Category: News

Woman accused of prostituting teen girls

PRESS Staff Report Cameron County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested a 35-year-old Laguna Heights woman on multiple felony charges for allegedly prostituting two teenage sisters from multiple locations in the Port Isabel area. One of the areas where the female suspect, identified as Martha Ochoa, allegedly prostituted the teens was at the Port Isla Inn off …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/woman-accused-of-prostituting-teen-girls/

Investigation ongoing in nurse’s death

PRESS Staff Report Authorities with the South Padre Island Police Department and Emergency Medical Personnel were dispatched to the Hilton Garden Inn on 7010 Padre Blvd. in response to an unresponsive female. The female subject, identified as Melissa A. Ortiz, 25, a nursing program graduate of the University of Texas at Brownsville and registered nurse …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/investigation-ongoing-in-nurses-death/

END OF AN ERA: SPI bids farewell to Pinkerton, Evans

By PAMELA CODY Special to the PRESS A farewell reception for outgoing South Padre Island Mayor Robert Pinkerton and Councilperson JoAnn Evans was held at the Isla Grand Beach Resort on the Island last Wednesday, with family, friends, local first responders and members of the community gathering to celebrate the pair’s years of service to the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/end-of-an-era-spi-bids-farewell-to-pinkerton-evans/

Silver Tarpon Marching Band advances to state

By LARRY GAGE Special to the PRESS Members of the Port Isabel High School Silver Tarpon Marching Band raised their game last Saturday. They placed fourth in the finals of the area marching band competition at Corpus Christi Calallen and advance to next week’s state marching contest in San Antonio. In order to make Saturday …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/silver-tarpon-marching-band-advances-to-state/

Pint-sized Haunted House charms at library

By ESTEVAN MEDRANO Port Isabel-South Padre Press editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com Darra Fuqua of Port Isabel received her first dollhouse made of tin in the 1940s as a Christmas present. When she decided to build one from scratch in the early 70s, it became a collaborative venture she pursued with her two daughters, and has been a lasting project …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/pint-sized-haunted-house-charms-at-library/

Derry participates in pumpkin decorating contest

By ESTEVAN MEDRANO Port Isabel-South Padre Press editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com Following the participation in the Rotary International event Read Across America, also spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Port Isabel, Derry Elementary hosted a pumpkin decorating contest in which students depicted their favorite book characters, and the resulting childlike interpretations of literary icons colorfully graced the school library …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/derry-participates-in-pumpkin-decorating-contest/

Police visit Garza Center children

By ESTEVAN MEDRANO Port Isabel-South Padre Press editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com As part of the Head Start Program, the roughly 150 children of the Esperanza B. Garza Center in Port Isabel got an educational treat this past Thursday when local law enforcement agents gave a presentation on the significance of knowing how to respond during an emergency and the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/police-visit-garza-center-children/

Laguna Madre’s tourism future assessed

By ABBEY KUNKLE Special to the PRESS The lower Laguna Madre area is reaching a turning point as the face of the standard tourist is beginning to evolve. With the area soon having to make adjustments to younger generations visiting, while accommodating the travel decline of baby boomers, a tourism assessment team came down from …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/laguna-madres-tourism-future-assessed/

Ocean enthusiast holds personal accumulation of messages in a bottle

By ESTEVAN MEDRANO Port Isabel-South Padre Press editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com Carole Mahalak, a long time winter Texan, has an unusual talent that corresponds with her love of the ocean. Every year for the past four years, she has come across a message in a bottle that has reached the South Texas shore. “I’ve had a love affair with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/30/ocean-enthusiast-holds-personal-accumulation-of-messages-in-a-bottle/

Safety, health reasons prompt sidewalk project

By ESTEVAN MEDRANO Port Isabel-South Padre Press editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com Pedestrians’ awkward walk alternating between the edge of Highway 100 and the strip will soon be a thing of the past for the people of Port Isabel. The city received a grant from the UT Health System and an ordinance was approved for the construction of a new …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2014/10/23/safety-health-reasons-prompt-sidewalk-project/