Star Special Reports

Lonely ride

Rio Metro passengers increase after slow start

By FERNANDO DEL VALLE/Valley Morning Star

SAN BENITO — A new public transit system is increasing its passenger count after a slow start, officials said.The Rio Metro bus system that links San Benito, La Feria, Santa Rosa and Primera is picking up about 136 passengers a month, Rodney... Full story

Blaschka Tower

Harlingen landmark could get a new life

By COREY RYAN/Valley Morning Star

Honky-tonk music flowed from a nearby saloon. A young teenager and her friends stood on Jackson Avenue across from the Empire State Building of the Rio Grande Valley, taking in the downtown scene.America was at war with Japan and Germany. In... Full story

Future of Gangs in Harlingen

Reaching youths in changing times

By COREY RYAN/Valley Morning Star

Ann McLelland fought tears when she spoke about attending the high school-equivalent graduation ceremony last summer for 15 of her Harlingen Secondary Alternative Center students.Principal for 11 years of this school, which regularly works with... Full story

Life as a Gang Member

A path to violence for Harlingen youths

By COREY RYAN/Valley Morning Star

The 12-year-old took a beating in order to be friends with what would become his first crew.Six teenagers, who were four to six years older than him, took turns bashing him with their fists, each getting one minute.One guy put a soap bar in a tube... Full story

Police Combat Gangs

Taking back the streets

By COREY RYAN/Valley Morning Star

The gunshot rang out like the first crack of thunder in a building thunderstorm.It was a Friday night in October, no different than any other high school football Friday night in the Rio Grande Valley.Police were responding to an earlier gunshot... Full story

Rise of Gang Violence

Birth of the Gang Unit

By COREY RYAN

EDITOR'S NOTE:In June 2008, Officer Carlos Diaz became the first Harlingen police officer shot in the line of duty in this century. The ambush by a local street gang leader - which Diaz miraculously survived - forced the city of Harlingen to... Full story

OCELOT HAVEN

Rancher sets aside 1,300 acres for endangered cats

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN/The Associated Press

RAYMONDVILLE — Few things would venture into the dense thorny scrub favored by the endangered ocelot. But with little of south Texas considered suitable habitat for the remaining 50 or fewer rare cats, the ocelots remain vulnerable.The Nature... Full story

Memorable Decade

Valley Morning Star ranks the top events over the past 10 years

Valley Morning Star

1-Hurricane Dolly stormed ashore July 23, 2008, as a Category 1, drenching the Valley with as much as 20 inches of rain, flooding whole neighborhoods across Cameron County. Winds gusting as high as 107 mph flattened billboards and all but blew away... Full story

GANGS ON THE WEB

Thug-themed videos show everything from gang signs to writing about drugs

By COREY RYAN/Valley Morning Star

The image of a young man with a gray baseball cap, large diamond earrings and big black sunglasses appeared on the screen inside a Harlingen police station briefing room last month.Officers of the Gang Eradication Unit listened to the man,... Full story

THE ENFORCERS

There’s no such thing as a typical day at the office

By STEVE SINCLAIR/Valley Morning Star

A hunter spots a buck standing in a pasture along a road in rural Cameron County.It’s not deer season, but even if it was, shooting deer from a vehicle is against the law in Texas. But the buck is just too tempting to pass up.The hunter... Full story

Lonely ride

Rio Metro passengers increase after slow start

By FERNANDO DEL VALLE/Valley Morning Star

SAN BENITO — A new public transit system is increasing its passenger count after a slow start, officials said.The Rio Metro bus system that links San Benito, La Feria, Santa Rosa and Primera is picking up about 136 passengers a month, Rodney... Full story

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