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Former Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo “Sigi” Gonzalez Jr. posted this photo of one of his political signs alleging that someone had driven over it.
‘Sigi’ reports vandalism to political signs By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Former Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo “Sigi” Gonzalez Jr. said someone is taking down and vandalizing his political signs. Gonzalez is vying for the position currently held by Sheriff
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Alonso M. Lopez. On Saturday, Gonzalez published on Facebook that he had received reports regarding someone taking down and stealing his signs. “I’m offering a reward to anyone that gives me informa-
See SIGNS PAGE 11A
Zapata teen shot in Mexico 17-year-old allegedly part of criminal group By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A teen from Zapata was shot Friday in an armed confrontation that left one gunman dead near Nuevo Ciudad Guerrero, a northern Tamaulipas town that sits across the border from Falcon State Park, authorities said. Tamaulipas authorities said the 17-year-old Zapatan was with a criminal group that operates in that Mexican state. Officials did not identify the group or the teen. The shooting occurred at 1:45 a.m. around kilometer marker 155 of the Nueva Ciudad Guerrero-Nuevo Laredo highway. Shots rang out when Mexican troops patrolling the area came across several vehicles and 15 to
17 gunmen, authorities said. Reports state the gunmen opened fire when they saw the soldiers. Soldiers allegedly fired back, killing a 35-year-old man, who has not been identified. During the shootout, soldiers wounded two gunmen — Manuel Octavio Chapa Diaz, 25, and the Zapatan, officials said. Both were detained and taken to a hospital. Authorities said they seized three vehicles — a Ford F-150 Super Duty, a Ford F-350 and a Ford Lobo — bearing Texas license plates. In the vehicles, troops found five drums containing 200 liters of diesel, eight AR-15s, one AK-47, a .22-caliber rifle, a handgun, clips, tactical gear, caltrops and 70 bags
with food.
Warning A travel warning issued by the U.S. Department of State in 2015 states that violent conflicts between rival criminal groups and soldiers can occur in all parts of the Tamaulipas region and at all times of the day. The warning further states that no highway routes through Tamaulipas are considered safe. Violent criminal activity occurs more frequently along the northern border, according to authorities. “Defer all non-essential travel to the state of Tamaulipas,” the State department adds. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
US CRUDE
OIL KEEPS FALLING. AND FALLING. Experts wonder how low the price can go By DAVID KOENIG ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — The price of oil keeps falling. And falling. And falling. It has to stop somewhere, right? Even after trending down for a year and a half, U.S. crude has fallen another 17 percent since the start of the year and is now probing depths not seen since 2003. “All you can do is forecast direction, and the direction of price is still down,” says Larry Goldstein of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, who predicted a decline in oil in 2014. On Tuesday the price fell another 3 percent to $30.44 a barrel, its lowest level in 12 years. Oil had sold for roughly $100 a barrel for nearly four years before beginning to fall in the summer of 2014. Many now say oil could drop into the $20 range. The price of crude is down because global suppli-
es are high at a time when demand for it is not growing very fast. The price decline, already more dramatic and long-lasting than most expected, deepened in recent days because economic turmoil in China is expected to cut the growth in demand for oil further. Lower crude prices are leading to lower prices for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil, giving drivers, shippers, and many businesses a big break on fuel costs. The national average retail price of gasoline is $1.96 a gallon. On Tuesday the Energy Department lowered its expectations for crude oil and most fuels for this year and next. The department now expects U.S. crude to average $38.54 a barrel in 2016. But layoffs across the oil industry are mounting, and oil company bankruptcies are expected to soar. BP announced layoffs of 4,000 workers on Tuesday. Fadel
See OIL PAGE 11A
Photo by Courtney Sacco/Odessa American | AP file
In this Feb. 25, 2015, file photo, more than 30 oil drilling rigs are idle in a Helmerich & Payne, Inc. yard in Odessa, Texas, along Highway 80, as rig counts drop in the Permian Basin. See related story page 9A.
US 83
Three men busted for human smuggling By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Three men were arrested over the weekend for their alleged involvement in human smuggling activity, court records state. A criminal complaint filed Monday in a Laredo federal court identified the men as Daniel Estra-
da-Cardenas, Oscar Hernandez-Charo and Juan Carlos Morales-Najera. All were charged with transporting illegal immigrants with a motor vehicle. On Jan. 8, a supervisory Border Patrol agent said he spotted a large group of people boarding a silver minivan parked
on the side of North U.S. 83. Authorities responded to intercept the vehicle. Agents in an unmarked vehicle spotted the minivan heading toward Laredo and a Chrysler Sebring suspected of being the scout vehicle. Records state the driver of the scout vehicle, Estra-
da-Contreras, slowed down significantly to obstruct agents from getting closer to the minivan. Agents then intercepted the loaded minivan near Rio Bravo. Its driver was identified as Morales-Najera. He was arrested after a brief foot pursuit along the U.S. shoulder, records state.
Agents said the minivan had 11 immigrants who had entered the country illegally. Then, authorities were able to locate the scout vehicle. They detained the driver, EstradaCardenas, and passenger Hernandez-Charo. Homeland Security Investigations special agents took over the case.
“Estrada-Cardenas admitted to participating in the human smuggling event for financial gain. Hernandez-Charo and Morales-Najera invoked their right to counsel,” states the complaint. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
Wednesday, January 13
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Laredo Vet Center (part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) will be hosting an Open House from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at North Town Professional Plaza, Laredo Vet Center, 6999 McPherson Road, Suite 102. This event is meant to inform the community of mental health services available to eligible veterans and their families.
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2016. There are 353 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 13, 1966, Robert C. Weaver was nominated to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson; Weaver became the first black Cabinet member. On this date: In 1733, James Oglethorpe and 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, while en route to settle in present-day Georgia. In 1794, President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. (The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.) In 1864, American songwriter Stephen Foster died in poverty in a New York hospital at age 37. In 1898, Emile Zola’s famous defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, “J’accuse,” was published in Paris. In 1915, a magnitude-7 earthquake centered in Avezzano, Italy, claimed some 30,000 lives. In 1941, a new law went into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship. Novelist and poet James Joyce died in Zurich, Switzerland, less than a month before his 59th birthday. In 1976, Sarah Caldwell became the first woman to conduct at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House as she led a performance of “La Traviata.” In 1978, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey died in Waverly, Minnesota, at age 66. In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation’s first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond. In 2014, a shooting at a Wesley Chapel, Florida, movie theater left Chad Oulson, 43, dead; retired Tampa police captain Curtis Reeves, 71, is accused of killing Oulson during what authorities said was an argument over Oulson’s texting. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush met with Germany’s new chancellor, Angela Merkel, at the White House. Five years ago: Vice President Joe Biden became the first top U.S. official to visit Iraq since the country approved a new Cabinet; Biden emphasized to Iraqi leaders that the U.S. wanted nothing more than for Iraq to be free and democratic. One year ago: In an emotional act of defiance, Charlie Hebdo resurrected its irreverent and often provocative newspaper, featuring on the cover a caricature of a weeping Prophet Muhammad holding a sign reading “I am Charlie” with the words “All is forgiven” above him. Today’s Birthdays: Actress Frances Sternhagen is 86. Actor Billy Gray is 78. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 55. Country singer Trace Adkins is 54. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 50. TV producer-writer Shonda Rhimes is 46. Actor Orlando Bloom is 39. Meteorologist Ginger Zee (TV: “Good Morning America”) is 35. Actor Liam Hemsworth is 26. Thought for Today: “Never underestimate your power to change yourself; never overestimate your power to change others.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr., American writer.
Thursday, January 14 Preschool Read & Play at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Story time and crafts for preschoolers. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Family Story Time & Crafts at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. The Laredo Area Retired School Employees Association will hold its monthly meeting at Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall at 11 a.m. The topic will be health care. The Elysian Social Club will host its regular monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Sirloin Stockade Restaurant. Members are encouraged to attend this meeting.
Saturday, January 16 El Centro de Laredo Farmers Market at Jarvis Plaza from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Every third Saturday of the month, you can find fresh, locally grown produce as well as all-natural Texas products like olive oil and soap. For more information go to www.laredomainstreet.org Anime Club meeting at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 3-5 p.m. For students in middle school and high school who enjoy manga, anime and pop culture. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. The South Texas Food Bank celebrates Martin Luther King Volunteer Day. Individual and volunteer groups are welcome to come help bag groceries for the needy. Event is at 1907 Freight in West Laredo, 8 a.m. to noon. For more information call the South Texas Food Bank, 726-3120 or 3242432. United ISD 5th Annual 5K Run, Walk and Health Fair. Registration from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the SAC, 5208 Santa Claudia Lane. Race to begin at 9 a.m. Fee is $25 and includes a goody bag, T-shirt and certificate of completion. Medals will be awarded to the top male and female winners in each age division. Event will be dedicated to Adriana Rodriguez and Karina Villarreal. All proceeds to benefit United ISD students with scholarships to college. For more information call, 956-473-6201 or visit www.uisd.net
Monday, January 18 “The Messenger” screening at 1:30 p.m. Cinemark Theater, Mall Del Norte. Su Rynard’s wide-ranging and contemplative documentary explores our deep-seated connection to birds and warns that the uncertain fate of songbirds might mirror our own. View trailer and purchase tickets: https:// tugg.com/events/81897.
Photo by Ted Richardson | AP
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, arrives for a pretrial hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., with his defense counsel Lt. Col. Franklin D. Rosenblatt, left, on Tuesday. Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for five years after he walked off a base in Afghanistan, faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Classified documents By JONATHAN DREW ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army judge is considering how classified information should be handled in the case against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off an outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. Bergdahl’s attorneys argued at a hearing Tuesday for wider leeway in their ability to gather and use the classified information in his case. He faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, a relatively rare charge that carries a punishment of up to life in prison. Bergdahl, 29, walked into the courtroom briskly wearing a dress blue uniform and sat up straight and quietly for the 21⁄2 hour hearing. He spoke only to answer several “yes” or “no” questions from the judge, Col. Jeffery Nance.
Defense attorney Lt. Col. Frank Rosenblatt argued that the prosecution wants to apply military rules on classified information in a way that would hinder the defense. Rosenblatt cited an example in which he said prosecutors put restrictions on what a potential witness could answer during an interview, hindering their evidence-gathering. The judge said “the big issue still left to be determined is whether the defense should have to go through trial counsel” or other military authorities to get access to classified information. Bergdahl, who was held by the Taliban for five years after he walked off a base, was arraigned in December. He has yet to enter a plea or decide whether he wants a trial before a jury or just the judge. Bergdahl walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province on June 30, 2009.
Abbott going to Israel, Switzerland for next trip
Texas State Aquarium adds two dolphins
McDonald’s owner fatally shot in holdup attempt
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is heading overseas for an expected visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. The trips announced Tuesday follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also visited Jerusalem and the Swiss Alps during his final years in office.
CORPUS CHRISTI — The Texas State Aquarium now has double the dolphins. Aquarium officials in Corpus Christi on Monday welcomed two male Atlantic bottlenose dolphins named Liko and Schooner. The dolphins were born in Florida, at SeaWorld Orlando. They’re 8 years old and join two other male dolphins, Kai and Shadow, aquarium.
HOUSTON — Houston police say the owner of a McDonald’s restaurant has been shot and killed during an attempted robbery. Authorities say 68-year-old Carroll Oliver was gunned down as he was heading to a bank in what someone may have known was his morning routine. Police didn’t know if the robbers fled with any cash or how many people were involved.
1996 slaying that led to Amber Alert still unsolved
AWOL soldier rolls off highway while driving
Man gets 27 years for prostituting disabled girl
ARLINGTON — The 1996 slaying of a North Texas girl that led to the Amber Alert notification system to find missing children remains unsolved. Arlington police on Tuesday repeated their request for tips in finding the killer of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman. Wednesday is the 20th anniversary since Amber was abducted while riding her bicycle in Arlington.
FABENS — A soldier wanted for being AWOL from the Army has been sent to a hospital after a rollover crash in West Texas. Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Martarano was allegedly speeding around 5 p.m. Sunday while traveling eastbound on Interstate 10. Texas Department of Public Safety officials say the SUV he was driving veered off the road and rolled multiple times.
DALLAS — A Dallas man has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to using the Internet to prostitute a developmentally disabled teenage girl. The 26-year-old defendant pleaded guilty last March to using a facility of interstate commerce to aid a racketeering enterprise and a weapons count. — Compiled from AP reports
Tuesday, January 19 Join the MOS Library Knitting Circle at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 1-3 p.m. Please bring yarn and knitting needles. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Crochet for Kids at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Please bring yarn and a crochet needle. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
Thursday, January 21 Preschool Read & Play at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Story time and crafts for preschoolers. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Family Story Time & Crafts at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
AROUND THE NATION Medical examiner IDs adults in Ohio explosion CLEVELAND — A medical examiner has identified the two adults from a family of four who were killed after their northeast Ohio home exploded and caught fire. The adult victims were identified Tuesday as Northfield Center Township residents Jeffrey and Cynthia Mather. The Summit County medical examiner’s office is still working to confirm the identities of the couple’s 8and 12-year-old daughters and hasn’t released their names. Neighbors say the Monday night explosion shook homes throughout the development.
Mayor: Dead mouse, cold kids, bad floor in schools DETROIT — Mayor Mike Duggan said he saw a dead mouse, children wearing coats in cold classrooms and a gym floor too
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Investigators search a deadly house explosion, Tuesday, in Northfield Center Township, Ohio. The blast and subsequent fire happened Monday night.
warped for play during a tour of some Detroit public schools Tuesday, amid a teacher sick-out that has forced dozens of buildings to close. Duggan pledged to quickly come up with a plan to improve the condition of the buildings.
The teachers’ union has complained about mold, rodent infestations, too-large class sizes and other issues. Teachers upset about their pay, the district’s financial condition and work environments called in sick Monday. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
Mexico
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Guzman’s men put up a fierce fight By EDUARDO VERDUGO ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS MOCHIS, Mexico — At 4:40 a.m. in a central neighborhood of the Pacific coast city of Los Mochis, 17 Mexican marines began their assault on a safe house, thinking there was a good chance Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was inside. The operation was dubbed “black swan.” One marine was wounded by gunfire almost immediately and remained outside the front door while his comrades slowly advanced inside behind lobbed grenades and heavy fire, according to video from the marines’ helmet cameras released by Mexico’s government on Monday. A marine involved in the assault who gave a tour of the house to a reporter from the Mexican network Televisa said there were more people inside than expected and they were more heavily armed, including with rocket-propelled grenades and .50 caliber sniper rifles. Attorney General Arely Gomez told local radio that people in the house had ordered food for 13 people the night before the raid. An Associated Press journalist who visited the house Monday saw bullet holes pocking its white concrete walls. Clothing and food — a wheel of cheese, lots of cans — were scattered throughout. Beds were tossed. Blood was smeared on the walls. The marines had secured the downstairs
rooms first. One gunman was killed just inside a front door riddled with bullet holes. As the troops prepared to go upstairs, one marine saw a man at the top of the stairs preparing to fire a rocket-propelled grenade. The marine hit the weapon with a couple of shots causing the gunman to toss it, the marine guide told Televisa. The wall above the stairs was particularly damaged by gunfire as defenders tried to keep the marines from advancing. Upstairs the marines found two women in a bathroom and two men in a room with a large television. The home had four bedrooms and five bathrooms. On one upstairs bed were four DVDs from the series La Reina del Sur, starring Kate del Castillo, the Mexican actress who put Guzman in contact with the American actor Sean Penn. It took about 15 minutes to secure the house. Then the marines followed the attackers across rooftops. Four more gunmen were killed in this pursuit. There had been no sighting of Guzman. But knowing his predilection for tunnels, the marines began looking for an opening. Beside a ground floor bedroom littered with clothing, marines entered a walk-in closet and found an unusual panel behind a mirror. Guides showed the AP how a lever hidden behind a ceiling light operated a mechanism that
Photo by Eduardo Verdugo | AP
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 8. opened a door behind the mirror. It led to a set of descending stairs. A 6-foot (nearly 2-meter) tall tunnel complete with lighting, wood-paneled walls and a concrete floor led to more stairs and then a metal hatch opened into the city’s storm sewer. Guzman and his security chief traveled several blocks through the 3-foot (meter) tall storm sewer before popping out in the middle of an intersection. They stole a car, drove a bit, then stole another. Federal police eventually found them on a highway outside of town and Guzman’s flight ended six months after his stunning escape from the same maximum security prison where he now sits.
Photo by Eduardo Verdugo | AP
Bullet holes riddle the walls of the second floor of the home that marines raided in the search for Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in Los Mochis, Mexico, Jan. 11.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
OTHER VIEWS
COLUMN
Kindness can run in all families Personal experiences have taught me to overlook “conventional wisdom,” malicious gossip or just plain stupid, misguided opinions about individuals. One such instance came early in my college days and was particularly gratifying. The young man was John Ellis, adopted son of O.B. Ellis, the late director of the Texas Department of Corrections and for whom a prison unit is named. Ellis is credited with putting TDC on a modern path. John and I were both journalism students at then-Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville. We each had a bent toward sports writing. Both of us were on the staff of The Houstonian, the student newspaper. In addition to being the sports editor of that publication, I was also the paid sports publicity director for the college and got to travel with the teams. John’s parents sent him wherever he wanted to go to cover Sam Houston sports so, in addition to being classmates, we attended a lot of events together. He was a bright young man and wrote well. He had some physical challenges. John had a malignant tumor removed from his tongue as a child and dealt with a speech impediment. He’d also lost part of his right leg, just below the knee, and had a prosthesis. John’s social skills were understandably a little lacking, and the athletes especially teased him occasionally. I defended John and the athletes became accepting and appreciated that he was a talented sportswriter. As we became friends, John asked me to visit his home, which was the residence of the prison system director and across the street from The Walls Unit. That sort of blew me away and scared this small town boy a bit. Right by the prison! What if prisoners broke out?! I stifled my panicky thoughts and accepted a Saturday invitation to watch an afternoon game on TV. At the beginning of the game, inmate trusties brought us snacks. I learned that I shouldn’t fear them. Trusty was a special designation that allowed inmates to provide work services without close supervision and earned them special privileges. John kept a small hand bell on his TV tray to summon them. After snacks, I got out of my big easy chair to go
to the bathroom. John’s head snapped up from watching TV as he said, “Where you going?” Afraid he was going to summon those trusties, I said, “To the bathroom, but I don’t need any help.” John thought that was hilarious. I think I turned several shades of red. We watched the game and, when John left the room once, his mother slipped in and thanked me for being John’s friend. I told her I appreciated having him as a friend, enjoyed covering games and working on the student newspaper with him. Then I told her he was a talented writer and I thought she was going to cry. Later that year, John accompanied the team to a bowl game in Evansville, Ind. It was a multiday trip and one of the highlights was a parade. Sam Houston’s colors are orange and white, and like the University of Texas, the letter jackets have a T. To the Indianans we were “Texas,” and the crowd favorite against game-favored Middle Tennessee State. We were standing outside our downtown hotel watching the parade, which seemed to have an inordinate number of beauty queen floats. All of them were waving and blowing kisses at the orange-and-white-jacketed Sam Houstonians. The kiss-blowing got hot and heavy and the players began running out to the convertibles and kissing the beauties. Apparently 135-pound, physically challenged John got so excited, he ran out to one of the convertibles. He started grabbing 250-pound players by the shoulders and spinning them out of the way, all with very startled looks on their faces but not as shocked as the queen was as John planted a big, wet one on her lips. John came back to the sidewalk with a huge grin on his face. It looked permanent. I think it was probably the first time he’d ever kissed a girl. From that day forward, the players looked at John with newfound respect. Oh, and underdog Sam Houston won the game easily, 27-13. It was altogether a very satisfying day. Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper editor-publisher of more than 50 years experience. He can be reached by email at wwebb1937@att.net.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure
our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
COLUMN
The brutalism of Ted Cruz In 1997, Michael Wayne Haley was arrested after stealing a calculator from Wal-Mart. This was a crime that merited a maximum two-year prison term. But prosecutors incorrectly applied a habitual offender law. Neither the judge nor the defense lawyer caught the error and Haley was sentenced to 16 years. Eventually, the mistake came to light and Haley tried to fix it. Ted Cruz was solicitor general of Texas at the time. Instead of just letting Haley go for time served, Cruz took the case to the Supreme Court to keep Haley in prison for the full 16 years. Some justices were skeptical. “Is there some rule that you can’t confess error in your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked. The court system did finally let Haley out of prison, after six years. The case reveals something interesting about Cruz’s character. He is now running strongly among evangelical voters, especially in Iowa. But in his career and public presentation Cruz is a stranger to most of what would generally be considered the Christian virtues: humility, mercy, compassion and grace. Cruz’s behavior in the Haley case is almost the dictionary definition of pharisaism: an overzealous application of the letter of the law in a way that violates the spirit of the law, as well as fairness and mercy. Traditionally, candidates
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DAVID BROOKS
who have attracted strong evangelical support have in part emphasized the need to lend a helping hand to the economically stressed and the least fortunate among us. Such candidates include George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum. But Cruz’s speeches are marked by what you might call pagan brutalism. There is not a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy. Instead, his speeches are marked by a long list of enemies, and vows to crush, shred, destroy, bomb them. When he is speaking in a church the contrast between the setting and the emotional tone he sets is jarring. Cruz lays down an atmosphere of apocalyptic fear. America is heading off “the cliff to oblivion.” After one Democratic debate he said, “We’re seeing our freedoms taken away every day, and last night was an audition for who would wear the jackboot most vigorously.” As Republican strategist Curt Anderson observed in Politico, there’s no variation in Cruz’s rhetorical tone. As is the wont of inauthentic speakers, everything is described as a maximum existential threat. The fact is this apocalyptic diagnosis is ridiculous. The Obama administration
has done things people like me strongly disagree with. But America is in better economic shape than any other major nation on earth. Crime is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen million new jobs have been created in five years. President Barack Obama has championed a liberal agenda, but he hasn’t made the country unrecognizable. In 2008, federal spending accounted for about 20.3 percent of gross domestic product. In 2015, it accounted for about 20.9 percent. But Cruz manufactures an atmosphere of menace in which there is no room for compassion, for moderation, for anything but dismantling and counterattack. And that is what he offers. Cruz’s programmatic agenda, to the extent that it exists in his speeches, is to destroy things: destroy the IRS, crush the “jackals” of the EPA, end funding for Planned Parenthood, reverse Obama’s executive orders, make the desert glow in Syria, destroy the Iran nuclear accord. Some of these positions I agree with, but the lack of any positive emphasis, any hint of reform conservatism, any aid for the working class, or even any humane gesture toward cooperation is striking. Cruz didn’t come up with this hard, combative and gladiatorial campaign approach in isolation. He’s always demonstrated a tendency to bend his position — whether immigration or
trade — to what suits him politically. This approach works because in the wake of the Obergefell v. Hodges court decision on same-sex marriage, many evangelicals feel they are being turned into pariahs in their own nation. Cruz exploits and exaggerates that fear. But he reacts to Obergefell in exactly the alienating and combative manner that is destined to further marginalize evangelicals, that is guaranteed to bring out fear-driven reactions and not the movement’s highest ideals. The best conservatism balances support for free markets with a Judeo-Christian spirit of charity, compassion and solidarity. Cruz replaces this spirit with spartan belligerence. He sows bitterness, influences his followers to lose all sense of proportion and teaches them to answer hate with hate. This Trump-Cruz conservatism looks more like tribal, blood and soil European conservatism than the pluralistic American kind. Evangelicals and other conservatives have had their best influence on American politics when they have proceeded in a spirit of personalism — when they have answered hostility with service and emphasized the infinite dignity of each person. They have won elections as happy and hopeful warriors. Cruz’s brutal, fear-driven, apocalypse-based approach is the antithesis of that.
EDITORIAL
Extraditing ‘El Chapo’ is only a start BLOOMBERG VIEW
Mexico’s decision to extradite Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the U.S. is a tacit admission that, for all President Enrique Peña Nieto’s groundbreaking economic reforms, his government has been less successful when it comes to law and order.
Consider: The horrific toll of drug and criminal violence continues to rise. Homicides went up 7 percent last year, with even higher increases in Mexico City. Mexico’s two biggest cartels — including the one headed by Guzman — have grown in size and scope, taking over territory from rival groups. More than a
year after the massacre of 43 students in the town of Iguala, the government’s investigation into what happened has made little headway, and has become a locus for public discontent. The same could be said of the unconvincing investigation into Guzman’s escapade. States such as Guerrero and Michoacan have been
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
victimized by quasi-official militias filling a security vacuum. Guzman’s escape was an inside job that shocked the nation and humiliated the government. His recapture is a moment to celebrate. But the reality is that, when it comes to criminal justice reform, Mexico still has a long way to go.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
Zentertainment
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CBS vows Bowie made it OK to be different more primetime diversity By JOCELYN NOVECK ASSOCIATED PRESS
By LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PASADENA, Calif. — CBS is committed to increasing the diversity of its prime-time series, the network’s new programming chief said, offering himself as evidence. “I’m just a gay guy from Indiana who doesn’t play basketball, but now I’m the entertainment president of CBS,” said Glenn Geller, who was promoted to the job last fall. He contended that CBS offers diversity in front of and behind the camera and in its corporate offices. “And can we do better? I think we are,” he told a TV critics’ meeting Tuesday. “We’re not casting color blind, we’re casting color conscious.” Two upcoming CBS series will offer “greatly diverse casts,” he said of “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” starting March 16, and “Rush Hour,” debuting March 31. The newcomer to the “Criminal Minds” franchise, about FBI agents who aid Americans in trouble abroad, includes African-American actor Tyler James Williams and Daniel Henney, who is of Korean ancestry. Its top-listed stars are Gary Sinise and Alana De La Garza. The cast of “Rush Hour,” based on the Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker movie franchise, includes Justin Hires and Page Kennedy, who are black, and Jon Foo and Aimee Garcia. Geller inherited a schedule that had lost ground in depicting ethnic diversity. The nation’s most popular network, which 15 years ago had the most diversity, has the least among the major broadcast networks, according to an Associated Press analysis of the fall 2014 schedule. Black representation had slipped to just under 7 percent, less than half what it was in 1999, according to the AP’s tally from the network’s own cast lists. African-Americans make up more than 13 percent of the U.S. population. Geller’s longtime predecessor, Nina Tassler, had consistently asserted the network was working to offer a fuller depiction of American diversity but that its success created less opportunity for series turnover and cast changes. Geller, who has been with CBS in other posts for 14 years and was named entertainment president last September, made a point of introducing himself as a gay man. “I’m diverse,” he told reporters. “I mentioned my husband earlier and I talk about him publicly because i want to normalize my diversity. CBS will always look like what America looks like, and it’s always evolving and changing.”
NEW YORK — It’s perhaps not so surprising that the word “androgynous” was spiking on the MerriamWebster online dictionary after David Bowie’s death was announced, as people looked up a word so commonly mentioned in connection with the rock star’s blazingly unique style. But while the word aptly describes much of Bowie’s chameleon-like appeal, there was another, deeper association being mentioned by some in the aftermath of Bowie’s death: the idea that the singer was a crucial source of support — perhaps even to the point of saving lives — for youngsters uncertain about their identity or sexuality in an era when gender fluidity was much less accepted than it is today. “David Bowie showed this queer kid from Baton Rouge that gender outlaws are cool,” wrote singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier on Twitter. “Androgyny=rock&roll, not a reason to kill myself.” Gauthier, 53, explained in an interview that she’d stumbled upon Bowie’s famous Ziggy Stardust persona — the flame-haired, bodysuited, bisexual alien rock star from his 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” — when she was 14 or 15. “I was clearly aware that I was a gender outlaw,” she said. “Being androgynous didn’t sit well in Baton Rouge in 1974 or 1975. I hung out with outsiders. Bowie gave them hope, and me hope. “I do think his work saved thousands of gender-different kids,” Gauthier said. She added: “It wasn’t a matter of what he was saying or arguing, it was a matter of how he was appearing. It may have been a show, but it was authentic.” “He showed us there was a bigger world out there,”
Photo by Bob Child | AP file
In this Sept. 14, 1995, file photo, David Bowie performs during a concert in Hartford, Conn. Bowie, the innovative and iconic singer whose illustrious career lasted five decades, died Monday. He was 69. Gauthier said. While the specific words may have been different, similar thoughts — the idea of Bowie making those who felt somehow different feel more welcome — came from far and wide on Monday, a day after Bowie died at age 69 following a very private 18-month battle with cancer. One of those expressing such thoughts was Madonna, who spoke of Bowie’s androgynous image as easing the way for her as a young person. “I never felt like I fit in growing up in Michigan,” the pop star wrote on Facebook. “Like an oddball or a freak. I went to see him in concert ... We got caught after, and I was grounded for the summer. I didn’t care. I already had many of his re-
cords and was so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine. Funny and serious. Clever and wise.” Actress Evan Rachel Wood wrote on Twitter that Bowie “always made me feel less alone in this crazy world.” And filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, also on Twitter, wrote that “Bowie existed so all of us misfits learned that an oddity was a precious thing. He changed the world forever.” In Berlin, where Bowie lived for a while in the 1970s and recorded the three albums known as his Berlin Trilogy, musician Mark Reeder spoke of how the rock star especially loved the city because “it was different. Because it was full of
artists and full of transvestites and full of weird people who didn’t fit in to normal society. And I think he really enjoyed his time here, it was really important for him, because he could be himself, he could find himself.” As many pointed out, it wasn’t about Bowie’s own orientation (he gave a couple of varying answers early in his career when asked whether he was bisexual; the father of two was married to wife Iman for more than two decades at his death, and earlier to Angela Bowie) but the sense of liberation he gave others. “David Bowie will always hold a special place in the hearts of many LGBT people,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD, in an email message. “He was a beacon for all those who felt alienated because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, helped many to understand and accept themselves, continually challenged gender norms, and proved that being different is not only OK — it is something to be proud of.” Gauthier, the singer, noted that for her, Bowie’s key message was about gender, not sexual orientation. “He shattered the binary idea of gender — as being male or female — and he created that middle,” she said. “He showed us what a man looked like in a dress, and it was beautiful. There was an inner femininity, but it was masculine, too.” And he was the essential outsider, she said; in fact, he gave the impression of coming from outer space, so other-worldly was his ethereal appearance. “But he was MORE than human,” Gauthier added, “and not less than human. That’s an important difference.” — Associated Press video journalist Jona Kallgren in Berlin contributed to this report.
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera ‘Cisne Negro’
MIÉRCOLES 13 DE ENERO, DE 2016
VIDEO DE OPERATIVO
Agenda en Breve
ACERCAMIENTO COMUNITARIO
El Zapata County ISD Community Outreach invita a su reunión del jueves 14 de enero con el tema Criando Hijos Sanos y Triunfadores, a cargo de Cynthia L. Villarreal, District At-Risk Coordinator. La cita es a las 5:30 p.m. para la plática en inglés y a las 9 a.m. y 6:30 p.m. para la plática en español, en el Professional Development Center (PDC), 702 E. 17th St., al cruz el campus de Middle School. Llame al 956-285-3825 para más información.
BOMBEROS/ PARAMÉDICOS El Departamento de Bomberos del Concado de Zapata se encuentra aceptando solicitudes para bomberos/paramédicos, bomberos/intermedios y paramédicos (solamente). Puede pasar por una solicitud en el Court House del Condado de Zapata con Nellie Treviño.
POR EDUARDO VERDUGO ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS MOCHIS, México — A las 4:40 a.m. en un vecindario de Los Mochis, Sinaloa, 17 infantes de Marina mexicanos comenzaron su ingreso a una casa de seguridad, pensando que había una buena probabilidad de encontrar a Joaquín “El Chapo” en su interior. La operación fue bautizada como “Cisne Negro”. Un infante de marina resultó herido por arma de fuego apenas inició el operativo y permaneció afuera de la puerta principal, mientras sus compañeros avanzaban lentamente al interior del inmueble, lanzando granadas y dispaEL CHAPO rando sin cesar, de acuerdo al video de las cámaras de los cascos de los marinos que fue difundido el lunes por el gobierno mexicano. El lunes, la Procuradora General
Recorrieron varias cuadras a través de un drenaje pluvial de un metro de altura. de México, Arely Gómez, dijo a una radiodifusora local que gente en la casa había ordenado comida para 13 personas la noche previa al operativo. Un periodista de The Associated Press, que visitó la casa el lunes, vio los impactos de bala en las paredes de concreto blancas. En el piso había ropa y alimentos, un pedazo de queso y muchas latas, y las camas estaban maltrechas. Algunas paredes estaban manchadas de sangre. Un hombre armado murió justo cuando entraron por la puerta principal, que estaba repleta de impactos de bala. El muro ubicado encima de las escaleras se encontraba particularmente dañado por las balas, ya que los guardaespaldas trataban de evitar el avance de los marinos. En el piso superior, los marinos
encontraron a dos mujeres en el baño y a otros dos hombres en una habitación con una enorme pantalla de televisión. El inmueble tenía cuatro recámaras y cinco baños. En una cama del piso superior se encontraron cuatro DVD de la serie “La Reina del Sur”, protagonizada por Kate del Castillo
Túnel Les tomó 15 minutos asegurar el lugar. Luego, siguieron a los atacantes por los techos de la zona. En esta persecución murieron otros cuatro hombres armados. Pero no había avistamientos de Guzmán. Conociendo la predilección de Guzmán por los túneles, los marinos comenzaron a buscar aperturas. Junto a una recámara de la planta baja, los marinos ingresaron a un
gran armario y encontraron un inusual panel detrás de un espejo. Los guías mostraron a la AP cómo una palanca escondida detrás de una lámpara de techo accionaba el mecanismo para abrir una puerta detrás del espejo. Dicha puerta llevaba a unas escaleras hacia abajo. Un túnel de 1,80 metros de altura, alumbrado, con paneles de madera y piso de concreto, llevaba a más escaleras y a una escotilla de metal que daba al sistema de alcantarillado de la ciudad. Guzmán y su jefe de seguridad recorrieron varias cuadras a través de un drenaje pluvial de un metro de altura, antes de salir en medio de una intersección de calles. Robaron un auto, condujeron unas cuantas cuadras y luego robaron otro. Eventualmente, la policía federal los encontró en una carretera fuera de la ciudad y puso fin a los seis meses de libertad de Guzmán, luego de su sorprendente escape de la misma prisión de máxima seguridad en la que actualmente se encuentra encerrado.
RETO RIO MTB El sábado 16 de enero se realizará el Rio MTB Challenge en el Rio Grande City Trails de Rio Grande City. La cuota de participación es de 25 dólares, para adultos, y 10 dólares para niños (de 7 a 14 años de edad). Habrá música, comida y más. Inscríbase en cityofrgc.com.
EU
EDUCACIÓN
POWERBALL
Realizan intercambio de maestros
TORNEO DE GOLF El sábado 16 de enero se celebrará un Torneo de Golf a partir de las 9 a.m. en estilo 3 Man Florida Scramble, en Los Ebanos Golf Course de Zapata. El costo es de 65 dólares por jugador que incluye 2 mulligans y la comida. Puede inscribirse en el campo de golf o bien llamando a Aaron Cruz al 956- 2403408
TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
MERCADO AGRÍCOLA El Zapata Farmer and Artisan’s Market (mercado agrícola) del mes de enero se llevará a cabo el sábado 16 de enero, de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m., en el estacionamiento del Zapata Community Center.
TIRO AL DISCO El Boys and Girls Club of Zapata invita al Noveno Torneo de Tiro al Disco (Sporting Clay) que se realizará el sábado 30 de enero. La cuota de entrada es de 120 dólares para equipos con 5 tiradores adultos y 60 dólares para equipos con cinco tiradores jóvenes – equipos juveniles deben contar con un entrenador o patrocinador presente. Participantes deben estar registrados para las 7:30 a.m. el día del evento, y deberán llevar sus propias municiones 7 ½, 8 y 9 solamente. El horario de actividades será de 7 a.m. a 7:45 a.m. el registro; 8 a.m. primera etapa; 11 a.m., segunda etapa; 2 p.m., tercera etapa. Puede inscribirse en el sitio bgczapata.com. Habrá premios. Al momento se reportan 21 equipos registrados.
Foto por Alan Diaz | Associated Press
Un empleado en una tienda de conveniencia selecciona la opción de pago rápido en un boleto para el Poweball, el lunes. El premio mayor del Powerball ha superado el millón de dólares, en una cifra récord, para el sorteo del miércoles.
Están a seis números de ser millonarios ASSOCIATED PRESS
DES MOINES, Iowa — El mayor premio de lotería en el mundo creció a 1.500 millones de dólares, a causa de la ola de compras de boletos para el Powerball. Funcionarios de la lotería incrementaron su estimado del enorme premio el martes por segundo día consecutivo a causa del enorme interés. El premio del Powerball pudiera crecer aún más an-
tes del sorteo del miércoles si las ventas de boletos continúan excediendo expectativas. Los funcionarios emiten sus estimados diariamente. Nadie logró los seis números del Powerball en el sorteo del sábado, lo que lleva a la enorme bolsa. Las probabilidades de conseguir los seis números para ganar el premio son de una en 292,9 millones. El premio de 1.500 millones de dólares sería pagado
COLUMNA
PERIODO DE REGISTRO Agricultores y ganaderos son invitados a participar en el periodo general de inscripción para el Programa de Reserva de Conservación (CRP, por sus siglas en inglés) que está vigente actualmente y concluye el 26 de febrero. El CRP, que cumple 30 años, es un programa con fondos federales que ayuda a los productores agrícolas con los costos de restauración, mejora y protección de ciertos tipos de césped, arbustos y árboles a fin de mejorar la calidad del agua, prevenir la erosión del suelo y reducir la pérdida del habitat de la vida salvaje. Más información en fsa.usda.gov/conservation.
en 29 abonos anuales. El ganador puede optar por un pago total de 930 millones de una vez. El ganador deberá pagar 39,6% de la bolsa en impuestos federales y los correspondientes impuestos estatales. Funcionarios de la lotería esperan que al menos 80% de las 292,9 millones de combinaciones numéricas posibles sean compradas antes del miércoles. Eso aumenta las probabilidades de que alguien gane el premio.
Once maestros de Tamaulipas presentaron un examen sobre conocimientos del idioma inglés con el objetivo de poder ser preseleccionados para participar en un programa de intercambio de maestros entre México y Estados Unidos el presente año. “Esta actividad forma parte del proceso de selección y constituye el primer filtro para después capacitarlos en historia, cuestión cultural, valores y tradiciones mexicanas”, reveló María San Juana López Jiménez, Coordinadora Estatal del programa Binacional de Educación Migrante de la Secretaría de Educación de Tamaulipas. Los docentes que presentaron el presente examen son de los niveles de preescolar, primaria, especial y secundaria, y acudieron de los municipios de Madero, Reynosa, Güémez, Matamoros, Altamira, Tampico y Ciudad Victoria. El resultado del examen se dará a conocer la semana entrante, y aquellos que hayan aprobado continuarán su capacitación estatal durante febrero y una nacional en marzo. “En marzo se van a entrevistar con autoridades educativas de Es-
tados Unidos y ellos son los que finalmente deciden quienes van a participar, ellos son el último filtro”, dijo López Jiménez. El PROBEM es la respuesta de los Gobiernos de México y Estados Unidos a la problemática educativa de la población migratoria entre ambos países, razón por la cual los docentes deben estar capacitados en historia, lengua, cultura, valores y tradiciones. “Busca asegurar con equidad y pertinencia la continuidad y calidad de la educación básica para niños y jóvenes migrantes que cursan una parte del año escolar en México y otra en Estados Unidos de América”, sostuvo López Jiménez. El programa de Intercambio de Maestros surgió en 1996 como iniciativa de cooperación internacional de México para reducir la constante demanda de maestros bilingües que requieren los distritos escolares que atienden a niños migrantes en los Estados Unidos. Durante el Intercambio de Maestros del 2015 participaron ocho docentes en los Distritos Escolares de Nebraska, California y Oregón, atendiendo a 1.324 niños migrantes, de acuerdo con datos de la SET.
Recuerda a gobernador que privilegió al pueblo Importantes calles, avenidas, escuelas y edificios de Tamaulipas llevan el nombre de quienes han gobernado la entidad norteña. Sin embargo, de la referida nomenclatura permanece excluido Candelario Garza.
POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Plutarco Elías Calles obtiene la candidatura presidencial y frustra las aspiraciones de Adolfo de la Huerta. Inconforme, este último se rebela contra el gobierno de Álvaro Obregón antes de concluir 1923. El conflicto logra estremecer zonas del
país. Ocupaba la primera magistratura de Tamaulipas César López de Lara. Sumándose al movimiento delahuertista, hacia fines de 1923 se levanta en armas. Pierde respaldo ciudadano y los poderes constitucionales del estado terminan por considerarse desaparecidos. La Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión designa en consecuencia un gobernador provisional. El nombramiento recae en Candelario Garza Cantú. Rinde la respectiva protesta al despuntar febrero de 1924. Dura solamente nueve meses en funciones, no sien-
do esto objeto para que desarrolle una gestión de vanguardia. Algunas de las medidas implementadas son, por ejemplo, meter orden rubros administrativos. Las finanzas públicas arrojan considerable superávit. Reduce por ende los impuestos estatales hasta arriba del 30 por ciento. Instala la Comisión Local Agraria – constituida con toda formalidad en abril – y realiza los primeros repartos de tierra del Tamaulipas posrevolucionario. Suman 19.227 hectáreas y promedian casi 2.800 mensuales. De marzo a julio, trabaja-
dores del sureste tamaulipeco protagonizan larga huelga en la Compañía Mexicana de Petróleo El Águila, consorcio extranjero. Aunque media sin éxito, se cree que evita la represión del paro. Ante solicitudes específicas, concede autonomía municipal a los habitantes de Mainero y Cecilia, hoy Ciudad Madero. Influyente diario regiomontano lo consideraría “rara avis” en círculos oficialistas. Privilegia los intereses populares y acaba destituido. Lo releva Gregorio Garza Salinas en noviembre, dizque por corresponderle el cargo según la carta
magna del estado, pues antes presidía el congreso de Tamaulipas. Las evidencias indican que detrás maniobra Emilio Portes Gil, mandamás de Garza Salinas y próximo gobernador. Por supuesto, durante el longevo cacicazgo portesgilista en la entidad ni el más remoto plantel, ejido, biblioteca o villorrio se denomina Candelario Garza. Su nombre ahora identifica a populosa colonia y al máximo galardón de Ciudad Madero. (Con permiso del autor según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico, Tamps., el 8 enero 2016)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NCAA FOOTBALL: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Another title for Tide Alabama coach Nick Saban adapts to the times, keeps on winning By JOHN ZENOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Nick Saban is a creature of habit, waking at dawn like usual the morning after corralling his latest national championship. That love of routine hasn’t kept the Alabama coach from adapting and evolving with the game, from the trend toward spread offenses to a longer, tougher path than ever before to a national title. The fourth title in seven seasons was the toughest for Saban and the Crimson Tide. Yet they endured in a 45-40 shootout win over Clemson Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. And that should tell you everything you need to know about Saban’s ability to adapt. Now, as the latest group of Tide players prepares for an annual exodus to the NFL, he will try to do it again. “What he’s doing is unheard of,” Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said after the game. “It’s just the process. The players change, the coaches change. He’s the one guy that stays the same.” Not exactly the same. And that’s the point. Saban has made plenty of changes while
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
Alabama head coach Nick Saban and players celebrate after winning the NCAA College Football Playoff championship against Clemson Monday night 45-40. clinging to habit. Take his urging Kiffin to spread out and speed up the offense at times. The defense has veered away from the 340-pound space
hoggers in the middle, relying on swifter, smaller defenders to better deal with fast-paced offenses like Clemson and dual-threat quarterbacks like
Deshaun Watson. There was speedy linebacker Rashaan Evans sacking Watson twice and safety Geno Matias-Smith, a converted cor-
nerback, racking up 11 tackles. Watson piled up plenty of yards but Alabama made stops when it counted, too — plus Saban’s gutsy fourth-quarter onside kick call that led to a tie-breaking touchdown. Saban tied Frank Leahy for the second-most Associated Press coaching titles, plus a BCS crown at LSU. He had to face his toughest national title game yet at Alabama. The Tide had rolled over Texas, shut out LSU and routed Notre Dame. This one went down to the wire. Saban said the players need some downtime after 15 games and 14 wins. That doesn’t mean he’ll take much himself. He was up by 6:15 a.m. Tuesday like always — even though he didn’t arrive back at the hotel until a few hours earlier. He’ll head back to the office for Wednesday meetings with players, including the latest group of underclassmen considering turning pro. That could include Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson. Then he’ll try to wrap up another top recruiting class. “The bus doesn’t stop,” Saban said. “You’ve got to keep rolling.”
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
2 teams near move to LA Raiders out of the running, Chargers and Rams negotiating relocation to Los Angeles ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The Oakland Raiders are likely out of the running for a move to Los Angeles and the San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams are negotiating a deal to share a stadium in Inglewood, California, a source told The Associated Press Tuesday night. The source requested anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to discuss
the negotiations. All three teams want to move to the nation’s secondlargest media market, which has been without an NFL team since the Raiders and Rams moved out in 1994. The Raiders and Chargers had agreed to share a stadium in Carson, California. Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to build a $1.8 billion showplace in Inglewood, closer to downtown LA.
Photo by Manica Architecture via AP
An image provided by Manica Architecture shows a rendering of a proposed NFL stadium in Carson, Calif.
National
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
Lottery players go to great lengths for tickets By SCOTT MCFETRIDGE AND KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
NIPTON, Calif. — Lottery ticket buyers have to suspend their belief in math to drop $2 on an infinitesimal chance to win the Powerball jackpot, but in Nevada, they also have to drive across the desert and wait in lines that can stretch for hours. In Hawaii and Alaska, they need to cross an ocean or mountains to reach a lottery kiosk. As if the 1 in 292.2 million odds of winning weren’t inconvenient enough, people who live in the six states that don’t participate in Powerball must put in considerable extra effort to get a ticket. With the giant jackpot on his mind, retiree William Burke drove 45 minutes Monday from his home in Henderson, Nevada, to buy tickets in Nipton, California. Then he waited three hours to spend $20 on 10 tickets at a store that is among the na-
tion’s busiest lottery retailers. “I thought maybe I’d be part of history,” said Burke, a Vietnam veteran who joined hundreds of people bundled in coats and scarfs before the doors opened at the Primm Valley Lotto Store off Interstate 15. None of the six states has a lottery of any kind. Religious beliefs have posed a barrier in Alabama, Mississippi and Utah. Alaska has been more concerned that a lottery wouldn’t pay off in such a sparsely populated state. In Hawaii, lawmakers have proposed lottery measures, but the idea always fails. And in Nevada, the lottery snub is largely a nod to the state’s casinos, which have no interest in the competition. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs Powerball, reports that some of the biggest ticket sales come from border cities. That means residents of one state are driving to another to play Powerball,
Photo by John Locher | AP
People buy lottery tickets at the Primm Valley Casino Resorts Lotto Store just inside the California border Tuesday, near Primm, Nev. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1 billion dollars for the next drawing on Wednesday. then probably spending a bit more on gas, soda or doughnuts. “What that means for policymakers, that’s their business,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “I’m sure they’re watching those dollars flow out of their state.” In Alabama, people have been talking about instituting a lottery for years, in part because of sales in
border states. Faced with tight state budgets and demands from voters, Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday introduced rival lottery bills for the legislative session that begins in February. Republican state Sen. Jim McClendon, one of the bill sponsors, said he was considering the idea long before this month’s Powerball mania. The jackpot of-
fers “fortuitous” timing, he said, and highlights the huge number of Alabama residents who are buying tickets elsewhere. The people who are driving to surrounding states for tickets “cannot understand why Alabama doesn’t offer what 44 other states in America offer.” Mississippi state Rep. Alyce Clarke, a Democrat from Jackson, has repeatedly sponsored a lottery bill, but she said religious opposition always kills the idea. That could change this year because of Powerball, she explained, enabling the state to raise money to subsidize colleges or fix roads and bridges. Other states seem less likely to adopt lotteries. In Utah, people have been crowding gas stations to buy tickets along the border with Wyoming and Idaho, but the state constitution bans all forms of gambling. Given that most legislators belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opposes gambling, a
change in the constitution is unlikely. Alaska has seen only minimal interest in creating a lottery. The state Revenue Department has studied the option as a way to ease a budget deficit, but neither the governor nor legislators has made a formal proposal. An agency report found that given Alaska’s vast land area and small population, a lottery would probably not generate as much money as in other states. And games such as Powerball could hurt stateregulated charitable gambling, which supports numerous nonprofits. Alaska’s stand was still puzzling to Stacy Castle, a baker at Alaska Coffee Roasting Company in Fairbanks. “I honestly don’t know why we don’t have one,” said Castle, explaining that she has friends in Oregon who are buying her Powerball tickets this week. “I’ve lived here for 20 years. It should be a choice for people in the state.”
Glacier Navy boats held by Iran will be returned could melt soon By LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
By DAN ELLIOTT ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — A small glacier in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado, could disappear in about 20 years because of regional climate warming and drought, and similar thawing could be underway elsewhere in Colorado’s high country, researchers said Tuesday. A severe drought and high temperatures in the early 2000s caused a rapid loss of ice from Arikaree Glacier and from permafrost under the alpine tundra, said Mark Williams, a University of Colorado geography professor and alpine researcher. A long-term warming trend in the West has prolonged the melt-off, he said. The regional warming trend could be related to global climate change, but that’s hard to determine, Williams said. “You can certainly make an argument that it is,” he said. Williams is part of a team that studied Arikaree Glacier, permafrost and rock glaciers in Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest near the Continental Divide. Permafrost is frozen soil a yard or two underground. Rock glaciers are covered with rock and other debris. The melting permafrost has been seen in an increase of water flowing out of the mountains in late summer and autumn over the past 20 years, Williams said. The runoff continued after the winter snowfall had melted, telling researchers it was from permafrost.
WASHINGTON — Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two small boats that drifted into Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical problems. Iran accused the sailors of trespassing but American officials said Tehran has assured them that the crew and vessels would be returned safely and promptly. The sailors, nine men and one woman, were being held overnight at an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, and were expected to be transferred to a U.S. ship in the region on Wednesday morning local time. Officials said they believe
Photo by Torrey W. Lee/U.S. Navy | AP
In this Oct. 26, 2015 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Riverine Command Boat (RCB) 802, assigned to Combined Task Group (CTG) 56.7, conducts patrol operations in the Persian Gulf. the U.S. had spoken to one of the crew, and all 10 were fine and uninjured. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the River-
ine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the U.S. lost contact with them. U.S. officials said that the incident happened
near Farsi Island in the middle of the Gulf. They said some type of mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, and they were picked up by Iran. The semi-official Iranian news agency, FARS, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy has detained 10 foreign forces, believed to be Americans, and said the sailors were trespassing in Iranian waters. “We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and the vessels will be returned promptly,” Cook said. The incident came amid heightened tensions with
Iran, and only hours before President Barack Obama was set to deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress and the public. It set off a dramatic series of calls and meetings as U.S. officials tried to determine the exact status of the crew and reach out to Iranian leaders. Secretary of State John Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif through three years of nuclear negotiations, called Zarif immediately on learning of the incident, according to a senior U.S. official. Kerry “personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome,” the official said.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
THE MARKET IN REVIEW STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS
u
u
NYSE 9,576.53
+48.86
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)
DAILY DOW JONES
NASDAQ 4,685.92
+47.93
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)
Name
Last Chg%Chg Name
Last Chg%Chg
IntwstRsts BurlStrs Aarons ContainStr GpoAvalAc PlainsGP TimknSteel MobileTele Vipshop WstRefLog
8.68 48.92 22.70 4.93 6.22 8.37 4.39 5.87 14.48 22.63
6.24 27.27 3.50 2.51 6.69 41.78 7.39 5.50 24.73 6.51
+1.65 +6.16 +2.15 +.47 +.58 +.76 +.40 +.46 +1.08 +1.67
+23.5 +14.4 +10.5 +10.5 +10.3 +10.0 +10.0 +8.5 +8.1 +8.0
SilicGrIn SuperMicro JaguarAH n DelTaco wt Zafgen Digimarc ApolloEdu UltraClean Schulmn MerrimkP
+31.6 +26.7 +24.6 +20.3 +20.3 +19.6 +15.8 +15.5 +15.1 +11.9
Last Chg%Chg Name
26.50-14.34 3.26 -1.29 5.40 -1.90 4.23 -1.28 3.91 -1.08 22.67 -6.07 4.10 -1.06 8.00 -1.50 8.43 -1.45 4.05 -.66
-35.1 -28.4 -26.0 -23.2 -21.6 -21.1 -20.5 -15.8 -14.7 -14.0
MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) Name
Vol (00) 1406858 966290 904084 746518 551078 494467 471101 466186 466108 423572
Last Chg Name 4.11 -.20 15.31 ... 7.28 -.72 3.02 -.32 8.98 -1.31 16.54 -2.15 12.85 +.08 28.64 +.06 13.60 -.56 3.49 -.22
Apple Inc Microsoft Cisco SiriusXM Intel Facebook MicronT Zynga AMD FrontierCm
1,482 1,621 96 3,199 17 577 4,794,912,359
Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows
DIARY Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows
Volume
17,760
Close: 16,516.22 Change: 117.65 (0.7%)
16,980 16,200
18,400
18,351.36 9,214.77 657.17 11,254.87 5,231.94 947.85 2,134.72 1,551.28 22,537.15 1,296.00
10 DAYS
17,600
Vol (00)
Last Chg
467470 347086 293421 285566 273546 273354 253819 187826 176694 169526
99.96 +1.43 52.78 +.48 25.35 +.08 3.79 -.03 32.68 +.62 99.37 +1.86 12.72 +.19 2.39 ... 2.39 +.05 4.38 -.14
DIARY
Volume
1,411 1,405 164 2,980 11 370 2,080,343,648
15,370.33 6,820.66 539.96 9,435.82 4,292.14 809.57 1,867.01 1,292.72 19,619.26 1,031.67
Name
Last
Dow Industrials Dow Transportation Dow Utilities NYSE Composite Nasdaq Composite S&P 100 S&P 500 S&P MidCap Wilshire 5000 Russell 2000
YTD 12-mo Chgg %Chg %Chg %Chg
16,516.22 +117.65 +.72 -5.22 -6.23 6,978.21 +63.65 +.92 -7.07 -20.39 579.49 -2.72 -.47 +.29 -7.11 9,576.53 +48.86 +.51 -5.59 -9.85 4,685.92 +47.93 +1.03 -6.42 +.52 865.21 +7.14 +.83 -5.07 -3.10 1,938.68 +15.01 +.78 -5.15 -4.17 1,309.57 +5.57 +.43 -6.36 -8.56 19,972.19 +123.92 +.62 -5.65 -6.15 1,044.69 +2.80 +.27 -8.03 -11.51
16,800
MONEY RATES
16,000
CURRENCIES
Last PvsWeek
15,200
J
A
Last Chg%Chg
BootBarn 8.07 -2.41 -23.0 HeartWare ScorpBlk rs 3.74 -1.01 -21.3 Skullcandy EldorGld g 2.48 -.59 -19.2 OptimB rs PrUJMin rs 23.55 -4.83 -17.0 LegcyR pf HoeghLP 13.07 -2.64 -16.8 LegcyR pfB RoadrnTrn 7.49 -1.47 -16.4 Wintrust wt PeabdyE rs 4.48 -.85 -15.9 Anavex rs BiP Plat 17.21 -3.19 -15.6 SkylineM un MidcstEn 7.21 -1.25 -14.8 Innoviva CSVLgNG rs 2.18 -.37 -14.5 Breitbrn pf
FrptMcM BkofAm Alcoa SunEdison EgyTrEq s WmsCos FordM GenElec KindMorg Petrobras
Dow Jones industrials
S
O
N
D
J
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE) Name
+1.50 +5.75 +.69 +.42 +1.13 +6.84 +1.01 +.74 +3.24 +.69
STOCK MARKET INDEXES 52-Week High Low
STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Last
YTD Chg %Chg
Name
Div
Yld
PE
AT&T Inc Alcoa AEP BkofAm B iPVixST Caterpillar CCFemsa CmtyHlt ConocoPhil CSVLgCrd rs Dillards EmpIca ExxonMbl FordM FrptMcM GenElec HP Inc HomeDp iShEMkts Intel IntlBcsh
1.92 .12 2.24 .20 ... 3.08 1.98 ... 2.96 ... .28 ... 2.92 .60 ... .92 .50 2.36 .84 .96 .58
5.7 1.6 3.9 1.3 ... 5.0 3.0 ... 7.4 ... .5 ... 3.9 4.7 ... 3.2 4.6 1.9 2.8 2.9 2.5
37 33.90 -.05 -1.5 13 7.28 -.72 -26.2 16 58.17 -.60 -.2 11 15.31 ... -9.0 ... 22.91 -1.11 +14.0 12 61.60 +.13 -9.4 ... 66.75 +.80 -5.7 8 22.29 -.62 -16.0 45 40.25 -.87 -13.8 ... 2.23 -.08 -43.5 8 62.04 -.39 -5.6 ... .64 -.00 -17.0 16 75.20 +1.51 -3.5 11 12.85 +.08 -8.8 ... 4.11 -.20 -39.3 ... 28.64 +.06 -8.1 ... 10.82 +.17 -8.6 24 127.49 +1.71 -3.6 ... 29.56 +.06 -8.2 14 32.68 +.62 -5.1 11 23.63 -.30 -8.1
Name
Div
Yld
IBM Lowes Lubys MetLife MexicoFd Microsoft Modine Penney S&P500ETF SanchezEn Schlmbrg SearsHldgs SonyCp SPDR Fncl SunEdison UnionPac US OilFd USSteel UnivHlthS WalMart WellsFargo
5.20 1.12 ... 1.50 1.81 1.44 ... ... 4.13 ... 2.00 ... ... .46 ... 2.20 ... .20 .40 1.96 1.50
3.9 1.5 ... 3.6 ... 2.7 ... ... 2.1 ... 3.1 ... ... 2.1 ... 2.9 ... 2.9 .4 3.1 2.9
PE
Last
YTD Chg %Chg
9 132.90 -.33 -3.4 23 73.27 +.59 -3.6 ... 4.07 -.11 -8.9 10 41.99 +.28 -12.9 ... 15.44 +.12 -7.1 35 52.78 +.48 -4.9 ... 7.13 +.03 -21.2 ... 7.31 +.01 +9.8 ... 193.66 +1.55 -5.0 ... 3.04 -.37 -29.5 22 64.74 -.09 -7.2 ... 18.76 +.78 -8.8 ... 22.85 -.51 -7.2 ... 22.30 +.17 -6.4 ... 3.02 -.32 -40.7 13 76.27 +1.46 -2.5 ... 9.17 -.08 -16.6 ... 6.89 +.07 -13.7 17 112.30 -2.16 -6.0 14 63.62 -.60 +3.8 12 51.36 +1.27 -5.5
Stock Footnotes: g=Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars .h= Doe not meet continued- listings tandards lf = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred. rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified price. s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year. un = Units. vj = In bankruptcy or receivership. wd = When distributed. wi = When issued. wt = Warrants. Mutual Fund Footnotes: b = Fee covering market costs is paid from fund assets. d = Deferred sales charge, or redemption fee. f = front load (sales charges). m = Multiple fees are charged. NA = not available. p = previous day’s net asset value. s = fund split shares during the week. x = fund paid a distribution during the week. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial.
Prime Rate Discount Rate Federal Funds Rate Treasuries 3-month 6-month 5-year 10-year 30-year
3.50 3.50 1.00 1.00 .25-.50 .25-.50 0.19 0.47 1.54 2.11 2.88
0.20 0.47 1.72 2.24 3.00
Australia Britain Canada Euro Japan Mexico Switzerlnd
Last
Pvs Day
1.4317 1.4434 1.4273 .9211 117.58 17.8794 1.0022
1.4319 1.4549 1.4221 .9199 117.53 17.9635 1.0001
British pound expressed in U.S. dollars. All others show dollar in foreign currency.
MUTUAL FUNDS Name AB GlbThmtGrA m Columbia ComInfoA m Eaton Vance WldwHealA m Fidelity Select Biotech d Fidelity Select BrokInv d Fidelity Select CommEq d Fidelity Select Computer d Fidelity Select ConsFin d Fidelity Select Electron d Fidelity Select FinSvc d Fidelity Select SwreITSvcs d Fidelity Select Tech d T Rowe Price SciTech Vanguard HlthCare Waddell & Reed Adv SciTechA m
Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV WS 513 80.51 ST 2,780 50.54 SH 1,033 11.23 SH 14,941 199.51 SF 405 57.89 ST 177 26.10 ST 451 63.16 SF 100 11.31 ST 1,522 68.87 SF 1,254 78.76 ST 3,268 114.22 ST 3,102 109.73 ST 3,145 31.81 SH 12,018 207.19 ST 3,308 12.46
Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year -5.5 -3.5/B +0.4/E -7.0 +2.9/B +9.2/B -3.0 -1.3/B +17.0/D -10.5 -8.2/D +27.3/A -8.3 -14.5/E +4.0/D -2.8 -13.7/E +0.7/E -8.4 -18.1/E +4.6/E -6.8 -8.6/D +9.9/A -8.4 -6.2/E +9.8/B -4.4 -7.0/C +5.6/C -4.3 +7.1/A +14.8/A -5.8 +1.3/B +8.0/C -5.6 +3.0/B +9.6/B -3.3 +3.6/A +19.7/B -5.9 -9.9/E +10.6/A
Pct Min Init Load Invt 4.25 2,500 5.75 2,000 5.75 1,000 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 3,000 5.75 750
CA -Conservative Allocation, CI -Intermediate-Term Bond, ES -Europe Stock, FB -Foreign Large Blend, FG -Foreign LargeGrowth, FV -Foreign Large Value, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA Moderate Allocation, MB -Mid-Cap Blend, MV - Mid-Cap Value, SH -Specialty-heath, ST - Technology, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
Market rebounds after slide; tech stocks gain By ALEX VEIGA ASSOCIATED PRESS
A volatile day on Wall Street ended in upbeat fashion Tuesday as a late-afternoon rally led by technology stocks pushed the market to a modest gain. The turnaround helped snap an eight-day trading slump for the Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks. Energy stocks slumped as much as 2 percent during the day, then recovered in late trading to eke out a slight gain. Crude oil prices declined for the seventh day in a row, the longest losing streak since July 2014. Oil has now fallen nearly 18 percent this year. “We saw a little bit of weakness in oil and the selling just continued,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. All told, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 117.65 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,516.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 15.01 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,938.68. The Nasdaq composite climbed 47.93 points, or 1 percent, to 4,685.92. Investors have been wrestling with fears about a protracted slowdown in China’s economy and the potential fallout for corporate earnings. Uncertainty about Beijing’s ability to manage its financial markets has also kept traders on edge after sharp losses last week. The steep downturn in crude oil prices has also weighed on the market. The three major U.S. stock indexes are all down for the
Photo by Richard Drew | AP
Trader George Ettinger, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday. U.S. stocks closed higher, led by gains in big technology companies, which have had a rough start to the year. year, with the Dow and S&P 500 index off about 5 percent, while the Nasdaq is down 6.4 percent. Trading looked to take a more positive turn early Tuesday as the major U.S. stock indexes opened higher and oil prices rose. That trend didn’t last, as oil prices turned lower once more, weighing on energy stocks. The market looked like it was headed for a lower close before it reversed course in the final hour of trading. “You’re seeing very oversold conditions,” said Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management. “People here are basically buying the dip.” Eight of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index rose. Technology companies gained 1.2 percent.
Health care and consumer discretionary stocks also notched gains of 1 percent. Utilities and telecommunications services stocks fell. Chipmaker Intel added 62 cents, or 2 percent, to $32.68, while and Apple gained $1.43, or 1.5 percent, to $99.96. Among health care companies, UnitedHealth Group climbed 2.4 percent, the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones industrial average. It added $2.68 to $112.26. Energy stocks rose 0.4 percent. The sector remains down 8.5 percent this year. U.S. crude oil fell 97 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $30.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell 69 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $30.86 a barrel in London.
Traders continued to take their cue from oil prices by parting with stocks in energy and mining companies. Freeport-McMoRan lost 20 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $4.11. Consol Energy shed 30 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $6.70. “The trading in oil is particularly precarious, and because of that, everybody is selling energyrelated stocks,” Kinahan said. “Nobody wants to be the one holding the bag.” Investors also had their eye on company earnings season, which began Monday and runs for the next several weeks. Alcoa sank 9 percent after the aluminum manufacturer’s earnings included revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
The stock dropped 72 cents to $7.28. GameStop tumbled 5.1 percent after investors were disappointed with the video game store operator’s holiday season sales. The stock lost $1.50 to $27.88. Health insurers fared a bit better. Traders bid up shares in Anthem, which rose $7.24, or 5.6 percent, to $135.60, and Aetna, which added $4.08, or 3.9 percent, to $109.15. European markets moved higher. Germany’s DAX rose 1.6 percent, while the CAC-40 in France rose 1.5 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares gained 1 percent. In Asia, China’s Shanghai composite closed 0.2 percent higher, recovering some of its losses from the day before. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.7 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.9 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.2 percent. In metals trading, gold fell $11 to $1,085.20 an ounce, while silver fell 12 cents to $13.75 an ounce. Copper slipped 1 cent to $1.96 a pound. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.11 percent from 2.17 percent late Monday. The euro fell to $1.0851 from $1.0871 a day earlier and the dollar rose to 117.69 yen from 117.53 yen. In other energy trading in New York, wholesale gasoline fell 2.8 cents to close at $1.085 a gallon, heating oil fell 2.5 cents to 99 cents a gallon and natural gas fell 13.9 cents to $2.257 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Energy companies cut jobs, postpone projects By DANICA KIRKA ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — The world’s biggest oil companies are slashing jobs and backing off major investments as the price of crude falls to new lows — and there may be more pain to come. Companies like BP, which said Tuesday it is cutting 4,000 jobs, are slimming down to cope with the slump in oil, whose price has plummeted to its lowest level in 12 years and is not expected to recover significantly for months, possibly years. California-based Chevron said last fall that it would eliminate 7,000 jobs, while rival Shell announced 6,500 layoffs. And it’s not even the big producers that will be affected most, but the numerous companies that do business with them, such as drilling contractors and equipment suppliers. While plummeting oil prices have been great news for motorists, airlines and other businesses that rely heavily on fuel, some 95,000 jobs were lost in the energy sector by U.S.-based companies in 2015, according to the consulting firm Challen-
ger, Gray & Christmas. That was up from 14,000 the year before. Energy companies expanded as oil topped $100 a barrel in 2008 and stayed there during the early part of this decade, but prices have plunged over the past two years because of high supply and weakening demand The start of a new year hasn’t helped matters, with Brent crude, the benchmark for internationally produced oil, slipping below $31 a barrel on Tuesday, a drop of about 20 percent drop since Jan. 1 and the lowest since 2004. With some analysts forecasting a drop near $10 a barrel, companies are bracing for more trouble. “Calling the bottom in a market is always a dangerous practice, akin to catching a falling knife,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. “But when the clamor for lower prices becomes a stampede, warning signs and alarm bells tend to start going off, which suggests that a more prudent approach might be advisable.” The uncertainty is mak-
Photo by Matt Dunham | AP file
This Jan. 15, 2015 file photo shows a BP logo outside a petrol station in the town of Bletchley in Buckinghamshire, England. The world’s biggest oil companies are slashing jobs and backing off major investments as the price of crude keeps falling — and it may be just the beginning. ing companies think twice before sinking money into new oil projects. That’s a problem, since even the most modest project requires vast commitments of resources over a number of years. If the industry doesn’t invest in production, that could create supply problems down the line. On the North Sea, “there is a standstill in the new project launches which may create a hole in the pipeline of projects next year,” said Florent Maisonneuve, ma-
naging director and co-head of Oil & Gas at AlixPartners in Paris. Weakening demand in China, the world’s secondlargest energy consumer, has helped drive the price down. So has a stronger U.S. dollar, which makes oil more expensive for buyers outside the United States. Members of OPEC, meanwhile, are refusing to cut back on production for fear of losing their share of the market to non-members like the U.S. and Russia.
And OPEC states Iran and Iraq, whose industries have been off line for years because of conflict and sanctions, are looking to start pumping more. All this means prices are unlikely to bounce back soon. “The companies are doing the best they can to survive as long as they can,” said Spencer Welch, an oil expert at analysis group IHS. “We don’t see a quick out.” In the United States, the Energy Department said Tuesday that it expects U.S. crude to average $38.54 a barrel in 2016. Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said as many as half of the independent drilling companies working in U.S. shale fields could go bankrupt before prices stabilize. In countries where oil production is state-owned and the main source of economic wealth, the drop in price is particularly painful. Russia, Venezuela and Gulf states like Saudi Arabia are seeing state coffers empty at an alarming pace, forcing them to make cost cuts that affect the wider population. Russia has based its budget this year on an average
oil price of $50 per barrel, and the government has indicated it is prepared to make spending cuts across the board to deal with the slump. The economy already is sliding into recession. Russia also warned last month that it will probably deplete a rainy day fund, now worth roughly $52 billion, by the end of 2016 to make up for losses caused by the drop in oil prices. Among the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman are reducing subsidies on gasoline. In Bahrain, gas prices at the pump rose by as much as 60 percent on Tuesday. The financial outlook is so uncertain that Saudi Arabia is considering selling a part of its state-owned oil company, the world’s largest producer, in a public offering. Welch said that with the oil market oversupplied, it may not be until the third quarter of this year before things come into balance. BP said Tuesday it made its job cuts in light of “toughening conditions” in the industry. The cuts will include some 600 jobs in the North Sea.
International
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
Suicide bomber kills 10 in Istanbul tourist area By MEHMET GUZEL AND SUZAN FRASER ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISTANBUL — A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners — most of them German tourists — and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners. The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world. Davutoglu described the assailant as a “foreign national,” and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he was a Syrian citizen born in 1988. However, the private Dogan news agency said the bomber was Saudi-born. Kurtulmus said the attacker was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not among a list of potential bombers wanted by Turkey. “Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step,” Davutoglu said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. “This terror organization, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.” Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners. The wounded also included citizens of Norway, Peru, South Korea and Turkey. Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a telephone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences. “I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as
Photo by Omer Kuscu | AP
People believed to be German tourists that were targeted at an explosion in the historic Sultanahmet district are escorted back to their hotel in Istanbul, Tuesday. being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Merkel pledged Germany would continue its fight against terrorism. “Today Istanbul was the target, before Paris, Copenhagen, Tunis, and so many other areas,” she told reporters in Berlin. “International terror changes the places of its attacks but its goal is always the same — it is our free life, in free society. The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, indeed, the enemies of all humanity, whether in Syria or Turkey, in France or Germany.” The impact of Tuesday’s attack, while not as deadly as two others last year, was particularly far-reaching because it struck at Turkey’s $30 billion tourism industry, which has already suffered from a steep decline in Russian visitors since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November. Its apparent links to Syria also threatened to have implications in a country that is already dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
“By striking in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, which has many ... tourists, but few Turks, (IS) is targeting Turkey’s lucrative tourism industry,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute. Cagaptay said that by targeting Germans, Islamic extremists also seemed to be aiming to heighten an anti-refugee backlash in Europe and deepen the anti-Islam sentiment there. “This attack will, unfortunately, drive further backlash against German Chancellor Merkel’s proSyrian refugee policy,” Cagaptay said in e-mailed comments. The explosion, which could be heard in several neighborhoods, was at a park that is home to a landmark obelisk some 25 yards (meters) from the Blue Mosque. Nearby monuments include the Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace and the former Byzantine church of Haghia Sophia, now a museum. Berlin travel agent Lebenslust Touristik said that “many people” that it had booked on a tour were among the dead and wounded. Overall there were 33 people on the tour, the agency said, adding that it was working closely with the German Foreign Ministry to help the victims and their
families. Among the wounded was Jostein Nielsen, a 59-year-old Salvation Army officer from Norway who was sightseeing with his wife when the bomb went off, striking him in the knee with shrapnel. “I first heard a bang that I think is what detonated the bomb,” Nielsen told Norway’s TV2, speaking from his hospital bed. “After that came the real bang. ... There were human remains all over the place.” Erdem Koroglu, who was working at a nearby office, told NTV television he saw several people on the ground following the blast. “It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,” Koroglu said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.” Halil Ibrahim Peltek, a shopkeeper near the area of the blast told The Associated Press it had “an earthquake effect.” “There was panic because the explosion was violent,” he said. The Islamic State group has repeatedly threatened Western targets, with its first major attacks claimed a year ago in Paris on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket.
Two attacks last year targeting a major museum and beach resort in Tunisia left scores dead, nearly all Western tourists. IS also claimed the downing of a Russian jetliner carrying Russian tourists from the Eygptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that killed all 224 on board. In the case of Tunisia and Egypt, the response of many Western governments was to issue safety warnings for citizens considering travel to the countries, which rely heavily on tourism revenues. Turkey is equally reliant on tourism, and Istanbul has been among the world’s most visited cities. Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the IS group. It has opened it bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself. It has also moved to tighten security along its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned Tuesday’s attack and pledged to work with Turkey to combat the Islamic State group. “The United States reaffirms our strong commitment to work with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued member” of the coalition fighting IS “to combat the shared threat of terrorism,” Kirby said in a statement. The attack comes at a time of heightened violence between Turkey’s security forces and militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the country’s mostly Kurdish southeast. Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year, both blamed on the Islamic State group. More than 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near Turkey’s border with Syria, in July. In October, two suicide bombs exploded outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally, killing more than 100 in Turkey’s deadliest-ever attack. Last month, Turkish authorities arrested two suspected IS militants they said were planning suicide bombings during New Year’s celebrations in the capital, Ankara.
Immigrant raids divide Democrats By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Federal immigration raids have wrenched open new divides between President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies, including the woman who hopes to replace him, Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday, with the president due to arrive on Capitol Hill within hours to deliver his final State of the Union Address, House Democrats gathered at a press conference to denounce his policies and release a letter signed by 139 lawmakers calling for deportation raids to stop. “It’s just unacceptable,� said Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. “I’ve been 99.9 percent with this president of the United States but in this particular case, when his administration sows the seeds of terror throughout the immigrant community of the United States and millions of people are affected, that’s what I’m going to concern myself with.� That came after Clinton broke with Obama on the issue at a forum in Iowa Monday night, also calling for the raids to end. “I do
not think the raids are an appropriate tool to enforce the immigration laws. In fact, I think they are divisive, they are sowing discord and fear,� she said. Fellow Democratic hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland have adopted similar stances. The Obama administration has defended the holiday-season raids that resulted in detentions of 121 people, many from Central America. They point to a spike in families and children arriving at the U.S. southern border from Central America, which has prompted fears of another border crisis like the one that dominated national news during the summer of 2014. This time it would come amid a presidential race where immigration is already a fraught topic, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump insisting he would deport everyone here illegally while Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida exchange barbs about who has the stronger record on this issue. Trump has praised the raids and taken
credit for them. “Our desire to make clear that individuals should not embark on the dangerous journey from Central America to the Southwest border — that’s a case that we’ve tried to tell in a variety of ways,� said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “It was only after individuals had exhausted the legal remedies available to them ... was a decision made to remove them,� he said. The administration has shown no sign of backing off its approach, though Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., created confusion on that question Tuesday when he told reporters he’d spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and “I think you’re going to find a pause in these deportations.� Aides later insisted Reid simply meant to suggest that he hoped there would be a pause. Earlier, the administration sent White House Counsel Neil Eggleston to meet privately with House Democrats. But despite what all involved described publicly as a cordial meeting, neither side seemed ready to budge.
OIL Continued from Page 1A Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co, says as many as half of the independent drilling companies working in U.S. shale fields could go bankrupt before oil prices stabilize.
There’s lots of oil A boom in U.S. oil production thanks to new drilling technology helped push global supplies higher in recent years. Other major oil producers and exporters in the Middle East and elsewhere have declined to reduce their own output in an attempt to push prices back up. Iran, trying to emerge from punishing economic sanctions, is looking to increase exports in the coming months, which could add further to global oil stockpiles. The Energy Department said U.S. crude oil inventories “remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.� It says global supplies exceed global demand by about 1 million barrels per day on average. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas believe excess inventories won’t begin falling until 2017. The higher supplies and lower prices haven’t stimulated a sharp rise in demand. Most of the increase in world oil demand over the past several years has come from China, but signs are pointing to much slower economic growth there, which in turn reduces demand for fuels made from crude. Disappointing reports last week about China’s manufacturing sector and a
fall in the yuan’s value triggered a global stock sell-off and an even more dramatic decline in the price of oil and other commodities. The first five days of the year marked the worst start of a year for oil in history, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, and oil has only fallen further since.
Winners and losers Motorists are saving every time they fill up. The Energy Information Administration figures that the average U.S. household saved $660 on gasoline in 2015 compared the year before, and gasoline is expected to fall another 16 percent in 2016. Tuesday the EIA forecast that gasoline will average $2.03 a gallon for 2016, the lowest since 2004, from $2.43 last year. Airlines, big users of jet fuel, have posted record profits, and shippers and other businesses are also saving from cheaper energy. But workers in the oil patch have paid the price. About 17,000 oil and gas workers in the U.S. lost their jobs in 2015, but if you include oilfield support jobs the number is about 87,000, according to Michael Plante, an economist at the Dallas Fed who has written about the effect of oil prices on the economy. Even so, economists say low oil prices are still a net benefit for the U.S. economy. “Consumers have more money in their pocketbooks,� says Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy consultant who teaches at the University of California, Davis.
And for businesses, “I can hire more people or buy new equipment because I no longer have to spend that money on energy.�
When does it end? Oil traders and Wall Street analysts expect further declines in oil prices in the coming weeks. Several have predicted that prices will fall below $30 a barrel and even approach $20 a barrel. But prices are expected to rise sooner or later. Tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran has increased in recent weeks, and Middle East turmoil often causes prices to rise because traders worry about a potential disruption in supplies in the world’s most important oil region. And just as $100 oil encouraged the new production that contributed to this plunge in prices, $30 oil is discouraging the big investment needed for exploration and production for the future. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. has fallen by more than two-thirds, to 516 last week from an October 2014 peak of 1,609, according to a closely-watched count by the drilling services company Baker Hughes. Eventually, analysts say, the supply will fall below demand and prices will rise. Oppenheimer’s Gheit thinks oil will eventually rise and settle into a range between $50 and $70 a barrel — but not anytime soon. “The longer it remains low, the more violent the reaction to the upside is going to be,� he says.
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12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016