Laredo has a new logo and slogan for tourism--designed by a 10-year-old school girl

Isabelle N. Mercado, 10, was proclaimed the winner of the Laredo's city-wide theme contest. Her winning logo and slogan, shown below, will be incorporated in official city and tourism affairs sometime in the near future.

By RAFAEL BENAVIDES

Laredo now has a new official logo and motto that expresses pride for the city. The winner of the “Name the Pride in Laredo Theme Contest” was announced on May 16 at the City of Laredo Council Chamber.

Amparo Gutierrez Elementary School fourth grade honor student Isabella N. Mercado, 10, outshined 43 other contest entries in the approximately 30-day, city-wide contest promoted by both the City of Laredo and the local media. Other theme entries included PowerPoint presentations, songs, digital pieces, text phrases and original artwork.

Mercado, a native Laredoan, recently moved back to Laredo after living four years in Canada, where she and her family moved due to her father’s profession. She is glad to be back in Laredo and heard about this contest through a project with the National Elementary Honor Society at Amparo Gutierrez, which was formed just this past semester. NEHS student members must maintain a 94 grade point average, or higher, and must be involved on campus and in the community.

Mercado is a on the basketball team at her school and says she loves drawing. She wants to be either an artist or forensic scientist when she grows up.

Among receiving many gifts, passes and tickets from the Chamber of Commerce, Laredo Energy Arena and Allegiant Air, Gutierrez also has the satisfaction of knowing she has helped to create a better image for her city in a way that no one else has.

“You’re going to be remembered for this forever,” Mayor Raul Salinas said. The winning piece and now official slogan for a new marketing and tourism operation for Laredo is “Always a reason to celebrate in Laredo,” provided by Mercado, who’s colored drawing includes the old international bridge in Laredo, with a semicircular pattern on top comprised of all the seven flags that once claimed Laredo, and two new ones that seem to be promoting some famous institutions in the city, and a giant sun in the center.

Mercado says she was able to come up with the idea after brainstorming with her mom and younger sister.

Laredo Chamber of Commerce President Miguel Conchas said, “One of the reasons we started this contest is because Laredo has a bad rap.” Conchas, along with the mayor and other members of the contest committee, congratulated Mercado and her parents for their contribution to this campaign to rebrand Laredo as a safe and fun destination for tourist and new residents alike.

Suggestions?

Hey guys! Sorry I have been busy with work an unable to blog much. Since it seems I have a decent following, I'm throwing this out here. What do you want to read or discuss on this blog? I usually write about Nahuatl or something concerning anthropology or ethnic studies, but I'm open to ideas. I am down on the border, but I think the cartel violence is somewhat romanticized. That's not to say I don't care about lives being lost in this conflict in Mexico and United States (the drug violence is here in the U.S. too, whether you want to admit it or not).

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Latest Player in Sanctuary Cities Debate: God

by Julian Aguilar, The Texas Tribune

The latest player in Texas' sanctuary cities debate? God.

Citing passages from the Bible they say teach that immigrants should be shown compassion, a group of religious leaders congregated at First United Methodist Church in Austin on Wednesday to denounce HB 12 by Carrollton Republican Burt Solomons. The bill would prohibit government entities from adopting policies that prevent law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status.  “Jesus said [in the Book of Matthew], ‘I was a stranger, and you invited me in,’” Bishop James E. Dorff of United Methodist Church in San Antonio said. “Our prayer this morning is that we find a common ground on this issue.”  HB 12 is one of about 60 immigration-related bills filed this session. Abolishing sanctuary cities, the common term for entities that prevent law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status, has been declared an “emergency item” by Gov. Rick Perry.  Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Catholic Diocese of Austin said the issue is a “moral one, not just a political one.” The group’s opposition “stems from the belief that every person is created in God’s image,” he said.  State Rep. Jose Aliseda, R-Beeville, said the religious leaders are confused. A practicing Catholic, Aliseda says he knows for a fact that the church does not condone illegal immigration.  “If you read the catechism of the Catholic Church, when it discusses immigration, it says that people should not cross a nation’s borders without respecting that nation’s laws,” he told reporters in Spanish.  Unlike Perry’s other emergency items, however, HB 12 has been slower in getting to the floor for a debate. HB 12 has been stuck in the Calendars Committee since last month, and Solomons said today even he didn’t know when it would be debated.  “I am not even thinking about sanctuary cities right now,” he said. Instead Solomons, the chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, is focused on the first batch of new legislative maps set to hit the House floor this week. Solomons did say he was growing weary of all the discussion surrounding HB 12, which he says mandates very little. The bill only requires that entities do not adopt policies restricting law enforcement from asking about status, he said, but it doesn’t require that they do.  Solomons has already amended the bill from its original form to address some House Democrats’ concerns. He struck language that would require that school district employees inquire about the status of students unless they are commissioned peace officers investigating a crime. But he conceded that a floor debate could allow members to attach to his bill other immigration legislation that hasn’t passed out of committee via amendments.  It is that possibility that has some Democrats looking ahead with concern.  “I am going to be very vigilant to these types of amendments which may be germane to this type of legislation because I believe it can get out of hand and we’ll end up writing a very bad bill," said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas.  Meanwhile, Dorff said he just wants lawmakers to know how the religious community feels about the bill.  “We want to make sure that as the legislators are considering this bill, that they understand where we stand on this issue … so that there can be no doubt about our common understanding and our common perception and our common wisdom,” he said.  That common wisdom, said Rabbi Neil Blumofe of the Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, is that nothing good comes from discriminating against a group of people for any reason.  “I am concerned that we are routinely looking for ways to break us down and divide us rather than [ways to] unite us,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://trib.it/h3DOJD.