LareDOS May Issue

Locally Owned

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.”

— James Bovard A JOURNAL OF THE BORDERLANDS MAy 2012

Est. 1994

Vol. XVII No. 17 64 PAGES

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LareDOS Newspaper

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Santa María Journal

Puddles, topped-off stock tanks evidence the gift of heavy rains

By María Eugenia guerra

By MARíA EUGENIA GUERRA

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wasn’t at the ranch for the glorious rain event of May 7, but as I drove off the farm to market road onto our property, the evidence of high winds and pounding rain was everywhere — overturned lawn chairs and trash cans, charcos, soaked earth, rippled banks of sand displaced from the corrals, and the flotsam and jetsam of twigs, earth, and leaves left by fast moving runoff.

The rain gauge confirmed the gift from the heavens as 3.5 inches.

Anxious to see what that amount of rainfall meant for the pastures and our near-empty stock ponds,

I took the four-wheeler out for a muddy spin. What I saw was beautiful and shocking. The lake nearest our house had sprung its perimeter, topped off at easily 10 or 15 times the muddy puddle it was before the rain.

The next tank, a small one that had recently been cleaned, took water and held it.

The tank that took my breath away was the deep one at the back of the ranch, the presa escondida that had been dredged and cleaned a couple of years ago, but had never filled. What a marvelous sight.

As I made my way back to el pie del rancho, the open-air coolness of the afternoon a pleasure to experi-

ence at 15 mph, I felt the excitement the rainfall had fostered in me, and I stopped to understand the moment.

I was moved to tears. I prayed and gave thanks before continuing to complete a handful of chores that would remind me, everywhere I stepped, that the rain had brought immense relief to every living thing on this ranch.

It is a certainty that it will be dry again — climate change will no doubt whip us all — but for the moment, I had a sense that under the sub-suelo of the monte floor, grasses, roots, and rhizomes — infused by the soaking downpour — were choosing life over the long, hard stasis of the drought. ◆

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etters to the publisher

Hello Meg,

Dear Editor,

I read with sadness your recent article about what the “dumped off dog” did to your goat herd.

The stray dogs and cats are becoming a menace and health concern to all.

I love birds and bird watching and when I discovered how many birds are killed by cats – wow – I just wished the city ordinance would be enforced where it states “Every keeper of any small animal or fowl shall confine the same in an enclosure to prevent their running at large.”

The stray cats spray on my cars, sleep on the top of my car, spray on my door, kill birds and bring fleas into my yard. I am going to start trapping the stray cats and turning them over to the City Animal Control department.

David….a concerned bird lover and an advocate for a safe and healthy community

Write a letter to the publisher. meg@laredosnews.com

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I witnessed Tricia Cortez’s enthusiastic talk and photographic displays at the Laredo Public Library on Saturday, May 19. Her remarks and graphics on Uganda, Rwanda, Zanzibar, and Kenya were delivered with analytic clarity, kindness, understanding, and empathy. Obviously, she is a very observant traveler, and, as I remarked to the congregation present, she has “a lot of guts” to have made that trip.

I have known Tricia since her first day in Laredo when she stopped me on the street and asked directions to the Laredo Times. I believe that Laredo — along with Texas — is fortunate, indeed, to have Tricia as one of its citizens. She is kind-hearted, articulate, and courageous. I wish her good luck in her role as executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center. That is going to be a long and rough job!

Lem Londos Railsback

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Go to www.laredosnews.com

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Courtesy Photo

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

The fight for a good cause

Speed and grace

Eric Ellman met up with Juan and Frances Sarmiento at the well-attended April 29 McPherson Road plate sale staged to help cancer survivor Frances defray medical expenses.

Josue Gonzalez, a fifth grader at Muller Elementary, took a first in the Ruthe B. Cowl 5K race and walk at North Central Park on Saturday, May 19.

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The City of Laredo’s Household Hazardous Waste Colletion saved the watershed and the cityscape from:

4,036 Tires & 325 Gallons of Used Oil

The 772 vehicles that participated made the May 5 collection one of the most successful in past years

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News

LAPS left in a lurch to find funding to continue its mission

By MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

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hen the Laredo City Council recently announced that it would no longer contract with the Laredo Animal Protective Society (LAPS) to aid with the control of stray animal populations, the decision weighed heavily on LAPS board members who believed they had been in good faith negotiations with the city to lease a portion of the LAPS facility for $17,000 a month.

“In April, we were in negotiations with the city to lease part of our property for use as an impound facility. We had already notified them we would no longer provide impound and euthanasia services because we were overwhelmed by the number of animals,” said LAPS board member Cathy Kazen.

After decreasing operational costs by minimizing the number of LAPS employees, $17,000 a month was the budget figure determined by the LAPS board to run the shelter. According to Kazen, the city was only willing to pay $5,000 a month.

Given the city’s announcement to build a million dollar state of the art impoundment and euthanasia facility on the old air base, money does not appear to have been the reason for the City reneging on the negotiations in progress with LAPS. LAPS has operated the entire facility on a $300,000 annual budget including utilities, employee salaries, animal care, and additional expenses. “The City Council recently approved $274,000 just for support staff of its new facility, so that really puts things into perspective for how much we did with so little

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and have done for the past 30 years.

The city’s pull-out and the criticism we have endured over the last year, speak volumes for the city’s failure to appreciate what we have done as a non-profit,” said board member Susie Druker.

the growing population of stray and abandoned animals these last three decades. They didn’t have the courtesy to tell us that they were backing out.”

Board member Alejandra Landis emphasized, “We were not consulted

Susie Drucker, Cathy Kazen, and Richard Renner Since the 1978 rabies outbreak, LAPS has been contracted by the city to oversee the control of stray animal populations by means of euthanasia, while simultaneously providing shelter and care for abandoned pets.

Laredo’s increasing stray animal population proved to be too much for the organization’s budget.

“For over 30 years, LAPS has served the community in a capacity not required of them, and struggled with increasing animal population,” Kazen said, adding, “The City didn’t thank LAPS for helping impound

about any of their plans. City Council’s announcement at their May 7 meeting was the first we ever heard of their departure and the plans for their new facility, nor did they have the courtesy to thank us for 30 years of service.”

More than 250 animals will remain in the LAPS facility upon the city’s departure on June 1. The city’s abrupt decision to depart from LAPS poses the question, “Will the city be equipped enough to provide sufficient care for the vast number of incoming animals?”

Druker observed, “The city will only have 60 kennels for dogs and 30 for cats.”

Board president Richard Renner added, “With 800 or more animals coming in monthly, only 60 kennels for dogs alone will not do.”

Kazen said, “The city negating their initial agreement with LAPS is a huge burden on the shelter and on the remaining animals we must find homes for. We are scrambling to find funding, and we are asking donors to think of us.”

Kazen continued, “We also hope that in taking this action the city will immediately work to dramatically reduce, if not eliminate, the need to purposely kill so many animals, and to do so by properly funding and operating an adoption center, strictly enforcing animal cruelty laws, funding low-cost spay and neutering services, and implement community education programs on the responsible, humane treatment of pets.”

LAPS is optimistic about the changes underway. According to Kazen, “LAPS will now be able to transition and strive to meet the original vision of our founders — a shelter devoted to finding homes for Laredo’s abandoned pets and to provide healthy pets for adoption to the public. We want this to be a place where citizens can be confident that if they bring us a dog, we’ll find it a home and not put it down. We will no longer euthanize simply because we have no room. We’ll only euthanize unadoptable animals that are severely ill or aggressive.”

If you are interested in volunteering, making donations, or adopting a pet contact LAPS at (956) 724-8364 or stop by 2500 Gonzalez Street. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

News

By MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

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he City of Laredo is seeking participants for the Fourth of July Family Celebration parade and barbeque cookoff, as well as vendors and entertainers. The event is set for Wednesday, July 4 at the Laredo Civic Center. A $1 admission donation goes to the South Texas Food Bank.

“Symbols of a Free Nation” is the theme for this year’s parade. The deadline for submitting a parade application and entry fee is June 4.

Entry fees for non-profit and tax-exempt organizations are $25 and $60 for commercial entries. Each entry with a generator is required to pay an additional $20 fee for a Laredo Fire Department permit for a fire extinguisher. For more information on the parade contact Rene Cardona at (210) 588-9206 or vparaderentals@yahoo.com.

Laredoans with grill skills are encouraged to enter the barbeque cookoff for team or individual entries in four categories — brisket, pork ribs, chicken, and beans. The cook off is sanctioned by the Lone Star BBQ Society. A $200 registration fee applies to all categories. Entry fees will be used to cover cash prizes, which will be determined by the number of participants per cooking category. Participants must provide their own ingredients, supplies, and equipment.

Participation for this event is limited, and the deadline to sign up is Friday, June 22. For registration, call (956) 763-2107 or visit www.southtexasfoodbank.org.

Vendors for other foods, beverages, and arts and crafts are also welcome. Food vendors are required to have a food handler’s permit from

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the City of Laredo Health Department as well as a vendor’s permit from the City of Laredo Parks & Leisure Services Department. The deadline to sign up is Wednesday, June 27. For more information contact the City of Laredo Civic Center at (956) 794-1700.

Dance and cheer groups, entertainers, and performers can sign up

by Friday, June 29. Contact the City of Laredo Parks & Leisure Services Department at (956) 795-2350 for more information.

The City of Laredo is also inviting motorcyclists to show off their bikes at the celebration. A designated area for bikers will be set up. For more information call (956) 791-6633.

The Fourth of July Celebration will include the 5th Annual Batalla de Talento concert, which benefits STARS and the UISD/LISD school uniform fund. The event will be held in a separate concert area, and is hosted by R Communications and Budweiser/ Bud Light. There is a $10 entrance fee. Tickets are on sale at the Civic Center Box Office. The Batalla de Talento, which is sponsored by Budweiser/Bud Light and La Ley/ Digital, begins at 5 p.m.

The concert lineup includes Paty y Sonora, Grupo Mazz, Salomon Robles, and Grupo Duelo. A fireworks display is scheduled at 10 p.m.

“The City of Laredo’s 4th of July celebration has become a Laredo tradition and gives our community an opportunity for area families to enjoy food, music and activities all the while supporting the South Texas Food Bank,” said Ana Rivera Soto, general sales manager for R Communications. “Additionally, it is a great way for R Communications to kickoff our two week radio drive for the food bank.” ◆

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Deadlines announced for City’s annual Fourth of July festivities

Precinct 3 candidates for Webb County Commissioner Pictured just after the live KGNS debates are candidates George Altgelt, Hector Cortez, Danny Lopez Jr., and Alfonso (Poncho) Casso. Not pictured is John Galo.

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Opinion

Doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do: Cassie was a diamond in the pile of coal

By DAVID D. TOWLER

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y attention was consumed by a meeting in two hours with a group in Laredo whom I was asking for political support. I stopped at a fast food restaurant in Alice to get a lunch I could eat on my way. Needing two hands to fill my drink cup, I put my iPad on top of the tea dispenser. Not the best moment of my life.

About five hours later, after the meeting in Laredo, I finally realized I didn’t have it with me. After checking everywhere, I remembered my mistake. I had my legal assistant go to the restaurant to look — no luck — so I sent an email to my iPad asking whoever had it to please call me. I wasn’t optimistic.

About an hour later, I got a call on my cell phone. A young lady named Cassie told me this story: She was eating lunch at the restaurant and saw the iPad on top of the tea dispenser. She assumed someone

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etters to the publisher

The Laredo Animal Protective Society (LAPS) has recently been undeservedly maligned and we have stood by quietly, hoping our work for so many years would be what people would judge us by. I am appalled by the levels to which some have stooped and the words that have been used. We used to be a civilized society. Somehow, it seems to say more about those who utter them, than about us.

Another thing I would definitely like to address is that the Farias fam-

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had left it behind. She saw a young man pick it up, start playing with it, ask the cashier about it, then tell the cashier that he’s going to just take it.

Cassie knew this wasn’t right, so as he walks out the door she gets up and tells him: “Oh, you found my iPad. I must have left it by the drinks.” He grudgingly gives it up, Cassie goes back to work, gets my email and calls me when she gets off work. My day, my week, my month, my year, and my life were looking up.

Before this, I was beginning to wonder where our humanity was going. There was too much “What’s in it for me,” and not enough “What can I do to make things better for others.”

Too many like the young man who decided to take what didn’t belong to him, or the cashier who just turned away.

I’ve now had the privilege of meeting someone who gives me hope for all of us. A little about Cassie — you might be surprised. I estimate she’s about 20 years old, hispanic, and a

single mother of a 3-year-old son. She has a job that apparently doesn’t allow her to make personal phone calls, she respects those rules and doesn’t sneak around to violate them, and she pays attention to her job while she’s at work.

She lives in a modest (that’s being generous) house that I believe is rented. She was home, there was no car in the driveway, so she deals with transportation as best she can. She struggles from paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. She was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

And maybe most telling, she told me that about a week ago she had lost her phone. It saddens me that there was no one of her caliber to come to her rescue, but it impresses me that this didn’t kill her own humanity.

After I thanked her for doing what she didn’t have to do, and for taking the risk of confronting a young man over a problem that was not her own, I handed her some cash in a bank envelope — not a whole lot to me, but

I suspect mildly significant by her standards. She tried to refuse it, but I couldn’t let her. On my insistence, she took it and walked back into her house without opening it up.

People like Cassie are the diamonds in the piles of coal. She did the right thing, for no other reason than that it was the right thing to do. Cassie, who doesn’t weigh 100 pounds soaking wet, stood up to that young man, despite the risk. Who was stronger? The young man with the power to take, or Cassie, with the power to give? We all know the answer. We should all be more like Cassie. We would all be better off if we were.

The strength of a person is not measured by what they have the power to take from others. It’s measured by what they have the power to give to others.

(David Towler is an attorney who is a candidate for the Fourth Court of Appeals place 5.) ◆

ily is the most steadfast, loving family, whose love for each other is only equaled by their unconditional love of animals, especially the unwanted.

They personally have found homes for hundreds of animals, when they were sometimes gently told, “It’s only one animal, you can’t save them all.” Well, they kept right on trying, filling their backyards with “just one more” until the numbers who found new homes reached the hundreds.

There are not enough words with which to thank them for their continued devotion, despite being even busier than many of those who claim to be so. They just “get it done,” and I will not tolerate anyone casting

doubt on that. Instead of being criticized for having too many Fariases on our board, we wish we could clone them!

With social networking there seem to be no rules. Anyone can say anything with no consequences.

They can lie and it is accepted as truth. The Laredo Animal Protective Society has done nothing wrong. We have tried for decades to educate on responsible pet ownership that includes controlling the totally out of control over-population of strays.

We are criticized for euthanizing so many, as though we enjoyed it.

There are not enough “good” homes to take 1,000 animals a month. If

their owners would contain them, that would take care of the problem.

No, that is not easy, but it is part of owning a pet. That LAPS is guilty of “misappropriation of funds” is totally inaccurate but just saying it leaves a doubt in people’s minds, does it not?

We congratulate the City for finding not only the funds, but the space for their new complex when neither could be found when we urged this. LAPS will be fine if those who believe in us will continue to support us as they have in the past.

Jennie L. Reed LAPS Board Member W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Recounting an African adventure Bajo la B Sara Ramirez Gutierrez and Ana MarĂ­a Gutierrez played a bank of bingo cards at the San Ygnacio Cinco de Mayo festivities sponsored by the San Ygnacio Ladies Club.

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Jesus Quiroz and Cordelia Flores discussed Tricia Cortez’s (center) May 19 presentation on her trip to Africa in March. Cortez, a journalist and an environmentalist, spoke of the raw, breathtaking beauty of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and of the extreme poverty and the resilient spirit of those who live there. The event was sponsored by the Laredo Public Library.

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Feature

1953: The ‘greater good’ diaspora of the Falcon Reservoir — the loss of land, tranquility, and a way of life

By MARíA EUGENIA GUERRA ZAPATA - “We were among the lucky ones who did not have to live in tents,” recalled Diana Sylvia Cuellar-Villarreal of the move from the peaceful streets of Old Zapata to the chaos of the new townsite the federal government laid

raised chickens, goats, beef, and hogs — enough vegetables, meat, milk, and eggs to feed all of us and plenty to sell or give to others,” she recalled. “We had no car or truck. Mules pulled our plow and our carreton. When my father built fences, we took him the posts with a horse.”

She called El Lancón her father’s “adoración” and remembered how attached he was to his barn and his tools.

“Te da mucho sentimiento to think what my father lost — the land where he raised crops and animals to provide for his family and earned a living — but he never lost his dignity,” she said.

“We were already hearing the frightening stories of the flooding at Lopeño,” Alicia said. “My father started moving us to my grandfather Cosme’s ranchito

Alicia and Diana, with Ana V. Silva out in the 1950s for the higher ground relocation of the town’s residents.

“We had somewhere to go, and our parents shouldered the heartbreak of having to move. They kept us safe and took great care that we did not feel so much the disruption of the life we’d known,” said Villarreal’s younger sister Alicia Cuellar Villarreal, who was 8 when the town was moved in 1953; Diana was 10 and their brother Francisco was 5.

“My mother had just had twins, Leonardo and Leomila. They were tiny — two months premature and 40 daysold at the time we undertook the move.

They each fit in a shoebox,” she said.

“We had our home in Old Zapata and our ranch on the riverbanks, El Lancón which is where we went on the weekends,” Diana said of the pastoral life she and her siblings enjoyed as the children of Francisco Cuellar and María Antonia Jasso Cuellar. “We grew okra, corn, tomato, squash, and onion, and we

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Cosme Cuellar by wagon. The little house there was very primitive — a jacal made of mesquite logs, a dirt floor, and no running water. It was near what is now the cemetery. It was never the same for my Dad. He had monte and raw land to contend with, and not the rich soil of the river vega that produced such good crops,” she said.

Diana remembered that in Old Zapata, the family lived on an entire block near the post office. “In New Zapata,

we got two lots.” Gone were the nearby drug store, the courthouse, the plazita, the Church, and the Texas Motel that owned by their uncle Santiago Cuellar.

“Our house was among the first moved from the old town, and we were surrounded now by people we didn’t know, some who lived in tents. They were from Lopeño, Falcon, and Uribeño, and some were from Mexico,” Diana said, recalling that there was no infrastructure for water or sewer. “Water trucks delivered our water, and we had an outdoor toilet.

We had to start over. Gone was the peace of the old town where we slept with our doors unlocked, where we knew everyone, where there had been no fear and no crime. We missed our old house.

The soil at our new home on M Street wouldn’t support a garden,” she said.

She remembered the disruption of the school year because the old twostory wooden barracks building had not been moved. When the structure was finally moved and classes resumed, there was no running water and no indoor toilets. “How could you do that to children?” Diana asked.

“Mother was a smart, gentle woman who wrote poetry. She would tell us, ‘Let’s understand this. It isn’t just happening to us. Hay que ser conformes y tener confianza en Dios,’” said Alicia, who remembered that Sundays in Old Zapata were for visiting family after church.

She said the ready access to Cd. Guerrero was greatly missed.

Diana referred to local politicians and the federal government officials who coordinated the move, condemned land and homes, and compensated Zapatans for their property as “gente lagarta.”

She said, “Neither worked for us. The 100 acres they took from my father to build New Zapata, they paid him $10 an acre. My father went to federal court in 1962 to fight for the mineral rights on the

land that is now in the reservoir and on the river vega. He went all the way to the Supreme Court, and we won. My mother read all legal documents and newspapers to my father who would later stress to us two things — get an education and always pay your taxes on land. In other words, know what you need to know so that no one takes advantage of you and never put yourself in a situation in which you could lose your land for unpaid taxes,” she said.

“When you are a child, you don’t think about these things. We had no idea of the size of my father’s loss. It wasn’t just the part of the ranch on the river where he raised food for his family.

It was a good part of 13,000 acres from the river to where South Elementary is,” Alicia said.

Of Zapata Rising, the reunion set for August 2013, Alicia said, “It’s going to be acknowledged, what happened to us. We want to tell these stories about

Francisco and Antonia Cuellar, and Diana; Monterrey, 1943 injustice. It’s important that they are told by us. There are stories about the good people and the heroes who looked after us. We will tell those stories, too.”

Diana, reflecting on the past, said.

“How could we have known as children that we would be part of a bigger story?

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News

Attorney Patricia Alvarez in race for Fourth Court of Appeals Place 3

By MARíA EUGENIA GUERRA “I came to this country in 1979 with only my six-year-old son and our dog.

I could speak Spanish and French very well, but my English was halting,” said attorney Patricia Alvarez, candidate for Justice Place 3 on the Fourth Court of Appeals.

Alvarez sees herself as a personification of the Dream Act, a Mexican immigrant who had to earn a living while trying to navigate and master the language and culture of a new country to earn an undergraduate degree.

Despite her lack of English fluency and being told she was not college material, Alvarez caught a break to start university studies on a probationary basis. In short order she completed an undergraduate degree in finance in 1982 at the University of Texas – San Antonio, all the while raising a son and working several jobs at a time. She graduated from UT-Law in Austin with a doctor of jurisprudence in 1987, and in the same year passed the bar exam.

She credits a speech instructor at UTSA, Skip Enno, and colloquialisms she picked up from TV with becoming more fluent in English.

The American education she worked for prepared her for a career in the law,

Monclova, about 150 miles from Eagle Pass, her point of entry into the U.S. Over the course of her career Alvarez has practiced in the area of oil and gas contracts, insurance defense, trucking litigation, product liability, and fiduciary and tort disputes. Just out of law school she worked for Thorton & Summers, a San Antonio defense firm. After working for others, she initially opened her own private practice in McAllen in 1993 and came to Laredo in 1997. Over 25 years she has built a practice that has

Patricia Alvarez

but family history practically charted the course for Alvarez’s life in the law and public service.

She is the great granddaughter of Rafael Nieto Compean, the governor of San Luis Potosi state, the minister of finance in the cabinet of Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, a diplomat, and the man who gave women the vote in Mexico.

Her mother, Patricia Loreen O’Connell, met Alvarez’s father, a young law student named Salvador Alvarez, while she was a summer college student at the University of the Americas in Mexico City.

With her five siblings Patricia Alvarez grew Rafael Nieto with Pres. Venustiano Carranza up in Mexico City and then

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established her reputation as a preeminent and well-respected trial lawyer.

So why at the height of an enviable law career, a choice to enter the political fray?

“I am very respectful of the Seventh Amendment which guarantees the right to a jury trial,” Alvarez said.

“When you go before a jury to present all the pieces of a case, you are doing so as an advocate. To witness a jury work through controverted issues, issues of credibility, and issues of fact as they come to a resolution — that is a magical

process. Juries always come to the right decision. I might not agree with a verdict, but I respect it, and it is that respect that prompts me to run for a seat on the Fourth Court of Appeals,” Alvarez said.

“When the justices of the Court of Appeals find insufficient evidence in a case, a decision perhaps based on politics and emotion — and not based on the rule of law, the American Constitution, and the laws of the State of Texas — they are voiding the jury verdict and the Constitutional right to have a case decided by a jury,” she continued.

“How can I change that? As a justice on the court, I will look at the facts that were presented to the court and the jury, analyze the law to the facts, and make a determination on whether the law applies to the facts of the case — not politics and not emotion,” she continued, adding, “An appeal should go before a panel of justices who know the law, who will apply the law and not make law.

The Court of Appeals is often the court of last resort. It can’t be said enough that its justices should be following the law, not making law. ” Alvarez said that the cases that go before the Court of Appeals “affect everyone. We all have a vested interest in them.” She said that the Court of Appeals is a vital part of the due process system, serving as a check-and-balance for decisions made by a lower court.

“The question should always be ‘Was the correct law applied to the facts of the case; was it applied accurately?’” she stressed.

Alvarez said the makeup of the Court of Appeals justices is in need of demographic change. “How can five or six of the justices, all Republican and all living in San Antonio, know well enough what is going on beyond Bexar Continued on page 45

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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Adoption fairs for abandoned animals Helpful City Hall staff Security officer Hector Dixon, receptionist Lupita Guillen, and budget staffer Laura Powell are three of the most familiar faces you’ll run into at City Hall.

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Striving to find homes for abandoned animals, the Laredo Animal Protective Society held adoption fairs at pet stores on Saturday, May 12. On site were LAPS board member Cathy Kazen and board president Richard Renner. Student volunteers included James Hernandez, Adriana Hernandez, Marta Medrano, and Roman Arjona.

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News

Laredo Job Corps student Monica Carrillo completes Congressional internship

By MARIA EUGENIA GUERRA

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onica Carrillo, a Laredo Job Corps student recently returned from a one-month internship with Congressman Henry Cuellar’s offices in Laredo and Washington, D.C., said that the experience reaffirmed her focus on the importance of an education and all the possibilities an education can af-

Monica Carrillo

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ford you.

Carrillo — 20, a first generation American citizen, and about to complete nursing studies for Emergency Medical Services — spent two weeks in Cuellar’s Laredo office before traveling to D.C. to complete the remainder of the internship.

She said that her time in the Congressman’s Laredo office was spent interacting with his local constituency, and that her time in Washington “was a little more complex.”

Carrillo said she took in a good deal of information and experiences at many levels. “There was a sense of heightened professionalism in Washington. I spent time with legislative fellows and Cuellar staff members who were focused on upcoming bills in education and immigration. Seeing how government works in real life was far different from what you learn in school,” she said.

The intern said she learned about the government’s efforts in funding Job Corps campuses and curriculum.

Carrillo said that getting to know Cuellar was also an important experience. “He’s a humble man,

Monica Carrillo, far right, is pictured with Adriana Hernandez, Congressman Henry Cuellar, and Laredo Job Corps director Mike Fernandez in Cuellar’s Washington, D.C. office. someone who educated himself, set goals, and worked toward them. I’m not sure everyone knows this about him,” she said, adding, “I’m goal oriented, too.”

While in D.C., Carrillo was a dorm guest of the Potomac Job Corps.

Adriana Hernandez, a Job Corps accounting graduate who now handles media vrelations for the Laredo campus, said of Carrillo, “She has the drive, focus, and maturity to move up and move forward with her goals.” ◆

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s a way to nurture a young generation of local environmentalists and river caretakers, the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC) will host “RGISC EcoCamp!” this summer.

The camp is structured into four one-week camps centered on nature activities and field trips.

“Our goal is to create a unique, high-quality summer camp where young people can develop a love of nature, a deep appreciation for the Río Grande-Río Bravo, and greater awareness of environmental issues that are important to our community,” said Tricia Cortez, executive director of RGISC. Each camp session is limited to 12 students in age from 7 to 12. The first one-week session for 7 to 9 yearolds runs from July 9 through July 13; the second session begins July 23 and runs through July 27. The schedule for campers ages 10 to 12 is July 16 through July 20; and July 30 through August 3. Camp begins at 8 a.m. at the RGISC office at P-11 on the LCC Fort

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Macintosh campus and disbands daily at 2 p.m. Healthy snacks and lunch are included in the tuition fee of $150.

“Our Eco-Camp will enrich campers’ learning experience through field trips, science and environmental lessons, and arts and crafts activities. The sessions will be staffed by instructors who are committed to science, environmentalism, and art,” Cortez said.

Among the topics youngsters will explore are the power and fragility of the Río Grande and its ecosystem, climate change and renewable energy, recycling, community gardens and organic foods, and water conservation.

Camp activities, which include field trips to Las Palmas Nature Trail, the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center, the Bruni Wind farm, San Ygnacio, and a visit to a working ranch, will also include a river testing outing, wildflower collection and pressing, catching insects and studying them, nature journaling, and art activities.

For further information, call the RGISC office at 718-1063. ◆

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Eco-Camp: an adventurous summer learning environment for kids 7 to 12

City promotes water conservation

As part of National Drinking Water Week, Gustavo Escobedo and Diana Juarez, inspectors for the City of Laredo Utility Department, handed out water conservation kits and information to Laredoans interested in reducing their utility bills by reducing their household and yard water use. They are pictured on May 11 at City Hall. The kits consisted of: 1.5 GPM Eath Massage showerhead, 1.5 GPM kitchen swivel aerator, (2) 1.0 GPM bathroom aerators, leak detection tablets and tips, flow meter bag, toilet tank bank, toilet water saver (fill cycle diverter), and a water conservation wheel.

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Opinion

Be a vital part of los dias del Ríofest

By ERIC ELLMAN LareDOS Contributor

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n the third Saturday of every October U.S. and Mexican communities throughout the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo watershed celebrate “El Dia del Rio,” a practice begun 17 years ago and now coordinated up and down the watershed of the river by the Rio Grande International Study Center.

Three years ago — by sheer coincidence — the Laredo Hotel and Lodging Association chose that same Saturday to stage the 33-mile Riofest canoe and kayak race, a hap-

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py accident if ever there was one.

How better to celebrate a river than by paddling down it? How better to get people to protect the environment than to enjoy it? How better to change the nation’s image of our region than to see thousands of people from two nations doing all that simultaneously on a narrow stretch of water that generally divides them?

Laredoans of every stripe — people who don’t necessarily give a hoot for paddling — are lining up to support the effort.

Dannenbaum Engineering is designing a floating dock for the river to accommodate musical performance, race announcements, and an awards

ceremony.

Frank Architects is donating a conceptual landscaping plan for one of the festival sites. LULAC is organizing a “fry-athlon” featuring bicycling, fishing, and cooking. The Laredo Center for the Arts is organizing a citywide banner contest. The Martin High School welding program is building a kayak trailer for one of the event sponsors. Volunteers are leading nature outings to the Lost Lakes adjacent the Riofest finish line as therapy for adults suffering from anxiety and depression.

Where is your role in this celebration of the Río Grande?

Festival organizers invite the community to propose innovative activi-

ties they want to incorporate into the days that lead up to the third weekend of October.

Have you got an event that leverages environmental themes you’d like to see included — something related to composting, recycling, environmental restoration, or plain old right living?

We encourage the participation of your family, church group, civic organization, professional colleagues, and friends. Talk to us as we start preparing for Los Dias del Riofest.

(Eric Ellman is the executive director of the Big River Foundation. Call him at 956.236.4985 with your ideas for programs you’d like to see included in the run up to Riofest.) ◆

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Mariela Rodriguez

Courtesy Photo

Sculptor Hinojosa guest of genealogical society Tejano Monument sculptor Armando Hinojosa and his grandchildren Nicholas, Victoria, and Matthew are pictured at a Cinco de Mayo merienda hosted by the Villa de San AgustĂ­n Genealogical Society. Also pictured are Emma GarcĂ­a, Sanjuanita M. Hunter, and Lily Perez.

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KLNT-1490 AM News News director Richard Noriega (left) and senior program director Al Guevara are the mainstays of news and radio in Laredo. Their show airs from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., delivers the news at noon, and wraps up with news of the day at 6 p.m. The two professionals, who have been on the air since May 1, offer a refreshing take on the news.

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Feature

Pérez Del Río on motion media in Texas

By MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

reer?” asked Flores.

“I have both. I own my own business, and I do free lance work when business ward winning filmmaker is slow,” said the owner of Spontaneous and producer Fernando Films, an Austin-based, independently Pérez Del Río presented owned, full service production com“The State and the Art of pany.

Motion Media in Texas” at Texas A&M “I moved from Laredo 20 years ago.

International University on April 25. One of my first jobs was at Laredo’s PubWith over 19 years in the motion media lic Access Channel. I also worked with business, Pérez Del Río shared some of KDOZ and KOYE. I worked as a DJ, and his professional experiences in film- with video in both Laredo and Nuevo making in Texas and in countries such Laredo. I had the pleasure of documentas Mexico and Mongolia. ing and experiencing both cultures,” Dr. María Flores, TAMIU assistant Pérez Del Río added, “Knowing two professor of communication, introduced languages and cultures definitely gives Pérez Del Río and began the Q&A ses- you an advantage over others.” sion by asking “When did your love for Pérez Del Río addressed the motion communication and film making be- media industry’s obsession with stegin?“ reotyping and “It began at typecasting of the age of eight, directors and at my Tío Panfilmmakers. “In cho’s house. He my experience, had a Beta max people in the player and Sony industry tend to camera. It was think because I the first E&G am a Latino that type of camera I must be a Lathat I used. My tino filmmaker. primos and I That is not the would make case. I consider films for fun. myself a filmI think that is maker who just where it all starthappens to be ed, not knowing a Latino. Some I’d follow this people are repath,” he said. ally obsessed Pérez Del Río with making paused for a moLatino or Meximent and asked can films. While Fernando Pérez Del Río “What is the difI have always ference between been proud God and a director?” He responded, of my rich culture, I believe that you “God doesn’t think he is a director.” should make film about things that you Laughter echoed in the room, an affir- know and love,” he advised. mation of Pérez Del Rio’s lighthearted He emphasized that in order to break spirit. into the film industry one must have “Do you have a profession or a ca- a passion for it. “It is not easy, and it is

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very competitive. You have to have a lot of tenacity and recognize that some sacrifices must be made in terms of profit,” said Pérez Del Río, “If you have talent, and luck, and meet the right people, and are ready to take opportunities as they come, then your chances of making it increase.”

Flores inquired about Pérez Del Rio’s take on ethics in the motion media industry. Pérez Del Río said, “I think business and personal ethics are very important, when taking into consideration your subject matter.” Pérez Del Rio shared and ethical dilemma when asked to do a voice-over for a Republican candidate he did not support. “I had to ask myself if it was something I wanted to do. In the end, I was not supporting him or telling people to vote for him. I simply worked for him,” he said.

Some of Pérez Del Río’s current film projects include A&E’s “Storage Wars Texas,” TLC’s “BBQ Pitmasters,” and HGTV’s “House Hunters International.”

He also recently filmed a documentary in Mongolia titled, “The Falconer” which pertains to falconry or hunting of natural prey with a trained animal.

Spontaneous Films ,along with Eddie Brochin, “The Falconer,” went on an adventure across the globe “We ventured to Mongolia in search of the Golden Eagle Hunters in the western part of the country near Bayan Ulgii,” said Pérez Del Rio. The documentary was filmed in 10 days and managed to capture the culture and people of the country.

For more information on Spontaneous Film visit www.spontaneousfilms. com./ “The Falconer” can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/40387219 ◆

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News

Historic county records find safe haven at Wilson Street storage facility

By MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

re Webb County’s historic deeds and documents safeguarded and well preserved? In a February 2012 visit to the old Tex-Mex building at Convent and Washington, LareDOS came across evidence that some records dating to the 1800s were not in optimum care.

The building was unsecured and easily accessed. Alongside a staircase were boxes of county documents and records that belonged to the office of Tax Assessor Collector Patricia Barrera.

Given the state of the building’s security alone, the documents were

together. Some had no covers, and others appeared to fall apart to the touch.

The state of the documents posed the important questions of ownership of valuable and historic documents and why they were being stored in the old Tex-Mex building rather than the Webb County Records Management Center (WCRMC) at 207 Wilson Road.

That latter is a well equipped, secure facility the county built to store precisely these kinds of records.

Sarah Jacobson Manager of Records Management Assistance for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission said, “Current elected officials are custodians of previous officeholders’ records. According to the Local Government Code, Section 201.006. The current custodian (i.e.

clearly not stored in a facility equipped to preserve and maintain these types of records.

Some of the documents revealed worn pages and bindings barely held

the elected official) will be responsible for the retention of these records.”

According to Larry Sanchez, the public information officer for Webb County, “Our Center [Wilson Street]

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is well equipped and secured for the safe keeping of these records. We currently have 33 departments that do utilize our center, including the Webb County Clerk’s office; however, I would not be able to answer why these other records are not sent over here for storage.”

Sanchez said, “From what we have seen and heard, these records belong to the Webb County Tax Assessors’ office. As far as their election to have these records stored here, I would not be able to provide an answer. What I can tell you is that we have offered our services [for storage] both in writing and verbally.”

County Clerk Margie Ibarra said, “The Records Management Center is used to store documents from every department in the county. However, it is not intended for storage of historical books because only so many shelves are allowed in there,” she added, “I would never have historic books out of my supervision.”

Barrera said, “The documents inside the Tex-Mex building belong to me. I’ve rescued and protected them within my limited capacity. Those documents were previously located at the [air] base and then a room at the detention center.”

She clarified, “The records were never damaged by any water as was

previously speculated. The east side of the roof area where my records were stored was fine. The roof was damaged on the west side of the second floor.”

Barrera also explained, “The boxes lined against the walls contained daily work. On any given day my office manages to fill three boxes. To be honest, we fell behind in shredding some of those documents.”

She commented on the state of the records. “Nature itself has taken its course and that naturally reflects in the state of those records. They are now in a storage area under climate control and no longer at the Tex-Mex building.”

According to Margarita Araiza, executive director of the Webb County Heritage Foundation, Barrera had petitioned the commissioner’s court for a new facility. “She assured us she would take care of the documents and records. She consulted the Heritage Foundation on how to go about caring for the documents. She still needs funds to digitize the records. There is no definitive resolution as of yet,” Araiza said.

“We’ve outgrown our space. The infrastructure downtown simply will no longer do. We need a building in which we can store our records with us and better facilitate parking among other things for citizens,” said Barrera. ◆

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News

News

WCHF names 2012 Founders Day honorees

St. Peter’s neighborhood association to host first-ever PORTICO street festival

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he recipients of this year’s Heritage Awards conferred by the Webb County Heritage Foundation are members of the Tejano Monument board of directors Dr. Cayetano E. Barrera, III, Renato Ramirez, Homero Vera, Andres Tijerina, Richard Sanchez, and Jaime Beaman. This distinguished group of preservationists will be receiving the Meritorious Service Award.

Other honorees at the May 26 Founders Day Luncheon at the TAMIU Student Center Ballroom include Dr. Jerry Thompson, editor, and Dr. José Roberto Juárez, translator, for Tejanos in Gray: Civil War Letters of Captains Joseph Rafael de la Garza and Manuel Yturri. They will receive the Luciano Guajardo Award for publications promoting the history of this region. Within the same category, Arnoldo de León will be recognized for his publication of War Along the Border: The Mexican Revolution and Tejano Communities. The third recipient in this category is the recently opened Zapata County Museum of History – Dr. Hildegardo Flores, director.

This year, a newly designated award was created in memory of the late LCC instructor Ricardo Hernández, who was a member of the WCHF’s Local History Curriculum Committee that developed the Laredo history course being taught now at LISD and St. Augustine High

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School. The award is intended to annually honor outstanding achievement for either a student or a teacher in the Laredo History curriculum.

The first recipient of this award will be Martin High School educator, Luis R. Gonzalez who will be recognized for taking his Laredo History students to attend the historical conference that was part of the Tejano Monument unveiling event in Austin.

The Preservation of Folklore/ Customs/Traditions Award will be presented to Laredo Main Street for their work in establishing the Laredo Main Street Farmers’ Market and for fomenting a historically traditional healthy lifestyle.

The Environmental Preservation Award will be presented to Eric Ellman of Big River Foundation for his work in bringing environmental awareness and appreciation of our most historic resource, the Río Grande, to local and visiting populations.

The Webb County Heritage Foundation is proud to present these worthy recipients with a Heritage Award in recognition of their services in preserving this region’s history and cultural heritage.

For luncheon reservations or more information, please contact the Webb County Heritage Foundation at (956) 727-0977 or heritage@webbheritage. org. ◆

By VIKY GARCIA LareDOS Contributor

¡

“ Bienvenidos! Welcome!” The members of the St. Peter’s Historic Neighborhood Association have been repeating the phrase every month since August 2011 at the free community events they have staged.

The group’s largest effort to date is right around the corner — the first-ever PORTICO Street Festival focused on arts, crafts, and neighborhood fun.

The event will be held on June 23 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. along Matamoros Street, starting at St. Peter’s Plaza and towards the Union Pacific offices.

The festival is planned in conjunction with TAMIU’s SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) bi-monthly bazaar of arts and crafts. In addition to the SIFE students, exhibitors will include the women in art classes at Casa de Misericordia and those taking sewing classes through the New Vision and Bubble Home Project. The artists of Bethany House’s arts program will also have an exhibit and booth along with other unique exhibitors.

According to Paco García, president of the Association, “Visitors to the free open-air festival will be able to view antique cars from the Outsiders Car Club, enjoy a historic walking tour led by Laredo Main Street, watch a screen printing demonstration by Victor Mendoza, hear stories from the Laredo Paranormal Research Society, or simply enjoy the distinct architecture and the bountiful shade some of the oldest trees in Laredo.”

Last August, with the help of City Councilwoman Cindy Liendo Espinoza, the first meet and greet gathering was organized for those who live and work within the 36 blocks that comprise the historic St. Peter’s neighborhood. The

boundaries include Santa María Street to the east, Hidalgo Street to the South, and the Union Pacific railroad lines that run along Santa Isabel and Moctezuma Streets.

Because they live in some of the most unique homes in Laredo, architecturally significant homes that are steeped in history and legend, the neighborhood members have made a concerted effort to bring the rest of Laredo to their doors to celebrate the warmth and friendliness of their neighborhood.

The union of neighbors has been active in highlighting residential downtown and in creating a voice for an area that has been neglected for many years. It is the first association of its kind — not a developer designated association, but an advocacy group for the residents who live, work and do business from these 100 year-old homes.

The organic growth of the group has brought together residents who now know who to turn to for that extra cup of sugar or who can pet sit for the weekend. They have also brought together some residents to ask City Council for parking permits for those who live with parking meters in front of their homes.

The goal of the St. Peter’s neighborhood residents is the betterment of life in the very mixed income barrio that is rich in tradition and lore. As well, the goal is to address some major infrastructure issues.

The proactive group has held neighborhood potlucks, outdoor movie nights at the plaza, garden cuttings share days, and storytelling reunions – all without funding, all without charging for participation.

For more information on the PORTICO Festival, contact Paco García at paco320@yahoo.com or Viky García at vikygarcia@yahoo.com. ◆ LareDOS I

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Melissa Guerra/LareDOS

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Bingo in the Plaza Blas María

Women Build volunteers

Among the San Ygnacio residents who enjoyed bingo and other Cinco de Mayo activities in the town plaza are Caritina and José Turi, José and Linda Paredes, and María Cuellar.

Killam Oil volunteers Diana Perez, Alma Garza, and Diana Ramos were part of the construction crew at the Habitat for Humanity Women Build at Tierra Prometida Subdivision on May 5.

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The best kept secret in Laredo

1, 2 and 3 bedroom floorplans available. Prices starting at $725 Town houses and corporate suites also available For more information, please contact: www.carmelapts.com Carmel Apartments Office Hours 830 Fasken Blvd. Laredo, Texas M-F 8:30-5:30 956.753.6500, 956.753.6502 fax Sat. 10:00-5:00

Sit back, relax, and welcome home

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Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Loud and clear

Ron Paul supporters made their message for change loud and clear at the intersection of Del Mar Blvd. and Springfield. Gaining ground in some states, Paul’s message of limited government that interprets the American Constitution as it was written, withdrawing all American troops from Afghanistan, and auditing the Federal Reserve, has resonated with young voters.

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Nancy Herschap

the Writer

on

Nancy Herschap

the Artist

I’m Nancy Darlene Eatherly Hinojosa Herschap — long name for a woman who’s five feet tall...or five feet short. I’m an English instructor at Laredo Community College and have been teaching there for the eight years. I cannot imagine a day without reading, writing, or painting/sculpting. I say this to my students and to anyone who’s curious.

I was born in Laredo. I opened first my eyes in Laredo, and I’ll close my eyes last in Laredo.

Tolstoy

My father Gilberto

Literature, no doubt, was my first love, and within time, intertwined with art quite naturally. I’d read a book, and the ideas and characters would simply obsess me, so that the next thing I knew, I was either sculpting a high relief likeness of Leo Tolstoy after reading Anna Karenina, or swirling watercolors to concoct a portrait of D. H. Lawrence after reading Sons and Lovers. The writing started with a sense of loneliness and as therapy for some of the most confusing and troubling times of my life. I’d write a poem or a short story, often from real experiences and sometimes from a creative and fictitious point of view, and then I’d express those experiences through art to depict what a woman, one woman or all women, might feel. I’ve never thought about it too much, other than that life in itself would be almost unbearable without the absorption of literature, the creativity of writing, and the expression of art.

Perplexed

There’s a real art and a real joy to teaching! To this day, I’m not sure who gains more from the interaction that occurs, the student or the teacher.

Woman reading Chopin

John Edgar

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LCC English Instructors

I don’t think the artist can separate herself from her art; it is one and the same. I don’t think about it; I just let the paintbrush glide or trudge over the canvas or let my hands lump or smooth the clay into a form. I’m intrigued with people; their faces reveal, subtly or blatantly, much that is tragic in life, and such struggles unconsciously emerge in my pieces.

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Henry Ruiz, the son of Roberto and Elisa Ruiz and a 2012 honors graduate of the United High Engineering and Technology Magnet School, will continue his studies in the honors program of the Computer Science Department of Texas State University in San Marcos. He is pictured with his mother, Elisa Ruiz.

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Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

2012 UHS graduate

Enjoying an evening out Linda Barreda and Glen Jackson were spotted after a great dinner as they left Cosmo’s Bar and Grill after viewing the televised debates.

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Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Courtesy Photo

First Holy Communion

At one of downtown’s best known dining venues

Citlali Benavides, a student at Mary Help of Christians, is pictured with her parents David and Juani Benavides at the Laredo Country Club on the occasion of her First Holy Communion at San Luis Rey Church.

Cathy and Jim Moore are pictured after a great meal at El Catan with son John Reese and his wife Araceli, and granddaughters Katie and Chelsea Reese.

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Evelyn June Perez

Feature

LCC’S environmental science center: a walk on the wild side

BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

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eed a break from an overtly fast-paced technology reliant existence? Then take a walk on the wild side at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center (LBVESC) on the northwestern edge of the Laredo Community College Fort McIntosh campus. The interactive science facility, home to various representations of the Rio Grande ecosystem, contains live specimens of plant and animal life native to our region – including fish, reptiles, amphibians, javalinas, alligators, ducks, wild cats, opossums, skunks, rabbits, grey fox, and a coatimundi, which is kin to raccoons.

LBVESC serves as a living science laboratory for local students of all ages.

Elementary, middle, and high school curriculum are integrated into the center’s laboratory experience for local public and private school students.

Tom D. Miller, director of the LBVESC, said, “Our type of facility is very rare in that it is located on a community college campus. A telephone survey concluded that only four to five such facilities exist in the country.”

The center is a regional destination for students for instruction in biological, aquatic, and environmental science.

Guided tours of the facility are offered

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at a great rate and vary according to time and activities –– $3 for a one-hour guided class, $4 for a two-hour guided class and hands-on activities, and $7 for a five-hour guided class, hands-on activities, nature trail walk, and aquatic science seminars.

“We offer specific lab classes in biology, chemistry and geology for our collegians. The center is considered an important resource for numerous art, social science, and English classes,” commented Miller.

Comparing the benefits of visiting an environmental science center as opposed to a zoo, Miller commented, “City, state, and national parks may foster wildlife in their more natural settings. Designated nature trails and nature centers may foster settings and programs that support wildlife and native plant viewing. Traditional zoos with caged settings and even modern zoos with more open settings promote viewing of non-native wildlife and even the propagation of rare or endangered species.”

He added, “Our environmental center offers views of native plants and animals and promotes exploring their relationships. We do not promote the breeding of these common animals, but we do propagate and promote the use of our native plants in local landscape for the purpose of conserving water.”

LBVESC is also home to the Paso del Indio Trail. Miller said, “Our nature trail is used by numerous researchers, nature lovers, and even kinesiology classes. We have hosted events open to the public interested in birding, nature viewing, and nature photography.”

The center is gearing up for the end of the year field trips from various schools. LBVESC is also prepping for its annual summer camps. Miller said, “Our summer camps offer an intense, week-long nature experience for all age groups including 4-6, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-15 year olds.”

“As we have become increasingly urban, many residents no longer have an accessible ranch to view nature.

For many the center offers a chance to view local animals and identify local plants. It is a very convenient way to introduce children to animals, which fascinate them. For many on their school field trips, it may well be the first visit to the institution they will attend for their higher education,” said Miller.

The center’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. General public admission is $4 per adult, $2 per child (ages 4-18) or senior citizen. Free admission is granted to those with a valid LCC or TAMIU ID. For more information on the center or the summer camp sessions, call (956) 764-5701 or email lbvesc@laredo.edu. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

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By EVELYN PEREZ

n San Juan, Texas there is a Catholic church that I’ve been visiting since I was a little girl. It has special memories for me. The church is devoted to the Lady of San Juan del Valle; a devotion taken from San Juan de los Layos, Mexico. Originally the church was a small wooden chapel built in 1920 by Reverend Alfonso Jalbert. In November of 1976, the chapel was destroyed by an

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airplane. The church was rebuilt, however, it was done so in a different and larger location.

Now the church stands as a large monument and as a gathering place for pilgrims. The church was designated as a minor Basilica on June 12, 1999 by Pope John Paul II. Upon arriving there it’s easy to see why pilgrims from all over travel to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle. The grounds are a lush green and along the walking trail that

wraps around the church there are several wooden monuments depicting the struggles of Christ.

Although the grounds are beautiful, my fascination lies with the inside of the church. There are several rooms in which you can pray for those you love. In this area of the church, and after buying a candle, you can light a vigil. According to Our Lady of San Juan del Valle’s website, the lighting of a vigil is, “a tradition of the church that represents and reminds us that Jesus is

the Light of the World.”

On a more personal level, I believe it is a good way to cope with the loss of a loved one and a way to silently ask for your loved one to be looked after.

Whether you are religious or not, the atmosphere there calms the heart and soothes the soul. It’s quiet and peaceful, and the overall feeling there is of serenity.

For more information on Our Lady of San Juan del Valle visit www.olsjbasilica.org. ◆

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Courtesy Photo

Class of 2012 Graduate Irma Alejandra Gonzalez is pictured at May 11 TAMIU commencement exercises with her parents, Librado and Irma Gonzalez, her sister Priscilla, and her brother Josue. She has completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies – Bilingual Education.

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Staffing the household haz waste collection event Environmental Services Department staffers were a large part of the success of the department’s May Household Hazardous Waste collection event. Standing from left to right Bernardo Romero, Ivan Santoyo, Alberto Magaña and Francisco Rosales. Seated are Leticia Benavides and Rose Tijerina.

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Feature

Writer Joel Uribe enriched our lives with stories; he takes his rightful place in the canon of Tejano history

By MARíA EUGENIA GUERRA

A

s I read through the manuscript of Joel Uribe’s last book, The Flow of Swallows, I had so many thoughts about the late writer, educator, and historian. One was that if he’d lent his eloquent, learned voice to teach history — its meaning and its bearing on our lives — there would be many more inspired historians in the world.

Joel Uribe I thought, too, how fortunate are his children and grandchildren and all generations of Uribes to come to have Joel’s narrative for the family history in the New World and the more recent two-century history of the Uribes at Revilla-Guerrero Viejo, Uribeño, and San Ygancio.

I recalled how we first met more than 20 years ago at San Jorge Ranch across the road from our ranch. I was as taken with him as I was with his

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brothers Jorge and Omar — Jorge a retired railroad man and a rancher turned imagineer and inventor on the ranchlands, my only real neighbor for miles around; and Omar, an accomplished artist, guitarist, and a teacher in Zapata. You could not be around them, without being drawn to their creative energy, their laughter, their camaraderie, and their talent. I have indelible memories of their music at gatherings at San Jorge Ranch, the stars bright pinpricks on the vast night sky, the air redolent with mesquite smoke and the fragrances of the monte carried on gentle gusts of wind.

The last time I saw Joel I did not know he was ill, but I did have a sense, especially later, that the time in which we sat in my office was a leave taking. We talked about The Flow of the Swallows, the book he was writing about the widow Doña Ignacia Gutierrez de Lara Uribe who with two of her sons moved from Cd. Guerrero, Tamps. in 1822 to establish the townsite of Uribeño near what is now San Ygnacio.

Joel had brought me a copy of the manuscript. We spoke of it that afternoon, of San Ygnacio and ranches, of writing, the act of writing, of family histories, and of our children and grandchildren — the latter, to be clear, the most tender aspect of our lives.

When I recall that afternoon and the richness of our exchange, it occurs to me now that we were doing an accounting, enumerating and naming what was dear to us, arriving at a sum total to understand what is and always has been vital to our lives. We do this when we are no longer young and when we understand that the decades we’ve already lived far outnumber the balance of the years that

lie ahead.

I never tired of hearing Joel’s elegant, correct, articulate Spanish, so often inflected with the emotion of the story he was telling or the song he was singing.

I recently came across photos of him at San Jorge Ranch in San Ygnacio, where he was a regular participant in the field trips Jorge and Irma Uribe hosted annually for every kindergarten student in Zapata County. The photos of him playing the guitar and singing to children in the shade of an ebano distilled for me who I thought Joel Uribe was — a writer grounded in history, a musician, a chronicler of the culture and traditions of not only his family, but

Jorge, Omar, and Rene.

“My brother Joel took care of the family checkbook when he was a youngster. He was good at this,” Jorge Uribe recalled. “He was the agent for El Mañana in San Ygnacio, and he sold subscriptions and delivered papers to homes. He loved music and took lessons from Felipe Aguilar in San Ygancio. He played guitar and piano, and composed music.”

Born in Laredo and raised in San Ygnacio, Joel Uribe was a lifetime elementary school educator in Laredo.

He married Dené L. Hinojosa in 1967, and they had two children, Mireya Adriana and Derly Joel.

Derly, a Laredo attorney, recalled, “My sister and I developed an appre-

At San Jorge Ranch, San Ygnacio

of all families who settled this part of Texas.

Joel Uribe was the oldest son of Derly and Laurentina Martinez Uribe and the brother of Luis Angel, Alma,

ciation of music because of him. We didn’t have his talent, but we certainly recognized and appreciated the music Continued on page 63

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Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

Organic gardening in South Laredo Gerardo Mata, a senior at Cigarroa High School and an organic gardener, is pictured with one of the food plots in his backyard. Mata, a member of the Future Farmers of America, planted heirloom seeds to start his garden, which includes a variety of tomatoes, squash, peas, melons, and herbs.

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Jacqueline García – champion powerlifter Zapata High School sophomore Jacqueline García, who placed fifth in the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association state meet in Corpus Christi on May 3, is pictured with her parents Oscar and María Elvia García of San Ygnacio. Jacquline is also a member of the Zapata Hawks JV softball team that recently won the district championship.

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ZAPATA RISING: “The biggest family reunion in the world”

August 8, 9 & 10, 2013 • ZAPATA, TEXAS

EST FAMILY BIGG REU HE NI FT

RLD HE WO IN T ON

Honor your family by attending the “biggest family reunion in the world” in 2013.

PROUD SPON SO RO

In 1953 almost 3,000 men, women and children were abruptly and unjustly displaced from their ancestral homes due to the construction of Falcon Dam and the creation of Falcon Lake. Many families lost everything they owned: their homes, their pets and farm animals, their rights to any claim and were even forced to abandon their beloved dead at cemeteries flooded by the new lake.

In 2013, we will reunite them and their descendants for the “biggest family reunion in the world” in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the creation of Falcon Dam and the experiences suffered in the name of “progress”.

Build your family tree at www.zapatarising.com.

For more information call Graphitiks Advertising Design, Inc., (956)723-4389 or visit www.ZapataRising.com

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ZAP

ATA • T E X A S

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Feature

High noon con Las Uñas Pintadas

By BEEZIE BIRGE LareDOS Contributor

am I one of those mothers who can

“What’s the dress code?” I ask my friend over the phone. I am sitting on my bed gabbing on my cell.

“Va ser pura uña pintada!”

Aaay! That means a manicure, heels, and Spanx! Aaay! “Well, chula, gotta go if I’m going to make it fashionably late.” I end the call and consider my shoes. I hate my shoes.

Aaay! I have two choices. There are the killer shoes, the ‘come hithers,’ which are pretty but there is a reason they look so brand new, even though I bought them at Sax for fifty-off-fifty-off at their super sale two years ago. By wearing them I risk serious bodily injury. Falling from their heights might mean a broken ankle or worse still, a fall from grace in front of the Uña’s Elite Squad — that inner circle I dress for, the firing squad whose eyes are like bullets. Who will I be today, friend or foe? One glance from them and I’m dead meat.

I get up and go to my closet. I hate my closet. It discourages me.

Aaay! I look at my flats. I hate my flats. Aaay! I am short as it is and by wearing them I will appear to look like I belong to the Lollipop Guild.

I already feel looked down upon. I can’t get away with flats. Should I risk falling and injuring myself?

Can I make it to a chair before I fall off the high wire of my sexy heels?

When am I going to stop dressing for Las Uñas Pintadas?

I’m not getting any younger, but then.... I’m still a babe, no? I guess it depends on who you ask. My friends’ mothers tell me I’m “muy guapa.” My grown kids’ friends would laugh all the way down the block if asked. I’m just a mom, but

still turn a head or two, or am I one of those past her prime?

Las Uñas could say, “She didn’t make the cut. Did you see her shoes?”

Will I be relegated to the corner table where all the aging behemoths go to die, the bone yard where the best I could hope for is to be called an “interesting character,” or be condemned like a recently pronounced leper, the painted fingers pointing the way to the colony from whence henceforth I shall ever be doomed — the losers table.

I’m still hip, no? I am not yet one of those whose lackluster smile and wrinkled brow bespeak age and gravity, am I? It’s sorority rush all over again. Aaay! I step into my bathroom. I consider my body in the mirror. Aaay! When did this kangaroo pouch suddenly sag? Spanx to the rescue. I remember my mother getting into her girdle and thinking to myself, “I am never going to go there.” At least my boobs still look good in a push-up bra. Ha! I watch my husband enter the shower. He passes the mirror without staring at himself. How does he do that? He obviously doesn’t have to face the killer elite or walk in front of (on stilts, no less) the firing squad or face that dreaded moment — the Grand Entrance, the moment when I arrive and pass through the ‘wall of fire’ where the Uñas will be waiting to pass judgment. These are the categories — the chosen few who are the best dressed, “DID YOU SEE THAT NEW ROCK SHE WAS WEARING?”and the rest, the losers, the poor ranks of the judged — the damned and the OKds. “Did you see her shoes?”

My husband just has to face his

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compadres who dress in khakis and guayaberas and slap each other on the back in greeting. “Quiubole compa, how ya’ been, dude?”

Oh, brother! I wish I had a cigarette and a martini. Too bad I quit. Seems they don’t agree with aging gracefully, but that’s another subject. My mind tends to wander. My husband exits the shower. Three minutes, top to bottom! He has not a clue. I ask, “Honey,” (Always begin with honey if you want a positive response). “Am I still attractive?” He hesitates, checking his answer. “Sure babe, you’ll always look good to me.” He flees the bathroom at warp speed.

“Chicken,” I think. Another two minutes in his closet and he’s out the door. Five minutes! Aaay!

I consider the ritual ahead of me.

Shower, shampoo, condition, shave, moisturize, deodorize (all I lack is to be baptized and canonized), blow dry, curl, spray, foundation, powder, eyeliner, shadow, mascara, lip liner, lipstick and then it’s to my closet where I will again be traumatized.

Aaay! I hate my closet.

How do I begin to describe what passes for my wardrobe? Nothing but a bunch of fakes, phonies all of them — off the rack, the lot of them. The best lack buttons and the worst are an utter embarrassment of yesterday’s has-beens. I hate my clothes. I select the least offensive and go for a conservative vanilla number, but that means killer shoes.

Fast foward, one-and-a-half hours later. I look pretty good, I think. I am in the parking lot of the Uñas luncheon. I hope it’s chicken salad and not chicken cordon blah. I reapply the three lipsticks I used to achieve just the right shade. I am

not alone in this. I have seen other women do it, too. I get out of my car.

Actually, I’m from Laredo so I get down from the car.

Barefoot, I tippy toe, so I don’t dirty the hemline of my vanilla trousers to the front door. I scurry across the parking lot carrying my instruments of pain in my hand. I arrive at the front entrance, put my torture traps on, check myself once more as I pass the mirror that is just inside the door and hold my breath.

Here I go as I hobble my way in.

There are the Uñas, resplendent in their couture everything, smiling broadly.

I plaster that same affected smile on my face. We exchange our hellohowareyous and nicetoseeyous as we scan each other. They are so beautiful in their dermatologically spackled faces and new implants (teeth and boobs.) I admire their expensive everything and my eyes scan up to down. We look at each other’s shoes. Oh, no! A thousand times no! What a cruel, cruel world this is that would condemn me for my pointy-toed heels. Their pumps have round toes.

It’s off to the bone yard for me to bewail my lack of trendworthiness and my ejection from the social elite.

I’m a castaway from the young, the beautiful, and the rich. To be honest I think this ejection happened several moons ago when I tried to pull off the cargo pants. Aaay!

At least I’m an interesting character. I wonder if my husband thinks so. I’ll have to remember to ask him.

Oh, look, there at the loser table, sit some friends of mine from back in the day when we ruled the world.

We were so young, ever so sexy, Continued on next page

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 Continued from page 40 ever so hip. And doesn’t I look cute in those precious pointy toed heels?

We laugh at old times, good times, wild times. Our laughter draws attention. No matter, we are in the bone yard now. There ain’t nowhere to go but up from here. I lighten up.

It’s chicken salad sandwiches with deviled eggs on the side — my favorite! We laugh some more and suddenly, I realize that this is one of the best luncheons I have ever attended.

I will be questioned later by one of the Uñas who will ask, “Boy, what were you all talking about at that table? I was so jealous. I wanted to sit at your table but ‘Nose in the Air’ and ‘Stick up her _ss’ made me sit with them.”

Aaay, esas Uñas Pintadas. I’m free at last, free at last. Maybe I can find some cute flats for next time.

No more torture devices for me, no Spanx, no four-inch heels, no two-

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inch heels, I’ll see about the oneinchers.

I forsee a day when I will no longer dress for Las Uñas Pintadas.

Someone asked me how I envisioned my old age. I will cut my hair pixie style, dye it red with something off the shelf from the HEB, and be a real genuine character. I’ll dress in guayaberas (they make them for women now, too, you know,) jeans, and cowboy boots.

I might even start smoking with a long-ass filter like my great-grandmother. She was an Uña Pintada in her day. She was a real character.

I expect I’ll be one some day, too.

By then the Uñas won’t really matter much. I’ll be laughing my hiney off at the losers table with the old behemoths who are my old friends.

Sitting there with us will be some of today’s Uñas, for some of them will have grown up and graduated by that time. We will talk about aging.

They will lament, “Aaay!” And I will agree. ◆

Feature

McPherson at Shiloh: Job Hernandez sells the news

By DENISE FERGUSON LareDOS Contributor

L

aredoans who have occasion to drive along McPherson on a Sunday may have noticed a constant presence at the intersection with Shiloh.

That would be Job Hernandez, Laredo Morning Times newspaper vendor. Many times Hernandez’s devoted customers wait in a line four or five cars deep to reward the young entrepreneur for his steadfastness.

Now 16, Hernandez has been at that corner for without fail for two years from 7:00 a.m to 3:30 p.m. “A Times circulation manager picks me up around 7 a.m. and drives me here,” said Hernandez.

Whether any particular Sunday manifests itself in searing heat, drenching rain, or a bone-chilling 30 degrees, Hernandez will be found at his post. Laredoans are grateful for his reliability so that they can indulge their habit of sitting down with a cup of coffee and perusing the news and gossip before starting their day. They don’t need to step out of their cars, and the fast service allows them to be quickly on their way. Hernandez said, “I sell an average of 100 newspapers each Sunday.”

The employees at the adjacent Exxon station appear to have taken Hernandez under their wing. “I purchase water from them all day when it is hot,” said Hernandez. And if the rain becomes a deluge or turns to hail stones, Hernandez can be located under the Exxon auto canopy. If the parking lot becomes hot enough to fry eggs, Hernandez can step inside for a quick break.

A typical customer, Jackie Rodriguez, said, “We make it a point to come here every week to purchase

our Sunday newspaper even though it is out of our way. [Hernandez] is a hard worker.” Another weekly customer, Sergio Gonzalez, also praised Hernandez’s initiative. “He is a good fellow.”

Hernandez is a native Laredoan and attends Nixon High School.

His current goal is to become a doctor of radiology. “I like to examine bones,” he explained. “My earnings go towards future college expenses, helping out the family, and some personal purchases.” Hernandez is the eldest of five children, including three sisters and one brother. He finds time to indulge in his favorite hobby, boxing, after school hours.

He also plays basketball and football and attends local sports events. “I like playing games on the computer too,” said Hernandez, “But I am not a computer addict.”

Asked if he thought that his vendor work experience would provide helpful inter personal relationship experience and stamina later on in life, Hernandez answered, “Yes, I think it will.” ◆ LareDOS I

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Webb County Elections Administration Election Day Sites • May 29, 2012 Primary Elections Pct. Location Address

Pct. Location Address

401 402 403 404 405 406 407 308 309 310 311 312 413 414 215 416 417 218 219 220 221 122 423 124 125 226 227 128 129 130

231 132 133 134 135 136 237 338 239 340 341 342 343 344 345 446 447 448 349 350 351 252 453 154 255 356 457 458 359 360

Senior Citizens Home McDonell Elementary School Laredo Civic Center Richter Courts Hall Farias Elementary School Santa Maria Elementary School J. O. Walker Building Clark Elementary School A. Gutierrez Elementary School Christ Miracle Center Alma Pierce Elementary School Sanchez / Ochoa Elementary Don Jose Gallego Elem. School Bruni Elementary School Memorial Middle School Salvation Army Building Heights Elementary School Nixon High School - Annex Milton Elementary School F. S. Lara Academy Christ Episcopal Church Lamar Middle School Daiches Elementary School St. Joseph Church Hall Roche Residence Webb County Appraisal District B Johnson Student Activity Comp.

Templo Revelación Santo Nino Elementary Schoo Cigarroa Recreation Center

700 Juarez St. 1606 Benavides St. 2400 San Bernardo Ave. 1600 Circle Dr 1510 Chicago St. 3801 Santa Maria Ave. 5810 San Bernardo Ave. 500 Hillside Rd. 505 W. Calle Del Norte 4400 Sanders Ave. 800 E. Eistetter St. 211 E. Ash St. 520 Clark Blvd.

1502 San Eduardo Ave. 2002 Marcella Ave. 408 Matamoros St. 1200 Market St. 2900 N Malinche Ave. 2502 E. Elm St. 2901 E. Travis St. 2320 E. Lane St. 1818 N. Arkansas Ave. 1401 Green St. 110 N. Meadow Ave. 218 S. España Dr. 3302 Clark Blvd.

5208 Santa Claudia Ln. 1102 S. Meadow Ave. 2702 Bismark St. 2201 Zacatecas St.

Salinas Elementary School Prada Elementary School Centeno Elementary School D. D. Hachar Elementary El Cenizo Community Center E. Salinas Community Center Bruni Community Center Santa Teresita Community Center B P Newmann Elementary Laredo Medical Ctr. Ambulatory Nye Elementary School JP Precinct 4 Building United Middle School Col. Santos Benavides Elementary United 9th Grade Campus Finley Elementary School Muller Elementary School F & A Bruni Community Center United High School (New) Callaghan Ranch Laredo Medical Center United South High School Lamar Bruni Vergara City Park LB Johnson High School Texas A&M Int’l University Borchers Elementary

Los Botines Restaurant/Cafe G. Washington Middle School Doctors Hospital Gallagher Garden Apts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CALL THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE

100 Century Dr. 510 Soria Dr. 2710 La Pita Mangana 1003 Espejo Molina Rd. 3519 Cecilia Ln. 917 N. Main, Mirando 303 E. 12th St., Bruni 15014 Hwy. 59 1300 Alta Vista Dr. 7210 McPherson Rd 101 E. Del Mar Blvd.

8501 San Dario Ave. 700 E. Del Mar Blvd.

10702 Kirby Ln. 8800 McPherson Rd. 2001 Lowry Rd. 4430 Muller Memorial Dr. 452 Rancho Penitas 2811 United Ave. I H 35 N – 27 Miles OCL 1700 E. Saunders St. 4001 Ave Los Presidentes 202 W. Plum St. 5626 Cielito Lindo Blvd.

5201 University Blvd.

9551 Backwoods Trail 469 Well Ln – Hwy 83 N 10306 River Bank Dr. 10700 McPherson Rd. 5118 Gallagher Ave.

Webb County

AT (956) 523-4050 OR STOP IN AT 1110 WASHINGTON ST. SUITE 103 webbcounty.com/ElectionsAdministration/

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CALL THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE

AT (956) 523-4050 OR STOP IN AT 1110 WASHINGTON ST. SUITE 103 visit webbcounty.com/ElectionsAdministration/

View Maps at:

http://webbcounty.com/Maps/

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Giada Pe帽a

Dareon Willia ms with Rosl yn Williams, Suntrease Will iams-Maynard , and Stephen May nard

ci贸n Ishmale Sen ntes va er C o with Ald

Joyce Amanda Altgelt with Emily and George Altgelt.

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Opinion

Galo takes things down a notch: How low can you go?

By George Altgelt, Danny Lopez Jr., & Hector Cortez While most of us are trying our hardest to convince the voting public that we have what it takes to be the next County Commissioner for Precinct 3, John Galo is wearing his bad behaviors on the outside — mean spirited bullying in person, intimidation, targeting the family members of his opponents, and claiming to know what percentage of the votes being cast went to him.

Sir, what motivates you? Fear of losing again and to candidates far more formidable than the one you faced in your last losing race? Losing to four men who do not have the resources to run a campaign replete with a greeter at early voting — a paid clerk who is taking names

and making lists at Providence and then reporting to you that a certain number of votes went to you.

And even as you behave this way, you still have the gall to expect a peck on the cheek and an abrazo from our family members? Mr. Galo, not everyone subscribes to the hypocrisy of your code of dishonorable behavior.

Dime con quien andas y te digo quien eres.

On 5/16/2012 one of Galo’s minions, un tal “Chuy,” cut down one of George Altgelt’s signs on the empty lot on Springfield before Providence, and when confronted about it said, “So what?”

The most telling example of John Galo’s character is the incident on the morning of 5/19/2012 when he stated to one of Mr. Cortez’s youngest family members that they should just pack it up and leave because he had had inside in-

 Continued from page 15 County so that they serve everyone who comes before them? This court’s reach goes to 32 counties including Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Starr, and LaSalle. The people of South Texas deserve representation on the court,” she said, adding, “It’s a political court, a court that has a history of setting aside law to create new law. That’s not how it should work.

Justice should be blind and the individual beliefs of the justices should not factor into their decisions.”

Alvarez, who is board certified in personal injury trial law, is unopposed

in the upcoming Democratic Primary, but will face incumbent Republican Rebecca Simmons of San Antonio in the November General Election.

Patricia Alvarez resides in Laredo.

She is a member of San Agustín Parish and is active in numerous community organizations. She is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of the College of the State Bar of Texas, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Her son, Eduardo, became an attorney five years ago and is her pride, and so are her three beloved grandchildren. ◆

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formation that of the 75 votes cast at the United 9th Grade Campus, 90 percent went to him. The next day Mr. Cortez told Galo, “Family has always been off limits in politics, and you need to stay away from mine.”

If the people working for our campaigns are reflections of us, the candidates, then John Galo has some explaining to do. The guy in the white Chevy single cab pickup with the lift kit and clearance lights who has a loud speaker installed and drives by the polling sites and says “Go Galo!” yelled out profanities against George Altgelt on 5/19/2012 in front of his 8-year-old daughter Emily, a telling reflection of the campaign John Galo is running.

The following day, on 5/20/2012, John Galo walked up to Danny Lopez’s wife Elizabeth who was proudly supporting

her husband on Calle del Norte across from the Providence voting site and stated to her in front of her children and family that all of the community support for Danny does not translate into votes for her husband.

“If John has something to say, he should say it to our faces instead of picking on women and children to deliver his intimidating messages,” said Danny Lopez Jr. Families and children are off limits, John. Certainly there are aspects of your personal life that are fodder for campaign aspersions. Your past record of service as a City Council member is fair game, your family is not, and neither are ours.

(Disclosure: George Altgelt is the son of María Eugenia Guerra, the publisher of LareDOS.) ◆

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South Texas Food Bank

By salo Otero

STFB’s Ranchers for the Hungry wins top Feeding America award

Salo Otero is the director of marketing for the South Texas Food Bank. He can be reached at sotero@ southexasfoodbank.org or by calling 956-726-3120.

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one was equally committed to alleviating hunger. I was able to learn from all whom I met.”

Casso praised the local ranchers, Farias, and board member Tijerina.

“His leadership in helping expand the program and his family’s generous and selfless contributions have made the program a success,” he said.

Casso said one of the most mean-

is that FA judges the program on their term of ‘going from good to great.’

Ranchers for the Hungry went from 3,000 pounds of meat contributed to 11,000 pounds.”

Ranchers for the Hungry, started in 2009 when Laredo cousins Roberto Laurel and Oscar M. Laurel Jr. harvested 121 deer on their Zapata ranch.

The effort blossomed in 2011 under

Courtesy Photo

he South Texas Food Bank has a big feather in its cap, or in this case, its big Stetson hat. Thank you, Ranchers for the Hungry program and the many landowner-ranchers who contribute to the STFB mission of feeding the hungry.

Ranchers for the Hungry earned the national award from Feeding America as the Food Sourcing Program of 2012. The award was announced at the national Feeding America Network Summit in Detroit in April. The STFB is a member of the 202-strong Feeding America network.

STFB executive director Alfonso Casso Jr. and board president Kevin Romo attended the conference. The Ranchers for the Hungry program director is South Texas Food Bank staffer Pancho Farias, and the coordinator is food bank board member rancherbusinessman Tano Tijerina.

The Food Sourcing Program of the Year award goes to the food bank that develops a new or innovative approach to increasing pounds of food and grocery products to their community while maintaining efficiency in staff and financial resources.

“I came back in awe understanding the enormity of hunger in America,” said Casso, who added, “There are 202 affiliated Food Banks in the Feeding America network and no two are alike. Each one had a different story. There were more than 500 people representing most of the Food Banks at this summit. Being in Detroit, a city which has been devastated by the economic downturn, made us more aware of the plight of those in hunger.”

He continued, “I had the opportunity to meet with many executive directors and board presidents from food banks across the country. Every-

STFB representatives are pictured after receiving the national award from Feeding America for Food Sourcing Program of the Year 2012. Left to right are board members Anna Benavides Galo and Kevin Romo; Pancho Farias and Alfonso Casso Jr. of the STFB staff; and flanking foodbank board member Tano Tijeria are Mary Finley and Ana Maria Finley of the famed Callaghan Ranch, a main donor to Ranchers for the Hungry.

ingful parts of the conference was hearing from author Chris Gardner, who was homeless for one year and was portrayed in the film The Pursuit of Happyness. Gardner became a successful stock broker and is now a speaker. “Food Banks and those that contribute to our cause will never know how we’ve affected daily so many lives. The STFB is proud to have been the recipient of this prestigious award,” Casso said.

Cindy Liendo Espinoza, STFB director of development, added, “It was our first time to enter a Feeding America contest. The key to our recognition

the guidance of Farias and Tijerina.

An avid outdoorsman and resident artist at the food bank, Farias, persistently urged landowners to donate livestock, including deer, to assist in the STFB mission of feeding the hungry. “And the ranchers came through,” Farias beamed.

Close to 30 steers, 10 hogs and 22 lamb and goats were processed with the meat going to the Kids Café and Adopt-A-Family programs. Ranchers for the Hungry becomes Hunters for the Hungry during the deer season.

More than 100 deer were donated in 2011. Fifteen Kids Cafes in Webb

County serve an after school meal to almost 1,000 children Monday through Friday and Adopt-A-Family distributes a bag of groceries per month to 500 families.

Tijerina helps transport livestock from area ranches to be processed.

One of the top deer and livestock donors is the Joe B. Finley Family at the Callaghan Ranch. Others like J.J. Haynes, David Dodier, and Ricky Muñoz have also pitched in. Some of the venison is processed by students of the J. W. Nixon High School meat processing class.

The Laredo International Fair and Exposition (LIFE) is also a huge source of livestock donated by buyers. Additionally, young participants like Bonnie Tijerina and Caye Tijerina donate their prize winning money to help with processing.

“The bottom line is that Ranchers for the Hungry is helping feed people,” a spokesman for the food bank noted. “And hunger exists in our own backyard. The key ingredients to alleviate hunger are a hard-working staff and a committed board. We must continue to bring that hunger awareness to our community.”

Donations can be sent to 1907 Freight, Laredo, Texas., 78041. The South Texas Food Bank distributes supplemental food to 25,000 families per month, including 7,000 elderly, 6,000 children and 500 veterans and their widows in an eight- county area from Del Rio to Rio Grande City. The food bank, a 501 c-3 non–profit, serves the unemployed, under-employed. and those living on fixed incomes.

The South Texas Food Bank was established in 1989 in cooperation with the H.E.B. grocery chain. The STFB can be reached at (956) 726-3120 and at www.southtexasfoodbank.org. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

Serving Sentences

By randy koch Randy Koch earned his MFA at the University of Wyoming and teaches writing at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

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ing, tenure is gained by collecting and then submitting to the proper authorities a combination of documents that provide evidence of effective teaching, such as student evaluations and classroom observation reports by colleagues; proof of service to both the community and the institution; results of one’s research; grant proposals; publications in peer-reviewed journals; and presentations at professional conferences. And once achieved, tenure is the key to residence in the Ivory Tower for the duration of one’s professional life.

However, during my 21 years of teaching – 11 at community colleges and 10 at universities in 4 different states – I applied for and was granted tenure just once: at the conclusion of

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ach spring, with the regularity of blossoming forsythia and catbirds perching in the sumac, I wonder where and even if I’ll have a job teaching writing in the fall. This is not a complaint. In fact, I enjoy the conclusion of a oneyear contract each May followed by three months of no obligations to anyone or anything. Of course, summer is far more enjoyable if I’ve already been offered a new one-year contract for the fall, but until I get a phone call from the dean at BU, I count myself among the 8.2% of unemployed Americans.

Most people who make higher education their career see their ultimate goal as achieving tenure. At Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, as at most institutions of higher learn-

The tenure of insecurity my fifth year at Laredo Community College. I was grateful and saw it as recognition of the work I’d done and a sign of the college’s confidence in my ability to continue to perform my duties. But I also saw it as evidence of my own willingness to leap through a series of hoops and the assumption that I would continue to leap through them and even hold the hoops so others might also leap, not because doing so necessarily made me a better teacher or writer but because it was the most direct route – no matter how elaborate and paper strewn – to job security.

Strangely, the definition of “security” doesn’t fit its usage. “Secure” comes from the Latin securus, semeaning free from or apart, and -cura, meaning care. One who is secure is free from cares and fear or, in the case of those tenured, free from worry about whether or not he or she will remain employed. However, the road to both attaining and then retaining tenure is often riddled with potholes of professional jealousies, administrative duties, endless haggling about policies and procedures, and political maneuverings worthy of the Nixon White House. Tenure leads to freedom from fear and worry? Honestly, I’m unconvinced.

Of course, I care about being employed, paying my rent and utility bills, and having insurance that makes routine visits to the dentist and chiro-

practor less painful. However, what I feel is, more accurately, simply the responsibility to do my fair share. And while I can’t speak for other temps, I don’t regret accepting a temporary teaching position that will not lead to tenure. I’m not motivated to seek out a tenure-track position just to avoid fear or to be given the “privilege” of conducting a variety of administrative duties that tenured faculty are obligated to perform, such as advising and serving on committees and attending department meetings.

These days, despite the endless economic gloom and doom, I’m not driven by the need to be secure, to be apart from fear or worry. Instead, I’m driven by that which seduces me, that which leads me apart, that which both requires and inspires insecurity.

I’m driven by knowing that if I am to write and teach well, I must care, not be free of care.

To write well is to be led astray, to shimmy down an eave spout of the Ivory Tower, hack an opening in the thorny sculptured hedge surrounding the grounds, and scramble through into an alley, a stockyard, a colonia, a nursing home where life and the living are not secure.

Writing may be the obligation of the tenured, but for the insecure it’s both the object and subject of devotion, a sentence for this summer and, I hope, for many more seasons to come. ◆

All things Seuss Klarrisa Alvarado is pictured with daughters Isabella Rodriguez, Sara Rodriguez, and Karla Rodriguez at Books-A-Million’s kickoff for the Dr. Seuss Summer Reading Program.

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Commentary

Sandía barata, dulce y colorada

By JOSE ANTONIO LOPEZ LareDOS Contributor

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andía barata, dulce y colorada!” The phrase shouted by the vendor at the top of his or her lungs was a sure way to attract attention in 1950s Laredo.

Little else in the hot days of summer throughout South Texas, had a more welcoming sound than the sandía (watermelon) vendor.

As happens often in language interpretation, a literal translation of this beautiful Spanish phrase into English doesn’t quite come out right. A close translation would be, “Watermelon for sale at bargain prices; very sweet and red.” Close, but it doesn’t do justice to this most respected cultural oral icon of poor and middle income Mexican neighborhoods. Just repeating the word “sandía” makes my mouth water (no pun intended).

To be sure, in addition to “El sandillero”, there were many other vendors who travelled through the barrios when I was growing up. Some did not have slogans to yell, but they nonetheless filled a niche in the vibrant, close-knit barrio community. There were barbacoa, chicharrones, and taco vendors with their pickup trucks, push-carts, bicycles, and three-wheelers. Others sold raspa, nieve, dulce Mexicano, limones, and pan (flavored shaved ice, ice cream, Mexican candy, limes, and bread).

The hielero (ice man) made his rounds early in the morning to take advantage of the coolness of the day.

Another favorite was the “tortillero” (tortilla deliveryman) who delivered hot, fresh corn tortillas to your doorstep right before lunchtime. In those days, most barrios had their own tortillería and panadería. However, those mom & pop small business crown jewels were swept away by large grocery stores, such as H.E.B. There was also “el lechero” (milkman). Although in our neighbor-

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hood, we had a choice. While there were several national and local brand cows’ milk lecheros, goat herders in the barrio also delivered goat’s milk and cheese to a select clientele.

El “afilador” (sharpener) pushed a large cart carrying a stone wheel. He didn’t have to knock on doors. The noise of the oversize metal wheels and the barking of dogs announced his arrival on your street. He pushed his cart slowly along and stopped when summoned by a voice calling out from one of the casas, “Espere, por favor” (please wait). Using a foot pedal or hand crank to turn the stone, he sharpened housewife’s kitchen knives and scissors. He also sharpened larger tools, such as axes and carpentry saws. El afilador charged only a few pennies for his services.

Most sandilleros or sandía vendors drove their watermelon filled trucks very slowly through barrio (neighborhood) streets to avoid damaging their precious cargo. For one thing, most of the streets in my barrio were unpaved.

To protect the sandías from the sun, most truck beds were fitted with a wooden frame covered by a weatherbeaten lona (canvas). The soft fruit was layered in between cushions of straw, hay, or crumpled newspapers to avoid bruising the sandias. Often, the load also included a supply of melón (cantaloupe).

Most of the time, the driver had a small crew, usually his wife and/or one or two of his kids. Carefully keeping his eyes on the road, the driver depended on his helpers to sell his fruit.

Those riding in the back were usually the first to see a customer coming out their front door as the truck passed by.

To signal the driver to stop, the helpers often used a hammer to bang a couple of times on the sides of the truck.

It was not always necessary for the driver to leave the cab of his truck. Most of the selling was done by his wife and children who charged anywhere from

25 to 50 cents per fruit. The selling system had its own protocol. There were a few questions to be asked.

“Cual le gusta?” (Which one do you like?) The customer would scan the load and point to a specific one. Often, they would make their final choice after the usual “thumping” on the surface of the fruit, waiting to hear that special sound of freshness. It was a very personal decision. Once the customer made a selection, the seller asked the next question.

“Y como la quiere Señora, calada o no?” This was a critical moment during the transaction. A “calada” was a quick way to both judge the inside appearance and taste of the sandilla. Very simply, using a sharp knife, the helper cut a small square on the surface and sliced out a wedge that went to the center of the sandía. He or she then carefully removed the wedge and offered it to the customer for a taste. It should be noted that sandía calada was usually purchased if it was to be consumed immediately. If the sandía was bought to eat the next day, it was usually bought sin calar (without testing).

With its beautiful waxy sheen and rich, dark green skins, the Black Diamond was the favorite round melon of choice. Even so, several hybrids had already been introduced by this time to extend fruit shelf life, and bug and disease tolerance. The extended range included seedless, yellow and orange flesh, and the differently shaped striped oblong varieties we see today.

Laredo had several truck stops specializing in watermelon selling.

One of the closest to downtown and my neighborhood was the Central Plaza stop. Central Plaza (Plaza de la noria), located across from my elementary school was a hive of activity during the growing season. The location also served as a social gathering spot for workers looking for employment in seasonal field work.

Several large trucks parked side by side, each competing for attention from local

customers. Customers ran the gamut in ages. Busy parents often sent their children to buy a sandía who carried the melons home in small wooden wagons.

Laborers on their way home from work usually placed their purchase in a costal (burlap sack) and threw it over their shoulder as they proceeded home. Of course, vehicles of every type stopped by and slowly cruised the length of the block searching for that special sandia at the best valued price.

It was at this stationary place where my brothers and I used to help my relatives from San Ygnacio who came to Laredo to sell their sandias. Frankly, I was better at doing the manual labor of loading and unloading. Selling the melons was a job best done by my brother Jorge. As a 12-year-old, he was often left in charge of the entire inventory of sandias in the truck.

So endearing was the sandía in the Mexican American community that no summer time gathering was complete without at least one sandía being shared in friendship. For many, it was the allure of a large, crushedice cooled sandia slice that kept them from leaving someone’s home too soon. “No te vayas,” an old saying goes, “en un ratito partimos la sandía”.

In closing, it must be noted that we exist in a society in which the legitimacy of Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens is questioned because we choose to preserve our Mexican cultural identity.

As such, it is up to us to remind others that these authentic “American” traditions were not brought to the U.S. by immigrants. Whether our customs began as original family traditions over 400 years ago in Nuevo México, or in California, Arizona, Colorado, or Texas, they are all precious reminders of our rich heritage. Our barrio way of life began before the U.S. itself was created. That is what makes our Spanish Mexican heritage in the U.S. so uniquely special. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

The newly elected slate of officers of the Tuesday Music and Literature Club are from left to right, Maria Soliz, president; Ardith Epstein, first vice president; Reva Sears, second vice president; Delia Whitfield, recording secretary; Rolinda Lawrence, corresponding secretary; and Imelda Gonzalez, treasurer.

www.laredosnews.com

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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS

Denise Ferguson

TMLC slate of officers 2012-2014

Effort rounds up 6,503 tires The City of Laredo solid waste department crews took in thousands of tires at the citywide Tire Round-up event on May 19 at the UISD Student Activity Complex. The round up is an effort to stop the spread of mosquito- borne Dengue Fever.

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Feature

A memorable day at the Audubon Zoo

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he John James Audubon Zoo with its well-maintained 58 acres, was originally part of the Plantation de Bore, home of New Orleans’s first mayor.

The city purchased the plantation and established a park, and later, as Magazine Street was completed and routed through the park, the land on the other side of the park was converted into a zoo.

Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, the zoo was updated, additional cages were built, and Monkey Hill — reportedly the highest point in New Orleans and built so that the children of New Orleans would know what a hill looked like — was completed. Beginning in 1975, a major undertaking funded by the city and private donations increased the zoo proper from 14 to 50 acres, modernized the cages and grounds, and added new features. Under the direction and close attention of the Orleans Audubon Society, it is now considered to be one of the finest zoos in the United States.

Metal and masonry signs announce the origins of animals. The Zoo’s 2,000 animals represent every part of the globe except the Artic and the Antarctic regions. The grounds are graced by lifesized statues of animals. Further down the trail were life-sized statues of humans. When I finally realized just how many animals were available for my viewing, I took out my small notebook and began writing down the names of the different kinds of animals as I encountered them. As I walked slowly down the different trails, I observed many, including but not limited to the Indian Crested Porcupine from Central Asia and parts of the Middle East; the Milby Stork from Cambodia, Viet Nam, Malaysia, and Indonesia; the Burmese

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Mountain Tortoise scattered from India to Borneo; and the Asian SmallClawed Otter, the leopard, and the Black Howler Monkey from South America.

I encountered several more life-sized statues of humans — e.g., a father and son dressed in fishing gear and carrying fishing poles; three Indian women by a stream; and a small, nude boy on the back of a tortoise. Later, I came up to a life-sized statue of a sitting Buddha. As I walked further, I watched the Golden Lion Tamarin from Brazil, the White-faced Saki from Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guyana; the Black and White Colobus Monkey, the Drill Baboon, and the Sumatran Orangutan—from Africa, the African Spurred Tortoise, the Western Lowland Gorilla, the African Savanah Red River Hog, the Thompson’s Gazelle, the Louisiana Swamp Jaguar, the cranes—representing in several different cultures different qualities like longevity for the Chinese, and many, many other interesting mammals. A small lemur with red fur and a human-like face put on an acrobatic show for me with an occasional glance in my direction apparently to check my attention. Of course, wide varieties of reptiles, fish, and birds were well represented.

Behind a tall fence and across a stream, I saw three rhinoceroses on the far bank. A two-horned male was fighting with a one-horned male over the third, a two-horned female, who was waiting patiently off to the side for the victor. Each of the two male rhinoceroses ran savagely against the other, then backed off a few steps to get a running start, and then slamed into the other. Since a rhinoceros can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds and run as fast Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

By LEM LONDOS RAILSBACK LareDOS Contributor

as 50 miles per hour, the continuing onslaught by each of the males was swift, noisy, and damaging. Finally, one of the males lay flat on the ground to signal surrender. The other male walked over to the female and the new couple walked slowly into the woods.

One of the special efforts of the zoo is the breeding program provided for the Amur Leopard, which is almost extinct. Fewer than 30 survive in the wild, but about 130 survive in zoos around the world. The John James Audubon Zoo provides a safe and nurturing environment for this rare leopard with the hope that over time, it will breed enough to provide for the zoo and for other zoos and keep it from becoming extinct. Another special effort by the Zoo is its protection and nurturing of rare White Bengal tigers.

Toward one end of the zoo is a section encompassing a swamp filled with alligators. ThE swamp featured a rough-hewn house on a floating flatbed. The floating house represented the housing for the impoverished “swamp people” who still live in some of the bayous of Louisiana around New Orleans. The swamp people capture alligators and kill and skin them.

Alligator meat provides the main dish, along with various vegetables and fruits that grow in the swampland, and the tanned alligator skin provides the means for buying seasonings, special foodstuffs, cigarettes, beverages, and occasional clothes.

Since it was nearly dark, I took a short-cut back to the gate. I made a sharp turn in the path and came upon a pack of animals. I stopped short and stood still and tried to quit breathing so hard. I made out three different animals and wondered if I had somehow stumbled into a cage that had been accidently left open. I stayed very still and very quiet. I finally made out that I was looking at a male lion with a very large mane with two small lion cubs. They were just a few feet directly in front of me. I noticed that none of the three had moved, and I inched closer, took a deep breath, and held it. As I moved closer still, I finally realized that they were just three more life-sized statues like all of those other scattered throughout the park.

I took a deep breath of relief and hurried up the path to the gate and caught the St. Charles Trolley for my quarters, supper, and bed. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

Feature This is an installment in a series of narratives about the diocesan History of Laredo, from its founding in 1755 to the present.

By José roberto Júarez LareDOS Contributor

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he vicariate was moved to Corpus Christi when Bishop Pedro Verdaguer died in 1911 and was elevated to a diocese in 1912. Prior to this date a severe hurricane in April 1905 had carried away two spans of the International Bridge, the steeple of St. Peter’s Church, and caused cracks in San Agustín Church. The latter was repaired in 1911 at a cost of $6,650.

The outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 forced some of Mexico’s elite and clergy to seek refuge in Laredo. They added much to the economic, religious, and cultural life of the region. Passionist Fathers were

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A diocesan chronicle: 1912 to 2000 – Laredo under the fifth diocese of Corpus Christi placed in charge of the parish by the first Passionist bishop of the new diocese of Corpus Christi in 1919. Fathers Benito González and Pedro Bernaola renovated the inside of the church between 1919-1922. Father Bernaola raised the tower 18 to 20 feet in order to accommodate a four-faced clock made in Baltimore with the trade mark “Seth Thomas.” The work was completed on October 8, 1922.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate were placed in charge of San Agustín, its two filial chapels, and five outlying missions in 1922 by the next bishop. It was the Oblates who built St. Augustine School in 1927 and staffed it with the Sisters of Divine Providence. As a result of the Cristero revolt against President Calles of Mexico from 1926

to 1929, a new influx of emigres came to Laredo. Mexico began to suffer the Cristero revolt against President Calles. Many previous attempts were made by the church to convince Calles to end his drastic persecution against Catholicism. The Bishops and Archbishops issued a collective pastoral letter on July 24, 1926 declaring a moratorium hoping to end Calles’ persecution. They announced that “after July 31, until we order otherwise, all religious services requiring the intervention of priests shall be suspended in all the churches of the country.” The Bishops directed that Catholics should withdraw their children from the public schools and threatened excommunicating government officials who attacked the rights of the Church.

The government kept the temples opened by turning them over to committees of laypersons. Since the sacraments were to be given only in emergencies and no Masses were offered, many Catholics from Mexico crossed to receive the sacraments and hear Mass in the United States.

Priests and religious also sought refuge here. At one time there were 14 bishops and archbishops living in Laredo. Pope John Paul II canonized 25 Cristero martyrs on May 21, 2000.

Oblate Father Florencio Andrés served in San Agustín from December 6, 1930 to 1941. In 11 years he gathered tremendous genealogical information and records (St. Augustine Church Genealogical Records on CD are available at San Agustín Church). Thanks to the Works Progress Administration the documents saved from the courthouse basement in 1934 were typed as originally written and Father Florencio and others translated from the transcriptions.

San Agustín Church was completely remodeled between 19451953. Bishop M. S. Garriga and the Oblates lengthened the building on the east side by 40 feet, adding a new sanctuary and two new sacristies.

Instead of native stone and concrete as in the old section, the new one was constructed of brick and hollow tile. On the west end a new baptistery and a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe chapel were added.

The walls were replastered and decorated. The floors of the new sanctuary and the aisles of the other parts of the church were made of terrazzo tile. New, thick, ornamented doors were placed at the entrance, and new stairs added to go up to the belfry.

Air-conditioning and a new fluorescent lighting system were added. An attempt to improve the acoustics was made by covering the ceilings with fiber boards. Vents were placed beneath the windows with electric fans at the vents. Dormer louvre vents were placed on the roof of the building for more ventilation. Confessionals were built into the deep walls protruding about a foot. The twentyfour leaded stained glass windows are still beautiful and attractive. The work was carried out by San Antonians: architects Julian & White, general contractors Lynn and Moresby, and consultant engineer Frank T. Drought. The total cost of the renovation was $60,000.

In 1948 the Sisters of Divine Providence moved from their cramped quarters on the third floor of the school into a home across Zaragoza Street. The move allowed the creation of more classrooms on the school’s third floor. Between 1958 and 1960 the convent home was replaced by a Continued on page 54

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Movie Review

Joss Whedon slays the horror genre: The Cabin in the Woods

By CORDELIA BARRERA LareDos Contributor

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ost movies are not written as puzzles. But some films, like David Lynch’s 2001 Mulholland Drive, Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994, and even Orson Welles’s 1941 classic Citizen Kane require audience decoding. It’s a good bet that when you find yourself immersed in a lot of narrative trap doors and overturned metaphors, you might do well to count the clichés, because chances are that they are being overturned, upended, reversed, or just plain squashed.

The Cabin in the Woods was produced and co-written by Joss Whedon (creator of several iconic TV shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and directed by Whedon’s longtime collaborator Drew Goddard (writer of the successful 2008 Cloverfield). Whedon describes The Cabin the Woods as a “loving hate letter” to horror movies.

Those steeped in the conventions of horror will see the film for what it is: an homage, a spoof, and a liberating, often really funny, experiment on the genre itself.

The postmodern prerogative approaches traditional ideas and practices in unconventional, sometimes bizarre ways. The result is the ultimate questioning of pre-established “superstructural” models that have historically been considered “truth.” In the postmodern world, genres — like horror, sci fi, or romance — are suspicious because truth is always changing. Parody and pastiche — staples of the postmodern human condition — are evidence of a culture immersed in imitations and simulations.

The Cabin in the Woods is a postmodern horror that questions, and ul-

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timately destroys the so-called structures (read: rules) of horror. In the film, parody and pastiche are taken to outlandish, sometimes hilarious levels. Because the film is a horror film about horror films, much of the fun is in watching the certain death of the genre itself.

In Whedon and Goddard’s final nod at irony, the horror film will not survive the horror film called The Cabin in the Woods.

The film begins stereotypically as five characters head out for a remote cabin in the woods. The five are obvious “stock” archetypes — models from which writers create different versions or copies. There is The Hero, Curt (Chris Hemsworth); the Virgin, Dana (Kristen Connolly); The Whore, Jules (Anna Hutchison); The Fool, Marty the pothead (Fran Kranz), and The Scholar, Holden (Jesse Williams). The kids pack up the van and head for certain death; meanwhile, two technicians in a sophisticated industrial laboratory — Richard Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford) — prepare for an unknown operation,

one of several routine drills that appear to be taking place concurrently around the world.

As an audience, we’re not sure at exactly what level these two storylines intersect. What we do know is that the technicians casually watch

and manipulate the cabin environment. The plot at this point does not necessarily thicken. Instead, it becomes a tongue in cheek free-for-all as the unconcerned technicians unleash pheromones to guarantee that The Whore and Hero will have sex (read: path to certain death). As the workers

heckle at their monitors and screens, they plug in various story devices to see what the characters will do. Then they place bets, and snicker and cajole as the unwitting teens discover the creepy artifacts in the basement that will seal their doom. The industrial complex is a huge, obviously wellfunded operation, and all the workers wager on the type of inhuman creature the teenagers will unwittingly conjure—which in this case happens to be a family of redneck torture zombies.

Anyone unfamiliar with the horror genre will undoubtedly find him or herself mystified at this point. But fanboys, fangirls, and genre aficionados will be gloriously sucked into the daring, ironic mayhem that follows. The Cabin in the Woods essentially flies off the map by midway, but it does so with such audacious, satirical deftness that the audience feels a pure exhilaration at the obvious and quite intentional evisceration of the genre. The film is not scary or terrifying, but it’s really funny if you get the joke. The more the plot goes wacky, the more uproariously fun and inventive the story gets.

The Cabin in the Woods is a delicious practical joke on the entertainment industry; the film (read: filmmakers) happily throw our global fascination with violence, and our condoning of that violence, smack in our faces. First and foremost, this is a film for horror fans, but it’s also a really smart movie that establishes new rules only to violate them some more. For this reason, The Cabin in the Woods will please and amuse savvy filmgoers, especially the ones who don’t mind bunches of bloodthirsty rogue gods and monsters, and a grand, dark clockwork that feeds on blood. Human blood, of course. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

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The Mystery Customer BY THE mystery Customer

Excellent baked goods and service at Caffe Dolce; kudos to Webb County tax office for continued efficient service

Caffe Dolce 1708 Victoria Caffe Dolce’s owners Valerie and Chris have earned the MC’s loyalty.

Their service goes above and beyond a retailer’s call of duty, and we are very appreciative of their efforts. Muchas gracias for the quick, tasty order that was freshly made and delivered. And many thanks for the birthday cake and cupcakes that were made from scratch and beautifully decorated.

Don Vicente 3301 San Bernardo The MC ducked into Don Vicente’s on the avenue and found such a pleasant atmosphere. Though they’d run out of the Chile Relleno special, the MC’s simple meal was quite tasty. The service was good, the tea freshly brewed, but the MC could have done without the loud volume for a children’s show on TV. The MC didn’t see any children.

Webb County Tax Assessor/Collector’s Office On a Monday that filled the waiting

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area with hordes of Laredoans paying taxes and registering vehicles, the employees of the Webb County Tax Collector/Assessor’s office kept the traffic moving at a great pace. The MC’s wait was two minutes and three transactions took less than five minutes. Great service, good attitudes!

Red Lobster 5315 San Dario Avenue The MC had an urge for some delicious seafood. In a party of three, the MC entered the restaurant and was instantly greeted with cheerful smiles from the staff. The wait was a mere 15 minutes in the thick of commencement festivities that weekend. The waiter was very attentive. No sooner had the MC placed his empty glass of sweet tea down, than the waiter returned with a refill. Great customer service all around!

Shell Stations all over Laredo The newer the station, the more likely the card readers at the pump will work. Mr. Shell Distributor, it is muy ag-

gravating to have to stand in line behind a Texas Lottery scratcher trying to find his fortune rather than make a quick gas transaction at the pump.

Executive Office Supply 3312 Santa Ursula Early in the morning, your hometown, homegrown office supply store is a display of incredible energy and momentum as delivery vehicles are filled to deliver not only across all of Laredo, but also in a large radius that includes the petroleum offices and businesses

prospering in the Eagle Ford Shale play.

Despite how busy they are, the service remains consistently good.

Salsa’s McPherson at Del Mar The MC would call the service here indifferent. Unable to be eaten without utensils, the meals of the MC and company stared back from the tabletop. It took three requests for cubiertos to three different staff persons racing past to get them. The meal, however, was very good and so was the company. ◆  Continued from page 51

new modern building in which music and home economics were taught.

The 1950s also saw other changes.

San Francisco Xavier chapel was built and the Salesian Sisters served as catechists. Cristo Rey and San José churches were now made independent parishes.

San Agustín Parish Neighborhood Diminished In 1963 a Texas historical marker was authorized and in 1973, in an attempt to stave off the deterioration of downtown Laredo, the San Agustín of Laredo Historical District was formed. Unfortunately the parish was to suffer as businesses moved to malls. Under the direction of Bishop Thomas J. Drury, the elementary and high schools inaugurated in 1927 were moved from the San Agustín Church grounds to the former Ursuline School on Galveston Street in 1976. The Ursuline campus was bought partly through the sale of the convent where the Sisters of Divine Providence had

lived since 1948, and through donations from Catholic and non-Catholic citizens alike In 1979 matters became worse due to the building of a second international bridge and the extension of the IH-35 expressway to it, obliterating much of the neighborhood which had supported San Agustín. The traffic congestion created by rapid increase of trade made access and parking difficult.

In 1985 the church was transferred from the Oblates to the diocesan clergy that had begun the parish 251 years ago. In order to protect the very symbol of Laredo, the San Agustín Church Historic Preservation and Restoration Society was authorized in 1989 by Bishop René H. Gracida. From 1989 to 1994 it raised $675,000 to renovate the church. The Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust gave generous funds to rebuild the rectory which suffered fire damage in 1996 and to restore the church and plaza. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M

Maverick Ranch Notes

By bebe & sissy fenstermaker

Rain, good news, and government’s cart before the horse

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t’s Thursday; since last Sunday we have gotten 5.65 inches in fairly gentle showers. This rain comes in May as the month moves toward June, just a year after the worst drought ever. It is like a miracle. All of April was without rain and the creek had stopped flowing across the Ranch road. We weren’t exactly talking about it, but the sun beat down so hard it brought the dread repeat. Now there is moisture to ease the plants and wildlife, and the creek is flowing. We take it a day at a time.

We have been noting trees lost to the drought — cedar, elms, Spanish oaks, live oaks, and nearly all of the Ranch’s blackjack oaks. Trees have fallen everywhere with more due to come down in any wind over 20 mph.

Some huge post oaks died, too. They are a reminder that we are, or were, connected to the nearby Post Oak Savannah of Texas. These days we are more akin to the Chihuahuan Desert than anything else.

A couple of years ago our Trinity Aquifer groundwater district joined with other districts to okay a 30-foot drawdown of the Trinity by 2030. Nearly every landowner and thoughtful person begged them not to do this. We know what that means for anyone or any business that depends on water, such as ranching or maintaining wildlife habitat. There will be a die-off of vegetation native to this area and thorn brush will invade – which it is already doing. But they went ahead without a moment of sober foresight and did the awful deed.

Yesterday at their monthly meeting they began to discuss how

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to monitor to insure water hogs don’t take the 30-feet down right away. Whoops, the cart is before the horse! They should have solved the question of whether enforcement is possible before voting for the drawdown. Government, even at the most local level, places economic development first and always without sanity. The young of today will get the bill in the future. This water fright will have repercussions on our good news coming next.

Over a year ago Maverick RanchFromme Farm, two SA city parks and Government Canyon State Natural Area, were nominated to become Important Bird Areas (IBA). Headed up by the National Audubon Society here in the United States, IBAs are an international network to connect up important local bird sites and conservation. We just got word that our Southernmost Edwards Plateau IBA is now a global IBA site. There will be more on this as we go along.

All spring, we and several excellent birders have been monitoring our Golden-cheeked warbler population for the IBA and keeping up the Ranch bird list.

Our hats are off to Mary Kennedy of the Bexar Audubon Society and Iliana Peña of the Texas Audubon Society for their hard work to make this happen. Our sincere thanks go to them and to Carrie Merson, Travis Gallo, and Blake Leslie who did sound groundwork for the nomination. Long-time birders from San Antonio Audubon helped us for 60 years to maintain a bird list and keep historic records. Wonderful friends are birders!

-Bebe and Sissy Fenstermaker

Seguro Que Si

By Henri Kahn Contact Henri D. Kahn with your insurance questions at (956) 725-3936, or by fax at (956) 791-0627, or by email at hkahn@ kahnins.com

H

The Obama economic boondoggle

as the economy improved since Obama became president? Not hardly!

Here are a few of the many realities that bear out the facts, what has and is happening since Barack Hussein Obama was elected president of the USA: The number of unemployed Americans has doubled from 15% to 30%.

88 million working age Americans are unemployed.

The average duration of unemployment in our country is close to an all time high.

The percentage of Americans living in extreme poverty keeps increasing in spite of the fact that the number of Americans on food stamps has increased from 32 million to 46 million.

The average price of a gallon of gas has increased 90% and health insurance premiums have increased 23%.

Home values have declined by another 13% and falling.

New home sales have kept selling all time record lows in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Our national debt is increasing at an average of $4 billion dollars per day.

Obama recently signed a commitment agreement with the president, aka, tribal leader of Afghanistan for our military to remain in that country controlled by Taliban Tribes for ten more years.

Can you imagine how the detrimental effect that taxation and inflation will further weaken any economic clout we have left?

Finally, anyone who believes that things are better now than they were when Obama was elected is delusional.

We need leadership in Washington, DC, not the short-lived political promises we have been getting from the current administration.

Vote your conscience; vote for who you think will do the best for the USA. ◆

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Dr. Neo Gutierrez is a Ph.D. in Dance and Fine Arts, Meritorious Award in Laredo Fine Arts recipient 2009 from Webb Co. Heritage Foundation, Laredo Sr. Int’l 2008, Laredo MHS Tiger Legend 2002, and Sr. Int’l de Beverly Hills, 1997.

Contact neodance@aol.com.

BY DR. NEO GUTIERREZ

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ario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld, who is known to us as Univision’s Don Francisco, has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame for hosting the world’s longest running TV variety show. Besides being in the Guiness Book of World Records, he now has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd. His shows are aptly titled “Sabado Gigante” and “Don Francisco Presenta.”

Don Francisco, 71, was born in Talca, Chile to German-Jewish immigrants who fled Germany to escape Nazi persecution. He went to New York City to learn to be a tailor, but ended up watching American TV instead.

He returned to Chile, where TV was just starting, and he began his show in 1962 as Don Francisco, using American TV ideas. He had an instant hit that gave rise to the only three-hour television variety show in the world still on the air and still using comedy, interviews, contests, and a traveling camera segment.

He used to fly between Miami and Chile each week to tape the Chile and the international shows. His daughter Vivian has become the host of the Chile show. Don Francisco has no plans to retire before the day he dies.

Besides hosting his two weekly television shows, he promotes telethons for disabled Chilean children, and he serves as Hispanic spokesperson for the U.S. Muscular Dystrophy Association, for which he appears in the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon.

Chilean President Michelle Bechelet has awarded Don Francisco the highest honor in the country for

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Hollywood honors Don Francisco exemplary service and in recognition for his humanitarian efforts.

The Chilean Telethon he created has resulted in the construction of 11 hospitals where more than 80,000 disabled children are treated.

And now down memory lane. When I first arrived in L.A. around 1975 I taught for two years for Burbank schools. Imagine my feelings when I found out that last month that Rebecca Mieliwocki, a seventh grade English teacher from Burbank, was named 2012 Teacher of the Year by President Barak Obama. She was honored in a ceremony at the White House.

She is the daughter of two public schoolteachers. She came to teaching in a roundabout way, having aspired to be a lawyer, then working in event planning, floral design, and publishing. President Obama explained how Rebecca sets high expectations for her student and herself, develops creative lessons, hosts family nights, sends weekly parent memos. And she maintains a Facebook page for her class.

Rebecca’s recognition comes at very precarious time for California public schools, which, along with the rest of the nation’s schools are facing incredible budget cuts.

To close, let’s jump over to a terrific note from Jennifer Bohac, Ph.D., who heads the association of former Aggie students. Her group is organizing a tourist trip for Americans to go to Cuba for one week in November for a people-to-people exploration.

The trip will provide excursions with commentary and direct contact with Cuban citizens. You will be able to explore Havana, the lively capital where Cuba’s cultural and political heritage is concentrated. There will be discussions with experts who will provide insights into life in Cuba, its

arts, and civil society. You will meet artists, dancers, and social service providers. Excursions include a visit to provincial villages of San Francisco de Paula and Cojimar where American author Ernest Hemingway lived. You will travel to Cuba’s colonial south and spend time in picturesque Cienfuegos and Trinidad, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. By the time you finish this excursion, you will have experienced

deeply the delights and the struggles of Cuba and her people. The project operates with a special license from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, allowing this exclusive travel program to open doors to a neighbor country long closed to Americans. If you go, you will take part in a pioneering cultural discovery enriched by discussions and people-to-people experiences.

And on that note, it›s time for — as Norma Adamo says — TAN TAN!

Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS

By dr. neo gutierrez

Muy saludable Vendor Ninfa Carrizales offered her healthy and delicious food products at the May 19 Farmers Market in Jarvis Plaza. In addition to her nopalito taquitos on nopalito tortillas, she prepared a jicama drink that is full of potassium, iron, and antioxidants.

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News

LPOA Zumbathon: Let’s everybody dance!

By DENISE FERGUSON LareDOS Contributor

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umba appears to be a wellaccepted form of an exercise to improve health and elevate spirits. On May 5, the dance form evolved as a venue to help others with the Laredo Police Officers Association (LPOA) Cinco de Mayo drive at Unity Hall on Polaris Drive.

Crunch Fitness Center collaborated with the LPOA for the fundraiser for scholarships for the children of LPOA members.

“We have been holding events such as bowlathons throughout the years to raise money for scholarships, but this is our first Zumbathon,” said Cordy Perez, LPOA vice president. She said that the organizations usually awards 15 to 16 scholarships in the amount of $500 each. She added that the group had

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received tremendous response from the public with respect to the Zumbathon presentation. By the time the program started at 10:00 a.m., eager participants were fighting to find a parking spot before the lot filled. “We greatly appreciate the cooperation we have received from Crunch Fitness personnel,” Perez added.

Vincent Hays, Crunch Fitness Center manager and trainer of instructors and personal trainers, said that the Crunch staff Zumbathon volunteers practiced for more than three weeks prior to the event. “They picked the theme and chose the music,” he said. The result was a beautifully orchestrated presentation. The five volunteer instructors were Ervin Delgado, Martin Gallegos, Lorena Maldonado, Arlene Juarez, and Ana Rodriguez. The female members of the Zumbathon audience squealed with delight when Delgado and Gallegos

leaped into the air or executed triple spins. In contrast, Maldonado mesmerized participants as she executed sultry, elegant belly dance moves. The audience tried to mimic those moves with varying degrees of success. Juarez and Rodriguez parted the sea of attendees as they energetically sprung from the stage and led a wildly uninhibited interactive session.

Volunteer, Delgado, a business administration major at TAMIU, exemplifies the joy of dance in conjunction with his passion and initiative to fulfill his dream of making it a permanent part of his life. “I have been dancing since

my sophomore year in high school,” said Delgado. “I was born in Galveston and raised in Monterrey.” A graduate of United High School, Delgado works in the office of the registrar at TAMIU as well as the Crunch Fitness front desk.

Upon graduation, Delgado hopes to open his own studio. Delgado, Gallegos, Maldonado, Juarez, and Rodriguez received an explosive reception from local Zumba aficionados. Various Zumathon participants commented about the positive aspects of Zumba as an exercise that allows participation from every member of a family and that requires no specific athletic skills. ◆

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Feature

Nudo Piedi, a contemporary dance company

By MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff

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ance, art in motion, is an expression, an interpretation of emotion — a vital component of modern and contemporary dance that Nudo Piedi Contemporary Dance Company (NPCDC) highly encourages.

NPCDC is the only local dance company with pre-professional/pro-

and that the student role “is one we never finish fulfilling.”

She said, “As a student, I continue to participate in national dance workshops, trainings, and classes. These include the Alvin Ailey School, Alonzo Kings Ballet, Shawl Anderson Dance Center, and the American Ballet Theatre.”

She said that as an educator and choreographer, she continues to teach master classes locally, in Texas, and

A tribute to the murdered women of Ciudad Juárez fessional status. It was founded in the fall of 2009 by artistic director Jessica Zamarripa, who is also the founder of the Laredo School of Contemporary Dance.

Zamarripa, who holds a BA in dance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in curriculum and instruction from Texas A&M International University, is the resident choreographer for NPCDC. The company stages two galas every season, in which three to four original new choreographies are showcased. In the past five years, the company has had guest choreographers from New York, Mexico, South Korea, Austin, and Dallas.

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Mexico. “In the Spring of 2011, I conducted weekly master classes in technique and choreography with CERES Danza Contemporanea. I also choreographed a new work for Ballet East Dance Company, which premiered in Austin last December,” Zamarripa said.

She said she established NPCDC with aspirations to enrich the community with fine performance art, as well as developing a contemporary dance community. “Every style of dance is offered locally at dance studios, but not contemporary dance — especially the Horton technique. I wanted a company that would represent this style of dance in a professional environment, as well as represent the local talent and offer them an opportunity to share their passion of

dance with each other and the Laredo community,” said Zamarripa.

Dancer Alison Hinojosa has been with NPCDC for two seasons. She expressed her thoughts on contemporary dance. “I did a lot of acting in Nashville. When I relocated and heard about NPCDC, I tried out in hopes of improving my dancing skills. Contemporary dance has surprisingly improved my acting. In contemporary dance, you have to exuberate and express all of your emotions.”

Sofia Villarreal, another dancer who recently completed her second season, said, “I’m really passionate about portraying characters and stories through dance. Contemporary dance has been the ideal style through which I may do so.”

As a Laredo native, Zamarripa has offered her dancers the experiences and opportunities she wished for when growing up. “In Austin, I had the opportunity to dance professionally and learn a lot about the dance field. I was able to establish relationships with renowned artists, educators, and choreographers. I wanted to take advantage of this network and

use it to benefit local dancers,” she said.

“The goal of Nudo Piedi is to educate and expose Laredo and surrounding areas to contemporary dance. By doing so, we contribute to the local culture and arts scene. We are Laredo’s first pre-professional dance company, and we always strive to represent our city with great pride,” said Zamarripa.

She continued, “Our company has shown tremendous artistic growth and maturity. Our dancers are more technical, more expressive, more liberated. We are able to let go completely. We are hungry for knowledge and opportunities to showcase our works.

We continue to seek ways to transform our art and transform our audience.”

NPCDC will hold auditions in July. The company is searching for two to three dancers who are at least age 18 and who have high technical proficiency and artistic expression.

Auditions consist of a modern/contemporary technique class and choreography, an interview, and a solo performance.

For more information visit www. nudopiedi.org. ◆

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Feature

Toni Juarez: A good life well-remembered

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Ursuline, 1949

Junior Prom, 1952

St. Edward’s University, 1957

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y Mom was such a happy and healthy person.

Though I wish that she was still with us, I feel so blessed to have had her in my life for the years we did. One of her favorite prayers was the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. She did not just pray the prayer, she modeled that prayer for us every single day of her life.

Her love for God, our dad, and our family was evident in every action she took and how well she cared for us.

She made sure my Dad had the healthiest diet and gave him as much love, affection, and attention as she could.

Together they made sacrifices all of their lives to ensure they could give each of their children an education.

Together they helped each of us no matter what we needed. What I also remember about her is how she took care not just of us, but anyone who needed to be taken care of. Whether the person needed to be taken care of physically or spiritually or mentally, my Mom made the time to care for them.

She loved music and dancing. Her spirits were instantly uplifted with music. Sometimes I would purposely turn on a good cumbia or polka or canción romantica just to watch her instantly begin dancing. It didn’t matter what she was doing — she couldn’t help but dance. I also loved to watch her dance with my Dad. They seemed to move as one in each other’s arms.

She was at peace in my Dad’s arms.

My Mom loved Laredo and was “Laredo Proud.” She loved to tell us about the people of Laredo, about the parishioners at San Martin de Porres, about Monsignor Alex Salazar, and about all of their accomplishments.

One week before she passed away, she attended the unveiling of the Tejano Monument at the State Capitol in Austin, bursting with pride that Laredoan Armando Hinojosa designed and

sculpted the monument.

She taught us how to forgive and forget. No matter how many times we had hurt her feelings or how many times I disobeyed her as a child, she always forgave. And once she forgave you, it was out of her mind. She did not have any hate in her heart and would not even let us use the word in our home. If we accidentally would use it she would admonish us to say “strongly dislike.”

The doctors listed my Mom’s cause of death as cardiac dysrhthymia that lead to a cardiac infarction. She was so healthy and active all of her life that her death was very unexpected. She and my Dad always took good care of themselves because they did not want to “burden” any of their children. She did yoga and strength training to her last days to stay healthy. I would always tell my Mom and Dad that they would never be a burden and that it would be an honor to take care of them. It was the only condition I asked of my husband before we married — that we would take care of my parents in our home when that time arrived.

I can’t help but think that my Mom’s true cause of death was that her heart was just so full of love that it must have literally burst in her chest.

My last words to her were “Good night, Mamá Toni, I love you.” I hope and pray that she always knew how very, very much we all loved her and admired her.

I know she is guiding us from heaven to continue loving each other, God, and our community in the way she modeled for us every day.

Laura Juarez de Ku Mama Toni went beyond doing the usual motherly activities. In addition to visiting me when I did ethnographic fieldwork in Tulum, and taking care of my daughter either in Tulum or back home, she was also willing

to help with the actual research. She accompanied me to a baptism in the Iglesia Maya, along with my ahijado and comadre. She was well-loved by all in Tulum, and her knowledge of Catholic rituals and prayers was a great help in my research.

Ana M. Juárez I didn’t know it until she had already been called to heaven that my Mama Toni’s life was a miracle from the moment she entered this world. It began when the doctor who delivered her told Mamá Mague, her mother, not to breast feed or get too attached to this small child, for she wouldn’t make it. They called the priest and baptized Mama Toni right then and there because they feared she would pass quickly. Baptized on her birthday, she went on to celebrate 76 birthdays. Knowing her as I do, it is unimaginable to think that she wasn’t always this strong, healthy, beautiful, and energetic. Mama Toni lived a most beautiful, remarkable life with love and excitement and energy for every second of every day. But the miracles did not stop here.

Mamá Toni met Papa Beto when they were in high school and they fell in love. Because of their blood types, Mamá Toni and Papa Beto were told they would be unable to have any children, and yet they had six. Betito, Ana, Memito, Glorita, Laurita, and Davicito were Mamá Toni’s pride and joy and she couldn’t have been happier with who they grew up to be — all of them giving , intelligent, good hearted, and successful people. Mamá Toni got to see five of her six children reach the age of 50 — a miracle in itself if you ask me.

As I look back at Mamá Toni and her last couple of days on this earth, I remember how happy she was and how she did so much. I’m grateful that she could do everything she wanted.

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She never let age slow her down or let someone tell her, “You can’t do that.” She loved to travel, never hesitated to speak her mind, had a soft spot in her heart for children and the elderly.

She loved Laredo, giving a thumbs up whenever someone from Laredo made the news adding her “Laredo Proud” cheer. She registered people to vote because she strongly believed it gave them a voice, and she put her passion for education into action by reading with second graders. As the heart of our family, she led by example with a smile on her face, a rosary in her hand, and a kind word on her lips.

Snippets of Mama Toni’s advice that I will never forget: “Hay que formar amistades. “ “Si tienes un novio que no baila, dejalo!” “Eat your food slowly.

It’s not going anywhere.”

Even now that she is singing with the angels in heaven, Mamá Toni is still giving and making miracles. She donated her eyes and gave the gift of sight.

She spoke of how she always thanked God for her 76 beautiful years of life and how the past weeks in Austin were some of the happiest

of her life. She never slowed down. I thank God she did not suffer. She had more life in her than anyone else I’ve ever met. And we were truly blessed to have that unlimited amount of love that only Mamá Toni could give. I pray to her and I feel her when we are all together as a family. I take comfort in that.

Marcella Juarez What I will always remember and miss about Mama Toni: her cheering us at games, wanting us to sit on her lap, ojitos, reading and singing to us.

She was a phenomenal woman in all aspects.

Andrea Juarez Toni Juarez was a second mother to me. She was also my only friend in Laredo when I first moved here. And because Toni was the personification of love, she whole heartedly embraced the commandment “Love your neighbor” and lived her life putting it to practice.

I know she loved me like a daughter. When I was a few months pregnant, she showed up at work with

some diced watermelon in a plastic container. What a sweet surprise.

My co-workers were amazed. “Your mother-in-law did this?” I have always felt blessed to be part of the Juarez family, and I told Toni that I didn’t buy lottery tickets because I’d already hit a big win, and what were the chances of winning big twice?

She was kind, gracious, unpretentious, and gave her love freely, showering it on her grandchildren. If you note the picture where she is dancing, the date is December 26, 2004. We were celebrating Christmas in our home at the ranch. Mama Toni is the center of attention. December 25, 2011, I remember feeling exhausted by 10 p.m. because we’d stayed up late the night before. Not Mama Toni. She was dancing to “La Bamba,” Laura pushing furniture out of the way to make room.

The woman was tireless. I never heard her complain about a headache or having a bad day. She made the most of this gift we call life and set the example. Adios, Mama Toni. You are loved and missed.

Mary Sue Galindo

Ranch, 1992

Tulum, 2009

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 Continued from page 36

me this. My father was a positive influence that prompted Eduardo’s interest in majoring in history as an archivist. Eduardo took it to an extreme. We are lucky that the family stories were passed down and that my father committed them to paper.”

Derly referred to his father as “the quintessential Tejano, so proud of his origins.” He continued, “He wanted to learn more. He taught all of us that it was important to be a patriotic American and

Joe Contreras

he enjoyed. The music was part of our heritage, something to be celebrated. I associate family gatherings with music. It was part of what we did, in particular on the ranches.”

As part of the recent Tejano Monument festivities, Derly, Mireya, and other members of the Uribe family paid tribute to Joel in the Nosotros Los Tejanos parade in Austin, playing

called. “This was such a special way to include and honor my father. The experience of being in the parade and representing the Uribe family in this manner was more than words can describe. How incredibly awesome it was to be celebrating this monumental occasion, remembering my father and waving and cheering down Congress Avenue,” she said.

“My father’s love of literature went hand in hand with the music. He had

Homage to Joel Uribe at the Nosotros Los Tejanos Parade in Austin

from the Uribe/San Ygnacio float entry Joel’s composition “Mi Pueblito.”

The song was first recorded for the 2010 Uribe Reunion in San Ygnacio

by Joel and Omar Uribe and his wife María Luisa.

“We played it repeatedly on the float with my Tía María Luisa singing the song live,” Mireya, an environmental specialist in Austin, reW W W.L A R ED OS N E WS.CO M

a passion for both,” Derly said, adding, “Part of his writing had to do with how accessible our history was and how proud he was of it. He always had an understanding that you had to know where you came from, so you could learn how you got here. He believed this was a guide for how to move forward with your life. His passion was contagious. He was inspiring. My cousin Eduardo told

that our Mexican heritage was not in opposition to being a good American.”

Mireya noted that after her father’s retirement from teaching in 1998, he had the time to undertake research and write. “He was very aware that mainstream history books did not account for this rich, early Tejano history that his ancestors were such a part of. He felt it was his responsibility to

record this, at the very least, for future Uribe and Martinez generations.”

According to Mireya, Joel Uribe’s research came to him through older generations of family members, among them his beloved Tía Ninfa Uribe Ramirez, who also edited many of his writings. “He put in writing his most pleasant memories of his maternal grandmother, Mama Cuquita, María del Refugio M. de Martinez, a talented narrator of classical stories and historical accounts delivered by means of oral tradition retold generation after generation. His Tío Cone, Juventino Martinez was also a good source of historical family information. My father’s dear friend, Carlos Rugerio provided historical data from the office of Los Caminos del Rio in Roma. He was able to obtain original documents that belonged to Col. Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe from Mrs. María del Carmen G. Carbajal and Maria del Refugio G. De Ramirez. The former mayor of Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Dr. Rafael Contreras, allowed him to research the historical archives of the city.”

A prolific writer, Joel Uribe authored Genealogy of the Uribe and Martinez Families; La Canción Mexicana de Hoy y Siempre: Guitarra and Canciones para una Fiesta (a method to play the guitar); San Ygnacio, Texas and San Ignacio, Tamaulipas Mexico; Adventure Stories by the Light of the Moon; The Archangels; Sayings and Adages of our Ancestors; Romance River (an autobiography); Poetry. . .Expression of the Spirit (a collection of Latin American poets); Pearls of Wisdom (a compilation of quotations and thoughts of great thinkers); La Espada y el Caliz (the sword and the chalice); and The Flow of Swallows.

I end this with a personal note, with a memory of my 50th birthday, which I celebrated at Santa María Ranch. Guitars materialized and Joel and Dené, María Luisa and Omar, and Jorge and Irma surprised me with Las Mañanitas. It was one of the richest moments of my life. ◆ LareDOS I

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