Emergency surgeries still underway; staff conduct safety gear inventory Frio County commissioners received an update on virus pandemic preparedness from the hospital administration on Monday, March 23, a week after meeting with health care providers, city and county officials and the school district. “We continue to humbly ask for continued support and prayers,” Frio Regional…

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE Mayor takes new step in health emergency… Pearsall Mayor Mary Moore issued a shelter-in-place order on Tuesday, March 31, limiting all non-essential movement and restricting local residents to their homes. Hours later, Frio County Judge Arnulfo Luna signed the same order. Both orders took effect Tuesday night. The orders are aimed at enforcing…

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE Agenda includes postponing election; health emergency updates Cotulla councilors will hold their first meeting in the newly opened City Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 2, to discuss moving their election to November and making changes to the municipal health emergency declaration. The elected officers and city staff will occupy a larger room…

Carlos Colina Vargas has 20-year-old criminal record for bribery Two decades after a criminal investigation led to his indictment and conviction on a charge of having bribed one or more state officials to consider his client cities’ grant applications favorably, Carlos Colina Vargas has offered an apology to Dilley councilors for what he described last…

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE Local restrictions take effect this week… All parks, public sites close; curfews in place for under-18s Frio and La Salle counties and the cities of Pearsall, Dilley and Cotulla have executed declarations of local disaster and public health emergency, aiming to reduce the possibility of contagion, promote public health, and compel persons to…

Petition to Secretary of State seeks mail-in ballots for all voters Organizational leaders from across Texas have joined in petitioning Secretary of State Ruth Hughs to expand mail-in voting to all eligible registered voters. The petition, signed by local and statewide action groups, elected officials and Texas residents, mirrors similar documents presently being filed in…

City will connect to prison sewer but needs new equipment to meet state standards In an ironic twist of fate, the Dilley City Council meeting at which a massive utility system upgrade was on the agenda for discussion had to be interrupted for 24 hours while staff dealt with failure of the municipal water supply.…