EL RRUN RRUN

By Juan Montoya

At tonight's meeting of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the five-member board will be asked to provide the Kepel-Amfels which has been employing local workers for the last 26 years with incentives of $4,000 per new job that would total $2.8 million for the hiring of 7000 workers to be hired in its expansion shipbuilding business.

Although that should be a no-brainer in giving Cameron County's fifth largest employer incentives to create 700 new jobs with an average salary of $18.48 per hour, there is some talk in city circles that some of the members of the GBIC will attempt to deny the company the job-creation incentives.

The meeting will be held today (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m. in the city commission chambers at the old federal building at 1001 E. Elizabeth Street in downtown Brownsville.

The GBIC members, chair and city commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa, city commissioner Deborah Portillo, city commission Cesar De Leon, John Cowen, Jr., and Cameron County Treasurer and board member David Betancourt are said to be considering denying the oil-platform builder the incentives because they feel that it is an established company and that GBIC money should be spent somewhere else.

If GBIC denies Kepel Amfels the incentives, there is a real danger that the company might move its operations out of the area and build them somewhere else.
Sources close to GBIC say that there are other suitors waiting in the wings to take over should the incentives be denied and the company chooses to relocate its operations elsewhere.

Sources say that chairman Tetreau has indicated she may be unwilling to dispense with $2.8 million for the 700 new jobs in the hope that Kepel Amfels will clear the way for other investors who may be willing to take over the property at the Brownsville Navigation District. Prominent among those named as potential suitors is none other than Ambiotec's Carlos Marin, an engineering-company director who has made a fortune being GBIC's exclusive engineering company over the years.

The decision on whether the grant the $2.8 million will be made today after the proposal was considered at GBIC's last monthly meeting when the five members were present but three did not vote citing conflict of interest issues.

At least 83 percent of the workers at Kepel Amfels are from Brownsville. Retooling of the Keppel Amfels facility will cost the company $34.3 million, and the company argues that its diversification into the shipbuilding business will allow it to stay here for another 20 years.

Will the company – which has been one of the leading private employers in Cameron County be denied the incentives by the five-member board and be driven out to be replaced by someone of Marin's choosing?
The economic future of the local economy may well rest in the hands of Tetreau, Portillo, Cowen, De Leon, and Betancourt. Will they be up to the task? Or will they heed Marin's siren call to let him and his friends wet their beaks?

By Juan Montoya

Despite the grudging acquiescence of the chairman of the five-member board of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation to go along with the other four, the GBIC agreed to provide Keppel-Amfels $2.8 million in job-creation incentives for the hiring of 700 new jobs in its diversified expansion into the shipbuilding business.

Chair and city commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa made it clear throughout the discussion that she was not in favor giving the OK to the incentives that would amount to $4,000 per new job. She made it a point to demand that the company show the majority of its labor was from the city.

"We're tied at the hip," said GBIC board member and city commissioner Cesar de Leon in justifying his support for the incentives.

Keppel Amfels has been employing local workers for the last 26 years and at its peak hired as many as 3,000 workers.
The worldwide glut in oil has taken its toll on the oil-exploration platform market and now the workforce hovers near 350, with many worker barely getting 30 hours a week at the plant. The company's officials said that there are only three other ship-building companies in the United States.

At one time, Keppel Amfels was Cameron County's fifth largest employer.
The new plan said the incentives will be used to create 700 new jobs with an average salary of $18.48 per hour over the next four years.
Brownsville Economic Development Corporation item back-up on the said GBIC's investment would be protected by a "claw-back" provision that jobs requires the company to return any money if the jobs are not created. Amfels has in the past returned GBIC incentives when the required number of jobs were not created. That has already happened once, the narrative says.

The meeting was held the city commission chambers at the old federal building at 1001 E. Elizabeth Street in downtown Brownsville. Some 15 people representing Keppel Amfels, economic development types and a smattering of private citizens. Port director Eddie Campirano was there to express his support for the incentives.

In its agenda, the GBIC did not name the company or the importance of the approval of the company's application for the $2.8 million in incentives. It only listed agenda items as Plan A, B, or C. The agenda was not even posted on GBIC's website.
There was a real danger that unless the funds allowing them to diversify into shipbuilding, the very real possibility existed that it would consider seeking another site away from the city.

The GBIC members are chair and city commissioner Tetreau-Kalifa, city commissioner Deborah Portillo, city commissioner De Leon, John Cowen, Jr., and Cameron County Treasurer and board member David Betancourt .
Sources close to GBIC say that there are other suitors waiting in the wings to take over should the incentives be denied and the company chooses to relocate its operations elsewhere.

Sources say that Tetreau had indicated she may be unwilling to dispense with $2.8 million for the 700 new jobs in the hope that Kepel Amfels will clear the way for other investors who may be willing to take over the property at the Brownsville Navigation District. Prominent among those named as potential suitors is none other than Ambiotec's Carlos Marin, an engineering-company director who has made a fortune being GBIC's exclusive engineering company over the years.

"You know that Carlos has issues with the port," said a GBIC member, but did not elaborate.

The decision on whether the grant the $2.8 million will be made today after the proposal was considered at n least three previous GBIC meetings. At last monthly five members were present but three did not vote citing conflict of interest issues.

At least 83 percent of the workers at Kepel Amfels are from Brownsville. Retooling of the Keppel Amfels facility will cost the company $34.3 million, and the company argued that its diversification into the shipbuilding business will allow it to stay here for another 25 years.

By Juan Aguilar
The Texas Tribune

The number of families that were apprehended or turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley swelled by 90 percent during the government’s 2016 fiscal year over the previous year, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics released Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of children traveling alone that landed in the agency’s custody in that sector increased by more than 50 percent during the same time. The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

Agents in the Rio Grande Valley came across about 52,000 families and about 36,700 unaccompanied minors during the 2016 fiscal year. That’s compared to 27,400 and 23,864 respectively in 2015.

Overall, the total number of apprehensions on the country’s southwest border increased by more than 77,500 to 408,870 in 2016 compared to the prior year’s 331,333.

The 2016 figures represent the second time in three years that Central Americans outnumbered Mexicans caught trying to cross the southern border illegally. The trend continues a pattern that began in 2014, when tens of thousands of Central Americans from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras began fleeing violence and poverty and arriving at the Texas-Mexico border to seek asylum from U.S. officials.

Though the Rio Grande Valley is the epicenter of the problem, the figures show that every Border Patrol sector in Texas saw at least a double-digit percentage increase in apprehensions in 2016. In the Del Rio sector, apprehensions of unaccompanied minors increased by 18 percent and family units by 66 percent. In Big Bend, the increases were 13 and 30 percent, respectively.

The Laredo sector saw a 20 percent increase in apprehensions of minors and family units, while the El Paso sector, which includes New Mexico, saw an increase in minor apprehensions of 134 percent — from 1,662 in 2015 to 3,885 in 2016. The increase is even larger — 364 percent — for family units apprehended in El Paso. In 2015 agents there processed 1,220 family units. That number jumped to 5,664 in 2016.

In a statement, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson conceded that while apprehensions last year increased, they didn’t reach 2014’s historic levels. Instead, he touted the government’s efforts in stemming the flow, including social programs.

“Ultimately, the solution is long-term investment in Central America to address the underlying push factors in the region,” he said. “We continue to work closely with our federal partners and the governments in the region, and are pleased with the $750 million Congress approved in FY 2016 for support and aid to Central America.”

To read the entire story, click on link below:

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/10/17/after-lull-2015-border-apprehensions-spiked-2016/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Master&utm_campaign=0269f05c11-trib-newsletters-rss&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d9a68d8efc-0269f05c11-101302097&mc_cid=0269f05c11&mc_eid=6718cd91d5

"Nations and women are not forgiven the unguarded hour in which the first adventurer who came along could violate them." The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Karl Marx 1852

By Juan Montoya
Well, while Da Mayor and his cast of fellow travelers were off to celebrate the wedding feasts of commissioner John Villarreal and Lynette Benavides in Sintra, Portugal, that mean old McAllen usurper upriver swooped down and made off with Brownsville's sister city, Miguel Allende, Mexico.
And since McAllen is now Miguel Allende's sister city, we guess than makes that city our step sister as well.

Oh, well, you can't choose your relatives.

Yesterday, Thursday, Oct. 20, a delegation from San Miguel de Allende inked a pact that officially sealed the deal that they have become sister cities.

San Miguel de Allende, nestled in the east of the state of Guanajuato, roughly a four-hour drive north of Mexico City, is home to nearly 12,000 people from the United States.
McAllen Mayor Jim Darling and San Miguel de Allende Mayor Ricardo Garcia signed a Sister City Agreement inside the commission chambers.
Six days before, Darling and Garcia signed the initial Sister City Agreement in San Miguel de Allende’s city meeting room.

But it was just oh, so recently, in January 20, 2004, that a similar vow of sisterhood was inked between the then mayor of Brownsville and the then-mayor of San Miguel Allende that made Brownsville and that city sisters. La traición!

How quickly they forget.
McAllen, known to many in Mexico as a shopping market, has been exploring the arts and culinary elements for many years while San Miguel is known as a vacation spot with beautiful sites, smells, art and food.

Brownsville, on the other hand, has little in common with San Miguel Allende excepting for the fact that it is a favorite haunt of now-Brownsville Navigation District commissioner and self-appointed Brownsville Ambassador of Goodwill Ralph Cowen. If anyone knows about good food, it's Ralph.

The local daily waxed eloquence as its reporter bubbled over the deal.
"Both mayors on Thursday keyed on how both places are international cities, with San Miguel having a strong international visitor presence while McAllen, being a border town, brings people from across the world for the maquilas over in Reynosa.

“We learn a lot from all the people from all over the world,” Garcia said. “I heard someone say that 75 percent of people in McAllen are not from McAllen. That’s very much like San Miguel – you embrace them.”

Well, McAllen can keep that little two-timing strumpet. We remember the Jimi Hendrix tune "Red House" where Jimi wails:

"Wait a minute, something's wrong, lord, have mercy

This key won't unlock this door,

Something's goin' on here

I have a bad bad feeling

That my baby don't live her no more.."

But, Jimi, being the carouser he was, took it with a grain of salt by saying:

'Cause if my baby don't love me no more
I know her sister will
Yeah.

Well, take this San Miguel. You ain't got nothing on Browntown. You ain't the only one. Take a gander at all the "sisters" we got.

1. Lin An, China July 31, 2001
2. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Jan. 20, 2004
3. Aguascalientes, MX. April 06, 2004,
4. Santa Catarina, Mexico,
5. Villa Capri, Italy, Nuevo Leon, NL, Mexico,
6. Santiago, NL, Mexico, Huejutla De Reyes, Hidalgo, MX ,
7. Sept. 08, 2009, Tampico, MX May 20, 2011,
8. Saltillo, Coahuila, MX April 2011, which the city commission never got around to present.

Now, we don't put anything past Da Mayor, known for being a romantic sort, if while he was off carousing in Portugal he didn't cast his roving eye (That's him in the graphic at right casting that famous glance.) and convince the authorities in Sintra with his sliver tongue that they could hitch the sisterhood wagon to Browntown while he was there.

Mud in your eye, San Miguel.

VOTE FOR RENE DE COSS: JUSTICE YOU CAN COUNT ON

Given the dissatisfaction the people have expressed at recent verdicts in a handful of criminal cases involving homicides and aggravated crimes, there is one court that has consistently earned the respect of defendants, attorneys, and the state.

That if the 445th District Court presided over by Judge Rene De Coss. It is hard to find one attorney, defendant, or prosecutor who has not given him high marks for his fairness, impartiality and adherence to the letter and spirit of the law.

Of all the judges in the county judiciary, none have compiled his record of performance on the bench. He has presided over a little more than 1,000 cases while on the 445th and only two cases have been appealed to a higher court. One decision was upheld on procedural grounds, and the other is still making its way in the appeals process.

And while he was in the Brownsville Municipal Court, De Coss presided over more than 13,000 cases and hearings where he displayed the same quality of judicial temperament and respect for the law and those before his bench.

His opponent in this race – attorney Gloria Rincones – comes nowhere near De Coss's level. She does, however, enjoy the support of the local Democratic Party political machine.
On balance, we think that you will agree that a vote for De Coss this Nov. 8 is a vote for "Justice You Can Count On."

(Early voting begins Monday, Nov. 24.)

Ed.'s Note: In this photo taken before city commissioner John Villarreal and Lynette Benavides took their wedding vows in Sintra, Portugal, some 5,022 miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. At far left, Da Mayor Tony Martinez and his lady discuss important city business with city manager Charlie Cabler. Other people there from Brownsville includes Cameron County commissioner Sofia Benavides looking at the camera from the third row. the commissioner is the bride's aunt. Next to her is Brownsville Navigation District commissioner John Wood and wife Virginia. Attorney Louis Sorola sits in the second pew trying to avoid the lens. And standing in the distance lecturing someone about the city's new planning visions is Ramiro Gonzalez (the only bald guy standing). Can anyone identify the rest of theBrownsville crew?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun
It was September 9, 1943 when the original American landings were made in Italy.
Embedded in archives of the Brownsville Herald of 1944 the headlines read, “Salerno Spearheaded by Valleyites.”

The third battalion of the 141th Infantry regiment, 36th
Infantry Division – composed of Texas Guardsmen – of which many were from San Benito’s Company “M,” were the first to set foot on the beaches of Salerno.
This National Guard unit distinguished itself as a hard fighting crew that included Valley boys of which many hailed from San Benito.

The Texas group were engaged without interrupted fire for ten days in hard fighting with other units of the Fifth Army under Gen. Mark W. Clark.
Although the division was withdrawn after causalities mounted and thus reducing its effectiveness, the bravery of the regiment on the battle field was noted and rewarded
with a presidential citation for heroism.

There is no doubt that the San Benito boys were well involved in the attack at Salerno and were certainly not bewildered by the challenge before them.

A Brownville Herald report of March 1944, revealed that the Valley company, a heavy weapons outfit, was included in the force that stormed the beaches at Salerno on September 9, 1943. Other Texans in the group were from San Antonio, Luling, Gonzalez and Waelder.
Gen. P.A. Weatherred, declared then “that the Texas Guardsmen, who were mobilized under his command, should feel highly honored to be permitted to lead the invasion.”

The War Department after making the citation public said,” that the battalion landed in one of the initial assault waves at Salerno, facing a withering artillery machine gun and mortar fire.”
While our boys were facing a barrage of enemy fire, they were still able to throw back a series of enemy counterattacks, including two assaults by Nazi tanks.

Cut off from supplies and reinforcements by the deadly enemy force, the citation said,” “the assault units nevertheless continued their advance against enemy positions while under continual enemy shelling.” The citation added that “only through their courageous performance was the initial divisional objective achieved.

San Benito should be flattered for the significant role and contributions that its home town heroes made in the Allied campaign in Italy, especially at Salerno.
J
ulio was born and raised in San Benito and just like the many of our Valley boys, when called to serve, left the friendly confines of home to face the ugly face of war.
It was not before long that he found himself in the middle of a fierce battle at Monte Casino. Newspaper reports described the battle as one of the longest and bloodiest engagements of the Italian campaign of WW II.

It was here where Pvt. Carpio along with a cherished companion, Pvt. Antonio Falaska of New York City, New York, displayed uncommon valor.

A bulletin from Temple, Texas read as follows: “Julio Carpio of San Benito, anti-tank gunner with the 36th Division, was one of the two soldiers credited with knocking out four German trucks before he was wounded.”

His injuries were serious enough that Carpio, along with many others were eventually transported to McClosky General Hospital in Temple, Texas. The facility had a reputation for having an outstanding orthopedic, amputation and neurosurgery departments.
Carpio, suffered the personal agonies of war as he was wounded twice during his service in the European Theater. His first injury came on December, 15, 1943 and was wounded for second time on February of 26, 1944.

He was awarded the The Purple Heart, The American Defense Service Medal, and the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal.
It was men like Julio Carpio and the many others that served, who were ordinary Americans, that performed extraordinary deeds.

By Juan Montoya
After nearly a month of bearing attacks by opponent Phillip Cowen on the pages of the local daily where he was accused of everything from losing "$54 million" in five years, class sizes and

even teacher compensation, Brownsville Independent School District board Place 3 position incumbent Otis Powers is gearing up his formal campaign.
He is holding his kickoff reelection and fundraising campaign from 2 to 5 p.m. today at the Texas Country Diner at 1627 Price Road, Suite B (next to Bingo).

It was about time, his supporters say.
"He's been taking hits from Cowen that were undeserved," siad a longtime supporter. "Most of those charges against Powers make it seem as if every decision that has been made by this board has been decided by Powers' vote. You know that's not how it works. There are seven votes on the board."
Powers is old school and has campaigned on the red-white-and-blue banner of "character, integrity, and proven leadership" that has been his signature slogan.

Perhaps he should mention that when he was the board president in 2008 the BISD was recognized as most-improved district in the United States and was awarded the Broad Prize and $2 million in scholarships to deserving students. That prize is awarded to public school systems that have demonstrated the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while narrowing achievement gaps among low-income students and students of color.

Brownsville followed ther New York City school system which was awarded the prize in 2007.
The BISD never got anywhere near that during the time that Cowen was a board member or even while president of the board.
Powers might also mention that while president in 2008 (before the current majority hijacked the board) the BISD board was also the recipient of the coveted CUBE Award for excellence in running a school district. The BISD board's recognition followed the 2007 award of the coveted award to Houston schools. The Atlanta school followed Brownsville and after that Baltimore schools got the recognition. Not bad for a hair lip, hey Phil?

Among the charges are the illusionary $54 million Cowen blames Powers for losing for BISD.
Cowen is apparently referring to the $5 million that the BISD gained when the voters of the district approved the Tax Ratification Election last October. The district voters approved the move of .11 ¼ cents from the Interest and Sinking Fund (Debt Service) to Maintenance & Operations.
That move was expected to generate between $5 to $6 million net per year in additional state funding to be used for one-time expenditures to improve, repair, and expand district facilities and enhance security.

Cowen blames Powers for not holding a TRE when he was board president. But what he doesn't say is that Powers is not in control of the board majority. Joe Rodriguez, Cesar Lopez, Hector Chirinos and Carlos Elizondo are.
As a result of this junta of leadership, the bulk of the money "gained" (because the extra $5 to $6 million have to be repaid anyway, whether from the debt service or the fund balance) was spent on such extravagances as artificial turf costing upwards of $800,000 a shot to high schools and middle schools and even an indoor training center for athletes at River High School.

All this is being done while teachers are being urged to pay more out of their pockets for classroom supplies, the district is getting special waivers so that class sizes (student to teacher ratios) are bigger, and Special Needs instructors are getting their classes doubled.
At the same time, the ethics-challenged district general counsel Salazar Baltazar is doled out a not inconsiderable $264,000 salary for attending 12 meeting a year plus a thre eyear extension and superintendent Esperanza Zendejas also gets a raise to past $250,000 and her three year extension.
Instead of criticizing Powers for abstaining on some of these extravagances by Cowen's compadres,

Cowen singles out Powers for not going along with the Gang of Four.
But if you know Otis, he is not one for confrontations. Rather than fight a losing war, he opted to bid his time and get reelected to see if the new bunch can form a new majority nto blunt the excesses of doddering Uncle Rodriguez and the Three Stooges. That's who is in charge of this asylum, not Powers.

That's why the BISD priorities are skewered, as some candidates for office including Ken Whittington, Dr. Sylvia Perez Atkinson, Rigo Bocanegra, and even Erasmo Castro have charged.

In Luke 4:24, Jesus told his disciples: "Truly, I tell you no prophet is accepted in his own hometown."
Cowens' dissing of Powers, who used to be his friend, couldn't prove the Nazarene's words any better.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Where did these mass-mailed pieces of half-truths and hateful allegations against me come from?

They came from the Brownsville Taxpayers Political Action Committee, an invisible group whose treasurer lists his address as 925 N. Iowa, a vacant lot that is up for sale. That vacant lot is owned by a corporation with its "offices" at 7411 Southmost Road, and is also for sale. Both properties are listed by Liz Realty. Liz Realty is owned by Liz Vera, the sister of the Brownsville Independent School District's general counsel Baltazar Salazar who's paid a $264,000 salary. I voted not to hire him because I did not feel we'd get our money's worth. I still don't.

Texas law protects the identity of the PAC members. They publish and mail their poison with no risk. If they target you, unless you're rich, you can't defend yourself.

"They" accuse me of costing the BISD millions in lawsuits and of filing for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, lawsuits have become a part of public service. There is no avoiding the lawyers, no matter how trivial the causes. Take what of "they" say with a grain of salt. In my 8 years as BISD trustee, I have not received one thin dime from any lawsuit.

Bankruptcies – like divorces – are painful but give us chance for a fresh start. It hurts when a marriage or business fails. I've been through both, but – like most of us – I have kept going forward and providing for my family.

Why are so many people (19) running for 4 positions and special interests paying so much money for a job that doesn't pay?

Some are vendors with the district. Others are trying to be. The only thing I promise my supporters is to fight to keep the district focused on its priorities to teach our students and protect our taxpayer.

I make people angry when I ask questions. But we, the people, should know how the barbacoa is made at the BISD. We also have the right to ask why a former board president and a department head committed suicide. How was a Food and Nutrition Service accountant able to steal more than $300,000 for over six years without anyone catching on and stopping her? So far, we've been kept in the dark.

I won't hide like a coward behind a PAC. I will ask questions to get at the truth. If the priorities of our district are misguided, I will fight to set them straight. Someone has to defend you and our children. Don't let them win. With your support, I will continue to be your voice.
“La verdad no peca pero incomoda…”

(Ed.'s Note: Anyone who's had to read the Iliad or other works by Homer remembers reading about the "rosy fingered dawn." The Greek poets sang the npraises of the morning. To them, a pink sunrise spreads its fingers across the sky. Homer means rosy like the color, not like a rose (no petals or perfume.) Technically, Dawn is a goddess in Greek mythology (her name is Aurora). This morning, as one of our readers alighted at the HEB store on Paredes and Boca Chica, he snapped this gloriously-colored photo of morning in Brownsville. Guy upstairs has talent, hey?)

(Ed.'s Note: This was the scene this morning the Cameron County Courthouse on Harrison Street as early voting in the 2016 general election got under way. Voters seem aware that they are participating in an historical election where the possibility of a first woman president being elected is a very real possibility. Locally, there are a few contested races between a resurgent Republican Party and yellow-dog Democrats. At the Brownsville Independent School District, 19 candidates are vying for four positions (a majority) on the school board. Will it be Hillary or Trump who will take the White house? And will voters turn out and elect new board members to replace the existing majority? You, too, can make a difference. Vote.)

By Juan Montoya
Still smarting from the decision by visiting Judge Manuel Bañales to allow indicted Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre have his trial in Corpus Christi instead of in District Attorney Luis V. Saenz's turf in Cameron County, the Saenz-Gonzalez clan is now out in full force being write-in candidate Leo Lopez.

In the Facebook chat at right, Saenz's wife, Delia Saenz (nee Gonzalez) shares a sample ballot favoring Leo Lopez as a write-in candidate against Yzaguirre.
Leo is the husband of 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez, who is herslef up to reelection to that position. As the Democratic nominee for the 404th, Cornejo-Lopez has no Republican opposition in the general election.

Delia Saenz is a member of the Gonzalez clan who at one time had one of the daughters (Aurora) as Cameron County District Clerk, one of its sons as Pct. 2 Constable (Arturo) and numerous other family members occupying positions in various departments.
The family's patriarch was a barber downtown where the political movers and shakers congregated to see who they would support for political posiiotns. In fact, the Gonzalez family is responsible for getting Saenz elected to the school board in his first foray into local politics. Once he got his law license, they propelled him to the DA's Office.

Just recently, after a jury convicted Marco Antonio Gonzalez of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and retaliation against law enforcement officers during a seven-hour standoff, the jury sentenced him to five years in prison. His trial was held in the 404th, where Leo's wife Elia presides.

Since Gonzalez had already served 840 days, this amounts to about two and one-half years.
In the public outrage that followed, Saenz held a press conference accompanied by Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez and said that there had been "miscommunication" between Cornejo-Lopez (the judge in the case) that resulted in Gonzalez serving his sentence for the nine charges concurrently instead of consecutively.

Only later did transcripts of the sentencing process reveal that the DA's Office represented by Lead Prosecutor Peter Gilman did not object to a charge prepared by the defense for the jury. While two jurors said they would favort probation for the defendant, 10 others wanted to give him 45 years.
The "miscommunication" assertion by Saenz sought to divert attention away from the sorry prosecution by his office and shift it to the bench.

Now, as if to make amends to Cornejo-Lopez and Leo, the Saenz-Gonzalez clan is out campaigning for Lopez, although it seems a bit much to expect him to get the 50 percent plus 1 vote necessary to upset Yzaguirre, who as the Democratic Party nominee, is the only name ont he ballot. If someone wants to vote for Leo, they will have to write in his name on the line below Yzaguirre's name.

With another write-in candidate shooting for the incumbent, it is doubtful that either one will garner the necessary votes to oust Yzaguirre.
Yzaguiree, meanwhile, prevailed in getting his motion for a change in venue moved to Nueces County citing extensive negative pre-trial publicity. Yzaguirre was indicted (and publicy arrested) weeks before the party primary and won anyway.

Many local political observers say that Saenz accelerated and jumped the gun in the Yzaguirre arrest and the arrest of three others to ease his way to victory over his nemesis Carlos Masso, a local attorney, former Asst. DA. and also a commissioner on the board of the Brownsville Navigation District.

The charges against the three other defendants have been dismissed by the DA and Yzaguirre is to be tried in Corpus Christi. So if Luis didn't get him in his own turf, the chances he will successfully prosecute him in Nueces County seem a far reach.

Anyway, Yzaguirre has to be pleased. The lead prosecutor in his own case is none other than Peter Gilman, the same guy who took the Gonzalez slam-dunk case and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yzaguirre's defense attorney Robert Garza just happens to have been Saenz's mentor when he started his law practice, so he knows all of the DA's bag of tricks.
The score so far? Yzaguirre 4, Saenz 0.

(Ed.'s Note: Often, when the conventional mainstream media reports on the legal travails of an elected official, they have a habit of focusing on the personal side of the news such as how the defendant looked, or what evidence the prosecutors moved to include, or even exclude. Sometimes this does an injustice to the coverage on whether there was any merit to the charges, whether there was prosecutorial misconduct, or if justice was served. Below is a report by a lay person on the recently concluded change of venue motion granted by a visiting judge to indicted Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre. If this account is factual, Yzaguirre's prosecution may come back and bite the DA's Office and the Texas Department of Safety investigators in their kiesters.)

Lie 1: Texas Department of Public Safety investigator Sgt. Rene O. acknowledged that in his affidavit statements that were used in orders to have Mr. Yzaguirre arrested and have search warrants issued, he stated that vehicles used to do title transfers we're junked and that they were surrendered to the Texas Department of Transportation. In fact, it was found that these vehicles were never junked nor were they never surrendered to the department of motor vehicles nor the department of public safety.

LIE 2: According to DPS investigator Rene O., his affidavit states that money used to bribe Mr. Yzaguirre to get vehicles transferred were left on his desk, but in court it was discovered by their own Confidential Informant Mel Sosa and backed by a recording that the money was in fact to pay for some BBQ tickets that the CI Mel Sosa had purchased.

LIE 3: DPS investigator Rene O. stated in his affidavit that $300 dollars were left on Mr. Yzaguirre desk and that he had gotten and moved the money and the envelope, but in fact there is a forensic test done on those items and the test proved that Mr. Yzaguirre finger prints were not found on those items. The test was done by the DPS lab in Austin.

LIE 4: DPS investigator Rene O. affidavit stated that other vehicles were done and or transferred by Mr. Yzaguirre's staff without the proper information. In fact, it was found that those titles were rejected by Mr. Yzaguirre's staff and given back to the CI Mel Sosa and in return given back to DPS investigator Rene O.

At that point it was acknowledged in court, that DPS investigator Rene O. filled in and falsified all the information needed to have the vehicles transferred. At that point in the court hearing, it came as a shock to all defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge that he had done that.

In the back of the court room, one could here comment like, "did he really say that?", "did he really do that?" Even a DA investigator seated in the back said, "that is not right." All this was testimony said in open court. If the news media were really interested in the truth they would have pick up on this information said in court.

By Juan Montoya

Ever listen in on some of our city and county commission meetings where some elected local official will complain about drivers using the bike lane as a right turn lane making it dangerous for bike riders and runners?

If it was a City of Brownsville Commission meeting, it is most probable that the complainer was commissioner Rose Gowen Zavaletta (with two TTs),a proponent of allocating millions from the budget of the country's poorest community to ensnare the city with a system of connected bike trials.

Proponents of this plan – which they see as the first step toward a healthy community – eventually want to extend the bike trails to the Hidalgo County-Cameron County border and eastward over the Queen Isabella Causeway to South Padre Island.

Toward that end they have talked the city administration and their fellow commissioners to go along with designating certain roads to be considered bike-friendly and implementing bike lanes that actually reduce the amount of macadam cars can use.
It doesn't matter – as Brownsville's resident gadfly Robert Uresti said recently – that we already have so many bike lanes that aren't used the majority of the time and that on some "you don't even see a dog walking on them."
thought you might find this entertaining.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to a half marathon yesterday, on Sunday the 23rd, to be exact.

As we know, Gowen's zeal for the bike lanes led the city to pump tax dollars to put in a hike/bike lane on her street (the corner of Calle Anacua and Calle Retama) which the majority of neighborhoods in the city don't have access to so that walkers and bikers can exercise safely in exclusive Rio Viejo.
And guess what happened during the Historic Brownsville Half Marathon with hundreds of people attending? What does our bike- and pedestrian-friendly commissioner do?

She (drum roll, please) blocks the sidewalk and the bike lane with her car when there is plenty of parking in front of her house.
Various neighbors in the Rio Viejo area lined the roads and cheered on the runners.

And not one other car blocked the safety lane. This is even after the course planners listed the map online AND put out safety cones for the runners.
What message does this send to not just the citizens of Brownsville, but to visitors to our fair city? Was it an honest oversight or a "don't run in my backyard statement?"

By Juan Montoya

Apparently miffed that the photo of her car blocking the bike lanes and the public sidewalk abutting her home near the corner of Anacua and Retama streets during this Sunday's Historic Marathon, a defiant Rose Gowen this morning continues to flaunt her power to exempt herself from the law.
In fact, this time the car is parked against the traffic.
Neighbors near her home on 155 Anacua say that even after it was pointed out in social media that she had refused to remove the car during the marathon, she continues to park it on the sidewalk and blocking the bike lines that she champions so much.
"This is such an arrogant act by a supposed public servant," emailed a neighbor who requested to be anonymous. "Apparently, she thinks that she is a city commissioner the laws don't apply to her."
Anyone passing close to the house can plainly see that there is ample parking space inside the gates of her home that is empty of cars. Why she doesn't use it to remove the car from the public sidewalk and bike lanes appears to be a decision she has taken to thumb her nose at the public.
"I've seen cops give out tickets in the barrio for people parking on the wrong side against traffic," said the commenter. "What makes her so different?"

By Juan Montoya
Someone pulled Wilmer Valderrama's leg on his recent visit to Brownsville.
You remember him from That 70s Show where he is the obligatory ethnic who is the butt of all the jokes.

They took him out to the the border wall (it seem to be on Esperanza Road where there is a break for traffic by the levee) and he took a photo saying "Here I stand..in Mexico and the United States...AT THE SAME DAMN TIME!"
Well, not quite.

Someone pulled Wilmer's leg (again) when they told him that. If that is Esperanza Road, all he had to do was just go a little farther down the road until he came to Julia Taylor's ranch and tell her she lives in Mexico.

We know Julia from way back, and as Esperanza turns into Monsees Road, she has a large poster asking the U.S. government for help because the border wall has left her property isolated between it and the Rio Grande River. Taylor was originally from England and she will tell you in no uncertain terms what she thinks of the border wall.

She probably wouldn't take kindly to having some Hollywood type come tell her that she is not in the United States anymore.
But it was his meeting with city commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa where the Fez got a bigger dose of malarkey that he wasn't expecting. Hearing that a celebrity was in close vicinity, Tetreau rushed over to welcome him to our fair city.

Now, since there had been no official notice and Da Mayor Tony Martinez and city manager Charlie Cabler were still suffering from jet lag after attending commissioner John Villarreal and Lynette Benavides' wedding in Sintra Portugal, there was no one to welcome the star to town.

Tetreau immediately grabbed the bull by the horns, a small pin, and a handy cop and and officially gave the lapel pin to Valderrama on behalf of us, her people. In her video she offered him a proclamation and the key to the city.
We are, after all, a giving town.

But doesn't there have to be some kind of a motion before the city commission and isn't it Da Mayor who presents the recognition?

Well, that hasn't stopped our intrepid commish before. She simply grabbed one of her dependable Boys in Blues and asked him to take a photo with her cell phone so the moment could be caught for posterity. That's what cops are good for, and for driving her around as her personal chauffeur on Charro Days.

In her short reign a commissioner Tetreau has ingratiated herself with Mr. Amigos, billionaire Elon Musk (even bought one of his Teslas), and lives a very public Facebook life. The Fez just lucked out that she heard he was in the hood so he could meet all of her in the flesh.

(Ed.'s Note: Well, it's good to see that our luminaries from little ol' Browntown painted Sintra, Portugal brown when they attended the commissioner John Villarreal-Lynette Benavides wedding. A whole entourage that included the likes of Da Mayor Tony Martinez, Pct. 2 commissioner Sofia Benavides (the bride's aunt), Justice of the Peace Mary Esther Sorola and her hubby (and legal eagle) Louis, planner Ramiro Gonzalez, Brownsville Navigation District commissioner John Wood and wife Virginia, et al. descended upon the unsuspecting good people of Sintra. As people drift back, indications that a great time was had by all are coming to light. We didn't know, for example, that manager Cabler could hold a tune, but apparently – once the pipes were properly lubricated – he did a duet with the buxom lady in blue, who we now have learned is Mrs. Cabler. And normally staid and bow-tie donning planner Gonzalez was a few sheets to the wind and letting his hair down when this photo was taken. In this age of nano-second communications, what happened in Sintra, doesn't stay in Sintra. Will there be more coming from our Portugal correspondents?)

(Ed.'s Note: Early today, the second day of early voting, the Brownsville Police Dept. arrived at the front and rear of the Central Public Library and ordered all supporters of all the candidates to leave the premises of the library even though they were well past the no-campaign zone signs posted all around the building. This seemed to be an arbitrary and capricious move on the part of the cops since there was no one obstructing traffic or people on the sidewalk. We remember when Da Mayor Tony Martinez was on the ballot and the candidates' supporters were allowed to literally camp on either side of the driveways' entrances without any fuss. So what's different today, the fact that Tony isn't on the ballot?)

(Ed.'s Note: Anyone who looks at this selfie taken by former mayor Pat Ahumada's buddy riding shotgun can readily see that Pat is busy texting as they ride along in traffic. Now, we're not fussbudgets here, but there have been several texting-while-driving crackdowns in town and they had to fork over some cash to the city as a result. Besides DWI charges, eight-liner problems, the number of pets in the house, and even leaving dogs unattended in a car, Pat has had his share of headaches. Tell your buddy not to be posting this stuff already, Mr. Mayor!)

By Juan Montoya
Sources close to Mike Hernandez, the founder and main mover behind the OP 10.33 movement, say that as a result of the negative reception to his drive to improve the vocational offerings of the local workforce offered by Texas Southmost College, he will fund a $100,000 scholarship fund for Brownsville students at Harligen's Texas State Technical College.

That first $100,000 will be matched by a private charitable foundation, they say.
"Eventually, Hernandez hopes that a permanent $200,000 scholarship fund will be available to
Brownsville students who choose to attend TSTC," they said.

Recently, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) said they were expanding the scope of a feasibility study for creating a manufacturing workforce development program at the high school, junior college and community college level in Cameron County to include the entire Rio Grande Valley.

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, a close Hernandez ally, told the local daily that the study will determine what workforce development resources exist that can be coordinated to attract 21st century manufacturers. It will also determine whether the Valley has sufficient facilities for such a program or if a new facility is required.
“We’re seeking support for a local match that we need to draw down a much larger match from the (Economic Development Administration) at the federal level,” he said.

Lucio pointed to Hernandez and OP 10.33, as potential source of the funding needed for the completion of the study.

“He’s a facilitator,” Lucio said. “He’s offered to be a safety net if we cannot find a way to fund a study. He said, ‘Exhaust all means to get funding for a study. If you can’t I will help you.’”

Hernandez graduated from Texas A&M University and has said that workforce training and economic development are the foundation for progress.

The OP 10.33 plan is to eradicate poverty through workforce training by October 2033, or about 20 years from now.

“That feasibility study will answer the question about whether we need a facility or not, or if we have enough facilities and we just need to spread this out over multiple locations,” Hernandez told the local daily. “That’s the analysis they’re doing.”

Toward that end, OP 10.33 has agreed to make available a building at 3140 Ruben M. Torres Blvd. to be used as a workforce training facility by the Cameron County Education Initiative, the newspaper article stated.

The building will be used to house CCEI’s education and workforce training initiative.

CCEI will launch no-cost GED test preparation and adult literacy programs, with the first class starting in November. The group also plans to commence allied health, information technology and manufacturing programs by January 2017.

Pat Hobbs, the executive director of Cameron County's Workforce Solutions told the Brownsville Herald that organization is collaborating with TSC as it redefines itself following the dissolution of the "partnership" with the University of Texas at Brownsville, now UTRGV.

"We’re trying to work very closely with (Texas Southmost College), because I think that they’re one of the community’s greatest assets, that is essentially a startup again to some degree.

“TSC is having to redefine itself and reinvent itself. We’re working very closely with them to determine what vision in the short and long term is needed, and learn what other community colleges are doing.”

During that "partnership," the mission of the community college was blurred by the push toward an academically-oriented four-year institution that gave vocational training short shrift. As a result, under then-president Julieta Garcia and then under former TSC president Lily Tercero, the nursing program was placed on a conditional status because of its abysmal passing rate of the state's NCLEX® exam . Sources closed to the board say that the recent testing of the last class of students did not reach the 80 percent pass rate as required by the State Board of Nursing as a condition for its continued existence.

"It looks like the state is not going to approve the continued conditional status of the program," sources said.

OP 10.33 supporters said that Hernandez did not intend to be in competition with TSC or its board, but that the immediate need for vocational-technical training for Brownsville students is needed immediately and he is hoping that by providing the scholarship funding, they will have a viable option to further their studies and receive the training.

When OP 10.33 first came into the picture, some board members and candidates for the board perceived that Hernandez and his group had targeted them and supported their opponents. Hernandez has long denied that they

"He would like to work with TSC in Brownsville because that's where he's from," said the source. "Hopefully they will both agree to meet at some middle ground for the benefit of the local students, which is what both of them are about."

WILL GBIC DENY KEPPEL-AMFELS 700 NEW-JOBS INCENTIVES?

AMFELS STAYS: JESS GRUDGINGLY SAYS SI TO 700 NEW JOBS

AFTER A LULL IN 2015, BORDER APPREHENSIONS UP IN 2016

WHILE DA MAYOR IS FEASTING, MCALLEN STEALS HERMANITA

DE COSS SUPPORTERS BUSY LITTLE BEAVERS AT WORK

PIC FROM VILLARREAL-BENAVIDES WEDDING IN PORTUGAL

SAN BENE BOYS WERE HEROES IN BLOODY ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

WHEN WILL OTIS TAKE OFF THE GLOVES ON PHIL COWEN?

"THEY" THROW THE STONE, THEN HIDE THEIR HAND

HOMER'S GREEK DAWNS HAVE NOTHING ON S. TEXAS MORNINGS

EARLY VOTING ON: CANDIDATES, COUNTRY'S FATE AT STAKE

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, SAENZ IS OUT TO BEAT YZAGUIRRE

A TRAIL OF LIES REVEALED IN THE YZAGUIRRE VENUE TRIAL

LA CHISQUIDA GOWEN TO MARATHONERS: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

A DEFIANT CHISQUIADA GOWEN: "WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED."

DOES THE FEZ KNOW WHERE HE IS, OR WHO JESSICA IS?

WHAT HAPPENED IN PORTUGAL, DIDN'T STAY IN PORTUGAL

DE COSS SUPPORTERS, ALL OTHERS BANNED FROM LIBRARY

SAY ISN'T PAT AHUMADA TEXTING WHILE HE IS DRIVING?

TSC REDEFINES ITSELF; OP 10.33 HERNANDEZ LOOKS TO TSTC