McAllen's Unemployment Lowest Among All Border Cities

The City of McAllen’s unemployment rate for February was 7.8 percent – that’s down from January’s 8.1 percent and exactly the same as February 2010. The latest numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission show that McAllen’s unemployment rate is the lowest among all border cities, lower than the state rate and lower than Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Waco and Beaumont. Regionally, Corpus Christi recorded a 7.5 percent unemployment rate and Laredo stood at 8.0 percent.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (Hidalgo County) metro area’s unemployment rate for February was 12.2%. Brownsville-Harlingen checked in at 12.1%. Texas’ statewide rate was 8.2%. The TWC also reported that the City of McAllen has grown by 850 jobs since February of 2010 and has 58,732 people employed. The McAllen metro area had 273,662 people employed in February, almost 4,000 more than in same month of the prior year.

Valley City Unemployment Rates

• McAllen 7.8%
• Edinburg 8.6%
• Harlingen 9.3%
• Mission 9.7%
• San Benito 10.2%
• Pharr 10.2%
• Weslaco 11.4%
• Brownsville 11.8%

Renovation Work Begins At Anzalduas International Bridge

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Anzalduas International Bridge wishes to announce that renovation work of CBP facilities has begun. The renovation work is scheduled for completion in June or July 2011.

Some of the work includes extending the roof alongside northbound lane one. This will require excavation and as a result, lane one will be closed for a work period of seven to 10 days.

In addition to lane one, other lanes including the SENTRI lane will also undergo improvements and will be periodically closed during construction.

CBP encourages travelers to be patient and to cooperate with construction workers as work progresses from one worksite to another.

CBP also encourages travelers to visit CBP.gov website for additional information on border wait times.

Hector A. Mancha, CBP Port Director, Hidalgo/Pharr said, “This is one more example of CBP working with its many partners such as GSA and the cities of McAllen, Mission and Granjeno to improve existing facilities in order to provide a first class service to international travelers.”

McAllen To Host Operation Welcome Home For Vietnam Veterans

On April 9, 2011, all of the five-county communities of South Texas (Zapata, Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy) are invited to meet at the McAllen Convention Center to welcome home our Vietnam War era Veterans. The Vietnam era Veterans of South Texas were not given the welcome home acknowledgement that they justly deserved. The intention is to recognize the sacrifices many made during the Vietnam War. This event is intended to recognize all Vietnam War era Veterans in South Texas and honor the many that were killed-in-action and missing-in-action. Prisoners-of-war and those wounded while fighting for our country will also be honored. There is a special tribute planned for other veterans as well.

LZ:RGV program themes are derived from three main components: proclamation, education and celebration. This living memorial offers everyone the opportunity to recognize and celebrate our Vietnam War era Veterans’ achievements.

In addition to several regional veteran resources and services, other activities include a locally-produced play from the Pharr Literacy Project on the South Texas Vietnam War experience called "Pat and Lyndon," poetry readings, photography, videos, the traveling Vietnam War “Healing” Memorial, a military vehicle exhibit, and a special Vietnam era music tribute featuring recording artists Carlos Guzman, Freddy Martinez, Sunny Ozuna and other special guests.

More information is available at www.LZRGV.com.

McAllen School Board Election Information

The McAllen School Board Election will be held on May 14th. The McAllen Independent School District provided the following election day information:

Candidates

Place 1
Nick Garcia
Debbie Crane Aliseda

Place 2
Renee Hinojosa
Hilda Garza DeShazo
Myrna G. Garcia (i)

Place 4
Erica de la Garza
Larry Esparza

Place 5
Allen Watkins
Danny Vela (i)

Early Voting
Early voting for School Board elections runs May 2-10. During the early voting period, citizens may vote at any of the following locations.

Early voting locations: 
Old City Hall, 311 N. 15th St.
Palm View Community Center, 3401 Jordan Ave.
Lark Community Center, 2601 Lark Ave.

Early voting schedule:
May 2-6 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
May 7 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
May 8 Closed
May 9-10 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Election Day
Election Day is Saturday, May 14. The polling places will be open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. You must bring either your Voter Registration Card or Driver's License.

Election Day Polling Places:
Leonelo H. Gonzalez Elementary 201 E. Martin Ave.
Lark Community Center 2601 Lark Ave.
Abraham Lincoln Middle School 1601 N. 27th St.
Palm View Community Center 3401 Jordan Ave.
McAllen High School 2021 La Vista Ave.
Victor Fields Elementary 500 Dallas Ave.

McAllen MSA Tops List of America's Least Toxic Cities

From Forbes.com

By Morgan Brennan

Texas is widely known as a mecca for all things related to fossil fuels, but here's a surprise: It's also home to the cleanest town in the country. That's right. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ranks tops in our list of the America's Least Toxic Cities.

The Least Toxic list is an offshoot of the most toxic cities list we released last month. In that ignominious ranking Philadelphia comes out on top, followed by New York City and its surrounding suburbs, and four California metros.

So many readers told us they wanted to know which cities fared the best in terms of low toxicity that we decided to put together a ranking of America's 10 Least Toxic (as in environmentally healthy) Cities.

Read Complete Article on Forbes.com