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Your Hometown Newspaper, Bringing Communities Together.
Vol. 48 - #15
Progress times Friday, November 29, 2019
50¢ cents
• HIDALGO
Lone Wolf Rising
• MISSION
www.ptrgv.com • LA VILLA
East Hidalgo Detention Center employees indicted on bribery, sexual abuse charges
Hitting an ace
By Dave Hendricks
Ricardo “El Gallero” Palacios Courtesy photo.
By Rick Venecia On December 7th 2019, Payne Arena in Hidalgo will be hosting its first ever mixed martial arts pay per view as two legends will go toe to toe in the octagon. Fight legends, Alberto El Patron and Tito Ortiz, will headline a Combate Americas event that is sure to be filled with nonstop action. As the fight game has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon, people from all walks of life have been fixated on this most primitive of sports. Names like McGregor, Diaz, Gracie, Shamrock, Lidell, and Hughes have become synonymous with MMA and its fans. As is always the case, fighters on the undercard are sometimes overlooked despite their commitment. This doesn’t make them any less impressive than main eventers, but as one fight legend once said, “they just aren’t there yet.” One such fighter is Mission’s very own, Ricardo “El Gallero” Palacios, who will be fighting on the Alberto vs Tito event. With an 11-2 and professional MMA record and 6 KOs, Palacios has proven he’s got the ability to turn this sport on its head and
put Mission’s fighting scene on the map. He has already been featured on Combate America’s television series where his toughness and unassuming smile gained him a big following in Latin America. Ricky has also fought on a few UFC cards as well as the Dana White Fight Series where he won by unanimous decision. When asked about this journey, Palacios simply responds with, “I just want to be the best.” Palacios grew up on Hidalgo St in the Monterreyito area of Mission’s southside. He admits that he was never the biggest kid on the block so he always had a chip on his shoulder. He credits his teachers at Pearson Elementary, especially Alma Venecia, for always inspiring him to strive for more and teaching him that you are not a product of your environment. Your environment becomes a product of you and what you make it. Ricky’s heart and spirit were evident to his teachers and coaches early on in his life, and have become the driving force through his professional career.
See LONE WOLF Pg. 7
Progress Times photo by Jamie Treviño.
A volunteer from the South Texas Community Tennis Association teaches the basics of tennis at the ribbon cutting for the Mission Tennis Complex at Birdwell Park.
Ribbon cutting marks opening of the Mission Tennis Center By Jamie Treviño Mary Fernal is excited to see an influx of tennis players from across the state hosted in Mission, thanks to the new tennis complex. On Nov. 26 this week, the city of Mission held a ribbon cutting for the Mission Tennis Center at Birdwell Park, located at 2400 N. Stewart Rd. The facilities, said to improve the quality of life in the city, were approved, funded and completed in three and a half years. Several city leaders and a state leader were present, along with residents from across Mission, to enjoy and experience the tennis center. The renovation of Birdwell Park includes “the resurfacing and restriping of three existing tennis courts, the construction of 13 new courts, addition of a Musco Lighting System, shaded picnic tables,” a revitalized 8-foot-wide walking trail and additional parking spaces.
“Mission is the place to be,” Mayor Armando O’caña said. “It’s the beginning of a new trend in Mission, and that is to make it a very healthy city.” The undertaking began when Mission’s Parks and Recreation created a public survey for a ten-year plan for the city, which found that tennis ranked number three in the top ten needs of Mission residents. City Manager Randy Perez, who was present with the city from the start of the project, thanked all the departments for their dedication to making the project a success. “I’m very humbled to present this beautiful facility not only to our citizens, but to our surrounding area,” Perez said. “The mayor and council have a vision to impact not only our children, but our whole community.”
See MISSION TENNIS CENTER Pg. 6
• MISSION
Mission CISD will pay $20,000 to settle federal lawsuit By Dave Hendricks The Mission Consolidated Independent School District will pay $20,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former student who claims she was sexually assaulted by a classmate. The former student — a woman with a “severe disability,” according to court records, which identify her by the pseudonym “Jane Doe” — and her mother filed the lawsuit in 2017. After more than two years of litigation, attorneys for Mission CISD and Jane Doe negotiated the $20,000 set-
tlement. “Plaintiffs agree that this matter shall remain confidential,” according to a draft copy of the settlement agreement filed in federal court. “If Plaintiffs are asked about this matter, Plaintiffs shall state only that the matter has been amicably resolved.” U.S. District Judge Randy Crane approved the settlement agreement on Nov. 20. Jane Doe, who attended Veterans Memorial High School in Mission, required constant supervision because of her physical and intellectual conditions. “She can only ambulate
by the use of a wheelchair with assistance. She has poor gross motor skills and poor fine motor skills,” according to the lawsuit. “She is unable to sit erect in her wheelchair without a physical support apparatus and has minimal strength in her upper extremities.” In a joint motion, attorneys for Jane Doe and Mission CISD said that she had a “cognitive level of kindergarten or first grade.” As a result, Mission CISD provided her with special education services, according to the lawsuit. A document called an “Individual Ed-
ucation Plan” dictated the services Jane Doe would receive. “The IEP stated that JANE DOE, as to personal care services, requires monitoring while performing personal tasks, needs physical assistance in performing personal tasks, needs to be supervised and redirected to facilitate her safety and the safety of others, and needs a program that provides constant supervision throughout the day,” according to the lawsuit. In November 2015, though, Mission CISD employees left Jane Doe and
a 16-year-old boy, who the lawsuit describes as a “special needs student,” alone in a gym. The boy sexually assaulted her. “The sexual contact by the male student was unwanted by JANE DOE, who did not comprehend the nature of these acts,” according to the lawsuit. “She did not consent to the sexual contact, and in any event, she did not have the capacity to consent to sexual contact due to her age as well as her physical and mental limitations.”
See FEDERAL LAWSUIT Pg. 4
INSIDE Secretary of DHS
Acting Secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security was in the Valley last week in order to survey the border wall in construction. Jamie Treviño has the story about his visit with the Border Patrol, inside.
See Pg. 5
A grand jury indicted six East Hidalgo Detention Center employees last week on bribery and sexual abuse charges. After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, the grand jury indicted three correctional officers, a commissary officer, a cook supervisor and a certified medical assistant on Nov. 19. All six worked at the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa, which is owned by The GEO Group, a private prison company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. “We can confirm that all of these employees were terminated from their positions shortly after their arrests,” according to a statement released by GEO Group. “We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate the matter.” The East Hidalgo Detention Center holds inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service. Both the Marshals Service and the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General referred questions about the investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, which is prosecuting the former employees. “According to the indictments, authorities discovered various forms of contraband in EHDC, a correctional facility under contract with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS),” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. The indictments charged Correctional Officer Erasmo Loya, 54, of La Villa; Correctional Officer Jhaziel Loredo, 32, of Progreso; Correctional Officer Domingo Hernandez, 25, of Mercedes; Commissary Officer Jayson Catalan, 36, of Mercedes; and Certified Medical Assistant Veronica Ortega, 43, of McAllen with bribery. They provided inmates with contraband in exchange for cash, according to the indictments, which don’t provide any details about the contraband or how
See DETENTION CENTER Pg. 7
INDEX City of Mission
The city held their annual Thanksgiving meal giveaway as well as the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. See more about how Mission gave back to the community before the holidays.
See Pg. 8
Entertainment....pg. 2 Lifestyle...................pg. 3 Sports.......................pg. 6 Death Notices......pg. 8 Classifieds...............pg.9