SpaceX on Thursday told the Valley Morning Star in an email that the company is cautious but “hopeful” about its chances to build a launch site on Boca Chica beach. “Although Cameron County remains a finalist for the development of a commercial orbital launch complex, the decision will not be made until all technical and regulatory due diligence is complete. “Following the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the...
The Port Isabel Yacht Club Hotel is among the 12 sites that Preservation Texas, Inc. has named to its eleventh annual list of Texas’ Most Endangered Places. Preservation Texas officials announced the selections outside the Texas State Capitol on May 20. “The 2014 list is a diverse group of sites that reflect the range of preservation issues that historic places throughout the state are confronting,” said Evan Thompson,...
Another young ocelot has been found at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, making it the second juvenile ocelot discovered this year. Officials at the refuge said the young male is believed to be 12 to 14 months old. He was recently captured on the refuge. This ocelot seems to appear healthy, wildlife biologist Hilary Swarts said. The refuge has about 50 cameras on the refuge that are used to...
Spring is a time of renewal when flowers bloom, trees sprout new greenery, butterflies abound and Rio Grande Valley birds show off their offspring. I always enjoy seeing and photographing the children of spring. Whenever I see the latest batch of black-bellied whistling ducks, baby gallinules begging mom and dad for food, or day-old black-necked stilts trying to walk on those oversized gangly legs, for a moment it makes...
Another U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is coming to the Port of Brownsville for dismantling. The U.S. Navy announced Friday that it has awarded the contract to ESCO Marine for one penny to dismantle the USS Saratoga. The aircraft carrier is currently housed at the Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. It is expected to depart this summer and be towed to Brownsville. The USS Saratoga was decommissioned Sept. 30, 1994, after...
The U.S. Coast Guard has seized a Mexican fishing boat and detained its five crewmembers in a poaching investigation off Texas. Coast Guard officials on Monday announced four other boats fled back to Mexican waters. The incident happened Saturday afternoon north of the U.S. and Mexico maritime border and inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone. A Coast Guard helicopter spotted five boats about 16 miles north of the border....
The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project, now in its eighth year, helps keep beaches, rivers and lakes across America “barefoot friendly.” In 2014, Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation, along with community volunteers, are embarking on a tour of 15 cleanups and restorations nationwide, stopping in South Padre Island. The Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter will once again host a day of dune restoration and celebration of efforts to...
The Martinque Waterfront is a beautiful three bedroom, four bath house currently near completion at The Shores Master Planned Community. The house has a very spacious living, dining/kitchen area with views of the Laguna Madre and marina in front of the house, making for the perfect place to entertain friends and family. Each of the three bedrooms has its own private bath and dressing area. The ground floor provides an...
One of the most exciting components of the spring neo-tropical bird migration is the mass movement of warblers through the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Of the 57 warblers that breed in North America, many pass through the area along the Central Flyway on their way to nesting grounds in more northern parts of the United States and Canada. The warbler migration is one of nature’s great spectacles. They are...
A lost or discarded love letter was among the items found on South Padre Island during the Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup. A total of 7,334 volunteers hauled more than 121 tons of trash off Texas beaches on April 28 during the cleanup. “That’s more than 22,002 hours of labor — all volunteer — working to keep Texas public beaches clean. What an amazing effort,” said Texas Land...
