Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2006 Page: 1 of 6
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THURSDAY
WEEKLY
EDITION
Rio Grande
July 20, 2006
93rd YEAR No. 29
#215
HOAG BOOK BINDERY
127 RAIL ROAD
SPRINGPORT.MI 49204
ZONE 6
J
A Newspaper Serving the People of South Texas
Defendant convicted of 2004 murder; gets 8-year sentence
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H-E-B staff prepares for new store opening
Management and employees of the H-E-B Store in Rio Grande City are pictured in front c
Management and employees of the H-E-B Store in Rio Grande City are pictured in front of the new H
E-B Plus store that is scheduled to open on Friday morning, Aug. 4. The new store will be located at
4031 East Highway 83 in Rio Grande City. A grand opening ceremony is scheduled to take place mi
Thursday, Aug. 3. The new store is expected to be slightly more than 100,000 square feel in size
County okays agreement
favoring concept of Mier bridge
By KENNETH ROBERTS
At their special meeting
Monday morning, the County
Commissioners approved an
interlocal agreement with two
Mexican governmental entities
expressing support for the idea
of constructing an international
bridge near Mier in the distant
future.
The agenda item concerning
the suggested Mier bridge read as
follows: "Discuss and take
action on Interlocal Agreement
between C'iudad Mier,
Tamaulipas and Starr County on
the visibility of International
Bridge."
County Judge Eloy Vera
explained, "This involves no
money by the county. This
would be something that they
could take to Mexico City to
show that we're interested in the
possibility."
"This would offer more
possibilities for commercial
traffic," commented the judge.
"The bridge at Falcon (Dam) is
not operational 24 hours a day
and does not have a Customs
inspector."
Ranches honored for
efforts to save plants
Owners of 42 South Texas
ranches were honored for their
efforts, including the signing of
conservation agreements, to save
scarce, threatened and endangered
native plants. The awards
banquet and ceremony took place
on July 13 at the South Texas
College (STC) Campus in Starr
County.
A five-year program to locate
the rare plants was conducted by
Dana Price of Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, Lisa
Williams of The Nature
Conservancy and Gena Jannsen
of Jannsen Biological. Contacts
with ranchers on whose land the
rare plants were found led to the
signing of conservation
agreements to protect the plants
Benito and Toni Trevino of
Rancho Lomitas were also
honored for their efforts to
propagate and conserve plants.
The Rio Grande Wilderness
Society (RiGWiS) assisted in
hosting the awards event and
similar programs are envisioned
(See HONORED, Page 6)
RGC Main Street Program
receives national accreditation
The efforts of The Rio
Grande City Main Street
Program over the past year has
earned it recognition for
commercial district
revitalization by meeting
standards for performance set by
the National Trust for Historic
Preservation's National Man
Street Center.
The Rio Grande City Main
Street Program joins 625 other
Main Street revitalization
programs nationally recognized
as 2006 Accredited National
Main Street Programs. This is
the fourth year in a row that the
Rio Grande City Main Street
Program has received this
designation.
"The National Accreditation
means the Main Street program
is meeting our national
standards of performance for
what a Main Stn".' program
should be doing," said Doug
A 25-year-old Midway area
resident was sentenced to eight
years in prison last week after a
381st District Court jury
convicted him of the 2004
murder of a Starr County man.
The jury convicted Jose
Alejandro Garcia on Tuesday,
July I 1 in connection with the
death of Sergio Alberto Lopez in
July 2004. Assistant District
' Attorney Omar Escobar noted on
Monday that Lopez's body was
never found.
On Wednesday, July 12, the
same jury sentenced Garcia to
eight years in the state prison
system and a $5000 fine.
Presiding over the case in
381st District Court was a
visiting judge. District Judge
Robert Pate of Corpus Christi
Garcia was represented by
attorney J M. "Chuy" Alvarez of
Rio Grande City. The Rio
Grande Herald attempted to
contact Alvarez Tuesday
morning, but was unable to
reach him.
The case was prosecuted by
Assistant District Attorneys
Omar Escobar and Marco A.
Trevino.
Escobar commented, "I'm
pleased with the verdict of
guilty, but I felt the sentence
should have been stiffer. It was a
difficult and complicated case. I
lelt that the magnitude of the
crime merited a stiffer sentence."
Garcia was eligible to receive
a sentence ranging from 5 to 99
years in prison.
"A sentence of this kind
concerns us because some
criminals are willing to commit
serious crimes thinking they
will get a light sentence
anyway." lamented Escobar. "To
decrease crime, juries have to be
willing to give stiff sentences."
The prosecutor indicated, "He
(Garcia) was accused of
committing a murder north of
Alvarez Road. He was accused of
killing Sergio Alberto Lopez
with a handgun. Lopez's body
was never found. He was
considered missing for some
time. In late July 2004, officers
concluded that a murder had
taken place...The murder took
place on July 13, 2004."
Escobar continued. "We had
some DNA evidence from a
possible gravesite north of
Ah are/ Road in the form of hair
samples. The hair samples
matched that of the victim's
mother."
The prosecutor noted, "Also,
there were a couple of witnesses
who indicated that the victim ran
into the woods, the defendant
followed him into the wooded
area, shots were heard, and
witnesses later saw the defendant
coming out of the brush with a
gun in his hand. Witnesses later
saw the vk'im dead."
Escobar indicated that the jury
deliberated the issue of guilt or
innocence on Tuesday, July 1 1
(See SENTENCE, Page 6)
Edinburg man succumbs
in collision east of RGC
Precinct Two Commissioner
Raul "Roy" Pena, Jr. noted,
"This would be just a little
north of Fronton." Vera stressed.
"This is not something that is
going to happen quickly, but we
need to show our interest or
we're going to be left behind in
the future."
In other action, the
commissioners voted to approve
the submission of the first
supplemental agreement to
contribute funds for the FM 650
bridge at draw. Vera indicated,
"This involves the bridge at
Fronton. The right-of-way
would normally cost $130,000
overall."
The judge later explained,
"They're trying to straighten out
a sharp curve," which will
involve construction of a new
bridge.
Vera added at the meeting,
"We applied under disadvantaged
communities, which would
reduce the percentage to 4.8
percent and require a county
match of $5851. We were
originally responsible for 10
percent."
Judge Vera later told The Rio
Grande Herald, "The county
originally would have been
responsible for 10 percent, or
(See FAVORING, Page 6)
An Edinburg man was killed
virtually instantly when his
vehicle was struck twice in a
three-vehicle accident just east of
Rio Grande City during the
noon hour on Sunday. July 16
A DPS trooper indicated that
the fatal mishap occurred at
approximately 12:10 p.m
Sunday on U.S. 83 in the La
Puerta area about one-half mile
west of the intersection with
FM 1430.
Juan Hinojosa, 49. was
pronounced dead at the scene at
roughly 1:00 p.m. by Justice of
the Peace Ramon De La Cruz.
The trooper stated. "His death
was likely instantaneous."
The trooper declared that
Hinojosa "pulled out of the
parking lot of the Canales No. 2
store on the north side of the
highway. He was driving a 1989
blue Ford Ranger pickup. He
failed to yield the right-of-way.
He was struck from behind in
the inside westbound lane of
U.S. 83."
The initi1 impact, indicated
the officer, occurred when
Hinojosa's vehicle was struck
from behind by a silver Ford F-
250 pickup driven by Ruben
Oyervides, 25. of Rio Grande
City. The F-250 struck the
Ranger in the back right corner.
The trooper continued, "The
Ranger then (after the initial
impact) went into a right side
skid and went into the eastbound
lane of traffic. The Ranger was
then struck by a third vehicle on
the right passenger door. This
new impact caused the Ranger to
roll and the truck came to a stop
on the right side of the road. The
Ranger came to rest upside
down. The driver was not
ejected."
The trooper indicated that
Hinojosa sustained severe head
and neck injuries.
The second vehicle that struck
the Ranger pickup driven by
Hinojosa was a white 2005 F-
350 pickup driven by Darrell
Smith. 52, of Santa Rosa.
The trooper explained that
Hinojosa "was the only
occupant of his vehicle: he was
pinned inside his vehicle for a
fairly prolonged period The
drivers of the other two pickups
were the only occupants of their
vehicles."
"The highway was largely
blocked for about three hours
(due to the accident)." noted the
officer. "Traffic was rerouted to
the north side shoulder"
(See SUCCUMBS, Page 6)
Loescher, director of the
National Trust's Main Street
Center. "The organizations we
name each year as National
Main Street Programs are those
that have demonstrated the skills
needed to succeed in Main
Street revitalization."
The annual accreditation
process evaluates commercial
district revitalization programs
based on criteria ranging from
(See NATIONAL, Page 6)
v.* «, ;
Rancho Lomitas, Wilderness Society honored
Owners of 42 South Texas ranchers were honored for their efforts to save scarce and endangered plants
Rancho Lomitas and the Rio Grande Wilderness Society (RiGWiS) have played essential roles in this
undertaking. The ceremony honoring the ranchers took place on July 13 at the South Texas College
(STC) Starr County Campus. Pictured left to right are Tom Patterson. RiGWiS Program Dircctoi.
Jim Seeden, RiGWiS President; Dana Price, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Gena Janssen.
Janssen Biological. Lisa Williams, The Nature Conservancy; and Benito Trevino, RiGWiS Viu
President.
in i I y I > e nlm ship
Great News For Expectant Mothers!
ea
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Five Star Rated
For Maternity Care
2nd Year in a Row.*
Mission Regional
Medical Center
HealthGrades
5353 I Mwy 83
fcio Grnndo City, TX 78587
Phone: (V56) 487 2587
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 2006, newspaper, July 20, 2006; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196022/m1/1/: accessed June 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.