2024: MAGA REPUBLICANS RELEASE THE AUTOCRATIC KRAKEN

DE CHANCHULLO, BUT WE'LL TAKE IT: DALLAS OVER LIONS BY 1

Sports Illustrated

The Dallas Cowboys are celebrating after a 20-19 win Saturday over the Detroit Lions, but it doesn't come without a little bit of controversy - a late-game call or two that might have Cowboys folks who believe the officials are "always against us'' rethinking their position.

The Lions scored a touchdown with 23 seconds left to cut the deficit to one, but coach Dan Campbell's aggressive nature kept the offense out to take the lead instead of an extra point to tie.

On the play, quarterback Jared Goff throws what appears to be a completion to offensive lineman Taylor Decker. The Lions should have the lead at this point, but a flag is thrown for an illegal touching penalty on Decker.

As an offensive lineman, you have to report as eligible to the referee in order to catch a pass on any given play. The referees claimed that Decker didn't report and gave the Lions a five-yard penalty, negating the play. But video evidence may suggest that the Cowboys got away with this one.

With all the video evidence, it certainly looks like there was an error and the Cowboys caught a break, one that may shake up the entire NFC playoff picture.

With the win, the Cowboys improve to 11-5 and get a chance at the NFC East division title next week. They also earn the tiebreaker over the 11-5 Lions. Dallas will now be seeded higher than Detroit if both teams win the division ... certainly not the best time to make such a mistake.

THE BALLAD OF EL CARNAL BENITO RICHARD NEECE (AUDIO)

(Ed.'s Note: This audio was sent to us anonymously with only a phone number as the source. We will respect the sender's wishes, although everyone who has heard it has guessed it was written and sung  by  everyone from Kris Kristofferson to Emilio Crixell or Albert Besteiro. Whoever it turns out to be, it is a beautiful expression about an old friend and someone who loved people and his hometown and will be missed sorely. Thanks.) 

IT'S DO OR DIE FOR DAK AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Various Sources

The Detroit Lions will try to improve their playoff seeding in a road game against the Dallas Cowboys (10-5) who are vying for a postseason berth of their own. The Lions, at (11-4)  are the NFC North champions for the first time ever.

The Lions got the division crown last week in a 30-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings for their first division title in 30 years.  It was their first win in Minnesota since 2017.

Last week The Cowboys continued on a downward spiral with a 22-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins . Outstanding players were wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who has scored a touchdown in his seventh straight game, the longest active streak in the NFL, and surpassed 5,000 career yards from scrimmage. 

Quarterback Dak Prescott lost a fumble as the Cowboys threatened to score on their first possession and a roughing-the-passer foul on Micah Parsons led to a Dolphins touchdown.

Today the Cowboys play the Lions at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Dallas home field. The game starts at 7:15 p.m.

 
According to the ESPN Matchup Predictor, the Dallas Cowboys have a 70.1 percent chance of beating the Detroit Lions in Week 17. There are four teams vying for a playoff berth in the Central Division and the ones with the better records than Dallas are the San Francisco 49ers (11-4), the Philadelphia Eagles (11-4), Detroit (11-4) and Dallas. Hope springs eternal. Let's go Pokes!

ALUMNUS TONY GARZA'S ADDRESS AT 2023 SMU COMMENCEMENT

The Rio Grande Guardian

By Antonio Garza

(Editor’s Note: On December 16, Antonio Garza, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Brownsville native, and frequent Rio Grande Guardian International News Service contributor, gave the 2023

commencement address at Southern Methodist University.

The occasion marked 40 years since Garza’s own graduation from SMU School of Law. Click here to watch the speech, which starts shortly after the 1 hour, 21 minute, mark. Here are Ambassador Garza’s prepared remarks:)

Lord, we thank you for this glorious day, and your presence on this joyous occasion.

And Gerald, thank you for that introduction…do remember that cold day … and I also recall a day in June of 1995 when the sun shone bright in Dallas and you became President of SMU…and every day since, the Mustang community has been grateful for your leadership…and for what you and Gail have meant to the University…

And thank you to the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, David Miller. The big guy put the Atlantic Coast Conference in his sight and never wavered, never relented…50 years ago on this very floor you couldn’t out-hustle David, and as our Chairman that’s still the case…

And to the faculty, staff, distinguished guests, proud family…and especially the Southern Methodist University, class of 2023…Thank you for having me.

I remember the day I graduated, how I felt and how proud my dad was, but I don’t remember who spoke…and I have no illusions you’ll remember me.
I don’t have all the answers to life after graduation…although there were times when I thought I knew it all, but life had a way of correcting me.

My favorite “reminder” occurred shortly after graduating from SMU’s School of Law in 1983. I was tutoring a South Texas high school student named Raul.

Raul needed help preparing for his high school exit exam, and I was a volunteer in an at-risk program.

Raul and I worked together for weeks, all in anticipation of his big test.

On the Monday after the exam, I caught up with Raul and asked how he’d done. It took him a few moments to find the right words and he looked at me, shrugged and said: “Let me put it this way, sir…you’re not as smart as you think you are. ”

It was a humbling experience, one I’ll never forget …But you, SMU graduates of 2023, have much less reason to be humble.

You leave SMU with memories of the Boulevard, Lighting Ceremonies, the Commons experience 3 conference championships … but most of all you leave here knowing this…You are the graduating class of 2023…And by every benchmark or measurement you are considered the strongest class to ever graduate from SMU.

All of you excelled…Well, all of you, except for…Gerald, was it seven students?…And you know who you are.

Each of you came here to become a better version of yourself, to experience the transformative power of education…And education is a powerful force. I know, I’ve seen that in my own life.

My grandparents came to Texas from Mexico in the early 1900’s, and my Dad grew up along the border during the depression in the 1930’s……After high school he served abroad in WW2, returned to South Texas and did what he said being a tech sergeant in the army had fully prepared him to do; he worked hard, pumped gas, wiped windshields and became the proud owner of a 2 pump filling station.

Dad took care of his family and did what he felt was the right thing, his duty…and he did that every single day.

But Mom, no sitting around the house for her. When I was 8 or 9 years old, she decided to go back to school.

In addition to being that “cool mom” that made sure we got to swim practice and little league games, let us grow our hair long and tie-dyed our t-shirts…she also questioned the Vietnam war, talked about civil rights, and decided that she was going to get a degree…and that meant that I’d be spending time at our local college, in the kids section of the library while she went to class…And while I learned to love the library, I wasn’t so sure about college.

You see, it seemed like every few months or so Mom would come down with the flu, lose her hair and then bounce back. In July of 1972 I turned 13 and our college President asked my Dad if me and my little brother couldn’t visit Mom in the hospital so he could present her something, a degree. One month later she was gone, cancer…but that education transformed my mother…into my hero, and the most powerful example a young boy could possibly have.

Each of you has had your battles, large and small. Over the course of the last several years your generation has had to reckon with serious questions about race and justice, you’ve succeeded in the face of a pandemic, economic collapse and live in a world of radical uncertainty.

In the process you have learned one of life’s most profound lessons… and that is, “life is not easy”; and really big challenges are seldom confronted alone. You are the strivers and survivors…You succeeded because you believed in yourselves, and others believed in you…

Thank your parents for their love. You made the grades, they likely helped with the bills…and today, mom’s tearing up thinking about how quickly this day came…and dad’s praying to god you’ve found a job and aren’t moving back home…

As I was preparing today’s remarks I couldn’t help but returning to what a challenging time we’re living in…the Middle East, Ukraine, China, a deeply polarized country…and technological advances a force for both good and evil. I honestly thought: “Come on, it’s a day to celebrate…and then I realized, I can’t get up here and not acknowledge those very stubborn, harsh realities.”

To read entire post, click on link: https://riograndeguardian.com/garza-education-is-a-powerful-force-i-know-ive-seen-that-in-my-own-life/

LOS BUKIS CLASSIC TEAR JERKER "NAVIDAD SIN TI"

MAKE YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND VFW #2035 NEW YEAR'S DANCE

OYEZ! OYEZ! OYEZ ! BROTHER THOMAS IS PRIMED TO HEAR YOUR CASE!

TRAGALUMBRES COULDN'T FIND ANY PO' FOLKS IN BRONSVIL?

AND NOW, A WORD FROM SOMEONE WITH ANOTHER VIEWPOINT

(Ed.'s Note: One of our eight readers sent us a photo of a poster they say is appearing in the downtown area of Brownsville. It depicts a Palestinian woman holding a child in the shadow of the wall built by the Israeli government to keep her out of Israel. The other woman – also holding a child – is of an asylum seeker from Central America against a section of the barbed wire border wall keeping them out of the United States. The slogan below them "Desde la Frontera a Palestina" is reminiscent of the Palestinian slogan "From the River to the Sea." Is it a fair comparison? Some would argue that it is not, but it is an opinion that is obviously shared by some people in the city. Here, for the sake of dialogue, is the photo.)

CALL FOR SUCCESSFUL HISPANICS TO LEND OTHERS A HAND UP

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Those of us who have been fortunate to have attained an education and achieve a measure of success with roots in low socioeconomic levels and humble beginnings also inherited a social obligation: to uplift those who don't have one.

I'm talking about all those Hispanics or Mexicans or Latinos – whatever you want to call them/us – that have made it in the world and have made lots of money. One thing I see when I’m in the valley is a proliferation of high-end cars like Porsches, Jaguars, Teslas, BMWs, etc.

But before you plunk down  $80,000 for a car, would you consider giving some money to Texas Southmost, UTRGV, or Texas A&M Kingsville for student scholarships?

Unlike other successful groups who have been prosecuted and reviled, we have not come together after all the horrible things that have happened to us. I remember this as I travel trough Columbus, Texas, a town where newcomer Texans expelled all Mexicans in 1856 because they thought they could help promote a slave insurrection. 

I guess the memory of all these things are everywhere, and, when in the valley, I think about all the people that are dead in the fields, their bones near trees where they were lynched and nobody ever found, all the land that was lost, and the way that we got put down because Mexican-Americans were seen as stupid, lazy, and not hard-working as the new white settlers saw themselves. 

We have to counter this self-hate that has been hammered into us through an education that doesn't even acknowledge that we have a place in history, and that teaching kids in school of the abuses against a conquered people by a "superior" race amounts to critical race theory that erodes the self esteem of their progeny. Ironically, to them, ignorance of this sordid history is bliss. 

One way to counter this is to help kids go to school. If you’re going to buy a BMW and pay so much money, can you maybe get the next less expensive one or buy another car that doesn’t cost so much and give some money for scholarships so some kids can go to school? 

Financial aid is so tough as you know, and if you have ever done it, filling out that FAFSA is terrible. And there are some people who are not wealthy, but not terribly poor and don’t qualify for their kids to have financial aid. They fall somewhere in the middle. 

And you know how expensive tuition is these days. It has skyrocketed. In some classes, universities are forcing the kids to pay money for the textbooks used in classes. So instead of being able to borrow the book from other students, getting a PDF or something else, or getting it from the downtown library, universities have signed contracts with electronic providers that require that they be purchased or do without them.

Can we find it in our hearts to try to help a kid go to school? 

It can be in a formal way by contributing to a scholarship fund in one of the colleges or universities or just the kid that you know really well that you can give money to so they can go to school. Many people have quietly done it that way. 

I know of one university professor whose nephew (cousin’s kid) whose single mom couldn't really help him, and he was on a full scholarship to Texas A&M but didn’t have enough money to live on even though they paid all his tuition. She gave (even though she was almost broke) $150 a month for a whole academic year. It may not have been much, but it made a huge difference in his life.

We can all do things like that. 

When a person has money it’s so much easier to go buy lots of clothes, expensive stuff, jewelry,  or spend loads of money on a fancy vacation, buy that fancy car, but not really stop to think about the world around us. And the only way we, as a people, a state, and a nation, are going to do better is to help the kids. It won't hurt a bit and you'll feel good being part of the solution.

Locally, Texas Southmost College Foundation's mission is to transform students’ lives "by providing equal opportunities for students to access a quality, affordable college education by providing support for student scholarships, academic instruction, and instructional support for students. A local, volunteer Board of Directors governs the Foundation, which is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization."

To reach them, contact Stella E. Garcia, PhD, Vice President of Institutional Advancement/Chief of Staff, (956) 295-3394, or email her at stella.garcia@tsc.edu.

To contact UTRGV, click on link: https://www.give.utrgv.edu/s/1953/22/interior.aspx?sid=1953&gid=2&pgid=397

To contact Texas A&M Kingsville, call University Scholarships at (361) 593-5372
or log on scholarships@tamuk.edu

VFW POST 2035'S LAST BAILONGO OF 2023 WELCOMES 2024

BREAKING MORE STORIES THAN A MANHATTAN WRECKING BALL!

DECEMBER 26, 2023

MAYRA ADMITS SHE'S A VALLEJO, STILL GETS IT WRONG

(Ed.'s Note: After many recipients of her family Christmas card which identified her husband and brood as "Flores," Congressional District 34 Republican candidate Mayra Flores posted a correction and said they were the Flores-Vallejo family." Well, not quite. Hispanic custom and culture lists the husband's surname first and then the mother's surname at the end. Did something changed when she moved from Burgos, Tamaulipas to Los Indios (McAllen?) or wherever she now lists her residence? Although it is an alpaca, I could imagine the animal in the picture saying "Como se llama?" Wonder how Mr. Vallejo-Flores feels about that.)

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT HOLDS OUR ENTIRE WORLD HOSTAGE

MARY ROSE CARDENAS, FORMER TSC CHAIR, DIES

Texas Southmost College

Word has reached us that Mary Rose Cardenas has passed away today.

A Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient of 2004, Mary Rose Cardenas is a former trustee and chair of the Texas Southmost College District and co-owner and vice president of Cardenas Motors and Cardenas Development Co. Inc. Texas Southmost College Alumna ’48

"My Husband claims that I spent most of my time thinking about the college, talking to people about the college, or thinking for the college and he’s right. Because, since the beginning, I have known that Texas Southmost College was this community’s greatest asset."

Mary Rose Cardenas attended classes in the 1940s when TSC was known as Brownsville Junior College. She was forced to withdraw at the insistence of her "very old-fashioned" father, who was concerned about the number of GIs returning to the college after WWII.

Dreams of college were left behind permanently at age 17, when Cardenas took over supporting the family after her father became ill.

As a young woman, then wife and mother, Cardenas worked as a bookkeeper and manager for several Brownsville businesses over the years. She also worked side-by-side with her husband who secured the city’s first Buick franchise in 1971. Cardenas Motors now has dealerships in Brownsville and Harlingen and was cited by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the nation’s top Hispanic-owned corporations. She is Co-owner and Vice President of Cardenas Motors and Cardenas Development.

First elected to the TSC Board of Trustees in 1984, she was re-elected in 1990 and 1996. She served four terms as Chairman.

Under her leadership as chair, the college began its groundbreaking partnership with UT Brownsville, restored an historic campus, added new acreage and numerous state-of-the-art buildings, and launched an award-winning scholarship program that made higher education possible for thousands of talented students. Her energy and persistence are credited with bringing a full, four-year university to Brownsville many years sooner than UT officials had originally planned.

She has served her community on various boards including the Driscoll Children’s Hospital, Valley Regional Medical Center, the Rio Grande Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville. The recipient of numerous awards, most recently she received the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

CHEECH AND CHONG CLASSIC: SANTA CLAUS AND HIS OLD LADY

2024: NO MORE USELESS GESTURES AFTER MASS SHOOTINGS

 

BROWNSVILLE COMMUNITY SAYS GOODBYE TO BENITO NEECE

1000'S ATTEND GOV'S ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILL SIGNING IN B'VILLE

(Thousands attend Abbott's bill signing, including an obviously illegal Venezuelan roadrunner.) Rrun-Rrun Graphic.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to an isolated riverside site near Brownsville on Monday to sign into law three bills that pour more money into his three-year effort to deter illegal immigration at the Texas-Mexico border and give Texas law enforcement authority to arrest undocumented immigrants anywhere in the state.

According to a news release from the governor's office, the signing was "very well attended."

Senate Bill 3 earmarks $1.54 billion in state money to continue construction of barriers along the 1,200-mile border, and allows the state to spend up to $40 million for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge,a housing development near Houston that far-right publications claim is a magnet for undocumented immigrants.

The money would be added to at least $1.5 billion in contracts the state has issued since September 2021 to build about 40 miles of border barrier. As of August, Texas had erected 16 miles of steel bollard barriers in Starr, Cameron, Val Verde and Webb counties.

Senate Bill 4 creates a state crime for illegally crossing the border from Mexico — a new law that is likely to force a legal showdown with the federal government.

Another Senate Bill 4 — this one passed by lawmakers during the third special session earlier this year — would increase the minimum sentence from two years to 10 years for smuggling immigrants or operating a stash house.

The laws funding the border barrier and making crossing illegally a state crime go into effect in early March. The human smuggling law goes into effect in early February.

Abbott came to Brownsville to sign the bills.

Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have ruled that immigration laws can only be enforced by the federal government. But some Texas Republicans have said they hope the new law will push the issue back before a U.S. Supreme Court that is more conservative since three appointees of former President Donald Trump joined it.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, sent a letter, signed by other Democratic members of Congress, asking the U.S. Department of Justice to sue Texas to stop the law from taking effect.

“We urge you to assert your authority over federal immigration and foreign policy and pursue legal action, as appropriate, to stop this unconstitutional and dangerous legislation from going into effect,” the letter says.

In another statement, 30 former immigration judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic administrations said the bill is unconstitutional.

“The proposed Texas legislation, which would allow a state court magistrate judge to issue a removal order, is not lawful. Immigration is plainly a federal function,” the statement says. “State legislators cannot enact immigration laws for the same reasons that the United States Congress cannot enact Texas state legislation. State magistrate judges cannot conduct immigration proceedings for the same reason that federal Immigration Judges cannot adjudicate Texas state criminal cases.”

AVELO "SEASONALLY" SUSPENDS BROWNSVILLE-LAS VEGAS SERVICE FIRST QUARTER 2024: SAYS PLANES REQUIRE HEAVY MAINTENANCE, NO WORD ON RETURN AFTER THAT

(City Manager Helen Ramirez said that Avelo was going to increase other destinations when she and Mayor John Cowen went to Avelo headquarters in California in the summer. And commissioner Linda Macias during a city commission meeting stated that she spoke with Avelo and that Brownsville’s airport had more flight destinations than McAllen and Harlingen airport. Now the chickens have come to roost just as they did when AeroMexico was enticed with incentives to come to the Brownsville airport. Are we throwing good money after bad?)

By Howard Hardee
FlightGlobal

US ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Avelo Airlines is exiting four markets that did not develop as planned and intends to seasonally suspend a further nine routes.

The Southern California start-up told FlightGlobal on 21 November that “demand did not generate as hoped” on four routes – Raleigh-Durham (North Carolina) to Sarasota (Florida), New Haven (Connecticut) to Melbourne (Florida) and Las Vegas to Arcata (California) and Dubuque (Iowa). Those routes will be operated through early January and will not return.

The carrier had launched flights to Arcata and Dubuque in September, following its pattern of targeting markets with low or no air service. Competitors in the USA’s low-cost segment have recently observed softening domestic demand for leisure travel, however.

The ULCC is also seasonally suspending nine routes in the first quarter of next year, including Burbank (California) to Colorado Springs (Colorado) and Brownsville (Texas); Las Vegas to Brownsville; New Haven to Greenville (North Carolina), Savannah (Georgia) and Charleston (South Carolina); and Wilmington (Delaware) to Nashville (Tennessee), Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) and Daytona Beach (Florida).

Avelo did not specify when the seasonal flights will resume in 2024.

This is  what Mayor "Fact-Driven" John Cowen) was saying in May: “Avelo Airlines’ arrival in Brownsville will not only boost our local economy, but also provide Rio Grande Valley residents and visitors with more travel options and flexibility. We wholeheartedly welcome Avelo to our City. This partnership reflects our city’s progressive spirit and commitment to fostering connections with the wider world.”

"Total Alignment" City Manager Helen Ramirez (commanding a $244,504 salary) said: "This is a tremendous step forward for our city and our airport. Avelo Airlines’ commitment to affordable, convenient travel aligns with our mission to provide the best services to our residents and visitors. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Avelo, one that will benefit South Texas as a region.”

Former Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport Administrator "See ya Later" Bryant Walker who commanded a $132,657 salary) chimed in: “This is a momentous occasion for our city and our airport, and it marks a significant advancement in our ongoing commitment to make Brownsville more accessible to the world. We are excited about the potential growth that Avelo Airlines brings to our airport and City. This partnership will enhance our airport’s reputation and capacity as a regional hub of travel and commerce.”

”The rest of the routes are on a seasonal break due to scheduled heavy maintenance on our planes due to the delayed arrival of our new-to-us aircraft,” Avelo says. “As the Q1 time frame typically [has] lower demand in these markets, we chose to utilise this time to lessen frequencies and seasonally exit so our planes are in a good position for peak spring/summer travel.”

The carrier has 16 mid-life Boeing 737NG in service and does not have order commitments beyond those jets, according to Cirium fleets data.

So all those dollars that the city commission squandered at the recommendation of manager Ramirez  have been for naught, just like the $500,000 to $750,000 she lost on Space-related industries without performing any background checks for "quick-wins" to enhance her alleged professionalism are also gone?

BALLOT PLACES FOR CONTESTED RACES IN DEMO PRIMARY

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 37

Ruben Cortez Jr.

Carol Lynn Sanchez

Alex Dominguez

Jonathan Gracia

DISTRICT JUDGE, 445TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT

Gloria M. Rincones

John Shergold

SHERIFF

Jesus Rosas

Ronnie Saenz

Eric Garza

Manuel "Manny" Treviño

COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR

Antonio "Tony Yzaguirre Jr.

Eddie Garcia

Jesus "Skippy" Davila

COUNTY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT 1

Erika Perez Murillo

Sofia C. Benavides

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE PRECINCT 2, PLACE 1

Joe Elizardi

Linda Salazar

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE PRECINCT 5, PLACE 1

Sandra Diaz

Liz Chavez

COUNTY CONSTABLE PRECINCT 1

Daniel Holland

Ronnie Moore

COUNTY CONSTABLE PRECINCT 2

Abelardo "Abel" Gomez

Felipe de Jesus Coria

Carlos Martinez

ALWAYS THOUGHT HIS NAME WAS VALLEJO. CHANGED TO FLORES?

CAMERON COUNTY H.F.C. MAKES MILLIONS SHELTERING DEVELOPERS

By Andrea Lucia
CBS DFW

DALLAS - On a vacant south Dallas city block, a new apartment complex is going up, one that will pay no property tax.

In exchange for a promise to provide affordable housing, the dozen lots this development sits on near B Avenue and South Corinth Street Road have disappeared from the area's tax rolls.

Dallas County doesn't even track the lots' values anymore because of their "total exemption" status.

The tax breaks were deals struck not by the city of Dallas or any local entity, but by one more than 500 miles away in Brownsville.

The Cameron County Housing Finance Corporation's website says its mission is to finance affordable housing across Cameron County, but it touts projects all over the state.

County appraisal records we reviewed show the corporation owns property in Dallas, Fort Worth, McKinney, Irving, Lewisville, and Euless, as well as a dozen other Texas cities outside its jurisdiction.

"We would be very concerned to find that HFCs are established by a jurisdiction in one part of the state and putting units down on the ground in another part of the state," said Ben Martin, research director for Texas Houser.

Martin says Housing Finance Corporations (HFCs), are meant to take advantage of special rules to help create low-income housing for the communities they serve.

"The worst case is that these deals end up being kind of tax shelters for the developers while not really providing any benefit to the public or the households that desperately need this housing," said Martin.

The deals aren't just being used for new construction.

Within the last year, we found Cameron County's HFC has approved deals with two properties in Iriving that have been around since the 1980s.

Together, they paid almost a million dollars in property taxes last year.

Now, like the development in Dallas, they'll pay zero.

Residents we spoke to say the tax savings aren't being reflected in their rent.

"It's gone up. That's all it's ever done since I've been here. Gone up. I started off paying $1150, now I pay about $1500 a month," said Kobe Peyton.

Both properties, residents told us, have recently been painted. The potholes have been fixed. And, the Las Colinas Heights complex's website now advertises it as a "luxurious community."

But, if it were up to Peyton, he'd prefer that tax savings trickle down to the people who live there.

"The break on the rent, for sure. It would help a lot," he said.

Getting through to Cameron County's HFC itself was a challenge.

While it's run by a board, it has only a single employee to run its office and oversee all its projects.

The address and phone number on its website lead back to the county courthouse, where an employee eventually responded to our voicemails to let us know the HFC definitely wasn't located there. County administrators we e-mailed said the HFC is its own distinct entity.

And, although the HFC has a board that holds meetings, the most recent one listed online happened six years ago.

In August, though, Cameron County Commissioners summoned the HFC's board and asked it to explain the out-of-county deals it's been making with developers.

"We provide a tax-exempt entity," explained Mark Yates.

"You give them the shelter, the tax shelter, so that they don't… so that they're able to operate or invest in this housing project and not be taxed on it... Is that right?" said Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino.

"Yeah," responded Yates.

"And then what does the finance corp get out of that?" asked Trevino.

"We get a certain amount of fees," said Yates.

Those fees are significant, although far less than the benefits developers walk away with.

Yates, the HFC's sole full-time employee, said it normally collects 15 percent of whatever developers would have otherwise paid in taxes.

In other words, it collects roughly 15 cents for every dollar of taxes it allows a local government to lose out on.

Details, though, differ from one contract to the next.

In one recent negotiation, Yates said the HFC agreed to accept half a million dollars upfront.

Within two years, the deals have earned the HFC millions.

"We grew our cash balance from $250,000 to $ 6 million," said its board president Sergio Gonzalez.

In a memo to county commissioners, he explained, "We participate in deals that are outside of Cameron County in order to take those funds and invest them here locally."

State Representative Gary Gates who led reform of a similar tax program was surprised to learn of the widespread deals.

"HOW'S THIS HAPPENING? How can… This is where I'm just taken aback," he said. "They are deliberately misusing what could be a good tool to provide affordable housing."

The HFC's board says communities like the ones in North Texas, where these projects are happening, benefit when developers use their tax savings to reinvest in the properties.

Gates, though, worries the ultimate price will fall on tax-paying homeowners forced to make up the difference.

"This is going to be costly to all the other property taxpayers in the state of Texas," he said.

Cameron County's HFC did not respond to our request for an interview, but once we were able to reach Yates by e-mail, he did provide us with public records, including a list of ways the entity is using its funds to benefit low-income families in South Texas.

LOCAL COMPANY OFFERS PREMIUM ALKALINE PURIFIED WATER

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

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REPUBLICANS PLAY TIT FOR TAT ON BIDEN IMPEACHMENT VOTE

TEXAS SUPREME COURT: ALL HAT , NO MEDICAL CREDENTIALS

By John Young
The Gila Herald

Abortion is a medical necessity.

That’s a fact, though purveyors of fiction will attempt to convince us otherwise.

Said fiction has led legislatures to create inhumane and dangerous policies like those that forced a brave Texas woman to appear before a judge for permission and then have to rush to another state to have a medically necessary abortion.

The alarming saga of Kate Cox defines abortion bans down to their essence: They are anti-woman, anti-medicine, anti-sex.

What happened to her gives the lie to the propaganda “pro-life.” Those who have put state lawmakers in control of women’s bodies aren’t concerned at all about the lives of mothers amid crisis pregnancies.

It also makes the term “pro-choice” as empty as a faded bumper sticker.

I heard a TV news talking head say Cox “chose to have her abortion” in another state. Not true. She had no choice if she didn’t want the not-viable fetus inside her to kill her or leave her unable to have children again.

Abortion wasn’t her choice. It was her only option.

Fiction: Anti-abortion groups claim the procedure “is never medically necessary to save the life of the mother.”

Bunk, says the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians.

It identifies several common situations where abortion “is the only medical intervention,” that can preserve a woman’s health or save her life.

One of the most common is when a woman’s water breaks prematurely and she faces the threat of infection.

Another is organ-damaging preeclampsia in which the woman’s blood pressure goes through the roof.

Anyone who delivers babies knows of the Irish woman who was refused a medically indicated abortion and died of sepsis after a miscarriage at 17 weeks.

This explains why vast numbers of those who nurture pregnancies along and deliver babies could be called “abortionists” by the raving right when, as physicians, they perform medically necessary abortions.

A medical examination room is not a place for politicians in snakeskin boots, or for-sale ideologues in black robes.

How alarming it was to see smirking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton employ the weight of the State of Texas to stop Cox from doing what her physician said she must.

(Paxton, you may be aware, recently escaped impeachment over a host of charges, his safety assured in the womb of a MAGA-fied, look-away-from-crookedness Texas Senate.)

How unsurprising it was that the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court brushed aside a lower court’s ruling that Cox’s abortion proceed.

Texas elects its judges, meaning at the state level they raise great wads of campaign stash from special interests: first from attorneys who will appear before them, second from political advocacy groups intent on cooking the judicial process.

It’s a process so tainted it makes the U.S. Supreme Court look ethical.

My goodness, what an untenable way for such an excruciating and private medical matter to be determined: a courtroom.

Courts, by their nature, take their time. (For Texas judges, the better to raise campaign cash.) Problem pregnancies don’t abide by court dates.

The foot-dragging folderol of legal proceedings is one reason so-called exceptions for the mother’s life, for rape, for incest, are no exceptions at all.

Doctors across the sweep of Republican-controlled states that have abortion bans with so-called medical exceptions have said in practice they are no exceptions at all.

This explains why the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose those bans. As the Kaiser Family Foundation explains, those opponents “are concerned that bans on abortion may lead to unnecessary health problems for those people experiencing pregnancy complications.”

“But what about abortions of convenience?” say those who lean into the quest to penalize sex, who also will fight holistic anti-abortion approaches like birth control access and comprehensive sex education. Such hypocrites.

Those abortions should be a private medical matter as well. We know from history that in the absence thereof, women will resort to extreme measures to end pregnancies.

Kate Cox’s extreme measure was high-tailing it out of Texas as Stetson-hatted intervenors kicked the dust.

Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email him at jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.

I ALMOST GOT AWAY WITH IT! CCSO DEPUTY CHARGED WITH DWI

(Ed.'s Note: The Cameron County Sheriff's Department was one deputy short Monday morning after the 2 a.m. Sunday arrest of Deputy Leroy Ysuef Garcia outside a bar on the 3100 block of Pablo Kisel. Initial reports indicated that there was an accident involved. The Brownsville Police blog managers took their sweet time to post his mug shot, unlike others arrested at the same time. Coming on the heels of the third non-compliance orders with the county jails by the Texas Commission On Jail Standards, this has not been a good December for Sheriff Eric Garza. Good snag by one of our eight readers.)

FILL IN THE BLANKS ON WHO THIS POST IS TALKING ABOUT

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The police department is like a circus run by inept Chief Felix Sauceda who’s more into self-promotion than managing a group of officers. 

This guy is so active on social media, it’s like he's auditioning for a reality show instead of leading a department! His idea of managing personnel is like herding cats — officers, detectives and agents removed from their primary duties to do clerical work while trucks are stolen at a rate of four to five a day. 

Want to file a report? They might as well put up a sign saying, "Sorry, no cops available, please file your report online or take a ride to the station!"

And don't get me started on the Lieutenants and Commanders! Commander Mentiras was demoted and afraid to end up in burrito inventory duty at the city jail. Then there’s this other Lieutenant Catrin who got too cozy with a young cadet, a student, and Sergeant Crashanova and Cmdr. Mentiras had a front-row seat but decided to play blind.

But wait, the real kicker? Lieutenant Zam Zam Thank You Ma'am got shot in the gut and out the ass with his own duty gun! And the dude couldn’t stick to one story if his life depended on it! First, it was an accidental self-inflicted shot but the angle didn't coincide with the story. Blamed it on his kid but couldn't use that one because making a firearm accessible to a child is a crime.

Finally, it’s the pregnant wife who caught him red-handed with Party Planner Officer Nasty, the talk of 600 E. Jackson St. The soap opera drama is on another level. Integrity is out the window, gone faster than yesterday's donuts.

Now, the Napster is the acting commander. 

Great, like things weren’t already going downhill at a fast pace! Chief Sauceda is just running the department into the ground, which everyone expected. He's made the once respected Brownsville Police Department a spectacle.The city manager needs to wake up and smell the chaos brewing before someone gets hurt or worse.

This mess isn’t just embarrassing for the City of Brownsville and the police department; it’s a full-on spectacle for the whole city. It’s high time for some serious reform before this police comedy turns into a tragedy.