About
What this site is, how it works, and where the stories come from.
Cerca News is a curated local news index for McAllen, Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley. We bring together stories from local publishers into one bilingual feed so readers can scan what is happening in the Valley today without bouncing between a dozen tabs.
How this site works
We do not write the original stories. Every article on this site is sourced from a local publisher, and every card links back to the full reporting on that publisher’s site. We do not host or republish their work — we point you to it.
We use AI in two specific ways:
- Translation. Headlines and summaries are translated between English and Spanish using a large language model (Azure OpenAI / GPT-4o family). This lets the same news reach bilingual McAllen readers in either language.
- Topic classification. The same model assigns each story to a single topic — Public Safety, Education, Politics, and so on — so the homepage can group related stories together.
We do not edit, summarize, or rewrite the original articles themselves. We do not fact-check. For accuracy, depth, and the full account of any story, follow the source link.
Sources we curate
We poll public RSS feeds and the GDELT 2.0 DOC API every 15 minutes. Current sources:
- ValleyCentral (KGBT) · CBS affiliate covering the RGV
- Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) · Spanish-language local news
- Texas Border Business · Business and government news for the Texas border region
- KRGV (NBC 5) · NBC affiliate; indexed via GDELT
If you publish local RGV news and want to be included (or removed), see the contact section below.
Editorial stance
We aim to be a transparent index, not an opinion publisher. We do not editorialize, rank by political alignment, or boost stories based on engagement signals. Newer stories rank above older ones; within a topic lane, the most recent items appear first. That is the entire ranking model.
Reading preferences
Choose the look that suits you. Preferences live on this device.
Contact
For corrections, removal requests, source suggestions, sponsorship inquiries, or anything else — get in touch via the email link in the footer.