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Auto Tech Student Eyes Educator Career Path

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Feb 2, 2023

Antonio Lopez is a second-semester student in TSTC’s Automotive Technology program. (Photo courtesy of TSTC.)

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HARLINGEN, Texas – For U.S. Army veteran Antonio Lopez, the talent that he developed as a driving instructor in the military would lead him to an education at Texas State Technical College.

“After I graduated college, I enlisted in the armed forces and taught soldiers how to drive tactical wheeled vehicles,” he said. “I loved everything about it. After I transitioned to civilian life, I realized that I missed teaching automotive knowledge. I enrolled in the Automotive Technology program at TSTC.”

Lopez is studying for a certificate of completion in Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair and hopes to become an instructor in the field himself someday.

The Harlingen resident recently reflected on what got him interested in the automotive industry.

“I was a student in a diesel technology program at an area college,” he said. “Next to our program was an automotive technology program. I observed the work that the students did from afar, and it appealed to me.”

Lopez said he is pleased with his program of study at TSTC.

“I’m learning something new every day,” he said. “The program’s automotive shops are up to date. That creates an excellent learning environment.”

He said the hands-on training has been captivating.

“The Automotive Brake Systems course has been my favorite,” he said. “The training covered how brakes effectively operate on a vehicle for safety purposes. The instructors teach brake theory, diagnosis, anti-lock brake systems and other areas.”

Lopez added that his instructors have superior industry knowledge.

“The instructors’ lectures and hands-on training have made it easy to learn,” he said. “They have definitely elevated my education.”

Lopez plans to continue his studies at TSTC to help him achieve his goal of becoming an instructor.

“My first step is to complete the certificate of completion,” he said. “Then I will continue the program and begin the Associate of Applied Science degree in Automotive Technology. If any person has an interest in the automotive industry, I highly recommend this program at TSTC.”

Jose Avila, a TSTC Automotive Technology instructor, said Lopez’s commitment to the program has been positive.

“Antonio motivates his classmates, and that’s an admirable trait,” he said. “He always asks questions, discusses what’s new in the industry, and helps his fellow classmates. Those are great steppingstones to become a future automotive teacher.”

The need for qualified automotive service technicians and mechanics is expected to grow in Texas over the next several years. According to onetonline.org, Texas employs more than 55,000 of these technicians around the state, and that number is forecast to top 61,000 by 2030. The average annual salary for a technician in the state is $46,680.

TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Automotive Technology. Certificate programs also are available.

For more information about TSTC, visit ts t c.edu.

Laredo BP Provides Medical Aid To Lost Individuals

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

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Feb 2, 2023

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Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents from the Laredo South Station provided medical aid to lost individuals near El Cenizo, Texas. USCBP Image

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LAREDO, Texas – Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents from the Laredo South Station provided medical aid to lost individuals near El Cenizo, Texas.

On Jan. 31, agents received a 911 call of two individuals lost in a ranch south of the town near the Rio Grande. Using coordinates from the call, Border Patrol agents located the individuals. One of the individuals informed the agents that he had injured his leg and hip. A Border Patrol Emergency Medical Technician arrived on the scene to provide medical treatment.

After treatment, the individual was transported to the nearest hospital. The other was taken to the Laredo South Station for processing. Record checks revealed that both individuals were in the country illegally and from Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection welcomes assistance from the community. Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol while remaining anonymous by calling 1-800-343-1994.

Flores Appointed to Intergovernmental Risk Pool Board

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Feb 2, 2023

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On January 28, 2023, at a TML intergovernmental Risk Pool Board of Trustees meeting, Victor Flores, Mission City Attorney, was appointed to fill an unexpired term for Place 1 on the board. Courtesy image for illustration purposes

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MISSION, Texas – On January 28, 2023, at a TML intergovernmental Risk Pool Board of Trustees meeting, Victor Flores, Mission City Attorney, was appointed to fill an unexpired term for Place 1 on the board. The appointment runs until October 2026.

“The Pool is thrilled to have Victor Flores on board,” said Board of Trustees Chair Mary M. Dennis. “The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and it’s also susceptible to hurricanes and other perils. Victor’s expertise will be invaluable as a longtime city attorney from the Rio Grande Valley.”

The Pool is an intergovernmental, risk-sharing partnership formed in 1974 by the Members of the Texas Municipal League to offer workers’ compensation coverage to city employees. Over the years, the Pool added property, liability, cyber, and other services, and it now covers:

More than 95% of Texas cities and 1,800 other local governments.
Over 200,000 public servants through workers’ compensation, including 40,000 first responders.
$ 45 billion in governmental property.

Flores, a McAllen native, received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and a Juris Doctorate from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Before leading the Mission City Attorney’s Office, Flores was the City Attorney for the City of Brownsville, Texas, and assistant city attorney for Plano, Denton, and McAllen, Texas.

“The Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool and its Board of Trustees have a strong national reputation for providing a stable and economic source of risk financing and loss prevention services for local governments across Texas, enhancing the other critical services to our communities. I am honored to have been appointed to this esteemed board,” said Victor Flores.

“This a great opportunity for Mission and this entire region. Having Mr. Flores serve on this important state board not only helps to bring back new information that will improve our city services, but it is also an opportunity for us to have a seat at the table and share our area’s unique perspective on other state-wide matters,” shared Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza.

Eagle Pass CBP Seizes Hard Narcotics Worth Over $1.9M

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

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Feb 2, 2023

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Packages containing more than 135 pounds of cocaine seized by CBP officers at Eagle Pass Port of Entry. USCBP Image

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EAGLE PASS, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at Eagle Pass Port of Entry recently seized hard narcotics that totaled over $1,900,000 in street value.

“Once again, our frontline officers have demonstrated their true commitment towards the CBP mission of keeping dangerous drugs from crossing our international borders,” said Acting Port Director Michael Martinez, Eagle Pass Port of Entry. “By working as a team and utilizing all available tools and resources, our officers accomplished this outstanding interception of hard narcotics.”

The seizure occurred on January 30th, CBP officers assigned to the Camino Real International Bridge encountered a 41-year-old male United States citizen driving a 2016 Ford Edge arriving from Mexico. The vehicle was referred for a canine and non-intrusive inspection system examination, resulting in the discovery of 135.8 pounds of alleged cocaine and 4.5 pounds of alleged heroin within multiple areas of the vehicle ranging from the air filter, quarter panels, doors, and roof. The narcotics have an estimated street value of $1,924,358.

The narcotics and vehicle were seized by CBP officers. Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) special agents arrested the driver and have initiated a criminal investigation.

Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Texans

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Feb 2, 2023

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U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Congress and would help lower drug prices. Image Source: United States Senate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons for illustration purposes — U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his bipartisan *Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act*, which passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Congress and would help lower drug prices. Image Source: United States Senate, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons for illustration purposes

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WASHINGTON, DC – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Congress and would help lower drug prices by preventing bad actors’ anti-competitive use of patents to block generic and biosimilar competition from coming to market. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“The list price for Humira is more than $80,000 per year per patient. That’s higher than the median household income in Texas.”

“Humira is one of the most egregious examples of patent abuse, but it’s far from the only one.”

“Earlier this week Senator Blumenthal, the Senator from Connecticut, and I reintroduced a bill called the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act to put an end to this anti-competitive practice that keeps drug prices artificially high.”

“There are two practices in particular that this bill will address. One is called patent thicketing, which involves building layers upon layers of patents to prevent competitors from ever hitting the market. That’s what AbbVie did with Humira.”

“The other anticompetitive behavior this bill will address is something called product hopping, which occurs when a company develops a reformulation of a product that’s about to lose exclusivity, and then pulls the original product off the market. This is done not because the new formula is more effective, but because it prevents generic competitors.”

“The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act puts an end to this practice by expressly prohibiting manufacturers from engaging in product hopping. It also facilitates market entry for generics and biosimilars, which lead to more options and lower prices for patients.”

“Patients in Texas and across the country are experiencing sticker shock at the pharmacy counter like never before.”

“There’s a bipartisan desire to stop the anti-competitive behaviors that I described here today that are costing patients and taxpayers a fortune, and I hope we can make progress this Congress and finally put a stop to some of the gamesmanship.”

Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees.

Senator Cruz: Release Mark Swidan, Wrongfully Detained in China

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Feb 2, 2023

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Senator Cruz: Release Mark Swidan, Wrongfully Detained in China

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a resolution he authored calling for the release of Mark Swidan, a Houston, Texas resident who has been unjustly detained by China since 2012. Read that release here. YouTube Image

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a resolution he authored calling for the release of Mark Swidan, a Houston, Texas resident who has been unjustly detained by China since 2012. Read that release here.

Senator Cruz delivered floor remarks pertaining to the resolution. Watch below:

Read the resolution here.

Read a rough transcript below:

Madam President, I rise today to speak about a gross miscarriage of justice, the imprisonment of Mark swit on by the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party. Mark is from Luling, a small city in my home state of Texas. His mother, Miss Catherine Swidan on still lives in Luling. While Mark eventually became a resident of Houston – my hometown for over 10 years – Catherine has been waging a desperate battle to see her son again.

In 2012, Mark traveled to China on a business trip, which turned into a nightmare. On November 13, 2012, Mark was abducted by China’s Public Security Bureau while he was taking his family back home. A witness to the abduction has said that Mark was detained because Chinese officials wanted to view the contents of his cell phone. Mark was accused of being a part of a criminal conspiracy, with 11 other individuals to manufacture and traffic drugs, charges that Mark is denied and which had been debunked over and over again. Chinese authorities tried to coerce Mark into confessing. He refused. And he pleaded not guilty in a trial that occurred in November 2013. During the trial, the prosecution didn’t produce any forensic evidence to back up their allegations. And no drugs were found on mark or in his hotel room. Records and Mark’s passport show that he wasn’t even in China during the time of the alleged offenses, and the 11 other individuals indicted in relation to this alleged drug conspiracy couldn’t identify Mark.

Nevertheless, outrageously in 2019, a Chinese court sentenced Mark to death. Mark remains unjustly detained today. He is suffering in a Chinese prison right now. As we speak, in prison, Mark has been kept in deplorable, abusive conditions. His jailers seek to break his will and break his faith. They have confiscated his Bible and his rosary. Mark cell exposes him to extreme heat and extreme cold. He’s deprived of sleep and subjected to physical abuse. He is in danger of high blood pressure, skin infections and asthma. He’s lost more than 100 pounds. His health is dire.

Throughout all of this, Mark has been denied access to his family and access to American diplomats. Mark has communicated with his mother and his mother has told me and told the world that the Chinese Communist government has failed to break Mark’s faith which remains strong.

I spoke with Mark’s mother earlier this week. This is a mom whose heart is breaking. This is a mom who wants to see her son again. This is a mom who wants to hold and hug and care for the son she loves. The treatment of Mark has been atrocious. So much so that even the United Nations has called on China to release him. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a UN group of human rights experts who investigate cases of arbitrary detention of around the world found that Mark is being held in violation of customary international law and international norms include During the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The world can see that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to use hostages and hostage taking as a tool of statecraft. The Chinese Communist Party says they want to be taken seriously as a great power and a great nation and they say they want to be respected on the global stage. But their treatment of Mark is not how great nations and great powers behave their treatment of Mark is how third world despots act.

Madam President, I have drafted in this week introduced a resolution calling on the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party to immediately released Mark. I’m joined by my colleague from Texas Senator Cornyn, and by Representative Cloud from Texas, in the house, who was introduced the same resolution in the House of Representatives. This resolution not only calls for Mark’s immediate release, it also condemns China for withholding from Mark access to his family and to proper medical care. Furthermore, it calls upon the Biden administration to prioritize efforts to secure by Marc’s release, both in their conversation with Chinese diplomats and international forums.

In a few days, Secretary of State Blinken will be in Beijing. And he will have an opportunity to finish the final chapter of this tragedy. I’m calling on the Biden administration to use all of the tools at our disposal to secure marks release. And I’m calling on the government of China to finally release mark. Madam President this ordeal has got to end it has to end for Mark. It has to end for his mother. It has to end for his family. We must and will do more so that Mark can come home. I yield the floor.

Beto Salinas Attends Mayor’s International Brunch

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Feb 2, 2023

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The former Mayor of the City of Mission, Beto Salinas attended the Mayor’s International Brunch as Mission Mayor Garza’s guest. Image Source: Facebook

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The former Mayor of the City of Mission, Beto Salinas attended the Mayor’s International Brunch as Mission Mayor Garza’s guest. He said it was good to hear the great work that Texas State Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is doing for Texans.

Former and Current Mission Mayors. Image Source: Facebook

Salinas got the opportunity to see so many good friends from his great community.

“Thank you my dear friend Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza for the special invitation and your kind hospitality.”

Stop Forcing “Sexual Orientation” & “Gender Identity” Policies on States

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Feb 2, 2023

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Attorney General Paxton filed an amicus brief in the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to stop the Biden Administration’s relentless pursuit of new so-called sexual orientation and gender identity policies. Image for illustration purposes

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AUSTIN, Texas – Attorney General Paxton filed an amicus brief in the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to stop the Biden Administration’s relentless pursuit of new so-called sexual orientation and gender identity policies.

Attorney General Paxton had successfully sued to stop the implementation of two related woke Biden Administration rules, including one by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) requiring employers to enact rules governing bathroom, locker room, and shower usage, as well as dress codes and pronoun usage to be predicated on “gender identity” as opposed to biological sex. The federal government acknowledged defeat when it opted not to appeal the ruling.

Similarly, a Tennessee-led coalition previously sued the EEOC and U.S. Department of Education over the same rule for public school districts. In that case, a federal district court issued an injunction against the policies, and the Biden Administration is now appealing the case. The amicus brief filed by Attorney General Paxton supports keeping the injunction in place.

At issue in both cases is the Administration’s unreasonable misapplication of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which banned certain forms of discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Although the Supreme Court made it clear that Bostock had a narrow application within the employment law context, that has not stopped the Biden Administration from using the decision as a basis to promote its radical agenda on a far broader basis.

“Joe Biden has demonstrated that there are no limits on what he’s willing to do to transform his extremist views into federal policy,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The activists in his Administration are attempting to create illegal rules that threaten children, families, and workers, all while completely ignoring basic biology. However, they have already lost in court in Texas, and I will relentlessly fight them if they try again.”

To read the full amicus brief, click here.

Paxton Files Motion to End Unlawful Biden DACA Rule

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Feb 2, 2023

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Attorney General Paxton is building upon his previous efforts to end President Biden’s unlawful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program by filing a motion for summary judgment in his case against the federal government. Image for illustration purposes

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AUSTIN, Texas – Attorney General Paxton is building upon his previous efforts to end President Biden’s unlawful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program by filing a motion for summary judgment in his case against the federal government.

The Biden Administration’s new DACA program was created after Attorney General Paxton successfully defeated the original program established under the Obama Administration. The New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit correctly ruled that President Obama did not have the statutory authority to create the policy, but that has not deterred the lawless Biden Administration from creating a rule that is plagued by the same foundational flaws.

Biden’s DACA program, which allows certain illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. indefinitely and grants them many of the same legal rights and benefits as U.S. citizens, places an enormous burden on Texas and other states across the country. To stop this program, Attorney General Paxton filed a motion for summary judgment, which urges the court to nullify the new rule, permanently enjoin its implementation, and declare it both unconstitutional and unlawful on multiple grounds.

“I successfully led the charge in defeating Obama’s DACA program already. I am hopeful that our judicial system will once again deliver a victory for American sovereignty and for proper checks and balances against the executive branch,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Obama and Biden programs are practically indistinguishable in both the negative harms that they will have on this country and in the illegal means used to implement them. I am therefore calling for the new DACA rule to end in the same way that the Obama-era rule did: struck down as unlawful.”

To read the full motion, click here.

Theater Students Advance in UIL Film Competition

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Feb 1, 2023

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Dozens of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD) theater students submitted films for the UIL Film Competition and have advanced to the second round. Image for illustration purposes

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PHARR – Dozens of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD) theater students submitted films for the UIL Film Competition and have advanced to the second round.

The UIL program was created by The University of Texas at Austin to provide leadership and guidance to public school debate and athletic teachers. Since 1910, UIL has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world with competition categories ranging from academics and athletics to theatre and music.

The following films will be advancing to the next round:

Bee’s Their Future	PSJA ECHS
Fingerprints	PSJA ECHS
Hunt	PSJA ECHS
Missed You	PSJA ECHS
Psychedelic Harmony	PSJA ECHS
Swifties	PSJA ECHS
Wrestling. What is that about?	PSJA ECHS
The Little Bee	PSJA North ECHS
Pharr Riot	PSJA North ECHS
Sockilisha: A Sockumentary	PSJA North ECHS
The Cardigan	PSJA North ECHS
The Theatre	PSJA North ECHS
They Don’t Want To Go Home	PSJA North ECHS
Time’s Up!	PSJA North ECHS
IN THE HEIGHTS: THE MUSICAL	PSJA Memorial ECHS
LEGO WWI	PSJA Memorial ECHS
STAGE FRIGHT	PSJA Memorial ECHS
TECH MATTERS	PSJA Memorial ECHS
THE FOUR BILLS: A WILD WEST MUSICAL	PSJA Memorial ECHS
9 Lives!	PSJA Southwest ECHS
A Conversation	PSJA Southwest ECHS
LONE	PSJA T. Jefferson T-STEM ECHS

Congratulations theatre students and directors!