FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR NEWBORN YEAR 2016

(Ed.'s Note: We have received some predictions from one of our longtime fans who says he counts himself among our six readers. We don't necessarily agree with every prediction on the list, but post them for our other five readers to consider.)

FEARLESS 2016 PREDICTIONS

1. Now that Gloria Rincones, David Sanchez, Linda Salazar, David Garza, Tony Yzaguirre, Elia Cornejo-Lopez, Eddie Lucio III, and Filemon Vela Jr.  have become literally "the only choice" in their respective races, we will go out on a limb and predict (unless there is a late-breaking indictment) that they will emerge victorious from their primary races. Rincones will have to face Rene De Coss in November for the 445th District Court race. The crystal ball range does not extend that far, so we will reserve our prediction on that one. With Cameron County well on its way to becoming a two-party county, this crystal ball may fog up on us.

2. Sometime this year, the Pentagon will lay the blame on the doorstep of the Brownsville Economic Development Council (BEDC) for the creation of ISIS after they are discovered (through a Freedom of Information Request) that CEO Jason Hilts and VP Gilbert Salinas had instituted a trade mission office in Aleppo, Syria and called it "Operation Crusader." That set off the radical Islamic jihadists against the infidels. Three Syrian nationals working the BEDC Syria office were the first beheading victims.

3. This year, a Columbian national from Bogota will file a paternity suit against one of the guests or personnel from Brownsville brought on one of the trips funded by the BEDC. He will be up to the hilt in legal and financial problems.

4. One of the trustees of the Brownsville Independent School District will be investigated for lining the backyard and his patio grass pockets with artificial turf sold to the district by vendor Paragon. We will later find out that the turf was installed as a payback for his support of their product in district middle schools.

5. A city commissioner will be back pedaling when it is learned that she has been receiving commissions for the uptick in bicycle sales in the Greater Brownsville Metroplex.

6. A member of a local animal protection group will file a landmark lawsuit against the manufacturers of fire truck sirens for damaging the hearing and causing great stress in local pets who live near the city's fire stations. It will give a cause to PAWS.

7. Trump or no trump, Hillary Clinton will get elected President of the United States after wiping out the opposition in her Democratic Party and later – in November –  the Republican candidate.

8. Closer to home, Sen. Eddie Lucio will get elected, but the votes will be closer than he wished, telling him his long-suffering constituency is telling him it's time to go home to his paradise island and retire. He is running in the primary against  Osbert G. Rodriguez Haro III.

9. Rep. Rene O. Oliveira will garner the Demo nomination and with no contender in the GOP ranks, will stay latched on to the public teat until the voters pry his cold stiff fingers off the public trough. Don De Leon will also draw more support than Oliveria would have guessed. After all after 30 years, the soup starts to get a little thin, if not the girth, of our partying rep.

10. Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio will also win in March over Gregorio Puente III. He will probably face former Indian Lake Chief of Police John Chambers who will emerge as the winner for the GOP banner despite his selective prosecution by DA Luis V. Saenz.. If the 86-year-old Omar is still with us in November, it will be tough for Chambers to pull it off, but stranger things have happened. Sorry Gus Reyna, but you will probably not get appointed if Omar moves on to the Great Beyond

11. Pct. 1 commissioner Sofie Benavides will end up in a runoff with Beatrice Rosenbaum. The two other candidates will pull enough votes from South Padre Island and the Southmost area to force the face-off between these two ladies. Joseph Cantu – with his anti-LNG stand and following in at South Padre Island – will take that precinct, and Pato Martinez in Southmost will prove to be a draw for dissatisfied voters. Cantu's military service and successful small-business experience might draw more than what most expect from a new candidate. Having the Sanchez brothers (Dan and Dave) in Sofie's corner will  prove to be a liability rather than a boon to her reelection. Our crystal ball is unclear but this much we can say, there will be blood on the streets of the barrio. In a runoff, who will Cantu and Martinez throw their votes behind?

12. Pct. 2 Constable Abel Gomez will get into a runoff with Pete Avila. Juan Torres and Silveiro "Silver" Cisneros will draw enough votes to send this election into extra innings.  Not even Cisneros' extended family on the county payroll will derail the two front runners. It could be Gomez by a few percentage points again.

13. The Sanchez brothers take another hit in their support of Cesar R. Diaz for Pct. 5 Constable when he loses to Eddie Solis in the Democratic Primary.

14. Cameron County D.A. Luis Saenz will lose the March 1, 2016 primary election against nemesis Carlos Masso. Saenz may even have some tense moments when he hears rumbles from a Houston grand jury. Masso will face Jeremy Sorelle in November, and will probably win.

15. Commissioner for Pct. 4 candidate Basilio "Chino" Sanchez will win against Veterans Court attorney Gus Ruiz. Word has gotten out already that Ruiz is the hand-picked candidate of the Sanchez brothers who want to use him to control the commissioners court and county judiciary.

16. Former Brownsville Mayor Eddie Trevino will win against Dan Sanchez for the county judge nomination of the Democratic Party. People have gotten turned off on the fact that David Sanchez, his brother and a district judge, has violated the judicial code of ethics to openly campaign for a candidate. They also were turned off when Dan turned a Veterans Day celebration into an announcement for his candidacy. Sanchez is also known to be bullying every elected official to support him. He promised JPs a raise and didn't deliver, but did give raises to all district and county court-at-law employees, including those in his brother's district court. Not quite clear is the energetic effort of Brownsville attorney Liz Garza, a candidate who has earned the respect of those she comes into contact with. Steady in her anti-LNG and anti-corruption stands, she may draw enough independent votes to throw the race into a runoff or ven get into it against Treviño herslef, but things get cloudy from there on.

17. Judge David Sanchez, despite ample warning to cease and desist from campaigning for his brother, will get sanctioned by the Judicial Commission. Should the violations prove so overwhelming and brazen, the sanctions might go further than normal.

18. Another Sanchez candidate, Sonia Herrera, will fall despite the support of the Sanchez brothers. Herrera was set to run against David but was convinced that she should target Nelson with their help. Once the voters found out who was behind the candidacy, they fled her campaign in droves.