Gaige Davila

Deceleration • July 19, 2024

Community Vision for Corpus Christi Park Challenges Political Failures and Heat Island | Deceleration

For years a park on Maple Street in Corpus Christi—in what we now know is one of the hottest parts of this coastal city—sat overgrown, unused, and neglected.

MySA.com • July 8, 2024

South Texas man faces new charges after 13 years of bestiality allegations

Last month, an Alamo man was arrested in connection with criminal trespassing after allegedly having sex with a horse in the Rio Grande Valley. Cirilo Castillo, 54, is now in Hidalgo County’s jail awaiting trial, his latest run through the legal system that his attorney, Savannah Gonzalez, says failed him.

MySA.com • July 6, 2024

Texas residents in Beryl's hurricane path prepare for landfall

As Hurricane Beryl made its way through Quintana Roo and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico Friday, Laguna Madre area communities prepared for what is shaping to be a strong storm

TPR • July 3, 2024

After a month of tar, the South Texas coast is now mostly clear of it. Beryl may change that.

Forty-five years ago in June, an oil rig named Ixtoc I exploded off the Bay of Campeche, filling the Gulf of Mexico with nearly half a million tons of oil.

TPR • May 22, 2024

New report shows Operation Lone Star has spent billions arresting people mostly for misdemeanors

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas released a new report showing that Operation Lone Star (OLS), a state immigration law enforcement program initiated by Gov. Greg Abbott, has mostly arrested people for misdemeanor charges since launching in 2021.

TPR • May 20, 2024

Brownsville library reopens after deadly shooting

A portion of the Brownsville Public Library was already open on Monday morning as a voting booth for local primary runoff elections. But the library’s main room remained dark, with a group of eight or so people waiting silently outside the metal shutter.

TPR • May 9, 2024

Cuellar associates to plead guilty in assisting in bribery scheme, will assist investigation

A former aide and a political strategist for Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar pleaded guilty to assisting the lawmaker with an alleged bribery scheme.

TPR • May 4, 2024

Port of Brownsville candidates say they want to return the port to the people

San Antonio residents face a city- and county-wide election on Saturday. Brownsville residents are also facing their own decisions at the voting booth, including who fills three seats on the Port of Brownsville commission. A team of allied candidates are running to fill all three, calling their platform “Port For All,” a nod to their climate and labor focused movement that started from local organizing against liquified natural gas plants coming to the Port of Brownsville.

TPR • May 3, 2024

Laredo Rep. Henry Cuellar indicted for allegedly accepting $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan company, Mexican bank

Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, were indicted on several federal bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and foreign interference charges on Friday. If convicted, the Cuellars face more than 200 years each in federal prison.

TPR • April 29, 2024

Brownsville nonprofit launches affordable housing model in more expensive Rio Grande Valley

A nonprofit housing developer in Brownsville is hoping to change how affordable homes are built. Come Dream, Come Build (CDCB), officially launched its DreamBuild modular housing program last week, an effort more than five years in the making.

TPR • April 17, 2024

Ocelot killed in Hidalgo County suggests species’ range has expanded

In 2021, a male ocelot was killed after being hit by a car on Highway 281, just south of Linn, Texas. Its location intrigued conservationists and researchers. They asked: What was it doing away from the critically endangered species’ usual habitat range?

TPR • April 16, 2024

Judge requests Melissa Lucio's murder conviction be overturned

Since narrowly avoiding being executed, Melissa Lucio’s life has once again been in a judge’s hands.

TPR • April 10, 2024

South Texas groups sue Texas Parks and Wildlife for pursuing land swap deal with SpaceX

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is being sued for pursuing a land exchange deal with SpaceX as the company seeks to expand its South Texas facilities.

TPR • March 14, 2024

Starship’s third launch clears atmosphere but not environmental concerns

After some delays due to boats being too close, SpaceX launched its third Starship on Thursday morning, ending in flames once again. But this time, the rocket made it to space, the first time Starship has done so since its inaugural launch in 2023.

TPR • March 6, 2024

Rematches set for competitive South Texas congressional districts 15 and 34

The November matchups for two high profile South Texas congressional seats seemed set long before the first couple of months of the new year came and went.

TPR • March 5, 2024

SpaceX’s expansion into state park land nearly certain after Texas approves pursuing land swap deal

Texas’ parks department approved pursuing a swap of 43 acres of state park to SpaceX in exchange for nearly 500 acres of privately-owned land outside of Port Isabel.

TPR • February 28, 2024

Cameron County now supports giving public land to SpaceX in state exchange deal

In a commentary published on the opinion section of myrgv.com, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said he now supported a land swap between SpaceX and Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) for conservation reasons.

TPR • February 28, 2024

Biden to visit Brownsville after Trump declares intent on further militarizing immigration system

President Joe Biden planned to visit the Rio Grande Valley this Thursday. It would be his second visit to the U.S.-Mexico border during his presidency.

TPR • January 10, 2024

One LNG plant in South Texas awaits buildout as another seeks a tax abatement

A liquified natural gas (LNG) plant project outside of Port Isabel once again seeks a local tax abatement.

TPR • December 27, 2023

Family of RGV man killed after arrest reach $1 million settlement

The family of John Ray Zamora, a Rio Grande Valley man killed in police custody last year, will receive $1 million from Willacy County in a wrongful death settlement, according to an attorney representing the family.