The Brownsville Beacon

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon 2019 has been a tumultuous year. I guess the same can be said for almost all the years that I've lived as a supposed "responsible adult." However, this year was especially rocky. I can't wait for the clock to strike midnight on December 31st. I can't wait for 2020 to start. I am not a child. I know 2019's problems aren't going to stay behind, but I guess it's more of a symbolic cleansing that I'm looking for.  I have been on a journey of self-discovery, revitalization, and searching for inner peace. For many years, I lived for other people. I have done what was expected of me, and I have done what others have wanted me to do. I put my own interests aside for the interests of others. Going into my 43rd year of life on this planet, I am finally coming to the realization that living for others is not really livng at all. I am very thankful I have reconnected with friends and family who hav...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The offices of the Beacon are quiet. WIth the exception of the occasional thunderous boom, crack, and pop of of the fireworks Brownsvillians are illegally firing off, things are calm. Traffic has calmed down, and there aren't too many people driving around. Those who are driving around are probably looking for a spot to pick up a late dinner. For the record, Easy To Go Tacos on Military is open. There hasn't been any breaking news within the last couple of days. Things are pretty serene. In the distance, corridos pierce the silence, obviously some neighbors down the street are enjoying their carne asada with friends and family. The Beacon has only been around for a couple of months, but the editorial staff would like to express their gratitude for the readers we have accumulated. We would also like to thank those who have done their part to help spread the word of a new blog in town. A very special thank you goes ...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon With yesterday's impeachment vote, Donald J. Trump became the third President of the United States to be impeached. With his impeachment secured, the proceedings are now supposed to move to the Senate for a trial and a vote on conviction or acquittal. News from the Capitol this morning is saying the trial may be delayed as the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, does not want the trial to begin unless the Democrats and the Republicans can come together and hammer out an agreement for a fair trial. After the vote, Democrats seemed to be in a celebratory mood, claiming a hard fought victory. After months and months of investigations, hearings, speeches, and votes, the president was finally impeached.  But the question begs to be asked — What did impeaching the president actually accomplish? Conviction in the Senate seems highly unlikely, as the vote would most certainly be along party lines. There are currently 53 Republi...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon When I was getting ready to graduate from the University of Texas at Brownsville, I took a senior seminar in government. For that class, I wrote a paper about the demystification of the American presidency and the idea that any slob could be President of the United States. I had argued that politics during the 19th and 20th centuries was a noble undertaking, and with the advent of the modern-era and technology, the luster of the American political landscape had eroded. When the 24-hour news cycle came around, and the information age demanded we know everything and anything about our elected officials, we realized there was no true American nobility. Politicians were just as ordinary as the rest of us. However, many politicians still tried to maintin an aura of professionalism and respect. That all seems to have fallen by the wayside when our current president was elected. He seems to have no problems taking to social media to...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Frank Mar is the administrator of a Facebook page called Nomorecheezmeh Official . He has a weekly live stream where he discusses topics of local interest. Frank has been gracious enough to invite me on as a guest on his show more than once. He now refers to me as his co-host.  This is a task I do not take lightly. I am honored someone would think to have me on to provide political analysis and to discuss the local goings on in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley. The live stream usually happens on Tuesday evenings around 8:30. Last night, Frank and I were joined by Michael Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a small business owner and a Southmost resident. He ran for the District 1 commissioner seat during the last election cycle. He lost the election to Nurith Galonsky Pizaña. Rodriguez says he's currently considering running for office next year. We discussed some of his ideas for District 1 and Brownsville as a whole. One of ...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon In 2010, the Brownsville city government, in all their infinite wisdom, decided they wanted to be the first to do something. Instead of sitting down with the heads of all the city departments and prioritizing what it is we actually needed to make Brownsville a better place to live, we decided to focus on the scourge of Brownsville — the plastic bag. Brownsville city leaders decided to ban the use of plastic bags. They decided these bags are a nuisance and they litter the landscape and make Brownsville less beautiful. Instead of directing the police department to crack down on people littering from their vehicles and instead of having the Code Enforcement department crack down on residences and businesses to make sure they had adequate methods of disposing of trash, they decided that stores could no longer use plastic bags. We were going to save the environment one trip to the grocery store at a time. How very "Austin...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Among the many things I'm interested in is retail history and abandoned structures. I wrote an article that was featured on the deadmalls.com website. I wrote about the Amigoland Mall. The other day, while on a friend's blog, someone made a comment about the Amigoland Mall and began asking questions about what stores were in the mall. I realized I had written the article about the Amigoland Mall but I had not written one about the Sunrise Mall. I figured I'd write something about the Sunrise Mall before the memory begins to fade.  The Sunrise Mall's current layout and floorplan The Sunrise Mall was opened in 1979. The mall was originally built to compete with the Amigoland Mall that opened a few years before. The Sunrise Mall was originally half the size it currently is. The mall ended right where JC Penney begins.  The Sunrise Mall's layout before the 1999 renovation The Sunrise Mall dead...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon SpaceX seems to be ramping up their efforts to build another prototype after the catastrophic failure of their MK1 Starship. Elon Musk, SpaceX's swindling head honcho confirmed they would no longer be looking to test-launch the MK1. Instead, they would be halting construction on the MK2 Starship under construction at their Florida facility and start construction on a new MK3 Starship at their Boca Chica facility. Their other Florida operations would still continue, which include the launching of their Falcon 9 Heavy Rockets, the same rockets that were supposed to be launched from the Boca Chica launch pad. SpaceX said some of their temporary workers had voluntarily left while others were being offered the opportunity to relocate to South Texas to continue work on the MK3. According to an article released by The Brownsville Herald Sunday evening, some of the rocket parts arrived at the Port of Brownsville within the last ...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon We live in an interesting time. The technological revolution has made anyone, and everyone, with a cell phone a potential journalist. Our phones can record audio and high definition video. Technology has allowed people with little, to no, journalistic credentials a space to publish articles on the internet.  Technology is definitely a double-edged sword. While it has allowed me the freedom to start up a blog and join the Brownsville Blogosphere, there are people who use this incredibly powerful tool to spread misinformation and false narratives.  I have often times said I am not a professional journalist. I do not have any formal training in journalism past high school. I wrote for my high school newspaper, I drew political cartoons and comic strips for my high school newspaper, and I wrote headlines and features for UIL competitions. I did not take any journalism classes in college, and I have never been paid for my...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Brownsville has a rich railroad history. At any given time, the great railroads of American history have steamed through our fair city. Brownsville once had a beautiful Missouri-Pacific train depot next to the Hotel El Jardin. The Historic Brownsville Museum is housed in what was once the Southern Pacific train depot. My grandmother told stories of soldiers boarding the trains at the Southern Pacific depot heading off to fight the Nazis during World War II. Today, the Union Pacific railyard still has an abandoned train depot behind what was once called East Fronton Street. While most of the rail lines that ran through Brownsville have been relocated, there are still some arteries that run from the port out towards where the 77 Flea Market is. My house used to shake as the train passed just feet from where I slept. Brownsville was a railroad town.  Brownsville also has a connection to a long forgotten railroad — the Rio...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Editor's Note: In June, a Chicago-based investment firm announced they were getting into the hamburger business by acquiring a majority stake in Texas-based Whataburger. The first Whataburger was built in Corpus Christi in 1950. Since then, the headquarters of Whataburger had eventually moved to San Antonio until BDT Capital bought them out. Below is a brief history Whataburger's beginnings in Brownsville. Apologies to Brownsville Station, since they already posted a history of Whataburger on their blog. Ask any Texan if they've ever had a Whataburger, and you'll be hard-pressed to find anybody who would tell you no. Whataburger is branded into modern Texas history. While we're taught to "Remember the Alamo and remember Goliad," Whataburger isn't easily forgotten. Dotted along the vast Texas landscape, you'll find more than 670 of those orange and white buildings offering everything from ha...