The Brownsville Beacon

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Brownsville was selected as one of the finalists for a private launch facility to be built by Elon Musk's private space exploration companies, SpaceX. The people rejoiced. The decision was made. SpaceX would build their launch facility near Boca Chica Beach. The company was given a huge tax abatement by the county and the state as bulldozers began clearing sections of pristine, undisturbed beachfront land, home to dozens of species of wildlife. The people still rejoiced. SpaceX and Musk promised Brownsville would be home to the Falcon 9 heavy rockets SpaceX uses to launch commercial satellites into orbit around earth. Musk said thousands of space and technology enthusiasts would make their way to Brownsville, stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, and spend their money as at least two launches per month were planned. City leaders in Brownsville and South Padre Island furiously planned observation platforms so peo...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The Mr. Amigo Association seems to be following their new annual tradition — turning an annual tradition that has been running for over half a century into a trainwreck. According to an article written by Juan Montoya and published on El Rrun Rrun , former MAA president Arturo Trevino submitted his resignation from the organization citing differences between the former president and current leadership. Further controversy surrounds the organization as rumors are beginning to circulate saying this year's Mr. Amigo, boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez will mirror last year's Mr. Amigo and skip many of the public events, including the Grand International Parade. Montoya goes on to report tens of thousands of dollars are being spent to indulge Chavez, including the rental of a private jet to fly Chavez and his entourage from California to Brownsville.  Maybe this kind of internal struggle and power-play has always happe...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon It seems the Democratic candidates for Senate District 27 won't only be competing for Democratic votes, they will also be competing for Republican votes as well. The local Republican Parties in Cameron and Willacy County released statements this past Tuesday urging Republicans not to support the Republican candidate for Senate District 27. Wolf Chapa, the chairman of the Willacy County Republican Party released a statement on social media letting voters know "that our county executive committee has voted not to support the candidate running for SD 27. You know she is not a Republican nor does she have any of our values, not one!" Chapa further goes on to ask Republicans to spread the word and let voters know they believe the candidate, Vanessa Tijerina, has turned the election into a circus. Morgan Cisneros Graham, the Cameron County Republican Party Chairman, echoed Chapa's sentiments. She asks Cameron...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon District 27 is going to have a difficult choice to make in the upcoming weeks. Several questions remain unanswered as early voting begins, but the main question will be: Who will be the Democratic candidate for State Senator for District 27? Two career politicians are facing off against a lawyer in a three-way fight for the right to face pseudo-Republican community activist Vanessa Tijerina from Raymondville in November. Incumbent Eddie Lucio, Jr., who in recent elections usually finds himself running against pretenders or unopposed, is facing a serious primary challenge from State Board of Education member, and former BISD Trustee Ruben Cortez and a newcomer to the political fray, lawyer and human rights advocate Sara Stapleton Barrera. Will Lucio be able to dispatch of both primary opponents without having a runoff election? Has the Lucio political machine amassed enough money for the war chest to purchase enough lawn sig...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon When I attended the University of Texas at Brownsville, it was officially known as the University of Texas at Brownsville in partnership with Texas Southmost College. The logo had both UTB and TSC, the mascot was the scorpion, and the school colors were UT System orange and navy blue. The powers-that-be marketed the school as a unique partnership. Presumably the idea was to circumvent UT System admissions requirements by allowing students to complete their first two years under TSC's umbrella then "transferring" over to UTB for their junior and senior years.  Once upon a time, before there was a UT Brownsville, students who attended school in Brownsville graduated from the University of Texas Pan-American. The main campus was in Edinburg. Eventually, UTPA would be its own stand-alone campus as a new UT Brownsville was created in the early 1990's and joined forces with Texas Southmost College which had existe...

Early voting for the March primaries starts today. Early voting runs from Tuesday, February 18, 2020, to Friday, February 28, 2020. All of the information below is provided via the Cameron County's Election & Voter Registration page. Remi Garza is the county election administrator. His office's contact information is below, should you need any information or help.  1050 E. Madison St.  Brownsville, Texas, 78520 Phone: 956-544-0809 email: elections@co.cameron.tx.us Main web page:  https://www.cameroncounty.us/elections/ The "Election Hotline" number is  1-844-226-8683 Here's the link to the page where you can find the sample ballot for your respective precinct. You can choose either the Democratic sample ballot or the Republican sample ballot: https://www.cameroncounty.us/elections/index.php/sample-ballots-2/ Here's the link to the page that shows you all the different early voting polling places throughout Cameron County, including the ...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon I sometimes think people run for office without fully knowing what the responsibilities of the office they seek are. I think some people like seeing their names on cardboard signs asking people for their votes. Once they get elected, it feels like those people are more interested in the authority and the prestige that comes with elected office. Maybe they like sitting up on a perch in front of people and cameras. Maybe they like people knowing who they are. Maybe they just like having a reserved parking spot. Unfortunately, many people who seek elected office fail to remember why they're there in the first place. They are there to serve the community. They are there to implement policies and procedures to move their city, their county, their navigation district, or their school board in the right direction. They are there to serve their constituents in the best way possible.  Other people use elected offices as a spring...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Since 2014, the Port of Brownsville has become the final resting place for many of the U.S. Navy's decommissioned aircraft carriers. For a Throwback Thursday feature, we figured we'd go back a few years and revisit how Brownsville became the navy's carrier graveyard and how Brownsville's Ghost Fleet continues to grow. There are several shipbreaking and metal recycling companies at, and around, the port.  All Star Metals, LLC, a subsidiary of Scrap Metal Services, LLC, was the first metal recycling company to hook one of these aircraft carriers. They paid the U.S. government one cent to acquire the first supercarrier, the former USS Forrestal (CV-59). USS Forrestal was the first aircraft carrier in her class and was conventionally (not nuclear) powered.  She was named after James Forrestal, the first Secretary of Defense. She served from 1956 until her decommissioning in 1993.  Forrestal is most kno...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Frontera Progressives is a local political organization whose mission statement reads, " We are an independent organization that educates and engages the energy of the community to support progressive values." The organization has recently made local headlines by petitioning Charro Days, Inc. to disinvite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and the Border Patrol from participating in the annual Charro Days parades. Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol usually participate in the Color Guard parade. Their mounted officers usually march at the front of the parade displaying the American, Texan, CBP, and Border Patrol flags. Frontera Progressives wants the agencies scratched from the parades. In a letter sent to the Charro Days organizers and several local media outlets, they write: While we understand that they are a part of our community and may perform an important pu...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Edmund Burke is quoted as saying the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. For a very long time, I have done nothing. I have lived my life for others, not really taking care of myself or doing what I wanted to do. I wish I could go back in time and change some of that, but unfortunately that's not how it works.  I started this blog for several reasons. One of them was to shed light on issues I think need addressing. Since Brownsville receives very little media coverage from local news outlets, I thought I would report on things I believe need attention. Publishing the Beacon has definitely been an interesting experience — I've learned a lot these past few months.  It has become very clear to me one needs to have a very thick skin if they're going to be sharing their opinions in a venue where the anonymous can opine and criticize. It is also clear there are going to be those ...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The BISD Children's Parade story keeps on going. At first, grumblings about charter schools and private schools being kept out of Thursday's parade set off a firestorm of comments and complaints from charter school parents. A letter circulated by Jubilee Academy informed their parents the Brownsville Independent School District would not be allowing charter schools to participate in Thursday's parade.  The district confirmed what was written in the letter by putting out their own press release. The verdict was in: Charter schools were out. Private schools were still going to be allowed to participate. Now, the district has informed all their campuses they will all have to participate in Thursday's parade. The district usually rotated what schools would participate in the parade. Now, all 7 high schools, 11 middle schools, 35 elementary schools, and I assume the four alternative campuses, will all have to par...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. He took office during one of America's darkest periods — The Great Depression. In a bold measure to get the United States out of the economic troubles it was in, Roosevelt proposed an initiative that became known as "The New Deal." He would create dozens of alphabet agencies designed to put jobless Americans to work.  During Roosevelt's first 100 days in office, he passed 13 major laws designed to stimulate the American economy and get people back to work. Since then, the first 100 days have served as a benchmark to measure a government head's early success. Brownsville's city government, in its current incarnation, has been in power for 223 days, well beyond the first 100 day measuring stick. Mayor Juan "Trey" Mendez III was sworn in as mayor on July 2nd of last year, along with District 1 Commissioner Nurith Galonsky and A...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Old Brownsville is experiencing a renaissance. Downtown is being renovated and refurbished, and old shopping plazas are being reinvigorated with new businesses and shops.  While all of these improvements are definitely moving Brownsville in the right direction, there was an old magic to Brownsville that will never be able to be recreated. Maybe nostalgia and fond memories of my youth make me see Old Brownsville through rose-colored glasses, but there are certain things that will not be able to be brought back.  Walking to the Majestic Theater to catch a matinee, walking through Whitman's, going through the aisles at Mac's Toys, and having lunch with my grandfather at the C&L Pharmacy lunch counter are things that no amount of renovation will be able to bring back.  One of those Old Brownsville memories was an annual event that took place right before Charro Days. The Tip-O-Tex Wildcat Show, or simply The W...

Should the City Commission order an audit and investigation of the goings on at the Brownsville Public Library?