The Zapata Times 5/6/2015

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Veterans get choices Program allows visits to closer facilities THE ZAPATA TIMES

Surrounded by Zapata County veterans, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced Tuesday the expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Choice Program for eligible veterans who need medical assistance.

Cuellar explained that under the expansion of these services, veterans who live more than 40 miles from the nearest Veterans Affairs facility may use a closer medical facility as long as they receive preauthorization from TriWest, the provider of services for the Veterans Affairs.

“It isn’t fair for many of these veterans to travel many miles just to get medical attention,” Cuellar said. “From now on, if a veteran lives farther than 40 miles from a VA clinic, all they have to do is get preauthorization from TriWest to visit another facility and receive the care they deserve. This means

that veterans in Zapata County can now get the services they need, and deserve, here at home.”

For example, veterans living in Zapata have to travel to the VA clinic in Laredo to receive medical attention. Under these new services, if they live more than 40 miles away from this facility, all they have to do is call TriWest to get preauthorization and visit a nearer hospital or clinic that is part of their network.

The 40-mile calculation is based on the number of miles the veteran has to physically drive to get to the nearest VA Clinic. The 40-mile straight-line distance is no longer used to calculate the length of travel.

For more information on the First Choice Program or if a veteran does not remember receiving a card or has questions of the services, they can call 1-866606-8198.

More infor-

Courtesy photo

U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar addresses veterans in Zapata on Tuesday afternoon. Cuellar announced the expansion of the Department of Veterans Affairs Choice Program for eligible veterans who need medical assistance.

See VA HOSPITAL PAGE 11A

PUBLIC EDUCATION

GARLAND ATTACK

DELIVERING EDUCATION

Doubts raised in shooting

Navajo Nation to copy Tech Center method THE ZAPATA TIMES

Congressman Henry Cuellar spoke with Rex Lee Jim, vice president of the Navajo Nation, David M. Brown, a graduate student at Harvard Medical School Global Health Delivery Program, as well as representatives from the Economic Development Administration in Austin and Zapata County at the Zapata County Technical and Advanced Education Center in Zapata on Tuesday to discuss the process behind building the ZTAC facility and the opportunities it has allotted the residents of area.

The Navajo Nation plans to replicate the success of the ZTAC by building a similar facility within the Navajo Reservation of New Mexico.

In 2007, Cuellar announced a $1 million grant from the EDA to build a state-of-the-art modern facility for the benefit of the people of Zapata. Combined with efforts and investments from federal, state and local partners, the ZTAC was built and officially opened its doors in 2011 and has been used to provide educational and training opportunities for the residents of Zapata County and the surrounding area.

“I’m glad the Navajo Nation wants to replicate the success we have had here in Zapata with the ZTAC,” Cuellar said. “This facility has given the community more choices and opportunities to educate and train

both their students and their workforce. It is one of the best investments we have made for the people of Zapata.”

During the summer, an average of 90 students take college courses at the ZTAC in subjects ranging from English, history, Texas and U.S. history and math from Laredo Community College via videoconferencing and in-person with adjunct professors. It has also offered varied classes with Texas A&M International University, Texas A&M University and Texas State Technical College.

Additionally, the Zapata County Independent School District offers college preparatory courses for high school students, who can earn up to 24 hours of college credit by the time they graduate.

The facility also serves as a community center for various meetings, trainings and workshops, including outreach and enrollment events for the Affordable Care Act sponsored by Congressman Cuellar. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement also uses the facility to train local officers, and the Mexican Consulate uses the facility to help provide information and promote wellness for Mexican nationals living in Zapata County.

The Navajo Nation is exploring building a facility within the Navajo res-

See NAVAJO PAGE 11A

By JULIE WATSON AND RYAN VAN VELZER ASSOCIATED PRESS

Courtesy photo

Congressman Henry Cuellar and Rex Lee Jim, vice president of the Navajo Nation met Tuesday in Zapata to discuss the ZTAC facility.

PHOENIX — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Tuesday for the assault on a Texas cartoon contest that featured images of the Prophet Muhammad, but counterterrorism experts said IS has a history of asserting involvement in attacks in which it had no operational role.

That suggests the two gunmen could have carried out their own lone wolf-style strike before they were shot and killed at the scene of Sunday’s shooting in the Dallas suburb of Garland.

Federal officials identified the pair as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, both Americans who lived in Phoenix. Federal authorities had been scrutinizing Simpson’s social media presence recently but had no indication he was plotting an attack, said one federal official familiar with the investigation.

Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said a Twitter account linked to Simpson included images of Anwar Awlaki, a radical cleric killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen.

Among the hashtags used by the account was “#texasattack.” And one of the final tweets was: “May Allah accept us as mujahideen,” or holy warriors.

“Was he on the radar? Sure he was,” McCaul said from Turkey, where he was leading a congressional delegation.

The evidence does not indicate the attack was directed by the Islamic State group, “but rather inspired by them,” said McCaul, who was briefed on the investigation by federal law enforcement officials. “This is the textbook case of what we’re most concerned about.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said U.S. officials are working to counter terrorist efforts to use social media to radicalize individuals in the United States.

IS recently urged those in the United States, Europe and Australia who cannot safely travel to fight in Syria and Iraq to carry out jihad in

See SHOOTING

PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, May 6

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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

19th annual VMT Journalism Students’ Photography Exhibition continues through Saturday, May 9, at the Laredo Area Community Foundation Gallery at the Laredo Center for the Arts. Contact Mark Webber at mwebber004@laredoisd.org.

Thursday, May 7 Elysian Social Club regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Contact Herlinda Nieto-Dubuisson at 956-285-3126.

The Laredo Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 100th anniversary at the Laredo Energy Arena from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Music, dinner, cocktails and guest Terry Bradshaw, co-host of NFL Sunday. Contact Liz Martinez at liz@laredochamber.com or at 722-9895. Cost is $150.

The Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society and the Laredo Public Library will hold the “AYER” Historical and Genealogical Exhibit at the Laredo Public Library on Calton Road from noon to 7 p.m. Contact Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter at 722-3497.

Saturday, May 9 Operation Feed the Homeless. 2 p.m. at Jarvis Plaza. Make a donation or volunteer time. Visit Facebook: Operation Feed the Homeless.

Hogs-n-Dogs & Vatos-n-Gatos Concert & Cook-off Fundraiser at LIFE Fairgrounds. The event will feature 10 Tejano bands, the Olate Dogs and Lone Star Sanctioned Cook-off, pet adoptions from LAPS and kids fingerprinting. Tickets are $5 and kids 6 and under are free. Also, $5000 in prize money for cook-off. LAPS is looking for cooks and food vendors. Call 956-2064229.

Tuesday, May 12 Rock wall climbing from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. People of all ages are invited. Climbers must bring an ID and sign the release form, weather permitting. Contact John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2520.

Sunday, May 17 St. Patrick Church Men’s Club scholarship steak asado plate sale, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Patrick grounds, 555 Del Mar Blvd. $5 per plate. Call Salo Otero at 956-324-2432.

Tuesday, May 19 Rock wall climbing from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. People of all ages are invited. Climbers must bring an ID and sign the release form, weather permitting. Contact John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2520.

Thursday, May 21 Elysian Social Club will be hosting its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Contact Herlinda Nieto-Dubuisson at 956-285-3126.

Tuesday, May 26 Rock wall climbing from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. People of all ages are invited. Climbers must bring an ID and sign the release form, weather permitting. Contact John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2520.

The Color of Music, a Ballroom Gala-Dance at the Laredo Center for the Arts, 500 San Agustin, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts office at 820 Main and at the Laredo Center for the Arts. Tickets will also be sold at the door. Proceeds will benefit the student activity fund. Contact Robert M. Lopez at 273-7811 or rmlopez004@laredoisd.org.

Monday, June 1 Monthly Laredo Soup Dinner from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Holding Institute Community Center, 1102 Santa Maria. For a $5 donation, attendees receive soup, salad, bread and a vote for one of four presentations ranging from art, urban agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurs, education, technology and more. At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources, enjoy art and vote on the project they think benefits the city the most. Ballots are counted and the winner goes home with all of the money raised to carry out their project.

Photo by Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News | AP

Margaret Lindow, left, stencils a crab onto a trash barrel for Gabriella Blevins, 6, to paint at Stingaree DownUnder at Crystal Beach, on Saturday. Every business on the Bolivar Peninsula will have a trash barrel painted with custom artwork by some of its residents in an effort to clean up the tourist-popular area.

Trash cans get artwork ASSOCIATED PRESS

CRYSTAL BEACH — Every business on the Bolivar Peninsula will have a trash barrel painted with custom artwork by residents in an effort to clean up the touristpopular area.

Parents and their children painted coastal and anti-littering themes on the barrels Saturday as part of a kickoff event to help promote beautifying the small community, the Galveston County Daily News reported. Some barrels were adorned with messages such as “Litter makes us crabby.”

“The majority of these kids live on the peninsula,” said Brenda Flanagan, a Boli-

var resident since 2005. “The ones who didn’t live here either had grandparents who live here or their families have second homes here.”

Residents hope Bolivar will become an official affiliate with Keep Texas Beautiful, which would allow its local chapter to apply for and receive grants to help improve the community, Flanagan said.

She said residents want to also improve gateway entrances to help better identify the peninsula and enhance its park areas by adding plants and some flower beds.

“We hope this is just the beginning,” said longtime resident Carlis Cole.

Storms leave behind high water, close schools

Cruz to address Georgia state party convention

Misdemeanor assault in student’s death

TAHOKA — A West Texas school district has called off classes for the day after more than 9 inches of rain left behind flooded roads.

The Tahoka Independent School District canceled classes Tuesday. Superintendent George McFarland cited unsafe travel conditions.

The Texas Department of Transportation reports some roads closures south of Lubbock due to flooding, in areas near Tahoka and Lamesa.

ATLANTA — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is slated to be the keynote speaker for a dinner at the Georgia Republican Party’s state convention this month.

The state party announced Tuesday that Cruz will address the convention’s dinner event on May 15.

Cruz joins two previously announced convention speakers: presidential candidate and Florida senator Marco Rubio and potential candidate and New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

NEW BRAUNFELS — A 16year-old Central Texas boy has been convicted of misdemeanor assault in a juvenile court in the attack that injured a fellow high school student’s head fatally.

A Comal County jury deliberated about 10 hours before returning the “true” verdict against the youth, whose identity is withheld because he’s a juvenile. Prosecutors had sought a murder or manslaughter conviction.

State withdraws ‘Havoc’ trademark applications RICHMOND, Va. — The University of Texas has abandoned plans to trademark “HORNS HAVOC” and “HOUSE OF HAVOC.” The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Texas withdrew its applications to federally register the phrases after being met with backlash from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The men’s basketball team at Virginia Commonwealth University had been synonymous with the word “Havoc.”

NTSB: Chopper hoist was spinning before deadly fall AUSTIN — Investigators say a hoist suspended from a medical helicopter, which was carrying a nurse and patient from a hiking trail, was spinning just before the nurse fell to her death.

Kristin McLain, 46, secured the patient in a carrier and that the two were suspended from the helicopter when the hoist began to spin.

The report does not say how far she fell.

Panel clears officer fired in excessive-force case DALLAS — A grand jury has declined to indict a Dallas police officer fired for using excessive force in a videotaped incident in which a suspected panhandler was pinned to the ground.

The Dallas County grand jury decided not to formally charge former Officer Jesus Martinez with the misdemeanor official oppression charge leveled after the incident last June, which a passer-by recorded on cellphone video.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Law allows gun owners to use deadly force SALT LAKE CITY — Police say two Utah men fatally shot would-be criminals a few miles apart over the weekend, but neither shooter is expected to face charges in a gun-friendly state that was one of the first to pass a “Stand Your Ground”-style law more than 20 years ago.

In the first shooting, a man who holds a concealed carry permit intervened when a carjacker jumped into a woman’s vehicle in Orem on Saturday morning.

Hours later, a homeowner in Pleasant Grove shot a man who pounded on his front door in the middle of the night, climbed to a second-floor balcony and attempted to force his way in, police say.

Fans push to preserve Jim Morrison’s home ALBUQUERQUE,

N.M.

—

Today is Wednesday, May 6, the 126th day of 2015. There are 239 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On May 6, 1965, after a Rolling Stones concert in Clearwater, Florida, was cut short by rowdy fans, Keith Richards composed the opening guitar rift of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which he co-wrote with Mick Jagger. (The song was recorded less than a week later, and the single was released in the United States on June 6.)

On this date: In 1840, Britain’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, officially went into circulation five days after its introduction.

In 1889, the Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower.

In 1910, Britain’s Edwardian era ended with the death of King Edward VII; he was succeeded by George V. In 1915, Babe Ruth hit his first major-league home run as a player for the Boston Red Sox. Actor-writer-director Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration began operating under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.

In 1942, during World War II some 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to Japanese forces.

In 1954, medical student Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, in 3:59.4.

In 1960, Britain’s Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey.

(They divorced in 1978.)

In 1981, Yale architecture student Maya Ying Lin was named winner of a competition to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In 1994, former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he’d sexually harassed her in 1991. (Jones reached a settlement with Clinton in November 1998.)

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand formally opened the Channel Tunnel between their countries.

In 2002, Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed in Hilversum, Netherlands. (Volkert van der Graaf was later convicted of killing Fortuyn and was sentenced to 18 years in prison — he was released on May 2, 2014.)

Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays is 84. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is 81. Rock singer Bob Seger is 70. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 70. Gospel singer-comedian Lulu Roman is 69. Actor Alan Dale is 68. Actor Ben Masters is 68. Actor Richard Cox is 67. Actor Gregg Henry is 63. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 62. TV personality Tom Bergeron is 60. Actress Roma Downey is 55. Rock singer John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 55. Actress Julianne Phillips is 55. Actor-director George Clooney is 54. Actor Clay O’Brien is 54.

Thought for Today: “Form ever follows function.” — Louis Sullivan, American architect (1856-1924).

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Science teacher Jazmine Blake, left, and school counselor Samuel Perkins, right, eat ice cream outside of their school in Durham, N. C., on Monday, for teacher appreciation week.

Fans of Jim Morrison, the late singer for The Doors, are in a push to preserve his childhood home in New Mexico.

A group of fans want his northeast Albuquerque home designated a historical site and placed in a list of tourist attrac-

tions in the city.

Historian and fan Anthony Gomez says because Morrison spent important years in New Mexico’s biggest city, his childhood home should be protected as a remembrance.

— Compiled from AP reports

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State

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Legislature: Abortion, first-time drunk drivers ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The battle over abortion in Texas returned to the floor where Democrat Wendy Davis staged a nearly 13-hour filibuster as the Senate on Tuesday approved eliminating coverage for the procedure under plans purchased through the federal marketplace.

The measure is not unique: More than two dozen states already have similar bans for coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act, and abortion-rights groups have expressed surprise that Texas isn’t on that list already.

But it was notably the first bill related to abortion — a quiet issue so far in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s first legislative session — that the Republicancontrolled Senate has passed since Davis’ filibuster in 2013 catapulted her to national stardom and her supporters packed the Capitol.

The scene this time was far different. The Senate gallery was practically empty, and the bill quickly passed along party lines after Democrats raised only brief objections.

“You’re not going to be requiring other people across the spectrum to pay for a benefit that they don’t believe in,” said Republican Sen. Larry Taylor, the bill’s author.

The measure now moves to the House.

Less than a month remains in the 140-day session. Two years after Texas ultimately adopted sweeping abortion restrictions over clinics despite Davis’ filibuster, Republicans are pushing a mostly smaller encore of additional limits for Abbott to sign.

Abortion-rights groups say roughly 17 clinics are currently open for business in Texas. That number would plummet by half if the 5th U.S. Circuit Court

Photo by Tony Gutierrez/file | AP

This aerial photo shows the remains of a nursing home, left, apartment complex, center, and fertilizer plant, right, destroyed by an explosion in West, on April 18, 2013. One chamber of the Texas Legislature passed the first measure to regulate the storage of chemicals since the fertilizer plant exploded more than two years ago, killing 15 people and devastating a wide area around the plant. of Appeals upholds a portion of the 2013 law that requires abortion clinics to meet hospital-level operating standards.

A decision from that court may still be weeks or months away.

Taylor said women could still purchase supplemental insurance that would cover abortion but didn’t give a ballpark cost. Most abortions occur in the first trimester and cost about $500.

Twenty-five states limit abortion coverage under federal marketplace plans, and 10 of those states also restrict abortion coverage under private health plans, said Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst with the Guttmacher Institute, a re-

search organization that supports legal access to abortion.

House beefs up requirements for first-time druken drivers Under a bill that has passed the Texas House, convicted drunken drivers whose licenses are suspended may still drive — but only while sober.

Dallas Republican Rep. Jason Villalba’s proposal cleared the chamber 143-1 on Tuesday, but still needs Senate approval.

Currently, a driver’s license is suspended after someone’s first conviction for drunken driving. Villalba said that doesn’t stop people from driving, though.

His measure would re-

quire those wishing to drive with a suspended license pass a breathalyzer test administered by an ignition interlock device. It ensures a car won’t start if the driver trying to operate it is drunk.

The change would only apply to first-time offenders with low blood-alcohol levels at the time of arrest. Ignition interlocks are already required for other convicted drunken drivers.

Senate OKs cutting tuition benefits for veterans The Texas Senate has approved slashing higher education benefits for veterans who are given free tuition for military service.

Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell said Tues-

day that the Hazlewood Act had become financially unsustainable without reforms. Costs for the program climbed nearly sixfold over the past four years and topped $169 million in 2014.

More dependents have begun receiving free tuition under Hazlewood than veterans.

The new guidelines would exclude veterans who haven’t been Texas residents for eight years.

Veterans or their children would also now be required to use the benefit within 15 years of leaving military service.

The Senate passed the bill 24-7. Critics say the cuts send a signal that law-

makers are reneging on promises made to veterans.

The changes have yet to clear the House.

On deck The House heads back to work at 10 a.m. today and the Senate is in an hour later.

Quote of the day “You can talk from now until Jerusalem comes and opens up and closes up again,” said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, to Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, who spoke on the floor for 10 straight minutes, ensuring that a bill backed by Thompson couldn’t pass the House via a legislative mechanism to move measures quickly and with minimal debate.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

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

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

He can be timid, bashful or introverted Everyone knows someone who is introverted, timid, shy or bashful. Of course, none of those labels imply criminality or wrongdoing of any kind.

Anyone who has known me for the past 30-35 years would laugh at any inference of timidity or bashfulness on my part. It’s true that I’m no longer a wallflower at most social gatherings, particularly if there are at least a few people there whom I know. At a gathering of journalists, especially country-small town newspaper folks, I’m right at home and might even win the door prize for gregariousness.

Due to the business I’m in and the events that profession has tossed me into, I’ve managed to overcome a great deal of my natural inclinations and have even ridded myself of fright at the idea of public speaking.

However, (you knew that was coming, didn’t you) I came by shyness quite naturally. My mother was painfully shy. And, since she’s now helping St. Peter control Heaven’s Gate, I can openly discuss her timidity and how, to some degree, she overcame it.

Mother grew up a farm girl. Her father died when she was three, her stepfather when she was 23. She married at 19 to my just-asshy father. To underscore that double dose of introversion, their wedding ceremony took place as they sat in the back seat of a car on Christmas Day, 1935, as the minister stood in six inches of snow and leaned through the car’s back door and performed the wedding ceremony.

How did I and my three brothers happen? I have no idea.

Mom loved Southern Gospel music. We attended a country Missionary Baptist Church where the Stamps Quartet was mentioned in the same reverent breath as “evangelical” and “Christianity.” The soft-cover church songbooks (that’s hymnal to you tie-clad, choir-robewearing folks) were products of the Stamps Publishing Company.

Of course, when you attend a one-room, frame church and the average attendance is 20, everyone has to sing the gospel hymns chosen by that Sunday’s song leader. It was usually a man with a booming if untrained voice

who directed the music with an arm extended and moving like a pump handle on a water well. Sometimes the song leader and the pianist (“piano player” in a farm community church of the 1940s-50s) weren’t together but, for that matter, neither were the 20 voices in the congregation.

Mother sang what she termed a timid alto.

Though I couldn’t read music (still can’t), I attempted to provide a male sound to the mostly female congregation singing by chirping along on a guess-at-theright-note bass. I like the sound of bass even though I was told by my high school choir director that I was a tenor.

Singing bass was just purely cool … not to mention MANLY. But, I felt my voice had changed enough and was “low” enough to qualify me as a bass (and it really is deep enough now).

Mostly I mumbled, though. There we are with that timid business again.

However, I didn’t want to steal Mother’s “musical thunder,” so I declared that I was a “bashful bass.” One of my brothers suggested that I should consider the reference to be “butchered bass.”

At one point in Mother’s life, she decided she needed to do something in addition to being a housewife and mother. She decided to be … TA-DA! ... an Avon lady. I guess the idea of selling cosmetics moved her at least part of the way out of her shyness and she “peddled” Avon for a few years.

We boys may have driven her out of the business though, because we walked around the house shouting, “Ding-dong, Avon calling.”

She threatened us with a belt. That always got our attention and usually mugged us.

Yes, Mother was a bit shy in some respects, but she was greatly respected, not only by her family, but by everyone who ever knew her. Shyness, timidity or bashfulness didn’t dampen that one bit.

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.

COLUMN

No reason to veto free speech

By SONNY BUNCH SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST

Free speech is under assault around the globe.

Consider, for instance, the vow from British Labour leader Ed Miliband to “outlaw” language deemed offensive to Muslims.

“We are going to make (Islamophobia) an aggravated crime,” Miliband said. “We will challenge prejudice before it grows, whether in schools, universities or on social media.”

Meanwhile, others in the United Kingdom are pushing for anti-Semites on social media to be treated like sex offenders: banned from services such as Twitter and Facebook for the good of all.

Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Ed Miliband’s Britain share a disdain for freedom of expression that might unduly influence others: Russia in December passed a law forbidding the propagation of “Nazi propaganda.”

One of the casualties of that law was “Maus,” Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about life under the Third Reich. Because its cover displays the main characters cowering beneath a swastika, the book was pulled from store shelves.

“I’m afraid that this is a harbinger of the new arbitrariness of rules in Russia,” Spiegelman told

NPR. “The result will be like what happened in the obscenity rulings that closed down a lot of theater plays.”

Russia isn’t the only entity to enact ridiculously overbroad bans on swastika-related expression.

Closer to home, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education recently highlighted the case of a Jewish George Washington University student who was suspended for displaying a swastika he had purchased while in India. (The symbol has a very different meaning for Hindus than it does white-power types.)

The student hoped to educate his peers about the symbol’s history. Instead he got an expulsion notice.

In some cases — such as Paris, where the satirists working at Charlie Hebdo paid for their commitment to free speech with their lives or Texas, where an allegedly Islamic State sympathizing gunman opened up on a “Draw Muhammad” event — free speech is quite literally under fire. And the response from our intellectual class has been less than impressive.

After the PEN American Center decided to give its Freedom of Expression of Courage award to the Charlie Hebdo staffers who martyred themselves for the cause of freedom of expression, several of PEN’s most prestigious

members voiced their objections. Indeed, the critically acclaimed novelist Peter Carey suggested that supporting the freedom of expression of those who are threatened with death is little more than a “political position.”

Carey is a member of the “But Brigade,” as Salman Rushdie has dubbed those who proclaim their love for freedom of speech only to qualify it moments later by denouncing those with whom they disagree.

“The moment somebody says, ’Yes, I believe in free speech, but ...’ I stop listening,” Rushdie told a crowd at Vermont’s Ira Allen Chapel in January. ‘”I believe in free speech, but people should behave themselves. I believe in free speech, but we shouldn’t upset anybody. I believe in free speech, but let’s not go too far.’ The point about it is the moment you limit free speech, it’s not free speech. ... You can’t slice it up, otherwise it ceases to be freedom. You can dislike Charlie Hebdo. Not all their drawings were funny. You can dislike (them). But the fact that you dislike them has got nothing to do with their right to speak. The fact that you dislike them certainly doesn’t in any way excuse their murder. And the idea that within days of this murder, sections of the left as well as the right have turned against these, these fallen artists,

to vilify them, is, I think, disgraceful.”

Granting the right to ban some speech while protecting the rest can lead to all sorts of odd outcomes (like, say, banning “Maus” under a law forbidding Nazi propaganda).

Additionally, framing such concerns as matters of public safety rather than matters of principle empowers fringe elements and transforms the heckler’s veto into the assassins’ veto. Ironically, we make the world a more dangerous place each time we cede a sliver of speech to killers.

Now, Rushdie is probably just one of those free speech fundamentalists so hated by the Garry Trudeaus and Matt Wuerkers and Eric Posners of the world. His words likely mean little to those who make the (false) argument that there’s a distinction between “free speech” and “hate speech.”

But I’m old enough to remember when it was not just the right of artists to push boundaries and make people uncomfortable: it was their sacred duty.

And for those of us who value freedom of expression — for those of us who think that it is wrong to use the power of the government or the gun of a killer to silence artists and others who make people uncomfortable — these are very troubling times.

EDITORIAL

Russia’s Putin busy rewriting history to suit himself THE WASHINGTON POST

President Vladimir Putin recently was interviewed for a fawning Russian television documentary on his decade and a half in power.

Putin expressed the view that the West would like

Russia to be down at the heels.

“I sometimes I get the impression that they love us when they need to send us humanitarian aid. . . . the so-called ruling circles, elites — political and economic — of those countries,

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they love us when we are impoverished, poor and when we come hat in hand.

As soon as we start declaring some interests of our own, they feel that there is some element of geopolitical rivalry.”

Earlier, in March, Putin

warned that “Western special services continue their attempts at using public, nongovernmental and politicized organizations to pursue their own objectives, primarily to discredit the authorities and destabilize the situation in Russia.”

Putin’s remarks reflect a deep-seated paranoia. It would be easy to dismiss this kind of rhetoric as intended for domestic consumption, an attempt to whip up support for his war adventure in Ukraine.

The fact is that thousands

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

of Americans went to Russia hoping to help its people attain a better life. The Russian people benefit from this benevolence even now, and, above Putin’s self-serving hysterics, they ought to hear the truth: The United States did not come to bury you.

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

Another movie challenge awaits Tom Cruise

By JAKE COYLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — When Janeane Garofalo asked Brad Bird, the director of “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” about Tom Cruise at a recent Tribeca Film Festival event, she peppered Bird with allusions to the Scientology documentary “Going Clear.” Bird called it “a very inside reference,” but Garofalo quickly disagreed.

“Not anymore,” she said.

“That documentary ... wooo!

‘Going Clear,’ we could talk about that all day!”

That’s probably not what Tom Cruise or the makers of the next “Mission: Impossible” film, “Rogue Nation,” want to hear. “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” Alex Gibney’s documentary based on the book by the Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Lawrence Wright, was a revelation to many and a certain challenge to Cruise, who in recent years has quieted his public advocacy for Scientology.

The film and book did more than anything before to expose the secretive organization and detail some troubling claims involving Cruise, Scientology’s most famous face. Cruise has yet to say anything publicly about “Going Clear,” a silence that may be difficult to maintain, given the highprofile demands of promoting a summer blockbuster hoping to make some $700 million worldwide.

Cruise’s stardom has long had a Teflon indestructability, having survived one of the most notorious of public-relations disasters in 2005 when he ditched his longtime publicist for his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, a Scientologist; dramatically wooed his eventual third wife, Katie Holmes; and jumped on Oprah Winfrey’s couch.

Ten years later, a documentary may be a seemingly small threat to a global star who has already weathered media storms over his Scientology beliefs. Or “Going Clear” could persist as an acute challenge to Cruise

Photo by Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures | AP

Tom Cruise, right, and Rebecca Ferguson star in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.” at a time when his box-office clout may be waning and in a media age where privacy seldom lasts.

The impact of “Going Clear” has also been unusually large. When it aired on HBO on March 29, shortly after premiering in theaters, it became a topic on Twitter.

Critics called it a “powderkeg” and a “scorching takedown of Scientology.”

Wright and Gibney insist Scientologists are free to believe what they want, but maintain the church should be held accountable for what they claim is frequently abusive treatment. The filmmakers have pressed for change in either Scientology’s tax-exempt status or through its influential celebrity figureheads: Cruise and John Travolta.

“There aren’t very many alternatives and law enforcement agencies are stymied,” says Wright. “What’s left is for journalists to call attention to what’s going on and at least inform people.

We certainly are singling out some celebrities because they bear a moral responsibility and we’re making certain that they have to recognize that.”

Travolta reacted in an April interview while promoting his latest film, “The Forger.” He told The Tampa Bay Times that he wouldn’t watch a documentary “so decidedly negative” when his decades as a Scientologist have been “nothing but brilliant for me.”

“I haven’t experienced anything that the hearsay has (claimed), so why would I communicate something that wasn’t true?” Travolta told the paper. “It wouldn’t make sense, nor would it for Tom, I imagine.”

Cruise’s representative did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

The Church of Scientology

has called the documentary “a one-sided false diatribe” reliant on the testimony of “bitter, vengeful apostates.”

When the trailer for “Rogue Nation” debuted in late March, concerns about Scientology took a back seat to Cruise’s movie stunt prowess. The clip, which has already been watched by more than 7 million on YouTube, featured the remarkable sight of Cruise hanging off the side of an airplane at liftoff — a stunt Cruise performed himself.

Few theater owners at their annual CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas, where Cruise previewed the film, appeared concerned about his drawing power.

“As long as he makes a good film, people are going to come watch it,” said Morris Schulman, president of Texas’ Schulman Theaters Inc. “‘Mission: Impossible’ is a great franchise and we’re excited to have it this summer. Hanging on that plane? That’s pretty spectacular. That’s cool.”

But some believe Cruise

is facing a crossroads. Jeetendr Sehdev, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California and a celebrity branding expert, says people feel increasingly uneasy about Cruise and that his kind of “contrived celebrity” is outdated.

“The documentary is going to have an impact on ‘Mission: Impossible’ when it comes out,” says Sehdev.

“Secrets in Hollywood are really no longer sexy. Audiences are looking for transparency and authenticity in their celebrities more than ever before.”

“Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” which reunites Cruise with Christopher McQuarrie (director of “Jack Reacher” and screenwriter of “Valkerie” and “Edge of Tomorrow”), comes on the heels of several underperforming releases from the 52-year-old actor.

His last three films — “Jack Reacher, “Oblivion” and “Edge of Tomorrow” — have failed to crack $100 million at the North American box office.

Nation

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

Turkey farmer loses big with bird flu 6th hopeful opens 2016 bid for president

By STEVE KARNOWSKI ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS — Lifelong turkey farmer Greg Langmo knew as soon as the young flock that usually clustered around him like curious little puppies turned lethargic and stopped eating that his Minnesota farm had been struck by the bird flu that has shaken the poultry industry.

Part of the loss is financial: Langmo lost more than 30,000 turkeys at his farm near Litchfield, and expects to lose well over $100,000 even after partial government compensation. But a big part is emotional, too, even for large-scale farmers, who take pride in caring for their birds.

“They looked just awesome — clean-feathered and red-headed. They were really a nice flock to be around. We really enjoyed them, and that came to a screeching halt,” Langmo, 57, told The Associated Press.

Bird flu has badly shaken the Midwest poultry industry, which has lost nearly 28 million chickens and turkeys already.

Farmers are facing huge losses, and one plant laid off workers Tuesday because of short supplies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed outbreaks of the pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza virus on more

than 100 Midwest farms since early March. Hardest hit have been Minnesota, the country’s top turkey producing state, and Iowa, the No. 1 egg producer.

Scientists believe migratory waterfowl carry the virus. Wild ducks and geese don’t become sick from it, but can spread it via their droppings. The virus then finds its way into poultry barns despite tight biosecurity, perhaps carried in on workers’ footwear or clothing, or maybe hitchhiking on contaminated dust whipped up by the wind.

The 13-week-old toms Langmo lost were meant to be slaughtered and turned into sandwich meat at around 18 to 19 weeks old. One of Langmo’s employees first noticed that something wasn’t right in one of his barns two weeks ago.

Test results quickly confirmed the devastating news. A few days later, turkeys started getting sick in his two other barns.

While the federal government will compensate Langmo for his birds that were euthanized, he gets nothing for birds killed by the flu itself. No insurance covers such losses either.

Add to that the threat of a resurgence of the virus this fall when birds fly south for the winter and the lack of a vaccine, and Langmo fears that banks won’t risk lending to help keep affected producers like him afloat.

Lawyer: Family has problems

By DENISE LAVOIE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers called a Russian historian and a psychiatrist to the stand Tuesday in a bid to save the Boston Marathon bomber from the death penalty by portraying him as the product of a dysfunctional family from a turbulent corner of the world.

Dr. Alexander Niss, a psychiatrist who treated Tsarnaev’s father in Boston from 2003 to 2005, said he diagnosed the elder Tsarnaev with post-traumatic stress disorder after he reported being tortured in a Russian camp during the Chechen wars with Russia in the 1990s.

Niss said Anzor Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, showed typical symptoms of PTSD, including anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks and paranoia. He said Tsarnaev also complained of headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds and other physical ailments, and during one phase of his treatment, was going to the emergency room almost every day.

“He was a sick guy,” Niss said.

Niss took the stand during the penalty phase of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial, during which the jury will decide whether the 21-year-old former college student should get the death penalty or life in prison for the 2013 bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260.

The defense told jurors earlier that both of Tsarnaev’s parents were diagnosed with mental illness.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers are hoping his background — combined with their claim that he was heavily influenced by his volatile older brother, Tamerlan — will convince the jury he does not deserve a death sentence. Tamerlan, 26, was killed days after the bombing during a getaway attempt.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Dagestan region of Russia, which borders Chechnya, before moving to the U.S. in 2002.

The defense also called as a witness Michael Reynolds, a Princeton University professor who described the North Caucasus region of Russia, including Chechnya, a mountainous area of southern Russia where Tsarnaev’s father’s family has roots.

Reynolds gave a history of the region, including its centuries of conflict with Russia. He said Chechen families are very patriarchal, with the father or oldest son having the clear role as the decisionmaker for the family.

“It’s expected that the younger brother will listen to the older brother,” he said.

During cross-examination, prosecutor William Weinreb pointed out that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan spent little or no time in Chechnya. Dzhokhar was 8 when he moved to the U.S.

By BILL BARROW AND ANDREW DEMILLO ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Kyndell Harkness/Star Tribune | AP

From left Rep. Jeff Backer, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and Kurt Daudt, speaker of the house, served free turkey burgers during a a turkey burger cookout on the state Capitol lawn in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday.

Langmo plans to cut every possible expense until he can start raising and marketing turkeys again. But if his bank account runs dry first, he’s finished.

“We’re going to spend the checkbook to zero and at that point we’re going to have to close,” he said.

And it’s not just farmers who are feeling the pain. Jennie-O Turkey Store, the country’s second-largest turkey processor, said Tuesday it will lay off 233 employees at its plant in the southern Minnesota city of Faribault because bird flu outbreaks have cut supplies.

For farmers, the emotional and financial stresses are adding up, said Steve Olson, executive director of the Minnesota

Turkey Growers Association and the Chicken and Egg Association of Minnesota. Producers are trying everything they can think of to keep the virus off their farms and wondering if their flocks will become infected anyway, he said.

“They’re on high alert, and on high alert for an extended period of time,” Olson said.

Among those whose flocks get sick, Olson said the most common reaction is dismay because they can’t do much except watch their birds die. “It’s a pretty traumatic experience to go through,” Olson said.

He’s welcoming new efforts by local mental health agencies in some affected counties to ensure that counseling is available to farmers who need it.

‘Obamacare’ is targeted

By ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday adopted a GOP budget that paves the way for an assault on President Barack Obama’s health care law this summer and a partisan showdown over spending bills this fall.

The Senate passed the nonbinding measure by a nearly party-line 51-48 vote.

The House adopted it last week.

The measure sets a potential path for a balanced budget within a decade. It promises to cut domestic agencies and safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps, carve up transportation spending and student aid, and curb tax breaks for the poor.

Republicans don’t plan to adhere to most of its cuts in follow-up legislation, however.

And in the near term the GOP plan promises a $38 billion, 7 percent increase for the Pentagon that is possible only by padding war accounts.

Republicans and many economists say balancing the budget helps the economy in the long run and say

Photo by Evan Vucci | AP

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday. it’s better to tackle the longterm financial problems of programs like Medicare and Medicaid sooner rather than later. They also promise to relieve the burden of debt that’s being passed on to future generations.

“That’s really unconscionable, to keep spending money and then send the bill to our kids and grandkids and say: ‘You pay it. We had a good time. Good luck,”’ said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The budget plan does not go to Obama, who has promised to veto follow-up spending bills that he says will shortchange domestic programs like student aid, highway construction and scientific research.

The measure pleases the GOP faithful by setting up a debate this summer that would permit Republicans to finally pass legislation to repeal Obama’s health care law.

State fell short of target

By FENIT NIRAPPIL ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians conserved little water in March and local officials were not aggressive in cracking down on waste, state regulators reported Tuesday as they considered tough measures to force savings amid a continuing drought.

The State Water Resources Control Board received the update as it considers sweeping mandatory emergency regulations to protect water supplies in the parched state.

Brown has argued that the voluntary targets in place since early 2014 were insufficient and that Californians needed a jolt to take conservation seriously.

A survey of local water departments released at the start of the two-day meeting shows water use fell less than 4 percent in March compared with the same month in 2013. Overall savings have been only about 9 percent since last summer, even though Brown set a voluntary 20 percent target.

The water board on Tuesday began considering new regulations to step it up. The rules would bar cities from using drinking-quality water on street median grass and encourage homeowners to let lawns go brown to meet local mandatory water reduction targets.

Those conservation tar-

Photo by Rich Pedroncelli | AP

A spillway sits more than 100 yards away from the water level of New Hogan Lake near Valley Springs, east of Lodi, California, on April 28. gets are among the most contentious provisions of the proposed rules. The board plans to order each city to cut water use by as much as 36 percent compared to 2013, the year before the governor declared a drought emergency, and has rejected calls to create easier targets for communities in drier areas or for cities that have been conserving since before the drought.

Some local water departments call the proposal unrealistic and unfair. They say achieving steep cuts could cause declining property values, restrictions on filling pools and washing cars and higher water bills.

An economic analysis of the water board’s proposal commissioned by the board estimated that private water utilities and local water departments would lose a total of about $1 billion in revenue through lost water sales if

they meet the board’s targets.

They will eventually charge higher rates to make up the revenue, the report said.

The board sees lush lawns and verdant landscapes as first on the chopping block to meet conservation targets, but some are fighting their depiction as villains in the drought.

Keith Harbeck, of the California Pool and Spa Association, told the board Tuesday that it is destructive to turn industries into symbols of water waste, including almond growers, water bottlers and golf courses.

“Finger-pointing has been particularly painful because folks pick whatever is symbolic,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the board.

“It’s a collective issue that we must all rise to.”

Board officials said they expect to start seeing water savings as soon as June.

HOPE, Arkansas. — Mike Huckabee declared his presidential candidacy Tuesday, counting on his brand of conservative populism to make his second White House bid more successful than his first.

In 2008, he captivated evangelical Republicans but couldn’t build wide enough support to win the Republican nomination.

The former Arkansas governor announced his 2016 bid in the hometown he shares with former President Bill Clinton, becoming the sixth notable Republican to enter the campaign, with more to come.

“Power, money and political influence have left a lot HUCKABEE of Americans behind,” Huckabee told supporters in a speech railing against “big-government bailouts” and pledging elimination of the IRS, “the biggest bully in America.”

A populist but no Democrat, he did not endorse a minimum wage increase, instead calling for policies encouraging a “maximum wage” for workers. But he did align himself with labor interests in criticizing “unbalanced trade deals” and describing President Barack Obama’s immigration policy as a way to “import lowwage labor, undercut American workers and drive wages lower than the Dead Sea.” The ordained minister — he was Arkansas Baptist Convention president before getting into politics — speaks the language of faith, and he played up the cultural conservatism learned in this small town where many of his relatives — and a few Clinton relatives — still live. He stood by his opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage, declaring that “the Supreme Court is not the supreme being, and they cannot overturn the laws of nature or of nature’s God.” His foreign policy hawkishness comes with religious undertones, too. He said Obama wants Christians to “make nice” with “radical jihadists.” He pledged loyalty to Israel and a hard line on Iran’s military ambitions.

“The ayatollahs will know that hell will freeze over before they get a nuclear weapon,” he roared.

Huckabee acknowledges he needs to reach beyond the Christian evangelicals who helped him win the Iowa caucuses and seven other states in the 2008 GOP nomination contest. The political commentator and author took swipes at rivals in both parties, without naming them, as he sought to position himself as the best Republican to take on Hillary Rodham Clinton, the dominant Democrat in the 2016 contest.

Huckabee boasted that in Arkansas politics, he found success in “challenging the deeply entrenched political machine that ran this state. It was tough sledding, but I learned how to govern and how to lead.”

An introductory video about the governor who fought “the Clinton machine” made clear he meant Bill and Hillary. Bill Clinton was governor before Huckabee.

“I don’t have a global foundation or a taxpayer-funded paycheck to live off of,” Huckabee said. “I don’t come from a family dynasty, but a working family.”

That was a knock at the Clintons again, as well as Republican prospect Jeb Bush, the son and father of presidents, and all rivals who work in the Senate or as governors.

“If you live off the government payroll and want to run for an office other than the one you’re elected to, then have the integrity and decency to resign the one you don’t want and pursue the one you decided you’d rather have,” said Huckabee, who does not have a government job to resign from.

Among his declared rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida are running for president while keeping their jobs in Congress. Rubio isn’t seeking re-election to the Senate next year, while Paul is keeping that option open. Cruz isn’t up for reelection until 2018.

Opinion is divided on whether the “Clinton machine” in Arkansas was as intimidating as Huckabee makes it out to be.

Nate Coulter, a former Bill Clinton aide who lost to Huckabee for lieutenant governor in 1993, said the Clintons didn’t stump for him in that campaign. “They had things that were frankly more important to them and the republic,” said Coulter.

Huckabee was elected lieutenant governor, his first public office, months after the Clintons left for Washington.

Jay Barth, an Arkansas political scientist, said that since that race, Huckabee has proven his ability as a populist.

“Huckabee is a master at running against elites,” Barth said.

One question for Huckabee now is whether his approach can fuel another insurgent campaign, this time with a deeper field of candidates, some of whom are also competitive with religious conservatives.

“I never have been and I’m not going to be the favored candidate of those in the Washington to Wall Street corridor of power,” he told his supporters. But he cracked: “Rest assured, if you want to give me a million dollars, please do it.”

He’s soon off to Iowa.

State

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

Several states move to quash local limits on drilling

By EMILY SCHMALL AND WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANSFIELD — Lawmakers in Texas and energy producing states across the nation are rushing to stop local communities from imposing limits on oil and gas drilling despite growing public concern about the health and environmental toll of such activities in urban areas.

The slump in oil prices that has led to job losses in the oil patch has only added to the urgency of squelching local drilling bans and other restrictions the industry views as onerous. The number of jobs nationwide in the sector that includes energy production has fallen 3.5 percent since December, and Texas alone lost about 25,000 jobs in March, according to federal data.

A half dozen states — Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Mexico — have imposed or grappled with the issue of putting limits on local municipalities’ ability to regulate drilling or hydraulic fracturing, a practice of blasting huge volumes of water and chemicals underground to release tight deposits of oil and gas. And two of the biggest energy producers in the nation, Texas and Oklahoma, are poised to ban cities and

towns enacting any ordinances considered unreasonable to energy exploration, including limits on fracking, water disposal, well maintenance and other activities.

The backlash against local bans represents the third phase of the U.S. shale boom. In the last decade, fracking spawned a massive expansion in drilling that pushed the United States to the number one oil and gas producer in the world. Cities responded to environmental and health concerns by passing restrictions.

Now, state lawmakers are stepping in to shut down the groundswell of local activism in order to keep the energy expansion rolling.

“It had gotten to the point where various municipalities have been writing extremely detailed and onerous ordinances, making it difficult for companies to operate,” said Ed Ireland, head of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, which advocates for developing the rich deposit in Texas.

About 60 municipalities in Texas — the nation’s biggest oil and gas producing state — have some form of ordinance on the books limiting drilling or fracking, according to the Texas Municipal League.

Dallas does not permit drilling closer than 1,500 feet of homes, schools or

Photo by LM Otero/file | AP

Components of a hydraulic fracturing operation are seen behind a gated and bricked wall well site in Mansfield, on April 16. churches.

Suburban Southlake bans drilling during the dry summer months. Mansfield doesn’t allow drilling on Sundays or holidays.

In Mansfield, a wealthy suburb about 30 miles southeast of Dallas, Tamara Bounds said the loud whir of fracking a few hundred feet from her backyard kept her awake at night for nine months.

“I couldn’t sleep. I had to barricade my windows with mattresses,” said Bounds, who is running for the city council on a platform that includes tighter control of oil and gas activities.

Hundreds of natural gas wells dot the hilly landscape, and pipelines

snake behind housing culde-sacs. A 16-well pad site and compressor station hums behind the city’s performing arts center.

Mayor David Cook is an example of the fine line some public officials try to walk in Texas between protecting their communities and supporting the oil and gas industry. He backs the natural gas drilling in the area but opposes efforts by the state Legislature to prohibit communities from setting some rules.

“Instead of a balancing act, it’s a Texas two-step.

Health and safety come first. After that, you do everything you can do to develop the economy of the state of Texas,” Cook

Senate OKs abortion coverage ban

By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The battle over abortion in Texas returned to the floor where Democrat Wendy Davis staged a nearly 13-hour filibuster as the Senate on Tuesday approved eliminating coverage for the procedure under plans purchased through the federal marketplace.

The measure is not unique: More than two dozen states already have similar bans for coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act, and abortion-rights groups have expressed surprise that Texas isn’t on that list already.

But it was notably the first bill related to abortion — a quiet issue so far in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s first legislative session — that the Republicancontrolled Senate has passed since Davis’ filibuster in 2013 catapulted her to national stardom and her supporters packed the Capitol.

The scene this time was far different. The Senate gallery was practically empty, and the bill quickly passed along party lines after Democrats raised only brief objections.

“You’re not going to be requiring other people across the spectrum to pay for a benefit that they don’t believe in,” said Republican Sen. Larry Taylor, the bill’s author.

The measure now moves

to the House.

Less than a month remains in the 140-day session. Two years after Texas ultimately adopted sweeping abortion restrictions over clinics despite Davis’ filibuster, Republicans are pushing a mostly smaller encore of additional limits for Abbott to sign.

Abortion-rights groups say roughly 17 clinics are currently open for business in Texas. That number

would plummet by half if the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a portion of the 2013 law that requires abortion clinics to meet hospital-level operating standards.

A decision from that court may still be weeks or months away.

Taylor said women could still purchase supplemental insurance that would cover abortion but didn’t give a ballpark cost.

said.

Drilling is forging ahead in energy rich states despite growing evidence that the practices are effecting the environment. In Oklahoma, the state’s geological survey conceded last month it was “very likely” that recent seismic activity was caused by the injection of wastewater from drilling into disposal wells.

Earthquake activity in 2013 was 70 times greater than it was before 2008, Oklahoma geologists reported.

Even so, the Oklahoma House approved a widereaching bill last month that prohibits cities and towns from banning oil and natural gas drilling, or implementing restrictions that are not “reasonable.”

When a single Texas community, the university town of Denton near Dallas, voted last fall to impose a ban on fracking within its boundaries, lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature sprang into action to ensure others wouldn’t follow suit.

There are no fewer than 11 Texas bills designed to ban future local limits on energy production.

The state’s energy industry lobbied heavily to ensure passage of the Texas legislation, which allows communities to have

a say in things above the surface of the ground such as noise, lighting and traffic. But the bill says any local limits have to be “commercially reasonable,” a test that critics contend will allow drillers to do pretty much what they want. The bill sailed through the Texas Legislature and is now headed to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law.

In Mansfield, the looming law is throwing into doubt an ordinance passed in March that includes notifying potential home buyers if a gas well has been permitted within 300 feet of their property.

“It could be months of work down the tube,” said Cook, the mayor.

Texas politics have for decades been awash in oil money.

Drilling operations contributed more than $12 billion to state coffers in 2013, accounting for about 4.5 percent of the budget. Oil and gas industry donors contributed about $400 million to 2014 campaigns.

“Our government in Texas is owned by the oil and gas industry,” said Sharon Wilson, a Gulf regional organizer for the environmental group Earthworks. The 11 bills in the Legislature “are meant to show Texans who’s in charge,” she said.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: TEXAS RANGERS

Back at the bottom Rangers GM ready for more critical look at last-place team

By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

With the Texas Rangers again at the bottom of the AL standings, general manager Jon Daniels is ready for a more critical look at the team.

The Rangers have lost eight of their last 11 games, even after a 2-1 win Monday night to end Houston’s 10game winning streak. At 916 under new manager Jeff Banister, they have six fewer wins than at the same point last season when they finished with an American League-high 95 losses.

“We took the approach the first few weeks of patience and I’m glad we did, let things play out a little bit, give guys a chance to get their feet under them. It has not really picked up with an exception of a few individuals,” Daniels said before Monday’s game.

“I think in conversations with our group, we’re going to take a little more critical look at things over this road trip,” he said. “We need to start seeing some production.”

During a 20-minute conference call, Daniels said he still believes in his team.

But while there have been flashes of good play, there

have also been too many lapses in focus, with repeated mistakes and a lack of execution at times.

“If it was one thing that was easily identified and fixed, we’d have addressed it already,” he said, without elaborating on possible changes.

With 2010 AL MVP and five-time All-Star slugger Josh Hamilton still a few weeks away from rejoining his former team, Texas is hitting a majors-low .216.

Eight of the current 13 position players are under .200 — Prince Fielder, at .354 and among top 10 in the majors, is the only regular above .300 after missing most of last season because of neck surgery. The team has an AL-high 24 errors.

Ace pitcher Yu Darvish had Tommy John surgery after throwing only one inning in spring training.

Left-handed starter Derek Holland is still a couple of months from returning from a shoulder issue that sidelined him after his only inning in the home opener.

Daniels said he regrets being so reliant on a young and so-far inconsistent bullpen. The 4.47 ERA for Texas relievers is second-worst in the AL, and their six blown saves match Miami for most

in the majors.

“When you’re dealing with a number of young players, and a number of guys that missed quite a bit of last season from a health standpoint, I think patience was warranted,” Daniels said. “But we’re in month two. ... It’s no panic, nothing like that. It’s just a reality. I want to see guys turn the corner, see the results of the hard work pay off.”

Beating Houston to start a seven-game road trip was a good step, but the Rangers are still the only team in the majors without consecutive victories. Their .360 winning percentage is better than only Milwaukee. The Brewers have already fired their manager, but that won’t happen in Texas.

Daniels is pleased with Banister’s performance as a first-time manager in the big leagues, from how he communicates with players to working with the staff to prepare players.

“He’s a competitor, and he wants to win, and he understands that there are going to be bumps in the road,” Daniels said.

“There’s a lot of time left.

But I think it’s time to pick it up a notch and lock in and get going. He shares the feeling.”

Photo by Bob Levey | AP

Texas center fielder Leonys Martin and the Rangers are back in last place in the AL West while nearing the worst record in the American League.

MIÉRCOLES 6 DE MAYO DE 2015

Agenda en Breve INSCRIPCIONES El distrito escolar de Zapata estará registrando a todos los estudiantes de PK a 12 grado en un solo lugar, a partir del 4 de mayo y hasta el 7 de mayo, de 9 a.m. a 7 p.m.

El lugar será Zapata County Pavillion. El distrito solicita a los padres de familia seguir el siguiente calendario para acelerar el proceso de inscripción: lunes, apellidos de la letra A a la E; martes, apellidos de la letra F a la J; miércoles, apellidos de la letra K a la R; y jueves, de la letra S a la letra Z.

Zfrontera Reiteran oposición

PÁGINA 9A

INMIGRACIÓN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Los estados que se enfrentan al plan de presidente Barack Obama que protege de la deportación a millones de inmigrantes dicen que concuerdan con un juez de Texas que ha bloqueado temporalmente las medi-

das del presidente.

Texas lidera una coalición de estados en una demanda que se opone a la decisión ejecutiva de Obama que protege de la deportación a unos 5 millones de inmigrantes que viven en Estados Unidos sin autorización.

En documentos presentados el

lunes ante el Tribunal Federal de Apelaciones del 5to Circuito, los estados reiteraron su argumento de que las medidas de Obama obligarían a los gobiernos locales a invertir más en actividades policiales, servicios médicos y educación.

El tribunal de apelaciones es-

tudia una solicitud del Departamento de Justicia para echar atrás la decisión de un juez de Texas de bloquear el plan de Obama durante el enfrentamiento en los tribunales. Los argumentos orales están programados para la semana del 6 de julio.

EDUCACIÓN

VISITAN CENTRO DE NASA

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.

ESPECTÁCULO DE LUCHA LIBRE A fin de recaudar fondos y adquirir equipo adecuado para realizar deporte en las escuelas de Miguel Alemán, México, se llevará a cabo un espectáculo de lucha libre el viernes 15 de mayo en el Centro Cívico (dentro de los terrenos de la Expo Feria) a las 5 p.m.

El Supervisor de Tránsito, Antonio Santos Ramírez, informó que será un evento 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.

Se realizará un desfile con los luchadores participantes.

CAMPAMENTO DE VERANO Del 9 de junio al 2 de julio, tendrá lugar un Campamento de Verano, para los estudiantes de ZCISD desde preescolar a quinto año. Las sesiones serán de 8 a.m. a 12 p.m. y de 12 p.m. a 4 p.m.

El desayuno y el almuerzo serán proporcionados. No habrá transporte.

El campamento es gratuito, sin embargo, los estudiantes deberán cumplir con las normativas de fin de año para ser elegibles.

Las solicitudes de ingreso deberán ser entregadas antes del 14 de mayo.

Para más información puede llamar a Gerardo García al (956) 765-6917; a Dalia García, al (956) 7654332.

Foto de cortesía

Estudiantes de ALB visitaron el centro de la Agencia Espacial de Estados Unidos (NASA, por sus siglas en ingls), durante un durante un viaje de campo.

COMUNIDAD

TEXAS

Eliminarían estigma

Defiende orden

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Los residentes de Laredo pueden unirse a la campaña “Libre del Estigma Social” que la Alianza Nacional de Salud Mental (NAMI, por sus siglas en inglés), tiene en marcha durante mayo.

A través de la campaña, NAMI invita a las personas, compañías, organizaciones y escuelas a crear una cultura en EU, mediante la cual se acabe con el estigma, que frecuentemente se asocia con las condiciones de salud mental, y sea reemplazado por la esperanza y el apoyo para la recuperación, señala un comunicado de prensa.

“Las áreas libres de estigmas promueven y apoyan la aceptación y el respeto, mientras promueven la búsqueda de ayuda, que hace posible la recuperación”, dijo la Directora Ejecutiva de NAMI, Mary Giliberti, a través de un comunicado. “Es nuestra esperanza que esta campaña conduzca a las personas y sus familias a tener mente abierta en relación a enfermedades mentales y otorgar la ayuda que las personas necesitan”.

Para conocer más herramientas y recursos disponibles para las organizaciones, compañías y otros grupos que deseen unirse a la

campaña puede visitar NAMI.org.

Las personas que deseen comprometerse y estar libre de estigmas pueden seguir los siguientes pasos: Aprender sobre la salud mental — educándose a sí mismo y a otros; Viendo a la persona y no a la enfermedad — esforzándose por escuchar, entender y contar “mi” propia historia; y Tomar acción — difundir lo aprendido, hacer conciencia y hacer la diferencia.

Además, para difundir lo aprendido, apoyar el estilo de vida libre de estigmas en las redes sociales, puede usar el hashtag #iamstigmafree.

NAMI es organización de salud mental dedicada a construir y mejorar la vida de millones de estadounidenses afectados por enfermedades mentales, señala un comunicado de prensa. NAMI fue fundada en 1979 y al día de hoy, la organización cuenta con cientos de afiliados que trabajan en la comunidad para hacer conciencia, proporcionar apoyo y educar.

Para conocer más sobre NAMi puede ingresar a Twitter.com/ namicommunicate o a Facebook.com/officialNAMI.

CAMPAÑA MÉDICO-ASISTENCIAL MIGUEL ALEMAN — Se implementará la primer campaña médico asistencial propuesta por miembros de los ministerios nacionales “Betel” el 11 de junio, de 8 a.m. a 5 p.m.

El grupo de 15 personas, entre médicos y enfermeros, estarán representados por la misionera Deana Gatlin. Además traerán consigo ropa, medicamentos y despensas.

EXHIBICIÓN DE ARTE El Boys and Girls Club de Zapata tendrá una exhibición de arte, el sábado 27 de junio, de 1 p.m. a 4 p.m.

Los integrantes del club interesados en participar pueden llamar al (956) 7653892.

La participación es exclusiva para integrantes del club. Las personas que gusten inscribirse pueden acudir al club o llamar al (956) 765-3892.

POR PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN— El gobernador de Texas, el republicano Greg Abbott, respondió el lunes a las críticas por su decisión de pedir a la Guardia Estatal que monitoree unas maniobras militares que algunos conservadores dicen es una conspiración del gobierno federal para tomar Texas.

Temores de que las venideras maniobras "Jade Helm 15" son el preámbulo de una ley marcial han circulado en medios sociales y portales conservadores desde hace meses.

Luego de una atestada asamblea popular en el condado rural Bastrop sobre los simulacros militares, Abbott le escribió una carta a la Guardia Estatal y dijo que se implementarían medidas para garantizar que no se violasen libertades cívicas.

Eso desató algunas de las críticas más agudas que ha enfrentado Abbott desde que asumió el puesto en enero, incluyendo una de un exlegislador estatal republicano que acusó al nuevo gobernador de buscar "complacer a idiotas".

Abbott dijo que su pedido a la Guardia Estatal ayudaría a calmar temores.

"Francamente, hubo una reacción exagerada al simple hecho de que alguien tenía que estar a cargo de colectar y diseminar información", dijo Abbott, que habló con reporteros por primera vez desde que envió la misiva. "Nosotros decidimos desempeñar ese papel, que debería ser aplaudido".

Cuando se le preguntó si hablar del asunto legitima teorías marginales, Abbott dijo que no. Añadió que estaba respondiendo a preguntas de los ciudadanos, algo que, dijo, es la obligación del gobierno.

Algunos presentes en la reunión en el condado Bastrop le preguntaron a un comandante del ejército estadounidense si el gobierno planeaba confiscar armas o decretar la ley marcial. El juez del condado Paul Pape, que agradeció a Abbott su carta, dijo que los "teóricos de conspiraciones" y "sembradores de miedo" han estado en un frenesí.

"Yo no he visto nada que sea causa de preocupación para nadie", dijo Abbott.

El recelo sobre "Jade Helm" se intensificó por un mapa que etiquetaba a Texas, Utah y partes de California como "hostiles" para propósitos del ejercicio que comenzará en julio y se extenderá por tres meses.

COLUMNA

Explica expansión de tranvía en Tamaulipas POR RAÚL SINENCIO ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La expansión de las ciudades trae consigo nuevas demandas y para distancias más largas, hace falta el transporte urbano, por lo que Tranvías de mulitas comienzan a prestar este servicio. Al concluir el siglo XIX, los principales municipios de Tamaulipas cuentan ya estos vehículos.

Primeros rastros La frontera de Matamoros los adopta primero; ahí se rebasan los 15.000 habitantes, convirtiéndose en la municipalidad tamaulipeca de mayor censo. Próxima a EU, resulta fácil importar mejoras tecnológicas.

“Un pequeño ferrocarril

pone en comunicación el punto de Santa Cruz con el centro de Matamoros, México, y esta circunstancia ha dado mucha animación a aquel caserío, que […] ofrece […] el aspecto de una pequeña aldea”, describe Alejandro Prieto, en 1873. Habla de los tranvías de mulitas. Como inversionista aparece Domingo López de Lara, alto funcionario porfiriano y padre de César López de Lara.

Pronto surge otro circuito. El “Plano de Matamoros”, publicado en 1874 por Eduardo Rouger-Laroche.

Ambos salen de la garita aduanal de Santa Cruz, frente a Brownsville. Uno conduce a la aduana y el segundo pasa por el mercado.

La cartografía incluye una “vista de la Estación de Santa Cruz”.

Trabajos En años posteriores, el servicio llega a Ciudad Victoria, México. Sobre vías tendidas ex profeso, vagones tirados por acémilas corren entre la estación del tren Monterrey-Tampico y el jardín Miguel Hidalgo. La ruta alcanza luego el cementerio, al extremo oriente de la capital de Tamaulipas, que supera los 8.000 vecinos.

El así denominado ferrocarril urbano de tracción animal, enlaza también la cabecera victorense con la hacienda de Tamatán. Flanquea esta última el oeste del enclave capitalino, que ofrece zonas arboladas y una alberca, para el solaz de numerosos paseantes.

El acto de apertura ocurre en 1892. Las instalacio-

nes de la empresa “no causarán contribución alguna […] en los primeros 15 años”, consagra el contrato.

Olvido Al menos desde 1881, en Tampico existen tranvías de mulitas. Propiedad del comerciante español Benito Zorrilla, van de la ribera al perímetro norte de la Plaza de la Libertad. Por contingencias financieras, quiebran en la siguiente década.

A la postre alcalde del puerto, Enrique Camargo Bretón los retoma y concluye en 1900 diversos ramales.

En 1907, las rutas “más largas eran las del [primitivo] cementerio […] y la de La Cortadura. Se usaban carros pequeños, abiertos y provistos de cortinas, […]

para los climas cálidos”, anota Rafael Sánchez Escobar, antiguo usuario. El área porteña suma casi 20.000 residentes.

Circulan entonces por las urbes tamaulipecas carros que atienden sólo a pasajeros. Los hay asimismo de plataformas descubiertas, para bultos voluminosos.

Transitan carros funerarios, que acercan los féretros a las necrópolis. Agonizante el porfiriato, Matamoros tiene dos líneas; Ciudad Victoria, igualmente. Nuevo Laredo, México reporta una, lo mismo que Tampico. “El total de vías urbanas alcanzaba 24.576 kilómetros”, consigna Rafael de Alba en 1910.

(Publicado con permiso del autor conforme aparece en La Razón, Tampico, Tamps.)

International

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

Looted artwork is returned

By TOM MASHBERG NEW YORK TIMES

Photo by L.M. Otero | AP

Raheem Peters, let, and Joseph Offutt, center, hold a sign and flag across from the Curtis Culwell Center, on Tuesday, in Garland.

Group says it’s their attack

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a weekend attack at a center near Dallas, that was exhibiting cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad — though it offered no evidence of a direct link to the attackers.

An audio statement on the extremist group’s Al Bayan radio station said that “two soldiers of the caliphate” carried out Sunday’s attack in Garland and promised the group would deliver more attacks in the future.

The Islamic State did not provide details and it was unclear whether the group was opportunistically claiming the attack. It was the first time the extremists, who frequently call for attacks against the West, claimed responsibility for one in the United States.

It was also unclear from the statement whether the group, which holds a third of Syria and Iraq, had an actual hand in the operation, or whether the two suspects had pledged allegiance to the group and then carried it out on their

own.

The statement was read on Al Bayan radio — a station based in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which the group has proclaimed the capital of its self-styled caliphate.

“We tell ... America that what is coming will be more grievous and more bitter and you will see from the soldiers of the caliphate what will harm you, God willing,” it said.

Two suspects in the attack were shot dead after opening fire at a security guard outside the center.

Officials identified them as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi.

According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad or other prophets is considered blasphemous. Drawings similar to those featured at the Texas event have sparked violence around the world.

There have been numerous attack in Western countries believed related in some way to the group.

In October, Canada was hit by two terror attacks by socalled “lone wolves” believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State group.

As the Allies stormed through Germany in 1945, museum officials in Dessau scurried to hide their art treasures in a nearby salt mine, where they would soon be discovered

by American soldiers.

Much of the art was preserved, but three paintings by old masters somehow ended up in a poker game won by a U.S. tank commander, Maj. William S. Oftebro, who quietly mailed them home.

For the past seven decades, they have been with his family, most recently on the wall of his widow’s room in an assisted living center in Texas.

On Tuesday, the poker winnings began their journey home.

In a ceremony at the State Department, the three works from Dessau and two other paintings taken by American GIs were handed over by the soldiers’ heirs to the German ambassador, Peter Wittig, in an event organized by the Dallas-based Monuments Men Foundation.

“I just couldn’t keep them,” said James Hetherington, 71, of Dallas, the major’s stepson. “Whether he won them in a poker game or not, they were stolen property.”

Though stories of art looting during World War II invariably focus on Nazi plunder, German and U.S. officials say thousands of works, among them masterpieces by Duerer, Cranach and Hals, crossed the Atlantic in footlockers and mail parcels in the 1940s. Very few have trickled back.

The thefts from German castles and storage vaults in no way match the scale of Nazi looting, and were undertaken by men who had witnessed the bloody toll of German aggression. But few suggest U.S. soldiers were confused about the rules of war. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had issued strict directives forbidding such thefts.

“Yes, they were suffering and losing buddies,” said Robert M. Edsel, chairman of the board of the foundation, which chronicles and promotes the return of art stolen during World War II. “But they knew what they did was wrong.”

Edsel has spent much of his life researching the work of a small group of U.S. troops who were assigned to safeguard European treasures against the retreating Germans and the advancing Soviets, events por-

Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux/The New York Times | AP

Robert Edsel holds a portrait in Dallas of England’s King Charles I in Three Positions, a piece taken from Germany by Americans in World War II. trayed in the 2014 George Clooney film, “The Monuments Men.” He believes the return of artworks to Germany on Tuesday might prompt the families of other U.S. veterans who defied Eisenhower and took illicit trophies to come forward with any items hanging on dining room walls or taking up space in the attic.

“We just have to hope the heirs will come forward now that they’re discovering these things as the veterans die off,” he said.

In the past, returns have been scarce. In 1992, rarities from the eighth century, including a gold-andjewel-studded Bible cover, a handcarved ivory and gold chest, and a rock-crystal silver reliquary, went back to a Lutheran church in Germany after a group there paid $3 million to the heirs of the Texas soldier who had them.

Seven years later, a 16th-century painting of Christ by Jacopo de’ Barbari was recovered by a museum in Weimar, Germany, after a Long Island man tried to negotiate a $40,000 reward for the work, stolen in 1945, saying it had mysteriously turned up in his wood shop. Instead, he was arrested and charged with selling stolen property.

Two years ago, eight antique manuscripts from 1533 to 1789, taken from shell-damaged Naples by an Army radio operator, were handed back to Italian officials by the operator’s grandson.

The three works obtained by Oftebro, whose 750th Tank Battalion had landed at Normandy, France, were

among hundreds that the Anhaltische Gemaeldegalerie, a small museum in Dessau, had crated and hidden in the Solvayhall mine, about 30 miles east. But when officers from the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section arrived at the mine a few weeks later, they found that some hidden items had been taken.

Among those missing were “The Prodigal Son,” a 17th-century Flemish work by Frans Francken III; a landscape by the German artist Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich; and “Landscape With Staffage,” by an Austrian, Franz de Paula Ferg. Experts said they would fetch between $25,000 and $50,000 each if sold today.

Hetherington said his mother had married the major in 1982 and that the three works held pride of place on the parlor wall of the Oftebro home for years. No one in the family “had the foggiest idea they were valuable,” he said.

But in 1994, when the major died, and again in 2002, Hetherington said he had consulted an appraiser. Each time he was told they were listed on a database of stolen art and should be returned to Dessau.

But Hetherington — influenced, he said, by the losses so many had suffered at the hands of the Nazis — resisted at first, reasoning, “I’m sure as heck not giving anything back to the Germans.”

More recently, he said, he had a change of heart after seeing “The Monuments Men” and witnessing the heroism of the men who had risked so much to preserve part of the world’s cultural heritage.

Rebels kill 2 in Saudi Arabia Ferry service to Cuba gets US approval

By AYA BATRAWY AND AHMED AL-HAJ ASSOCIATED PRESS

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Yemen’s rebels fired rockets and mortars into Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, killing at least two civilians and purportedly capturing five soldiers in an attack showing the insurgents’ ability to launch assaults despite weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes targeting them.

Saudi Arabia’s national airline cancelled flights into the border area of Najran as schools closed early amid the attack, the first by the rebels, known as Houthis, to target a civilian area in the kingdom since the start of the airstrikes.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families fled the southern Yemeni city of Aden after the Houthis advanced into their neighborhoods, firing indiscriminately as they took over surrounding, towering mountains.

In the Saudi area of Najran, the Houthi shelling killed two Saudi civilians and damaged buildings, Yemeni tribal leaders said. The national airline, Saudia, said flights to and from the area would be suspended until further notice, without elaborating. It is the only carrier flying to Najran.

The tribal leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, also said the Houthis captured five Saudi soldiers in unclear circumstances.

Saudi state television reported local schools closed early and aired footage showing cars burnt, smoldering houses and debris covering nearby roads.

Saudi Brig.

Gen. Ahmed Asiri said that Saudi-led coalition forces continue to respond to the Houthi attack.

“This attack by the militias shows their aim is to attack the livelihood of

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Hani Mohammed | AP

An airport official uses his phone to take pictures of the wreckage of a military transport aircraft destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes, at the Sanaa International airport, in Yemen, on Tuesday.

Saudi citizens,” Asiri said during a call-in interview to Saudi state television. He described the situation in Najran as stable late Tuesday night.

Asiri did not offer any details about casualties, nor did he mention the alleged abduction of the soldiers. Saudi Apache attack helicopters also attacked Houthis near the border, said another military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists.

Last week, three Saudi troops and dozens of rebels were killed in the fighting there.

The assault Tuesday underscored how the Iranian-allied Houthis are still capable of launching major operations despite more than a month of Saudi-led airstrikes targeting them and their allies — military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Saudi-led coalition began bombing the Houthi rebels and their allies on March 26 in support of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s embattled government. The airstrikes and fighting on the ground

have killed hundreds and displaced at least 300,000 Yemenis.

The U.N. human rights office says at least 646 civilians have been killed in the conflict in Yemen since the airstrikes began, including 50 women and 131 children, the spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said Tuesday.

In Aden, residents said that Houthis advanced into a large section of the city’s Tawahi district, forcing hundreds of families to flee to safer areas using boats. The residents said they had been trapped inside their homes for weeks.

Mona Abdel-Maged, among residents of the area reached by telephone, said a mortar shell had killed her husband, then a second shell killed six men trying to pull his body from the rubble.

“After burying the dead, we would still find torn limbs and body parts in the streets. So we go back and bury them,” she said.

Mona Mohsen, one of the residents, said panic and the sound of gunfire

sent people rushing into the streets.

Aden, which Hadi had declared as a temporary capital before fleeing for Saudi Arabia, is one of the main battlegrounds in a war that the U.N. and other aid agencies warn is pushing the impoverished nation into a humanitarian disaster.

Meanwhile Tuesday, member states of Gulf Cooperation Council held a summit in Riyadh where French President Francois Hollande threw his country’s support behind the Saudi-led offensive in Yemen. During his opening speech, he said that France will not hesitate in carrying any action, even militarily, for the sake of its allies.

And in Lebanon, the leader of the Hezbollah said the Saudi-led war in Yemen had failed to achieve its goals.

“Claims that Operation Decisive Storm achieved its goals is not true and what is happening is deception,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, a harsh critic of Saudi Arabia. “We are witnessing frank and clear Saudi failure and a frank and clear Yemeni victory.”

HAVANA — The Obama administration approved the first ferry service in decades between the United States and Cuba on Tuesday, potentially opening a new path for the hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars in goods that travel between Florida and Havana each year.

Baja Ferries, which operates passenger service in Mexico, said it received a license from the U.S. Treasury Department. Robert Muse, a lawyer for Baja Ferries, said he believed other ferry service petitions had also been approved. The Treasury Department said it could not immediately confirm that, but the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Florida said approvals also were received

by Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, United Caribbean Lines Florida in the Orlando area and Airline Brokers Co. of Miami.

Muse said Baja had yet to request approval from Cuba, but added that he was optimistic the service would allow a significant increase in trade and travel between the two countries.

The Cuban government made no immediate comment on the news and it is far from clear that it is willing or able to allow a major new channel for the movement of goods and people between the two countries.

“I think it’s a further indication of the seriousness of the Obama administration in normalizing relations with Cuba,” said Muse, an expert on U.S. law on Cuba. “We’re now going from the theoretical

to the very specific.”

Before Cuba’s 1959 revolution, ferries ran daily between Florida and Cuba, bringing American tourists to Havana’s hotels and casinos and allowing Cubans to take overnight shopping trips to the United States.

That ended with the revolution, and the more than 600,000 people who travel between the U.S. and Cuba each year depend on expensive charter flights.

About 80 percent of U.S .travelers to Cuba are Cuban-Americans visiting relatives, and a large number travel with huge amounts of consumer goods unavailable in communist Cuba, from baby clothes to flat-screen TV sets. That cargo has become increasingly expensive and difficult to bring in recent years due to the high prices charged by charters and tightened Cuban customs rules.

Muse said he believed ferries would allow lowerpriced passenger and cargo service and provide a potential conduit for new forms of trade allowed by Obama when he announced a series of loopholes in the trade embargo on Cuba late last year.

Among other measures, Obama allowed the import of some goods produced by Cuba’s new private sector and allowed the virtually unlimited export of products to entrepreneurs.

Ferries also provide a new route for U.S. travelers to Cuba, who also depend on the charter services. Travel from the U.S. has been rising since Obama’s Dec. 17 announcement, and new pressure groups are pushing for Congress to end all travel restrictions and allow pure tourism, currently prohibited by law.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Migrants die moments from safety in Europe

By TRISHA THOMAS, ANDREA ROSA AND FRANK JORDANS ASSOCIATED PRESS

CATANIA, Sicily — Young men piled over each other, some shimmying up ropes dangling from the towering rescue ship and others falling into the churning sea. Women and children were the last off the stricken dinghy during a chaotic Mediterranean rescue in which at least five migrants were crushed to death and more were feared drowned.

Dramatic footage shot by a seaman aboard the Maltese freighter showed the weekend rescue of more than 100 West Africans aboard the flimsy boat off the coast of Libya. Survivors were brought Tuesday to the Sicilian port of Catania.

The video, obtained by The Associated Press, highlights the danger of marine rescue, where safety and tragedy too often lie just moments apart. With tens of thousands trying to cross the sea on small boats launched by human traffickers from Libya — and hundreds dying in the attempt — the question of how best to save migrants from

drowning has taken center stage in Europe.

Crew members interviewed by the AP said everyone aboard the cargo ship Zeran had undergone rescue training. But while a previous rescue several weeks ago happened calmly without any loss of life, on Sunday elation at the prospect of being saved quickly turned to panic.

Stampede Unaware that they would be thrown a ladder, frantic migrants trampled over one another to reach the ropes that were meant to hold it in place, with some dangling precariously as they clambered along the lines to reach the tall freighter.

Some jumped or fell overboard to catch lifesavers tossed into the water by crew members. Others emptied jerry cans of gasoline to use as floats, as the dinghy — already deflated at the front — began taking in water.

“Easy! Easy!” implored a crew member from Zeran’s deck.

“There was the big ship

there and they threw down ropes,” Astou Fall Dia, a 24 year-old migrant from Senegal, told the AP after disembarking from the cargo ship.

“Someone grabbed onto the rope. All the other people started pushing to try to save themselves but the people started falling in the water.”

Dia said she survived because she stayed close to the dinghy, and because she knew how to swim — unlike most of the migrants who come from poor African countries.

Five bodies were recovered from inside the dinghy, floating amid garbage and water that had seeped in. A crew member said they died in the final rush to be rescued and the Catania prosecutor’s office said late Tuesday that a preliminary investigation showed they were crushed to death.

Drowning victims At least another five to nine people fell into the water and drowned, said the seaman who shot the video, though one man floating away with the current and

clinging to a lifesaver was rescued by crew on a Zeran lifeboat.

The seaman and other crew members spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Save the Children, which interviewed the survivors upon their arrival, said the migrants reported “dozens” of people died in the rescue 25 miles off the Libyan coast.

The weekend saw a dramatic increase in rescues as smugglers in Libya took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to send thousands of would-be refugees out into the Mediterranean in overloaded rubber boats and fishing vessels. The coast guard reported that nearly 7,000 people were rescued in the three days ending Sunday.

On Tuesday, the Italian Mission to the United Nations tweeted that coast guard just rescued 300 migrants in the Mediterranean, 80 miles off the Italian coast.

The latest deaths come on top of the estimated 800 migrants who are believed to have drowned last

After those deaths, the European Union held an emergency summit and agreed to contribute more boats and patrol aircraft to Mediterranean rescue efforts.

Even with the increased EU response, commercial cargo ships are increasingly being called on by Italy’s coast guard to respond to migrants in need, as required by the law of the sea.

Catania prosecutor Giovanni Salvi complained last month that the commercial crews sometimes aren’t trained or equipped to conduct rescues and that lives can be lost when migrants suddenly rush to one side of their unseaworthy boats as they try to get off.

Salvi later backtracked and praised the work and

commitment of the commercial vessels.

But when the coast guard rescues migrant boats, it usually sends out inflatable speedboats and crews use loudspeakers to implore the passengers in various languages to stay calm and in their place.

It was clear from the footage obtained by the AP that either there was a language barrier, or the migrants couldn’t hear the crew’s instructions from high up on the deck — or both — in Sunday’s rescue.

A second dinghy, picked up by the Italian navy the same day, suffered no casualties. Those migrants were later transferred to the Zeran.

Alpha Sisse, a 17-year-old from Ivory Coast who was among those rescued from the second boat, said he had talked to survivors from the stricken vessel.

“At least five people drowned, more are missing,” he said. “They say maybe 20 people died.”

Sisse said he left Libya because of the growing danger from fighting there.

Asked where he hoped to go from here, Sisse said: “Anywhere there is work.”

tient growth that has outpaced the VA’s sluggish planning process.

Of the 75 clinics and hospitals with the highest percentage of patients waiting more than 30 days for care, 12 are in Tennessee or Kentucky, 11 are in eastern North Carolina and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, 11 are in Georgia or southern Alabama and six are in north Florida.

Seven more were clus-

tered in the region between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Those 47 clinics and hospitals represent just a fraction of the more than 1,000 VA facilities nationwide, but they were responsible for more than one in five of the appointments that took longer than 60 days to complete.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

month when their boat capsized off Libya with hundreds of passengers locked in the hold by smugglers. A few days earlier, some 400 people were feared drowned in another capsizing.

More patrols

VA HOSPITAL Continued from Page 1A mation is also available by visiting www.va.gov/opa/ choiceact

Chronic delays The chronic delays plaguing the Veterans Affairs health system are concentrated in a fraction of its hospitals and clinics — many of them in the South — that have done far worse than others in deliv-

ering prompt care, according to government data reviewed by The Associated Press.

A year after Americans recoiled at revelations that sick veterans were getting sicker while languishing on waiting lists, VA statistics show that the number of patients facing long waits has not declined, even after Congress gave the department an extra $16.3 billion last summer

to shorten waits for care.

Nearly 894,000 appointments completed at VA medical facilities from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28 failed to meet the health system’s timeliness goal, which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days. More than a quarter of those appointments involved a delay of longer than 60 days.

Since the summer, the number of vets waiting more than 30 or 60 days for

NAVAJO Continued from Page 1A ervation in New Mexico based on the ZTAC model that will serve to educate and train people in the areas of healthcare and other disciplines.

“Job skill training for Navajo healthcare workers in high-growth industry sectors such as Community Health Workers and Registered Nurses, provides good paying jobs for skilled workers and strengthens healthcare delivery systems for the people of the Navajo Nation,” said David M. Brown, J.D., Inaugural Dean for ZTAC (2010-2013) and Masters of Medical Science Degree candidate at Harvard Medical School

non-emergency care has largely stayed flat. The number of medical appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled.

Those delays were not spread evenly throughout the VA’s vast network of hospitals and clinics.

Many occurred in a handful of Southern states, often in areas with a strong military presence, a rural population and pa-

SHOOTING the countries where they live. An audio statement on the extremist group’s Al Bayan radio station called the men “two soldiers of the caliphate.”

The shooting appeared to be another example of a “do-it-yourself” jihadist whose plots are often hard for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to stop, said Mitchell Silber, executive managing director for K2 Intelligence and former director of intelligence analysis for the New York City police department.

“It’s very tough to detect in advance, which means we are and will continue to be susceptible to lone actors who don’t give us much warning to thwart them,” he said.

The cartoon contest had been expected to draw outrage from the Muslim community. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous, and drawings similar to those fea-

tured at the Texas event have sparked violence around the world.

The 31-year-old Simpson and 34year-old Soofi were wearing body armor, and one of the men shot a security officer in the leg before a single Garland police officer fired on the two gunmen. After his initial shots, nearby SWAT officers also fired, authorities said.

The security officer was treated at a hospital and released.

Simpson was arrested in 2010 after being the focus of a four-year terror investigation. But despite amassing more than 1,500 hours of recorded conversations, including Simpson’s discussions about fighting nonbelievers for Allah and plans to link up with “brothers” in Somalia, the government prosecuted him on only one minor charge — lying to a federal agent. He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $600 in fines and court fees.

The men were described as amicable and quiet and were some-

Continued from Page 1A

times seen feeding stray cats outside their apartment complex.

Simpson had worshipped at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix for about a decade, but he quit showing up over the past two or three months, the president of the mosque told The Associated Press.

The center’s president, Usama Shami, said Simpson would play basketball with mosque members and was involved with the community. Soofi owned a nearby pizza business and would stop in to pray occasionally, he said.

“They didn’t show any signs of radicalization,” Shami said.

Sharon Soofi, the mother of Soofi, told The Dallas Morning News that her son may have somehow snapped.

“The hard thing is to comprehend is why he would do this and leave an 8-year-old son behind,” said his mother, who now lives in a small town southwest of Houston.

In a statement released late Mon-

day by Phoenix law firm Osborn Maledon, Simpson’s family said it is “struggling to understand” what happened.

“We are sure many people in this country are curious to know if we had any idea of Elton’s plans,” the statement said. “To that we say, without question, we did not.”

Terrorism expert Ben Venzke, who has been tracking terrorist groups for two decades, said jihadists have shifted their tactics to include not only major targets — like al-Qaida’s attack on the World Trade Center — but also small ones that are more easily accessible.

In December, for instance, Man Monis, an Iranian-born, self-styled cleric with a long criminal history, took 18 people hostage inside a Sydney cafe, forced them to hold up a flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith and demanded he be delivered a flag of the Islamic State group. Monis and two hostages were killed.

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015