http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/
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FIREFIGHTERS/PARAMEDICS ENDORSE BEGUM FOR JP 2-2
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<em>(This endorsement was issued by the representatives of the Brownsville Firefig</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VAq2Ad-eVdZ2VwZ1-dbMXSk8sXXsEyv0OWfHXKqfywZu0NP-Xxme9UF-NrTRgl7jpxc22A7257BQKXpJIUyiGQi-bvv2Qoz2FxiGleXwfBiVfsUigjUfIQaeNAMXJaYjtPMBitbrVUo/s1600/local+970.jpg"><em><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 234px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724666231246392002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VAq2Ad-eVdZ2VwZ1-dbMXSk8sXXsEyv0OWfHXKqfywZu0NP-Xxme9UF-NrTRgl7jpxc22A7257BQKXpJIUyiGQi-bvv2Qoz2FxiGleXwfBiVfsUigjUfIQaeNAMXJaYjtPMBitbrVUo/s320/local+970.jpg" /></em></a><em>hters and the Paramedics Local 970. In their statement, they make clear that no one candiate received the entire group's (Brownsville Unity Council) support but endorsed her on their own account.</em><br /><em></em><br /><br />"To whom it may concern,The B.U.C. Is not endorsing in the JP Pct. 2-2 race. However under B.U.C. rule if the Unions do not come to a unanimous consensus each Union is free to choose their candidate of choice.<br />Good Luck to all the candidates.<br />That said,Congratulations Ms. Yolanda Begum you have The Endorsement from Brownsville Firefighters /Paramedics Local 970 for Justice of the peace Pct. 2-2"<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-6834245821577582079?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/firefightersparamedics-endorse-begum.html
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BUS DRIVERS PROTEST NEW OVERTIME RULES BY BISD
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<div><em>(Today's protest and rally at the main office of the Brownsville Independent School District by some 100 bus drivers underscores the problems the distinct has had with its transportation department. Under the old setup, the recent forensic audit found that there was a huge issue with the amount of overtime that was being paid some drivers under the old transportation director, Jose Hector Chirinos. The bus drivers union has been very vocal in its demands for better pay. Recently, they held a blue-flu work stoppage with some 40 drivers absent from their positions and the administration had to hustle and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3Wfp5qfyFfy-4Zl2Wgs3vxXHYvZj7LAlHYh8pX-hIAlrPYQI62rewnF_G15lPkOtXIVZlmmS-sVf4Vl00izgK-Da3K7VNoARV8OHHc7z7u_4g2Chizwz_t62X3ZHa3-clq1M2jkN3tc/s1600/bus.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724659586193032706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3Wfp5qfyFfy-4Zl2Wgs3vxXHYvZj7LAlHYh8pX-hIAlrPYQI62rewnF_G15lPkOtXIVZlmmS-sVf4Vl00izgK-Da3K7VNoARV8OHHc7z7u_4g2Chizwz_t62X3ZHa3-clq1M2jkN3tc/s320/bus.jpg" /></a>procured replacements to get the students to school and to their homes on time. Today, the parents of students at Oliveira Middle School were called to pick up their kids after a number of drivers did not show up to drive their buses. Across the district, some drivers did show up, but administrators still had students call their parents just in case the buses didn't show up. As the district moves to address the overtime issue at transpiration, it will probably draw the ire of the drivers and their union reps. Below, in case you didn't read the audit, is the section dealing with the Transportation Department. The department is now under the leadership of former Special Needs Director Art Rendon.)</em></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>Overtime Issue: Transportation Department Administrator Jose Hector Chirinos:<br />FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:<br />In interview, Chirinos stated the overtime abuse was there within the Transportation Department when he took over in 2005. He indicated his efforts to curb the abuse were thwarted by the unions and the board. Chirinos blamed the lack of supervisory assistance yet he himself failed to take a hard line on the issue. Based on the interviews of the drivers and monitors, they took full advantage of the ineffectiveness and complacency displayed by then administrator Chirinos.<br />Not only did Chirinos conceal (and) fail to disclose, but also took measures, in the form of termination and demotion, in an effort to prevent employees within Transportation Department from 1) revealing the truth about overtime abuse; 2) furnishing information ; and 3) confronting the abusers. Starting with Viola Currier in 2006 and continuing to date with Terry Spellane, Chirinos subtly a nd effectively suppressed disclosure and evidence of abuse through firing and demotion.<br />First, Ms. Currier, with 19 years of experience in Transportation Department was terminated by Chirinos after she questioned employees about their riding the clock. Then, five years later, Ms. Spellane, an experienced accountant, was demoted and removed from payroll by Chirinos after she continued to identify abuse and waste taking place within Transportation.<br />Ms. Spellane estimated the loss due to the abuse at $600,000 a year. If conservatively only 70 percent were abusing the system by riding the clock one hour per day, the Forensic Audit Staff would put the loss at $420,000 a year, or roughly $2.5 million over the six years in which Chirinos was administrator.<br />It is highly recommended that strong administrative action with the possibility of termination be taken against Jose Hector Chirinos (and that BISD) hire professional business people with experience in running a transportation department...Of all the violators and abusers, the average number of years with the district was 17 years seniority. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-9125077553051187604?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/bus-drivers-protest-new-overtime-rules.html
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GBIC TAKES ANOTHER HIT WITH T-MOBILE CLOSING
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<div style="font-weight: normal; ">From: <a href="http://www.brownsvilleblues.blogspot.com/">http://www.brownsvilleblues.blogspot.com/</a><br /></div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; ">The latest Greater Brownsville Incentive Corporation's (GBIC) fiasco has sparked outrage throughout the community. T-Mobile's decision to close its Brownsville facility and terminate nearly 500 employees after receiving millions in local taxpayer incentives is the latest in a long line of GBIC failures.<br />Just as culpable in this boondoggle is the Brownsville Economic Development Council (BEDC), GBIC's bastard child that survives on a taxpayer annual subsidy in excess of $500,000. In the opinion of an angry and growing minority, they concur with the charges of corrup<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGffvHNPVPDs0-SGmiLJMV3M90-4w2ks8gUNk6s9LbDXOKoK-qrIr_yHkiQpnc0F9AYd2bzWWM2s3IBhL6LQ0p7m_UEF4sMTQZXUZlZHHRhwEj41bhl8b-ESpxG4yESUfL8BRQzI77I/s1600/tmobile.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724653487453634354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGffvHNPVPDs0-SGmiLJMV3M90-4w2ks8gUNk6s9LbDXOKoK-qrIr_yHkiQpnc0F9AYd2bzWWM2s3IBhL6LQ0p7m_UEF4sMTQZXUZlZHHRhwEj41bhl8b-ESpxG4yESUfL8BRQzI77I/s320/tmobile.jpg" /></a>tion and incompetence and are hurling brickbats at the two entities operating out of glass houses.</div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; ">The following diatribes describe the frustration that many feel toward GBIC and BEDC. In the wake of the T-Mobile mess, Brownsville Blues has rec</div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">eived scores of e-mails that are unanimous in their condemnation of GBIC and BEDC. Here is a sampling of those outbursts:</div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; "><strong>Juan Garza:</strong> Hello! Anybody home? How come nobody is answering the phone at GBIC and BEDC? Has T-Mobile cut their service because GBIC and BEDC couldn't come up with millions more in bribes? When are our business leaders going to accept that they are a bunch of losers? Of course, they don't give a shit. It isn't their money.</div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; "><strong>Jose Martinez:</strong> When is GBIC going to wash its hands of that greasy bastard Ruben "El Gargajo" Gallegos Jr.? Why is Mayor Tony Martinez, who isn't related to me, putting up with this pendejo's bullshit? "Gargajo" tried to undermine Martinez on the tollway with intimidating tactics. It's time that somebody put that fat fuck in his place. He could be Ernie "The Eel" Hernandez's evil twin!</div><div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; "><strong>Maria </strong><strong style="font-size: 100%; ">G</strong><strong style="font-size: 100%; ">onzalez:</strong><span style="font-size: 100%; "> As long as Jason "Jackass" Hilts is running BEDC, the taxpayers are going to take a bath. When he doesn't have his hands in our pockets, he is charging luxury items for himself on the</span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "> compa</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKFr7yyLRNbcSQQmRo4nbg-agDikeNjkMA1PIK7bH1GpJJRY-CoWK6fKfwxVKkIHHHlnCk9dG9JvijidPDF32QZlWvepIhs0MgBLQ6MFfPEs6-IfFqch_8zjZa64c4x5G8zCu9tpEfXM/s200/hilts150x225.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724694384773781554" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px; " /><div style="font-weight: normal; ">ny card. Brownsville's economic future is controlled by thieves and thugs. Mexico used to complain about being so far from God and so close to the United States. I can understand our neighbors' sentiments. We may be residing in the most corrupt community in the country.</div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; "><strong>Carlos Cardenas</strong>: What about all the sweetheart deals that the Brownsville Herald chooses to ignore. Why isn't the newspaper and Emma Perez-Trevino investigating the multi-million-dollar industrial park and Gallegos' relationship to the former owners of the land who sold their acreage at an absurdly inflated price? The Herald never nabs any of </div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">the crooks because its lazy reporters don't arrive at the scene until after the crime has been committed.</div><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; "><strong>Overheard on Scott Street</strong>: What is going to happen to the people who work there? Are we going to put them through the same old hoops of retraining and job seeking at Cameron County Workforce. That bunch there is useless. What they ought to do is auction off the property and building and distribute the money among the workers. Think of the mortgages that won't get paid, the car payments that won't be made and the income that is going to be missing from those homes!</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-6763144941806077580?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/gbic-takes-another-hit-with-t-mobile.html
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WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY CALLED A HUGE SUCCESS
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XhO4nDH7WPBHXj2bXqxp9MAlh-XqBfYr7cWt7-TTUrRfzL7rF8D9N1Gjn_2dPI4aLF07VZwDKD4-tyA3yJ9x-A-drElKh4gHl0hHAQ34V-iZttaheNKbVdsk5S7jVFc-lV1_TNrX0mI/s1600/wdsd.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 374px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 241px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724647113754001314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XhO4nDH7WPBHXj2bXqxp9MAlh-XqBfYr7cWt7-TTUrRfzL7rF8D9N1Gjn_2dPI4aLF07VZwDKD4-tyA3yJ9x-A-drElKh4gHl0hHAQ34V-iZttaheNKbVdsk5S7jVFc-lV1_TNrX0mI/s320/wdsd.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNQmvrCSoywkWSi29GFBv6sDivu59Ja5D0y6EIwu7nVuPFJgY7xu0L7NAhc8XX2rsmlkjffZlH5Zrd9AB7hOYYI6qMc0De8EWzZSTGdt4wTCp3LYyMli23QTQ-fuAt8E1KxftJxmAWiI/s1600/wdsd.jpg"></a>We are humbled by the tremendous show of support for our event World Down Syndrome Day that took place yesterday at 3:21. </div><br /><div>To just say thank you seems so inadequate, but upon seeing the smiling faces and uplifting spirit in our children I think all in attendance understood the responsibility we all carry to do what is right by these heaven sent angels. </div><br /><div>God bless all of you, Thank You !!!!!!!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-3121543151777223579?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/world-down-syndrome-day-called-huge.html
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COUNTY EYES FIFTH BRIDGE OFF FLOR DE MAYO
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<div>By <strong>Lynn Brezosky </strong></div><br /><div><em>San Antonio Express </em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><br /><div>BROWNSVILLE â€" After years of talk, a committee named by Cameron County commissioners has accepted proposals from four engineering firms for what would be this expanding city's fifth bridge to Mexico. </div><br /><div>The new Flor de Mayo International Bridge will link to Flor de Mayo Road, which is the western extension of Alton Gloor Boulevard, one of the city's main links to its northern end, with thriving strip malls and retailers including Academy, Home Depot, Wal-Mart/Sam<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmbhBQY-TuHwlSjUwyhMMUuREnElMKbovQfqa-C5xGjIPhzkkGVxrlU9RYZaVbPAIAhyM66dYOH2Oqjc4bmFMZDCnMWX2OY92RN5VCmMqK5aRLlpi3AJ1SGAy3zJPJw0PZjZj4cLX29U/s1600/bridge.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724645184691973346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmbhBQY-TuHwlSjUwyhMMUuREnElMKbovQfqa-C5xGjIPhzkkGVxrlU9RYZaVbPAIAhyM66dYOH2Oqjc4bmFMZDCnMWX2OY92RN5VCmMqK5aRLlpi3AJ1SGAy3zJPJw0PZjZj4cLX29U/s320/bridge.jpg" /></a>'s Club, and Target. It is planned as a non-commercial bridge, one that will appeal to shoppers from Matamoros, Brownsville's sister city across the Rio Grande. “The retail development will complement that bridge,†said County Administrator Pete Sepulveda.</div><br /><div>On the Matamoros side, the bridge will tie in directly to a major industrial park, Sepulveda said, giving new access to factory employees looking to shop or visit family in the Valley. Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said any opening date for the bridge is five to seven years away, but that the county is committed to meet the needs of anticipated growth.</div><br /><div>International bridge projects have been a touchy subject for the county since 2004, when Port of Brownsville officials and then-U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz learned a painful lesson about taking a one-nation approach to a bi-national project. Ortiz had championed a $100 million truck-and-rail link to the port at the same time city officials were working toward a separate rail bridge to reroute trains away from both Brownsville and Matamoros' city centers.</div><br /><div>The congressman called a Saturday ceremony to celebrate Mexico's cooperation and the imminent start of the port bridge, only to have no Mexican officials show up. Despite Ortiz's three documents of support from high offices in Mexico, the locals across the river weren't on board. What followed were lawsuits between the port and Dannenbaum Engineering, and the embarrassing disclosure that more than $20 million had been lost on so-called consulting and cross-border lobbying. </div><br /><div>“It was an embarrassment for a lot of people. It was $21 million that was expended, and with nothing to show for it,†Cascos said. “This (new) bridge, our side may cost 25 to 30 million for our side alone. But we're going to do it the right way ... This is not our first international project; we know what needs to be done and how to do it.†</div><br /><div>The West Rail project, which will be solely for trains, has meanwhile moved into the construction phase, with an opening expected around September. The Flor de Mayo will be the fifth road bridge for Cameron County and the first to open since the Veteran's International Bridge in 1999.</div><br /><div>Neighboring Hidalgo County has seen two new bridges open in recent years, both with gala ceremonies on the Mexican side featuring helicopter fly-ins and speeches by Mexican President Felipe Calderón. The Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge, which opened in December 2010, has had a slow start, Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said, but the Anzalduas International Bridge, which opened in January 2010 and provides for a faster drive to Monterrey, Mexico, is doing well. </div><br /><div>“Donna's having some problems because of the low number of vehicles using the bridge,†he said. “But they feel very comfortable that they're going to be able to be in the black pretty quick.†Cascos said the Los Indios International Bridge, which links to a rural area between Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico, from a small community south of San Benito, has taken years to catch on and is now barely breaking even in terms of costs and toll revenues. But he said officials need to think ahead.</div><br /><div>“I can't say that we need it today, but you know we cannot stand still while the economy gets better and issues with Mexico get better,†he said. “We have to move forward, and really it's a plan for the future.†</div><br /><div>Due to the miles of red tape and significant investment required from two nations, international bridge projects can take years to get to the construction phase. On the U.S. side, there may be squabbling between localities eager to land a crossing that will bring business and boost sales tax revenue. From there, plans must be developed and approved by an array of agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. General Services Administration. </div><br /><div>A presidential permit must come from Washington, D.C. And on the Mexican side, there must be cooperation from each newly elected city mayor or state governor during the years-long process. It's something Cascos said he learned from the West Rail project. </div><br /><div>“We've been in discussions with Matamoros since I've been county judge,†he said. “Every time a new mayor comes in, and I've worked with three of them, I'll set up meetings and discussions with them to say, ‘These are our plans.' We did that with West Rail, we've done it with this bridge, we've done it with the expansion of the Veteran's, so we're in constant communication with them. They appear to be on board. That's the message I'm getting." </div><br /><div>“I start with them because you've got to start with your local officials,†he said. “If they're against it, it's not going to go anywhere. But if they're for it, they can move it upstream to Ciudad Victoria and then on to Mexico City.â€</div><br /><div>lbrezosky@express-news.net</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-5025881562931939089?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/county-eyes-fifth-bridge-off-flor-de.html
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WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY ACALLED A HUGE SUCCESS
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNQmvrCSoywkWSi29GFBv6sDivu59Ja5D0y6EIwu7nVuPFJgY7xu0L7NAhc8XX2rsmlkjffZlH5Zrd9AB7hOYYI6qMc0De8EWzZSTGdt4wTCp3LYyMli23QTQ-fuAt8E1KxftJxmAWiI/s1600/wdsd.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722904405308325010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNQmvrCSoywkWSi29GFBv6sDivu59Ja5D0y6EIwu7nVuPFJgY7xu0L7NAhc8XX2rsmlkjffZlH5Zrd9AB7hOYYI6qMc0De8EWzZSTGdt4wTCp3LYyMli23QTQ-fuAt8E1KxftJxmAWiI/s400/wdsd.jpg" /></a>We are humbled by the tremendous show of support for our event World Down Syndrome Day that took place yesterday at 3:21.<br />To just say thank you seems so inadequate, but upon seeing the smiling faces and uplifting spirit in our children I think all in attendance understood the responsibility we all carry to do what is right by these heaven sent angels.<br />God bless all of you, Thank You !!!!!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4013726016265350595?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/world-down-syndrome-day-acalled-huge.html
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