Mayor telegraphs his pick for future Police Chief

Ummmm, obviously, I don't have a mustache anymore

Tonight, there was no need to read between the lines at the Laredo Seedy council meeting. When it came time to discuss the qualifications for Laredo's next police chief, It was clear who the mayor wants filling those shoes.

In the mayor's eyes, the "new" police chief should:

1) be familiar with the Texas-Mexico border and its issues

2) be bilingual

3) be someone who can unite the police force: The mayor mentioned that getting along with the Police Unions is of the utmost importance.

4) be able to reach out to the citizens of Laredo. The mayor added, this includes kids and senior citizens.

5) "Someone from the ranks, someone from Laredo" (so much for a broad field of applicants)

6)  "Not necessarily someone with a college degree". The mayor went on to cite a couple of examples of people who achieved success without a college degree: form Laredo mayor Saul Ramirez and Head of the Border Patrol, David Aguilar.


As the discussion wore on, the council made it sound as if having a college degree were a negative asset.  Councilman Rangel, at one point, declared " I wouldn't mind hiring someone with a degree".  Councilman Vera vociferously stated that he wanted someone with Integrity, honor and dedication and not "someone with a degree who is worthless".  Not since Rick Santorum called President Obama a "snob" for encouraging Americans to pursue higher education had I seen such an blatant display of disprespect and contempt for anyone with a college degree.

To their credit, Cm. Charlie San Miguel suggested that the bar "not be lowered" and insisted that a degree should still be required for the top cop postition.  Meanwhile, councilman Garza said that although the council could hire someone without a degree, he wanted the application to state that a "Master's degree is preferred".  Finally, council woman Cindy Liendo motioned to keep the existing guidelines for possible Police Chief candidates (with degree) as the council agreed to ratify her motion.

Laredoan continues impressive carreer at Mississippi State U

From The Starkville, La. Dispatch

Matt Stevens
June 3, 2012 12:10:51 AM

In most of MSU career, junior Luis Pollorena has been known as the Bulldogs high-energy left-handed pitcher. The 5-foot-7 athlete from Laredo, Texas added another statistic to his unique college career by starting an NCAA Regional game Saturday against UAB in right field.

In an elimination game, MSU went with Sam Frost at third baseman and Matthew Britton at second base. These moves forced veterans Brent Brownlee and Daryl Norris to the bench against UAB.

Pollorena, who was a outfielder and pitcher at Marian (Ala.) Military Academy before signing with MSU two years ago, would produce a bunt single, a walk and a run scored in the five-hole of MSU's lineup Saturday.

"I felt like that part of our lineup was a little bit more swing-and-miss and the thing I know about Pollorena is I know he's going to make contact," Cohen said. "I also obviously have to know before doing that, that Pollo's not going to pitch for us that day."

Before the start in the NCAA Regional elimination game at Florida State Saturday, Pollorena had three official at-bats in the 2012 season not including a game-tying sacrifice fly in the Bulldogs 4-3 comeback win last week over No. 2 LSU in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Hoover, Ala.

After the 8-1 victory over UAB, Bulldogs senior pitcher Caleb Reed joked that is simply another opportunity for fan favorite Pollorena to excite the crowd.

"People love him and we have no idea why," Reed sad. "We like him a lot don't get me wrong but he gets a standing ovation for everything he does."

Read more: http://www.cdispatch.com/msusports/article.asp?aid=17353#ixzz1wsyr3yoF

KLNT's Roundtable discussion on Downtown Part 2

Click on the link below to listen to part 2 of KLNT's discussion about Downtown Laredo. It features Les Norton, Cindy Liendo and a couple of other interested parties. Spotlight RoundTable 0531

Rio Grande: Our source of water and contamination

A little behind the scenes at the Rio Grande tests for bacteria.

Fox : Poor oil companies don't got it so good

Where else would you hear somethng like that? Fox News where else.

Valley politiqueras eat Laredo's canoneros' lunch

The contested ballots were traced to nursing homes, adult daycares and assisted living centers, and she interviewed more than 100 of the voters. The stories were consistent. They'd been visited at election time by a politiquera, who came bearing Mexican sweet breads or barbecue plates and “helped them” vote.

“These people are just dying for company, that's all they want,” Flores said, “They want somebody to talk to, they want to feel needed, and that's where they're exploited.”

In a Democratic stronghold like the Rio Grande Valley, most contests will be decided in the primaries, and of the votes cast, nearly half may be in the two weeks before election day. And in the hyper-local races — county commission seats, precinct constables, small city mayors and council members — the 200 votes the politiqueras secure for, say, $2,000, can be the deciding factor toward a position of power that can influence who gets the big insurance or construction contracts or a nod on a job with decent pay.

The politiqueras are enormously powerful, able to steer the poor to the right lawyer, the right social service agency, the right office-holder to solve their problems.

In exchange for their reach within the community, they are wined and dined, invited to high-society weddings, given paid trips to the state party convention.

The powers that be rely on them, said a Democratic candidate who feared being identified because it would not only cost her the race but also bring retribution to family and friends.

“Every candidate is approached,” she said, adding that she gave a polite no, resigned to the likelihood the politiquera would just sell her votes to an opponent. Two politicians who weren't afraid to go on the record had left the Democratic party.

One, state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, recalled his early days as a Democrat.
“They'd walk into the office with a stack of ballots, probably two fists full, and say that they were for sale if I wanted to pay for them,” he said, noting that he turned them down.


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Politiqueras-a-fixture-in-elections-3586682.php#ixzz1wfZvY8os


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Politiqueras-a-fixture-in-elections-3586682.php#ixzz1wfZTDcME

Laredo News sources multiply: KLNT, Fox 16

After KVTV abandoned its 6pm and 10pm newscasts, Laredo was left with only the "coverage you cant count on", Pro8news.  Now, seemingly overnight, Laredo is much more better informed thanks to KLNT, 1490 AM radio and Fox 16's 9 PM news.

Upon catching my first glimpse of Fox's 9pm news, I thought it was being broadcast out of the Valley or even out of San Antonio. The presentation was very well-done and the graphics and color excellent. I thought: maybe Laredo feeds the news to some outfit out of town and they do a show and broadcast it back. Well, soon afterwards, I realized that at the very beginning of the newscast, the voice-over clearly states "Live from Laredo, Texas".  By the time 10 PM comes along, KGNS's "news" is not really news anymore.  Also, Fox has a lot more local news than KGNS ever has had. I've heard many people refer to KGNS's news as the 3-minute news.  After about 3 minutes, it's all re-hashed.

KLNT's Richard Noriega and Al Guevara do an excellent job of covering news at the local level. Yes, they do cover state and national news, but the bulk of their reporting has to do with Laredo's news and issues. They have already had several "round-table" discussions with many community organizations. They have definitely given Laredo a much better informed listener. They have also improved the sense of community in our town.

Congratulations to both KLNT and Fox 16 news.