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IMMIGRATION
PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION
Too many people
Low numbers locally, in Zapata
Detainees overwhelm Border Patrol in the Valley By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAREDO — The surge of immigrants into southernmost Texas has so overwhelmed the Border Patrol there that it’s run out of room for detainees even in a neighboring sector. Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley have made nearly 160,000 arrests in less than eight months, a more than 70 percent increase on
last year. Last week, the agency shipped hundreds of those recent detainees to Laredo for processing. By the weekend, the overcrowding in that neighboring sector’s stations had become serious, said Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin, who sent a fire marshal to inspect one station. “Every single one of the holding cells was over capacity,” Landin said Friday. It became a safety issue and “it was uncomfortable for those
people.” Cells intended for 17 to 25 people held as many as 44, he said. Landin discussed the issue with the Border Patrol and by Tuesday, a followup inspection showed the overcrowding had been alleviated.
Berin Salas, a supervisory Border Patrol agent, said that after the fire marshal’s visit the Rio Grande Valley sector stopped bringing additional immigrants to Laredo, he said. Hector Garza, a Border Patrol union representative who made the complaint to the fire marshal and accompanied him on his inspection, said the sector was getting 400 transfers a day last week.
Not even 9 percent of voters turned out locally By ALDO AMATO THE ZAPATA TIMES
See BORDER PATROL PAGE 11A
ROCKET LAUNCH SITE
CLOSER TO A LAUNCHING
The state’s low voter turnout for the primary runoff election was once again evident across South Texas counties. According to the Texas secretary of state’s office, the statewide turnout for Tuesday’s runoffs was about 951,000 voters. The number was far less than the 1.8 million turnout in the March Primary Election and the 1.3 million turnout in the July 2012 runoffs. Texas has 13.6 million registered voters. Zapata County reported that 631, or 8.5 percent of the county’s 7,387 registered voters, cast ballots. About 2 percent of Hidalgo County’s 307,426 registered voters participated while approximately 8 percent of Maverick County’s 29,000 voters cast ballots. The Webb County Elections office reported 12,525, or about 11 percent of the 112,400 registered voters, cast ballots in the May runoff elections. While Elections Ad-
See VOTING
PAGE 11A
MEXICO
Mexico growth sluggish By TIM JOHNSON MCCLATCHY FOREIGN STAFF
Photo by Christopher Sherman | AP
High-rises of South Padre Island are visible in the distance, north of a site being considered as a commercial spaceport for California-based SpaceX, in this Dec. 6, 2012, photo. The private land is surrounded by property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Local lawmakers hope to find money in the state budget to entice the company.
Launch site in Valley clears environmental hurdle By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
M
cALLEN — Building and operating a private rocket launch site along the coast in the southernmost tip of Texas is unlikely to jeopardize the existence of protected animal species and create few unavoidable impacts, according to a final federal environmental review. The Federal Aviation Administration released the environmental impact state-
ment for California-based SpaceX on Thursday. It does not guarantee that the FAA would issue launch licenses there, but it is an essential step in that direction. SpaceX has proposed launching 12 rockets per year from the site east of Brownsville and 3 miles north of the U.S.Mexico border called Boca Chica Beach, but did not make any promises Thursday. If built, it would be the first commercial orbital launch site. “Though Brownsville remains a final-
ist for the development of a commercial orbital launch complex, the decision will not be made until all technical and regulatory due diligence is complete,” SpaceX spokeswoman Hannah Post said in an email. She noted several more steps have to be cleared, and that, “While the timing of some of these critical steps is not within SpaceX’s control, we are hopeful that these will be complete in the near fu-
See ROCKETS
PAGE 11A
MEXICO CITY — The central bank chief calls it a “temporary pothole.” Whatever the term, Mexico’s economy has hit some turbulence — despite the most ambitious overhaul to its business structure in decades. Tax hikes have dampened consumer confidence, retail sales remain stagnant, and low U.S. demand for Mexican-made cars and televisions slowed the economy earlier this year to its lowest point in four years. Mexico grew at a sluggish 1.8 percent rate in the first quarter of 2014, forcing the government to ratchet down its forecast to 2.7 percent growth for the year. Bankers and economists still voice hope that Mexico is on the threshold of faster growth because of the opening of the energy, banking and telecommunications sectors. “We know that the reforms don’t have
See ECONOMY
PAGE 11A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
Saturday, May 31
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1964 Zapata High School Class 50th reunion. Dinner at The Steak House on Wednesday, June 25. Call Dora Martinez at 324-1226 or Ninfa Gracia at 500-5219. TAMIU Planetarium shows. “Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” 3 p.m.; “The Future Is Wild” 4 p.m.; and “Seven Wonders” 5 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663. Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.” 6 p.m. Spanish showing. 8 p.m. English showing. Caffe Dolce, 1708 Victoria St. General admission $10, student/senior $5. Tickets sold at door. Outdoor sitting. Proceeds benefit SCAN’s Sexual Assault Services Information Program. Contact nadx.herrera@gmail.com. Nixon High School’s production of “Twelfth Night.” 8 p.m. TAMIU Fine and Performing Arts Theater. General admission $10. 2014 UIL AAA State OneAct Play finalist.
Today is Saturday, May 31, the 151st day of 2014. There are 214 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 31, 1889, some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, perished when the South Fork Dam holding back Lake Conemaugh collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town. On this date: In 1594, Italian artist Tintoretto died in Venice in his mid-70s. In 1669, English diarist Samuel Pepys (peeps) wrote the final entry of his journal, blaming his failing eyesight for his inability to continue. In 1790, President George Washington signed into law the first U.S. copyright act. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was founded. In 1913, U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan proclaimed the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for popular election of U.S. senators, to be in effect. In 1935, movie studio 20th Century Fox was created through a merger of the Fox Film Corp. and Twentieth Century Pictures. In 1949, former State Department official and accused spy Alger Hiss went on trial in New York, charged with perjury (the jury deadlocked, but Hiss was convicted in a second trial). In 1961, South Africa became an independent republic as it withdrew from the British Commonwealth. In 1962, former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel a few minutes before midnight for his role in the Holocaust. In 1977, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making, was completed. In 1989, House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would resign. (Tom Foley later succeeded him.) In 1994, the United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union. Ten years ago: Alberta Martin, one of the last widows of a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, died in Enterprise, Alabama, at age 97. Five years ago: Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, died in Southampton, England at 97. One year ago: A tornado in the Oklahoma City metro area claimed eight lives, including those of storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son, Paul, and Carl Young; 13 people died in flash flooding. Today’s Birthdays: Actordirector Clint Eastwood is 84. Singer Peter Yarrow is 76. Former Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite is 75. Singer-musician Augie Meyers is 74. Actress Sharon Gless is 71. Football Hall-of-Famer Joe Namath is 71. Actor Tom Berenger is 64. Actor Gregory Harrison is 64. Actor Kyle Secor is 57. Actress Roma Maffia (ma-FEE’uh) is 56. Comedian Chris Elliott is 54. Thought for Today: “The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.” — Walt Whitman, American poet and essayist (born this date in 1819, died in 1892).
Photo by Pat Sullivan/file | AP
Sunday, June 1
A gurney in a death chamber in Huntsville is shown on Tuesday, May 27, 2008. Texas can keep secret the name of its supplier for its execution drugs, the state attorney general determined Thursday, after law enforcement argued that suppliers face serious danger.
Nixon High School’s production of “Twelfth Night.” 3 p.m. TAMIU Fine and Performing Arts Theater. General admission $10. 2014 UIL AAA State OneAct Play finalist.
AG: Source can be secret By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Monday, June 2 Laredo Soup’s first Microfinance Dinner. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Holding Institute Community Center, 1102 Santa Maria Ave. $5 gets you soup, salad bread and a vote to micro-fund a community project. Four presentations. Monday collected on the spot. Contact Luis Villarreal at tfriar@gmail.com or 764-9577.
Tuesday, June 3 Meeting of Webb County Community Coalition. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. San Martin De Porres Catholic Church Meeting Room, 1704 Sandman St. Steve Ross from Texans Standing Tall to discuss underage drinking and social hosting. RSVP with Veronica Jimenez at 724-3177. TAMIU Planetarium shows. “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” 2 p.m.; “Earth, Moon and Sun” 3 p.m.; “Wonders of the Universe” 4 p.m.; and “Destination Saturn” 5 p.m. General admission $3 children and $4 adults. Call 326-3663. “The Calling” series of Bible talks. 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Laredo Church of Christ Chapel, 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 340. Contact Miguel Zuñiga at 286-9631 or mglzuñiga@yahoo.com.
Thursday, June 5 Grief support group. Noon to 1:30 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free and open to public. Contact Patricia Cisneros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org. TAMIU Planetarium shows. “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” 2 p.m.; “Earth, Moon and Sun” 3 p.m.; “Wonders of the Universe” 4 p.m.; and “Destination Saturn” 5 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 3263663. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Call Beverly Cantu at 7270589. Conversations with the Sisters of Mercy. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 1000 Mier (corner of Hendricks). Discussions focus on five concerns: Earth, nonviolence, women, racism and immigration. First conversation is immigration. English and Spanish. Contact Rosanne Palacios at 721-7408 or rosanne.palacios@mercy.net.
Friday, June 6 Grand Dance of Legends, to benefit Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center. 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Casa Blanca Ballroom. Featuring Sunny Ozuna & the Sunliners, Freddy Martinez and Joe Castillo Zaz y Zaz. $20 pre-sale tickets at Casa Raul North and South, Graphitiks Advertising Design Inc., Rio Bravo Music Store, San Ramon Record Shop and Ruthe B. Cowl. Sponsorships available. Call 722-2431 or visit ruthebcowl.com.
Saturday, June 7 Used book sale, hosted by First United Methodist Church. 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hardback books are $1, paperback books 50 cents, and magazines and children’s books 25 cents. Submit calendar items at lmtonline.com/calendar/submit or by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com. Items will run as space is available.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — Texas law enforcement officials are refusing to say what threats were behind a key letter that led the state attorney general to reverse his long-held position that the identity of Texas’ execution drug provider should be made public. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s one-page letter was cited Thursday by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which ruled state prison officials could keep its provider a secret. On Friday, the Department of Public Safety called any details about threats “law enforcement sensitive information.” Anti-death penalty advocates have accused Texas and other states of trumping up threats to avoid disclosing their providers. So far, state and local law enforcement agencies have said little publicly about why they
feel pharmacies are in danger. The state prison system has long argued that safety concerns required it to keep suppliers’ information private. Three times, Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office refused the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s requests, saying the agency hadn’t done enough to prove a threat. In one of those opinions, issued two years ago, the office said that “while we acknowledge the department’s concerns, we find you have not established disclosure of the responsive information would create a substantial threat of physical harm to any individual.” But in Thursday’s opinion reversing that position, Abbott’s office cited Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw’s letter as proof that law enforcement believed a threat existed.
Nearly 90 headstones vandalized at cemetery
Fire smoldering at East Texas fertilizer lot
Federal judge says no to tattooed Jesus school ad
LONGVIEW — Vandals have damaged nearly 90 headstones at an East Texas cemetery. Police believe the vandalism at Greenwood Cemetery in Longview, about 120 miles east of Dallas, occurred Tuesday. The cemetery association is considering raising the money needed to install surveillance cameras.
ATHENS — A fertilizer fire at an East Texas farm supply is being allowed to burn itself out. Fire Chief John McQueary says the smoldering fire Friday morning is contained but an evacuation ordered early Thursday evening in the town of about 13,000 remained in effect. No injuries are reported. The fire broke out at the East Texas Ag Supply lot about 6 p.m. Thursday.
LUBBOCK — A federal judge has sided with the Lubbock Independent School District in a lawsuit brought by a religious group whose ad featuring a heavily tattooed image of Jesus was rejected by school officials. School district officials contended the ad equated to proselytizing and violated the district’s code of conduct policy that requires tattoos be covered.
Suburban Houston couple fatally shot at home KATY — Fort Bend County authorities are investigating the slaying of a husband and wife at their home in a gated community in Katy. Sheriff Troy Nehls says 54year-old Michael Walton and his 52-year-old wife Lynda were fatally shot with a small-caliber weapon. Detectives have found some evidence of a forced entry into the home.
Austin man arrested for laser pointing at chopper AUSTIN — A 25-year-old Austin man has been arrested on federal charges accusing him of aiming a laser pointer at an Austin police helicopter. FBI agents on Thursday arrested Gabriel Soza Ruedas Jr. The indictment says the incident occurred Feb. 15. Austin police aren’t providing additional details.
Millions improperly spent at North Texas DENTON — Financial documents show the University of North Texas improperly obtained $83.5 million in state money for employee benefits and salaries over more than 10 years ending in April. Results of an investigation released Thursday don’t say if the money was obtained deliberately or by mistake. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION Panel: Baker must make cakes for gay weddings DENVER — Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission on Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections to the practice did not trump the state’s anti-discrimination statutes. The unanimous ruling from the seven-member commission upheld an administrative law judge’s finding in December that Jack Phillips violated civil rights law when he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012. The couple sued. Phillips, a devout Christian who owns the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, said the decision violates his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of his religion.
‘Ferris Bueller’ glass house sells for $1.06M CHICAGO — The Chicago-ar-
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First graders from Rockrimmon Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colo. form a "bucket brigade" of mulch while volunteering Thursday at the Flying W Ranch in Colorado Springs. ea home where Ferris Bueller’s friend Cameron famously “killed” his father’s prized Ferrari finally has a new owner. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the modernist home in Highland Park sold Thursday for $1.06 million.
Craig Hogan is regional director at Coldwell Banker Previews. He wouldn’t say who bought the four-bedroom, steel-and-glass house built on the edge of a wooded ravine. The house was built in 1953. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
State
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Smartphone factory to close By EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH — Google’s Motorola Mobility handset unit announced Friday it will shutter its North Texas factory by the end of this year, barely a year after it opened with much fanfare as the first smartphone assembly plant in the U.S. At the time, Google had explained its surprising decision by saying the location would enable it to fulfill customized, built-toorder devices and deliver them anywhere in the U.S. within five days. But sales of its flagship phone, the Moto X, have been too weak and the costs of running the plant too high to keep operations going, Motorola Mobility spokesman Will Moss said. Singapore-based international contract electronics manufacturer Flextronics Ltd. operates the plant. Even though the concept of the smartphone was pioneered in the U.S. and many phones have been designed here, the vast majority of phones are assembled in Asia. The Fort Worth factory has allowed Google to stamp the phone with “Made in the U.S.A.,” although assembly is just the last step in the manufacturing process and accounts for relatively little of the cost of a smartphone. The cost largely lies in the chips, battery and display, most of which come from Asia. The Fort Worth factory employs about 700 workers who assemble the Moto X smartphones for the U.S. market, Moss said. He de-
Judge wants to see records By NOMAAN MERCHANT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by L.M. Otero/file | AP
Workers man the Motorola smartphone plant in Fort Worth, in this Sept. 10, 2013, photo. Cellphone pioneer Motorola has announced it’s closing a Texas manufacturing facility just a year after announcing its opening. clined to comment on whether Motorola would retain the workers. Motorola Mobility will continue to develop the Moto X in Brazil and China, where the costs for labor and shipping aren’t as high. Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office administers a pair of special state funds meant to help attract job-creating businesses to the state, but spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the Republican governor did not distribute any money to close the Motorola Mobility deal. Google bought cellphone pioneer Motorola for $12.4 billion in 2012. The Moto X originally sold for $600, but amid flagging sales, Google dropped the retail price to $399. Still, Google sold only a fraction of the units in the first quarter of 2014 when compared with the
Apple iPhone. The average selling price globally for a smartphone in 2013 was $335, according to Massachusetts-based researcher International Data Corp. Nonetheless, Google reported its Motorola mobile segment generated $4.4 billion in sales in 2013, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. The announcement of the plant closure comes four months after Google said it planned to sell the Motorola Mobility smartphone business to Hong Kong-based computer maker Lenovo for $2.9 billion. The sale is expected to close by the end of the
year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moss said Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility and the closing of the factory were not related. San Francisco-based Internet analyst Kerry Rice of Needham & Co. said Google acquired Motorola more for its patents than its production capacity. “They wanted to give it a go as far as building in the U.S., but it was probably a stretch for them to take that on. Manufacturing is not their core competency and never has been,” he said.
DALLAS — A Texas judge ordered attorneys for the North Texas teenager who killed four people in a deadly wreck to turn over the records of the psychologist who claimed the teen had “affluenza.” Judge R.H. Wallace Jr. on Thursday ruled that Ethan Couch’s attorneys had to produce the records in a lawsuit filed by the family of a boy injured in last year’s crash. One of Couch’s lawyers said Friday that they would likely appeal the order. Couch was 16 years old when he drunkenly rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of people, killing four. He was given probation and is receiving treatment at the state hospital in Vernon, Texas, north of Dallas. The family of Lucas McConnell, a boy injured in the crash, is seeking records of Dr. Dick Miller, a North Texas psychologist whose testimony last year became notorious when he claimed Couch’s wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition he called “affluenza.” McConnell’s family’s lawyers want to take Mill-
er’s testimony again in a deposition. They also want to obtain depositions from Couch and his parents. Wallace ordered Couch’s attorneys to provide him with Miller’s records as well as records from a private California facility where Couch is believed to have been treated for substance abuse. The judge said he would review the records and decide whether they should be given to McConnell’s side. Michael Yanof, an attorney for Couch, said Friday he would likely file a request with a state appeals court to overturn Wallace’s order before the June 27 deadline to turn over the records. Wallace did not immediately rule on whether Miller will have to testify again.
Retail gas prices rise by a penny IRVING — Retail gasoline prices across Texas increased by a penny this week, bringing the average price at the pump to $3.46 a gallon. AAA Texas said Thursday the statewide average is 6 cents more than this time last year. The national average stands at $3.65
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Memorable message for graduates By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS
No one having asked me to give their commencement address this year, I have decided to give it anyway. Here. I have been reading reports of these addresses, mostly given by public figures, some stirring debate, demonstrations and boycott. All in all, the passion is wasted because most of these addresses are not worth the fuss, the fee or the honorary degree. They occupy the unhappy space between a Sunday sermon and a sales meeting. Having exhorted the students to heights of moral rectitude, they urge on them a manic menu for striving; of getting to the top of the class of life by making a lot of money and keeping America in front of China, India and, on a good day, Germany. To read these addresses is to be told that life is a marathon in which most of the participants are from Asia and the United States is on the slippery slope to oblivion, and it missed the starter’s pistol shot. With fine irony, it is many of those who have made a hash of national policies and foreign adventures who feel the most obliged to urge the bewildered young people of the class of 2014 to sally forth and do great things. I would humbly suggest they sally forth and live their lives: less striving, more living. My commencement wisdom: Do not be defined by where you work, but by what you do. Working for the dominant institution in your field may sound swell at a cocktail party, but it is almost guaranteed to be less fun and less invigorating than a lesser institution, which is not inhabited wholly by strivers. Strivers can be very tedious. The same goes for the institution you are leaving. Worry less about where you studied and more about what you learned. The best thing I can advise any young person is to have a well-stocked mind. It is a bulwark against adversity, a comfort in disaster, and a place where you can find strength all the days of your life; in success and disaster, in helping to heal a broken heart — and there are going to be broken hearts aplenty in this class, as there have been in all the preceding graduating classes. Life has stages and it is worth knowing them, without being dictated to
by them. In your twenties you will suffer Cupid’s arrow, the ecstasy and pain of love, make your professional mistakes, and begin the intriguing business of finding out who you are. The thirties are the great decade: the idealism is intact, most of the mistakes are in the past, and you have the enthusiasm and energy to make your move in life. It is a golden decade when everything starts to come into focus. The forties are for consolidating, watching children grow and deciding what is possible. From age 50 on, you are in the harvest years. Harvest the rewards of being good at what you do, the respect of your peers, while as ever stocking your mind — the permanent joy of learning, and especially of learning that you have not taken the human pilgrimage alone. I have known too many people who do not know the reward and sanctuary of reading. Prodigious readers, like Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, would read in the five minutes before a meeting, or while waiting for a call to come through. It was the secret life that balanced the public life. My father was not a lettered man, and reading was not something that came easily for him. As result, he missed the great community that is open to all with the good fortune to know how to read. Do not fence yourself in — and do not let others do it for you. Do not believe that you have aptitude for this or that on a hunch: Please find out. I have made a living as a public speaker and broadcaster for many decades. But a lawyer, in a traffic case, once told me that she would not put me on the stand because she felt I was not good at speaking in front of people. The terrifying truth is that I accepted her judgment — and lost the case. Besides being corralled by false knowledge of ourselves, the other great monster lying in wait for you is rejection. We all dread rejection, not just those who meet it constantly like writers and sales people. Fear of rejection is a great disabler; fight it, you are not unique that way. Treat “no” as the prologue to “yes.” Good luck. (Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. His e-mail is lking@kingpublishing.com.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure
our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
COLUMN
Dewhurst dances The Pivot AUSTIN — I don’t envy politicians who have to do The Pivot, but I enjoy watching them do it. The Pivot is that awkward moment when primary losers suddenly have to start saying nice things about former foes they previously wanted you to think were the spawn of the devil. Aware of the perils of The Pivot, Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri on Wednesday sent out a runoff morning-after email acknowledging, “we had some very hard fought and sometimes contentious races” and “right after an election is lost emotions can be high, feelings can be hurt, and sometimes there can be lingering bitterness.” Some $5 million into his own pocket for his latest loss, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has cause for bitterness of the lingering kind. Dewhurst had trashed foe Sen. Dan Patrick for months before Patrick thrashed Dewhurst (known as Dew but now done) Tuesday. Forced into The Pivot, Dewhurst made the obligatory concession phone call followed by the obligatory concession speech. “I pledged to Senator Patrick to do whatever I could
“
KEN HERMAN
to help him over the next six months and as he starts his journey as lieutenant governor,” Dewhurst told supporters in Houston. So far, he’s made good on the pledge. He’s said nothing bad about Patrick (at least in public) since Tuesday and he stopped running ads telling voters bad things about Patrick. A Pivot’s magnitude is directly proportionate to how nasty the race was. Big nasty equals big Pivot, hence, this one requires big. On May 7, after a TV debate in Dallas, Dewhurst said Patrick is “all talk. He doesn’t get things done.” And he “grandstands” and “pocketed his employees federal income-tax payments.” And, Dewhurst asked, “why did he put all of his assets into his mother’s name?” “Is he hiding some of his assets?” Dewhurst asked, adding Patrick’s refusal to release income tax records indicates “he’s obviously hiding something.” “If Dan Patrick won’t re-
lease his income tax returns he ought to withdraw from this race,” Dewhurst proclaimed, going on to tell voters that Patrick was “involved in a number of different fights” with business partners, “cheating them out of millions of dollars.” Now Dewhurst wants you to forget everything he spent so much money to drill into your psyche. I asked him about that Tuesday night. “The voters have spoken that they want Dan Patrick to be lieutenant governor,” he said, “not a lot of voters, but at least enough in the runoff and in this race have spoken. And so that’s why I called Senator Patrick this evening. I congratulated him and told him if there is anything I can do to help him I would be happy to help him.” What about the character and integrity concerns you expressed during the campaign? “The voters have spoken,” Dewhurst said. “I may have my concerns but one of the things I said to Senator Patrick is that I’ve learned some things in this race and I hope he’s learned some things in this race and we both end up as better men.”
Seems we’d all be better if candidates would tone down the personal attacks or, if they really believe them, stick with them postelection. Maybe pivoting losers should run one post-primary ad that says “Never mind” or “Ignore previous.” (Hey, here’s an idea on how Dewhurst can recoup some of his money: Sell his anti-Patrick ads to the Dems for fall campaign use.) One more thing: We could get unusual political theater this year if the Texas House votes to impeach University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall. That would mean a Senate impeachment trial. And, if it happens this year, that would mean the deposed Dewhurst, who serves until early January, would be in charge and Patrick would be in the chamber. Who’d be running the show? The lame duck or the guy who probably will be making the committee assignments next January? Patrick is pro-Hall. Dewhurst seems anti-Hall. A potentially interesting twist on The Pivot, yes? Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin AmericanStatesman. E-mail: kherman@statesman.com.
WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Former VA chief had a bad week By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — When the president of the United States summons you for a meeting, it’s usually a bad thing. When that meeting happens on a Friday amid a burgeoning scandal, it’s a very, very bad thing. So, when Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki sat down with President Barack Obama on Friday, he had to know what was coming. Earlier in the day Shinseki apologized publicly for the problems engulfing VA — long wait times, inadequate care — but made no mention of the possibility of resigning. He didn’t have to, since virtually every politician in Washington was calling for his head. Rep. Tammy
Duckworth, D-Ill., a wounded veteran of the Iraq war and a former VA official, said earlier Friday that Shinseki “has to go.” Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), who heads up House Democrats’ campaign arm, said Thursday that it was time for Shinseki to step aside, giving every vulnerable incumbent or aspiring challenger a free pass to do the same. Across the Capitol, just about every Democratic senator in a competitive race this fall joined the chorus of voices calling for Shinseki’s ouster.
Awaiting report Obama himself had reserved judgment on Shinseki’s fate until the release of a VA inspector general’s re-
port on the problems that had infected the department — up to and including the falsifying of records by senior officials in hopes of obfuscating veterans’ wait times for care. That ended Friday morning when Obama announced that, “with considerable regret,” he had accepted Shinseki’s resignation, because, as the president put it, “we don’t have time for distractions.” Eric Shinseki, for adding your name to the long list of not-so-voluntary resignations in Washington lore, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something. Cillizza covers the White House for The Washington Post and writes The Fix, its politics blog.
DOONESBURY CLASSICS (1974) | GARRY TRUDEAU
Nation
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Migrants placed at Arizona bus stations By ASTRID GALVAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX — By the time the women arrived disheveled and hungry at the Greyhound station in Phoenix, they had already spent weeks traveling thousands of miles with young children in tow. Ranging from months old to adolescents, some of the children were sick and lethargic. Others played gleefully at arcade games in the crowded waiting room of the bus station. The families were apprehended in Texas, flown to Arizona and dropped off by the busload at the station in Phoenix by federal immigration authorities overwhelmed by a surge of families caught crossing the Mexican border into the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. It was signal of a shift in immigration that has seen the Rio Grande Valley surpass Tucson as the leader in border apprehensions, overwhelming border agents in Texas. The trend is being driven by a huge increase in the number of immigrants from Central America. Yet while the number of apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley vastly surpasses those in the Tucson sector in Arizona, the area has fewer agents. From October 2013 to May 17, agents in the Rio Grande Valley made more than 148,000 arrests, compared with 63,000 arrests in the Tucson sector. But the Rio Grande Valley has about 1,000 fewer agents than Tucson. “This shows that our strategy is poorly thoughtout. Illegal aliens are always going to go where agents aren’t,” said Shawn Moran, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, the U.S. Border Patrol union. Immigration officials by policy do not keep chil-
dren in detention. When agents in Texas caught an unusually high number of families with young children crossing the border over Memorial Day weekend, they were stumped as to where to process them. So they turned to Arizona. In a sign of the political ramifications of the move, politicians in Arizona lashed out at the federal government over the fact that immigrants are being sent to the state when it has its own problems associated with immigration. “What an astonishing failure of leadership at every level inside the Beltway,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith said. Floridalma Bineda Portillo and her two young boys were part of a group of about 400 Central
Americans who were flown from Texas to Tucson last weekend. Bineda Portillo and many others were then shuttled to Phoenix after the Tucson Greyhound station ran out of space. When they arrived at the station in Phoenix, a volunteer nurse found Bineda Portillo’s 5-year-old son, Hugo David, wheezing and struggling to breathe. His asthma inhaler had been lost when the family was processed by immigration. The boy’s three-year-old brother developed a cold after sitting on the floor for hours in the detention center, his mother said. “We all started crying because we didn’t know what was going to happen to us. It was brutal,” the Guatemala native said in Spanish.
Bineda Portillo said she fled Guatemala because of growing violence and to escape domestic abuse. Her mother, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, sent her money for a bus ride there. In the meantime, volunteers from the Phoenix Restoration Project, a humanitarian group, have been at the Greyhound station since Tuesday handing out food, clothing, diapers and other supplies. “It’s always heartwrenching, especially when we’re working with women, because they’re less likely to be able to read and sometimes are coming from very rural areas of Central America, and Spanish isn’t their first language,” volunteer Cyndi Whitmore said. “We see a lot of women
who are very sacred, very vulnerable.” Like the other Central American migrants sent from Texas to Arizona this week, Bineda Portillo has 15 days from the time she was apprehended to report to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office in Nashville, where officials will begin proceedings against them there. ICE requires that migrants provide a valid address to their destination in the U.S. before they are released. The migrants’ cases are then forwarded to the ICE office closest to that address. Immigration officials say they don’t know how many migrants will actually report to ICE, but that many who are fleeing violence are likely to do so to seek asylum. Maria Eva Casco, of El
Salvador, says she and her 8-year-old son fell ill while in immigration detention. On their way to meet the boy’s father in Orlando, Florida, Casco was now regretting the trek. “It’s been terrifying. A lot of tears and regret,” she said in Spanish. The rise in Central American migrants in Texas and the Rio Grande Valley has exposed how few resources agents have in protecting the border, Moran said. Agents in Laredo, Texas, on Friday sent another flight of migrants to Tucson, and at least one other flight out of there was scheduled in the upcoming days. “It really highlights that we’re behind the eight ball and it’s a difficult job to do, especially when we’re overwhelmed,” Moran said.
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Teacher training said solution to test scores ASSOCIATED PRESS
EL PASO — Texas education officials say they will update training for some teachers and work with educators to determine why standardized test scores for many elementary and middle school students are not improving. The pledge follows the release Thursday of another year of mostly stagnant test scores for students in grades three through eight who took the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness. During hearings at the state Legislature, Texas Education Agency officials have long said that whenever the state adopts a new testing system, scores go down for a number of years but eventually improve as teachers and students adjust. Preliminary data from TEA show that overall passing rates for the 20132014 school year averaged 74 percent for math and 77 percent for reading. In the 2011-2012 school year when the tests were implemented, averages for the same subjects were 72 percent and 77 percent. Scores for students across the grade levels have improved from 1 to 4 percentage points in math
compared with scores from 2012. Changes in reading scores over the last three years have varied from an improvement of 2 percentage points to a 3-point drop. Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams said in a statement Thursday that the assessments are important because they identify whether a student requires early support for basic subjects. The state can’t afford to “ignore potential issues in the lower grades with the hope that they will simply disappear for students in high school,” Williams said. “These results are telling us that our students need support now.” TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said Friday that the agency will work with educators to understand why scores have not improved. She also said that the English/language arts training for teachers is being updated. “We believe that will help,” she said. She added she did not have details about the changes. Williams said that “districts that cling to test preparation, fact memorization and practice tests will not see success.” Emphasizing critical thinking skills and allowing teachers to focus on the curriculum is
the path to success in future tests, he said. Scores for writing tests improved 2 percentage points for fourth-graders from 2012 and dropped one percentage point for seventh-grade students over that same period. Results for science evaluations improved 1 percentage point from 2012 for both fifthand eighth-graders. Scores for the social studies tests eighth-graders took improved 2 percentage points from 2012. Tiffany Hatch, a board member for Texans Advocating Meaningful Student Assessment representing El Paso, said the state should invest more into meeting the needs of students with disabilities, those living in poverty and the large number who speak Spanish as their first language. “If those things are not addressed, test scores are not going to change,” she said. Bonnie Lesley, founder of Texas Kids Can’t Wait, an organization that advocates for more funding for schools, said that in most cases, schools and students that are wealthier do better in tests. “If half of the districts in Texas are underfunded, it all goes together,” she said.
Banker to run VA By DARLENE SUPERVILLE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — After less than four months at the Veterans Affairs Department, Sloan D. Gibson suddenly finds himself in charge of fixing the problems that led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. “Sloan, I think, would be the first to acknowledge that he’s going to have a learning curve that he’s got to deal with,” President Barack Obama told reporters Friday after announcing that Gibson would replace Shinseki temporarily. A career banker, Gibson was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 11 as deputy VA secretary, just weeks before allegations of long waits for doctor’s appointments at VA hospitals nationwide led to mounting bipartisan calls by lawmakers and others for Shinseki to resign. Gibson, 61, came to the department after serving as president and chief executive officer of the USO, the nonprofit organization that provides programs, services and entertainment to U.S. troops and their families. During his five years at the USO, net fundraising grew by 90 percent and paid for an expansion of programs, according to Gibson’s bio on the VA website. “I’m grateful that he is willing to take on this task,” Obama said, noting Gibson’s two decades of experience in the private and non-
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The State Department confirmed Friday that a U.S. citizen from Florida launched a suicide bombing against Syrian government troops earlier this week in what is believed to be the first time an American has been involved in such attacks since the start of the Syrian civil war. Opposition forces fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad had earlier claimed that Abu Hurayra al-Amriki was, in fact, an American fighter who carried out a May 25 truck bombing outside a restaurant in the government-held northwestern city of Idlib. Al-Amriki means “the American.” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that he was an American. Psaki
By JULIAN AGUILAR THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
EL PASO — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Friday said that the United States shares responsibility for the violence in Mexico because of drug demand here and that his GOP colleagues who favor sealing the border “obviously don’t know what they’re talking about.” During a low-profile visit to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, the Texas Republican added that, in his opinion, immigration reform is all but dead this year. His first-ever trip to Ciudad Juárez as a U.S. senator resulted from an invitation by Rolando Pablos, CEO of the BorderPlex Alliance, an economic development company, and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser. Cornyn also met with Juarez Mayor Enrique Escobar and toured an automotive factory. Cornyn said he felt safe in Mexico and would let others know the situation is changing. “I’ll spread the work across Texas and in Washington, D.C., that conditions in Mexico and Juárez are much improved and that people should come see for themselves,” he said near a southbound lane at the Zaragoza International Bridge in east El Paso County. Cornyn said sealing the border would drastically hinder the economic output of the region, which he said extended northward to the rest of the country. “It would be devastating in terms of the 6 million jobs that depend on binational trade,” he said. “We do, however, need to make sure that people on both sides have the security and the safety they deserve.” Cornyn said he was proud of the successes of Ciudad Juarez’s law enforcement in what was,
Photo by Julian Aguilar | The Texas Tribune
From left to right, BorderPlex CEO Rolando Pablos, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser are seen in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, on Friday. just a few years ago, one of the deadliest cities in the Americas. He toured the municipal police academy in Ciudad Juárez and said support and training provided by the U.S. should get some credit for the improvements. Though he said that “as our Mexican friends point out, the problems wouldn’t be so bad in Mexico if there wasn’t such great demand in the United States,” he stopped well short of advocating for changes to U.S. gun laws. Many Mexican citizens and elected officials blame gun laws here and gunrunning as adding to the violence in Mexico. “There is no question that some guns are bought by straw purchasers and are transported south into Mexico,” Cornyn said, but noted that he doesn’t believe the majority of weapons used there are smuggled from Texas, but are instead purchased from arms dealers around the world. “Clearly, we have a responsibility to make sure that we respect not only our own laws but the laws of Mexico as well. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of doing that,” he said. “But I am not in favor of restricting the rights of law-abiding Americans under the Second Amendment of the United States
Constitution for any reason. But I think there are ways we can accommodate the concerns of our Mexican partners.” On immigration, Cornyn has joined his Republican colleagues who favor a series of new laws rather than a single omnibus bill like the one passed by the U.S. Senate in June 2013 that then stalled in the U.S. House. He said he didn’t expect any movement on that front until after this year’s elections. “I think we’ll be able to make progress starting in January,” he said. “Frankly I don’t see much opportunity between now and then.” When asked if he saw Cornyn’s trip stemming from a legitimate concern for the border area or instead a convenient electionyear visit, El Paso Mayor Leeser called the visit as a positive event. Cornyn will face Dallas-area businessman David Alameel, a Democrat, in November. “I think that it’s encouraging that we are all working together, absolutely important,” Leeser said. Pablos said it was a historic visit given the state of affairs on the border. “I think it sent a loud message that he believes Mexico is important and the people have come out of this war,” Pablos said.
Photo by Jacquelyn Martin | AP
Outgoing Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and his wife Patricia Shinseki, right, and Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan D. Gibson and his wife Margaret, left, attend a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. profit sectors. “He, too, has devoted his life to serving our country and our veterans.” John I. Pray Jr., the USO’s current president and chief executive, said Gibson worked tirelessly during his tenure there to support the changing needs of the military. He called Gibson a “driving force” behind the organization’s growth and a “passionate advocate” for active duty service members and veterans. Obama met with Gibson after he met with Shinseki and accepted his resignation. The president said he had made it clear to Gibson “that reforms should not wait. They need to proceed immediately.” Before joining the USO, Gibson spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorp., where he
was vice chairman and chief financial officer. His chairmanship of the United Way campaign in central Alabama in 2002 netted more than $30 million for charitable organizations. Gibson is the son of an Army air corpsman who served as a B-17 tail-gunner during World War II. His grandfather was an Army infantryman who was wounded in World War I while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division at the Second Battle of the Marne. Gibson is a 1975 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he earned airborne and ranger qualifications and served as an Army infantry officer. He earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
US: bomber an American By MATTHEW LEE AND ZEINA KARAM
Cornyn in El Paso
said it appeared to be the first time an American citizen was involved in a suicide bombing since the start of the three-year civil war in Syria that has killed at least 160,000. Psaki had no other details. Sen. Bill Nelson, DFla., told reporters in Miami Friday that Al-Amriki is from Florida but did not provide any further details. It’s unknown how many people al-Amriki killed in the bombing. Opposition rebels with the al-Qaida-linked insurgency al-Nusra Front said his truck was laden with 16 tons of explosives to tear down the al-Fanar restaurant in Idlib, a gathering site for Syrian troops. Asaad Kanjo, an opposition activist based in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, said he heard that al-Amriki arrived in Syria a few months ago and tore up his American passport upon
arrival. Kanjo said even a local commander with the Nusra Front was surprised about al-Amriki, quoting him as saying that people do all they can to try go to the U.S. to get an American passport, and this man came here and got rid of his. “From what I heard, I believe he was an American of Arab origin. People said that he spoke Arabic with a foreign accent, and he used to speak classical Arabic,” Kanjo said. He added that al-Amriki was a member of the Nusra Front but was not a commander. “Most probably he came to carry out this attack,” Kanjo said. The truck bombing by alAmriki was one of four by suicide bombers who attacked over the course of a day in the area in Idlib province.
ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT JOB POSTING Position Director of Bilingual/ESL and Compensatory Services Salary Minimum: $72,967.00 Maximum: $98,721.00 Administrative/Professional Compensation Plan Pay Grade: 7 Minimum Duty Days: 226 Days Minimum Qualification: Master’s Degree Texas Mid-Management or Principal’s Certificate Valid Texas Teaching Certificate with Bilingual Certificate Three years of administrative experience Primary Purpose: The primary purpose of this position is to design, coordinate and evaluate a quality and effective implementation of a comprehensive PK-12 Bilingual and ESL Program. The director shall ensure compliance with state and federal laws and provide instructional leadership and training to ensure high standards of instructional service to limited English proficient students. The director will also coordinate all aspects of the district’s state and federal supplemental initiatives while ensuring compliance and program effectiveness that meets student needs in achieving challenging academic achievement standards. The director will coordinate the district’s Federal Programs, Compensatory Education programs, including State Compensatory early childhood programs, family involvement and oversee the pregnancy/parenting teen programs. The director will also serve as the At-Risk Coordinator and as the district’s liaison with the District Alternative Education Program. Special Knowledge/Skills: • Ability to organize and coordinate district-wide programs. • In-depth knowledge of Bilingual/ESL. • Familiarity with state and federal programs including compensatory education. • Strong ability to manage budgets. • Ability to interpret data, policy, procedures, and evaluate programs • High degree of organizational skills. • Ability to develop trainings and present to a variety of audiences. • Demonstrate the ability to work corroboratively with others. • Treat all people with dignity and respect. • Strong communication and interpersonal skills. • Ability to meet deadlines. Preferred Qualifications: Direct experience in the functions of assigned fields of responsibility. Ability to present complex data and materials to a variety of audiences. Ability to compile multiple data sources and extract and/or import into varied platforms. Ability to use PEIMS data management system (iTCCCs). Technology proficiency (eGrants, Excel). Demonstrated ability to work effectively and harmoniously with administrators and other. Deadline for Applying: Monday, June 9, 2014 Applications may be obtained from Human Resources Department 1302 Glenn Street P.O. Box 158 Zapata, Texas 78076 (956)765-6858 • Fax (956)765-5940 Website: www.zcisd.org To download professional application go to: www.zcisd.org We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, marital status or veteran status, the presence of a medical condition, disability or any other legally protected status. An Equal Opportunity Employer
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
Singer shot in Mexico ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — A U.S.-born singer of northern Mexican “banda” music has been shot to death at a restaurant in the border state of Sonora. State police in Sonora said Tomas Tovar Rascon was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and was shot several times at the restaurant in Ciudad Obregon. Tovar Rascon, 33, was better known by his stage name, “Tito Torbellino.” His Facebook page said he was scheduled to perform at a concert in Ciudad Obregon on Friday. A U.S. booking agent listed for Torbellino confirmed his death. Police said two gunmen entered the restaurant Thursday and shot Tovar Rascon at close range. He died on the way to a local hospital. Members of other musical groups have been murdered in Mexico in recent years, usually groups that perform “narcocorridos” that celebrate the exploits of drug traffickers.
“TITO TORBELLINO”
But while some guns appear in Torbellino’s music videos, his songs mainly focused on unrequited love, not drug gangs. Experts say drug capos sometimes target musicians because of their ties to rival groups, or sentimental involvements. In 2013, South Texas singer Jesus “Chuy” Quintanilla was found shot in the head near Mission, Texas. Quintanilla was well known for his ballads, including some about the exploits of Mexican drug cartels. Elijah Wald, author of the book, “Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns
and Guerrillas,” noted previous victims have included singers of a number of genres, not only narcocorridos. Getting entangled with the girlfriend of a criminal, for example, could be dangerous. “In that world, it’s probably more dangerous to be singing romantic songs than narcocorridos because it increases the chances that somebody’s girlfriend will suddenly decide that you’re the cutest thing ever,” he said. Wald said he didn’t have any information on the motive in the Torbellino’s killing, but noted that the singer appears only recently to have become successful. “It’s often just a matter of somebody sponsoring someone who isn’t paying them back or isn’t being properly respectful once they make it,” Wald. “You’re in a world where’s it’s very, very easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or have the wrong friends or look sideway at the wrong girl. The list of things you can do wrong once you’re in that world gets very large.”
Man: No contest in Brad Pitt attack By ANTHONY MCCARTNEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A man who accosted Brad Pitt on a red carpet pleaded no contest to battery Friday and was ordered to stay away from the actor and Hollywood red carpet events. Vitalii Sediuk entered the plea during a court appearance Friday afternoon, two days after he leaped from a fan area and made contact with Pitt at the “Maleficent” premiere. He was sentenced to three years of probation and attend a year’s worth of psychological counseling. Sediuk, 25, was also ordered to stay away from Pitt’s partner Angelina Jolie and stay 500 yards away from the Hollywood block where movie premieres and the Academy Awards are hosted. He was also ordered to stay away from LA Live, an entertainment complex where Sediuk crashed the Grammy Awards in 2013. He was charged earlier Friday
with four misdemeanors, including assault and two counts governing conduct at sporting and entertainment events. He also pleaded no contest to unlawful activity at a sporting or entertainment event and the remaining counts were dropped. Sediuk is a former journalist for the Ukrainian television station 1+1, which fired him roughly three weeks ago. He has been jailed since Wednesday night and appeared in court in the sport coat and jeans he wore to the “Maleficent” premiere, which stars Jolie. He smiled at times during the hearing and politely answered questions from a judge. His hands remained cuffed for the hearing, and the right sleeve of his sport coat was ripped. Sediuk is expected to be released Friday afternoon. His attorney Anthony Willoughby said he expected the stay-away orders against his client to be lifted after a year if his client behaves.
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
People keep eye on slide ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLBRAN, Colo. — Scientists are trying to figure out how to monitor a 3-mile-long landslide in western Colorado so that they can warn residents of more slides or flooding in area creeks. Federal, state and local authorities and scientists held a packed town hall meeting with residents in Collbran, a town about 11 miles north of the site of Sunday’s slide. They urged residents to register for emergency notifications. Three men are missing after Sunday’s landslide, which in places is a half-mile wide. Authorities are studying the site, on a northern face of Colorado’s Grand Mesa, to understand what triggered the event. Gov. John Hickenlooper on Friday declared a state-of-disaster emergency in Mesa County because of the slide. The declaration provides $500,000 to help pay for the response and technical assessments. Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey told the meeting that no one can yet predict what to expect next, The Daily Sentinel reported Friday. Another landslide would likely increase water levels in the already raging Plateau Creek that runs through Collbran but would not produce debris flows into town, Hilkey said. The top of the slide is actively shedding rock, water runoff is creating a pond behind the rockfall, and a couple of waterfalls have been spotted on a cliff at the top of the slide, said Jeff Coe of the U.S. Geological Survey. The pooling water could push the block of rock down or seep underneath and have the same impact, Coe said. Officials are using helicopters and cameras to monitor movement, and Coe said putting a GPS receiver on the site would strengthen that monitoring. Any warning of potential danger would urge residents to seek higher ground and not attempt to drive through water, said Andrew Martsolf, Mesa County emergency manager. Light rain fell in the area Friday. Some residents have questioned whether oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the region played a role. Rex Baum, a U.S. Geological Survey research geologist, said he and others suspect heavy moisture and unstable geology contributed. Colorado Mesa University geology instructor Larry Jones said it would be “extraordinarily unlikely” that energy development did. “These things have been going on for thousands of years,” Jones said of Grand Mesa slides. Todd Hartman, spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, said there are about 41 oil and gas wells at seven locations within a mile radius of the slide, but there hasn’t been hydraulic fracturing there in the past three years. A memorial service for the missing — Wes Hawkins, Clancy Nichols and Danny Nichols — was scheduled for Sunday at Plateau Valley High School in Collbran.
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Police knew of killer’s videos By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AND TAMI ABDOLLAH ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Law officers who visited Elliot Rodger three weeks before he killed six college students near a Santa Barbara university were aware that he had posted disturbing videos but didn’t watch them, and they didn’t know about his final video detailing his “Day of Retribution” until after the deadly rampage, officials said. The disclosure in a Santa Barbara County sheriff’s department statement on Thursday corrected an earlier assertion that deputies were unaware of any video when they checked on him on April 30. The statement also provided new details on the sequence of events during that pivotal visit to Rodger’s apartment, a time when he was plotting the rampage ended with him apparently taking his own life. The guns he used in the killings last Friday were stashed inside his apartment at the time, but police never searched the residence or conducted a check to determine if he owned firearms because they didn’t consider him a threat. The statement does not explain why the videos were not viewed or whether the deputies knew anything about the contents beyond a description of them being “disturbing.” The sheriff’s department also revealed new details about the timeline leading up to the killings. It said Rodger uploaded his final video to YouTube detailing his “Day of Retribution” and stating his plans and reasons for the killings, at 9:17 p.m. on the day of the shootings, May 23. One minute later, he emailed a lengthy written manifesto to his mother, father and therapist that also detailed his plans and contempt for everyone he felt were responsible for his sexual frustrations and overall miserable existence.
Video image from YouTube | AP
Law officers who visited Elliot Rodger three weeks before he killed six college students near a Santa Barbara university were aware that he had posted disturbing videos but didn’t watch them. The first gunshots were reported at 9:27 p.m. The rampage was over and Rodger dead eight minutes later. It was another half hour before the therapist saw the emailed manifesto and 11 more minutes until the sheriff’s office was contacted at 10:11 p.m. Authorities contacted Rodger’s mother and learned about the manifesto and the “Retribution” video. Deputies wounded Rodger during two separate shootouts as he sped through the unincorporated beach community of Isla Vista, near the University of California, Santa Barbara, leaving a trail of bloodshed that ended with Rodger apparently shooting himself in the head before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. Thirteen people were injured — eight from gunshot wounds, four from being hit by his car and one who suffered a minor injury. The timing indicates that Rodger stabbed to death three people in the apartment sometime earlier — his two roommates and a third man who might have been another roommate or a visitor at the time of the attack. Rodger wrote in the manifesto about the April 30 visit by the deputies and said it prompted him to remove most of his videos from YouTube. He re-posted at least some of them in the week leading up to the killings. He wrote that the deputies asked him if he had suicidal thoughts, but “I tactfully told
them that it was all a misunderstanding and they finally left. If they had demanded to search my room that would have ended everything.” According to the statement from the sheriff’s office, four deputies, a police officer and a dispatcher in training were sent to Rodger’s apartment after being informed by the county’s mental health hotline that Rodger’s therapist and mother were concerned about videos he posted online. The visit lasted about 10 minutes, during which officers found him shy and polite. The deputies questioned him about the videos. Rodger told them he was having trouble fitting in socially and the videos were “merely a way of expressing himself.” Like other states, California has a law intended to identify and confine dangerously unstable people before they can do harm. It allows authorities to hold people in a mental hospital for up to 72 hours for observation. Because the deputies concluded Rodger was not a threat to himself or others, they never viewed the videos, searched his apartment or conducted a check to determine if he owned firearms, the statement said. That sequence of events is different from a statement Sunday from spokeswoman Kelly Hoover, who said “the sheriff’s office was not aware of any videos until after the shooting rampage occurred.”
In a typical mental-health check, only two deputies would be dispatched. But deputies who were familiar with Rodger as a victim in a January petty theft case were in the area and also decided to go to his apartment. Hoover did not respond immediately to an email seeking more information on why the deputies didn’t watch the videos, the content of the videos and what information was relayed from the mother that prompted the check at his apartment. Rick Wall, a retired Los Angeles police captain who created the agency’s procedures for responding to people with mental problems, said that law enforcement officers need to look at all the available evidence when conducting investigations. “Not that the final conclusion that they made on that day would have been any different, but something could have changed,” he said. The visit with Rodger was brief, but Wall said the amount of time they spent talking to his mother was critical in determining why she was concerned about him, while gathering details of his medical history and past behavior. “That’s going to be the telling piece and where you’re going to get the breakdown on the guy’s story,” Wall said. “Talking to somebody for 10 minutes, you may or may not get the ability to conduct a proper evaluation.” Rodger’s parents issued a statement Thursday saying they were “crying out in pain” for the victims and their families. “The feeling of knowing that it was our son’s actions that caused this tragedy can only be described as hell on earth,” the statement said. “It is now our responsibility to do everything we can to help avoid this happening to any other family — not only to avoid any more innocence destroyed, but also to identify and deal with the mental issues that drove our son to do what he did.”
SÁBADO 31 DE MAYO DE 2014
Agenda en Breve ZAPATA 05/31— La Clase 1964 de Zapata High School se reunirá para celebrar los 50 años de haber graduado. El miércoles 25 de junio en el Steak House. Interesados en asistir a la cena pueden solicitar informes con Dora Martínez al (956) 324-1226 o con Ninfa Gracia al (956) 5005219.
LAREDO 05/31— Feria de Nutrición y Salud, a cargo del Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas y Mercy Ministries, se llevará a cabo de 9 a.m. a 12 p.m. en Iglesia Senda de Gloria, 125 E. Mendoza, en Colonia Pueblo Nuevo sobre Carretera 359. Habrá información sobre programas SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP y TANF; también se revisará la presión arterial, niveles de azúcar y se ofrecerá otra información de salud. 05/31— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara presenta “Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” a las 3 p.m.; “The Future is Wild” a las 4 p.m.; “Seven Wonders” a las 5 p.m. Costo: 4 dólares, niños; y 5 dólares, adultos. 05/31— SOCCER: Laredo Heat recibe a Albuquerque Sol FC a las 8 p.m. en el Complejo de Soccer de TAMIU. 05/31— “The Vagina Monologues/Los Monólogo de la Vagina” de Eve Ensler. Presentación en Español a las 6 p.m.; y presentación en Inglés a las 8 p.m., en Caffé Dolce, 1708 Victoria St. Costo: 10 dólares, general; 5 dólares, estudiantes/adultos mayores. Ganancias se destinarán a SCAN. 05/31— Se presentará la obra de teatro “Twelfth Night” de William Shakespeare, con el grupo finalista de JW Nixon HS 2014 UIL AAAA State One-Act Play, a las 8 p.m. en el Teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Costo: 10 dólares. Otra función el domingo a las 3 p.m. 06/02— TAMIU presenta un recital por Daniel Whitfield a través del programa de Pianistas Jóvenes, a las 7:30 p.m. en el salón de recitales del Centro de Bellas Artes y Artes Escénicas. Evento gratuito. 06/03— SOCCER: Laredo Heat recibe a Houston Dutch Lions a las 8 p.m. en el Complejo de Soccer de TAMIU. 06/05— En el marco del 120 Aniversario de Sisters of Mercy se invita a la serie de discusiones “Conversaciones con las Hermanas”. La primer charla será a las 6 p.m. en el Centro de Educación Lamar Bruni Vergara, 1000 Mier, esquina con Hendricks, con el tema de Inmigración. La conversación será Bilingüe.
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO 05/31— 55ª Muestra Internacional de Cine presenta “La Casa de Radio” (FranciaJapón/2012) a las 7 p.m. en Cinemex Plaza Real/HEB. Abono de 200 pesos para toda la muestra. 06/01— 55ª Muestra Internacional de Cine presenta “Solo Dios perdona” (FranciaEstados Unidos-Dinamarca/2013) a las 7 p.m. en Cinemex Plaza Real/HEB. Abono de 200 pesos para toda la muestra. 06/02— 55ª Muestra Internacional de Cine presenta “Amor Índigo” (Francia/2013) a las 7 p.m. en Cinemex Plaza Real/HEB. Abono de 200 pesos para toda la muestra. 06/03— El grupo de teatro Laberintus A.C estará presentando la obra de teatro “En el desierto no hay sirenas”, de Luis Edoardo Torres, a partir de las 7 p.m. en el teatro del IMSS, ubicado entre Reynosa y Belden. Costo 20 pesos.
Zfrontera Votaron pocos
PÁGINA 9A
PROCESO DESEMPATE EN ELECCIONES PRIMARIAS
POR ALDO AMATO TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Una vez más fue evidente el bajo índice de votos emitidos durante la ronda de desempate de las elecciones primarias, alrededor de los condados del Sur de Texas. De acuerdo con la Oficina de la Secretaria del Estado de Texas, el índice de participación combinado de todo el estado en la segunda ronda del martes fue de poco más de 951.000 votantes. Los números fueron mucho menores a los 1.8 millones de votantes que se presentaron en las elecciones primarias de marzo y al 1.3 millones que se presentaron en el desempate en julio de 2012. Texas presenta 13.6 millones de votantes registrados. La Oficina de Elecciones del
Condado de Webb reportó aproximadamente 12.525, o poco más del 9 por ciento, de los 112.400 votantes registrados para participar el martes. Mientras que el Administrador de Elecciones, Oscar Villarreal, dijo que la participación del Condado de Webb fue menor a la esperada, los condados circunvecinos vieron números notablemente inferiores. El Condado de Zapata reportó solamente 631, o sólo el 8.5 por ciento, de los 7.387 votantes registrados. Solo poco más de un 2 por ciento de los 307.426 votantes registrados en el Condado de Hidalgo participó en las elecciones, mientras que poco más del 8 por ciento de los 29.000 votantes del Condado de Maverick, emitieron su voto. “Ha estado especialmente lento para ser una elección no presiden-
cial”, dijo Villarreal. “Realmente no se cual habrá sido la razón de esto. Pero este año fue peculiarmente lento”. Villarreal dijo que no ha tenido la oportunidad de hablar con otros administradores electorales sobre la baja participación. Dijo que la reciente implementación de la ley para mostrar una identificación de votantes de Texas, dejó a varios residentes sin participar. “Recibimos llamadas de personas con licencias que ya habían expirado que simplemente no podían votar”, dijo. “No creo que fuera un problema importante, pero ciertamente se vio el martes”. La ley, aprobada en 2011, requiere a los votantes presentar una identificación con fotografía, tales como la licencia de conducir, una
licencia para portar armas, o una certificación especial de elección emitida solo para la votación. Mientras que no pudo explicar el motivo de la baja participación, Villarreal dijo que la capacidad de su oficina se limita ayudar a que los números se incrementen en noviembre. “El aumento en la participación electoral en realidad no ha caído en el condado”, dijo. “Nuestro trabajo es asegurarnos de que esté todo listo para las votaciones. Una vez dicho esto, la educación electoral sería muy beneficiosa para los residentes del condado. Esa es una cosa que podemos hacer, sobre todo en relación con la ley de identificación de votantes”. (Localice a Aldo Amato en 7282538 o en aamato@lmtonline.com)
DEPORTES
TEXAS
GIMNASIA RÍTMICA
Proveedor fármacos seguirá en confidencia POR NOMAAN MERCHANT Y MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
Una de las gimnastas tamaulipecas que se encuentran compitiendo en las Olimpiadas Nacionales 2014, en la ciudad de Veracruz, Veracruz, México, durante la ejecución de su rutina con el Aro, disciplina en la que Tamaulipas obtuvo medalla de plata y bronce.
Siguen camino en Olimpiada Nacional TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
V
ERACRUZ, México — La Olimpiada Nacional 2014 dio inicio con la etapa de Gimnasia Rítmica en el Auditorio “Benito Juárez” de esta ciudad, donde las gimnastas tamaulipecas obtuvieron al menos 11 medallas. Durante la pruebas correspondientes a la Clase IV A, las representantes de Tamaulipas obtuvieron dos medallas de plata. Fue en la prueba de Manos Libres donde Jazny Aguilar Balat, de Tampico, México, se ubicó en segundo lugar con una puntuación de 9.700; mientras que en la especialidad de Sumatoria por Equipo, las cuatro representantes de Tamaulipas acumularon un total de
48.983 puntos, correspondientes a sus actuaciones en Manos Libres y Cuerda para quedarse con la presea de plata. A lo largo del segundo día de competencias las gimnastas obtuvieron cuatro medallas de oro, tres de plata y dos de bronce, con las actuaciones sobresaliente de Elianne Jesua Martínez Hernández e Isabel Fernández Vicencio dentro de la Clase III A. En la especialidad de Pelota, Martínez Hernández, originaria de Madero, obtuvo la medalla de oro con una puntuación de 11.100, mientras que Fernández Vicencio, también de Madero, logró conquistar la medalla de plata con 10.150 puntos. Fue en la Cuerda que Fernández Vicencio ganó la medalla de oro, empatando con la competidora de Yucatán, María
Fernanda Marco, ambas con calificaciones de 10.550 unidades. Martínez quedó en tercer lugar con 10.300 puntos. Durante la competencia con el Aro, Tamaulipas obtuvo plata y bronce, con Martínez en segundo lugar y Fernández en tercero, con 10.300 y 10.250 puntos, respectivamente. La medalla de oro en All Around de la Clase III fue para Martínez, con 31.700 puntos. Fernández obtuvo la plata con 30.950 puntos. En la sumatoria de puntos por Equipo, Tamaulipas obtuvo la medalla de oro, producto de las actuaciones de las cuatro representantes durante la ronda del jueves. Martínez, Fernández, Ana Paulina Pérez Nieto y Karla Lissette Antonio Pérez, en conjunto, sumaron un total de 91.400 puntos.
DALLAS — Texas puede mantener en secreto el nombre de su proveedor de fármacos para las ejecuciones de los condenados a muerte, decidió el procurador general estatal después que la policía sostuvo que los abastecedores corren serio peligro. En la decisión, la oficina del fiscal Greg Abbott citó una “evaluación de amenazas” firmada por el director del Departamento de Salud Pública de Texas, Steven McCraw, de que las farmacias que venden esas drogas enfrentan “una amenaza sustancial de daño físico”. La decisión del jueves se produjo el mismo día en que el procurador general de Missouri, Chris Koster, dijo que su estado debía considerar la creación de su propio laboratorio para producir fármacos de ejecución en vez de depender de “una cooperación inestable” con fuentes externas. Bajo el mandato de Abbott, que es también el candidato republicano a gobernador en el estado con más condenas a muerte, su oficina desde el 2010 había rechazado tres intentos similares del Departamento de Justicia Penal de Texas por mantener secretas las fuentes de las drogas letales. Aunque los tribunales se han negado a interrumpir las ejecuciones por esa cuestión, abogados defensores de los condenados a muerte dicen que necesitan la información para verificar la potencia de las drogas e impedir que sus defendidos sean sometidos a un castigo cruel e inconstitucional. La evaluación citada por la oficina de Abbott es una carta de una página con fecha del 7 de marzo en la que McCraw dice que una farmacia del área de Houston, que fue identificada públicamente como el abastecedor anterior, recibió amenazas que “deben tomarse seriamente”. La carta no especifica las amenazas, y un vocero del Departamento de Justicia Penal dijo el mes pasado no estar al tanto de ninguna investigación de amenazas a la farmacia Woodlands Compounding. “Las farmacias son naturalmente accesibles al público y presentan un blanco fácil para ataques violentos”, observó McCraw. En contraste con algunos estados, la ley texana no especifica si las autoridades correccionales deben revelar dónde compran las drogas para las inyecciones letales.
COLUMNA
Reconocen países ideas de Benito Juárez POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
La victoria republicana sobre el imperio que pretendía imponer Napoleón III son gestas fundadoras del México laico y moderno. El avance imperialista, respaldado por conservadores mexicanos, repliega al gobierno legítimo hacia el lejano Paso del Norte, hoy Ciudad Juárez. Pedro Santacilia, yerno del Presidente Benito Juárez, le propone desde Nueva York aceptar la ayuda de voluntarios de EU. Juárez la rechaza, por el riesgo de injerencia estadounidense. “No hay más […] que seguir la lucha con lo que tenemos, con lo que podamos y hasta donde podamos.
Este es nuestro deber”, responde en carta suscrita en Chihuahua el 6 de abril de 1865. Días adelante recibe reconocimiento. “El Congreso de Colombia […] en vista […] de la incontrastable perseverancia que el señor Benito Juárez […] ha desplegado en la de defensa de la independencia y libertad de su patria, declara que dicho ciudadano ha merecido el bien de la América”, decreta el órgano camaral el 2 de mayo de 1865. Añade: “Y como homenaje a tales virtudes y ejemplo a la juventud colombiana, dispone que el retrato de este eminente hombre de Estado sea conservado en la Biblioteca Nacional con la siguiente
inscripción: Benito Juárez, ciudadano mexicano. El Congreso de 1865 le tributa, en nombre del pueblo de Colombia, este homenaje por su constancia en defender la libertad e independencia de México”. Dos años después Juárez se reinstala en la urbe potosina el 21 de febrero de 1867 y el posterior 12 de abril fuerzas patrióticas sitian la Ciudad de México. Previo a la victoria definitiva, en Santo Domingo el legislador Antonio D. Madrigal sube a la tribuna el 11 de mayo de 1867 para hacer del “conocimiento de la Cámara la plausible noticia […] de que Juárez acababa de” propinar “un golpe de muerte al imperio en
mala hora fundado en México”. Propone en consecuencia “que el Congreso dominicano […] aclamase a Juárez ‘Benemérito de la América’ […] dando así [pauta] a las demás repúblicas […] que quisiesen mostrar su simpatía por la causa de la libertad de México”. Caído Napoleón III, los franceses otorgan altas distinciones al oriundo de Guelatao, Oaxaca, nombrándolo en 1871 asambleísta honorario por Belleville. Fallece en la capital del país el 18 de julio de 1872. Los reconocimientos nacionales sobrevienen enseguida. (Con permiso del autor, según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico, México, 23 mayo 2014)
Texas
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Children lose childhoods in detention By SUSAN CARROLL HOUSTON CHRONICLE
LOS FRESNOS — The round-cheeked 17-year-old boy with wide chocolate eyes hadn’t felt like a child for some time. He’d spent months trying to reach the U.S., clinging to the tops of steel trains, holed up with kidnappers, shivering in a chilly Border Patrol holding tank. So, when the boy landed one winter day at a shelter for immigrant children caught in the U.S. illegally and alone, it seemed more like summer camp than a detention center. In that oasis along a rural slab of Texas borderland, children chased soccer balls in the sun. The food was warm. The staff smiled. He told the Houston Chronicle that one staff member, a burly night-shift worker, even brought him little gifts: woven bracelets and batteries for his MP3 player, a reward for good behavior. The Honduran teen didn’t think anything of it — until the night-shift worker crept up to his bunk bed late one night after the dorm lights were out. Record-breaking numbers of children and teens the Honduran immigrant caught in the U.S. illegally without a parent or guardian are being swept into a strained and secretive federal detention network. Some 60,000 are expected this year — up from about 6,560 in 2011, according to government estimates. The unaccompanied children are housed in a labyrinthine network of more than 90 state-licensed shelters, foster homes and detention centers that the government describes as “safe havens.” Most children are well cared for. But a Houston Chronicle investigation found that youths inside the insular system have quietly suffered abuses by the people paid to protect them. The system has repeatedly failed to hold abusers accountable, despite a federal law that makes sexual contact with a detainee a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the investigation found. The full extent of sexual and physical abuse in the federal shelters is unknown. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the federal agency responsible for the children’s care, has no specific system that tracks abuse allegations all the way through the investigative process — from outcry to outcome. But for the first time, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Chronicle, the government has released copies of 101 “significant incident reports” from March 2011 to March 2013 involving abuse allegations against staff members. The Chronicle reviewed thousands of pages of records from federal, state and law enforcement agencies in five states and interviewed officials, former shelter staff and residents. Among the Chronicle’s findings: Children and teenagers reported having sexual
contact — ranging from kissing to unwanted touching to intercourse — with staff in Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, the federal records show. The Office of Refugee Resettlement relies on state childcare licensing and local police to investigate abuses of the children in its care, instead of notifying the FBI of serious allegations. In the hands of local police and prosecutors, criminal cases have crumbled because of sloppy detective work, communication gaps with federal officials and jurisdictional confusion. No shelter worker has been prosecuted under a 2008 federal provision that makes sexual contact with a detainee in ORR’s care a felony. Youths in ORR custody in Texas were molested as they slept, sexually harassed and seduced by staff members during the past decade, records from state childcare licensing investigators and law enforcement show. They were shoved, kicked, punched and threatened with deportation if they reported abuses, investigators found. Federal officials were slow to adopt clearer, more stringent policies to help prevent and punish abuse. They wrote an interim rule to comply with the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act only after Congress specifically ordered them in March 2013 to do so. The act requires strict standards for reporting, tracking, preventing and punishing abuses. ORR’s proposed rule remains tied up in the regulatory process. ORR Director Eskinder Negash said the agency is dedicated to protecting children in its care and ensuring that abuses are properly reported and investigated. He said ORR already makes sure that shelters follow state childcare licensing requirements for reporting abuses. “The safety and the wellbeing of the children is our No. 1 priority,” he said. “Every time there is an incident, regardless of how small it is, we make sure that the best interest of the children is protected, and we investigate, we follow up, we do training.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., who authored the 2008 amendment that allows for federal prosecution of those who sexually abuse youths in ORR care, said in a statement that she was “extremely troubled” by the cases identified in the Chronicle’s investigation. “Federal officials have a duty to ensure the well-being of those in their custody, and I expect this law to be fully enforced,” she said. In response to the Chronicle’s findings, she wrote a letter to the White House office reviewing ORR’s Prison Rape Elimination Act regulation, urging regulatory officials to swiftly enact the provision to better protect children. Linda Brandmiller, a San Antonio immigration attorney who frequently represents children, said the detention network is in critical need of independent oversight, particularly with
Photo by Johnny Hanson/Houston Chronicle | AP
Immigrant children who come into the U.S. alone are housed in shelters like this one in Harlingen, which is licensed to hold up to 290. Some 60,000 children and teens are expected to be caught in the U.S. illegally without a parent or a guardian this year. the growing numbers of children pouring in. “This is a recipe for abuse and neglect of kids,” Brandmiller said. “This would not happen in any other system, with any other kind of victim.” By law, the government treats unaccompanied children from countries other than Mexico differently than adults. Instead of entering immigration detention centers, youths are handed over to ORR, which houses the vast majority in state-licensed shelters and releases about 90 percent of them to relatives or other sponsors in the U.S. while their immigration cases are pending. ORR requires shelters to file a “significant incident report” within 24 hours of receiving an abuse allegation. The government also requires shelters to follow state childcare licensing requirements for abuse reporting. The outcome of many of the abuse investigations stemming from the significant incident reports remains off-limits to the public. State child protective officials in several states, including California, Arizona and New York, cited child abuse and neglect laws in refusing to discuss specific incidents. The Chronicle’s investigation found problems in the detention network dated back years. During the past decade, state childcare licensing investigators in Texas have documented more than 100 serious incidents in shelters and foster programs that held only ORR detainees. Dozens of workers were fired or disciplined in connection with sexual, physical and verbal abuses, maltreatment, inadequate supervision and inappropriate behavior and relationships. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Michelle Brane, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program for the Women’s Refugee Commission, which has monitored the detention system for unaccompanied children for more than a decade. “I imagine there are many cases we don’t know about.” More than a decade ago, Congress stripped U.S. immigration officials of the responsibility of caring for children caught in the U.S. illegally and alone, citing a
Lake tapped as supplier DALLAS — A water district in North Texas is turning once again to a critical water source to serve 1.6 million thirsty customers living north and east of Dallas. Lake Texoma was an important source of water for the North Texas Municipal Water District for nearly two decades before invasive zebra mussels were discovered in the lake in 2009.
sin. That meant more than 27.3 billion gallons of Texoma water could no longer be delivered to customers, The Dallas Morning News reports. The district undertook a $300 million project to build treatment plants and a delivery system that sends Texoma water to Lavon Lake in Collin County. The mussels later made it into the Trinity River anyway, probably as stowaways on a boat taken from Texoma without proper cleaning.
Mussel problem
More water supply
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut the flow of water from Texoma, which borders Oklahoma, in an effort to prevent the mussels from spreading south into the Trinity River ba-
District officials say Texoma water could once again be serving customers within the next week, and the supply should gradually grow over the next month or two.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Once we get our blending facilities up and running, we’ll use about 75 million gallons a day on average,” Mike Rickman, deputy director of the district, said. “The range is 30 million to 40 million gallons a day in the winter to 120 million gallons a day in the summer.” Restoring the Texoma supply comes at an important time. Lake levels in the region are dropping precipitously because of the lingering drought and hotter-than-normal summers. The water district, which includes some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., has imposed tough water restrictions. Rickman cautions that the flow of water from Texoma won’t change those restrictions anytime soon.
litany of abuses under the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. Lawmakers shifted responsibility for their care in the spring of 2003 to ORR, a small agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. The change created a loophole in federal law that became evident in the spring of 2007 in Nixon, a small town outside of San Antonio. The FBI came out to investigate allegations that a 41-year-old worker named Belinda Leal had sexually abused a string of teenage boys detained in a shelter in Nixon. But federal prosecutors determined they lacked jurisdiction to charge Leal under a federal law criminalizing sexual abuse of ward because it specifically applied to inmates in Department of Justice custody. Leal was sentenced to seven years on state charges. She is scheduled for release in June. ORR shut down the Nixon shelter and pledged reforms, including a “zero tolerance” policy for abuses. Feinstein’s amendment closed the federal loophole in 2008. The change in law did not affect a caseworker in a Fullerton, Calif., shelter accused of fondling teenage boys in his office in 2007 and 2008. A jury convicted the worker on six state charges and he served 14 months in prison, but several charges were overturned on appeal. Since Congress tightened the federal law, ORR has not notified the FBI of any abuse allegations involving staff members, said Jallyn Sualog, director of the children’s program for ORR. ORR ensures shelters follow state childcare licensing guidelines for abuse reporting, she said. Sualog said the FBI “defers to local law enforcement, and they will only take the lead and do an investigation if there is no local law enforcement involved.” Kelly Kleinvachter, a national FBI spokeswoman, did not respond to specific questions about whether the agency defers to local law enforcement or would investigate abuses within the federal shelter network if notified. The Chronicle’s investigation found that case after
case fell apart after landing on the desks of local law enforcement. A night-shift worker at a shelter in Brownsville sneaked up on a sleeping 17year-old from Honduras and molested him early one morning in July 2010, according to statements by both the victim and the worker to Brownsville Police. “I really do mean (it) when I say I made a mistake and am willing to go to jail for what I did,” the 27-yearold worker told police. In the case file, the detective wrote that the case originally was assigned as “indecency with a child by sexual contact.” “No arrest will be made as the victim is 17 years old and he is not considered a child by Texas law,” he wrote. The detective reclassified the case to a Class C misdemeanor — the equivalent of a traffic ticket. The worker paid a $350 fine and now has a clean record. In August 2011, a state childcare licensing investigator cited a shelter in Harlingen after determining a worker had an “inappropriate relationship” with a detainee. The worker was fired. The licensing investigator reported to Harlingen Police that he had “received information that a sexual relationship involving a 17year-old boy and 51-year-old female had taken place” at a shelter. Harlingen Police went out to the shelter to investigate nine months later, after they were contacted by a reporter. They then determined that because the shelter was neither a school nor a jail, and the alleged victim was 17 — the age of consent — there was no crime under Texas law. “We don’t have jurisdiction over the feds,” HPD Sgt. John Parrish said. A 39-year-old temporary worker at a Catholic Charities shelter in Cutler Bay, Fla., was fired in September 2011 after a 15-yearold boy told shelter administrators that she awakened him early one morning and led him into the shelter’s laundry room and had sex with him. The case was referred to the Miami-Dade Police Department, but prosecutors ultimately declined to charge the worker. In the memo closing the case, the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office noted that the shelter “had custody of the child and did not wish to
pursue prosecution of the subject.” A second boy, 16, reported to his aunt in California after he was released from the shelter that he had oral sex with the same worker. Police eventually interviewed the boy and told him he could press charges. By then he had turned 18, and he declined. “These cases are falling through the cracks,” said Brane, of the Women’s Refugee Commission. “There is a lot of confusion over who is supposed to do what.” Brane has lobbied for years for ORR to adopt a framework outlined by the Prison Rape Elimination Act Commission in 2009 for the reporting, tracking and punishment of abuses in custody. She said the government needs to enter into formal agreements with police and prosecutors to prevent cases from falling apart. At the shelter in Los Fresnos, the 17-year-old boy didn’t report what happened to him for more than a day. He just cried. A teacher in the shelter, run by the nonprofit International Educational Services Inc., eventually noticed his tears and asked what was wrong, the boy recalled. He said the night-shift worker came into the dormitory after midnight and stopped at his bunk bed. He asked where he had hidden the trinkets, then sexually assaulted him, the lad said. “He said something bad would happen if I told anyone,” he said. The teacher quickly reported the abuse, and the night-shift worker was suspended and then resigned. The state cited the shelter for abuse. The staff member was arrested by Cameron County Sheriff’s detectives on suspicion of indecency with a minor in February 2009. Sam Smith, an assistant Cameron County district attorney, described what happened next, when an investigator went out to the shelter to find the boy and prepare him for trial: “We asked them, where is he? They said, ‘Uhhh, I don’t know.”’ Unable to call the boy as a witness, Cameron County prosecutors had no choice but to go to court and ask for dismissal of the charge, Smith said. A judge dismissed the case, signing off on a motion that stated the victim was 17 at the time of the crime. Indecency with a minor covers victims only under 17. The shelter’s director, Roberto Lerma, declined comment. The night-shift worker walked free. He did not return repeated phone calls to his home in Brownsville. His attorney also did not return phone calls. “We certainly would have prosecuted the case, but we didn’t have the victim,” Smith said. But using public records, a reporter found the Honduran lad living in Garland. He had turned 18 that summer in 2009 and was transferred to adult immigration detention. He posted bond and was released from custody, leaving his address on file with the U.S. government.
ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT JOB POSTING Position: JROTC SAI SALARY: MINIMUM: $43,260 MAXIMUM: $61,718
Minimum Duty Days: 220 days
Minimum Requirements: Bachelor’s Degree Possess the qualification prescribed by Army regulations to be certified as a JROTCinstructor. Must satisfy educational development courses as directed TRADOC Supplement 1 to AR 145·2
Experience: Officer in the United States Army/Retired
Special Knowledge/Skills: • Ability to implement policy and procedures • Ability to interpret data • Demonstrated ability to work effectively and harmoniously with administrators, other teachers, students, parents and other staff. • Strong communication, public relations, and interpersonal skills
Deadline for Applying: Until Position Filled Applications may be obtained from: Human Resources Department 1302 Glenn Street • P.O. Box 158 Zapata, Texas 78076 (956)765-6858 • Fax (956)765-5940 Website: www.zcisd.org We consider applicants for all positions without regatd to race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, marital or veteran status, the presence of a medical condition, disability or any other legally protected status. An Equal Opportunity Employer
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
ELVANELIA SANCHEZ July 26, 1962 — May 23, 2014 Elvanelia Sanchez, 51, passed away Friday, May 23, 2014, at Methodist Texsan Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Ms. Sanchez is preceded in death by her father, Amador Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez is survived by her mother, Marcelina G. Sanchez; brothers and sisters, Hermelinda S. Muñoz, Guadalupe (Maria) Sanchez, Francisco Sanchez, Amador, Jr. (Lupita) Sanchez, Roberto Sanchez, Hector (Thelma) Sanchez, Leonel Sanchez; special friend, Arturo Gutierrez; nephews and nieces, Belia Muñoz, Clarissa Muñoz, Melissa Muñoz, Aaron (Jerica) Sanchez, Lesbia (Cesar) Cuellar, Irasema (Leo II) Solis, Lupita Sanchez, Oziel Jasso, Karen Jasso, Eddie Sanchez, Edna (Jorge) Salinas, Bobbie Bustamante, Sonia (Ramon) Montes, Sandy (Roehl) Chapa; grand-nephews and nieces, Arturo Guerra, Aaron Sanchez Jr., Aalysun Sanchez, Carlos Cuellar, Leo Solis III, Kayla Solis, Javi Sanchez, Julissa Sanchez, Amador E. Sanchez Jr., Jorge Hector Salinas II, Cesar Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez, Leila Montes and Ramon Montes Jr. and by numerous other family members and friends. Pallbearers were Guadalupe Sanchez, Francisco Sanchez, Amador Sanchez Jr., Hector Sanchez, Roberto Sanchez, Amador E. San-
ROCKETS ture.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which had raised concerns about possible impact on habitat for some endangered species, ultimately concluded that “the project is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed or proposed to be listed species nor adversely modify piping plover critical habitat.” But wildlife officials don’t expect the project to be harmless: Two individual cats, either from the endangered ocelot or jaguarondi species, could be lost as a result of the project in spite of efforts to avoid just that with measures such as posting warning signs along the road leading to the launch site. And federal wildlife officials also anticipate that more than 7 miles of beachfront used by nesting sea turtles could be disturbed by security patrols, though driving is already permitted on the beach. SpaceX has agreed to a list of measures aimed at minimizing the environmental impact including educating workers about threatened and endangered animals. It also plans to adopt a 3-mile section of the beach and participate
VOTING ministrator Oscar Villarreal said Webb County’s turnout was lower than he expected, surrounding counties saw significantly lower numbers. “It was especially slow for a nonpresidential election,” Villarreal said. “I really don’t know what the reason was for it. But this year was particularly slow.” Villarreal said he has not had a chance to talk to other election administrators about the low turnout. He said the recent implementation of the Texas voter ID law turned a
chez, Aaron Sanchez and Ramon E. Montes. Honorary pallbearers were Arturo Guerra, Carlos Cuellar, Leonel Sanchez and Eduardo J. Sanchez. Visitation hours were held Tuesday, May 27, 2014, from 6 to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Wednesday, May 28, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy. 83, Zapata, Texas.
Continued from Page 1A in beach cleanups and educational programs. The Texas launches would create unavoidable noise for residents of a nearby neighborhood and dramatically alter the landscape of sand dunes, wetlands and grasses, but other environmental impacts can be mitigated, the report said. SpaceX already launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. In addition to serving commercial satellite customers, SpaceX also resupplies the International Space Station. SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk indicated last month that the company planned to develop the launch site in Texas. Sites in Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico had been considered as well, but the Texas site was always much further along in the planning process. The document released Thursday describes why SpaceX eliminated sites in Florida (too much beachfront development) and Puerto Rico (difficulty of transporting cargo from mainland) from contention, but does not mention Georgia.
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handful of residents away from the polls. “We did receive calls about people with expired licenses who just could not vote,” he said. “I don’t think it was a major issue, but it certainly did come up on Tuesday.” The law, approved in 2011, requires voters to produce at the polls picture identification, such as a Texas driver’s license, a concealed handgun license or a special election ID certificate. While he could not explain a rea-
son for the low turnout, Villarreal said his office’s capacity is limited to helping that number increase in the November elections. “Increasing voter turnout does not really fall on the county,” he said. “Our job is making sure everything is ready for voters. Having said that, voter education would be very beneficial for county residents. That is one thing we can do more of, especially in relation to the voter ID law.” (Aldo Amato may be reached at 7282538 or aamato@lmtonline.com)
BORDER PATROL Continued from Page 1A “The situation just got way worse,” Garza said. Ventilation systems couldn’t keep up in overcrowded holding cells so doors were left open. People sat on the floor in hallways; some were kept outside in an unloading area. Eventually, the agency began holding people in parked vans and buses, he said. The Border Patrol is grappling with a dramatic shift in illegal border crossings from Arizona and California to South Texas that began three years ago. The Rio Grande Valley sector has been making more than 1,000 arrests per day recently. The sector has temporarily brought in about 115 additional agents, turned to private charities and the Defense Department to help look after a wave of unaccompanied children, and bused and even flown hundreds of detainees to less busy sectors in West Texas and Arizona for processing. Compounding the problem is that
“
Every single one of the holding cells was over capacity. It was uncomfortable for those people.” LAREDO FIRE CHIEF STEVE LANDIN
the majority of the immigrants are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, who require more processing time and can’t just be taken back across the U.S.-Mexico border. Many are being released and told to appear in an immigration court once they arrive at their destination in the U.S. It’s unclear why the agency has struggled to reallocate the necessary resources to the Rio Grande Valley, which became the busiest sector on the border last year. So far this year it has more than double the number
ECONOMY an immediate effect and that it is necessary to have patience and persevere,” a Spanish banker, Francisco Gonzalez Rodriguez, chief executive of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, or BBVA, told a forum this week. “I am sure that we will see the ‘Mexican moment’ in 2015,” said an executive of BBVA’s operations in Mexico, Vicente M. Rodero. But after media predictions that Mexico’s economy would soar after President Enrique Peña Nieto came to office in 2012, Mexicans are tired of waiting. Peña Nieto’s approval ratings, currently at 48 percent, are high for the region but low by traditional Mexican standards for a president in the second year of a sixyear term. “The government has a long way to go to convince the Mexican public that it’s doing a good job in providing jobs, economic opportunities and rising incomes,” said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Since coming to office, Peña Nieto has ushered through a sweeping plan to rebuild the Mexican state by curbing monopolies, increasing competition, restructuring the tax system and opening up crucial sectors to foreign investment, including the energy sector, which was nationalized in 1938. Peña Nieto told bankers this week that cracking open the oil and gas industry “signifies the most important economic change in 50 years”
of arrests of any other sector. Confusion mounted Friday when the Border Patrol commander overseeing South Texas operations abruptly canceled a news conference 10 minutes after it was scheduled to begin. Border Patrol spokeswoman Sara Melendez-De Los Santos told the assembled media that the event was canceled by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Officials in Washington later said it was canceled due to a lack of required coordination with headquarters.
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in Mexico. Some leftist legislators remain skeptical and complain bitterly that the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party has slated congressional debate on framework legislation on the energy sector opening to occur in mid-June as soccer-mad Mexicans turn their attention to the World Cup tournament in Brazil. Once the framework legislation passes through Congress and the impact of foreign investment is felt in a year or two, the government says the energy sector alone will add 1.5 percent a year to Mexico’s economic growth. Some private economists are less certain. They say economic acceleration won’t come until later in Peña Nieto’s term, which ends in 2018, and that the overhaul is likely to produce turmoil in some sectors in part because foreign investors will demand higher productivity. “New technology displaces workers,” said Alfredo Coutino, Latin America director for Moody’s Analytics, a provider of global economic analysis. As the state oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, associates with foreign oil giants, he said, it will need to slash its own workforce, which in 2012 stood at around 151,000 employees, twice the number as foreign companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Petrobras and BP. “Pemex won’t need 50 people to drill a new well. It’ll only need two or three people,” Coutino said. “Reforms don’t work their magic overnight,” echoed Deborah Riner,
chief economist with the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City. “Mexicans expected quicker results, and for reasons that are quite valid.” Riner said that she remains optimistic about prospects later in the decade as uncompetitive sectors of the Mexican economy face pressures to open up. “The fact that Hacienda (Mexico’s finance secretariat) is talking about a 5 percent growth rate by the end of the (six-year term) is a sign that they are getting realistic,” she added. One of the challenges for the Peña Nieto government is to pull informal workers in a black economy into the formal economy — within reach of the tax collector. Of Mexico’s total working population, about 59 percent labor in the informal economy, without paying taxes or receiving social benefits such as health care, shaving as much as 3 percent to 4 percent off potential economic growth. It’s a difficult sale. “If you can be in the informal economy and not pay taxes, why be formal?” Riner asked. Coutino agreed that a government pledge to offer health care and other services to those who remain outside the formal economy has not proven attractive. “When the government comes to you and says, ‘I want you to pay taxes,’ me, as an informal employee, I would say, ‘I don’t need social security. We have the worst health system in the world,’” Coutino said.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
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Sports&Outdoors WORLD CUP SOCCER: MEXICO
TENNIS: FRENCH OPEN
Federer advances Photo by Christian Palma | AP
Mexico coach Miguel Herrera instructs players during a training session Wednesday in Mexico City.
Mexico confident in chances ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Michel Euler | AP
Roger Federer beat Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to advance to the fourth round of the French Open at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.
Djokovic moves on, Radwanska upset Friday By CHRIS LEHOURITES ASSOCIATED PRESS
P
ARIS — In what seemed like a flash, and in what surely felt like a flash of pain for his opponent, Roger Federer went from vulnerable to commanding. It was that quick. Federer lost a second-set tiebreaker Friday to Dmitry Tursunov, and that surely did not bode well for the 17-time Grand Slam champion. Then Tursunov felt a split second of discomfort in his left hip. And that was it. Federer was back on track at the French Open, on his way to a 7-5, 6-7 (7),
6-2, 6-4 victory and into the second week of a major tournament yet again. “Everything that was out of his control, like moving defense, that’s when it got difficult,” said Federer, who advanced to the fourth round at Roland Garros for the 10th straight year. “Clearly, on the clay, it’s difficult to hit three great shots in a row. So I tried to extend the rallies, but serve nice and stay aggressive throughout. And I think that was a bit too much for his hip, or whatever it was.” It was something of an escape for Federer, who lost a set for the first time at this year’s tournament. Then again, Novak Djokovic also lost a set Friday before advancing with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4
win over 25th-seeded Marin Cilic. With eight-time champion Rafael Nadal and 2013 finalist David Ferrer perfect through their opening two matches, the pressure is on the others to keep their level high. “It wasn’t easy because once you start being passive, you lose kind of the confidence to step in,” Djokovic said of his win. “That’s what happened maybe in the end of the third and a little bit of the fourth.” Of course, that’s nothing compared to the women’s tournament, where thirdseeded Agnieszka Radwanska followed defending champion Serena Williams
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: ARIZONA CARDINALS
MEXICO CITY — Mexico coach Miguel Herrera’s goal is nothing less than winning the World Cup. Most would find that ridiculous. “When you arrive at the top, you have to keep looking up with the idea of changing everything and winning a World Cup,” Herrera said. “It’s very difficult, but if you don’t go (to a World Cup) with that dream, then why are you going?” Herrera’s enthusiasm has gripped his home country, where he is already a media darling. Brash, outgoing and not afraid to ruffle feathers, Herrera’s career took off after he guided Mexican club America to a 2013 league title. His wild on-the-field celebrations were all over social network sites. It was that title that propelled Herrera into the national team as Mexico’s fourth coach in the World Cup qualifying cycle. He took charge in November after a series of lackluster displays led to a cull of three coaches between Sept. 6 and Oct. 17, as Mexico’s participation in Brazil hung on the edge.
See TENNIS PAGE 2B See MEXICO PAGE 2B
NBA: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Daryl Washington suspended for season By BOB BAUM ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX — The NFL has suspended Arizona Cardinals standout inside linebacker Daryl Washington for one year for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The punishment, announced Friday, was for substance abuse and did not mention his recent guilty plea to assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Washington, in a statement released by his agent, said the penalty was for marijuana, and that he takes responsibility for the violation. He said he “is committed to making changes” in his life that will allow him to return to the NFL. Considered among the best in the NFL at his position, Washington was suspended the first four games of last season for violating the substance abuse policy. “It is completely unacceptable that Daryl has once
See NFL PAGE 2B
File photo by Elaine Thompson | AP
In this Jan. 25 photo, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, left, shakes hands with former NBA players Bill Russell, right, and "Downtown" Freddie Brown as Omar Lee looks on during a college basketball game between Washington and Oregon State in Seattle. Shelly Sterling has reached an agreement to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Ballmer for $2 billion.
Shelly Sterling agrees to sell team to Ballmer By TAMI ABDOLLAH ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Ross D. Franklin | AP
The NFL has suspended Arizona linebacker Daryl Washington for one year for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The punishment, announced Friday, was for substance abuse and did not mention his recent guilty plea to assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
LOS ANGELES — Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has agreed to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-breaking $2 billion. Now it’s up to others whether the deal goes through. Shelly Sterling said in a statement
issued late Thursday that she’d signed a binding contract for a sale of the Clippers by The Sterling Family Trust to Ballmer in what would be a record deal if approved by the NBA. Ballmer “will be a terrific owner,” Sterling said, “We have worked for 33
See CLIPPERS PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Gordon talks retirement By DAN GELSTON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOVER, Del. — Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon said Friday he will have to retire if he continues to suffer the same, excruciating back pain that he did before last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. The 42-year-old Gordon is in no hurry to slow down. But he said he hopes he has found some solutions to the back woes that nearly forced him out of NASCAR’s longest race. Gordon cut short his practice runs last week because of back spasms and there was some concern whether or not he would be able to race. Regan Smith was on standby and Gordon needed treatment after the practice session. But he wound up in his familiar seat be-
hind the wheel of the No. 24 and finished seventh, his ninth top-10 finish in 12 races this season. Gordon knows consistent, shooting pain like he suffered at Charlotte Motor Speedway could drive him toward an early retirement. “I can tell you, if that happens many more times, I won’t have a choice,” Gordon said Friday at Dover Motor Speedway. Gordon had soreness Monday and Tuesday, though that didn’t deviate too much from how he would feel after driving 600 grueling miles. He said his back is not at 100 percent, and probably never will be behind the wheel. At Daytona this year, Gordon insisted he was serious about considering retirement should he win a fifth championship. He looks every bit a title contender — he has a win and holds the
points lead — and gutting out Charlotte proved to his Hendrick Motorsports team “it’s going to take a lot to get us down.” Gordon suffered serious issues years ago in his back, specifically his lower spine, and needed antiinflammatory medication and workouts with a trainer to return to full strength. He drove in pain during a winless 2008 season and briefly contemplated retirement. For all his back woes, Gordon said he never felt the stabbing pain there like he did last weekend. Gordon said he’ll make adjustments to his race weekend routine to keep his back loose to withstand hours crunched in a stock car. He needs to stay active and not sit during lengthy breaks in practice and qualifying. Gordon sat more than three hours last week between practice and
TENNIS Continued from Page 1B and Li Na out of the tournament. That leaves Simona Halep, who plays Saturday, as the highest-seeded player in the draw at No. 4. It also leaves 2012 French Open champion Maria Sharapova as the favorite after her 6-0, 6-0 rout Friday. The woman who beat Williams, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, also advanced to the fourth round. Federer and Djokovic, though, were expected to win, and they did. Tursunov, with an 0-4 record against Federer heading into the match, wasn’t, and he didn’t. “Overall, the first two sets ... I felt that it was a fairly even battle out there,” said Tursunov, who was broken only once in the first two sets. “It’s hard for me to predict, but definitely playing on one leg is not going to make things easier. Tough luck for me, but hopefully I’ll get him
somewhere else.” It’s still not completely clear what happened to the 31st-seeded Tursunov, but it most certainly led to a bit of a meltdown a few minutes later. “It was right after the changeover of the second set,” he said. “We sat down and then got up and then he was serving, and then right after the first serve was kind of like, ‘Something is not right.”’ Federer broke Tursunov in that opening game, and led 2-1 at the first changeover. Tursunov called for a trainer, and started to lose his cool. He screamed at the chair umpire, yelling “start using your brain,” while angrily mixing his personal purple drink. A medical trainer came out and chatted with the Russian while he continued fiddling with the plastic bottle and a funnel. Finally, Tursunov left the court and headed for a training room in the bow-
els of Court Philippe Chatrier. Meanwhile, out on the red clay of the main stadium, Federer was practicing his serves, drawing some boisterous shouts of “Ole” from the waiting crowd. When Tursunov finally returned, the match was in Federer’s hands. “Where I felt it the most was that he struggled to return the serve, the reaction, left and right was maybe missing a little bit,” Federer said. “But in terms of playing aggressive tennis, that he was able to do normally, in my opinion.” The problem for Tursunov, however, was that aggressive tennis wasn’t enough on this day. “I like how I’m playing against him. Hoping to improve,” Tursunov said, again thinking ahead to a possible sixth meeting. “Hoping to give him more difficulties for the next couple years, hopefully.”
NFL Continued from Page 1B again put us in this position,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said in a statement released by the team. “We all know what the consequences are and will deal with them.” Washington, the team leader in tackles in 2011 and 2012, will lose $2.9 million in salary due to the suspension. In March, Arizona exercised a $10 million option to keep him on the roster. Washington received $5 million then and the deals calls for him to get the other $5 million next March. Washington said the NFL “policy is very strict, and I have chosen to take responsibility.” “I will work extremely hard to stay in top football shape,” he said, “and will work equally hard to ensure that my life off the field meets the high level of maturity and responsibility to which I am committed.” With the loss of inside linebacker Karlos Dansby to free agency, the Cardinals find themselves without the dynamic combination that was a big part of their strong defense last season. Second-year player Kevin Minter is slotted to take Dansby’s place. Just what the team will do to try to replace Washington is unclear. “Our approach is the same as it’s always been: next man up,” Keim said. “We talk a lot about how critical depth is to a team because situations always arise whether by injury or other circumstances such as this one. “One player’s absence is another’s opportunity. That approach has served us well in the past and we will rely on it now.” After leading the team with 111 tackles in his second NFL season, Washington signed a six-year contract, adding four years and $32 million to his ex-
isting deal. In 2012, he led the team with career highs of 140 tackles and nine sacks and made the Pro Bowl. But in April of last year, the NFL suspended him four games for violating the substance abuse policy. A month later, he was arrested on accusations of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, the mother of the couple’s child. He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault earlier this year. A suspension for the criminal conviction had been expected. The penalty for substance abuse came as a surprise to some, but apparently not to Washington’s teammates. “Old news to us, new news to y’all,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said in a tweet. Keim said “our hope is that this suspension will give Daryl the opportunity to accept the necessary help and guidance to get his life back on track,” Keim said, “and we will certainly support him however we can.” When OTAs resumed this week, coach Bruce Arians said he hoped the team could pick up another outside linebacker. The Cardinals signed veteran Larry Foote in the offseason, and outside linebacker Lorenzo Washington also can play inside. Minter, a second-round draft pick, played almost entirely on special teams as a rookie. Another player Arizona has at inside linebacker is Kenny Demens, an undrafted rookie free agent a year ago who spent last season on the Cardinals’ practice squad. “I sincerely apologize for the effect of my actions on my teammates, coaches and other colleagues at the Cardinals,” Washington said. “I also apologize to Cardinals fans for the time I will miss. I will work diligently during this suspen-
sion to return as a better man and football player.” Giants safety Hill suspended 6 games EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants safety Will Hill was suspended for six games Friday by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Hill has failed three drug tests since 2012, and he lost an appeal for the latest infraction. He will be eligible to return on Oct. 13. Hill was suspended for violating the performance enhancers policy two years ago, missing four games. He then missed the first four matches last season because of a substance abuse violation. The Giants are expected to release Hill when his latest suspension ends. Hill has played in just 24 games since being signed in 2012 as an undrafted free agent. He had two interceptions, returning one for a TD. Giants cut QB Josh Freeman EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants released quarterback Josh Freeman on Friday, five weeks after signing him. Freeman’s stock has plummeted since the beginning of last season, when he was Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback. He was benched and then cut by the Buccaneers, signed with Minnesota and started one game. That was in a lopsided loss to the Giants. New York signed him as its 15th veteran free agent in the offseason, adding Freeman to the roster in part because starting quarterback Eli Manning and backup Curtis Painter had undergone surgery. But Manning was back at practice this week. The Giants also were awarded offensive lineman Rogers Gaines off waivers from the Bears.
File photo by Bob Jordan | AP
NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon said Friday he will have to retire if his back pain continues. qualifying, a gap that left he believed led his creaky back to a breakdown. “Once that happened, there was nothing that was going to fix it until I had those injections on Saturday,” he said.
Gordon has no standby driver at Dover. He felt fine on Friday. But once inside the No. 24, all bets are off. “It’s just something I continue to learn and push through,” he said. “It’s no big deal.”
MEXICO Continued from Page 1B Herrera’s first significant move was to exclude Mexico’s Europe-based players — including Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez and Villarreal forward Giovani Dos Santos — from a twomatch playoff against New Zealand. He justified his decision by saying the travel involved would be too much, and there were enough good players in Mexico. In their place, 11 players from his former club were called up in Herrera’s first squad. Tactically, Herrera introduced an attacking 53-2 system with the wing
backs high up the field. It worked with “El Tri” overcoming New Zealand 5-1 in the first leg and 4-2 in the second. Herrera is confident Mexico can get out of Group A and, while many believe achieving positive results against Croatia and Cameroon will be key to that, he thinks his team can provide a shock against Brazil. “We spoke with (Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari) and he said, for them, Mexico is like having a stone in its shoe,” Herrera said in February. “We’re hoping to be like a rock, not a stone.”
Such grandiose statements are common-place from the former Mexico international, who hadn’t achieved much of note before the title win with America — one of Mexico’s biggest clubs. In 2008, Herrera’s Veracruz team was relegated from Mexico’s first division. But despite his irregular past, Herrera is a popular, approachable figure in Mexico. And as an avid user of Twitter, where he regularly posts photos and has previously even announced his squads, Herrera is set to be one of the more colorful coaches in Brazil.
CLIPPERS Continued from Page 1B years to build the Clippers into a premier NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success.” Sterling negotiated the sale after her husband, Donald Sterling, made racist remarks that were made public. The remarks included Sterling telling girlfriend V. Stiviano not to bring blacks to Clippers games, specifically mentioning Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Shelly Sterling’s statement noted that she made the deal “under her authority as the sole trustee of The Sterling Family Trust, which owns the Clippers.” Donald Sterling’s attorneys contend that he is a co-owner and therefore must give his assent for the deal to go through. They also say he won’t be giving it. “Sterling is not selling the team,” said his attorney, Bobby Samini. “That’s his position. He’s not going to sell.” Ballmer beat out bids by Guggenheim Partners and a group including former NBA All-Star Grant Hill after presenting an “allaround superior bid,” according to an individual with knowledge of the negotiations. The individual, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said Ballmer made more than an hour-long personal visit to Shelly Sterling’s Malibu home Sunday and laid out his plan. “He knocked their socks off, they bonded, had a good connection,” the individual said. The amount was also the largest of the offers, and Ballmer was one potential buyer to deal with rather than numerous members of a group. Ballmer said in a statement that he is honored to have his name submitted to the NBA for approval and thanked the league for working collaboratively with him throughout the process. “I love basketball. And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win — and win big — in Los Angeles,” Ballmer said. “LA is one of the world’s great cities — a city that embraces inclusiveness, in exactly the
same way that the NBA and I embrace inclusiveness.” On Thursday, Magic Johnson lauded the deal on his Twitter account: “Steve Ballmer owning the Clippers is a big win for the City of LA and all the people who live in the City of Angels!” Though Donald Sterling’s attorneys now say he won’t agree to sell the team, a May 22 letter obtained by The Associated Press and written by another of Sterling’s attorneys that says that “Donald T. Sterling authorizes Rochelle Sterling to negotiate with the National Basketball Association regarding all issues in connection with a sale of the Los Angeles Clippers team.” It includes the line “read and approved” and Donald Sterling’s signature. Samini said Sterling has had a change of heart primarily because of “the conduct of the NBA.” He said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to ban Sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million as well as to try to oust him as an owner was him acting as “judge, jury and executioner.” “They’re telling me he should stand back and let them take his team because his opinion on that particular day was not good, was not popular?” Samini said. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s going to fight.” It’s unclear how the agreement will affect a special hearing of NBA owners planned for Tuesday in New York to consider the charge against Donald Sterling for damaging the league with his comments. A three-quarters vote of the 30 owners to support the charge would have resulted in the termination of both Sterlings’ ownership of the franchise. The deal is expected to be presented to the league before Tuesday, according to the individual. Silver has said his preference would be for the franchise to be sold rather than seized — and that means sold in its entirety, with neither Sterling retaining a stake. Though according to the deal’s terms
Ballmer will own 100 percent of the team, Shelly Sterling may continue to be involved under conditions worked out privately with Ballmer, the individual said. Franchise sale prices have soared since the current collective bargaining agreement was ratified in 2011. The Milwaukee Bucks were just sold to New York investment firm executives Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens for about $550 million, an NBA record. Last year, Vivek Ranadive’s group acquired a 65 percent controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings at a total franchise valuation of more than $534 million. This is not Ballmer’s first foray into potential NBA ownership. Ballmer and investor Chris Hansen headed a group that agreed to a deal to buy the Kings from the Maloof family in January 2013 with the intention of moving the team to Seattle, where the SuperSonics played until 2008. But Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson lobbied the NBA for time to put together a bid to keep the team in California, and though the Ballmer-Hansen group later increased its offer, owners voted to deny the bid for relocation and the Kings were sold to Ranadive. The former Microsoft CEO helped Bill Gates transform the company from a startup with fewer than 40 employees and $12 million in annual revenue into the world’s most valuable business. The pair met in 1973 while living down the hall from each other in a Harvard dorm. During his tenure at Microsoft, Ballmer was known for his competitive drive and wild displays of emotion and hand-waving. At his farewell address to Microsoft employees, he high-fived and hugged audience members, pumped his fists in the air, and even shed tears as the popular 1987 song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” played on the sound system. In a video of the event widely viewed on YouTube, he screams: “You work for the greatest company in the world!”
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014
Dear Heloise: My family and I are having a little disagreement on whether it is safe to give dogs LEFTOVER MEAT BONES. Could you help clear up the confusion and let us know if it is safe? –– A Reader in Pennsylvania I can help. The simple answer is that it is NOT safe to give your dogs leftover meat bones. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there are many potential hazards –– no matter how small or what type of meat bone it is. These can include broken teeth, cuts to the mouth and tongue, or the bone could become stuck or lodged in the esophagus, stomach or intestines, etc. These all are costly fixes, if not life-threatening injuries. Be safe and never give your dog leftover meat bones. After a meal that includes leftover bones, be sure to dispose of them right away and in a trash can that your dog cannot get into. The FDA also suggests talking to your veter-
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
inarian about alternatives to bones, and to always supervise your dog when giving any new chew or toy! –– Heloise PET PAL Dear Readers: Betty R., via email, sent a picture of her black-and-white cat, Sonny Bunny, asleep on the couch after a long game of hide-and-seek. To see Sonny Bunny’s picture, go to my website, www.Heloise.com, and click on “Pets.” –– Heloise REMOVING DYE Dear Heloise: Help! I dye my hair every couple of months and always end up with some dye left on my hands. What can I use to remove it? –– Stacy P. in Colorado Don’t worry, because I do have a couple of hints for you! First, take some lime or lemon juice and rub it all over your hands. Give it time to sit on the skin, because the citric acid will work naturally to bleach the areas, then gently scrub the skin and nails with a nailbrush. –– Heloise
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014