It looks like Tropical Storm Dolly or Hurricane Dolly will rain on Elisa Perez’s parade.

After fighting for three years, Perez finally convinced county officials to name a street after her husband U.S. Army Sgt. Hector Perez.

An official unveiling of the street sign was set for Thursday, but from the look of things it will be postponed.

She fought a long hard battle to get this done.

She learned about standing up for what is right from her Army husband.

The unveiling was to take place on the fifth anniversary of his death. He was killed in combat on July 24, 2003 in Iraq.

No doubt she’s not singing “Hello Dolly” and none of the others who supported her in her quest.

She’s already waited three years for this to happen.

It looks like she might have to wait a little while longer.

Just when Cameron County and the rest of the RGV started seeing lower gasoline prices, a tropical storms threatens that vision.

Tropical Storm Dolly is expected to be in the Gulf of Mexico within the next day or so, which more than likely will translate into higher gas prices again.

It’s too early to say whether Dolly will become a hurricane, but it’s not to early to make preparations.

If residents are trying to determine what to do first, they might consider filling up those gas tanks now.

Depending on what Dolly does could also determine if the area will see gas prices actually hit the $4 mark.

Dolly’s ahead of last year’s first threat to the county. Hurricane Dean was making its way to the area around Aug. 21-22.

As TV news reporters always say “there are more questions then answers.”

For right now, the same remains true for Tropical Storm Dolly.

The season now begins for the area. (Hurricane season actually began on June 1.)

Are we ready?

Cameron County residents planning to fly out of the Valley on American Airlines listen up.

Get your money ready and I mean lots of it if your entire family plans to take a trip with lots of luggage.

The airline now  charges $15 to check-in your first piece of luggage. A second is going to cost you $25. - Wow, as if  ticket prices aren’t high enough already - and that’s just $15 one way.

The airlines attribute the luggage fees to higher gas prices just like everyone else.

American Airline has flights in and out of McAllen

It won’t be long before other airlines add on the fees too.

In the near future we will probably be seeing  travlers ditch the luggages and just carrying those carry-on items stuffed as much as they can get away.

It probably won’t be long before there’s a charge for the carry-on too. 

What’s next? Charging passengers by the pound? Can we say here we come Jenny Craig.

Former Cameron County District Attorney Yolanda De Leon escaped a media circus on Wednesday.

She went to the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center where she was arraigned and processed on charges of tampering with governmental records and aggravated perjury charges where she entered a not guilty plea.

She went to the jail a day earlier than scheduled.

De Leon was in and out of the county jail in about 30 minutes before the media became aware of the incident.

This is a completely different from what happened to former County Auditor Mark Yates who arrested at his county office and handcuffed.

Yates was dressed in a orange jumpsuit and was arraigned while the media watched on.

Some criticized the way the county handled the Yates case.

One wonders if the county will be criticized again for the way it handled De Leon’s case.

Pay up or your’re outta here is basically the message Cameron County Commissioners are telling BISD school officials.

The county played nice for nearly two years trying to come up with an agreement so BISD could fork over some $59,000  it owes the county for running its November 2006 election.

The school district will get a past due notice/bill in the next few days and should consider paying this ASAP.

Why? Because besides running the county and general election in November, the county’s election department will run the STC election and possibly the city of Harlingen election as well.

The district could always consider moving its election again, but this probably wouldn’t sit well with voters. 

Check please.

The BISD board thought it was a good idea to switch its elections from May to November.

Some said the move behind this was to include more voter participation. Others said it was to allow BISD board members to extend their term on the board.

The county billed BISD and the cost of running the election is more than what the district expected, about $74,000 more.

It’s going on two years and BISD has yet to pay the county.

Imagine what the county could do with an estimated $130,000 it is owed.

County and BISD officials will discuss the money dispute at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting.

It will be interesting to see who or whom says “check” and whom or who says “checkmate.”

No, it’s not a figment of your imagination. The price of gas has dropped a few cents over the past few days.

Gas is selling in Cameron County for under $3.90. It’s $3.89. Wow.

One can only wonder how long this will last?

One Congressional member said it’s time to look at lowering the national speed limit to 55 mph because of the higher gas prices.

This probably won’t sit well for drivers who commute to work in the county on a daily basis. This would mean they would have to get up earlier and leave their homes earlier to get to work on time. Like that’s going to happen.

If you have ever been on the expressway in the morning, it’s easy to tell how many drivers are running either late for work or trying to get there just on time.

The posted speed limit is 65 mph. Yeah right. It’s just a sign for some.

There are drivers who drive anywhere from 70 to 80 mph. Can you imagine these individuals driving 55 mph?

Some drivers have tried this, but it didn’t last very long.

The saying “put the pedal to the metal” is true in the RGV so is saying “running on empty.”

Cameron County was the scene of two big murder trials over the past seven months.

There was Brownsville wife Traci Rhode accused of killing her husband and Harlingen mother Melissa Lucio accused of killing her daughter.

Rhode reportedly killed her husband by shooting him in the couple’s bed. Lucio was accused of beating her toddler daughter to death.

Two Cameron County juries found both women guilty of murder, however it appears they might have stronger feelings when it comes to killing a child.

Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death.

Traci Rhode was given probation.

It will be interesting to learn why the juries differered on the sentencings because both crimes left two people dead.

One a father and one a daughter.

The Border Patrol had to have known this was going to happen.

The agency is being sued for failing to provide exact details on how it plans to handle hurricane evacuations in the RGV should an evacuation be called.

The details of the lawsuit will be discussed on Wednesday at a press conference by the South Texas Civil Rights Project and the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid.

The civil rights groups want a federal court to ”order” Customs and Border Patrol to provide information on how it plans to handle immigration checks. Like that’s going to happen.

The issue was brought to light a couple of months ago during an hurricane drill in which the BP checked the immigration status of volunteers.

The BP sector chief states the agency will not impede evacuations, but the public doesn’t buy it. Neither do the leaders of Cameron Park who  in part are named as plaintiffs. 

It’s a story that the BP has probably hoped will go away, but it looks to be a remake of the movie “Groundhog Day.”

Peter Zavaletta and Armando Villalobos might have been enemies in the District Attorney’s race, but the two have teamed up to take on former DA Yolanda De Leon.

Zavaletta escaped being indicted by agreeing to be a cooperating witness for the District Attorney’s office in its case against De Leon.

The former DA is indicted on tampering with governmental records and perjury.

She appeared in court on Thursday surrounded by many Harlingen residents who sat in court to witness the preceding.

Also in the audience were some former Harlingen police officers - and former members of the Harlingen Police Officer’s Association- who faced De Leon in court years back.

The association was indicted for making political contributions and because the policemen were officers of the association, they were included in the indictment too.

As part of a plea agreement, the officers agreed to resign from the police force, which left a sour taste in their mouths.

I wonder what their mouths are saying now.
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