The Zapata Times 1/21/2015

PATRIOTS LAUGH OFF TALK

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21, 2015

FREE

NEW ENGLAND FINDS HUMOR IN TALK OF DEFLATED FOOTBALLS, 5A

DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY

TO 4,000 HOMES

A HEARST PUBLICATION

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO

University closes doors Official: Organized crime threat cited as cause for indefinite closure

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, university closed down its doors indefinitely after receiving a threat from organized crime, a school representative based in Mexico City said Monday.

Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo officials posted a sign on the campus’ gate informing students of the closure. Milenio Tamaulipas, a Mexican media outlet, reported the sign was put up Sunday. The message remained as of Monday morning.

“To all the community, be advised that because of circumstances beyond our control, all activities are suspended until further notice,” states the message.

School representatives for the Nuevo Laredo campus could not be reached for

Courtesy photo

comment. Sofia Anaya, a Mexico Citybased university spokeswoman, confirmed the Nuevo Laredo campus received a threat last week. Anaya said she could not elaborate further because of fear of retaliation against school administration.

“We received a threat from organized crime,” Anaya said, declining additional comment.

She said the university’s administration evaluated the situation and decided not to open the campus until security issues are solved.

The Nuevo Laredo campus’ Facebook page posted a message regarding the closure Thursday. On Friday, the campus followed up with another post concerning tuition as many students turned to

A sign on the front gate of Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo announces what university officials say is a temporary closure.

See UNIVERISTY PAGE 11A

INAUGURATION

Mexican governors absent at ceremony

TEXAS’ NEW GOVERNOR

Breaking tradition, Abbott did not invite neighbors

By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE

In his inaugural address in 1995, George W. Bush called the presence in Austin of governors of Mexican states “a clear sign of the importance of the relationship between Texas and Mexico.”

At his 2003 inauguration, Rick Perry called the governors of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas “special guests” and “friends,” and in his 2007 speech, he said the attendance of the governors of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas was a sign that Texas “always proudly rolled out the welcome mat.” He also welcomed Mexican governors in 2011, according to transcripts. So did Ann Richards in 1991.

But when Gov.-elect Greg Abbott took his oath of office on Tuesday, governors from Mexico were not at the event — a break in tradition during the change of the guard at the Texas Capitol. That’s according to a list of Mexican dignitaries provided by a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Nandita Berry.

See ABSENT PAGE 11A

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at his inauguration ceremony, Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Abbott vows to battle Washington on spending

By WILL WEISSERT AND JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS

A

USTIN — Greg Abbott was sworn in Tuesday as Texas’ first new governor in 14 years and promised that the state will stay as de-

fiantly conservative as ever — vowing to battle Washington on spending, regulation and any federal initiative “that uses the guise of fairness to rob us of our freedom.”

Fighter jets streaked through sunny skies, cere-

monial cannons boomed, the University of Texas marching band blared and the smell of four tons of beef brisket prepared for the inaugural barbeque hung over the steps of the state Capitol, where Abbott and new Lieutenant Governor Dan Pa-

trick formally took office.

Abbott, who was previously state attorney general, sued the Obama administration around 30 times, mostly for what Texas claimed was overreach on federal envi-

See ABBOTT PAGE 11A

43 MISSING STUDENTS

DNA tests can’t ID remains ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Marco Ugarte | AP

In this Dec. 28, 2014 file photo, the shadow of a demonstrator is cast on a wall with graffiti protesting the disappearance of 43 rural college students, in front of the Mexican Attorney General’s office.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors said Tuesday that an Austrian forensics lab has been unable to find any more DNA that could be used by conventional means to identify charred remains that might be those of 42 missing college students, but said they have authorized a final, unconvention-

al effort.

The Attorney General’s Office said the University of Innsbruck reported that “excessive heat” damaged the mitochondrial DNA in fragments of teeth and bones, “at least to the point that normal methods cannot be used to successfully analyze them.”

Failure to positively identify the remains would be a setback for the

government, which has struggled with widespread, often violent protests demanding that the students be returned alive, and with relatives’ skepticism about the official belief they are dead.

The University had previously found DNA in the remains that belonged to one of the 43 students who were detained and disappeared in the southern

state of Guerrero in September. Prosecutors say the students were turned over to a drug gang that killed them and then incinerated their bodies on a fuel-fed pyre, before crushing the charred remains and them in a river.

Authorities sent only 16 sets of remains to Austria, saying the rest were so

See REMAINS PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21

ASSOCIATED PRESS

“America’s Four Republics,” an exhibit of colonial-era historical documents, will be on display at the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum, 810 Zaragoza St. until Feb. 24. Opening reception, gallery talk and book-signing with curator Stanley Klos on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. Webb County Heritage Foundation at 7270977, heritage@webbheritage.org or on Facebook.

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2015. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 21, 1915, the first Kiwanis Club, dedicated to community service, was founded in Detroit.

On this date: In 1793, during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and four other Southerners whose states had seceded from the Union resigned from the U.S. Senate.

In 1908, New York City’s Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance prohibiting women from smoking in public establishments (the measure was vetoed by Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., but not before one woman, Katie Mulcahey, was jailed overnight for refusing to pay a fine).

In 1924, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53.

In 1975, female reporters entered a National Hockey League locker room for postgame interviews for the first time. Robin Herman of The New York Times and Canadian radio reporter Marcel St. Cyr were allowed to talk to players following the NHL AllStar Game in Montreal in which the Wales Conference defeated the Campbell Conference 7-1.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.

In 1994, a jury in Manassas, Virginia, found Lorena Bobbitt not guilty by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding her husband John, whom she’d accused of sexually assaulting her.

Ten years ago: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killed at least 14 people; a suicide bombing at a Shiite wedding south of the capital killed at least seven people.

Five years ago: Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted fathering a daughter during an affair before his second White House bid.

One year ago: Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, once viewed as a rising star in the GOP, and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges; the couple denied wrongdoing. (A jury in Sept. 2014 convicted the McDonnells of doing favors for former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams in exchange for more than $165,000 in lowinterest loans and gifts.)

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Ann Wedgeworth is 81.

World Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 75. Opera singerconductor Placido Domingo is 74. Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 65. Former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke is 65. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is 64. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen is 62. Actress Geena Davis is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 52Rock singersongwriter Cat Power is 43.

Rock DJ Chris Kilmore (Incubus) is 42. Actor Vincent Laresca is 41. Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 39.

Rhythm-and-blues singer Nokio (Dru Hill) is 36. Actress Izabella Miko is 34.

Thought for Today: “The road to ruin is always in good repair, and the travellers pay the expense of it.” — Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw), American humorist (18181885).

THURSDAY, JAN. 22 The American Cancer Society kickoff party for 2015 Relay for Life of Webb County at Laredo Firefighters’ Union Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. Diana Juarez at 319-3100 or Laura Nañez at 286-6955.

Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club will meet at the Laredo Country Club at 1:15 to 5 p.m. Beverly Cantu at 727-0589.

FRIDAY, JAN. 23 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Back to the Moon, 6 p.m., Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 7 p.m. Admission $4 for children and $5 for adults, and $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

SATURDAY, JAN. 24 STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU Student Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

20th Annual Crime Stoppers Menudo Bowl at the LIFE Fairgrounds on Highway 59. Gates open 11 a.m.

Menudo cooking contest. 724-1876.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. The Little Star that Could, 2 p.m. Stars of the Pharoahs, 3 p.m. Back to the Moon, 4 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 5 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults, $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

Holy Redeemer Church 7th Annual Dance. 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., Caesars Reception Hall. Amparo Ugarte at 2860862.

SUNDAY, JAN. 25 STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU Student Center. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pro-Life Rosary Walk .2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., start at Boston Street and Santa Ursula Avenue. Martha E. Miller at mmiller@dioceseoflaredo.org. End at San Agustin Cathedral.

MONDAY, JAN. 26 Chess Club, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. next to the Inner City Pool.

John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org, or laredolibrary.org/innercityevents.html or 795-2400 x2521.

TUESDAY, JAN. 27 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Back to the Moon, 5 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 6 p.m. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29 Spanish Book Club from 6-8 p.m. at the Laredo Public Library, Calton Road. Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society meeting. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. St. John Neuman Catholic Parish Hall. Sanjuanita Hunter at 722-3497.

Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club will meet at the Laredo Country Club at 1:15 to 5 p.m. Beverly Cantu at 727-0589.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. Back to the Moon, 6 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 7 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults, and $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. The Little Star that Could, 2 p.m. Stars of the Pharoahs, 3 p.m. Back to the Moon, 4 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 5 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults, and $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1 Accepting applications from volunteers to help foster youth. No experience needed, must be 21 years or older, and have a clear background.

Free training program offered. Voz de Niños for electronic application. www.vozdeninos.org.

Photo by Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle | AP

A Girl Scout Brownie troop marches in Houston’s 2015 Original Martin Luther King Parade Monday, in Houston, Texas.

Texas remembers MLK ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANTONIO — Parades and other community pride events have been held across Texas to remember slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Crowds turned out for Monday’s MLK march in San Antonio. Organizers expected more than 100,000 people to attend the event billed as one of the largest King marches in the country.

Marches and parades honoring King were also held in cities including Houston, Dallas and Nacogdoches. A march and a peace rally were held in Amarillo.

As the marchers made their away along the route in San Antonio, excitement built at the park where the march ended, where the people were enjoying speeches, music and food.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling of camaraderie with the community, and keeping hope alive,” Joyce Mitchell, a veteran of seven MLK Day marches.

Ghada Ghannam and Chrissa Kozaki from the University of Texas at San Antonio said they felt honored to take part in the San Antonio march.

“This is everyone’s struggle,” said Ghannam, 20, originally from Egypt. “Regardless of where they’re from.”

Volunteers in some Texas cities, including Fort Worth, spent the day helping others.

The Tarrant Churches Together MLK day of service was promoted as a “stream of compassion” to serve together across the community.

“There’s always a way you can serve,” Rev. Melinda Veatch, executive director of Tarrant Churches Together, said.

Ex-officer convicted of 3 manslaughter counts

2 dead, several hurt in gunfire at parking lot

9 districts spent nearly $117K during Ebola scare

WICHITA FALLS — A former North Texas police officer has been convicted of causing a 2011 patrol car wreck that left two cousins and an unborn child dead. Ex-Wichita Falls police Officer Teddie Whitefield was convicted Tuesday of three counts of manslaughter.

A judge in Wichita Falls found Whitefield guilty in the crash that killed 18-year-old driver Yeni Lopez, her unborn child and 13year-old Gloria Montoya.

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police say two men have been fatally shot and at least five other people hurt in gunfire into a crowd at a carwash parking lot.

Police say several unknown people on Monday night drove up to the carwash and began shooting into a crowd apparently hanging out at the site. Police say about 100 people were on hand as shots rang out, then the suspects fled.

AUSTIN — Nine Texas school districts together spent nearly $117,000 for cleaning campuses amid concerns about the possible spread of Ebola.

The districts paid for cleaning even as medical professionals declared it unnecessary. The figures reported Monday came from public information requests to the districts.

Former CEO of trucking company admits to fraud

Broken gym light blamed for more than 100 sick

HOUSTON — The ex-CEO of a South Texas trucking company serving Mexico factories faces up to 20 years in prison for his role in a $26 million credit scheme.

Sergio Lagos on Tuesday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud. Lagos formerly led USA Dry Van Logistics in McAllen.

ROBY — A broken mercury vapor light bulb in a gymnasium has been blamed for making more than 100 people sick after high school basketball games in West Texas. Dozens of people who attended the Jan. 6 games later reported having sore throats, headaches and irritated eyes.

Houston-area ATM theft results in arrest of 5 HOUSTON — Five individuals are facing aggravated robbery charges after police in suburban Houston arrested them for allegedly robbing an ATM from a gas station.

Police in Humble say several men used a stolen truck to ram into the side of the gas station early Monday morning. The store was open at the time but no injuries were reported.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Doctor shot inside hospital, gunman dead BOSTON — Police have identified the gunman who shot a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before shooting himself.

Fifty-five-year-old Stephen Pasceri of Millbury was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hospital examination room Tuesday after he apparently shot the doctor twice.

The hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, says the doctor sustained life threatening injuries and was in surgery Tuesday evening. Police say Pasceri entered the hospital’s cardiovascular center and specifically sought out the doctor.

Duke suspends fraternity after assault allegation DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University says it has suspended a fraternity while police investi-

CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Managing Editor, Nick Georgiou ................. 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Steven Senne | AP

Medical personnel walk past law enforcement officials, right, as they depart the Shapiro building at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Tuesday. A person was critically shot at the hospital and a suspect was in custody, police said. gate allegations a woman was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party.

A statement from the university says Alpha Delta Phi has been suspended while Durham police investigate.

Local media outlets obtained a

search warrant that says the woman told police she had drinks at the party before awaking the next day in only a Tshirt. The warrant says the last thing she remembers was dancing with friends. — Compiled from AP reports

SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted.

The Zapata Times is free.

The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500.

The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

State

Family events lined up SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Harlem Ambassadors are making a stop in Zapata.

The team will take on the Zapata Lion Tail Twisters Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Zapata High School Gym. “The Harlem Ambassadors Show is a professional basketball game that is a fresh, family friendly community event,” Aurelio Villarreal, Zapata Lions Club president, said in a press release. “It includes high-flying slam dunks, comedy and fun for the whole family.”

Sponsors for the event are the offices of Zapata County Attorney Said Alfonso Figueroa, Zapata County Sheriff Alonso M. Lopez, Webb and Zapata counties District Attorney Isidro ‘Chilo’ Alaniz, Representative Tracy O. King, Southern Distributing of Laredo and the Holiday Inn Express of Zapata. All proceeds benefit the Lions Scholarship Fund.

Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. For more information, contact any Lion member or the Zapata Chamber of Commerce at 956-7654871.

Run for the Health of It The Zapata Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a 5k run/walk and kids run Jan. 24.

Run for the Health of It will begin at Romeo Park on Glenn and 1st Street in Zapata. The race is 1980s themed and will begin at 8 a.m.

Onsite registration is from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. and costs $20. Preregistration is $15 and availCourtesy photo able online at activeThe Harlem Ambassadors are set to play the Zapata Lion Tail Twisters Thursday, Feb. 5. .com.

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Man who killed 3 set to be executed

By MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS

HUNTSVILLE — The killings of a San Antonio couple and a 90year-old family friend, each stabbed or cut up to 31 times, went unsolved for about seven months before an informant’s tip sent detectives to a relative 300 miles away.

A grandnephew of the slain couple implicated himself, his brother and a friend, Arnold Prieto, in the attack with an icepick, screwdriver or knife that killed Rodolfo Rodriguez, 72, his wife, Virginia, 62, and Paula Moran, 90, whom they cared for at their home.

Prieto, 41, was set to be executed Wednesday for the slayings more than 21 years ago. No appeals to halt the punishment were in the courts Tuesday.

The lethal injection will be the first this year in Texas. Two more are scheduled for next week.

Prieto was arrested with brothers Guadalupe and Jesse Hernandez, who were the grandnephews of the Rodriguezes. Moran had been nanny to that couple’s children.

Authorities said Prieto told them he and the brothers drove to San Antonio early on Sept. 12,

1993, to rob the couple they believed had about $10,000 used for a checking-cashing business they operated out of their home. Court documents show Prieto had financial problems and the Hernandez brothers talked often about their rich uncle in San Antonio.

Prieto told police the three had been using cocaine and continued to do so during their drive to San Antonio. Virginia Rodriguez fed them breakfast after they arrived.

Then she, her husband and Moran were attacked.

The assailants fled with some jewelry and a purse containing about $300.

Back in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, they split the money and pawned some of the jewelry.

A woman arriving at the Rodriguez’s home found the bodies.

Police later recovered a ring from a friend of Prieto who told authorities Prieto said he and the Hernandez brothers were responsible for the killings.

“He had a number of voluntary statements that were admitted into evidence in which he admitted to the crime,” Michael Bernard, Prieto’s lead trial lawyer, recalled last week. “He was in physical possession of some of the property afterward.”

Baker Hughes to lay off 7,000 workers ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. says it will lay off about 7,000 workers as it prepares for a downturn in orders.

Baker Hughes previously reported a record $663 million in net income in the fourth quarter of 2014, more than double its earnings during the same period of the prior year.

Leading the growth was the company’s North American divi-

sion, which posted revenue of $3.3 billion.

But the Houston-based company said in an earnings call Tuesday that it expects a “sharp drop in product sales” because of the plummeting price of crude.

The layoffs represent about an 11 percent cut to the 62,000-plus employees Baker Hughes says it employs worldwide.

The announcement comes after Schlumberger Ltd. said last week it would reduce its workforce by 9,000 employees.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

EDITORIAL

OTHER VIEWS

Significance of Martin Luther King Day, 2015 THE WASHINGTON POST

The movie "Selma" takes us back half a century to one of the most stirring and momentous events of that era: the march that helped secure passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally bringing the franchise to millions of people who supposedly had been granted it nearly a century before. Some have criticized the film for attributing to President Lyndon B. Johnson a couple of actions for which there is little or no historical evidence.

Some have speculated that it got fewer Academy Award nominations than it deserved, in part because of the controversy over whether it contained distortions of history.

But the truth is that Lyndon Johnson’s stature as a champion of civil rights legislation will survive any movie misrepresentation, and "Selma" will, we’d guess, be watched for years to come — on screens, phones and devices yet to be invented — as an inspirational tale of a great American leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The truly history-making significance of that bloody police assault on peaceful marchers at Selma, Ala., 50 years ago lies in the discrediting of a far more pernicious distortion of history, one that became firmly established in parts of the country and was accepted, if not endorsed, by much of the rest of society. It began after Reconstruction, the brief period following the Civil War when newly freed slaves gained the right to vote and, in many places, elected black people to office.

Reconstruction was ended by violent resistance from many white Southerners and by a general lack of will in the rest of the country to pursue the business of racial justice any further. A new mythology was created to discredit the short-lived venture in black participation in government: Reconstruction rule was portrayed as dictatorial and black officeholders as uniformly corrupt and incompetent.

This "history" was represented in films such as "Birth of a Nation" and (less malevolently) "Gone With the Wind." It permeated many other parts of popular culture, was accepted as largely true in school textbooks in many parts of the coun-

But the truth is that Lyndon Johnson’s stature as a champion of civil rights legislation will survive any movie (representation), and "Selma" will … be watched for years to come

An overblown travel risk THE WASHINGTON POST

try and influenced some of our proudest national institutions in ways that shame us to this day: West Point, for example, had no black cadets after Reconstruction until 1932, when Benjamin O. Davis (later to command the Tuskegee Airmen) was admitted, and then spent four years being shunned by his classmates.

Underlying all the hurtful discrimination, of course, was force and violence, whether official, unofficial or a combination of the two. It took the form of unequal justice in the courts and on the streets, and of community-sanctioned murder by lynch mobs, often horrifying spectacles of depravity. If cameras had been everywhere, as they are now, perhaps things would have been different. The shock of a beating or an extrajudicial murder has proved to be far more intense when witnessed than when we read about it in the newspaper or hear of it on radio.

One great accomplishment of Martin Luther King and those who served with him in America’s civil rights revolution was to recognize the power of the new media: Americans could see the face of Rosa Parks on film, the bus boycotters, the murder of children in Sunday School, the brutal attack on the Selma marchers with fire hoses and attack dogs — peaceable demonstrators battered and beaten for seeking their constitutional rights in a vicious display of force that appalled the great mass of Americans. It was a morality play on film whose truth and effectiveness are beyond dispute, though it has many scenes still to be played.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters.

To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication.

We want to assure

COLUMN

our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms.

Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed.

Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

Even before the murderous rampage by Islamist extremists in Paris this month, some members of Congress were sounding alarm bells about Islamic State militants using Western passports to enter the United States. Now they may be even more tempted to undermine, suspend or end the visa waiver program that allows nationals of 38 countries to travel to the United States without a temporary visitor’s visa.

"The visa waiver program is the Achilles’ heel of America," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said last week. Terrorists can "come back from training, they go through a visa waiver country, and they come into this country."

Congress shouldn’t act based on this sort of over-

statement.

The visa waiver program allows people from countries including the United Kingdom, Japan, the Czech Republic, Singapore and, yes, France to skip otherwise required pre-visit interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates. It takes a lot less time and money for foreigners in visa waiver countries to visit the United States. About 19 million people from such countries visited the United States in fiscal year 2012 — that’s 40 percent of all international visitors. They conduct business, go to amusement parks, shop at outlet malls — pumping billions into the economy, not to mention the cultural and diplomatic value of cross-border exchange.

What’s more, their home countries can’t demand expensive or time-consuming visa procedures of Ameri-

cans who want to travel overseas.

Against those benefits lies the fear that visa waivers might allow the wrong one or two people into the country. No system can eliminate all risks. But the program isn’t about letting America’s guard down. It demands that visa waiver nations take several security-enhancing steps. Using secure electronic passports, for example, scales back the risk of fraud, as does promptly reporting lost or stolen travel documents.

Sharing intelligence with the United States improves the database of people who shouldn’t be allowed to fly.

Passengers also have to submit biographical information in advance, which is quickly checked against electronic records. The visa waiver program, in other words, has compelled other

countries to improve their security game. The forgone in-person interviews, meanwhile, are likely more useful in catching would-be illegal immigrants than trained terrorists.

The program isn’t perfect. A few old passports out there lack electronic identification features yet have been grandfathered into the system; the United States could stop accepting those.

The Department of Homeland Security just made a small change of its own, increasing the amount of information it requires passengers to submit before traveling.

But the nation’s no-fly list system is a much more important line of defense. U.S. leaders should worry more about keeping it up to date and refrain from scaling back the visa waiver program.

EDITORIAL

Congress off to a bad start THE SEATTLE TIMES

In an expected, though disappointing, vote last week, conservative Republicans in the U.S. House undermined President Barack Obama’s efforts to act on the nation’s broken immigration system.

The House passed a $40 billion funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, but that package contained amendments that would defund the president’s executive orders delaying the deportation of millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. He acted because Congress wouldn’t. Those representatives who voted for this bill should finally come up with their own credible plan.

The exercise is political theater because the

amendments within the House bill are unlikely to pass in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats are likely to stage a filibuster.

President Obama also threatens a veto.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Washington state Republican, was one of only 26 Republicans willing to join with Democrats to vote against one of the amendments to freeze the Obama administration’s 2012 program allowing some immigrants who entered the U.S. as children to stay.

Disappointingly, Reichert voted to dismantle Obama’s executive action last November allowing those in the country illegally for at least five years to apply for work permits.

Before Obama’s orders, the administration deported record numbers of im-

migrants, breaking up families in the process.

Oddly, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner claimed that undoing the president’s actions is not about deporting immigrants, but about punishing executive overreach. The actual intention could affect an estimated 5 million adults and children.

Meanwhile, House Republican leadership offers no viable alternatives to tackle the real issue: 11 million immigrants illegally living in the U.S. and contributing to the economy.

For nearly two years, the House has ignored a bipartisan Senate agreement that provides comprehensive immigration reform. That bill includes a lengthy, challenging path to citizenship for those in-

dividuals who wish to come out of hiding, play by the rules and become productive members of society.

When Congress refused to act, Obama did. Now Boehner and others call him "reckless." That’s empty criticism from a caucus that not only refuses to fix a broken immigration system, but also tries to score political points by putting important legislation at risk unless it gets its way.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised that Republican control would lead to a functioning, cooperative government.

Two weeks in, Congress is off to a bad start.

Republican leaders should end this obsession with fighting the president.

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

BOXING

Pats brush off talk

Champ Taylor arrested

New England finds humor in talk of deflated footballs

By HOWARD ULMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots are brushing off and even finding humor in questions about whether they used under-inflated footballs in the game that put them in the Super Bowl.

The NFL hasn’t indicated how long its investigation will last into whether the team improperly let air out to make balls easier to throw and catch.

That raises the possibility that it could extend into next week when the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will be in Arizona preparing for the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

A Seahawks spokesman said the team would defer to the league on the matter.

The NFL has said it is reviewing whether the Patriots manipulated footballs during their 45-7 home win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game Sunday night. Deflating a football can change the way it’s gripped by player or the way it travels through the air. Under NFL rules, each team provides balls each game for use when its offense is on the field. The balls

Photo by Rick Osentoski | AP

Official game balls for the NFL’s Super Bowl XLIX sit in a bin before being laced and inflated at the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio on Tuesday. are inspected before the game, then handled during the game by personnel provided by the home team.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says the investigation is the least of his worries. And tight end Rob Gronkowski tweeted a photo of himself spiking the ball with the

words: “WARNING GRONKING MAY CAUSE DEFLATION.” Belichick on Tuesday deferred questions about the investigation, saying reporters should ask league officials.

NFL officials declined comment except to say the investigation was still pending.

Belichick earlier said he wasn’t aware there was an issue until Monday morning and promised to “cooperate fully with whatever the league wants us to, whatever questions they ask.”

Special teams captain Matthew Slater said the Patriots “try to do things the right way.

We work hard at our jobs, our professions, to be successful and it’s unfortunate that things like this come up, but that’s life, that’s the world we live in.”

Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he did not notice issues with the football and didn’t specify when asked whether the Colts had reported the issue to officials.

“We talk just like they talk to officials (before the game),” he said. “We have an opportunity to talk to the officials about a lot of things.”

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman said the balls didn’t feel different than usual.

And defensive tackle Vince Wilfork seemed amused by the matter and didn’t shed any light on it.

“I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “I don’t touch footballs. I tackle people.”

Taylor allegedly pointed gun at kids

By KEN MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock woman says middleweight boxing champion Jermain Taylor pointed a gun at her 5-, 3-, and 1-yearold children, threatened kill them and her husband, and fired into the air.

Taylor — who already faces charges in an August shooting in Maumelle, Arkansas — was arrested shortly afTAYLOR ter the incident Monday and is jailed on charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a minor and drug possession.

Toya Smith of Little Rock told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1EliLks ) that Taylor became enraged when her 5-yearold son dropped the boxer’s championship belt that he had taken to the Martin Luther King Day parade.

A Little Rock police report says Taylor was arrested without incident and a gun was recovered.

Nation

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

Jury selection starts in shooting trial

By SADIE GURMAN AND DAN ELLIOTT ASSOCIATED PRESS

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The first time James Holmes appeared in court, he wore chains and an orange jail jumpsuit and looked dazed, with his hair dyed a comic-book shade of orange.

As the first day of jury selection ended Tuesday in the Colorado theater shooting case, it was a far different Holmes at the defense table: The jail uniform was replaced with khakis, an untucked blue shirt with white stripes and a blue blazer. His hair, now a dark brown, was neatly trimmed.

Later in the day, he wore a different shirt.

The former graduate student whose attorneys acknowledge that he opened fire at a midnight “Batman” movie back in 2012 also had a curly, medium-length beard and wore oval-shaped reddish glasses. No restraints were visible, though the judge had ordered him to be tethered to the floor in a way the public couldn’t see for the trial.

Holmes’ more conventional appearance was an indication that the case was drawing closer to the time when a jury would see the defendant accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a suburban Denver theater.

But first attorneys have to sort through thousands of potential jurors.

Court officials initially summoned a jury pool of 9,000 people, the largest in the nation’s history.

But that figure later fell to about 7,000 after some summons could not be delivered and some people were excused. The pool will be winnowed to a handful in the weeks ahead.

It could take until June to seat

Photo by Brenna Linsley | AP

People wait in a security line at the Arapahoe County Justice Center, in Centennial, Colo., Tuesday. The jury selection process in the trial of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes is expected to take several weeks to a few months. the jurors and alternates for a trial that might last until October.

Holmes, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder and attempted murder charges, could get the death penalty if convicted.

It took deputies longer than expected to search and screen the first prospective jurors and bring them into the courtroom. Some of the 130 or so people carried books or newspapers or looked at their cellphones as they waited to pass through a security station in the hallway.

They heard instructions from the judge and began filling out surveys with 77 questions.

Seven prospective jurors were dismissed, either because they showed proof that they live outside Arapahoe County or brought a note from a doctor. One showed up at the wrong trial; prosecutors suspected another of sleeping in

the courtroom.

Judge Carlos Samour suggested earlier that attorneys might not have to screen all the prospective jurors before beginning to select panelists. He said the process could stop after a few thousand people are screened if both sides agree they have a large enough pool of people.

Earlier in the day, the defense said it objected to the use of a video during the trial, saying prosecutors gave it to them too late. The video is apparently from the jail where Holmes has been held, but its contents have not been made public.

The judge also went over ground rules for jury selection and the trial, urging attorneys on both sides to be professional and respectful.

“We’re going to be spending a lot of time together,” Samour said.

The scope of jury selection and

the trial are testaments to the logistical hurdles of trying the rare case of a mass shooter who survives his attack.

The case has sparked an emotionally charged debate, with Holmes’ parents begging for a plea deal that would save his life, while many survivors and family members of victims have demanded that he be executed.

After the July 20, 2012, shooting, the 27-year-old Holmes was arrested as he stripped off combat gear in the parking lot of the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora.

If jurors convict him, they must then decide whether to recommend the death penalty. If Holmes is acquitted, he would be committed to the state mental hospital indefinitely.

Defense attorneys acknowledge Holmes was the gunman in the attack but say he was in the grip of a psychotic episode at the

time.

Under Colorado law, defendants are not legally liable for their acts if their minds are so “diseased” that they cannot distinguish right from wrong. Part of the reason the case has dragged on is the battle over whether that standard applies to Holmes.

Few details on those arguments have been made public.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys remain under a long-running gag order, and court documents detailing the issue have stayed under seal.

Holmes’ sanity was evaluated by a state psychiatrist but the results were not made public. Prosecutors objected to the findings and persuaded a judge to order a second evaluation. Those results were contested by the defense.

Prosecutors previously rejected at least one plea deal proposed

by Holmes’ attorneys, criticizing the lawyers for publicizing the offer and calling it a ploy meant to draw the public and the judge into what should be private plea negotiations.

Survivors of the attack and family members of victims have had a long time to get ready for a trial.

“We’ve all been to therapists and have talked to our families and have our support groups, so we’re prepared,” said Marcus Weaver, who was shot in the arm and whose friend Rebecca Wingo died in the attack. “It’s going to be quite the journey.”

Judge Samour called nearly nine times as many prospective jurors as were summoned in the ongoing Boston marathon bombing trial. That meant the county’s 600,000 residents had a nearly one-in-50 chance of being selected.

Cancer-causing agent detected in water

By MATTHEW BROWN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Nick Graham/The Journal-News | AP

Crews investigate the scene and start to clean up debris, Tuesday in Cincinnati. A construction worker was killed and a truck driver injured when the overpass undergoing demolition collapsed.

Overpass collapse left one dead, one injured

By DAN SEWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS

CINCINNATI — Tons of concrete and steel covered the southbound lanes of a major artery Tuesday after an overpass collapse during demolition work left one worker dead, a tractortrailer driver injured and police considering what the potential toll might have been had the accident occurred amid heavy traffic.

The removal of debris from Interstate 75 began Tuesday afternoon and was expected to take 24 to 48 hours. Ohio transportation authorities will then assess the pavement where the section of overpass deck landed Monday night with what a resident described as an earth-shaking thud. The Ohio Department of Transportation said it’s difficult to predict how long pavement repairs might take without seeing the damage.

Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said casualties could have been much higher had the accident occurred at a busy time on the interstate that carries more than 178,000 vehicles a day through the area some 5 miles north of the Ohio River.

Authorities identified the worker who was killed as Brandon William Carl, 35, of Augusta, Kentucky.

The Hamilton County coroner’s office will do an autopsy to determine cause of death; Cincinnati fire officials said the body was

recovered from rubble with the help of air bags and special equipment early Tuesday morning, about four hours after the accident.

The name of the tractortrailer driver wasn’t released immediately. He was taken to a hospital with what were described as minor injuries. His truck slammed into the overpass as the debris landed.

“In a matter of seconds his fate would have probably been different,” Blackwell said.

Transportation officials said heavy equipment was being used to separate the concrete deck from structural steel when the span fell. Gary Middleton, acting deputy director of the Ohio transportation department’s southwest Ohio district, said it was a “routine operation” being carried out by a major contractor.

Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Construction was doing the demolition under a nearly $91 million contract for a three-year project meant to improve traffic capacity and safety in a busy stretch of I-75.

The company had a good safety track record, federal regulators said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

“I would say there any number of possibilities,” Middleton said.

The overpass once carried a ramp that had been a left-hand exit from north-

bound I-75 and carried traffic over the southbound lanes to Hopple Street. It was replaced by a new ramp that exits to the right from northbound 75 near the University of Cincinnati.

Middleton said Kokosing is a “very safety-conscious” contractor with high ratings.

The company didn’t immediately respond to messages left Tuesday.

The firm is responsible for debris cleanup and could be assessed damages for forcing lane closures and other work, Middleton said. Kokosing also could face fines and other disciplinary action by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was investigating the work-related death.

Suburban commuters headed downtown were diverted to Interstate 71 south, where traffic slowed Tuesday morning. Motorists headed to Kentucky could take the Interstate 275 loop around the city.

Southbound side streets also were congested.

The construction project had been scheduled for completion in June 2016.

Planned northbound I-75 closures for work Tuesday night were postponed.

A nearby resident said the collapse rattled his house.

“Just heard a thud, and the house shook,” Casey Wright told WLWT-TV. “It felt like an earthquake. I’m sure the whole neighborhood felt it.”

GLENDIVE, Mont. — Eastern Montana residents rushed to stock up on bottled water Tuesday after authorities detected a cancercausing component of oil in public water supplies downstream of a Yellowstone River pipeline spill.

Elevated levels of benzene were found in water samples from a treatment plant that serves about 6,000 people in the agricultural community of Glendive, near North Dakota.

Scientists from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the benzene levels were above those recommended for long-term consumption, but did not pose a short-term health hazard. Residents were warned not to drink or cook with water from their taps.

Some criticized the timing of Monday’s advisory, which came more than two days after 50,000 gallons of oil spilled from the 12-inch Poplar pipeline owned by Wyoming-based Bridger Pipeline Co. The spill occurred about 5 miles upstream from the city.

Adding to the frustrations was uncertainty over how long the water warning would last. Also, company and government officials have struggled to come up with an effective way to recover the crude, most of which appears to be trapped beneath the ice-covered Yellowstone River.

A mechanical inspection of the damaged line Tuesday revealed the breach occurred directly beneath the river, about 50 feet from the south shore, Bridger Pipeline spokesman Bill Salvin said.

The cause remained undetermined.

By Tuesday, oil sheens were reported as far away as Williston, North Dakota, below the Yellowstone’s confluence with the Missouri River, officials said.

“It’s scary,” said 79-yearold Mickey Martini of Glendive. “I don’t know how they’re going to take care of this.”

Martini said she first noticed a smell similar to diesel fuel coming from her tap water Monday night. Officials previously didn’t know whether the spill happened beneath the iced-over river

Photo by Matthew Brown | AP

Cesar Rodriguez, left, hands a case of bottled drinking water to Whitney Schipman of Glendive, Mont., on Tuesday. or somewhere on the riverbank.

Martini said she was unable to take her daily medicines for a thyroid condition and high cholesterol until she picked up water from a public distribution center later in the day.

Representatives from the state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier said preliminary monitoring of the city’s water showed no cause for concern. The water treatment plant operated until Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after pipeline operator Bridger Pipeline discovered the spill, officials said.

Additional tests were conducted early Monday after residents began complaining of the petroleum- or diesel-like smell from their tap water. That’s when the high benzene levels were found.

Benzene in the range of 10 to 15 parts per billion was detected from the city’s water, said Paul Peronard with the EPA. Anything above 5 parts per billion is considered a long-term risk, he said.

Peronard acknowledged problems in how officials addressed the city’s water supply, including not having the right testing equipment on hand right away to pick up contamination. But Peronard and others involved in the spill response said officials acted based on the best information available.

“Emergencies don’t work in a streamlined fashion,” said Bob Habeck with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. “It’s a process of discovery and response.”

Several residents interviewed by The Associated Press said they first heard about the water problems

through friends and social media sites, not the official advisory.

“They could have been more on top of it,” Whitney Schipman said as she picked up several cases of bottled water for her extended family from a water distribution center. “As soon as there was a spill, they should have told everybody.”

Officials took initial steps Tuesday to decontaminate the water system. Glendive Mayor Jerry Jimison said it was unknown when the water treatment plant would be back in operation.

Until that happens, Salvin said the company will provide 10,000 gallons of drinking water a day to Glendive.

The company established a hotline for people with questions about the water supply and to report any wildlife injured by the spill: (888) 959-8351.

Another pipeline spill along the Yellowstone River in Montana released 63,000 gallons of oil in July 2011.

An Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline broke during flooding, and oil washed up along an 85-mile stretch of riverbank.

Exxon Mobil faces state and federal fines of up to $3.4 million from the spill.

The company has said it spent $135 million on the cleanup and other work.

The Poplar pipeline involved in Saturday’s spill runs from Canada to Baker, Montana, picking up crude along the way from Montana and North Dakota’s Bakken oil-producing region.

The pipeline receives oil at four points in Montana: Poplar Station in Roosevelt County, Fisher and Richey stations in Richland County, and at Glendive in Dawson County.

Nation

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

Death law eyed

Charlie Hebdo sells out in NY

By VERENA DOBNIK ASSOCIATED PRESS

By FENIT NIRAPPIL ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers are pursuing right-to-die legislation after the highly publicized story of a young woman with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to legally end her life.

Democratic legislators are pushing to allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication nearly a decade after similar legislation failed.

Terminally ill patients can legally take their lives in five states including Oregon.

Advocates for aid in dying are ramping up their efforts across the U.S. using the story of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old San Francisco Bay Area woman who ended her life in November. She argued in online videos and national media appearances that she should have had the right to die in California.

“Why should someone who willingly wants to avail themselves of this option have to go to another state?” said State Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, who will appear with Maynard’s family to promote right-to-die legislation today. “It just adds to the suffering and challenge at an already difficult time.”

Monning’s bill is modeled off of Oregon’s law, which was approved by voters in 1994. It would be limited to those with less than six months to live and requires patients take deadly medication themselves without help from a doctor.

Opponents say some patients may feel pressured to end their lives if doctors are allowed to prescribe fatal medication.

Religious groups have condemned aidin-dying legislation as against God’s will.

THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

Photo courtesy of the Bay County Courthouse | AP

Dalton Hayes appears in court via a video link-up between the Bay County Jail and the Bay County Courthouse, Monday.

Dad of girl in crime spree is not mad

By ADAM BEAM ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLARKSON, Ky. — The father of a 13-year-old girl who police say went on a multi-state crime spree with her older boyfriend said Tuesday that he is not angry with the 18year-old.

Cheyenne Phillips, 13, and Dalton Hayes, 18, were arrested late Saturday in Panama City Beach after authorities found them sleeping in a stolen vehicle.

“I don’t have anything against him. I’m not upset with this boy. He’s a boy.

And apparently he thinks something of my daughter. He’s just not thinking clearly,” Shawn Phillips told The Associated Press.

Shawn Phillips also denied as “completely bogus” Hayes’ allegation that Cheyenne Phillips told him she had been abused at home.

“Anyone that knows us knows better. My family is pretty well respected in the community,” said Phillips, 38.

Hayes made the abuse allegations during a jailhouse interview with The News Herald of Panama City, telling the paper

they just wanted to escape Phillips’ family, who she claimed were beating her, and planned to make it to Miami. Officials and others said Tuesday that they did not know of any allegations of abuse.

“All I had to do was tell her to go home and none of this would’ve happened, but it’s hard to tell someone getting beat on to go home,” Hayes said.

“But, if I could go back, I’d be paying for bus rides instead of stealing trucks.”

Shawn Phillips said he and his wife divorced before Cheyenne Phillips was born. He said he and his grandparents have raised her since she was 3 on their farm near Clarkson, where he said Cheyenne had everything she could ever want. But he said Cheyenne would often lie to him. Still, she had a 9 p.m. curfew on school nights and a 10 p.m. curfew on weekends, rules that she never broke.

The abuse allegations are “something we’ll talk about when they get back to Kentucky,” Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins told The Associated Press. He said he

was unaware of any previous accusations of abuse.

The crime spree started on Jan. 3 when police say Cheyenne Phillips’ mother, Sherry Phillips, picked Cheyenne up from her house near Clarkson.

Sherry Phillips does not have custody or visitation rights with her daughter, and police arrested her on Monday on a charge of custodial interference.

She is in jail on a $50,000 cash bond and has a court hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.

The pair’s travels took them to South Carolina and Georgia and included a night in a frigid barn, Hayes said.

Shawn Phillips said police in Breckenridge County caught up with the couple two days after they disappeared, but were unable to catch them. Phillips said he and other family members searched the woods until about 10:30 that night looking for the teens.

Hayes agreed in court Monday to return to Kentucky to face charges. He is expected to be charged in Kentucky with burglary, theft and criminal trespassing.

NEW YORK — The first issue of the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo printed since the Paris attacks finally arrived in the United States Tuesday, and it took just one hour to sell out at a Manhattan bookstore.

Customers paid $6 at the French-language bookstore Albertine on Fifth Avenue, which got 100 copies of an issue that defiantly displays the prophet Muhammad.

Two gunmen who shot and killed 12 people at the magazine’s office said they were avenging Muhammad — a frequent subject of ridicule in the magazine’s cartoons.

Until the Paris attack,

the magazine was not normally distributed in the United States but in the days after the Paris shootings, New York magazine vendors fielded thousands of phone inquiries about it.

Two other independent bookstores in Manhattan have sold out of their 100 copies each — for a total of 300 available in New York. Another 300 copies are going to the rest of the country.

“We’re trying to get more, but I don’t know how many or even if we’ll get more,” said Flora Greeson, manager of Book Culture on the borough’s Upper West side.

Five million copies have been printed so far in France. A digital edition is available online.

International

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES

Many call for woman’s release

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY — Relatives and supporters of a jailed vigilante leader who holds dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship said Tuesday that she and her community police force never demanded bail for or mistreated the prisoners in their care.

Nestora Salgado, a resident of the Seattle suburb of Renton, was arrested in August 2013 after people detained by SALGADO the community force she leads in the southern state of Guerrero alleged that they had been kidnapped. A federal judge cleared Salgado of those charges last year, but related state charges have kept her locked up.

Salgado’s fellow commanders said during a news conference in Mexico City that the force in the town of Olinala never demanded bail money, which her accusers called ransom. The commanders said many of those detained were youths held at the request of their parents for “re-education.”

“The communitarian system does not request any bail,” said regional community police commander Cruz Morales Reyes. “It does not request any ransom. There is no amount of money that can get someone out.”

A state law allows Olinala and Guerrero’s other indigenous communities to organize their own police forces.

Morales said the community police, which rose up as a result of corruption within the local government and organized crime, arrests people accused of crimes but also young people whose parents deem them out of control.

One of those was Francisco Flores Jimenez, who said his mother asked that he be held and “re-educated” by the community police. He described a regimen of manual labor and lessons about the value of hard work. He said detainees who worked hard were fed well, while those who didn’t received whatever was available.

Flores also questioned charges by some detainees that they were abused.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

Mystery lingers around death

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The ex-wife of a prosecutor who accused Argentine President Cristina Fernandez of protecting the masterminds of a 1994 bombing does not believe an initial finding that he killed himself on the eve of his testimony before congress.

While acknowledging that investigators need time to examine the facts, Judge Sandra Arroyo was clear in answering reporters who asked Tuesday whether her ex-husband’s death was a suicide.

“No,” she said.

The 51-year-old Nisman was found in the bathroom of his locked apartment early Monday, a bullet wound on the right side of his head and, next to his body, a .22 caliber handgun and a single bullet casing, authorities said.

Nisman had spent 10 years investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, a still-unsolved attack that killed 85 people.

His death came hours before he was to appear in congress to detail his accusation that Fernandez, her foreign minister and other top officials had agreed to shield Iranian officials who allegedly masterminded the bombing.

Administration officials

Photo by Rodrigo Abd | AP

A demonstrator hits riot police as women hang an Argentine flag on a barrier during a protest sparked by the death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday. dismissed the allegations as ludicrous.

Viviana Fein, the lead investigator into Nisman’s death, said Monday it appeared to be a suicide and that no indications had surfaced to suggest anyone else was involved.

The gun found next to Nisman had been given to him by a colleague, she said. An initial test for gunshot residue on his hand was negative, but Fein said that was not unusual given the small caliber of the weapon.

No suicide letter was found, according to an adviser to the ministry who spoke on condition of ano-

nymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Colleagues said they’d seen no sign he planned to kill himself.

Nisman’s family and friends rejected that he committed suicide in condolence notices published Tuesday in the La Nacion newspaper.

“A profound sadness and pain for a death so unjust,” said a notice from his uncles, aunts and cousins.

Nisman had said he’d been threatened repeatedly for his work and, at the time of his death, 10 federal police officers had been assigned to protect him. Investigators planned to

question the officers, starting Tuesday with those posted outside his building the night of his death.

Arroyo, who met with investigators to learn about the progress of the probe, said answers would come in due time.

“There is an investigation underway. We must let justice proceed. I cannot make conjectures,” she told reporters.

The 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association is considered the worst terrorist attack in Argentina’s history. In 2005, Nisman was appointed by then-President Nestor Kirchner, Fernandez’s

husband, to revive the floundering investigation.

He requested arrest orders be issued against several Iranian officials, including a former president and foreign minister, which an Argentine judge agreed to do in 2006. Interpol later put most of them on its most-wanted list.

But the case made little progress and, in 2013, Argentina and Iran agreed to jointly investigate the attack, a move critics said was meant to undermine Nisman’s probe.

Last week, Nisman asked a federal judge to call Fernandez and others, including Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, for questioning, accusing them of having made “the criminal decision to fabricate Iran’s innocence to sate Argentina’s commercial, political and geopolitical interests.” The judge was considering Nisman’s request.

Congresswoman Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann said she had planned to pick Nisman up at his residence Monday and accompany him to congress for his testimony.

“Everybody who had contact with him the last 24 hours says he was confident” about his testimony, she told The Associated Press. “There is no indication, under any circumstances, that he killed himself.”

MIÉRCOLES 21 DE ENERO DE 2015

Ribereña en Breve JUNTA DE COMISIONADOS El lunes 26 de enero, los Comisionados de la Corte del Condado de Zapata realizarán su junta quincenal en la Sala de la Corte del Condado de Zapata, a partir de las 9 a.m. a 12 p.m.

Para mayores informes llame a Roxy Elizondo al (956) 765 9920.

TORNEO DE PESCA El torneo de pesca de bagre Falcon Lake Babe —International Catfish Series— para damas solamente, se llevará a cabo el sábado 14 de febrero.

La serie de cinco torneos que se realizan mensualmente desde noviembre finalizará con una ronda de campeonato en el mes de marzo.

El torneo es un evento individual que permite hasta tres concursantes por embarcación. Las participantes deberán pagar la cuota de participación en los cinco torneos para tener derecho a la ronda de campeonato.

Las inscripciones se realizan el viernes anterior al sábado del torneo en Beacon Lodge Rec. Hall. La cuota de inscripción es de 20 dólares por persona.

El siguiente torneo será el 7 de marzo para finalizar con la ronda de campeonato el 7 de marzo.

Para mayores informes comuníquese con Betty Ortiz al (956) 236-4590 o con Elcina Buck al (319) 239 5859.

Zfrontera

PÁGINA 9A

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO

Obligan a cierre POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Una universidad de Nuevo Laredo, México, cerró sus puertas indefinidamente después de recibir amenazas por parte de un grupo criminal, dijo un representante de la escuela el lunes.

Oficiales de la Universidad del Valle de México, campus Nuevo Laredo, colocaron un cartel a la entrada del campus para informar a los estudiantes sobre la clausura. Milenio Tamaulipas, un medio de comunicación mexicano, reportó que el cartel fue colocado el domingo. El mensaje permanecía en la entrada de la escuela el lunes.

“A toda la comunidad, se notifica que debido a causas de fuerza mayor se suspenden todas las actividades hasta nuevo aviso”, señala el mensaje.

Representantes escolares no pudieron ser contactados para hacer comentarios.

Sofia Anaya, portavoz de la universidad con base en la Ciudad de México, confirmó que el campus Nuevo Laredo, recibió amenazas la semana pasada. Anaya dijo, vía telefónica, que no podía brindar más detalles, debido a que se teme se tomen represalias en contra de la administración de la escuela.

“Recibimos una amenaza por parte del crimen organizado”, dijo Anaya, declinando a hacer comentarios adicionales. Dijo que la administración evaluó la situación y decidió no abrir el campus hasta que los problemas de seguridad queden resueltos.

La página en Facebook del campus UVM de Nuevo Laredo publicó un mensaje sobre la clausura el jueves. El viernes, publicaron una ac-

tualización relacionada con la inscripción ya que varios alumnos entraron a la red social en busca de respuestas.

En cuanto a la inscripción, la universidad no tendrá cambios mientras esté cerrada. Además, Anaya dijo que la universidad responderá de acuerdo con las necesidades de los estudiantes.

“La decisión para cerrar el campus fue realizada porque no es seguro para la comunidad universitaria”, se lee en el mensaje colocado en la red social.

Hasta el lunes, la administración no contaba con una fecha determinada para restaurar las clases.

“Esperamos tener buenas noticias pronto”, dijo Anaya.

La Universidad del Valle de México, campus Nuevo Laredo, sirve a alrededor de 700 estudiantes, de acuerdo con Anaya. La universidad

está localizada en 6150 de avenida Emiliano Zapata en la Colonia La Concordia, al sureste de Nuevo Laredo.

Toma un tiempo estimado de 15 minutos llegar del Puente Internacional de las Américas, a la universidad, de acuerdo con Google Maps.

Una advertencia para viajar a México fue emitida por el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos el 24 de diciembre, y continúa activa.

Los ciudadanos de EU deberán “aplazar viajes no esenciales al estado de Tamaulipas”, señala la alerta, citando los riesgos que suponen los asaltos a mano armada, incidentes de robo de autos con violencia, encuentros violentos entre organizaciones del crimen organizado y elementos militares mexicanos.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)

TEXAS

NUEVO GOBERNADOR

JUNTA DE COMISIONADOS El lunes 09 de febrero, los Comisionados de la Corte del Condado de Zapata realizarán su junta quincenal en la Sala de la Corte del Condado de Zapata, a partir de las 9 a.m. a 12 p.m.

Para mayores informes llame a Roxy Elizondo al (956) 765 9920.

PATROCINIO La Cámara de Comercio de Zapata invita a la comunidad a participar en el Winter Texan & Senior Citizen Appreciation Day, que se celebrará el 19 de febrero en el Centro Comunitario del Condado de Zapata.

Durante el evento se reconocerá y mostrará la gratitud de la comunidad para los adultos mayores que contribuyeron con la comunidad.

Si desea puede participar como patrocinados: Platino, 2.000 dólares; Oro, 1.000 dólares; Plata, 500 dólares; Bronce, 300 dólares. El dinero recaudado será destinado a la compra de comida, refrescos, entretenimiento, premios y regalos para el evento.

En 2013, el evento ayudó a más de 400 adultos mayores participantes.

Para más información puede llamar al (956) 7654871.

TORNEO DE PESCA El torneo de pesca de bagre Falcon Lake Babe —International Catfish Series— para damas solamente, se llevará a cabo el sábado 14 de febrero.

La serie de cinco torneos que se realizan mensualmente desde noviembre finalizará con una ronda de campeonato en el mes de marzo.

El torneo es un evento individual que permite hasta tres concursantes por embarcación. Las participantes deberán pagar la cuota de participación en los cinco torneos para tener derecho a la ronda de campeonato.

Las inscripciones se realizan el viernes anterior al sábado del torneo en Beacon Lodge Rec. Hall. La cuota de inscripción es de 20 dólares por persona.

El siguiente torneo será el 7 de marzo para finalizar con la ronda de campeonato el 7 de marzo.

Foto por Eric Gay | AP

El nuevo Gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, a la derecha, tomó protesta como Gobernador de Texas, durante una ceremonia en el Capitolio en Austin, el martes por la mañana, y prometió que el Estado permanecerá como desafiante conservador.

FRONTERA

TAMAULIPAS

Encuentros dejan 2 muertos

Policía estatal volverá a curso de entrenamiento

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Durante el fin de semana eventos violentos en los municipios de Reynosa y Miguel Alemán, México, dieron lugar a dos muertes, decomisos, arrestos y persecuciones.

El sábado en el municipio de Reynosa, elementos de la policía estatal, federal y de Defensa Nacional, detuvieron a dos personas que presuntamente trabajan para un grupo delictivo, tras seguir una denuncia ciudadana, señala un comunicado de prensa.

La denuncia informó sobre la presencia de Luis Enrique Santiago Gerardo y Rodolfo Mondragón Antonio, quienes supuestamente estaban armados y a borde de dos camionetas en un lugar conocido como “La India”, cerca del kilómetro 13. Al momento de su detención, los dos hombres señalaron que fueron llevados por gente armada, con la instrucción de desmantelar los terrenos.

En un caso diferentes y de acuerdo con elementos federales, alrededor de las 3:40 p.m., del domingo en los terrenos de la Colonia Pradera de Elite, se reportó un encuentro entre oficiales y civiles armados, tras el cual, fueron abatidas dos personas. Uno de

los hombres fue cado como Ángel Rodríguez, de 43 edad. El segundo 35 a 40 años.

identifiSánchez años de tenía de

Miguel Alemán Fue el sábado que elementos de la policía estatal de Miguel Alemán ejecutaron el arresto de Felipe López Rubio, después de que se decomisaran tres vehículos, 360 kilogramos de marihuana, 98 poncha llantas, dos armas largas, tres cargadores, 59 cartuchos y una máquina eléctrica para contar billetes.

De acuerdo con reportes, militares notaron una camioneta con placas de Texas que circulaba a exceso de velocidad y que transportaba a personas armadas, tras lo cual se marcó alto al conductor, quien ignoró la solicitud, señala un reporte.

Durante un operativo especial entre elementos de Fuerza Tamaulipas de los municipios de Mier, Camargo, Guerrero y Miguel Alemán, se ubicó a las camionetas buscadas en la carretera CamargoPuente Internacional Río Grande, a la altura de la Colonia Nuevo CamargoSolo se logró el arresto de López Rubio.

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

A partir de febrero, elementos de las policías estatales acreditables de Tamaulipas reanudarán entrenamiento a través de un Curso de Capacitación y Adiestramiento Militar.

El curso pretende reforzar los conocimientos, destrezas y habilidades de vigilancia, señaló el general Arturo Gutiérrez García, Secretario de Seguridad Pública del Estado.

Alrededor de 250 elementos han sido enviados a un campamento militar ubicado en Mazaquiahuac, Tlaxcala, señala un comunicado de prensa. El curso tiene dura-

ción de ocho semanas.

“Se pretende proponer una modificación en cuanto a la cantidad de elementos que se envían a esta capacitación, para que sean sólo 125”, dijo Gutiérrez. “Se está planteando la necesidad en virtud del plan de trabajo que se lleva a cabo en Tamaulipas para atender los diferentes operativos de seguridad y para combatir la delincuencia e inseguridad”.

La capacitación se apega a las instrucciones del Gobierno de la República, para tener cada vez policías mejor capacitados y certificados, ya que el convenio señala como fecha límite el 31 de junio, señala el comunicado.

GANADOR DE ORATORIA

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán

Diego Pérez Tabullo durante la participación que le otorgó el primer lugar en el concurso de oratoria Sentimiento Juarista, en Los Guerra, Miguel Alemán, México.

Nation

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP

A male surf scoter, left, and female surf scoter interact after being treated, washed and dried at International Bird Rescue, Tuesday, in Fairfield, Calif. The death of 100 birds in the San Francisco Bay Area has baffled wildlife officials who say the feathers of the birds were coated with a mysterious substance that looks and feels like rubber cement.

Mysterious goo blamed in bird deaths

By KRISTIN J. BENDER ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — The death of 100 birds in the San Francisco Bay Area has baffled wildlife officials who say the creatures’ feathers were coated with a mysterious substance that looks and feels like rubber cement.

The birds began turning up on a beach Friday. Necropsies and lab tests will be done Tuesday, but results may not be known until later this week, California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan said.

“We’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Hughan said. “So it’s a mystery for the moment.”

Volunteers were slogging through mud and bog in the foggy, cold weather looking for dead surf scoters, buffleheads and horned grebes. The birds each weigh about 4 pounds and are roughly the size of a duck.

Dead birds have turned up on shorelines, beaches and trails in the suburbs of San Leandro, Alameda and Hayward.

“Volunteers are combing every inch of shoreline with their eyes and binoculars, running down the beach with a 20-foot pole with a net attached to it trying to save a bird,” Hughan said.

International Bird Rescue Interim Executive Director Barbara Callahan said she has never seen anything like the sticky gray goo in 20 years in the business.

“The goo appears to be light gray in color and to me looks like rubber cement that’s been played with all day and is sort of dirty,” she said. “It has very little smell.”

Officials were investigating whether the substance could be polyisobutylene, which is sticky, odorless, largely colorless, and killed thousands of seabirds in the United Kingdom in 2013.

“While on its face, this substance seems very similar to reports from the U.K. two years ago, we won’t know definitively until lab tests are completed,” Callahan said.

Officials believe the culprit substance was dumped into the San Francisco Bay and is not a public health or safety risk to humans.

Callahan said it’s likely a man-made product, meaning a pipeline might have burst or someone intentionally dumped the substance.

The International Bird Rescue center in Fairfield has received 280 birds and 242 are alive and receiving medical care and stabilization, cleaning and reconditioning. Baking soda and vinegar is used to loosen the sticky substance before washing it off with dish soap, The cost of the bird rescue is running between $7,000 and $8,000 daily with the use of full-time staff members and roughly 40 volunteers.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

SOCORRO P. FLORES

ABBOTT Continued from Page 1A

Dec. 25, 1917 – Jan. 18, 2015 Socorro P. Flores, 97, passed away on Sunday, January 18, 2015 at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo, Texas.

Ms. Flores is preceded in death by her husband, Hector A. Flores; greatgranddaughter, Sophia M. Montañez; parents, Pedro and Aurelia Peña; brother, Ruben (Rosaura) Peña and a sister, Aurelia (Humberto) Rendon.

Ms. Flores is survived by her son, Hector A. Flores (Marissa Gutierrez); daughter, Leticia Flores (Ramiro J. Guerra); grandchildren, Melissa Y. (Eduardo) Cruz; Jorge A. Flores; Annabelle Hernandez (Ricardo Montañez), Daniel A. (Roberta) Barrera, Jessica A. (Corando) Buruato; great-grandchildren, Desiree Garcia, Edward Cruz, Jr., Meledy A. Cruz, Jose Angel Hernandez, Joel Anthony Hernandez, Alejandro Montañez, Aubrey Montañez, Daniel A. Barrera, Jr., Jessalyn Buruato, Jaqueline Buruato; brother, Rafael (Elsa) Peña and by numerous nephews, nieces, other family members and friends.

Visitation hours were held on Tuesday, January

20, 2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home.

The funeral procession departed on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.

Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home Daniel A. Gonzalez, Funeral Director, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy 83 Zapata, Texas.

ronmental regulations. He promised more of the same as governor: “I will continue my legacy of pushing back against Washington if they spend too much, regulate too much, or violate our state sovereignty.”

“Any government that uses the guise of fairness to rob us of our freedom will get a uniquely Texan response: ‘come and take it,”’ Abbott said, a reference to a famous battle from the Texas revolution.

“We Texans aren’t spoiling for a fight, but we won’t shrink from one if the cause is right.”

That resonated with Teresa Ward, a retiree visiting from Tyler in East Texas, who said, “The federal government has gone too far.”

“They have limited freedoms of Americans. It’s our right to be free,” said Ward, 57. “What the federal government is trying to do is be a police government.”

Organizers raised more than $4.5 million for the inaugural festivities, which also include a parade, a ball and a concert featuring Lady Antebellum.

About 3,000 people attended, many wearing red, white and blue and waving

Abbott called Perry “a man I am humbled to succeed,” but his predecessor wasn’t around to hear it.

Texas flags — but some bailed on the speeches to beat the line for a plate of barbeque at $10 a head.

A souvenir stand sold items ranging from $5 beer “koozies” to $100 cufflinks.

Joe Gaston, a 61-year-old lay minister from Pearland in suburban Houston, arrived early, lugging a 12foot, 45-pound cross — hoping to bring a spiritual message to the event. Taking inspiration from the biblical story of Joshua at Jericho, he said he’d walk around the Capitol for three days, “praying for leadership.”

The 57-year-old Abbott succeeds Rick Perry, who took office in December 2000 and says he’ll announce an expected second presidential run perhaps as early as May. Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush when he was elected president, was the longest-serving governor in Texas his-

tory.

Abbott called Perry “a man I am humbled to succeed,” but his predecessor wasn’t around to hear it.

Abbott aides said Perry skipped the swearing-in per Texas tradition, pointing to Democrat Ann Richards avoiding Bush’s 1995 inauguration.

However, many previous gubernatorial predecessors attended their successor’s swearingin.

Asked about Perry’s whereabouts Tuesday, spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said only, “he’s in Austin.”

Unlike Perry and his political cowboy persona, Abbott has a judicial mentality. He nearly choked up Tuesday when thanking his wife and daughter and God. Patrick, a tea party favorite who will oversee the state Senate, snapped selfies from the podium, then

ABSENT Continued from Page 1A “We have not received a formal invitation, and I presume that’s the same for the other governors” of Mexican states that border Texas, Guillermo Martinez, a spokesman for Tamaulipas Gov. Egidio Torre Cantú, said Friday.

When asked whether any Mexican governors were invited to the inauguration, the Berry spokeswoman, Alicia Pierce, said the inaugural committee could better answer that question. A spokesman for the inaugural committee did not respond to questions about whether Mexican governors were invited. In an interview with The Texas Tribune on Friday, Abbott demurred when asked whether Mexican governors were invited.

"It will come as no surprise that, consistent with my campaign for governor, you will see a level of Hispanic theme in the inauguration," Abbott said.

Abbott touted his wife’s Hispanic roots during his campaign and visited the

Rio Grande Valley and El Paso often before Election Day. John Wittman, the Abbott inaugural committee spokesman, said several high-ranking Mexican officials were in Austin. They include Dr. Sergio Alcocer, the undersecretary for North American affairs; José Octavio Tripp, the consul general for Mexico in Dallas; and Carlos González, the consul general for Mexico in Sacramento.

The inauguration comes at a time when Mexico is the state’s No. 1 trade partner and is opening its energy sector to private investment, which many see as a potential boon to Texas’ economy. From January to November, more than $326 billion in combined twoway trade passed through the Laredo and El Paso customs districts.

Given those economic and cultural ties, it is unfortunate the governors will not be in Austin, said Duncan Wood, the director of the Mexico Institute at

the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. “The opportunities for deepening the relationship between Texas and Mexico are multiple and abundant,” he said. “So it seems a great shame that this opportunity to involve Mexican border governors in a relationship with the new administration is being passed up.”

Texas’ leaders have also been critical of Mexico’s government, specifically on the issues of illegal immigration and border security. In September, Perry accused Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto of doing little to stop the surge of undocumented immigrants who poured into the Rio Grande Valley last summer.

Martinez, the spokesman for Tamaulipas’ Torre, said his office stood ready to continue promoting his state’s economic agenda in Texas.

“We have a stupendous relationship with the busi-

REMAINS ness community in Texas, with the universities in Texas, and we’re promoting our energy initiatives (there),” he said. He added that Torre recently traveled to the Eagle Ford Shale and to Austin to meet with academics, energy experts and businesspeople.

Rolando Pablos, a board member of the Hispanic Republicans of Texas PAC and a former Perry appointee to the Public Utility Commission, cautioned against reading too much into who attends Abbott’s inauguration.

“I think Gov.-elect Abbott’s commitment to Mexico and to developing relations with Mexico is pretty clear, especially by the fact that he appointed (former Cameron County Judge Carlos) Cascos as secretary of state,” he said. “I think it’s been a busy last couple of months, and so I am not worried about it all. I know for sure Gov. Abbott is going to step up TexasMexico relations.”

UNIVERSITY Continued from Page 1A social media seeking answers. The university said it will not charge tuition while the campus remains closed.

The post added: “A decision to close down the cam-

pus was made because there is no security for the university community.”

As of Monday, administration was uncertain of a date to resume classes.

“We hope to have good

news soon,” Anaya said.

Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo serves about 700 students, according to Anaya.

The university is located at 6150 Avenida Emiliano Za-

promised to take Texas conservatism “to the next level.”

Abbott and Patrick vowed to secure the TexasMexico border. Both also promised to continue the economic growth that has made Texas America’s top job-creating state — even in the face of plummeting oil prices that could hurt areas that rely on oil and natural gas production.

Abbott, who lost the use of his legs in 1984, when a falling tree crushed him while he was jogging in Houston, is the nation’s first governor who uses a wheelchair since Alabama’s George Wallace left office in 1987.

“Let’s face it, for me this moment was highly improbable,” Abbott told the crowd.

He has made his personal story a centerpiece of his rise to political prominence, often joking that while many politicians boast about having a “spine of steel,” he actually has one.

“I am living proof that we live in a state where a young man’s life can literally be broken in half,” Abbott added, “and yet he can still rise up and be governor of this great state.”

pata in Colonia La Concordia in Southwest Nuevo Laredo.

That’s about a 15-minute drive from Gateway to the Americas International Bridge.

Continued from Page 1A badly deteriorated there was no chance of identifying them.

The university has offered to use one last technique to identify the remains, but says there is a risk the testing may destroy the samples without obtaining any useful information.

That technique is known as massively parallel sequencing, which uses many computers in coordination to perform a task.

The university said it expected the testing to take another three months, but could not give an exact date for results.

“The main risk is that the DNA extracted may be destroyed “without yielding any usable results, prosecutors cited the university as saying.

Prosecutors said, however, they had authorized the new round of testing.

Vidulfo Rosales, a lawyer representing families of the missing teachers college students, said prosecutors should have consulted the families of the missing students before making that decision.

“If these tests are done on the bone fragments, there could be practically nothing left,” Rosales told local media. “This is going to have an impact on the parents’ belief system. ... In rural tradition, mourning is highly symbolic, highly important.”

The students went missing Sept. 26 after confrontations with police in the Guerrero state city of Iguala in which three students and three bystanders were killed. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam has said they were attacked by police on orders of Iguala’s then mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, who has since been detained after going into hiding.

The police and Abarca allegedly had ties to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang. Police allegedly turned the students over to Guerreros Unidos gunmen, who took them to a local dump, killed them and stacked their bodies on a pyre and used diesel, wood and old tires to burn them.

Authorities are holding more than 70 people in the case, which also forced the governor of Guerrero to resign.

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015