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Parade marshals Zaragoza and Tammy Rodriguez selected SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Courtesy photo
Zaragoza IV and Tammy Arambula Rodriguez were named the 2016 Zapata County Fair parade marshals.
The Zapata County Fair Association board of directors and members have named Zaragoza IV and Tammy Arambula Rodriguez the 2016 ZCF Parade Marshals. Zar and Tammy are Zapata natives, graduates of Zapata High School and very proud graduates of Texas A&M UniversityCorpus Christi. Zar and Tammy have been involved with the Zapata County Fair since they were in third grade, so fortunately they are no strangers to livestock shows. Growing up, Zar raised and showed goats, and then continued raising and showing lambs, hogs and steers until he graduated from high school. He was a member of the North 4H Club and served as vice-president and president throughout his years
OPEN CARRY
in 4H. He also participated in Leadership Lab in Brownwood, Texas, and 4H roundup. Upon entering Zapata High School, Zar became an FFA member. Tammy raised and showed lambs until she graduated from high school. She was a member of the Lucky Clover 4H Club where she served as secretary for several years, and then became an FFA member at Zapata High School. As 4H and FFA members, Zar and Tammy participated in activities such as Toys for Tots, food drives, community beautification projects, ZCF parades as well as many more activities. After graduating from TAMU-CC, Zar and Tammy decided to move back to Zapata where they started their careers. Tammy is
See MARSHALS PAGE 10A
Zapata is 5thpoorest county By ALEXA URA TEXAS TRIBUNE
Texas continues to be home to some of the poorest counties in the country with poverty most prevalent along the Texas-Mexico border, census figures show. Zapata County is the fifth-poorest in the state. The latest county-level poverty estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, re-
leased in December, show that poverty is disproportionately distributed across the state. Among counties with at least 10,000 residents, border counties face the highest rates of residents living in poverty — nearly one in three people in South Texas. Meanwhile, suburban counties near the state’s
See POOREST PAGE 10A
US SUPREME COURT
IMMIGRATION QUESTION Courtesy photo
The Zapata County Courthouse, 200 E. 7th St., is shown in this file photo. Some of Texas’ local officials are reviewing longstanding firearm policies after Paxton’s recent opinion.
Guns may be allowed in courthouses Texas attorney general writes opinion that could limit local governments’ ban ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas — An argument has emerged over a Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruling that could limit the ability of local governments to ban guns in courtrooms and a law that legislators say was meant to prohibit guns inside courthouses. Some local officials are reviewing longstanding firearm policies after Paxton’s recent opinion may have come into conflict with a 2003 law that prohibited the carrying of guns in any building with a courtroom, The Dallas Morning News reports. The wrangling rests on the word “premises” and different interpretations. A Texas “open carry” law
that took effect Jan. 1 lets license holders carry handguns holstered to their hips or otherwise in plain sight. The law has caused a fresh look at gun policies, and complaints have surfaced about the scope of some government entities’ court-related gun bans, particularly in multi-use buildings. In a nonbinding opinion, Paxton settled last month on a narrower interpretation of the law — that handguns may only be barred inside courtrooms and related offices. But he provided some flexibility and local officials have looked to justify their longstanding courthouse bans based on the Texas
See COURTHOUSES PAGE 10A
Photo by Jacquelyn Martin | AP file
In this Nov. 20, 2015 file photo, Ingrid Vaca, originally of Bolivia, speaks during rally for immigration reform in front of the White House in Washington. The Supreme Court has agreed to an election-year review of President Barack Obama’s executive orders to allow up to 5 million immigrants to “come out of the shadows” and work legally in the U.S.
Justices to review Obama’s executive power By MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court stepped into a boiling political dispute over immigration Tuesday, setting up a likely decision in the middle of a presidential campaign marked by harsh rhetoric about immigrants. The justices agreed to review whether President Barack Obama, acting without congressional approval, has the power to shield from deportation up to 5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and make them eligible to work
without fear of being rounded up. Underscoring the political dimension, the case will be argued in April and decided by late June, about a month before both political parties gather for their nominating conventions. If Obama prevails against opponents led by Republican governors, there would be roughly seven months left in his presidency to implement plans that would affect the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, as well as some people who arrived in the United States before they
turned 16. “We are confident that the policies will be upheld as lawful,” White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said after the court’s announcement Tuesday. At issue is the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which Obama said in late 2014 would allow people who have been in the United States more than five years and who have children who are in the country legally to “come out of the shadows and get right with the law.” He also announced the expansion of a program that affects people who came
here illegally as children. That earlier program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is not being challenged and has resulted in more than 720,000 young immigrants being granted permission to live and work in the United States. When he announced the measures 14 months ago, Obama said he was acting under his own authority because Congress had failed to overhaul the immigration system. The Senate did pass legislation on a bipartisan vote, but House
See IMMIGRATION PAGE 10A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opening reception for artwork by Ryder Richards, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at LCC’s Visual and Performing Arts Center, West End Washington Street. Featured artwork by nationally acclaimed Texas-based artist Ryder Richards will be on display during Laredo Community College’s upcoming art exhibition, "a thing of this world." Join us for an opening reception and art discussion led by Richards. Admission is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be on display until Feb. 25. 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.
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 20, the 20th day of 2016. There are 346 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 20, 1936, Britain’s King George V died after his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, injected the mortally ill monarch with morphine and cocaine to hasten his death; the king was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne 11 months later to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson. On this date: In 1265, England’s first representative Parliament met for the first time; the gathering at Westminster was composed of bishops, abbots, peers, Knights of the Shire and town burgesses. In 1649, King Charles I of England went on trial, accused of high treason (he was found guilty and executed by month’s end). In 1942, Nazi officials held the notorious Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their “final solution” that called for exterminating Jews. In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn into office for an unprecedented fourth term. In 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. In 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. In 1986, the United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In 1990, actress Barbara Stanwyck died in Santa Monica, California, at age 82. In 2001, George Walker Bush became America’s 43rd president after one of the most turbulent elections in U.S. history. Ten years ago: Japan halted all imports of U.S. beef because of mad cow fears. (Shipments resumed six months later.) Five years ago: Federal authorities orchestrated one of the biggest Mafia takedowns in FBI history, charging 127 suspected mobsters and associates in the Northeast with murders, extortion and other crimes spanning decades. One year ago: President Barack Obama, undaunted by the new Republican majority in Congress, issued a sweeping challenge in his State of the Union address to do more for the poor and middle class and to end the nasty partisan political fight that had characterized his six years in office. Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Arte Johnson is 87. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin is 86. Movie director David Lynch is 70. Rock musician Paul Stanley (KISS) is 64. Rock musician Ian Hill (Judas Priest) is 64. Comedian Bill Maher is 60. Sophie, Countess of Wessex, is 51. Actor Rainn Wilson is 50. TV personality Melissa Rivers is 48. Singer Xavier is 48. Singer Edwin McCain is 46. Rap musician ?uestlove (questlove) (The Roots) is 45. Rock singer Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) is 30. Actor Evan Peters is 29. Thought for Today: “Whatever people in general do not understand, they are always prepared to dislike; the incomprehensible is always the obnoxious.” — Letitia Landon, English poet (1802-1838).
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22 Build and program a LEGO robot at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Appropriate for school-aged children. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 23 “Leaders: Influencing STEM Futures” educational administration leadership conference at the TAMIU Student Center Ballroom. School administrators, teacher leaders and educational administration students are invited to attend the second annual event. United ISD Zumba Master Class event. Registration at 9 a.m. at the United 9th Grade Campus gym, 8800 McPherson Road. Zumba class to be held from 10 a.m. to noon and will be taught by elite Zumba instructors from the city. Fee is $20 and includes a goody bag and T-shirt. All proceeds to benefit United ISD students with scholarships to college. For more information call, 956-473-6201 or visit www.uisd.net. Holy Redeemer 8th annual fundraiser dance at the Laredo Civic Center from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with music by Calle 8. Please call Amparo Ugarte at 286-0862 for more information. Intermediate computer class at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Learn to create an account on Twitter, how to tweet and how to follow. Basic computer proficiency is required. Mouse practice and keyboard confidence class at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 2-3 p.m. Learn to use the mouse and perfect your typing skills. No prior computer experience is required. Open language lab class at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Learn a language by using the Mango Online Language Learning System. Choose from more than 70 languages. Library card preferred.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 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 28 Spanish Book Club from 6-8 p.m. Laredo Public Library – Calton. For more information please call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810. The Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society’s Greet and Meet Membership Drive from 3-5 p.m. at St. John Neumann’s Parish Hall. There will be displays, a presentation on DNA genealogical testing and merienda. For more information, contact Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter at 722-3497. 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.
Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman | AP
Anjelica Pack, left, and Alice Garrett pray at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday. Thousands marched from UT to the Capitol.
Parades for MLK Day ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — Thousands of Texans took to the streets Monday for marches, speeches and volunteer efforts to remember slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday in his name. Participants carried signs, U.S. and Texas flags in the annual march in San Antonio, billed as one of the largest in the country. San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor said late Monday that she hadn’t received any estimates on the number of marchers but that a “great crowd” had turned out. “The weather was beautiful and we had a peaceful observance,” she said. The march, organized by the city’s MLK Jr. Commission, is a public celebration that has drawn tens of thousands of participants over the years. The organizing group previously was called the Martin Luther
King Jr. Memorial City-(Bexar) County Commission, developed in the 1980s under then-San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros. The history of the San Antonio march goes back to mourning following King’s 1968 assassination. The Rev. R.A. Callies Sr., a San Antonio pastor and teacher, began leading small processions honoring King’s legacy shortly after the slaying, according to the MLK Jr. Commission website. “It started with the passion and commitment of a few community activists,” Taylor said. Those processions grew over the years, with the theme of Monday’s march being “Uniting Communities to Advance Humanity.” “It just has grown,” Taylor said. “Everyone feels included and everyone feels welcome to participate,”
Man shot after confronting burglars
Unvaccinated North Texas student develops measles
Minivan smashes into Chanel store, 6 detained
TYLER — Police say a man was shot in the arm after confronting three people who were in the process of burglarizing his vehicle an East Texas restaurant parking lot. Police say the 39-year-old victim heard his vehicle’s alarm while eating at a restaurant. When he went to see what was happening, he confronted the three suspects, who shot at him.
RICHARDSON — A health official says an unvaccinated student at a Dallas-area elementary school developed measles after traveling internationally. Jawaid Asghar, chief epidemiologist for Collin County Health Care Services, tells The Dallas Morning News the child went to school Jan. 5, showing signs of measles the next day. The child has since recovered.
DALLAS — Police detained six robbery suspects after a minivan smashed into a Dallas-area Chanel boutique and pricey purses ended up scattered along a street. An alarm alerted police, who determined a minivan was driven through a display window and the suspects escaped with a number of handbags, fleeing in the vehicle and on foot.
2 Texans sentenced for trafficking meth
6-year-old dies in golf cart accident
Man charged with murder after man lit on fire dies
AMARILLO — Federal prosecutors say two Amarillo men who admitted trafficking a large quantity of liquid methamphetamine have been sentenced to prison. Prosecutors say 37-year-old Damian Erik Alcala was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years in prison. Last month, 42-year-old Richard Madrigal was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months.
TRINITY — Officials say a 6year-old girl has died after the golf cart she was riding in, which was being operated by an 8-year-old, overturned in East Texas. The girl died Sunday. The child driving the golf cart in the small town of Trinity had tried to turn around when it overturned and landed on 6-yearold passenger Kendall Lasseter, who lived in Bacliff.
HOUSTON — Houston police are searching for a 32-year-old man who has been charged with murder after the man authorities say he lit on fire during an argument died. Curtis Holliman has been charged with murder. Police say that on Monday, Holliman threw gasoline on two men at a home and then lit them on fire. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION California bus crash kills 2, sends 8 to hospital SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Greyhound bus rolled onto its side during a rainy Tuesday morning commute in Northern California, killing two women and sending at least eight others to the hospital, authorities said. Several other victims suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene in San Jose. One person suffered major injuries and three others were being treated for moderate injuries, the California Highway Patrol said. Several passengers with minor injuries were ferried to a hospital in a local commuter bus to be checked out by medical personnel for bruises and cuts.
Woman jumps in SUV, stabs Denver fire chief DENVER — Authorities say a woman stabbed Denver’s fire chief after jumping into his ve-
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Photo by Noah Berger | AP
A California Highway Patrol officer moves belongings from a Greyhound bus crash that left two dead and at least eight injured on Tuesday, in San Jose, Calif. A Greyhound spokeswoman said the bus, which left Los Angeles Monday night, was carrying 20 passengers in addition to the driver. hicle near the department’s headquarters. Police spokesman Doug Schepman says the woman jumped into Chief Eric Tade’s black SUV on Tuesday afternoon and stabbed him in the hand and leg. Tade ran into fire
headquarters for help. Authorities say Tade’s injuries are minor. He was hospitalized in fair condition. The woman was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault. Witnesses identified her. — Compiled from AP reports
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State
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Claim unlikely to help ‘affluenza’ teen By EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH — An argument raised Tuesday by lawyers for a Texas teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck — that he may have been taken to Mexico against his will — is unlikely to help his case, outside juvenile defense attorneys said. And even if a judge agrees that Ethan Couch was forced to flee to Mexico, he could still be locked up if the judge determines he violated probation by attending a party where people were drinking. Attorneys for Couch said the 18-year-old is dropping his deportation fight in Mexico as they investigate whether he fled there or was brought against his wishes. He was arrested there with his mother, who is now charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon. She was returned
COUCH
to the U.S. quickly, but Couch won a delay based on a constitutional appeal that normally leads to a lengthy trial
process. Authorities allege the two crossed into Mexico in December, as Texas prosecutors investigated whether Couch violated his probation in the 2013 drunkendriving case. His attorney, Scott Brown, said Tuesday that whether his client “was voluntarily or involuntarily taken to Mexico is something that is still being investigated.” That comment came after a brief hearing in juvenile court scheduled to determine whether Couch, who is being held at a Mexico City detention facility, violated his probation and if the case should be transferred to adult court. But the judge cut the hearing
short after Couch’s attorneys said his parents weren’t properly notified. Another hearing was set for Feb. 19. Dallas attorney Peter Schulte said the new defense argument might be related to the “affluenza” claim that Couch was coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents. The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its use drew widespread derision. The latest argument, Schulte said, could be “some extension of affluenza, that he can’t make decisions on his own and any time mommy says to do something he does it.” But the argument is unlikely to impress a judge because of Couch’s age, Schulte said. Attorney Seth Fuller of Denton, Texas, said Couch’s defenses are limited to claiming he didn’t realize
he was violating probation by going to Mexico or that he went there involuntarily. “This is just grasping at straws,” he said, adding, “It doesn’t seem like a good defense, but it is one of the few available.” Neither Schulte nor Fuller is involved in Couch’s case. The latest strategy, though, could affect Couch’s mother. If Ethan Couch can prove he was taken against his will, Tonya Couch can be charged with kidnapping. Tarrant County district attorney spokeswoman Samantha Jordan said there would have to be “adequate proof” that Tonya Couch forced her son to go to Mexico before prosecutors brought additional charges against her. “We’d have to see the evidence,” she said. Whether Couch is able to prove that he was taken to Mexico against his wishes will not affect prosecutors’
efforts to transfer his case to the adult system, Jordan added. Attorneys for Tonya Couch declined to comment Tuesday. The 48-year-old was released on bond last week in Texas after she was brought back from Mexico. Brown, Ethan Couch’s U.S. lawyer, said “documents have been filed to release the injunction” that objected to his return, but did not say how long the process would take. Immigration and federal courts officials in Mexico said they didn’t have any information indicating Couch was dropping his deportation fight. Couch’s lawyer in Mexico didn’t return messages, and U.S. Marshals spokesman Trent Touchstone said he had no information about the issue. The hearing to determine whether Couch’s case is transferred to the adult system can take place with-
out him. If his case remains in the juvenile system, he could be put in a juvenile detention center until he turns 19 in April, when his record could be expunged. He was 16 at the time of the crash. Investigators said Couch was driving at three times the legal intoxication limit for adults when he crashed a pickup truck into a crowd of people trying to help a stranded motorist, killing four. A juvenile court judge sentenced Couch to 10 years’ probation, outraging prosecutors who wanted him to face detention time. If his case is transferred to the adult system, Couch would face up to 120 days in an adult jail, followed by 10 years’ probation. If he violates probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson has said. “He’s trying to avoid all punishment,” Fuller said.
Killer of female impersonator to be executed By MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS
HUNTSVILLE — A Texas inmate scheduled to be executed this week for killing a female impersonator 15 years ago insists the death was an accident during sex and has made multiple appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jurors at his trial, though, were convinced that Richard Masterson intentionally strangled 35year-old Darin Shane Honeycutt, stole his car and fled to Florida before being arrested with another stolen car. Masterson, 43, is set for lethal injection Wednesday evening for Honeycutt’s slaying. He would be the first
person put to death this year in Texas, which carries out more executions than MASTERSON any other state. Its 13 lethal injections last year accounted for almost half of the 28 executions nationwide. Lawyers for Masterson had multiple appeals pending at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, after failing in lower Texas and federal courts to block his execution. Attorneys argued that Honeycutt’s death was accidental or the result of a heart attack, that a Harris County medical examiner with questionable creden-
tials was wrong to tell jurors it was a strangulation, that Masterson’s earlier lawyers failed to discover the information and that his prolonged drug use and then withdrawal while in jail contributed to his “suicide by confession” when he spoke with police. His lawyers also contend that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Masterson his rights to due process and access to the courts by refusing their challenge to a new Texas law that keeps secret the identity of the provider of pentobarbital that Texas prison officials use for lethal injections. Lawyers for the state argued that Masterson’s attorneys offered no scientif-
ic evidence about Honeycutt’s death that hadn’t been previously raised and rejected, including at Masterson’s trial. According to court filings, Masterson confessed to police, told a brother he killed Honeycutt and wrote to Texas’ then-Attorney General Greg Abbott in 2012 acknowledging the slaying. “I meant to kill him,” Masterson wrote to Abbott, who is now Texas’ governor. “It was no accident.” Earlier this month, however, Masterson told the Houston Chronicle from death row that while he accepted responsibility for Honeycutt’s death, “I never admitted I murdered anybody.” Masterson had a long
drug history and criminal record beginning at age 15. Court documents show he ignored advice from lawyers at his 2002 trial and insisted on testifying. He told jurors he met Honeycutt, who used the stage name Brandi Houston, at a bar and they went to Honeycutt’s Houston apartment, where Masterson said the chokehold was part of an autoerotic sex act. Honeycutt’s body was found Jan. 27, 2001, after friends became worried when he failed to show up for work. Evidence showed Masterson had taken Honeycutt’s car and dumped it in Emerson, Georgia. He was caught more than a week later at a Belleview,
Florida, trailer park with another stolen car. The owner of that car testified about meeting Masterson in a Tampa bar frequented by gay men and told of a similar attack where he was choked unconscious by Masterson and robbed. In his testimony, Masterson told jurors he was a future danger — an element they had to consider when deliberating whether a death sentence was appropriate. “Everyone has to live and die by their own actions,” Masterson said. Jurors sent him to death row. His case has recently drawn the attention of Pope Francis, who has reinforced the Catholic Church’s opposition to capital punishment.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Time for a conspiracy Members of the Republican governing class are like cowering freshmen at halftime of a high school football game. Some are part of the Surrender Caucus, sitting sullenly on their stools resigned to the likelihood that their team is going to get crushed. Some are thinking of jumping ship to the Trump campaign with an alacrity that would make rats admire and applaud. Rarely has a party so passively accepted its own self-destruction. Sure, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are now riding high in some meaningless head-tohead polls against Hillary Clinton, but the odds are the nomination of either would lead to a party-decimating general election. The Tea Party, Ted Cruz’s natural vehicle, has 17 percent popular support, according to Gallup. The idea that most women, independents or mainstream order-craving suburbanites would back a guy who declares his admiration for Vladimir Putin is a mirage. The idea that the GOP can march into the 21st century intentionally alienating every person of color is borderline insane. Worse is the prospect that one of them might somehow win. Very few presidents are so terrible that they genuinely endanger their own nation, but Trump and Cruz would go there and beyond. Trump is a solipsistic branding genius whose “policies” have no contact with Planet Earth and who would be incapable of organizing a coalition, domestic or foreign. Cruz would be as universally off-putting as he has been in all his workplaces. He’s always been good at tearing things down but incompetent when it comes to putting things together. So maybe it’s time for governing Republicans to actually do something. Yes, I’m talking to you state legislators, or local committeepersons, or members of Congress and all your networks of donors and supporters. If MoveOn can organize, if the Tea Party can organize, if Justin Bieber can build a gigantic social media movement, why are you incapable of any collective action at all? What’s needed is a grass-roots movement that stands for governing conservatism, built both online and through rallies, and gets behind a single candidate sometime in mid- to late February. In politics, if A (Trump) and B (Cruz) savage each other then the benefits often go to Candidate C. But there has to be a C, not a C, D, E, F and G. This new movement must come to grips with two realities. First, the electorate has changed. Less-educated voters are in the middle of a tidal wave of trauma. Labor force participation is dropping, wages are sliding, suicide rates are rising, heroin addiction is rising, faith in
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DAVID BROOKS
American institutions is dissolving. Second, the Republican Party is not as antigovernment as its elites think it is. Its members no longer fit into the same old ideological categories. Trump grabbed his lead with an ideological grab bag of gestures, some of them quite on the left. He is more Huey Long than Calvin Coolidge. Given the current strains on middle- and working-class families, many Republican voters want a government that will help the little guy; they just don’t want one that is incompetent, corrupt or infused with liberal social values. In addition, younger voters and college-educated voters are more moderate than party leaders. According to one of the smartest conservative analysts, Henry Olsen, somewhere around 35 to 40 percent of the GOP electorate is only “somewhat conservative.” What’s needed is a coalition that combines Huey Long, Charles Colson and Theodore Roosevelt: working-class populism, religious compassion and institutional reform. Years ago, reform conservatives were proposing a Sam’s Club Republicanism, which would actually provide concrete policy ideas to help the working class, like wage subsidies, a higher earned-income tax credit, increased child tax credits, subsidies for people who wanted to move in search of work and exemption of the first $20,000 in earnings from the Medicaid payroll tax. This would be a conservatism that emphasized social mobility at the bottom, not cutting taxes at the top. Maybe it’s time a centerright movement actually offered that agenda. And maybe it’s time some Republicans took a stand on what is emerging as the central dispute of our time — not between left and right but between open and closed. As the political scientist Matthew MacWilliams has found, the key trait that identifies Trump followers is authoritarianism. His central image is a wall. With their emphasis on anger and shutting people out, Trump and Cruz are more like European conservatives than American ones. Governing conservatism has to offer people a secure financial base and a steady hand up so they can welcome global capitalism with hope and a sense of opportunity. That’s the true American tradition, emphasizing future dynamism not tribal walls. There’s a silent majority of hopeful, practical, programmatic Republicans. You know who you are. Please don’t go quietly and pathetically into the night.
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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 name-calling 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
Texas’ blue collar lust capital At my age, three-quarters of a century plus, I can no longer claim naiveté. Well, I guess I could, but who’d believe me. However, there was a time when this country-bredand-raised youngster was plenty naïve. But, maestro, a little music, please. Tah-dah. Even though I was 21 years old and had two years at Sam Houston State Teachers College plus a year as news editor of The Teague Chronicle, I guess I wasn’t prepared for Big City Life and the ways of the 1958 world in Houston and its suburbs. I transferred to the University of Houston after the aforementioned experiences and thought I was prepared, or as Uncle Harvey would say, “repaired,” for anything. Upon arrival in Big H, I should’ve been “repaired” for a sign atop the Shell Oil building. As I approached from the north side, the “S” had burned out of the neon name sign atop the skyscraper. For small- town me, it was just as scary as it was funny. I moved in with aunt, uncle and their four children in a three-bedroom house and began a two
bus-company a day ride to and from school. My day began at 5 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m. Arising at that early hour was necessary for me to get the mile from my new residence to the private company bus line stop. A 6:30 a.m. Pioneer Bus Lines ride would get me into downtown Houston just in time to catch a city bus that would put me out by a University of Houston entrance, through which I’d sprint 250 yards to the Journalism and Graphic Arts building where I was employed. At least that’s where one of my jobs was. From 8 a.m.–1 p.m. Monday–Friday, I was the secretary-receptionist for the J-GA department for which I was paid $1 per hour. Two afternoons a week I was the $5 per week copy editor of the Houston Cougar, UH’s student newspaper. Two more afternoons I was a commissioned ad sales person via a sales internship at a suburban newspaper, owned by UH J-GA
prof Billy I. Ross and Rigby “Pop” Owen Sr. Several other advertising students went through the sales internship but it led to a much-needed, steady income for me. By summer time I was employed as the full-time general manager of this suburban weekly paper owned by the aforementioned duo. It was a 30minute drive from the UH campus, which necessitated me to buy a car. My dad helped me acquire a 1952 rusted-out, baby blue, two-door, stick shift Chevrolet, which also served as a “newspaper hauler” from “Pop’s” Conroe printing plant to the oneroom-finished model shell home that served as the suburban paper’s office. However, prior to the summer opportunity, there was a competition about which I was not aware. There was, however, some hanky-panky of which I’d become cognizant. One of the ad students, an older, married man, was having an affair with a married woman who was the editor of the suburban paper. He even bragged to me about the affair. This philandering ad student wanted the GM job as well. (Convenient,
no?) He arranged for an “office assistant,” a pretty redheaded friend of the editor, to be hired. On the assistant’s first day on the job, Adman and Editor left quickly for lunch together, leaving me with Red. She quickly made her move. Tah-dah, dramatic musical crescendo, please … … In came another ad student, an older and married good friend of mine, who immediately saw what was happening and not being as naïve as I, put it all together. He dragged me out of there for lunch and had me detail the events prior to his arrival. He exploded and told me, in no uncertain terms, to go home and he would call me later. By the end of the day, I was informed that neither of the philandering couple were employed and that I was the new, full-time GM of that newspaper. Welcome to — HELL — I recalled of the sign on my entrance to hot Houston, which I then thought of as Texas’ lust capital. 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.
EDITORIAL
A refreshing point of agreement THE WASHINGTON POST
President Obama did not focus his final State of the Union address on an agenda for the next — and last — year of his presidency, tacitly indicating that he does not expect to make much headway as a lame duck facing a hostile Congress in an election year. But the president still noted the flurry of legislative compromise at the end of last year, which kept the government open and pro-
vided long-term infrastructure funding. And he reached out directly to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis.: "Speaker Ryan has talked about his interest in tackling poverty," he said. "I’d welcome a serious discussion about strategies we can all support, like expanding tax cuts for low-income workers who don’t have children." Given the perpetual partisan rancor about the size of the federal safety net, it
may be surprising that there is a significant point of agreement between policy minds in both parties on expanding a major antipoverty program. The success and elegance of the earned-income tax credit (EITC) accomplish this feat. The credit tops up wages for low-income working people, pulling millions out of poverty every year. But its design — increasing the subsidy with wages before flatlining and then tapering off — encour-
ages people to enter the labor force and work more once they are in it. As a means of improving conditions for the working poor, it is much better targeted than, say, increasing the minimum wage, which helps teenagers from affluent families as much as desperate parents trying to feed and house their children. The potential for compromise is obvious. Election year or no, Mr. Ryan should take the president up on his offer.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
Zentertainment
Calls for Oscars boycott By JAKE COYLE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Growing calls for a boycott of the Academy Awards over the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees are forcing stars to choose sides and threatening to throw the movie industry’s biggest night of the year into turmoil. The backlash over the second straight year of allwhite acting nominees is also putting heavy pressure on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to diversify its overwhelmingly white male membership. The furor grew on Tuesday when the Rev. Al Sharpton said he would lead a campaign encouraging people not to watch the Feb. 28 telecast. On Monday, Spike Lee, this year’s Oscar honoree for lifetime achievement, and Jada Pinkett Smith announced they will boycott the ceremony in protest. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who has led efforts to diversify the academy, responded late Monday evening with a forceful statement saying that those previous measures weren’t enough. Isaacs, the academy’s first African American president, said that “it’s time for big changes” and that she will review membership recruiting to bring about “much-need diversity” in the academy’s ranks. At a Los Angeles gala honoring Boone Isaacs on Monday night, actor David Oyelowo — who was famously snubbed last year for his performance as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma” — expressed frustration with the academy. “This institution doesn’t
PAGE 5A
Frey, Eagles bandleader, dies By MESFIN FEKADU ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Andres Kudacki | AP
In this Monday photo, Comedian Chris Rock speaks during an event celebrating Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Riverside Church in New York. Rock is scheduled to host the Oscars Feb. 28. reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room,” Oyelowo said. “I am an academy member and it doesn’t reflect me and it doesn’t reflect this nation.” Other stars began weighing in. George Clooney, in comments to Variety, said that after earlier progress by the industry, “you feel like we’re moving in the wrong direction.” He noted that movies like “Creed,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Beasts of No Nation” and “Concussion” may have deserved more attention from the academy. “But honestly, there should be more opportunity than that,” Clooney said. “There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars. By the way, we’re talking about African Americans. For Hispanics, it’s even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it.” A 2012 Los Angeles Times study found that the
academy was 94 percent white and 77 percent male. UCLA’s latest annual Hollywood Diversity Report concluded that women and minorities are substantially underrepresented in front of and behind the camera, even while audiences show a strong desire for films with diverse casts. Hispanics and African Americans go to the movies more often than whites do. UCLA surveyed film and TV executives and found that 96 percent are white. In his comments Monday, Lee said the Oscars’ problems ultimately reside with “the gate keepers” who have the power to green-light projects. Isaacs enlisted Chris Rock, who famously called Hollywood “a white industry” a year ago, as host of this year’s ceremony. The backlash all but ensures Rock’s opening monologue will, for many, be the most anticipated event of the show. Last year’s broadcast,
hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, was also boycotted by some viewers because of the all-white slate of acting nominees. Ratings dipped to a six-year low for ABC. Some on Tuesday put pressure on Rock to join the boycott. The rapper 50 Cent urged on Instagram: “Chris, please do not do the Oscars awards. You mean a lot man, don’t do it.” A representative for Rock didn’t immediately respond to an email. Just how much more Boone Isaacs can do to promote diversity at the academy, where membership is for life, remains to be seen. In November, she launched a five-year initiative to encourage more diversity in Hollywood, called A2020. But Boone Isaacs noted there is some precedent for more drastic steps. In the late ’60s, for example, academy president Gregory Peck tried to inject more youth by stripping many older members no longer working in the industry of the right to vote.
NEW YORK — As the Eagles co-founder, singer and songwriter Glenn Frey mastered the mix of rock ‘n’ roll and country music, and the band’s hits — including “Hotel California” and “Take It Easy,” both co-written by Frey — helped define the 1970s. Frey died Monday of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia in New York at age 67. He was born in Detroit and formed the band with Don Henley in 1971 in Los Angeles. Frey and Henley came from humble beginnings after playing back-up to another legend, Linda Ronstadt, and later forming the Eagles when signing with David Geffen’s Asylum Records. Their sound would go on to successfully blend rock and country — something others tried but was mastered by the Eagles. Who else has won Grammy Awards — stretched across 1975 and 2008 — in the rock, pop and country categories? The band released some of the most popular songs
Photo by Ralph Freso | AP file
In this March 20, 2010 file photo, Glenn Frey of the Eagles performs at Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night XVI in Phoenix, Arizona. of the 1970s: “Take It Easy,” written by Frey and Jackson Browne, is irresistible with Frey singing lead and the band’s harmonies intact, and “Hotel California,” the moody soft rock track, is a classic. “Hotel California” was just one of the Eagles’ tunes to peak atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Heartache Tonight,” “New Kid in Town,” “One of These Nights” and “Best of My Love” also went to No. 1. Frey and Henley wrote most of their hits and were known as one of the top songwriting teams. Two of the band’s albums would go on to rank among the top-selling albums ever released.
International
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
Americans joyful over release By CHRISTOPH NOELTING AND FRANK JORDANS ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Pale but smiling, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati recounted Tuesday how disbelief turned to joy when he and three fellow Americans realized that they were being released as part of a deal with Iran and reunited with their families after spending years in Iranian prison. Speaking publicly for the first time since being allowed to leave Iran in a prisoner swap Sunday, Hekmati said the sudden end to his four-year ordeal still seemed surreal. Convicted by an Iranian court of spying and sentenced to death in 2012, he was later given a 10-year sentence on a lesser charge after a retrial. “I was at a point where I had just sort of accepted the fact that I was going to be spending 10 years in prison, so this was a surprise and I just feel truly blessed to see my government do so much for me and the other Americans,” Hekmati told reporters outside the U.S. military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he was taken for treatment. There was no advance warning of his release, he added. “They just came one morning and said ‘pack your things.”’ “I was worried that maybe the Iranian side was going to make new demands at the last minute or that the deal wasn’t going to work out, so up until the last second we were all worried and concerned,” he said. The 32-year-old says he and his fellow prisoners endured repeated delays until they were allowed to board a Swiss government plane. But they weren’t able to relax until the jet had left Iranian airspace, after which “champagne bottles were popped” and veal and chocolates were served, he said.
Photo courtesy of APTN | AP Photo by Reed Saxon | AP file
In this image made from video, former U.S Marine Amir Hekmati, center, is flanked by Michigan congressman Dan Kildee, left, and Hekmati’s brother-in-law Ramy Kurdi in Landstuhl, Germany, Tuesday. Former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati was one of four Americans released by Iran. Hekmati said he felt lucky and humbled by the support he received from those campaigning for his release. He expressed gratitude to President Barack Obama, U.S. Congress and his other supporters, reserving special thanks for the U.S. Marine Corps. Asked about his 4 1⁄2 years in Iranian prison, Hekmati said “it wasn’t good,” but that his Marine training helped sustain him. “I tried my best to keep my head up and withstand all the pressures that were put on me, some of them were very inhumane and unjust,” he said. “Hearing about some of my fellow Marines supporting me really gave me the strength to put up with over four years of some very difficult times.” “He has not had much of a chance to exercise and he’s lost some weight but he looks fit and I think he is on the mend,” U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Hekmati’s home state of Michigan, earlier told The Associated Press. “A better diet and a chance to exercise... and I think he’ll turn out to be just fine.” Hekmati, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and pastor Saeed Abedini arrived late Sunday at Landstuhl for treatment. A fourth American released in exchange for the U.S. pardoning or dropping charges against seven Ira-
nians opted to stay in Iran, and a fifth American was released separately. Rep. Jaret Huffman, a Democrat representing Rezaian’s home district in California was also visiting Landstuhl. He said there were “tears, and smiles and hugs” when the family was reunited. “He continues to be in great spirits, his health is sound, he’s going through a process and it’s going to take a few more days, but Jason’s on track to get his life back,” Huffman said. Kildee said he had a steak dinner Monday night with Hekmati as well as Hekmati’s two sisters and brother, and that he seemed in “pretty good spirits” for someone who had been incarcerated for so long. “We talked a bit about his experience, but I think he was just appreciating his freedom and trying to enjoy it as much as he could,” Kildee said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 on espionage charges. He says he went to Iran to visit family and spend time with his ailing grandmother. After his arrest, family members say they were told to keep the matter quiet. Hekmati was born in Arizona and raised in Michigan. His family is in the Flint area. He and his family deny any wrongdoing, and say his imprisonment included physical and mental torture and long periods
In this March 24, 2013 file photo, Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo attends a NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race in Fontana, Calif. Mexican authorities said on Monday that they want to talk to the Mexican actress who arranged an interview with drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman for actor Sean Penn.
of solitary confinement in a tiny cell. Kildee said he looked forward to talking more with Hekmati about his experience in the coming months but did already learn some details. “We talked about a few of the aspects of his incarceration, (he) described the prison conditions as being bleak as we know them to be by reputation, described the fact that he had been told he was going to be released on several occasions, so even when this moment came he wasn’t sure it was really true until he was at the airport,” he said. “In some ways that was another way to sort of provide psychological torture — to continue to torment him with his release.” Huffman said Rezaian had told him his captivity was “horrific” with occasional “comedic moments,” but that he didn’t want to go into further details. “It’s Jason’s story and I think the world wants to hear directly from him,” Huffman said. “But what amazed me about my time with him last night is his spirit — if the Republican Guard thought they’d break the spirit of this guy, they failed miserably.” Hekmati said that he’s looking forward to getting home soon. “I really want to see my family and be back in the land of the free, back home.”
#
Mexico wants to question del Castillo By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities want to talk to actor Kate del Castillo, who arranged Sean Penn’s interview with drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a government official said Monday. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that investigators have formally asked del Castillo to meet with them about the encounter she and Penn had with Guzman. The official said Monday that it is unclear when that will happen and added that del Castillo is considered a witness and is not accused of any crime. Guzman is the Sinaloa drug cartel capo who was captured earlier this month in Los Mochis, Si-
naloa state, six months after escaping from a maximum-security prison. Penn’s article about Guzman was published by Rolling Stone the day after his capture. Eduardo Sanchez, spokesman for Mexico’s presidency, said last week that the government would investigate whether a crime was committed during the meeting between the drug lord and the actors, but that there was no criminal probe of Penn or del Castillo. However he criticized the idea that someone with information about a wanted fugitive would not share it with authorities. Del Castillo responded to criticism last week via Twitter, writing: “Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren’t truthful. I look forward to sharing my story with you.”
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ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors DAILY FANTASY SPORTS
MLB: CINCINNATI REDS
Texas targets fantasy Photo by Gary Landers | AP
Former Reds player and manager Pete Rose will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Pete Rose put in Reds’ HOF ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Michael Dwyer | AP
Chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Peter Schoenke speaks with reporters following a public hearing in Boston on Jan. 12. Schoenke objected to regulations proposed for online sites including DraftKings and FanDuel.
Texas latest state to call daily fantasy sports illegal By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — The Texas attorney general sided Tuesday with the growing list of states that consider daily fantasy sports sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel illegal, stopping short of ordering the multibillion-dollar industry to pack up and leave. Attorney General Ken Paxton said a court would likely find daily fantasy sports illegal under Texas law. But attorney general opinions in Texas are nonbinding, leaving the games essentially free to continue there for now. Regardless, the opinion is another blow to daily fantasy sports operators. DraftKings and FanDuel took in a combined $3 billion last year and have gone to court in other states, including New York and Illinois, following similar actions by
state attorneys general. “Simply put, it is prohibited gambling in Texas if you bet on the performance of a participant in a sporting event and the house takes a cut,” Paxton said. Boston-based DraftKings responded by calling Paxton’s prediction about how a court might rule wrong and said it will continue operating in Texas. “The Attorney General’s prediction is predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding” of daily fantasy sports, DraftKings attorney Randy Mastro said in a statement. DraftKings and FanDuel have argued across the U.S. that daily fantasy is a game of skill, not chance, and insist that their operations are legal because they technically don’t accept wagers and because their success doesn’t rely on any partic-
ular result. Paxton issued the opinion in response to a formal request from a Texas lawmaker. He said it was up to the Legislature — “not this office or the courts” — to change the legal framework to make daily fantasy sports permissible. A spokesman for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined comment. State legislatures across the U.S. are grappling with the legality and possible regulation of fantasy sports as lawmakers returned to work this month. In New York, an appellate court allowed DraftKings and FanDuel to continue operating after state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued to end their operations. The Texas attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether
Paxton would now attempt to crack down on the companies. Among those displeased with Paxton’s ruling was Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who tweeted “what a disappointment.” He said Paxton didn’t represent the views of Texans and tweeted that his stance had nothing to do with in his investment and ad revenue in daily fantasy sports, which he put at under $1 million. DraftKings and FanDuel have become ubiquitous during televised sporting events and have partnered with sports companies such as ESPN and Major League Baseball. But their aggressive ad campaign ahead of the 2015 NFL season drew the attention of regulators and lawmakers who have questioned their business models in states such as Nevada.
CINCINNATI — Pete Rose is getting a hall of fame induction — in the Cincinnati Reds’ team hall during a weekend of honors this summer in his hometown — that will include retiring his No. 14. The Reds’ announcement Tuesday came after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred rejected Rose’s application for reinstatement to baseball last month. Manfred concluded that baseball’s career hits leader hasn’t shown evidence of “a reconfigured life” and continued to gamble, even while seeking to end the lifetime ban imposed in 1989 for betting on numerous Reds games while playing for and managing the team. Reds’ chief executive Bob Castellini said Manfred approved the plans to honor the 74-year-old Rose. The June 24-26 events also will feature a 40-year reunion of the 1976 world champion Reds, on-field ceremonies and a team hall of fame banquet in which Rose will be awarded the red sports coat its members wear. “This is an honor, that you can’t just believe how you feel,” Rose said at a news conference, noting that he grew up a Reds fan and was born a few miles from the Great American Ball Park where he will be honored. He broke into baseball as a Red, played most of his career with them, and also managed the team. The National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 adopted a rule that keeps anyone on the permanently ineligible list off the ballot. Manfred said last month that his decision to continue the MLB ban was separate from any determination on National Hall eligi-
bility. He said while Rose remains banned from working for any major league team or minor league affiliate, he could make ceremonial appearances with the commissioner’s approval. “Pete was told that in the immediate future, he probably is not going to be able to look in terms of Cooperstown,” Castellini said Tuesday. “And we certainly wanted to make sure that we picked up that vacuum. The commissioner gave us permission to do that; we couldn’t be more pleased that it is now. Now’s the time.” An MLB spokesman confirmed that the Reds had submitted ceremonial plans that were approved. Rose offered his thanks to Manfred, while adding that he still holds out hope for some day joining the National Hall. “I haven’t given up on Cooperstown. I’m not the type who’s going to give up on anything,” he said. “But this is fine, I’m happy ... I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the second-best thing, cause it’s not ... I’m from Cincinnati. This is the first big thing.” Rose has rejoined his teammates from the 1975-76 world champions in recent years in on-field reunions and other ceremonies in Cincinnati. Castellini said there are plans, although the timetable is uncertain, of adding a Rose statue to those of all-time Reds greats outside Great American Ball Park. His “Big Red Machine” teammates Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez already have statues. Rose is joining those three National Hall of Famers in the 85-strong Reds’ hall that includes the late manager Sparky Anderson and much of the rest of the ’75-76 team.
PÁGINA 8A
Zfrontera VOTO HISPANO EN ELECCIONES 2016
Ribereña en Breve
Baja actuación
ENFRENTAMIENTO Autoridades de Tamaulipas dieron a conocer que un sospechoso murió durante un enfrentamiento que ocurriera a las 3 a.m. del lunes por el crucero de la Carretera al Aeropuerto Internacional y Bulevar Universidad, al suroeste de Nuevo Laredo, México. No se dio a conocer la identidad de la víctima. Elementos militares y oficiales de la policía federal se encontraron con un automóvil Isuzu, sin placas, el cual, según reportes, estaba ocupado por hombres armados. Supuestamente los sospechosos dispararon contra los soldados y oficiales antes de huir. El reporte agrega que el conductor perdió el control de la unidad y se volcó quedando con las llantas hacia arriba, a un costado de la carretera. El resto de los sospechosos logró escapar. De igual forma agentes lograron decomisar un arma larga con su cargador, cartuchos útiles, un radio de comunicación y tres teléfonos celulares, entre otros objetos.
POR SERGIO BUSTOS ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASHUA, New Hampshire — Pese a un creciente conjunto de potenciales votantes hispanos en Estados Unidos, los latinos casi seguramente estarán subrepresentados en las urnas en el 2016, de acuerdo con un estudio dado a conocer el martes. El Pew Research Center encontró que una cifra récord de hispanos pudieran acudir a las urnas en noviembre, por encima de los 11,2 millones que lo hicieron en votar en el 2012, pero que los latinos de la generación del Milenio —la fuente del crecimiento de los hispanos elegibles para votar—
RECLUTAMIENTO La Dirección Municipal de Reclutamiento en Miguel Alemán, México, hace un llamado a los conscriptos de la clase 1997, anticipados y remisos, para que acudan a las oficinas y hacer entrega de su media cartilla. La recepción se realizará durante el mes de enero, y los jóvenes deberán llevar también dos copias del acta de nacimiento, CURP, comprobante de domicilio, certificado del último grado de estudios o constancia de estudios actuales, dos copias de una identificación oficial (INE, pasaporte o licencia de manejar). El horario de las Oficinas de Reclutamiento, dentro de la Secretaría del Ayuntamiento, es de 8:30 a.m. a 3:30 p.m., de lunes a viernes. Si los conscriptos de la clase 97 cumplen con el requisito podrán recibir su cartilla militar liberada en diciembre próximo. En Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, se informa a las personas que tramitaron su cartilla militar en el 2015 y que cuentan con su media cartilla, deben presentarse esta semana en la Presidencia Municipal, en horario de 9 a.m. a 3 p.m. Pida más información en el (897)976-0370 o (897) 976-0114 con Manual Adalberto López.
OLIMPIADA Nuevo Laredo, México, será sede de la eliminatoria del selectivo de box para la etapa regional de la Olimpiada Infantil y Juvenil 2016. El evento será el 21 de enero en el Polyforum La Fe, donde se espera participen alrededor de 300 pugilistas, de los cuales al menos 60 serán de Nuevo Laredo. Entrada gratuita.
MIÉRCOLES 20 DE ENERO DE 2016
tendrán una baja participación. La mayoría de los hispanos en Estados Unidos, 52%, son demasiado jóvenes o no son ciudadanos estadounidenses. Las conclusiones provienen de un análisis de datos del Buró del Censo por parte del Pew. Solamente 48% de los votantes hispanos acudieron a las urnas en el 2012, comparado con 64% de los blancos y 67% de los negros. Esa cifra es aún menor para el caso de votantes hispanos de la Generación del Milenio, con apenas 38% de votantes activos en el 2012. Mark López, director de estudios hispanos para el Pew Center, dijo que la baja participación se
debe mayormente a la geografía. Dijo que más de la mitad de los hispanos con derecho a voto en el país —aproximadamente 52% —viven en California, Texas y Nueva York— ninguno de los cuales son estados disputados que puedan cambiar una elección. “Los votantes hispanos en esos estados no reciben tanta atención, no ven tantos anuncios de campaña, como aquellos que viven en estados disputados como Florida, Nevada y Colorado”, dijo López, quien además señaló que los hispanos constituyen aproximadamente 14% de todos los votantes en cada uno de esos estados. En otros estados potencialmente competitivos en la contienda
presidencial, incluyendo Virginia, Pennsylvania y Wisconsin, los hispanos son menos de 5% de los votantes. Algo similar ocurre en estados influyentes de votación temprana como Iowa (2,9 y New Hampshire (2,1%). El reporte concluyó que los hispanos de la Generación el Milenio se registran para votar a tasas más bajas que otros miembros de esa generación. Hace notar que 50% de los hispanos de esa generación elegibles para votar estaban registrados en el 2012, comparado con 61% de los blancos y 64% de los negros. (Emily Swanson, especialista de Sondeos Noticiosos de la AP contribuyó a este reporte)
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO
SERVICIO
TRANSFORMAN CENTRO DE SALUD
Apoyan con tapas y aros TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
El edifico del Centro de Salud, ubicado en la Colonia Hidalgo en Nuevo Laredo, México, fue inaugurado el lunes por autoridades, encabezados por el Gobernador Egidio Torre Cantú y el Presidente Municipal de Nuevo Laredo, Carlos Canturosas Villarreal.
Modernizan edificio y extienden servicios TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
L
a antigua Jurisdicción Sanitaria No. V de Nuevo Laredo, México, construida hace más de 50 años, fue transformada en un centro de salud a la vanguardia, en una obra que forma parte del paquete de construcción, ampliación, remodelación y equipamiento de tres unidades de los tres niveles de atención por parte del Gobierno de Tamaulipas. La inversión general en materia de salud suma 3.500 millones de pesos, y tan solo en el centro de salud se ubicaron más de 18 millones de pesos, de acuerdo con un comunica-
do de prensa. Según datos del Gobierno del Estado en los centros de salud se atiende el 85 por ciento de la demanda por servicios de salud de parte de la población. El edificio ubicado por calle Victoria en la Colonia Hidalgo beneficia a alrededor de 17.000 habitantes y cuenta con atención primaria y prevención de enfermedades, servicios para detección oportuna de cáncer, curaciones y vacunas, tres consultorios de medicina general y un módulo de atención dental, además que alberga las oficinas del Seguro Popular, vectores y de la Comisión Estatal de Protección contra
Riesgos Sanitarios. Beneficiarios de los programas como “Niñez y adolescencia protegidas”, “Mujeres plenas”, “Varones sanos” y “Adultos mayores en control” también recibirán sus servicios en las mismas instalaciones. Durante el evento estuvieron presentes el Secretario de Salud en Tamaulipas, Norberto Treviño García Manzo, el presidente municipal de Nuevo Laredo, Carlos Enrique Canturosas Villarreal, y las presidentas del Sistema DIF en Tamaulipas y Nuevo Laredo, Maria del Pilar González de Torre y Belinda Serna de Canturosas, respectivamente.
La recolección de tapas de plástico y aros de latas es una campaña que lleva a cabo la Alianza Anti Cáncer Infantil A.B.P. en Tamaulipas, a fin de ayudar con los costos a familias con hijos que padecen la enfermedad. Esta semana, la Universidad Politécnica (UP) Región Ribereña con sede en Miguel Alemán, México, hizo entrega de 20.000 tapas de plástico y 5.000 aros de lata que fueran recolectados durante el 2015. “Vamos a seguir apoyando en las campañas para seguir sumando esfuerzos que brinden amor, esperanza y vida a los niños que lo necesitan”, dijo Sonia Mercado Rodríguez, Rectora de la UP. La alianza fue creada por un grupo de padres de familia quienes tuvieron la idea de organizar “una ayuda integral para los niños y otras familias”, indica un comunicado de prensa del Gobierno de Tamaulipas. Al reciclarse las tapas de plástico y aros de lata, la alianza puede obtener ganancias que les permiten “apoyar a niños con cáncer y a sus familias ofreciendo apoyo para suplir sus necesidades básicas en atención médica, psicológica, nutricional así como de asistencia social; proporcionando una atención integral y aumentando con ello su oportunidad de supervivencia al mejorar su calidad de vida”, de acuerdo con la misión del sitio oficial de la alianza. Para conocer mas acerca del programa y saber como puede ayudar puede llamar a sus oficinas centrales ubicadas en Monterrey, México, al +52 81 8191 1070.
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.
COLUMNA
Fallece político opositor Gerardo Unzueta Gerardo Unzueta Lorenzana es autor de numerosas obras bibliográficas, destaca como intelectual de ideas avanzadas y desde la izquierda contribuye a democratizar el país.
POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Gerardo Unzueta Lorenzana nació en Cecilia (Ciudad Madero) el 3 de octubre de 1925. Tras que su padre fuera expulsado de la industria petrolera, la familia se traslada a la Ciudad de México. Aún joven, ingresa al Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM), y se une al nú-
cleo directivo que rompe con el dogmatismo y asume posturas críticas frente al gobierno y la Unión Soviética. Reproduce artículos de fondo para la prensa tamaulipeca y de otros estados. Inicia en publicaciones independientes y dirige órganos informativos de carácter partidista. Consigue entrevistar a Ernesto “Che” Guevara recién triunfa la Revolución Cubana, lo que grabado en disco alcanza varias ediciones. Las simpatías con el movimiento estudiantil y popular lo vuelven preso político de 1968 a 1971. Recorre Tamaulipas en 1976 junto a
Valentín Campa Salazar, aspirante presidencial del PCM, privado de registro. La Reforma Política de 1977 legaliza a los comunistas y dos años más tarde Unzueta se convierte en combativo legislador de la cámara baja. De una fusión entre el PCM y organizaciones afines, en la siguiente década surge el Partido Socialista Unificado de México (PSUM). En Tamaulipas, Unzueta sostiene la candidatura a senador en 1982; un año después disputa la alcaldía de Tampico, distrito por el que contiende en los comicios federales de 1985 y resulta diputado plu-
rinominal. La coalición del PSUM con los partidos Mexicano de Trabajadores y Revolucionario de los Trabajadores en 1986 lo postula candidato a gobernador. En procesos locales, la oposición contaba con pocos financiamientos públicos, pero no obstante, Unzueta impulsa campañas con las propuestas de mayor solvencia vista por Tamaulipas. Basadas en la modernización democrática, diseña y expone alternativas serias al desarrollo excluyente que presenta Tamaulipas. Por ejemplo, plantea regenerar la laguna del Car-
pintero de Tampico y transformarla en sitio recreativo, proyecta estrategias concretas para comunidades rurales de alto rezago y con respecto de los déficits socioeconómicos en la zona fronteriza con EU. Desempeña con espíritu de servicio el puesto legislativo. Ayuda a sus compañeros, materializa iniciativas para mejorar las condiciones de vida en Tula. Unzueta falleció el 10 de enero a la edad de 90 años en la Ciudad de México. (Con permiso del autor según fuera publicado en La Razón de Tampico, el 15 de enero del 2016)
National
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
Cruz appeals to gun owners By MICHAEL BIESECKER AND WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Erik Schelzig | AP
Supporters of a bill seeking to exclude Tennessee from the U.S. Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling attend a rally at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday.
Tennessee’s antigay marriage bill would cost $8.5B By ERIK SCHELZIG ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee lawmaker whose bill would bar the state from following the U.S. Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling says he is undeterred by a projected loss of $8.5 billion in federal funds if the proposal becomes law. State Rep. Mark Pody said at a state Capitol rally on Tuesday that the proposal he has dubbed the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act” is worth any cost — and the Republican from the Nashville suburb of Lebanon disputed the estimated loss of federal funds. “The right to who we are is at stake,” Pody said. He cited a 2006 amendment to the state constitution that defined marriage as being only between a man and a woman and declared that any judicial interpretation to the contrary “shall be void and unenforceable in Tennessee.” That amendment passed with more than 80 percent of the vote a decade ago. “We’re only upholding what we’ve already voted on,” Pody said. “They trampled our constitution.” Last year’s decision by the nation’s highest court was based on cases in four
states including Tennessee, where three couples had sued to have their out-ofstate marriages recognized. Pody’s proposal is scheduled for its first hearing in a House subcommittee Wednesday afternoon. Pody urged supporters to contact the five members of the panel to persuade them not to kill the bill. Legislative analysts estimated that if the state refuses services to same-sex couples, Tennessee stands to lose $6.5 billion in federal Medicaid money and another $2 billion in food stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds. Committee member Bill Beck, a Nashville Democrat, said he won’t support the measure. “The Supreme Court dictates the law of the land,” Beck said. “Are we going to secede from the union?” Beck dismissed Pody’s proposal as “red meat” for conservatives. “They love it, and Pody will keep it playing as long as he can,” Beck said. “He’s turning them out right and left.” But some Republicans who oppose gay marriage say a better approach would be to pass a resolution demanding that the state’s attorney general file a lawsuit to block the ruling.
WASHINGTON — It’s an image football fans in Iowa are likely to see this weekend: Ted Cruz, his face smeared with black greasepaint, sitting in a Louisiana duck blind with a borrowed shotgun. His Republican presidential campaign said Tuesday it’s spending $700,000 to air a gun-friendly ad during the NFL conference championship games. Cruz has made the defense of Second Amendment rights a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, touting his past legal work fighting against gun control laws. But records suggest the 45-yearold politician’s passion for the issue emerged relatively recently in his life, coinciding with his ascent in Republican circles in Texas. Cruz was in Louisiana last week to film a campaign video with Phil Robertson, the gray-bearded patriarch of reality TV’s “Duck Dynasty” clan. The junior senator from Texas, clad in camouflaged overalls, is shown squeezing off a couple of rounds toward the gray sky. It was not clear whether the candidate struck any ducks. Looking into the camera, Robertson says his selection criteria for endorsing a candidate include “would they kill a duck, put ‘em in a pot and make ‘em a good duck gumbo.” He then tells Cruz, “You’re one of us, my man.” In his three years in the U.S. Senate, Cruz’s voting record has earned an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. Fiery criticism of President Barack Obama’s efforts to tighten background checks for gun purchases is a staple of Cruz stump speeches: The candidate quipped that back in Texas the term “gun control” means that you “hit what you’re aiming at.”
Michigan governor to speak about Flint crisis By DAVID EGGERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANSING, Mich. — Only a year ago, Rick Snyder began his second term as Michigan governor promoting the same achievements that had propelled him to victory in 2014: The state was at last in the midst of an economic comeback, and Detroit had emerged from bankruptcy. Now the water crisis gripping Flint threatens to overshadow nearly everything else Snyder has accomplished, and the governor’s annual State of the State address has become perhaps the most important speech of his career. The Republican has little choice but to devote much of Tuesday’s address to the emergency, which has put Flint families at risk for lead exposure and engulfed his administration with criticism from across the nation. “Right now, it’s everything,” Lansing-based Republican consultant Tom Shields said of the Flint disaster. “People will forget about what he did to bring Detroit out of bankruptcy and change taxes and everything else” if the Flint situation is not handled correctly. The images of an impoverished city where no one dares to drink the tap water have put Snyder on the defensive and forced him to step up his efforts to help. The governor, who has apologized for regulatory failures and for an underwhelming initial response, has rejected calls for his resignation. In recent weeks, he declared a state of emergency, pledged another round of unspecified state funding, activated the National Guard to help distribute
Photo by John M. Galloway/Detroit News | AP
Plaintiffs, from left, Melissa Mays, Rhonda Kelso, and Keith Pemberton pose for a photo during a news conference in Flint, Mich. lead tests, filters and bottled water, and successfully sought federal assistance. But to many people, those steps took way too long. He plans to offer more ideas during his televised speech to the GOP-led Legislature, including more money and proposals to provide health services to kids with elevated lead levels and to prevent water shutoffs if bills go unpaid. He is also considering whether to release emails related to the crisis, which began when Flint, about an hour’s drive from Detroit, switched its water source in 2014 to save money. Shields said it is not in Snyder’s nature to show emotion publicly. “He doesn’t want to feel your pain. He wants to cure it,” Shields said. Michigan’s top environmental regulator has resigned over the failure to ensure that the Flint River water was properly treated to keep lead from pipes from leaching into the water. The fiasco has bruised Snyder, a former venture capitalist and computer executive who took office in 2011 billing himself as a practical decision-maker and a “tough nerd.” When he sought the state’s top job, he touted his experi-
ence as a turnaround artist committed to making government work better for people. He cannot run again under term limits and has strayed from conservative orthodoxy on some issues, such as expanding Medicaid despite his party’s stand against the health care overhaul and vetoing anti-abortion and gunrights legislation. His top achievements include overhauling taxes, signing right-to-work laws in organized labor’s backyard and enacting a roadfunding package. Democrats have opposed many of Snyder’s most sweeping laws, including a new emergency manager measure under which his administration has made budget decisions for struggling cities and school districts. They say what happened in Flint is an indictment of the GOP’s promise to run government like a business. “The state of our state is not strong when residents are being poisoned by their tap water,” House Minority Leader Tim Greimel said. The U.S. Justice Department is helping the Environmental Protection Agency investigate, and the state attorney general has opened his own probe.
Photo courtesy of Cruz campaign/YouTube | AP
This image made from video shows Ted Cruz in a video where he is endorsed by "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson. In an autobiography published last year, Cruz recounts how after he moved to Austin in 2003 to serve as the state’s appointed solicitor general, he became concerned about leaving his wife, Heidi, at home alone while he traveled. The couple had previously lived in Washington, where each had jobs in the administration of President George W. Bush. “Worried that an intruder might come through the window, I placed a hatchet beneath our bed, and started to tell her to grab the hatchet if anything happened,” wrote Cruz. “As I was saying this, it struck me ... this was stupid. Heidi is 5-foot-2. The last thing I wanted was for my beautiful, petite wife to be trying to swing a hatchet at a large, menacing robber coming through the window.” The next day, Cruz recounts, he bought her a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver to keep in the bedside table. According to his campaign, Cruz also owns a 12-gauge Beretta Silver Pigeon shotgun for bird hunting, though a spokeswoman declined to disclose when he bought the weapon. The campaign also declined to say whether he holds a permit to carry a concealed firearm. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Cruz purchased his first hunting license there in 2006, when he would have been 35. He then
bought licenses in three of the last 10 years — 2008, 2014 and 2015. Cruz’s campaign said he purchased a Louisiana hunting license before the recent video shoot with Robertson, though the state’s wildlife department refused last week to confirm that. Records from Iowa show he also bought licenses in 2013 and 2015 at the Hole N’ the Wall Lodge, site of an annual pheasant hunt hosted by home-state U.S. Rep. Steve King, typically attended by aspiring GOP presidential contenders. King has since endorsed Cruz and is now a national co-chairman of his campaign. At the most recent hunt in Iowa, a smiling Cruz posed for media photos with about two dozen dead fowl while wearing immaculate tan and orange hunting attire, a shotgun resting on his shoulder. The campaign’s website also features a wide array of apparel targeted at hunters, including camouflage T-shirts, safety-orange hats emblazoned with his name, and even “Camo Cruzie” drink holders. Earlier this month, Cruz’s campaign raffled off a custom Remington 12-gauge shotgun engraved with his logo. Questions about whether Cruz is an active sportsman became a campaign issue during his 2012 run for the U.S. Senate in Texas. During a televised debate, Cruz’s Democratic op-
ponent questioned whether Cruz owned a gun and twice asked whether he was an avid hunter. Cruz responded that he was a gun owner, but declined to say how often he hunted. When pressed afterward, he said the question was a distraction from the race’s real issues. “He’s been pretty forthcoming about saying he enjoys hunting but doesn’t get to do it as often as he would like,” Cruz campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told The Associated Press. “You don’t have to have a hunting license to shoot guns.” She added that Cruz visits shooting ranges pretty often. He held a campaign rally at an Iowa shooting range last month. “It’s no secret that Sen. Cruz has been a passionate defender of the Constitution from a very early age,” Frazier said. “He exercises his own right to bear arms regularly and often, and he’s very glad to live in a country where he can do that.” In boosting his bona fides as a foot soldier for the Second Amendment, Cruz often cites his role in a 2008 court challenge to the District of Columbia’s ban on private possession of most firearms in the nation’s capital. As solicitor general, Cruz helped file a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Texas and 30 other states in support of Dick Heller, a Washington resident who challenged the city’s gun ban. In his book, Cruz details the case at length and slams the Bush administration for arguing in court that reasonable restrictions on gun ownership are constitutional if they protect “important regulatory interests.” “I was dismayed with the Bush administration’s attempt to water down the Second Amendment and incensed with D.C.’s attempt to write the Second Amendment entirely out of the Constitution,” Cruz recounts.
Palin endorses Trump By JILL COLVIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMES, Iowa — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump received a key endorsement Tuesday from conservative heavyweight Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor and former running mate of Sen. John McCain in his 2008 bid for the White House, is endorsing the billionaire businessman, according to a statement released by his campaign. “I am greatly honored to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” Trump said in a statement. “She is a friend, and a high quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support.” Palin is scheduled to appear with Trump at a rally at an agricultural center at the Iowa State University later Tuesday and will also be joining Trump at two events on Wednesday, including a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The endorsement comes less than two weeks ahead of the critical lead-off Iowa caucus, where Trump is locked in a dead heat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. In the statement announcing the endorsement, Trump’s campaign described Palin as a conservative who “helped launch the careers of several key future leaders of the Republican Party and conservative movement.” The statement also quoted Cruz as once saying he “would not be in the United States Senate were it not for Gov. Sarah Palin...She can pick winners.” Campaigning in New Hampshire, Tuesday, Cruz responded to Palin’s endorsement of Trump, saying “regardless of what Sarah intends to do in 2016, I will remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin.” Trump’s national political director Michael Glassner previously worked with
Photo by Craig Ruttle | AP file
In this May 31, 2011 file photo, Donald Trump walks with former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin in New York City. Trump received a key endorsement from conservative heavyweight Sarah Palin, Tuesday. Palin, who was a virtual newcomer to the national political arena when McCain named her as his running mate. She has since risen to prominence as one of the most outspoken conservatives in the party. She signed on as a Fox News commentator after re-
signing as Alaska’s governor in 2010, a job she held until last year. Asked Tuesday morning about his thoughts on a potential Palin endorsements, as rumors of her potential backing swirled, Trump said, “I’m a big fan of Sarah Palin.” While Trump said he doesn’t typically put much stock in endorsements, he said, “I think it could very well result in votes.”
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
COURTHOUSES Continued from Page 1A Legislature’s 2003 action that expanded the prohibition of guns for courts to include the “premises.” Officials with Hays County, south of Austin, have decided to scale back the government center’s gun-free zone in light of Paxton’s opinion. But other counties are continuing to maintain their gun bans in their courthouse buildings, including Dallas County and Amarillo’s
Potter County. “We still think ‘premises’ means the building,” said Potter County First Assistant Attorney Dave Kemp, explaining how commissioners there recently arrived at a decision. “They still felt very strongly that this is not a place where we want guns.” Gun rights advocates counter that the underlying definition of “prem-
ises” was not meant to provide flexibility but to limit gun bans to a particular portion of the building. “Folks are trying to expand it too much,” said lawyer Charles Cotton and a National Rifle Association Board member. A definitive answer likely won’t come until Paxton acts on a court-related complaint, bringing the matter before a judge.
POOREST Continued from Page 1A largest cities contain the smallest shares of poor people, with less than 10 percent of residents living in poverty in many suburbs. Though the share of poor Texans has gradually dropped in recent years, 17.2 percent of the state’s population was still living in poverty as of 2014. The census determines poverty based on income and family size. For example, a family of four is considered to be living in poverty if their household income is less than $24,008 a year. Here’s a look at the Texas counties with the highest and lowest poverty rates, among those with populations of 10,000 or more.
Counties with the highest poverty rates: Willacy County Population: 22,056 Willacy County, just north of Brownsville, has the highest poverty rate in the state with 38.8 percent of residents living in poverty. It has the second-highest child poverty rate with 45.9 percent. Starr County Population: 62,040 Starr County ranked as the second poorest county in the state with 35.4 percent of its population living in poverty. Part of the Rio
Grande Valley, the county is mostly made up of several small towns, including Rio Grande City. Cameron County Population: 415,103 At the southern tip of the state, 34.5 percent of Cameron County’s residents are poor. Home to Brownsville and Harlingen, the county also has the highest child poverty rate in the state with 47 percent of children living in poverty. Hidalgo County Population: 806,447 At the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, 33.5 percent of Hidalgo County’s population lives in poverty. Home to McAllen and Edinburg, the county also has a high share of poor children with 45.5 percent of children living in poverty. Zapata County Population: 14,231 In Zapata County, 32.6 of residents are living in poverty. Just south of Laredo, the county comprises several small towns including the city of Zapata.
Counties with the lowest poverty rates: Rockwall County Population: 83,239 Rockwall County, located just west of Dallas County, has the lowest share of poor residents with only 6.8 percent of the population
living in poverty. It also has the lowest child poverty rate with 8.9 percent of children living in poverty. Collin County Population: 836,947 Collin County ranked as the county with secondlowest share of poor residents with 7 percent of the population in poverty. Home to Plano and McKinney, it also has the secondlowest child poverty rate. Only 9 percent of children are poor. Williamson County Population: 457,218 Just north of Austin, only 7.8 percent of Williamson County’s residents are poor. The county’s population is spread across cities such as Georgetown and Round Rock and includes many commuters who travel to Austin for work. Kendall County Population: 36,058 Only 8.3 percent of the population in Kendall County lives in poverty. West of San Antonio, the county is mostly made up of small towns and is home to many commuters to San Antonio. Denton County Population: 708,627 North of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, 8.7 percent of Denton County’s population is poor. The county is home to the city of Denton and the University of North Texas.
IMMIGRATION Continued from Page 1A Republicans refused to put the matter to a vote. Texas quickly led a legal challenge to Obama’s program on behalf of 26 states and has won every round in court so far. Most recently, in November, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the states, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court. Texas actually asked the Supreme Court not to hear the case challenging those rulings, but state Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was pleased the justices will examine the president’s constitutional power to intercede without congressional approval. “In deciding to hear this case, the Supreme Court recognizes the importance of the separation of powers,” Paxton said. The U.S. solicitor general, Donald Verrilli Jr., said in his Supreme Court filing that allowing the lower court rulings to stand would force millions of people “to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families.” The administration said Texas and the other states don’t even have the right to challenge the plan in federal court. The lower courts decided that Texas does have the right, or standing, to sue because at least 500,000 people living in Texas would qualify for work permits and thus become eligible for driver’s licenses, the costs of which are subsidized by the state. “Texas would incur millions of dollars in costs,” the state said in its brief. The justices also said they would consider whether, if the states can pursue their lawsuit, Obama exceeded his authority under federal laws and the Constitution. Some court observers saw in the court’s decision to look at Obama’s power under the Constitution a potentially ominous sign. “It suggests that the court is willing to engage President Obama’s entire use of executive orders,” said Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO
of the nonpartisan National Constitution Center. Still, Democratic officials and immigrants’ advocates praised the court’s action. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said that “law-abiding men and women continue to live in constant fear of being separated from their children. These families must be allowed to step out of the shadows and fully contribute to the country that they love and call home.” The future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally has been much discussed by Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has pledged to go further than Obama to protect large groups of immigrants from deportation. Republican Donald Trump has proposed deporting all people who are living in the U.S. illegally, an idea embraced by some other GOP candidates and dismissed by others. While immigration activ-
ists generally have been supportive of Obama, they have criticized his administration for raids this month that resulted in the arrests of more than 120 immigrants from Central America who came to the country illegally since 2014. Those recent arrivals are not among immigrants who would benefit from Obama’s plan. The raids are part of a shift in the administration’s enforcement actions to focus on criminals, those who pose a threat to national security or public safety, and recent border-crossers. The change means that people who are here illegally but who are not otherwise violating the law are less likely to face deportation. About 235,000 people were deported in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That was the smallest number since 2006 and a 42 percent drop since a record high of more than 409,000 in 2012.
MARSHALS Continued from Page 1A a teacher at Villarreal Elementary School and Zar is the Zapata County Extension Agent. Zar also became a member of the ZCF Livestock Committee where he was an assistant superintendent for the goats and then became the superintendent for the steers. Tammy started with the ZCF by becoming the announcer at the livestock show. Tammy is now the livestock committee secretary and continues doing the announcing for the livestock show. Zar and Tammy have stated that they love volunteering at the Zapata County Fair and helping
all exhibitors and parents in any way they can. It is their passion, since they grew up showing animals themselves. They have both been members of the ZCF Livestock Committee for over 10 years. They have three wonderful children: Daniel, who is a fifth-grader and currently raising a steer and a lamb, Nadina, who is a third-grader and currently raising a lamb and a hog, and Roxana, who is a Pre-K student and is a Clover Kid. The Rodriguez kids are members of the North 4H Club, and just like their parents, they’ve developed a love and responsibility for livestock animals. Zar
and Tammy are very proud of their children and wholeheartedly know that one day they are going to follow in their footsteps in volunteering and helping all exhibitors in any way they can. Zar and Tammy are very honored to have been chosen as the 2016 Parade Marshals. They want to thank the ZCFA from the bottom of their hearts. To all the citizens of Zapata County and surrounding counties, Zar and Tammy, along with the ZCFA and ZCF Livestock Committee, invite each and everyone of you to come and enjoy the “Best Little Fair in Texas.”
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
US stocks rise in shaky trading
Oil may fall further
By MARLEY JAY ASSOCIATION PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The International Energy Agency says oil prices may fall further this year due to low demand, warm winter weather and an oversupply of crude. The organization, which advises countries on energy policy, said in its monthly report Tuesday that global excess supply may reach 1.5 million barrels per day during the first half of the year. “Unless something changes, the oil market could drown in over-supply,” the IEA said. U.S. crude prices have fallen 24 percent since the beginning of the year. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.03, or 3.5 percent, to $28.39 a barrel in New York on Tuesday. Many oil companies, including Chevron and BP, have cut jobs and reduced spending to save money. The IEA noted mild temperatures at the outset of winter in the U.S., Japan and Europe lowered demand for oil. Meanwhile, more oil from Iran could boost global supplies further. Iran has said it is aiming to increase its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day now that sanctions have been lifted under a nuclear deal with world powers. “There will be enormous strain on the ability of the oil system to absorb it efficiently,” the IEA said, referring to the overall excess supply.
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks struggled through a turbulent day of trading Tuesday and eked out small gains, led by utility and consumer stocks. The price of crude oil continued to fall, and energy and mining stocks tumbled. Stocks in Asia and Europe had rallied earlier in the day as investors were satisfied with China’s fourth-quarter economic growth. The Dow Jones industrial average rose as much as 183 points in the first minutes of trading Tuesday. The gains faded in the afternoon before a late spurt of buying in the last half hour sent indexes mostly higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.94 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,016.02. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose one point to 1,881.33. The Nasdaq composite index fell 11.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,476.95. Major indexes had plunged Friday, and the Dow and S&P 500 are coming off their worst opening weeks of a year in history. The Chinese government’s report confirmed that the world’s secondlargest economy is slowing, as annual growth hit a 25-year low in 2015. That can affect demand for everything from energy to metals to consumer
Photo by Richard Drew | AP
Specialist Meric Greenbaum works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday. goods and heavy machinery. Fears about a slowdown in China, and how abrupt and painful it might be, has helped knock oil prices to 12year lows. Safe-play stocks like utilities and telecommunications companies rose the most. AT&T added 52 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $34.51 and NextEra Energy gained $2.55, or 2.4 percent, to $107.81. Consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, gained $1.75, or 2.3 percent, to $76.73. U.S. crude fell 96 cents, or 3.3 percent, to close at $28.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 21 cents to close at $28.76 a barrel in London. Energy stocks continued to fall on concerns about reduced worldwide demand. Chesapeake Energy lost 48 cents, or 13.5
percent, to $3.08. Marathon Oil fell 46 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $7.68. The price of gold fell $1.60 to $1,089.10 an ounce. Silver rose 22.5 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $14.121 an ounce. Copper gained 3.4 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $1.978 a pound. Gold miner Newmont Mining lost $1.39, or 7.9 percent, to $16.31 and copper producer Freeport-McMoRan gave up 39 cents, or 9 percent, to $3.96. Freeport-McMoRan shares have skidded 41.5 percent in 2016. Delta Air Lines reported a bigger fourth-quarter profit because of falling fuel prices. Delta said it expects fuel to be even less expensive in the first quarter. Its shares rose $1.46, or 3.3 percent, to $45.96. Health insurer UnitedHealth Group posted stronger-than-expected results in the fourth quarter. Its stock rose $3.31, or 3 percent, to $112.58.
Netflix surged aftermarket as the company’s net income surpassed analyst forecasts and its international subscriber growth was stronger than Netflix had expected. Netflix’s stock surged 8 percent in extended trading to $116.75. Jewelry retailer Tiffany fell after reporting that sales dropped in the fourth quarter and said it will eliminate some jobs. The company also forecast minimal earnings and sales growth in 2016. The stock lost $3.43, or 5.1 percent, to $64.22. So far not a single U.S. company has gone public this year, according to Kathy Smith of Renaissance Capital, a manager of IPO-focused exchangetraded funds. That should change this week, as Elevate Capital, which offers credit and related services to people with below-average credit, is expected to start trading Friday. But Smith said
only two companies will go public this month. There were also just two IPOs in December, the fewest in any month since October 2011. “The IPO market is pretty close to being closed,” Smith said. Companies are reluctant to go public when the market is weak, and the companies that did go public last year weren’t rewarded for it: Smith says the companies that completed their IPOs in 2015 are down an average of 17 percent from their offering prices. France’s CAC 40 rose 2 percent and Germany’s DAX added 1.5 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.7 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite surged 3.2 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.5 percent. The U.S. dollar slipped to 117.44 yen from 117.50 yen on Monday. The euro rose to $1.0923 from $1.0885. Bond prices slipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which has slumped this year, rose to 2.05 percent from at 2.04 percent. In other trading of energy futures, the price of wholesale gasoline inched up 0.5 cents to $1.026 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2.6 cents to 90.9 cents a gallon. Natural gas slipped 0.9 cents to $2.091 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Economists see more housing growth By ALEX VEIGA ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — A robust U.S. economy and job market, plus low mortgage rates, should help keep the recovery in the new-home market going at a modest pace this year, but a return to pre-housing boom sales and construction levels isn’t imminent. That’s the forecast that David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, delivered Tuesday during a panel of economists at the trade association’s latest industry convention in Las Vegas. And despite the U.S. economy’s mixed track record of growth in 2015, Crowe projects that the economy will expand 2.7 percent this year, the strongest gain since before the Great Recession in 2008, as consumer spending continues to grow. “There are a number of positive indicators out there that make me believe ... this will be a good year for the
economy and for housing,” Crowe said. “Not only is housing finally driving some of that, housing is finally moving at a much faster pace than the economy.” U.S. homebuilders are entering 2016 feeling better about their sales prospects than they have in years, thanks to rising home prices and gradually improving sales. New-home sales climbed nearly 15 percent through the first 11 months of last year, while construction of single-family homes hit an eight-year high in November. The trends have helped lift construction hiring: Construction companies added 215,000 jobs last year, a 3.4 percent gain. Even so, sales and construction have yet to rebound fully from the housing bust nearly a decade ago. Whether that progress continues this year will depend largely on the U.S. economy continuing to improve. That’s come increasingly
Photo by Gerry Broome | AP file
In this June 9, 2015, file photo, a roofer works on a home under construction in the Briar Chapel community in Chapel Hill, N.C. U.S. homebuilders enter 2016 feeling better about their sales prospects than they have in years, thanks to rising home prices and gradually improving sales. into doubt lately. Faltering growth in countries like China, the world’s secondlargest economy, and financial market turmoil have heightened concerns that the U.S. economy could be in for a stumble. There aren’t any major signs pointing to that, however, argued another panelist, David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance’s Nationwide Economics.
“All of the economic data we look at in the last 50 to 100 years is not flashing warning signs right now,” Berson said. “The stock market is not a very good leading indicator of the economy. I’m not terribly concerned that the economy is going to fall into recession.” He also predicted broad sustained growth for housing this year. The exception: Some of the markets where
prices have been rising much faster than income, such as Dallas, or cities that have been reliant on the oil industry for jobs and are now being squeezed by the steel drop in oil prices. The residential construction sector is still recovering from the housing bust and the Great Recession, which officially ended more than six years ago. New-home sales remain below their 52-year historic average of 655,200 as of November. Yet prices are rising. The median new-home sales price was up 0.8 in November from a year earlier to $305,000. Hiring was relatively strong last year, with employers adding about 245,000 jobs a month. “Unlike past recoveries, employment and the strength of employment is what gives people confidence, gives them income and allows them to feel comfortable in taking on a mortgage,” Crowe noted. His forecast calls for single-family home construc-
tion to reach 840,000 this year, up from a projected 711,000 last year. That’s still down from the 1.3 million pace the industry averaged between 2000 and 2003, before the housing boom. On the sales front, he expects new home sales will be about 607,000 this year, up from an estimated 496,000 last year. Homebuilders, which typically hire subcontractors to do construction, carpentry, plumbing and other work involved in building a home, have been struggling with delays and higher costs because of a shortage in labor. A NAHB survey this month found that threefourths of builders who responded listed the labor shortage as their top concern heading into this year. Many are also struggling to find land that’s for sale and ready to build. “And there’s still difficulty in buyers getting mortages, so those will keep (2016) from being even more robust,” Crowe said.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016