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

Guillen has appeared on the ballot in Starr County for more than two decades. Ryan Guillen grew up working at his family's feed store in Rio Grande City. That was his first education in how Starr County works — who needs something, and who has it. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Texas A&M University, briefly taught high school agriculture, and then pursued public office. Guillen was elected to the Texas House in 2002 at 24 years old and took office

Does Your Vote Arrive Late… or Right on Time? Look, m’ija, if you thought voting was already complicated, now imagine that even when your ballot arrives is being debated at the highest court in the country. This week, the nine justices of the Supreme Court spent more than two hours arguing over something that sounds simple but isn’t: can mail-in ballots be counted if they arrive after Election Day, as long as they were sent on time? Let's break it down. The fight started over

Martie Garcia Vela has been watching elections since she was 18 years old, working polling sites in the Dallas-Fort Worth area while putting herself through college. She knows the process. She knows what compliance looks like and what it does not. So when she filed a formal election complaint with the Texas Secretary of State following the March 3, 2026, General Primary Election in Starr County, she was not speaking from speculation. "I believe our free and fair elections are

El Caso González Exhibe al Condado de Starr