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Congress fully funds DHS Bill funds department through Sept.; does not address immigration By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
The 8,900 U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed on Texas’ border with Mexico can clock in next week knowing they’re still going to get paid after Congress Tuesday voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September. The change of course
by the U.S. House came four days after a tumultuous last-minute compromise in which members agreed to fund the agency for only one week to allow Republicans another shot at blocking President Obama’s executive order on immigration. But after mounting pressure from agency officials and some House Republicans, Speaker John
Tuesday’s vote means the fate of the president’s executive order on immigration … will be determined by the federal courts. Boehner, R-Ohio, agreed to let members vote on a U.S. Senate bill that funds
the department through the end of the fiscal year without addressing the
LAREDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
immigration order. The "clean" funding measure passed 257 to 167. “In this time of extreme threats and unrest around the world, it is unthinkable that we would not fully fund the department that protects us from those threats,” Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Zapata said. “Today’s showing of 257 bipartisan votes for full funding of DHS
showed that we can put politics aside and do what’s right for our nation’s national security. The Department of Homeland Security can now continue their work protecting our nation, and the hard working men and women that work for the department can continue their work without
See DHS PAGE 11A
COLONIAS
President’s evaluation forthcoming
LEFT IN LIMBO
Last few months have been a mess for Maldonado, LCC board By JUDITH RAYO THE ZAPATA TIMES
It’s been a long time coming, but the evaluation of LCC President Juan Maldonado will finally take place tonight. His evaluation was first placed on hold after Mercurio Martinez, Laredo Community College trustee, filed a temporary restraining order against former board president Hilario Cavazos on Dec. 12. The temporary restraining order was filed after Martinez saw Cavazos was set to discuss the employment contract of two college employees. Amid the lawsuit, Maldonado, in an email to trustees, stated he planned to retire in August. His contract expires August 2016. But right after Cavazos and LCC trustee Jesse Porras were unseated by Michelle De La Peña and Jackie Ramos, respectively, during the runoff election, Maldonado retracted his comments. According to emails obtained by Laredo
MALDONADO Morning Times, Maldonado was offered a “contract buyout offer.” The offer came from LCC board of trustees’ attorney Rusty Meurer for the amount of $300,000. Maldonado, in an email sent to LCC trustees, counter-offered, requesting a satisfactory evaluation for the 20132014 school year, pay sick leave and vacation leave amounts, pay up to $10,000 for moving expenses, and make him eligible for a 1.5 percent salary increase and $3,000 bonus that all fulltime employees in good standing received during
See COLLEGE PAGE 11A
Photo by Jennifer Whitney | Texas Tribune
A young girl plays outside her home in the Pueblo de Palmas colonia near Mission, Texas, on Aug. 29, 2013.
Program asks lawmakers to define areas By ALEXA URA TEXAS TRIBUNE
F
or decades, Texas has worked to halt the proliferation of colonias — unincorporated, impoverished communities along the U.S.-Mexico border that lack basic amenities like water service and paved streets. And despite the state spending millions of dol-
lars, it’s difficult to gauge whether it has made significant progress in improving life in these communities. That’s because the state has no way to declassify communities that have incorporated or acquired these basic amenities. Colonias, which date back to the 1950s, exist in the four states that share a border with Mexico. They were created by ca-
gey real estate developers who sold cheap tracts of low-quality land to poor, mostly Hispanic migrants. With more than 400,000 residents living in its colonias, Texas is home to the largest colonia population and has the highest number of colonias with more than 1,400 in the state. The state has poured money into these com-
munities, providing funding for paved roads and to connect to water and wastewater systems. But the Colonia Initiatives Program, which is overseen by the secretary of state’s office, has no way to remove developed communities from the state’s colonia database. For years, the program has asked lawmak-
See COLONIAS PAGE 11A
OIL
Lifting export ban would boost industry By SEAN COCKERHAM MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON — As the number of U.S. drilling rigs plummets by a third and thousands in the industry face layoffs, oil companies are focusing on an effort to persuade Congress to lift the longstanding ban on oil exports. "We shouldn’t put domestic producers at a competitive disadvantage by limiting the available markets," Ryan Lance, CEO of Texas-based ConocoPhillips, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, also
The international market price, known as Brent, is $10 a barrel higher than the benchmark price for U.S. crude sales, West Texas Intermediate. based in Texas, was making the same push Tuesday in front of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, arguing the industry’s struggles with low oil prices are worsened because companies aren’t allowed to ship American crude oil to foreign nations.
Oil prices across the globe have plummeted because of a supply glut driven by surging American production, which has in turn led to companies slashing costs and laying off workers. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas predicts 140,000 jobs in Texas alone could be
lost by next year as the reverberations of the oil slowdown ripple throughout other parts of the state economy. Energy companies worldwide are hurting. But the international market price, known as Brent, is $10 a barrel higher than the benchmark price for U.S. crude sales, West Texas Intermediate. "If current trends continue and the export ban is not lifted, U.S. shale oil production will flatten or decline by disproportionate volumes versus our overseas competitors, diminishing the profound benefits of the
See OIL PAGE 11A
LANCE