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Friday, November 11, 2016
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XXXXXXXXXX Vol. 45 No. 15
‘Progress for Palmview’ victorious
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By Jose De Leon III
oters made it clear at the polls they wanted to bring progress to the city of Palmview and elected three new city council members who campaigned on the promise to do just that. The “Progress for Palmview” slate of candidates all won seats on the Palmview City Council in Tuesday’s election. With all five precincts counted, Linda Sarabia beat out her opponent in place 3, math teacher Jose Luis Perez, with 1,393 votes to 1,190 votes. Sarabia won 53.9 percent of the vote compared to Perez’s 46 percent.
“I’ve been campaigning under a vision of progress as Palmview has been at a standstill for 20 years and we want to change that and bring in infrastructure,” she said Tuesday, Nov. 8 during Election Night. “Voters saw that my running mates and I were business owners first and were obviously tired of how the city is being run. By electing us, voters have made a statement that they want something new.” Sarabia’s running mates in the “Progress for Palmview” slate were English teacher Javier Ramirez and business owner Joel Garcia. Ramirez, who ran for city council place 1, received nearly 57 percent of the vote,
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La Joya Independent School Board Trustee said he feels vindicated by his reelection Tuesday despite having been accused in a pending lawsuit of illegally steering LJISD business to unapproved food vendors. And despite their defeats, two incumbents who lost their seats on the board say they will continue to work for students in the district as private citizens. Oscar O. “Coach” Salinas defeated challengers Domingo “Mingo” Villarreal Jr. and Oscar “Rito” Martinez for the Place 6 position on
See PALMVIEW Pg. 10
Palmview City Council candidates Joel Garcia and Javier Ramirez celebrate after hearing the election results in Tuesday night’s election. Progress Times Photo by Jose De Leon III
City prepares for future Madero International Bridge
Two LJISD incumbents defeated Tuesday By Joe Hinton
or 1,455 votes. Ramirez beat out incumbent Arnaldo Nacianceno who only received 43 percent of the votes for a total of 1,099. Joel Garcia, who served on the La Joya ISD School Board for two terms starting in 2004, received 1,378 total votes, or 53 percent of the votes. His opponent, Palmview Pastor Juan de la Garza, received nearly 47 percent of the votes, or 1,205 total votes. The three candidates who lost were running in the “Palmview 1” slate. Nacianceno was not available to comment as of press time on the election results. Nacianceno’s running
Mission proposes South Inspiration Road widening
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By Jose De Leon III
the board in Tuesday’s general election garnering 50.3 percent of the 13,430 ballots cast. Villarreal Jr., a former board member, received 36.8 percent of the vote and Martinez received 12.8 percent. In a lawsuit filed against the La Joya Independent School District in August in Hidalgo County District Court the school district’s former Child Nutrition Services Department Operations Manager Ricardo E. Rodriguez claims Salinas was one of two persons who pressured him to purchase food from two unapproved food vendors. The other accused
See LJISD Pg. 10
Oscar O. “Coach” Salinas (right) is congratulated by an unidentified supporter Tuesday night at Reyna’s Events Center in Palmview after Salinas was reelected to the La Joya ISD Board. Progress Times photo by Joe Hinton.
f the city of Mission is to move forward with the proposed Madero International Bridge, two of the city’s major roads will have to be expanded. That’s according to Mission City Manager Martin Garza, who spoke during a special meeting for the Mission Redevelopment Authority (MRA) Wednesday, Nov. 9. During the meeting, Gar-
za presented the MRA board with proposed plans to expand Inspiration Road south of Expressway 83 to South One Mile Road into a fourlane street and then add a boulevard between South One Mile and Military Road to make it a five-lane, divided thoroughfare similar to Shary Road. “These are two major roads that are within the vicinity of where we’re looking to add the port of entry for this bridge, the city needs
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By Joe Hinton
ission Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees has voted to move forward with a major renovation project on the stadium dedicated to Mission native and Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry while voting to delay construction on two other major projects. Wednesday night the board voted unanimously to approve plans for a $9 million renovation of the football stadium at Mission High School and appointed a com-
The Pioneer Diamondbacks finished the regular football season with a 7-1 district record, earning the school’s first co-champion honors. Joining them in the playoffs beginning this weekend are the 6-2 Sharyland Rattlers and 5-3 Mission Veterans.
mittee to seek proposals for construction. The project would replace the stadium’s approximately 9,000 seats with an equal number including about 700 seats with back rests located in the 50-yard line area of the home side of the stadium. Plans also call for building a new press box that consolidates home and visiting team coach’s boxes on the home side of the field. Architect Eli Alvarado of Alvarado Architects and Associates said the latter move would eliminate the need for a
See MCISD Pg. 11
See MADERO BRIDGE Pg. 13
Lifestyle | pg. 3
Plans for a $9 million renovation of Mission High School’s football stadium include the finishing touch of a bronze statue of the stadium’s namesake, former Mission native and Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry.
INSIDE Sculptor Douglas Clark Exhibition Opens at UVAL
La Joya Purchases New Utility Vehicles The city of La Joya purchased seven new vehicles, including a dump truck, that will be used for the Public Works Department.
The Upper Valley Art League (UVAL) will host an opening reception for the solo exhibition of the works of renowned sculptor Douglas Clark on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 7-9 p.m.
See story page 6
Entertainment | pg. 2
According to Garza, phase one, which would take about 18 months, would total $1.3 million. As the meeting was only a presentation to discuss the proposed reimbursement agreement, the MRA took no action Wednesday but will discuss it in their next regularly scheduled meeting Monday, Nov. 28 at noon. Garza said he believed the board will ultimately vote in
Mission CISD proceeds with Tom Landry stadium renovation while delaying two other major projects
Diamondbacks, Rattlers, Patriots Begin Playoffs
INDEX
to be ready for that kind of traffic,” Garza said after the meeting. “We don’t know yet the official location but it will be somewhere west of Conway Avenue.” During the meeting, Garza requested the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) cover the cost of phase one of the street expansion in a reimbursement agreement that would pay for environmental studies, public involvement and preliminary schematics.
See story page 2
Opinion | pg. 4
Sports | pg. 6
See story page 12
Obituaries | pg. 13
Classifieds | pg. 14