Greg Abbott spent years courting data center developers with tax exemptions and a permissive interconnection framework, treating incoming investment as an unconditional good. As recently as late 2025, he described Texas as the "epicenter of AI development." In June, he sent a formal letter to the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT directing both agencies to immediately shield residential ratepayers from data center infrastructure costs. By July 1, at a campaign event in Bull

For many Texans living in rural counties, statewide offices often feel distant from everyday life. Yet one of the least-discussed statewide positions is the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, which oversees programs that directly affect food security, rural development, school nutrition, water conservation, and the economic future of small farming communities. That is why Democratic nominee Clayton Tucker has drawn attention from rural advocates. A fifth-generation Texas ranc

I was looking for a book and found a newspaper article by R. Daniel Cavazos, editor of The Monitor, called "Starr: diamond in the rough," written sometime around 1994, mas o menos. A Rio Grande City businessman, Lauro Lopez, gets quoted in it, joking that the new Wal-Mart and H-E-B "SOO-PER" centers were coming because of trade with Mexico, not drugs. Decades later, Rio Grande City still has its Walmart and HEB, along with a Marshalls, a Ross, a Chick-fil-A and three differen

Rio Grande City Mayor Gilberto Falcon has issued two public denials in response to a Facebook Reel that referenced a 2017 Starr County district court docket bearing his name, calling the allegation "fraudulent" and "fake." Falcon was elected mayor of Rio Grande City in 2024, defeating incumbent Joel Villarreal with 52 percent of the vote as part of the Independent Leadership slate. He is a licensed attorney who has practiced law in Rio Grande City for roughly 17 years, with h

There’s a special kind of pride in the Rio Grande Valley—loud, loyal, and stamped across windshields in Old English font. People from the 956 love the Valley so much, they’ll tattoo it on their chest, defend it like a mother defends her firstborn, and tell the world that todo es mejor en el Valluco and maybe it is, until you need a dentist, a therapist, or a job that pays more than $12 an hour. The love is real. So real, it borders on self-containment. People here are so ride