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Low mineral value Local government forced to ‘do more with less’ By KENDRA ABLAZA Photo by Hans-Maximo Musielik | AP file
A truck crosses the border between Mexico and the United States in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Oct. 21, 2011.
Trucking program progresses Mexican companies will be able to travel further inland By JULIÁN AGUILAR
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County Judge Joe Rathmell said that from 2007-08, Zapata County’s mineral value was at about $2 billion from its natural gas production and some oil production. Now, the county’s mineral values are at a little more than $500 million, he said. Rathmell said the price of
natural gas has been depressed for several years now, and it has had a dramatic effect on drilling in the county. “Production is depleted,” Rathmell said. “(Old wells) don’t produce as much as one that is recently drilled. A new well will produce at a higher rate than an older well. “If you want to keep a certain amount of produc-
tion, you try to drill more wells to keep up the production. Because of the price being so low for it, companies just aren’t drilling for new wells.” Rathmell said though some Zapata County residents in the oil and gas industry have found jobs at nearby sites like Eagle Ford Shale, the county did not have such a fruitful comeback.
The county judge said they’ve had to reduce their county workforce over the years by nearly 20 percent — almost 70 positions — to make up for its lower oil and gas values. Rathmell said the county has also been trying to “do more with less” when it comes to county services. “We’ve basically eliminat-
See VALUE PAGE 9A
IMMIGRATION
PROGRAM ON HOLD
TEXAS TRIBUNE
After two decades of political posturing, a cross-border trucking program will soon be ready to roll, opening up an avenue to expand trade between Texas and Mexico. The U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking program allows Mexican trucking companies to apply for permission to travel with their U.S.-bound goods beyond the current 20- to 25-mile limit past the border. Currently, most trucks haul goods to the border, where the products are warehoused and reloaded by American carriers for shipment to their final destinations. But trade and union groups in the U.S. say a recent pilot program that tested the policy — a component of the North American Free Trade Agreement — did not compile enough reliable data and that American drivers could be at risk as a result. Designed to make international trade more efficient, the program has been in limbo amid several bitter exchanges between U.S. and Mexican officials over the last two decades. After a pilot program initiated in 2007 by former President George W. Bush was defunded by the U.S. Congress two years later, the Mexican government retaliated and imposed tariffs on about $2 billion worth of American goods. That applied to nearly $200 million of Texas-produced goods in 2009, according to the office of the state’s former agriculture commissioner, Todd Staples. After a second, three-year pilot program was completed in October, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced in January that Mexican carriers are on track to enroll in the program if they meet various safety and training standards. The program could add to an already booming trade relationship between Texas and Mexico. Mexico is the state’s largest trading partner and the country’s third, behind Canada and China, according to WorldCity, a Florida-based trade-tracking company. The Laredo and El Paso customs districts are the busiest ports on the border, with $269 billion and $86.4 billion in two-way trade, respec-
See TRUCKING PAGE 9A
Photo by Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle | AP
Mercedes Herrera and others chant during an event on DACA and DAPA Immigration Relief at the Houston International Trade Center, Tuesday. The White House promised an appeal after a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration.
Texas federal judge blocks Obama’s executive action By ERICA WERNER AND JIM KUHNHENN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration put its new deportation-relief program on hold Tuesday on the eve of its launch, complying reluctantly with a federal judge’s order that roiled immigrant communities nationwide and seemed to harden an already-tense stalemate on Capitol Hill. President Barack Obama promised an appeal and pre-
dicted he’d prevail. But for tens of thousands of immigrants in line to begin applying today for work permits and deportation stays under his directives, their plans were canceled, at least temporarily. Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Obama said he disagreed with the ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas that the administration had exceeded its authority. But he said that, for
now, he must abide by it. “We’re not going to disregard this federal court ruling,” Obama said, but he added that administration officials would continue to prepare to roll out the program. “I think the law is on our side and history is on our side,” he said. On Capitol Hill, the Homeland Security Department stood 10 days away from losing funding, but Hanen’s ruling made a compromise on
that dispute look more distant than ever. Republicans are blocking funding for the agency unless Democrats agree to cancel Obama’s immigration orders, and they seized on the ruling as validation for their position. Yet Senate Democrats, who have been blocking a Housepassed bill that would fund the department but also undo Obama’s actions, said the rul-
See IMMIGRATION PAGE 5A
ANÁHUAC, MEXICO
20 dead in bus, train crash THE ZAPATA TIMES
Courtesy photo
A passenger carries his child to safety after the bus they were traveling in crashed into a train Friday.
The death toll from a collision between a passenger bus and freight train near the Camaron customs station outside of Anáhuac, Mexico on Friday night has risen to 20, according to Civil Protection and Fire authorities in Nuevo Laredo and Anáhuac. While no official report on the incident has yet been released, authorities believe the bus driver tried beating the train at a railroad crossing. The resulting collision left the bus nearly destroyed. Sixteen people died at the scene — nine men, five women
and two children. Four other people died Friday night in Nuevo Laredo hospitals. Victims who died in Solidaridad General Hospital were Juanita Luna, 67, and an unnamed woman between 25 and 30 years old. Social Security Hospital Number 11 recorded the death of Carlos Fernando Rico Cabriales, 39, while Emily Marlene Perez Rangel, 6, died at San Jose Hospital. Transportes Frontera bus 4146 left Nuevo Laredo for Nueva Rosita, Coahuila, at 4 p.m. Friday. The bus left Nuevo Laredo with 28 people. During the trip the bus made several stops to
pick up passengers, which totaled 51 at the time of the accident. The impact with the train split the bus into two parts. Besides the 20 who died, 22 others were left injured. Some of the injuries were classified as serious. Nuevo Leon state authorities identified the driver as Jesus Carlos Fernandez Rico, whose whereabouts are unknown. State attorney general’s officials confirmed neither the driver nor anybody connected to the accident are jailed in Nuevo Laredo.
See CRASH PAGE 5A