LOCALLY OWNED
I’m armed with more than complete steel, the justice of my quarrel.” — Christopher Marlowe A JOURNAL OF THE BORDERLANDS MAY 2013
Est. 1994
Vol. XVIII No. 5 64 PAGES
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LA LADRILLERA’S LOS OLVIDADOS PROCEED WITH SUIT FOR NUISANCE. TRLA ASKS FOR INJUNCTION TO STOP CREATING A NUISANCE AND ASKS FOR COMPENSATION FOR LOSSES. STORY AT www.laredosnews.com
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Solidarity of survivors
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
On April 26, cancer survivors from across the county gathered at the annual Relay for Life — an overnight event that mobilizes communities throughout the country to celebrate survivors, remember loved ones and raise money for the fight against cancer. Sixty percent of funds raised locally help Laredo cancer patients and the balance goes to research for finding a cure.
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CONTRIBUTORS Bebe Fenstermaker
Randy Koch
Sissy Fenstermaker
José Antonio López
Denise Ferguson
Monica McGettrick
Vicky García
Salo Otero
Neo Gutierrez
Itiel Valdez
Steve Harmon
Celia Villarreal
Henri Kahn
Write a Letter to the Editor meg@laredosnews.com
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Veterans Coalition members at Hero Salute luncheon
Prepping for National Women Build Day
Laredo Veterans Coalition members Jesus Segovia, Joe Espinoza, and Danny Herrera were among the veterans honored at the 3rd Annual Hero Salute Luncheon at Caesar’s Reception Hall on Tuesday, April 30.
María Sanchez, Alex Mendez, Alexandra Muñoz, and Ana Valdez of Falcon International Bank were among the Habitat for Humanity volunteers who are part of the National Women Build Day. They are pictured at the orientation workshop at Lowe’s on May 1.
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Laredo Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Marcus Nelson was the guest speaker at the Kiwanis meeting on Tuesday, April 30. With the 2012-2013 school year coming to a close, school districts throughout Texas have struggled with reduced funding and increased testing. He addressed the overall struggles and disadvantages LISD students face due to funding cuts. He said one of his goals is to increase the number of LISD students that attend college after graduation.
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Dr. Nelson shares vision for the future
At TWC “Experience Store” grand opening Time Warner Cable senior manager Staci Talley, Bullard Construction project manager Dan Ogletree, TWC facilities manager Rene Hernandez, and TWC area vice president Brad Wakely are pictured at the Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting and the grand opening of the TWC “Experience Store” at 2438 Monarch Drive on Thursday, May 2. The customer centric store is the second of its kind Time Warner has opened in Texas.
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Courtesy Photo
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
IME Scholarship program Por Una Vida Mejor Judge Hale visits Cigarroa campus The Honorable District Court Judge Oscar Hale is pictured as he answered questions from students at Cigarroa High School. The judge conducted an actual hearing and sentencing session on campus on Friday, April 26. His “Courts in School” was intended to increase awareness in the legal system for students interested in the legal profession or the criminal justice field.
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The Mexican Consulate presented Laredo Community College with a check for $5,000 for the IME scholarship program Por Una Vida Mejor, which helps provide financial support for Mexican students attending the college. LCC matched the $5,000. Pictured left to right are Veronica G. Hernandez, LCC veteran affairs and international students services coordinator; Dr. Diann Miller, LCC vice president of instruction; Miguel Angel Isidro of El Consulado General de Mexicó; and Dr. Vincent Solis, LCC vice president of student services.
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Inner city branch library now open
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Assistant city manager Horacio De Leon, City Council members Juan Narvaez and Jorge Vera, Laredo Public Library director Maria G. Soliz, and library advisory committee member Juan Roberto Ramirez are pictured with members of the Tomás Sanchez/Hermelinda Ochoa Elementary School choir and the reader bear mascot at the grand reopening of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Inner City Branch Library on May 9.
Sr. Rosemary Welsh – Community Advocate awardee Sister Rosemary Welsh was honored by the Laredo Webb County Bar Association with the Community Advocate Award on Friday, May 3 at the annual Liberty Bell Award Luncheon at the Laredo Country Club. She was recognized for her advocacy of justice for disadvantaged members of the community. She is pictured with Jessica Diez Barroso, Pravina Mulchand, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña, Sister María Luisa Vera, and Paty Figueroa.
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News
Frank Architects, Inc. awarded second prize in Green Dot international competition
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aredo architectural firm Frank Architects, Inc. has received second place in the international Green Dot competition. The firm was recognized for the green design of the City of Laredo’s James and Maria Luisa Haynes Health and Wellness Center. The jury selected winners from thousands of entries from over 25 countries. With other winners, the Frank Architect project will be showcased as part of the International Design Awards (IDA) gala in May in Los Angeles. The Green Dot Awards strive to reward and promote forwardthinking businesses that create environmentally friendly products or services, and to reward revolutionary green proposals. The purpose of Green Dot is to reward those who practice excellence in environmental responsibility. The Green Dot Awards were juried by experts in the industry, including Alison Kwok, Ph.D, coauthor of Green Studio Handbook and a professor at the University of Oregon’s Department of Architecture; Christine Mason McCall, cofounder of GoGreen Online and GoGreenTV; Daniel D. Chiras, Ph.D, author of Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy and Lessons from Nature: Learning To Live Sustainably On The Earth; Kira Gould, co-author of Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design; Lori Dennis, best-selling author and star of HGTV’s The Real Designing Women; Luis Valenzuela, founder of Green Art USA.org; Patrick Fry, designer and art director; and Steven Fos-
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ter, president of the Steven Foster Group and commercial consultant for eco-sustainability. The James and Maria Luisa Haynes Health and Wellness Center was recognized for its creative approach to sustainable building practices and architecture. All components of the project, including the user, participate in the ecology of the site in that there is a relationship between the building, the user, and the environment. Educational features reinforce the concept that individual health is connected logically to the environment. Conservation techniques at the Haynes Center include ecosystem restoration and xeriscaping, rain and condensate water collection systems for irrigation, vegetative/white roof systems, daylight harvesting, solar technology and sustainable building materials, including stonework quarried from the Rio Grande. The center is a recreational activity center designed to enhance the relationship between the environment, recreation, health, and the community, and contains the first green (vegetated) roof in Laredo. The project is a response to a new precedent set by the City of Laredo in its Open Space Master Plan Indoor Recreational Priorities. The Center sits on a nine-acre site, and it is the trail head for the newly developed Chacon Creek Hike and Bike Trail System. The 56,000 square-foot Haynes complex includes a special needs program, the first of its kind for the City of Laredo, which fills a gap in recreational activity by providing special atten-
tion to people with disabilities. The indoor amenities of the Haynes complex feature a double gymnasium, cardio-fitness and weight-training area, a dance studio, media room, lounge, healthfood concession stand, an upper level walking and jogging track,
locker rooms, and special need rooms. Outside amenities include a swimming pool, community garden, jogging track, racquetball and tennis courts, bathroom facilities, and a recycling and composting center. – LareDOS Staff
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Commentary
It still takes a village BY JOSE ANTONIO LOPEZ LareDOS Contributor
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ormer First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a book called It Takes a Village in 1996. The book sold well and was listed on the The New York Times bestseller list. In her acclaimed work, she clearly identified and provided with ample supporting facts a community’s logical role as an extended family when it comes to raising children. While the book was well received, it also proved to be divisive. A self-starter, possessing great leadership qualities and purpose as an agent of change, her political enemies quickly attacked the book. Using outdated Cold War rhetoric, they criticized her for basing her book on the idea of “community.” In short, they accused the First Lady of being a socialist communist. In particular, unable or unwilling to understand the extended family concept, her accusers falsely claimed she wanted to set up collective-style communes to raise our children. Likewise, only a few weeks ago, a popular TV news show host was verbally attacked by far-right politicos and news media commentators. Referring to one of her show’s TV ads, they objected to her theory that one’s community does have a role in the growth and wholesome development of a neighborhood’s children. In truth, Hillary Rodham Clinton was not the first person to ever make a connection between the basic family unit and its surroundings. That idea is as old as the human race itself. After all, the human development experience would not have occurred was it not for our earliest ancestors relying on a strong sense of community (village). What is the origin of this natural familial cohesion? To answer that question, the following summary is provided only as
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an overview of our ancestors’ strong will to survive. As soon as our earliest ancestors began to unite with other non-blood related families, the first settlements — clans, tribes, alliances, etc. — began to emerge. The idea of extended family values was quickly initiated. Constant enhancements to make life better and easier soon followed. No longer did the basic family unit — father, mother, and children — have to fend for themselves. No longer did they have to stand guard all night to protect only their own family from wild beasts and aggressive, hostile neighbors. Now, they had strength in numbers. Clearly, they wished to protect their most valuable possessions — their children. It is at this time that the age of specialization begins. If a family was good at starting a communal campfire, they became the keepers of the flame, crucial to the group’s survival. If another family was good at stone tool making (spears, arrowheads, etc), they became the camp security and defense providers. If yet another family was good at hunting, they became the main food providers. Those who were good at skin tanning became shelter and clothing makers. Thus, the first guilds and specialty shops were born. Organizing into a community provided another critical benefit. Having the manpower to set up stakes at one location, they were able to raise their own crops, thereby strengthening their alliance. Realizing that other groups had likewise allied themselves, these large, affiliated communities found out that they had partners near and far with whom they could trade, exchange technological ideas in tool making, and most importantly, socialize with during annual trade fairs hosted by one of the groups. This last aspect offered a most important benefit — marriage opportunities. Soon, our ancestors’ ini-
tial camps dotted vast territories and regions, giving birth later to modern towns, cities, and system of roadways. From a personal view, my own childhood experience proves how community members can help raise someone else’s children. Once, when I was about ten years old and a Central School student, a classmate asked me to walk with him to his home nearby. He said he’d forgotten his books. Not doubting his word, we left the school campus. We walked about one block when someone called out to me “Are you a López boy?” The question came from a man across the street from where we were walking. “Yes I am, sir,” I responded. “Well”, the stranger said, “You get back to the school playground. That boy is trouble and I don’t want to have to tell your dad that you’re keeping bad company.” Although my classmate pleaded with me to keep walking, I obeyed the man’s warning and went back to school. Sure enough, my friend’s intentions were to play hooky. Expectedly, a truant officer picked him up later that afternoon while he was wandering the streets. Sad to say, that boy got into deeper trouble with the law later on in life. Looking back, it seems every adult had a job in raising me and my siblings in Laredo’s El Barrio Azteca. In citing the example above, I wish to remind readers that my siblings and I had two loving, caring parents, but they could not be everywhere we were. Extended family, teachers, and adult members of the community gave our parents extra eyes and ears. The social services net at the time gave vital positive guidance, such as the Salvation Army, Boys Club, and American Legion Post 59 Boy Scout leaders. Viewing it as their duty, they kept us on a straight path to ensure we avoided harm’s way. The question remains -- why do conservatives find the English word
“community” so terrifying? Why do they find this beautiful, family-oriented concept so threatening? The reason is they insist on playing a ridiculous “word association” game. That is, they believe the word community must be the same as communist because of their similar root sound. That is silly logic. In summary and speaking from experience, the community’s value in raising our children is crucial. That is especially true today when social network programs are being reduced and eliminated. Thus, many of our poor Mexican-descent children throughout the Southwest from South Texas to California find only despair. They are easy targets in what is now a destructive culture of violence and more apt to engage in risky behaviors, such as drug use/trafficking, gangs, teen pregnancy, and be more to drop out of school. For people who think those poor children already have a social services net, can they be sure that it is well-resourced? The answer is “No,” due to budget cuts unfairly directed mainly at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Quite clearly, parents especially single parent households need all the help they can get. If we all pitch in and attentively guide the youngest in our poor communities, chances are they’ll take care of themselves as they become productive adults. What we are talking about here is the need for a fair and balanced tax system to help us make a wise investment in our country’s future. This is no time to tell the most vulnerable in our society that they’re on their own. Let me end with this thought. Farright conservatives have no reason to fear the word community because it ends with “unity.” So maybe, just maybe, Hillary Rodham Clinton has had it right all along. It does take a village to raise a child. ◆
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
District Judge Hale — Law Day Chair Homage to an American hero WWII veteran Joe Rodriguez was among those recognized by Webb County Court at Law Judge Jesus Garza and the American Legion Honor Guard on Friday, May 10.
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District Judge Oscar J. Hale Jr. was named Law Day Chair by the Laredo Webb County Bar Association. The award is conferred annually on a licensed attorney who has gone beyond the call of duty to bring justice into the court system. Judge Hale is pictured on May 3 at the Laredo Country Club with Dora Hale, Kristina Hale, Oscar J. Hale Sr., and Andy Hale.
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At the Farmers Market Newborn Finn Monahan is pictured with his sister Nayeli and his parents Dan and Courtney at the May 18 Farmers Market.
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Patricia Romo, San Juanita Avalos, Cindy Guevara, and Berta Flores were among the United Independent School District employees who enjoyed the annual employee recognition and appreciation banquet on Wednesday, May 9 at the Laredo Civic Center Ballroom.
Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
At UISD employee recognition banquet
WCHF celebrates Founders’ Day David Barrera, Gloria Juarez, Francisco De La Garza, and Pillar Rey are pictured at the Webb County Heritage Foundation’s annual Founders’ Day Luncheon on Saturday, May 11 at the Texas A&M International University’s Student Center Ballroom.
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News Brief
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derstanding of Tejano history among elementary youth. The Tejano Monument is seen by the more than 1 million people who visit the Texas State Capitol each year. The 550 square-foot monument, which was designed by Laredo sculptor Armando Hinojosa, includes 12 bronze statues depicting various symbols of Spanish and Mexican settlements in the state, including figures of a vaquero on his mustang, a Spanish explorer, a longhorn bull and cow, a couple holding an infant, a boy with a goat, and a girl with a sheep. Five bronze plaques surround the monument and tell the story of the Tejano experience from the 1500s to present times. “Until the emplacement of the Tejano Monument, a chapter had been missing from Texas history, at the Capitol, and in Texas classrooms,” said Ramirez, who accepted the award. “We hope the millions of early Tejano settler descendants will feel as proud as we do of this symbolic masterpiece.” ◆
Region 7 chess meet United High School was the site of the Region 7 chess meet on May 18. The competition was open to all Laredo students.
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
BC Bank was recognized for its support of the Tejano Monument with a 2012 Cornerstone Award at the Texas Bankers Association’s 129th annual convention in San Antonio on May 2. The Tejano Monument, which was unveiled March 2012 on the south lawn of the Texas capitol, is the largest of its kind on any state capitol grounds and honors the contributions of Texas’ early Spanish-American settlers and their descendants. Fundraising for the Tejano Monument was led by IBC Bank–Zapata CEO Renato Ramirez, who was instrumental in the monument’s conception, capitalization, and completion, raising $1.3 million from private donors. IBC Bank made the largest private donation to the monument fund at $200,000 and funded a yearlong public relations initiative to increase awareness and support. Ramirez also secured a $100,000 donation from the Walmart Foundation for a one-year curriculum implementation project to improve the un-
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
IBC recognized for fundraising and support of Tejano Monument
IBC Bank received a 2012 Cornerstone Award from the Texas Bankers Association for its support of the Tejano Monument. (Left to right) are Commerce Bank President and CEO Ignacio Urrabazo, IBC Bank Chairman Dennis E. Nixon, IBC Bank-Zapata CEO Renato Ramirez, IBC BankZapata President Ricardo Ramirez, and TBA Chairman Mike Mauldin at a May 2 ceremony in San Antonio. W W W.L A R ED OS N E WS.CO M
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Feature
Henry Gutierrez — ‘the war you survive is not the war portrayed in movies’ BY MARIA EUGENIA GUERRA LareDOS Publisher
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n 1951, Zapata High School pitching ace Henry Gutierrez made a decision that would forever change his life. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps before graduating, leaving behind the possibility of a career in big league baseball. “I wanted to do as my five brothers had done, to serve my country as a Marine,” he said, naming his brothers — Antonio, Israel, Fernando, Ricardo, and Javier. Marine PFC Henry Gutierrez turned 19 on July 24, 1951 at Camp Pendleton in southern California where he trained. He shipped out shortly thereafter on the USS General M.C. Meigs with a thousand soldiers and 3,000 Marines. After a two-day hiatus in Kobe, Japan, Gutierrez’s regiment, Weapons Company 2nd Batallion, Seventh Regiment, moved on to the port of Pusan, where the filling out of corpse toe tags and the leaving of personal effects brought the war’s chilling possibilities into grim, sharp focus. “We started walking north in September,” Gutierrez recalled of the continuous movement of the 7th Marine regiment over hills along the moun-
Henry Gutierrez, Zapata, 1949
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tainous East Coast of Korea. “We marched at night. Up ahead, the sky lit up with mortars. I carried my pack and a 41-pound tripod machine gun and ammo,” he said. “It was 50 degrees below zero — 1951 and 1952 were two of the coldest recorded winters in Korea. The wind went right through you, but I was 19 and tough. We spent three months in a bunker, celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year there,” Gutierrez said, adding that the rocky, snow encrusted terrain offered little cover. “As we advanced, we met the regiment we were replacing. We could tell by their faces what we were headed into.” Gutierrez was part of the victory effort to take Hill 749, a heavily defended stronghold for the North Korean forces. He said the well-armed North Korean army had Chinese and Russian weaponry and fired from the cover of fortified bunkers. “We picked up for the dead, young men shot to pieces, Koreans who had been burned with Napalm,” he said of the grisly findings of casualties on both sides of the battle. He spoke, too, of sniper fire that spelled instantaneous, deadly results, and the sound that an incoming mortar made as it moved to-
ward you. The flak jacket he was issued in February 1952 saved his life when on May 28 shrapnel from a hand grenade called a potato masher hit him in both legs as he fought in open combat on a hill on the north central front. “The shrapnel tore into my legs,” Gutierrez said. “It was 3 a.m. I thought I had lost both of my legs. I had compound fractures in both, with bones protruding from my flesh. I called for a corps man, but no one came. What I got was another enemy grenade that twisted my body violently, but thanks to the flak jacket nothing penetrated. A Marine named Charlie Dyer applied a tourniquet to my leg as we had been trained. I prayed and remembered my mother and father and everyone in my family in case these were my last thoughts,” Gutierrez recalled. “In the early morning I heard the enemy’s voices and laughter. Way down close to the ground so that the noise couldn’t be heard, I pulled the pin on a grenade, counted five seconds, and threw it out. I heard the enemy screaming and I threw another three and all sound stopped. I called for help again and several Marines came to help me. I asked them to make a chair for me out of my M-1 rifle and I put an arm around each of their
shoulders. This worked until a sniper started firing at us, and I was thrown to the ground in such pain. We made it to the company command post. I was carried through the trenches to a waiting helicopter, the small bubble domes we called egg beaters. I was lashed onto the side and flew this way to a MASH unit. The first person I saw there was Erasmo Riojas from Laredo who would later become a physician. The tents were filled with the wounded and the dying. I asked the doctor to save my legs. It had been more than six-and-a-half hours from the time I was injured to the time I saw a doctor. They spent a long time repairing torn arteries and veins in my legs,” he said, adding that General John T. Sheldon, who was making the rounds among the injured, thanked him for his service to his country. Gutierrez was flown to the USS Consolation a Navy hospital ship, where thousands of miles from South Texas, he received the Purple Heart. Doctors there cleaned his wounds, removing more shrapnel and making skin grafts. En route to Tokyo and then to an old World War II hospital in Yokosuka, Gutierrez had a stop at a hangar in CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
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After taking Hill 949, Sept. 1951. Ramiro, Israel, and Henry Gutierrez
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Seoul. “The living wounded filled the center of the hangar and the dead were stacked in black bags to both sides of us. I felt lucky to be alive, but terribly sad about the dead and their families,” Gutierrez said. “The hospital in Yokosuka was filthy, and I was glad to return to the USS Consolation. I had become very thin, down about 20 pounds from the 139 pounds I weighed when I enlisted.” Gutierrez convalesced on the hospital ship. He remembered that when it docked in Hawaii, an Italian medic lifted him from his bed to a porthole. “’That’s Hawaii,’ he told me. Eventually we docked in San Diego in July 1952, where I remained at Balboa Naval Hospital until November when I went home to Laredo by bus on 30 days convalescence leave. I surprised my parents and my sister Lita at our home at 1420 Davis. They were as happy to see me as I was to see them,” he recalled.
Training at Camp Pendleton with Rudy Gonzalez
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Cpl. Gutierrez returned to San Diego, assigned to a destroyer base and then to the Naval Fuel Annex at Point Loma, California. He was honorably discharged on December 31, 1953. “I came home, rested, started rebuilding our house in San Ygnacio, and worked on the ranch with my father Bernabe and my grandfather Henry. I got my GED certification and took some college classes at LJC,” he continued. He married Marta Yolanda Guerrero on May 26, 1960. They had six children — Marta Adriana, Maricela, Melissa, Mariana, Henry, and Bernabe. Henry Gutierrez retired from U.S. Customs in 1979. Of his service in Korea, Gutierrez said, “You don’t forget any of this. The war you survived was not the war portrayed in the movies. This was real. You risked everything. You just try to understand that time and you remember the friends left behind and the friends you still have from that time. I’ve forgotten nothing.” ◆
The 41-pound machine gun Henry Gutierrez carried
News
Pink to Do to benefit from June 8 Ladies of Harley fundraiser
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ink to Do, the Laredo nonprofit that assists victims of breast cancer with expenses relative to their treatment, will benefit from a June 8 fundraiser hosted by the Ladies of Harley and the Laredo Lemurs at UniTrade Stadium. Organizers are asking Laredoans who own motorcycles to take part in an effort to break the Guinness World Record for the most ceremonial pitches from a bike. The Grand Prairie AirHogs hold the Guinness record with 713 pitches. The ceremonial pitches will be recorded before the Lemurs game with the Amarillo Sox. Dee Dee Lozano of the Ladies of Harley, a sub-group of the Harley Owners Group Chapter #1994, said that the fundraising event, the firstever of its kind in Laredo, benefits an organization that has direct bearing on the lives of Laredoans suffering from breast cancer. Tickets for the June 8 “Pink to Do Breast Cancer Awareness Biker Night” are available from members of the Ladies of Harley. “Only tickets for the game purchased from us in advance will generate proceeds for Pink to Do,” said Lozano. “Please call me at (956) 237-9512 or Lacho Varela at (956) 2863185. We are asking all Laredoans who enjoy motorcycling to join us for this worthwhile event, and we are asking businesses to buy blocks of tickets for their employees,” she said. Pink to Do stands to net $3 from every $10 ticket sold for the June 8 game, and $2 from every $8 and $6 ticket sold.
“We are letting Harley Owner Groups in San Antonio, McAllen, and Corpus Christi know about the benefit game and the attempt to break the Guinness record for ceremonial pitches. We will get the word out by email and social media, and we will also hand out flyers at the upcoming Texas State Harley Owners Group Rally. We hope they will ride to Laredo to participate. We are working with local hotels to offer special rates for out of town participants,” Lozano said. “Since we organized in 2004, we have helped local non-profits that are focused on women and families,” said Ladies of Harley member Josie Lara. “We have contributed to Casa de Misericordia, the Laredo Animal Protective Society, Pink to Do, and others. We support those who are ill and need help. We help cover funeral expenses. We recognize and honor first responders, and every year we organize the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Run,” she said, adding that members are grateful to the Lemurs and UniTrade Stadium for the opportunity to raise funds for Pink to Do’s mission to assist breast cancer patients with the costs of medications, travel to treatment, lodging, prosthetics, and electricity bills.” Juan Salinas, sales and marketing director for the Lemurs, said that staging an event during or as part of a Lemurs home game is one of the most effective ways for local nonprofits to raise funds. “The proceeds from a home game far outstrip plate sales and bake sales, and a lot of attention gets focused on the cause and the organization,” he said. – LareDOS Staff LareDOS I M AY 2013 I
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In Memoriam, 1920 - 2012
ifetime educator Eva Garza devoted her life to family and the education of Laredo Independent School District students. A 45-year veteran of teaching and counseling, she was the daughter of Pedro and Leonor Garza. When she was not on campus enriching the lives of her students and fellow staff members, she was a traveler with an insatiable yen to experience the world. She was a bellwether individual who left behind a lasting legacy of goodwill by initiating exchange programs for Laredo students with students in Mexico through the International Good Neighbor Council. She taught at Central Elementary School and L.J. Christen Junior High School, and for most of her career was a counselor at Martin High School, her alma mater. Believing that every student could achieve success, she was a champion of underprivileged students and high achievers alike. Eva Garza graduated with honors from Texas A&I in Kingsville, and earned a Master’s in guidance and counseling from the University of Texas-Austin. Upon her retirement in 1987, LISD honored her with a tribute called “An Evening with Eva.” Martin High School named her a Tiger Legend in 2000. She was predeceased in death by her parents; her sisters Guadalupe Smith, Olga García, Aida Laurel, and Leonor Garza; and her beloved nephew Fernando D. Laurel III. Her death at 91 on February 14, 2012 was felt as an inconsolable loss to those whom she loved and who loved her. The accounts that follow are remembrances of her.
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When my father went into the service during in the Second World War, my mother, sister Aida, and I lived with my maternal grandparents, and my aunts Eva and Leonor (Noni) at 2516 Market Street. This home was the gathering point for my cousin Mauro García and his family from Falfurrias, and my cousin Carmen Smith and her family from Río Grande City, especially during the summers, when they would spend most of the time in Laredo. Those times were memorable, and we were filled with utmost love and attention from all the family members. Eva taught at Central School at the time that Hermelinda Ochoa was principal. On occasion, Eva would take me to her class when I was still of preschool age. For reasons known only to her, Ms. Ochoa promptly gave me the name “El Chiflado.” Many years later when I would see her, she would still greet me by the same name. Eva, as with many of her students, took a special interest in me, to the point that my mother would say kiddingly that I had three mothers — Mama Eva, Mama Noni, and herself. Through my high school days and on our yearly trips to Guanajuato, I was usually introduced and known as “El sobrino de Eva Garza.” I am sad to say that I never told Eva how proud I was, and still am, to have been known as her nephew. When my father returned from the war, we moved to 2415 Market, a block away from my grandparents’ house. Needless to say, I spent as much time in one house as I did the other. In later years Eva and Noni moved next to our house on Gustavus Street, enabling all of us to be together. Eva and Noni were especially close to my son, and the living arrangement allowed him to spend time in their house as I had in my childhood.
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Eva Garza, a remembrance
Eva Garza
When Noni died in 1995, Eva moved in with us and accompanied us on two European trips, one in the company of our good friend, Cecilia Garza. Eva was comfortable wherever she traveled. She always managed to converse with someone, even in sign language with a Turkish gentleman. On a daily basis, we either saw or spoke with Eva. It’s difficult to find words for the important role she played in my young life and in my adult years. All I can say is that Eva made a difference and was loved by all who knew her. Eva was always like a security blanket for me. I hope that I was able to repay her love, kindness, and caring manner in her later years when she needed a feeling of security. When a local pharmacist, a good friend of mine, mentioned that it was nice of me to have purchased medication for Eva, I replied that I was merely repaying a debt that I knew would never be fully satisfied. – Fernando D. Laurel Jr. Nephew
Miss Eva Garza was my friend from the day I met her at L.J. Christen Junior High School in 1963. She was the popular and accessible school counselor, a perceptive and generous person with a great sense of humor, who was always game for an adventure. She was a visionary. Though in some ways she was ensnared by the boundaries of her culture and her generation, she lived, however, beyond those boundaries and invited many of us to come along for the ride to experience cultures and lands unknown. She had a keen talent for organizing trips designed to share what she had witnessed and wanted others to see. She wanted to share the joy that she had enjoyed in a theater drama or a comedy, a musical, or a folkloric dance. She enjoyed the process of organizing trips as much as the actual event because of the interactions and friendships that developed along the way. These goodwill trips took her to Guanajuato, Acapulco, Monterrey, New Orleans, San Antonio, and many other places. She also brought groups of Estudiantinas to Laredo for Laredoans to enjoy. Miss Garza was a sports enthusiast and followed the careers of local and national athletes with great interest. She loved the outdoors, especially fishing, and was always in awe of the wonder of nature. She gave thanks to be blessed with a family who loved her and cared for her. She touched many lives and most definitely enriched my life. I miss my friend very much and miss laughing together at the same old jokes. – Cecilia Garza Friend CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
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Courtesy Photo
I suppose that most of us have a special friend or relative who so positively influences our lives simply by example; not intentionally, but from the heart; not forcefully, but with that enormous amount of cariño inherent in that person’s being. Eva Garza was that person to me. She was that person to Laredo as well. I can so proudly say that she was my aunt. We called her Eva, not Tía Eva or Aunt Eva. She was just Eva, and that’s the way she liked it. In her eyes everyone was equal; everyone had their story and that story was to be considered and appreciated. She grew up in the Heights and graduated with honors from Martin High School in 1937. At a time when a college education was unusual, particularly for a woman and during the tumult of World War II, she headed off to Texas A&I in Kingsville where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in education.
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A single best word to describe Eva is “exuberance,” however, as clearly as it describes her being, it is not enough to describe her multifaceted attributes. “Exuberance” takes me to Eva’s passion for Martin High School and sports and her account of the famous 1946 Martin High School football team that was called “The Eleven Iron Men,” a winning team that tied San Antonio’s Jefferson High School, which was rated number one in the state. When she spoke of “The Eleven Iron Men,” you were transcended to that famous game. Eva had two cousins on that team, Dario and Hector Hinojosa. And how could I forget her exuberance for the 1956 State Champion Martin High School basketball team? It turned out to be a very lucky time for me because in1956 my sister was getting braces on her teeth in Laredo. Since we lived in Falfurrias, mother would drive us to Laredo after school and then we would spend the night at my grandmother’s home at 2516 Market St. On
four occasions, Eva and her beloved friend Licha Esparza took me to watch the Tigers win each game. When I was young she would always give me a new word to learn — xenophobic, ubiquitous, indubitably, and so many others. Her passion for learning and teaching never waned. One of the most wonderful chapters in her life was her involvement with the International Good Neighbor Council beginning in 1962. She and her dear friend Gloria Woods began organizing exchange trips for American students to study in Mexico and Mexican students to study here. This was a spectacular new chapter in Eva’s life. Former students would call her to organize trips into Mexico. Those eventually evolved to Las Jiras de Eva Garza. Always with her sister at her side, my beautiful Aunt Noni, each trip created memories and friendships that lasted a lifetime for each traveler. She continued these excursions until she was well into her 80s. Throughout this 40-year span of her life, she met so many new friends — waiters and bellboys, educators and governors, all of whom adored her. Once upon a time, there was a special glow that filled our hearts, and her name was Eva Garza. – Mauro García Nephew To countless Laredoans, Eva Garza was a true, sincere friend. To others she was teacher, counselor, loyal companion, co-worker, and perhaps even a “partner in crime” in innumerable events and projects she founded, headed, or so joyfully and willingly participated in. To me, she was all that, and more. Eva was my mother’s sister, and since my early childhood in Río Grande City, I have vivid recollections of her as loving, kind, soft-spoken, and compassionate. She was always fun and full of life, and she always had time for someone else. All the attributes I can list, all the superlatives I can come up with fall short of defining the love I felt for her
and always will feel for her. Perhaps my choice to follow in her footsteps to become an educator was one of the biggest compliments I ever paid her. When I moved to Laredo to teach I was assigned to the very school at which she served as counselor, L.J. Christen Junior High. This afforded me the opportunity to work alongside her, to meet and collaborate with her and her colleagues on a professional basis, and to share her unquenchable passion to serve underprivileged students as well as the achievers in academics and athletics. If there were a title I could bestow on her, it would be that of Laredo’s #1 Ambassador to Friendship to people of all ages, backgrounds, and countries. I witnessed firsthand the passion she had to bring Laredo students together with students from all over Mexico. I was always amazed by the accolades and the accompanying degree of respect bestowed upon her by leaders in education, government, business, and music. – Carmen Smith Gonzalez Niece I first met Eva Garza when I reported to my homeroom class at L.J. Christen in 1957, the year I had lost my mother. I was new to public schools, having been in Catholic schools up to the eighth grade. I felt lost and mistrustful until I met her. She welcomed me with a smile I will never forget, a smile that conveyed love and understanding, friendship and trust. She encouraged me to play basketball for the Cubs and to join Student Council. She formed an organization that would become the love of her life, the Junior International Good Neighbor Council. On those student trips to Mexico, she extended goodwill wherever she went. She made the world her friend. Through the years, when I’d see her, I’d tell her, “Aunque no te veo, no me quita de quererte.” She was a true leader in education, friend and mentor. – Jerome Jordan Former Student LareDOS I M AY 2013 I
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Feature
The evolution of art in Laredo BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff
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aredo Center for the Arts’ executive director Gabriel Castillo believes art has assumed a higher, more relevant profile in the city. Castillo has been a part of the center since its inception in 1993 and became the executive director in 2009. He said his greatest satisfaction comes from seeing others achieve artistic goals and expand on their talents — something the center strives to accomplish. “They say if you work at something you love, then you never feel like you’re working, and that’s exactly how I feel at the center,” he said, adding, “My biggest thrill comes from seeing so many young people enjoy all the activities we have to offer.” From instructor Gerardo Salazar’s art courses, to hosting art contests, to providing an engaging environment for learning at the Book Nook Bookstore, the Laredo Center for the Arts provides many venues for artistic expression. “Our goal at the center is first and foremost to highlight our young artists. We also accomplish this by exhibiting the works of professionals who inspire and motivate younger artists to continue their craft,” said Castillo. He noted that art has evolved in Laredo — that there are more artists and more opportunities to exhibit. “It is exciting to see so much happening in the area of theater. Children’s musicals and adult performances fill our community calendars these days. Our biggest challenge is carefully scheduling our theater performances back to back over the summer and fall calendar,”
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he said. Recent renovations to the center have added new life to the historic space — once the city’s Mercado and its city hall — while preserving its architectural integrity. “It is wonderful that any venue can become a space for artistic expression,” he said, adding, “I think today’s media and technology have made this possible. There is so much more exposure to the arts from around the world thanks to the Internet. Our young people are also more confident in their abilities and talents, which they express at local bazaars, poetry readings, art exhibits, or musical performances all over the city.” Downtown revitalization is an important topic to Castillo. “This iconic structure in the heart of downtown Laredo celebrates 130 years of existence. It’s truly a special place to showcase our community’s creativity through visual arts, dance, theater, and music, especially because the second floor used to host everything from opera to boxing matches. There are many of us working to ensure that the Center for the Arts and the entire downtown historic district continue to thrive,” he said. The Laredo Center for the Arts will host a special dance and music performance by the VMT Soundtown Band on June 1. On June 8 the center will host a presentation by Nuevo Laredo writers commemorating our sister city’s 165th anniversary. That same evening the center will unveil the work of Mexico City’s most celebrated artist, Leticia Norman. In July, local artist Gil Rocha’s works will be on display. The center’s musical presentation of the musical Chicago will run in August. Of community support for the arts, Castillo said, “Statistics show
Gabriel Castillo that children involved in the fine arts at an early age learn discipline, responsibility, and structure and ultimately excel in other subjects. I truly believe this is evident in Laredo students who participate in band, music, dance, and visual arts. Their creativity stems to their overall academic performance, so it is important that as a community we continue to support the arts in our city.” Although he does not consider himself an artist, Castillo loves to paint and once owned a flower shop
that allowed him to explore his creativity. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a major in journalism. He is an active participant in several local organizations including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Instituto Cultural de Mexico en Laredo. He is a board member of Laredo Main Street. You can find Gabriel Castillo at the Laredo Center for the Arts at 500 San Agustín or by calling (956) 7251715. ◆ W W W.L A RED OS N E WS.CO M
Feature
Guajardo to spearhead 117th WBCA celebration BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff
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atricia Guajardo has been named president of the 117th annual Washington Birthday Celebration Association
(WBCA). The native Laredoan began her association with WBCA as a member of the Princess Pocahontas court in 1980. Since the early 1990s, she has served as a member of the WBCA board of directors and as its treasurer. Guajardo earned a BA in accounting from St. Mary’s University. Her interest in business and closer involvement with the organization came from her fundraising and volunteer experience. Guaja rdo returned worked with Laredo National Bank — now BBVA Compass Bank — as an internal auditor and accountant for 13 years. "The bank was and remains very involved with WBCA. They'd recruit employees to volunteer Patricia Guajardo at different events. I first volunteered to work in the trenches at the Jalapeño Festival," Guajardo said. She commented on the importance of getting the word out to the public on
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the many facets of the annual celebration that has expanded to offer entertainment and volunteer venues for all Laredoans. “While it is an opportunity for us to highlight the city on a grand scale, the celebration also has an economic impact on our schools and nonprofit groups,” she said, adding, “The economic impact is a trickle down effect. Growing up if you are involved with school activities, you are guaranteed to be involved in the celebration. Everyone can participate, have a good time, and help their cause.” The International Bridge ceremony is Guajardo’s favorite WBCA event. “It is significant because we stop everything we are doing and welcome residents from our neighboring country of Mexico to join us,” she said, adding, “As you are standing there listening to both national anthems, the sister city concept becomes reinforced. You see the ability of two nations to act as one community.” Teamwork is how the WBCA has survived 117 years, according to Guajardo. “I think it is awesome that we are able to bring hundreds of people together who are
willing to work together to put on this celebration of 27 events in 30 days,” she said. Laredoans can expect a new location for the Jalapeño Festival and the same positive momentum from last year. “The weather can really make it or break it for us, so I’m looking forward to lots of sunshine,” she said, adding, “We are always open to new affiliates if we can get them on the calendar, and volunteers are always welcome. I’d like to encourage everyone to volunteer so they can get a feel for what we’re all about.” As president, Guajardo would not only like to provide entertainment for Laredoans but would also like to showcase the city to state and national legislatures and visitors from out of town and out of state.
Guajardo serves as the chief financial officer of Modern Construction, Inc. — a family construction company. She is married to Dan Ryan and has two sons, Alex Ryan and Emmanuel Guajardo. She remains an active member of the community, serving as treasurer for the board of Calvary Catholic Cemetery. She volunteers along with fellow St. Mary’s alumni at the annual Fiesta Oyster Bake. She recently retired from Laredo Catholic Communications board of directors. “I think it is very important for everyone to give back. I grew up with a large family that believed in the concept de un granito de arena, she said, explaining, “If everyone puts in their grain of sand, you start to build something important for everybody.” ◆
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EQUIP relay hands off baton in Laredo BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff
of the EQUIP relay. Hull handed the baton to John Vereecken, leader of Lidere, the organization completing the Mexican portion of the relay. Vereecken and his team continued the expedition to Guatemala, set to culminate June 12, with the goal of raising $1 million for leadership trainings. EQUIP has been working closely with a group of business leaders called Guatemala Prospera — young emerging leaders committed to resolving their country’s human rights issues. “We just want to come in as encouragers and resource providers, and to assist with some initial trainings and encourage a more volunteer-oriented approach from Guatemalans,” said Hull. Carter said a change in the coun-
try’s leadership could foment problem-solving changes in the daily lives of Guatemalans. “We really want to work on the education system and target business leaders so that they are not just successful, but so they catch a vision and use their success to help the people,” he said, adding “You must serve the people and have a community-wide sense of responsibility to invoke actual change.” EQUIP is dedicated to developing servant leaders who shoulder responsibility and who meet challenges with courage and creativity through Christian principles. It is an internationally recognized nonprofit that since 1996 has conducted leadership trainings in 174 countries. For more information visit www. equipworldrelay.org. ◆
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EQUIP World Relay, a non-profit that leverages seven streams of influence present in any society — business, government, education, media, entertainment, church and family — stopped in Laredo on April 26, en route from Atlanta to Guatemala. The 2,400-mile expedition to the nation of Guatemala left Atlanta on March 4, bringing with it the goal to gather leaders across the world on expeditions to end leadership corruption, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, human slavery, and other social issues plaguing various countries. “Be it walking, running or cycling, covering 2,400 miles in a 120 day window is not ordinary,” said EQUIP president and CEO John Hull. “The EQUIP World Relay is a journey that represents what leadership is a all about — a journey full of extraordinary challenges, hard work, sacrifice and daily-mile mark-
ers that ultimately reach a goal that is bigger than oneself — a goal that could never be accomplished alone,” he added. EQUIP senior vice president Doug Carter said, “We decided we needed to bring forth major change in Guatemala in all areas of life. It is a nation with many great qualities, but a lot of problems as well.” Hull pointed to Guatemala’s statistics for the welfare of children. “In Guatemala, there are 370,000 orphans, and half of the children living there suffer from chronic malnutrition. Guatemala is a ‘source country’ for illegal drugs and sex trafficking. With more than 140,000 young people entering the job market each year, only 20,000 new jobs are being created,” he said, adding, “There is a great need for transformation in Guatemala. We are excited to partner with leaders there who are willing to work toward transformation.” As a border city, Laredo was a natural choice for the last U.S. leg
John Hull and John Vereecken
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mobile one; and owner or developer must be current with taxes and have no City liens against any of their property. Applications are available at the City of Laredo Building Development Services Department at 1120 San Bernardo Avenue. The review process for qualification takes between five to seven days. “The NEZ program is designed create an interest in older neighborhoods. This program should really impact our historic downtown and Council Member Perez’s district as well by allowing the home and business owners to help drive the improvements, ” said District VIII Council Member Cindy Liendo. Fees for the program include a residential tax-abatement application fee of $100. For multi-family, commercial, industrial, community facilities and mixed-use development projects, the fee is one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the proposed projects investment, with a minimum of $150 and not to exceed $1,000. Certain fees including plan review, fire inspection, and plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits, are automatically waived upon entering the program. Other fees including the right-of-way permit — pertaining to curb and street cut — plat application fee, board adjustment application fee, demolition fee, zoning application fee, street and utility easement vacation application fee, and impact fee will reviewed and waived on a case-by-case basis For more information on the Neighborhood Empowerment Zone, call the Building Development Services Department at (956) 794-1625. – LareDOS Staff
Students of Maru Alexander exhibit work Danielle Benavides stands beside her beautiful seascape at the art opening and reception for the students of artist Marul Alexander.
Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
“This was a public/private partnership between me, Council Member Liendo, and Team Streets of Laredo (SOL) — a group of local business owners that advocate for city revitalization — to bring people and investments back to our older, historic communities,” said District III Council Member Alex Perez Jr. of the Neighborhood Empowerment Zone (NEZ) Program created by the City on March 18, 2013. Through the NEZ, the City will provide incentives that encourage private investments in housing, businesses, and services in the areas. Among those incentives are building permit fee waivers and municipal property tax abatements for owner occupied property, investor owned single family property, single family development projects, and commercial, industrial, or community facilities development projects for homeowners, investors, and developers proposing new construction or rehabilitation projects within the NEZ. According to Perez, “We worked on this effort for over a year and researched many other communities that have similar incentive programs. If businesses or residents invest a certain amount of money within the NEZ boundaries, they can save substantially on their building fees and taxes for the next five to 10 years. We have already received applications from interested residents, and I am excited to see such a successful start to this new program.” NEZ criteria for qualifying for incentives are that property must be located in the NEZ; must be zoned correctly; proposed rehab must be 20% or more than the Webb County Appraisal District improvement value; must contain a permanent structure and not a
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Empowerment zones aim at revitalization
Something for everyone at May 18 market Laredo educator Consuelo Buchanan and Angel Garza of San Ygnacio found a great selection of organically raised fresh produce at the May 18 Farmers Market. LareDOS I MAY 2 0 1 3 I 2 3
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At the Time Warner Experience Store Natalie Hernandez and Joe Palacios Jr. of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce are photographed on Thursday, May 2 at the grand opening of Time Warner Cable’s new Experience Store. The store, which is located at 2438 Monarch Drive, is filled with an array of the company’s latest offerings for digital TV, Internet, and home phone products.
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News
Din of metal shredder, noxious odors, airborne particulate matter replace neighborhood tranquility BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZ LareDOS Staff
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hat began as a group of dissatisfied neighbors complaining to one another about problems surrounding the Wilkinson Iron and Metal recycling plant at 2300 Scott has fomented a model for civic action. The group, which calls itself Los Olvidados, is not waiting for a miracle solution to what they say is a daily assault of asphyxiating dust, foul odors, foundation-cracking vibrations, excessive noise, and traffic coming from the recycling plant. They’ve taken a proactive approach to understand what that assault means in terms of public health and the environment, and they’ve gone to applicable city departments and state agencies to arm themselves with information. The group hand-delivered a de-
mand letter on Monday, May 6 to Gary Wilkinson, president of the scrap metal facility. The letter was written by attorney Dan Monahan of the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid who represents them. The letter cited noise, vibrations, dust, odors, traffic, property damage, and set a 15-day period for a change in the plant’s operations that would address those issues. Else, the letter said, Los Olvidados members would be forced to sue to protect the their rights. Nati Hernandez, a supervisor at the City of Laredo Water Utilities Department, has resided at 2308 Benavides for over 20 years. He said his home is among those that have experienced damage resulting from the rattling vibrations of Wilkinson’s machinery. He said the tile, stucco, and foundation of his home have cracked. “Currently I am looking into my home insurance policy to see if the
cracks in my living room ceiling and tile would be covered for repairs,” he said. Hernandez’s greatest grievance against the scrap metal facility, however, is the excessive noise. “After a long, hard day at work, I want to come home, sit down, and be able to just relax,” he said. “This is a disaster,” he commented. Veronica Villaseñor, who was raised in the Ladrillera neighborhood at 1610 San Ignacio moved back twoand-a-half years ago, resuming residency in her childhood home where she cares for her disabled brother. She said she can’t enjoy the simple luxury of sitting outside in her yard without coughing from what she says are the dust and particulate matter that escape from the Wilkinson metal shredder. She said that beyond the noxious odors and dust in the air, the decibel
level of the shredder is unbearable. “Forget about standing outside and trying to carry on a conversation with anyone without having to yell at one another,” she said. Villaseñor pointed out that in her absence of 18 or so years, the Wilkinson plant grew from a simple scrap metal recycling plant to an industrial metal shredding endeavor that affects the quality of life and health of those living nearest to the plant. The paint from her once white home, now brown from a thick coat of dust and residues, continues to peel away. Villaseñor contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) five months ago. The TECQ took samples with tape lifts at her home and at the Wilkinson facility and found particles of metal and fiberCONTINUED ON PAGE 59
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TRLA Attorney Dan Monahan with Los Olvidados members Carlos Hernandez and Veronica Villaseñor.
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Los Olvidados to Council member Liendo: It wasn’t a trick question. Yes or No? BY MARÍA EUGENIA GUERRA LareDOS Publisher
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t wasn’t a trick question that La Ladrillera resident Santiago Flores Jr. asked District VIII City Council member Cindy Liendo at a May 21 evening meeting at the neighborhood recreation center on Pinder. “Will you go on record today and support moving Wilkinson Iron and Metal out of our neighborhood by any means possible and that includes using the city’s power of eminent domain?” Flores asked When Liendo hedged at an answer, Flores told her it was a yes or no answer, and when she tried to answer in another manner, he politely, though pointedly, adjourned the meeting and exited with the members of the neighborhood group Los Olvidados.
The meeting had been called to share with Liendo their health and environmental issues with the metal shredding and recycling operation in their neighborhood and to determine the extent of Liendo’s support for their concerns. “After we introduced her to the group, she attempted to run the meeting,” Flores said, “and that’s when Juan Francisco Aguilar told her that we had an agenda and if there was time at the end of the meeting, she could speak.” Liendo had assembled an entourage of City of Laredo department heads and administrators to address the group’s concerns with the Wilkinson facility. “We had already spoken to all of those people in earlier meetings,” said Aguilar of the presence of Health Department director Hector F. Gon-
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zalez, Traffic Department director Roberto Murillo, and representatives of the City’s Environmental Services Department (ESD), including its director Riazul Mia. “They had all been very helpful to us over the last two weeks, but this meeting was about getting our City Council representative to hear us out and to commit to help us,” Aguilar said. Liendo, who appeared stunned by the abrupt conclusion of the meeting, said, “We were here ready to answer questions. That isn’t what they wanted to hear from us. If I wasn’t interested, I wouldn’t be here. I have family and friends who live here. I live just on the other side of the tracks,” she said. “I couldn’t have answered the question they asked without having first spoken to the City’s legal department and knowing what rights the City has and what rights the recycling plant owners have,” she said after the meeting. The Council woman said that the group was “very civil, very prepared for this meeting. I’d like to call another meeting. We want to work with them. We will address these concerns.” After their exit from the meeting, Los Olvidados members re-grouped at the home of Carlos Hernandez, who has been outspoken about the impact of the Wilkinson operation on the quality of life of neighborhood residents. His home at 2301 Benavides Street is a stone’s throw from the plant, though it isn’t stones that cover the approach to his house and porch. Rather it is the litter of stone-sized pieces of sun-toasted polyurethane car seat and dashboard foam that have escaped from the plant. “That stuff floats into the storm
drains and goes straight to the Río Grande,” Flores said, “Along with everything else emitted by the recycling plant. That should concern every public servant in city and county government who deals with water and the environment, and it should concern everyone who lives here and drinks from the river, the only source of drinking water for communities along the river. And certainly it should concern Ms. Liendo because it is happening in her district and she is doing nothing to stop something that has the potential to harm so many.” Nilsa Vasquez, a property owner whose home faces the steel fence of the Wilkinson yard, said, “He (Wilkinson) has gotten too big for the neighborhood. He needs to relocate.” She also addressed “found” objects on San Ignacio Street, the thoroughfare favored by Wilkinson truck drivers over the city-designated Santa Isabel Street truck route. “Everything Wilkinson won’t buy, we find it on the street, abandoned by those who tried to sell it,” she said. Aguilar recalled the recent sight of a junked van without tires being towed to the Wilkinson facility. “It was on rims that were throwing sparks and tearing into the street surface on San Ignacio.” The group’s five-point presentation at the meeting earlier in the evening worked from an an agenda that included an item called “V. Question,” the question posed to Liendo. The presentation addressed noise and odor nuisances, traffic, damage to homes, metal shrapnel on the streets, and oil-laced water that flows from the Wilkinson yard onto the streets and into storm drains in a heavy rain. CONTINUED ON PAGE 63
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Laredo Ranch Heights: Joe Gage’s homage to ranching; customer service is the bedrock of company’s credo BY MARIA EUGENIA GUERRA LareDOS Publisher
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eed store partner Joe Gage is a proponent of good customer service. No one leaves Laredo Ranch Heights without a cordial thank you, a handshake, or a pat on the shoulder. “Gracias, mijo,” he tells a young man who has just purchased a lariat. Gage believes good customer service is the bedrock of a business plan that
Mike Maciel, Joe Gage Sr.
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will yield success. Many Laredoans remember Gage from the Texaco station he operated at 2119 Saunders, which advertised “Good Honest Service.” That square deal credo, he said, rests on “God and country first.” He flies the American flag at his home and at Laredo Ranch Heights. “We value every customer that comes in here, and we show that appreciation by giving back to the community and helping the kids who are raising livestock projects. We do our best to help
them raise healthy animals as they learn the value of hard work and discipline,” Gage said, adding, “We don’t get somewhere in life all on our own. There are those who helped you along the way — someone who was kind, someone who gave you good advice, someone who lightened your load.” He said his customers come from all walks of life. “They are people who operate ranches of all sizes, roping and horse enthusiasts, pet owners, gardeners. We try to take care of all of them,” he said.
Besides loading your vehicle, which may entail the creative use of every square inch of a pickup bed, the customer service at Laredo Ranch Heights includes the offer of the loan of a trailer to haul round bales. Manager Mike Maciel, who has been with the company since 2010, is at the heart of the operation and is knowledgeable about the store’s inventory, new products, and the price fluctuations of mainstay products like feed and hay. He said listening to his clients’ needs and serving them is key to maintaining and increasing his customer base. Customer input led him to recently add Medina agricultural products, including organic soil activators, and Ladybug brand organic products to the inventory. “We carry the best brands in feed — M-G, Full-O-Pep, Sure Fed, Bluebonnet, Mormon Feeds, and Diamond and Sports Mix for dogs — and this year we started selling custom show blends under our own label,” Maciel said. He is proud of the store’s involvement with the success of students raising livestock projects — that the Reserve and Grand Champion steers in the Zapata County Fair were raised on Laredo Ranch Heights feed, as was the Reserve Champion steer in the Laredo fair, and the Reserve Breed Champion in the San Antonio Livestock Show.
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Circuitous though was Joe Gage’s route to own a feed store in partnership with his son, Joe Gage Jr. and accountant Fernando Ortega, his early years were spent working land on the river vega and milking a herd of 50 cows. He credits his
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uncle Andres Mendiola with teaching him sound land use practices on a farm on the river vega near Santa María Avenue. “We raised tomatoes, onions, and melon on land tilled by plow. My uncles Guadalupe and Andres were hard working men who taught me about respect — self respect and respect for others. We farmed there until the flood of 1954 carried our pump away. I also milked Mrs. Anderson’s milk cows and helped her get the milk to the Laredo Creamery. My other job was working for HEB for $3 a day,” he said. Gage was born at Fort McIntosh in 1935 to Harold Gage, a soldier, and Gregoria Mendiola Gage. At Martin High School, he played basketball with teammates Joe Guerra, Richard Guerra, Mike Ornelas, Chevo Contreras, Joe Sanchez, and Jim Massey. After high school, he served in the Air Force for four years and would later work for Great Western Finance downtown and Perry’s in the Heights. He recalled running a sizeable herd of cattle near Mirando City with former Martin teammates Joe Sanchez
and Jim Massey. He married Raquel Martinez from Las Presas Ranch in Ramireño in 1965. They had three children — Elaine, Yvette, and Joe Jr. Gage began teaching vocational classes at Cigarroa Middle School when it opened in 1983. He taught small engine repair and also worked with the summer migrant program. He retired in 2002. Gage lost his beloved Raquel in 2012, a loss so tender and vast that its mourn-
ing has brought him much introspection about the valued friendships and family relationships he maintains. “I am blessed with good children and longstanding friendships,” he said. He has five grandchildren — Selika de los Santos, Ruben Gonzalez, Christopher Canales, Silke Gage, and Joseph Gage III. There is a great deal of Joe Gage Sr.’s character in his store. It’s evident the second you pull into the drive off Laredo Street and catch sight of the old ranch implements, carretones, campfire utensils, scales, pulleys, plows, pear burners, mills, and tools. Inside, you’ll see a collection of antique cast iron toys, a wall on which hang the hats of many Webb and Zapata county ranchers, another wall with the marcas (branding irons) of area ranches burned into the wood, old photographs, and saddles. Besides being a thriving hub of commerce in the Heights, the place is a museum, Joe Gage’s homage to ranching, and a tip of his hat to the old, durable tools of the trade and the men and women who built ranches with them. ◆
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Santa Maria Journal
By MARÍA EUGENIA GUERRA
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ractions matter to me when I take measurements to build something of lumber, and I want things to be square enough not to annoy me when they come into my line of vision. Never have fractions mattered more, however, as when I did the math on the recent good rains on our ranch near San Ygnacio. The first rain, which came in with a tree-bending bluster and an impressive scary arrival that crackled with electricity and illuminated every metal roof on the property like a disco strobe, dropped 4-3/8 inches
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Rain — a transformation on our parched pastures. When it was over, it had puddled in places and made everything on the landscape, including me, less stressed. The second rain a day later arrived quietly and with stealth in the early hours of the morning. It fell on earth still wet from the earlier rainfall and it ran in fierce torrents down cow paths and arroyos, making huge puddles as it dropped to fill the lake closest to our house. The steady pulse of the showers held for most of the day, and I delighted in sitting idly on my porch experiencing the cool, moist gift from the heavens.
Company, which usually has value for its shoes, doesn’t show up for mud or soggy walks on slippery sand, and so I was quite content in a solitude that reflected on good fortune and celebrated rains of 1-5/8 inches — six inches in all over the weekend. Lovely math. I ventured out down roads to the south and east to survey a landscape whose loam had transformed from the color of manila folders to dark mud. Elated, I turned back at a puddle that looked like it could swallow the tires of my little SUV. As the rains slowed that after-
noon, millipedes began their movement across the damp earth, and ravens and mockingbirds started up a raucous symphony of calls. I love how the world out here looks through the veil of rain, how all that is wood — mesquite tree bark, fence posts, and the weathered planks of buildings — comes to life with a textured richness. I’ve come to love, too, the nurturing promise of rain falling and how you can watch, transfixed by its instantaneity, how quickly your footprints disappear on the spongy sand, as though you’d not been there at all. ◆
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Earth Day winners at Clark Middle School Clark Middle School students planted the tree they received from the RĂo Grande International Study Center as a prize for their recent win of the Earth Day bulletin board contest middle school division. The tree was graciously donated by Home Depot.
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Members of the famiy of Isabel M. Rodriguez honored her memory at the Relay for Life on Friday, April 26 at the Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex. This year’s event was sponsored by Chick-fil-a, Union Pacific, Rudy’s Country Store, UISD, the Great American Cookie, Laredo Specialty Hospital, Papa John’s, Average Joe’s, the Cold Brew, Arby’s, Five Star Therapy, McDonald’s, and 4gupgrade.com.
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Las Chavelitas
Speaking up to inform others United Day School coach Tracy Doan is photographed with second grader Cody Armstrong, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about a year ago. Armstrong spoke to fellow classmates on Friday, April 26 at the annual United Day Walk to Cure Diabetes. All proceeds benefited the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
WW II serviceman José Perez honored Big day for pint-sized grads
Judge Alvino Morales presented WWII veteran José Perez with a plaque and flag to honor him for service to his country on Friday, May 10. The ceremony was held at the Webb County Justice Center.
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
The 23 graduates of the Camilo Prada Child Development Center accepted their diplomas on Friday, May 4 during the center’s annual commencement exercise at the William N. “Billy” Hall Jr. Student Center at the Laredo Community College South Campus.
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Courtesy Photo
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Whataburger presents check to LAPS Zumba for health Cristina Martinez, Angelina Tapia, and Amelia Martinez were among those who observed National Women’s Health Week at the City of Laredo Health Department’s free Zumba class on May 16. The class is offered every Thursday at 11 a.m. and is open to men and women.
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The Laredo Animal Protective Society gratefully accepted a check from Whataburger for $5,000, which was won during the recent Whatagames competition. Pictured left to right representing LAPS are members Richard Renner, Sid Holden, Michele Deveze, Richard Barraza, Jennie Reed, Catherine Kazen, and Susana and Ryan Druker. Third from left is Rene Lozano, Whataburger director of operations for Laredo.
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Liberty Bell Award recipient
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Webb County District Clerk Esther Degollado (center) is photographed with staff members (left to right) Sara Lopez, Gabriela Tamez, Elsa Galvan, Laura Salinas, Elva Reyes, Maribel Gutierrez and Jean Aguilar along with City Councilwoman Cindy Liendo at the Liberty Bell Award Luncheon on May 3. The Laredo Webb County Bar Association presented Degollado with the Liberty Bell Award bestowed to a non-attorney that has facilitated access to justice in the legal system.
At WCC membership tea Rosie Cavazos, Anita Cavazos, and Lydia De La Vina were among the attendees at the Women’s City Club membership tea held on Saturday, May 11.
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or U.S. troops overseas the best gifts are the ones that remind them of home, so BooksA-Million (BAM) is currently hosting a three-week coffee drive to culminate prior to Independence Day, when troops are scheduled to receive the coffee donations. Those who donate a bag of coffee have the option of writing a personalized message thanking the troops for their service. Joe Muggs will donate one coffee bag for every five purchased by customers. “This special cause shows our troops
how much we appreciate their efforts and bravery. We hope Laredo and surrounding communities will come together to get as many bags sent to these individuals who sacrifice daily for our freedoms here in the United States. A donation of freshly ground Joe Muggs Coffee will let our troops know that their service is appreciated,” said BAM general manager Mary M. Benavides. For more information, call Benavides or BAM assistant general manager Jessie Hernandez at (956) 728-8145 or visit www.booksamillion.com – LareDOS Staff
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Bookstore coffee donations to troops overseas
Women Build Elsa Sepulveda and Gloria Perez were among participants at this year’s Habitat for Humanity Women Build on Friday, May 10. The women assisted with the construction of a new home at the Tierra Prometida subdivision.
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The Mystery Customer BY THE MYSTERY CUSTOMER
La India 1520 Marcella You can’t beat the thorough, impeccable service at La India, whether you are there for lunch in the Tasting Room or to pick up spices, or both. You don’t want to buy ground cinnamon anywhere but at La India. There is something incredibly fresh about the spice that will bring the dullest of breakfast oatmeal to life. It’s a pleasure to bake with, and it’s good for you. Taco Palapa 4180 So. Zapata Hwy. It’s a minimalist, self-service kind of place, a far cry from its former incarnation as Tacos de Papa Don Martin — thin paper plates, guacamole served in styro cups, lots of foil, a wait person seen only when your order is brought out, a crock pot of salsa that does not have time on its side. The fajitas are very good, but skip breakfast there, for it was made well before you got there and your chorizo con huevo tacos will be escurriendo grease and other fluids. Rocha’s El Catan
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La India, El Catan — count on great service 815 Salinas Good service is a given at this downtown eatery. You will be asked several times in the course of a meal if you need anything, and your iced tea or water glass will be consistently refilled. If you haven’t been there yet, make the trip downtown to enjoy Rey’s hallmark fried shrimp or fish tacos. Pepe’s San Ygnacio The establishment has installed a vent so that you don’t have to leave there smelling like the grill they just used for making what is probably one of the best burgers in Zapata County. Applebee’s 7601 San Dario Ave Speedy attentive service was rendered to the MC and her party of four on a busy Friday evening. The staff was very friendly to all the patrons. The two for $20 special could not be beat. The shrimp pasta in particular was delicious. Pano’s Bakery 4401 McPherson Rd If you have a hankering to satisfy
your sweet tooth, the MC recommends you try some of the traditional Mexican pastries offered at this establishment. The staff was friendly and the ambience very inviting. Desayunos Marla 5904 McPherson Rd. The early bird does get the worm. If you enjoy a satisfying Mexican traditional breakfast look no further for the best mariachis in town. This establishment serves an array of superb breakfast items. The MC does not recommend trying anything off the lunch menu — not much to choose from. Laredo Pizza Factory 9652 McPherson Rd. The savory sauces for wings and pizza toppings are delectable. The comic book lovers ambiance and décor make this a great stop for the local comic book geeks. It’s a good place to grab a bite with friends or family, and the service is good. Mariscos Costa Azul 3201 Loop 20 The MC has long held this spot in high esteem for service and good food.
That is, until Monday, May 13 at around 2:30 p.m. The MC ordered the usual shrimp cocktail, which was good as always. But the filete veracruzano, which had been piled high with things not veracruzano, was a bust with a strange texture and flavor to the fish. And even though the MC spoke up about the quality of the fish dish, the cashier took the MC’s card, rang up the tab, said she was sorry about the meal, and offered, “Have a nice day!” HEB Del Mar at McPherson While the teenage sackers upfront are mashing your grapes and tomatoes with jars of pickles and cans of soup, the women in the bakery are kind and careful with the seven grain bread you have asked them to slice. Top notch service. Lowe’s 6623 San Dario Without having to ask, the MC found excellent service in the lumber department at Lowe’s. A man who knew what “lattice” was proved to be great help, and it was much appreciated. ◆
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fered for $10, and it will include tickets for prizes, a water bottle, and a doggy treat bag. Pre-registration is $20. Various contests will be held after the walk, including contests for the coolest pet, the most friendly pet, best dressed, and best in show awarded to the pet that is in good physical shape and is well groomed. All pets are welcomed to enter. “This is a great opportunity to exercise your pet, help the LAPS no-kill shelter, and join the fun,” said LAPS board president Catherine Kazen. All proceeds will benefit the shelter. Register at Petco North, or for more information call Richard Barraza, at (956)206-0572. – LareDOS Staff
Daybreak Rotary donation Daybreak Rotary members and their guests donated books to the library at the Laredo Center of the arts. Pictured with Gabriel Castillo, executive director of the Laredo Center for the Arts are Daybreak president-elect Alex Amaro, book drive organizer Starr Zolton, Daybreak Rotary president Aaron Canales.
María Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
he Laredo Animal Protective Society (LAPS) will host a walk for pets and owners at Petco north at 2450 Monarch Dr. on Saturday, June 22 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Registration is underway for several packages. The premium package, which includes a t-shirt, water bottle, and a Fourth of July tote bag with goodies, is $25. The regular package, which can be purchased for $20, includes a tshirt, water bottle, and tickets for other prizes. An affordable Fourth of July package – $20 – includes a commemorative tote bag with Fourth of July goodies, water bottle, and tickets for prizes. A student package will also be of-
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Walk a lap for LAPS
At the 2013 Alzheimer’s Educational Symposium José Zapata Jr. and Ginny Funk were among the organizers who staged the symposium. Funk is the associate director of programs and advocacy for the San Antonio-based Alzheimer’s Association. The association, in conjunction with the University of Texas Health Science Center/South Texas Geriatric Education Center, sponsored the May 10 seminar on early diagnosis, behaviors, ethics in delivery of services, and resources for caregivers. W W W. L A R E D OS NEW S . C O M
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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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hen I was in my twenties, I twice ran the Twin Cities Marathon, the first time 30 years ago this summer and again in 1986. Back then, I ran shorter races, too, mostly in Minnesota, and have the chic wardrobe to prove it: graphic T-shirts from the Tracy Trot and Worthington’s Turkey Day 10K, the 12-mile Green Lake Road Race in Spicer, and the Robin Hood Half Marathon near New Prague; blue mittens and a head band from Rochester’s Bear Creek Run; and a yellow longsleeve shirt from Laramie’s Always a Cowboy 8K in Wyoming. Over the years I’ve run with varying regularity, but I’ve never abandoned it for long. Each spring as classes wind down and the weather warms, I get the itch to gallop through alleys, go headlong up hills, lope over empty country roads, and lose myself in the rhythm of my own breathing and footfalls. I’ve never been fast, never aspired to winning any of those races. I was simply comforted by the knowledge that distance running, like writing, demands a long view, not only of the road but of the weeks and months necessary for the accumulation of miles and pages. As I get older, it’s easier to maintain this patience, to know that four miles today helps me get to 90 miles by the end of May just as a few lines or a paragraph each morning can mean an essay or a poem in a week or two. And running — like writing —affects my mind in ways that mowing the yard or watching a pair of nesting mourning doves or teaching composition cannot. During the first few miles the world is clear and literal: in my right hand the phone tracking my time and distance, up ahead the white garage
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In it for the long run with “Creasy’s Signs” etched on the plate-glass window, a bird feeder surrounded by a halo of spilled seed, a small gray statue of a sailor saluting from the corner of a white house with red trim. Each foot hits the road midsole and rolls forward; my breath tries to find its rhythm. I pause on the edge of the Millville Road and wait for a white Pennsylvania Power & Light bucket truck to pass before I hustle across and wheel left onto the narrow, flat shoulder. When another truck growls behind me and stones wedged in the tread of its tires tick against the blacktop, I veer off the shoulder and onto the strip of grass. As the truck rumbles past, I swing down a short, steep stretch of asphalt toward Kressler Avenue and the quiet neighborhood above Fishing Creek. Beyond the E-Z Storage office and green and brown cabbage heads sagging in a small garden, I turn down Clover Avenue, where colorful plastic eggs still dangle from a sapling, redwings click and yodel from a rooftop, and a yippy Pomeranian runs at my heels near Sunset Drive. Then, I cut across a grassy lot and over a gravel embankment down to the Rail Trail that follows Fishing Creek from near I-80 north of town, through trees above the twisting water, past a substation, and another half mile to the United Water buildings. Then, on the bike path cut into a sheer rocky hillside 30 feet above the creek, I hop over puddles and sidestep stones. At Railroad Avenue, I leave the creek and head south, dash through a sudden gap in the traffic on Main, run past four teenagers skateboarding down the middle of the street, and skip over the tracks. I inhale every time my right foot hits the ground, shift the phone to my left hand, and turn west on 11th before Bloomsburg
Middle School. The blacktop becomes gravel cratered with puddles near the composting site, but then 11th bends south into the dry, packed pebbles of Sands Street. A half mile later, it T’s at Fort McClure Boulevard, which follows the Susquehanna River. I turn west into the wind. Around the fourth or fifth mile, my body finds its tempo, and daydreams bubble up before bursting or waddling off into a heap of brush like that woodchuck on the river bank or shifting shapes like that large shadow crossing the road up ahead. I look at the sun. A vulture. The wide water is quiet here, but then behind me rushes a quick ticking, like the toenails of a dog barreling closer. My heart leaps. I jerk my head around expecting teeth and a snarl, but it’s only the wind tumbling dry oak leaves across the asphalt. I’m reflex and memory and creeping outside of language. At the confluence of the Susquehanna River and Fishing Creek, I touch the black arrow on the yellow sign where the road abruptly veers north toward the fairgrounds, but I turn back toward Bloomsburg, the wind pushing my left shoulder. I pass Sands Street and Railroad, cut behind the middle school to 11th, turn east, and cross Colonial, where purple hyacinths around a mailbox whisper, “Eliot, Eliot” and my shadow ahead of me gasps, “Hurry up please its time.” As I turn toward the river again on Catherine, the waters of the Susquehanna are suddenly, disorientingly upright and soothingly blue. But several strides later, the water stiffens, ripples become joints, and the river is the cinderblock building next to the city pool. My legs know their own way: left onto Fort McClure Boulevard again and onto the East Bloomsburg Bridge spanning the
Susquehanna. The marker says it’s 1,150 feet across, and when I try to figure the yards, the fraction of a mile, the numbers muddle in my head. I plod over the water and spit across the rail. Steam rises from two nuclear power plant towers upstream near Berwick. At the far end of the bridge where the guardrail tapers into the ground, I pivot and run back across. By the eighth mile, only my senses work. My left knee aches as I come off the bridge and my stride is more slap than spring. A Canada goose honks low over the water, and I turn onto Catherine again and down a dirt path through the park to Market, north past the Citgo station and across the tracks to the Wesley Methodist Church, its bells chiming, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Then, I’m back on Railroad Street, across Main again to the Rail Trail and then plod the last a mile and a half along the creek, up the embankment, past the egg-spangled sapling, and across the Millville Road. Less than 50 yards from my mailbox, the neighbors’ birdfeeder explodes with startled sparrows and starlings and a red detonation of cardinals. A crow lifts off the ground like an unhinged shadow. At my driveway, I turn on the phone, open the app, and press “Finish.” Then, I plod a bit further down Summit to cool off and trudge back, pull the house key from my hip pocket, aim it at the lock, push the door open, and peel off my shoes and wet socks. I drag myself up the stairs and wait for my mind to catch up, to transcribe the landscape my body already crossed. But it has, quietly leaning against the kitchen counter, homely after the long distance and the unwinding terrain of sentences written one footstep after another. ◆
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News
LCC percussion camp set for June 10, 11 BY MARIA EUGENIA GUERRA LareDOS Publisher
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he Laredo Community College Performing Arts Department is preparing for a twoday Percussion Camp on June 10 and 11 in conjunction with Yamaha Sounds of Summer. High school students with band experience are encouraged to sign up for the camp, which will be staged at the Visual and Performing Arts Building on the Ft. McIntosh campus. Brian Fronzaglia, professor of percussion and director of athletic bands at Missouri Southern State University, returns as a guest instructor for the two intense sessions of warm-ups, cadences, lessons, and rehearsals.
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Yamaha Sounds of Summer endorses the LCC Percussion Camp and provides warm-up and cadence books as well as T-shirts for attendees. LCC music department chair Matthew Adams will also teach at the camp, which is focused on marching drums, cymbals, and front ensemble (keyboard percussion instruments, such as marimba, vibraphone, and xylophone.) The cost of the camp is $25. The sessions run from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. To register, call Adams at (956) 721-5332 or the Performing Arts Department at (956) 721-5330. “We are very fortunate to have Brian here again,” said Adams, adding, “He has coached numerous award-winning drumlines in Drum Corps Internation-
al (DCI) and Winter Guard International (WGI) competitions. He is in demand as an arranger and adjudicator, and has started several of his own drumlines.” Fronzaglia, a graduate of Penn State, holds a Masters degree in Percussion Performance from Michigan State University and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance at the University of Missourri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe, most recently in Italy. He has performed with the Sunflower Music Festival Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Kansas City Symphony Chamber Orchestra, The American Opera Studio, Flint Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Nittany Valley Symphony, Northland Symphony, St. Joseph Symphony, Pennsylvania Centre Chamber Orchestra, National Wind Ensemble, and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. He is a member of the Marimba Sol de Chiapas and was also a member of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps. He is a founding member of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams
“Battering Rams” drum line and is currently the director and arranger for MLB’s Kansas City Royals “Royal Thunder Drum Line.” Fronzaglia — a performing artist/ clinician for Yamaha, SABIAN Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, and Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets — has given numerous master classes, performances, and clinics throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties at Penn State University, the Grumo Music Festival held in Grumo-Appula, Italy, and the Flint Institute of Music. He is currently an active adjudicator throughout the Midwest and has been a consultant and arranger for several high schools across the nation. He has been on staff with WGI Independent World Finalist, United Percussion, and also the DCI World Finalist, The Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps. As a performer Fronzaglia has been active in commissioning and premiering new works for percussion and has been recorded on numerous labels. His compositions are published through Knight Wind Publications, Yamaha Corporation of America, and Row-Loff Productions. ◆
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Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Bruni Elementary walk for juvenile diabetes Tea for two
Pre-K teacher Maritza Lozano and paraprofessional Erica M. Gomez are pictured with their class at the Bruni Elementary Walk for a Cure on Thursday, May 16. All proceeds raised benefited the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
Raquel San Miguel and daughter Marina Perez were among attendees of the Women’s City Club membership tea on Saturday, May 11.
Great variety of homegrown vegetables Gardeners Tony and Mary Cantu offered Farmers Market customers a good selection of homegrown beets, onions, squash, and papayas. They are pictured at the May 18 Market.
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Keeping a Weather Eye
BY JUAN ALANIS
Alanis, former of Laredo, is currently a meteorology student at Mississippi State University. He is a member of the American Meteorology Society (AMS) and Webb County Coordinator for the CoCoRaHS/National Weather Service rainfall observer program
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ith its mission of protecting lives and property, the National Weather Service (NWS) continues to research and test ways to improve severe weather warnings. The NWS last changed the way severe weather and tornado warnings were issued back in October 2007, when the NWS went from county based warnings (CBWs) to storm based warnings (SBWs). The NWS is now trying out in several Midwestern states what is called impact based warnings (IBWs). Many of you are probably wondering what the difference is between all these types of warnings? Prior to October 2007, county based warnings were just that — weather warnings that covered the entire county. For example, on June 2, 2003 a super cell thunderstorm struck Laredo, producing golf ball size hail and 95 mph winds, and causing $33 million in damage. On radar, this storm showed the possibility of a tornado and thus a Tornado Warning was issued for Webb County at 9:44 that evening. This was a county based warning, meaning all of Webb County was warned about the possible tornado, even though this potential tornado was only affecting the City of Laredo itself, not Callaghan Ranch or the Quad Cities of Mirando, Bruni, Oilton and Aguilares. This countybased warning warned people that did not need to be warned and were in no danger from the storm, thus causing needless worry and panic. Under the current storm based warning, only the City of Laredo and those in the direct path of that potential tornado would have been warned. Another example we can use is
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NWS changes nomenclature of warnings Bexar County, a very large and populated county which includes the City of San Antonio. Say a tornado was detected in the city’s southeast side, near Brooks City Base. Under the old county based warning, all Bexar County residents (approximately 1.5 million people) would have been warned, regardless of whether the storm was actually in their path. This county based warning would cause needless worry and panic among those not being affected as well as affect the credibility of weather warnings issued by the NWS. The current storm based warning would have warned only those in the path of the storm/tornado on the southeast side. The basis for switching to stormbased warnings back in October 2007 was to improve weather warnings by warning only those residents/businesses that will be affected by the storm/tornado, which in turn would reduce the false alarm rate. Studies have showed that many people stop reacting to weather warnings after so many false alarms (warnings without any storm at their location). In an effort to continue to the increase accuracy and stress the urgency of weather warnings, weather forecast offices in NWS Central Region (the Midwest region of the U.S.) began using what is called impact based warnings (IBWs). These warnings are just like the current storm-based warnings, however, the language and wording of the warning will include statements on potential “impacts” to life and property. IBW’s were rolled out across the NWS Central Region on April 1 after a trial run in Missouri and Kansas in 2012. The goal of the IBW is to provide information within the warning
that will facilitate improved public response and decision making as well as to better meet societal needs during the most threatening weather events. IBWs come as a result of an assessment of warnings during the devastating Joplin, Missouri tornadoes of 2011. IBWs will be worded to stress the importance and urgency of the warning. Language that will be included in IBWs is: Hazard: in a few words, what the hazard is, such as “developing tornado” or “deadly tornado” Source: was tornado radar detected or spotted by a storm spotter or law enforcement Impact: wording could range from, “significant house damage likely” to “destruction of entire neighborhoods likely” and/or “you could be killed if not in a shelter or underground.” The idea of the new terminology is to get people to react the first time they hear the warning. An assessment of the tornadoes in Joplin revealed that many residents did not take shelter when the warning was first issued, but rather waited until confirming the danger from another source, whether it was from television or another resident. Therefore, officials hope that with the new wording, residents will take precautionary actions immediately once severe weather warnings are issued. Depending on the success of IBWs in the NWS Central Region, IBWs could be rolled out nationwide in the next year or two. Researchers at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma are also working on ways to improve weather warnings. The latest project called “Warn –on – Forecast (WOF)” seeks to improve the lead time for severe thunder-
storm, tornado, and flood warning. The idea is to create computer forecasts that will accurately predict when and where severe weather will strike in the next hour. Presently, U.S. residents have an average of about 14 minutes lead time between when a tornado warning is issued to when a tornado is confirmed on the ground; 18 minutes for a severe thunderstorm and 64 minutes for flash floods. The idea is to increase lead time to up to 30 to 60 minutes for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, and basically issue a warning before it actually happens. The longer lead time will benefit greatly large venues operators, such as large football stadiums, basketball arenas, and even large hospitals in which it would take at least 30 or more minutes to get thousands of people out of harm’s way in the event of a tornado or severe thunderstorm. Plus, longer lead times will give local governments more time to position emergency response crews. Initial computer model tests of “Warn –on-Forecasts” have proven successful in detecting tornado formation up to 45 minutes ahead of time. One successful test was done with the 2007 Greensburg, Kansas EF5 tornado. A WOF computer model successfully detected where the tornado would be 45 minutes ahead of time. More testing needs to be done however, as a result WOF maybe three to five years down the line yet. In the mean time, when weather warnings are issued, the NWS urges the public to know where they live and what things are nearby and know basic information about severe weather and safety. ◆ CONTINUED ON PAGE 48
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News Brief
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WEBB COUNTY RAINFALL REPORT – April 2013 Station Location April WB 2 WB 4 WB 5 WB 6 WB 9 WB 12 WB 13 WB 14 WB 19 WB 21 WB 22 WB 23 WB 25 WB 26 WB 27 WB 28 WB 36 WB 37 WB 39 WB 40 WB 41 WB 43 WB 45 Laredo Laredo
Heights Garfield St Las Tiendas Ranch Callaghan Ranch McPherson/Chacon Mangana Hein Rd 8E Del Mar C Del Mar North/Preston Ln Laredo 18.4 NE Prada Elementary School Shiloh/Woodridge Laredo 23.7 ENE Freer 29.5 WSW United South MS area Zaragoza St-downtown Jacaman Rd/Saldana Ln Gutierrez Elementary area Del Mar/Inwood Stamford St (East Laredo) E. Clark Blvd/Jarvis McPherson/Country Club Dr Mines Rd-Green Ranch El Cenizo East Laredo-Lakeside KGNS-TV Del Mar Blvd International Airport
2.15” 0.42” 0.33” 2.27” 1.31” 2.10” 1.01” 1.00” 0.30” 1.49” 1.17” 0.90” 2.52” 2.45” 2.47” 2.32” 1.61” 1.88” 1.97” 1.93” 1.74” 1.22” 2.22” 1.65” 1.74”
Source: CoCoRaHS/National Weather Service
Want to measure rainfall in your neighborhood? Log onto www.cocorahs. org or call 956-251-3996 for more information
REGIONAL WEATHER RECAP – APRIL2013 Laredo KGNS Laredo Airport Cotulla Airport Encinal Hebbronville Freer Falcon Dam
Avg Temp 74.6° 75.7° 71.8° 71.1° 72.0° 70.0° 73.9°
Source: National Weather Service
Depart -1.4° -0.2° -1.7° -2.2° -1.3° -3.3° -1.8°
Rain 1.65” 1.74” 0.98” 1.65” 1.76” 5.03” 2.51”
Departure +0.20” +0.32” -0.87” +0.32” +0.40” +3.40” +0.94”
Summer ECO-Camp prepares next generation of environmentalists
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he Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) is accepting applicants for 2013 ECO-Camp – the interactive educational summer camp designed to nurture the interests of the next generation of environmentalists. Children ages eight to 14 will explore themes such as the ecosystem of the Rio Grande Basin, the environmental impact of the use of plastic bags, the importance of recycling, and water conservation. They will also explore various nature trails and the flora, fauna, and fossils of the local wetlands. Water testing, nature journaling, kayaking, microscope observations, birding, nature hikes, and recycling projects are among the hands-on activities in store for attendees. Field trips to Lake Casa Blanca, the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center, the Bruni wind farm, and the City’s Recycling Center are on the camp’s agenda. “Our goal is to create a unique, high-quality summer camp where young people can develop a love of nature as well as a deep appreciation for our river and greater awareness of environmental issues that are important to our community,” said RGISC executive director Tricia Cortez. Each Eco-Camp session will run as
a one-week camp, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Two sessions are for children between the ages of eight and 10 from July 8 to 12, and from July 22 to 26. Children ages 11 to 14 have the option to attend between July 15 to 19 or July 29 to August 2. Tuition for the camp is $175 and includes lunch, healthy snacks, field trips, and an ECO-Camp t-shirt. A limited amount of financial assistance is available for children from families with low income or financial hardship. The deadline to request assistance is June 1. Each camp session is limited to 12 campers in order to maintain a more intense experience. Camp sessions will be staffed by instructors who are committed to science, art, and environmentalism. The aim of the camp is to engage students who will thereafter be equipped with tools and knowledge to make an environmental difference at home, at school. and in their community. The Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, Webb County, and Wells Fargo are this year’s camp sponsors. For more information or to request financial assistance call (956) 718-1063. To register for the camp visit www. rgisc.org. – LareDOS Staff
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meg@laredosnews.com 4 8 I LareDOS I M AY 2013
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Maverick Ranch Notes
BY BEBE & SISSY FENSTERMAKER
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Rain, wildflowers, and a new Important Bird Area
e have had good rains over the last two weeks, and the spring wildflowers are beautiful. We are just back from a Boerne Native Plant Society trip to Medina Valley Nursery in Medina. Ernesto’s gardens are resplendent. He has propagated piñon trees from seed gathered near Mason. We thought piñon trees grew only in West Texas, so it was wonderful to learn this. Ernesto said that they are found in old yards in San Antonio, Kerrville, and Fredericksburg. He said that when WPA work was done in the Hill Country, the workers gathered seeds and planted them in the cities. That’s why the old neighborhoods have them. Medina got two inches of rain this morning; Boerne got one inch; and we got a couple of tenths. Last Saturday there was a combo celebration at Government Canyon State Natural Area (SNA) in Bexar County. Bexar Audubon, the organization which instigated the festivities, gave out citations and served delicious chocolate cake to us all. The celebration was for their success in creating a new IBA (Important Bird Area), which has just been authorized by National Audubon Society. This global designation includes Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm, Government Canyon SNA, and two City of San Antonio wilderness parks. It is named Southernmost Edwards Plateau IBA, quite a mouthful. Also celebrated was the work of the original volunteers who created Government Canyon SNA. Kyle Cunningham, whose tireless efforts
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made this park happen, gave a good summarization of the process and each person’s part in it. It took Kyle – who never quit pushing and probing, County Commissioner Paul Elizondo, and Bexar County Public Works Director Bob Tomassini who found the land, a few of us citizens from northwest Bexar County, and eventually the Trust for Public Lands, to extract the original land from the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) back in the early 1990s. Eventually Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, San Antonio Water System, and the Edwards Aquifer Authority took over ownership, and the natural area is now run by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. This was an accomplishment of a few individuals who have continued on working on new projects, some of which have been spun off of that work done so many years ago. The SNA is now doubled in size from that early start. We are all so proud of the SNA. It provides recreation, Edwards Aquifer recharge, bat cave protection, and endangered bird species protection. Several ecoregions come together there providing a variety of habitat for Texas wildlife and plants. It is a geological treasure. All told, that’s a lot of bang for very few bucks. Several days ago while talking to a neighbor over the fence, two coyotes emerged one at a time from the creek bottom very close to us. It was mid morning, cloudy, and cool. They saw us and carefully made their way across his native hay field, not stopping until they made got to the spring and up the hill toward their den. It was a special moment. ◆
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Book club members visit San Ygnacio
Maria Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
Members of the Laredo Book Club, guests of the River Pierce Foundation, spent a day in San Ygnacio. They met in the library and offices of the foundation, once the residence of Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez. They also toured some of the town’s historic buildings, including the Treviùo Fort , the Zaragoza Dominguez residence, and the Amador Vela store. Pictured from left to right are members Elena Holloway, Tere Arguindegui, Viola Godines, Adelina Guzman, Chacha Longoria, Triana Sames, Julia Jones, and Sheilah Glassford. They are currently reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, and in June will read To Marry An English Lord by Gail MacColl.
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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.
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few weeks back an entire two-hour show of “Dancing With the Stars” featured the appearance and the wonderful songs of legendary Stevie Wonder. It was an upbeat show altogether, capped by Stevie’s personal appearance. As I watched, I recalled that over 20 years ago at Beverly Hills High School where I taught, we were called one morning to an unannounced school assembly. It was a February and it was Black History Month. When the stage curtain opened at the assembly there, at center stage, sitting with his portable piano, was Stevie Wonder in person. He played and sang for us for half an hour, and when we returned to class I found out that his son, a student at BHHS, had arranged for his father to perform for us. His son, by the way, was one of my students. Born in 1950 as Stevland Hardaway Judkins, Stevie Wonder was a child prodigy who became a top singer and songwriter, and who played many instruments. As we all know, he became one of the most creative American musical figures of the late 20th century. Blind since birth, at age 11 he signed with Motown, for whom he records to this day. Among many other honors, he was inducted into The Soul Music Hall of Fame in December 2012. Being the third of six children, he was born six weeks premature, causing the blood vessels at the back of his head to fail, thereby stopping the growth of his retinas, causing them to detach. That’s why he’s blind. His family eventually moved to Detroit, where at an early age he started playing piano, harmonica, drums, and bass. He was very active in his church choir. At 13 he had his first major hit, and the rest, of course, is music history. A 1973 auto
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Notes from La La Land
Remembering Stevie Wonder at BHHS; Laredoan Ortelli co-host of HOLA! LA accident left him in a coma for four days and resulted in a partial loss of his sense of smell and a temporary loss of sense of taste. ������������������������������� He recently received the Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from President Obama. Over the last half century he has had more than 30 U.S. top hits and has won 22 Grammy Awards, the most won by a solo artist. He also won a Best Song Academy Award for his song “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” His album sales total more than 100 million units. In other news, Laredo native and actress Dyana Ortelli is making her mark weekly on television in L.A. via a groundbreaking talk show on KCBSTV. Dyana, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Oscar Elizondo, is a graduate of Ursuline Academy. Her brother, Oscar Elizondo, danced on the same stage with Russia’s famed Rudolf Nureyev. And her mother’s older sisters, Las Cuatas Herrera, were recording artists in the 1940s, appearing in several Hollywood movies with Gene Autry. Dyana’s latest project is a Latina talk show called HOLA! LA, the first of its kind. The show features four Latina women speaking in English and discussing current relevant topics like immigration and Obamacare. The show puts a shining spotlight on Latino celebrities and leaders. Currently running on a once-a-month basis, the goal is to make it a weekly show. Recent guests include Esai Morales, with whom Dyana shared the big screen in the movie La Bamba. John Leguizamo was on recently. Most recently on the show was one of her fellow Texans in Hollywood, Kevin Alejandro, of the CBS-TV series Golden Boy. Kevin is a UT-Austin graduate. The women of HOLA! LA have the objective to make audiences laugh, think, and even disagree with them.
Although the show is local, covering Los Angeles County and surrounding communities in Southern California, the buzz has gone viral. Dyana, who is also an actress-comedienne, is never short on opinion or critique. Indeed, she is one of the most visible and outspoken Latinas in Hollywood. She has appeared in countless television and film roles, including Saving Grace, Born in East L.A., and Luminarias. She is often recognized for her role as Dora in Larry David’s housekeeper in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Irene in the original Sex in the City. She has received numerous awards for her contribution to the Latino community and has recorded two comedy CD’s. As she puts it, she is the only Latina with
two comedy records...and no police record. This December she co-stars in the TV movie Expecting Mary, with Linda Gray and Cybil Shepherd. HOLA! L.A.’s advent is timely, considering how the American Latina has been visibly missing on the American talk show vista. This show is co-hosted by four incredibly accomplished and gifted Latina professionals. I happen to think Dyana may be the best in the bunch, but I am prejudiced. After all, she’s from Laredo! You can watch the first episode of HOLA LA! on line and on Dyana’s own YouTube Channel:http://www.youtube.com/dyanaortelli And on that note, it’s time for, as Norma Adamo puts it, TAN TAN! ◆
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
BY DR. NEO GUTIERREZ
Zumba Time Instructor Isela Hernandez led women and men in a free Zumb class on Thursday, May 16 offered every Thursday at 11 a.m. at the City of Laredo Health Department located at 2600 Cedar Ave. LareDOS I MAY 2 0 1 3 I 5 1
BY SALO OTERO
South Texas Food Bank
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.
Empty Bowls VII honors Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust
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outh Texas Food Bank Marketing Director Mark and save the date — August 23 at the Laredo Energy Arena. For a great night of entertainment and to help a great cause, feeding the hungry, join the South Texas Food Bank at its annual fundraiser, Empty Bowls VII. This year the fundraiser is dedicated to the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust and trustees J.C. Martin III and James Pearl. The event features a concert by Starship Band, which is a combination of the 1960-1980s music sensation Jefferson Star Ship and Jefferson Airplane. The LBV Trust and trustees Martin and Pearl will be recognized for their contribution to sustaining the STFB’s mission to feed the hungry. Empty Bowl VII co-chairs are Annie Dodier, STFB board president, and Anna Galo, president-elect. The STFB, which had its beginnings as the Laredo-Webb County Food Bank, opened its doors in 1989 at a 3,000-foot warehouse at the old Laredo Air Force Base. It moved to a 10,000-foot facility three years later still on the old base grounds. The STFB mission to serve the needy continued to expand, and in 1996 grant money from the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust and its original trustees the late J.C. Martin Jr. and Judge Solomon Casseb bought and renovated a 36,000foot warehouse for the food bank at 1907 Freight Street in west Laredo. At the corner of Freight and Riverside, a block south of Calton Road, a sign brightly notes the location of the Lamar Bruni Vergara South Texas Food Bank. The STFB, a member of the national Feeding America and Texas Food Bank Network, distributes supplemental food monthly in an eight-county area from Rio Grande City to Del Rio to 26,000 families, 7,000 elderly, 6,000 children,
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and 500 veterans and their widows. a table for 10 are $10,000. Gold sponThe Lamar Bruni Vegara Trust has sorships are $5,000; silver, $2,500; and left footprints of generosity on Lar- bronze $1,500. edo’s landscape in support of religious, Tickets for the Starship Band concert health, social justice, and educational go on sale June 14 and are moderately needs. The most Rev. Bishop James priced at $25, $15, and $10. For informaA. Tamayo, first Bishop of the Diocese tion call 726-3120 or 324-2432. of Laredo, noted during the 24th anABOUT THE BAND niversary mass in remembrance of Starship, which originated in San Lamar Bruni Vergara at San Augustin Francisco, is one of the most iconic rock Cathedral this past April 16, “May her bands from the 1980s, recording several example of faith and generosity inspire of the decade›s biggest anthems, includothers to dedicate their spiritual gifts, ing “We Built This City,” “Nothing›s talents and financial resourses to make Gonna Stop Us Now,” and “Sara.” this community a better place to live.” Grace Slick rejoined the band in 1981, Lamar Bruni Vergara was born in and when Paul Kantner left in 1984, it 1910 to Annie Reiser Bruni and Louis H. inspired Mickey and Grace to change Bruni. She was raised and educated in the band›s name to just Starship. her beloved Laredo. Her Roman CathoIn 1985, Starship released the album lic faith inspired her life of charity and that would come to define the eighties, service. She died on April 16, 1989. Co- Knee Deep in the Hoopla, which featured incidentally, the South Texas Food Bank had its start just eight months later in December, 1989. The food bank board quickly got the J.C. Martin Jr. family involved through its original board members who are still active – Odie Arambula, Erasmo Villarreal, and Galo García. Diamond sponsorships for Empty Bowl floor tables for 10 — with dinner and access to a silent auction of artwork — are J.C. Martin III, James Pearl $20,000. Platinum sponsporships for
two chart toppers. ABOUT THE TRUSTEES J. C. (Joe) Martin III graduated from St. Mary’s University in 1962 with an economics degree and attended the University of Texas Law School from 1962-64. A Laredo civic leader involved in several business ventures in Webb, Zapata, and LaSalle Counties, Martin succeeded his father as co-trustee for the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust in 1996. James H. Pearl has been with the Law Offices of Casseb and Pearl since 1971. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy with a degree in engineering and in 1969 graduated from St. Mary’s University Law School. Involved in businesses throughout South Texas, Pearl became a co-trustee of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust in 2009, replacing Solomon Casseb. ◆
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News Brief
The 4th annual UrbanFest will highlight local talent and unite current trends for Laredoans of all ages on Sunday, July 21 at the Laredo Energy Arena (LEA) from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. The music and art festival will feature a best in car show, eight live rock musical performances, over 10 hip-hop artists, break dancing, eight Dj performances, skateboarding ramps for those who want to showcase their skills, live graffiti painting, and local arts and crafts on display, performances from the Laredo Wrestling Alliance, and a poetry slam session. “We encourage families to come out and see what the young adults are doing these days,” said event organizer David Perez, also known as DJ ‘toodope Dave.’ He added, “I just want to encourage everyone to follow their passion, whether it be skating, rapping, creating art, break dancing, or fixing up a car.” Xavier Villalon general manager of
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the SMG-managed LEA said, “We are excited to host UrbanFest for the first time at the arena. UrbanFest and tdK believe that with events such as this we can fight the battle against drugs and violence in our communities and create the best avenues for the young minds of Laredo.” Presale tickets are $18 and go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at all Ticketmaster locations, including the LEA box office. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $23 the day of the event. Attendees also have the option of charging tickets by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or purchasing online at www.ticketmaster. com. UrbanFest is deeply committed to spreading diversity and enhancing pride through entertainment. The music and art festival is sponsored by tDK, a local sneaker and street wear boutique located inside Mall del Norte. – LareDOS Staff
María Eugenia Guerra/Staff
Annual UrbanFest set for July 21 at LEA
The Victorious Project Nye Elementary Wildcat Choir director Jerry Sifuentes and choir members Stacy Martinez, Anna Lauren Czar, Emily Altgelt, and Isabella Montemayor are pictured after their May 16 concert performance in the school gym.
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LAPS
Kitten and puppy season
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yellow tiger-striped longhaired tom cat is calling as he walks across the backyards in a neighborhood with nice homes. He is looking for a girl friend! Once someone’s pet, he approaches people he encounters but one look at his dirty fur with bare patches on his neck and shoulders, matted eyes, and swollen jaw, he is chased away. He has had a rough life since leaving his family to follow his innate instinct to reproduce. At one home, the owner releases his dog to chase the tom away! It isn’t long until a patio door opens at neighboring home, a calico cat emerges and begins licking herself to prepare for an evening out-of-doors. The tom starts moving in on the female. But he has competition. Other toms have seemed to have appeared from out of the air. The calico jumps the owner’s fence and tries to hide from the courting toms under a car in the driveway. There are some furious battles as the yellow tom defending his territory attempts to drive the other toms away. A young Siamese tom with a rabies tag on his collar is quickly beaten and driven away by the yellow tom. Another gray tiger-striped tom is intimidated but refuses to leave. A white longhaired tom also persists. Eventually the calico mates with three different toms. Each mating releases a few eggs that are fertilized and begin developing into kittens. Sixty-three days later, the female gives birth to six kittens. A calico, a gray tiger-striped, a yellow tiger-striped, a white kitten with patches of yellow fur on top of its head, on its back and a yellow tiger-striped tail, and a Siamese marked kitten. The owner of the house finds the kittens hidden in the daughter’s closet on some old clothes the young girl had given the calico to sleep on. The man gets a box out of the garage,
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picks up the mewing kittens and drops them into the box, folds the flaps over and goes to his car with the box. A few miles away from his house, he pulls up next to an empty lot, opens the car door and drops it on the lot behind some bushes. As he leaves, the mewing of the kittens grows louder. A good Samaritan finds the kittens and tries to bottle feed the babies. Most die from disease but a couple survive and are taken to the Laredo Animal Protective Society’s No-Kill animal shelter. Who is guilty of animal abuse, abandonment, over-population of pets such as these kittens? Certainly the man who dumps the kittens is guilty of both animal abuse and abandonment. The owners of the pets capable of reproduction are guilty of contributing to the excessive numbers of dog and cats that end their lives in the City’s Animal Care Center. The City’s Animal Control Ordinance requires all pets to be registered with the City’s Heath Department with a microchip and spayed or neutered. If the pet is capable of reproduction, a breeder’s permit is required. The registration fee is much more expensive. Owners of pets that have not been sterilized, registered, and immunized are in violation of the City’s ordinance, can be cited and have to appear in court! Every day the shelter is open, people call or bring found puppies, kittens, the family pet with the puppies or kittens, family pets they can no longer keep, and strays picked up off the street — dogs that are skin and bones thin; old, obese, arthritic dogs; five puppies are retrieved from a dumpster, three of which die; a small male Chihuahua standing in the middle of Saunders, confused, rescued by person willing to endanger her own life to retrieve the starving, frightened dog. Shelters including LAPS Animal Shelter at 2500 Gonzalez Street are swamped with unwanted pets especially in the spring of the year. Although
LAPS wants to accept every animal found, born, surrendered, abandoned and dumped, the fact is there is limited space and limited funds to quarantine, treat for internal and external parasites, immunize, and spay or neuter. When the maximum number of dogs and cats have been accepted, the only thing LAPS can offer is to add the name of the person wanting to surrender an animal to the “waiting list.” This can lead to frustration, anger, shouting, threatening, and rude language. This has resulted in the poor animal being “dumped” at the Shelter door, which is against the law and a prosecutable offense. What can you do to alleviate this problem? 1.) Spay or neuter your pets. Take advantage of the City sponsored Spay/Neuter events being held in various locations around the city. 2.) Help provide a pathway to a second chance for Shelter pets. Donate time for the care of the animals. This can be done through volunteering after attending a training session at the shelter. Volunteers are needed at adoption events such as
the Petco North every Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., at the shelter and at one’s home by fostering puppies, kittens, and/or adult dogs while they are waiting to be adopted. 3.) Donate money to the shelters to assist in bringing the Spay/Neuter Mobile Vet Clinic to Laredo. You can make a one-time donation of any amount to become a Supporting Member. Or you can make a donation every month of any amount to become a Sustaining Member. If you would like to help ensure long term support for the LAPS Animal Shelter, you can make a bequest in your will and even specify how the bequest is to be used. 4.) DIAL 311 to report people who dump pets or who sell pets in the streets (against the local pet ordinance) if you see them. Get a license plate number and take a photo if possible. 5.) Adopt rather than shop if you are interested in getting a pet for your family. In closing, there are many ways we can work together as a community to alleviate the animal overpopulation crisis.◆
Courtesy Photo
BY RICHARD RENNER LareDOS Contributor
Kennedy-Zapata Elementary School third grade students Eugenio Gonzalez and Heily Zamora from Ms. Mendez’ class, present a check for $2424.93 to Jennie Reed and Catherine Kazen of the Laredo Animal Protective Society. The students undetook a month-long fundraiser and education program benefiting the humane society. WWW.L A R E DO SN E WS.CO M
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
María Eugenia Guerra/LareDOS
Walk benefits JDRF
Artist and art instructor Maru Alexander, who is pictured with Jorge Vega and her students, graciously welcomed guests to the exhibit she staged to showcase their work. The event was held in the courtyard of Vega’s Interiores on May 18. Alexander teaches at Alex’s Studio on Calle del Norte. This is her 17th student exhibit.
United Day School students Ethan Johnston, London Beckelhymer, Giana Catalani, Taylor San Miguel, Henry Fernandez, and Oliver Perez were among the participants at the Walk to Cure Diabetes on April 26. Over $2,000 were raised for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Mariela Rodriguez/LareDOS
Alex’s Studio art exhibit
Women Build at Tierra Prometida subdivision Isabel Ochoa and Alice Herrera got some construction instruction from Chuck Baldacchino on Friday, May 10 at Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build A Day at Tierra Prometida subdivision. W W W. L A R E D OS NEW S . C O M
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Feature
My time in beautiful Yokosuka BY LEM LONDOS RAILSBACK LareDOS Contributor For my annual duty for training as a Naval Reservist, ACDUTRA, I chose the base in Yokosuka, Japan. I was a bit taken by all the codes and locks to get to the office where I would work until I was told I had entered the nerve center of the U.S. Seventh Fleet Command. The captain for whom I would work was in South Korea to coordinate the ULCHI LENS, a combined Republic of Korea and American military exercise to deter aggression in the region. His assistant said that during the next year the captain would help coordinate the COBRA GOLD exercise in Thailand. The ULCHI LENS and COBRA GOLD exercises are held on alternate years in which the American military conducts mock battles, numerous manners of attacks, and displays of integrated firepower. The purpose of each exercise is to demonstrate the might of the American military and to deter the initiation of hostilities. In the captain’s absence, I performed regular military office tasks as they came in. On both days, I stayed late so that I could complete every task. On the morning of the third day, the captain and his assistant were in the office when I arrived. They provided a quick review of what they had been doing in Korea and what they expected to be done for the next month. The captain encouraged me to visit local sites such as Mikasa Park and Museum, the William Adams monument, and the heart of the city. The assistant suggested that I visit “the hooch,” just outside the gates of the base. I visited fine restaurants, fast food joints, movie houses, and retail outlets. On my bus ride downtown I was surprised to see hotels with replicas of famous statues/constructions situated on the roofs — a Statue of Liberty and an Eiffel Tower. Shopping was easy. Every-
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one was very courteous. When I needed directions, the store personnel and individuals on the sidewalk offered complete and clear instructions in slow, careful English. If they didn’t know English, they asked someone to help. From time to time, I ran into other Americans, many whom were also assigned to the Seventh Fleet. During a fast lunch with three sailors, I learned that our base, headquarters of the Seventh Fleet, was the U.S. permanent forward projection force for the Orient. The base was active in World War II, the Korean War, several crisis situations in Laos and Thailand, and the Viet Nam conflict. Some believed that the Seventh Fleet’s presence in the area prevented Mao Zedong’s forces from crossing the Formosa Strait and finishing off the forces of Chiang Kai-shek during the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s. As a result, both the Republic of China on Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China continue to this day as separate nations. I also learned that the Yokosuka area has been inhabited for several thousand years. Mikasa Park was named for the flagship of the Japanese forces under Vice Admiral Heihachiro Togo, who defeated the Russian fleet during the Russo-Japanese war at the turn of the 20th Century. The permanently restored ship was docked there, and nearby, a statue of Admiral Togo stood at attention. As dusk approached, I waited to catch a bus back to the base. I sat on a bench with someone already sitting at the opposite end. After about 10 minutes, I began to wonder why the other person had not moved or uttered a word. I asked whether or not he knew the bus schedule. When he still did not reply to my question, I better focused my eyes and moved closer to ask the same question a bit louder. I finally realized that the figure was actually a statue in a sitting position holding something low on his right side. The account of my encounter with the
statue was greeted with laughter. I was told that in the 1950s there were several jazz musicians who jammed on the base every Sunday afternoon and evening. If a local young person was proficient with his instrument, the sailor musicians would let him sit in on the jam. Over the years, the locals who became internationally famous jazz musicians pooled their resources and established the annual international Yokosuka Jazz Festival. They also commissioned life-sized statues of their sailor mentors to be placed at various locations around the city to express their permanent gratitude. One of our buildings held a giant cafeteria, a lounge area, a television room, several pool table rooms, and three “slop chutes” (bars) with large dance floors. One was for those who like jazz, another was for those who like pop and Broadway music, and the third — the largest — catered to those who favored Western music. I had fun in all three. I took a bullet train to the Ginza, Tokyo’s giant shopping center. I attended a pricey and uproarious show of wonderful singing, amazing stage dancing, and funny slapstick pantomime. I journeyed some distance to see the Kamakura Daibutzu Buddha, one of the oldest and largest Buddha statues in the world. I was amazed at the size, the serenity of the area, and the fact that fresh flowers and food had been left at the base of the statue. A priest relayed the long history of the statue. I followed him to the back of the statue where we entered through a carefully concealed door. Inside, we climbed stairs until we got to the eyes. He explained that in the old days when people still believed, priests would sleep inside the statue and wait until the foodstuffs and flowers were delivered. Then, after looking through one of the eyes to see if the worshipers had walked out of sight, the priests would open the door, retrieve the food, and bring it inside for a meal. After the meal, some of
the priests would go outside to minister. I thanked the priest for his kindness and traveled to the side of a certain mountain that he had recommended. There, I could see what seemed to be a cleared level area for at least a mile to my left and several miles of cleared area to my right. On this mountainside, small rock statues — about 4”x4”x6” — had been placed side-by-side on the ground to honor aborted fetuses. There were thousands and thousands, so many that I was overwhelmed and wept. Back at work, we were notified that hostilities — later known as Desert Shield — had begun. Our captain was being called to the U.S. headquarters there to coordinate actions. His ULCHI LENS and COLBRA GOLD commands had given him years of coordinating deep cover troops with regular troops, a skill not possessed by either of the commanding generals currently in place. Deep cover troops are behind the enemy lines with orders to fight their way to our side; They need passwords, signals, and the like to keep from being shot at by our own troops when they finally fight their way to the battle lines. A special warfare team demonstrated for us the newest Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear warfare suits and necessary gear. We packed the captain’s uniforms and equipment and took him to his waiting jet. I requested that as soon as he arrived that he request my service in the operations. If he requested me, I could serve and return to my regular job. If I had volunteered, there was no guarantee of my job upon my return. Within 45 minutes of that call, we had our captain on his way. I finished my ACDUTRA that week and returned home. Shortly after our Captain had arrived in Saudi Arabia to take command, he contracted some sort of desert sickness in his lungs and had to be sent back to the hospital in Japan. And that is how I missed serving in Desert Shield. ◆
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David Hunt, Melissa Ortega, and Tricia Cortez of the Río Grande International Study Center were recognized by Clark Middle students Mark Duffield and Roland Patricio for allowing the school to participate in the first-ever Earth Day art contest. Under the direction of art teacher Nancy Poinsot Clark students constructed a bulletin board that addressed the impact of plastic bags on our ecosystem.
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Earth Day winners at Clark Middle School
At the South Texas Alzheimer’s Symposium Laura Perez and Melissa Guerra, co-facilitators of the local Alzheimer’s support group, are pictured at the May 10 South Texas Alzheimer’s Symposium at the Laredo campus of the UT Health Science Center.
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Baptism of Kaleb Guerra Kaleb Guerra was baptized by his parents Katherine and Sean Guerra (left) on Sunday, May 19 at San Francisco Javier Catholic Church. Photographed are his godparents Fatima and David Garcia (right) and Father Igancio Valdez.
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Bridge editor to intern at LareDOS Celia Villarreal, newly named editor of The Bridge, TAMIU’s student newspaper, is pictured at a recent banquet honoring Bridge staff and its faculty sponsors. She is pictured with her parents Martha and John Villarreal, her brother John David, and Andy Hale. Celia assumes a summer internship at LareDOS at the end of May.
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glass in the dust coating her property and the facility, as well as aluminum, silicates, zinc, chlorine, and rubber dust. The regulatory agency cited Wilkinson on October 18, 2012 for failure to prevent nuisance conditions. (A 2009 TCEQ citation documented Wilkinson’s failure to prevent unauthorized emissions and a failure to ensure that all emission control equipment had been maintained in good condition. During a subsequent investigation, the TCEQ noted that spray bars on the shredder housing were clogged and that visible emissions from the shredder were being released at an average opacity of 72.08% over a six minute period which exceeded the required limit of 5% opacity.) Villaseñor said the company’s operations pose health threats and that she can’t stand outside for too long without coughing or her eyes becoming irritated. “My brother has unexplainable discolorations on his skin, which I believe resulted from the constant exposure to
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Ladrillera resident Carlos Hernandez routinely collects piles of metal from his street whatever particles are floating in the air,” Villaseñor said, adding, “My grandson was visiting from Dallas recently and spent some time playing in the yard. After he left he had to be taken to the doctor immediately because his asthma was acting up.” She added, “My niece, Norma Perez, a former resident of the neighborhood, sold her home to Wilkinson after her daughter became ill with extreme asthma, too.”
Perez said, “My home was no longer a pleasant safe haven as it should be. I had a pecan and lemon tree that over time wilted and became coated in a black residue,” she added, “After my daughter’s asthma worsened her pediatrician advised that I remove her from the property if possible.” Antonia Hernandez lives at 2320 Scott, directly behind the Wilkinson warehouse. The homemaker and a mother of three said her property values have diminished and that in heavy rainfall her home floods with the oily black water that runs from the plant. “I’ve spoken to Scott Wilkinson three times about these issues. He says he’ll take care of it but then writes me off. To this day I am waiting for him to take care of the problem. We’ve had enough with no one doing anything about this,” she said. While she agrees the flooding is not Wilkinson’s fault, she said that the contaminated runoff is. “After it rains, I have to use bottles of bleach to try to restore the original color
of my tile which becomes black from the particles of metal and oil in the water,” she said, adding, “The smell is a whole other issue. The unpleasant odor of the dirty water engulfs my home.” Hernandez said the flooding briefly drew the attention of Council Member Cindy Liendo who installed a storm drain at the corner of Pinder and Scott in an effort to remedy the issue. “I spoke to her at the beginning of the year, but to this day she has not called me again,” said Hernandez, adding, “The drain was of no help. It should have been installed closer to my home. It fills with trash and chemicals from the plant. All of this contaminated water is not only going into my home, but it is going straight to our water supply, our river.” She said, “My children all suffer from asthma which only increased after we moved into this property. They all take medication for severe allergies. One of my sons has some discoloration of skin along his neck, something he did not CONTINUED ON PAGE 63
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Cancer survivor Raquel Cruz-Chambalaga spoke about her battle with cancer at this year’s Relay for Life on Friday, April 26 at the Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex. Photographed with her (left to right) are Relay chair Alma Jasso, Javier Vasquez, DJ Sammy the House, and honorary chair of this year’s relay, UISD Supt. Roberto Santos.
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Relay for Life honors survivors
Talent takes a bow Ana Cecilia Lugo-Benavides, 10, is pictured with her artwork and her father Guillermo at the exhibit for the students of Alex’s Studio. The event was held in the courtyard of Vega’s Interiores. Instructor and artist Maru Alexander hosted the May 18 event.
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Between Tuesday, May 7 and Tuesday, May 14, members of Los Olvidados met with ESD director Mia, health department director Gonzalez, Paul Alford and Erica Solis of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, assistant chief of police Jesus R. Torres, the board of directors of the Río Grande International Study Center, and Scott Wilkinson, vice president of the Wilkinson company and manager of day-to-day operations at the plant. On May 22 they met with TCEQ staff members who took additional tape lifts of dust from three additional homes in the neighborhood. “I gave them our word that we will address all their concerns,” said Wilkinson after a May 14 meeting with members of Los Olvidados at the TRLA offices. Attending with him was the company’s attorney, Albert Gutierrez. “We want to be good neighbors as we always have been in the past,” said Wilkinson. “We know that many elderly and widows make up the population of the neighborhood. We have been looking at how to enclose the shredding area, and this will happen as fast as possible. About a year ago the residents complained about the dust from our yard, and we started wetting it down at all times. We also built a very tall fence,” he said, noting that the company has been responsive to complaints. “When they complained about the traffic, we instructed our drivers to creep through there,” he said, adding that the company operates six trucks. Wilkinson noted that the scrap metal industry has changed quickly over the last several years as the demand for recycled metal has increased, and that the demand has fostered the expansion of his operation. “Scrap metal is more valuable than it has ever been,” he said, adding that the product he ships by rail car into Mexico and cities in the U.S. becomes structural steel and rebar.
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“We’re hoping we can eliminate the noise. That’s our number one goal. I know we can do it. We definitely don’t want a fight. We are going to put a roof over any area that might have contaminants,” he continued. Wilkinson said the company had been in the neighborhood since 1948. “My great grandfather, S.H. Wilkinson, established a company that bought animal bones, hides, and metals,” he said. “We provide 62 jobs in Laredo, and we are of good tax benefit to the school district,” he added. “The meeting with Los Olvidados and Scott Wilkinson on May 14 was a good first step in hopefully resolving the group’s concerns. Mr. Wilkinson expressed a willingness to work with the group to resolve their concerns,” said attorney Monahan. “Mr. Wilkinson informed the group of some steps the company had begun taking, including moving some operations off site and enclosing the large metal shredder inside a building. It remains to be seen whether these actions will alleviate some or any of the group’s concerns. However, we are hopeful that we can continue to negotiate in good faith with Mr. Wilkinson to try to resolve these issues informally without resorting to the courts,” he said. Members of Los Olvidados are skeptical that changes Wilkinson may implement will restore the neighborhood. “We hear Mr. Wilkinson say he is trying to work with us, but those five nuisance, health, and environmental issues are not going to go away. There’s too much damage already done. Even if they address some of the current problems within the time frame we have given them, they are going to continue expanding, and there will be new problems,” Flores said. “Mr. Wilkinson and us — we are going in two different directions. We want him out of here, and he wants to stay,” said Aguilar. ◆
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have prior to us coming to this neighborhood.” Since Los Olvidados has formed and become outspoken, Hernandez noted that the loud sounds from the plant’s machinery have somewhat lessened. She noted that the establishment has begun to close at 5:30 p.m., whereas before the excessive noise was an issue from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Retired educator Santiago Flores Jr. has lived at 2317 Benavides for 59 years in what had once been his parents’ home. Documents, receipts, car insulation, and other debris from the plant invariably end up in front of his property. “The metal shredder gets so loud sometimes you can’t hear your phone ring,” he said, adding, “I can be sitting in my bedroom with the TV full blast and still won’t be able to hear anything over the noise.” Flores thinks the best solution would be for the Wilkinson plant to relocate out of the neighborhood. Carlos Hernandez, a retired utilities employee, has lived at 2301 Benavides for 60 years. He said he is unable to have cookouts in his yard, open his windows,
hang his clothes to dry outdoors, wash his car, or simply spend a peaceful evening sitting on his porch. The pounding from the steel cranes in the Wilkinson facility has knocked picture frames from the walls of his home. Constant truck traffic traveling on San Ignacio Street to and from the Wilkinson plant completely disregards the designated truck routes, he said. “The trailers that drive into our neighborhood leave a trail of pieces of fallen scrap metals,” he said, adding, “Every day I have to sweep my driveway. Otherwise I’ll end up with a flat tire, guaranteed.” “We just want our peace, our street, and our neighborhood back,” Hernandez said. Juan Francisco Aguilar has been a Ladrillera resident for over 40 years. He commented on the progress of Los Olvidados in making known their problems with the Wilkinson facility. “This is moving in the right direction. We are being listened to and getting results. Once we have the group sitting with City Council working together on a solution, we will be where we wanted to be,” he said. ◆
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