Special to the Advance EDINBURG — State District Court Judge Israel Ramon, Jr. recently announced that he is not seeking re-election and will retire on December 31, 2024, the end of his sixteen years of service in the 430th District Court.His parents encouraged him and his siblings to obtain an education since they didn’t have the opportunity to do so. That encouragement and motivation included working in the fields picking cotton, tomato and onions, occasionally selling newspapers, mowing lawns, shining shoes and working at a family owned gas station and small grocery store. “This hard work certainly provided me with ...