Rio Grande Valley Monitor (Newspaper) - July 5, 2008, Rio Grande, Texas GUERRILLA GARDENERS L.A. citizens are prettying up urban areas on their own THE KNEE Short shorts are back in style for Are you showing some Valley Life j ID JULY 5; 2008 | | 50 CENTS DAILY POLITICS | 3B INTO THE CENTER An Associated Press analysis reveals how Barack recent lean toward the right is giving his Republican opponents truckloads of ammunition with which to open fire on the presidential WORLD | 6A PALESTINIAN ATTACKER HAD JEWISH GIRLFRIEND The Palestinian who went on a deadly rampage on a Jerusalem street this week had spent years in a romantic relationship with a Jewish Israeli relatives 4B AFRICA'S SILENCE Zimbabwe Mugabe that - with all the attention paid to the recent controversial elections it might seem strange that no African nations have stepped forward to condemn The fact many of their hands are just as Photos by Kirsten Luce | RAINS FAIL TO DRENCH FOURTH FOR MANY By Sara Perkins ou can caN them But it would ' not be July 4 for the ' Santos family a unless someone camped out overnight to reserve their picnic table at McAllen Municipal So despite periodic downpours throughout the 25 of all ages huddled under a metal sipping beers and trading family Ten to 12 families chose to spend the afternoon outdoors at the 27 at 1921 N. Bicentennial undeterred by the nasty weather that turned the space into a slippery expanse of slimy Some camped out or arrived early to secure the few Everyone else brought their own draping the corners with flags and anything else likely to keep the food and people inside safe from wind-blown Events across the Rio Grande Valley closed up shop in the face of the damp The Water Show at the McAllen Municipal Swimming Pool was called off for fear of ruining the audio Thousands turned out Friday for July Fourth fireworks at McAllen Municipal Martin of grills meat at McAllen Municipal a family tradition that a little rain wasn't about to Brownsville cancelled its annual parade early in the although other cities marched through the And the Edinburg Coyotes baseball which has been known to slosh through many an inning before calling a threw in the towel two hours before the first citing a flooded But not everyone was afraid of a little like the fireworks watching from said Santos family patriarch Alfredo He arrived at the park at 5 a.m. make sure we get this The family comes together from Waco and San Antonio each year to share in the traditional Independence Day cookout around an enormous which hissed and smoked Friday at each See FOURTH | 7A Online video Don't miss exclusive footage of fireworks in More inside For U.S. troops in the Fourth of July is just another day on the Pace 3A jeers mar July Fourth citizen Pace 4A A union says the recent push to fill the ranks does harm to recruit By Roebuck McALLEN - A political push to double the size of the U.S. Border Patrol by year's end has prompted hiring and training shortcuts that jeopardize the nation's southern according to a union that represents In a report released June 24, the National Border Patrol Council criticized the agency's relaxed educational shortened training periods and less thorough background It urged Congress to intervene to maintain border want the best and the but they're going about it in the wrong union president Bonner rolling the dice with our homeland But Border Patrol brass maintains that today's ranks are better better trained and more diverse than any in the agency's you're comparing past and the requirements are more stringent than they've ever said Lloyd a spokesman for the See HIRING | 7A Grim forecast greets leaders The world's top economic powers face challenges unforeseen just a year - TODAY'S WEATHER I ' Heavy HIGH 90' * LOW 74 Kajiyama I The Associated Press Passersby walk past a price board indicating regular gas is sold at 190 yen per liter at a gas station Thursday in Between surging oil food inflation and a global credit leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combo of woes in at least a decade when they meet next By Malcolm Foster The Associated Press Japan - Between surging oil food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global leaders from die Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next The outlook has darkened dramatically since last year's summit in when the leaders declared the global economy was in and oil cost a barrel - which seemed high at die Since the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has roiling markets and battering major financial Oil has doubled to above and food prices have hurting the poor in particular and raising the threat of political have changed for the See | 7A Things have changed for the worse across the Now you have a financial disorder where the epicenter is the ROBERT HORMATS vice chairman at Goldman Sachs Corp. in New York Classifieds IE I Comics 5D | Lottery 2A | Beyond The Valley 3A | Obituaries 2B 1 Puzzle 6D | TV Listing 2D A Freedom Newspaper I Vol. 99, No. 360 I 48 5 Sections IN TOMORROWS LIFEGUARDS KEEP TRAGEDY AT BAY DURING THE SUN-DRENCHED SUMMER 0638091000069