BIRTHDAY, GOING AWAY FETE AT SOUTHWINDS

(Ed.'s Note: A great time was had by all patrons at the Southwinds Lounge today chowing down on super grilled botana and the cake above to celebrate one of our friend's birthday and his upcoming trip, a retired federal immigration officer. 

Diana, the woman behind the bar, donated the cake. 

Breaking bread with friend on his birthday over a libation is a local ritual. Some snitch called the city health department and the city inspectors issued a warning and they were told to shut the grill down. Las envidias. Never a dull moment here! El refin estuvo con madre!)

BREAKING: INMATES RIOT AT OLD COUNTY JAIL DOWNTOWN

 

A violent reaction to an unannounced inspection at a little after 4:30 p.m. today at the old unit of the old Cameron County jail led to a prisoner riot as local authorities converged on the facility on Harrison Street to contain it. 

This is a breaking story and there have been no reports of injuries or damage to the facility or a statement from Cameron  County Sheriff’s Office on the current situation.

At about 5:30, a sheriff department source reported that an inmate transport van was delivering several prisoners to Tucker Carrizales-Rucker correction facility in Olmito.

SENATE KILLS HOUSE MAYORKAS ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

USA Today

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted to deem both articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas unconstitutional, killing the charges against the top Biden administration official despite protests from Republican lawmakers.

The Senate rejected the article accusing Mayorkas of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" on a 51-48 vote. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted "present," splitting from her fellow Republicans. The Senate dropped the second charge that Mayorkas oversaw a "breach of public trust" in a 51-49 vote.

The White House immediately applauded the move. Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations called the proceedings a "baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional."

HISTORIAN MEDRANO TO MAKE PRESENTATION ON SGT. JOSE LOPEZ

    Sculpture of U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Jose Lopez at Veterans Park

Notice that the spot where Lopez is standing to receive his Medal of Honor in the field has been raised and camouflaged to hide the fact that the diminutive Lopez is more than a foot shorter than the general awarding him the nation's highest decoration.

BEST BEER SPECIAL IN D'TOWN B'TOWN; BUCKET OF 6 ULTRAS FOR $15

(Ed.'s Note: We know a good deal when we see one, and the owners of the Sportsman Lounge, Erine Avalos and his better half Berta have one. They are offering buckets of 6 Michelob Ultra Pure Gold  bottles for only $15. Some downtown bars can go as high as $5 for one beer. And Tecates are $2 like all other domestics. Dale gas, bro!)
 

GARCIA: SOUTHMOST TAX OFFICE WAS A WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

He said it on many occasions. Whether it's been in forums, in podcasts, and in general conversations with voters, he has affirmed and reiterated his viewpoint on the construction of a satellite tax office to provide service to the people of the Southmost area, the fastest growing population in the city's southeast side, was a waste of public monies. 

Edelmiro "Eddie" Garcia, locked in a runoff race with incumbent Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre, has said that he would not have built a satellite tax office in the Southmost area because it was unnecessary and could have been avoided if the existing tax office downtown concentrated on quality customer service and not the quantity of offices countywide.

In numerous occasions, whether in forums sponsored by the Brownsville Board of Realtors February 15, the podcast interview held February 8, and in the Brownsville Police Officers Association forum February 13, he has unequivocally hammered home the issue that building a tax office there was a drain on the county.

"I believe in quality customer service, not quantity," he extolled.

Garcia, a current Brownsville Independent School District board member, whose board is facing a $20 million deficit and has had to consolidate schools to trim expenses, seems to have hit upon this theme – that Yzaguirre's construction of satellites offices around the county aren't necessary and a waste of public funds. And pointedly, when it came to closing schools and consolidating them, the board took at first crack at Cromack and other schools, all in the Sotuhmost area.

So far, the county tax office has 11 satellite offices to serve far-flung areas like Rio Hondo, La Feria, Port Isabel, San Benito and Los Fresnos. As of yet, no elected officials from these areas have voiced any complaints to the county for bringing the service to their communities.   

But Garcia wasn't ready to respond during the BPOA forum when Cameron County Pct. 1 Commissioner Sofia Benavides took issue with his comments that the construction of a county tax office to serve that historically underserved area was unnecessary to serve one of the fastest growing areas in the county,  

"We have always been underserved," Benavides explained. "I stood up and told him that I took offense at his remarks that the office to serve our people was a waste of taxpayers' money. Southmost has more than 47,000 people. It's like a small city. In fact, it has almost twice the people that San Benito has. They have one there. Why not the people in the Southmost area? The services that office brings to that area are long overdue. We have ben forgotten for too long. Eddie was wrong."

And what's more telling, perhaps, Benavides said, was that Garcia attended the ribbon-cutting of the Southmost satellite office the day after the BPOA forum and posed immediately to her left representing the BISD to celebrate the construction of the facility.

"Pero bien que se tomo la foto during the ribbon cutting," she pointed out. 

COME MEET YOUR BEST CANDIDATES FOR TSC BOARD

PARKING WARS PT. 3: WILL CITY APPROVE VALET PARKING PILOT PROGRAM?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

If Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez can convince a majority of the city commission tonight, she will launch a pilot program that would place her as the sole authority to provide valet parking to service downtown entertainment businesses by allowing them to use city-owned parking spaces in front of their business to provide the service to their customers.

The item is contained in the agenda of a regular meeting for today, April 16, 2024, at 5 p.m., in the City
Commission Chambers, located on the Second Floor of the Brownsville City Hall-Old Federal Building, located at 1001 East Elizabeth Street.

As stated in her agenda request, Ramirez said that her office "has received requests from downtown businesses that have experienced challenges with limited parking availability to implement a valet parking services ordinance.

"The City Manager's Office seeks authorization to create a pilot program, subject to administrative amendments, to maximize the use of the City's public assets, such as public sidewalks, streets, and rights-of-way, and private lots, for the purpose of providing valet parking service without impeding the needs of the local businesses or traffic"

Under Resolution 2024-0037, the city will acknowledge that the "city commission seeks to encourage tourism throughout the city by minimizing congestion and making parking more convenient to patrons visiting local establishments in Downtown Brownsville... (to establish) a pilot program for valet parking is necessary to protect health, life, and property and to preserve good government, order, and security of the city and its inhabitants."

Cutting to the chase, what Ramirez is proposing is that she be given a year to try a pilot program in downtown Brownsville that will allow local businesses to hire valets to park patrons' vehicles in as-yet-unspecified parking lots and bring them back when the customer is ready to leave.

The resolution also allows Ramirez, or her designee, to assess a one-time permit fee in an amount of up to $1,000 annually in order ($750 in the proposed program) to administer the pilot program. The City Manager is further authorized to administratively modify the pilot program in such a manner that is "fair and not capricious or arbitrary to the applicants."

Part of the application for valet parking license, as envisioned, shall contain the the names, addresses and telephone numbers of, the applicant and, if the applicant is a lessee, the name of the property owner, the independent contractor, if any, which will be used to provide the service.

Further, the application will contain the proposed location, a map showing the placement of any valet parking service stands and off-site valet parking. The map shall also include the placement of any traffic cones to be used, the number of spaces requested to be reserved for the service, each space being twenty-five (25) feet long, if parallel to the curb, or nine (9) feet wide, if head in to the curb; a minimum number of two (2) spaces must be reserved unless the city manager determines that because of special traffic conditions, a greater number of spaces is needed to operate the service efficiently.

It will also include the proposed hours and days of operation, the location of off-street parking and evidence of a signed agreement or other documentation showing that the applicant has a legal right to park vehicles at that off-street location, proof of insurance as required, and copies of written notification to all property owners or their representatives located within 100 feet of, on the same side of the street as, and within the same block as the site.

What the agenda packet doesn't say is whether Ramirez will be able to rent city-owned parking lots as off-site parking to rent to the businesses, and whether parking on those lots would be open to other residents during those times. 

CORRECTION ERIC: INMATE ESCAPES CCSO DEPUTIES; HOSPITAL SECURITY NABS HER

 

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

We first reported a social media report that a female inmate who escaped from custody of her Cameron County Sheriff's Department deputies at a Brownsville hospital had ben caught by Brownsville Police Department officers.

That differed from the account that Sheriff Eric Garza posted on his FB page, giving his deputies credit by saying that "she was immediately restrained by jail staff without further incident."

Now the truth is revealed. 

After the female inmate gave them the slip during a visit to a Brownsville hospital and, made a run for freedom, it was, apparently, the rent-a-cop hospital security who alertly chased her and nabbed her. 

Sheriff department sources say the Brownsville police were immediately notified because members of the sheriff's administrative team were busy participating in an elementary school presentation while members of the CCSO SWAT dance team were entertaining clients at a local adult day care center.

According to KVEO, the inmate was being held at the Carrizalez Rucker corrections facility in Olmito and attempted to escape custody while receiving medical attention. 

In a post following Garza's assertions that his people had caught her after she was able to give the the slip, an eyewitness contradicted his version.

The sheriff's department said on social media that additional charges are pending. And the SWAT danced on.

CHIEF GARCIA'S VISION FOR PROGRESS AT THE PORT OF BROWNSVILLE

By Carlos Garcia

All Port of Brownsville commissioners should have the common goal of promoting the port and recruiting businesses that have a maritime nexus to locate their enterprises here.

Given that, I will not use this as part of my goals in my platform. It is up to all of us to make this a priority. As they say, "Build it and they will come." 

Well, it has been built and now we have to maintain it or else they will leave. There are some basic statements about what I would focus on for the Port of Brownsville.

1. Future Infrastructure Needs: A master capital improvement plan is a must with constant review and updating as required. A Master CIP encompasses all the areas of the Port to include the Fishing harbor. The Port needs to provide adequate facilities so that our tenants can be successful. Numerous port facilities such as warehouses and sheds are leased by the stevedores to temporarily store their clients' cargo/product.

Other areas of the port that need to be addressed are streets and unimproved areas. Funding these needs is a big undertaking. By not having a master capital improvement plan fails the Port in identifying the immediate and long-term needs and the funding source(s).

2. Fishing Harbor: The fishing harbor serves our local shrimping industry. The shrimping industry is struggling to survive as it faces stiff competition from foreign imports. The Port of Brownsville needs to consider identifying the long-term use of the fishing harbor with the delicate balance of how the port supports the shrimping industry. The master capital improvement plan would include addressing the needs and funding sources. In the future it should serve multiple functions in the maritime industry

3. Port Future Financial Investments: The Port has done well in producing revenues over expenses in the past several years. Future revenues will continue to grow as new tenants arrive with major projects that serve the maritime industry. We need to be good stewards in how that money is spent/invested to meet the needs of the Port and its tenants. With the continued growth of inflation, the time is now to repair or build the port's infrastructure.

4. Term Limits: If the stakeholders of the Port of Brownsville are our constituents, then they need to have ample opportunities to be able to serve. Having term limits allows the stakeholders to have constant participation in the election process. Change is healthy for any organization.

“I do not have an inside interest in the Port, but I do have the best interest for the Port in mind.”

TSC, BISD CANDIDATES NEXT ON S. CAMERON DEMO FORUM

PARKING WARS, PT. 2: TELL RAMAN GUYS COVID SIGNS NO LONGER VALID

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

If we are to believe City of Brownville Manager Helen Ramirez, all of the temporary COVID-19 curbside pickup signs are a thing of the past and are being replaced with 15-minute parking spaces on each downtown street corner.

That makes the signs that were used during the COVID pandemic obsolete and no longer authorized by the city.

That's why other businesses along the 1200 block of Adams Street wonder why one of the discarded signs appeared in front of the Kuyashii Ramen eatery on 1237 E Adams. 

The Ramen, as it is called, is partially owned by the partners who run Terras "Urban Mexican Kitchen," who were some of  the first beneficiaries of the signs and of the mobile "mini patio," which was supposed to be lent and rotated to the businesses in the downtown area to assist them do business through the pandemic.

Ricardo's Restaurant found it to be an inconvenience because customers would have to eat in the oppressive summer heat outside, which also drew flies attracted by the food, so he returned it to the city.

When it was Terras' turn, it's owners virtually took ownership of the mini patio and kept it "temporarily" for three years. Not content with taking up the one parking space, the owners added to it and expanded it to take three spots. One of those owners was Christian Nevarez, who apparently was disappointed that the mini patios were recalled by the city to comply with the new parking ordinances passed by the city commission..

Once the city starting scaling back the COCID-era downtown parking, the mini patios and BTX temporary curbside pickup signs were invalidated, much, apparently, to the displeasure of Nevarez and his six other fellow Terras associate owners.

   

In a FB post, Nevarez wrote his friend commissioner Pedro Cardenas rather wistfully that "our" mini patio only took one space, but that he was sure that downtown was better after the city took possession of it and stopped its use.

From the get-go, the mini patios and the temporary curbside pick-up sings and parking spaces they occupied have always been owned by the taxpayers, not the business owners who apparently developed a type of ownership of the mobile mini patio.

In his response, Cardenas, whose wife is now also a  downtown coffee shop owner, consoled Nevarez for his loss and encouraged him and his Terras partners to keep on keeping on despite the removal of  "their" mini patio.

Is it only a coincidence that Nevarez is also part owner of the Ramen, whose now invalid BTX Cares curbside pickup sign is also to be removed? Ah, the casualties of war!

MAVERICK COUNTY ASKS: "WHERE DO WE PUT THE BODIES?"

By Arelis R. Hernandez, Marina Dias and Daniele Volpe
The Washington Post

EAGLE PASS, Tex. — The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck.

The woman had been fished out of the Rio Grande minutes earlier. Now, her body lay stiff as mortician Jesus “Chuy” Gonzalez drove away from the muddy boat ramp and toward an overcrowded freezer, passing mobile homes and a casino along the way.

Maverick County purchased the trailer during the pandemic to handle covid-19 victims. It was designed to hold 20 bodies but on this day held 28 — the putrefied remains testifying to two dozen shattered dreams of reaching the United States. Only half had names.

Gonzalez didn’t flinch as he swung the freezer’s doors open. He has been around so much death that the stench of decomposition no longer bothers him. A large silver Virgen de Guadalupe dangled from his chest as he maneuvered the woman into a wooden barrack.

Nearby lay the body of a man whose arms were frozen as if he were blocking a blow. His jeans and shoes were still covered in river mud and his face marbled with sickly discoloration. Several members of a Venezuelan family who drowned together were also scattered inside the trailer. They had been there since mid-November.

Record-level migration has brought record-breaking death to Maverick County, a border community that is ground zero in the feud between Texas and the Biden administration over migration. Whereas in a typical month years ago, officials here might have recovered one or two bodies from the river, more recently they have handled that amount in a single day.

While border crossings draw the most attention in the national debate about immigration, the rising number of deaths in the Rio Grande has gone largely unnoticed.

First responders have run out of body bags and burial plots. Their rescue boats and recovery trucks are covered in dents and scratches, scars from navigating through the brush to retrieve floating bodies. County officials say they don’t have the training or supplies to collect DNA samples of each unidentified migrant as required by state law, meaning bodies are sometimes left in fridges for months or even buried with scant attempt to identify them.

At one point in 2022 as the body count rose, officials buried migrants in a potter’s field, their graves

marked with crosses made out of PVC pipes. Over the past month, the number of deaths has dropped as migrant crossings dip, but officials are still girding themselves for another increase later this spring. To prepare, they are creating a new space to bury unidentified migrants, the boundaries already demarcated with wooden sticks spray-painted red and lodged into the dirt.

Maverick County Attorney Jaime Iracheta said that the border community budgeted $100,000 of a nearly $4 million grant from Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, toward handling migrant remains but that auditors now expect they will need to spend over $1 million.

“I have one now. I had one yesterday. I’m going to have more this week,” Jeannie Smith, a justice of the peace tasked with recording migrant deaths, said in February. “There is an overwhelming sense of ‘What are we going to do?’ You want to make sure they get back to their loved ones, but it’s too many people crossing the river. Where do we put the bodies?”

The crude and haphazard manner in which migrant bodies are often being stored, identified and buried here is adding to the indignity of their deaths. It is also compounding the anguish of relatives, many of whom wait months or years to learn about the fate of loved ones, if at all.

On that January afternoon, officials at least had a clue as to who the woman was. After plucking her body out of a bend downriver from Shelby Park, where Texas forces have seized city land and set up a makeshift base, they searched her body and found an ID tucked into her bra.

Her name was Irma Marivel Cú Chub. Maybe someone would inquire.

To read the rest of the story, click on link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2024/texas-border-eagle-pass-migrant-deaths/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzEzMDY3MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzE0NDQ5NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MTMwNjcyMDAsImp0aSI6IjMwNDBiN2Q1LTQzYWYtNDZlNS04MjUxLTYzMGY5MTdjNmM0MyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vaW50ZXJhY3RpdmUvMjAyNC90ZXhhcy1ib3JkZXItZWFnbGUtcGFzcy1taWdyYW50LWRlYXRocy8ifQ.o4UAWz0bjARqn_hLmHzolomX3Ft5OIbKnXZsuC_w0B0&itid=gfta

DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES ASK: IS THIS ANY WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It started out as a dispute over the new 15-minute parking signs being installed in the downtown area and the removal of temporary COVID-related curbside parking and pick-up signs that provided several businesses downtown with exclusive saved spaces way after the pandemic measures were over.

Notable among them was Terras, City Deli, and former mayor Trey Mendez's Dodici's pizza restaurant. But with the pandemic measures over, the city says it is moving to conform with the new ordinances related to parking downtown in the designated zones. 

Among some of the new parking measures is the designation of parking zones downtown and the use of new cyber parking meter stations, all of which have caused mass confusion among business owners and motorists trying to do business downtown.

Apparently, city manager Helen Ramirez lacks some basic communication skills and failed to transmit that the city was starting a transition from COVID-era pick-up and curbside parking to a more permanent parking scheme, which in turn triggered a response from some downtown businesses who saw favoritism toward businesses associated with former and current elected officials, notably Pedro Cardenas and former mayor Mendez. 

When a business owner – Zeke Silva, owner of the Roast House on Washington Street– inquired of the District 4 commissioner on the removal of his curbside parking signs, Cardenas, in turn, emailed Ramirez that the removals should be "fair" and to explain the process to everyone, including him, who is a city commission and whose wife owns a business downtown and, apparently, or so he said, did not know it himself.

To add fuel to the fire, after Silva called Cardenas on the removal of the pick-up sign in front of his business the Engineering and Public Works crews showed up and removed the curbside parking sign from in front of Silva's Roast House, they moved it and placed it (temporarily) in front of Mendez's Dodici's restaurant. This elicited an email from Cardenas to Ramirez 

Ramirez, in turn, explained that she was just implementing the new parking ordinances and asked for patience from downtown businesses while the transition took place.

But the confusion and apparent favoring of some business owners over others ignited a firestorm and accusations flew between Silva and Cardenas that escalated into a very public airing of the bad blood between the commissioner and downtown business owners, who apparently believe that Cardenas entered public service in Brownsville to assist his and his family-owned businesses.

Silva then posted on social media that "Pedro Cardenas ordered new signs to be put up on a few selected streets downtown. He had picked up curbside signs from anyone he considers competition for his and his wife new coffee shop downtown. Except that ex-disgraced mayor Trey Mendez and his (Cardenas's) wife’s new coffee shop, they didn’t get new signs. No enforcement for them because they are tied to the hip. Instead they took away other small businesses signs and put them on Dodici's Now Trey has designated 4 parking spots while all other businesses have ZERO.

"Looks like Trey Mendez, Ramiro Gonzalez and Pedro Cardenas are slowly revitalizing their own downtown businesses like in Mexico. Para eso quería ser Comisionado. Helen Ramirez only wants to have 4 votes and she takes care of 4 commissioners by trying to cripple their competitors."

Cardenas, in turn, called Silva's accusations "ridiculous" and disputed accusations favoritism, noting that his wife, as a relative of a city commissioner, is not eligible to apply for city grants as Silva has, and will not have exclusive parking spaces for her coffee shop. It is worth noting that the Cardenas are renting from Mendez, who was one of the first to get the new signs, and also has received numerous city grants for his Coca Cola building. When his tenants received city grants to bring their place of business up to code – and many did – the improvements stay with Trey's building and end up in his pocket. Silva replied:

Think that is inflammatory? Cardenas' wife – Lourdes Bolado, using the commissioner's city social media page – inserted herself into the fray and called Silva out for being one of the downtown business owners who was the recipient of city grants, as did Mendez, the Limas brothers' Michael and Fabian for Las Ramblas, Terras, the McNairs, former mayor Tony Martinez, etc. Silva, que no tiene pelos en la lengua, replied that his differences with her husband over public policy wasn't with her, but with her husband, the commissioner representing downtown, and declined to engage.

(Ed.'s Note: This is by no means over. As long as the city administration under Ramirez gives the appearance of favoring some city businesses over others, including those belonging current and former elected officials, it will remain simmering just below the surface, waiting to erupt at the next difference of opinion. 

However, it remains that communication between the city manager's office and the administration and downtown business owners is woefully lacking and leading to unseemly exchanges over a very public social media. A fine way to run a city.)

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT ARIZONA'S 1864 ABORTION LAW

 

La Cebolla

Arizona Wasn’t A State Yet: Luckily the Arizona Supreme Court believes statehood begins at conception.

It’s Written In Old-Timey Language: Women are exclusively referred to as “varmints” throughout the law’s text.

It Includes A Special Provision For The Case Of Rape: If the pregnancy is a result of rape, the mother and her rapist will share a jail cell.

It Says A Baby Is Conceived When God Done Put It In There: Unsurprisingly, science wasn’t as advanced back then.

There Is An Exception To Save The Woman’s Life: See, it’s not so bad! Once again, these sluts are overreacting.

Each Individual Sperm Is Granted The Right Of Secession: The only case in which a pregnancy can legally be terminated is if a sovereign sperm decides to secede from the egg.

Temperatures In Arizona Have Risen About 2.5 Degrees Fahrenheit Since The Beginning Of The 20th Century: Just seems like something they should be taking action on instead of this.

It’s Up To The States To Decide How To Torture Women: Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it’s now up to states to figure out new, exciting, fucked-up ways to ruin women’s lives.

Requires All Women Who Get Abortions To Also Receive An Emergency Trepanning: Legislators in 1864 required all women to have a hole bored through their skull in order to cleanse their head of demons.

There’s A Glass Box With A Gun In It That Says ‘In Case Of Abortion’: The bill comes with a gun that legislators can use to hunt down women who dare to break the law.

HELP FIRST METHODIST TODAY: BUY A $10 SPAGHETTI DINNER

         BENEFIT ITALIAN DINNER FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH,

1225 BOCA CHICA BLVD., BROWNSVILLE

(Phone: (956) 546-5364)

PICK UP ONLY

 

U CAN FEEL SAFE THE WEEKEND, THE "E" TEAM IS ON THE JOB

MAKE AMERICA 1864 AGAIN...

 

'"THE LONG GAME," A FILM CELEBRATING DETERMINATION PREMIERS TODAY AT SUNRISE MALL'S CINEMARK THEATER

CINEMARK THEATER, SUNRISE MALL

By Tammy Cupples-Hernandez

myRGV.com

Our South Texas success stories often start this way, with little to no resources but ingenuity and fierce determination.

"The Long Game" is a film about five teenage golf caddies from Del Rio who become the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship team. Unable to play at the course where they work because of their Mexican American backgrounds, the team builds a rough golf course in the South Texas brush.

It opens Friday nationwide.

Starring Jay Hernandez, an executive producer, and Dennis Quaid, co-producer, the film had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award and received rave reviews from critics praising its top-notch performances and calling it a crowd-pleasing and uplifting film based on a true story.

“The Long Game,” a film about five teenage golf caddies from Del Rio who become the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship team, launches nationwide Friday. (Courtesy: Mucho Mas Media)

The 1957 Mustangs golf team members — Mario Lomas, Felipe Romero, Lupe Falen, Joe Trevino and Gene Vasquez — were students at the segregated San Felipe Independent School District. They reportedly scavenged for discarded clubs and golf balls where they caddied. In February, Texas Monthly reported that Romero, in his mid-80s and living in Houston, attended the film’s debut screening in Austin. Vasquez also attended, but died a few months after the premiere. Trevino died in 2014. Lupe Felan lives in California, and keeps in touch with Romero, but they’ve lost contact with former teammate Lomas.

Inspired by the book “Mustang Miracle” by Humberto G. Garcia, “The Long Game” was co-produced by Rio Grande Valley native Javier Chapa, co-founder of Mucho Mas Media.

“It’s an incredible true story of resilience, a true underdog story … really a story about our identity as a Latino community,” the San Manuel native and Edinburg North High School graduate recently told Edinburg CISD media.

Brownsville native and cinematographer Andrew Barrera also worked on the film, and posted on Instagram, “Being from South Texas and Hispanic, this story hits home. I cannot thank the producers and director enough for bringing me on (to) help tell this story.”

“The Long Game” also stars comedy legend Cheech Marin. Newcomers Julian Works and Paulina Chavez give marquee performances opposite Jaina Lee Ortiz, Brett Cullen, and Oscar Nuñez, known for “The Office” and “The Proposal.”

HELP 1ST METHODIST SATURDAY: BUY A SPAGHETTI DINNER

        

  BENEFIT ITALIAN DINNER FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 

1225 BOCA CHICA BLVD., BROWNSVILLE

(Phone: (956) 546-5364)

PICK UP ONLY

 

A CHANCE TO MEET AND GREET NEXT CAMERON COUNTY SHERIFF

RRUN-RRUN PSA: TWO VIE FOR PROM NOBILITY AT JUBILEE

(Ed.'s Note: Although we, as a practice, don't usually involve ourselves in prom queen and king elections, these young people reached out to us in their bid to win the election to be held Friday at Jubilee-Brownsville. We admire their spunk and self-assertiveness and run this post as a public service announcement to encourage their participation. Good luck to them.)   

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

If you knew Mia Barraza, you'd attest that she's a young adult who loves life and dares to live life following her inspiration in helping others. And right there with her is her classmate since they were in the third grade, outgoing and serviceable Ilan Bassolo.

 As a 4 year old child Mia stood up in front of a church congregation (Central Christian Church) and asked the congregation for money on her birthday. When she was asked what she was going to do with the money, she stated it wasn't for her. She stated she had all she needed. Her collection would be her way of celebrating her birthday by sending the money in its entirety to St. Jude, a charitable hospital for kids with cancer.

Mia continued to do a little fundraiser every year. 

In fact, her community service extends far beyond that and today Mia Barraza is the youngest active member on a City of Brownsville Board (Animal Shelter) and does what she can to encourage friends and family to adopt and not shop for their fur babies! (She is pictured here with District 1 commissioner Bryan L. Martinez in City Chambers.)

Mia is a full time student, an active board member and works part time. Mia loves going to the gym on her spare time. She is a student a Jubilee Brownsville and is grateful to her school for the support she receives from her teachers (special thanks to her law professor Marcos Samano), counselors and administration for their support. 

Mia is also excited for running for prom queen with her life-long classmate Ilian,. Both are now in their senior year. We wish both lots of luck in their endeavors. Mia is joining her Prom Campaign as Team B&B. They humbly ask their fellow students for their vote and promise to represent Jubilee with style and grace.

 

AT PALM LOUNGE: SOMBRAS DE JUAN GABRIEL Y ROCIO DURCAL

(Ed.'s Note: Although there is an uncanny resemblance to the late Juan Gabriel and J.J. De Leon and Eva Alejandro to Rocio Durcal, we are sorry to inform one of our eight readers that neither will sing the songs of the departed singers at Edwin Hernandez's historic Palm Lounge.

 However, there will be karaoke tonight (Thursday) if you want to wet your beak, have a famous Palm Lounge cheeseburger, and try out your pipes at the mike. So what if some of us make fools of ourselves on the stage trying to sing like Elvis or Jose Alfredo Jimenez? It's all good fun!)

YOU'RE A GENIUS WILE E. BOEING; A GENIUS, I TELL YOU!

By Natalie Sherman

BBC Business Reporter

Boeing is facing new pressure after a whistleblower reported safety concerns over the manufacturing of some of its planes to US regulators.

Engineer Sam Salehpour accused Boeing of taking shortcuts in the construction of its 787 and 777 jets.

He claimed he was "threatened with termination" after raising concerns with bosses.

But Boeing said the claims were "inaccurate" and added it was confident its planes were safe.

"The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under (Federal Aviation Administration) oversight," the company said.

"This analysis has validated that these issues do not present any safety concerns and the aircraft will maintain its service life over several decades."

Shares in the plane manufacturer sank almost 2 percent on Tuesday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating the claims, and the company reported it had delivered just 83 planes to customers in the first three months of the year - the smallest number since 2021.

The whistleblower complaint, which was first reported by the New York Times, is the latest incident to focus attention on the safety of planes made by US-based Boeing, one of the world's two major producers of commercial planes.

The company was already facing criminal investigation and other legal troubles, after an unused exit door broke off of one of its smaller 737 Max 9 planes shortly after take-off in January.

To read whole story, click on link: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68775413

SUDDENLY, TRUMP IS FOR STATES' RIGHTS, NOT ANTI-ABORTION

LONGTIME CAMERON COUNTY JUDGE MENTON MURRRAY DIES

Buch Ashcraft Funeral Home
San Benito

Judge Menton Murray, Jr. passed away on April 8, 2024, at DHR Hospice in Edinburg.

He was born on February 21, 1942, at the old Valley Baptist Hospital on F Street. He was the first child of Menton J Murray and Betty Nosler Murray, both members of pioneer Valley families from Dayton, Ohio and Terre Haute, Indiana respectively who settled in Mercedes and San Benito in the 1910’s.

He was baptized in the St. Anthony Catholic Church, attended St. Anthony Catholic School, and graduated from Harlingen High School in 1960, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and served as sports editor of the school newspaper. During the next six years in Austin, he earned both a BA and an LLB from the University of Texas. He was chosen to join the Silver Spurs service organization and was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. He also met Loraine Betancourt and, in 1964, married the “Redhead from Dallas” who would be his partner for life.

After graduating in 1966, he studied for and took the State Bar Exam, making the second highest score of his class. He began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General and got over his jitters in court by trying numerous condemnation cases all over the state for the creation of interstate highways. In 1968, it was time to go home, so he returned to Harlingen. 

Over the next several years, he had a law practice and served as an Assistant District Attorney. He also served on a statewide committee which rewrote the Texas criminal code. He coached youth football, basketball, and baseball and imparted his love of those sports to his son Menton Murray, III (Trey) and other boys.

Things changed in 1980 when he was elected by the Cameron County Bar Association to serve as a temporary replacement for County Court at Law #1. He discovered he loved being on the bench and resolved to run for the first available court. So, when the legislature created the new County Court at Law #2, he threw his hat into the ring.

 Over the rest of his career, he served as judge of that court and both the 357th District Court and the 103rd District Court, even coming out of retirement twice to serve as the temporary judge of both County Court # 3 and a third District Court. He initiated and oversaw changing the county jury summoning system from paper to computer and allied with District Clerk Aurora De La Garza on that and other projects of benefit to the county. 

He sponsored the program that supported students’ visits to better understand the Court system. Shortly before his retirement from the 103rd, he reorganized the County Juvenile Court and afterward served as judge of that court. He exhibited integrity, believed in service, and practiced with compassion; he also exhibited a sense of humor that jurors and even a few attorneys enjoyed. In retirement, he continued to serve as a visiting judge both here and in other counties.

He was both a Eucharistic Minister and a Lay Reader at his church and served on the St. Anthony School Endowment Board for over 50 years. He was, first and foremost, a Longhorn fan and had the pleasure of attending numerous games, including the 2006 Rose Bowl. He was intensely proud of giving over 30 years of service to Cameron County. He and his wife Lori traveled extensively, visiting more than 30 countries to indulge their mutual love of history and learning. He relished being a grandparent and attended many, many choir concerts, ball games, swim meets, and even dance productions.

He is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Lori Betancourt Murray, son Menton Murray, III (Trey), daughter-in-law Janey Schwertner Murray, the Grands: Hannah Elizabeth, Menton Murray, IV (Quaid), and Kenady Kate (“Princess”), sister Betty Smith, and three nieces Stephanie Shafer, Sybil Blakeney, and Sarah Johnson.

The Murray family will receive friends and relatives on Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 4:00p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home. A recitation of the Holy Rosary will begin at 7 o’clock Thursday evening. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, April 12, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Following the Mass, Judge Menton Murray, Jr will be laid to rest at Mont Meta Memorial Park.

Memorials may be made to the St. Anthony School Endowment Fund or a charity of your choice.
 

DEALING WITH GEORGIA SEC. OF STATE WAS EASIER THAN THIS