Davis Rankin, a radio pioneer with four decades of experience, has officially retired.
By Gregg Wendorf | Advance News Journal
By Staff Report | Advance News Journal
PHARR — There’s going to be some new digs here after the city held a groundbreaking ceremony for a multi-use facility.
By Cory Raymond | Cinderella Pet Rescue
This week, Cinderella is featuring two great dogs, Little Laddy and Sweet Sammie. Both were born in 2024 and are affectionate, as well as friendly. He’s a small male and she’s a medium sized female.
By P.J. Hernandez | Advance News Journal
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers will officially celebrate 20 years of operation this upcoming 2026-2027 season.
Today's News
A sweeping 2023 Texas immigration law that lets state authorities arrest and deport people suspected of having illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border can go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court's stoppage of certain provisions.
By Alejandro Serrano And Alex Nguyen | The Texas Tribune
The Pharr Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center (ECC), will host Doing Business in Pharr, an upcoming business roundtable designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners better understand how to start and grow within the city.
By Special To The Advance
The Board of Commissioners for Pharr met for its regular meeting last week. In that meeting, they addressed an agenda, that included several highlights.
By Special To The Advance
News
HOUSTON — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday said Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Rep. James Talarico will “go to hell” for his interpretations of the Bible, as Talarico has made his Christian faith a cornerstone of his campaign.
By Alejandro Serrano The Texas Tribune
I called my old radio buddy Davis Rankin the other day, but I can’t remember why I called.
“That’s because you’re losing your memory.”
Actually, I had a local politician tell me that exact thing a few years ago. He had dropped a political ad off at The Advance News office, but I told him that I needed to fact check the allegations in his ad before I ran it. Just because he claimed his political opponent was guilty of this or that didn’t make it so.
By Gregg Wendorf | Advance News Journal
Texas high school students showed improvement in every subject in this spring’s endof- course STAAR exams, the Texas Education Agency reported.
The results include assessments in Algebra I, English I, English II, biology and U.S. history. The biggest improvement was in biology, with 71% of students meeting expectations, up 9%.
By Gary Borders Texas Press Association
Sports
For the first time since 1973, the New York Knicks are taking an NBA championship back to the “Mecca.”
By Staff Report Advance News Journal
The Vipers recently announced six priority home dates ahead of their 20th season in operation.
If you’re wondering what in the world “priority home dates” even means, it essentially translates to game nights that have a lot more going on with them compared to other traditional games.
Meaning, these certain home games will either have a theme going on for the fans, there will be a key match-up for the home team or another type of promotion will be in play — pun intended.
By P.J. Hernandez | Advance News Journal
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers will officially celebrate 20 years of operation this upcoming 2026-2027 season.
To celebrate the momentous occasion, the local ball club unveiled a special commemorative logo earlier in the month to honor the two decades that the team has been around. For those who are out of the loop, the Vipers are the minor league (G-League) team of the Houston Rockets — which operates in the NBA.
By P.J. Hernandez | Advance News Journal
Opinion
Thankfully, President Donald J. Trump has seen the light — this country’s economy is doomed if this war in Iran, the naval blockade, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (territorial waters belonging to Iran and Oman) continues for another month, let alone another week.
Oil executives reportedly reached out to the president in recent weeks to warn him that this nation’s oil reserves are running dangerously low.
By Gregg Wendorf Advance News Journal
Iranian Islamists believe President Donald Trump is afraid to get into a prolonged war with Iran. Their plan is to put together a series of delays culminating in the American elections.
By Tom Haughey Advance News Journal
When cheating is first introduced into an organization, it is generally accompanied by some false claim that the change is some sort of improvement or even a measure to protect against dishonesty.
Minorities, for example, may sometimes find it difficult to obtain picture I.D.s, due to a lack of transportation. It is claimed that such an I.D. requirement may prevent some people from voting.
By Tom Haughey | Advance News Journal
Lifestyle
Absurdity in modern-day America is…
“The fact that the San Antonio Spurs managed to blow a 29-point lead last week as they lost the NBA championship to the NY Knicks?”
No, that’s not it.
“How about a guy like Texas AG Ken Paxton, who has enough baggage to sink a naval carrier, beat a relatively decent guy like John Cornyn in last month’s GOP primary?”
By Gregg Wendorf | Advance News Journal
This week, Cinderella is featuring two great dogs, Little Laddy and Sweet Sammie. Both were born in 2024 and are affectionate, as well as friendly. He’s a small male and she’s a medium-sized female.
Laddy, the lovable boy
Born in December 2024, Laddy is an adorable fellow who weighs only 15 pounds. He’s a cross between an Italian Greyhound and a Chihuahua.
By Cory Raymond | Cinderella Pet Rescue
Matthew 5:14-16 (Jesus speaking), “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
By Chris Voss | First Christian Church
Obituaries
Maria Olivia (Lopez) Sanchez, 91, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen.
Anselmo “Chemo” Zuniga, 83, passed away Sunday, May 3, 2026, at his residence in Pharr.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Feliciano and Valvina Zuniga; his brothers, Pedro, Rodolfo, Edelmiro, Feliciano Jr., and Arturo Zuniga; and his sister, San Juana Zuniga.
Ireneo “Nene” Sanchez, a lifelong resident of Pharr, was born on January 14, 1940, to Tomas and Margarita (Herebia) Sanchez. He passed away on Feb. 26, 2026, at the age of 86, at the hospital following a brief illness.
Nene was preceded in death by his baby sister, Olivia Sanchez; his beloved mother and father; his sister, Maria Luisa “Chita” Sanchez; and his sister, Margarita “Mague” Sanchez.
Photo Galleries
SAN JUAN — The PSJA Bears, who are arguably the best team in the RGV, won their first postseason game against the Harlingen Cardinals on Thursday by the score of 13-0.
The second game is set for Harlingen on Friday. If there is a third game needed, it will be on Saturday in San Juan at 1 p.m.
The UTRGV Vaqueros (5-8. 0-3) took a regular season series against the Texas Southern University Tigers during a home stretch in Edinburg.
On Wednesday, the Vaqueros took the commanding win, 10-4. The night before that, they won 5-3.
This weekend, starting on Friday, UTRGV will host a Southland Conference three-game series against New Orleans University.
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