Hey, we go two pretty good size arroyos, why can't we "light" them up?

From the Harlingen Morning Valley Star
HARLINGEN — Santa hats filled McKelvey Park Thursday as community members gathered to usher in the Christmas season on a cool fall night.
The 24th annual Arroyo Holiday Lighting Ceremony began festivities at 6:30 p.m. with singing and dancing, which lasted into the night.
Dr. Nolan Perez was chosen as this year’s honorary grand marshal, a title that Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator Esmeralda Martinez said is given to a member of the community who has given back to the community year round.
Perez thanked the community and said that it was a huge honor to participate in the lighting ceremony. He added that Christmas was a special time for families to come together.
Perez, along with those in attendance, counted down from 10, before he lit the Christmas lights at the park.
“The lights came on and I felt like Christmas was already here,” 11-year-old Nancy Garza from Harlingen said.
In addition to the lighting, local schools helped spread Christmas cheer, including the Harlingen High School South Southern Stars Drill Team, Lamar Elementary School Cheer, Dance and Twirl Team and Saint Anthony’s School Choir.
Mayor Chris Boswell said the arroyo lighting was a fine Harlingen tradition and a perfect opportunity for members of the community to come out and celebrate the talent being showcased.

Criteria used to slam Laredo into 194th place among 200 cities: Brain power

This is the criteria that was used to determine Laredo's brain power. As it turns out, Laredo, was very near the bottm, coming in at 194th out of 200 cities.

Rank                    194
City                      Laredo, Texas
BrianPower          -1.998
Earned Grad/Pro   5.10%
Bach only             14.12%
AA only                24.70%
HS only                19.58%
No HS                  36.51%

Tot.Pop.               241,438
Pop. +25yr           126,016

Henry Cuellar votes for "middle class" tax cuts, but urges cut for rich too

This is a test...for the next 30 seconds, we will be broadcasting a test: do not adjust your set.

Thursday night saw the US house of representative, including Laredo's Henry Cuellar, successfully vote to continue the so-called middle-class tax cuts for Americans making $250,000 or less (Family) or less than $200,000 (single person). The disappointed thing about this news is that Cuellar went to say that he recommends extending the Bush tax cuts for the "rich", making over $250,000 for at least two more years. His logic is that the current economy needs those tax cuts for the rich so they can "create" jobs.

This is a failed arguement since there have been no substantial job creation since the Bush tax cuts took effect way back in 2001; why would they create any jobs now. It is not clear whether there will be a straight up and down vote in the US senate on these middle tax cut extensions.

UT regents have long term plan for Medical school in......yep, the Valley

According to the Austin American Statesman, the UT board of regents had a meeting recently to discuss the long-term (10 years) plan for the system's operations in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The board has several members who are from the Valley. Furthermore, Laredo native, Dr. Franciso Cigarroa is the UT system chancellor and continues to push for advancement in the medical fields. The article goes on to state:

The system is working on a parallel track to ramp up its health programs in the region. It already operates three satellite medical campuses — known collectively as the Regional Academic Health Center — in Harlingen, Brownsville and Edinburg. The largest unit, at Harlingen, has 50 medical students from San Antonio in clinical rotations. Cigarroa hopes to double that.
Hospitals in the Valley have agreed to provide 127 new residency slots for freshly minted doctors undergoing additional training, said Kenneth Shine, the system's executive vice chancellor for health affairs.
One long-term goal is a full-fledged medical school in the Valley. State lawmakers approved a measure last year that authorizes — but stops short of requiring — the UT regents to establish a medical school in Cameron County, whose major cities are Brownsville and Harlingen. But with the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, it's unlikely that the Legislature would allocate significant funds for such a venture anytime soon.

Luces en la Avenida, bueno muy poquitas "luces" (actually, it's luzes)

I didn't see one of these on la Avenida de las luzes, but it sure would've helped.

Sadly, I drove on la Sanbe tonight and found that very, very few business had any Christmas lights on at all. Even, the Taco Palenque, which usually has all it's oak trees wrapped up in tiny white lights, was suprisingly dark. I did see a Christmas tree inside the Ashley Furnture showroom that looked pretty good. However, you could probably cound the number of places that were displaying lights on one hand. I guess not much was expected since the "contest" seemed to be an afterthought. It wasn't a bad idea, it just wasn't promoted which is about par for the course. I just hope people from out of town didn't go out there expecting something similiar to Clark Grieswold's house. If they did, they probably thought they were on the wrong part of town.

FDA panel suggests allowing more people to have Lap Band procedure

Without the weight,.............. Fill in the blank.

I heard on CNN tonight that an FDA panel has recommended that requirements for having a medical weight-loss procedure known as lap band surgery be relaxed. This would make millions of more people eligible to have this procedure done. Currently, a person must have a Body Mass Index of 40, or 35 if one or more conditions are present (hypertension,diabetes). The panel, which does not actually make decisions, is recommending that the new requirements be lowered to a BMI of 35/30. Reportedly, the FDA usually does follow the recommendation of such panels.
Locally, there are already commercials on TV and billboards announcing the Lap Band procedure. If this change does go through, you can bet that it will on "booming business" with Mindy Casso on KGNS.

LISD staff is afraid to speak out, LMT reports

Anybody has any questions?? Nobody?

A welcomed article in the LMT this morning touched upon a subject that has been around probably for as long as LISD itself. Board member Cecilia Moreno continues to be upfront with her concerns. She told Superintendent Marcus Nelson that LISD employees are not encouraged to have opinions. Nelson disagreed with her statement, responding "that's absolutely not true" according to LMT's Nick Georgiou.
The idea that the input of LISD employees is not well-receivedd is not anything new: what is new is that a board member,in a very few words, is clearly stating a very real problem. Incidentally, most of the community has praised Dr. Nelson's work at the district. He has definitely made a difference for the better. A lot of times the problem is the omni-potence of campus principals who try to keep any complaints from ever reaching "Central Office", as the district's headquarters are referred to.

I have known a good number of teachers and for the most part, they all know that at LISD, you better off just minding your own business. Just the idea that you are questioning a policy or practice labels you as a trouble maker. It does not matter that, by your question, you are actually trying to improve the quality of education at the district. What DOES matter is that you, a college-educated, state-certified professional dare question the principal (or other assorted administrators). Many new teachers are full of ideas and have the energy to wonder aloud if th tired, same old practices but are actually working. For their initiative, they are met with scorn, or at best, with apathy. For a lot of them, that disiilusionment is a pretty big blow.

We, at laredotejas congratulate trustees Moreno and Jose Valdez for speaking out on a very real problem. Valdez was actually the one who said at the meeting "your staff is afraid. They don't want to rock the boat. They have been told off too many times".
To Dr. Nelson, keep up the good work and keep listening to the teachers. They are what makes or breaks our schools' success. Next time you meet with teachers, try keeping out everybody else, including literacy coaches, counselors and the like. Talk only to the teachers and you might get a much clearer view of what goes on in the classroom.