Friday, December 8, 2017
www.ptrgv.com | 25 Cents
Vol. 46 No. 18
Cinderella Pet Rescue
seeks public’s help to save more cats and dogs By Joe Hinton Go to the Cinderella Pet Rescue webpage and one can find about a dozen examples of what can only be described as dramatic transformations of dogs from the time they were acquired by the animal rescue center and after their wounds were healed and maladies treated. There’s Goldie, a mixedbreed dog that was so weak when she arrived she could barely stand, suffering malnutrition and with ears so tick infested the ear canals were blocked with the blood sucking parasites and the remaining underside of the ear was blanketed with them. The after photos are of a healthy, happy animal with no signs of neglect. Then there’s Phoenix, nearly starved to death and barely a hair left on his body when he arrived at the shelter in March 2014, today he is a happy, healthy boy ready for adoption. And there’s Ricky, a German Shepherd that arrived at the shelter with paws so swollen he could barely even walk on grass. Today he runs and plays enthusiastically among some of the 74 other dogs housed on about 10 acres of what was once an equestrian training center owned by Eerie, Pa. native Suzanne
Herzing. Pulling out her cell phone Herzing showed a recent photo of a dog’s paw missing all of its skin after a chord that was left wrapped around its lower leg cut off circulation to the paw. Once the animal was stabilized its right rear leg was amputated leaving enough, as Herzing explained, to sit on. “If you leave too much of the leg they try to use it,” she said. In 2008 Herzing converted 10 of 19 acres of what she refers to as her “ranchette” into the no kill shelter. Herzing, 66, who has lived in and out of the Valley since she was six, said she made the transition after breaking her back and spending a month in the hospital after being thrown form a horse. It was also in response to the 30 to 40 dogs a year that wandered onto her sprawling property after being dumped in the rural area near Mission’s border with Palmview. She wanted to save as many of the estimated 25,000 dogs euthanized each year in Hidalgo County. Currently there are 75 dogs on the property including 15 more she is fostering at her adjoining home. There are also 24 cats living in a converted chicken coop
See PET RESCUE Pg. 12
Cinderella Pet Rescue founder Suzanne Herzing with three of the 75 dogs currently available for adoption from the no-kill shelter, from the front, DeeGee, Waffle and Bessie Anne. Progress Times photo by Joe Hinton
Events Center coming soon Mission prepares for opening of its $17.8 million events center By Joe Hinton
Hundreds, if not thousands of area residents joined Mission city officials, vendors and entertainers for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony Nov. 30 at Leo Peña Placita Park. Progress Times photos by Joe Hinton.
CodeRGV president: Repeal of ‘net neutrality’ not fair game for consumers By Jose De Leon III The president of a McAllen-based non-profit organization with the goal of spreading digital literacy throughout the Rio Grande Valley said repeal of rules protecting internet neutrality would not be good for consumers.
Last month, the Federal Communications Commission released a plan to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet, clearing the way for internet service companies to charge users more to see certain content and
See NET NEUTRALITY Pg. 10
Drew Lentz
Mission’s city council has taken several actions to prepare for the scheduled March 1 opening of the city’s $17.8 million events center, not the least of which is deciding just how much to charge people to use it. During its Nov. 27 meeting the council formalized an agreement with the Mission Economic Development Corporation to repay the $17.8 million certificate of obligation the city took on to pay for the 45,000 square foot center. Under the agreement the city will pay the cost of the center and be reimbursed by the MEDC at a rate of $1 million per year with another half million dollars per year coming from the city’s Tax Incentive Reimbursement Zone, said City Manager Martin Garza. The two economic drivers will reimburse the city each year until the certificate of obligation is repaid, Garza said. Additionally, profits from the sale
INSIDE
INDEX
Guilty of insurance fraud
275th District Court race
A Mission man and a former Pharr commissioner have pleaded guilty to bilking Texas Blue Cross of $1.7 million in an insurance fraud involving pain relief medicines. Find out who they are inside.
Two Mission lawyers are vying for the seat on the 275th Hidalgo County District Court. Reporter Jose De Leon III details their qualifications inside.
See Pg. 4
See Pg. 5
Entertainment | pg.2
Lifestyle | pg.3
Opinion | pg.4
Sports | pg. 8
FREE
of properties adjoining the events center owned by the MEDC will be used to pay down the debt on the center, Garza said. The council also approved spending nearly $300,000 for equipment for the center’s kitchen, which city engineer, Juan P. Terrazas has described as a “warming kitchen,” to be used by caterers. The equipment will be purchased from Ace Mart Restaurant Supply of Austin and San Antonio. The equipment ranges from dishwashers and stainless steel tables to microwave ovens. The council also approved spending more than $428,000 on furniture, which is being purchased from Office Depot. The cost includes installation of the furniture. On Nov. 24 council members and Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas met for several hours in a planning session with Garza and his deputies, Aida Lerma and Randy Perez, to discuss what to charge the public to use the facility which can be used as a sin-
gle nearly 18,000 square foot “Grand Orchard Ballroom” or can be divided up into seven separate meeting rooms of varying sizes named Ruby Red, Valencia, Key Lime, Lemon, Tangerine, Pomelo and Mandarin. In addition the center’s 7,258 square foot foyer and 2,543 square foot patio can also be rented separately. The session became both an economic and philosophic discussion with varying views from council members about how much should be charged and why. Garza started the planning session saying the city does not intend to recoup the cost of constructing the center but it needs to charge enough to pay the estimated $40,000 a month to maintain and operate it. Pricing too high could send perspective customers to competing venues, pricing too low could mean the city would be subsidizing its operation. Perez told councilmember’s Brownsville has
See EVENTS CENTER Pg. 5
THE
BIG7 SCHOOLS
District 30-6A basketball
Sports writer Bryan Ramos believes four boy’s basketball teams in the Big 7 have a good chance of improving on their performance this year. Find his analysis inside.
See Pg. 8
Obituaries | pg. 9
Classifieds | pg. 11
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