Friday, June 3, 2016
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Board rescinds former coach’s resignation
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By Lea Victoria Juarez ith a 4-2 vote by the board of trustees, former Veterans Memorial High School Coach Diana Lerma’s resignation from Mission CISD was rescinded at a special board meeting May 31. Minnie Rogers and Petra Ramirez were the dissenting votes. The rescission is contingent upon Lerma’s execution of the amendment to her settlement agreement that was created in October 2015, however the amendments are not open to the public until after the paperwork is signed. District at-
torney David Hansen said he doesn’t know how long it will take for the documents to be signed and information to become public. Lerma, who was the former head volleyball coach at Veterans Memorial High School, was reassigned to a teaching position at Alton Memorial Jr. High in October 2015. Shortly after, she was put on administrative leave. According to the settlement agreement, which put her on administrative leave, the former coach’s contract with Mission CISD was to expire June 2, 2016. Two days before the expiration, the board, with the newly
elected members, approved Lerma’s petition for rescission, even though the settlement agreement states that the letter of resignation was “irrevocable.” Superintendent Ricardo Lopez said Lerma will return to her duties as a teacher at Alton Memorial Jr. High. Lerma was suspended twice as a coach at VMHS the two months before she was reassigned. Before the board voted, trustee Petra Ramirez stated why she was voting against the motion. “I took an oath in the best interest of our school district to abide federal and local laws and according to the
facts that were presented to us, my decision is not based on personal interest, rather the best interest of our students and our district,” she said to those present at the board meeting. “Allowing the rescission of the resignation that was surrounded by allegations and intimidations of students, breaking UIL rules, transportation laws is not in my decision, and I don’t feel this is the right decision. To me, it sets precedence that this behavior would be tolerated and (that is) a dangerous practice.” Lerma is also the sister
Memorial Day service held in honor of fallen soldiers
See COACH 8
Granjeno residents slammed by storm winds
The Catholic War Veterans Post 1065 honor guard conducted the 21-gun salute and “Taps” during the ceremony at Leo Peña Placita Park in Mission. Photo by Jamie Treviño
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By Jim Brunson he residents of the tiny town of Granjeno, population 313, were jolted by violent winds and horizontal rain in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Officials reported at least 40 homes in Granjeno were damaged by near 100 mileper-hour wind shears pounding the 100 homes and community center building lining the two streets of this tiny community. The National Weather Service described the event as “downburst” or “straight line” winds with speeds between 85 and 95 miles per hour. Electric power poles broke in half like toothpicks. Trees, patio covers and carports were destroyed. Large sections of rooftops had the shingles stripped away, and some homes had power poles or trees resting on the rooftops, as downed electrical wires lay strewn across the roof or on the ground. Late Wednesday afternoon, streets were still closed as Hidalgo County and City of Mission crews, joined by a handful of volunteers and the residents worked continuously to clear the debris from the streets and homes. Granjeno Mayor Yvette
Cabrera’s home was one of many that were heavily damaged. Cabrera said sometime around midnight the storm shattered her windows. “The wind came in and all of a sudden my house was leaking from my living room, from my kitchen, and my conference room. We didn’t know what happened. …. My glass door was all shattered. All the windows in the front were all shattered,” she said. After the storm passed, Cabrera went outside to examine the damages and she discovered that half of her roof was gone. To make things worse, she said, “I got about two feet of water inside my house (not from flooding).” It was from wind driven rain pouring through her now shingleless roof. Her sister’s house, just a couple of houses down from hers, had the entire roof ripped away by the wind, she added. It too was flooded. “Her house picked up and slammed down and all her windows shattered at the same time. It was like an explosion,” said Cabrera. The mayor said all of her neighbors’ homes also received roof and water damages from the storm. Granjeno resident Gustavo Anzaldua took a brief
Top Photo: Residents of all ages joined together with Hidalgo County and city crews to clean up storm debris that littered the entire community of Granjeno after the late Tuesday night storm. Bottom Photo: The Granjeno Community Center suffered severe damages in the storm. Officials are still assessing losses throughout the area hit by the high winds.
break from cleaning up broken trees limbs and debris from his property to talk to tell his story Wednesday. The wind and the rains hit his home about 11:30 p.m., Tuesday. “You could hear it hitting the windows – I don’t know if it was hail or horizontal rain, but you could hear it hitting. The noise woke me up and we went to the center of the house – the kitchen – and about 15 minutes later, it
came so hard. “The wind,” he paused, obviously affected by the harrowing experience. “It’s bad. It’s so bad,” he said, trying to find the words to express how he felt as it seemed the storm might rip his home apart. “Then we heard windows breaking and the wind coming through. The rain traveled from the front of the house to the back of the house – glass and all.”
See GRANJENO 8
By Jamie Treviño atriotism was especially strong on Monday at Leo Peña Placita Park in Mission as the annual Memorial Day service honored those who have fallen while serving the country. Put on by Mission’s A.C.E. Club yearly since 2004, the ceremony lasted about an hour, and drew both veterans who have served in the armed forces and family members who have lost a loved one in the armed forces. The invocation and benediction were given by Father Roy Snipes from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. He spoke about the difficulty family members face when they lose someone, particularly those in the armed services. “Together, we pray for and with each other,” Snipes said. “Sometimes our hearts are broken, they’re all messed up. They’re achy and breaky and rough. But we help each other, we pray as those who have gone to heaven pray with and for us.” Rose Guerra, the mother to the late Pfc. Diego Montoya, was a speaker at the event. She talked about her experience and the importance of remembering the men and women who have passed in the line of duty for the country. “Memorial Day should remind us every single day
what the cost of our freedom is,” Guerra said. “That cost is soldiers coming home in a casket wrapped in Old Glory — that red, white and blue. America does not forget, America is grateful for our sons and what they have done and stood for.” Guerra, a teacher, showed a picture of her son’s Dignified Transfer at Dover Air Force base and spoke about what it means. She also read a poem her daughter wrote about him called “The Dignified Transfer,” and one she wrote titled “The Boy in 34G.” “A picture says a thousand words, and there are no more words that need to be said on Memorial Day than what this picture says,” Guerra said. “I went to Dover to escort my son home because I wanted to. This picture never ceases to amaze me; it brings tears of grief, it brings pride and honor.” The Keynote Speaker for the Memorial Day Service was Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, who served as a United States Marine Corporal in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. “Many times when we go about our daily lives, we forget why we enjoy this freedom,” Hinojosa said. “It’s because of the men and women with the valor and courage to stand up for our beliefs, our freedom, and our
See MEMORIAL DAY 8
Commencement updates
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espite storm damages to the State Farm Arena, the commencement ceremonies for La Joya ISD and Sharyland ISD are still scheduled to run on time at the arena, as of press deadline, Thursday. Sharyland ISD’s ceremonies are set for June 4 — Pioneer High School at 10 a.m., Sharyland High at 6 p.m. La Joya ISD’s ceremonies
are set for June 5 — La Joya High School at 8 a.m., Palmview High school at 11 a.m., Jimmy Carter Early College High School at 2 p.m. Juarez-Lincoln High School at 3:30 p.m. and Thelma Salinas STEM Early College High School at 6 p.m. Updates can be found on the Progress Times website and facebook, or district websites.
INSIDE
INDEX
New Agape director
Teachers of the year
Triathlon of Lights
The board of directors named Donna Leidner’s replacement for director of the nondenominational institute Agape Christian School.
Sharyland ISD selected its district teachers of the year for elementary and secondary education.
Local organizations and the Mission Parks Department team up to fundraise for the construction of an eye clinic in Reynosa.
See story page 2
See story page 7
See story page 9
Lifestyle | pg. 2
Entertainment | pg. 3
Opinion | pg. 6
Sports | pg. 4
Memorial Cremation Center
208 E. Canton • Edinburg, Texas 956-720-4449 or 956-720-4097
Obituaries | pg. 9
Classifieds | pg. 11
Direct Cremation
$795
Immediate Need