City commissioners of Starbase voted unanimously on Monday to annex about 7,133 acres and voluntarily annex 444 acres that Brownsville recently disannexed, and they approved annexing State Highway 4, the road linking the SpaceX launch site to Brownsville. More than half of the landowners in the 7,133‑acre area signed the ordinance, expanding the city’s boundaries and placing the highway under city jurisdiction.

Austin‑based Saronic Technologies, which announced the $3.2 billion Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, received a Navy contract on Sept. 17 to build Landing Craft Utility (LCU) vessels, marking the first ships to be produced at the new facility. Production is slated to begin in 2028 with initial deliveries in 2029, and the LCUs will provide 170‑ton payload capacity and a range of about 1,200 nautical miles for amphibious, resupply and disaster‑response missions.

Jose Jaime Baeza Jr., a 33‑year‑old Brownsville man, received a 15‑year federal sentence after CBP officers at the B&M International Bridge found over 2,500 child sexual abuse images on his phone when he attempted entry with a girl he said was his sister on Jan. 14 2024. A records check flagged him as a registered sex offender, prompting a secondary inspection where agents seized the material and confirmed he had exchanged it via Telegram.

The Deportation Data Project, using Freedom of Information Act requests, reported that more than 13,000 undocumented individuals were detained in Rio Grande Valley communities between 2022 and 2026, with 5,087 apprehensions in 2025 alone, averaging 413 detentions per month. The Caminos Institute’s inaugural report notes that 86.3 % of those cases resulted in deportation, equating to roughly one person being detained every two hours.

Belinda Perez, a 32‑year‑old woman from San Benito, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and received a 15‑year prison sentence. The offense concerns the June 27, 2024 death of a 15‑month‑old identified as R.C., after Perez allegedly blocked the infant’s airway at a Harlingen daycare on Dixieland Road. She is being held at the Cameron County Carrizales‑Rucker Detention Center awaiting transfer.

Brownsville ultra‑runner Art Hurtado will attempt the 200‑mile Cowboy 200 ultra marathon across Nebraska from Norfolk to Valentine this Friday through Sunday. Known for previous 100‑mile races and a high‑altitude Colorado event, Hurtado also leads the Cameron County Beach Patrol on South Padre Island. The race follows a motor‑free limestone trail and crosses more than 200 bridges.

McAllen attorney Della Fay Perez was sentenced on Sept. 17 in a Dallas federal court to one month in prison and a year of supervised release for knowingly possessing information about bank fraud and failing to report it. She must surrender by 2 p.m. on Oct. 20, will pay a $100 special assessment, and will not be fined due to lack of assets.

Lucio Moya, a Roma, Texas resident who has spent nine years in the Louisiana oilfield, is a finalist in the 13th H‑E‑B Quest for Texas Best competition with three barbecue rubs—Orange Pepper Piñín, Bruto! and Beef Blend. The contest, running since 2014 and offering up to $100,000 in prizes, highlights small Texas businesses, and Moya’s seasonings are sold online and at stores in the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas.

The mother of an Edinburg teenager who was arrested by ICE earlier this month while taking a friend to enlist in the Marines and posted about it, was arrested and deported on Monday outside her work.

Despite public opposition, a federal judge has refused to temporarily block a controversial land exchange that would transfer hundreds of acres of a South Texas wildlife refuge to SpaceX.

Mission CISD Superintendent Criselda “Cris” King told her board at a meeting last week that the district will drain its monetary reserves by a perilous degree and likely invite Texas Education Agency intervention over the course of the next three years if it doesn’t take steps promptly to fix long unaddressed “structural” financial problems. …

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A businessman from McAllen pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge on Thursday after federal prosecutors linked him to a major drug shipment. Prosecutors linked Jose Luis Garcia Gonzalez Jr., 46, of McAllen to a couple from Bay City, Texas, that got caught with more than 345 pounds of cocaine. “Not [...]

A Texas judge denied on Monday the Center for Biological Diversity’s injunction to block a land swap between SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Lower Rio Grande Valley Refuge. The exchange would give SpaceX 727 acres of refuge land for 683 acres of private land near Laguna Madre Atascosa, and plaintiffs say it could transfer the land to SpaceX within weeks, limiting access to a wildlife area.

McAllen Public Utilities is developing a brackish groundwater desalination plant to diversify the city’s water supply amid ongoing South Texas drought conditions, with production wells slated to go to bid in February. City Director Mark Vega said the project’s final cost is still uncertain, but if it exceeds current estimates residents could face a second rate increase after the $14‑per‑month hike that began in October.

Avan Ruben Mendoza, 21, was sentenced to 38 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2022 murder of 22‑year‑old Ryan Michael Serna outside the No Manches Wuey bar at 211 S. 17th Street in McAllen, where the shooting occurred just before 2 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2022. The case follows earlier convictions of co‑defendants Alejandro Gomez (18 years) and Joel Gonzalez Jr. (38 years), while remaining suspects had their charges dropped for lack of evidence.

Thirty‑year‑old Jose De La Cruz pleaded guilty on Sept. 15 to intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault after a two‑vehicle collision on Nov. 15, 2024 killed 77‑year‑old Oralia Garza of San Benito. The crash occurred on FM 509 south of FM 800 in Harlingen when De La Cruz’s Chevrolet Tahoe, traveling at high speed, veered into the northbound lane and struck Garza’s Hyundai Kona. He is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 14.

Man Julio Diaz, 38, was sentenced to life on Monday for July 10, 2023 shooting that killed McAllen lodge member Robert Wise. A jury convicted him of murder and two arson counts after less than an hour of deliberation; surveillance video captured the attack, which he posted online while claiming a “reptilian” conspiracy. The killing occurred at 118 N. 11th St. in McAllen, a concern for Rio Grande Valley residents.

Mission voters will select a mayor and council members on November 3, with early voting from October 19 to October 30. Six polling locations in Mission—Bannworth Gym, the Jose “Joe” Correa Jr. Agriculture Science Lab, the Parks and Recreation Center, the Upper Valley Art League, Veterans Memorial Pavilion, and the Hidalgo County Precinct 3 Field Operations Office—will be open on Election Day. Six candidates, including incumbent Norie Gonzalez Garza, are running for mayor.

An inmate at the Carrizales‑Rucker Detention Center in Olmito died on Sunday after a medical emergency, prompting a Texas Rangers investigation. Sheriff Manuel Treviño said EMS transported the inmate, whose identity is withheld until kin are notified, but he became unresponsive and was pronounced dead; a justice of the peace was notified and an autopsy ordered. The Texas Rangers are leading the investigation and the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office is fully cooperating.

On Saturday afternoon, the 2026 South Texas Regional Bands of America contest took place at Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, featuring 24 high‑school marching bands from across the Rio Grande Valley, including Harlingen, Roma and Brownsville. Harlingen High School South’s 17‑year‑old bass clarinetist Angel Lopez Solis said the summer rehearsals paid off, and organizers highlighted the strong local turnout as a boost for students from lower‑income Valley communities.