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2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter - Vol. 2 No. 1 Issue Zulma Piceno's cookie business exists because her daughter, Valeria, refused to eat birthday cake like a normal child. That's it. That's the origin story. While other kids demolished sheet cakes at parties, Valeria preferred cookies. So Zulma, like any mother trying to make birthdays work, started baking cookies instead. An easy solution turned into an accidental venture. The actual first order happened in 2018 when Zul

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter - Vol. 2 No.1 Issue Most business partnerships begin in boardrooms or coffee shops. Hilda Briseño and Leticia Sánchez met at las maquinitas in 2014, bonding over slot machines instead of spreadsheets. Letty was already a veteran vendor by then. The Nuevo Laredo native sold fruit, empanadas, and dulces enchilados before moving into perfumes and purses at local markets. Hilda was new to Laredo. The Edinburg High School Class of 1983 graduate

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue There is a condition quietly spreading across parts of Latino America, particularly along the border and anywhere a lifted truck, a badge, or an oil rig can be seen from space. Doctors call it Big Man Syndrome. Symptoms include chronic chest-thumping, extreme sensitivity to perceived disrespect, an allergy to nuance, and the belief that owning a gun, a truck, or a federal uniform somehow transforms centuries of discrimination into a s

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue Revival Coffee began with a name before it had a following. When the shop opened on April 21, 2023, the word Revival was not a marketing hook or aesthetic choice but a declaration, rooted in faith and reinforced daily through restraint, consistency, and an unwillingness to rush what was still taking shape. Owned by Marisol and Jimmy Bruce, the shop offers specialty drinks within a welcoming atmosphere shaped by a faith-based mission.

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue Bolero 3 did not form in a garage with ambition or matching outfits. They formed the way most things in Roma, Texas, form. Around family. Around memory. Around the appreciation for music that is not in fashion anymore. The trio emerged from the Lozano household, where Boy Lozano performs alongside his wife, Isabel Lozano, and their son, Carlos Gabriel Lozano, known as Gabey. It is a family group in the truest sense. Music moves throug

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue Elodia "Lolita" Briones never imagined her life as something to be narrated. Her days have accumulated quietly, shaped by labor and obligation, while building a life she's proud of. Before anyone knew her food, they knew her personality. A woman of God with short hair, her chest always covered by a delantal, who raised three children inside a rhythm defined by responsibility. Lolita came from General Zuazua, in the northeastern Mexica

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue Starr County Democrats Rally Behind Hinojosa's Gubernatorial Bid Caro's Restaurant in Rio Grande City has hosted its share of political meetings over the years, making it the obvious choice when the Starr County Democratic Party decided to bring gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa to town on a Monday afternoon. The five-term state representative walked through the door with the confidence of someone who grew up in Brownsville and un

2026 FRONTereas Magazine Issue 1st Quarter Bobby Pulido wants a seat at the political table. The Tejano star announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas's 15th Congressional District, trading his microphone for a campaign trail that winds from McAllen through Central Texas. His transition from Desvelado to policy proposals mirrors a phenomenon that stretches back generations, where artists leverage their celebrity into civic influence with varying d

Michelle Obama said something on a recent episode of her "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson" podcast that made people squirm in their seats. "We are not friends with our kids." The June 2025 episode, which featured psychologist Jonathan Haidt discussing social media's impact on children, sparked the kind of discomfort that was immediate and predictable. Parents rushed to defend their close relationships with their children, insisting they could be both authority figure

Ben Palmer runs a fake immigration hotline that traps bigots in their own words. The TikToker, who commands 3.9 million followers, created what he describes as a deportation reporting line that people genuinely believe is legitimate. His latest catch proves that cruelty doesn't take a day off, not even in elementary school. A kindergarten teacher called Palmer's fake hotline wanting to deport the parents of a five or six-year-old student at her school. The video documenting t

At some point, usually somewhere between a sink full of dishes and a boy being praised for "helping" his mother, we taught our sons a quiet lie. We told them that cooking and cleaning were favors. Optional. Charitable. Something you do when a woman is busy, tired, or unavailable. We wrapped basic survival skills in politeness and called it good parenting. And then we acted surprised when grown men didn't know how to feed themselves, keep a home, or understand why their partne

Republicans passed a voting bill Wednesday that could make it impossible for millions of Americans to cast a ballot. The legislation has nothing to do with protecting democracy and everything to do with solving a problem that doesn't exist. The Save America Act, a reworded version of last year's failed SAVE Act, is built on the premise that non-citizens are voting illegally in federal elections by the millions. That claim has never been proven in any court. Federal law alread

Tim Smith arrived in the Rio Grande Valley in December 1981 because it was snowing in Indiana and the recruitment photos showed palm trees. That meteorological refugee decision turned into a 44-year tenure that transformed a weekend weather forecaster into something closer to regional deity. The Indiana University journalism graduate took a weekend gig at KRGV-TV Channel 5, worked under the late Lee Lindsey, and got promoted to Chief Forecaster by 1983. Most people would coas

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue The 2008 crash taught Seby Haddad something most bankers never learn. Numbers are not abstract. They sit across the table. Foreclosures. Bankruptcies. Failed businesses. Families losing everything. His supervisor said it plainly: 'These are good people going through bad times.' He didn't know it then, but his role as a banker would set up a life in public service. Victor Sebastian "Seby" Haddad learned early that knowing how systems f

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue With the Keurig brewing, Baldemar "Balde" Garza is offered flavored coffee. Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce. Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll. He chooses classic medium roast without hesitation. Garza drinks black coffee. No sugar. No cream. That kind of confidence is a welcome mat for an incredible life. His mother crossed the Rio Grande undocumented from Michoacán, moving through Camargo, Tamaulipas, before reaching El Brazil. There was no plan wait

A last name says it all. A last name is an insignia. In politics, it functions as both credential and liability, often at the same time. Starr County has a long habit of treating last names as verdicts, saving time by skipping straight to judgment. And the prime example of that judgment is "los Peñas." The Peña family's presence in local governance spans generations. Amando Peña Sr. was a Roma Independent School District school board trustee. Fernando Peña, his son, served as

If you live in or around Roma or Rio Grande City, chances are you've complained about a road after a heavy rain, wondered why drainage hasn't been fixed in a colonia, or noticed county crews working on one stretch of pavement but not another. What many residents don't realize is that those decisions don't come from Austin—or even from City Hall. They come from the Starr County Commissioners Court. The Commissioners Court is the real engine of county government. It's where dec

2025 FRONTeras Magazine Vol. 1 No. 2 Issue The mighty Rio Grande — or Rio Bravo, as it's called by those who've witnessed its fury - has long shaped life along the border. Flowing from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, this river has been a source of life, danger, and division. But it also buried a history few remember. In the name of progress, entire towns disappeared beneath the waters of Falcon Lake. Families were uprooted, century-old homes abandoned, and a way o

2025 FRONTeras Magazine Vol. 1 No. 2 Issue It always starts with something everybody wants-something other people have. And suddenly, it becomes something everybody has. Right now, it's Dubai chocolate. You've seen it. That glossy, thick chocolate being poured like hot tar over pancakes, cookies, strawberries, conchas, tres leches cake, brownies, you name it, it's been done. The streets are flooded with it. Every café, home baker, and Instagram hustler is selling it. Dubai ch