McALLEN — The nonprofit charged with revitalizing McAllen’s sleepy downtown could use a defibrillator. With locked doors and a disconnected phone, Heart of the City Improvement Corp.’s empty 17th Street office now epitomizes the...... Full story

LOS ANGELES — Newlyweds and couples moving toward marriage, take note. Love, as it turns out, is not all you need. Not if your goal is to avoid the No. 1 reason marriages end in divorce: Money problems. Everyone knows, or should know, this....... Full story

NEW YORK — Many people dream of opening their own business. But some would-be entrepreneurs are finding that state licensing requirements are so arduous that it would take years and thousands of dollars before they ever would be able to hang...... Full story

McALLEN — A troubled economy has caused the percent of U.S. residents who own homes to drop to its lowest point since 1997. A U.S. Census Bureau report released April 30 shows that in the first quarter of 2012, 65.4 percent of U.S. residents...... Full story

The latest tenant in the Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley has opened its doors, providing another boost for Edinburg’s economy from its premier retail development. Petco celebrated a grand opening last week in the 90,000-square-foot expansion for...... Full story

NEW YORK — Moving digital files between your work and home computers can be a pain. Add smartphones and tablet computers to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a giant headache. Google Inc. unveiled its solution to the problem last week,...... Full story

McALLEN — Metal Processing International of Mission will receive the Texas Manufacturing Star Award from the Texas Workforce Commission at a business conference Friday. The business, formerly of McAllen, will receive the award during the...... Full story

EDINBURG — Ruben Rios is glad he doesn’t have to satisfy his urge to create art too far away from home. Rios, a 31-year-old Edinburg native, moved to San Antonio after high school where he was immersed in the local art scene, selling...... Full story

Taxpayers have two extra days to finish their dreaded federal income taxes this year. Just don’t expect the April 17 deadline to affect anyone who was expecting a refund. Like anything else, the procrastinators typically had a reason to put...... Full story

CHICAGO — Getting an extra two days to file taxes beyond the usual April 15 tax filing deadline isn’t likely to cure a nation of procrastinators this year. Tens of millions of us routinely wait until just before the deadline to file...... Full story

Ruben Celedon summed it up succinctly: “It’s crazy out there right now.” The owner of the Cel-Ana Roofing in Edinburg, Celedon can draw few comparisons to last month’s hailstorm that pelted homes and businesses in the...... Full story

When a surgical company in the Netherlands sought a way to keep patients’ body temperatures warm after undergoing anesthesia, they turned to a McAllen-based company located in a stretch of industrial developments off Military Highway. TSCI...... Full story

McALLEN — A piece of mail informs you that you’ve been “pre-approved” for a credit offer that will lower the monthly payment for your existing car loan. Or maybe you’ve been “pre-approved” for a way to lower...... Full story

ATLANTA — Six years ago, a white plastic rabbit that was connected to my home Wi-Fi network read some news headlines and played a few songs. Colored lights on his belly lit up a few times throughout the day, reminding me that he was alive. It...... Full story

McALLEN — The invitation list to Saturday’s spring picnic for U.S-Mexico manufacturing managers bears no comparison to the first occurrence organized by the McAllen Economic Development Corp. A few dozen people attended the first picnic...... Full story