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HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) – Inflation rose again this month, and many across the Rio Grande Valley are feeling it, especially at the pump. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index for April on Thursday. The data shows prices rose 3.8% ...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday it has launched a campaign to warn the traveling public in South Texas about the threat posed by the New World screwworm. The agency aims to protect the livestock industry, economy, and food supply chain by r...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The latest drought data was released Thursday morning and it shows some solid improvements for the Rio Grande Valley, with no drought indicated in a few areas along the river in the Upper Valley, dry conditions for much of Starr and Hidalgo counties, and then mo...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A New Jersey-based corporation with manufacturing locations in the U.S. and Mexico is planning to expand to Brownsville. Kearfott Corporation's motion systems facility in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, has been operating for decades. The Mexico facility is part of the c...
ALAMO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Recent rainfall across the Rio Grande Valley is giving local farmers much-needed relief after months of dry conditions, helping crops, livestock, and soil recover. But, while the rain is welcome, farmers say too much of it can quickly create new challenges and risin...
LOS FRESNOS, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Anirudh Roy, a sixth-grade student from Resaca Middle School in Los Fresnos, has placed 30th in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Roy is one of 247 students from across the country and around the world who have been selected for Scripps, currently being ...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Rainy weather conditions played a part in a recent alligator sighting in the Rio Grande Valley, according to a local wildlife biologist. On May 20, an alligator was spotted by Military Road and Grulla Elementary School in Starr County, a game warden with Texas P...
The Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center (BARCC) is asking for the community’s help after recently receiving multiple batches of puppies and kittens in urgent need of care.
During its May 26 City Commission Meeting, the Brownsville City Commission recognized local achievements, approved operational improvements, and honored community service members through several major agenda items.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX Starship launches are on hold pending an investigation into last week’s test flight. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that the hourlong spaceflight resulted in a mishap based on the performance of the mega rocket's first-stage booster. Min...
The Federal Aviation Administration made the determination after analyzing the results of Starship Flight 12, which took place on Friday, May 22.
The Starlink 17-37 mission flew on the 60th Falcon 9 rocket launched in 2026. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:50 a.m. PDT (10:50 a.m. EDT / 1450 UTC).
The mission was SpaceX’s 60th orbital flight of the year, including one Falcon Heavy launch and 59 Falcon 9 flights. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-47 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 7:48 a.m. EDT (1148 UTC).
The Starship upper stage was equipped with six third-generation Raptor engines and one of three optimized for operating in vacuum shut down early during the climb to space. The flight computer kept the other five engines running longer than originally planned to make up for the shortfall, putting...
Downtown Brownsville is about to get even more colorful as First Friday: Paint the Town returns with an evening full of creativity, live entertainment, local flavor, and community energy.
For Brownsville resident Ralia Karavasilis, one of the biggest takeaways from the City of Brownsville’s One City Information and All-Hazards Preparedness Fair was learning about the City’s 546-HELP hotline.
By DIANTÉ MARIGNY editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com The Point Isabel Independent School District Board of Trustees recognized dozens of students, educators, and community members during its regular school board meeting held May 19 at Port Isabel Early College High School. The meeting opened with a ...
By DIANTÉ MARIGNY & JACQI LEYVA-HILL editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com Incumbent Mayor Michael “Mike” Carter’s reelection victory in Laguna Vista was officially upheld following a formal recount conducted May 14 at the Cameron County Historic Courthouse exhibit room in Brownsville. The recount conf...
Jose Bautista, 25, of Donna, died following a workplace accident at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, according to Cameron County officials. By DIANTÉ MARIGNY editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com A 25-year-old Donna man died after a workplace accident at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Bo...
(Port Isabel boys soccer coach and players at East vs West All-Star game. May 19, 2026. Picture by PIECHS) By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR. Special to the PRESS As the 2025-2026 school season comes to a conclusion, we wrap up the season’s All-District awards with boys’ soccer and golf. In boys’ soccer...
(Port Isabel’s Jesus Ramos scores during PI vs San Benito 7on7 game. May 14, 2026. Picture by Constancio Martinez Jr) By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR. Special to the PRESS As the 2025-2026 school season comes to a conclusion, we wrap up the season’s All-District awards with boys’ soccer and golf. In b...
Moments in Time is a collection of recovered newspaper briefs and other publications, compiled by local historian, Steve Hathcock, offering a look back at the history of the Rio Grande Valley. Steve Hathcock is a local historian and a regular columnist for the Port Isabel South Padre Press. He ha...
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The storm that pushed across the entire Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday morning caused street flooding on Padre Boulevard on South Padre Island. The Texas Department of Transportation posted a video of the aftermath on the island, showing rainwater on si...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Our Wednesday morning started off on the stormy side, as linear thunderstorms moved across the Valley, with some of those storms becoming severe. These storms brought some pretty impressive rainfall totals for most of the Valley. Futurecast indicates that it sho...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Funeral services for a 17-year-old Progreso Independent School District student who drowned in a Mercedes canal while fishing have been announced. The body of Samuel Hernandez was recovered from a canal located at Mile 1 and Mile 10 in rural north Mercedes by a ...
The mission will see the debut of several upgrades to the launch vehicle, including redesigned engines. Liftoff from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, is scheduled during a window that opens at 5:30 p.m. CDT (6:30 p.m. EDT / 2230 UTC).
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — An Edinburg resident is feeling like a million bucks after winning the $1 million top prize from a scratch lottery ticket, the Texas Lottery announced Wednesday. The scratch ticket, Premier Play, was purchased in TXB 82, a convenience store, located at 780 Carte...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Starting Wednesday, a bridge replacement located on Minnesota Avenue in Brownsville will cause road closures until July 31, the Texas Department of Transportation announced. According to TXDOT, the road closures will affect traffic on Minnesota Avenue between St...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A severe weather alert has caused power outages affecting thousands of customers, according to AEP Texas and Magic Valley Co-Op outage maps. 11:56 a.m. Nearly 2,000 customers in Cameron County have a power outage, the outage maps report. In Hidalgo County, the n...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Esteban "Steve" Guerra has won the Democratic nomination in the May runoff election for Cameron County Judge, according to unofficial election results. According to unofficial results with 100% of precincts reporting, Guerra won with 55% or 10,010 votes. Incumb...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Joseph L. Lucio won the Democratic nomination for the Cameron County Commissioner Precinct 2 race, according to unofficial election results. Lucio received 3,469 votes, or 50.30% of the vote, while incumbent Joey Lopez received 3,427 votes, or 49.70% of the vot...
SAN BENITO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The San Benito Consolidated Independent School District has begun construction on a $24 million state-of-the-art performing arts center funded through the 2018 bond election. While the facility is located on the grounds of Veterans Memorial Academy, it will be ...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Julio Salinas is the Democratic nominee who will be on the ballot in the Texas House District 41 midterm race in November. Unofficial results show that Salinas carried a majority of votes, totaling 3,349, with 84% of precincts reporting. Haddad received 44% or 2...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Gary Groves will head to the midterm election in November after garnering the majority of votes in the Texas House District 41 Republican primary runoff race, according to unofficial election results. Unofficial results show that Groves is leading the race with ...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A line of thunderstorms developing across northern Mexico will push east through lunchtime Wednesday, posing a risk for gusty winds and or damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall, lightning and thunder. While the chance for redevelopment through the afternoon is unc...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Starr County will be under a severe thunderstorm watch until 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Additionally, Starr County and the western portions of the Rio Grande Valley are under a slight risk for severe weather on Tuesday night going into Wednesday morning. While forecas...
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that candidate Joey Lopez was arrested on a charge of DWI and not Joseph L. Lucio. HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Unofficial early voting results indicate challenger Joseph L. Lucio is ahead of incumbent Joey Lopez in the Cameron County Commi...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Oziel “Ozzie” Ochoa Jr. has secured the Democratic nomination in the District 37 race, unofficial results show. With 82% of precincts reporting, Ochoa garnered 3,195 votes, while Cantu-Castle got 1,931 votes, according to unofficial results. Ochoa's win comes af...
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Polls are now closed for the 2026 Primary Runoff Elections. Below is a list of results for the May 26 runoffs:
The Starlink 10-31 mission was the 58th Falcon 9 launch so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 6:04 a.m. EDT (1004 UTC).