PATRIOTS, OTHERS AWAIT WORD
SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015
FREE
NO CONCLUSION YET BY NFL ON PATRIOTS’ DEFLATED FOOTBALLS, 1B
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Gov. Abbott visits Valley United Health Foundation awards $2.8 million grant to university ASSOCIATED PRESS
A more than $2.8 million grant was awarded Thursday to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine to help establish teambased care to all of the Rio Grande Valley. The grant, awarded by United Health Foundation, a nonprofit private foundation committed to improving health care, will be for the next three years and it will help establish the Center for Colonia Integrated Care program.
Gov. Greg Abbott, making his first trip to the Valley after his inauguration Tuesday night, was on hand at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance to help present the new grant to the UT-RGV School Of Medicine. Also Thursday, as part of a state legislative tour, state representatives toured the United Launch Alliance manufacturing facility in Harlingen. The Center for Colonia Integrated Care will be managed by a project staff that will be tasked with coordinating services in a
FALCON STATE PARK
BP agent shoots smuggler
team-based model that would target two separate colonias, UT-RGV School of Medicine founding dean Francisco Fernández said. Services provided will include screenings, health education and promotion, health literacy and improved dental and mental health services. Fernandez said UT-RGV was invited by representatives of United Health Foundation to apply for the grant last summer. The grant will be imple-
See ABBOTT PAGE 14A
Photo by Joel Martinez/The Monitor | AP
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks to the media after an announcement of a United Healthcare Foundation grant to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine on Thursday in Edinburg.
U.S. GOVERNMENT
CATHOLIC CHURCH
SISTER SCARCITY
Man struggled with agent, fired shots
Republicans want to do more than oppose Obama
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHAPEÑO — A U.S. Border Patrol agent killed a suspected drug smuggler after he was fired upon, while four others were arrested early Wednesday in a rural area near Falcon State Park. Agents responded to an electronic monitoring hit about 1:50 a.m. next to Farm-to-Market Road 2098 near Chapeño, a small community with a population of about 50, authorities say. When agents arrived, they discovered about 800 pounds of abandoned drugs and four men confirmed to be drug smugglers were apprehended. Oaks said the encounter with the four men led to a report of another smuggler in the area. Oaks said one agent attempted to detain and arrest the fifth smuggler but the man, who has not been identified, fought with the agent. The smuggler then pulled out a handgun and fired “a round or two” at the agent from only a foot away but missed, Oaks said, adding that the agent returned fire and hit the smuggler an undisclosed amount of times. An emergency medical team was called to the scene and the man, who authorities would only say is not a U.S. citizen, was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The only information released about the unidentified smuggler was that he had a prior criminal history in the U.S. Oaks said the agent, who also has not been identified, did not suffer any injuries and was placed on administrative leave, which is protocol after the discharge of a weapon. Oaks said agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector deal with a variety of people crossing the border, who are sometimes violent. The investigation into the incident is being handled by the FBI with help from the Texas Rangers and the Starr County Sheriff ’s Office.
House to talk border security By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle | AP
In this photo taken on Jan. 15, sister Ivana Menchaca poses in the chapel at the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St. Therese in Houston. The challenges facing nuns and priests likely will come into sharper focus in 2015.
Houston-area nuns’ future uncertain By ALLAN TURNER HOUSTON CHRONICLE
H
Photo by Eric Kayne | AP
In this photo taken on Jan. 16, sister Anna Nguyen smiles at the St. Catherine Convent in Houston.
OUSTON — When God called teenager Anna Nguyen to the Catholic sisterhood, she was startled that he did so in an audible voice — and that he spoke Vietnamese. When the deity tapped Ivana Menchaca, she was well on the way to earning a college degree she hoped would land her a job with the FBI. Both now are ensconced in Houston religious communities, and, as have thousands of women who embarked on consecrated lives since Texas’ earliest years, they say they have found peace and purpose in their work. Unlike their predecessors of just 50 years ago, though, Nguyen and Menchaca have taken a road less chosen, one that may veer in unexpected directions as the 21st century progresses. The challenges facing nuns — and priests — likely will come into sharper focus in 2015 as Roman Catholics observe “Wake Up The World!”, Pope Francis’ yearlong celebration of consecrated life. Topping the list is the struggle to maintain ministries as their memberships age and decline. Nationally, Catholic sisters now number less than a third of their 1960s peak of about 180,000. Almost 60 percent, a 2009 study found, are 70 or
WASHINGTON — The House is moving toward a vote on a bill aimed at securing the U.S. border with Mexico as majority Republicans try to show they can chart their own course on immigration, not just oppose President Barack Obama’s. The legislation passed the House Homeland Security Committee late Wednesday on a party-line vote of 18-12, and the full House is expected to take it up next week. “For God’s sakes, if we can’t unite around border security what can we unite around?” said GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the committee’s chairman. It’s uncertain whether House Republicans will unite behind the measure. Conservatives who have scuttled past attempts by GOP leaders to deal with the issue expressed concerns that the legislation does too little to stem illegal immigration. Several also groused that leadership was trying to rally support for the border security bill instead of making a strong stand against recent executive actions by Obama granting relief from deportation to millions. The border bill “is a show horse, not a work horse, and as such it is an effort to convince the American people that we are doing something substantive to secure the border when in fact nothing substantive is being done,” said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. Democrats said the bill was filled with unrealistic
See SISTER PAGE 13A See BORDER PAGE 14A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, JAN. 24
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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.
Today is Saturday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2015. There are 341 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 24, 1965, British statesman Winston Churchill died in London at age 90. On this date: In 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of ’49. In 1908, the Boy Scouts movement began in England under the aegis of Robert Baden-Powell. In 1924, the Russian city of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader. (However, it has since been renamed St. Petersburg.) In 1935, beer was first sold in cans in Richmond, Virginia, by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Co. In 1945, Associated Press war correspondent Joseph Morton was among a group of captives executed by the Germans at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria. In 1961, a U.S. Air Force B-52 crashed near Goldsboro, North Carolina, dropping its payload of two nuclear bombs, neither of which went off; three crew members were killed. Comedian Larry Fine, of “Three Stooges” fame, died in Los Angeles at age 72. In 1985, the space shuttle Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral on the first secret, all-military shuttle mission. In 1989, confessed serial killer Theodore Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair. Ten years ago: The United Nations broke with years of protocol and commemorated the 60-year anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, directly linking its own founding with the end of the Holocaust in some of the strongest language ever. Five years ago: In an audio message, Osama bin Laden endorsed the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day and threatened new attacks against the United States. One year ago: A truck bombing struck the main security headquarters in Cairo, one of a string of bombings targeting police in a 10-hour period, killing 6 people on the eve of the third anniversary of the revolt that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak and left the Arab nation deeply divided. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Jerry Maren (Film: “The Wizard of Oz”) is 96. Actor Marvin Kaplan (TV: “Top Cat”) is 88. Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 79. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 76. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 74. Country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs is 65. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 64. Actress Nastassja Kinski is 56. Rhythm-and-blues singer Theo Peoples is 54. White House budget director Shaun Donovan is 49. Comedian Phil LaMarr is 48. Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 47. Blues/rock singer Beth Hart is 43. Actor Ed Helms is 41. Actor Justin Baldoni (TV: “Jane the Virgin”) is 31. Actress Mischa Barton is 29. Thought for Today: “To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.” — Winston Churchill (1874-1965).
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. 7th Annual Football Tailgating Cook-Off. Cook-off competitions for teams in these categories: brisket, finger ribs, beer can chicken and showmanship contest. Entry fee is $250. Also, live music, food vendors, arts and crafts and more. $1 admittance fee at the gate. LULAC 14 at 956-286-9055. Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center, Orthopaedic Clinic. 9 a.m.-2 p.m., 1220 N. Malinche. Norma Rangel at 722-2431 for more information or program.manager@laredo.twcbc.com. Women’s City Club monthly meeting, noon-1:30 p.m. Laredo Country Club, 1415 Country Club Drive. Claudia Garcia, WCC officer, 206-5552, cng_garcia@hotmail.com or club President Ruby Chapa at 744-0993.
SATURDAY, FEB. 3 The Gateway Gatos of Laredo monthly board meeting at 7 p.m. in Room No. 2, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1700 San Francisco Ave. People interested in cats should attend. Birdie Torres at 956-286-7866.
SUNDAY, FEB. 4 Bible study 7 p.m. every Wednesday at Lighthouse Assembly of God Church, 8731 Belize Dr. Ricardo Rangel Jr. at 333-9294 or ricardo_grace@yahoo.com.
Photo by Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News | AP
This small Spanish bronze cannon has been on display at the Alamo since September 2010 in San Antonio. The cannon will be dedicated at a ceremony today to acknowledge those who helped get it there in late 2010. While it has not been linked conclusively to the 1836 siege and battle, there were enough clues to restore it and put it on permanent loan.
Alamo cannon returns By SCOTT HUDDLESTON SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
SAN ANTONIO — Ten years have passed since Rick Range found a small, bronze Spanish cannon that may have been fired at the Alamo, tucked away in a building in rural North Texas. “And I was amazed. It was in a dark storage-type workroom, way out in the country,” said Range, a Dallas-area Alamo researcher. That well-traveled cannon, now on display at the Alamo, will be dedicated at a ceremony at 2:30 p.m. today to acknowledge those who helped get it there in late 2010. While it has not been linked conclusively to the 1836 siege and battle, there were enough clues to convince the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy to restore it and put it on permanent loan at the state shrine. Alamo Historian Bruce Winders said the cannon is one of
six on the grounds of the shrine, and the only one made of bronze, that were there in 1836. The cannon is thought to be one of 13 dug up in 1852, near Houston and Alamo streets, for a fence built for local pioneer Samuel Maverick. Historians theorize it might have been fired from wooden palisades by the Alamo church, from a platform in the church or near the Alamo’s south main gate. The conservancy found correspondence indicating the cannon was sent as payment for a debt in the 1880s from San Antonio to the country estate of the Howard B. French family of Philadelphia, and displayed on their lawn as “the Alamo cannon.” In 1986, collector J.P. Bryan of Houston bought the nearly 400-pound gun and shipped it back to Texas. Bryan sold it in an auction to John McRae, who kept it on his farm north of Dallas.
President Lincoln’s hair up for sale in auction
Pig blamed for house fire, no humans, hog hurt
Would-be robber dead after man shoots him
FORT WORTH — A lock of President Abraham Lincoln’s hair will be for sale starting at $10,000 this weekend in Dallas. Greg Dow is selling his father’s collection of Lincoln memorabilia at auction today. Among the items being offered by Heritage Auctions is a fragment of an 1862 letter written by Lincoln that’s addressed to a Baltimore, Maryland, attorney.
SPICEWOOD — No humans or hogs have been hurt in a Central Texas house fire blamed on a pig. Authorities say the fire broke out Thursday afternoon at a rural home near Spicewood, about 25 miles northwest of Austin. Lt. Kyle Swarts with the Pedernales Fire Department says the blaze began when a pig belonging to the homeowner chewed through electrical wires.
DALLAS — Dallas police say an armed 19-year-old robbery suspect died after his intended victim pulled out his own gun and shot him. Authorities say a 38-year-old man shot Victor D. Logan in selfdefense about 1 a.m. Thursday near a shopping mall. Logan sped away in his vehicle after being shot. Logan crashed into a bus stop and was later taken to a hospital, where he died.
Man faces up to life in prison over drug ring
Unemployment rate slips to 4.6 percent in Dec.
CORPUS CHRISTI — A South Texas man faces up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine for smuggling drugs from Mexico. Rodolfo Casares of Brownsville was convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
AUSTIN — The Texas unemployment rate slipped to 4.6 percent in December for a fourth straight month of declines. The Texas Workforce Commission on Friday reported that compares to a November jobless rate of 4.9 percent. The December statewide jobless figure was the lowest since May 2008. — Compiled from AP reports
Man sentenced in murder-for-hire scheme NACOGDOCHES — A 25-yearold man has been sentenced to life in prison after a state appeals court earlier struck down his prior punishment for the 2005 killing in East Texas of his friend’s stepfather. The sentence Thursday for Colton Weir includes the possibility of parole after he serves at least 30 years. He was sentenced in 2007 to life without parole.
AROUND THE NATION Man wrongly convicted four decades ago freed WHITEVILLE, N.C. — A 70year-old man has been freed from prison after a panel of judges found that he was wrongly convicted in the stabbing deaths of a mother and daughter nearly four decades ago. Joseph Sledge said Friday he was looking forward to sleeping in a real bed and maybe swimming in a pool. Sledge was sentenced to life in prison in the September 1976 slayings of Josephine Davis and her daughter, Aileen. They were found stabbed to death in their home. The judges heard from a DNA expert who said none of the evidence collected in the case matched Sledge.
Ex-volunteer firefighter accused of raping children MEDIA, Pa. — A former suburban Philadelphia volunteer
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 Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer | AP
Christine Mumma, director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, left, and Cheryl Sullivan, staff attorney, hug Joseph Sledge after a special session of superior court in Whiteville, N.C. Sledge was freed from prison Friday. firefighter has been arrested on charges he lured, groomed and sexually assaulted more than a dozen children ranging in age from 8 to 14. Twenty-year-old John Corcoran IV was arraigned Friday on 161 counts including felony charges of rape of a child
and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child. Prosecutors say the grooming and sexual assaults happened over two years. Corcoran volunteered with Glenolden’s Goodwill Fire Department. — 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
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Police officer, gang member die in shoot-out THE ZAPATA TIMES
A state police officer and an alleged member of a criminal gang died in a shoot-out between Mexican law enforcement officials and armed civilians in Miguel Aleman, Mexico, Tamaulipas, authorities an-
nounced Thursday. Four people — two police officers and two civilians — suffered non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. state police traveling to Los Guerra neighborhood in Miguel Aleman reported an attack by
armed civilians at the intersection of Calle Industria de la Construccion Street and the Nogalito Highway in the Infonavit Industrial Neighbhood, according to a press release. State police officer Jorge Armando Romero Rodriguez died in the shoot-out, and two other
officers were wounded, the press release stated. Authorities identified Jorge Cordero Ramirez, 19, of Reynosa, and brothers Jose Luis, 25, and Ulises Villeda Cruz, 30, thought to be from Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state, as the wounded armed suspects.
Villeda Cruz later died in a Reynosa hospital. Authorities reportedly confiscated two rifles, 18 loaded magazines, a spiked strip to flatten tires and a white GMC Yukon pick-up truck. (Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff.)
Fort Hood lacked system to ID 2014 threat By EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH — The Army’s tools for identifying troubled soldiers would not have flagged the man who shot to death three people and wounded 16 others before killing himself at Fort Hood last year, despite previous signs of instability, a U.S. Army report said Friday. While officials found no single factor that prompted Spc. Ivan Lopez to go on a shooting rampage April 2, the Army’s investigation found instances where he faced “significant and increasing stress in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the shooting.” Army officials also would have had difficulty recognizing any personal problems leading up to the attack because risk assessment relies on self-reporting and Lopez had been dishonest with his supervisors, the report said. But it also highlighted gaps in information sharing, noting that the 34-year-old’s supervisors in some cases thought federal medical privacy laws prevented them from obtaining information to which they should have had access. After the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, the Army made 78 recommendations for the base to improve its ability to identify the potential risk of violent behavior. In Friday’s report, the Army says there was one recommendation it did not implement — better sharing of soldiers’ health history — because of constraints on exchanging information between military and civilian behavioral health care providers. “In the absence of a system capable of identifying (Lopez) as a
Photo by Tamir Kalifa | AP file
In this April 2, 2014 file photo, Lucy Hamlin and her husband, Spc. Timothy Hamlin, wait for permission to re-enter the Fort Hood military base, where they live, following a shooting on the base, in Fort Hood. threat, and because the unit was unaware and unable to address the variety of stressors in (Lopez’s) life, Fort Hood was not able to prevent the shooting,” lead investigator Lt. Gen. Joseph E. Martz said. Investigators have said the Iraq War veteran was undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety while being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but was not considered “likely” to commit violence. The report also said two family deaths and financial problems could have had a cumulative effect on Lopez’s emotional state.
A spokesman for Lopez’s family said in April that he was upset he was granted only a 24-hour leave — which was extended to two days — to attend his mother’s funeral in Puerto Rico. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Donald Peters said it is “absolutely untrue” that he was granted only a day’s leave, instead getting six days’ leave. Neither Lopez’s wife nor the family spokesman could be immediately reached. Almost half of Lopez’s monthly salary as an Army specialist was going to loan repayments and child support, the report
said. Lopez had been seeing a doctor monthly at Fort Bliss, was transferred to another base for four months and then arrived in Fort Hood last February. Officials at Fort Bliss did not appear to schedule a doctor’s appointment for Lopez at Fort Hood, as Army policy would have required. “We find insufficient evidence to conclude that leaders and medical providers at Fort Bliss or Fort Hood could have affected (his) decision to shoot his fellow soldiers,” the report said. “Any other conclusion is simply conjecture.”
Risk assessments rely upon self-reporting, according to the Army report, which said Lopez could sometimes be “misleading or deceptive.” To that end, military officials also found a Facebook page on which Lopez falsely claimed to be an Army sniper who had been to the Central African Republic. The Army previously said it was logistically impossible to stop and search all 80,000 people who work on the sprawling base every day. Recommendations in the report, for which more than 160 witnesses were interviewed, included exploring whether soldiers should register privately owned weapons with their commanders. Lopez flashed his badge to enter the base and carried out the shooting with a .45-caliber Smith and Wesson that was not registered with the installation. Lopez’s attack occurred nearly five years after Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan gunned down 13 people at a medical readiness building at Fort Hood. Hasan carried a high-powered pistol and several cartridges of ammunition into the building under his green Army fatigues and opened fire for several minutes. An FBI review found that authorities missed several messages Hasan had sent to a Yemenbased cleric tied to terrorist activity. Evidence presented at his trial two years ago included testimony that he had trained to quickly fire the pistol at a nearby gun range. Fort Hood officials remain committed to “doing what’s necessary to ensure the safety and security of all personnel,” the Army base said in a statement Friday.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
YOUR OPINION
OTHER VIEWS
‘Have I become, in any way, hard-hearted towards other human beings?’ “How can people be so hard-hearted toward other human beings?” That question may be on our minds as we hear the horrible news of the recent killings in France, the constant warfare in the Middle East and the ongoing violence of the drug cartels in Mexico and Central America. We should certainly pray for an end to the bloodshed, and we should ask our world leaders to work diligently for peace. But our reflections on violence and killings should also prompt each of us to ask ourselves, “Have I become, in any way, hard-hearted towards other human beings?” God does not remind us of the wrong we have done in order to drive us to despair. We believe that He is our loving Father, whose greatest desire is for His lost and wandering sheep to return to Him. If any of us have been guilty of violence toward other human beings, let us trust in God’s mercy and love, ask His forgiveness and seek with all of our heart to treat better all the members of the human family. This past Thursday marked the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling “Roe vs. Wade,” which removed all
legal protection from prenatal babies in our country. I invite you to participate in our 15th annual Pro-Life Rosary Walk being held tomorrow, Sunday, January 25th. All people are invited to pray in witness to our belief in the sanctity of every human life, from conception to natural death, as we walk the two miles to San Agustin Cathedral. The walk will start at 2:30 p.m. at the corner of Boston St. and Santa Ursula. If you would like shuttle service, you can park at the Cathedral between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and several buses and vans will be available to take you to the beginning of the walk. God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to tell us, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, I will take out your heart of stone and give you a tender heart.” (Ezekiel 36:26) Let us ask God to bring this prophecy to fulfillment in each of us. May God give us a share in His own tender love, that we will treat all human beings, including the youngest and the most defenseless — Todo con Amor. Sincerely, Bishop James A. Tamayo
COLUMN
The reality of American Sniper Chris Kyle DALLAS MORNING NEWS
To say that truth is stranger than fiction is really to say it’s more complex. Life, real life, is always more layered and difficult than anything we will read in a book or see on a screen. The story of the Navy Seal Chris Kyle should remind us of this. And Texans should pay special attention to it. Kyle was one of our own, a man cut in the mold of our state’s legendary heroes. And his real story is something we should try to understand as he becomes a part of our history. The story of Kyle on film, portrayed through Clint Eastwood’s lens in "American Sniper," and the real man Kyle was are far from a perfect match. No matter how expertly the actor Bradley Cooper might portray him, the Kyle of the film is a facsimile, a shadow version of a real man. Kyle’s story, both fictional and true, is really a story of war. And nowhere are questions of life and death so complex as they are in war. In the fog and fear of battle, decisions are instant and even unconscious. Men at war are not the same as men at peace. The film version of Kyle presents us with a moral man who struggles to simplify this complexity. In Cooper’s eyes, we see the fictional Kyle grapple with the enormity of what he’s done as a warrior - even as his words assure us of his confidence in the justness of his deeds. It’s hard to know whether Kyle, the real man, shared this deepseated sense of ambiguity
about what he did. Kyle embraced his place in history as the deadliest American sniper in history, with 160 kills to his credit. He claimed many more. He also was known to garland his legend with stories that were unverifiable. His story about killing two would-be carjackers on Highway 67 never panned out under scrutiny. Another story about trucking to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and cutting down 30 or so bad guys is even more outlandish. Then there was the story about him punching former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura for slurring SEALs, something Ventura denied happened. The film avoids addressing these incidents as it softens Kyle’s edges - his demonization of his enemy, his pitting of faith against faith. The real Kyle was anything but a simple man. He understood very clearly the cost of war and the price that battle tolls on those who fight. But Kyle in real life seemed to struggle far less with war’s moral ambiguity than the film would suggest. Kyle described himself as two different people one at war and one at home. He could "turn it on and turn it off." He had no regrets. We can go and see the story of Chris Kyle on film. We can read his book. We can watch interviews of him on the internet. We can study facts about his claims. We can try to piece together what’s real and what isn’t. We can never know Chris Kyle.
COLUMN
A modern segregation battle By CHARLES LANE THE WASHINGTON POST
Of all the manifestations of crony capitalism in American history, none is more sickening than the concatenation of racial prejudice, business greed and big-government protection that segregated urban and suburban housing during the 20th century. Solicitous of, and sympathetic to, the fears of their white customers, builders, bankers and real estate agents went to enormous lengths to herd blacks into ghettos when they began to migrate north and west from the rural South during World War I. Local courts enforced covenants forbidding white home buyers to sell or rent to African Americans (or, often, Asians and Jews). Prior to World War II, the real estate business actually considered such provisions ethically necessary to protect property values from the impact of what the federal government called "inharmonious racial groups." That last phrase appears in the original underwriting manual that the Federal Housing Administration used to ensure that nearly all mortgages it backed went to whites living in white neighborhoods. The New Deal agency actively encouraged racial covenants from 1934 until 1948. By then, though, "residential segregation was deeply ingrained in Amer-
ican life," as a 1973 historical review by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission put it. Thanks primarily to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and other reforms, as well as the rise of a black middle class and immigration from Asia, Africa and Latin America, the divide between black and white neighborhoods is not nearly as absolute as it once was. Still, in 2010 the six metropolitan areas with the largest black populations scored nearly 80 points out of 100 on a widely used statistical index of racial segregation, according to census data. Which brings us to Wednesday’s oral argument in the Supreme Court. Texas fair housing advocates sued that deepred state’s housing agency for allegedly distributing federal tax credits for lowincome housing in a way that steered the advocates’ black clients into mostly black neighborhoods. The Texas state government lost in the lower courts and appealed to the justices. In a narrow legal sense, the court must decide whether the Fair Housing Act permits such lawsuits, based on the alleged "disparate impact" of business and government decisions, as lower federal courts and the Obama administration’s regulators have previously ruled — or whether plaintiffs must meet the much higher burden of proving deliberate segregation.
In a broader sense, though, the question is how active Big Government should still be in the fight to undo the residential segregation that Big Government did so much to create. The justices are surely aware that the Supreme Court, alone among the three branches of the federal government and the states, consistently stood against housing discrimination. In 1917, the high court struck down openly racist zoning laws that decreed where blacks could and could not live. When racial covenants arose as an alternative, the court voided those as well, albeit not until 1948. In 1968, the justices bolstered the Fair Housing Act by ruling that housing discrimination violated a Reconstruction-era civil rights law. To be sure, disparateimpact suits are a blunt instrument, especially in an increasingly diverse nation whose housing market is more complex and, thankfully, more data-driven and transparent, than in 1968. In Wednesday’s argument, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was not wrong to note the inherent murkiness of the disparate-impact concept: It could be invoked against subsidies to revitalize a predominantly black neighborhood, on the grounds that they reinforce existing segregation, even though the money plainly benefits black residents.
Roberts suggested that courts might have no choice but to remedy disparate impact by allocating housing according to de facto racial quotas, which would create problems, constitutional and practical, of their own. Federal goals and targets for subsidized lending helped many low-income people, who are disproportionately minorities, buy houses — but also induced many people to take on more borrowing than they could handle, with ruinous consequences. Let it never be forgotten, however, that prior to 1968, housing was allocated according to rigid racial quotas, de facto and de jure, that systematically disadvantaged minorities. Measured against the mass of historical housing segregation, disparate-impact cases are notable not only for their bluntness but their relative weakness. Justice Stephen G. Breyer had a point when he said they have been around for 35 years "and all the horribles that are painted don’t seem to have happened or at least we have survived them." When you look at it that way, the stakes are rather low — too low, you would have thought, to justify Texas’ investment in the case at a time when the Republicans who run that state, and others like them, say they want and need to engage minority voters.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The
phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-call-
ing 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.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Nation
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
SC to consider drug By MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Molly Riley | AP
MIT economist Jonathan Gruber testifies before the House Oversight Committee health care hearing in Washington, on Dec. 9. Vermont is applying a fresh round of scrutiny to its contract with Gruber.
Voter ‘stupidity’ man is under scrutiny By DAVE GRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont is applying a fresh round of scrutiny to its contract with Jonathan Gruber, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology health economist who made headlines for talking about “the stupidity of the American voter.” State Auditor Doug Hoffer has been reviewing the contract under which Gruber got paid $500 an hour, plus $100 an hour for his assistants. Hoffer said Friday that Gruber provided insufficient documentation to support his invoices to the state. Hoffer said officials in Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration had been in close touch with Gruber throughout his work, but he said the contract called for detailed documentation and that Gruber didn’t deliver it. “We know what was done; it’s not like the work wasn’t done,” Hoffer said. “But the invoices ...
provided no detail at all. That’s more my focus.” Gruber made national headlines in November when videos surfaced of comments he made about passage of the federal Affordable Care Act. A key adviser to the Obama administration on the design of the law, he said better public understanding of the complex law might have blocked its passage. “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage and, basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically that was really critical to getting the thing to pass,” Gruber said in one video. Gruber provided economic modeling to support Shumlin’s push for a universal, state-backed health care system, often labeled single-payer. Shumlin announced last month he was shelving that plan, calling it too costly. During the height of controversy over Gruber’s comments, Democrats at the federal and state level
scrambled to distance themselves from him. Shumlin called his comments “reprehensible, repugnant and sad.” State officials announced that Gruber would finish his work for the state for free, while his assistants would continue to get paid, and said the change would reduce the cost of the contract from more than $400,000 to $280,000, of which $160,000 has been paid. Robin Lunge, a top Shumlin health care aide who worked closely with Gruber, told Vermont Public Radio, “I feel confident that we’ve gotten our money’s worth in terms of both the amount of work, as well as the quality of the work that we received.” Lunge said Friday that the scope of Gruber’s work could be seen in thousands of documents the administration released Dec. 30 in connection with its decision not to push forward with universal health care. “You don’t have to take my word for it,” she said.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is stepping into the issue of lethal injection executions for the first time since 2008 in an appeal filed by death row inmates in Oklahoma. The justices agreed Friday to review whether the sedative midazolam can be used in executions because of concerns that it does not produce a deep, comalike unconsciousness and ensure that a prisoner does not experience intense and needless pain when other drugs are injected to kill him. The order came eight days after the court refused to halt the execution of an Oklahoma man that employed the same combination of drugs. Oklahoma, as well as Florida, uses midazolam as one of three drugs in lethal injection executions. The second drug serves to paralyze the inmate and the third one is used to stop his heart. The case will be argued in late April, an attorney for the men said Friday. A decision is expected by the end of June. The appeal was brought to the court by four Oklahoma inmates with execution dates ranging from January to March. The justices allowed Charles Warner to be put to death on January 15 and denied stays of execution for the other three. At the time, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent that was joined by three other justices, calling on the court to examine whether the drug could be used in accordance with the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Friday’s order does not formally call a halt to those scheduled procedures. Dale Baich, an attorney for the inmates, said he would ask the court to block the executions until the case is decided. Oklahoma officials did not immediately comment. In 2008, the justices upheld the use of a different
Photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP
Media witness Sean Murphy, right, of the Associated Press, gives a report of the execution of Charles Warner to the rest of the media in McAlester, Okla, following the execution on Jan. 15. three-drug combination in a case from Kentucky and set a high bar for challenges to WARNER lethal injections. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote then that the court probably would not stop executions unless “the condemned prisoner establishes that the state’s lethal injection protocol creates a demonstrated risk of severe pain.” What has changed since 2008 is that states have been forced to change the drugs they use in executions after drug manufacturers took steps to ensure their products are not used in executions. The inmates are trying to stop their executions, arguing that the state would essentially be experimenting on them by injecting them with unproven and untested drugs. “The drug protocol in Oklahoma is not capable of producing a humane execution, even if it is administered properly,” Baich said. Last April, Oklahoma used midazolam for the first time in a grisly procedure. Inmate Clayton Lockett clenched his teeth, moaned and writhed on the gurney before a doctor noticed a problem with the intravenous line and the execution was called off. Lockett died 43 minutes after the procedure began. Oklahoma revamped its
procedures in response to the Lockett execution, including a fivefold increase in the amount of midazolam used. In last week’s execution, Warner showed no signs of physical distress. Florida used the same procedure in an execution carried out the same night and has scheduled the execution of Jerry Correll for Feb. 26. Arizona and Ohio, which had problem-filled executions involving midazolam, have said they won’t use that drug again. The unusual turn of events in which the court allowed an execution to proceed then decided to hear an appeal initially filed by the dead man and three other inmates can be partly explained by the court’s internal practices. The votes of four justices on the nine-member court are enough to grant an appeal. But it takes a majority of five justices to block an execution. An informal and inconsistent practice has in the past provided a “courtesy fifth” vote in situations similar to the one in Oklahoma. It is unclear why no justice was willing to do that last week. Joining Sotomayor were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Roberts voted to allow the execution to go forward.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
Nation
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
Sentencing set for Colo. woman in terror case By SADIE GURMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman could face up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trying to help Islamic State militants, but her sentence depends at least in part on how helpful she was to authorities still investigating her case and others like it. Shannon Conley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in September under a deal that requires her to divulge information she may have about other Americans with similar intentions. A sentencing hearing began Friday afternoon. FBI agents say Conley, who was arrested in April while boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria, wanted to marry a suitor she met online who told her he was fighting with the extremists. She repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a nurse’s aide to help. Authorities became aware of Conley’s growing interest in extremism in November 2013 after she started talking about terror-
Photo by Brennan Linsley | AP
Ana and John Conley, parents of defendant Shannon Conley, exit the U.S. Federal courthouse following their daughter’s plea hearing Sept. 10 at the U.S. Federal Courthouse, in Denver. ism with employees of a suburban Denver church. They had seen her wandering around and taking notes on the layout of the
campus, according to court documents. FBI agents met repeatedly with Conley starting in late 2013
hoping to dissuade her from leaving, suggesting she pursue humanitarian work instead. But she told them she was intent on
waging jihad in the Middle East, even though she knew it was illegal, according to court documents. She believed it was her only answer to correcting what she saw as wrongs perpetrated against the Muslim world. After her arrest, authorities say they found CDs by U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki among her belongings. Conley, a convert to Islam, was exploring her faith when she was led astray, her attorney Robert Pepin has said. She was unaware of the atrocities committed by the Islamic State group, and since her arrest she is no longer interested in traveling to Syria to help extremists wage violent jihad. But in declining to release her before her sentencing, U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore noted that even though Conley was cooperative with FBI agents during their investigation, she remained intent on going overseas. Her case comes as U.S. officials are putting new energy into trying to understand what radicalizes people far removed from the fight and trying to prod countries to do a better job of keeping them from joining up.
Man could be deported due to conviction By WILSON RING ASSOCIATED PRESS
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A man charged with lying about his role in Bosnian war crimes when he applied for U.S. citizenship after moving to Vermont more than a decade ago was convicted on Friday. If Edin Sakoc’s conviction is upheld on appeal, he would be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles said. Sakoc, 55, also could face up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said Sakoc raped an Orthodox Chris-
tian woman in the town of Pocitelj and aided in the killings of two elderly women in her Bosnian Serb family in July 1992. Sakoc, a Bosnian Muslim who arrived in the United States in 2001, was accused of lying about his role in the crimes when he applied for citizenship in 2007. Cowles, the lead prosecutor in the case, said, “I think it’s an important case because we have laws that guide immigration in this country, and when we receive information that raises questions as to whether people have abused that system in com-
ing in there’s an obligation to investigate it and follow through on that prosecution.” Sakoc’s attorneys, who are likely to appeal, said they felt the verdict was inconsistent because he was found guilty of lying on an immigration form but the jury did not find he committed any of the underlying crimes. “They didn’t find him guilty of having committed a crime,” defense attorney Steven Barth said after reviewing the jury form. “The second question is have you ever persecuted anyone. And they didn’t find him guilty of that ei-
ther.” Instead, what the jury found was that Sakoc lied when he said he had never given false information to U.S. officials. U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III noted the same thing. “There was no finding as to whether Mr. Sakoc had committed any (war) crimes or whether he had persecuted anyone,” the judge said after the jury verdict was announced. Sakoc, who showed no emotion when the verdict was read, was allowed to remain free on conditions. He, his wife and his young daughter have been living
with a family. Sakoc left the courtroom without making any comment. His attorneys asked for and were granted 30 days to file post-trial motions. During closing arguments Thursday, Barth, the defense attorney, said the crimes were committed by a powerful Bosnian Croat army commander and Sakoc couldn’t be held accountable for the actions of another, even though he was aware of the killings after they took place. Sakoc’s attorneys also said the witnesses’ stories were inconsistent and the rape accuser repeatedly
changed her story over the years about whether she was assaulted. After about an hour of deliberations Thursday, the jury asked to re-hear an audio recording played during the two-week trial in which Sakoc told U.S. immigration authorities he was present the night the two women were killed but denied involvement in the killings. Many Bosnian refugees have settled in the Burlington area. On Thursday, about two dozen of Sakoc’s supporters were in the courtroom and waited with him for the verdict in the hallway outside.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
PAGE 10A
Zentertainment
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
Photog sues Nike over SkyMall going broke MJ photo copyright By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
By GOSIA WOZNIACKA ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. — A photographer is accusing Nike of violating the copyright of his 1984 image of Michael Jordan soaring toward a basketball hoop by continuing to use the image to market shoes and clothes. Jacobus Rentmeester of New York City filed the lawsuit against Oregonbased Nike Inc. on Thursday in federal court in Portland, Oregon. He’s seeking unspecified monetary damages, profits generated from the image, and an injunction preventing further copyright infringement. Rentmeester staged and shot the photo for Life magazine as part of a special section published for the 1984 Summer Olympics. As a freelancer, he retained rights to the copyright. Nike later paid him $150 for temporary use of two transparencies of the photo. According to the complaint, Nike then produced a nearly identical photograph of Jordan and reproduced it on billboards, and when Rentmeester threatened litigation, the Oregon company paid him $15,000 for a limited license to use the image for two years. The complaint says Nike continued to reproduce the photo after that period and used it to create the distinctive “Jumpman” logo, a silhouette of the leaping Jordan inspired by the photograph. The company went on to create the Jordan Brand division, which markets Michael Jordan products using the photo and the logo.
Photo by Don Ryan/file | AP
A photographer has accused Nike of violating the copyright of his 1984 image of a soaring Michael Jordan. The lawsuit says Nike has earned millions as a result of these marketing campaigns. Nike spokesman Greg Rossiter said the company is not commenting on the lawsuit. It’s unclear why Rentmeester waited nearly three decades to file a claim. He registered the Jordan photo with the U.S. Copyright Office in December 2014. Neither the photographer nor his lawyer returned calls for comment. Federal copyright law allows people to bring copyright claims within three years of an infringing act. But in May 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court in
a similar copyright case ruled that delay in filing a copyright claim isn’t a bar to seeking damages as long as the copyright infringement continues. That case, Petrella v. MGM, concerns the screenplay to the 1980 movie “Raging Bull,” cowritten and sold by Frank Petrella, whose daughter sued MGM in 2009 seeking royalties from continuing commercial use of the film. Petrella’s claim fell within the three years, the court ruled, because the studio continued to release the film on DVD and other formats for years and every new release essentially reset the clock for copyright purposes.
NEW YORK — Apparently, airline passengers aren’t buying enough garden gnomes, superhero pajamas and heated cat shelters. SkyMall has filed for bankruptcy. The quirky in-flight shopping catalog has been a mainstay on airlines since 1989. Passengers with nowhere to go would pull it from the seatback and flip through the pages. While flying high over Iowa, they could dream about owning a $16,000 multisensory home sauna or maybe just a grill spatula with a builtin flashlight for $29.95. But in recent years, passengers have found other distractions. More planes have seatback TV screens. The federal government now allows us to keep Kindles and iPads on during the entire flight. And most jets in the U.S. now have Wi-Fi meaning passengers can chat with friends back home or actually do work. “Nobody’s bored anymore. They don’t have a captive audience,” says John DiScala, who runs the travel advice site JohnnyJet.com “Not only is it full of germs but travelers today have all the information they need at their fingertips.” So Thursday, SkyMall’s parent company, Phoenix, Arizona-based Xhibit Corp., filed for Chapter 11
Photo by Richard Perry/New York Times | AP
SkyMall’s parent company, Xhibit, announced it has filed for bankruptcy and will sell its assets. protection in U.S. bankruptcy court. In the filing, the company said it has $1 million to $10 million in assets but $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. Its biggest creditors are airlines. The company owes American Airlines $1.6 million, Delta Air Lines $1.5 million, Southwest Airlines $400,000 and United Airlines $300,000. It also has debts with UPS, specialty retailer Hammacher Schlemmer and American Express. “Given how much of joke SkyMall was among travelers, I’m not surprised,” says Matt Kepnes, author of “How to Travel the World on $50 a Day” and other travel books. “I’m don’t know anybody who has ever purchased anything from them.” In a statement Friday, SkyMall’s acting chief executive officer, Scott Wiley, said that on Jan. 9 the com-
pany hired bankers to pursue a possible sale. A week later, SkyMall suspended its catalog business and laid off 47 workers, most of them call center employees. SkyMall hopes to complete a sale by April. But Wiley also said creditors are prepared to shut down the company if necessary. If it survives, SkyMall must find a way to stay relevant to passengers who are no longer a captive audience. It will also need to convince airlines to keep filling their planes with the magazine. Fewer airline seats have seatback pockets to hold a magazine. And airlines are much more aware of the added fuel cost for carrying the heavy publication — a recent holiday version had 170 pages. Delta stopped carrying the magazine in November. Over the years, SkyMall has taken on a cult-like following.
SÁBADO 24 DE ENERO DE 2015
Ribereña en Breve CARRERA 5K Carrera “Run for the Health Of It” 5K se realizará en el Parque Romeo en Glenn y 1st Street, el día de hoy a partir de las 8 a.m. Habrá inscripciones en el lugar a partir de las 7 a.m., con costo de 20 dólares. Inscripción anticipada será de 15 dólares, puede inscribirse en active.com.
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.
SOLICITUD DE APOYO El 30 de enero es la fecha límite para solicitar ayuda si sufrió desastres de calidad de ganado, de pastoreo o pérdidas por desastres relacionados entre el 1 de octubre y el 31 de diciembre de 2014. El Programa fue reautorizado por la Ley Agrícola 2014 para proporcionar alivio a los agricultores que han sufrido el impacto de las sequías, y otros desastres naturales. Para más información puede ingresar a disaster.fsa.usda.gov.o llamar a la oficina de FSA de su condado.
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.
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.
Zfrontera
PÁGINA 11A
TAMAULIPAS
Muere oficial TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Un oficial de la policía estatal y un supuesto integrante de un grupo delictivo murieron después de un incidente violento entre fuerzas del orden mexicanas y civiles armados en la Ciudad de Miguel Alemán, México, anunció el estado de Tamaulipas el jueves. Cuatro personas más, dos oficia-
les y dos civiles, resultaron con heridas no graves. Fue el miércoles, que alrededor de las 3:45 p.m. que policías estatales que se dirigían al poblado Los Guerra, en Miguel Alemán, cuando reportaron un ataque por parte de civiles armados en el cruce de Calle Industria de la Construcción con Carretera al Nogalito, Colonia Infonavit Industrial, señala un co-
municado de prensa. En el lugar murió el oficial Jorge Armando Romero Rodríguez. Otros dos compañeros resultaron lesionados, sostiene el reporte. José Cordero Ramírez, de 19 años, originario de Reynosa; los hermanos José Luis y Ulises Villeda Cruz, de 25 y 30 años, respectivamente, presuntamente originarios de Guadalupe, Nuevo León,
fueron identificados como los sospechosos armados que resultaron heridos. Ulises Villeda falleció en un Hospital de Reynosa. Autoridades decomisaron dos armas largas, 18 cargadores abastecidos, una pechera, una cubeta llena con poncha-llantas metálicos y una camioneta pick-up GMC Yukon, color blanca.
PAN
FRONTERA
Diputado renuncia a cargo
REUNIÓN DE LÍDERES
ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
El Diputado por el Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) Enrique Rivas Cuéllar, renunció a la Coordinación del Grupo Parlamentario del PAN en la LXII Legislatura, después de que anunciara su precandidatura a la diputación federal. RIVAS El miércoles, Rivas Cuellar entregó el documentos “de carácter de irrevocable” al Secretario General en funciones de Presidente del Comité Directivo Estatal del PAN en Tamaulipas, Pablo Cantú Hinojosa. “El suscrito (Enrique Rivas) ha tomado la decisión personal de registrarse como precandidato para el cargo de diputado en el actual proceso electoral federal; todo ello, demanda compromisos y actividades incompatibles con las responsabilidades propias de la función de coordinador”, se lee en la carta. Rivas Cuellar confirmó la entrega de la carta, pero aclaró que seguirá como Coordinador regional de los coordinadores panistas de las legislaturas de cinco estados, señala un comunicado de prensa.
Foto de cortesía
El Alcalde de Laredo, Pete Saenz, dio la bienvenida a alcaldes y jueces de condados a lo largo de la frontera, en Texas A&M International University, durante una conferencia de liderazgo en relación a la próxima Cuenca de Burgos en México.
CONGRESO
Cámara abordará seguridad en frontera POR ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON— La Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos se prepara para votar la semana próxima un proyecto de ley para reforzar la seguridad en la frontera con México, en un intento de la mayoría republicana por demostrar que tiene sus planes para la inmigración y no se limitan a oponerse al del presidente Barack Obama. El proyecto fue aprobado el miércoles por la Comisión de Seguridad Nacional por 18 votos contra 12 y la cámara en pleno prevé analizarlo la semana entrante.
No estaba claro si los republicanos de la Cámara apoyarían el proyecto de ley de McCaul. La derecha ha frustrado intentos anteriores de líderes republicanos de hacer frente al tema de la inmigración, citando preocupaciones de que el proyecto de ley hace demasiado poco por controlar la inmigración ilegal. Varios otros expresaron preocupación de que los líderes estaban tratando de buscar apoyo para el proyecto de ley de seguridad fronteriza en vez de presentar un frente fuerte contra las recientes medidas ejecutivas de Obama de proteger de la deportación a millones de inmigrantes no autorizados. En un comunicado emitido el
jueves por la noche, el secretario de Seguridad Nacional, Jeh Johnson, dijo que “el proyecto de ley fija normas obligatorias y altamente normativas que la misma Patrulla Fronteriza considera imposible de cumplir, socava la capacidad del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de adaptarse a las amenazas emergentes, y politiza las decisiones tácticas”. Tachó la propuesta de “inviable, simple y sencillamente”. Los congresistas demócratas dijeron que el proyecto estaba lleno de mandatos imposibles de cumplir, que dificultarían la tarea de los agentes fronterizos, al proponer un gasto de 10.000 millones de dólares en aeronaves no tripula-
das, sistemas de vigilancia, radares, cercas y otras tecnologías que resultarían escasamente efectivas. En el Senado se presentó un proyecto redactado por los republicanos Ron Johnson de Wisconsin, Jeff Flake de Arizona y John Cornyn de Texas, al que se sumó John McCain, quien dijo que la seguridad fronteriza es lo primero. El proyecto requeriría el control operativo de las zonas más transitadas de la frontera en dos años y de toda la frontera en cinco años. Define el control operativo como detener o rechazar a todos los que intentan cruzar la frontera, un objetivo que según los demócratas no es realista.
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) 765-4871.
HISTORIA
Creación de caminos fue problemático POR RAÚL SINENCIO ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Recorrer antiguas rutas a través del tiempo resulta en momentos entretenidos. Un ejemplo de recordar cómo se formaron los senderos que unen a ciudad Victoria con Tula, México.
Obstáculos Hacia el siglo XVIII, en Nuevo Santander —hoy Tamaulipas— surge la necesidad de conectar sus poblaciones. Desde el corazón de la entidad, Tula ofrece idónea salida terrestre, ya que tiene conexión con San Luis Potosí y por ende con la Ciudad de México. No fue fácil abrir las vías de
comunicación la interposición de la sierra Madre Oriental. El trecho de mayor dificultad iba hasta Jaumave a partir de la villa de Aguayo, ahora Ciudad Victoria. Primero se escoge desafiar las elevaciones. Después, ante el reto que representan, optan por evitarlas. “Al salir de Tula cruzamos la cadena de cerros por el este, de modo que descendimos por una vereda en zigzag, y no obstante a los obstáculos del camino, […] llamaba mi atención el espléndido panorama”, nota Joel Robert Poinsett, en 1822.
Intentos fallidos Tras la independencia de Mé-
xico, se suscita interés en la vialidad. Optimizarla se considera “el sueño dorado de las administraciones tamaulipecas”. Con el propósito de introducir mejoras, el mandatario local Francisco Vital Fernández instala un centro penitenciario en la montaña para que los reos construyan el tramo de Las Minas. Al mediar el siglo XIX, Jesús Cárdenas toma las riendas estatales. Pretende esquivar de nueva cuenta la serranía y al efecto aprovecha el cañón de Juan Capitán. El rodeo pronto decepciona. Lo anterior obliga a restablecer el tránsito por Las Minas. Con frecuencia, lluvias y deslaves empeoran el cuadro.
Antecedentes En 1900, el Gobernador reelecto, Guadalupe Mainero reconfigura el trayecto del centro tamaulipeco a Jaumave, aprovechando viejas realizaciones. Normas decimonónicas autorizaban el uso de presos en laslabores. La dictadura porfiriana disponía asimismo de recursos financieros. Según un reporte periodístico de 1929, “en Tamaulipas los agricultores y productores de ixtle están sosteniendo, por su cuenta, la conservación del camino entre Ciudad Victoria y Tula, que entronca con la carretera a San Luis Potosí”. (Publicado con permiso del autor según apareció en La Razón, Tampico, Tamaulipas)
International
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
Yemen’s Shiite rebels face mounting pressure By AHMED AL-HAJ AND MAGGIE MICHAEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shiite rebels faced mounting pressures and signs of internal divisions Friday after the U.S.-backed president and his cabinet resigned rather than submit at gunpoint to their increasing demands for greater power. With thousands of demonstrators on both sides taking to the streets across the impoverished Arab country, the rebels appeared wary of the dangers of overstepping in Yemen’s minefield of tribal politics, sectarian divisions, al-Qaida militancy and a strong secessionist movement. Although rebel gunmen manned checkpoints throughout the capital and continued besieging the houses of government ministers, they made no public attempt to fill the vacuum
created by the resignations of President Abed Rabbo Hadi, his prime minister and cabinet. And there were signs that the national parliament would reject the resignations when it meets Sunday. Indeed, it seemed as though the rebels, known as the Houthis, do not want to rule the country outright and would prefer that Hadi remain as a figurehead president. In his latest speech, rebel leader Abdel-Malek alHouthi vowed to keep up the pressure until the government meets all his demands, including greater representation in government ministries and in a committee to rewrite the country’s constitution. He stressed his group’s opposition to dividing the country into six regions — a measure in the draft constitution that would diminish the resources under the Houthis’ control.
Photo by Hani Mohammed | AP
Yemeni protesters gather during a demonstration to show their support for Houthi Shiite rebels in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday. Yemeni law dictates that the parliament speaker — Yahia al-Rai, a close ally of former autocratic ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh — will now assume the presidency. Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 a year after widespread street protests, still wields considerable power and is believed to be allied with the Houthis.
New Saudi king named By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI AND AYA BATRAWY ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — As Saudi Arabia mourned its late ruler, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud quickly set the course for the monarchy’s future Friday by naming a secondin-line to the throne from the next generation of princes for the first time. The appointment came as the ultraconservative Sunni-ruled kingdom buried King Abdullah after a subdued and austere funeral attended by Muslim dignitaries from around the world. Abdullah, who led the country for nearly two decades, died early Friday at the age of 90 after falling ill with pneumonia. Buried that same afternoon in an unmarked grave, Abdullah’s body was shrouded in a simple beige cloth, his remains interred without a coffin in line with Islamic tradition that
Photo courtesy of Saudi Press Agency | AP
Saudi Arabia’s newly enthroned King Salman, center, and relatives of late King Abdullah wait for his body during his funeral. all people — even kings — are equal in death before God. Just hours before, the ruling family once again showed its shrewd ability to coalesce quickly around thorny issues of succession. A royal decree affirmed Salman’s half brother Muqrin, 69, as Crown Prince and the king’s immediate successor. Salman named Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as deputy crown prince. It marked the first time a grandson of Saudi
Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, is in line to become king. King Salman, 79, promised in a nationally televised speech to continue the policies of his predecessors. “We will continue adhering to the correct policies which Saudi Arabia has followed since its establishment,” said Salman, a veteran of the country’s top leadership who served for nearly 50 years as the governor of the capital, Riyadh.
“The strong majority of people are against Houthis’ expansionist move,” said political analyst Omar AbdelAziz. “Pressure from different regions on them right now are mounting.” The Houthis were also confronted with dissent from within their own ranks. Ali al-Bukhaiti, a prominent member of the
group’s political arm, resigned Friday. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis had become “the official authority” in the country. He said he wanted to work as a mediator to “lessen the political polarization which is transforming into a regional and sectarian polarization that threatens the whole nation with fragmentation.” Even before the Houthis’ recent ascendance, a powerful movement in southern Yemen was demanding autonomy or a return to the full independence the region enjoyed from 1967 to 1990. Southerners outrightly reject rule by the Houthis, whose power base is in the north. On Friday, thousands of demonstrators in the southern city of Aden raised the former flag of Southern Yemen over the local airport and security headquarters building, witnesses said. Top officials in
Aden and the southern province of Shabwa both announced that they would no longer follow orders from the capital. Thousands more protested against the Houthis’ “coup” in several other cities, including Taiz, Ibb and Houdida. But tens of thousands also turned out in the capital, Sanaa, in support of the Houthis, converging on the airport road. They raised green flags and banners proclaiming their slogan “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam” - a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Houthis have always been careful not to frame their goals in sectarian terms. A leading Houthi politician, Hamid al-Bukhaiti, described the rallies as a public outcry against “corruption and political crime.”
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 13A
ANSELMO TREVIÑO, SR. Anselmo Treviño, Sr., 96, of Zapata, beloved husband of Consuelo Salinas passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. He entered into eternal rest January 20, 2015. He was preceded in death by his parents, Filiberto Treviño, Sr. and Luisa Cuellar; his dearly beloved grandson Anselmo Treviño, III and his greatgrandson, Eliud Joel Garcia, III. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Adela T. Ramirez and brothers, Teodoro Treviño, Antonio Treviño, Jose Manuel Treviño, and Filiberto Treviño, Jr. He is survived by his brother, Leopoldo Treviño, and sisters, Luisa T. Lopez and Concepcion T. Ramirez. Left behind to honor his memory is his loving wife Consuelo and their four children: Consuelo (Duard B.) McGuffin, Maria Elena (Ruben) Elizondo, Sr., Anselmo (Rosa Nelia) Treviño, Jr., and Margarita (Antonio F.) Vidaurri, Sr. Anselmo and Consuelo had recently celebrated 69 years of marriage. Anselmo’s grandchildren are: Deborah M. (Homero) Gonzalez, Robert E. (Melissa) McGuffin, Ruben Elizondo, Jr., Dahlia B. (E. Joel) Garcia, Jr., Rene (Sandra) Elizondo, Angela N. (Mario) Ramirez, Andrew J. Treviño, Antonio F. Vidaurri, Jr., Victor A. (Marisol) Vidaurri, Steven M. Vidaurri, and Margaret E. Vidaurri. Anselmo’s greatgrandchildren are: Matthew A. Gonzalez, Garrett J. Gonzalez, Victoria B. McGuffin, Carol M. McGuffin, Ruben Elizondo III, Gabriela Elizondo, Alexandra J. Garcia, Jocelyne I. Garcia, Erick J. Garcia, Sara R. Elizondo, Selma R. Elizondo, Antonio F. Vidaurri, III, Alyssa M. Vidaurri, Mario M. Ramirez, III and Priscilla A. Ramirez. Pallbearers were: Robert E. McGuffin, Ruben Elizondo, Jr., Rene Elizondo, Andrew J. Treviño, Antonio F. Vidaurri, Jr., Victor A. Vidaurri, and Steven M. Vidaurri. Honorary Pallbearers were: Duard B. McGuffin, Ruben Elizondo, Sr., and Antonio F. Vidaurri, Sr. Anselmo was an incredibly strong and healthy man who always managed to maintain a peaceful life. He was a good, noble son and daily would remember his father, “Papa decia…”. As a young child he grew up working the lands of their family ranch, El Capitaneño, adjacent to Old Zapata. His good health was attributed to working hard as a young boy with his father along with his five brothers and three sisters. He also attributed his excellent health to eating fresh organic crops grown in the rich lands of the “añegos” of the Rio Grande River and the farm raised animals. As a young boy, he would sell sugar cane at 1 cent each
during local baseball games. Anselmo served in the U.S. Army in 1942. Soon after his honorable discharge, he would drive the family’s Model A vehicle to visit his future wife, Consuelito, at the Santo Niño Ranch, Texas. Relatives of Consuelo would joke and say, “Allí viene el Christmas Tree” due to its many lights. After his retirement from the maintenance department from ZCISD, he still kept working at his ranch with his “vaquitas, gallinitas, and calabacitas.” During his final months, he played Loteria Mexicana at home with his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and somehow he always managed to win the JackPot! Anselmo had many stories as to how his parents had lost many acres of fertile land due to the creation of the Falcon Dam. This was their land in Porcion37 that had been awarded by the King of Spain in 1767. Anselmo will be missed and remembered by many. The family would like to thank Mary Plattner, FNP and Dr. Arturo Garza Gongora for their special loving care as well as Champion Home Health, Brush Country Home Health, Elva Garcia, Michelle Thatcher, and Dora Sendejo for their excellent medical attention. The family would also like to thank his home health providers Maria Olga Garcia, Socorro Hernandez, Erika Hernandez, and Francisca Hernandez. Visitation hours were held on Wednesday, January 21, 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 Thursday, January 22, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Burials services followed at Zapata County Cemetery, including full Military Honors by the American Legion Post 486 Color Guard. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden funeral home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy. 83, Zapata.
SISTER Continued from Page 1A older. In Greater Houston, home to 38 women’s communities, membership has plummeted from 1,308 in the mid-1960s to a mere 440. About one-fourth are retired. To cope with declining membership, orders increasingly are seeking help from lay volunteers in the larger Catholic community in carrying out their traditional missions. Also, lay teachers now staff many Catholic schools, and hospitals once operated by nursing orders such as Houston’s Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word are run by outside professionals. Other challenges have come as some orders, reassessing their missions in view of the liberating Second Vatican Council, boldly advocate for the downtrodden. Their actions occasionally stir controversy inside and outside the church. In December, longawaited results of a Vatican investigation of American nuns — prompted by concerns over a “certain secular mentality” and “feminist spirit” — brought sighs of relief with its call to create “still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence” in the church. A second Vatican investigation targeting a major association of American sisters continues. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo told the Houston Chronicle that he routinely tells Catholic sisters in his Galveston-Houston Archdiocese that he has only one problem with them: “There aren’t enough of you.” For a number of nuns in the greater Houston area, the stark realities of declining membership are reminders of their earliest days in Texas — a time in which minuscule groups of women labored mightily for the Lord. Texas’ first Catholic sisters, seven Ursulines, arrived in Galveston in 1847. They promptly established the state’s first Catholic academy. Today, only one Ursuline sister remains in the Houston area. The vanguard of the second order, three members of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, arrived 19 years later. One died in little more than a year; a second soon returned to Europe. In ensuing decades, the sisters created an extensive health care network in Gulf Coast states. Today, their focus is on small neighborhood clinics serving the uninsured. The Dominicans, a teaching order with an extensive regional presence, arrived in Galves-
ton in 1882. They started with 20 sisters and today, with about three times that number, administer two Houston college prep schools, St. Agnes Academy and St. Pius X High School. The decline in the numbers is a bit of a paradox. It well could be the defining problem facing the institution in coming decades, yet the sisterhood publicly faces it without blanching. “The numbers affect the general public and the media more than they do us personally,” said Sister Heloise Cruzat, the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese’s liaison with area religious orders. And, observed Sister Mary Patricia Driscoll, a congregational leader of Houston’s Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, “Over the years, the ministries we began have grown, changed and evolved, but they are not dependent on our numbers alone.” By almost any standard, pursuit of a religious life characterized by poverty, chastity and obedience is a daunting commitment. In Driscoll’s order, the process of becoming a sister begins with a period of becoming familiar with the order and its mission. A one-year pre-novice stage, in which a candidate for the sisterhood lives with the community, comes next, followed by a two-year novitiate, annual profession of vows for five years and a “perpetual” profession in which a woman vows to live as a sister for the rest of her life. Aside from religious devotion and a yearning to serve, said Sister Carol Mayes, prioress for the Houston Dominicans, mid-20th century women may have been drawn to consecrated life because of the educational and career options it provided. “There weren’t a lot of options for women,” she said. “You could be a teacher or a nurse until you got married. If you felt some call to do more, you would have joined a convent.” By the mid-’60s, said Mary Gautier, a senior research associate with Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, membership in women’s religious orders had reached a “bubble.” “There was a tremendous amount of growth that occurred in the early 20th century,” she said, “and by the ‘60s there was sort of a peak. All things Catholic were taking off in the U.S.” John Kennedy was president, she said, and Catholicism was in vogue.
“But even in 1960 it was common for women to get married after high school,” she added. “All of that was changing in the late ‘60s and 1970s. That’s not to say that women were not still attracted to religious life, it was just in much, much smaller numbers.” At roughly the same point came the Second Vatican Council, which called for a revised, more contemporary vision for religious communities. Catholic sisters in many cases abandoned their habits and found new venues of services in aiding the poor. It was a time, too, when many women left consecrated life, though many continued to work side-by-side with sisters as lay colleagues. “Things totally changed. We were told to look at three things — the spirit of our founders, the Scriptures and the needs of our times,” recalled Mayes. “Before Vatican 2, there wasn’t much variety. We dressed group by group. We were either hospital or school people. Then we saw the door open to address the needs of the poor. We began to diversify in every sense. Those were great, exciting times.” Soon, Mayes’ order was offering sanctuary to refugees from war-torn Latin America. “We have over these years since Vatican 2 learned to be way more collaborative with other people in the parishes,” said Cruzat. “We have learned about ministry together, whereas, historically, my community did what it did and other communities did what they did.” Enlisting new members in religious orders is an ongoing concern of the church, which claims about 76 million members in the U.S. and more than a 1 billion worldwide. In Houston, Sister Anita Brenek, the archdiocese’s associate director of vocational promotion, said strategies range from presentations at schools and church groups to periodic retreats at which potential candidates can talk with sisters and priests. “We have several different retreats, depending on the age levels,” she said. “With those who are more mature, we have discussion, prayers, oneon-one talks with sisters and priests. For the younger ones, those in junior high school, there’s a little more sports. “It is my very deep belief that all of us were called by God,” she said. “The deepest call, the church call, is the universal call to holiness, what-
ever faith we are. God keeps drawing us to himself at the deepest level, for our deepest happiness, our deepest well-being.” For Nguyen, 29, who recently made her full profession as a sister in the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province, the call from God was an audible summons. “It was in my junior year in high school that I woke up one day and heard God,” she said, adding that the deity issued his invitation to consecrated life in Vietnamese. “I had never heard that phrase before. I wasn’t shocked, but I wondered why he would be calling me, of all people.” On reflection, Nguyen, the daughter of a Catholic mother and Buddhist father, both of whom came to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon, realized that “I didn’t have a relationship with God.” “It was very profound,” she said, confessing that, initially, she put the issue “on the back burner.” “After a few months, it was still tugging at my heart,” she said. “I needed to find that relationship, then a vocation. My relationship is with God, not a physical man. It is being the bride of God in the church.” Menchaca, 40, was studying for a degree in criminal justice — she hoped to become an FBI agent — and dating a local man when she received her divine summons. But despite the promise of a fulfilling career and a romantic life, Menchaca, then in her mid-20s, felt something was missing. “Both of us were very religious,” she said. “Me and my boyfriend prayed and asked God what he wanted us to do.” The answer: Both should devote their lives to God. Reflecting on her decision to join the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of St. Therese, Menchaca advised others who feel called to the sisterhood to “take some time and be alone and silent. Pray and ask God what he desires.” “Kids and even we adults are so involved in so many things. We’re always busy and have no time for silence,” she said. “When I visit my family, they’ve got the radio and TV going, the kids are all playing with their games. There’s no God time. Society’s so used to go, go, go. It’s forgotten there’s a God out there. Give yourself some time to be alone in the presence of God.” “If you put your heart and soul out there, he’ll take care of the rest.”
14A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
Voter ID debate takes high-tech turn By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA FE, N.M. — The push to require New Mexico voters to present some form of identification at the polls has long divided Democrats and Republicans, but one state senator is taking the debate in another direction. Senate Minority Whip William Payne introduced a proposal this week that calls for the state’s top elections officials to study the feasibility of bringing biometrics into the mix. That could mean anything from retinal scans to the thumbprintimaging technology used to access
smartphones. After hearing the same debate year after year, the Albuquerque Republican said he wanted to find a way to take some of the “venom” out of the argument that requiring photo identification would lead to voter suppression. “This could put to rest the criticism that voters cannot afford to produce reliable photo identification when they vote,” Payne said. “Everyone has an eyeball or thumb that could be scanned for identification. No need to produce a photo ID.” While other countries have adopted biometrics for identification purposes, the idea has yet to
take off in the U.S. Oklahoma was the first state last year to propose legislation that would require future voter ID cards to include photos as well as fingerprint images, but that measure stalled in committee. Nearly three dozen states already have some form of voter ID requirements. But out of the hundreds of election-related pieces of legislation introduced in statehouses across the country so far this year, New Mexico is the only one considering any type of biometric voter ID measure. “Voter ID is a perennial question,” said Wendy Underhill with the National Conference of State
Legislatures. “The idea about working with biometrics is a relatively new idea.” Payne hopes his proposal can quell concerns of voter suppression while addressing the potential for fraud at the polls. Holding up his new smartphone, the lawmaker said: “We’re not talking cutting-edge, next generation stuff. This is already commercially applicable, and it has nothing to do with the technical literacy of the person. It has to do with the county clerks buying the right equipment, having it in place and certifying that it’s working.” While voter ID efforts have had a difficult time getting through the
Legislature, Payne’s memorial is gaining bipartisan support. Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, a former state elections director, said the problem with most voter ID bills has been the discrepancy in the treatment of people who vote by mail and those who show up at the polls. The Albuquerque Democrat said using biometrics has the potential to provide security for both. “The issue becomes the feasibility of moving in this direction. Sen. Payne’s memorial seeks to evaluate that feasibility,” Ivey-Soto said. Payne said the ultimate goal is ensuring the integrity of the election process.
ABBOTT Continued from Page 1A mented immediately to cover expenses including staff salary and infrastructure. Abbott thanked the United Health Foundation for their efforts promote the health of people in the colonias, the Valley and the people of Texas. The governor touted the state’s numerous top rankings before highlighting the issues in some of the Valley’s more rural areas. “Some of the people who don’t get to benefit from us being ranked number one in jobs are people that suffer from serious health issues and challenges,” he said. “That probably is no truer than what we see in our colonias — to build healthier families in the Rio Grande Valley, we need to expand access to improved healthcare, especially for those that are most at risk.” Fernandez said the program would also formalize the training for trained promotoras , or community-based health workers who link the health care system
with the colonias through shared language, culture and ethnic ties. It’s the second grant awarded to the school this week. A more than $140,000 grant was awarded Tuesday to establish the first psychiatric nursing program.
Legislative delegation in Harlingen State legislators on Thursday stood in awe inside the United Launch Alliance manufacturing facility in Harlingen. Before them was a payload fairing that will ultimately launch a communication satellite to space. Minutes later, state Rep. Eddie Lucio III noted, “Exposure and seeing and feeling and smelling an area really gives you the best possible perspective about why it is important for the state of Texas for that area to prosper.”
BORDER Continued from Page 1A mandates that would make it harder for border agents to do their jobs, while proposing to spend $10 billion on an array of drones, surveillance systems, radar, fencing and other technologies that might do little real good. “It is overly prescriptive and it is impossible, operationally, to succeed,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, DTexas. “This bill militarizes the nation.” A companion version was introduced in the Senate by Republicans Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Jeff Flake of Arizona and John Cornyn of Texas. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he was adding his name as a co-sponsor. McCain, who led efforts on a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013, said border security must come first. The bill would require operational control of hightraffic areas of the border within two years, and operational control of the full border within five years. The bill defines operational control as stopping or turning back all attempted border crossers, which Democrats said was unrealistic. Some past immigration and border bills, including one advanced in the last Congress by McCaul’s committee, have sought to block 90 percent of would-be crossers. McCaul’s earlier border bill won unanimous Democratic support by leaving it up to the administration to come up with a strategy to secure the border. This time
he abandoned Democrats to write a bill designed to be tougher and win more GOP support. It comes as a number of rank-and-file congressional Republicans are eager to advance immigration legislation of their own and hope a border bill will be just a first step. The Senate’s immigration overhaul legislation stalled in the House in the last Congress because of conservative opposition. Now some Republicans want to show they can offer solutions to the pressing national issue, especially heading into the 2016 presidential election where the Latino vote could be critical. “It’s incredibly frustrating to absorb, continue to absorb, the whacks on doing nothing on the issue,” said Rep. Mark Amodei, RNev. “I’m just tired of defending nothing, I can’t defend nothing.” Obama cited House inaction as he took unilateral steps in November to offer deportation relief and work permits to some 4 million immigrants here illegally, a move that infuriated Republicans. House Republicans attached language to a mustpass spending bill for the Homeland Security Department last week to block Obama’s move, but the measure faces near-certain defeat in the Senate, leaving Republicans still searching for a way to stop the president. That issue is certain to complicate any immigration legislation Republicans seek to advance.
This was Lucio’s second tour of the aerospace firm’s facility near the Valley International Airport. “There is an effort to really make sure that this facility is maintained and that it stays here,” Lucio said, noting that he is ready to take the lead at the state level to ensure its continued development in Harlingen. “There is absolutely no downside for pushing this 100 percent forward. We want jobs like these here. We do our very best to educate our kids to go to school and get degrees in engineering and science, but then we have no opportunities for them to come here. This is it!” Lucio said of ULA’s facility. “This is a platform for bigger and better things,” he added. State Rep. Rene O. Oliveira’s legislative director Tony Gray noted that ULA is a large employer, and that the state is making every effort to try to develop commercial launch activities all across the state. “It is happening all over the state,
and it is very prudent to promote it as we move into the 21st century,” Gray said. Approximately 40 legislators were on hand, hosted by the partnership, city, and Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Chris Boswell said that it had been great to hear ULA CEO Tory Bruno address the group on video, “talking about how proud he is of the facility here in Harlingen. I thought that was a great thing to hear,” Boswell said. Chamber CEO Christopher Gonzales said that ULA is a good example of what a good business should do. “They set the bar and also raised the bar because they are also very much involved in the community,” Gonzales said. “You know, people generally say ‘well, it’s not rocket science.’ But here, it is the one business that is rocket science,” Gonzales said.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Awaiting word Photo by Manuel Valdes | AP
Former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen, who now helps design footballs, says footballs with less air have better grip and can be thrown faster.
QB: An edge in deflation Former QB discusses advantages from an under-inflated football By JAYSON JENKS MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
RENTON, Wash. Former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen had four footballs on a table in front of him. Millen picked each football up separately, then squeezed with his right hand. Two of the footballs were inflated close to the NFL-mandated weight of 13 pounds per square inch
of pressure. The other two were deflated by two pounds per square inch of pressure. Millen works for Baden Sports, a Rentonbased company that makes footballs, and just by the feel of each football, he could accurately tell which ones were inflated or deflated. The proper inflation
See MILLEN PAGE 2B
Photo by Elise Amendola | AP
New England quarterback Tom Brady claimed he was unaware of how the team’s footballs were underinflated during the AFC Championship against Indianapolis.
NFL says no conclusion yet on deflated balls By HOWARD ULMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The NFL said Friday it has interviewed dozens of people and collect-
ed physical evidence but has no conclusions yet on how the New England Patriots used underinflated balls in their last game, offering no timetable for resolving the
cheating accusations with the Super Bowl nine days away. The league said evidence shows the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the first half
of the AFC championship game Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts. It issued a statement
See NFL PAGE 2B
Hernandez associate pleads guilty to charges ASSOCIATED PRESS
File photo by CJ Gunther | AP
An associate of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has pleaded guilty to federal charges.
BOSTON — An associate of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has pleaded guilty to federal charges of lying to a grand jury, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and a gun conspiracy charge. Oscar Hernandez’s plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston came as jury selection continued in Bristol
County Superior Court, where Aaron Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder in the June 2013 killing of semiprofessional football player Odin Lloyd near the football star’s North Attleborough home. The two Hernandezes are not related. Bristol County Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh, who is overseeing the murder case, said she expects a jury to be seated Monday and opening
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: LOS ANGELES LAKERS
statements to be Tuesday. Investigators have said the murder weapon was a .45-caliber Glock. It has never been found, and Oscar Hernandez was not charged in connection with that weapon. The indictment to which Oscar Hernandez pleaded guilty says a grand jury in Massachusetts began investigating the transporting of guns from Flor-
See PLEADS PAGE 2B
MLB: MIAMI MARLINS
Kobe to be re-examined By GREG BEACHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant’s torn right rotator cuff will be re-examined Monday before the Los Angeles Lakers decide whether the superstar guard needs potentially seasonending surgery. Bryant was examined Friday in Los Angeles after the third-leading scorer in NBA history tore his rotator cuff Wednesday in New Orleans. A completely torn rotator cuff typically requires surgery and several months of rehabilitation, which means Bryant’s 19th NBA season could be over. Bryant’s previous two seasons also ended early due to injuries. A partial tear sometimes can be managed while an athlete continues to play, but the Lakers have declined to specify the severity of Bryant’s tear. Yet it’s clear the 36-yearold Bryant has a major in-
See KOBE PAGE 2B
File photo by Seth Wenig | AP
Former Yankees and Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will join his third professional team in 2015 after signing a one-year deal with the Marlins.
Ichiro signing with Marlins Outfielder added on one-year deal worth around $2 million By MANNY NAVARRO AND BARRY JACKSON MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
Photo by Jonathan Bachman | AP
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will have his rotator cuff re-examined Monday to determine his fate for the remainder of the season.
The Marlins on Friday agreed to a one-year contract with 10-time All-Star Ichiro Suzuki to become the
team’s fourth outfielder, a source with direct knowledge said. The contract, pending a physical, will pay Suzuki, who turned 41 in October,
See ICHIRO PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
NFL Continued from Page 1B that the Patriots have pledged full cooperation and have given the league information it requested and made personnel available upon request. Quarterback Tom Brady said Thursday afternoon he had not been contacted at that point. The NFL said it began its investigation Sunday night and expects cooperation from other clubs. It hired an investigatory company to help review electronic and video information. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said investigators were in Foxborough for three days this week after he received a letter from the league Monday informing him of the probe. “We provided access to every full- and part-time employee the league’s representatives requested to speak with and produced every communication device that they requested to search,” he said. “I very much support the league’s desire to conduct a complete investigation.” The Patriots are preparing to meet the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona. The league said its conclusions will be quickly shared when reached. “Over the past several
days, nearly 40 interviews have been conducted, including of Patriots personnel, game officials, and third parties with relevant information and expertise,” the statement said. NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash and Ted Wells of the law firm of Paul Weiss are leading the probe. Wells was the investigator in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal. His report last February detailed widespread harassment in the team’s locker room that extended beyond the two players at the center of the probe. It said guard John Jerry and center Mike Pouncey followed Richie Incognito’s lead in harassing offensive lineman Jonathan Martin. The NFL requires game balls to be inflated to between 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 pounds per square inch. It wants to find out why footballs were underinflated during the first half and whether “deliberate action” caused it. “We have not made any judgments on these points and will not do so until we have concluded our investigation and considered all of the relevant evidence,” the league said. The balls were properly inflated for the second half and remained properly inflated after the game, the
Photo by Charles Krupa | AP
The NFL said Friday that evidence shows the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship. statement said. Colts general manager Ryan Grigson declined to comment.
“Everything, I’m sure is going to come out in the investigation,” he said when asked if the Colts
alerted the NFL to the underinflated balls. “It’s in the league’s hands.” A former NFL ball boy said it’s easy to remove air from a ball discreetly with a small pin that fits in the palm of a hand. “This isn’t a big deal. Everyone does it because each quarterback likes a different grip,” Nader Kawash, a Philadelphia Eagles ball boy from 19962000, told The AP. “I’m not saying a ball boy or equipment guy did anything on purpose to cheat. Sometimes the balls are overinflated so it’s easy to take some air out on the sideline without the referees noticing. You can use a helmet pin. Players can stand around in a circle. Anybody can do it.” Brady and coach Bill Belichick said Thursday they had no explanations for how the footballs were underinflated. “I didn’t alter the ball in any way,” said Brady, who said he likes footballs pumped to exactly 12 1/2 pounds per square inch, the lower limit. “I have no knowledge of anything, any wrongdoing.” Belichick said that before this week, he didn’t give air pressure in footballs much thought. Softer balls are generally considered easier to throw and catch, and
quarterbacks, specialists and equipment managers are known to have very individualized preferences in how footballs are readied for games. Under league rules, each team provides balls for use on offense. Referees approve the balls more than 2 hours before game time, then keep the balls until they’re turned over to ball handlers provided by home teams just before kickoff. “The playing rules are intended to protect the fairness and integrity of our games,” the NFL said. “We take seriously claims that those rules have been violated and will fully investigate this matter without compromise or delay.” Patriots players said they believed Brady and wouldn’t let the investigation disrupt their preparations for the Super Bowl. “Tom is a big boy,” defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “He knows how to handle all situations, so he’ll handle this with class, like he always does.” Safety Devin McCourty said the team trusts Brady. “We’ve learned this year that it can be a lot going on outside of this building, but if everything’s right inside of this building we give ourselves a chance to win,” McCourty said.
MILLEN Continued from Page 1B of footballs has become the whitehot topic of the week after news broke that 11 of the 12 footballs used by New England Patriots in their 45-7 win Sunday in the AFC Championship Game were two pounds per square inch below what’s required by NFL regulations. ESPN Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City reported that the Patriots’ balls were found to be underinflated, then re-inflated at halftime before being put back into
play. They were also inspected again after the game, according to the report. Millen, who made 20 starts for the Patriots in the early ’90s, said a football that is deflated by two pounds is like playing with a baseball glove that has already been broken in compared to a new one. "One thing is it would mimic the feel of a broken-in ball," Millen said. "It would just feel softer. When you’re gripping it, as the
index finger comes off, because you can dig your finger into a deflated ball, the finger has a little more contact with the ball, and you can feel like you can snap it a little faster." Said Hugh Tompkins, Baden’s director of research and development, "I’m not going to sit here and tell you it gives a material difference in the game play, but what we can say for sure is the grip is improved." Millen and Tompkins put one
of the fully inflated balls into a harness and attached a scale that measures pressure. Millen held the football with his right arm, then ripped his hand backward to register the amount of pressure it takes to get the football out of his grip. It took 26 pounds of pressure the first time and 25 pounds of pressure the second time to release the fully inflated football from Millen’s grasp. Then Millen repeated the same
process with the deflated footballs. This time, Millen needed 29.5 pounds of pressure per square inch and 32 pounds of pressure per square inch to rip it free. Millen played for six teams as mostly a backup, and he said most quarterbacks he has been around prefer a softer ball. "It’s like boots when you first get them after you’ve worn them for a couple years," Millen said. "It just has that supple feel."
ICHIRO Continued from Page 1B in the $2 million range. A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Suzuki hit .284 for the Yankees last season and stole 15 bases in 385 plate appearances. A career .317 hitter, he was 11-for-25 (.440) as a pinch-hitter for the Yankees the last two seasons. Tied with former Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez for 48th all-time in MLB history with 2,844 hits, Suzuki is just 156 away from becoming the 29th player to reach 3,000. With 4,122 professional hits between Japan and the U.S., Suzuki is also only 134 short of Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256. Odds are, though, Suzuki won’t reach either mark in 2015 unless the Marlins lose one of their young, talented starters to injury. As it stands, though, Suzuki’s veteran presence could be a great influence on left fielder Christian Yelich, 23, a fellow left-handed, topof-the-order hitter who batted .284 and stole 21 bases in his first full major league season last year. Friday’s news was already being warmly received by Suzuki’s new teammates. "Big props to the Marlins on adding Ichiro, Japan hit king 1/8and3/8 my homie," new Marlins first baseman Mike Morse wrote on Twitter. Morse, who signed a two-year $16 million deal with the Marlins last month, played four seasons with Suzuki in Seattle. Suzuki began his MLB career with the Mariners in 2001 and played there until joining the Yan-
PLEADS Continued from Page 1B
File photo by John Minchillo | AP
Ichiro hit .284 for the Yankees and stole 15 bases last season. He enters his 15th professional year in 2015.
kees in 2012. He won American League batting titles twice (2001, 2004) and the MVP award the same season he won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2001. After hitting .262 with seven homers and 35 RBI in 128 starts in 2013 for the Yankees, he batted .284 with one homer and 22 RBI in 95 starts last season in New York.
His addition is just another move by the Marlins in beefing up the roster around right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who signed a 13-year, $325 million deal in November with the promise the organization would build around him. The Marlins made trades to acquire third baseman Martin Prado from the Yankees, second baseman
Dee Gordon and pitcher Dan Haren from Dodgers, pitcher Mat Latos from the Reds, and then signed Morse to a free agent contract. The club’s payroll was nearly $65 million prior to the Ichiro deal. That doesn’t include portions of contracts that will be paid by the Dodgers and Yankees in trades for Haren, Gordon and Prado.
ida to Massachusetts after investigators traced three guns recovered during the investigation of Lloyd’s killing. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that all three guns were purchased in Florida in April 2013. Aaron Hernandez is not mentioned in the indictment by name, but police have said that five days after Lloyd’s killing they seized an FEG 7.62 mm rifle from a gym bag on the back seat of a Toyota sedan parked inside his garage. Among the three weapons mentioned in Oscar Hernandez’s indictment is a FEG 7.62 mm rifle that was found inside a gray Toyota Camry parked inside the garage of a residence in North Attleborough. Oscar Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced April 27. He is listed as a possible prosecution witness in the Lloyd case, though his lawyer told news outlets that he is not a witness and has not agreed to any deals with prosecutors in the murder case.
KOBE Continued from Page 1B jury for the third straight season, his famously resilient body finally wearing down from the accumulated grind of nearly two decades with the Lakers and numerous long postseason runs. He tore his Achilles tendon in April 2013, and he played in just six games last season before breaking a bone near his left knee. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around as far as dealing with injuries and things like that, and being able to come back,” coach Byron Scott said after the Lakers’ morning shoota-
round in San Antonio on Friday. “Everybody said he was done after the Achilles, and he came back pretty strong. Knowing him the way I know him, I know he doesn’t want to go out this way. I think he will rehab it if that’s the case, and then we’ll wait and see.” Team physician Steve Lombardo confirmed the initial diagnosis and discussed treatment options with Bryant on Friday. Bryant will be examined again by Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic on Monday, and they’ll decide whether
Bryant should have surgery. Bryant joked about the injury on his Twitter account Friday: “This is what happens when I pass too much!” Bryant was injured while throwing down a two-handed dunk in the Lakers’ loss to the Pelicans. He traveled home before the Lakers played at San Antonio on Friday night. Bryant has sat out eight games in the last month to rest, so the struggling Lakers (12-31) have grown used to playing without their top scorer. Bryant felt shoulder pain at the
beginning of the season, but hadn’t mentioned it lately. The Lakers believe Bryant’s torn rotator cuff occurred on the dunk. “I said, ’Are you all right?”’ Scott recalled. “He was like, ’Yeah, I’m good, just bothering me a little bit. Once I get warmed up, I’m fine.’ After that point, I never thought about it.” Although the Lakers rested Bryant extensively this season to preserve the wear on his highmileage body, Scott still laments playing Kobe for too many minutes in early-season games. Bryant has been on a strict 32-
minute limit over the past month. The Lakers repeatedly have said they’re determined to preserve Bryant’s health into next season, when he is due to make $25 million. Los Angeles has struggled on the court for two straight seasons, but Bryant remains one of the world’s most popular athletes, with his presence essentially guaranteeing a sellout in arenas across North America. Bryant is the NBA’s highestpaid player at $23.5 million this season.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
Hope Is in the Cards Dear Readers: It is time again to tell you about a worthwhile charitable group I’ve been writing about for more than 30 years! You keep asking – all year long, mind you – so here we go. How can you do a good deed rather than throwing out holiday (and other) greeting cards we all seem to accumulate? Pass them on to be repurposed into another product and teach life skills to children at ST. JUDE’S RANCH FOR CHILDREN. This marvelous, yearlong program helps resident children earn some spending money while being exposed to business skills. The children may have been neglected, abandoned, homeless or abused. Working on this project can give them life skills that carry beyond their time at the ranch. They take the fronts of greeting cards (no writing on the front or back) and turn them into new cards. These are available for sale, and the profits benefit the residents at the ranches. All types of card fronts
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
“
HELOISE
are welcome, but they especially need birthday and thank-you card fronts. Some guidelines for the cards: Remember, card fronts only, and no writing on either side. Unfortunately, Hallmark, Disney and American Greetings cards CANNOT be used because of copyright issues. A size of 5 inches by 7 inches or smaller is the easiest to work with. The address: St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Recycled Card Program 100 St. Jude’s Street Boulder City, NV 89005 If you would like to order cards, visit www.stjudesranch.org for details. A pack of 10 cards is $17, and there are a multitude of different occasions. Or call 877-977-7572 to order. – Heloise
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015