The Brownsville Beacon

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon A few hours ago, Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference from the state capital. The governor announced no new changes to the expiration date on the stay-at-home executive order he issued. The order will expire on April 30th.  The governor also announced businesses, including all retail stores, restaurants, and movie theaters, will be allowed to reopen and limited to 25% occupancy. Museums and libraries can also open as long as they adhere to the 25% occupancy rule.  All licensed health care professionals are also allowed to return to work at doctor's offices and clinics.  Some businesses will not open on May 1st and have to wait for further instructions, including hair salons, barber shops, and fitness centers (gyms). Facial coverings will no longer be required, even though officials strongly recommend people still use them when social distancing rules are not possible. The six foot social distancing gap is also

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The Brownsville city commission met via a video conference Tuesday afternoon at around 5:00 pm.  Among the various city administrators present were elected officials Mayor Trey Mendez and Commissioners Cowen, Cowen, Galonsky-Pizana, Neece, and Tetreau. After the introductory prayer and a moment of silence, the meeting began.  Nobody signed up for the public comment section, so the meeting continued with the COVID-19 update presented by Dr. Art Rodriguez, director of the Brownsville Public Health Department. As of the meeting, 1,258 tests had been administered, 1, 602 people did not meet the criteria, 56% were insured, 44% were uninsured, 72 people had tested positive, 1,125 tested negative, with 117 people with pending results. An epidemiologist joined Dr. Rodriguez and continued with the presentation explaining some of the data and stated based on the analysis Brownsville is doing better than the state as a whole in flatte

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon I am aware living in a country known for its freedoms of choice and expression that has implemented rules and regulations to restrict that freedom goes against everything in an American's nature and fiber. I am also aware being cooped up at home with nothing to do other than what has been identified as an essential activity is starting to effect people's mental health and well-being. I also understand disrupting one's routine throws people off. While people experience things differently, one of the side effects of my "cabin fever" is a strange bout of insomnia and vivid, strange dream sequences. On any given night, I am usually unable to sleep, and I will not get to sleep until sometime after 2:30 in the morning. During one of the most extreme examples, I stayed up the entire early morning, and I was unable to sleep until six in the morning. Protests have erupted around the country. In the Midwest, prote

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon We here at the Beacon have scaled back our editorial and opinion articles during the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping through the nation and through the Great State of Texas. We felt this was not the time to be criticizing local and state elected officials. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, was prepared for this insanity. There were no contingency plans sitting on a shelf somewhere that were waiting to be implemented in the event a global pandemic ripped through Brownsville.  Every city, county, and state organization is really trying to do the best they can with the information they have. This is the proverbial rock and hard place scenario. If the current COVID-19 pandemic is a dress rehearsal for the end of the world, or the apocalypse, humanity has proven it is nowhere near ready to tackle the world's impending doom. I was always taught it was important for communities to come together during time of crisis. I was alw

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference at lunchtime today. The governor issued a statement about "reopening" the state in three phases. He issued executive orders establishing a COVID-19 Task Force and how Texas businesses would start serving the public again. The governor also released a statement regarding the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The statement read: The team of doctors are advising us that it would be unsafe to allow students to gather in schools for the forseeable future. As a result, school classrooms are closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. That includes all public, private, and higher education institutions. The BISD convened an emergency board meeting after the governor's press conference at 1:00 pm. The superintendent began speaking at the meeting mentioning the governor's press conference and his decision to shut down the campuses for the remainder of

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The Brownsville Independent School Discrict held a board meeting today. There were several pieces of information that were discussed during the meeting, most of the changes being made as a result of the current COVID-19 crisis. Board members, along with Superintendent Dr. Rene Gutierrez were practicing social distancing guidelines, sitting six feet apart. Several board members, along with today's main presenter, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Anysia Trevino, were also wearing protecive masks when they weren't talking to the other board members.  According to the agenda, an addendum to the employment contracts was proposed. The addendum was to require all core area teachers (English, math, science, and social studies) to obtain an ESL certification as a condition of employment. Dr. Trevino introduced the item and several board members engaged in a healthy debate before deciding to restri