Already under scrutiny following a TEA investigation, the Donna school district has once again made headlines.
Donna School District Supe Under Fire
TEA investigation, Board pres indicted, a principal accused (charges were dropped) of theft. Ay, ay... Can this valley school move towards a positive path?
This just announced: Alberto Gonzalez, "the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday — ending a nasty, months long standoff over his honesty and competence at the helm of the Justice Department."
First Hispanic AG and he had to be a screw up, even worse, he was appointed by Bushy #2. That is fanfreakintastic! Will there be anyone left in Bush's cabin by 2008?
Karl Rove, the grand mastermind behind the Republican success in 2004, will join the ranks of Rummy, C. Pow, Ashcroft, and others, as he leaves the woefully distraught Bush admin. at the end of August.
According to the AP
After a lengthy hug from Bush and then his wife, Laura, Rove joined them on the president's helicopter. Rove, his wife and their son were flying with Bush on Air Force One to Texas, where the president is vacationing.
Say what? Another Bush vacation? It's good to be President of the U.S. The boys will likely hang out at the Bushy ranch and marvel about the fact that Rove escaped an indictment (but not public prosecution) for leaking a CIA agent's name.
Karl Rove, hated by many, revered by others, was no doubt a damn good and shrewd political strategist, much of Bush's success was owed to him. You know what else? Karl Rove, the brain behind our brilliant president, has no college degree.
That he just isn't as well liked as he believes himself to be?
After an overwhelming response on my blogger polls, support for State Rep. Kino Flores is at a low. Alright so I'm not just going on the polls posted here but observations and talk around the valley.
It's not just the valley, Texas Monthly recently gave Kino a "Dishonorable Mention" among TX Legislators. Stating that:
Kino Flores is one of the least trusted members. When he presented his bill to provide tax breaks for RV trailers in Hidalgo County, he represented that local officials supported his bill and that no other county was affected. Neither was true.
Flores has even got sly in his campaign tactics by posting a few billboards marketing our state capitol. A political ad in disguise indeed.
There is hope for District 36, for the first time in years, el KFC will have an opponent in Sandra Rodriguez.
Start gearing up Kino, Robert Jackson's $360,000 can't fund your whole campaign, he's up for re-election in La Joya and also needs to pay salaries to Board members' daughters.
This certainly promises to be a very interesting race.
It was the front page header for what seemed like years, but after a 2 week trial and spending over 4 months in jail, Omar Guerrero is a free man. Yesterday a jury found him not guilty on all 7 counts of sexually assaulting a teenager.
Public opinions have varied in this matter, but the prosecution and the evidence they presented must not have been convincing to a jury. After more that four hours of deliberating, the jury consisting of 7 women and 5 men, decided to acquit Guerrero on all charges.
There is no doubt Guerrero has had his own trials and tribulations since the charge that led to his political downfall. Here was a young man viewed by many as someone with great potential and in one incident threw it all away. Not an uncommon tale.
Could Omar's acquittal be his saving grace? Or will his family and valley be tainted by another front page header about Omar?
I sure hope not.
March 9, 2003. Bush, in office for a little over 2 years, sends American troops into
Below are some numbers in relation to the war that began in 2003.
3634- American troops killed in
25-
http://www.themonitor.com/news/body_3623___article.html/funeral_army.html
30- Average age of the 3,000+ soldiers killed in
American Blog
110- Journalists killed while on duty in
40 media support workers killed
288- Coalition forces representing 20 different countries have been killed in
Of those soldiers:
160 from UK , 32 Italy, 20 Poland, 18 Ukraine, 13 Bulgaria, 11 Spain, 7 Denmark, 5 El Salvador, 4 Slovakia , 3 Latvia , 2 Romania, 2 Estonia 2 Netherlands , 2 Thailand , 2 Australia , 1 Canada , 1 South Korea , 1 from Hungary , 1 from Kazakhistan , 1 from Fiji.
Vacation's All I Ever Wanted, Vacation Had to Get Away
405- Vacation days Dubya has taken since the Supreme Court made him president.
ABC News, April 2007
We hear about soldiers every day, but lest we forget Iraqi civilians? How many have people have been killed since war began? Iraq Body Count gives those details.
The fate of Donna I.S.D. administrators may finally be decided at a special called meeting this afternoon.
Donna School Board Meeting Agenda
On the agenda, possible suspension of Superintendent Joe Gonzalez and the termination of Donna ISD's General Counsel Jacques Trevino.
Andale.....
The Donna school district has been under intense scrutiny following a TEA investigation last summer upon allegations of wrong-doing by someone in Donna.
TEA Report on Donna ISD Made Public
The Monitor
Ironically, Donna School Board President George Hernandez, who may have called the special meeting, is currently facing charges of 11 counts of conspiracy and extortion in a federal indictment unsealed June 5 as part of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district bribery scandal. Hernandez's charges are not related to his school board position in Donna.
Its been a rough year for Superintendents in the valley. Last year Edinburg ISD suspended Superintendent J.L Salinas for violating nepotism rules and La Joya ISD School Board members, shortly after gaining a new majority, dismissed Filomena Leo. The Board never did reveal the reason (although School Board member Fito Salinas did state to the Monitor "It's political. I'm not going to say it's not.") for Leo's suspension or termination, but in another event of irony, Leo was hired earlier this year to serve as Interim Superintendent in Raymondville after School Board members terminated Superintendent Roy Casteneda for putting up signs for challengers of 2 Raymondville ISD Board members.
FBI raids, TEA investigations, election challenges, suspensions, elected officials trying to evade taxes, is there any political stability in this place?
Update: In a 4-3 vote this afternoon, the Donna ISD School Board voted to suspend the supe and terminate the lawyer. Politics has always been crazy, but now our schools are being invaded, couls this be a trend in thevalley?
Saturday, July, 7, 2007, lucky 7 was it?
7 continents, Former U.S. VP Al Gore and 24 hours of music marked a call for inhabitants of the earth to wake up and change their habits. Ladies and gentlemens: if you were clueless before, then after rocking to Madonna, Enrique Iglesisas, Kanye West and many other bands across the globe, you should now know that Mother Earth is slowly dying thanks to our consumer habits.
The question asked around the globe: Can these rockers get the word out and make a difference in the fight against our 'global crisis'? Maybe, maybe not.
Not to say that all these rockers aren't eco-friendly, but a better question to ask would be: What habits have these rockers undergone to combat the global crisis?
Elsewhere across the globe...
The New 7 Wonders of the World
The U.S. Presidential race is heating up. Who will it be for the Democrats- Obama? Hilary? The struggling Edwards? Or, can Bill Richardson be the "little engine that could" and pull it off?
How about them Republicans? McCain and Giuliani aren't big favorites of the traditional conservatives, will Mitt Romney be the party's hope? Or, will Fred Thompson escape the Hollywood dome for a hopeful return to Washington? Guess we'll have to wait it out until Jan or Feb. 2008.
Meanwhile, valley hopefuls are gearing up for the season. While March is a primary for the Dems, in the valley March will be "do or die."
Up for another term are our Texas State Reps. What have we got so far?
The incumbents and possible opponents:
Aaron Pena District 40 vs. Eddie Saenz, Edinburg, TX
Kino Flores Distict 36 vs. Sandra Rodriguez
Veronica Gonzales District 41 vs. ??
In the U.S. Senate race we have 2 guys battling for the chance to oust the 'Bows to all Bush Commands' Senator John Cornyn.
Mega trial lawyer Mikal Watts may just face off with Houston State Rep. Rick Noriega. A MexiCAN senator? That could bring the number up to a whopping 4 Hispanics in the U.S. Senate.
Fundraising and endorsements will be underway soon enough, however candidates have until January to officially file.
Could the Craddick support haunt our Valley reps in 2008?
*this is just buzz received by word of mouth and other political blogs, yes CHISME. Y que?*
The La Joya ISD School Board voted to renew the $360,000 salary for attorney Robert Jackson this week. In doing so, Jackson remains the highest paid school attorney in the valley.
When La Joya elected a new majority in May of 2006, the newly elected members, garnering a fourth vote in traitor Arturo Gonzalez,Jr., voted to axe long-time attorney Leo Montalvo and replace him with Jackson, a man with a small office in Palmview and zero experience in dealing with school law.
Board President Rita Uresti, who last year ran on the promise of"fiscal responsibility" among others, no doubt defended Jackson's salary stating that he “has to go through all the contracts, all the grievances and frivolous lawsuits.”
Some of those grievances and "frivolous lawsuits" were the result of unwarranted reassignments, which included the promotion of Uresti's husband from a middle school principal to Asst. Superintendant.
Interesting enough, two members who voted in favor of Jackson's frivolous salary-Fito Salinas and Arturo Gonzalez, Jr.- each have a daughter working in Mr. Jackson's law office. You gotta take care of your own.
Only two of the seven board members, Joel Garcia and Joe Aguilar, had enough sense to vote against the raise. Aguilar went as far as submitting his letter of resignation. He later retracted his resignation after realizing he owed it to his supporters to stay on board and give the contra some grief. La Joya board member resigns — then retracts — over $30k/month contract
Jackson, not knowing of Aguilar's change of mind, did not pass up an opportunity to shine through the media. He expressed his relief on the resignation and stated that Aguilar “has no genuine concern for the district. It’s politics. I am glad he’s out.”
No shit it's politics! What a Genius! Politics afforded Jackson his plush salary! One must really wonder why these people would not only hire small-time lawyer but also pay him such a salary. A few guesses come to mind: Could it be to fund campaigns for the school board and other city elections? Or, perhaps to pay salaries for board members' family members?
Jackson also hoped for Garcia's resignation since he and Aguilar are the only two members without a college degree. The genius must have forgotten that the mum, non-sour grape picker Arturo Gonzalez, Jr., whom he of course supported and campaigned heavily for in this past election, also lacks a college degree.
But what does Jackson really think of Aguilar?
“It is embarrassing. We can’t have a farmer with a hat running our school district.”
But we can have an sloppy, ignorant attorney as counsel for a multi-million dollar district?
Keep your hat on Joe and stay off the bus!
