NBA FINALS IN SAN ANTONIO
SATURDAY JUNE 7, 2014
FREE
LEBRON RECOVERING AFTER CRAMPS, AIR CONDITIONING FIXED, 1B
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
THE BORDER
WAR ON DRUGS
Government mum on immigrants
Stunning surge Cheap, plentiful heroin floods the Houston area, shocking state, federal authorities
Administration won’t say how many immigrants have been released in US By ALICIA A. CALDWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is releasing inside the United States some immigrants who have crossed illegally into the country amid a surge in traffic across the Mexican border in southern Texas. But how many remains a mystery because the government won’t disclose the num-
ber. The Homeland Security Department started flying immigrants to Arizona from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas last month after the number of immigrants, including more than 48,000 children traveling on their own, overwhelmed the Border Patrol there. U.S. Immigrations and Cus-
See IMMIGRATION PAGE 9A
By DANE SCHILLER HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The flow of heroin from Mexico to Houston is surging wildly as federal agents, state troopers and police report a 500 percent increase in the amount of the opiate seized in the city and region during the past year. So much of the drug was confiscated in a 17-county area that includes Houston and swaths of the Texas Gulf Coast that it would conservatively be enough for 3 million doses, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“I don’t think we could use that much in a year,” said Steve Whipple, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Houston Division, which stretches from here to the Rio Grande. “They are shipping it to places where they can make more money, where there is more robust demand.” In large part because heroin has become cheaper and more plentiful, it has gained a foothold with a new generation of users in the U.S. The drug seized widespread attention in February after the fatal overdose of actor Philip Seymour
Hoffman. In Harris County, deaths attributed to heroin also have greatly increased, with 49 last year. That is up from 32 in 2012, according to the medical examiner’s office. There have already been 19 this year. Among the pressing questions authorities have is how much of the drug was to have been used in Houston instead of being sent to other parts of the U.S. where it is more popular, according to a new federal report that includes seizure
See HEROIN
PAGE 9A
WORLD WAR II
ECONOMY
D-DAY’S FALLEN HONORED
Jobs added at fast pace in US By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Claude Paris | AP
A group of military re-enactors walk from a World War II barge to the beach at Arromanches, France, on Friday as part of D-Day commemorations. World leaders and veterans gathered at the beaches of Normandy on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of World War Two’s invasion of Europe.
Vets present for event’s 70th anniversary By GREG KELLER AND ELAINE GANLEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
C
OLLEVILLE-SURMER, France — It was a day of pride, remembrance and honors for those who waded through blood-tinged waves, climbed razor-sharp cliffs or fell from the skies, staring down death or dying in an invasion that portended the fall of the Third
Reich and the end of World War II. It was also a day of high diplomacy for a Europe not completely at peace. After 70 years, a dwindling number of veterans, civilian survivors of the brutal battle for Normandy, and 19 world leaders and monarchs celebrated on Friday the sacrifices of D-Day, an assault never matched for its size, planning
and derring-do. The events spread across the beaches and lush farmlands of Normandy, in western France, had an added sense of urgency this year: It would be the last grand commemoration for many of the veterans, whether they relived the anniversary at home in silence or were among the some 1,000 who crossed continents to be present despite their frail age.
For President Barack Obama, transmitting the memory of their “longest day” means keeping intact the values that veterans fought and died for. “When the war was won, we claimed no spoils of victory — we helped Europe rebuild,” Obama said in a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It is the site where 9,387 fallen soldiers rest
See D-DAY PAGE 10A
Photo by Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press | AP
Photo by Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press | AP
Prince Charles salutes during a bi-national ceremony of remembrance marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day at Juno beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France, on Friday.
Veterans prepare to be photographed in front of a vintage World War II Hawker Typhoon aircraft during a ceremony in Ottawa, on Friday, marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
WASHINGTON — For the first time since 1999, American employers have added more than 200,000 jobs a month for four straight months, offering more evidence that the U.S. economy is steadily growing while much of Europe and Asia struggle. Last month’s gain of 217,000 jobs means the economy has finally recovered all the jobs lost to the Great Recession. And it coincides with indications that American consumers have grown more confident. Auto sales have surged. Manufacturers and service companies are expanding. “I don’t think we have a boom, but we have a good economy growing at about 3 percent,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo. “We’re pulling away from the rest of the world.” Still, Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that pay remains subpar for many workers, millions who want fulltime work are still stuck in parttime jobs and the number of people out of work for more than six months remains historically high. Monthly job growth has averaged 234,000 for the past three months, up sharply from 150,000 in the previous three. The unemployment rate, which is derived from a separate survey, matched April’s 6.3 percent, the lowest in more than five years. Investors seemed pleased. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 88 points. Though the economy has regained the nearly 9 million jobs lost to the recession, more hiring is needed, because the workingage U.S. population has grown nearly 7 percent since the recession began. Economists at the liberal Economic Policy Institute estimate that 7 million more jobs would have been needed to keep up with population growth. In addition, average wages have grown only about 2 percent a year since the recession ended, well below the long-run average
See ECONOMY
PAGE 10A