The Zapata Times 8/13/2016

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ARIZONA

Alleged founding member busted

Mayor refuses English and Spanish invite ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Mexican authorities re-arrest Luis Reyes Enriquez A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

MEXICO CITY — Mexican police say they have re-arrested a former soldier who was allegedly one of the founders of the Zetas drug cartel.

Federal police said Friday they arrested Luis

Reyes Enriquez in a raid in the Monterrey suburb of San Pedro Garza GarEnriquez cia, one of the country’s richest communities.

Reyes Enriquez was arrested in 2007, and spent almost eight years in custody until a judge absolved him of organized crime and drug charges in April 2015.

Prosecutors appealed that ruling, and a superior court re-instated his con-

viction and a sentence of 47 ⁄2 years in prison.

Reyes Enriquez deserted the army in 1999 while he was based in Tamaulipas state. Local media said he was known by the nickname “Z-12.” The Zetas were founded by deserters from an elite army unit.

1

HUACHUCA CITY, Ariz. — An Arizona mayor has refused an invitation to a meeting of U.S. and Mexican border city mayors because it was written in both English and Spanish.

The El Paso Times Thursday that the invitation is for an Aug. 24 meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association in Laredo, Texas.

“I will NOT attend a function Taylor that is sent to me in Spanish/ Mexican. One nation means one Invite continues on A12

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

STUDENTS DESIGN DRONES Scholars learn to build flying machines at camp

By Alia Malik SA N ANT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS

SAN ANTONIO — Quinton Gonzalez was a sophomore last school year at Roosevelt High School’s Design and Technology Academy, where an Advanced Placement Computer Science teacher told his class about a drone-building summer camp.

Gonzalez, 16, didn’t need further persuasion to sign up.

“Being able to fly stuff and crash them into things just sounds like fun,” Gonzalez told the San Antonio ExpressNews. “It’s the dream.”

Gonzalez’s dream became reality last month when classrooms at Roosevelt High School filled with flying — and crash-

ing — drones.

He and 19 other students from North East Independent School District middle and high schools finished the twoweek drone camp by steering their creations through an obstacle course.

Resembling quadrupeds with propeller feet and narrow, glowing eyes, the drones were supposed to hum their way under and over PVC pipes propped on chairs and through two hula hoops before landing on a trash can.

Youth Code Jam, an organization that promotes computer programming to students, sponsored the camp. The students built the drones and remote controls themDrone continues on A12

Kin Man Hui / The San Antonio Express-News

In this July 28 photo, Incoming Roosevelt High School freshmen Connor Mellor, left, and Brandon Ochoa keep an eye on their drone in San Antonio. Twenty students from North East Independent School District middle and high schools finished the two-week drone camp.

OIL AND GAS

Group says feds are illegally canceling lease sales

By Matthew Brown ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Michael Paulsen / Houston Chronicle

An oil well pumps oil as several wind turbines produce energy in Fort Stockton. A trade group for the energy industry accused federal officials of illegally canceling or postponing the sale of more than two dozen oil and gas leases over the past two years.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A trade group for the energy industry accused federal officials Thursday of illegally canceling or postponing the sale of more than two dozen oil and gas

leases over the past two years.

The Western Energy Alliance sued the Obama administration in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, seeking to force officials to hold lease sales four times a year as required under the federal Mineral Leasing Act. The group said sales have

been called off in Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

U.S. officials have blamed at least some cancellations on companies’ limited interest, citing low oil and gas prices that Lease continues on A12

Zin brief A2 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13

A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S

1

Brews and Cruise Pedal Party. 8 p.m. sharp. Meet at Caffe Dolce, 1708 Victoria St. Let’s Brews and Cruise it downtown and zip along San Bernardo Ave. If you plan on joining the fun please make plans to arrive before 8 p.m. and bring your own bikes, helmets, locks and lights.

Today is Saturday, Aug. 13, the 226th day of 2016. There are 140 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 13, 1961, East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin’s eastern and western sectors before building a wall that would divide the city for the next 28 years.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 1

Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m.

Every third Thursday of the month.

Laredo Medical Center, A.R. Sanchez Cancer Center, Tower A, 1st Floor.

Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call Nancy Santos at 956-285-5410.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19

Angel Franco / The New York Times

Standing water, breeding grounds for mosquitos carrying Zika virus, at a cemetery in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The Zika epidemic that has spread from Brazil to the rest of Latin America.

HEALTH CRISIS IN PUERTO RICO

1

South Texas Food Bank Empty Bowls X fundraiser. 6–11 p.m. Laredo Energy Arena. Concert by Grand Funk Railroad The American Band.

Tickets are $10, $15, $25 at the LEA box office or ticketmaster.com.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 1

‘Lucha Libre’ pro wrestling. 7 p.m. Laredo Firefighters Union Hall, 5219 Tesoro Plaza. General admission $5 to benefit the South Texas Food Bank mission of feeding the hungry.

Tickets at the door. For more information call the South Texas Food Bank at 726-3120 or Salo Otero at 324-2432.

MONDAY, AUGUST 22 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 1

Spanish Book Club. 6–8 p.m.

Laredo Public Library on Calton. For more information, contact Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27 1

Doctors Hospital at Renaissance 11th Annual “Fishing for Hope” Tournament. Louie’s Backyard, 2305 Laguna Blvd., South Padre Island.

MONDAY, AUGUST 29 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 1

Book sale. 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. No admission charge.

Everyone is invited.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

1 Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m.

Every first Monday of the month.

Doctors Hospital at the Community Center. Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call Nancy Santos at 956-285-5410.

1 Ray of Light anxiety and depression support group meeting.

6:30–7:30 p.m. Area Health Education Center, 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. Every first Monday of the month. People suffering from anxiety and depression are invited to attend this free, confidential and anonymous support group meeting. While a support group does not replace an individual's medical care, it can be a valuable resource to gain insight, strength and hope.

By Danica Coto ASSOCIATED PRE SS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. government on Friday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico as a result of a Zika epidemic.

The declaration allows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to award grants, access emergency funds and temporarily appoint personnel where needed, among other things.

“This administration is committed to meeting the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico with the necessary urgency,” Secretary

UN approves robust Sudan peace force UNITED NATIONS — United Nations peacekeepers in South Sudan have a robust new mandate and thousands of additional troops despite government opposition to the move, raising the possibility of clashes between blue helmets and the country’s armed forces.

The Security Council voted Friday to a approve a resolution granting expanded powers to peacekeepers requiring them to

Sylvia Burwell said in a department statement. Burwell traveled to the U.S. territory in late April to evaluate its response to the outbreak.

A department spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on what immediate steps the agency may take.

The announcement came hours after Puerto Rico reported 1,914 new cases in the past week, for a total of 10,690 since the first one was reported in December.

The mosquito-borne virus has infected 1,035 pregnant women.

use “all necessary means” to protect U.N. personnel and installations and to take “proactive” measures to protect civilians from threats. The vote was 11 in favor with four abstentions.

The resolution also adds an additional 4,000 troops from Africa, bringing the peacekeeping force’s troops to around 17,000. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, has been criticized for failing to protect civilians when U.N. sites came under attack last month.

U.S. deputy ambassador David Pressman he was aware of South Sudan’s reservations regarding the regional force.

“We’re going into this eyes wide open. We recognize that the government of South Sudan, which has agreed to the protection force in principle, has and continues to express a number of concerns on the modalities of the resolution.

That’s why the resolution keeps an eye toward continued conversation with the government,” Pressman said.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS 1 killed, fire truck burns in Killeen gas tanker truck blaze KILLEEN — A tanker truck explosion and fire at a Central Texas gas station left one person dead, destroyed a fire truck and forced more than 50 nearby residents to evacuate.

Killeen police did not immediately release details on the person killed in the fiery accident early Friday at a Mickey’s Convenience Store. Police say preliminary information indicates the tanker truck was refueling the gas pumps when it was struck by an SUV.

Man who portrayed Santa gets long prison term for child pornography CORPUS CHRISTI — A South Texas man who dressed as Santa Claus and made holiday appearances with youngsters is going to prison for a

Eric J. Shelton / AP

Emergency personnel work the scene of a fire after a tanker truck exploded at Mickey's Convenience Store, in Killeen.

long time after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography.

A federal judge sentenced Reynaldo Ramirez to 19 years and seven months in prison. He could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 20 years of supervised released. He also must register as a sex offender.

The 38-year-old Corpus Christi man pleaded guilty on May 3 in a child porn case involving more than 1,000 images of youngsters on several digital devices.

A federal agent also testified that Ramirez admitted to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old child.

— Compiled from AP reports

On this date: In 1624, King Louis XIII of France appointed Cardinal Richelieu his first minister.

In 1792, French revolutionaries imprisoned the royal family.

In 1846, the American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles.

In 1910, Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.

In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was again elected Speaker of Turkey’s Grand Assembly.

In 1934, the satirical comic strip “Li’l Abner,” created by Al Capp, made its debut.

In 1946, author H.G. Wells, 79, died in London.

In 1960, the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1. The Central African Republic became totally independent of French rule.

In 1979, Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals became the 14th player in major league baseball history to reach the 3,000th career hit plateau as his team defeated the Chicago Cubs, 3-2.

In 1981, in a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions.

In 1989, searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane which had disappeared almost a week earlier while carrying Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 other people — there were no survivors.

In 1995, Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle died at a Dallas hospital of rapidly spreading liver cancer; he was 63.

Ten years ago: Israel’s Cabinet became the final party to sign on to a U.N. cease-fire deal with Hezbollah.

Fidel Castro sent Cubans a sober greeting on his 80th birthday, saying he faced a long recovery from surgery.

Five years ago: Seven people were killed when a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair during a powerful storm just before a concert was to begin. In the Republican presidential race, Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll; Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially declared his candidacy. In eastern Pakistan, al-Qaida gunmen kidnapped an American development expert, Warren Weinstein. (Weinstein was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Jan. 2015.)

One year ago: In one of the deadliest single attacks in postwar Baghdad, a truck bomb shattered a popular fruit-and-vegetable market in a teeming Shiite neighborhood, killing dozens of people. The New York Times reported that DNA testing had proved that President Warren G. Harding fathered a child with longrumored mistress Nan Britton, according to AncestryDNA, a division of Ancestry.com.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is 90. Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is 83. Actor Kevin Tighe is 72. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is 70.

Opera singer Kathleen Battle is 68.

High wire aerialist Philippe Petit is 67.

Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is 67. Golf Hall of Famer Betsy King is 61. Movie director Paul Greengrass is 61. Actor Danny Bonaduce is 57. TV weatherman Sam Champion is 55.

Actress Dawnn Lewis is 55. Actor John Slattery is 54. Actress Debi Mazar is 52. Actress Quinn Cummings is 49. Actress Seana Kofoed is 46.

Country singer Andy Griggs is 43.

Actor Gregory Fitoussi is 40. Country musician Mike Melancon (Emerson Drive) is 38. Actress Kathryn Fiore is 37. Actor Sebastian Stan is 34. Poprock singer James Morrison is 32.

Actress Lennon Stella is 17.

Thought for Today: “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe... Yet, clumsily or smoothly, the world, it seems, progresses and will progress.” — H.G. Wells (1866-1946).

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 1

9th Annual Football Tailgaiting Cook-Off. 2–10 p.m. El Metro Park & Ride, 1819 E. Hillside. Admission is $2.

There will be a finger ribs cook-off.

The first place winner will get $1,500 in prize money. There will also be a fajita and beans cook-off as well as live music, a car show, food vendors, merchandise booths and more. The Animal Care Facility will be on site with pets up for adoption. For more information, call 286-9055.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

AROUND THE NATION Obama’s playlist earns rave reviews from DJs LOS ANGELES — After he’s finished working in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama could find employment behind a pair of turntables.

Obama’s summer playlist is earning praise from music tastemakers. The White House released the track listing Thursday during Obama’s family vacation. Several critics

are boasting about the commander in chief’s attention to detail and diverse taste in tunes.

“When I went through his playlist, I immediately wished we could elect him for another four years,” said Aaron Axelsen, the music director at Live 105 (KITS-FM) in San Francisco.

Axelsen praised Obama’s list for including such “legit indie rock” tunes as Courtney Barnett’s “Elevator Operator” and Edward Sharpe and the Mag-

CONTACT US netic Zeros’ “Home,” as well as “credible backpack hip-hop” like Wale’s “LoveHate Thing” and Common’s “Forever Begins.” Axelsen also appreciated that Obama set a mood with the order of his musical choices.

“That’s a lost art,” said Axelsen. “It takes me back to the ‘80s when I started and you had to earn cred with the perfect mixtape.” The full list of 39 songs was divided by daytime and nighttime.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

A3

STATE

Police: Deputy found dead at his home killed himself

By David Warren A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DALLAS — Investigators have determined that a Texas sheriff’s deputy found dead at his home after notifying dispatchers of prowlers in his yard killed himself.

Travis County sheriff’s Sgt. Craig Hutchinson was suffering from depression and facing foreclosure on his home and other financial pressures, authorities announced at a news conference Friday.

Round Rock police Chief Allen Banks had announced last week that the gunshot that killed Hutchinson came from his own service weapon, but investigators couldn’t conclusively say whether he killed himself. Developments in the case this

Hutchinson

week, including signs that Hutchinson was suffering from stress and anxiety, led authorities to rule out that others were responsible for his death, according to Round Rock police Cmdr. Willie Richards.

The gunshot that killed Hutchinson, 54, went through the palm of his hand and struck him in

the head. He was weeks away from retirement following a 32-year career with the sheriff’s office.

“We’re going to put something in place to prevent something like this from happening again,” Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton said.

Hamilton, who struggled Friday to compose himself, pledged to put measures in place that identify sheriff’s personnel who may be suicidal and provide help.

Hutchinson’s death July 25 prompted a flurry of speculation as it came amid the fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas and the ambush and killing of three law enforcement officers in Louisiana. His memorial service drew thousands and

prompted officials to close several avenues for a long procession of vehicles to the service.

The case has similarities to the death last September of Fox Lake, Illinois, police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. In both cases, the officers told dispatchers about suspicious characters before they were found shot and each incident led to broad police responses. In the case of Gliniewicz, authorities allege that he had been embezzling funds from a youth program he ran and that, fearing it would be exposed, he killed himself and tried to make it look like someone else killed him.

No one has alleged any wrongdoing by Hutchinson, who was remembered as a “gentle giant”

and man of his word.

Richards said Hutchinson previously had two vehicles repossessed and faced foreclosure proceedings on his Round Rock home, north of Austin, beginning in 2011. It appears he and his wife were able to retain the home but foreclosure warnings continued, including just weeks before his death.

Hamilton said Hutchinson’s death left his department stunned. Hutchinson had told the sheriff earlier in the month how excited he was for retirement and how he wanted to move to a ranch and purchase cattle.

Detectives investigating his death processed more than 150 pieces of evidence, canvassed some 250 homes and chased down more than 100 tips.

Hutchinson had notified dispatchers in the early hours of July 25 that two suspects were trying to break into a backyard shed. But officials said Friday there didn’t appear to be anything taken from the shed or any indication of forced entry.

“I want to apologize to the citizens of Williamson County to have to use that many resources to address this particular issue,” Hamilton said.

Williamson County Justice of the Peace Bill Gravell Jr., the official who certified that the sergeant killed himself, said suicide is one of the leading manners of death he investigates.

“We need to be more aggressive and open in talking about this topic,” he said.

Zopinion

Letters to the editor Send your signed letter to editorial@lmtonline.com

A4 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Shocking wave of mayors in Mexico being murdered

By Andres Oppenheimer M IA M I HE RALD

Most of Donald Trump’s statements about Mexico are the product of ignorance, racism and demagoguery, but the Republican candidate would be delighted to read the latest headlines in this country.

According to the news splashed across the front pages, the Mexican Association of Mayors is requesting urgent help from President Enrique Peña Nieto to stop a wave of killings of city mayors.

At least five city mayors have been killed so far this year, for a total of 56 over the past 10 years, news reports say.

The overwhelming majority of these crimes remain unsolved, in line with an overall pattern of impunity for all crimes that are committed in Mexico.

A study by the Center for Impunity and Justice Studies of the University of the Americas in Puebla shows that Mexico has the second-highest impunity rate - after Philippines - in the world.

Only 7 percent of the crimes that take place in Mexico are reported to authorities, and less than 1 percent of all criminals end up in jail, the CESIJ’S newly released "Index of Impunity in Mexico 2016" says.

Most Mexicans don’t even report crimes because they think it’s a waste of time, and because they don’t trust the police, polls show.

An old Mexican joke says that "if you are mugged on the street, don’t scream, because you may attract the police!"

Often, the police shake down crime victims, as well as criminals.

Gerardo Rodriguez Sanchez, the co-author of the CESIJ’S impunity index, told me that most of the mayors’ killings take place in remote poverty-ridden areas that are known for their poppy seed plantations for heroin production.

There is virtually no presence of federal or state police forces nor judges in these rural towns. Drug traffickers there want to control local mayors, because it is the mayors who appoint the only existing law enforcement officials.

But to put things in perspective, Mexico is far down the list of Latin America’s most violent countries, and many U.S. cities have higher murder rates than Mexico’s.

There are about a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries with

higher murder rates than Mexico. Honduras has an annual murder rate of 90 per 100,000 people. In Venezuela, the rate is 54 per 100,000, while in Belize it’s 45, in El Salvador it’s 41, and in Guatemala it’s 40. Brazil’s murder rate is 25 per 100,000 people. By comparison, Mexico’s annual murder rate is 21 per 100,000 people, according to United Nations figures.

And while the United States has a much lower overall homicide rate than Mexico’s, U.S. cities such as St. Louis, Detroit and New Orleans have murder rates that are roughly double those of Mexico, and about three times higher than those of Mexico City, according to FBI figures.

Law enforcement experts say Mexico’s obscene impunity rates are due in part among other things to police corruption, shortages of judges the country has only four judges per 100,000 people, compared to 10 judges per 100,000 in the United States - and overcrowded prisons.

My opinion: Trump’s assertions about Mexico, such as his claim that most Mexican undocumented migrants in the United States are "criminals" and "rapists," are preposterous. In fact, studies show that the percentage of serious crimes carried out by Mexican undocumented migrants is significantly lower than that of U.S.born Americans.

And, as we saw above, Trump is also misrepresenting the facts when he singles out Mexico as more violent than most countries, as well as when he blames free trade with Mexico for most U.S. job losses. In fact, free trade with Mexico has produced more winners than losers on both sides, according to the Wilson Center.

But Trump’s wild claims aside, Mexico should seek international help to solve its impunity problem, much like Guatemala successfully did when it invited the United Nations’ International Commission against Impunity to help rebuild its disastrous law enforcement system.

The recent wave of murders of Mexican mayors suggests that Mexico’s drug-related violence, which drew so much U.S. media attention a few years ago, has not slowed down, and that it must do something drastic to reduce it.

Andres Oppenheimer is a columnist for the Miami Herald.

COLUMN

Trump has crossed line of decency

By Christine Flowers PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

I’m morbidly fascinated by the rhetorical mud being slung between Democrats and Republicans these days. How exhilarating to hear Hillary Clinton labeled "unstable" by Donald Trump, who is himself called "bat(bleep)-crazy" by a fellow billionaire and Hillaryite, Mark Cuban.

Breathtaking to hear the former secretary of state, who presided over the first massacre of a U.S. ambassador in 40 years, say, "It’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because someone got under his very thin skin," then listen to a fervent Trumpeter named Alex Jones call Clinton and her husband "organized criminals . .and there’s a lot of death around them."

Of course, depending upon whom you support, the other guy’s rhetoric is slanderous (or, in Trump’s case, terroristic threats and an invitation to assassination) while your team’s comments are legitimate political discourse. I cannot tell you how many times I see otherwise intelligent individuals - at least they seemed that way before Mark Zuckerberg got to them - completely lose any sense of objectivity and become zombie-like cheerleaders for their standard-bearer.

That sickens me, people, and I’m sure I sicken you with my refusal to "make America great again" or be "with her."

Those of us who agonize and refuse to pick a side are looked upon with disdain by both the jubilant folks shaking the shards of that shattered glass ceiling out of their hair, and the true "murricans" who think Hillary’s Social Security number

starts and ends with "666."

This week, though, I actually do need to take a side. It has nothing to do with whom will get my vote, because that has been changing positions as regularly as one of those balls that dance merrily over the Wimbledon net. This week, I need to peel back the layers of rhetoric and excuses about the "lesser of two evils" and focus deliberately and clinically on why Trump is a horror show of a human being.

And of course, here comes the disclaimer. I despise Clinton, whose character has been shown to be so low that it could slither under a pregnant ant and still leave space.

She is a liar, who lies with expert calm and nonchalance, a woman who would not be able to pass a lie-detector test because she is too smart to convince herself that what comes out of her mouth is the truth.

She lies when she doesn’t have to, as she does in the rare interviews she grants sycophantic journalists; she lies when cornered; she lies when she smiles and says she cares about our children (and the unborn ones shake their tiny, hidden heads); lies when she implies that it was a right-wing conspiracy that tainted her husband’s legacy, and not his penis; lies when she says she wants to be my president.

She despises people like me, who see through her facade of empathy.

The one thing she doesn’t lie about is her ambition, which is impossible to dissimulate and hangs in the air before our eyes like a banner screaming, "I am Woman, Hear Me Roar!"

No, I do not like Hillary Rodham Clinton, and I do

not respect her, and I will not welcome her into the White House. She’s competent and qualified, but so is Elizabeth Warren, and so is Bernie Sanders, and so is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and so was Teddy Kennedy, and they are all the antithesis of what I believe our country needs to remain strong and whole, honorable and viable.

That was the disclaimer. Now comes the point of this column, nearly 600 words in: Donald Trump is a mediocre man, and he is someone who does not deserve, even as a default, to sit in the White House.

It is long past the time to start talking about the Supreme Court and generations to come, and having a president who will sign legislation that a presumably Republican Congress would put in front of him.

People, think back to what this man suggested when he was talking about the Second Amendment. I know that the media have had a great tendency to blow Trump’s comments out of proportion, and the dustup about Megyn Kelly’s blood and the cruel comments about Muslim terrorists and Mexican rapists can, if we are pushed to the wall, be swallowed like bitter bile and then forgotten as we set our eyes on the prize.

I truly do believe that Trump does not understand the consequences of his words, and that his brain is not fully engaged before he opens his mouth. This is the thing that has enchanted so many of those who were tired of the "establishment" and encourages them to circle the protective wagons when he’s criticized.

But, my friends, you cannot circle the wagons when your candidate,

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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

inadvertently as I believe it to have been, makes reference to a final solution for addressing guncontrol differences. I watched as that blond twit on CNN who thinks she’s clever and regurgitates Trump talking points every night actually tried to excuse his Second Amendment comments as being misunderstood. Here are the words he spoke: "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks . Although the Second Amendment people maybe there is, I don’t know."

No thinking human being can misunderstand that. Trump tried to say he was inviting people to vote as a bloc against Clinton, but the only way she gets to pick a judge, presumably for the Supreme Court, is if she already is president. So voting will be irrelevant at that point.

At this point, I suppose it’s too much to change the hearts and minds of those who are in the Never Hillary camp. I wouldn’t want to. In fact, I’d be sick at the thought that anything I said would persuade someone to vote for her.

All I ask is that you supporters of "The Donald" stop dipping your brains in formaldehyde and acknowledge that the candidate has crossed the line of decency. Hold him up to judgment. Make him accountable for his thoughtless, reckless, supremely unpresidential words. Don’t act like the robotic prostitutes on cable television who excuse his failings. This time, he’s gone too far.

And if you don’t acknowledge it, so have you.

Christine Flowers is a lawyer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

A5

A6 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Nate Parker to create youth fellowship

By Sandy Cohen ASSOCIATED PRE SS Kin Cheung / AP file

In this Oct. 27, 2015 photo, actor Robert De Niro attends a news conference in Macau. The 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival is kicking off Friday with Robert De Niro presenting Martin Scorsese's restored "Taxi Driver."

Robert De Niro opens the 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival

By Aida Cerkez A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SARAJEVO, BosniaHerzegovina — Robert De Niro opened the 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival on Friday, presented Martin Scorsese’s restored “Taxi Driver” and received the festival’s first lifetime achievement award — The Heart of Sarajevo.

De Niro starred in the 1976 film in the role of Travis Bickle, a mentally disturbed Vietnam war veteran.

Over nine days, some 100,000 expected guests will watch 223 movies from 61 countries in nearly a dozen locations in the city. At the end, winners will be announced in seven categories.

“I will treasure this award — my Heart of Sarajevo — because I don’t think there is another city in the world that has shown such heart in the face of so much tragedy,” De Niro said at the ceremony.

The festival was born in a sandbag-protected basement during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war when a few enthusiasts organized screenings of whatever movie they could get in order to offer some sense of normalcy to the besieged city. Sarajevans braved snipers and mortars to come watch, often paying for tickets with cigarettes.

People would enter the basement of the Academy of Performing Arts through a hole organizers knocked in the wall on the side of the building less exposed to bullets and shrapnel. Watching movies to the sound of the running generator and bombs outside felt like upgrading from pure survival to living.

De Niro drew a parallel to the Tribeca Film festival he co-founded.

The Sarajevo Film Festival “was born during a dark and dangerous time to counter the butchering of war with a celebration of art and humanity,” De Niro said. “Six years later, on September 11 in 2001 my own New York neighborhood was attacked and we started the Tribeca Film Festival as a gesture of hope, resilience and defiance,” he said.

After the Bosnian war, the Sarajevo festival grew from annual basement screenings into the largest film festival in Southeast Europe and an opportunity for regional film makers who rarely had the chance to mingle among colleagues in Cannes, Hollywood or Venice to meet, discuss projects and walk their own Red Carpet.

By now it no longer is their own. Stars like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Steve Buscemi, Kevin Spacey, Benicio del Toro and many others have in the past few years been presenting their movies here and have walked down the Red Carpet in front of the National Theater.

For many Sarajevans the festival week is the wildest of the year and they plan their vacations around it. Tourists flood the city, concerts start after midnight and cab drivers say even at 3 a.m. it takes a long time to drive through crowds partying on downtown streets in front of bars.

This year, in honor of “Taxi Driver,” hundreds of Sarajevo cab drivers drove around all day with De Niro’s pictures stuck on their vehicles.

LOS ANGELES — The writer, director, producer and star of “The Birth of a Nation” says the Sundance Institute offered him encouragement and support when he needed it most.

“They are the family I never had in this industry,” Nate Parker said as he accepted the organization’s Vanguard Award at a fundraising dinner Thursday night at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.

Parker wants other aspiring filmmakers to have the same opportunity, so the cast and crew of “The Birth of a Nation” is endowing a fellowship for

a young filmmaker of color to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Ignite program each year for the next five years.

Parker said Sundance support validated and inspired him as he struggled to bring the true story of slave rebellion leader Nat Turner to the screen in “The Birth of a Nation.” The film won audience and grand jury prizes when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Fox Searchlight will release it in October.

Parker compared the long process of making the film to being on a deserted island.

“You’re by yourself and all you have in your hand

Chris Pizzello / AP file

Nate Parker is the director of the upcoming film "The Birth of a Nation."

is your script and your dream — whatever that thing is, your voice — and you’re surrounded by fear,” he said.

That’s when the Sundance Feature Film Program stepped in to help, and Parker said he’s been “desperately humbled” to accept its support and accolades.

Parker is the fifth filmmaker to receive the Vanguard Award, joining previous recipients Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild”), Ryan

Coogler ("Fruitvale Station”), Damien Chazelle ("Whiplash”) and Marielle Heller ("The Diary of a Teenage Girl”). “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan presented Parker with the prize, which includes ongoing mentorship and a cash grant.

“I’ve worked very hard to use my art to combat injustices everywhere I see them,” Parker said.

“That’s my voice ... and having institutions like Sundance support those things is everything.”

Fox News names Abernethy and Shine as co-presidents

By David Bauder ASSOCIATED PRE SS

NEW YORK — Fox News Channel founder Rupert Murdoch on Friday appointed two longtime Fox executives as the new co-presidents of the news network as it restructures after last month’s departure of Roger Ailes following sexual harassment allegations.

Both Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine were with Fox News when it started in 1996. Shine, who had been one of Ailes’ top deputies, will run the editorial operations for Fox News and its sister Fox Business Network.

Abernethy had left the news channel to run Fox’s stable of 28 local stations and he’ll keep that job, while overseeing the business operations of the two networks. Both will report to Murdoch, who will

Mary Altaffer / AP file

Jack Abernethy addresses reporters during a news conference in New York.

continue to oversee things as executive chairman.

The moves sent a signal to Fox News viewers that despite a scandal that has widened since Ailes’ resignation, they shouldn’t worry that their favorite network is abandoning them.

Fox also announced Friday that its chief financial officer, Mark Kranz, will retire. Faced with a drumbeat of publicity about the treatment of women at Fox, Murdoch announced the pro-

motion of Suzanne Scott to be the executive in charge of Fox News’ daytime and prime-time programming.

“While this has been a time of great transition, there has never been a greater opportunity for Fox News and Fox Business to better serve and expand their audiences,” Murdoch said.

Murdoch’s son Lachlan, in a recent earnings call for parent company 21st Century Fox, said that he expected no change in

Fox’s editorial direction.

Friday’s announcement also tamped down speculation that there would be a housecleaning of top Fox executives.

There was no immediate comment from 21st Century Fox on Friday about what the announcement meant — if anything — about the status of an investigation by the law firm Paul, Weiss into Fox’s operations that started after former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against Ailes.

Since Ailes’ resignation, New York magazine reported that a former booker for the network, Laurie Luhn, alleged that she’d been sexually harassed by Ailes over a period of 20 years at the network.

Another former Fox anchor, Andrea Tantaros, said she was let go after she complained about unwanted sexual comments from Ailes.

Zfrontera THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE CAMBIO DE DOMICILIO 1 La Extensión Educativa de Texas A&M Agrilife Extension en el Condado de Zapata ha cambiado sus oficinas a 200 E. 7th Avenue, Suite 249, Zapata County Courthouse. Tel.: 956-7659820. Fax 956-7658627.

ACADEMIA PARA PADRES 1 Zapata County ISD invita a los padres de estudiantes desde Prekinder hasta 12avo.

Grado a la Academia para Padres que se llevará a cabo el jueves 18 de agosto, de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m. en las instalaciones de Zapata High School, 2009 State Highway 16. Todos los participantes recibirán una caja de útiles escolares mientras duren las existencias.

INICIO DE CLASES

POLICÍACA

CULTURA

Fallece mujer en choque

Empleado por Universal Studios

Impacto causó que motor saliera del vehículo Por Julia Wallace TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

La víctima de un accidente fatal reportado el jueves por la tarde al norte del centro de Laredo ha sido identificada como una mujer de 20 años de edad.

Su nombre no ha sido difundido.

La policía de Laredo dijo que alrededor de las 7:45 p.m. una colisión había ocurrido en Industrial Boulevard y la avenida San Bernardo.

La conductora de un Pontiac G6 2008 se salió de la carretera IH-35, viró fuera de la carretera y hacia el camellón, cruzó la avenida San Bernardo

1 Zapata County ISD informa que el primer día de clases para todos los grados escolares será el 22 de agosto. El horario de entrada para primaria y secundaria será a las 7:45 a.m., mientras que para preparatoria será a partir de las 8 a.m. El horario de salida para los estudiantes de cada institución será como sigue: primaria, 3:15 p.m; secundaria, 3:23 p.m; y, preparatoria, 3:35 p.m. El desayuno será servido a partir de las 7: 15 en los tres niveles escolares.

y golpeó un árbol afuera del banco IBC, ubicado en 7002 de la avenida San Bernardo, de acuerdo con reportes.

Reportes de la policía indican que la mujer fue arrojada del vehículo al momento del impacto.

El impacto del choque causó que el motor del vehículo saliera del auto.

El motor se encontraba alrededor de 25 pies de donde el Pontiac quedo varado en el estacionamiento de IBC. Los reportes iniciales de LPD indican que un tráiler estaba involucrado en el accidente, pero en realidad fue un incidente de un solo vehículo, dijo LPD.

Nota del Editor: Artículo basado en el documento escrito por Enrique T. de la Garza en relación a su experiencia durante la filmación de una película.

Por Enrique T. de la Garza E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Foto por Danny Zaragoza | Laredo Morning Times

Un árbol con daños a su corteza es visto después que un auto chocara contra él el jueves por la noche cerca de la intersección de Industrial Boulevard y la avenida San Bernardo. El motor del auto se aprecia a lado del árbol y a 25 pies del vehículo.

TAMAULIPAS

TRANSICIÓN

TORNEO DE PESCA 1 La Cámara de Comercio del Condado de Zapata invita al tradicional “Torneo anual de pesca para niños por el regreso a clases”, que se llevará a cabo el sábado 20 de agosto en Bravo Park de 7 a.m. a 3 p.m. El registro inicia a las 7 a.m.. Evento dirigido a menores de 3 a 12 años. Mayores informes en BAILE PARA RECAUDACIÓN DE FONDOS 1 La corporación de IBC Bank invita a un baile en beneficio del UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. El evento titulado “Give Cancer The Boot!” se desarrollará el 27 de agosto a partir de las 8 p.m. en Zapata Community Center.

Patrocinios son de 1.500 dólares, 1.000 dólares y 500 dólares. Boleto individual a 50 dólares. Música a cargo de Vidal y La Mafia.

ENCUESTA PARA PADRES 1 Zapata County ISD pide a los padres de familia, cuyos hijos estudiarán el Pre-K 4 en el ciclo escolar que inicia en agosto, que respondan una encuesta. Los padres de familia pueden responder la encuesta visitando el sitio surveymonkey.com/ r/6VPWSHJ MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83.

Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956-765-8983.

A7

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El gobernador de Tamaulipas Egidio Torre Cantú y el gobernador electo Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, se estrechan las manos durante una reunión donde acordaron el proceso de transición para la administración 2016-2022 que encabezará García Cabeza de Vaca.

Preparan proceso de entrega-recepción E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

CD. VICTORIA, México — Una vez que se realizaron durante el mes de julio encuentros de acercamiento, el lunes, el Gobernador de Tamaulipas Egidio Torre Cantú y el Gobernador Electo Francisco Javier García

Cabeza de Vaca, acordaron el arranque de una serie de reuniones temáticas de cara al proceso entrega – recepción.

En este encuentro, los gobernadores y sus equipos revisaron los fundamentos jurídicos del proceso, además de establecer la metodología y el calendario de los dife-

rentes encuentros de trabajo de los meses de agosto y septiembre.

A lo largo de este mes, los equipos de transición estarán participando con los titulares de cada dependencia del Gobierno Estatal en estas reuniones que iniciarán el miércoles 10 con el tema de Desarrollo Social,

para concluir el día 31 con los Institutos de Cultura y Deporte.

El proceso de transición consta de tres fases: reuniones de acercamiento, temáticas y entrega – recepción, cuyo arranque formal será a partir del primero de septiembre como lo establece la ley.

ABRAZOS, NO MUROS

Cientos se reencuentran en río Bravo ASSOCIATED PRE SS

EL PASO— Cientos de personas de Texas y México se reencontraron con sus parientes por unos pocos minutos en un tramo de lecho seco del fronterizo río Bravo.

El diario El Paso Times informa que la gente se abrazó, conversó, intercambió saludos a gritos en inglés y español durante los tres minutos que duró el reencuentro familiar entre El Paso y Ciudad Juárez. Algunos llevaban carteles con la leyenda "Esta frontera valora a la familia".

Algunos de los participantes registrados dijeron que hacía años que

Rubén R. Ramírez | El Paso Times via AP

Los breves reencuentros formaron parte de una campaña de “Abrazos, no muros” auspiciado por Border Network for Human Rights.

no veían a sus parientes.

Los breves reencuentros formaron parte de una campaña de "Abrazos, no muros" auspicia-

do por Border Network for Human Rights (Red Fronteriza por los Derechos Humanos), una organización que pro-

mueve los derechos de los inmigrantes.

La policía mantuvo una presencia discreta durante el acto pacífico.

En 1981 se filmó en Laredo la película Eddie Macon's Run, basada en un libro escrito por James McLendon. El filme trata de un hombre sentenciado a cumplir una condena en Huntsville por delitos menores y escapa a Laredo donde espera cruzar hacia México para reunirse con su esposa y su hijo.

Yo fui afortunado de ser parte de esa película.

Después de haber mostrado la ciudad a Lou Stroller, productor ejecutivo de la película Eddie Macon's Run de Universal Pictures y a Jeff Kanew, director de la misma, ellos partieron al Valle en busca de otras locaciones.

La semana posterior, recibí una llamada de Stroller.

“Enrique, ¿quieres trabajar con nosotros en la película Eddie Macon's Run?”, preguntó.

Yo contesté, “Hola, Lou. No quiero decir ‘te lo dije’, pero como te comenté, ‘bebes de las aguas..’”.

Entonces acordé reunirme con ellos en una habitación del hotel La Posada.

A las 2:30 p.m. exactamente toqué la puerta. En la habitación estaba Lou, Jeff y Bill Kenney, el diseñador de propiedades y decoración. Entonces, Lou me proporcionó un libreto de la película.

“Ten, Enrique, lee el libreto y ve cuántos de estos lugares podemos ubicar el día de hoy”, dijo Lou. Yo pregunté si quería que lo leyera en ese momento a lo que contestó afirmativamente.

Tomé el libreto y empecé a leerlo. Lo que Stroller no sabía es que tengo una técnica para leer el material y recordarlo. Aprendí esta técnica con el Método Silva. En cuestión de minutos pude leer todo el libreto.

“Creo que podemos ir a todos los lugares en el libreto”, dije.

Entonces, Lou me dijo que empezaríamos por lo primordial “Serás contratado como scout (explorador). Tu salario será de 500 dólares a la semana, con viajes, comida y gastos menores. Si haces algunas compras a nombre de Universal, presentas el recibo a la contadora y ella te pagará”, explicó Stroller.

Yo pregunté qué era lo que tendría qué hacer como scout e inmediatamente me lo explicó.

“Te haremos saber lo que buscamos y tú nos darás algunas ideas de lo que queremos y lo conseguirás. Tomarás fotografías de los diferentes lugares y escogeremos de ahí. Después firmaremos un contrato con el dueño de la propiedad”, señaló Stroller.

Me pareció bastante fácil así que pregunté ‘¿Cuándo empezamos?’”.

“Ahora mismo. Hay tres escenas que necesitamos asegurar hoy mismo. El hotel La Posada, la cárcel, el lugar del rodeo y después de ver lo que obtengamos, partiremos de ahí”, dijo Stroller.

A8 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

Thailand bombings target tourist cities

By Penny Wang and Todd Pitman A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

HUA HIN, Thailand — Attackers struck a series of tourist resort towns across southern Thailand with homemade explosives and firebombs in some of the worst violence to hit the country since a military coup two years ago. Police said at least four people were killed and dozens wounded, including 11 foreigners.

It was not clear who was behind the attacks Thursday and Friday, which followed a successful referendum held last weekend on a new constitution that critics say will bolster the military’s power for years to come.

But the violence appeared aimed at undermining the country’s tourism industry, which provides vital income to the government. One small bomb exploded on a beach in Patong on the island of Phuket and four others rattled the seaside resort city of Hua Hin, prompting businesses to shut their doors, streets to empty and anxious tourists to huddle inside their hotels.

Police said firebombs also triggered blazes at markets and shops in six places, including Phuket, Trang, Surat Thani, Phang Nga and a souvenir shop in the tourist town of Ao Nang, Krabi, a seaside province known for its stunning limestone cliffs.

Thailand’s economy has sagged since the military seized power in a 2014 coup. But tourism has remained one of the few bright spots, with visitors rising to 30 million in 2015

Sakchai Lalit / AP

In this Thursday photo, the injured are helped after a bomb blast in the southern resort city of Hua Hin, 150 miles south of Bangkok, Thailand.

and more than 14 million having visited by May 2016, according to official figures.

Foreign governments, including the United States, issued warnings urging travelers to use caution and avoid affected areas.

In a televised address late Friday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the attacks “struck at the hearts of all Thai people.”

He said it was unclear who carried them out and that the government would do its best to investigate. Police said earlier they were investigating all leads, but had ruled out links to international militant groups.

Royal Thai Police Col. Krisana Patanacharoen also said it was “too early to conclude” who was behind the attacks. But he said the bombings followed “a similar pattern used in the southern parts of the country” — a reference to a low-level insurgency in the country’s Islamic south that has ground on for more than a decade and killed more than 5,000 people.

Southern militants fighting for greater autonomy have carried out

sophisticated, coordinated attacks before, but most have hit three provinces in the far south that were not among those targeted this week.

The violence occurred just ahead of the first anniversary of the Aug. 17 bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine, which left 20 dead and injured more than 120 others. Thai authorities said that bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities were disrupted by a crackdown, but analysts suspect it might have been the work of Uighur separatists angry that Thailand forcibly repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China.

The latest troubles began Thursday afternoon, when a bomb exploded in the southern province of Trang — an area full of beautiful beaches and tourist islands — killing one person and injuring six, according to police.

Then on Thursday night, attackers in Hua Hin hid bombs on a busy street filled with bars and restaurants. One Thai woman was killed and about 20 people were wounded.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

A9

BUSINESS

J.C. Penney reports smaller loss; sales improve

By Anne D’Innocenzio A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

J.C. Penney Inc. reported a smaller loss in the second quarter as the department store operator’s sales improved, fueled by such moves as bringing back appliances and refreshing other areas of the store.

Its shares slipped in morning trading Friday.

The news is encouraging, but Penney still faces an uphill climb as it continues to claw its way back after a catastrophic reinvention plan under former CEO Ron Johnson sent sales and profits into a free fall in 2012 and 2013. Business has stabilized, though it has yet to fully recover.

Under Marvin Ellison,

who has been CEO since August 2015, Penney is looking for new ways to increase sales while playing catch up in e-commerce. One area that it’s betting on is appliances.

Penney is getting back in the business after more than 30 years. Penney is also expanding its Sephora beauty shops and is updating its beauty salons now branded Salon

by InStyle Still, like other department stores, J.C. Penney faces big challenges.

Shoppers are shifting their money away from clothing toward experiences like beauty treatments and furnishing their home. And when they do buy clothing, they are increasingly going to off-price stores

Douglas C. Pizac / AP file

The store manager opens his J.C. Penney store in West Valley City, Utah. The department store company reported a smaller loss in the second quarter as the department store operator’s sales improved.

like T.J. Maxx or online.

In fact, Amazon.com is expected to surpass Macy’s as the largest online clothing seller next year, according to some ana-

Hostess launches ‘Deep Fried Twinkies’

lysts.

After a tough start to the year, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom all reported second quarter results Thursday that

BL OOMBERG

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — The deep-fried Twinkie is jumping from the state fair to the home freezer.

Hostess Brands, the maker of lunchbox treats like Ho Hos, is launching packaged “Deep Fried Twinkies” starting Friday that mark its first foray into frozen foods. The cream-filled snack in vanilla or chocolate is the result of a yearlong collaboration between Hostess and Wal-Mart, as both companies look to spark food sales with innovative products.

Battered and partially fried before being frozen, the Twinkies need to be finished for a short time in the oven, toaster oven or frying pan. They’ll cost $4.76 for a box of seven and for the first three months are available only at Wal-Mart.

It has a “retro cool factor,” says Ellen Copaken, Hostess’ vice president of marketing. “It plays into the comfort food trend. And it’s fun.”

The Twinkie, long one of Hostess’ largest sellers, is a bigger business now than even right before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012, Copaken said. Executives had considered developing a deepfried version, like those seen at local fairs, but put the plans on hold until Wal-Mart approached them last summer.

For Wal-Mart, which gets more than half of its

Mary Altaffer / AP file

In this photo frozen, deep-fried Twinkies are being baked. Hostess is launching packaged Deep Fried Twinkies that mark its first foray into frozen foods.

sales from food and other groceries, the partnership is part of a strategy of working closely with suppliers to come up with new twists on existing foods or developing new ones, and getting them to the shelves faster. The company opened a food lab in June for that teamwork, a process that can cut costs and shave several months off a product launch, says Charles Redfield, executive vice president of food at Wal-Mart.

The food lab at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters has 10 test kitchens and space to accommodate 12 individual taste tests at a time. Specific feedback from customers gathered there gets shared with suppliers to determine if an item needs more work.

Being tested now: new flavors for its store brand sparkling water, frozen stuffed doughnut bites, and vacuum-packed Paleo meals.

“Most of our customers have a desire to eat healthier,” Redfield said. "But at

the end of the day, it has to taste good. Great healthy things that don’t taste good don’t do well.”

Hostess has given a nod to the healthier options, reformulating its Mini Muffins with fruit, no artificial flavors and more whole grains. But the Deep Fried Twinkies and candy-topped brownies are among several new treats it hopes will excite shoppers.

At nine grams of fat and 220 calories, the vanilla flavor of the Deep Fried Twinkies compares to 4 grams of fat and 130 calories in a regular Twinkie. One expert says Americans still like a sugar fix, typically at the end of the day.

“We are trying to cut down on foods that are higher in sugar content,” said Darren Seifer, a food industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group Inc. “But there is still room for indulgence.”

Twinkies have been around since 1930, but financial woes had put their future in doubt.

FactSet. Revenue increased 1.5 percent to $2.92 billion from $2.87 billion. That was slightly below the $2.93 billion estimate from FactSet. Revenue at stores opened rose 2.2 percent, which matched the estimate from Wall Street analysts. In the first quarter, the company reported a 0.4 percent dip in in that measure, reversing five straight quarters of growth.

Its shares slipped 4 cents to $9.90 in morning trading as premarket gains evaporated Friday.

Penney shares have climbed 49 percent since the beginning of the year.

The stock has climbed 19 percent in the last 12 months.

Stocks slip from all-time highs following lackluster data

By Oliver Renick

By Anne D’Innocenzio

showed an improvement.

But they’re all trying to reinvent themselves from offering more exclusive merchandise to pushing online services. They’re also pruning their fleet.

Macy’s, the nation’s largest department store chain has been the most aggressive, announcing Thursday that it plans to shutter 100 stores by early next year.

Penney, based in Plano, Texas, reported a loss of $56 million, or 18 cents per share, in the quarter ended July 30. That compares with a loss of $117 million, or 38 cents per share a year ago.

Adjusted for certain items, the loss was five cents per share, which much smaller than the 14 cent loss estimated by

U.S. stocks edged lower as lackluster data offered little incentive for investors to push equities higher after the three main benchmarks reached records on Thursday.

Banks were among the bigger drags Friday as Treasury yields fell, damping optimism for better earnings on speculation the Federal Reserve will be in no rush to raise interest rates. Drugmakers weighed on the health-care group, while raw-materials fell the most in five weeks. Energy producers rose with crude oil for a second day, and Nordstrom Inc. jumped 8 percent to buoy retailers after its quarterly profit beat projections.

The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent to 2,183.89 at 4 p.m. in New York, after yesterday closing at an all-time high for the ninth time in a month. The Nasdaq Composite Index eked out a 0.1 percent climb to close with its fourth record in six days.

“The market has really been complacent all summer,”said Tom Siomades, head of Hartford Funds Investment Consulting Group in Radnor, Pennsylvania, whose firm oversees $76 billion. “What we’ve seen is not a preponderance of good news, it’s just been a lack of any real bad news. Today’s numbers missed across the board but where’s the reaction? People have been lulled to sleep here.”

A report today showed sales at U.S. retailers were little changed in July as Americans flocked to auto dealers at the expense of other merchants. The stalling of purchases followed a gain in June that was stronger than initially estimated. Excluding cars, sales retreated the most since the start of the year.

Separate data showed wholesale prices unexpectedly fell in July by the most in almost a year, a sign inflation is likely to stay muted.

Better-than-projected corporate results, improving economic data and optimism central banks will stay supportive of growth have sent equities to a succession of fresh peaks in the past month while also extending valuations. The S&P 500’s price relative to future earnings has climbed to 18.6, the highest since 2002.

The gains are also getting harder for strategists to ignore. Wells Fargo & Co. became the second of 21 firms tracked by Bloomberg to raise its target for the S&P 500 since the measure surged past the group’s average year-end prediction a month ago.

The benchmark rose less than 0.1 percent for the week.

With the earnings season approaching its end, investors are turning their focus to economic data to gauge the vitality of U.S. growth and the Federal Reserve’s next policy steps. In addition to July retail sales and producer

prices, a report showed consumer confidence rose less than forecast in August, reflecting a pullback in views on personal finances among younger Americans.

After Friday’s data, traders’ bets on the timing of an interest-rate increase have fluctuated, with the first month showing at least even odds of higher borrowing costs volleying between March and May 2017.

With most S&P 500 members through with reporting quarterly results, 78 percent exceeded profit forecasts while 56 percent beat on sales.

Analysts predict earnings for the group fell 2.5 percent, and estimates for the current quarter recently went negative, expected to now fall 0.8 percent in the period ending in September, compared with a 1.8 percent gain forecast before the earnings season began four weeks ago, according data compiled

by Bloomberg.

“We have reasonably good news from the earnings season and the economy recently,” said Otto Waser, head of investment research at R&A Group Research and Asset Management AG in Zurich.

“There are no large investor worries, and this has kept markets relatively stable. When the S&P managed to reach a fresh all-time high in July, we thought that was important, and now we’re getting some confirmation.”

A10 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

POLITICS

Hillary Clinton releases 2015 tax returns

By Lisa Lerer and Ken Thomas A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Hillary and Bill Clinton earned $10.6 million last year, according to a tax filing released by her campaign Friday that sought to pressure presidential rival Donald Trump to disclose his tax returns.

The filing shows that the Clintons paid a federal tax rate of 34.2 percent in 2015. The bulk of their income — more than $6 million — came from speaking fees for appearances made largely before Hillary Clinton launched her campaign in April 2015. They gave more than $1,042,000 to charity, with $1 million going to the Clinton family foundation. That is the financial vehicle the family uses to give money to museums, schools, churches and other charitable causes. It is not the same organization as the better-known Clinton Foundation.

The Clintons’ income puts them well within the ranks of the top 0.1 percent of Americans, though they pay a higher tax rate than many of their elite peers, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, based on 2013 data.

The release is part of an effort to undercut Trump’s character by questioning the celebrity businessman’s record.

Trump has refused to make his filings public, saying they’re under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and he’ll release them only once that review is complete. All major U.S. presidential candidates in modern history have released their

returns.

Trump steered clear of mentioning his personal taxes Clinton Friday. A spokesman pointed to Clinton’s move to delete tens of thousands of personal emails from her private account as secretary of state and questions about whether she used her government post to benefit the Clinton Foundation.

“Hillary Clinton has turned over the only records nobody wants to see from her - the American public wants to see the 33,000 emails she deleted to obstruct an FBI investigation,” said Trump spokesman Jason Miller.

The Clintons have disclosed tax returns for every year since 1977, in part due to laws requiring public officials release returns. She put out her most recent eight years of tax filings last summer and several years during her first presidential bid.

Seeking common ground with blue-collar workers who have been attracted to Trump, Clinton frequently mentions his returns as a way of underscoring how his economic plans would benefit his personal interests and questioning whether he’s as wealthy as he claims.

Democrats believe Trump’s returns could be a trove of politically damaging information. They want to see his tax rate, charitable giving, and business dealings with foreign governments.

“Here’s a pretty incredible fact: There is a non-zero chance that Donald Trump isn’t pay-

ing (asterisk)any(asterisk) taxes,” Clinton tweeted, after releasing her own returns.

Protesters at Trump afternoon rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, held up signs reading “Tax Forms” before being escorted out by security.

Clinton’s strategy borrows from President Barack Obama’s winning playbook against Mitt Romney in 2012. Obama repeatedly used Romney’s business dealings against him and seized upon his reluctance to release certain tax records.

Clinton’s campaign also released 10 years of returns from running mate Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton. Over the last decade, the couple has donated 7.5 percent of their income to charity, the campaign said, and paid an effective tax rate of 25.6 percent last year.

Kaine, the Virginia senator who’s spent much of his life in public service, reported a far lower income than the Clintons.

Over the past decade, he and his wife earned the most in 2014, more than $314,000 in adjusted gross income. The Clintons made about 90 times more, reporting nearly $28 million for the same year.

Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, has yet to say if he will release his taxes, which he has not done as governor of Indiana. A spokesman for the governor’s office referred all tax-related questions to his vice presidential campaign. The campaign did not respond to messages.

Clinton has tried to paint Trump as an out-oftouch business mogul.

But her substantial wealth has caused headaches.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

A11

NATIONAL

Judge blocks law to divert Planned Parenthood money

By Ann Sanner A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge blocked a state law aimed at diverting public money from Planned Parenthood, saying in a Friday ruling that the group stood to suffer “irreparable injury.”

The Ohio law targets the more than $1.4 million in funding that Planned Parenthood gets through the state’s health department. That money, mostly from the federal government, supports certain education and prevention programs. The law would bar such funds from going to entities that perform or promote abortions.

The restrictions, which had been slated to take effect in May, were signed

by Republican Gov. John Kasich during his failed presidential bid.

The state’s Republican attorney general will appeal the ruling, his spokesman said.

Planned Parenthood of

Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region had sued the state, saying the law violated their constitutional rights by denying them the funds “in retaliation for” providing abortions.

Their lawsuit names the state’s health director as a defendant.

U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati sided with Planned Parenthood in granting a permanent injunction, which keeps state officials from enforcing the law’s provisions.

Barrett, who was nominated to the bench by then-President George W. Bush, a Republican, said in many instances Planned Parenthood was chosen over other entities to receive the funds as part of a competitive grant process. He said if the changes were to take effect the group couldn’t offer some free services and would no longer have access to the juvenile justice and foster care

systems to teach teenagers about healthy relationships.

If not blocked, the judge wrote, Planned Parenthood would “suffer a continuing irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”

The state’s attorneys had argued that Planned Parenthood was trying to override state policy choices and that no entity has a constitutional right to receive public money.

“Planned Parenthood supplies no basis for disturbing Ohio’s legislative judgments about how to spend its public money,” attorneys wrote in a court brief.

Planned Parenthood has said Ohio’s law would not force any of its 28 health centers in the state to close but the legislation would deprive thousands of patients of access to HIV tests, breast and cervical cancer screenings and other prevention and education initiatives.

The group’s attorneys argued the law was unconstitutional because it required, as a condition of receiving government funds, that recipients abandon their constitutionally protected rights to free speech and to provide abortion services.

Planned Parenthood officials praised the judge’s decision, calling it a win for Ohio residents who rely on the organization for care.

“Politicians have no business blocking patients from the care they need — and today the court stopped them in their tracks,” said Iris Harvey, the head of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio.

Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v.

Wade ruling, women have a constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb, generally around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood is

Eric Albrecht / AP file

Anne Morrice, center left, of Planned Parenthood and Chris Maxie, center right, of Planned Parenthood discuss legislation to defund Planned Parenthood with Columbus, Ohio, residents Zahra Farah and Asha Abdulle at the Ohio Statehouse.

a national target because of its role as the largest U.S. abortion provider.

Anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, which lobbied in support of the funding changes, said the judge’s ruling violates the state’s rights and the conscience rights of taxpayers.

“It is the public policy of the state of Ohio to prefer childbirth over abortion, and we should be allowed to allocate funds accordingly,” spokeswoman Katie Franklin said.

Federal law and the laws of most states already prevent public money from paying for abortions except in rare circumstances, but the re-

cent defunding bills prohibit state money for any services by an organization that also provides abortions.

According to Planned Parenthood, politicians in 24 states have either enacted or proposed measures since last July that target the organization with defunding. In most of those states, the cuts haven’t taken effect.

Planned Parenthood says that since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down tough abortion restrictions in Texas, courts have blocked laws there and in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Kansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah and Wisconsin.

Infant killed by 6-year-old brother; mother charged ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Morry Gash / AP file

In this March 3, 2006 photo, Brendan Dassey, 16, is escorted out of a Manitowoc County Circuit courtroom. A federal court in Wisconsin on Friday overturned the conviction of Dassey, a man found guilty of helping his uncle kill Teresa Halbach in a case profiled in "Making a Murderer."

US court orders release of the nephew from ‘Murderer’ series

By Scott Bauer A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

MADISON, Wis. — A federal court in Wisconsin on Friday overturned the conviction of a man found guilty of helping his uncle kill Teresa Halbach in a case profiled in the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer.”

The U.S. District Court in Milwaukee overturned Brendan Dassey’s conviction and ordered him freed within 90 days unless prosecutors decide to retry him. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice, which was handling the case, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Magistrate Judge William Duffin said in Friday’s ruling that investigators made false promises to Dassey by assuring him “he had nothing to worry about.”

“These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,” Duffin wrote.

The ruling comes after Dassey’s appeal was rejected by state courts.

Dassey confessed to

helping his uncle Steven Avery carry out the rape and murder of Halbach, but attorneys argued that his constitutional rights were violated throughout the investigation.

Dassey was 16 when Halbach was killed in 2005 after she went to the Avery family auto salvage yard to photograph some vehicles.

Avery was tried and convicted separately in the homicide. Both Avery and Dassey are serving separate life sentences.

Dassey’s case burst into the public’s consciousness with the popularity of the “Making a Murderer” documentary that debuted in December.

Attorneys for Dassey did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The filmmakers behind “Making a Murderer” cast doubt on the legal process used to convict Avery and Dassey, and their work has sparked national interest and conjecture. Armchair investigators have flooded Twitter and message boards, and key players in the case have appeared on national news and talk shows.

Authorities involved in the case have called the 10-hour series biased, while the filmmakers have stood by their work.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 6-year-old boy beat his newborn sister to death after their 62-yearold mother left her young children alone in a car for more than a half hour while she went to get her cellphone fixed, authorities on Florida’s Gulf Coast said.

Now the mother, Kathleen Marie Steele, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gulatieri said she went to a cellphone repair business in St. Petersburg on Monday and left her children in the car — the infant, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old.

While Steele was gone, the baby began crying and the 6-year-old began beating her to make her stop, the sheriff said.

“He was tossing that baby around like a rag doll,” the sheriff said during a press conference Thursday, shortly after Steele was arrested.

Nevertheless, “The mistake is with the adult, Kathleen Steele, not a 6-year-old boy,” the sheriff said.

Gulatieri said the boy won’t face criminal charges. His mother, who lives in the St. Petersburg

area, made her first court appearance Friday, saying only that she understood the charges. Her two sons have been placed in therapeutic foster care. Her attorney Robert Love said he wouldn’t contest the state’s order for Steele to have no contact with children 18 or younger.

Gulatieri painted a picture of a single mother who seemed overwhelmed and ill equipped to care for her three young children in the months leading up to the baby’s death.

He said Kathleen Steele’s husband died of cancer in 2011 and she paid a significant sum to be artificially inseminated with his frozen sperm to conceive her 3-year-old son and newborn daughter, who was also named Kathleen.

She told authorities she even hoped to have more children, Gulatieri said, even though friends and family said she was struggling to raise the children on her own. The two boys were “running amuck and were unsupervised” to the point that an anonymous caller contacted the state’s child protective hotline about them on Aug. 2.

Steele — who once lived in a half-million-dollar home — filed for bankruptcy last year, and an accidental fire forced the

family to stay in a hotel last month. While there, the fire alarm went off and Steele told deputies she put little Kathleen in the car carrier but tripped going down the stairs and the baby tumbled out, striking her head. The baby, diagnosed with a minor brain bleed, stayed for two nights in the hospital, Gulatieri said. It was reported to the child abuse hotline, but the sheriff’s office said they did a thorough investigation and it appeared to be an accident.

Days later, a seemingly frazzled Steele took the three children to a pediatrician amid concerns the 13-day-old baby wasn’t eating. The doctor found nothing wrong and the family then headed get Steele’s cellphone fixed after the 6-year-old dropped it. The sheriff said video shows Steele left the children alone for 38 minutes while she was in the repair store.

The 6-year-old told investigators the baby started fussing and he tried to calm her. But deputies said the boy later used a doll to show how he repeatedly slammed the infant’s head into the minivan’s ceiling, dropping her on the floor, flipping her over and

pummeling her.

The van’s ceiling was covered in blood and investigators said the baby was likely dead when her mother returned to the car. Her elder son tried to tell her something was wrong with the baby, but authorities said she disregarded him and stopped at a rental car company before heading home.

That’s when she noticed the baby’s injuries.

“The baby was beaten and traumatized,” the sheriff added. “There was gross swelling in her face.

Her skull was cracked in numerous places.”

Even so, Gulatieri said Steele didn’t call 911. Instead, she called a neighbor who is a nurse. The nurse recognized the baby was dead, but performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

Gulatieri called the 6-year-old bright and mature for his age, and said he even reminded his mother that they needed to renew their rental car lease.

“The things that he said and his awareness level and how astute that he is, it’s amazing really. By hearing him talk you’d never think the kid was six,” Gulatieri said.

But the boy also had aggression issues, he said.

Mom asks court to visit son accused of Trump threat

By Ken Ritter ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LAS VEGAS — A British mother is asking a U.S. judge to let her personally visit her son, who is jailed in Nevada after what authorities say was an attempt to shoot Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a Las Vegas campaign rally.

Attorneys representing Michael Steven Sandford, 20, said he has “serious psychological problems” and has been on suicide watch in federal custody at a facility about 50 miles west of Las Vegas.

Sandford’s family and lawyers say he has Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and other mental-health issues. A defense attorney representing him at a bail hearing in June told a federal

magistrate judge that Sandford previously attempted suicide, was treated Trump for anorexia, and once ran away from a hospital in England — but that he appeared competent for trial.

Sandford told a judge that he understood the charges against him. He has pleaded not guilty to disrupting an official function and weapon charges that could get him up to 30 years in federal prison.

His current attorneys, deputy federal public defenders Rene Valladares and Brenda Weksler, said in documents filed Wednesday that Sandford is “in a very vulnerable mental state,” and that a psychiatrist in

Las Vegas determined he “would greatly benefit from the ability to meet with his mother in person.”

They don’t say what the two would talk about.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan in Las Vegas postponed Sandford’s trial to Oct. 3. It had been set to begin Aug. 22.

Instead, the judge scheduled an Aug. 23 hearing on Lynne Sandford’s request.

Attorney Saimo Chahal in London has said she hopes to reach a plea bargain that would send Michael Sandford back to Britain rather than stand trial in the U.S. U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden and a spokeswoman in Las Vegas didn’t immediately respond Friday to messages.

Michael Sandford was arrested June 18 after

authorities say he grabbed for a Las Vegas police officer’s gun.

Trump, on stage, thanked uniformed officers walking Sandford in custody out of the 1,500seat theater at the Treasure Island hotel-casino.

Federal agents say Sandford told them he planned to kill Trump, and that he drove from San Bernardino, California, to Las Vegas and practiced shooting at a gun range the day before Trump’s appearance.

Officials say Sandford was in the U.S. about nine months more than he was allowed upon entry under a visa-waiver program.

Lynne Sandford has launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for her son’s legal fees. She told reporters in Britain that her son didn’t fully appreciate the gravity of what he had done.

A12 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER INVITE From page A1 language and I am insulted by the division caused by language,” Huachuca City Mayor Ken Taylor said in an email Wednesday to John Cook, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association.

Cook, a former mayor of El Paso, expressed disappointment in Taylor’s stance.

“I will certainly remove you from our email list,” Cook told Taylor in an email obtained by the Times. “The purpose of the Border Mayors Association is to speak with one voice in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City about issues that impact our communities, not to speak in one language.

My humble apologies if I ruffled your feathers.”

The Times said Taylor responded to Cook with another email that said: “America is going ‘Down Hill’ fast because we spend more time catering to others that are concerned with their own self interests. It is far past time to remember that we should be ‘America First’ ... there is NOTHING wrong with that. My feathers are ruffled anytime I see anything American putting other countries First. If I was receiving correspondence from Mexican interests, I would expect to see them listed First. Likewise, when I see things produced from America, I EXPECT to see America First.”

The newspaper said Taylor declined an interview request.

Huachuca City is a town of about 1,900 people in southeast Arizona, about 20 miles from the Mexican border and adjacent to the Fort Huachuca Army post.

Kin Man Hui / The San Antonio Express-News

Kin Man Hui / The San Antonio Express-News

Sixth-grader Eirik Marquez. left, and Roosevelt High School junior Caleb Merkel repair a drone in San Antonio.

A drone flown by one of the students at Drone Camp makes its way around an obstacle course in San Antonio.

DRONE From page A1

was $550, but Pfitzenmaier said about 60 percent of the students received partial or full scholarships provided by Conceptual MindWorks, Rackspace and Accenture.

Jenny Jett, 16, was the only girl in her AP Computer Science class last school year, as a sophomore at Roosevelt High. She said the drone camp’s director recruited her to join because Youth Code Jam wanted to enroll more girls.

Jett’s drone made it through the obstacle course. Afterward, she programmed the lights in its eyes to blink purple.

“I’m the girl,” she said. “I can’t

selves, said Debi Pfitzenmaier, the organization’s founding executive director. They also used the Java computer language to program the remote controls. The students worked together, but they each got individual drones.

This was Youth Code Jam’s first-ever drone camp, but Pfitzenmaier hopes it will become an annual summer program. The camp was designed to boost students’ interest and confidence in science, technology, engineering

LEASE From page A1 have drastically slowed exploration over the past two years.

Of more than 2.2 million federal acres offered for sale last year, just over a half-million acres received bids, according to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

Mark Barron, lead attorney on the lawsuit, said the leasing cancellations have extended even into oil and gas fields where operating costs are low and companies can

and math and show them related career pathways, Pfitzenmaier said.

“The San Antonio tech ecosystem begins here, with these kids,” she said.

Some already had experience coding, but few had used computer code to program something they could touch, Pfitzenmaier said.

“They begin to see what the code really can accomplish,” she said.

Many of the students came from Ed White Middle School and Roosevelt High’s DATA program. The full cost of the camp

still make a profit, such as the Permian Basin of New Mexico and Texas.

“There’s a simple requirement under the Mineral Leasing Act. They are not adhering to it at this point and our question simply is why,” Barron said.

Interior Department spokeswoman Amanda Digraph said the agency was aware of Thursday’s lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation.

Less frequent lease sales can hit smaller companies particularly hard, said Jerry McHugh Jr., founder of San Juan Re-

sources, a Denver-based company that operates several dozen wells in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin.

McHugh said low oil prices can drive down lease prices, presenting an opportunity to build up inventory. If lease sales are held in other areas but not regularly in the San Juan Basin, that does his company little good.

“I’m not interested in leases in Kansas or Oklahoma or Texas,” he said.

“If they were issuing leases every quarter, I would have an opportunity to add to my leases, to develop.”

mess up. I have to show I can do it.”

Some drones still needed work before their operators attempted the final challenge.

“Why is it doing that?” asked an anguished Ramiro Rocha, 13, as his drone drifted to the ground.

In an upstairs computer lab, Mahagani Lasciers, 12, was repeatedly trying to upload her code to the drone. She will be a seventh-grader next month at Bush Middle School. She said she wanted to use her newfound skills to program other things, like remote-controlled cars.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees lease sales on more than 700 million acres of public lands and private lands where the underlying minerals are publicly owned. It said last month that low prices are projected to reduce drilling on public lands by 40 percent versus historical levels in coming years.

Interior officials did not immediately respond to questions on whether the number of existing leases was sufficient to satisfy industry demand.

Just over 32 million acres of federal lands were under lease at the end of

last year. That’s down more than 30 percent since peaking in 2008 and the least amount of land in at least two decades, according to government data.

However, the number of acres where companies were producing oil and gas has remained relatively flat during that period and stood at 12.7 million acres last year.

Chris Seager, a spokesman for the left-leaning Western Values Project, said the industry lawsuit “ignored the reality” of companies leasing far more land than is used for drilling.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

B1

NFL: DALLAS COWBOYS

Cowboys start preseason in LA Rams return after 36 years

By Andrew Dalton A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

IRVINE, Calif. — Technically, the Los Angeles Rams’ game Saturday with the Dallas Cowboys is just a preseason opener at a temporary home for a relocating team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 11 years.

But that temporary home is also the team’s traditional home, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where they’ll play as the host team for the first time in 36 years, giving the day huge sentimental and symbolic importance for fans.

“I’m really ecstatic to see my team back on the

field in LA,” said longtime fan and local native Dan Salcedo.

For now fans have to watch a rebuilding Rams team, though with reasons for excitement including explosive young running back Todd Gurley and No. 1 overall draft pick quarterback Jared Cowboys continues on B2

Max Faulkner / Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Rico Gathers and the Cowboys head to Los Angeles for the first game there in 11 years in the preseason opener against the Rams on Saturday.

RIO OLYMPICS: WOMEN’S SOCCER

NCAA FOOTBALL: PENN ST.

GOING HOME EMPTY HANDED Gene J. Puskar / AP

Jerry Sandusky insisted he is innocent of child molestation charges stemming from his 2012 trial.

Sandusky denies he’s guilty of abuse

By Mark Scolforo ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Eraldo Peres / AP

Hope Solo called Sweden “cowards” after the United States lost to them in penalties Friday in Brasilia.

Sweden beats U.S. on penalties after draw

By Anne M. Peterson A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

BRASILIA, Brazil — For the first time, the United States won’t win an Olympic medal in women’s soccer.

The three-time defending champions were ousted by Sweden on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals

on Friday.

Tied after three rounds in the shootout, Sweden captain Caroline Seger beat Hope Solo and Christen Press’ attempt against Hedvig Lindhal went over the net. With the next kick, Lisa Dahlkvist beat an outstretched Solo for the 4-3 win.

As Sweden celebrated,

U.S. captain Carli Lloyd crouched on the field at Mane Garrincha Stadium. It was the first time that an Olympic women’s match had gone to penalties.

It was the earliest the United States had ever been eliminated from the Olympics since women’s soccer became a sport in 1996.

“I thought we played a courageous game. I thought we had many opportunities on goal,” Solo said. “I think we showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. I’m very proud of this team.

“I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win Soccer continues on B2

BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky forcefully asserted his innocence and described his own sexual history Friday during an hour of testimony as he seeks to have his child sexual abuse conviction overturned or be granted a new trial.

The former Penn State assistant coach was the first witness called in what is scheduled to be a three-day proceeding that focuses largely on whether he received adequate legal representation during his 2012 trial.

He emphatically denied being guilty of sexual abuse and claimed to have never had oral or anal sex with anyone, contradicting victims’ trial testimony.

“Absolutely not, that idea is absolutely foreign to me” and “disgusting,” said Sandusky, 72, currently serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence for a 45-count conviction.

Sandusky said he was unfamiliar with criminal

court proceedings and relied on his lawyers’ advice in waiving a preliminary hearing, not testifying on his own behalf and making other decisions.

He said his lead lawyer at the time, Joe Amendola, told him a preliminary hearing, with testimony from his victims, would add to the public’s negative perception of him. But he lost a chance to get more information about the prosecution’s case and force witnesses to make on-the-record statements they might contradict at trial.

He was out on $250,000 bail and there were concerns prosecutors might seek a higher amount if he did not waive the hearing.

Asked Friday if he understood what was occurring, he responded: “not totally.”

“I know a lot more now,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you at that point in time the significance of it and what it meant.”

Another major topic during the hearing was an Sandusky continues on B2

RIO OLYMPICS: MEN’S GOLF

Stenson in the mix at Olympic golf

By Doug Ferguson ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Chris Carlson / AP

Henrik Stenson shot a 68 Friday to go into the weekend at Olympic Golf Course just two shots behind and in the final group.

RIO DE JANEIRO — British Open champion Henrik Stenson is close enough to think about adding an Olympic gold medal to his silver claret jug.

It just required a long and wild route to get himself into contention on Friday.

Marcus Fraser of Australia got off to a quick start, stretched his lead

to four shots at one point and wound up with a 2-under 69 for the 36hole lead in the first Olympic golf competition since 1904. He had a oneshot lead over Thomas Pieters of Belgium, a former NCAA champion who closed with three straight birdies.

Still, it was the sight of Stenson on the leaderboard that was so hard to ignore.

Only a month ago, the 40-year-old Swede won

his first major and got his name on the claret jug at Royal Troon with the lowest score in major championship history.

On Friday, he had a 68 to go into the weekend at Olympic Golf Course just two shots behind and in the final group.

But this was hardly a masterpiece.

In the wind and a hard rain, Stenson had to hit 4-wood to reach the green on the second hole and made a 60-foot bird-

ie putt. He hit into the water on the next hole and still had a full 4wood just to reach the front part of the green.

Stenson made a par putt from 108 feet.

“You’re just standing there, praying for a twoputt bogey. Before I know it, it found the bottom of the cup,” Stenson said. “That’s the longest putt I’ve made in my career. First of all, it’s hard to get a putt that Golf continues on B2

B2 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

SPORTS

US women’s team routs Canada to clinch Group B

By Doug Feinberg A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

RIO DE JANEIRO — There was no question coming into the Olympics that the U.S. women’s basketball team could score.

With the offense struggling at points Friday for the first time, the Americans turned up their defensive effort to dispatch Canada.

Maya Moore scored 12 points and the U.S. clinched the top seed in the group with an 81-51 win over its northern neighbors.

“I think we played really hard today on defense,” guard Sue Bird said. “Everyone’s been talking about our offense, but it’s been our defense that has been the most consistent.

Tonight was a good example of that. It wasn’t that we couldn’t score, but we just weren’t scoring at the rate you saw in the first three games. It was

GOLF From page B1 long on any green in the world.”

He followed by duffing a tee shot and making bogey, and it was a relief to play what he called ordinary golf until another wild finish.

Stenson had a three-putt bogey, followed by two birdies, and then a tee shot he missed so badly that it came up 30 yards short and into a bunker for a bogey on the par-3 17th. He finished his round with a delicate pitch from a drop area, but only after his caddie had to ask Brazilian fans in the bleachers around the 18th green to move 20 feet because their shadows were dancing around his golf ball.

“Three under is not a bad score out there, especially not with that first five or six holes in those conditions,”

SOCCER From page B1 today. I strongly and firmly believe that.”

Solo was criticizing Sweden’s style of play, which was defensive throughout the match.

When told about Solo’s comments, Sweden coach Pia Sundhage said: “It’s OK to be a coward if you win.”

Sundhage coached the U.S. team for five years and led the squad to gold medals in both Beijing and London.

After a scoreless first half, Stina Blackstenius scored in the 61st minute to give Sweden a 1-0 lead. Alex Morgan scored the equalizer in the 78th and the match went to extra time.

Lloyd had a header called back for offside in the 115th minute, and Lotta Schelin was offside on her attempt against Solo a minute later — although replays appeared to show otherwise.

The reigning World Cup champions, who are also four-time Olympic champi-

COWBOYS From page B1 Goff, who for now will back up starter Case Keenum.

The young players have been getting the Hollywood treatment already.

The team’s training camp is the focus of this year’s “Hard Knocks” on HBO, which had its redcarpet premiere this week.

Hip stars like rapper Kendrick Lamar visited the team at training camp, and their games are likely to become a new version of the Lakers’ sideline for celebri-

our defense that was there for us to rely on.”

The Americans (4-0) had been scoring at a record pace, topping 100 points in each of their first three contests — the first time a team’s done that at the Olympics. But they couldn’t get into an offensive rhythm for the first 20 minutes against Canada.

The U.S. was out of sync, throwing the ball away on fast breaks and missing open shots. Canada, which already had sealed a berth in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Olympics, wasn’t intimidated. The teams had played an exhibition game before the Olympics started and Canada lost by 40, never recovering from a slow start.

It was the U.S. that struggled early in this one.

The Americans only scored 18 points in the first quarter, their lowest scoring output in any period in Rio. Canada only trailed

18-16. That’s when the U.S. turned up its defense. For nearly 10 minutes, the Americans held Canada without a basket and slowly extended their advantage.

Canada got its only bucket in the second quarter on a three-point play

by Nirra Fields with 39 seconds left in the period and the U.S. led 36-22 at the half. Coach Geno Auriemma said the team did nothing special during that stretch other than just play hard defensively.

“Our defensive effort was great,” said Moore, who scored all of her points in the first half.

Diana Taurasi helped the U.S. get some separation against Canada.

She hit two 3-pointers in a row to start an 8-0 run that gave the Americans their first 20-point lead of the contest. She now has 18 in the Olympics, breaking her own team record of 15 set in 2012.

Canada could only get

Mark Ralston / Getty Images

Diana Taurasi and the U.S. women’s basketball team clinched the top seed in the group with an 81-51 win over Canada Friday Rio de Janeiro.

within 15 the rest of the way.

Despite the loss, Canada (3-1) has already won more games than in any other Olympics. The Canadians hope to win the country’s first medal in the sport. They finish pool play Sunday against Spain, trying to secure second place in the group.

“It’s huge, we’re here to make history,” Fields said.

“We already made history and our goal is to really just medal. Finish the highest we can. Playing

Stenson said. “All in all, happy with that. I didn’t play as solid as I did yesterday, but we’re still in the race and still in good position halfway through the tournament.”

None of these players grew up dreaming about an Olympic medal because golf hasn’t been part of the games in 112 years. For someone like Stenson, the highest-ranked player in the 60-man field, consider this getting through the preliminary heats in a traditional Olympic sport.

Then again, not even he knows what to expect out of his game. No other Olympic sport has so many contenders.

“It’s not like some of the other sports where if you jump a certain distance or swim at a certain time, you can pretty much figure out who is going to win and finish second and third,” Stenson said earlier this

week. “Ours is a bit more down to the form for the week and on any given day.”

At the halfway point, Olympic golf was starting to take shape.

Fraser was at 10-under 132 — another day, another Olympic record. Of course, considering how long the sport has been absent, new marks get set every day. The Australian caught only a little of the nasty weather, and it didn’t last long before the sun came out. Fraser built a four-shot lead until dropping two shots, including the reachable par-4 16th when it took two chips to reach the green.

Playing with Stenson on Saturday could be intimidating, through Fraser saw it a different way.

“Any time you play with Stenson on the weekend, you know you’re doing something right.”

Pieters made up a lot of ground in a hurry by driv-

ons, had not dropped a match this year. But it is Sweden that will play either Australia or host Brazil in the semifinals.

Blackstenius, who came in as a substitute in the first half, broke away and shook off defender Julie Johnston to beat Solo and give Sweden the lead. It was just her second international goal, and Sundhage reacted by high-fiving her assistants on the bench.

The United States got the equalizer with a shot from Morgan that bounced off a Sweden defender. It was Morgan’s team-leading 13th goal of the year.

Lloyd nearly put the United States ahead in the 85th but her kick to the far corner went just wide.

“They played more attacking football then we did. We defended very well,” Sundhage said. “And the fact that there were only two goals and it went to penalty kicks said something about our defending.

The U.S. played better in the attack, we played better in the defense.”

The Americans won their first two matches in Brazil before a surprising 2-2 draw in Manaus against Colombia, which had already been eliminated.

Johnston returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with a groin injury and coach Jill Ellis played all her regular starters after rotating and resting many against Colombia in the heat and humidity of the Amazon. Megan Rapinoe, who started against Colombia after missing more than eight months following right knee surgery, was on the bench but came on as a substitute in the second half.

Press replaced Rapinoe in the extra period.

Sweden had won only five matches against the United States. At last year’s World Cup, the two teams played to a scoreless draw. The last time the two teams met in the Olympics was at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Sundhage was a player on the Swe-

ties.

Their jerseys, hats and stickers have begun flourishing on store shelves and car bumpers alongside Lakers and Dodgers gear, and tens of thousands have already watched the team at camp.

Unlike Brooklyn when it lost its Dodgers, or Cleveland when it lost its original Browns, LA’s famously relaxed fans didn’t shed many public tears when the Rams skipped town for St. Louis.

But that doesn’t mean the Rams didn’t leave a hole that they’ve now begun to refill.

“I was heartbroken when they left,” said Salcedo, 40, who wore an old-school Rams Jack Youngblood jersey as he attended a team scrimmage at the Coliseum last week. “When they announced they were coming back I was ecstatic.”

There are also plenty of young fans who never knew the LA Rams, many of whom are just as excited as the old-timers at the new-old franchise coming to town.

Refugio Gonzalez, 26, who lives in nearby Pomona, is feeling especially lucky as he adopted the team based solely on their merits back in 1999 while

against Spain is a very important game and we’ll be ready for it.”

The victory was the Americans’ 45th straight in the Olympics.

While the U.S. roster is stacked with some of the greatest players in UConn’s storied history, including Moore, Canada has its own Husky in Nurse, who will begin her junior year at Connecticut this fall. Nurse came into the game leading the team in scoring, but had a rough contest against the

ing just through the green on the 16th for a two-putt birdie from 75 feet, holing a 15-foot birdie on the 17th and then two-putting from just off the green on the par-5 18th.

Justin Rose of Britain and Gregory Bourdy of France each shot 69 and were four shots behind.

The Americans, the only country with four players, were still lingering. Matt Kuchar had a 70 and was seven shots behind, following by Bubba Watson (67) at 2-under 140 and Patrick Reed (69) nine shots back.

Rickie Fowler was still near the bottom. Even with actor Matthew McConaughey following along, Fowler made three bogeys on the back nine and had to settle for a 71, leaving him 14 shots out of the lead. Barring a low round Saturday, he likely will leave Rio with plenty of selfies, just no medals.

den team that fell 2-1 to the Americans.

Ranked sixth in the world, Sweden had struggled in its Olympic group with a 5-1 loss to host Brazil and finished 1-1-1.

Lloyd buried her head in her hands early in the second half after her free kick was off the mark.

Just moments later, she had another that was off-target, too, as the United States struggled to finish throughout the match.

The crowd at Mane Garrincha Stadium was sparse at the start of the match and never extended much past the lower bowl of the massive 72,000-seat venue that was reconstructed and expanded for the men’s 2014 World Cup. The fans that were there continued to jeer Solo with shouts of “Zika!” every time she touched the ball. The fans have taunted her since the opening match in Brazil because of her posts on social media about the virus.

they were in St. Louis.

“I turned on the TV one day and they were playing the Titans in the Super Bowl,” Gonzalez said at the scrimmage.

“They won, and the next season I started following them and fell in love with the team and the players.

Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Tory Holt, Isaac Holt. The Greatest Show on Turf. Ever since then I started following them, became a big fan, can’t miss the games on TV and now they are here in Los Angeles. Having the opportunity to come see them in person, it’s an awesome experience.”

It’ll be a season’s worth

U.S. and her college coach Auriemma. She scored just three points, missing eight of her nine shots.

“We all have those moments, kind of welcome to the next level moments. I had them, she’ll have them,” Moore said. “And then when she’s in my position, she’ll be giving it to the next generation. So, it’s one play. We all have to get our pockets picked.

But I was trying to be aggressive. I’m sure it’ll be something she uses for the next game.”

SANDUSKY From page B1 interview Sandusky gave to NBC’s Bob Costas shortly after his arrest. Sandusky said the plan had been for Amendola to go to New York for the interview, but after he arrived there he decided it would be better to have Sandusky call in and assert his innocence.

Sandusky said he was unprepared and caught off guard when Costas asked if he was sexually attracted to children. He responded: “Sexually attracted, you know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them.

But no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

He was “absolutely surprised,” Sandusky testified Friday. “I didn’t expect anything that happened. I was not in a good emotional state.”

Amendola testified Friday that he told Sandusky beforehand he did not have to answer every question but did not warn him his words could be used against him at trial, as later occurred.

“Never in the world did I anticipate that kind of response,” Amendola said.

During the trial, Amendola told jurors in his opening statement that they would hear from Sandusky. But he testified Friday that he warned Sandusky that taking the stand could be perilous after Sandusky’s adopted son Matt alleged to investigators midway through the trial that Sandusky had abused him.

Amendola said Sandusky might have then said something that would allow prosecutors to call Matt Sandusky as a rebuttal witness, a risky move that Amendola described as ultimately Sandusky’s decision.

But Sandusky testified: “I was a novice and I assumed that Mr. Amendola was the expert on this and that I would take his advice. If he had given me any indication whatsoever that I should testify I would have testified.”

The hearing also delved into questions about the identity of the young man known as Victim 2, who former Penn State graduate assistant Mike McQueary testified was abused by Sandusky in a team shower in 2001. A man who claims to be Victim 2 has settled with Penn State, but did not testify.

Amendola said Victim 2 first met with his investigators before trial and said Sandusky did nothing wrong, then hired a civil lawyer and made an abuse claim.

“When he changed his story it raised a lot of questions in my mind ... to the point where he was useless to use,” Amendola said.

Eight young men testified at trial that they were abused as children by Sandusky, who spent decades at Penn State under head coach Joe Paterno before his retirement in 1999.

Sandusky previously lost direct appeals to the state’s Supreme and Superior courts. The hearing is scheduled for two more days, Aug. 22 and Aug. 23.

of sentimental games at the Coliseum, where the Rams will play until their state-of-the-art new home is built in Inglewood.

Plenty of former USC players and coaches, including Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, will get to return to the Coliseum, which the Trojans call home.

The Rams played at the Coliseum — and won four NFL championships there — from 1946 until 1980. They then played their next 15 seasons at Angel Stadium in Anaheim before moving on to St. Louis in 1994.

The Cowboys are a fitting opponent for the

homecoming. They have a typically large following in a town that has lacked an NFL team, they have long held their training camp in Southern California and owner Jerry Jones was among the NFL power brokers who most strongly fought for returning a team to the LA area.

“I’m so grateful for the owner of the Dallas Cowboys,” Salcedo said. “He was an engine to bring the Rams back here to LA. I’m grateful for them, but I’m an LA Ram fan.

We’re going to beat the Cowboys. As far as the first game of the season, we’re going to rock.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 13, 2016 |

Dear Heloise: I enjoy reading your column in The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, and I hope you can answer the following question for me: How can the STAINS from coffee, tea and/or soda be removed from the bottom of my mugs, particularly my bone china ones? – Marje O., Westerville, Ohio Marje, glad you are using your bone china coffee cups! Too many people put them away and use them only once or twice a year! I try to use one or two sets of "the good stuff" all the time. Why not?

Here is the hint: Fill the mug/cup with very hot water, add 1 tablespoon of DISHWASHER detergent and stir until it's dissolved. Let sit for several hours, pour out and scrub with a plastic brush or scrubbie sponge – DON'T use anything that will scratch the china. That should remove all of the

stains. I use this for our coffee mugs. – Heloise TEA TIME Dear Readers: Here in San Antonio, my hometown, we drink tea (iced and sometimes hot) all year-round! Sweet tea (already sweetened with sugar) or plain is a staple at lunch all across Texas, and all day long at my house!

When it is sunny and hot (and hot and hot – even up to winter), making sun tea is easy and uses nothing but sunlight from Mother Nature!

Here's how: Put eight to 10 tea bags in a gallon glass jar of water, and place in direct sunlight for three to five hours. I use five to six "family size" bags. Remove the bags and pour over ice, or chill in the refrigerator. I've discovered passion-fruit tea and pineapple-flavored tea, and they are both just yummy. – Heloise

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B4 | Saturday, August 13, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES