More Hispanics, tacos and beer = Stripes' growth

From CSPnet.com
The Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser is near doubling the number of new-builds it plans for 2012, ramping up to a target range of 25 to 30 new stores versus 15 in 2009, 14 in 2010 and 19 last year, according to Mary Sullivan, the chain's CFO.

Part of the success of inside sales over cigarettes or fuel is the company's Laredo Taco Co. foodservice concept. Started in 2001, the foodservice offer features authentic Mexican items, with fresh ingredients including tortillas made from scratch every morning. Sullivan called the program the chain's loyalty offer because 72% of people who buy Laredo Taco products buy another item. And if that customer visits the Laredo Taco counter, then he or she visits the location 40% more than the average consumer.

Also, their success is stemming from the healthy Texas economy and the drilling boom in and around the Permian Basin area, which bring population growth to West Texas. Many of the chain's newer stores are located there.

The growing population and, in particular, the demographics of the area are playing into Susser's success, as well. Growth in the Hispanic population in the chain's core markets is expected to hit 37% versus the national average of 16%. In addition, the 18-to-35-year-old male demographic is higher in south Texas than the national average, 60% versus 50%.

With younger, male customers, Sullivan said, "We're in the path of future beer drinkers" CFO Mary Sullivan offered.

Lady dentist "extracts" revenge on ex-beau

"Muahhh ha ha ha!!" (Not Anna Mackowiak)

I guess the moral of this particular story is: never go to a dentist you've dated. At first, I thought it was a news story straight out of The Onion or other such parody but it turns out to be true. No wonder the brits get a bum rap for having less than perfect teeth.

From The Huffington Post

Breaking up is never easy -- having 32 teeth ripped out is even worse. A scorned dentist is facing jail time after surgically removing all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after he dumped her, authorities in London said.

Marek Olszewski, 45, made the mistake of scheduling an appointment this week with his ex -- 34-year-old Anna Mackowiak -- for a toothache, according to the Daily Mail. So Mackowiak allegedly did what any burned beau with a set of pliers and some anesthetic would do: she doped him up, pulled out all his teeth, and wrapped his head with bandages so he wouldn't notice until he left her office.

"I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions," she told the news site. "But when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a b-----d.'"

Olszewski could tell something was wrong when he awoke and couldn't feel any teeth in his mouth. But he said Mackowiak assured him that he'd be fine once the numbness wore off, NDTV reported.
"I didn't have any reason to doubt her -- I mean I thought she was a professional," he said.
He was wrong.

"But when I got home I looked in the mirror and I couldn't f--king believe it," he said. "The b--ch had emptied my mouth."

Worse, Olszewski's new girlfriend dumped him because, well, she couldn't date a man without any teeth, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mackowiak is under investigation for medical malpractice and abusing the trust of a patient. She could face three years in jail for the alleged stunt. Olszewski plans on saving money to get "indents or something."

Water for fracking but not for farmers

Oh well, as long as we're on the subject of how bad fracking is impacting our land and water, let's take a look at this video. It sounds like Mexico is getting first crack at the Rio Grande's water at least for this year.

Taxpayers "pave" the way for more pollution

It's official: we're living in Bizarro world where just about everything is topsy-turvy and almost nothing makes sense. Take for example, this article explaining how the state of Texas (taxpayers) is moving fast on paving many of the busiest roads in the Eagle Ford Shale. Too bad paving is never as important when it's mostly for the benefit of regular Texans.

No wonder the Oil and Gas companies  love Texas politicians especially during this dynasty of Republican control.

From The Corpus Christi Caller Times

CORPUS CHRISTI —The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday approved $40 million for road repairs and improvements in some of the state's most active oil and gas drilling regions, including $10.3 million in the Eagle Ford Shale. The work is expected to begin this summer.

Cities and counties in the region face staggering costs — many times the amount approved Thursday — and serious safety problems as energy production ramps up.

A drilling method called hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of fluid per well, which usually has to be trucked to the site. Over time, roads crumble and narrow.

"This funding is a down payment to try and address part of the issue now," Phil Wilson, director of the Texas Department of Transportation, said in a news release. "Even as we begin this first phase of work, we will continue partnering with industry and government leaders to build a longer term sustainable strategy."

The department recently formed a task force to study the issue, including the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Railroad Commission, the Commission on Environmental Quality, counties, and the energy and trucking sectors.

Shopping for a "green car"? Not in Laredo!



Sube la ventana!!

I don't know if the pollsters who compiled this survey took into acount the many pollution-free yonkas in the Gateway City but perhaps they should have.  Without yonkeros such as Keyrose being counted towards Laredo's greenness, we were bound to make the top (bottom) ten again.

 This time Laredo is ranked towards the bottom when it comes to green-friendly car buyers. Obviously, the pollsters also forgot to count the many homeless who opt for the greenest of green: the old, discarded shopping cart. Now that's recycling and reducing air emissions both in one.

From Redding.com

The Chico-Redding area has some of the most eco-friendly car shoppers in the country, Cars.com reported this month. Chico-Redding placed ninth on the Cars.com green car shopping list.

Topping the list of green scar shoppers was San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose.
The San Francisco Bay Area was followed by Madison, Wis.; Monterey-Salinas; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Green Bay-Appleton, Wis.; Santa Maria-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo; Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto; Chico-Redding; and Zanesville, Ohio.

Cars.com tapped into its search data from its visitors. Based on their searches on vehicles that get more than 40 mpg, the results were tabulated.

The 10 communities with the fewest green car shoppers were Odessa-Midland, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Fairbanks, Alaska; Albany, G.; Bluefield-Beckley-Oakhill, Va.-W.V.; Glendive, Mont.; and Helena, Montana.

More on Kaleb Canales

I might be risking a harsh reprimand from BOLAS (Bloggers of Laredo Association's Scruples) but I figured we had to sort of jump on the Canales bandwagon at least for today. Interestingly, this article is by Humberto Cervera who used to be the Pro8News sportscaster a couple of years ago.

From The Spurs Project.com

The story sounds like one that you'd see in a movie. Going from a 5'11" power forward in Laredo to the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers by the age of 33 is almost stranger than fiction, but it's all too true.

Blazers head coach Kaleb Canales, the first ever Mexican-American head coach in the NBA, made it there through hard work and perseverance. After graduating from UT-Arlington and spending time as an assistant coach at a few Laredo high schools and at Virginia Commonwealth University, Canales caught a break and picked an internship in the video department with the Blazers.

"Caleb Fever" is in full effect in Laredo. He was bombarded with calls and text messages for tickets and was able to get his hands on around 100 tickets for his homecoming. There were also an impressive amount of fans that showed up on their own. It would appear slowly, but surely, a concentrated Spurs market might be softening for one of their most famous sons.

"I know Laredo is a big Spurs country," Canales joked. "At my camps (in Laredo) I say I'm going to try and turn every Spurs fan into a Blazers fan one-by-one."

Even the most fanatical of Spurs supporters can't completely hate on Canales. Everyone loves the story of the underdog that achieves and you can't deny we could have a much worse role model for the youth of South Texas to look up to.
As the first, and only, Mexican-American head coach in the league, he understands what goes along with the title.

"It's an honor, its a privilege and it's a responsibility that I take very seriously," Canales said. "I also hope it's a message to the kids out there that they can't be afraid to dream. Through faith and hard work is the reason why I'm here and I hope that's a strong message to them."

So maybe Spurs fandom won't all jump on the Blazers bandwagon, but here's to all of us having a new second favorite team.

What to do with "No man's Land" created by overpasses?

Keyrose, the main author of La Sanbe, today offered his readers a photo of the Chihuaha-Guadalupe overpasses under construction. Does this means Laredo's homeless now have another home? What happens to areas of Laredo (or any other city) over which such overpasses are built. Do they suddenly become  forgotten, residual scraps of the city?

The image below is appropriately entitled "No Man's Land" by Rudolph Boogerman. With overpasses scheduled to go up throughout Loop 20, is there a plan on how to deal with the various "underpasses"?



No Man's Land by Rudolph Boogerman

I know that in some cases, such as during the WBCA activities, some of Laredo's underpasses under IH35 are transformed into temporary parking areas. In San Antonio, I remember going to UTSA and parking under some overpass. The only difference is that the UTSA area was paved and marked and had a security guard on duty.

Who knows, maybe the mayor will appoint an Underpass Committee and add another photo-op to his already vast repetoire.

"Las Marthas" wins prize money, award? Yeppers!

"I LOVE this gown...how many hungry people did you say we could feed with this?"

I don't know if anyone is going to be more proud than WBCA-enthusiast/blogger BTB but FoxnewsLatino is reporting that some Laredoans? have raked in a Tribeca film award plus some $10,000 for their film "Las Marthas".  Who would have thunk?

From FoxNewsLatino

Latino filmmakers have been given the opportunity to expand their careers and shed light on their cultures thanks to a first-ever grant and the annual media arts fund, the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced on Monday.


The Tribeca Film Festival, along with vironga  beer giant Heineken, announced the winners of a $10,000 grant. Organizers said the grant is geared toward a group that's rarely heard. "This audience is not heard enough," Ryan Harrington, director of documentary and programming at the Tribeca Film Institute told Fox News Latino.


"There are so many voices out there about education and entertainment not being heard in mainstream media. Right now it doesn't feel inclusive."

Carolyn Concepción, a brand manager at Heineken, said the funding could go a long way toward supplementing an artist's work. "The value of those resources will be invaluable," she said.


The winners of the grant include Cristina Ibarra and Erin Ploss-Campoamor for their documentary titled “Las Marthas” about American debutantes dressed as American revolutionaries on the Mexican-American border in Laredo, Texas.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2012/04/23/tribeca-film-institute-announces-winners-for-latin-america-fund-voces-grant/#ixzz1syhmEjHC

Letter to the LMT editor calls for increased bar owner responsibility

"Donde esta mi carrucha? Hic!"

A fellow Laredoan recently expressed, via a letter to the editor, that bar owners should be held accountable when deciding whom to serve alcohol at their business(es).  Mr. Jesus Cadena wants bar owners to be taken to court if necessary whenever one of their borachines customers commits some sort of offense immediately after leaving his/her favorite watering hole.

Following is an excerpt of Mr. Cadena's letter along with a couple of reader responses. With a large numbers of WBCA events relying on alcohol to bring out the natives, Laredo has an unfortunate abundance of drunk drivers as it is.

Letter to the LMT Editor

Friends and I over-imbibed at one time or another, having two drinks in front of us besides the one in our hand. Many people could have literally crawled out of there, including some of us, but I will take the fifth on that. It would have been just a matter of time before getting caught.

How can people worry about secondhand smoke in a bar when, in essence, the real killer is in your hands? Smoking might take years to kill you. By drinking for three hours straight, the fuse has been lit, and you become a time bomb and a potential killer on the highway.

If they don’t stop after the second drink, many drinkers will go to the third, which might turn into seven or eight. That is when you either believe you can walk on water or crawl out of the bar. The bottom line is that a club is open to make money; otherwise, why stay open?

Clubs don’t pretend to be drinker-friendly bars, either. Coming out of a bar after drinking too much, your faculties are gradually deteriorating to the point where controlling a vehicle is not within your power. You become a time bomb on the highway with a killing instrument in your hands.

Bar owners should be judged side by side in court with a person accused of DWI or of causing a death after leaving their bars.The drinker is guilty for not exercising control in drinking and the bar for being cognizant of the excessive drinking and continuing to serve.
Jesus Cantu-Cadena

Prometheus responds

"Mr. Cadena, I have seen bartenders, in Laredo, refuse to serve some customers because they visibly had too much. I disagree with you and your stance that owners of clubs should be held accountable for the action of drunken customers when they leave the bar. This logic is the equal of the parents of adults who comit crimes being on trial with their adult sons and daughters and receiving punishment as well because they raised them, so they must share some fault for their childrens' shortcomings as adults. Ridiculous! There is such a thing as personal responsibility, more people need to exercise it; not blame their lack of it on some person trying to earn some cash serving drinks. "

United Longhorn responds

" Prometheus how can they be responsible if they're drunk? "

Seedy Council: Sleight of Mouth

Ha Ha Ha ! We got away with it again! I love being Mayor!!

Monday night, the Laredo seedy council followed through with their controversial plan to award operation of the city's two refrigerated facilities to Garros Services. As La Sanbe documented, the Garros owner has been known to fly the mayor and others with the city to Mexican destinations. The Mayor has also said that his acceptance of these "free" flights were meant to save the city money.

As the old saying goes, nothing is free and now Garros has come to collect its due in the form of this multi-million dollar contract. So, as it turns out those flights were pretty expensive to the taxpayers afterall. Out of $95, the city will get only $11 and Garros will get the other $84 per trailer. This was what the mayor and others owed Garros just for getting to have flown on their lear jet. Indeed, that was one very expensive ride. As it turns out, it was never really a question of who was going to be awarded the contract. 

Several seedy council members plus the mayor took turns at trying to lend an air of legitimacy to their selection by pointing out that 1) everyone had a chance to put in their proposal and 2) Garros was the only one who was qualified plus 3) Garros was the only one with enough money to take on such a responsibility.

This was pure sleight of mouth: Garros is a broker and no broker should have been allowed to bid on the contract. Of course, the city set the parameters and conveniently allowed brokers to be allowed in the pool of possible contractors.  It does not matter that Garros was the most(?) qualified and had the most money.The only ones applying for the contract should have non-brokers. Yet, not only did the city created friction and upheaval in the freight forwarding community but they did so by selecting the one broker (Garros) who had granted favors to the mayor and others in the past in the form of free jet rides.

I don't know if this meets the smell test of quid pro quo but it sure does not look good to have our mayor and other in our local government accept favors and freebies from interested parties with the lame excuse of saving the city money and then, turn around and award them huge contracts.

 For my part, the mayor and those around him should make it a point to absolutely not accept any more freebies since it will then make them beholden to the gifter-as it just did.  

Garros' $15,000 yearly contribution to facility maintenance is the joke of the day!

Hey, don't look at me, I recused myself remember? Fueron los otros macuas!

It's jump on the bandwagon day for LMT and some of the Laredo blogging community. With LaredoTejas also asking if Garros' contract with the City of Laredo (scheduled to be voted upon today) is too favorable to Garros, we are seriously running a risk of being reprimanded by BOLAS (Bloggers of Laredo Association's Standards). A juggernaut of an oversight organization, BOLAS has  previously expressed dismay with Laredo bloggers when a substantial number of them take to posting about the same subject(s), i.e. Choche Washington's Birthday Celebtration.

For the sake of brevity, we will focus this particular post on just on aspect of Garros' proposed contract with the city. Namely, Garros' offer to pay a paltry $15,000 annually to help maintain the refrigerated facilities at the World Trade Bridge in working order. This is a ridiculously miniscule amount and the city council should ask for substantially more.

By their own admission, Garros is expecting to process about 5,000 truckloads at the World Trade Bridge in their first year of managing the operations. Also by their own estimate, they fully expect to be processing about 10,000 truckloads a year by the third year of their 10-year contract.

With Garros keeping over $83 for each inspection and the city settling for a wimpish $11 (total will be $95 per inspection),Garros stands to rake in about $430,000 just in the first year. This is approaching a half Million dollars and by year 3, they would stand to make about $860,000 a year! Yet, all they are willing to offer the city for this hefty giveaway is a measly $15,000 a year??

The entire contract is a sham and should be voted down but short of that, the city should at the very least tighten up the terms of the contract and certainly they should ask for Garros to pitch in a whole lot more than the miserable $15,000 they're currently suggesting.

Two, Two, Two Psyches in One !

Most Laredoans refering to themselves say "just Mexican"



The old Certs (breathmints) commercial used to boast that their product had not one, but "two, two, two mints in one!".  Well, according to the below excerpt, taken from a CNN article, Laredoans and Certs have something in common. Whereas, Certs doubles up on its mint power, Laredoans come fully loaded with a double dose of psyche!

From CNN

In the border city of Laredo, Texas, a passerby or drive-thru operator is more likely to greet a stranger in Spanish than English.

Border residents here don't equivocate when it comes to how they identify themselves, said Xochitl Mora, a Laredo resident who works for the city.

She didn't grow up in Laredo and prefers to identify as a Mexican-American, "but most around here say just Mexican."

"Here it's different, because people identify absolutely with their Mexican roots," she said.
But most are very proud to be American, too.

The city holds one of the largest and most festive Washington's Birthday celebrations in the country.
"It's a very interesting dynamic because people here almost have two psyches - their Mexican half and their American half," Mora said.

I've never heard of them but it looks like Outernational was in town

Outernational's recent trek through Texas

Outernational is on a mission to prove that immigration reform should be the first priority this election. They just ended the first chapter of their Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals) tour, which kicked off at the Texas/Mexico border and weaved through Laredo, San Antonio and El Paso, ending in New York May 24.

 The tour takes the NY-based band through indigenous territories, showing solidarity with the native people of this country, and to Austin where they'll play Pachanga Fest with Calle 13. Today, the band performs at Arizona State University's Border Justice Conference and will lead a discussion on music's impact on social justice. Below is a dairy Outernational guitarist, Leo Mintek, kept which documents week one of the tour.


April 6, 2012: We said goodbye to the Valley and drove to Laredo, TX, only to be shut down by another shredded tire. We hitched a ride into Raymondville TX and got repaired all while listening to local radio Q94.5, who in addition to Queens of The Stone Age and System Of A Down, will now be spinning Outernational in rotation! We hit the road again and made it just in time to Laredo after passing a few border patrol checkpoints aka toll booths with German Shepherds. We hit the stage and I think people had no idea what was happening. As the show went on, people got closer and closer and by the end were singing along and jumping up and down to “Fighting Song” and “Outernational.” People thanked us for coming to Laredo, saying no one knows about them or comes to them, let alone make songs about what they deal with on the border. I argued with the owner about the role of the border patrol (apparently they frequent the bar and were in the crowd) and hung out with members of the local Laredo gay community. Very cool scene, very contradictory… we will be back….

GOP & Fracking: Doctors might have to keep secret what's making patients sick

It's getting more and more ridiculous of just how callous the GOP is becoming in backing the fracking industry 100 perpcent. Now, it appears that Republicans and some Dems such as Heh Heh Henry Cuellar and their unapologetic support of the oil and gas industry might be compromising the ability of doctors to fully disclose to their patients just exactly what it is that is making them sick.

This particular article is about the fracking scene in Pennsylvania but it mirrors the attitude that the GOP (and some dems) have assumed right here in Tejas.

From The Huffington Post


ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — House Speaker Sam Smith said Thursday it's "outrageous" for doctors to suggest that Pennsylvania's new Marcellus Shale law could gag them from talking to their patients about chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.


The Jefferson County Republican said the chemical disclosure provision of the law was pushed by environmental groups and replicates language used on the federal level for decades.


Smith released a statement a day after The Associated Press reported that some medical professionals are concerned because they will have to sign a confidentiality agreement in return for access to proprietary information on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Some doctors, including the president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, say the provision could have a chilling effect on research and on doctors' ability to diagnose and treat patients who have been exposed.

Read the entire article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/pennsylvania-fracking-disclosure_n_1422272.html?ref=green

Wow that was fast! City website up already

City's website is up again-Devoladita!!

Not that's what I call fast! At 2:41pm, I posted on the city of Laredo's Website being down for the 2nd consecutive day. Five minutes later, at 2:46p, voila- the site is up and running. Talk about coincidence! Or is it?  OK enough with the conspiracy theories for now.

Suppression of Public Information

Reasonable fascimile of City of Laredo agenda

For at least the second day in a row, the city of Laredo's website continues to be down.  City policy dictates that the agenda for any upcoming city council meeting will be made public at least 72 hours before said meeting starts. Of course, the city will be covering itself by posting the agenda at city hall as long as it's accessible to the public.

Still, it looks pretty bad for the city to be unable to fix its website for such an extended amount of time. Maybe there's something in this particular agenda that the city is attempting to keep from the public, including the bloggers.

Anyone trying to access the city's website currently will get the following display:

Oops! Internet Explorer could not connect to www.ci.laredo.tx.us

Try reloading: www.­ci.­laredo.­tx.­us

Laredo Chief on list of applicants for Brownsville Top Cop job

The city of Brownsville, Texas has released the list of applicants for position of Brownsville Police Chief. The following have applied for the position of Brownsville chief of police:

• Eduardo Garces, Brownsville. Lieutenant, sergeant, patrolman.
• Alvaro Garcia, Harlingen. Police chief, lieutenant, LRGVDC contract instructor.
• Juan Antonio Garza, San Juan. Recycling coordinator, city manager, police chief.
• Jose Perez Jr., Weslaco. Chief of police, patrol and training officer, school officer, dispatcher.
• Carlos Maldonado, Laredo. Chief of police, lieutenant, sergeant, captain, patrolman.
• Yanti M. Greene, New York. Chief director, detective.
• Donald Teti, Las Vegas. Investigator.
• Victor Cortez Jr., Brownsville. Patrolman, U.S. Border Patrol, DEA, Department of Homeland Security.
• Ramiro Rodriguez, Brownsville. Commander, lieutenant, sergeant.
• Roberto Rodriguez, South Padre Island. Police chief, lieutenant, sergeant, communications officer, jailer.
• Roger D. Free, Laguna Vista. Police chief, director of public safety.
• Rudy J. Trahan, Nacogdoches. Sheriff’s department investigator, constable, chief of police.
• Jerry Speziale, New York. Sheriff’s department chief, Passaic County sheriff, deputy superintendent.
• Michael Lee Gamble, San Antonio. U.S. Air Force chief of security
• Orlando Rodriguez, Brownsville. Interim chief of police, commander, lieutenant, sergeant, patrol officer.
• Matthew Bayles, Marion, Ohio. Lieutenant, patrolman
• Ricardo Herrera, Brownsville. Patrolman, investigator, detective.
• Bryant C. Thomas, McKinney. U.S. Army Battalion Law Enforcement Professional, sergeant, patrolman.

San Antonio approaches table to take its turn at eating Laredo's lunch

"Dum dee dumm dee....Huh? San Antonio is doing what??"

Thanks to one of our readers, Et Tu Rossi, for alerting us to this lunch-eating development up in the Alamo City.  It turns out they're holding a big time meeting with many of this hemisphere's big players in trade and business.

From My.SanAntonio.com

Take a deep breath and then read the name of this organization:

The Federation of Freight Forwarders, Logistics Operators and Cargo Agents of Latin America and the Caribbean. The federation goes by the acronym ALACAT. Even in Spanish, the acronym letters don't line up correctly, but it doesn't matter.

The members of this group are among the most powerful businesspeople in the hemisphere.
And they are coming to San Antonio for a conference May 13 to 16.

Freight forwarders are like travel agents for international cargo. They are experts, therefore, in supply chain management. Forwarders and cargo agents arrange for materials and components to reach factories and for finished products to reach their markets. An extraordinary amount of business investment is placed along supply chain routes. If your fair city has enough freight coming through it, you have an advantage in attracting manufacturing and suppliers.

About 150 ALACAT members will attend the conference. That doesn't sound like very many people. How important are they? Enough that the CEO of the Panama Canal Authority, Alberto Alemán Zubieta, will travel to San Antonio to speak to them. His topic: an update on the Panama Canal widening, which promises to shake up global freight movements.

ALACAT rarely holds a conference in the United States. Recent conferences were held in Cartagena, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Mérida, Mexico.

How did San Antonio land the 2012 conference?
Port San Antonio, as an ALACAT member, lobbied for it, arguing that San Antonio can play a bigger role in regional and U.S. business. Most of (the ALACAT members) will talk about Miami, New Orleans and Houston,” said Jorge Canavati, Port San Antonio's business development vice president. “We think they will be pleasantly surprised at what they find here.”

While here, ALACAT members will be offered tours of Port San Antonio and Port Corpus Christi, which is a conference co-sponsor. “This is an international group that controls cargo,” Port Corpus Christi Executive Director John LaRue said. “Having them in San Antonio gives South Texas an opportunity to show what we can do.” (What? no tour of Port Laredo?)

At Port San Antonio, ALACAT members will take in an aerospace, logistics and office park, with a long runway, warehouses and rail terminals with improved truck access. Customs services are available for international freight.

In the rest of San Antonio, members will see interstates running in five directions, rail lines in all directions and Union Pacific's gigantic terminal switching freight between rail and trucks, along with a growing amount of exports leaving the city.

During the conference, ALACAT members will hear about topics such as supply chain security, emerging trade corridors and increased trade with China. Canavati said manufacturers looking for new opportunities in Latin America should attend ALACAT's conference.

The conference will occur as freight volumes rise from an improving hemispheric economy.
“Freight forwarders are the backbone of global trade,” ALACAT President Guillermo González said. “The upcoming event is a very timely forum to explore ways in which an array of industries can better access new opportunities around the world.”

The conference certainly is a chance for South Texas to work its way into those new opportunities.


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/business_columnists/david_hendricks/article/Powerful-businesspeople-will-meet-in-S-A-3471726.php#ixzz1rnHFvPpZ

Webb County commissioner's meeting: El mudo habla

The Shenanigans contiue undeterred!

Surprisingly, Webb county commissioner Frank Sciaraffa can and does talk.  Having seen several of these meetings on public access before, I wondered if he had an extended version of laryngitis or something.  Not as surprising was the topic he chose to break his silence with.  Facing a sexual harassment civil lawsuit filed by his former assistant Sara Jo Davila, Sciaraffa stated that he had not commented on the lawsuit before because he had "promised his family and his campaign workers that he was not going to let anything derail his campaign".

For his part, county judge Danny Valdez told Sciaraffa that he was "sorry that you have to go through this commissioner, and hopefully it will soon be resolved".  I guess Valdez has already made his mind up about the outcome of the lawsuit if he's apologizing to the commissioner.

Over budget?

Not to nit-pick, but county auditor Leo Flores mentioned several times that certain county financial accounts were "over budget" and he added "so that's good news". OK, I thought that when a city or county government was "over budget" it was supposed to be bad news. Is it possible that the county auditor meant to say "budget surplus" instead of what he said?  Personally, that would make a lot more sense to me, especially if it's looked upon as "a good thing".

Trix Lemurs are for Kids !

Mark Schuster, the King Lemur of the Laredo minor baseball team spoke out on the status of Uni-Trade stadium and the Lemur's season.  He said that his target audience were not "the people in this room, but kids". Just as I figured, this whole $18 Million fiasco has been turned into a kid's park of sorts. No wonder they are going to tie-in their operation to the Madagascar 3 movie coming out in early June.  However, if the Lemur's entire operation is geared towards kids, then who's going to occupy the several "luxury suites" that Schuster also referred to?  They can't even pull a con in a consistently logical manner.

TSTA speaks out: Still advocating to stop the cuts to education

Laredo TSTA officers talk to Texas Gov. candidate Bill White 2010

LaredoTejas received this response from "Ernest" from TSTA. Apparently, the teachers union will continue to work to stop the huge budgets cuts Texas education has suffered. I applaud Mr. Ernest for TSTA's stand on this matter.

I would also ask that TSTA focus on other non-monetary issues. For example, most teachers I speak to are forced to give up their planning periods by their principals. This only diminishes the quality of the work a teacher does. State law prohibits planning periods being usurped for any other reason.

Another issue that has diminished the quality of education is the increase of class size. This should have been fought tooth and nail and should be be protested on a daily basis. I've talked to teachers who are seriously looking for another job because of the increase in class size. As if 22 kids was not enough, many of the elementary teachers now have 25 kids or more. This is a joke and TSTA is right in speaking out strongly against budget cuts but it should also move on issues as the ones I have mentioned above. If they have done so, it certainly hasn't been given the exposure it deserves.

From Ernest

One year later Laredo United TSTA is still advocating for state aid. Just last month TSTA partnered with Webb County who adopted a resolution calling on the governor to call a special session to restore the cuts to public education. This month the City of Laredo passed the same resolution. Laredo United TSTA believes in a relational culture where organizing begins at the local level.

Last year Laredo United did take a bus to march in Austin, calling the governor to dip into the State Rainy Day fund--He did.

The current cuts were pushed by an ideology, one which in time will change. Once the people--parents, businesses, taxpayers, and voters--experience the effects of these cut; once the people come to see the difference between what was and what is; once they are fed up with the lack of quality education, then and only then will we have a system worthy of our children's education.

We are currently losing great minds because no one wants to go into the teaching profession. How long are you willing to wait before we see the detrimental, catastrophic effects to our society?

Details on City-Garros agreement on refrigerated inspections at World Trade Bridge



Gullible City council officials and Garros owner at Uni-Trade Stadium naming event

From The City of Laredo Finance committee agenda for this Tuesday, April 10th, comes the details of the City's controversial agreement with Garros Services LLC concerning the refrigerated inspection facilities at the World Trade Bridge.

Laredo's seedy council selected Garros as the winner of the contract after much discussion. An association of Laredo Freight Forwarders advised that they would rather the city NOT give the contract to anybody already in the business (Garros' owner also owns Uni-Trade forwarding). The association spokesman even alluded to the possibility that about 90 percent of the brokers in town would NOT use the facilities if the contracted was awarded to someone like Garros.

After the argument seemed to be going against Garros, Mike Garza stalled and bought some time making a rather poor argument to not abide by the association's request but his drawn-out comments had the effect of stopping the momentum the association had built and in the end, the seedy council voted to award the contract to Garros.

About a week later, it was announced the new $18 Million dollar taxpayer-funded baseball field would be name Uni-Trade stadium.

From The Laredo Finance Committee agenda :

Agenda Item no. 4. Authorizing the City Manager to execute a multi-year lease with Garros Services, L.L.C., for the management and operation of two (2) separate
　

refrigerated inspection facilities located within the federal import lots at World Trade Bridge and Colombia Solidarity Bridge.

1. Lease term is for ten (10) years with right of first refusal for two (2) additional five (5) year terms.

2. Garros Services, L.L.C. will be responsible for collecting from each broker or customer, a facility use fee in the amount of $95.00 per truck and that any and all future increases in the amount of said fee shall require prior City Council approval.

3. Monthly compensation to the City will be a flat fee of $11.88 for each truck that utilizes the refrigerated facilities during inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

4. Garros Services, L.L.C. will be entitled to the remaining amount of $83.12 for compensation and expenses associated with the management and operation of the refrigerated inspection facilities.

5. Garros Services, L.L.C will contribute $15,000.00 annually to a Capital Improvement and Repair Fund to be paid in quarterly installments.

No se les olvide sacar la basura

Photo courtesy of Que Fregados blog

A reminder that the city of Laredo goes back on regular schedule on Monday, April 9th. This means that regular garbage pickup will resume tomorrow. Don't forget to pull out your Willie Botes to the curb. I'm sure that most of them are "copetiados" with all the stuff discarded after your Easter Weekend celebrations.

I had already figured that I was going to take my own Willie Bote out even if there had been no scheduled pick-up. The reason:  on the Monday(s) immediately following the last few holidays, there has been a so-called volunteer crew of city workers who have shown up and picked up ol' Willie even if the schedule said otherwise.

Happenstance: Mayor touts EFS jobs as "great" but it's not all gravy

From The Republic.com

Juan Garcia, 34, and Jorge Castillo, 24, both from San Juan in the Rio Grande Valley, do the dirty work, including digging trenches, washing pits, building fences and moving rigs. They earn $13 an hour and pay $400 a month to live in a FEMA trailer.

But when there is no work, there is no money, and the bills and burdens continue to mount.
"Everyone thinks it's a good life, the oil field, but not until you get in do you find out it's not all gravy. I've been here three days. I haven't made any money," said Garcia, who before this drove a tow truck in the Valley town of Pharr.

Being away brings new problems, particularly if the money isn't flowing as expected.
"It creates marital stress. She calls and says, 'I need you to come help with the kids,' but I can't go," Garcia said. And even when he's with his family, he's never certain how long it will last.
"You give up all your rights. We're on call 24-7 even when we're home. If they call, you've got to come back," he said.

The two men talked two weeks ago while washing stained work clothes at a laundry in Carrizo Springs, waiting for the call to go back to work.

On the bulletin board was an offer of a $1,500 sign-on bonus plus $22 an hour for truck drivers. But it was a false hope. The job required a commercial license and hazardous materials experience.
Castillo, who hoped to become a crew leader, echoed a now-familiar refrain.

"People see we make money, but they don't see the hard life. There's no time to do anything for yourself. It's work, sleep. Simple as that," Castillo said as he folded fire-retardant clothing he bought at a Valley flea market. And getting one of those higher-paying jobs is a tricky proposition. "I'm keeping my eyes open, but it's like a mafia. It's enclosed, like a family. If you don't know someone, you ain't gonna get in," he said.

A few days later, Garcia was laid off and Castillo was promoted to crew leader.

Everyone say cheese, except you-we're gonna cover your face anyway

Sarastic Kudos to the photographer who was responsible for the above picture. At Sawgrass Elementary School in Florida, a student whose parents did not want their child to appear in any pictures taken at school was covered with a super-imposed brown smiley face.

According to the Huffington Post, the picture-taking guy said he was just doing his job.

While the photographer, David Claussen, would not agree to go on camera, he told WPLG that he never meant to cause such controversy and that he was only following orders.

Claussen said, according to the station, that when he asked the school's P.T.A. how he should handle the student -- since he was sitting in the front row and didn't have a consent form-- they requested he place the smiley over his face, instead of a star Claussen reportedly recommended.

Cheering enthusiast responds

A while back, LaredoTejas wondered outloud (via print) if the National Cheerleading Championships were perhaps called that because of the possibility that they were being held by an organization called National Cheerleading.

Although, it's been a while since that post, LT received a response from a reader and I thought it would only fair to present that response on this post. To "anonymous, thanks for reading and responding.

From Anonymous

This might be a very late response but, regardless if Laredo cheer teams win National, Regional or State champions, winning first place at very publicised and recognized competitions defines Laredo cheerleading teams as being the one of the BEST. In particular, the competitions you see on ESPN and on Varsity.com, are viewed as one of the most prestigious sponsors or so called "companies". I've seen the time, blood, tears, sweat, and effort that those young ladies and gentleman put into their practices. Is it really that hard to believe that Laredo can have so much talent?

 Laredoans can go on and on about how cheerleading is overrated. But, those young men and women are rolemodels to the Laredo community. Instead of wondering about the validity of "National cheer titles" go to varsity.com and search for a Laredo high school team (Ex: United High School) and compare them to the other 100 plus teams around the country you'll see why they win. But to further explain how competitions work, of course, competitions have different categgories and divisions. For example, a high school team cannot compete against a middle school team.

Also, a cheer team who cannot tumble but are better at stunting have their own division as well. The size of the team plays a factor as well. So, you can win first place(national champions) in all the different divisions. However, note that numerous schools and cheer studios around the country compete in prestigious competitions.

This year, if you did not already know, United High School won World and National Champions. You are able to view their routine on the Varsity website. They competed in the highest level and you can clearly see the skills they have compared to the other schools competing.

Century City residents prevail for now

Apartments galore

Congratulations to the residents of Century City for standing up against a proposed zoning change that would have brought multi-family complexes (apartments) to their area. The Laredo Morning Times reported that after presenting a petition with 200 signatures, the Laredo Planning and Zoning Commission voted against the change.

No doubt the developers will make an appeal. They have 30 days to do so and LMT is also reporting that if they do appeal, their case will be heard by the seedy council. In consideration of this fact, it is clear that the residents of Century City are not out of the woods yet. The recent trend has been for the mayor and council to put $$money above everything else and I'm pretty sure they'll be making their usual "we need jobs" argument. 

Still, those protesting the change are to be commended for exercising their rights as citizens and speaking out. We wish them continued success.

Building up the drama, racing against the clock

I guess the people of Laredo should be biting their nails wondering if the Lemurs' Unitrade stadium will be finished in time for the start of the season (Yawwwwwn). Nice try at attempting to invoke some kind of interest and drama into the return of minor league baseball to the Gateway City.

Considering we're getting a transplanted team from Shreveport-Bossier and not one local kid was able to crack the exclusive minor-league barrier, Lemurs marketing had to come up with some other angle.

Another sorry attempt at arousing interest is the Lemurs' TV commercial highlighted today by La Sanbe. In it, a Laredo native lemur lets out a grito and then goes on to tell his redneck lemur buddy that he plans to add some local flavor to Lemur games.  Surely, they figured that some Laredoans might be offended by the tendency of outsiders like Ventura group to stereotype our locals. I guess, i their eyes, even bad publicity is a plus.

Incidentally, according to the Lemurs website, their offical mascot (the one with the heavy Spanish acccent) goes by the name of Pancho Lemur. Very original. You guys must belong to Mensa.

Will hire in McAllen first.......then Laredo (munch munch-eat your lunch)

Shelly Alvarez

From The San Antonio Business Journal

The owner of Shelly Alvarez Insurance & Financial Services PLLC is launching a major recruiting and hiring campaign in San Antonio and throughout South Texas.

Shelly Alvarez says she plans to hire about 15 agents, brokers and other individuals eager to enter the insurance industry.

In order to do this, Alvarez says she will hold about four recruiting events this year, starting in early August in McAllen.

Cities like McAllen and Laredo, Alvarez says, are growing rapidly and present opportunities for her company.

“With the current economy, now is the prime time to learn about how to protect clients’ wealth and their legacy through insurance and other financial resources,” she says. “Our goal is to have 15 agents by the end of the year and double that number by next year.”

The recruiting events will seek to attract new agents and brokers and to offer existing agents and brokers an opportunity to become affiliated with the locally based company as well as provide them information on the products they would be selling. “They (new agents) will also be provided extensive training, to keep them abreast of constantly changing guidelines or regulations within the insurance industry,” Alvarez says.

Shelly Alvarez Insurance & Financial Services is an independent insurance broker and financial services company. It markets corporate and individual insurance benefits, such as annuities, life, health and disability insurance, Medicare supplements and long-term care products.

The Facts about the Laredo Lemurs

Fact: Lemurs never lived in Laredo.  Fact: Lemurs are known to inhabit the distant island of Madasgascar. Fact: Madagascar is also the name of two highly successful animated motion pictures. Fact: The Laredo Lemurs season opener is scheduled for May 17th. Fact:The scheduled release date for Madagascar 3 is June 8th. Fact: This coincidence (season opener and release date) are the only reason that the Ventura Group decided to name the team after those exotic animals that have absolutely nothing to do with Laredo.

Also, what is up with the above picture?  Is the muscular lemur giving his back to the pitcher? He certainly looks like he's facing the opposite direction.  I guess the brains behind the Lemurs marketing had to come up with something creative and that's the best they could muster.  Not only is his back to the pitcher but he's holding both of his arms up.  Is he surrendering already?

Will you get to keep your "old" city council person??

This evening, Wednesday, April 4th at 630pm, the Laredo city council will meet to discuss proposed redistricting map(s).  The meeting will be held, not at the Needmore Ranch thankfully, but at the usual location: City Hall at 1110 Houston Street.

It might be interesting to see the usual power play involved with redistricting at the local level. Will most Laredoans get to keep their beloved council representative? Will there any surprises in drawing the new lines? Will it be the voter who will be foremost in the minds of our city representatives? Or will they be just looking at what's in it for themselves?

Since it's not a regular city council meeting it will not be televised as far as I know (even if it should be). Never fear, it is open to the public; all 3 or 4 of you who might show up. Also, you don't need to don your cowboy outfit and mossey on down to any ranch this time around.

Update/Correction: As it turns out, LT was wrong in that it was the redistricting committee that met to discuss/act on the new boundaries and not, our seedy council-dagnabbit.

La Sanbe: Best mix of politics and gardening since "Being There"

Laredo's Most Imposing Blog, La Sanbe moves seamlessly between the rough and tumble world of Laredo politics and that of the peaceful gardner.  Not since 1979,s Being There has anyone be able to so smoothly blend both seemingly disparate topics.

In the scene below, Peter Seller's character, Chauncey the gardner's advise on planting and gardening is taken to heart by Jack Warden as the US President and his top economic advisor, Melvin Douglas who won an academy award for his part.

From 1979, Being There