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LAREDO VA OUTPATIENT CLINIC
More options Veterans will get better health care access By KENDRA ABLAZA THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata veterans now have more health care options in Laredo. U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, TX-28, formally announced Tuesday a partnership between
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Laredo Medical Center and other groups to give area veterans better access to health care services closer to home. These local services include in-patient hospital stays, dentistry, laboratory work, radiology and on-board emergency medical
services. Cuellar said Tuesday in a press conference at the Laredo VA Outpatient Clinic that making more services available to Laredo-area veterans had been one of his priorities for the past
See VETERANS PAGE 9A
Courtesy photo
Congressman Henry Cuellar announces the expansion of new health care services at the Laredo VA Outpatient Clinic on Tuesday.
RAYMONDVILLE SAN ANTONIO STOCK SHOW & RODEO
CALF SCRAMBLE WINNERS Photo by David Pike/Valley Morning Star | AP
Law enforcement officials converge on the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville on Friday.
Authorities regain control Inmates took over correctional center, set fires in protest ASSOCIATED PRESS
Courtesy photo
Kristopher Hinkel and Mario Landa were two of 12 4-H and FFA youth to catch a calf at the rodeo.
Two Zapata FFA members take home big prizes SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Two Zapatans were winners in the calf scramble at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo on Sunday. Kristopher Hinkel and Mario Landa were two of 12 4-H and FFA youth to catch a
calf at the rodeo. The winners won $800 certificates to purchase breeding animals to exhibit in the 2016 San Antonio Junior Livestock Show. Hinkel and Landa are members of the Zapata FFA and enjoy playing football
and baseball. Hinkel said his favorite part about this year’s San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo was watching the large indoor rodeo and the most rewarding part of his experience was catching a calf. After graduating high school,
Hinkel plans to attend school in College Station. Landa said the most rewarding part about the rodeo was getting to be a part of the calf scramble. After graduating high school, Landa plans to attend college in Austin.
RAYMONDVILLE — Officers regained control of a South Texas prison where inmates had set fires and caused significant damage after taking over part of the facility, according to the private contractor operating the prison. About 300 of the 2,800 inmates were moved Sunday from the Willacy County Correctional Center to other federal facilities, said Issa Arnita, a spokesman for Management & Training Corp., the Utah-based company that runs the prison. A few hundred more will be transferred before the day is
See PRISON PAGE 9A
TEXAS SENATE
Budget chiefs promise $4.6 billion in tax cuts By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Top Texas conservatives are now seemingly one-upping each other by pledging deeper
and deeper tax cuts as part of the 2016-2017 budget, with all sides insisting that the state’s economy will stay strong enough to cover the costs of vital services despite the loss in
revenue. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson announced two bills and a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday.
Those and other top proposals would mean $4.6 billion in total property and business tax cuts, outpacing the $4 billion Patrick and Nelson had initially promised and constituting
what they called some of the most substantial “tax relief ” in state history. “It’s been long, long overdue and the people have spoken clearly about what they want,” Patrick
said at a Capitol news conference, flanked by Nelson and more than a dozen other senators who are cosponsoring tax cut plans.
See CUTS PAGE 9A