Good morning, Edinburg.

UTRGV’s football program created over 1,000 jobs + generated $41M in labor revenue in its first year, achieving a total economic impact of over $144M.

Officials expect the program to add about $17M each year going forward.

The Texas Education Agency appointed a conservator for Monte Alto ISD in Hidalgo County Thursday to address an error in the 2022–23 school year.

District officials said the measure will improve data accuracy and support better education outcomes.

Teacher Lucila Lopez published a guest column urging education leaders to rethink standardized testing as House Bill 8 will change STAAR tests in the 2027-28 school year; she emphasized that exams cannot measure the resilience and growth of Newcomer Emergent Bilinguals & called for a system that considers the whole child.

Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement received a $250k grant from the OpenAI Foundation to expand its AI training and support programs as it has helped 7,000+ students.

The group also secured a two-year $300k award from Methodist Healthcare Ministries to boost healthcare workforce training.

A new desalination plant will be built on South Padre Island near Laguna Madre to produce 50 million gallons of drinking water daily for communities in the Rio Grande Valley.

The 1-billion-dollar project is privately financed by US Desalination and IDE Technologies (using reverse osmosis).

DHR Health and University of Houston broke ground on a 64,000-sqft, four-story medical research and education center near the main hospital campus in Edinburg on Thursday.

The project will expand clinical research and serve as a pipeline for new physicians, with completion expected by late 2027.

McAllen OBGYN Dr. Jennifer Almonte explained that expecting mothers with gestational diabetes will attend nutrition classes and monitor blood sugar as part of their treatment.

Local experts in the Rio Grande Valley help manage the condition through prenatal screenings between 24 and 28 weeks.

Jesus Mendez lost over 150 pounds and lowered his A1C from 8 to 5.3 using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to manage his type 2 diabetes — his success shows that these medications work best when paired with proper diet and exercise, according to South Texas Health System doctors.

Incarnate Word Cardinals vs UTRGV Vaqueros Men's Baseball

6:30-9:30 p.m. — UTRGV Baseball Stadium — Ticket prices vary — Catch the exciting baseball showdown between the UTRGV Vaqueros and the Incarnate Word Cardinals.

Freddy Gonzalez Legacy Run 5K

7:30 a.m. — Edinburg Municipal Park — $25 for 5K, $10 for 1K — Celebrate community spirit while honoring a local hero in this inspiring run.