Fence fight tops news in 2007

“No Border Wall” has become the slogan and chant for an effort to stop a legislative freight train barreling toward the border.

The final chapter has not yet been written for the top story of 2007 —- the fight against a proposed fence stretching the length of the southwestern U.S.-Mexico border.

Coverage of a growing struggle to stop construction of the fence was selected by Herald readers and staff as the No. 1 news story of the year, with 139 votes.

The proposed fence — stretching 17 miles in Brownsville and 700 miles throughout the Texas-Mexico border — has become the line in the sand between the federal government and local residents who are standing against the “wall.”

As plans move forward to begin construction in 2008, life behind a fence looks likely.

Anti-fence protestors have taken up the cause for border residents who could lose their land or livelihood if the fence divides them from the river levees. Historic sites, farmland and wildlife sanctuaries will be divided by the fence that will stand nearly 20 feet tall, flooded with light and teeming with guards.

Alternatives suggested by local leaders are failing to gain attention as the year closes and the story continues into 2008.

 Traci Rhode’s shocking probation sentence for the crime of murdering her husband was a close second for top story of the year, with 138 votes.

Guilty and free to go was the sum of the sentence a jury handed to the convicted killer. Rhode maintains her innocence in the shooting death of her husband, Scott.

A jury rejected her story of his alleged suicide and instead found she shot him in the head one October morning in 2003. The same jury then gave Rhode 10 years supervised release and the judge added a $10,000 fine to her punishment. The decision shocked the community but pleased Rhode and her lawyers, who maintain it’s a fitting punishment for an innocent woman.

 The return of Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. was the No. 3 pick on this year’s Top 10 list, with 135 votes.

Ahumada soundly defeated former city commissioner Ernie Hernandez in a runoff for the mayor’s seat that Ahumada once held and gave up.

 The release of confessed killer Amit Livingston landed at No. 4 with 134 votes.

Livingston walked out of a Brownsville courtroom, with the judge’s permission, and was never seen again after he admitted to shooting an Edinburg woman and dumping her body on South Padre Island.

He was sentenced to 23 years in prison but was allowed 60 days to “get his affairs in order.” He failed to surrender to authorities in April and has been on the run since.

 The condition of streets and traffic congestion topped the list of concerns for local residents in 2007, and ranked No. 5 on the Top Stories list, sharing the spot with the city’s income ills —- each earning 132 votes.

A survey, conducted by Brownsville 2020, found the majority of 3,400 participants wanted streets improved and traffic streamlined by city leaders that have addressed these topics a handful of times since the survey was completed in spring.

 A story that wasn’t new in 2007 rounds out the Top 5.

Brownsville and its surrounding communities have long been among the poorest in the nation, with per capita incomes hovering at or below the federal poverty level. In 2007, a number of studies found that Brownsville remains high on the poverty scale, despite growth in population figures, commercial and residential developments.

 6. JOHN ALLEN RUBIO CONVICTION OVERTURNED: Convicted murderer John Allen Rubio will have a new trial after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his 2003 conviction for the murder and dismemberment of his three children, finding video testimony against him should not have been allowed in his original trial.

 7. GUNS IN SCHOOLS: A single shot rang out at Liberty Middle School in Los Fresnos in May, shattering a long-held peace in the community that had been spared the terrible trend affecting a number of schools and colleges each year. A young boy told police that he planned to shoot a classmate and himself and was testing the gun that went off in the restroom. In the days that followed, students at Gonzalez Elementary and Hanna High School in Brownsville were also found with guns.

 8. DOG POUND REPRIEVE: Stray animals earned an unexpected reprieve this year when the City Commission approved a 90-day moratorium on euthanizing healthy animals at the city shelter. Strays were left to wander the streets as the “no vacancy” sign was hung at the FM 511 shelter. The fallout from a resulting jam-packed pound forced city leaders to reverse the moratorium in order to comply with state standards.

 9. UTB-TSC CONTINUES EXPANDING: The historic UTB-TSC campus launched a growth spurt in 2007, with the first of seven major construction projects funded by a $68 million bond issue approved in 2004. Ground was broken in October for the East Library, a $14.4 million project, and a classroom complex at an additional $10 million.

 10. SHENANIGANS AT CITY HALL: Yelling, name-calling, interruptions and other bad behavior were the norm for a new City Commission that was seated in June. With Mayor Pat Ahumada Jr. at the helm, the commission met each Tuesday to hash out city business much like football teams battle for yardage on the gridiron. Confusion and contention reigned, with residents calling for a more civil procedure. A calmer, gentler commission was seen in the last weeks of ’07, as order seemed to finally settle in at City Hall.