Free Republic

Work is under way on the construction of a security wall that will surround a parking lot used by Cameron County state district judges and the district attorney. County workers on Monday used a backhoe to break up the concrete in the parking lot at the Cameron County Courthouse on Harrison Street as they readied it for rebar. The construction will take from 60 to 90 days depending on the weather, said County Administrator Pete Sepulveda Jr. Although the estimated cost of the wall is $240,000, Sepulveda anticipates it will be “much less than that” because the work is being...

19 convicted as Mexican style of corruption moves north of the border BROWNSVILLE — The bribe has long been a shortcut to wealth and power along the Texas-Mexico border. But these days, it's not just politicians lining their pockets or crooked lawmen taking bags of cash to overlook drug loads. The culture of bribery is quietly seeping into new realms of government, from school districts to municipal court, experts say. Proximity to Mexico is at least partly to blame, said Anthony Knopp, a professor who teaches border history at the University of Texas at Brownsville. "What we're dealing with is...