EDINBURG — The national service program AmeriCorps/VISTA has awarded Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez’s office a $360,000 service grant to begin a Youth Leadership Academy in the county.The partnership between the federal program that was founded by President John F. Kennedy to alleviate poverty and Hidalgo County was ratified by the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court during its regular Tuesday meeting last week. This is the first step in the creation of a leadership program aimed at teaching a new generation of policymakers in Hidalgo County the complexities of poverty. It will teach future leaders how government and non-governmental organizations ...