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WEBB COUNTY
Sentenced to 76 months County commissioner going to prison for bribes By PHILIP BALLI THE ZAPATA TIMES
MONTEMAYOR
Before being sentenced Monday to six-plus years in prison for taking bribes, former Webb County Commissioner Mike Montemayor told the judge that he became a “monster” and lost control of the power he had while in office. “I want to apologize to the
City of Laredo and to the county of Webb for going against everything I promised I would do,” said Montemayor, crying. “I have put them both on the map for all the wrong reasons. “I am embarrassed by my actions and have been humiliated, but I have learned a hard lesson from this and I have become a better man, husband and father.”
In a courtroom filled with family members and his former county peers, Montemayor was sentenced to 76 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $109,405 fine. Following the hearing, he was taken into custody, after being out on bond for almost a year. The then-Precinct 1 commissioner was arrested by the FBI
TEXAS SENATE
in March on two counts of bribery. He faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty in June to one count of bribery. Days after his arrest, he posted on his Facebook page: “ … There is a lot more to the story. A lot more. I wish I could say more but I can’t. I
See PRISON PAGE 11A
GUERRERO, MEXICO
OPEN CARRY WON’T FLY
Photo by Rebecca Blackwell | AP
Protestors carry banners with pictures of some of the 43 missing students.
All students are dead Investigators certain that 43 students were killed Photo by Eric Gay | AP
A gun-rights advocate carries a rifle on his back and a cardboard cutout of pistol on his waist as a group protests outside the Texas Capitol, Jan. 13, in Austin, Texas. The 2015 Texas Legislative Session began Tuesday and expanding where and how Texans can carry guns is expected to be an issue this session.
By ALBERTO ARCE AND MARIA VERZA
Lt. Gov. Patrick walks back on gun rights promise least two have been filed in the Senate. Patrick’s campaign website, which is still online, notes he will “fight for open carry.” But now that he occupies one of the most powerful offices in the state, Patrick walked back from that promise Tuesday. “I don’t think there’s support in the Legislature to pass it,” Patrick said. “I haven’t had anyone bring it up to me.” Patrick’s comments came a day after a small rally by open carry advocates at the Capitol, the second in as many
MEXICO CITY — Investigators are now certain that 43 college students missing since September were killed and incinerated after they were seized by police in southern Guerrero state, the Mexican attorney general said Tuesday. It was the first time Jesus Murillo Karam said definitely that all were dead, even though Mexican authorities have DNA identification for only one student and a declaration from a laboratory in Innsbruck, Austria, that it appears impossible to identify the others. The attorney general cited confes-
See PATRICK PAGE 12A
See STUDENTS PAGE 12A
By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — After pledging in his campaign to fight for open carry of handguns in Texas, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick now says it’s not a priority and doesn’t have the votes to pass. The issue seemed to be gaining strong momentum for the 2015 session with support from Gov. Greg Abbott and top Republicans who swept into office in November. But Patrick doused the hopes of gun rights advocates with his remarks Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Texas
Tribune. Patrick, who has supported expanding gun rights in previous votes as a state senator, said “open carry doesn’t reach the level” of the Republican-dominated chamber’s other priorities, such as the state budget and public education. Texas hasn’t allowed open carry of handguns since immediately after the Civil War. Several bills had been filed this session to allow open carry, ranging from requiring a license to letting anyone carry a handgun in public, also known as “constitutional carry.” While most have been filed in the House, at
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEXAS ECONOMY
Plunge in crude oil prices will affect job creation By MELLA MCEWEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
In recent years, Texas has led the nation in job creation, with Midland and Odessa frequently outpacing major metropolitan areas like Dallas and Houston. The plunge in crude prices to below $50 a barrel is expected to affect the state’s job creation in 2015, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ annual Texas Economic Outlook. The outlook forecasts that the
state’s job growth will likely slow from about 3.6 percent in 2014 to between 2 and 2.5 percent this year, said Keith Phillips, senior economist and research officer with the bank. That will result in between 235,000 and 295,000 new jobs this year, down from the estimated 408,000 jobs that were created last year. Phillips told local business leaders at the bank’s San Antonio branch recently that, “The sharp decline in oil prices has
created much uncertainty in our outlook for state job growth this year, but we’re viewing it as a headwind for the Texas economy. However, Texas has a diversified economy, and while the drop in oil prices slows job growth, it won’t send the state into a recession like it did in the 1980s.” A sustained oil price below $50 a barrel will hurt the state economy because that figure is
See ECONOMY PAGE 12A
Photo by Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News | AP file
Areas of Texas more dependent on energy production, like the Eagle Ford Shale, will be more negatively impacted by the sharply curtailed drilling activity.