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IMMIGRATION
MEXICO VIOLENCE
Mum’s the word
7 accused of kidnapping US citizen
Border agents throughout the state warned not to talk to members of the media By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN AND ALICIA A. CALDWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The surge in immigrant children caught crossing the southern border in Texas that has dominated headlines and risks becoming a political crisis for President Barack Obama and Congress includes a new threat facing Border Patrol agents: reporters. An assistant chief patrol agent, Eligio “Lee” Peña, warned more than 3,000 Border Patrol agents that journalists looking for information about
what Obama has described as a humanitarian crisis are likely to ask for information and “may try to disguise themselves.” The email, obtained by The Associated Press, said agents should not speak to reporters, on or off duty, without advanced permission and warned that anyone who does could be charged with a crime or disciplined administratively. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told the AP on Friday he was not aware of Peña’s email warnings but said generally, “I am not a fan of telling people not to talk.” Kerlikowske, who has
pledged greater transparency since taking over the agency earlier this year, did not formally disavow the directive but added that Border Patrol agents should be focused on their jobs while on duty. Peña’s email was issued as national news organizations descended on the border to cover the immigration surge, especially children crossing the border alone from Central America. The problem has overwhelmed the Border Patrol. More than 47,000 children traveling alone have been
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PAGE 9A
HOUSE ON A LAKE
$700K UP IN SMOKE
Case unravels when kidnappers demand ransom for woman THE ZAPATA TIMES
Authorities arrested seven people accused of kidnapping an American citizen in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexican authorities announced during the week. Members of the Federal Police rescued the 27year-old woman Monday night, who authorities said had been held for eight days, according to a press release. The woman had been held in a neighborhood near a shopping mall in Reynosa. “She was rescued
when the kidnappers sought ransom. The woman was tied hand and foot,” the press release said.
Suspects Authorities identified the suspects as Erick Alan García Villarreal, 19; Jorge Arturo García Correa, 20; Jesús Antonio Hernández Villanueva, 25; Gerardo Avila Hernández, 30; Jorge Luis Flores Islas, 18 and Juan Osiel Navarro Alemán,
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SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL
Photo from Voice Of Jihad website via AP video | AP
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl sits in a vehicle in eastern Afghanistan prior to his trade for five high-ranking Taliban leaders. He is now at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Photo from video by WFAA.com | AP
A luxury house in the gated community of White Bluff teeters on a cliff about 75 feet above Lake Whitney in Whitney. The owner of a luxury house teetering on a crumbling 75-foot cliff over the lake has decided to burn the house and clear the lot of the debris.
Fire crews burn house teetering on cliff ASSOCIATED PRESS
W Photo by Ron Jenkins/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram | AP
Debris falls as a house in the gated community of White Bluff is burned to save Lake Whitney from falling debris, on Friday. The house is built on a fault line and is gradually collapsing.
HITNEY — Charred debris from a luxury cliff-side home fell 75 feet into a lake below on Friday after fire crews set the $700,000 retreat ablaze rather than wait for it to crumble into the water as the land faltered around it. It took less than an hour for the fire to level the home above Lake Whitney, about 60 miles south of Fort
Worth. Flames consumed exterior walls after crews spread bales of hay and fuel to ignite flames throughout the expansive home. The ground around the home cracked and became unstable in recent months. Then a few days ago, part of the land gave way beneath the 4,000-square-foot home, leaving pieces of the house dangling off the side of a cliff. Authorities condemned the home and the owners,
See HOUSE PAGE 9A
Army: Soldier ‘looked good’ after return By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “looked good” after arriving back in the United States and is working daily with health professionals after being held by the Taliban for five years in Afghanistan, military officials said Friday. Bergdahl’s family has not joined him since he arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort
Sam Houston after midnight Friday, and Army officials would not say when relatives might show up. Maj. Gen. Joseph P. DiSalvo said during a news conference Friday that Bergdahl was in stable condition, “looked good” and showed “good comportment” after being transported to Texas from an Army medical facility in Germany. “The reintegration of
See BERGDAHL PAGE 9A