Could it be?

I spilled some soda on myself earlier today, so I'm going to give Liam the benefit of the doubt.

Another day in violence

Where the hell is all this going?

The entire municipal police force quit after the attack, and officials fled the town for several days, leaving so hastily they did not release the petty criminals held in the town lockup.

Vinca

Economical?

Large vehicles now come equipped with hybrid engines.

Giving a four-wheel drive Tahoe a gas-electric hybrid engine raises fuel economy for city driving to 20 miles a gallon from 14.

Wow. 6 extra miles per gallon. GM has got some ambitious engineers working full-time over there. They're giving consumers one free ride to work with every fill-up.
We're not worthy of such generosity.

But to get the better mileage, consumers pay a higher price: $53,000, at least $4,000 more than a conventional Tahoe.

Why bother. Just get the regular Tahoe.
What GM doesn't understand is that people are leaving their vehicles at home to save money to pay for other expensive things, like food.
Their half-assed attempt at going greener is doing no one any favors.

Salute

Greasers

People are stealing used grease from fast-food restaurants.

In his truck, the police found 2,500 gallons of used fryer grease, indicating that the Burger King had not been his first fast-food craving of the day.

That haul is worth more than $6,000. Wow. It gives me new perspective on the week-old grease that Church's Fried Chicken uses.

Trojan horse update

Mr. Whitehawk moved the house after all.

"I thought erroneously that the neighbors, with a little bit of patience for a month, would have been satisfied with the end result of the house," he said. "There was no attempt on my part to put a shoddy part out there."

Jeff Buckley-Last Goodbye

Never got around to posting this yesterday.

Trojan Horse in Laredo

This is strange to say the least.

Somebody moved this decaying house to one of Laredo's "better" neighborhoods.
Part of me thinks this is a prank. But why go through the trouble and expense.

The area where the house sits on doesn't look like a house lot. Perhaps the truck driver had technical difficulties and left it there.

Whatever the case, the villagers are not happy. This will not stand!

www.pro8news.com

In the pit of Ultimate Darkness

Love your barber

.....if you're lucky enough to find one.

For months of my life, I went to Unisex salons that reeked of perm chemicals and mousse. Every time I'd go, I'd walk away with a bad haircut.

Buy me stuff

Today's radical rant

Here's a letter in the Laredo Morning Times op/ed page today:

This is in regard to the Houston Chronicle editorial, "Environment suffers at Bush Hands" that was published in Laredo Morning Times on May 24, 2008, that discussed the saintly polar bear.

I would like to offer the following: Let the polar bear go extinct. If this stupid animal cannot adapt to its "changing environment," then it is just wasting "precious" resources. I thought that these neo-pagan environ-Mentals loved the Theory of Evolution. What happened to survival of the fittest or natural selection? The environmental movement is just the modern-day home of the communist anti-capitalist movement. It is not about "saving" the polar bear but instead about controlling human behavior like all good commies love to do.

These environmentalists want to be able to regulate carbon dioxide emissions by arguing the polar bear habitat is being destroyed due to global warming. If they can get an activist judge to give them what they want, energy consumption will be regulated like never before. Just look at the current price of gasoline to understand what happens under these type of kook (ethanol, boutiquette gasoline, no drilling in Alaska-ANWAR, no drilling off the continental shelf of USA, etc...) regulations.

If you want to pay more for energy, save the polar bear. if you want cheap energy and gasoline, then exploit the planet.

Remember, mankind was given dominion (Genesis 2:26) over the planet. Let us not feel guilty about human progress nor let us be intimidated by the environmental and animal-loving pagans. Reject and ignore them because that will help the poor gain access to cheap energy, which is one of the best way to achieve upward mobility in the modern world.

Let us impeach activist judges, who assault the constitution. Let us deprive the political left of any power in our country and instead embrace free market capitalism and live in one nation under God instead of one nation under a bureaucrat.

Signed,
Omar W. Cantu

This nutjob installment was brought to you by your friendly neighborhood tree-loving pagan, Hecubus Quiroz

Keep it crazy Laredo.

The 411 on W

I might actually buy this book.

Yard/Garage sale

Late Night Thread

Thanks to everyone who visits.

Call for reservation

Nip it in the bud

Society will go to hell in a handbasket when barbers are allowed to do as they please.
They must be stopped.

A law on the books in Houma for decades bars barbers from working Sundays, Mondays, any of several holidays and even the day after Labor Day.

Laredo ISD dress code

Don't call it a school uniform.

Because all LISD students are classified as "educationally disadvantaged," in which all are covered under the free/reduced lunch program, LISD would be required to provide at least one uniform voucher per student per year, by state law. "Currently, because of our finances, we can't do that," Arce said of LISD's budget squeeze.

So they'll recommend a dress code and pass on the cost to the parents.

A helping hand

If the Border Patrol, and Homeland Security are coming down on undocumented immigrants, there's always a port officer to lend a hand to the north-bound travelers.

Beer mug and egg

This is art.

You were a tomato!

No bull

State tree

I love pecan trees. They give us snacks, plenty of shade, and are nice to look at.

Now 77 years old, she believes the Virgin Mary has appeared in the bark of the tree to help her with her health problems.

They reach tall heights once fully grown also.
Pruning is a bee-otch.

Former Tiger deals guns

For the record, not all students at Martin H.S. carry, or deal weapons.

Jose Gonzalez, a former bandleader at Martin High School, was arrested as
part of a separate ATF investigation in 2004.

Disgusting

Excess

If you're going to celebrate, go all out.

Benita had hired three clowns, a troupe of mariachis a dozen strong and two
other musical bands. There was a videographer and photographer to record
it all for posterity.

It's a baptism!!!

Monday

Holiday

No trash pickup Monday.

We will prevail

Sunday afternoon

Just got back from High School Musical: The Ice Tour at the LEC. It was cold inside the arena. It was a welcome break from the 100 degree weather we're having. Go Wildcats!

Got Guns?

Guns travel from Texas to Mexico to be used against cops.
Apparently, conducting a background check to sell a gun is not necessary if you sell it from your personal stash.

Texas has been the No. 1 source of firearms recovered in Mexico and submitted to U.S. authorities for tracing the past three fiscal years.

Paul Davis - '65 Love Affair

Love pop music.

Ahhhhhhhhh

Ticket to ride

What in the world is the mayor doing accepting free plane rides to Mexico?

In the past, Salinas said he has also gone on a private jet chartered by the owner of Taco Palenque to travel to Monterrey to promote that business.

Since when does Taco Palenque need any help with marketing? The food sells itself.
And now he takes another trip to Mexico City to promote the city.
He tries to reassure us that no conflict of interest exists.
It just looks like it.

Air America's Randi Rhodes would often explain that people run for Congress to find out where the expressways are going to be built, and then they'll know where to build the Burger Kings.
Thinking that Salinas is eventually going to profit from this trip is just my inner cynic thinking out loud.
Honestly. What business could Salinas possibly attract that will be Laredo's godsend?
If he wants us to believe him, he's going to have to give us a lot more information and not just say that he's there to "promote the business" of Laredo.

Sweets

Violence in Ciudad Juarez

It's tough to be a cop on the other side of the border.

The e-mail says gunmen will open fire at malls, restaurants, night clubs and other public places and that there will be "killings all over the city."

Valdez Jr. to serve half a term

Jose Valdez Jr. was in good spirits yesterday. He praised the people who conducted the recount for the city council spot.

"(Citizens) should have faith in voting because these guys know what they're doing."

I'm glad someone still trusts the work of the elections office staff.
And what did the Webb County Elections Administrator have to say?

"We like it when we match exactly," Villarreal said. "This pretty much vindicates our office."

The only thing this proves is that the office does better with smaller races. Come Monday, our attention will again focus on the sheriff's contest where I predict Rick Flores will not show up in court to agree to another recount. At which point, Martin Cuellar and his attorneys will have to prove their case to a judge.
We'll have all summer to think about this botched race.
Mr. Villarreal, you're not out of the woods just yet. Patting yourself on the back is a bit premature.

Bus ridership

We CAN adapt.

Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, New York City, and south Florida have all seen spikes in public transportation use recently.

This could be the only good story to come about due to high gas prices.

Transit

City Manager

Mr. Carlos Villarreal explains how much money we (Laredo) get from bridge revenues. Makes me think what the big deal is for building a fifth one.

In Austin tonight

Green Day will play at Emo's tonight under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs. I'm happy for them.

Good to know

If you're ever in a bind, don't drink your urine.

The Army Field Manual for survival, evasion, and recovery specifically
lists urine on its "DO NOT drink" list along with seawater and blood.

La Tarde

I went to get a snack at a local Stripes convenience store.
And what do I see near the checkout stand? The front pages of our local newspapers.

One in particular showed an extremely graphic image.(Click at your discretion)

What bothered me was that this picture was in plain sight for anyone, especially young children, to see.

Big sky

Court-ordered recount

Let's recap the race for Webb County Sheriff.

Rick Flores and Martin Cuellar faced off in a runoff election April 8. Cuellar won with 37 votes. Then Flores asked for a recount, and won with a 133 vote margin. And that brings us to now - political theater, Laredo-style.

Flores is the one with the sunglasses and cowboy hat (rock star). Cuellar is the one wearing the red tie. Enjoy.

Footage from KGNS (www.pro8news.com)

Transfer to #3

Riding the bus in the past prevented wear-and-tear on my car. Instead, it took a toll on me. Waking up two hours before having to punch in, standing out in the cold/rainy weather, inhaling noxious fumes at the transit center, and missing my connecting bus got old pretty quick.

It was horrible, but hey you know me, I can't complain.

More talk

Dr. Landeck and city manager Carlos Villarreal.

Town hall meeting

Dr. Landeck speaking in the Chacon neighborhood.

Slaughter Park layout

The construction of this park is barely getting under way. It will be situated approximately four blocks south of the Market Street tennis courts, and two blocks from my house.

City Councilman, Dr. Landeck, was at Daiches Elementary to listen to our concerns. And he got an earful.

One gentleman at tonight's town hall meeting said that the park should not have three whole soccer fields. A lady added, "The only ones who take advantage of fields are people from Nuevo Laredo. My kids would benefit more from a skate park."
Dr. Landeck said that other amenities, such as a skate park, and swings could be added in the second phase of construction, and placed along the adult softball field.

An older lady was obviously upset that she had to pay so much in city taxes and unable to take advantage of recreation centers, and parks. According to her, she and her friends work two jobs and never have the time to take part in leisure activities. At one point she actually said, "I never had any of this when I was growing up." OK. So because you had it bad, then everybody should suffer. I didn't see her walk in carrying a cross, but I could've missed it.

Anyway, Dr. Landeck was grilled about other issues such as: police presence, lack of sidewalks, the old Mercy Hospital, the 5th bridge, etc.

Going bagless

City Council is in favor of getting rid of plastic bags. But some downtown business owners don't like the idea. But really, what's not to like?

A tote bag can be one more status symbol for accessory-loving Laredoans. You can add bling to a tote bag. You can put your surname on it! A tote over your shoulder tells everyone you have places to go, and money to spend. Mp3 players, and bluetooth devices are so last year. The tote is here and now.

I'm personalizing mine with: "Count Natas says Hi."

Who's in charge

John McCain is old. I would think he'd be a bit wiser.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran's National Security Council set Iran's foreign policy.

He's not looking very presidential.

Game on

The SAN ANTONIO Spurs will battle the LOS ANGELES Lakers this Wednesday.

Left behind

Car show

Lowriders will be the center of attention next month at the Civic Center. Lowrider magazine will be there to document the event.

Rentals

Did I rent VCRs at one time, or is it part of a dream?

Tough times

More people need food stamps.

They are real estate agents and homebuilders hit by the housing slump,
seniors on Social Security, parents of students whose free breakfast and lunch
don't solve the problem of dinner.

Barack Obama: Love is Alive

A joyous weekend

My son made his First Holy Communion yesterday at San Luis Rey Church. The house was packed, and everybody was dressed sharply.

Anyway, the priest went into his sermon during the mass, which was bilingual. He likened the acceptance of the Host to eating at Burger King - both done as a family. He's a good orator. He always keeps me attentive during his lively talks. But yesterday was different. In his talk, he managed to sneak in this line in Spanish: if a Democrat makes it to the White House this November, we can forget about the concept of family. (paraphrasing) I was sour from that point on. How could he say that? What did that comment have to do with these children's first Communion? After all, Laredo does vote predominantly Democrat.

I don't care if he is a Republican, or vouches for the GOP, but this day was about the kids and their Communion, not about political agendas. That remark was so stupid. To think that democrats don't care about intact families is ludicrous. I don't think it's kosher to call a man of the cloth an ***hole, but that statement sure was an ***hole thing to say. (lightning strikes writer here)

Late city biking

Skate punk

So this is the guy behind the Obama stickers.

Weekend

Let's chill.

Happy Birthday

Laredo is 253 years old.

Best Country in the world?

The crap continues.

Do-over

The battle for the office of sheriff continues.

"The alleged Recount is defective and does not reflect the true outcome of the election because at least 64 votes were unlawfully changed by Recount officials during the alleged Recount in the optical scan election day ballots," the petition reads.

The capital Rs are not mine. Could Rick Flores have had a hand in this? We could call him to confirm if he inserted capital Rs in this story but you know the drill.

Flores did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

Shocking.

My stimulus check

I should get mine today.

Big Woop

Carlos Mencia is coming to Laredo this October.

Each week he is the "mouth" behind Comedy Central's hit show "Mind of Mencia" where he dishes out a new brand of groundbreaking comedy humor.

Let's take a look see.

Hack.

This Day In Laredo: July 22

UPDATE (August 11, 2015):  Arnulfo "Fito" Santos passed away on July 22 of this year.  Apart from being the owner of the Alfredo Santos Grocery Store, formerly located on Sanchez St, he was also once a county commissioner.

In the picture to the left, next to the tractor's boom arm you can see Mr. Santos' name in what appears to be a store bulletin.

Ask any middle-aged west-sider Laredoan if they remember the Alfredo Santos store, and they'll probably have a story or two.  Some locals, however, mistakenly pair this store with the Santos Department Store located at the Riverdrive Mall.  The two were actually independent of each other.  I vaguely remember the Santos store at the downtown mall having a food counter with bar stool seating.

DeLaredo has some interesting before-and-after photos of the Alfredo Santos store.  Early on in my blog's history, I also took notice of the lonely locale.

The following photo was submitted to the LMT for a story on the late Arnulfo Santos:

This last photo belongs with the one at the top posted back in 2008 by yours truly.  (The original post only included of the demolition scenes with the fence blocking the facility.)

Racism

Not everybody is going to like Obama.

One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn't possibly vote for Obama and
concluded: "Hang that darky from a tree!"

But this is vicious.
Makes me wonder about the 70% of Laredoans who voted for Hillary.

Asylum seekers

Mexican cops need a place to stay for a while.

The police chief in Puerto Palomas, a town bordering Columbus, N.M., west
of El Paso, requested asylum in March when his entire force quit after receiving
death threats from drug traffickers, reports show.

We'll Do It Live!

Here's a mega-mix of Mr. Bill's meltdown.

At sea

Dick Cheney has never gotten anything right.

Movies

Mike Myers' movie may be banned in India.
It should be banned here too.

Paletero

Paradise

An outdoor Texas wedding in May? I'm in.

Multi-purpose facility

The City of Laredo wants to build a baseball stadium for the Laredo Broncos.

The stadium proposed includes 3,500 chair-back seats, and premium box
seating and would be built on 25 acres near the Laredo Entertainment
Center. The Broncos, Texas A&M International University and Laredo
Community College would all be able to use the field; as would high school,
little league and youth soccer teams.
Concerts, boxing matches and family shows also could be hosted at the
stadium, the proposal states.

I wasn't aware that the Broncos had outgrown the field they currently use, Veterans Field.
And the stadium is going to have premium box seating. That's code for: city officials need a place to take VIP visitors to "unwind."
This place is going to host concerts, and boxing matches? I thought that was what the Laredo Entertainment Center was for.
Please excuse my cynicism, but I've heard this "if you build it, they will come" line before.

Really?!

The Electric Company is coming back.

Yellow

The future

A democrat won a House seat long held by Republicans.

For Democrats, the decisive victory by Childers is the latest in a series of special-election wins for the party and provides a strong tailwind heading into the November elections.

Love it.

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers

Subject revisited

Beating a dead horse, again.

Community leaders, city and Webb County staff, downtown property owners,
merchants, and anybody else interested in downtown revitalization are encouraged
to attend.

McCain sucks

Don't take my word for it; conservatives don't think he's one of their own.

Alert!

People are getting paid to get married to undocumented immigrants in Florida!
Maybe we should consider building a fence around the peninsula or something.

Adelante

"El Chavo" posted this on his site. Everything is going like clockwork, until the trumpet player gets a call. It must've been important for him to pick up. I guess Commissioner Gordon needed his help or something.

New chief

Laredo has a new sheriff, err, police chief in town. His name is Carlos Maldonado - a former state police officer from New Mexico.

Smiles everyone!

Am I blue

SJP

Oh gawd, what's up with the hat?

Cincoanera

Last week, the Laredo Times' Focus section featured a little girl who was celebrating her fifth birthday. Her picture/story was surrounded by announcements of engagements, weddings, quinceneras, etc.

I had never heard of this. But it makes sense. Kids are growing up faster these days. Birthday parties are getting more extravagant. Limo rides and expensive gifts are now the norm. And celebrating a child's youth in style might be a way of making sure daddy's little girl has her special day. The fairytale quinceanera, or wedding might never come.
Or perhaps people want to shower their kids with more things than they had growing up.

One thing's for certain, we're spending more on parties.

Found some pictures of a "cincoanera."

Anyway, let's do some summer reading. La Sanbe recommends "Once Upon a Quinceanera" by Julia Alvarez.

It's just business

Henry Cuellar won't be getting any fan mail from Lou Dobbs anytime soon.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told the Texas Legislature to stay away from
enacting immigration reform.

Cheap labor anyone?

Police chief

KGNS reported tonight that the Laredo City Council might choose a new police chief as soon as tomorrow. Ray Garner was given a lot of face time during the story. Could that be a sign?

Food

Excuse me waitress, I ordered the meal without the fortune.

Josh Freese is an Artist

Laredoans enjoy

...sticking their surname on their car's rear windshield. Why? Because a three-ton SUV just doesn't have that certain flare. We want to stand out among the sea of consumers that go on about their daily lives in bland-looking cars.

But perhaps this pride is more superficial than I realize. Why not a tattoo? Instead of branding their car with their last name, they should put it on their body. But that's a big step. After all, once you put your last name on your neck, arm, or chest, it's pretty permanent. That's a big commitment. I KNOW!!! I'll put it on my car!
I won't have to deal with the pain, or the plastic surgery afterwards. But when I want to sell my car, I'll have to find a buyer with the same name as mine.

Nada que ver.

I won't have to worry about wearing a long-sleeved shirt all the time. And management won't give me dirty looks because I have Gonzalez scrawled on my nape.
I wear my heart on my car.
My name is Quintanilla - I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and goshdarnit, people like me.

Cool Sunday

Happy Mother's Day

8,000+ votes

City Council District IV candidates will be in a runoff June 14.
One more month of campaigning for Sabas Zapata and Juan Narvaez.

Juan Jose "Johnny" Rendon kept the District V seat with 77% of the vote.

Jose Valdez Jr. got his old seat back with 53 % of the vote. (will serve two years)

And congratulations to Cindy Liendo Espinoza. She will represent District VIII.

Work

If Henry Cuellar supports free trade, it can't be all that bad.

new Nine Inch Nails

Mr. Trent was nice enough to offer his latest album 'The Slip' for free. Can go download your copy at: http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup

Healthcare

Curanderas are busy making house calls.

But for many illegal immigrants, particularly indigenous Mexican groups
like the Mixtecs, much of their health care is provided by a parallel system of
spiritual healers, home remedies and self medication.

Some more racing

Polls are open today to decide several city council, and LCC positions. One race of interest is the one that includes former councilman Jose Valdez Jr. He left his position, after serving about two years, to run for mayor. Raul Salinas came out the victor in that one. So now Valdez wants his old job back.

He was told he couldn't run again because he had already served two terms. Not so, said Valdez and his lawyer. Because he didn't finish out his second term, he thought he was eligible to run again. And a judge agreed with him. But the judge ruled that, if he wins, he can serve only two years.

Ridiculous.

Another chapter in Laredo politics.

Early voting results should be available at 7 p.m. Stay tuned.

Word on the street

Would an Obama presidency be bad for Latinos?

Friday

By the way, my favorite color is blue.

Eat up

Have a good weekend.

Henry Cuellar sticking by Clinton

Laredo won't have to worry about Cuellar switching sides before the Colorado convention.

Green, D-Houston, Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Reyes, D-El Paso, argued that the former first lady is "the strongest possible nominee to lead our ticket against John McCain and the Republicans in November."

Strongest possible? She can't even run a decent campaign.
And John McCain will be his own worst enemy.

I like Hillary but...

It's over for Hillary Clinton.
Obama picked up several superdelegates today.

Hillary,
Thanks for visiting Laredo.
Thanks for the pep rally.
Perhaps we can send some change your way so you can pay back the loans you gave yourself.
Ba-bye.

Shame

The NBA playoffs are in full force, but let's take some attention from them and talk some football.

Video tapes sent to the NFL from a former Patriots video assistant included a tape of the team taping their opponents' offensive signals, ESPN reported Friday.

That's it, the Patriots have to return one of their championship trophies.

Maraca serenata

Music: Sonora Santanera
On maracas: Erasmo Guzman Sr.

Juan Crow

The more things change......

They were the wrong kind of "Mexicans"; they were US citizens.

I wonder if I would poop my pants if somebody stormed into my house with guns.

D.J.-ing

Gacho

A teacher in Idaho throws a student's Mexican flag in the trash.

The teacher's response: "no place else to keep it."

Beautiful.

Cheese and palm trees

Chairman

Oh gawd! Flores is going to need a bigger hat.

Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores was unanimously elected 2008-09 chairman of the 19-member Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition on Tuesday.

Gee, I hope Cuellar doesn't do anything to reverse the result of the runoff.

I'm just a phone call away

LISD board president is not taking any calls at the moment.

Calls to their home went unanswered.

If I ever ran for office, my campaign slogan would be something like, "I'll always answer the phone."

Weather

Juan from Portland points out the difference in climate: Laredo's expected high for Thursday is 106, while Portland will be a cool 58 degrees.

We Laredoans can deal with the heat. All we have to do is stay indoors all day with the AC full blast.
One thing we have trouble with, however, is coping with a lot of rain. Roads become ponds, houses flood, and on occasion, cars float away. Enjoy.

Flood coverage brought to us by our local NBC affiliate, KGNS Channel 10.

Playoffs

The Hornets beat the Spurs again. Score: 102-84

In other numbers, the Weather Channel is forecasting a temperature of 107 for Laredo Thursday.

R. Noriega

Could Cornyn bite the dust? It's possible.
Contribute to Noriega if you can.

Traffic

Bikes

Pico de gallo does not translate into Chkn Peak. I'm just saying.

Day 2

Mayor Raul Salinas held a State of the City Address this evening. He talked about Laredo's economy, public services, and plans for the future.
As far as job creation, he mentioned the El Portal project, and the retail shopping center going up across from the airport. It seems like these two ventures have stalled somewhat. Not that I really care; I hate to go shopping.

Anyway, Mayor Salinas mentioned the Slaughter Park by name, and said that it should be completed by the end of this year. The word that I've gotten in the past from the Parks and Rec. Dept. is that the park was going to be completed in stages over several years.
Regardless, I'm happy to see some work being done. Mostly because I live two blocks from this patch of land. It'll be very convenient for my son and I. And I'm sure people will take advantage of the green space to keep fit.

I am actually excited now. El Chacon is getting a park!
If anyone has any say as to the construction of this park, I have one suggestion: olympic-style pool.
Gracias.

English only

I agree, English should be the offical language -- whatever that means.
hahaha

P. lot

The diaper almost made it.

Ode to an idiot

So, this guy just got kicked off the LSU Tiger Football team .

What is noteworthy is that this same guy was the would-be heir apparant to one Vince Young at the University of Texas. He was penciled-in as head of the next recruiting class going to Austin in 2005. At the last minute the guy pulls a switcharoo and winds up at LSU instead of Texas. Texas went on to win the National Championship the following year and Vince Young decided to cash it in after his junior year. The result, Texas was left with a country bumpkin originally penciled-in as back-up named Colt McCoy as starter. This didn't turn out to be such a bad deal after all.

Bye-bye Mr. Perrilloux.

Adios - idiot.

Slaughter Park

Crews are working to make the park a reality. A Parks and Rec. Dept. employee told me that a soccer field irrigation system was the first thing to be installed early May. Kudos to them for getting something started, on a Saturday no less.
I'm assuming the bulldozer is carving out the area where the soccer field will sit.

Taco news

Taco truck enthusiasts are organizing.

Nearly 5,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the new law at saveourtacotrucks.org, where "carne asada is not a crime."

Adelante!

Parkour

Bored? Tired? Well.. get off your collective asses and get your parkour on. With origins in France and around Europe, this urban gymnastics sensation is really taking off. No training needed - just watch this, get off and go..



First Laredoan to film parkour vid in and around Laredo and send to Mr. Quiroz gets $100 American dollars.

Viernes

It's been a while; is tonight "date night?"

I'm an MBA president

Is this the best he can do? I guess he figures that if Exxon had a good quarter, then Americans will follow suit.

But the economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will.

In other words, the recession is in its last throes.

Reversal of fortune

It turns out that rick flores won the sheriff's race after all. ??? What exactly is going on at the elections office?

Howston

Things Laredoans enjoy

Locals like to pronounce the word Laredo with a spanish accent. And the pronunciation goes for any other city within a 150 mile radius. They'll say something like, "we're going to leave Laredo early so we can beat the traffic." Or maybe, "we have relatives in San Antonio."

Now, I applaud people for staying in touch with their culture, history, etc... but I really don't see the point in this. Sure Laredo has its quirks such as mariachis (instead of tacos, or taquitos), jalapenos with your double-meat Whataburger, or driving around with no liability insurance, but pronouncing it differently is really unnecessary.

We no longer "cure" our kids with an egg. We don't talk about "La Llorona" anymore. And we don't use ruedes to go shopping.
We cheer for a hockey team (Laredo Bucks), watch "American Idol," and name our kids Jason or Amber.
Stop pronouncing Laredo Laredo; you're impressing no one.