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ZETAS DRUG CARTEL
LAREDO FEDERAL COURT
‘Z-31’ captured
Man charged for marijuana
Commander caught crossing Falcon Lake
1,200 pounds of pot found stashed while he traveled through Zapata
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A commander for the Zetas drug cartel in northern Mexico and Zapata was on the run from Mexican authorities before his capture on Falcon Lake last week, according to Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar. Intelligence reports indicate that 27-year-old Jose Manuel Saldivar-Fa-
rias, known as “Z-31” or “El Borrado,” and Osiel Hernandez-Martinez, 26, were fleeing from Mexican authorities following an armed confrontation with them. Both men tried eluding authorities by getting on a boat to cross into the United States through Falcon Lake. But U.S. authorities were waiting for them. On March 12, a Texas Depart-
ment of Public Safety quick reactionary force, in conjunction with the Texas Air National Guard, was conducting fly-over operations over Falcon Lake when they spotted a speeding boat heading north into U.S. soil from Mexico. Authorities detained the men aboard the boat on the suspicion that they
See ZETAS PAGE 11A
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man accused of transporting almost 1,200 pounds marijuana stashed in a generator while traveling through Zapata was formally charged this week in a Laredo federal court. An indictment filed Tuesday against Victor
CUELLAR
Tristan charges him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. Tristan is due back in court March 26 for arraignment. If convicted,
See MARIJUANA PAGE 11A
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
FEDERAL FRACKING REGULATIONS New rule anticipated by drillers By MARK DRAJEM AND JIM POLSON BLOOMBERG NEWS
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration issued the first federal regulations for fracking since the drilling technique fueled a domestic energy boom, requiring extensive disclosures of the chemicals used on public land. After years of debate and delay, the Bureau of Land Management on Friday said drillers on federal lands must reveal the chemicals they use, meet well construction standards and safely dispose of contaminated water used in fracking. The rule had been highly anticipated by drillers, who oppose added regulation, and by environmentalists who have raised alarms about water contamination. Both sides had complaints with the outcome: groups representing the oil and gas industry sued to block its implementation and an environmental group said the regulation favored industry over public health. “This rule will move our nation forward as we ensure responsible development while protecting public land re-
See FRACKING PAGE 11A
Photo by Keith Srakocic | AP file
In this June 25, 2012, file photo, a crew works on a gas drilling rig at a well site for shale-based natural gas in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. The Obama administration is requiring companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. A final rule released Friday also updates requirements for well construction and disposal of water and other fluids used in fracking, a drilling method that has prompted an ongoing boom in natural gas production.
INTOCABLE TO PLAY AT SXSW
ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Father, daughter arrested for smuggling By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Wilfredo Lee | AP file
In this April 26, 2012, file photo, members of the group Intocable pose with their Lifetime Achievement award during the Latin Billboard Awards in Coral Gables, Florida. The band will perform at the South by Southwest music festival today in Austin.
A father and daughter were arrested recently in Zapata County for their alleged involvement in a human smuggling attempt, according to court documents obtained this week. Identified as the father, Enrique Flores Jr., of Zapata, was charged with bringing in and harboring people who had crossed the border illegally. Court documents filed March 9 identi-
fied his daughter as Roxanna Janette Flores. She was released because she did not meet prosecution guidelines, states a criminal complaint. On March 5, Flores and Roxanna Flores were apprehended south of Zapata while allegedly transporting seven people who had entered the country illegally. Earlier that day, the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office requested assistance from U.S. Border Patrol to
the scene of a bailout in the Siesta Shores neighborhood. On arrival, agents learned that deputies had Flores in custody. He was believed to be the main suspect. A deputy had observed a white 2007 GMC Sierra driven by Flores and a green 2005 Chrysler 300 driven by Roxanna Flores. Authorities allege that both vehicles committed several traffic violations while travel-
See SMUGGLING PAGE 11A
PÁGINA 10A
Zfrontera
Ribereña en Breve EXPO FEST COMERCIAL 2015 MIGUEL ALEMÁN, México — La ciudad será sede del Día del Comercio y Turismo, hoy sábado 21 de marzo. Se invita a residentes de Ciudad Mier, Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, Camargo y Díaz Ordaz. Habrá productos con rebajas de su costo normal de hasta un 20, 30 y 40 por ciento. Además habrá música en vivo.
PARQUE DE BARRIO NUEVA CIUDAD GUERRERO, México — Un 50 por ciento de avance presenta la construcción del Parque de Barrio en la Colonia Electricistas. Con el Programa del Estado de Tamaulipas “Convive, Parques para Todos” se están creando espacios públicos que tienen como finalidad fomentar la convivencia social y ofrecer mejores espacios seguros y confortables, indica un comunicado de prensa.
‘Z-31’ ERA COMANDANTE DE LOS ZETAS EN COAHUILA, TAMAULIPAS, NUEVO LEÓN; Y, ZAPATA
Impiden escape “ POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Un líder regional de Los Zetas en el norte de México y Zapata huía de las autoridades mexicanas, de acuerdo con el Alguacil del Condado de Webb, Martín Cuellar. Reportes de inteligencia indican que José Manuel Saldivar-Farías, de 27 años de edad, conocido como “Z-31” o “El Borrado”, y Osiel Hernández-Martínez, de 26 años, estaban huyendo de autoridades mexicanas tras un encuentro armado con ellos. Ambos hombres trataron de eludir a las autoridades al subir a un bote para cruzar la frontera a través del Lago Falcón. Afortunadamente, autoridades de Estados Unidos estaban listas. La Fuerza de Respuesta Inmediata del Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas (DPS, por sus siglas en inglés), en conjunto con la Guardia Aérea Nacional de Texas, realizaban operativos aéreos sobre el Lago Falcón la noche del 12 de marzo. Momentos después, elementos
Ahora otros problemas serán causados mientras los cárteles traten de movilizarse porque él ya no está ahí”. MARTÍN CUELLAR, ALGUACIL DEL CONDADO DE WEBB
del orden observaron un bote a alta velocidad que se dirigía al norte, rumbo a Estados Unidos desde México. Las autoridades se movilizaron rápidamente para detener a los hombres a bordo del bote, bajo la sospecha de que intentaban entrar al país de manera ilegal. Los hombres fueron identificados como Saldivar-Farias y Hernández-Martínez. Al principio, Saldivar-Farias mintió a los agentes acerca de su verdadera identidad, de acuerdo con una querella criminal. Registros de la corte señalan que más tarde las autoridades identificaron a Saldivar-Farias como el
comandante regional de Los Zetas en el norte de México— Coahuila, Tamaulipas y Nuevo León— así como de Zapata. Saldivar-Farias supuestamente estuvo a cargo del transporte de cantidades múltiples de narcóticos en el área semanalmente, desde enero de 2010 a marzo de 2013, de acuerdo con autoridades federales. “Es un mal hombre”, dijo Cuellar. “Este es un ejemplo perfecto de por qué necesito cámaras a lo largo de la frontera, de transmisión en vivo”. Cuellar dijo que el arresto de Saldivar-Farias podría producir agita-
PATRULLA FRONTERIZA
FESTIVAL SXSW
Descuento le sale caro POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
JUNTA DE COMISIONADOS El lunes 23 de marzo, 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.
SIMPOSIO ANUAL El jueves y viernes, 25 y 26 de marzo, se realizará el Simposio Anual sobre el Tráfico de Personas, del Colegio del Sur de Texas, en el Campus Pecan en McAllen. Las personas que acudan al evento recibirán información y asesorías sobre el fenómeno que ha afectado el Valle del Río Grande y al norte de México. La conferencia se realizará de 8 a.m. a 5:30 p.m. ambos días. El evento es gratuito y abierto al público. El Campus Pecan está ubicado en 3201 de W. Pecan Blvd. Para registrarse puede ingresar a http://academicaffairs.southtexascollege.edu/ womens_studies/conference/ register.html.
FICTAM 2015 A partir del 26 de marzo y hasta el 29 de marzo tendrá lugar el segundo Festival Internacional de Cine de Tamaulipas (FICTAM) 2015, en las ciudades de Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Victoria y Tampico, México. Las producciones, que conforman el FICTAM, se podrán apreciar en el teatro experimental del Centro Cultural Nuevo Laredo, del Parque Cultural Reynosa, del Espacio Cultural Metropolitano, en Tampico, y en la Cineteca del Centro Cultural Tamaulipas, en Ciudad Victoria. Las proyecciones son gratuitas. Cada centro cultural ha establecido un horario de proyección. Más información puede ponerse en contacto con el centro de su interés.
ción a la región donde el sospechoso supuestamente fue comandante ya que se pudieran producir conflictos internos y de territorio con cárteles rivales. “Creo que habrá un gran… trastorno. Ahora otros problemas serán causados mientras los cárteles traten de movilizarse porque él ya no está ahí”, dijo Cuellar. “Causará algunos problemas, internamente”. Saldivar-Farias y HernándezMartínez fueron acusados con cargos por conspiración para posesión con intento de distribuir una sustancia controlada (más de 1.000 kilogramos de marihuana). SaldivarFarias también fue acusado de realizar declaraciones falsas a agentes del gobierno. Ambos hombres podrían enfrentar hasta cadena perpetua en caso de ser encontrados culpables, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte. Tienen una audiencia de detención el día de hoy. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
MÚSICA
CAMPAÑA MÉDICA MIGUEL ALEMAN, México — Se implementará la primer campaña médico asistencial propuesta por miembros de los ministerios nacionales “Betel” el 11 de junio, de 8 a.m. a 5 p.m. El grupo de 15 personas, entre médicos y enfermeros, estarán representados por la misionera Deana Gatlin. Además traerán consigo ropa, medicamentos y despensas. El Presidente Municipal, Ramiro Cortez, informó que los misioneros evangélicos viajarán a las comunidades rurales del sur de Miguel Alemán el 13 de junio.
SÁBADO 21 DE MARZO DE 2015
Archivo/Associated Press
El grupo Intocable se presentará el sábado 22 de marzo como la primer banda de música norteña/tejana que se presenta en el escenario principal de South by Southwest.
Grupo Intocable hará historia en Austin POR ENRIQUE LOPETEGUI ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — El grupo Intocable hará historia hoy como el primero de música norteña/tejana que se presente en el escenario principal de South by Southwest, tradicionalmente reservado para géneros más alternativos. “Es la primera vez que este estilo de música se presenta en el festival, lo cual es un orgullo para nosotros. Debimos haberlo hecho antes, pero más vale tarde que nunca”, dijo a The Associated Press Ricky Muñoz, cantante y acordeonista de la banda, en una entrevista reciente. En enero, la agrupación de Zapata, lanzó “XX”, un disco en vivo celebrando 20 años de trayectoria que incluye un tema nuevo, “Cajita de cartón”. Ahora trabaja en un nuevo álbum que según Muñoz mostrará una faceta desconocida de la banda. “Será un disco único y diferente, algo que nunca hemos hecho... Aunque será 100% Into-
cable, será a la vez algo totalmente nuevo”, dijo Muñoz. “Queremos divertirnos, aceptar nuevos retos, y esto es lo mejor y más difícil que se nos ocurrió”. Se trata de un CD doble con una decena de canciones nuevas en un álbum y versiones en estilos completamente diferentes en el otro. Para ello, cinco productores seleccionarán dos canciones cada uno a las que darán su toque personal, alejados de la música tejana y norteña. “Por ejemplo, si un productor de EDM (Electronic Dance Music, o música bailable electrónica) quiere hacer una versión EDM, nosotros tenemos que hacerlo”, dijo Muñoz. “Nunca trabajamos con productores, pero éste será un reto para nosotros: hacer lo que el productor nos diga, con una actitud sumisa y dispuestos a aprender”. Fue por eso que la idea de tocar en SXSW surgió del grupo. “Le dije a nuestro manager,
Oscar Carrasco, ‘¿Cómo es posible que se haga un evento tan grande en Texas, nuestra casa, y nosotros nunca tocamos ahí?’. Él buscó el contacto y pues aquí estamos”. El concierto, previsto a las 8 p.m. en el Auditorium Shores, frente al lago Lady Bird de Austin, cerrará una larga velada donde además tocarán grupos de rock estadounidenses, los mexicanos Compass (Mexican Institute of Sound y Toy Selektah) y los colombianos de Bomba Estéreo. “No importan los estilos, lo que importa es la canción”, añadió Muñoz. “Una buena canción es una buena canción, venga de donde venga. Está bien que todos debemos estar orgullosos de nuestras raíces, pero en definitiva de dónde viene tal o cual sonido no es importante. ¿Dónde empezó la cumbia? En lo personal, no nos importa. Lo que importa es que nos haga bailar, sentir y disfrutar. Ése es el espíritu de SXSW y por eso queríamos estar”.
Un padre e hija fueron arrestados recientemente en el Condado de Zapata por su supuesta participación en un intento de contrabando de humanos, de acuerdo a documentos de la corte obtenidos esta semana. Identificado como el padre, Enrique Flores Jr., de Zapata, fue acusado con traer y albergar a personas que habían cruzado la frontera de manera ilegal. Documentos de la corte presentadas el 9 de marzo identificaron a su hija como Roxanna Janette Flores. El 5 de marzo, Flores y Roxana Flores fueron arrestados al sur de Zapata mientras que supuestamente transportaban a siete personas quienes habían entrado al país de manera ilegal. Ése día por la mañana un oficial había observado una GMC Sierra, modelo 2007, color blanco, conducida por Flores, y un Chrysler 300, modelo 2005, color verde, conducido por Roxanna Flores. Tras una persecución, los ocupantes salieron de la GMC en el crucero de las calles Weslaco y Vicki Lanes. Mientras tanto, un oficial asistente localizó el Chrysler y lo detuvo por una violación de tráfico al norte de Mesa Salinas Road, sobre U.S. 83. Identificada como la conductora, Roxana Flores fue trasladada a la Cárcel del Condado de Zapata. Posteriormente la Patrulla Fronteriza determinó que los siete ocupantes del GMC carecían de estado legal para estar en el país. Los inmigrantes fueron retenidos como testigos materiales e identificaron a Flores como el conductor de la GMC, indican archivos. “Flores declaró que sabía las personas que estaba recogiendo eran ilegales debido a que estaba ahí para recoger a su esposa, Carolina Trejo-González, quien es una (inmigrante) ilegal”, indica la querella. Flores agregó que obtuvo un descuento. En lugar de pagar 2.000 dólares, él iba a pagar 1.200 dólares, de acuerdo a documentos de la corte. Flores permaneció en custodia bajo fianza de 75.000 dólares. Negó que su hija hubiera participado en el caso. Roxana Flores fue dejada en libertad después que testigos materiales no pudieran identificarla como partícipe en el incidente.
COLUMNA
Textos destacan prodigios de zona Huasteca Nota del Editor: Presentamos la primera de dos partes de un relato acerca de la Huasteca.
POR RAUL SINCENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Las magnificencias deambulan por la Huasteca antigua. Unas y otras arrancan palabras de admiración, multiplicándose al paso del tiempo. Son testimonios que aportan matices a nuestra identidad nacional.
“Yo, Xochiquetzal, diosa de las flores y del amor,/ del país de la lluvia y de la niebla vengo yo/ […] de Tomoanchan”. Algunos creen que la Huasteca inspira al poeta cuando esto canta. Si acertaran, habríamos encontrado remoto bosquejo de la zona, puesto que dichos versos preceden con mucho a la conquista española. Los hombres lucían objetos “de oro, cubiertas las cabezas de colores de plumas […] de papagayo […] y
en la trasera de la cinta traían unos espejos redondos y sus rodelas colgadas del brazo, […] con otras muchas cosas”, complementa Tezozómoc. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún recopila al inicio del horizonte novohispano: “Tienen muchas joyas, esmeraldas y turquesas finas y todo género de piedras preciosas; las mujeres se engalanan mucho y pónense bien sus trajes; andan bien vestidas, traen sus trenzas en las cabezas, con
que se tocan, de colores diferentes y retorcidas con plumas” de aves exóticas. “Andan [los naturales de la región] – añade Shagún – bien vestidos y sus ropas y sus mantas muy pulidas y curiosas, porque en su tierra hacen las mantas que [en idioma náhuatl] llaman ‘centzontilmatli’, ‘centzonquachtli’, que quiere decir manta de mil colores; de allí se traen las mantas […] pintadas de remolinos de agua, ingeridas unas con otras, en las cua-
les y en otras mucho se esmeraban las tejedoras”. John Chilton retrata con su prosa a los pobladores originarios en años tempranos del virreinato. “Son ellos altos de cuerpo […] con el cabello largo […] andaban […] con arco y flecha”, de modo que “eran grandes flecheros”, indica el trotamundos y comerciante inglés. (Con permiso del autor, según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico, Tamps)
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
IS claims responsibility for Tunisia attack By JAMEY KEATEN AND PAUL SCHEMM ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUNIS, Tunisia — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Thursday for the attack that killed 21 people at a museum. But Tunisian authorities said the two slain gunmen had no clear links to extremists, and analysts said existing militant cells are merely being inspired by the group, rather than establishing its presence across North Africa. Police announced the arrest of five people described as directly tied to the two gunmen who opened fire Wednesday at the National Bardo Museum. Four others said to be supporters of the cell also were arrested in central Tunisia, not far from where a group claiming allegiance to al-Qaida’s North African branch has been active. Tunisians stepped around trails of blood and broken glass outside the museum to rally in solidarity with the 21 victims — most of them foreign tourists from cruise ships — and with the country’s fledgling democracy. Marchers carried signs saying, “No to terrorism,” and “Tunisia is bloodied but still standing.” In claiming responsibility for the attack, the Islamic State group issued a statement and audio on jihadi websites applauding the dead gunmen as “knights” for their “blessed invasion of one of the dens of infidels and vice in Muslim Tunisia.” Several well-armed groups in neighboring and chaotic Libya have already pledged their allegiance to Islamic State based in Iraq and Syria, but the attack of such magnitude in Tunisia — the only country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings with a functioning democracy — raised concern about the spread of extremism to the rest of North Africa. Analysts cautioned
Photo by Salah Ben Mohamed | AP
Tunisians walk in a market of Tunis, Friday. Yet another terror attack is taking its toll on tourism, with cruise companies cancelling stops in Tunisia following the killings of 21 people. Seventeen of those killed at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis were cruise ship passengers. against seeing every such attack as evidence of a wellorganized, centrally controlled entity spanning the Middle East, saying instead that small groups could merely be taking inspiration from the high-profile militant group. “I think (the Islamic State) is probably taking credit for something it may not have played a role in,” said Geoff Porter, a security analyst for North Africa. Even as it is under pressure from rival militias in Libya and U.S.-backed forces in Iraq, the extremist group appears to be trying to raise its profile by associating itself with attacks around the region. Confronted with a poor economy, young Tunisians have disproportionately gone abroad to fight with extremist groups in Libya, Syria and Iraq, including some affiliated with the Islamic State. Upon their return home, some may have decided to carry out attacks on their own.
Tunisian authorities have estimated that of the 3,000 young people who left the country to fight with radical groups, about 500 have returned. “It could have been people who fought with the Islamic State or were inspired by it,” said Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. “Some guys may have come back, not liked what the government is doing, and attacked the tourist industry to hurt the economy — a classic move.” Until now, Tunisia’s most deadly group was the Oqba Ibn Nafaa brigade, which is allied to al-Qaida and based in the mountains near the Algerian border. Previously, it has confined its attacks to political figures and security services. “While Tunisia’s ultraradical Islamist fringe was most associated with al-Qaida, there is no reason why the jihadi underground
shouldn’t have changed its tutelage,” said Jon Marks, associate fellow at Chatham House, a London think tank. “However, whether this ‘rebranding’ goes as far as direct command and compliance structures is far from clear.” While militant attacks may not necessarily have been centrally planned, they have succeeded in spreading fear and damaging the economy — and giving the impression of an all-powerful radical Islamic network extending its reach. Tunisia is particularly vulnerable to such attacks because its economy has struggled since the country became the birthplace of the Arab Spring by overthrowing its dictator in 2011. At a news conference Thursday, Prime Minister Habib Essid announced new security measures around the country, including a crackdown on websites seen as promoting terrorism. On Thursday, U.S. Presi-
dent Barack Obama spoke with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi by phone to offer his condolences, sympathy and support. The White House says Obama offered to keep providing assistance to Tunisia as the investigation proceeds. The deaths of so many foreigners will damage Tunisia’s tourism industry, which draws thousands of foreigners to its Mediterranean beaches, desert oases and ancient Roman ruins. The industry had just started to recover after years of decline. Two cruise ships that had 17 passengers among the dead quickly left the port of Tunis early Thursday, citing safety concerns, and the vessels’ operators suspended visits to the country. Culture Minister Latifa Lakhdar gave a defiant news conference at the museum, where blood still stained the floor amid the Roman-era mosaics. “They are targeting
knowledge. They are targeting science. They are targeting reason. They are targeting history. They are targeting memory, because all these things mean nothing in their eyes,” she told reporters. In the afternoon, authorities opened the gates of the museum for a rally in defiance of the bloodshed. About 500 people — some carrying flowers for the victims — held a moment of silence before singing Tunisia’s national anthem. Participants included black-robed lawyers, families with children, and teenagers swathed in the red-and-white Tunisian flag. A funeral was held for Aymen Morjen — an elite member of Tunisia’s security force who was killed at the museum. Interior Minister Mohamed Najem Gharsalli and House Speaker Mohamed Ennaceur attended the service. It was among the museum’s Roman-era mosaics that the militants dressed in military uniforms and armed with grenades and assault rifles took hostages and began shooting the foreigners. “Suddenly, we started to hear the gunshots, so we all tried to escape and all of us tried to save ourselves as best we could,” said Bruna Scherini, an Italian who arrived by cruise ship. She told Sky TG24 from her hospital bed: “We tried to hide behind the exhibits and in the corners where there was a little hiding place.” A Spanish man and a pregnant Spanish woman who survived hid in the museum all night in fear. Spain’s foreign minister said police searched all night before Juan Carlos Sanchez and Cristina Rubio were found Thursday morning by security forces. The Health Ministry said the death toll rose to 23 on Thursday — 20 of them foreign tourists. Nearly 50 people were wounded. Three Tunisians were killed, including the two attackers.
SMUGGLING Continued from Page 1A ing in tandem on North U.S. 83. Then, the GMC, which was in front of the Chrysler, began speeding. “When (deputies) activated their emergency lights, the driver of the GMC began (driving erratically), changing lanes without signaling or slowing down, accelerating speed and swerving into the opposite, oncoming lane,” states the complaint. Following the pursuit, the occupants exited the GMC at the in-
tersection of Weslaco and Vicki lanes. Meanwhile, an assisting deputy located the Chrysler and pulled it over for a traffic violation north of Mesa Salinas Road on U.S. 83. Identified as the driver, Roxanna Flores became defense while the deputy questioned her, according to court documents. She was then taken into custody for allegedly acting as decoy or scout, and assisting her father in evading arrest. Roxanna Flores was transported to the Za-
pata County Jail. Border Patrol later determined that all seven occupants of the GMC did not have legal status to be in the country. Immigrants held as material witnesses identified Flores as the driver of the GMC, records show. He allegedly agreed to speak to authorities in a post-arrest interview. “Flores admitted that he knew that he was arrested because he was smuggling illegal (immigrants). He continued by stating
MARIJUANA Continued from Page 1A he faces five to 40 years in prison, according to court documents. Tristan is in federal custody. Federal agents said they arrested Tristan on Feb. 27. That morning, a U.S. Border Patrol agent patrolling south on U.S. 83 by the Siesta Shores subdivision spotted a white Ford F-250 hauling a generator. Authorities allege that the United Rentals company logos on the driver’s door and tailgate were too small. Agents also noticed that the generator seemed “clean and shiny” and appeared to be freshly painted, states the criminal complaint filed March 2. An agent began talking to the driver, later
identified as Tristan, after the suspect had pulled over next to a gas pump at the Stripes on First Avenue and U.S. 83. After questioning, Tristan allegedly agreed to a search of the vehicle. Then, a drug dog alerted agents to possible contraband. Further inspection at the Zapata Border Patrol station yielded 96 marijuana bundles. The contraband added up to 1,190 pounds and had an estimated street value of $952,000. Tristan allegedly admitted to transporting drugs for monetary compensation, records show. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
that he knew the people he was picking up were illegal because he was there to pick up his wife, Carolina Trejo-Gonzalez, who is an illegal (immigrant),” states the complaint. “Flores also admitted that he was picking up two other women that would be with his wife.” Flores added that he got a discounted smuggling fee for transporting the two other women. Instead of $2,000, he was going to pay $1,200, according to court doc-
uments. Records state Flores has served time in jail for a previous human smuggling attempt. Flores remained in custody on a $75,000 bond. He denied his daughter’s involvement in the case. Roxanna Flores was released after material witnesses could not identify her as being involved in the incident. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
ZETAS Continued from Page 1A were trying to enter the country illegally. The men were identified as Saldivar-Farias and Hernandez-Martinez. Initially, Saldivar-Farias lied to agents about his identity, according to a criminal complaint. Court records state authorities later identified Saldivar-Farias as the regional Zetas commander in northern Mexico — Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon — and Zapata as well. He was in charge of allegedly moving multi-ton quantities of narcotics in the area on a weekly basis from January 2010 to March 13, according
federal authorities. “He’s a bad hombre,” Cuellar said. “This is a perfect example of why I need cameras along the border, live feed.” Cuellar said the arrest of Saldivar-Farias could bring turmoil for the region where he was commander since internal and territorial conflict with rival gangs may arise. “I think it’s going to be a big … disruption. Now, it’s going to cause other problems as far as cartels trying to move in because he’s not there anymore,” Cuellar said. “It’s going to cause some problems, internally with
them.” Saldivar-Farias and Hernandez-Martinez were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance (more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana). Saldivar-Farias was also charged with making false statements to government agents. Both could face up to life in prison if convicted, according to court documents. They have a detention hearing today. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
FRACKING Continued from Page 1A sources,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on a call with reporters. “As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands — your lands — for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public has confidence that robust safety and environmental protections are in place.” Domestic production from more than 100,000 wells on public lands accounts for about 11 percent of U.S. natural-gas production and 5 percent of oil production. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a technique in which water, chemicals and sand are shot underground to free oil or gas from rock. It is used for about 90 percent
of the wells on federal lands. The rule, which is set to take effect in three months, triggered criticism from environmental groups, which said the regulations put industry interests ahead of public health, and from congressional Republicans the oil and gas industry. The Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department, saying the regulations are the product of “unsubstantiated concerns,” and lack evidence necessary to sustain them. The group asked in a lawsuit filed Friday in a U.S. court in Wyoming to have
the new rules declared invalid. “Interior’s $5,000 a well cost estimate is laughable,” Kathleen Sgamma, vice president for government and public affairs at the Western Energy Alliance, said today in a telephone interview. The final rule adds costs atop those estimated at $97,000 a well in the Alliance’s review of the proposed regulation, she said. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said the rule may “make it even harder to produce oil and gas” on public lands. The rule “adds unnecessary, duplicative red tape that will in turn make it
more costly and arduous for our nation to pursue energy security,” Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said. Inhofe on Thursday introduced legislation to keep regulation of fracking under state oversight. Environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council say fracking mishaps have led to contamination of local water wells in communities from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. They urged BLM to tighten its earlier plans on exemptions for chemical disclosure and the use of open pits to dispose of flowback water. “These rules put the in-
terests of big oil and gas above people’s health, and America’s natural heritage,” said Amy Mall, who directs the fracking advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The bottom line is: these rule fail to protect the nation’s public lands - home to our last wild places, and sources of drinking water for millions of people.” Under BLM’s plan, drillers must disclose the chemicals they use to the industry-supported website, FracFocus.org. As a result of those filings, BLM will become the largest consumer of that website, and will attempt to improve it so that it’s of better use to the public, the agency said.
Environmental advocates said it was a mistake to rely on that website before the improvements were agreed to and in place. “FracFocus has said it will be making improvements, but we have concerns,” Mall said. Environmental groups also are prodding the Environmental Protection Agency and BLM to issue tight restrictions on methane leaks from fracked wells, a source of greenhouse gases. BLM, the largest landowner in the U.S., oversees about 700 million acres of mineral rights underground. Farmers or ranchers own the surface rights on large tracts of federal land.
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Zentertainment
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Snoop Dogg says he’s developing HBO series By MESFIN FEKADU ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Snoop Dogg has cleaned up his image from gangster rapper to multi-format entertainer, but he’s looking to the past in a new series he’s developing for HBO. Snoop announced Friday — when he was giving the keynote address at South by Southwest — that he’s working with Allen Hughes on the show about 1980s Los Angeles. Snoop, a former gangster rapper, was born in Long Beach, California. Hughes’ credits include “Dead Presidents,” “Menace II Society” and “The Book of Eli.” “HBO is the number one network in the world as far as developing and having these types of shows come
to life,” he said. “This is a dream come true to be able to tell a story that’s going to be told the right way on the right network.” In a wide-ranging interview Friday with his manager Ted Chung in Austin, Texas, 43-year-old Snoop discussed topics from getting high with Willie Nelson to meeting Dr. Dre. Snoop and Nelson collaborated on the song “My Medicine” and he said “it was love at first sight.” “We went in the green room, had a conversation and from there the conversation sparked up the idea of — yeah sparked up the idea of — me and Willie wanting to collaborate,” he said as the audience at the Austin Convention Center burst into laughter. Snoop went to Amster-
greatest moments in my life.”
Who Needs A Grammy?
Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision | AP
Snoop Dogg takes part in the "Keynote Conversation with Snoop Dogg" during the SXSW Music Festival on Friday in Austin. dam, where Nelson was on tour, and worked on the track. After smoking so much marijuana, they decided to get food. “They give us the bucket of chicken, we open it up, boom, and me and Willie
Rare story published By HILLEL ITALIE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — As she takes in the despair of her in-laws’ one-room apartment in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois exclaims: “Only Poe! Only Mr. Edgar Allan Poe could do it justice!” Years earlier, Tennessee Williams channeled Poe for an entire story. Williams’ “The Eye That Saw Death,” appearing in the spring issue of The Strand Magazine, is a feverish, 4,800-word horror tale clearly inspired by the patron of the genre. Recently unearthed by Strand managing editor Andrew F. Gulli, “The Eye That Saw Death” is narrated by an unnamed man who has suffered from a seemingly incurable disease that has left him nearly blind. At age 30, he receives an eye transplant that restores his sight but leaves him with
ghoulish side effects. The narrator is afflicted with visions that begin as a “chaotic blur,” then become more focused and traumatizing, whether “huge, black, bulging eyes” or “terrible, tusk-like teeth.” The new eye, it turns out, belonged to a convicted killer. The narrator begs to have the surgery reversed. “It is true that the pleasures of the blind are few and frugal,” Williams writes. “They live apart from the world and participate little in its affairs. But I do not regret that choice I made the day I fell, raving mad with horror, to the floor of the oculist’s office. Oh, never! Far, far better to be blind than to see with the eye that saw death!” Gulli, who has previously published little-known works by Graham Greene and John Steinbeck among others, found “The Eye That Saw Death” at one of
the country’s leading literary archives, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Williams scholar George Crandell says the undated work is a “pretty good story” and surprisingly polished for a piece never published before. Crandell is especially impressed because he thinks Williams was likely in high school when he completed it. “The story has a similar feel to ‘The Vengeance of Nitocris,’ kind of a horror story that was published in Weird Tales in 1928 (when Williams was 16),” says Crandell, the associate dean of Auburn University’s graduate school and a member of the editorial board of the literary journal the Tennessee Williams Annual Review. “The Eye That Saw Death” has a fable-like quality even as its plot recalls Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
stuck our hands in at the same time and we grabbed the same piece of chicken,” he said, as the audience laughed again. “And I look at Willie, I was like, ‘That’s you dog, my bad.’ “That was one of the
Though Snoop has had platinum-plus albums and hit songs, he’s never won a Grammy. But he says he’s not worried about winning awards, thanks to his youth football league. He said he’s proud he has been able to send young men to Division I schools to play sports and gain an education. “That’s better than a Grammy right there,” he said. He also said his proudest moment was seeing his son, who earned a football scholarship to UCLA, go to college.
“He’s first person in my family to actually go to college, so how do you think I feel?” he asked.
Dropped Call Snoop admits he hung up on Dr. Dre when the rapperproducer reached out to him. Snoop said Dre heard some of his music at a party and then called the young rapper to collaborate. “Dr. Dre was like, ‘Who was that rapping?” he recalled. “From that day he called me and I didn’t believe it, I was like, ‘Man, quit playing.’ I hung up on him.” Dre called Snoop back and they went on to produce rap classics like “Gin and Juice.”
Chris Brown’s case closed By ANTHONY MCCARTNEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A judge ended Chris Brown’s probation Friday and closed the R&B singer’s assault case filed over his brutal attack on his thengirlfriend Rihanna more than six years ago. Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin said Brown had completed community labor requirements as part of his felony assault case and officially closed the case after more than six years. Brown and his attorney Mark Geragos hugged in the courtroom and again in a courthouse elevator. After the hearing, he tweeted, “IM OFF PROBATION!!!!!!!! Thank the Lord!!!!!!”
Photo by Mario Anzuoni | AP
Chris Brown, right, appears with his attorney Mark Geragos, at a court hearing in Los Angeles on Friday. Brown, 25, has been under supervision by court and probation officials since mid-2009 when he pleaded guilty to attacking Rihanna just hours before the Grammy Awards. The attack led to immediate fallout for Brown, although his career has partially re-
bounded and he went on to win a Grammy Award three years after the attack. The singer initially avoided problems with the case, but since 2013 has struggled to complete his community service obligations and had his probation revoked in January.
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 13A
Appple eyes networks on Apple TV By GERRY SMITH, LUCAS SHAW AND TIM HIGGINS BLOOMBERG NEWS
Apple Inc., trying to strengthen its set-top service called Apple TV, is in talks with broadcasters ABC, CBS and Fox to provide Webbased television later this year, according to people familiar with the effort. The service would include about 25 channels and may include cable channels from companies owned by the media conglomerates, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. A deal with the networks would follow an agreement announced last week to put to HBO’s new stand-alone online service on Apple devices for $14.99 a month beginning April 12. The moves open the gate for other television providers to work around cable companies and deliver shows to users online. Such streaming services may prompt more consumers to cut the cord with cable companies, creating a new dynamic for the TV industry. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook last week lowered the price of Apple TV, which allows users to transfer digital video and other files to their televisions, to $69 from $99 along with announcing
Photo by Eric Risberg | AP
Richard Plepler, CEO of HBO, talks about HBO Now for Apple TV during an Apple event last week in San Francisco. The service would include about 25 channels and may include cable channels from companies owned by the media conglomerates. the HBO deal. “This is just the beginning,” he said. Apple is also talking to Viacom Inc., owner of Comedy Central
Software updates mark Tesla efforts By DANA HULL BLOOMBERG NEWS
Cars typically lose value over time as features become outdated. Tesla Motors Inc., the Silicon Valley automaker, actually adds capabilities to its vehicles. How? By pushing software updates to customers of its all-electric Model S sedan, similar to how Apple Inc. upgrades its operating systems. On Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said Tesla would improve its system with a “range assurance application” and enhanced trip planning. In a few months, it will push out a version 7.0 of the car’s software including an overhaul to the user interface and computerized steering in specific circumstances, he said. “This was yet another reminder of the increased software content going into light vehicles and of the need to be able to refresh the software through over-the-air updates,” said analyst Brian A. Johnson of Barclays in a research note Friday. Other automakers “have some work to do” before they can make similar improvements to parked cars while owners sleep. Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, is an unusual automaker already with its high-end cars and stated desire to lead a carbon-free revolution in personal transportation. But its ability to add functionality to cars is unique and should slow their depreciation. Andrea James, an analyst at Dougherty & Co., said that when Tesla introduced a hardware update — such as when it announced
the dual-motor version of the Model S last fall — some people who bought a two-wheel-drive Model S were annoyed. New software, on the other hand, automatically goes to everyone. “When it’s a hardware update, people are bummed if they missed out,” said James on Friday. “When it’s software, existing customers get to participate in the excitement. It has a cool factor.” Tesla rose 1.2 percent Friday to close at $198.08. On Thursday, some investors may have been disappointed that the upgrades didn’t go further, and the shares fell 2.5 percent to $195.65. That was still 3.7 percent higher than before Musk tweeted on Sunday that a software upgrade would “end range anxiety,” the fear that an electric car will lose its charge and leave drivers stranded. “A huge part of what Tesla is is a Silicon Valley software company,” Musk said Thursday. “People take it to be normal that your phone and laptop will keep improving, and that is the approach we’ve taken with the Model S. It is a fundamental paradigm shift from the way cars have been done in the past, where they are quite static.” The updates are expected to help sales in China, where Tesla has struggled to overcome the perception that charging is difficult. “Range anxiety is a significant factor in China,” said Musk. “We’ve added more superchargers in China than anywhere else in the world. I’m fairly optimistic about China in the long term. It’s on the upswing.”
and MTV, according to one person. The Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported the talks with Apple, also wrote that Discovery Communications Inc. is
taking part in the negotiations. NBCUniversal isn’t, because Apple became convinced Comcast was stringing it along while focusing on its own Web service,
the newspaper said. Technology blog Re/code last month reported that Apple was talking to programmers. The Cupertino, Californiabased maker of iPhones and iPads first introduced Apple TV in 2007 and has since sold more than 25 million units, Cook said. It’s part of a broader strategy by the company to further immerse its users’ digital lives within Apple devices. Apple sold about 74 million iPhones in the most recent quarter, helping fuel a record profit of $18 billion. “We believe that this possible content package would remove a significant hurdle to Apple launching a stand-alone television,” Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said Tuesday in a note to investors. Television networks are increasingly trying to chase younger viewers with an online-only video service. CBS sells All-Access for $5.99 a month and offers a free online news service called CBSN, while Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal has said it plans to offer a subscription service for comedy videos in the coming months. CBS Corp.’s Showtime, a premium cable rival to HBO, has also said it plans to offer an standalone service this year.
Futures post weekly gain By MOMING ZHOU BLOOMBERG NEWS
U.S. oil futures rebounded as a gauge of the dollar headed for the steepest weekly slide since 2011, boosting crude’s investment appeal. West Texas Intermediate crude gained the most in five weeks. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid as the Federal Reserve damped the outlook for higher rates. Iranian envoys were set to leave nuclear negotiations in Switzerland after final consultations with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, with talks to resume next week. Oil prices are down about 15 percent from this year’s peak in February as U.S. crude stockpiles expanded even as drillers idled a record number of rigs. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries exceeded its production target in February for a ninth month. Iran may increase oil exports within months of reaching a deal on its nuclear program, according to U.S. and European officials. “The dollar appears to be the main driver today,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, BNP Paribas SA’s London-based head of commodity markets strategy, on Friday. “Regarding Iran, it will be wait and see. Even if there is an accord on Iran’s nuclear program, we do not necessarily expect all sanctions to be lifted at once.” WTI for April delivery gained $1.76, or 4 percent, to $45.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest oneday gain since Feb. 12 for a weekly advance of 2 percent. The contract, which expired Friday,
closed at $43.46 on March 17, the lowest since March 2009. The more active May contract was $1.04 higher at $46.57.
Dollar index Brent for May settlement climbed 89 cents to $55.32 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $9.60 to WTI for the same month, compared with $9.83 on March 13. Prices added 1.2 percent this week. The Bloomberg dollar index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, fell 1.3 percent. “The bigger deal is what’s going on with the dollar,” said Bill O’Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis, which oversees $3.4 billion. “There is going to be an Iranian deal no matter what. It’s a question of when rather than if.” The Iranian diplomats will head home to attend the funeral of the mother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who died on Friday, an Iranian official said, asking not to be named following diplomatic rules.
Technical hurdles Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday said that although they’ve made progress, significant technical hurdles still separate them. Diplomats have until the end of this month to reach a framework agreement.
“Oil is moving in lockstep with the weaker dollar,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. “People are nervous about the Iranian deal. If there is no deal to be reached, that means there will be no more Iranian oil moving into the market.” Iran exports 1 million to 1.1 million barrels of crude a day, down from 2.5 million a day before strict U.S. and European Union sanctions went into effect in mid-2012.
Market share OPEC, which maintained its output target at 30 million barrels a day in November, needs to keep production steady to maintain market share, Kuwait Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair said. The group produced 30.6 million barrels of oil a day in February, exceeding its target of 30 million, according to production estimates compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. inventories gained for a 10th week to 458.5 million barrels in the seven days ended March 13, the most in weekly data dating back to August 1982, according to the Energy Information Administration. Production accelerated to 9.42 million barrels a day, the fastest pace since at least January 1983, the Energy Department’s statistical arm estimated. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, rose 2.9 million to a record 54.4 million. The hub has a working capacity of 70.8 million, according to the EIA.
14A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Iraqis see endless war By VIVIAN SALAMA ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD — Alaa al-Qureishi’s home is full of ghosts — the photos of dead relatives decorating the walls of every room. In 2006, his mother and brother were killed when the house, in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, was randomly hit by a rocket. A year later, tragedy struck again when two more brothers and his brother-in-law were killed in sectarian violence at the height of the country’s civil war. Today, many of his fellow Shiites are on the front lines battling the extremists of the Islamic State group in what many see as an existential threat to Iraq. But the 37-year-old al-Qureishi is sitting this one out. “Our situation keeps going from bad to worse,” he said, his eyes filled with tears, the pain of his loss still fresh. “My family doesn’t need any more martyrs.” Twelve years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and eliminate weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the country is still mired in war. The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rules more than a third of Iraq. Powerful, often violent, Shiite militias — armed and advised by Iran — are leading the fight against the extremists, propping up Iraq’s humiliated military, which crumbled in the face of the militant threat last year. U.S. forces are back, albeit in a non-combat role, thrusting open a door that many had sought to close for good when American troops withdrew in late 2011. For Iraqis, the various conflicts feel like one long war, which many blame on the United States. A common view is that overthrowing Saddam spurred the explosion of sectarianism that followed when the long-oppressed Shiite majority rose to power.
Photo by Karim Kadim | AP
Alaa al-Qureishi shows a religious poster Friday at his house in Baghdad, Iraq, honoring his mother, three brothers and a brotherin-law who were killed in 2006 and 2007. A country beleaguered by foreign invasion and civil war became vulnerable to extremism. Fueled by another civil war in neighboring Syria, that extremism grew into al-Qaida in Iraq and later, morphed into the Islamic State group that is now spreading havoc in several countries across the Arab world. “Obviously, there is a threat that you can trace that shows Daesh emerged because of the invasion,” said Sajad Jiyad of the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. “It’s the lack of rule of law, randomness of the violence and brutality that we see on a daily basis today that shocks people.” The U.S.-led invasion that began in March 2003 was initially touted as the dawn of a new, democratic era for Iraq. There was the “shockand-awe” campaign; a dictator found hiding in a spider hole; national unity governments; insurgents, militias and retribution; and sectarianism and civil war. More than 500,000 Iraqis were reportedly killed in the eight-year war, while more than 3,500 U.S. soldiers died in combat. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the country during that war. Today, more than 2 million are displaced from the violence set off by the campaign by the Sunni militants of the Islamic State group to establish a self-declared caliphate.
Iraq has staggered economically, despite its oil wealth. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the economy shrank by 2.75 percent in 2014 — its first contraction since 2003. Na’ma Ali Saleh, a 52year-old resident of Sadr City, has struggled to keep a steady job since the invasion and believes the country’s current crisis makes finding work impossible. “We have hot weather, and half of the time, there is no power or water,” he said. “Saddam was a disaster for Iraq, but at least in those days, we only feared one man. Now, we fear many.” Nostalgia for life under Saddam is rampant, despite his heinous criminal record that included the hangings of Shiite politicians, unlawful detentions and the disappearance of hundreds of political dissidents, and a massacre of between 50,000 to 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis. “Iraqis are still waiting for a better alternative,” Jiyad said. “At least in Saddam’s time, there was some semblance of rule of law.” Three of al-Qureishi’s late brothers were imprisoned under Saddam, accused of political dissent. But he now believes that was a small price to pay for the stability the country once enjoyed. “What’s worse? Prison or death?” he asked, visibly distraught. “I may be doing my country a service by fighting in the war against Daesh, but I will do my family a much bigger disservice if I go to fight and die.”
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NBA: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS
Dumping testing File photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP
Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant could miss the remainder of 2015 as the Thunder continue to battle significant injuries to their lineup.
Durant may miss season Thunder star Kevin Durant could be held out the remainder of the year By CLIFF BRUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY — Reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant likely won’t return this season. General manager Sam Presti said Friday that Durant still has pain in his right foot, well after he was expected to be ready to return. When asked if the best thing would be best to shut him down for the season, Presti said: “Essentially, that’s the direction that we’re taking right now, in terms of removing him from all basketball-related ac-
tivities.” Oklahoma City now faces the prospect of trying to make the playoffs without the fourtime scoring champion. The Thunder led the New Orleans Pelicans by a game for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoffs heading into Friday night’s games. Durant is averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists, but he’s played in just 27 of the team’s 68 games this season. He last played Feb. 19 against Mem-
See DURANT PAGE 2B
Photo by LM Otero | AP
Don Hooton poses with a photo of his late son Taylor in the background at his home Tuesday. Hooton, who started the Taylor Hooton Foundation for steroid abuse education after his 17-year-old son’s 2003 suicide was linked to steroid use, was one of the key advocates in creating the Texas program.
Texas to stop H.S. steroids testing program By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — When Texas officials launched a massive public high school steroids testing program over fears of rampant doping from the football fields to the tennis courts, they promised a model pro-
gram for the rest of the country to follow. But almost no one did. And after spending $10 million testing more than 63,000 students to catch just a handful of cheaters, Texas lawmakers appear likely to defund the program this summer. If they do, New Jersey and Illinois will have the
only statewide high school steroids testing programs left. Even those who pushed for the Texas program in 2007 now call it a colossal misfire, either a waste of money or too poorly designed to catch the drug users some insist
See TESTING PAGE 2B
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Giants sign George Selvie ASSOCIATED PRESS
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants have signed George Selvie, a college teammate of Jason PierrePaul, to help strengthen their defensive line. The Giants announced the signing on Friday. Contract terms were not immediately available. Selvie and Pierre-Paul were together at South Florida and it’s conceivable they could go into the season as the Giants’ starting defensive ends in September. The Giants placed a franchise tag on PierrePaul earlier this month and are hoping to sign him to a long-term contract.
See NFL PAGE 2B
File photo by Dave Martin | AP
The Cowboys made a splash in free agency signing former Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, but with his legal concerns columnist Mac Engel wonders whether it was the right decision.
Engel: Hardy a good move? By MAC ENGEL MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
File photo by Tom Fox | AP
Another former Dallas player is headed to a division rival as defensive end George Selvie was signed by New York to join the Giants in 2015.
Jason Garrett should cease to mention and drop all use of the word character when it comes to evaluating a football
player. A man who craftily says nothing as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, ostensibly because he is aware of the many
See COWBOYS PAGE 2B
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: AARON HERNANDEZ TRIAL
Testimony against Hernandez By AMY ANTHONY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by CJ Gunther | AP
Former Patriots player Aaron Hernandez listens to testimony during his murder trial at Bristol County Superior Court on Friday.
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Two men accused of acting with former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez in the slaying of a friend of his behaved strangely days following the man’s death, witnesses testified Friday in Hernandez’s murder trial. Prosecutors allege Hernandez, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz picked Odin Lloyd up
from his Boston home and drove him to a North Attleborough industrial park, where he was shot to death. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the June 2013 killing. During the trial his defense team has been trying to put the blame on co-defendants Wallace and Ortiz, who will be tried separately. Prosecutors have not said who actually shot Lloyd but have said Hernandez orchestrated the killing. On Friday, David and Eliza-
beth Gourneault testified that Wallace, a friend of theirs, showed up unannounced at their Bristol, Connecticut, home within days of the killing and asked to borrow their phone. “He wasn’t his usual self,” Elizabeth Gourneault said. “He would talk but just seemed kind of quiet.” Wallace stepped outside and used the phone for about 30
See HERNANDEZ PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
HERNANDEZ Continued from Page 1B minutes before leaving, David Gourneault said. On questioning from Hernandez’s lawyer Charles Rankin, Elizabeth Gourneault acknowledged that she told police that she deleted Wallace’s number from her phone after she learned of his arrest in connection with Lloyd’s death. “I was scared,” she said. Members of Hernandez’s extended family through the marriage of his cousin, Tanya Singleton, also testified that Wallace and Singleton — who
is accused of helping Wallace flee the state — seemed nervous in the days following Lloyd’s death. Irene Singleton, the grandmother of Tanya Singleton’s late husband, told the jury that Wallace and Ortiz showed up at her house within a week of Lloyd’s death asking where her grandson was. “They appeared nervous,” Irene Singleton said of Wallace and Ortiz, adding that the two men huddled together talking in her backyard for about an
hour. “They never separate themselves when they come to our house because our house is a family house. But this day they were nervous.” Irene Singleton said the two men were acting so suspiciously that she asked her grandson to have them leave. Asked by Rankin whether Wallace and Ortiz were behaving suspiciously because they were on drugs, she acknowledged that she had told police that they were behaving in a “crazy manner” and that Ortiz
appeared to be on drugs most of the time. Irene Singleton’s daughter, Euna Ritchon, testified that she frequently travels to Georgia to visit her daughter and that within days of Lloyd’s death, Wallace and Tanya Singleton approached her about driving down with her. Ritchon said they took back roads and drove continuously through the night. She said she also she saw Tanya Singleton give Wallace a new cellphone before they left for Georgia.
Photo by CJ Gunther | AP
Massachusetts State Trooper Eric Perez, right, looks over papers shown to him by Assistant District Attorney William McCauley during testimony at the murder trial of former Aaron Hernandez Friday.
TESTING Continued from Page 1B are slipping through the cracks. “I believe we made a huge mistake,” said Don Hooton, who started the Taylor Hooton Foundation for steroid abuse education after his 17-year-old son’s 2003 suicide was linked to the drug’s use, and was one of the key advocates in creating the Texas program. Hooton believes the low number of positive tests doesn’t mean Texas athletes are clean, only that they’re not getting caught because of inadequate testing and loopholes that allow them to cheat the process. “Coaches, schools, and politicians have used the abysmal number of positive tests to prove there’s no steroid problem,” Hooton said. “What did we do here? We just lulled the public to sleep.” Texas wasn’t the first state to test high schoolers. New Jersey and Florida were first and Illinois started about the same time as Texas. But the Lone Star State employed its typical bigger-is-better swagger by pumping in
millions to sweep the state for cheaters. At the time, Texas had more than 780,000 public high school athletes, by far the most in the nation. A positive test would kick the star quarterback or point guard out of the lineup for at least 30 days. Schools across the country closely watched Texas, said Don Colgate, director of sports and sports medicine at the National Federation of State High School Associations. “Texas was going out in front in a big way,” Colgate said. “(But) it’s not a cheap process and they knew there were not going to do it on the scale of what Texas did.” New Jersey and Illinois each spends about $100,000 annually testing a few hundred athletes. Florida folded its $100,000 program in 2009. There were questions from the start whether Texas should go so big. The University Interscholastic League, the state’s governing body for high school sports, surveyed its member public schools in 2002 and the
vast majority said testing should be a local decision. By 2007, headlines of performance-enhancing drug abuse in professional sports and a push from advocates like Hooton prodded lawmakers to forge ahead and they pumped in $6 million for the first two years. Texas hired Drug Free Sport, which conducts testing for the NCAA, the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA, to randomly select students, pull them out of class and have them supply a urine sample. The first 19,000 tests produced just nine confirmed cases of steroid use, with another 60 “protocol violations” for skipping the test. Few saw those numbers as good news of clean athletes or even as proof the program could be a successful deterrent. Most saw it as fodder for criticism that the state was wasting its money. And national momentum was ebbing. The economic downturn pinched state budgets. Other health issues, including heat-related deaths and
NFL Continued from Page 1B Selvie has played in 68 regular-season games with 29 starts in five seasons for St. Louis, Carolina, Jacksonville and Dallas. His career totals include 126 tackles, 13 sacks, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Selvie played in all 16 games for the Cowboys last season, starting the final 13 at left end and both playoff games.
Cowboys add FB Agnew, re-sign DT Hayden IRVING — The Dallas Cowboys have signed freeagent fullback Ray Agnew, and re-signed defensive tackle Nick Hayden. Dallas announced Agnew’s signing Thursday, six days after the secondyear fullback tweeted he was joining the Cowboys. Hayden, who started all 32 games for Dallas the past two seasons, signed a one-year deal, according to a report on the team’s website. Hayden led all Cowboys defensive linemen last season with 52 tackles. He played three seasons for Carolina and one for Cincinnati before joining the Cowboys. Agnew played last season as a rookie free agent with the Cleveland Browns out of Southern Illinois. After starting the first six games, Agnew was waived Oct. 20. He resigned with the Browns on Nov. 11, and started three of the next five games before being released Dec. 23. Mainly a blocker, Agnew had two rushes for 2 yards and three catches for 15 yards.
Browns ink receiver Bowe from Chiefs CLEVELAND — The Browns have signed freeagent wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, a legitimate down-the-field target
to help their passing game. Bowe spent the previous eight seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. The 30-year-old’s 532 receptions are the second most in club history and he scored 44 touchdowns. The Browns have been in need of a No. 1 wide receiver since former Pro Bowler Josh Gordon was suspended by the NFL for the 2015 season for drug violations. Browns general manager Ray Farmer says Bowe is a player who “adds a big, tough and physical presence to our group.” Bowe scored 15 touchdowns in 2010, but has had only 13 times in the past four seasons. He has had two 1,000-yard seasons and at least 57 catches in each of the past three seasons.
RSVP by Peterson’s agent to Vikings GM is no go for dinner MINNEAPOLIS — The relationship between the Minnesota Vikings and star running back Adrian Peterson remains tenuous. Peterson’s agent, Ben Dogra, confirmed on Friday that he declined an invitation from Vikings general manager Rick Spielman to meet over dinner during the NFL owners meetings in Arizona next week. Vikings officials have met with Peterson twice this month. He has expressed uneasiness about returning to Minnesota to resume his career that was halted last year while the child abuse case he was involved in played out in court and then through the league’s personal conduct policy. Peterson’s contract with the Vikings doesn’t expire until after the 2017 season, though. Spielman recently told Dogra the team does not plan to release Peterson, who turns 30 on Saturday.
head safety, jumped to the forefront. Anti-doping pioneer Don Catlin, who spent years conducting the NCAA’s laboratory tests at UCLA, said the Texas plan was well-intentioned but didn’t test for enough drugs in the early years and had gaps in protocols that cheaters could exploit. Texas tested for only about 10 drugs in the first wave, a fraction of the anabolic agents on the market, which Catlin warned would be easy to avoid detection. Testers also can lose the element of surprise because they have to tell school officials when they’ll be on campus. While that is supposed to be confidential, the news can slip out and UIL has punished schools for violations. Although students are required to empty their pockets and lift shirts above their waste band, testing officials also aren’t allowed to physically watch the person providing a urine sample. Privacy for under-age athletes is a potentially huge loop-
hole for cheaters. The testing protocols, including which drugs were tested for, were developed by the UIL and Drug Free Sport. “The program they developed was bound to fail,” Catlin said. “I told them years ago to put the money into something else.” State lawmakers have been scaling down the Texas program almost since it began. It was trimmed to $2 million by 2010 and has continued to shrink to about $500,000 a year. That required testing fewer athletes and targeting specific sports such as football, wrestling and baseball. UIL Athletic Director Mark Cousins said Texas now targets about 60 drugs but the number of positive tests still remains low. In the 2013-2014 school year, the UIL tested 2,633 students and caught two. Hooton said those low figures don’t match anecdotal evidence of higher steroid use among teens. A 2014 study by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids found that 7 percent
of high schoolers reported using steroids from 20092013. The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, which reviews state programs, recommended in 2014 that lawmakers drop the program. The commission’s report noted that unless the state wanted to pump up to $5 million a year into a program on par with elite college and pro leagues, it wouldn’t be effective either in catching cheaters or scaring them away from drugs. Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that exposed performance-enhancing drug use by former cyclist Lance Armstrong, scoffed at Texas for moving to eliminate its program. He noted Texas cities have been willing to pay millions for state-ofthe-art high school football facilities. “They’re willing to spend ($60) million building one high school football stadium but can’t find a fraction of that to protect the health and safety of young athletes? Come on,” Tygart said. “It’s a joke.”
DURANT Continued from Page 1B phis and had surgery three days later to replace a screw that was causing discomfort in the right foot that he broke during the preseason. At the time, Brooks said Durant could return to the lineup in 1-2 weeks. The Thunder had hoped to get a boost from Durant’s return, but Presti said Durant’s long-term health is his primary concern. Presti said he’s unsure of the source of the current pain, so Durant will see specialists in the coming days. “He’s not making the progress that we had hoped and anticipated
him making,” Presti said. “He still has some soreness in his foot, and the protocol that’s in place calls for him to be able to compete on the floor without that at this stage.” This is just the latest in a barrage of bad news the Thunder have dealt with this season. Serge Ibaka, a versatile forward who is the team’s best defensive player, could miss the rest of the season after having an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee earlier this week. Guard Russell Westbrook missed 14 games early in the season with a broken bone in his left hand. Center Ste-
ven Adams recently returned from missing 11 games with a broken right hand. And newcomer Enes Kanter, who was supposed to cushion the blow from losing Ibaka, will miss Friday’s game against Atlanta with a sprained left ankle. Presti said he feels for coach Scott Brooks. “It’s not easy when you’ve got a lot of guys in and out of lineups,” he said. “I think he’s done a really, really good job of managing that, of integrating new players that we’ve added. That’s not an easy thing to do, either.”
Presti said Brooks’ approach will help the Thunder remain competitive, regardless of who plays. “I think he’s been steady, the way that he has been over the years, and that’s one of the great things about Scotty,” Presti said. “You know what you’re going to get. He’s going to come in each day, he’s going to do the job, he’s going to lead the team, he’s going to have a clear idea as to what it is that’s going to drive our success, and I think he deserves a lot of credit for navigating some of these things.”
COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B facets of the organization he represents, has said everything about character with the addition of defensive end Greg Hardy. Coach Process is a fraud just like every other football coach in the NFL, or college, when it comes to character. Garrett is as desperate as the rest, and character matters when it’s convenient. We already knew this, but this is yet another reminder. Greg Hardy, welcome to Texas, where we love football almost as much as we love guns. The Cowboys’ signing of a guy who was charged with beating the tar out of his girlfriend will be criticized because of his "infraction" last year that led the NFL to suspend him and the Carolina Panthers to cut him. I hate this, not only because of his "background" but also because the Panthers wanted nothing in return, and I have to explain this to my kid. Jerry you’ve got four kids - any suggestions on this one? How do you explain Greg Hardy to a 5-year-old, or any kid? Everybody deserves a second chance. But how do you explain that to a kin-
dergartner who believes that boys don’t hit girls and people should keep their hands to themselves? It’s not complicated, and physical contact is not gender-specific. It’s hurtful and disrespectful and can permanently alter lives. During a trial in July, a judge in Charlotte, N.C., found Hardy guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors claimed Hardy flung her from the bed, threw her into a bathtub and tossed her onto a futon covered with rifles. He also ripped off a necklace and reportedly slammed the toilet lid on her arm as she tried to retrieve it. And then he threatened to kill her. Hardy’s attorneys filed an appeal for a jury trial, which was supposed to happen in February. But all charges were dropped when the accuser failed to show up to testify. The prosecution said Hardy and the woman were believed to have reached a civil settlement - i.e., he bought her off. The NFL is now suing the North Carolina attorney general for access to this evidence, which the league may use to suspend Hardy. Bet big that Hardy
will be suspended for six games to start the 2015 season. And expect the NFL Players Association to fight a suspension and lose. So far for his crime, Hardy’s penalty was to miss 15 NFL games in 2014, and he received his full salary. Now Hardy is a Dallas Cowboy with an incentiveloaded deal that could pay him $13.1 million. How do you explain this to a kindergartner who believes in right, wrong, equality, be nice to our friends, and punishment for misdeeds and mistakes? As tempting as it is to lie, age-appropriate truth is the better alternative. Not everyone is treated the same, and sometimes exceptions will be made for those who do the wrong thing. It doesn’t make it right, and realities such as this are disgusting. I love sports, but these stories just further prove our warped priorities and allowances for criminal behavior all in the name of entertainment. There was minimal disgust over Hardy’s signing, and the reaction on social media was everything from "Hooray!" to "We got our pass rusher!" They have done due dili-
gence on Dimitrius Underwood, Ken Hamlin, Pacman Jones, Alonzo Spellman, Tank Johnson, Al Johnson, Josh Brent and on and on, and it never stops them. Every NFL team deals with questionable guys, but when a proven pass rusher, at only age 26, is not resigned for nothing is the reddest of red flags. The Panthers did not like a guy who has had "character" concerns. No one loves a red flag more than our Jerry. And no one loves a cheap deal more than our Stephen. No need for Jerry Jones to spew some rhetoric that he is "sensitive" to the concerns of others, because we know he doesn’t care. For that matter, please don’t waste our time and trot out poor Cowboys life coach Calvin Hill as if he is going to somehow make a difference with these guys. The age-appropriate truth here is that Garrett is no different from any other NFL coach. Character matters only when convenient, and the moment Hardy sacks the quarterback, we won’t care, either. And I have no idea how to explain that to a kid. Jerry, any suggestions?
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Dear Readers: Every few years, I run a column devoted to "RESTROOM ETIQUETTE," so here we go. This topic seems to really hit a nerve! The last time I ran this, the discussion was "Does the toilet paper go out and over, so the tissue is hanging there for you to grab? Or, do you place the roll on the holder with the tissue in the back?" My, oh my, the email and letters that came in almost overwhelmed my office. The topic today is: Should the toilet SEAT and LID be put down after use? Many households do this, and everyone knows to put the seat and lid down. Some people do this because they don’t like to see the water in the bowl. Others have curious cats and some dogs that use the toilet bowl to play with the water. Oh, yes, there are some dogs that drink from the same. Flushing the toilet can release tiny, tiny water drops into the air. Depending on where the toilet is
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
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HELOISE
in relationship to the bathroom counters, some of the drops or mist may land on the counter. My 2 cents on this topic is based on an old Texas saying about gates on a ranch or farm. If you found it open, leave it open. If you found it closed, then close it after you go through. Lid up or lid down? I look forward to seeing how y’all vote. – Heloise WRAP IT UP Dear Heloise: When doing sizable paint projects, the need for a break always resulted in the paintbrush drying out. Rather than clean the brush each time, I combat this by sealing the brush in a plastic bag until I am ready to get back to my painting project. This has been a timesaver for me. – Scott in New York
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The 12th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice. 8:30 a.m assembly time. March begins at 10 a.m. at St. Peters Plaza. Ends at San Agustin Plaza. Call Manuel Bocanegra at 7757027 or Anna Marie at 508-9255. Mary Help of Christians School Bingo. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. at Mary Help of Christians School. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg County Medical Society’s “We are our brain book club.” 3 to 4 pm. Laredo Public Library on Calton.
Today is Saturday, March 21, the 80th day of 2015. There are 285 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On March 21, 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their third, successful march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On this date: In 1556, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for heresy. In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany. In 1925, Tennessee Gov. Austin Peay (pee) signed the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of the Theory of Evolution in public schools. (Tennessee repealed the law in 1967.) In 1935, Persia officially changed its name to Iran. In 1952, the Moondog Coronation Ball, considered the first rock and roll concert, took place at Cleveland Arena. In 1960, about 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on black protesters. In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates and closed at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville; the reported death toll varied between 29 and 43. In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule. Ten years ago: A high school student on the Red Lake Indian reservation in Minnesota killed five schoolmates, a teacher and an unarmed guard before taking his own life; Jeff Weise (wees) had earlier killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s companion. Five years ago: Frustrated with the pace of action to overhaul the country’s immigration system, thousands of immigrant rights supporters descended on the nation’s capital, waving American flags and holding homemade signs in English and Spanish. One year ago: A federal judge ruled that Michigan’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, striking down a law widely embraced by voters a decade earlier. (More than 300 same-sex couples in four Michigan counties wed the next day before an appeals court suspended the decision; two Detroit-area nurses are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the marriage ban.) Today’s Birthdays: Violinist-conductor Joseph Silverstein is 83. Actress MarieChristine Barrault is 71. Actor Timothy Dalton is 69. Singer Eddie Money is 66. Rock musician Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos) is 64. Rhythm-and-blues singer Russell Thompkins Jr. (The Stylistics) is 64. Actor Gary Oldman is 57. Actor Matthew Broderick is 53. Comedian-talk show host Rosie O’Donnell is 53. Hip-hop DJ Premier (Gang Starr) is 46. Actress Laura Allen is 41. Rapper-TV personality Kevin Federline is 37. Actor Forrest Wheeler (TV: “Fresh Off the Boat”) is 11. Thought for Today: “Never lose your temper with the press or the public is a major rule of political life.” — Dame Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragist (1880-1958).
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, 5 p.m. Extreme Planets, 6 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman | AP
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 “Unsettled/Desasosiego: Children in a World of Gangs” at TAMIU Student Center Ballroom, 5201 University Blvd. from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Presentation on the history behind Central America’s insecurity, resulting in undocumented Central American children and youth seeking entry into the United States. Free and open to the public. Call 326-2820. Wednesday, March 25: Used Book Sale, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. Public invited; no admission fee.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 Spanish Book Club, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Laredo Public Library, Calton Road. Call Sylvia Reash 763-1810. The Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society will meet at St. John Neumann Catholic Church. 3 to 5 pm. Presentation, “The Richness of Mexico: Its history and culture.” Contact Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter, PhD at 722-3497 for more information.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, 6 p.m. Extreme Planets, 7 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). The Josh Abbott Band and Kevin Fowler will perform at a country western dance-concert at 8 p.m. at Casa Blanca Ballroom to benefit the South Texas Food Bank. Tickets are $25 pre-sale at Mike’s, Kelly’s and Casa Raul Western Wear, Big Buck Studios and bryanpromotions.com. Tickets $30 at door. Call STFB marketing director Salo Otero at 324-2432. St. Augustine School will hold its 3rd annual Casino Night. 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Laredo Center for the Arts. This is St. Augustine’s largest fundraiser in which the community is invited to a fun-filled evening at the Casino tables without leaving the city.
SATURDAY, MARCH 28 66th annual Flower and Art Show. Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church. 1 to 6 p.m. Public invited; admission fee. Texas Food Bank-TAMIU Big Event at 1907 Freight at Riverside, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. More than 200 TAMIU students called the Love Committee will bag and sort for STFB clients and paint STFB offices. Call interim executive director Erasmo Villarreal 763-4408 or 726-3120.
SUNDAY, MARCH 29 66th annual Flower and Art Show. Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church. 1 to 6 p.m. Public invited; admission fee. Women’s City Club presents Sundaes with Style, 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Laredo Country Club. For reservations call Nancy at 763-9960.
TUESDAY, MARCH 31 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center Planetarium. The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, 5 p.m. Extreme Planets, 6 p.m. Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 Used Book Sale, 10 a.m. to noon. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. Public invited; no admission fee.
April Jensen, an employee at Sugar Mama’s holds a sticker that the business found on the front of their store in Austin, Wednesday. Employees at several businesses in Austin have found stickers saying "exclusively for white people" placed on their windows, sparking an investigation into their origin and condemnation from the mayor.
Racist stickers appear ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Employees at several Austin businesses have found stickers saying “exclusively for white people” placed on their windows, sparking an investigation into their origin and condemnation from the mayor. Mayor Steve Adler said the stickers discovered Wednesday morning were “an appalling and offensive display of ignorance in our city.” The stickers also say “Maximum of 5 colored customers / colored BOH staff accepted,” apparently referring to the “back of house” operations at a restaurant. They featured a city of Austin logo and claimed to be “sponsored by the City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program,” though no such program exists. The city has
said the use of its logo was unauthorized. Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. and is confronting increasing questions about economic and racial segregation as real estate prices skyrocket around its urban core. Raul Alvarez, board president for the East Austin Conservancy, said the stickers are likely in response to gentrification in the area on Austin’s east side. “I certainly share the concerns about the history and culture and affordability that’s being lost because of the rapid development, but our organization tends to focus on what it is we can do to preserve what makes East Austin unique and not focus on strategies that divide the community,” he told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. Several business owners and employees said the stickers unnerved them.
Oldest female veteran had ‘pioneering spirit’
Rabid skunk bites animal control officer
Man gets 3 years in defrauding IRS of $1M
SAN ANTONIO — President Barack Obama says the passage of time didn’t dampen the pioneering spirit of the nation’s oldest female military veteran. Lucy Coffey was 108 when she died this week in Texas. Her friend, Queta Marquez, says she’d been sick for about a week. She was found dead in her San Antonio home Thursday. Coffey met Obama when she visited the White House last year.
BELLMEAD — After a Central Texas animal control officer was bitten by a rabid skunk last week, police are asking anyone who believes they may have come into contact with the animal to call them. A Bellmead police detective said that as the animal control officer was bitten while trying to capture the animal. The skunk was then taken to the animal shelter, where it tested positive for rabies.
DALLAS — A North Texas man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for defrauding the IRS of more than $1 million. Michael Moody, 32, admitted to using false or inflated deductions and credits to claim fraudulent refunds from the federal agency. In one instance, he claimed a Schedule C business loss of about $37,000 when he didn’t actually own a Schedule C business.
Abducted clerk dies after Houston boy dies after removal from life support bullet comes through wall COLLEGE STATION — A College Station convenience store clerk has died of injuries inflicted during his abduction from work earlier this week. Kevin Garcia was beaten and abducted from the convenience store Tuesday and driven to far north Fort Worth. Nathaniel Tillery currently faces charges of robbery, kidnapping and assault.
HOUSTON — Authorities say a 6-year-old boy has died after being struck in the head by a bullet that came through the wall of his family’s Houston-area apartment from an adjacent unit. The boy was pronounced dead Thursday night after being taken by helicopter to an area hospital. Five people were detained for questioning in the shooting.
Texas gas price average drops 2 cents to $2.23 COPPELL — Retail gasoline prices in Texas have dropped two cents this week for an average of $2.23. AAA Texas said Thursday that this week’s average for regular unleaded fuel is $1.10 less than last year. Across the U.S., drivers are paying an average of $2.42, which is two cents less than a week ago. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION Another blast of winter on first day of spring BOSTON — Just when flowering bulbs were poking out their heads and snow shovels were getting a well-deserved rest, winter weather has returned. And on the first day of spring no less. Forecasters say a storm dumped up to 6 inches of snow on the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Friday. New England will be on the lower end of the snow totals but even Boston, which has seen a record 108.6 inches of snow, could get an inch or more. South-central Pennsylvania received up to 6 inches of snow, Friday said meteorologist Kevin Fitzgerald of the National Weather Service.
Remains found in cooking show finalist’s death ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Investigators say they found human remains inside a wood stove in the
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 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Jeremy Long/Lebanon Daily News | AP
Daffodils poke through the ground only to be covered by snow along Rt. 422 in Annville, Pa., during a snowstorm on the first day of Spring, Friday.
home of a man charged with killing a finalist from the TV show “Food Network Star,” her husband and their unborn child. Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan said Friday that deputies think 38-year-old Cristie Schoen Codd and 45-year-old Jo-
seph Codd were dead for three days before officers were called to their home Sunday. Search warrants say on the same day, 36-year-old Robert Owens threw away a trash bag with one victim’s belongings. — 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
Local
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Man indicted for illegal immigrants By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A Zapata man accused of transporting seven illegal immigrants in Southern Webb County has been indicted, according to records released this week. On Tuesday, David Aguilar-Morales, 57, was formally charged with conspiracy to transport undocumented people within the United States, and transport and attempt to transport undocumented people for financial gain. If convicted, he faces
up to 10 years in prison, states the indictment. His arrest dates back to Feb. 28, when a Webb County Sheriff ’s Office deputy had pulled over a tan Ford extended cab pickup for a defective license plate lamp. Authorities identified the driver as Aguilar-Morales, a U.S. citizen. U.S. Border Patrol arrived at the scene to assist, states a criminal complaint filed March 2. While questioning Aguilar-Morales, an agent spotted people in the bed of the pickup attempting to hide under-
neath a blanket. Agents said they discovered seven people who had entered the country illegally, according to court documents. Everyone was transported to the Zapata Border Patrol station. Two immigrants allegedly identified Aguilar-Morales as the driver of the pickup, records show. Aguilar-Morales is in federal custody. He has arraignment March 26. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Upcoming local events SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
5K for Autism Awareness The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce is hosting its first annual 5K Run/Walk for Autism Awareness. The event will take place Saturday, April 4 at the Zapata County Courthouse and will begin at 8 a.m. Pre-registration is $10 at active.com or at the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce. On-site registration is $20. There are seven age categories for competitors: 14 and under 15 – 19 20 – 29 30 – 39 40 – 49
50 – 59 60 and over For more information, contact Nellie Treviño at 956-236-2672 or the ZCISD Special Education Department at 956-765-6130.
New name for Accion Texas The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce would like to invite guests to join Janie Barrera, president and CEO of LiftFund, to the public reveal of Accion Texas’ new name and logo. The event will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the McAllen Convention Center, 700 Convention Center Blvd., McAllen, Texas 78501. LiftFund’s mission is to provide credit and services
to small businesses and entrepreneurs who do not have access to loans from commercial sources and to provide leadership and innovation to the micro lending industry. LiftFund is a designated community development financial institution, or CDFI. CDFIs are working in neighborhoods across the United States to provide affordable, responsible credit, create and sustain jobs, and to stabilize communities. CDFIs finance community businesses, including small businesses, micro-enterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate, and affordable housing. For more information, contact Raul Serna at 956874-5414 or 888-215-2372 ext. 1706.
House OKs broader border security bill By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
Texas House members overwhelmingly gave tentative approval to a sweeping border-security measure on Wednesday following about four hours of debate on the measure’s costs, accountability mechanisms and whether it will stain the image of border cities. House Bill 11 by state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, would increase over two years the number of Texas Department of Public Safety officers on the border, establish a catchall intelligence center in Hidalgo County to analyze border crime data and create a voluntary corps of retired DPS officers to bolster the agency’s ranks. It would also increase penalties for human smuggling, and require DPS to study the usefulness of southbound checkpoints within 250 yards of the border to screen for guns and illicit cash headed to Mexico. “We just passed a bill that creates the first-in-thenation consistent plan to
help fill the void of failure of federal government in Texas,” Bonnen told reporters after the vote. “We passed that bill, the Republican caucus, with wonderful support from our Democrat colleagues. What we’ve shown you in Austin, Texas, is that we can tackle the tough issues.” The measure passed 131 to 12 but drove a wedge between some House Democrats. Some argued that HB 11 is needed to address drug cartel crime in Texas, while others said the bill gives state police too much power and costs too much. State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, a bill coauthor, said he was born and raised on the border and years ago would have never thought he’d support a measure that sends more law enforcement to the region. But the threats have now hit home, he said. “They are very serious people with very bad intentions,” he said. “They are already making inroads in our schools.” Unlike some of his colleagues from El Paso, Lucio said he supported south-
bound checkpoints and said the bill didn’t go far enough on that issue – but said it was a start. State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, offered seven amendments that would have affected issues ranging from federal preemption of immigration laws to DPS’s purchasing practices. “Border security still remains undefined,” he said. “Fiscal conservatives seem to have gone silent in their calls for accountability.” Bonnen said the measure would create a steady border security plan instead of the patchwork system in place now. Since last summer, hundreds of DPS officers have been rotated in and out of the region every week, which DPS officials said is effective but inefficient and expensive. “This bill says we’re going to have an intelligent plan to create a consistency that Texans on the border and across the state can count on,” he said. Part of the plan includes hiring peace officers with four years of experience as Trooper II DPS officers, a
rank paying about $60,000. That’s stoked concerns that the statewide police force could poach talented officers from local agencies. An amendment requiring DPS to assist local police handling crimes that are at least third-degree felonies was adopted as a short-term solution. Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw has also told lawmakers he’d ensure his agency works with local officers to prevent depleting their ranks. The omnibus measure currently has a price tag of $4.1 million through the next biennium. That prompted opponents of the bill to question what was being proposed to make sure the money is well spent. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, successfully added a measure creating a Border Operations Legislative Oversight Committee that would investigate the operations of law enforcement on the border. That includes obtaining reports on the how monies for training, equipment and salaries are being
spent. One of the thorniest issues for lawmakers was an amendment by state Rep. Jose Manuel Lozano, RKingsville, that sought to eliminate a provision that a person must be engaged in smuggling for profit in order to be prosecuted. During a committee hearing last week, state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, added the clarifying language in order to allay concerns raised by faith-based groups that feared they would be arrested and possibly charged for simply driving an undocumented immigrant to church services. Lozano argued that the only proof a smuggler is being paid comes from the person smuggled. That can’t happen when the person is left for dead in the brutal Texas heat, he said. “The people that cause these deaths are the human traffickers, animals,” he said. “This bill is supposed to put them away.” Bonnen said there was concern that the language wasn’t clear enough on who can be prosecuted. “I think the reality is
that Rep. Lozano was very concerned about this issue about smuggling. He’s personally seen with his own eyes the tragedy of smuggling in his home community,” Bonnen said. “In visiting with him and visiting with the Texas Association of District and County Attorneys, visiting with DPS, we believe that the language is very strong.” But the issue could reemerge in the Texas Senate, which voted the companion to Bonnen’s bill, SB 3, out of a subcommittee on Monday. Moody said its essential the language stays in. “That was very carefully negotiated,” he said. “That ensures we’re trying to get. I hope they maintain that language because it’s a crucial component to the bill.” Border lawmakers also had concerns over the data center, dubbed in the bill as a Texas Transnational Intelligence Center. State Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, voted against the bill and argued the center would stain the border’s reputation because of its sole focus on border crime.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Proposed law terrible By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS
Beware of a medicine worse than the problem. Beware of Vitter Medicine. Beware of David Vitter, senator from Louisiana, and his colleague in the House, Rep. Steve King of Iowa. Both Republicans are, in their respective chambers, the architects of legislation to deny children born in the United States to non-U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens — ”green card” holders — the automatic right to U.S. citizenship. This measure is aimed right at the children of undocumented people living among us, but who have come here in violation of our law. These children have committed no crime and are, in every possible definition, innocents. Can a newborn child be anything but innocent? Possibly, to Vitter and King. I have not met Vitter, but I have met King. I must say he seemed likable, very likable. Cruel, heartless, medieval are not words which sprung to mind. But the consequence of this legislation — if it ever were to become law — would be a violation of the Constitution and international norms. It would put Vitter and King in the same category as Robert Mugabe, the brutal dictator of Zimbabwe. I know about Mugabe and his views of citizenship. Under Mugabe’s law indigenous Africans — that is black Africans — are entitled to citizenship. I was born in Zimbabwe, when it was called Rhodesia, and am not black. I am not entitled to citizenship in my native land. Had I not left the colony as a young man for England, and later for the United States, I would be a stateless person. At the time of independence in 1980, the British government, fearing thousands of African immigrants, abandoned us, the British of Africa and our British citizenship, denied us renewal of our British passports. Those who remained in Africa faced a catastrophe without papers, or the right to work in any country. Their plan would create a new caste of U.S. inhabitant: the untouchables, peo-
ple who through no fault of their own would bear the equivalent of the mark of Cain. Imprisoned without passports, knowing no country but the one where they were born, and having no rights in that place. A generation whose children would also be stateless, condemned to the shadows; condemned to a life separate but unequal — a population within a population. There are parallels to the hundreds of thousands of Koreans who were born and live in Japan, but are denied Japanese citizenship. A people living in limbo. I believe unfettered immigration is one of the great crises of our time. Italy is being overwhelmed with boat people from Africa; Britain is awash with illegals from the former Empire. The more prosperous countries of South America harbor tens of millions of illegals. Even China, impregnable China, has illegal immigrants — from Burma, Vietnam, and other Asian countries. Desperately poor people do desperate things for a marginal improvement in their lives and those of their children, as did the millions who passed through the halls of Ellis Island — the Island of Hope — from 1892-1954. Vitter sees a vast wave of people who come here just to give birth. Some do that, but they are more likely to be affluent than poor. More likely to come from China and Russia, than El Salvador and Mexico. In January, King stumbled in a speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit, saying, “We have people from every planet.” He corrected himself to say that he had meant “every continent.” But if they could by law, King and Vitter would like to blast off to another continent the U.S.-born children of undocumented parents as well as the DREAMers, those who were bought to the country illegally as children. They would suffer in violation of everything that is sacredly American; the things that add to the luster of this country. Also, the only life they know. (Email Llewellyn King at lking@kingpublishing.com.)
WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Rep lives up to stereotypes By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — Rep. Aaron Schock was the first millennial to serve in Congress, and he lived up to every unfortunate stereotype we have. Schock, R-Ill., born in 1981 and elected at age 27, seemed far more interested in documenting his surfing trips and glacier hikes on Instagram, or redecorating his office in an homage to “Downton Abbey,” than actually, you know, doing his job. He has 18,200 more followers on Instagram than he had successful bills. What no one realized until the past few months was that Schock, now 33, was apparently mooching off donors and taxpayers all along. The Illinois Icarus’ ca-
reer began to melt in the wake of a Washington Post report about his “Downton” office — the designer did the work pro bono, liberal watchdog groups claimed that was an inappropriate gift, and Schock ended up paying $40,000 for it out of his personal finances. Schock’s resignation, when it came Tuesday, left almost no mark on the Congress where he spent the past six years — or roughly one-fifth of his life. The reason? Because he seemed to view his congressional seat as a launching pad to become a brand in broader popular culture. Aaron Schock, for promoting the notion that we shouldn’t trust anyone under 35, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
COLUMN
Angola is deadly for children LUBANGO, Angola — This is a country laden with oil, diamonds, Porsche-driving millionaires and toddlers starving to death. New UNICEF figures show this well-off but corrupt African nation is ranked No. 1 in the world in the rate at which children die before the age of 5. “Child mortality” is a sterile phrase, but what it means here is wizened, malnourished children with twig limbs, discolored hair and peeling skin. Here in Lubango in southern Angola, I stepped into a clinic and found a mother carrying a small child who seemed near death. He was unconscious, his eyes rolling, his skin cold and his breathing labored, so I led the mom to the overburdened nurses. Just then, 20 feet away, a different mother began screaming. Her malnourished son, José, had just died. Westerners sometimes think that people in poor countries become accustomed to loss, their hearts calloused and their pain numbed. No one watching that mother beside her dead child could think that — and such wailing is the background chorus in Angola. One child in six in this country will die by the age of 5. That’s only the tip of the suffering. Because of widespread malnutrition, more than one-quarter of
“
NICHOLAS KRISTOF
Angolan children are physically stunted. Women have a 1-in-35 lifetime risk of dying in childbirth. In a Lubango hospital, I met a 7-year-old boy, Longuti, fighting for his life with cerebral malaria. He weighed 35 pounds. His mother, Hilaria Elias, who had already lost two of her four children, didn’t know that mosquitoes cause malaria. When Longuti first became sick, she took him to a clinic, but it lacked any medicine and didn’t do a malaria test. Now Longuti is so sick that doctors say that even if he survives, he has suffered neurological damage and may have trouble walking and speaking again. Yet kids like Longuti who are seen by a doctor are the lucky ones. Only about 40 to 50 percent of Angola’s population has access to the health care system, says Dr. Samson Agbo, a UNICEF pediatrics expert. Angola is a nation of infuriating contradictions. Oil and diamonds give it a wealth that is rare in subSaharan Africa, and you see the riches in jewelry shops, Champagnes and $10,000-a-month one-bedroom apartments in the capital, Luanda.
Under the corrupt and autocratic president, José Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled for 35 years, billions of dollars flow to a small elite — as kids starve. Dos Santos, whose nation’s oil gives him warm, strong ties to the United States and Europe, hires a public relations firm to promote his rule, but he doesn’t take the simplest steps to help his people. Some of the poorest countries, such as Mauritania and Burkina Faso, fortify flour with micronutrients — one of the cheapest ways possible to save lives — yet dos Santos hasn’t tried that. He invests roughly three times as much on defense and security as on health. “Children die because there is no medicine,” lamented Alfred Nambua, a village chief in a thatchroof village on a rutted dirt road near the northern city of Malanje. The village has no school, no latrine, no bed nets. The only drinking water is a contaminated creek an hour’s hike away. “Now there’s nothing,” said Nambua, 73, adding that life was better before independence in 1975. “In the colonial period, when I was sick, they were afraid I would die and gave me good care,” he said, and he pretended to shiver in imitation of malaria. “Now when I’m sick, no one cares if I die.” Statisticians say that
Angola’s child mortality is, in fact, declining — but achingly slowly. “Death in this country is normal,” said Dr. Bimjimba Norberto, who runs a clinic in a slum outside the capital. A few doors down, a funeral was beginning for Denize Angweta, a 10-month-old baby who had just died of malaria. “If I lived in another country, I could still be playing with my daughter,” Denize’s father, Armondo Matuba, said bitterly. It may get worse. With falling oil prices, the government has proposed a one-third cut in the health budget this year. I’ve often criticized Western countries for not being more generous with aid. Yet it’s equally important to hold developing countries accountable. It’s difficult to see why Western countries should continue to donate to Angola and thus let rich Angolans off the hook as they drive Porsches. There are many ways for a leader to kill his people — and although dos Santos isn’t committing genocide, he is presiding over the systematic looting of his state and neglect of his people. As a result, 150,000 Angolan children die annually. Let’s hold dos Santos accountable and recognize that extreme corruption and negligence can be something close to a mass atrocity.
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CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
State
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Rural hospitals can’t stay open By EDGAR WALTERS TEXAS TRIBUNE
It could have happened anywhere, but it was on the high plains of Guthrie, Texas — 90 miles east of Lubbock — where Dannie Tiffin suddenly collapsed of a heart attack last spring. No one knows for certain, but doctors and hospital staff in this rural area say they’re pretty sure the 62-year-old electrician could have made it, had he gotten care in time. “The ‘what-ifs’ — that has haunted me and our children day and night,” said Keitha Tiffin, Dannie’s wife, who works at a hospital in Childress. “The thought that if he had been here, would he still be with us today?” Since the hospital closed in Paducah, a town 30 miles to the north, patients in Guthrie have 60 long miles to travel to Childress for care. It’s a feeling of isolation that has crept up on other rural corners of the state following a spate of 10 hospital closures in the past two years. And financial data collected by the state and federal government shows revenue is falling for other rural hospitals, suggesting more may be on the brink. Policymakers must decide whether they are willing to spend more money on small hospitals serving a limited number of patients, hospitals that in most cases could not keep their doors open without government assistance. But without them, people, inevitably, will die. “We’ve all seen the crash that’s coming in the next five years,” said Lynn Butler, an Austin-based lawyer who has worked on hospital bankruptcy cases. “The Legislature’s more interested in cutting revenue and cutting services than providing the basic services for these rural communities. This is a
perfect storm of events that’s going to hit the state, hard.” Texas’ rural hospitals have long struggled to stay afloat, but new threats to their survival have mounted in recent years. Undelivered promises of federal health reform, payment cuts by both government programs and private insurers, falling patient volumes and a declining rural population overall have been tough on business — a phenomenon one health care executive called "death by a thousand paper cuts." Add to that Texas’ distinction as the state with the highest percentage of people without health insurance and you get a financially hostile landscape for rural hospital operators. “Hospital operating margins, and this is probably true of the big guys and the small guys, too, are very small, if not negative,” said John Henderson, chief executive of the Childress Regional Medical Center. “In a way, Texas rural hospitals are kind of in a worst-case scenario situation, because we lead the nation in uninsured, and we took Medicare cuts hoping that we could cover more people.” That was part of an agreement negotiated by the American Hospital Association when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature health care law. The idea was that hospitals would take cuts to their Medicare payments, but in return they would have to spend less on “charity care” because most patients would have health insurance. But because Texas’ Republican leadership has vehemently opposed expanding Medicaid to low-income adults, hospitals say they are paying the price for cost savings they didn’t receive.
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Sid Miller fights over budget By JAY ROOT TEXAS TRIBUNE
Newly minted Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been generating more than newspaper headlines since he began calling on the Texas Legislature to dramatically boost his agency’s budget. He’s also getting blowback at the Capitol. He was asked to move his car off of Capitol grounds after parking where he wasn’t supposed to — and now officials say he’s even been denied access to the secured driveway circling the building. And a couple of weeks ago, while pressing his former colleagues to support his request for a bigger agency budget, Miller was asked to leave the center floor of the House chamber — the area inside the brass rails that is generally reserved for current members. Rep. Charlie Geren, chairman of the House Administration Committee, which handles the chamber’s internal affairs, said it’s nothing personal. Miller "wasn’t kicked out of anywhere;" he was simply told to follow the House rules. But the episodes highlight a rapidly deteriorating relationship between the cowboy hatwearing commissioner and the Legislature that once counted Miller as one of its own. Miller has been loudly complaining about the impact deep 2011 budget cuts had on the agriculture department and its ability to protect consumers. State Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, who chairs the House budgetwriting subcommittee that oversees that department’s budget, said he has agreed to fund additional inspectors and to beef up programs overseeing weights and measures in the private marketplace, including gasoline pumps, to ensure consumers get what they pay for.
Photo by Bob Daemmrich | Texas Tribune
New Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller does a fist pump on election night Nov. 4, 2014. But he described the style of Miller and other agriculture department employees as pushy and said his former House colleague is asking for too much money for non-essential and duplicative services. “I am surprised at the level of aggressive lobbying I have seen from the Ag Department,” Gonzales said. “In my 24 years in this building, I’ve never known a state agency’s government relations employees to go out of the gate this fast and this aggressive.” Meanwhile, another member of the budget-writing subcommittee that oversees Miller’s agency, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, said he was surprised and disturbed to learn that the head of Miller’s government relations team has a criminal record stemming from campaign finance abuses in Oklahoma. Walt Roberts, assistant commissioner for legislative affairs and external relations, pleaded guilty to federal felony and misdemeanor charges in 2003. Roberts, a former Democratic state representative from McAlester, Okla., participated in a conspiracy to
funnel more than $200,000 into his unsuccessful 1998 campaign for Congress, according to a 2003 U.S. Department of Justice press release. He was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. “I do have a personal issue in hiring someone who has not only been found guilty, but has been found guilty in something related to campaign and campaign related [activity], and being an interface between that agency and the Legislature,” Capriglione told The Texas Tribune. “I carefully vet all my staff … I would hope that every elected official would act in that same way.” The department declined to make Miller or Roberts available for an interview. But in a written statement, Miller said Roberts — a well-known fiddler and actor who played a role in the JFK movie "Parkland" — had never hidden his criminal record and had paid his debt to society years ago. “This matter was fully adjudicated over a decade ago and Walt Roberts took full responsibility for his actions,’’ Miller said. “He has never hidden this mat-
ter from me or anyone else. I believe folks should get a second chance and for the last 13 years Walt has worked hard to demonstrate that he was deserving of one.” He noted Roberts’ work representing the “frail and needy” on behalf of Lutheran Social Services, a nonprofit that helps the disadvantaged, and called him “a trusted and valued employee” in whom he has full confidence. Roberts was hired in November as part of Miller’s transition team. He makes $180,000 a year. Miller said he’s facing a huge backlog of complaints and violations of consumer protection laws his department is charged with enforcing — dealing with everything from the accuracy of grocery store scanners to the overuse of pesticides. He and his government affairs team have asked for a major increase in state general revenue, amounting to almost $50 million beyond the last two-year spending plan. They say they don’t consider the request to be new funding but rather a restoration of the budget cuts made in previous legislative sessions.
Nation
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Off-duty cops cause fatal crash By JILL COLVIN AND JAKE PEARSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
LINDEN, N.J. — A car carrying three off-duty New Jersey police officers from a visit to a strip club drove the wrong way down a New York City highway and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer early Friday, killing an officer and a civilian and critically injuring two other policemen. Hours before the crash, the officer driving the car posted a photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he identified as “Jack Daniels Fire on the house.” Police said they were investigating whether drinking explains how the group ended up driving north in the southbound lane of the Staten Island highway. “We were all young once and I’m sure we’ve all done stupid things in our life,” said Linden Police Chief James Schulhafer. “But that being said, because this is an ongoing investigation, it would be way too premature to speculate on what caused this accident.” The dead were identified as 28-year-old Linden Officer Frank Viggiano and 28-yearold Joe Rodriguez, a former county employee. Both were passengers in the car. The 27-year-old driver, Pe-
Photo by Rich Schultz | AP
From left, Linden Police Officers Ian Conk and Thomas Zajak attend a news conference at City Hall in Linden, New Jersey, on Friday. dro Abad, and 23-year-old passenger Patrik Kudlac, also Linden police officers, were listed in critical condition at hospitals on Staten Island. Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki said they have severe and extensive injuries and are fighting for their lives. Abad’s blood has been drawn, and investigators have applied for a warrant to test his blood-alcohol level, the New York Police Department said. The truck driver suffered injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening. Video taken by a surveillance camera at a gas station shows a car traveling the wrong way on a service road minutes before the wrong-way crash on the ad-
jacent highway. A southbound exit ramp leads from the highway onto the service road. Gas station attendant Ramzi Abdelhaq told WABC-TV he’s seen cars traveling the wrong direction on the service road before. The time stamp on the video showing the car reads 4:48 a.m. Police received a 911 call of a crash on the highway at 4:51 a.m. One tractor-trailer swerved out of the way of the car on the West Shore Expressway on Staten Island, but a second didn’t have enough time to veer away before the crash, Royster said. NYPD spokeswoman Kim Royster said the car’s black box will help investigators
determine how fast they were traveling. Images of the crash scene show the truck and car smashed against the center guardrail and the car ravaged. Sarnicki said all three officers were relatively new to the force and were unmarried without children. Viggiano was a five-year veteran, Abad was a six-year veteran and Kudlac had two years on the job. “At this point our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Officer Frank Viggiano,” he said, describing him as well-liked by everybody. “This is an unspeakable tragedy.” Abad posted a photo of the drinks on his Instagram page before the crash that included a caption of a toast he said he had given. “The 3 of us, are decent people. There’s a decent woman out there for each of us. Sure it’s cool to be single every now and then, but I don’t give a damn what ANYONE says. At the end of the day, I want a family. I want to settle down. We all do. So here’s to finding that which we all hope for.” Other images on his Instagram page include photos of him serving in the honor guard at the funeral last weekend for a Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty.
Black man found hanging By JOHNNY CLARK AND JEFF AMY ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORT GIBSON, Miss. — An FBI agent appealed for patience Friday after a black man was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi, saying 30 federal, state and local agents were working intensively to determine whether he was killed or committed suicide. “Everybody wants answers and wants them quickly. We understand that,” FBI Special Agent Don Alway told a crowd outside the Claiborne County Courthouse. “We are going to hold off on coming to any conclusions until the facts take us to a definitive answer.” The county coroner confirmed that the man found hanging from a white sheet Thursday was Otis Byrd, an ex-convict reported missing by his family more than two weeks ago. Byrd lived just 200 yards from the spot where his body was found, in a wooded area off a dirt road that ran behind his house. Alway said investigators are interviewing Byrd’s family and friends and searching his rental home and a storage unit for clues, and will not reveal any evidence along the way. “We are trying to paint a picture of Byrd’s life. We are trying to find out what was going on with him personally and professionally,” he said. Claiborne County Sheriff Marvin Lucas Sr. told The Associated Press earlier Friday that Byrd did not appear to have stepped off of anything in the area where he was found hanging from a tree limb about 12 feet high. His feet were dangling about two feet off the ground, and his hands were not bound, Lucas
Photo by Josh Edwards/The Vicksburg Evening Post | AP
Claiborne County officials prepare to leave a home in Port Gibson, Mississippi, where authorities were investigating the hanging death of a black man in the neighboring woods, Thursday. said. “Life matters,” Lucas told the crowd. “I commit to you, as the sheriff of Claiborne County, that I will not allow the shadows of the past to cast a shadow on the future.” The results of an autopsy by the Mississippi Crime Lab could take days, said Lucas. Byrd worked on offshore oil rigs and enjoyed gambling in casinos in his off time after getting out of prison, where he served 26 years for fatally shooting a woman while robbing $101 from her convenience store in 1980. He wasn’t the type to commit suicide, friends and family said. “He tried to turn his life around. He was going to church every Sunday,” said his stepsister, Tracy Wilson. “Anybody could have done this. I just don’t see him doing it to himself.”
Lora McDaniel, a high school classmate who went to church with Byrd and his family, said “he always had a smile on his face. I just can’t see him committing suicide.” “He was a quiet man. He didn’t bother nobody,” added Anita Smith, another high school classmate. “He had been out nine years and all of the sudden this happens to him? Impossible.” Smith said she is planning to participate in a march Monday in Port Gibson to protest Byrd’s death. Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson suggested that it’s too early for that. “We do not want to rush
to judgment. We just want to make sure there’s a thorough federal, state and local investigation,” Johnson said. The hanging is being investigated by the FBI, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s office as well as the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. These officials are on the scene to determine if it’s a potential hate crime or other violation of federal law, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said. Video surveillance was recovered showing Byrd at the Riverwalk Casino on March 2, Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.
Photo by Jeremy Papasso/The Daily Camera | AP
A group of protestors wave signs at passing cars while protesting against Dynel Lane on Thursday in Longmont, Colorado. Lane is accused of stabbing a pregnant woman in the stomach and removing her baby while the expectant mother visited her home to buy baby clothes advertised on Craigslist.
Baby stolen out of womb, dies By SADIE GURMAN AND NICHOLAS RICCARDI ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONGMONT, Colo. — A Colorado woman accused of luring an expectant mother to a basement and cutting the baby from her belly might not face homicide charges in the child’s death because of the way criminal law in the U.S. has become entangled in abortion politics. In a highly charged debate that has played out across the country, Colorado has twice rejected proposals to make the violent death of a fetus a homicide, refusing to join 38 other states and the federal government for fear such a law would be used to restrict abortions. That could complicate things for prosecutors in the case against Dynel Lane, 34, arrested in the grisly attack at her home Wednesday on a nearly eight-months-pregnant Michelle Wilkins. Wilkins survived; her baby girl died. “Under Colorado law, essentially no murder charges can be brought if the child did not live outside of the mother,” said Stan Garnett, district attorney of liberal Boulder County. Keith Mason, the president of Personhood USA, an anti-abortion group that has been pushing for a fetal homicide law in Colorado, called the situation “literally absurd.” Lane remains in jail for now on suspicion of attempted murder and other crimes. Attorneys and activists said the key issue will be whether the baby was alive outside the mother and whether the act that led to the death occurred outside her body. Lane’s
attorney, Kathryn Herold, asked that a defense expert be present during the autopsy on Friday. “In this particular case, the cause of death is going to be essential,” Herold said. Fetal homicide laws have typically been promoted by abortion foes and opposed by abortion rights supporters, who fear such measures could be a backdoor way to attack the right to terminate a pregnancy. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, rejected that notion, saying: “Some of them have been in existence for 30 years, and they haven’t had any impact on legal abortions.” In New Hampshire last week, the Republican-controlled legislature passed bills that would make the state the 39th to classify the violent killing of an unborn child a homicide. The state’s Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan, a staunch abortion rights supporter who may run for the Senate in 2016, has refused to say whether she would sign them. Colorado Democrats rejected a GOP fetal-homicide bill in 2013. And voters defeated a similar ballot measure, 65 percent to 35 percent, last fall. “The issue we were wrestling with is how you can hold offenders accountable and have some semblance of justice and not interfere with a woman’s reproductive rights,” said Democratic state Rep. Mike Foote, who is also a prosecutor. Foote helped push through a law allowing extra felony charges against anyone who commits a crime that causes the death of a fetus.
Politics
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
What Americans want from the government By EMILY SWANSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Americans want lower taxes and more government spending both at once, although their support for spending more tax dollars on health care has dropped dramatically. They’re likelier than ever to not feel connected to any particular religion, but no less likely to believe in God. And for the first time, most want to legalize marijuana. Those are among findings from the 2014 General Social Survey, which has been measuring trends in American opinion and behavior since 1972. The survey, which is conducted by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, puts wide-ranging and long-running questions about a large array of issues to the public. Data from the 2014 survey was released
earlier this month, and an analysis of its findings was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the General Social Survey. Five things to know about the survey’s findings:
Lower Taxes, More Spending It’s no wonder Washington is tied in knots trying to please the people. The people want more spent on many government programs, yet lower taxes for themselves.. Out of 22 spending items asked about in the survey, Americans are more likely to want cuts than increased spending on only four of them — welfare, foreign aid, assistance to big cities and the space program. Education rates as Americans’ highest priority for spending more money, with
70 percent saying the country spends too little. Foreign aid is what most Americans would like to see cut, with 69 percent saying the country spends too much on that. Majorities of Americans want more spending on Social Security, assistance to the poor, alternative energy sources, crime and drug addiction. But that doesn’t mean they want to pay for that themselves. More than half of them — 57 percent — say their own taxes are too high.
Still Believers, But Not Joiners The portion of Americans saying they have no religious preference has increased dramatically since 1972, when only 5 percent of Americans said they didn’t identify with any particular religion. In 2014, 21 percent
of Americans said they had no religion — a record high. Younger Americans are especially likely to fall into that group, with 30 percent of those under age 35 saying they have no religion. But that doesn’t mean Americans are more likely to be atheists than they used to be. Just 3 percent say they don’t believe in God, while 5 percent say they’re agnostic. Fifty-eight percent say God does exist, and 70 percent believe in life after death.
Up With Pot For the first time since the survey first asked the question in 1975, a majority of Americans supported legal marijuana in 2014. Fiftytwo percent of Americans now say marijuana should be legal, while 42 percent think it should be illegal. That’s a big jump in sup-
port for legalizing the drug since 2012, when only 43 percent said they were in favor. Twenty-five years ago, in 1990, just 16 percent supported legal marijuana. Majorities of blacks and whites support legalizing marijuana, the survey finds, but only 38 percent of Hispanics say the same. The survey finds support for legalizing the drug rose among all age groups in 2014, though the youngest adults — those under age 35 — are most likely to say it should be legal.
Erosion On Health Care The percentage of Americans who think the country spends too little on improving and protecting health has dropped dramatically since 75 percent said so in 2008, probably as a result of the 2010 enactment of President Barack Obama’s health
care law. But more than half of Americans — 57 percent — still think the country should be spending more. There’s major partisan division on the issue. The survey finds 67 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents, but only 41 percent of Republicans, say the country is spending too little.
Confidence In Banks Rebounds Slightly Only 15 percent of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in banks and financial institutions, but that actually marks a rebound from a record low reached during the great recession. In 2010, only 11 percent said they had a lot of confidence. The survey finds confidence in all three branches of government, and in the media, to be at record lows.
US opens criminal inquiry of congressman By JACK GILLUM AND STEPHEN BRAUN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating the congressional expenses and business deals of Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, and FBI agents have begun issuing subpoenas to witnesses, a person familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Friday. Investigators were focusing on Schock’s House office expense account, expenditures by his re-election campaign and his personal investments with long-time political donors, the person said. Schock, 33, a young, media-savvy Republican, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after weeks of mounting media reports about questionable
expenditures and personal finances. The government was convening a federal grand jury in Springfield, Illinois, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case. The person also said that FBI agents were visiting people close to the Republican congressman who were being compelled by subpoena to testify. The grand jury was hearing testimony in early April, according to the subpoenas. A spokesman and lawyers for Schock did not respond to repeated phone calls and emails Friday from AP. Schock’s sudden resignation followed revelations over six weeks about his business deals and lavish spending on travel, personal mileage reimbursements
Photo by Seth Perlman | AP file
In this Feb. 6, file photo, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill. speaks to reporters in Peoria, Illinois. and office redecorating in the style of “Downton Abbey.” Congressional ethics investigators had begun probing Schock’s conduct in the days before his announcement, but that probe was expected to shut down because of the federal inves-
tigation. Questions have included Associated Press investigations of Schock’s real estate transactions, air travel and entertainment expenses — including some events that Schock documented in photographs on his Instagram
account. On Monday, the AP confirmed that the Office of Congressional Ethics had reached out to Schock’s associates as it apparently began an investigation. The owner of an air charter service in Peoria confirmed Friday that he had been contacted by an ethics investigator interested in Schock’s extensive flights on planes owned by campaign donors. Harrel W. Timmons, owner of Jet Air Inc., was not a Schock donor but said the investigator wanted to know about the lawmaker’s flights on a plane owned by D&B Air, a Peoria aviation firm owned by a prominent Schock donor. AP previously reported that Schock’s use of the D&B plane appeared to violate congressional rules in place at the time prohibiting the use of office ac-
counts to pay for private flights. Schock had used office expenses to pay $24,000 for eight flights in 2011 and 2012. Since mid-2011, Schock’s office and campaign expenses paid for more than $40,000 worth of flights on planes owned by his political donors. House ethics investigators typically stand down open inquiries once federal authorities open their own probe or when the House Ethics Committee orders a halt in the inquiry. The OCE had been authorized to continue its inquiry until Schock’s planned March 31 resignation. His decision to quit has no impact on the FBI investigation. Earlier this week, Schock’s father, Richard, told an ABC reporter: “Two years from now he’ll be successful, if he’s not in jail.”
International
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
More Ebola hits Liberia By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONROVIA, Liberia — A patient has tested positive for Ebola in Liberia’s capital, officials said Friday, deflating hopes that the West African nation had beaten the disease after weeks with no new cases. Liberia has seen the most deaths in the West African Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 10,000 people. But since it discharged its last case on March 5, it was counting down to being declared Ebola-free. Countries must wait 42 days from when the last patient tests negative before an outbreak is declared over. Now, a new patient has tested positive, said Dr. Francis Kateh, the acting head of the country’s Ebola Incident Management Team. A second test is generally done to confirm the diagnosis. Tolbert Nyenswah, who runs Liberia’s Ebola response, also said he had been told the test result was positive. The woman went to the emergency room of Monrovia’s Redemption Hospital on Thursday night, according to Elizabeth Hamann of the International Rescue Committee, which is helping the hospital safely reopen amid the outbreak. She was identified as a suspected Ebola case and transferred to the hospital’s transit unit, where she could be isolated while awaiting test results. She is now at a treatment center. In a worrying sign, it is not clear where the woman became infected. She doesn’t seem to be linked to any of the people on an Ebola contacts list, Kateh said. “We have to investigate where the person came from,” he said. “Did they travel out of the country?” An emergency meeting will be held Saturday to discuss the case. Although hopes were high that Liberia had beaten Ebola, officials knew that until two neighboring countries — Sierra Leone and Guinea — also beat the disease, Liberia would remain at risk. “We knew very well that we were not out of the woods yet,” said Nyenswah.
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Pope: Death penalty represents ‘failure’ By FRANCES D’EMILIO ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis says nothing can justify the use of the death penalty and there is no “right” way to humanely kill another person. Francis outlined the Catholic church’s opposition to capital punishment in a letter to the International Commission against the Death Penalty,
a group of former government officials, jurists and others who had an audience with him at the Vatican on Friday. The pope wrote that the principle of legitimate personal defense isn’t adequate justification to execute someone. “When the death penalty is applied, it is not for a current act of aggression, but rather for an act committed in the past.” “Nowadays the death
penalty is inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime committed,” Francis declared. He was building on church teaching, including pronouncements during St. John Paul II’s papacy, that modern prison systems make executions unnecessary. Capital punishment “does not render justice to the victims, but rather fosters vengeance,” Francis added. “For the rule of law, the
death penalty represents a failure, as it obliges the state to kill in the name of justice,” Francis told the anti-death penalty advocates. While he didn’t mention the United States by name, Francis cited debates about which method should be used to carry out executions. “There is discussion in some quarters about the method of killing, as if it were possible to find
ways of ‘getting it right,”’ the pope said. “But there is no humane way of killing another person,” Francis concluded. In previous comments, Francis denounced life imprisonment as unjustifiable punishment. In his remarks Friday, he called life terms a “sort of covert death penalty,” since it “deprives detainees not only of their freedom, but also of hope.”
640K Syrians live in besieged areas By CARA ANNA ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS — Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country’s civil war, more than three times the U.N. estimate, according to a new report that offers a graphic account of hundreds of deaths in areas the world has struggled for years to reach. The report says Syria’s government is responsible for the overwhelming amount of siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care. The document does not look at what it calls the short-term siege tactics used by the Islamic State group, which has beheaded and massacred its opponents in the vast area straddling the Syria-Iraq border currently under its control. The “Slow Death” report, obtained in advance by The Associated Press, is by the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports medical workers in besieged areas. The organization presented its findings Thursday to U.N. officials and to a closed-door meeting sponsored by the United States, Britain, France and other states and organized by Qatar. The U.N. estimates that 212,000 Syrians live in besieged areas beyond the reach of humanitarian aid.
Photo by SANA | AP
Syrian army soldiers, top background, look on as two women walk towards a bus to evacuate the battleground city of Homs, Syria. But the new report, to be released next week, says the U.N. is too narrowly defining “besieged” and is inadvertently underplaying the crisis. It says more than 640,200 people are besieged. It also echoes claims by an increasing number of aid groups that the international response to the overall conflict, particularly by the deeply divided U.N. Security Council, has failed. “We’re not talking about quote-unquote terrorists, we’re talking about families who have nothing to do with armed groups,” the president of the Syrian American Medical Society, Dr. Zaher Sahloul, told the AP. The group describes itself as being a neutral medical organization. More than 220,000 people have been killed in Syria’s civil war, which began with
protests against President Bashar Assad. The government has been repeatedly accused of using siege tactics against its own citizens. The new report says those tactics have had a devastating impact on dozens of communities trapped in the Syrian conflict, which this month enters its fifth year. It identifies 38 communities that it says should be considered besieged beyond the 11 areas that the United Nations recognizes. While the U.N. and aid groups have struggled to get aid into Syria, the besieged areas are considered to be at the end of the line. The report’s website, Syriaundersiege.org, lists 560 people who have died in besieged areas, including photos of 345 of them. To emphasize the civilian impact
of the deaths, the organization says it did its best to keep out people with links to armed groups. The report says all of the 560 deaths in that dataset “were in areas besieged by the Syrian government.” Syria’s government has denied using siege tactics. “If weapons and instruments of death are reaching those areas ... how can they be said to be besieged?” Syria’s U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, wrote to the U.N. secretary-general in late February, asserting that the weapons went to “armed terrorist groups.” Sahloul and others on Thursday presented diplomats, including the U.S. deputy ambassador Michele Sison, with some of the images of the dead that accompany the report. The website’s photos of victims include emaciated children. “A lot of people cried, It was kind of intense,” said Valerie Szybala, the author of the report, who attended the meeting. She said Russia and China, who have vetoed resolutions attempting to take action on the Syrian crisis, did not attend. Szybala said the medical organization knows well the politics that have brought the council to a near-standstill on Syria. “But we’re trying to find creative ways to address this, because it’s not acceptable to just sit around. People are dying,” she said.
The report argues that the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs should immediately reconsider the way it designates besieged areas and not be too quick to remove a community from its existing list, especially when the only access to a community is controlled by the “besieging party.” It also calls on the U.N. to arrange for international monitors to make sure all parties uphold the terms of local cease-fires, which at times are a trigger to remove a community from the list of besieged. U.N. OCHA officials in their meeting Thursday said they had no issues with the new report’s methodology or numbers and that they have had to rely on third-party estimates because they don’t have people on the ground in besieged areas, Sahloul and Szybala said. Other international aid organizations said it is extremely difficult to get information from Syria’s besieged areas, just as it’s hard to get aid in. “My fear is to go for a battle of figures when the most important point is that there are a lot of people starving,” said Doctors Without Borders emergency coordinator Pierre Boulet Desbareau. “Two hundred thousand or 600,000, the issue is the same.”
International
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
Iran nuke talks takes a break
Mosque bombs kill 137 By AHMED AL-HAJ ASSOCIATED PRESS
ADEN, Yemen — Quadruple suicide bombers on Friday hit a pair of mosques controlled by Shiite rebels in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, unleashing blasts through crowds of worshippers that killed at least 137 people and wounded around 350 others in the deadliest violence to hit the fragile war-torn nation in decades. A group claiming to be a Yemeni branch of the Islamic State group said it carried out the attack and warned of an “upcoming flood” of attacks against the rebels, known as Houthis, who have taken over the capital and much of Yemen. The claim, posted online, could now immediately be independently confirmed and offered no proof of an Islamic State role. If true, Friday’s bombing would be the first major attack by IS supporters in Yemen and an ominous sign that the influence of the group that holds much of Iraq and Syria has spread to this chaotic nation, where a powerful wing of the rival militant group alQaida already operates. The claim was posted on the same website in which the Islamic State affiliate in Libya claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s deadly attack on a museum in Tunisia. The rebels, known as Houthis, have controlled the capital since September and have been locked in battle with Sunni al-Qaida fighters in various parts of the country. An official with al-Qaida in Yemen said his group was not behind Friday’s attack. The four bombers attacked the Badr and alHashoosh mosques, located across town from each other, during midday Friday prayers, traditionally the most crowded time of the week, according to the state news agency. Both mosques are controlled by the Shiite Houthis, but they also are frequented by Sunni worshippers. The rebel-owned Al-Ma-
By GEORGE JAHN AND BRADLEY KLAPPER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Hani Mohammed | AP
Yemenis carry a body of a man killed in a bomb attack at a mosque in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday. Triple suicide bombers hit a pair of mosques crowded with worshippers, causing heavy casualties. sirah TV channel said the casualty figures had reached 137 dead and 345 injured and reported that hospitals were urging citizens to donate blood. It also reported that a fifth suicide bomb attack on another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada — a Houthi stronghold. Scenes from the two mosque showed devastation, with a number of children visible among the dead. Footage from the alHashoosh mosque, showed screaming volunteers using bloodied blankets to carry away victims, with a small child among the dead lined up on the mosque floor. A prominent Shiite cleric, alMurtada al-Mansouri, and two senior Houthi leaders were among the dead, the TV channel reported. Two suicide bombers attacked the Badr mosque. The first bomber was caught by militia guards searching worshippers at the mosque entrance and detonated his device at the outside gates. Amid the ensuing panic, a second bomber was able to enter the mosque and blow himself up amid the crowds, according to the official news agency SABA. Survivors compared the explosions to an earthquake, and said some of those who survived the original blasts were then injured by shattered glass
falling from the mosque’s large hanging chandeliers. Another pair of suicide bombers attacked the alHashoosh mosque. One witness said he was thrown two meters away by one of the blasts. “The heads, legs and arms of the dead people were scattered on the floor of the mosque,” Mohammed al-Ansi told The Associated Press, adding, “blood was running like a river.” Al-Ansi recalled running for the door along with other survivors and hearing one man screaming, “come back, save the injured!” Another survivor from the Badr mosque, Ahmed al-Gabri, said: “I fell on the ground and when I regained conscious I found myself on a lake of blood.” Two worshippers who were standing next to him were killed by the blast and a third man died when the chandelier fell on him. A third survivor from the Badr mosque attack, Sadek al-Harithi, described the scene as, “an earthquake where I felt the ground split and swallow everyone.” In an online statement signed by the so-called “Sanaa Province Media office,” a group claiming to be the Islamic State branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the four Sanaa suicide bomb-
ers blew themselves up among crowds of Houthis. “This operation is just a glimpse of an upcoming flood, God willing,” the group said in the statement. “We swear to avenge the bloodshed of Muslims and the toppling of houses of God.” It directly addressed the Houthis by saying, “The soldiers of the Islamic State ... will not rest until we have uprooted them, repelled their aggression, and cut off the arm of the Iranian project in Yemen,” a reference to claims that Shiite powerhouse Iran is backing the rebels. An al-Qaida official told The Associated Press that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of the terror network, did not carry out the attack. He pointed to earlier statements by the group that prohibited striking mosques. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the press. The Shiite rebels’ power grab has fanned fears of a full-blown civil war in Yemen with sectarian overtones. Shiites, mainly from the Zaidi branch, make up about a third of Yemen’s population. Allied with ousted former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthis now control at least nine of Yemen’s 21 provinces.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran and six world powers broke off nuclear negotiations ahead of schedule Friday to allow members of the Iranian delegation to attend the funeral of their president’s mother, as a senior Russian official suggested that the sides were close to a deal. Top Russian negotiator Sergey Ryabkov told The Associated Press that while some disputes remain, negotiators were expected to “finish their main work” before the talks resume next week. He spoke shortly before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up five days of meetings of with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The negotiations had been tentatively extended to go into Saturday. But the Iranian delegation decided to depart for home later Friday to allow negotiators, including Zarif and Hossein Fereydoon, a brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, to attend the funeral of Rouhani’s mother. Kerry issued a statement extending condolences to Rouhani and his family with the death coming at the time of the Persian New Year. “Such a loss is especially hard coming on the eve of Nowruz, traditionally a time when families gather together in joy and hope. We share in his grief and that of his brother,” Kerry said. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama issued a statement calling for the return of Americans held in Iran with the Nowruz holiday. “It is a time for reuniting and rejoicing with loved ones and sharing hopes for the new year,” he said. Obama said that Iran should immediately release U.S. prisoners Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho; Amir Hekmati of Flint, Michigan; and Jason Rezaian of Marin County, California. Obama
also said Iran should help find Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who went missing eight years ago from the Iranian resort of Kish Island. The White House has said U.S. negotiators have brought up the return of the Americans held in Iran on the sidelines of the talks, but they don’t plan to make their return a part of the negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Ryabkov’s comments on the progress being made jibe with those of other officials who told the AP earlier that the United States and Iran are drafting elements of a deal that commits Tehran to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines it could use to make an atomic bomb. In return, the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic sanctions and a partial lift of a U.N. embargo on conventional arms. Agreement on those details of Iran’s uranium enrichment program could signal a breakthrough for a larger deal aimed at containing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities. The sides ultimately want to reach a full agreement by the end of June. In Brussels, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the state of negotiations Friday with the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini. Ryabkov said earlier that foreign ministers of those three nations were considering joining the talks in Lausanne, but the decision by the Iranians to leave Friday took that option off the table. Instead, Western consultations were moving elsewhere. U.S State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Kerry — who has done most of the negotiating directly with Zarif — would meet the French, British and German foreign ministers somewhere in Europe Saturday ahead of a new full round next week.
Hillary’s brother stirs up debate in Haiti By KEVIN SULLIVAN AND ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN THE WASHINGTON POST
MORNE BOSSA, Haiti — Drive down the rutted dirt road a couple of miles to the guard house, then hike 15 minutes up to the overgrown hilltop, and there it is: a piece of 3.5-inch-wide PVC pipe sticking out of the ground. This is what, at least for the time being, a gold mine looks like. It also has become a potentially problematic issue for Hillary Rodham Clinton as she considers a second presidential run, after it was revealed this month that in 2013 her brother was added to the advisory board of the company that owns the mine. Tony Rodham’s involvement with the mine, which has become a source of controversy in Haiti because of concern about potential environmental damage and the belief that the project will primarily benefit foreign investors, was first revealed in publicity about an upcoming book on the Clintons by author Peter Schweizer. In interviews with The Washington Post, both Rodham and the chief executive officer of Delaware-based VCS Mining said they were introduced at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative — an offshoot of the Clinton Foundation that critics have long alleged invites a blurring of its charitable mission with the business interests of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their corporate donors. Asked whether he attends CGI meetings to explore personal business opportunities, Rodham responded, “No, I go to see old friends. But you never know what can happen.” All sides deny that the Clintons had any role in Rodham’s appointment to the VCS advisory board. Rodham said he has not been involved in any other deals through connections made at CGI. He said that he has never spoken to his sister or her husband about the Haiti project and that he does not think VCS chief
Photo by Andres Martinez Casarez/Washington Post | AP
This pipe in Morne Bossa, Haiti, shown on March 10, is collecting samples to try to find gold. Tony Rodham, brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton, is involved in controversial gold mining efforts in Haiti. executive and president Angelo Viard, a Democratic donor, approached him because of his family ties. Rodham declined to say who introduced him to Viard; Viard said he could not remember. “I’m a very accomplished person in my own right,” Rodham said. He said his work with the company is to try to find investors, which he said has been challenging because of a lack of interest in Haiti. “I raise money for a lot of people,” he said. “That’s what I basically do.” Rodham, a former repo man, prison guard and private detective, has long been a source of controversy for the Clintons. Among other things, he and his brother, Hugh, caused consternation in the Clinton White House in 1999 for trying to operate a hazelnut-processing business in the Republic of Georgia with political opponents of the Georgian president, who was a U.S. ally at the time. Viard said that he paid to become a member of CGI so he could attend two of the organization’s meetings, and that he met Rodham at a gathering in 2012. (Foundation officials said Viard paid a $20,000 membership fee in 2013.) “You try to be a member so you can meet people in the same industry,” Viard said. He said he attended CGI as “a pure marketing operation.”
He said he ultimately stopped attending CGI meetings after realizing that they were largely designed for charities to mingle with possible donors. He said he thinks commitments made at CGI have done a lot of good in the developing world. Rodham joined the board in October 2013, nine months after Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state. Viard said he put Rodham on the board not because of his family connections, but because he worked for a firm, Gulf Coast Funds Management, that had access to investors. Viard said that he and Rodham never discussed the Clintons, and that he never talked to the Clintons about Rodham. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said that Bill Clinton does not know Viard, and a spokesman for Hillary Clinton said she also does not know him. In December 2012, VCS won one of the first two gold-mining permits the Haitian government had issued in more than 50 years. The project was immediately slammed by members of the Haitian Senate, who called it a potential environmental disaster and “a waste of resources.” The backlash caused the government to put the permits on hold. Viard stressed that Rodham was not involved in the effort to win the permit from the Haitian government, which was granted months before Rodham joined the board.
He said Rodham was compensated with stock options that will not vest unless the project is a success. He said Rodham has not landed any investors, adding, “It sounds like people were not interested in Haiti.” Rodham confirmed that he has received stock options in VCS and that they have not yet vested, saying, “Never seen ’em.” “I’m just trying to help him out a little bit. If it ever accomplishes anything great,” Rodham said of Viard, adding that the people of Haiti “got a bad deal” — saddled with poverty and then hit in 2010 by a devastating earthquake — and that he hoped the gold mine could help in its recovery. The Clintons have been longtime advocates for development in Haiti, especially since the earthquake. Bill Clinton, as the United Nations’ special envoy to the nation, and Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, were primary forces in the emergency relief response and later efforts to create long-term development plans for the ravaged country. But the Clintons’ image in Haiti has slipped in recent months as Haitians increasingly complain that Clinton-backed projects have often helped the country’s elite and international business investors more than they have helped poor Haitians. Defenders of the Clintons call such criticism untrue and unfair and largely pressed by the Clin-
tons’ political enemies. They argue that Clinton-funded programs have brought millions of dollars in investment to Haiti and have created jobs for thousands of Haitians. But news that a Clinton family member is helping the mining company attract more foreign investors has deepened suspicion. “Rodham is an independent guy, but this is tricky; it’s not a good sign for him to be on the board of a mining company here in Haiti,” said Leslie Voltaire, a former Haitian government official who worked closely with the Clintons after the earthquake. “The Clintons are seen as being in power here. You have to be very cautious that your family does not intervene in business here.” Jean-Max Bellerive, a former prime minister and a potential presidential candidate in elections expected later this year, joined the VCS advisory board at the same time as Rodham. When the mine permit was suspended in early 2013, Bellerive said, Viard hired him for $8,000 to help him understand Haitian government procedures, and to introduce him to Haitian senators and advise him on how to persuade them to support the mine project. Bellerive said that Viard offered compensation when he joined the advisory board a few months later, but that he refused it. He said he had mixed feelings about the project because he was worried about potential environmental damage and unsure whether the Haitian government was equipped to regulate such a complex enterprise. He said he hoped that by joining the board, he would help ensure that the project was handled “responsibly.” But he said he has had “close to zero” involvement with it. Bellerive said he was comfortable with his decision to join VCS, but thinks Rodham made a mistake. “If I was Tony Rodham, I would not have been on the board,” he said. “He knows he did nothing illegal, but it has a high political price for his sister.”