The Zapata Times 4/15/2015

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No guilty plea Zavala indicted on human smuggling charges Courtesy photo

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

Ricardo Ramirez, president of IBC Zapata, Roberto Garza, former Chicago Bears center, and Renato Ramirez, CEO of IBC Zapata pose for a photo in Kingsville.

THE ZAPATA TIMES

A woman who is believed to be part of a human smuggling organization that operates out of Zapata County recently pleaded not guilty in a Laredo federal court, records obtained Tuesday show.

Laura Zavala, along with co-defendant Luis Daniel Mendoza-Mendoza, was indicted March 31 on charges of conspiracy to transport undocumented people within the United States, and transport and attempt to transport undocumented people for financial gain.

Each defendant could face up to 10 years behind bars if convicted, according to court documents. Both

Bankers honor football player SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Former Chicago Bears center Roberto Garza recently made an appearance in Kingsville, where IBC-Zapata CEO Renato Ramirez presented him with a photo of the Tejano Monument for his accomplishments as a positive role model in the Hispan-

ic community.

In return, Garza, a 14year veteran of the NFL and who retired after the 2014 season, presented Ramirez with a helmet signed by Jay Cutler, Devon Hester and himself.

The Tejano Monument, unveiled March 2012 on

See BANKERS PAGE 11A

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Zavala … while allegedly conspiring to smuggle eight immigrants who had crossed the border illegally defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges last week.

Mendoza-Mendoza and Zavala have a final pretrial conference May 11. Zavala is out on bond while Mendoza-Mendoza remained in federal custody.

The case unraveled March 10. That day, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Zavala, MendozaMendoza and MendozaMendoza’s juvenile nephew

while allegedly conspiring to smuggle eight immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, according to a criminal complaint filed March 13.

Prior to the arrest, agents had observed a blue Ford Explorer and a green Ford Explorer traveling south on U.S. 83 behind a black Ford Expedition.

Agents had allegedly identified the driver of the Ford

Expedition as Zavala from a previous human smuggling case in Zapata.

Then, agents said they observed several people and noticed how the green Explorer swerved onto the shoulder of the highway for no apparent reason. Agents pulled over the vehicle for an immigration inspection.

Authorities identified the driver as Mendoza-Mendoza’s nephew, who is a U.S. citizen.

Border Patrol took custody of five passengers suspected of entering the country illegally. Suspecting a possible conspiracy, agents checked on the blue Explorer, which had stopped south of where

See SMUGGLING PAGE 11A

BORDER REGION BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER

RAISING FUNDS FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times

Photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times

Left: Ben Lomer, David Hinojosa, Cindy Leyendecker, and C.Y. Benavides pose for a photo at Embassy Suites during a promotional photo shoot for the 23rd Annual Administrative Professional Day Luncheon & Fashion Show, which will take place April 22, 2015 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Laredo Country Club. Right: Aldo Ortegon, Daniella Rodriguez, Terry Ramirez, and Alicia Gomez pose for a photo during a promotional photo shoot for the 23rd Annual Administrative Professional Day Luncheon & Fashion Show.

Luncheon and fashion show will benefit local communities

By GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO THE ZAPATA TIMES

T

he Volunteer Services Council for Border Region Behavioral Health Center will host the 23rd Annual Professional Administrative Assistants Day Luncheon and Fashion Show

Wednesday, April 22, at the Laredo Country Club.

The event will be right before the month of May, which marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Month.

The council exists specifically to raise funds for items that the state cannot provide for the mental health facility which

serves Zapata, Laredo, Hebbronville and Rio Grande City.

Throughout its 23 years, the event has always had a different theme. The theme for this year will be “movie classics at the Oscars,” JoAnn Kahn, publicity chairperson for the group, said.

Attendees will be entertained by watching iconic scenes from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “Goldfinger,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Cabaret” and “The Great Gatsby” acted out in a routine in front of them.

In addition to the live entertainment, attendees

will enjoy a fashion show with clothing from retailers such as Steinmart, Polly Adams and Bejeweled.

The Volunteer Services Council has been meeting once a week this past year to make sure the event goes on without a hitch.

Kahn said Border Re-

gion Behavior Health Center provides services to not only those with mental illness, but also the community-at-large.

Workshops and classes, she said, are offered on how to recognize and react to someone with mental illness.

See BENEFIT PAGE 11A

RIO GRANDE CITY

Mayor to run for Congress

By ALEXA URA TEXAS TRIBUNE

Just weeks after resigning as mayor of Rio Grande City, Republican Ruben Villarreal has his sights set on Congress.

Villarreal, who was the border city’s mayor of 14 years, confirmed to The Texas Tribune on Sunday that he will challenge longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, Democrat of Edinburg, in 2016.

“I’m prepared for whatever the role requires,” Villarreal said, adding that he made the

decision after spending several weeks on the road throughout the 15th Congressional District. “... I’m walking into this process with my eyes wide open.”

Hinojosa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Villarreal was first elected mayor in 2001, holding a post that once belonged to his father.

He has spent his entire life on the border, where he owns his family’s auto shop.

After becoming one of the most visible surrogates on Gov. Greg Abbott’s 2014 campaign,

Villarreal made headlines last year when he came out as a Republican in one of the bluest parts of the state.

His bid for Texas’ CD-15 could be an uphill battle. The district stretches from deep in the Rio Grande Valley, including cities like Edinburg and McAllen, up to Seguin and parts of New Braunfels. Hinojosa has held the seat since 1996, winning his last re-election in 2014 with 54 percent of the vote.

CD-15 has leaned heavily

Photo by Julian Aguilar | Texas Tribune

Rio Grande City Mayor Ruben Villarreal is shown in this file photo.

See MAYOR PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Used Book Sale, 10 a.m. to noon, Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. Public invited; no admission fee.

“Opportunities and Challenges for Mexico Today” from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at TAMIU Student Center Ballroom 5201 University Blvd. Dr. Negroponte will examine the high expectations for modernization of the Mexican economy under President Enrique Peña Nieto and the 11 structural reforms that he succeeded in passing through Congress. Contact Amy Palacios at cswht@tamiu.edu or 956-326-2820.

Registration is open for G-Force Summer Reading Camp & Vacation Bible School at First United Methodist Church. The camp will take place June 15 – 19 from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and is for children ages 6 – 12. Applications are available at the church; 1220 McClelland Ave. Registration is $5 per child. For more information, contact Mary Webber at 722-1674.

Today is Wednesday, April 15, the 105th day of 2015. There are 260 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot the night before by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president.

On this date: In 1715, the Yamasee War began as members of the Yamasee tribe attacked English settlers in colonial South Carolina.

In 1850, the city of San Francisco was incorporated.

In 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic foundered in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland more than 2 1/2 hours after hitting an iceberg; 1,514 people died, while less than half as many survived.

In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died on April 12, was buried at the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park, New York.

In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In 1985, South Africa said it would repeal laws prohibiting sex and marriage between whites and non-whites.

In 1986, the United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

In 1989, 96 people died in a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. Students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests; the demonstrations culminated in a government crackdown at Tiananmen Square.

In 2013, two bombs packed with nails and other metal shards exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260. (Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is on trial; his brother and alleged accomplice, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in a shootout with police.)

Ten years ago: A Paris hotel fire killed 24 people, many of them African immigrants.

Five years ago: An ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano drifted over northern Europe, causing the largest disruption of flights since the 2001 terror attacks.

One year ago: Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped some 276 girls from a school in northeastern Nigeria.

Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Roy Clark is 82. Author and politician Jeffrey Archer is 75Writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is 68. Columnist Heloise is 64.

Actress-screenwriter Emma Thompson is 56. Singer Samantha Fox is 49. Olympic gold, silver and bronze medal swimmer Dara Torres is 48.

Rock musician Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) is 35. Actorwriter Seth Rogen is 33. Actress Alice Braga is 32. Actress Emma Watson is 25. Actress Maisie Williams (TV: “Game of Thrones”) is 18.

Thought for Today: “We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are — that is the fact.” — Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher (born 1905, died this date in 1980).

THURSDAY, APRIL 16 19th Annual Journalism Students’ Photography Exhibition Opening Reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Laredo Center for the Arts, LACF Gallery, 500 San Agustin Ave. Journalism and Online Media students will display a variety of photography at their 19th annual show in the Laredo Area Community Foundation Gallery through May 9.

LARSEA will be meeting Thursday, April 16, at Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall at 11 a.m. Main speaker will be David Garza, on veterans’ affairs.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18 Garage sale at Holy Redeemer Church, 1602 Garcia St., from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be clothes, toys, furniture and more. Call Amparo Elegarte at 286-0862.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 Volunteer Services Council for Border Region Behavioral Health Center’s 23rd Annual Administrative Professional day Luncheon & Fashion Show featuring scenes from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. At the Laredo Country Club from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Reservations: Laura Kim via email at blaurak@borderregion.org or 7943130.

Used book sale, First United Methodist Church, 10 a.m. to noon.

Registration is open for G-Force Summer Reading Camp & Vacation Bible School at First United Methodist Church. The camp will take place June 15 – 19 from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and is for children ages 6 – 12. Applications are available at the church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Registration is $5 per child. For more information, contact Mary Webber at 722-1674.

TUESDAY, APRIL 28 Friends of ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata 5th Annual Bowl-a-thon, 5:30 p.m. Jett Bowl North. Pre-registration for a five-player team is $125.

Pre-registration ends April 20. After April 20, the fee will be $135. Funds raised from the event will go toward the Jaime J. Zapata Scholarships.

Email entry forms at gregorysmartstart@live.com For more information, contact Rosy Gregory at 744-7505 or 791-8759.

Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, second from left, is congratulated by Rep. Alfonso Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass, as Celia Israel D-Austin, left, and Armando Walle, D-Houston, right, look on, after Fischer successfully delayed an open carry bill on the House floor of the state Capitol in Austin, Texas, Tuesday.

Democrats stall bills

By WILL WEISSERT AND EVA RUTH MORAVEC ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — A technicality House Democrats raised Tuesday succeeded in stalling — at least for a few days — two of the Texas Legislature’s top conservative causes, proposals that would allow the “open carry” of handguns and prohibit local ordinances banning hydraulic fracturing.

With Republicans controlling the Legislature and widely supporting both measures, outnumbered Democrats often resort to delay tactics, betting that the longer it takes to pass bills they oppose, the less total such proposals become law.

Legislators had braced for hours-long debate on both issues. But just a few minutes into discussion on the bill authorizing licensed Texans to carry their handguns holstered or otherwise in plain sight, Democrat-

ic Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer objected, citing House rules. He argued that three witnesses who testified on the bills while they were still in committee were incorrectly recorded in the official record.

Republicans convened immediate committee meetings to advance corrected versions of the bills. Both now will be eligible to return to the floor on Friday, though the exact timing hasn’t yet been set.

Martinez Fischer, of San Antonio, said afterward of open carry that his “aim was to confront that piece of legislation by any means possible.”

Its sponsor, Sherman Republican Rep. Larry Phillips, called the error a “procedural glitch” that occurred because the committee was hearing two bills at once.

More than 800,000 state residents have concealed handgun licenses.

Traffic stop yields $1.7M of cocaine in luxury car

Suspect linked to drug death caught in California

Man set to be executed for killing officer

FALFURRIAS — A South Texas traffic stop has led to the discovery of $1.7 million of cocaine in the fake compartment of a luxury vehicle.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the bust happened Monday night on U.S. 281 south of Falfurrias. A trooper confiscated 28 pounds of cocaine, split into bundles.

DALLAS — A chase in California has led to a Texan suspected of providing drugs to a Dallas teen who died of an overdose the first time she apparently used heroin.

Coleman was captured Monday night following a vehicle chase through Orange County.

Prosecutors say 19-year-old Rian Lashley of Dallas died in March 2014 after using heroin allegedly sold by Coleman, who’ll be returned to Texas.

HUNTSVILLE — Manuel Garza Jr. already had a lengthy criminal record when he was arrested at age 20 for killing a San Antonio police officer who stopped him outside an apartment complex in 2001.

Garza is scheduled to be executed this evening for the shooting death of 37-year-old John “Rocky” Riojas.

The 35-year-old Garza would be the sixth convicted killer put to death in Texas this year.

New laws considered 2 years after West blast

Boy, 13, with shotgun tried to rob cabbie

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers are considering regulations designed to prevent another deadly fertilizer plant explosion like the one two years ago in West. This session there are three bills tailored to regulate the storage and inspection of ammonium nitrate — a common but highly flammable ingredient in fertilizer.

BEAUMONT — Beaumont police have arrested a 13-year-old boy accused of toting a shotgun, trying to rob a cabbie and then driving away in the taxi.

The suspect was being held Tuesday on juvenile charges of aggravated robbery and evading in a motor vehicle.

— Compiled from AP reports

Rain blamed for flooding, school closures in Corpus CORPUS CHRISTI — Heavy rain and winds of up to 70 mph have left thousands of South Texas residents without power, canceled school and swamped some vehicles.

AEP Texas reported nearly 17,000 homes and businesses lost power, mainly in Corpus Christi.

Several Corpus Christi public schools, along with campuses in nearby Taft, closed Tuesday due to no electricity.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 Used book sale, First United Methodist Church, 10 a.m. to noon.

AROUND THE NATION

THURSDAY, APRIL 30 Spanish Book Club from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Laredo Public Library on Calton. Call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society will have a dance from 3 to 5 pm at the St. John Newmann Catholic Church Hall. For more information call Sanjuanita MartinezHunter at 722-3497.

SUNDAY, MAY 3 Holy Redeemer Church annual Jamaica. Food, games and silent auction. Contact Amparo Ugarte for more information at 286-0862.

TUESDAY, MAY 5 “Cinco de Mayo” Holiday Fundraiser for the South Texas Food Bank at Hal’s Landing, 6510 Arena Blvd. 6 p.m. to 11. The event features music of Ross and Friends on the main stage and five other bands on the patio and arcade. Included are JoAnna and The Reminiscence, Jolly Ranchers, Expansivo and La Mission Vallenata.

Police: College shooting possible hate crime DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The mother of a North Carolina man charged with killing a gay community college employee says her son told her the man said sexually laced comments to her son. Police say they are investigating the fatal shooting as a possible hate crime.

Kenneth Morgan Stancil III is accused of fatally shooting Ron Lane, his former work-study supervisor at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Stancil’s mother, Debbie Stancil, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her son accused Lane of making workplace comments he considered sexually inappropriate.

Google facing antitrust showdown in Europe European regulators are poised to file charges alleging

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 Brad Coville/The Wilson Times | AP

Students gather at a memorial at Wayne Community College for Ron Lane on Tuesday in Goldsboro, N.C. Kenneth Morgan Stancil III, a former student at the college is accused of killing Lane, his former work-study supervisor at the school.

Google abused its dominance in Internet search to thwart competition and innovation, according to reports published Tuesday.

Google Inc. didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. If a case is filed, it would set up a legal battle that could

culminate in Google being fined about $6 billion, or 10 percent of its annual revenue, and force the Mountain View, California, company to overhaul its system for recommending websites in Europe.

— Compiled from AP reports

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State

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Castro asks feds for border surge details

By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE

A Democratic congressman has asked the federal government to do what the Texas Department of Public Safety has said it can’t: Provide information on what role federal agents have played during the state’s multimillion-dollar border surge.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, has asked Customs and Border Protection officials for data showing how many apprehensions and drug busts federal agents have made during the state’s Operation Strong Safety.

The operation is a state-led effort that began last June in response to the wave of undocumented immigrants

that breached the Texas-Mexico border.

Castro’s request comes weeks CASTRO after state Rep. César Blanco, D-El Paso, said DPS would not provide his office a breakdown of how local, state and federal agencies were each performing during the mission. Blanco said the information would help inform lawmakers on whether millions spent by the state has been a wise investment.

Castro’s request gets the federal government into the fray.

“Because Texas DPS has been unable to provide the

metrics related to local and state efforts, the federal government’s account will help elucidate the role OSS has had on TexasMexico border security,” Castro wrote to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske.

The Texas DPS has asked for $123 million to continue the mission, Castro explains, and the information would be essential to budget writers who are considering the request.

“We must examine whether this operation, at the local, state and federal levels, has had the desired effect of further protecting the Texas border or if state officials should re-examine the use of taxpayer funds for this operation,” Castro wrote. "Additionally we must disaggregate the

state and local efforts from federal efforts to determine whether the state’s use of additional funds did in fact further secure the Texas-Mexico border."

But DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said in a statement that trying to unravel the threads of various law enforcement agencies reveals little about the surge’s overall success.

"The success of Operation Strong Safety is a function of all law enforcement partners working together," Vinger said. "Taking any one entity’s outputs and then attempting to determine the success of the operation based on that one subset of data is completely invalid."

In correspondence between DPS Director Steve

McCraw and Blanco’s office last month, the DPS chief said he didn’t have the breakdown Blanco wanted.

“The number of apprehensions are inclusive of all participants as we do not delineate between local law enforcement departments and other state agencies,” McCraw said in a letter dated March 30.

According to McCraw, more than 77,100 apprehensions had been made as part of Operation Strong Safety from June 2014 to February 2015. There had also been about 421,817 pounds of marijuana, 811 pounds of cocaine, 793 pounds of methamphetamine and about 33.5 pounds of heroin seized as part of the operation.

The agency added that it had been transparent and cooperative with Blanco’s office.

Since Blanco publicly aired the exchange between his office and DPS, the San Antonio ExpressNews and the El Paso Times have published opinion pieces critical of DPS for not being more forthcoming with its metrics.

On Tuesday Blanco said he welcomed Castro’s effort.

"It is my hope that Congressman Castro’s inquiry will either help uncover a tremendous success or an epic waste of money by our state," he said in an email. "This is about accountability and transparency."

Kids depressed at immigrant detention facility

By SETH ROBBINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN ANTONIO — Immigrant children at a federal detention facility in Texas are acting depressed after months of regimentation and confinement, said a Honduran mother who was recently released with her 2-yearold son.

Kenia Galeano, 26, said at a small protest Tuesday in front of a downtown cathedral that the children are suffering after long periods of being held at the 500-bed facility in Karnes City.

U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement authorities, however, have said in the past that the facility provides a number of play and schooling areas where children and residents can move about freely. ICE officials said they would look into questions from The Associated Press about the emotional

state of the children at Karnes, but could not provide a response Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of Central American migrants crossed the U.S.Mexico border last summer, most of them mothers with children and unaccompanied minors.

Galeano, who entered the country illegally last November and was detained for more than five months, said the children are unaccustomed to being restricted to the facility and have trouble with the more rigid eating and schooling schedules. She said the food, such as reheated vegetables and chicken mixed with pineapple and oranges, is also foreign to them.

Galeano said her former roommate, Delmy Piñeda Cruz, has been detained for nearly 8 months with her 11-year-old son who now refuses to go to school and hides under the covers, crying that he

Photo by Eric Gay | AP file

This July 31, 2014 photo shows new children’s shoes stored on a shelf at the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas.

A mother who was recently released from the facility said immigrant children at the detention facility are acting depressed. wants to leave.

“The kids feel like they are in a prison,” she said.

“And they suffer.”

Last September, ICE provided a tour of the facility, which is run by national prison operator GEO Group. Immigrant

children were seen playing kickball and sitting in classrooms as they were read stories in Spanish.

Officials have defended the facility before, noting that the children get daily schooling and outside play time and that residents

are free to use the Internet, flat-screen televisions and a hair salon — all while their cases are processed through the courts.

Despite these amenities, Galeano was among more than two dozen women who nearly two weeks ago ended a five-day hunger strike at the Karnes Family Residential Center, southeast of San Antonio, which houses mostly women and children from Central America who crossed illegally and are now seeking asylum.

Last February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against ICE’s policy of detaining the mothers and children without bond. Since then, immigration attorneys say the women have been receiving bonds of $7,500 to $15,000, which they cannot afford.

Also, mothers known to have previously entered the country illegally are not issued bonds.

Some 15 to 20 mothers

have been detained at the facility longer than five months and two have been there at least ten months, said Mohammad Abdollahi, advocacy director at the San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES. He said ten women have begun a second protest in the facility, refusing any scheduled activities and eating one meal a day to bring attention to their prolonged detainment.

ICE will monitor residents at Karnes to verify that they are eating meals and snacks provided to ensure their welfare, spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said in a statement.

“ICE fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference, and all detainees, including those in family residential facilities such as Karnes, are permitted to do so,” she said.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

The lost language of privacy Like a lot of people, I’ve come to believe that it would be a good idea to put body-mounted cameras on police officers. I now believe this for several reasons.

First, there have been too many cases in which police officers have abused their authority and then covered it up. Second, it seems probable that cops would be less likely to abuse their authority if they were being tracked.

Third, human memory is an unreliable faculty. We might be able to reduce the number of wrongful convictions and acquittals if we have cameras recording more events.

I’ve come to this conclusion, but I haven’t come to it happily. And, as the debate over cop-cams has unfolded, I’ve been surprised by how many people don’t see the downside to this policy. Most people don’t even seem to recognize the damage these cameras will do both to police-civilian relations and to privacy. As the debate has unfolded, it’s become clear that more and more people have lost even the language of privacy and an understanding of why privacy is important.

Let’s start with the basics.

Privacy is important to the development of full individuals because there has to be an interior zone within each person that other people don’t see.

There has to be a zone where half-formed thoughts and delicate emotions can grow and evolve, without being exposed to the harsh glare of public judgment. There has to be a place where you can be free to develop ideas and convictions away from the pressure to conform.

There has to be a spot where you are only yourself and can define yourself.

Privacy is important to families and friendships because there has to be a zone where you can be fully known. There has to be a private space where you can share your doubts and secrets and expose your weaknesses with the expectation that you will still be loved and forgiven and supported.

Privacy is important for communities because there has to be a space where people with common affiliations can develop bonds of affection and trust. There has to be a boundary between us and them. Within that boundary, you look out for each other; you rally to support each other; you cut each other some slack; you share fierce common loyalties.

All these concentric circles of privacy depend on some level of shrouding.

They depend on some level of secrecy and awareness

“

DAVID BROOKS

of the distinction between the inner privileged space and the outer exposed space.

Cop-cams chip away at that. The cameras will undermine communal bonds.

Putting a camera on someone is a sign that you don’t trust him or that he doesn’t trust you. When a police officer is wearing a camera, the contact between an officer and a civilian is less likely to be like intimate friendship and more likely to be oppositional and transactional.

Putting a camera on an officer means she is less likely to cut you some slack, less likely to not write that ticket, or to bend the regulations a little as a sign of mutual care.

Putting a camera on the police officer means that authority resides less in the wisdom and integrity of the officer and more in the videotape. During a trial, if a crime isn’t captured on the tape, it will be presumed to never have happened.

Cop-cams will insult families. It’s worth pointing out that less than 20 percent of police calls involve felonies, and less than 1 percent of police-citizen contacts involve police use of force. Most of the time cops are mediating disputes, helping those in distress, dealing with the mentally ill or going into some home where someone is having a meltdown. When a police officer comes into your home wearing a camera, he’s trampling on the privacy that makes a home a home. He’s recording people on what could be the worst day of their lives and inhibiting their ability to lean on the officer for care and support.

Cop-cams insult individual dignity because the embarrassing things recorded by them will inevitably get swapped around.

The videos of the naked crime victim, the berserk drunk, the screaming maniac will inevitably get posted online — as they are already. With each leak, culture gets a little coarser. The rules designed to keep the videos out of public view will inevitably be eroded and bent.

So, yes, on balance, copcams are a good idea. But, as a journalist, I can tell you that when I put a notebook or a camera between me and my subjects, I am creating distance between me and them. Cop-cams strike a blow for truth, but they strike a blow against relationships. Society will be more open and transparent but less humane and trusting.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters.

To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication.

We want to assure

our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms.

Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed.

Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

COLUMN

Making mistakes is normal It is said that males make more mistakes than females. That may or may not be true. What is true is that male pride often makes the “stronger” sex less apt to confess to an error in judgment.

Thankfully, I learned at an early age that confession is good for the soul or whatever curative that humble stripping down to the inner self provides.

Males seem more prone to gullibility, although they have no monopoly on it. A bend toward “glory,” heroism, delusions of grandeur and other such hedonistic pursuits tends to apply blinders to men much as one would to a horse.

Whether riding a horse or “guiding” an equine pulling something such as a wagon, blinders are often required as part of the controls to keep the horse from shying in a way that can bring harm to either a rider or a driver. Those city slickers among you reading this offering should consult a “country” friend to understand the distinction made here.

In the newspaper business — particularly the small town majority of that genre — editors and publishers learn in a hurry that EVERYONE who reads your newspaper sees EVERY mistake. You can’t

hide. They’ll find you whether it’s in the grocery store, the bank, church or trying to hide in your garden.

Most country newspaper readers are forgiving, particularly after they learn that you’re there because you love small towns as much as they do.

They understand that most of the time you’re going to spell their Aunt Drusilla’s name right as you write about her 90th birthday party at the nursing home. After all, it’s the kind of news that you love because it makes that issue a better seller because of the scrapbook value.

And, therein lies the greatest reason for not making a mistake (as in NARY a one) in the “write-up” about sweet ol’ Auntie Dru. But, then you know all about that sort of thing if you’re a small town newspaper reader-subscriber, the life breath of the best part of the newspaper business.

You also know that in a small town, since there’s no hiding as heretofore confessed, more often than

not, this is why you’re going to see Auntie Dru’s whole “write-up” reprinted next week. Can’t have it in the scrapbook with a MISTAKE. Heavens to Murgatroid.

Years ago, I had a young editor who actually was outstanding and has gone on to a fine career in a related field.

However, he made one colossal mistake that was extremely embarrassing and a bit costly to correct but it turned out to be very funny.

There was a queen’s contest of a sort in which there were a dozen or so contestants. Naturally, we ran pictures of each. In this era of computerization, sometimes there are formats that can be duplicated which will, of course, save time. One such format fit the queen’s contest. On the page, you draw a box the size of the photo, then you type a name line beneath that box for identification.

When you’ve created the format once, you can then duplicate (“dupe”) that for as many photos, in this case queen candidates, as you have.

The editor duped the initial photo box and name line to match the number of candidates.

That’s smart and time saving except he made a giant

error — he didn’t change the name line under each photo, thus each candidate had the same name. To compound the error, the name that appeared under each photo was that of my son’s girlfriend, who was a contestant.

My editor’s penance was to man the phones beginning at 6 a.m. the day the paper hit the street and explain to all the distraught mamas that it was his mistake and that we would re-run all the photos in the next issue (which thankfully was still before the pageant).

Fortunately, all the girls and their mothers were fairly understanding and some even laughed about it.

And, I’m still writing these weekly meanderings through outstanding newspapers in our Texas small town world.

But, no I don’t want to invest in gold or stocks or even great small town newspapers any more. I’m content to sit at this keyboard and acknowledge that life’s full of mistakes.

Acknowledging them and moving forward is the only real curative I know.

Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper editor-publisher of more than 50 years experience. He can be reached by email at wwebb1937@att.net.

EDITORIAL

Congress’ trade bill is important THE WASHINGTON POST

On the returning Congress’ crowded agenda, no item is more important than the passage of a bill known as trade promotion authority. It would enable President Obama to submit a 12-nation trade agreement with Pacific Rim nations to lawmakers on a fast-track basis — i.e.,

with no amendments permitted — as has been done with previous major trade deals. With a presidential election year almost underway, time is running out. The House and Senate need to get the bill passed and on the president’s desk promptly, clearing the way for final negotiation of the nearly-complete trade deal, and its consid-

eration by Congress, before Obama’s term expires.

Delay, of course, suited the opponents of trade promotion authority because they don’t want the United States to negotiate lower trade barriers with Japan, Australia, Canada and the other potential members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. To critics

on the right, trade promotion authority is yet another executive power grap by this president, one that would undermine U.S. sovereignty, to boot.

Japan’s pro-TPP prime minister, Shinzo Abe, arrives in Washington for a state visit on April 28. If Congress needs a target date for motivation, we can’t think of a better one.

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

State

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

Senate votes to end renewable energy programs

By JIM MALEWITZ TEXAS TRIBUNE

The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would close the book on two programs that helped fuel the state’s years-long surge in wind energy production.

With a 21-10 vote, the chamber sent Sen. Troy Fraser’s proposal, Senate Bill 931, to House lawmakers. It would end the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which established a state renewable energy goal. It would also close Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) initiative, a power line program that sparked huge investments in wind energy.

The proposal has angered environmentalists and renewable energy industry groups. But Fraser,

R-Horseshoe Bay, has said his effort is merely intended to declare "mission accomplished."

That’s because Texas long ago surpassed its renewable energy goal, and most of the $7 billion CREZ program – which regulators used to build power lines to connect windy West Texas to large electricity-hungry cities in the east – was completed in December.

Texas manufacturers and free market think tanks are among those who support the legislation, saying the two programs gave renewable energy a leg up that it no longer needs.

But advocates for renewable energy say the changes would shake the industry’s confidence in Texas’ business climate. Also, with federal climate regulations

Photo by Corey Taratuta | Texas Tribune

This April 2011 file photo shows a wind farm near Abeline, Texas. looming, critics say the legislation would take away an option Texas might tap to meet its proposed carbon goal.

“Today Sen. Troy Fraser snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of the Texas office of the consumer safety group Public Citizen, said in a statement on Tuesday. "Since renewable

energy is the least expensive way to reduce climate pollution, it could have been an important tool in our efforts to comply with pending federal rules."

The bill has no companion in the House, so it will need a sponsor and committee assignment to advance further.

Texas first adopted its Renewable Portfolio Standard

in 1999, and it increased its goal in 2005 – with legislation Fraser authored. With help from a mix of state and federal policies and changing economics, Texas has shattered its goal of developing 5,880 megawatts of renewable energy by 2015, and even surpassed a non-binding target of 10,000 megawatts by 2025.

The state now leads the nation in total wind energy production – by far. On average, a megawatt of solar energy can power as many as 100 Texas homes on the hottest summer days. During average temperatures, it can power many times more.

By halting the two programs, Texas would no longer require generators to participate in its renewable energy credit trading scheme – a program that

helped regulators track new generation and ensure the state would meet its goal.

That program would only continue voluntarily.

Credits under the program are already cheap, and would likely lose value under the shift. Renewable energy advocates worry that would change the economics of building new wind and solar generation in Texas, perhaps even for companies that were planning to build under the old rules.

“The state made commitments to these projects,” Charlie Hemmeline, executive director of the Texas Solar Power Association, said last month at a committee hearing. “Increasing uncertainty for our industry raises the cost of doing business in Texas.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors PGA TOUR: JORDAN SPIETH

NHL

Spieth’s stock rising

Howe recovers from stroke

Spieth a rising star in golf

By DOUG FERGUSON ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The green jacket is all Jordan Spieth needs for an identity. He is the Masters champion.

It’s just not going to help him get rid of a nickname he picked up late last year from a few PGA Tour players that goes against the way he was raised and irritates him more than a three-putt bogey.

Golden Child.

“It was either Colt Knost or Robert Garrigus ... I’m not sure who started with the nickname,” Spieth said Tuesday during a break in his New York media tour.

“But it’s not nice what I say to them when they say it to me. I’ve been working on trying to keep it quiet.

And this week isn’t going to help.”

It surfaced again even before he teed off in his record-setting win at Augusta National.

Brooks Koepka was talking about a Tuesday practice round in which Spieth could do no wrong. They were walking off the 13th tee when they looked over at James Hahn hitting his tee shot to the par-3 12th.

As the ball was in the air, Spieth told his group, “This is going to be a hole-inone.” And it was.

On the 17th, Spieth hit a shot that was an inch from rolling down to the bottom of the green. It stayed up, and he rolled in a 30-footer to close their match. If that wasn’t enough, he has a game with caddie Michael Greller in which they toss a ball on the green toward the cup. Spieth made it on the first try.

Koepka finished the story, smiled and said, “He’s the golden child.”

No doubt, Spieth has done some extraordinary things for a 21-year-old.

The stories have been told countless times, yet they are no less amazing.

Spieth started his first year as a pro with no status on any tour and ended it playing alongside Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the Presidents Cup. The first time he played with Mickelson, he closed bird-

Photo by Chris Carlson | AP

Jordan Spieth speaks to the media after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday in Augusta, Ga. ie-birdie-birdie-eagle for a 62. Playing with Woods for the first time in a practice round at the Presidents Cup, he made a hole-in-one.

In his Masters debut, he played in the final group at age 20.

And now a green jacket for the golden child.

“He’ll be fabulous for the game,” Graeme McDowell said.

Most appealing about Spieth is the simplicity of his life and the toughness in his game. He is 21 and old school.

Spieth has had the same swing coach since he was 12 and his father took him to see Cameron McCormick at Brook Hollow in Dallas. He uses social media instead of being consumed by it. Spieth has the same girlfriend he met in high school, Anne Verret, who graduated from Texas Tech in December and now works on fundraising projects for a youth golf program in Dallas.

He spent last week with three of his best friends from Dallas — seniors at Texas, TCU and LSU. They became what Spieth described as “white noise” during the evening when he wanted to take his mind off golf.

“It felt like we were back home on a random weekend,” Spieth said. “I couldn’t partake in what

they were doing. But it was fun to watch.”

His father played baseball at Lehigh. His mother played basketball at Moravian College in Pennsylvania. His younger brother, Steven, is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard at Brown. And then there’s Ellie, his 14year-old sister with neurological issues that place her on the autism spectrum. Ellie reminds Spieth and the rest of the family what matters in life.

She was at the TPC Boston last year with the whole clan, bragging about her big brothers, having a ball. Players have to take a shuttle through the woods to the eighth tee. When Spieth spotted Ellie in the gallery, he called to her. She ran to the cart and sat on his lap for the ride, and it was hard to tell who was having more fun.

Golden child? Maybe.

More than a Midas touch,

however, Spieth has Texas grit.

Look back at the events leading to the Masters.

—He made three straight par saves, all that had the look of bogeys, to get into a playoff that he won at the Valspar Championship.

—He made four straight birdies that made Jimmy Walker sweat out a victory at the Texas Open. “I’m going to have nightmares about that guy,” Walker said.

—He holed a 12-foot par putt on the final hole of the Houston Open to make a playoff.

Augusta National members will talk for years about his shot from a tight lie on a knob above the 18th green on Saturday.

Spieth had a seven-shot lead on the 17th tee and it was down to four shots and about to get even closer — three shots probably, two shots possibly. “Two shots can be made up in one hole,” Spieth said.

His caddie lobbied for a safe chip. Spieth took a full swing for a flop shot, pulled it off and made par. Spieth called it the most important shot he hit all week.

More than a golden moment, this was about guts.

It’s worth remembering what Ben Crenshaw said about Spieth before teeing off in his 44th and final Masters.

“When I first met him, I tell you, I’ll never forget it,” Crenshaw said. “I looked right at him and he looked at me, and I thought I was looking at Wyatt Earp. He just had that look about him. Just wonderful.”

By BETSY BLANEY ASSOCIATED PRESS

LUBBOCK, Texas — Hockey great Gordie Howe wanted to call it quits after a significant stroke robbed him of the ability to walk and talk normally.

His family wouldn’t hear of it. An experimental stem cell treatment in Mexico late last year HOWE brought a “life changing” turnaround that’s put the 87-year-old back Howe back on his feet.

Howe, who set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points — mostly with the Detroit Red Wings — will continue physical and occupational therapy in Lubbock, Texas, where he’s living with his daughter until June when he returns for more stem cell injections.

A therapist for Howe says he’s doing “extremely well” for his age.

Murray Howe, one of Howe’s three sons, says the goal is for his father to have quality of life and to be happy.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

Zentertainment

PAGE 7A

What to look forward to at Tribeca

By JAKE COYLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Jeffrey R. Staab/ CBS | AP file

In this April 3, 2014 file photo, David Letterman smiles after announcing his retirement during a taping in New York.

Stars pack final shows ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — David Letterman is packing his final 28 shows as a late-night host with a who’s who of Hollywood names and favorites leading up to his May 20 swan song.

CBS announced Monday that his guests will include Bill Murray, George Clooney, Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Downey Jr., Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Don Rickles, Julia Roberts, Ray Romano, Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Short, John Travolta, Michael J. Fox and Alec Baldwin.

And there will be others who haven’t been announced yet. Musical guests will include Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews Band, Mumford and Sons, Norah Jones, Amos Lee and Tracy Chapman.

Letterman hasn’t specified who, if anyone, will join him for his final show after 33 years on late-night TV.

NEW YORK — Some 100 feature films, 67 of them world premieres, will make up the 14th annual Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off today.

The films, though, will only be part of the story at the festival, which takes after the eclectic frenzy of its city, New York. Perhaps to help compensate for a film slate that sometimes underwhelms, Tribeca thrives on its urban festiveness, surrounding its screens with musical performance, celebrity conversations, outdoor “drive-in” events, interactive exhibits and red carpets.

This year, in particular, the off-screen attractions

crowd the springtime festival-going. Here are some of the highlights to this year’s Tribeca, running through Sunday April 26.

Behind The Laughs Tribeca opens today with the premiere of Bao Nguyen’s documentary about “Saturday Night Live” through the years: “Live From New York!”

It’s a fitting start to a theme that runs throughout the festival where a host of films peer behind comedy institutions and delve into the nature of the comedian.

“Very Semi-Serious,” by Leah Wolchok, profiles the cartoons and cartoonists of the New Yorker. “Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National

Lampoon,” a film that first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, examines the fabled humor magazine. And in Kevin Pollack’s “Misery Loves Company,” the comic interviews stand-up colleagues on the mysterious compulsions of the comedian. The film is dedicated to Robin Williams.

Reel Reunions Knights who say ‘Ni’ and wiseguys who amuse us (but definitely not like clowns). The casts of “GoodFellas” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” will gather for back-to-back anniversary celebrations at the festival (the 25th for Scorsese’s gangster film, the 40th for the cult British comedy).

A night after the five living Pythons congregate for “Holy Grail” (further Python screenings are planned as well as a new documentary on the troupe), a restored “GoodFellas” will close out Tribeca on April 25. Not all the attendees are known, but this is Robert De Niro’s festival, after all. A bit of Python advice should serve both reunions well: “This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let’s not bicker and argue over who killed who.”

Documentaries Documentaries are often the strongest selections of Tribeca, and this year appears no different.

There are intriguing films

on the controversial New York nuclear facility ("Indian Point”), police use of tasers ("Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”) and the making of sake ("The Birth of Sake”). Among the highlights is “Palio,” a documentary that plunges into Italian culture — with all its passion, tradition and corruption — in depicting the centuries-old bareback horse race held twice annually in the heart of Siena. Also noteworthy is “In Transit,” a view of modern America from the rails made by a handful of filmmakers led by the late Albert Maysles, who died in March.

It documents the Empire Builder, a train that chugs between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, and its passengers.

PÁGINA 8A

Zfrontera ABSENTISMO ESCOLAR

Ribereña en Breve

Revelan cífras

CONFERENCIA PARA EMPRESARIOS Se realizará la conferencia “Comenzar un negocio o expandir un negocio: Herramientas y Recursos para Empresarios”, el martes 21 de abril, dentro del Palacio de Justicia del Condado de Zapata, en 200 East 7th Street.

El evento será de 10 a.m. a 12 p.m.

Durante la conferencia se darán consejos, asesorías e información sobre el inicio, estructuración y ejecución de la apertura de un nuevo negocio.

El seminario es gratuito.

El espacio es limitado. Puede tener más información o inscripción puede llamar a Verónica Z. Ortega al (956) 4278533 ext. 233 o escribiendo a veronica.ortega@sba.gov; o a Yael Rodríguez al (956) 286-0042 o a yael.rodriguez@tamiu.edu.

MIÉRCOLES 15 DE ABRIL DE 2015

POR JUDITH RAYO TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

El número de casos de absentismo escolar procesados en las cortes del Condado de Zapata para el año escolar 2012-13, se clasifica entre uno de los más altos en el estado, de acuerdo con un estudio reciente.

Con el 3.53 por ciento, el Zapata County ISD, tiene el 11vo índice de casos procesados.

El distrito tuvo el porcentaje más alto en reportes durante 20122013, desde 2008. El distrito tuvo la tasa más baja para el año escplar 2010-2011, con un número reportado de 47 casos.

Hasta el viernes por la noche, oficiales de ZCISD no estuvieron disponibles para hacer comentarios.

Casi 600 casos por “no presentarse en la escuela” fueron procesados en el Condado de Webb en el año escolar 2012-13, señala el

reporte publicado por el grupo de defensa Texas Appleseed.

Esto coloca al condado en el número 19 en el Estado con el número más alto de casos por absentismo escolar procesados.

También, de los 323 distritos que reportaron datos de absentismo a la Agencia de Educación de Texas, el Laredo Independent School District, que presentó alrededor de 1.090 casos de absentismo, tiene el sexto índice de procesamiento con el 4,4 por ciento. El estudio, emitido este mes, pide una reforma estatal para leyes de absentismo escolar.

‘¿Es un crimen?’

Texas Appleseed cita a Nathan Hecht, jefe de justicia de la Suprema Corte de Texas, diciendo: “La teoría es que la amenaza de un castigo incentivaría la asistencia”, dijo Texas Appleseed.

“Pero cuando casi 100.000 cargos por absentismo escolar criminal son presentados cada año en contra de estudiantes de Texas, uno tiene que pensar, esta manera podría no estar funcionando”.

“Faltar a clases está mal, pero es criminal. Una mejor solución más eficaz podría ser que las escuelas y los tribunales, por igual, presten servicios de prevención e intervención para todos los menores en riesgo, para alcanzar el verdadero objetivo: conseguir que vuelvan a la escuela”.

Los estudiantes que terminan en la corte enfrentan cargos por absentismo escolar, generalmente son de escasos recursos, de acuerdo con el estudio.

“Nuestro sistema escolar tiene un sistema de intervención para estudiantes con ausentismo crónico”, dijo el Superintendente de LISD, A. Marcus Nelson. “Nuestras intervenciones incluyen visitas domiciliarias, reuniones con

los padres y una serie de acciones que se pretenden involucrar al estudiante el camino correcto para que asista a la escuela”.

De acuerdo con el estudio, las escuelas son obligadas por la ley a implementar medidas para la prevención del absentismo escolar, antes de presentar cargos criminales.

Nelson añadió: “La corte es nuestro último recurso. Definitivamente queremos trabajar con padres y menores”.

Nelson dijo saber que presentar cargos por absentismo escolar y subsecuentemente multar a estudiantes y sus familias no es la decisión más efectiva en una comunidad con problemas financieros.

Bajo la ley estatal, cuando los estudiantes acumulan faltas sin justificar por tres días o una porción de días, en un periodo de cuatro semanas, la escuela debe enviarlos a la corte por absentismo.

COMIDA Y DESFILE DE MODAS El Concilio de Servicios de Voluntariado para el centro de salud Border Region Behavioral Health Center llevará a cabo la Comida y Desfile de Modas por el Día de las Asistentes Administrativos Profesionales en su edición 23, el miércoles 22 en el Laredo Country Club.

El concilio existe específicamente para recolectar fondos con el fin de adquirir artículos que el estado no puede proporcionar a la institución de salud mental, la cual sirve a Laredo, Hebbronville, Río Grande y Zapata.

El tema de este año será el de “películas clásicas en los Oscares”, dijo Kahn.

Los asistentes disfrutarán de escenas icónicas de Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Goldfinger, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Cabaret y The Great Gatsby, actuados en una rutina enfrente del público. Además del espectáculo en vivo los asistentes podrán disfrutar de un desfile de modas con prendas y accesorios de tiendas como Stein Mart, Polly Adams y Bejeweled.

BRBHC

TRÁFICO DE PERSONAS

EVENTO A BENEFICIO

Mujer se dice no culpable POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Foto por Victor Strife | Laredo Morning Times

CORTE DE COMISIONADOS La Corte de Comisionados del Condado de Zapata se reunirá el lunes 11 de mayo en el Palacio de Justicia del Condado de Zapata.

La junta comenzará a las 9 a.m. y continuará hasta las 12 p.m.

Para mayor información puede contactar a Roxy Elizondo llamando al (956) 765-9920.

CORTE DE COMISIONADOS La Corte de Comisionados del Condado de Zapata se reunirá el lunes 27 de abril en el Palacio de Justicia del Condado de Zapata.

La junta comenzará a las 9 a.m. y continuará hasta las 12 p.m.

ESPECTÁCULO DE LUCHA LIBRE MIGUEL ALEMAN— Con la finalidad de reunir fondos y adquirir equipo adecuado para realizar deporte en las escuelas de Miguel Alemán, México, Antonio Santos Ramírez, supervisor de tránsito, anunció un espectáculo de lucha libre que se realizará el viernes 15 de mayo, en el centro cívico enclavado en los terrenos de Expo Feria, a partir de las 5 p.m.

El evento es de corte estrictamente familiar. Entre los luchadores que participarán se encuentran Granda XXX y Mascara Sagrada Junior, Ator y los minis del cuadrilátero, los luchadores enanitos Voladorcito, La Parquita y Brazalete de Plata y de Platino.

Antes del evento se realizará un desfile con los luchadores participantes.

Marilyn Bautista, Gerardo Pina, y Casandra Canales, posan para una fotografía en Embassy Suites durante una sesión fotográfica para promoción por Comida y Desfile de Modas por el Día de las Asistentes Administrativos Profesionales en su edición 23, que tendrá lugar el 22 de abril, de 11:30 a.m. a 1:30 p.m. en el Laredo Country Club.

Se recaudarán fondos para centro POR GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

E

l Concilio de Servicios de Voluntariado para el centro de salud Border Region Behavioral Health Center llevará a cabo la Comida y Desfile de Modas por el Día de las Asistentes Administrativos Profesionales en su edición 23, el miércoles 22 en el Laredo Country Club.

El evento será justo antes del inicio de mayo, el cual marca el inicio del Mes de Sensibilización por la Salud Mental.

El concilio existe específicamente para recolectar fondos con el fin de adquirir artículos que el estado no puede proporcionar a la institución de salud mental, la cual sirve a Laredo, Hebbronville, Río Grande y Zapata.

Jo-An Kahn, presidenta de publicidad para el grupo, busca-

rá donativos de representantes del gobierno local en las juntas del día de hoy de la Corte de Comisionados y el Ayuntamiento, respectivamente.

A través de sus 23 años de existencia, el evento siempre ha presentado un tema diferente.

El tema de este año será el de “películas clásicas en los Oscares”, dijo Kahn.

Los asistentes disfrutarán de escenas icónicas de Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Desayuno en Tiffany’s), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Los caballeros las prefieren rubias), Goldfinger, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (El bueno, el malo y el feo), Cabaret y The Great Gatsby (El gran Gatsby), actuados en una rutina enfrente del público.

Además del espectáculo en vivo los asistentes podrán disfrutar de un desfile de modas con prendas y accesorios de tiendas como Stein Mart, Polly Adams

y Bejeweled.

Kahn dijo que el centro Border Region Behavioral Health Center proporciona servicios no sólo a aquellas personas con enfermedades mentales, sino también a la comunidad en general.

Talleres y clases, dijo, son ofrecidos sobre cómo reconocer y reaccionar ante una enfermedad mental. Asimismo oficiales de policía y maestros se beneficiarían grandemente del curso de primeros auxilios para la salud mental ofrecido en la institución, dijo Kahn.

El centro ofrece una línea de emergencia disponible las 24 horas para cualquiera que llame en un momento de crisis.

El costo de los boletos para el evento es de 65 dólares por persona y 650 por una mesa para 10 personas. Si está interesado en adquirir boletos, por favor contacte a Laura Kim en el (956) 794-3130.

Un mujer que se cree es parte de una organización de contrabando de personas que opera desde el Condado de Zapata, recientemente se declaró no culpable en una corte federal de Laredo, muestran registros de la corte obtenidos el martes.

Laura Zavala, junto con el coacusado Luis Daniel Mendoza-Mendoza, fue acusada formalmente el 31 de marzo, con cargos por conspiración para transportar personas indocumentadas a Estados Unidos, y transportar e intentar transportar personas indocumentadas por una ganancia financiera.

Ambos acusados se declararon no culpables a los cargos la semana pasada. Mendoza-Mendoza y Zavala tienen una conferencia final previa al juicio el 11 de mayo.

El día del arresto, agentes de Patrulla Fronteriza detuvieron a Zavala, MendozaMendoza y el sobrino adolescente de Meondoza-Mendoza, mientras supuestamente conspiraban para el tráfico de ocho personas que cruzaron la frontera de manera ilegal, de acuerdo con una querella criminal, presentada el 13 de marzo.

Previo al arresto, agentes observaron una Ford Explorer, azul, y una Ford Explorer, color verde, viajando hacia el sur sobre U.S. 83, detrás de una Ford Expedition, color negra. Supuestamente, agentes identificaron a la conductora de la Ford Expedition como Zavala, de un caso de contrabando previo.

Agentes notaron como la Explorer verde, entraba a un acotamiento de la carretera, sin razón aparente, por lo que detuvieron el vehículo. Ellos identificaron al conducto como el sobrino de Mendoza-Mendoza, ciudadano de EU. Patrulla Fronteriza tomó custodia de cinco pasajeros sospechosos de entrar al país de manera ilegal. Agentes revisaron la Explorer azul, que se detuvo al sur de donde los agentes detuvieron la Explorer verde. Ahí Mendoza-Mendoza, el conductor, sostuvo que su vehículo se estaba calentando y que necesitaba agua. Mendoza-Mendoza no tenía estatus legal para estar en el país, alegan agentes.

Momentos después, autoridades federales encontraron la Expedition negra, conducida por Zavala, cerca los carriles de Siesta y Weslaco, en Zapata. Los agentes también dijeron haber detenido a tres sospechosos de ser inmigrantes indocumentados en un área cercana.

DISTRITO I

Candidata habla de propuestas en frontera TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

El Distrito I de Tamaulipas incluye las ciudades fronterizas de Nuevo Laredo, Camargo, Miguel Alemán y Ciudad Mier. En temporada de campañas políticas, la candidata del Partido Acción Nacional para la Diputación Federal, Laura Zárate Quezada, dio a conocer sus propuestas y preocupaciones principa-

les.

Ella sostuvo que las reformas emprendidas por el gobierno federal mantienen en crisis a la frontera y al resto del país.

“Nosotros estamos muy comprometidos con el congreso a través de nuestros diputados federales, porque gracias a ellos hemos podido sacar adelante nuestros municipios”, sostuvo.

El fin de semana visitó

las ciudades de Miguel Alemán y Ciudad Mier. Zárate pudo reunirse con quienes encabezan el gobierno municipal en ambas ciudades, Ramiro Cortez Banda y Roberto González González, respectivamente.

Ambos consideraron importante apoyar al Partido Acción Nacional con el voto, a fin de que se beneficie en el Congreso desde Laredo hasta Camargo, México.

Al hablar con medios de comunicación, ella habló de propuestas tales como la disminución al IVA, el aumento al salario mínimo, generación de empleo para los jóvenes, infraestructura y seguridad.

“Vamos a trabajar muy de la mano para rescatar los municipios de Camargo y Guerrero”, declaró.

“Traemos la seguridad que la gente está viendo el cam-

bio que ha tenido los municipios de Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Alemán y Ciudad Mier, con los gobiernos panistas que han demostrado que sí se puede”.

Igualmente, en Miguel Alemán realizó una caminata a partir del cruce de Hidalgo y Novena, continuando por el bulevar Emiliano Zapata.

Las elecciones se celebrarán el 7 de junio.

Nation

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Cuba relations continue

By JULIE PACE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House announced Tuesday, a key step in his bid to normalize relations between the two countries.

The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba’s pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.

In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba “has not provided any support for international terrorism” over the last six months.

He also told lawmakers that Cuba “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”

Cuba will officially be removed from the terror list 45 days after the president’s message was sent to Congress.

Lawmakers could vote to block the move during that window, though Obama would be all-but-certain to veto such a measure.

Cuba’s top diplomat for U.S. affairs hailed Obama’s action. “The Cuban government recognizes the president of the United States’ just decision to take Cuba off a list in which it should never have been included,” Josefina Vidal said Tuesday night. “As the Cuban government has said on many occasions, Cuba rejects and condemns all acts of terrorism, in every form, as well as any action aimed at encouraging, supporting, financing or concealing terrorism.”

Tuesday’s announcement comes days after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Panama. The historic talks marked the first formal meeting between the leaders of their countries in a half-century.

Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais | AP

In this Saturday photo, U.S. President Barack Obama, right, smiles as he looks over towards Cuban President Raul Castro, left.

The U.S. has long since stopped actively accusing Cuba of supporting terrorism. When Obama and Castro announced a thaw in relations in December, the U.S. president expressed his willingness to remove Cuba from that list.

However, he held off on making a final decision amid indications that the White House was reluctant to grant Cuba’s request until other thorny issues — such as restrictions on U.S. diplomats in Havana — were resolved.

The president’s final decision followed a State Department review of Cuba’s presence on the list.

Removing Cuba from the terror list could pave the way for the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Havana and other steps. Administration officials said they were optimistic about the prospects of opening the embassy, but did not provide any specific updates in timing.

Cuba was designated a state sponsor of terror in 1982 because of what the White House said was its efforts “to promote armed revolution by organizations that used terrorism.”

Those efforts included support for leftist guerrilla groups in Central and South America that carried out attacks on civilians in their efforts to

overthrow U.S.-backed governments.

State Department reports on the terror list specifically mention Cuba sheltering members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the Spanish Basque separatist group ETA. Cuba has also given shelter to black and Puerto Rican militants who fled to the island after carrying out attacks in the United States.

Cuba renounced its direct support for foreign militants years ago, and is sponsoring peace talks between the FARC and Colombian government.

Most of the terror list’s direct legal impact is on relatively narrow issues that don’t affect Cuba due to the longstanding trade embargo on the island and deep historical enmity between the two nations. For example, the listing bars U.S. arms sales and other aid to Cuba, an issue that’s been moot for more than a half-century.

However, Cubans say the listing has badly damaged their ability to conduct international financial transactions by frightening banks away from doing business with the communist government. Those who do businesses with state sponsors of terror are vulnerable to lawsuits in U.S. courts.

Senators to vote on compromise Iran bill

By DEB RIECHMANN AND LAURIE KELLMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reached a compromise Tuesday on a bill that would give Congress a say on an emerging deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program — and an opportunity to severely undercut the implementation of any agreement it doesn’t like.

The compromise came as Secretary of State John Kerry and other members of the Cabinet visited Capitol Hill for a second straight day to sell lawmakers on details of a possible final deal and plead for time to reach an accord with Tehran by the end of June. International negotiators are trying to reach a deal that would prevent Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons. In exchange, Tehran would get relief from economic sanctions that are crippling its economy.

President Barack Obama, who wants a deal with Iran to burnish his foreign policy legacy, has been in a standoff for months with lawmakers who not only believe that Congress should have an opportunity to weigh in, but remain skeptical that Iran will honor any agreement.

The compromise bill that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to vote on shortens from 60 to 30 days the amount of time Congress would have to review any final deal. During that time, Obama would be able to lift sanctions imposed through presidential action, but would be blocked from easing sanctions levied

by Congress.

Twelve more days would be added to the review period if Congress passed a bill and sent it to the president.

There would be additional 10 days during which the

president could veto it — something he has already threatened to do. It’s unclear whether the compromise version, which could be seen as palatable to Democrats, would prompt Obama to withdraw his veto threat.

Moreover, if the deal is submitted after July 9 — a short time after the final agreement is to be reached on June 30 — the review period would revert to 60 days.

Under the compromise bill, the president would be required to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying with terms of any final agreement.

Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hoped the compromise bill will pass overwhelmingly through the committee.

“Hopefully, it’ll move to the floor and be able to generate a veto-proof majority,” said Corker, R-Tenn., referring to the 67 votes it would need on the Senate floor to override a presidential veto.

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, confirmed the compromise, which smoothed the way for the panel to vote later in the day. The details were provided by a congressional staffer who was authorized to publicly disclose details of the deal and spoke on condition of anonymity.

There is strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for Congress to review any deal that the U.S. and five other nations are able to negotiate with Iran. And many remain wary that any deal will eventually be reached.

Cuba’s removal from the terror list will likely make it easier to get credit from non-U.S. banks, transfer funds between countries and conduct a host of other international financial transactions.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that taking Cuba off the terror list does not change the fact that the U.S. has differences with the island nation’s government.

“Our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Earnest said.

The terror list has been a particularly charged issue for Cuba because of what the government there sees as the U.S. history of supporting exile groups responsible for attacks on the island, including the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger flight from Barbados that killed 73 people aboard.

The attack was linked to Cuban exiles with ties to U.S.-backed anti-Castro groups. Both men accused of masterminding the crime took shelter in Florida, where one, Luis Posada Carriles, lives to this day.

Iraida Malberti, the 78year-old widow of Carlos Alberto Cremata Trujillo, a member of the flight’s crew, said Cuba’s removal from the list was “a joy.”

“Cuba never should have been on the list,” she said, minutes after the decision was announced. “No decision will bring the victims back to life, or erase the humiliation, suffering and pain that this has caused us.”

Until Tuesday, the communist island nation remained one of four countries on the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism. The others are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Photo by Wilfredo Lee | AP

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio holds up his son Anthony after having announced that he will be running for the Republican presidential nomination, during a rally at the Freedom Tower in Miami, Monday.

Rubio enters presidential race

By PHILIP ELLIOTT AND BRENDAN FARRINGTON ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI — Hoping to turn his youth into a benefit, Sen. Marco Rubio entered the presidential race Monday with a promise to move the nation beyond the politics of the past, a jab at both Democratic favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton and his one-time Republican mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Standing in front of a banner that proclaimed “A New American Century,” the 43-year-old Cuban-American used his first speech as a presidential candidate to take on two of America’s political dynasties. In doing so, he bet heavily on the electorate’s frustrations with Washington and his ability to change how his party is seen by voters.

“This election is not just about what laws we will pass,” he said Monday evening. “It is a generational choice about what kind of country we will be.”

He said it’s also a choice between the haves and havenots, nodding to his own upbringing by working-class parents. “I live in an exceptional country where even

the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege.”

Rubio spoke first to his top donors a day after Clinton announced her bid for the Democratic nomination and as she was traveling to Iowa on her first trip as a candidate. Rubio, a firstterm Republican from Florida, told his most generous backers that he feels “uniquely qualified” to pitch his party as one that will defend the American Dream.

Rubio said the dream is slipping away for too many families and young Americans face unequal opportunities to succeed. He’s banking on the hope that he, alone among many GOP rivals, can make inroads with groups that have long eluded Republicans — young people, minorities and the less affluent.

“I feel uniquely qualified to not just make that argument, but to outline the policies that we need to have in order to achieve it,” he said.

Clinton’s entrance into the race with an online video Sunday is robbing some attention from Rubio’s splash into the race.

International

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

Feminists’ case shows China’s hostility

By EDWARD WONG NEW YORK TIMES

BEIJING — Though liberated from the confines of jail cells in western Beijing, the five young women’s rights activists who have won broad international support, including from Hillary Rodham Clinton and other political leaders, remain criminal suspects in the eyes of the police and the Chinese judicial system.

For at least one year, the women cannot travel without informing the police, their lawyers said. They could be detained again at any time or called into a police station for interrogation.

Any further activist campaigns or work with nongovernmental organizations could mean more jail time for them. On Tuesday, the husband of Wu Rongrong, one of the women, said in a telephone interview that he was not sure what Wu planned to do with the advocacy group she had founded in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

The women have been released on bail because prosecutors have not yet brought charges against them, as the police had wanted. But the continuing pressure and scrutiny on their activities means the security forces under Xi Jinping, China’s president and head of the Communist Party, have again tightened the vise around civic discourse and action, even over issues that do not overtly threaten the party.

More than any other case since Xi rose to power in late 2012, the ordeal of the so-called Feminist Five gives a clear look at the dyspeptic and hostile view that Xi and other Chinese leaders have of civil society. It also reveals the lengths those officials will go to constrict grass-roots activ-

ism, even at the expense of international good will.

Public condemnations by U.S. leaders and other prominent figures over the women’s detentions might have contributed to a highlevel decision to release them on bail. But the Beijing police’s relentless push for criminal charges and the fact that the women were held for five weeks despite the international uproar show that the party was willing to tolerate China taking a hit to its global image in order to send a chilling message to Chinese activists, scholars and human rights advocates said.

"Since their actions were so successful in drawing public attention and in influencing public policy, the ’sensitive’ label that will now be put on this type of campaign will likely set back China’s women’s rights movement, at least for some time," said Maya Wang, an Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch.

"Sadly, the five’s release does not indicate a change of view by the government towards civil society activists: It still treats them as criminals, rather than as partners in solving pressing social problems."

The women — Li Tingting, 25; Zheng Churan, 25; Wei Tingting, 26; Wang Man, 33; and Wu, 30 — are up-and-coming leaders in a new generation of feminists pushing for gender equality, an area in which China still trails Western nations by significant measures. The question now is whether these women, their feminist compatriots and advocates involved in other causes will curb their activities out of fear. The five women in particular would run a high risk of being prosecuted.

"In keeping with the Xi Jinping government’s extreme hostility towards independent civil society, a

Photo by Ng Han Guan | AP

In this photo taken July 31, 2014, women’s rights activist Wei Tingting waits outside a court in Beijing. formal prosecution will serve the dual purposes of discouraging activism — no matter how legal, no matter how mild, no matter whether the issue has been discussed in the state press — and of leaving people wondering about where the red lines are really drawn in challenging the government," said Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch.

Anxiety among activists has been building for months. Chinese officials are moving to pass a draft law proposed by the Ministry of Public Security that would impose much stricter regulations on foreign nongovernmental organizations and their Chinese partners.

Officials suspect those types of groups of propagating the kinds of ideas they believe led to the so-called color revolutions in former Soviet nations and to the recent Arab rebellions.

Police officers have raided the offices of some grass-

roots groups, including Yirenping, a nationwide organization that advocates equal rights for people with HIV, hepatitis and physical disabilities. Several of the detained women have close ties to the group, which had been tolerated by officials for several years, albeit with occasional harassment by the authorities. On Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a news conference that Yirenping "will be punished because it is suspected of violating the law." Files, laptops and desktop computers were seized when the police raided the Beijing Yirenping Center in late March.

"The raid of Yirenping’s office surprised me," said Lu Jun, a founder of the Beijing center. "It’s obvious that recently there has been a significant shift in the authorities’ policies."

Lu said it was notable that the women jailed for five weeks were all members of nongovernmental

Hope dwindles in Nigeria

By MICHELLE FAUL ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAGOS, Nigeria — They have been gone a year now, the hundreds of girls abducted by Islamic militants from their school in northeastern Nigeria.

And while the cry to “Bring Back Our Girls” remains a worldwide cause, the new president Tuesday would not repeat his predecessor’s failed promise to find them — only that they won’t be forgotten.

A solemn march was held to remember the 219 girls seized from their boarding school in Chibok by gunmen from the Boko Haram extremist group. In Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, 219 girls paraded in the streets, with each carrying a placard bearing the name of a kidnap victim.

“We believe the girls are still alive,” said Dr. Allan Manasseh, the brother of missing 18-year-old Maryamu Wavi, in an interview with The Associated Press.

But it was clear that hope has dwindled a year after the April 14-15 mass abduction.

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari said he must be honest about the prospects of getting the missing girls back to their families.

“We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued.

Their whereabouts remain unknown,” Buhari said in a statement. “As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them.”

The statement by Buhari, a former military ruler of Nigeria who was elected last month and takes over May 29, is a marked departure from President Goodluck Jonathan. After Jonathan’s administration initially denied there had even been a kidnapping, he made repeated hollow promises that the girls would be rescued.

Campaigners have replaced the slogan of “Bring Back Our Girls — Now and Alive!” with a new one: “Never to be forgotten.”

Still, some of the marchers Tuesday held the new leadership accountable.

“We are here to appeal to

Photo by Alastair Grant | AP

Protesters holds up placards demanding help from the Nigerian government to find the some 219 girls who remain missing on the first anniversary of the kidnapping by Islamic extremists, during a demonstration in London, Tuesday. the government to do better.

We want our girls now and alive,” said Solamipe Onifade, 16.

A vigil was held after sundown, with people holding candles and singing.

The gunmen initially seized 276 girls, but several dozen managed to escape as the militants transported them to the Sambisa Forest, with some clinging to the branches of trees from a moving open-back truck.

Those still missing may have been split up. Witnesses said some girls were taken across the border into Cameroon.

Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed they had converted to Islam and been married off to his fighters.

A negotiator said that at least three died in the early days, from a snake bite, malaria and dysentery. Then, Jonathan refused to negotiate with Boko Haram, who were offering to exchange the girls for detained insurgents.

The girls became the focus of a global campaign soon after their abduction.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama had said she was “outraged and heartbroken” about the kidnapping and also posted a picture of herself holding a sign reading “(hash)BringBackOurGirls” on her official Twitter account in May 2014.

At least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014,

forced to become sex slaves and fighters, Amnesty International said Tuesday. Unknown hundreds of boys and young men also have been kidnapped and forced to fight for Boko Haram.

Those who refuse are killed.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the U.S. has helped Nigerian security forces counter the threat by Boko Haram and also helped look for the kidnapped girls.

“Unfortunately, this kind of kidnapping story is one that is becoming all too familiar in Nigeria,” Earnest said.

“We continue to be very concerned about that and we continue to be supportive of the efforts of Nigerians to counter the depraved tactics that are employed by Boko Haram,” he said. Earnest added that the U.S. is engaged in a “substantial number of operations to try to address the many needs of the Nigerian people, particularly as they try to counter the threat that’s posed by Boko Haram.”

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said a team from U.S. government agencies was in Abuja “to help both in the search, providing training, equipment, to try and help them find not just the girls, but all of those kidnapped by Boko Haram.”

A hopeful message addressed to the captives from Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Malala Yousafzai promised scholarships for the girls and said they must never lose courage.

The 17-year-old Pakistani activist who stood up to the Taliban chastised Jonathan’s administration and other countries.

“Nigerian leaders and the international community have not done enough to help you. They must do much more to help secure your release,” she said.

Malala said she and millions of people around the world stand in solidarity with “the Chibok girls.”

“We cannot imagine the full extent of the horrors you have endured. But please know this: we will never forget you. We will always stand with you. Today and every day, we call on the Nigerian authorities and the international community to do more to bring you home.”

In Chibok, dozens of family members and supporters marked the anniversary by gathering at the remains of the school, in front of a burned out and roofless classroom. Young girls held handwritten signs demanding “Bring back our girls — Now and Alive.”

One mother, Mariam Abubakar, told the crowd she was in disbelief that the government had been unable to rescue the girls during a whole year.

On Monday, a few dozen people marched in Abuja, their mouths shut by red tape.

“When your voice is taken from you, which is what the terrorists have done to our daughters, you can’t speak, you don’t exist. But our girls exist,” said organizer Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister.

The campaign said the Empire State Building in New York will be lit up Tuesday night in the campaign’s purple and red colors to symbolize its call for an end to violence against women and girls.

When Boko Haram started using young women and girls as suicide bombers last year, many wondered whether some were the Chibok girls.

organizations, while other women detained starting March 6 over their planned campaign against sexual harassment who were not members of such groups were quickly released.

He added that the arrests of the five women were not "isolated, incidental events" but were on a continuum of clampdowns on nongovernmental organizations that intensified about a year ago.

Wang, the human rights researcher, compared the crackdown on the women to that on the New Citizens Movement, a grass-roots campaign inspired by a prominent rights lawyer, Xu Zhiyong, that had advocated transparency in government before being crushed by the Xi administration.

Xu was sentenced in January 2014 to four years in prison for "organizing a crowd to disturb public order" - the same charge the police wanted prosecutors to bring against the five women.Wang, based in Hong Kong, said that the cases showed that even when activists are pushing for policy changes consistent with those publicly supported by senior Chinese officials, the officials want to ensure they are the only ones defining the agenda.

"The leadership does not want any civic initiatives that it cannot control," she said. "The authorities want to be the one at the driver’s seat when it comes to reforms. In other words, topdown reforms are the only reforms acceptable, whether they are legal reforms, economic reforms, anticorruption campaigns and so on; but bottom-up initiatives are treated with utmost suspicion, more so than it has ever been."

Officials have also grown more wary of grass-roots activists because of their ability to use social net-

working tools and mobile phone apps to organize crowds quickly and in unpredictable ways. The Feminist Five, for example, had since 2011 directed theatrical street actions ranging from occupying men’s public restrooms as a way of pushing for more toilets for women, to wearing wedding dresses with fake blood to draw attention to domestic abuse. They had been using WeChat, a popular messaging app, to organize the anti-sexual-harassment campaign to be carried out nationwide around March 8, International Women’s Day. Wang Zheng, a professor of history and women’s studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said she first saw word of the campaign on WeChat, which feminists have used to form many groups and could be used to mobilize people.

Wang is among those who see some hopeful signs in how the case of the five women unfolded. She said Tuesday in a series of email exchanges that the fact that they were released rather than charged with crimes "shows clearly that there were officials in the system who pushed very hard towards a positive solution."

She added that "a core group of young activists who have the leadership capacity and deep commitment to social justice is emerging in this historical event."

"That said, I am fully aware of the grave challenges that confront Chinese feminists," she said. "As long as nongovernmental organizations’ activism for advocating and implementing laws relating to gender equality or any other issue is defined as criminal, there will be no safe zone for feminists as well as activists working in other realms for social justice."

400 migrants drowned ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME — Survivors of a capsized migrant boat off Libya have told the aid group Save the Children that an estimated 400 people are believed to have drowned. Even before the survivors were interviewed, Italy’s Coast Guard said it assumed that there were many dead given the size of the ship and that nine bodies had been found.

The coast guard had helped rescue some 144 people on Monday and immediately launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others. No other survivors or bodies have been recovered.

On Tuesday, Save the Children said its interviews with survivors who arrived in Reggio Calabria indicated there may have been 400 others who drowned.

The U.N. refugee agency said the toll was likely given the size of the ship.

The deaths, if confirmed, would add to the skyrocketing numbers of migrants lost at sea: The International Organization of Migration estimates that up to 3,072 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean in 2014, compared to an estimate of 700 in 2013. But the IOM says even those estimates could be low.

Overall, since the year 2000, IOM estimates that over 22,000 migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Europe.

Earlier Tuesday, the European Union’s top migration official said the EU must quickly adapt to the growing numbers of migrants trying to reach its shores, as new figures showed that more than 7,000 migrants have been plucked from the Mediterranean in the last four days.

“The unprecedented

influx of migrants at our borders, and in particular refugees, is unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly,” the EU’s commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told lawmakers in Brussels.

More than 280,000 people entered the European Union illegally last year. Many came from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia and made the perilous sea journey from conflict-torn Libya.

European coast guards have been overwhelmed by the numbers. As the weather has begun to warm, even more people have been fleeing conflict and poverty for better lives in Europe.

Of the 7,000 migrants saved in the Mediterranean since Friday, “over 3,500 are still on board rescue vessels and being taken to Italy and so far, 11 bodies were recovered,” EU migration spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said.

Meanwhile the EU’s Frontex border agency said that people smugglers trying to recover a wooden boat that had been carrying migrants had fired shots into the air to warn away a coast guard vessel.

The incident on Monday happened some 60 nautical miles off the coast of Libya after an Italian tugboat and the coast guard ship came to the rescue of 250 migrants.

The coast guard vessel was already carrying 342 migrants from a previous rescue.

It’s at least the second incident of this kind, raising concern for the safety of rescue workers and migrants alike.

Late next month, Avramopoulos is expected to unveil a new EU strategy aimed at tackling the migrant wave.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

US stocks rise thanks to oil

By BERNARD CONDON ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Rising oil prices helped push the stock market mostly higher on Tuesday, but the gains were tiny as investors weighed a mix of encouraging and disappointing earnings reports.

Stocks fell shortly after the open, then headed mostly higher along with the price of oil. Chevron led the Dow Jones industrial average higher with a 2.2 percent gain.

A jump in JPMorgan Chase after the bank reported strong first-quarter earnings also helped push the blue-chip index higher.

Wells Fargo slumped after reporting that its earnings had fallen.

The Dow Jones rose 59.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,036.70. The Standard & Poor’s 500 climbed 3.41 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,095.84. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.96 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,977.29.

Stocks have generally been rising this year, but the gains have been modest as several factors from labor strife at West Coast ports, bad weather, a slump in oil prices and a strengthening dollar have dug into earnings. A stronger currency makes profits earned overseas by U.S. multinationals worth less when translated back to dollars.

Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report a 3.5 percent slump in earnings per share in the first quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ. That would be the first quarterly drop since the U.S. was climbing out of recession in 2009.

Many financial analysts and stock strategists are shrugging off the profit hit

Photo by Richard Drew | AP

Jonathan Corpina, right, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. as temporary. But not everyone is convinced, says LPL Financial economist John Canally, and worry is beginning to creep in.

“What will be the further impact of the strong dollar?

If you’re an energy company, what do you do if oil prices don’t rise? There are no answers yet,” said Canally. “And that uncertainly is what markets don’t like and so trading is choppy.”

The impact of stronger dollar was seen in Johnson & Johnson’s results released Tuesday. The company said a stronger dollar was partly to blame for an 8.6 percent drop in its firstquarter profit. The company also cut its full-year profit forecast. Shares fell three cents to $100.52.

Investors will have more results to mull over in the coming days. Bank of America, Delta Air Lines and Netflix report on Wednesday, giant money manager BlackRock and Goldman Sachs on Thursday and General Electric and IBM on Friday.

In total, 35 members of the S&P 500 are expected to report this week.

In economic news, the Commerce Department re-

ported that retail sales rose 0.9 percent last month, after declining 0.5 percent in February. The rebound suggests that shoppers are returning after an unseasonably cold winter froze sales.

But the rise was less than economists had expected, and it follows other indicators that the U.S. economic growth is slowing. A jobs report released earlier this month showed that hiring had slowed dramatically in the March.

“It’s remarkable that we’ve had relatively weak economic data but the market has held up,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. He added, “Investors are willing to look through that.”

Among stocks making moves: JPMorgan Chase gained 97 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $63.04 after reporting earnings rose 11 percent in the first quarter.

The nation’s largest bank by assets was helped by strong results in its currency, commodities and fixedincome trading businesses.

Norfolk Southern slumped 4.2 percent after forecasting disappointing

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If interested in purchasing a ticket or a table, please contact Laura Kim at 956-794-3130.

(Gabriela A. Treviño may be reached at 956-728-2579 or gtrevino@lmtonline.com)

MAYOR Continued from Page 1A Democratic in presidential election years; in 2012, Hinojosa won with an even wider margin of victory — 60 percent of the vote.

President Obama carried the district by 16 points in 2008 and 2012.

Flipping the seat would be major coup for the GOP, which is looking to bolster its appeal to Hispanic voters. All but one of Texas’ Hispanic members of the U.S. House are Democrats.

But Villarreal said his

campaign could contribute to the changing face of the Republican Party.

“A ‘Republican,’ I believe, is being defined as we speak,” Villarreal said.

“And I think the process that I’m going through is going to help form the definition of what a real Republican is.”

Hinojosa has also picked up a primary challenger in Mission police officer Paul Williams, who announced his candidacy

last week.

Villarreal could face questions about his residency in his bid for CD-15, which doesn’t cover his longtime home base of Rio Grande City. Soon after resigning as mayor in late March, Villarreal said he moved to Edinburg “on a permanent basis.”

“By no means do I not feel like I’m not from there," he said. "I’m from a region called the Rio Grande Valley.”

first-quarter results after the close of trading on Monday. It said demand for coal shipments for export fell.

Shares dropped $4.38 to $100.49. The railroad company reports results on April 29.

Wells Fargo fell 40 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $54.19 after reporting firstquarter earnings fell slightly from the same period a year earlier. Gains from trading and mortgages were offset by lower income from other sources, such as card fees and deposit service charges.

Avon Products surged 14 percent after The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with matter, reported that the beauty company is considering “strategic alternatives” that could include selling its North American business. Shares rose $1.14 to $9.15.

The rise in oil Tuesday came on indications that U.S. oil production in places like North Dakota is beginning to slip as a result of a sharp pullback in drilling activity in recent months.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.38 to close at $53.29 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 50 cents to close at $58.43 in London.

In other futures trading on the NYMEX: Wholesale gasoline rose 3.1 cents to close at $1.836 a gallon.

Heating oil rose 1.9 cents to close at $1.802 a gallon.

Natural gas rose 1.9 cents to close at $2.530 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In currency markets, the dollar slipped to 119.37 yen from 120.32 yen. The euro rose to $1.0655 from $1.0597.

Fast-food workers to rally

By CRAIG GIAMMONA BLOOMBERG NEWS

Fast-food workers will hold rallies in 230 U.S. cities Wednesday in their biggest protest yet for higher pay and union rights.

The events were organized by the union-backed Fight for $15 campaign, which is demanding that McDonald’s Corp. and other fast-food chains raise their minimum wages to $15 and let workers unionize. The protests will be the largest action to date for a movement begun in November 2012, organizers said.

McDonald’s said earlier this month it would raise wages and offer paid vacation at U.S. company-owned stores, which account for about 10 percent of its more than 14,000 domestic restaurants. The move came after a handful of major retail chains announced wage hikes amid a tightening labor market.

McDonald’s critics weren’t mollified, saying the announcement was a public-relations stunt designed to fend off the growing protest movement. Instead, McDonald’s emboldened the protesters, said Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union, the labor group backing the rallies.

“It showed that if we come together things can change,” Henry said in an interview. “There’s momentum behind working people joining together to improve their lives — that’s what this movement is about.”

In its pledge to improve wages and benefits, McDonald’s joined a growing list of major U.S. employers. In

recent months, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and TJX Cos. have all vowed to boost pay to at least $9 an hour this year.

About 3.13 million workers prepare and serve food in the U.S., earning an average of $9.19 an hour, according to government data.

McDonald’s said it would raise pay at its companyowned stores by at least $1 above the local minimum wage. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based chain expects workers to earn more than $10 an hour, on average, by the end of 2016. McDonald’s said about 90,000 employees would get the raises. They won’t be given to the approximately 660,000 employees at U.S. restaurants run by franchisees.

The Fight for $15 movement began in 2012, when about 200 workers walked off the job in New York.

The protests have since expanded beyond fast-food to include workers from other low-wage industries, including childcare and home health workers. On Wednesday, adjunct professors and airport workers also are expected to join the rallies.

McDonald’s has said the protests are staged events and that it doesn’t set wages at its franchise restaurants.

“Approximately 90 percent of our U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by franchisees who set wages according to job level and local and federal laws,” Heidi Barker, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement.

“McDonald’s does not determine the wages set by our more than 3,000 franchisees.”

BANKERS Continued from Page 1A the south lawn of the Texas capitol, is the largest of its kind on any state capitol grounds and honors the contributions of Texas’ early Spanish American settlers and their descendants. Due to his 12-year effort in developing and emplacing the monument on state capitol grounds, Ramirez was named Mr. South Texas 2014.

“IBC-Zapata felt strongly that as one of the leaders and spokespersons for Hispanic athletes in the NFL, Garza was well-deserved to be recognized with a monument that is a touchstone for all Texans, of all races and cultures, who take pride in the state and its roots,” a news release from IBC states.

The bank added: “IBC

… shows support for all athletes. They have also worked with the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and San Antonio Spurs.”

“IBC believes the discipline and commitment required to be a professional athlete are similar attributes we need to be successful bankers providing quality customer service,” Ramirez said.

SMUGGLING Continued from Page 1A agents pulled over the green Explorer.

The driver of the blue Explorer, Mendoza-Mendoza, claimed his vehicle was overheating and added he needed water. But agents later determined that Mendoza-Mendoza did not have legal status to be in the country.

Moments later, federal authorities encountered the black Expedition driven by Zavala by Siesta and Weslaco lanes in Zapata. Agents also said they detained three suspected illegal immigrants in the nearby area.

Court records allege Zavala is “a facilitator/orga-

nizer/scout operating for the Zavala smuggling organization.” The organization is considerably affecting areas in Zapata County, such as Las Lajas, Las Tortolas, Clareno and Blanca Vela.

(César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015