing nations: the top two teams from each of the 12 groups, plus the eight best third-place finishers. Mexico, the USA, Brazil, and Germany have already clinched spots, while Haiti and Türkiye have been eliminated.

Full tracking of the knockout bracket and complete standings are available on the FIFA World Cup Knockout Bracket.

MAKE ALGAE GREAT AGAIN, AND PUT THE GREEN IN YOUR DONOR'S POCKET

 

The Other 98

Just twelve days after trump blew $14.2 million of your tax dollars painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool a patriotic "American flag blue," workers were on their hands and knees this morning pouring what looked like Walmart pharmacy bottles of hydrogen peroxide into what is now a very green, very algae-covered swampy national embarrassment that looks like something RFK Jr. would take his kids swimming in.

 
Pool renovation expert Steve Goodale had literally predicted this exact outcome, warning that darker paint absorbs more sunlight, raises water temperature, and makes algae blooms inevitable. It was, in his words, "a foregone conclusion." 

And here is the kicker: to actually treat 6.5 million gallons of water properly, you would need a minimum of 8,000 liters of 12 percent hydrogen peroxide injected directly into the filtration intake so it disperses evenly throughout the entire pool, not guys kneeling at the edge dumping gallon jugs in one spot like they are cleaning a bathroom.

(The $1.7 million no-bid contract  -now ballooned to $14 million - to clean the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool went to a company ultimately owned by Trump donor John J. Cafaro, who previously pleaded guilty in separate federal cases involving bribery and campaign finance violations. The company's name? Greenwater Services.)

 As one doctor put it on social media, "is this what happens when you have zero scientists in your administration?"

The whole spectacle would be funny if it were not so expensive and so completely on brand. The actual fix here is embarrassingly simple: repaint the pool the original light grey, which does not absorb heat, does not supercharge algae growth, and did not cost $14 million dollars. 

Instead, this administration would rather send workers out daily with bottles from the medicine cabinet than admit the dark blue paint was a vanity mistake that any pool professional could have told them not to make, and in fact did tell them not to make, loudly and publicly, before they did it anyway.

This is what the trump administration does. It does not solve problems, it performs solving them. The reflecting pool is green, so they pour something in it and hope you stop looking. The underlying issue stays broken, the band aid goes on top, and everyone moves on until the next embarrassing photo goes viral. 

From the Kennedy Center tarp hiding where they removed his name, to the Epstein files they have fought to keep buried, the whole operation runs on the same logic: if you can cover it up fast enough, maybe nobody will notice. 

But we notice, Donald. We always notice.

AND SHE WAS TRYING TO SNEAK INTO NEW YORK HARBOR...

"Doesn't the President also have a strange skin color?" 

RESIST TRUMP ERASING THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY, HAPPY JUNETEENTH!

  By Juan Montoya

Freedom took a little longer to arrive in Texas.

Even though President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1863, slavery wasn't outlawed in Texas until June 18, 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island with 2,000 federal troops to occupy  the state on behalf of the federal government.

By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 slaves in Texas.

On June 19, standing on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa, Granger read aloud the contents of "General Order No. 3", announcing the total emancipation of of slaves:


"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."


There has been a debate about how many slaves lived in South Texas. Because of the proximity to the Rio Grande (and freedom in Mexico where the peculiar institution was prohibited), few slaves were kept along the border.

In fact, the 1860 Census indicates that seven slaves were registered in Cameron County and one inHidalgo. The proximity to the Rio Grande - and freedom - prevented slavery from flourishing here as in other parts of the confederacy. 

However, it's instructive to see that Brownsville "founder" Charles Stillman listed a slave as his property. Richard King - of King Ranch fame - owned two.( Click on graphic at right to enlarge.)

And of course, where there is human bondage there will always be buzzards trying to make a dollar. William Neale was one. He was the first mayor of Brownsville and also one of the most recognized runaway slave hunters in South Texas. Now the city is honoring his memory by allotting $490,000 to restore his house, which, by the way, is par for the course. The slave owner's (Stillman) Laurel Ranch restored  whore house will be in the same park in memory of that pioneer slaver.

What there was, however, was an active Underground Railroad helping slaves to escape to Mexico by crossing the Rio Grande.

Researchers have found that along the Rio Grande in Hidalgo County lay the Jackson Ranch once owned by Nathaniel Jackson, a loyal Unionist during the Civil War. 

They write that in the 1850’s, Jackson left Alabama with his African-American wife Matilda Hicks, his son Eli, and other adult children. They hoped to escape the intolerance of inter-racial marriage they had known in the South. Accompanying the Jacksons were eleven African-American freedmen. 

In 1857, Jackson founded his ranch on a former Spanish grant. His property is said to have become a refuge for runaway slaves from Texas and the Deep South. Today, many people know about the Underground Railroad that shepherded enslaved people to freedom in the northern states and Canada, but few know about the route to freedom in Mexico. 

The Jackson Ranch lay near the Military Highway between Fort Ringgold and Fort Brown, and would have been visited by Confederate and Union troops as they fought for control of the Lower Valley in 1863 and 1864. Jackson died in 1865, the same year that his son Eli established the family cemetery where members of the clan now rest. Nathaniel Jackson’s grave is unmarked.

Several African-American and bi-racially mixed families settled in South Texas including the Webber family.

John F. Webber was an Anglo who lived south of Austin, Texas. Originally from Vermont,  Webber was born around 1786. In the War of 1812 he served as a private in Capt. S. Dickinson's company, Thirty-first United States Infantry, from May 23, 1813, to May 31, 1814, during which time he fought in the battle of Shadage Woods.

He was in Austin's colony as early as 1826 and received a headright on June 22, 1832. Webber purchased a slave, Silvia Hector, and her son.

They fell in love and married, causing an uproar in their community. After their son was barred from school, and the tutor Webber had hired to teach the boy had been threatened, the Webber family moved to South Texas. 

In 1853 Webber purchased nearly 9,000 acres of land near present-day Donna and established the Webber Ranch with his wife and 11 children.

Weber's story has been documented by his numerous progeny and speak of a man who remained loyal to his black wife and children who in turn intermarried with local Mexican-Americans. The Webber clan is numerous and a recent family reunion included descendants from throughout the country. Below, one of her descendants sent us this bill of sale where Sally Hector was sold before she married Webber.

In her excellent paper on the underground railroad, Georgia Redonet, a teacher at Long Middle School, in Houston, states that "When Stephen F. Austin brought American settlers to Mexico in 1822, Mexican law stated that there could be – neither sale nor purchase of slaves who are brought to the empire; their children born in the empire shall be free at the age of 14."

Mexico had outlawed slavery but made this concession for Texas in its desire to populate the northern province. It put the new immigrants on notice that slavery was to be a temporary institution. In regards to the American slaveholders immigrating to Mexican Texas, Article 21 of the Law of October 14th, 1823 stated – 'foreigners who bring slaves with them, shall obey the laws established upon the matter, or which shall hereafter be established.'"

As clear as the prohibition was in Mexican law, the government was persuaded to give the newly-arrived settlers exemptions in order to keep them as a buffer between raiding Comanches and Apache Indians and the French encroaching from the east.

"From 1830 to 1860 there was a continual movement of runaway slaves into Mexico and although not as publicized, it was just as common as the movement of runaways into free northern territory and Canada. While there are no reliable estimates as to the number of fugitive slaves escaping to Mexico during this time period, it is safe to say – that the movement was considerable enough to have caused great irritation and financial hardships on Texas slave-owners...

"During the Texas Revolution, Jose Maria Tornel, Mexican Secretary of War, – denounced slavery and called attention to the astonishment of the civilized world at the support given to the maintenance of the institution by the United States. By contrast, he said, – Mexico considered all men brothers, created by our common father.

"Mexico refused to return any fugitive slaves after the revolt and based part of its refusal to recognize Texas independence on the slavery question. Knowledge of the Mexican attitude towards slavery probably encouraged Negroes to escape.

"In early 1846 Texas was formally admitted to the Union as a slave state. According to the first official Texas state census in 1847, the state‘s population counted 38,753 slaves and 102,961 whites. The plantations along the lower Colorado and Brazos rivers and those scattered throughout East Texas held the largest concentrations of enslaved persons. Runaway slaves had been a continual problem throughout the duration of the Republic and the new state sought to write laws aimed at curbing the exodus.

"In 1848 laws were passed by the state legislature aimed at punishing those who might help escaping slaves. Anyone helping slaves plan a rebellion would be punished with death. Ship captains assisting runaways would receive from two to ten years in the penitentiary. Anyone who would steal or entice away a slave from his or her owner would receive three to fifteen years of hard labor. Free persons of color who aided a slave in escaping would receive from three to five years in the penitentiary."

To read the rest of the Redonet paper on the South Texas Underground Railroad, click on link:
http://www.uh.edu/honors/Programs-Minors/honors-and-the-schools/houston-teachers-institute/curriculum-units/pdfs/2003/african-american-slavery/redonet-03-slavery.pdf

DO YOU STILL NEED HIM, DO YOU STILL HEAR HIM, WHEN HE'S 84?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Happy 84th to Sir Paul McCartney — born June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England!  Will you still need him, will you still feed him — when he's 84? Apparently, yes. The whole world still does. 

Did you know his first instrument wasn't even the guitar. His dad gave him a trumpet for his 14th birthday. Paul traded it in almost immediately — because you can't sing while playing trumpet, and singing was the whole point. 

He's left-handed, which meant he had to literally flip a right-handed guitar upside down and restring it just to play it properly. He figured it out after seeing a poster of Slim Whitman playing lefty. Imagine if he never saw that poster. 

"Yesterday" came to him in a DREAM — he woke up with the entire melody in his head and rushed to a piano before he could forget it. For weeks afterward he kept asking people if they recognized the tune, convinced he must have subconsciously stolen it from somewhere. He hadn't. It just came from him. 

And in 2005 he became the first musician ever to broadcast live music into outer space — performing for astronauts on the International Space Station during a concert in California. Paul McCartney has literally played for the cosmos. 

Eighty-four years old and he's STILL touring, STILL writing, STILL filling stadiums. Living legend doesn't even begin to cover it.

WORLD CUP WATCH: MEXICO WINS, USA PLAYS TODAY

AND AT 2 P.M. TODAY....USA! USA!

REFLECTIONS: I'M CHANGING, ARRANGING, I'M CHANGING, OH EVERYTHING AROUND ME...

The pool is the fifth tallest building in the world, that’s just ivy climbing the walls...

AND $14 MILLION DOWN THE REFLECTING POOL DRAIN, PAINT PEELING OFF

AND JUST LIKE THAT THE UNJUSTIFIED RESACA FEE IS GONE...

WE WON! WE WON! WE WON ON THE FIRST DAY, I TELL YOU...

RICE AND BEANS, RICE AND BEANS, THE WORLD CUP REVOLVES AROUND RICE AND BEANS...

*8 p.m. Central Time

LITTLE MARCO GETS BOMBED IN TRUM'PS ALGAE-RIDDEN REFLECTING POOL

 

BREAKING: Donald Trump sends Secretary of State Marco Rubio out to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to prove that the water is "perfectly safe and beautiful and clean. Unlike what the fake news and Dumocrats are saying."

WILL BROWNSVILLE APPLY FOR ANNEXATION BY STARBASE?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Opinion

With billions of dollars in private investment flowing into the Brownsville region — and with the world' only trillionaire Elon Musk continuing to expand his footprint across the Valley — it is becoming increasingly clear why he chose to establish his own city rather than be annexed into the City of Brownsville.

Most CEOs seek decisive leadership from governing bodies and executive teams. Yet, until  today, the City Commission’s months-long inability to make a critical decision — selecting a City Manager — was on full display. This lack of direction sends a troubling signal, not only to residents but also to investors and partners watching closely.

Over the past several years, Brownsville has endured leadership marked more by personality than performance — where public relations campaigns, polished slogans, and TED Talk-style presentations took center stage, while the fundamental responsibility of delivering reliable public services to neighborhoods was too often sidelined.

For example, with two candidates from Brownsville – Asst. City Managers Doro Garcia and Felix Sauceda available – and possessing a wealth of knowledge of the city's culture, innerworkings, and its infrastructure, they chose another assistant city manager handpicked by former manager Helen Ramirez, Allan Gard, from upstate. 

 Remember that Ramirez brought Gard from Anna, Texas, a metropolis of  29,000 people while Brownsville's population is climbing toward 200,000 and is rapidly becoming an industrial trade center along an international border. And he had no experience as city manager. He was that city's finance director.

What message does this send to graduates of institutions like UTRGV, UTB, or TSC? The implication appears to be that local talent — individuals with deep roots, experience, and commitment to the community — are somehow not qualified to lead at the highest levels.

The irony is striking. The City Commission approved the expenditure of millions of dollars on leadership initiatives such as Total Alignment and One City, promoting the idea that every employee can be a leader. Yet when the opportunity arises to elevate a seasoned local professional to the City Manager role, that philosophy seems to fall short.

Meanwhile, within the organization are individuals with decades of municipal experience — professionals who understand the community, its infrastructure, and its needs. Still, a group of relatively inexperienced elected officials appears confident in overriding that institutional knowledge.

At some point, the question must be asked: if decisive leadership cannot be found within City Hall, where will it come from?

Or perhaps, in a moment of irony, Brownsville should consider asking whether Starbase might be willing to annex a city still searching for direction.

AMERICANS CHAFE UNDER PENTAGON PROPAGANDA MASKERADING AS PROMOTION

By Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie
Dear Regal Theaters: 
As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I am writing to Regal Theatres to demand that you immediately stop showing the war.gov promotional spot that appears before movies.

The video is a propaganda video. Nothing more, nothing less.

 While at Portland’s Regal Lloyd Center last night to watch Disclosure Day, our family was surprised that before the movie, we were forced to watch an advertisement touting the leadership of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the so-called Department of War.

It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea. Democracies do not do this. The audience loudly booed.

We routinely see videos at Regal promoting careers in the military. This was not that.

This was an advertisement promoting the political views of Donald Trump. It was not promoting our military. It was not promoting America’s greatest strength: our diversity. This was a MAGA campaign commercial highlighting a fake cabinet agency, the Department of War, which is actually called the Defense Department, and the MAGA America First platform.

Regal’s decision to show this video can only be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump, his failed war in Iran, and the white Christian nationalism advocated by Secretary Hegseth.

Again, I must demand that Regal stop showing this video immediately. Blessed are the peacemakers.

In Peace