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WEDNESDAY JUNE 18, 2014
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2014 MISS LAREDO USA/MISS LAREDO TEEN USA PAGEANTS
IMMIGRATION
Sparkling beauty
Children make their voice heard
Three Zapata residents competed Sunday
Many sought family, escape violence By ALDO AMATO THE ZAPATA TIMES
PEÑA
ELIZONDO
GONZALEZ
By GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO
The girls were judged on their appearance in a bikini, an evening gown and their ability to answer an interview question on the spot. O’Connor answered the question, “How would your friends describe you at your best and how would they describe you at your worst?” Benavides answered the question, “What would your adult self tell your teen self ?” She said she would have told herself to be more mature and responsible although she knows her errors have made her the person she is today. Benavides wore a blue, form-fitting dress with a long train, and she said that her first meal after the pageant would be Wing Stop. In addition to her Miss Laredo
Teen USA crown, O’Connor also won the “Best in Evening Gown” award. Miss Laredo’s win came as a surprise as contestant Victoria Young won four awards prior to announcing the official Miss Laredo winner. Young won Best in Swimsuit, Most Photogenic, Best in Evening Gown and the People’s Choice award. She was, however, named first runner up. Reigning Miss Texas USA Lauren Guzman and Amin Kabini, a makeup artist who has worked with the Miss Universe system, were the official hosts of the show. About 500 people bought tickets for the show, according to the front door ticket takers. (Gabriela A. Treviño may be reached at 956-728-2579 or gtrevino@lmtonline.com)
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Three residents from Zapata competed in beauty pageants Sunday at the Laredo Civic Center. Cassandra Peña competed in the 2014 Miss Laredo, and Triana Gonzalez and Priscilla Elizondo competed in the Miss Laredo Teen competition. However, Dalia Benavides and Catherine O’Connor were crowned the 2014 Miss Laredo USA and Miss Laredo Teen USA, respectively, in pageants totaling 20 contestants at the Laredo Civic Center on Sunday. Reigning beauty queens Miss Laredo Teen USA Teresa Ramirez and Miss Laredo Estefania Flores relinquished their crowns to the new winners.
TEXAS
Federal judicial vacancies Vacancies in the state are among the highest in the nation; budget cuts, volume of delayed felony cases are to blame ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — The number of federal judicial vacancies in Texas is among the highest in the nation and the problem is compounded by budget cuts and a growing volume of felony cases that are being delayed, federal officials say. There are eight vacancies on district benches in Texas and two more
are expected within the year. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said the problem is particularly acute in the western judicial district of Texas. The district has the second-highest number of criminal felony filings per judge in the country, according to the Austin AmericanStatesman. “We are under water here,” said Yeakel, who hears cases in Austin.
“We need new federal judges by every objective standard, and that’s not what we are getting.” Only two U.S. district judges, including Yeakel, hear the majority of the cases in Austin, and the last judicial position for the division was created in 1991, though the population has since doubled. Meanwhile, federal cuts over the years have
resulted in staff reductions and the elimination of court programs. Federal sequestration measures and last year’s government shutdown have further reduced spending on federal courts to the lowest levels in at least a decade. Court officials say more cases are placed on hold, defendants spend
See VACANCIES PAGE 8A
Fourteen-year-old Christian Daniel and his 11-yearold sister recently traveled more than 1,400 miles from El Salvador to the TexasMexico border. After entering the United States illegally, however, Border Patrol apprehended them. Christian Daniel told U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar during his visit to a Border Patrol facility Saturday in McAllen that he has a father in Columbus, Ohio and that he came here to study. A boy identified as Elvis, 16, told Cuellar that he, too, fled El Salvador and was hoping to find work in the United States. He also said he came here to escape violence and gangs, which had killed a friend of his. He said they told him he was next. Of the nine children whom Cuellar talked to at the Border Patrol facility, the majority said they came to the United States to either reunite with family or escape violence in their home country. They are among the thousands of children from Central America who are streaming across the border illegally. “We have a humanitarian obligation to children who are crossing our border unaccompanied,” Cuellar said. “I feel that the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Health and Human Services are doing all they can under the circumstances to ensure every migrant is treated with dignity and respect. “There is no strong protocol in place for dealing with Central American immigrants and some of the most important work left is to improve the process for returning them to their home countries.” Some of the immigrant children said they paid smugglers undisclosed amounts of money to not only better themselves, but
“
“We have a humanitarian obligation to children who are crossing our border …” US CONGRESSMAN HENRY CUELLAR
also their family members. Domitilla, 14, fled the violence in Guatemala and was “forced to walk miles and run from authorities” and slept outside in the heat. Cuellar said she was apprehensive to talk about mistreatment from human smugglers during her 20-day journey to the United States. Another 14-year-old child, Miguel, told Cuellar he did not hire anyone to smuggle him from El Salvador to the United States. He got here just by asking questions. He said his mother lives in Los Angeles, Calif. And that he crossed the Texas-Mexico border because it was easier. Cuellar said he talked with officials from the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras about the influx of unaccompanied children trying to cross into the country illegally. “The United States needs to do a better job in working with Mexico to strengthen their southern border and to work with the Central American countries,” Cuellar said. “In the past few days, I have personally spoken to the ambassadors of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras and the Embassy of Mexico and I will continue working with them to address the problem jointly with a shared responsibility.” (Aldo Amato may be reached at 728-2538 or aamato@lmtonline.com)
US BORDER PATROL
Man allegedly refused to answer questions David Wayne Martin, 30, claimed he wanted to exercise his constitutional right at a checkpoint By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man who claimed he wanted to exercise his constitutional right to not answer questions from federal agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint has been arrested for blocking the primary inspection lane with his vehicle, according to court records released last week. A criminal complaint filed Friday charges David Wayne Martin, 30, with forcibly impeding with the duties of a federal officer and for forcible assault on Border Patrol agents by resisting arrest. On Wednesday, Martin ar-
A criminal complaint filed Friday charges Martin with forcibly impeding with the duties of a federal officer and for forcible assault on Border Patrol agents by resisting arrest. rived in a blue Ford Expedition at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on mile marker 29 of North Interstate 35. An agent who was conducting an immigration inspection asked Martin twice if he was a U.S. citizen. “Each time, Martin refused to answer any questions, stating he wished to exercise his con-
stitutional rights and not respond to any questions,” the complaint states. A supervisor was requested to assist. The supervisor asked Martin to move to the secondary area to free up the primary inspection lane. Martin allegedly refused to move his vehicle from the primary inspection lane, “stating he did not con-
sent to (a) warrantless search of his vehicle,” the complaint states. “Since Martin refused to answer questions concerning his citizenship and refused to move his vehicle away from the primary inspection lane, the Border Patrol agents took Martin into custody and placed him in a holding cell,” court records
state. Homeland Security Investigations special agents took over the case. He allegedly agreed to speak to them without an attorney present. “Martin stated that he was an idiot and had messed up in not answering the U.S. Border Patrol questions,” according to court records. Martin told authorities he had recorded his encounter at primary inspection. He allegedly said he had been planning the recording at the checkpoint for the past two weeks. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
Wednesday, June 18
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.
Thursday, June 19 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. Admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Call Beverly Cantu at 7270589. J.W. Nixon’s Class of 1989 selling tickets for 25th reunion. 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. 317 E. Calton Road #1. $25 per person for event on Friday, July 25 at Life Fair, Branding Iron; $25 per person for event on Saturday, July 26 at Embassy Suites.
Saturday, June 21 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. 3rd Annual 5K Run, Walk & Roll for Rehab to benefit Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center. 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. North Central Park. $15 early registration (May 21-June 13) and $20 late registration day of event, from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.. $10 kids ½ mile run (10 and under). Call 722-2431. South Texas Food Bank’s bucket brigade. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. HillsideMcPherson, McPherson-Shiloh, CaltonYeary, Springfield-Del Mar, GuadalupeMeadow, Saunders-Bartlett, ZacatecasZapata Highway and Arkansas-Clark. Volunteers collecting coins and dollars. Call Salo Otero at 324-2432. 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. Admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663.
Tuesday, June 24 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. Admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. 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.
Wednesday, June 25 1964 Zapata High School Class 50th reunion. Dinner at The Steak House. Call Dora Martinez at 324-1226 or Ninfa Gracia at 500-5219.
Thursday, June 26 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. Cow Appreciation Day at Chickfil-A North Laredo (Loop 20) is Thursday, June 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Make your own cow costume with supplies provided. 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. Admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club. 1:14 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Call Beverly Cantu at 7270589.
Friday, June 27 Live Star Show. 8 p.m. TAMIU Planetarium. $3 admission. Call 3263663.
Saturday, June 28 Voz de Niños training. 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 902 E. Calton Road. Free. Topics assist in volunteering with foster youth and prepare individuals to be Court Appointed Special Advocates. Must be 21 or older; clear background.
Photo by Mark ’Storm’ Farnik | AP
A tornado forms over a house near Pilger, Neb., on Monday. At least two people are dead and at least 19 were taken to hospitals after two massive tornadoes swept through northeast Nebraska on Monday. Tornadoes also caused damage in Cuming and Wayne counties, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said in a news release.
2 dead after disaster By JOSH FUNK ASSOCIATED PRESS
PILGER, Neb. — As two giant tornadoes bore down on this tiny farming town in northeast Nebraska, Trey Wisniewski heard the storm sirens, glanced out at the blackening sky and rushed with his wife into their basement. “My wife was holding our animals, and I was holding on to my wife. We could feel the suction try to pull us out of there,” he said Tuesday. Suddenly, their house was gone, leaving them to dodge debris that rained down upon them. And then, the storm that hit so suddenly Monday afternoon was gone, allowing them to emerge and see what was left of the 350-person farming town of Pilger. They found that much of the community was gone and two people had died. The di-
Troubled Phoenix VA doled out $10M in bonuses PHOENIX — Workers at the Phoenix VA Health Care System — where investigators say veterans’ health was jeopardized when employees covered up long wait times for patients — received about $10 million in bonuses, newly released records show. Documents from the VA indicate than 2,100 employees got bonuses over the course of a threeyear period, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday. The records, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the bonuses kept increasing. The VA paid $2.5 million in 2011, $3.5 million in 2012 and $3.9 million last year. The merit-based bonuses were doled out to nearly 650 employees each of those years. The employees included doctors, nurses, administrators, secretaries and cleaning staff. “The VA employee recognition and awards program provides an
saster, delivered by twin twisters rare in how forcefully they travelled side by side for an extended period, left some townsfolk doubting whether the town could rebuild, even as they marveled that the death toll hadn’t been worse. “This is by far the worst thing I’ve ever seen as governor,” said Gov. Dave Heineman, who flew over Pilger in a helicopter Tuesday morning and then walked through the town, trailed by reporters. At least 19 people were taken to hospitals. Up to 75 percent of the buildings in Pilger were heavily damaged or destroyed. That included the grain co-op, bank, library, middle school, city offices and fire department. Tornadoes also caused damage in Cuming and Wayne counties, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said in a news release.
entire range of rewards to recognize employees who make contributions that support goals and objectives across the facility,” Phoenix VA spokeswoman Jean Schaefe said. A VA inspector general’s report found that 1,700 veterans seeking treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital were at risk of being “lost or forgotten” after being kept off the official waiting list. Phoenix VA director Sharon Helman and two others were placed on administrative leave last month following allegations that some veterans may have died waiting for appointments and schedulers manipulated records.
Wildfire threatens homes, livestock ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fast-moving wildfire near the Arizona-New Mexico border grew Tuesday as it approached two communities and threatened traditional grazing lands on the Navajo Nation, where sheep are a staple of life, their wool is
prized for its use in rugs, and mutton is on the menu of restaurants throughout the region. The Assayii Lake Fire ballooned to more than 19 square miles in less than two days while making its way across winter and summer grazing lands in the Chuska Mountains. The flames destroyed at least four structures and threatened about 50 homes near the rural communities of Naschitti and Sheep Springs, fire officials said. Some homes in Naschitti were evacuated Monday afternoon, and authorities were urging desperate Navajo families to refrain from going into the mountains to search for their sheep and other livestock because of the fire’s erratic behavior. “They haven’t contained any of it yet, and they’re just letting it burn right now because the winds are so high, and that presents a problem,” said Leo Watchman, head of the Navajo Nation’s Department of Agriculture. “How far out do you evacuate homes and livestock pens? We’re not out of the danger yet.” — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD Nabbed Libyan militant lived openly in Benghazi CAIRO — The Libyan militant suspected in the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attack on Americans in Benghazi was not a difficult man to find. Ahmed Abu Khattala lived openly and freely in the restive eastern Libyan city, even after the U.S. administration named him and another militant as suspects in the attack two years ago that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya. “I am in my city, having a normal life and have no troubles,” he told The Associated Press late last year after he was first accused. He denied the allegations and said he didn’t fear being abducted from Libya. That changed Sunday when he was detained by U.S. forces, marking the first U.S. apprehension of an alleged perpetrator in the assault that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and
Today is Wednesday, June 18, the 169th day of 2014. There are 196 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On June 18, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke to each other by telephone as they inaugurated the first trans-Pacific cable completed by AT&T between Japan and Hawaii, and linked to existing cables between Hawaii and California. (Due to the time difference, it was already June 19 in Tokyo.) On this date: In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War. In 1812, the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain. In 1873, suffragist Susan B. Anthony was found guilty by a judge in Canandaigua, New York, of breaking the law by casting a vote in the 1872 presidential election. (The judge fined Anthony $100, but she never paid the penalty.) In 1953, a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed near Tokyo, killing all 129 people on board. In 1972, 118 people were killed in the crash of a Brussels-bound British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna. In 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride, 32, became America’s first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission. In 1984, Alan Berg, a Denver radio talk show host, was shot to death outside his home. (Two white supremacists were later convicted of civil rights violations in the slaying.) Ten years ago: European Union leaders agreed on the first constitution for the bloc’s 25 members. Five years ago: Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was named the NHL’s most valuable player for the second straight year after leading the league with 56 goals. One year ago: The Taliban and the U.S. said they would hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, as the international coalition formally handed over control of the country’s security to the Afghan army and police. Today’s Birthdays: Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is 77. Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock is 75. Rock singer-composer-musician Sir Paul McCartney is 72. Actress Constance McCashin is 67. Actress Linda Thorson is 67. Rock musician John Evans (The Box Tops) is 66. Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., is 64. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 62. Actress Carol Kane is 62. Actor Brian Benben is 58. Actress Andrea Evans is 57. Rock singer Alison Moyet is 53. Figure skater Kurt Browning is 48. Thought for Today: Today: “The way of a superior man is three-fold; virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.” — Confucius, Chinese philosopher (551479 B.C.).
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, center, with Prince Philip, right, Prince Andrew, second right and Prince Harry, arrive by carriage, on the first day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting at Ascot, England, on Tuesday. three other Americans. Abu Khattala is being held in an undisclosed location outside of Libya and will be tried in U.S. court, according to the Pentagon press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby. Abu Khattala was the com-
mander of a militant group called the Abu Obaida bin Jarrah Brigade. Washington has accused him of being a member of the Ansar al-Shariah group, which is believed to be behind the attack. — 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
Local
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Laredo Farmers Market set for Saturday Event to include free demos, live music and fun activities SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Laredo Main Street - El Centro de Laredo Farmers’ Market is taking place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will include: Free demo at 11 a.m. on the art of Tai Chi by local certified instructor Ramon Orduña Free kids yoga demo at 11:30 a.m. by local certified instructors Aida Heiras and Alejandra Carrizalez Free blood pressure screenings and general health and wellness info from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free chef demo at
11:30 a.m. by Go Texan and La India Herbs & Spices Live music and entertainment from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. provided by Dos Cristees, Heart Beat, R&A Jazz Sounds, CHNO and DJ The Pop Rocks LCC Child Development Club children’s arts & crafts and Funtastic face painting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Products to look forward to include local, allnatural and pesticide-free seasonal produce, herbs, nopal, 100 percent grassfed meats and barbacoa tacos, organic coffee, all-natural tortillas, maguey syrup, vanilla, avocado oils,
olive oils/vinegars, nopal jerky, teas, all-natural skincare and cleaning products, lavender, plants, succulents, freshly prepared on-site healthy meals and beverages, baked breads, sweets, jams, pickled veg and allnatural pet treats. Over 25 farmers and bakers will participate at the market this month. The event is free and open to the public. It’s held at Jarvis Plaza in downtown Laredo. Free parking is available in the El Metro Transit Center, 1301 Farragut St. (with market purchase voucher).
Near record figures Food bank distributed high number of product SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The South Texas Food Bank, which served Zapata County, reached near record distribution figures in April and May, it was reported at the June monthly board meeting at Commerce Bank in Laredo. Alfonso Casso, food bank executive director, told the board more than 1 million pounds of product were given out in May and more than 31,000 families were served in April. The 1.06 million pounds is the highest since 1.23 million in May 2011. It brings this fiscal year’s total to 6,437,815 pounds, which is ahead of last year’s 5,992,909 pounds. In April, the food bank served 31,208 families numbering 76,530 individuals. South Texas Food Bank programs Adopt-A-family distributed to 449 families and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for the elderly served 6,848 individuals but it has a waiting
list of 1,426. Other program numbers for the month were SNAP Outreach, 325 applications representing 446 adults, 477 children; Kids Café at 19 sites, served an after school meal to 1,455 children Monday through Friday; and 171 picked up emergency bags, representing 302 adults and 269 children. “Our mission of feeding the hungry continues in a big way because of the need,” Casso noted. “Unemployment is low at under 6 percent, but hard-working people are having a tough time making ends meet and trying to feed their families. The South Texas Food Bank is the safety net for these vulnerable neighbors.” The South Texas Food Bank, celebrating its 25th anniversary, opened in 1989 under the auspices of H-E-B as the Laredo WebbCounty Food Bank, distributing supplemental food to the unemployed, under-employed and those living on fixed incomes, especially the elderly.
File photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times
Leonel Hernandez II uses his phone to charge a customer’s purchase at the Ein-Gedi Farm Agricultural booth, on Saturday, April 19, at Jarvis Plaza during the El Centro de Laredo Farmers Market.
Protection from heat stress, related illness SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The City of Laredo Health Department encourages the public to protect themselves against heat stress and its related illness — heat exhaustion or heat stroke. According to a press release by the City of Laredo Health Department, heat illness is when the body loses the ability to regulate temperature with heavy sweating. Symptoms of heat illness include red, flushed skin; rapid, strong pulse; throbbing headache; dizziness; nausea; muscle cramps; dehydration; confusion; and unconsciousness. Heat stroke is when a person stops sweating and is dry. Heat exhaustion, on the other hand, involves profuse sweating, paleness and camps. Both can be life-threatening. The young and elderly, as well as those with underlying illnesses, are most at risk of se-
rious illness and complications, the press release states. In particular, infants, children up to age four, persons over 65 years of age, those who are overweight, overexert themselves during work or exercise, and who are ill or on certain medications need to take precautions. “Among the most important precautions you can take is to keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water, even if you are not thirsty, and staying in cool, shaded areas,” states Dr. Hector F. Gonzalez, director of health for the department, in the press release. Additional prevention tips include: Limit vigorous activity during hot, humid weather Wear loose-fitting, lightweight and light-colored clothing Do not leave children alone in a vehicle. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, heat can rise within minutes and reach potentially mortal temperatures. In the first 10 minutes alone, the temperature can rise 20 degrees Limit drinks that can cause dehydration, such as caffeinated drinks (coffee, soda, energy drinks), and avoid alcohol Protect yourself from the sun by wearing sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat, using an umbrella, and applying sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher During hot periods of the day, seek relief in shaded areas or stay indoors Monitor high-risk people for signs of related illness Schedule vigorous exercise during the cooler morning or evening hours Pet owners should keep them in the shade and with plenty of water. Do not leave them alone in a vehicle or building without ventilation
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Government must respond humanely THE MIAMI HERALD
Faced with a dramatic increase in unaccompanied children from Central America swarming across the U.S. border, the federal government must offer a swift and compassionate response. The minors are the most vulnerable and helpless migrants, here through no fault of their own. They are innocent pawns of forces they cannot begin to comprehend. Their treatment, however, must stop short of inciting even larger waves of illegal immigration. This will be no easy trick. International treaties and moral obligation require the government to protect the young migrants and treat them as humanely as possible. But it would be cruel and unfair to send a signal that, once here, unaccompanied minors gain a legal toehold on U.S. soil. There is no such entitlement, nor is any contemplated. The record of immigration processing in recent years suggests that only a tiny fraction of unaccompanied minors manages to make a case for asylum or resident status. The numbers in this sudden exodus are striking. Some 47,000 children have been apprehended this fiscal year, more than double the total for all of 2013. The final tally could exceed 90,000. Because they’re children, they cannot be quickly repatriated. They have to be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services
within 72 hours of arrival. If they have family here, they might be reunited, but most will face deportation hearings. The Obama administration is scrambling to hire about 100 lawyers and paralegals to represent them. They’ll probably need more. The government has also opened shelters on military bases from Oklahoma to California. Last week, a Senate appropriations panel voted to give the Obama administration an extra $2 billion for the HHS division that houses and cares for the migrant kids. These are appropriate and timely responses to a humanitarian crisis. The issue should not get caught up in the heated debate over immigration reform, which is said to be dead for the foreseeable future with the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor last week. That’s a shame, but also the political reality. The exodus of children should jolt Congress and the White House into awareness that the security of the border is connected to economic stability in the countries to the south. That’s the root of the problem. Doing nothing is not an option. Working with the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the Obama administration has to lead a campaign in the region to counter the perception that sending unaccompanied minors across the U.S. border guarantees their stay here.
COMMENTARY
The hiring paralysis By CATHERINE RAMPELL THE WASHINGTON POST
I have some good news, and I have some bad news. First, the good news: Employers have more job openings today than they’ve had at any time since the Great Recession began. The bad news: Employers may be posting jobs, but they’re taking longer than ever before to fill them. It now takes 24 working days for the average job opening to be filled. That’s the longest hiring delay since at least 2001, the first year for which numbers are available, according to a recent report from Dice Holdings based on research by Steven J. Davis, R. Jason Faberman and John C. Haltiwanger. To give you some context, when the recovery began five years ago, the average opening took about 16 days to fill. This means employers are dragging their feet making hires, despite having 10 million jobless workers to choose from (not to mention many more already-employed applicants looking to jobhop). I’ve spoken to workers who have been called back for as many as nine or 10 interviews for a given position, only to be told at the end of the pro-
cess that the firm had decided to hold off on making a decision “for now.” The nation’s biggest companies are being especially poky about filling openings; at firms with at least 5,000 employees, vacancies stay open on average for 69 working days before a successful job offer is made. That’s about twice as long as it took to make hires five years ago, and it doesn’t include whatever additional lag there might be between when the job offer is accepted and when the lucky hire finally starts work. This hiring paralysis is peculiar. In theory, it should be easier than ever to find talent, thanks to networking and job board sites such as LinkedIn and Monster.com, and to the bevy of start-ups in the personnel analytics space that help screen candidates remotely. The usual explanation for companies’ interminably long hiring processes is “skills mismatch”: Businesses aren’t filling jobs because applicants are all underqualified. If there were massive, country-wide skill shortages, you’d expect to see wages rising as employers bid up the pay of the few desirable workers out there. And generally speaking, you don’t.
COMMENTARY
Hillary Clinton’s 1975 defense Clinton brags about her defense of a rape suspect in audiotaped interview By MELINDA HENNEBERGER THE WASHINGTON POST
The conservative news site Washington Free Beacon has posted an audiotaped interview of Hillary Clinton bragging about her successful 1975 defense of a man she seems to have believed was guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl. Even rapists deserve adequate legal representation, of course; that’s how our justice system works, no matter how reprehensible the crime. Hillary Rodham, as she was known then shortly after her marriage, was only 27 and had next to no experience as a defense attorney. But she was appointed by the court, took the case as a favor and then went all-out for her 41-yearold client — just as you’d hope any lawyer representing someone you loved would do. Originally facing 30 years to life on a rape charge, Thomas Alfred Taylor wound up pleading guilty to unlawfully fondling someone under 14, and served about a year in an Arkansas county jail. In an interview in the mid-1980s for an Esquire magazine piece that never ran, Clinton’s glee is audible about the prosecution’s big mistake in the case, when it accidentally discarded key evidence. Some are writing off the remarks, as one fellow journalist put it on social media, as “typical gonzo defense lawyer talk.” It is not, however, typical talk for a lifelong defender
of women and children. Nor was Clinton’s defense plan, mapped out in a court affidavit. In it, she questioned the credibility of the victim and suggested that the sixth-grader, who an ER doctor said showed injuries consistent with rape, had “a tendency to seek out older men.” “I have been informed that the complainant is emotionally unstable,” Clinton wrote in the affidavit, “with a tendency to seek out older men and to engage in fantasizing.” The document, filed with the Washington County, Arkansas court on July 28, 1975, argued for a psychiatric evaluation for the victim. “I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming they had attacked her body,” Clinton wrote. “Also that she exhibits an unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way.” The “little bit nutty, little bit slutty” defense has a long, ugly history. It’s jarring to see it trotted out against a kid by a future feminist icon. The argument also bears an uncomfortable similarity to Clinton White House descriptions of Monica Lewinsky, who without that semen stain on her little blue dress would have been dismissed as a stalker who had fantasized that she had a relationship with President Bill Clinton. In the end, Hillary Clinton didn’t have to go after the 12-year-old victim’s
character because the prosecution accidentally discarded part of Taylor’s bloody, semen-stained underwear. Also on the audiotape, Clinton may have violated attorney-client privilege in discussing Taylor, a factory worker who is dead now but was still alive when she gave the interview. “Of course he claimed that he didn’t” rape the girl, “and all this stuff. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed — which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs,” she said, laughing. In 2008, reporter Glenn Thrush wrote a long piece for Newsday about the case. After midnight on May 10, 1975, Taylor and his 20-yearold cousin visited a home where the 12-year-old victim was having a sleepover, and invited her to come out for a drive. Later, a 15-year-old boy that the victim apparently had a crush on joined them. According to the Newsday piece, Taylor fed the victim whiskey and Coke, then drove his red Chevy pickup to a “weedy ravine” where the attack occurred. The 15-year-old told authorities that he had sex with the girl, and believed that Taylor had, too. At one point, the victim reportedly yelled, “You all planned this, didn’t you?” “I never sought out older men,” the adult victim told Newsday in 2008. She said she had never before accused anyone of assault. “I was raped,” she told Thrush, in an attack that
she felt had contributed to a suicide attempt about a year later and to decades of depression and other problems. Clinton’s spokesman declined to comment. In 2008, her spokesman told Newsday that Clinton “had an ethical and legal obligation to defend him to the fullest extent of the law. To act otherwise would have constituted a breach of her professional responsibilities.” Defending even a child rapist as vigorously as possible might be a plus if she were running to lead the American Bar Association. But wouldn’t her apparent willingness to attack a sixth-grader compromise a presidential run? Maybe not, because the reaction to the tape has been so partisan. There have been shrugs from critics of Missouri Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin’s wildly misinformed remarks that in cases of “legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down” and avoid pregnancy. Yet many who were silent on or untroubled by Akin’s remarks about rape suddenly are finding Clinton’s insensitivity just stunning. Are the only offensive remarks on the subject made by those whose politics we don’t like anyway? Clinton claimed recently to have stopped worrying about speaking her mind. But this long-ago interview is a reminder of the perils of actually doing that.
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State
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Davis’ familiar themes By NOMAAN MERCHANT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Reed Saxon/file | AP
Texas Gov. Rick Perry gives the keynote speech at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013.
New home for Perry? Magazine: Perry so in love with Cali, may move there By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Could Texas Gov. Rick Perry be California dreamin’? The Republican has made persuading top employers around the country to move to Texas a centerpiece of his administration, even leading a series of jobpoaching missions in Democratically controlled states. And California has been a prime target, with Perry bashing what he calls the Golden State’s high-tax, over-regulated ways. But a New York Times Magazine story released Tuesday says Perry’s so enamored with California that he could move there when his term ends. “Perry told me that he loves California, vacations in San Diego annually, visits the state about six times a year and might even move here in January when he’s done with his 14year stint running Texas,” writer Mark Leibovich says in the article, which was based on comments the governor made while visiting Los Angeles. Perry isn’t seeking reelection in November but hasn’t ruled out a second
presidential run after his 2012 White House campaign flamed out in a series of public gaffes. In April, he scored a major political victory when Toyota announced it was moving its U.S. headquarters from California to Texas. Asked about the possibility that Perry could be mulling the opposite move, spokesman Travis Considine noted his comment to the magazine came after Perry was asked where he would live if he could live in any state other than Texas. “I would live in California if I could afford it,” Perry said according to a partial transcript of the interview with Leibovich, which Considine provided Tuesday. “Why wouldn’t you want to live out here? Seriously?” Considine added that Perry “posed a rhetorical question, which he has answered many times by noting how California’s high cost-of-living is a contributing factor to why people move away from such a beautiful state.” Still, such a move for Perry would be ironic because the governor is one of California’s harshest — and highest-profile — politi-
cal critics. Since last year, he has visited New York, Illinois and other states with Democratic governors in hopes of wooing top job creators. But Perry’s first such trip was to California and he even appeared in radio ads proclaiming, "I hear building a business in California is next to impossible." That hasn’t stopped Perry from going to California frequently since then, though. He was in the state just last week, driving to the state Capitol in a Tesla Model S electric car as part of his effort to persuade the company to build a battery factory in Texas. At a subsequent appearance in San Francisco, Perry made national headlines by saying he believed homosexuality was a disorder like alcoholism. Considine said the impression that Perry doesn’t care for California is incorrect. He noted that during the same San Francisco address, the governor said, “I know sometimes I get a bit of a rap that I only come to California to recruit businesses to come back to Texas, but the fact is — well, I have done that — but I root for this state.”
FORT WORTH — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis stuck to familiar economic themes Tuesday during her first public speech since replacing her campaign manager. Speaking in her hometown of Fort Worth, Davis reiterated earlier proposals for new investments in education, roads, water and a range of other issues, while declining to say how much they would cost. She attacked Republican front-runner Greg Abbott on a wide range of issues, from education funding to health care a federal proposal to raise the minimum wage. She repeatedly accused Abbott of standing against “hardworking Texans,” a phrase she repeated more than a dozen times in her 30-minute speech. “I am the only candidate in this race with a vision that works for all hardworking Texans, not just some,” Davis said.
Photo by Paul Moseley/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram | AP
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis speaks at the Omni Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday. Abbott’s spokesman Matt Hirsch responded in an email that electing Davis as governor “would make the next four years in Texas look like that last six years under Barack Obama.” Davis announced last week that campaign manager Karin Johanson, a nationally recognized Democratic consultant, would step aside for State Rep. Chris Turner of Arlington. The move was widely seen as a shakeup
for a campaign that has struggled to gain traction on a message outside of Davis’ filibuster against abortion restrictions — a nearly 12-hour speech that made her a national Democratic star. Asked about Turner’s influence on Tuesday’s speech, Davis said he had some input, but the message was ultimately still hers. “The speech comes from my heart and my experiences,” she said.
Agency restructuring Officials: Sex offender agency did not meet basic practices ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — State officials say the Texas agency that oversees violent sex offenders must undergo an overhaul because for years it didn’t operate according to basic management practices. Marsha McLane, the new director of the Office of Violent Sex Offender Management, says she’s found that employees worked from home and had little supervision. Personnel and contract files could not be found. The Houston Chronicle reported that these and other problems have conspired
to slow efforts to bring order to the agency. The former director, Allison Taylor, has been criticized by lawmakers and others for relocating about three dozen sex offenders to neighborhoods in Austin and Houston without notifying residents. She later moved another two dozen offenders to a minimum-security halfway house, again without notifying nearby residents. When workers traveled to supervise the tough, exconvict offenders in Austin they almost always stayed in more expensive hotels by checking a box on the state travel form
stating “no safe lodging available.” The practice has since stopped. “There’s a lot of safe places in Austin where you can stay for that,” McLane said. To avoid travel and lodging costs, McLane has hired two part-time case managers in Austin. She also said that the employees would be paid for 40-hour weeks even as time sheets were filled automatically and they may not reflect the actual hours they worked. McLane also found out the operated from three small, separate offices in Austin.
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera
Agenda en Breve ZAPATA 06/18— 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) 500-5219. 06/21— 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.
LAREDO 06/18— Clínica de Vacunación contra la Rabia, de 7 p.m. a 8 p.m. en el Laredo Animal Care Facility at 5202 Maher Avenue. Costo de vacuna, con registro y microchip, a 22 dólares. 06/19— El Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU estará proyectando “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” (El Secreto del Cohete de Cartón), a las 2 p.m.; “Earth, Moon and Sun” (Tierra, Luna y Sol) a las 3 p.m.; “Wonders of the Universe” (Maravillas del Universo), a las 4 p.m.; “Destination Saturn” (Destino Saturno), a las 5 p.m. Costo: 3 dólares niños y 4 dólares adultos. 06/19— La generación de 1989 de JW Nixon, estará vendiendo boletos para la reunión 25, en 317 de Calton Road #1, de 6:30 p.m. a 8 p.m. Costo por persona es de 25 dólares para el evento del 25 de julio en Life Fair, Branding Iron y 30 dólares para el evento del sábado 26 de julio en Embassy Suites. 06/21— Tercer evento para Correr, Andar o Circular por la Rehabilitación, de 5K, en beneficio del Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center, de 8 a.m. a 11 a.m. en North Central Park. Cuota de 20 dólares, general; niños de 10 años y menores pagan 10 dólares por media milla. Se pueden inscribir de 7 a.m. a 8 a.m. Más información en (956)722-2431. 06/21— El ‘ReStore’ de Habitat for Humanity tendrá una Campaña de Donación de Artículos para beneficiar a la tienda, de 8 a.m. a 2 p.m. en el estacionamiento de Falcon Bank, junto a la esquina de McPherson and Del Mar Blvd. Se aceptarán artículos del hogar, así como donaciones en efectivo y tarjetas de crédito. Informes en el 724-3227. 06/21— Reunión de grupo de Autism Ties Support Central Inc. de 10 a.m. a 12 p.m. en Laredo Autism Center & Kids Rehab, Santa Maria Plaza, 3210 Jaime Zapata Memorial Highway.
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO 06/22— Grupo de Teatro Laberintus A.C. presentará la puesta en escena “Invisible”, una adaptación de Damián Aviña del libro clásico “El Principito”, a las 12 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, entre Reynosa y Belden (sector centro. Obra es para toda la familia. Costo 20 pesos. 06/24— 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. 06/29— Grupo de Teatro Laberintus A.C. presentará la puesta en escena “Invisible”, una adaptación de Damián Aviña del libro clásico “El Principito”, a las 12 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, entre Reynosa y Belden (sector centro. Obra es para toda la familia. Costo 20 pesos.
MIÉRCOLES 18 DE JUNIO DE 2014
GOBIERNO
Existe fricción ASSOCIATED PRESS
Una disputa entre el ejército y la Guardia Nacional está poniendo en riesgo el papel que ésta ha tenido en la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos desde 2006, reportó el domingo un periódico. Los problemas surgen en momentos en que la Guardia Nacional se ha vuelto más apta para ubicar los puntos de cruce no autorizados a lo largo de la frontera y las autoridades batallan con el arribo de inmigrantes —en especial de menores solos— que huyen de la pobreza y la violencia de las pandillas en Centroamérica. La Guardia Nacional comenzó a operar en la frontera en 2006 cuando el entonces presidente George W. Bush ordenó el envío de 6.000 tropas al área. Desde entonces su
misión ha evolucionado y en la actualidad hay unos 300 guardias desplegados ahí. Los patrullajes terrestres han sido reemplazados en gran medida con misiones nocturnas en helicóptero, de acuerdo con el Austin American-Statesman. “Hacer de este un programa a más largo plazo, con más planeación y presupuesto”, dijo el general William “Len” Smith, de la Guardia Nacional de Texas. El actual conflicto surge en momentos en que el ejército enfrenta recortes presupuestales que podrían eliminar una flota de helicópteros Kiowa, los cuales desea reemplazar con unos 100 helicópteros Lakota. Estas aeronaves podrían provenir de la Guardia Nacional, lo que dejaría a esta unidad con poca capacidad aérea. Si la Guardia Nacional pierde
100 de sus helicópteros, “tendríamos que comprometer casi todos los demás Lakotas (14) que tenemos a esa misión, o detenerla, y ninguna de las dos opciones es preferible”, dijo Smith. El papel de la Guardia Nacional en la frontera ha sido polémico. Cuando Bush envió a los 6.000 soldados, los críticos dijeron que ello militarizaría la zona. Desde entonces, ese papel ha sido disminuido, pero así parece funcionar mejor en el aprovechamiento del dinero y en su eficiencia. En 2010, cuando el presidente Barack Obama reactivó la misión, la Guardia Nacional detuvo a 4.000 inmigrantes en unos 18 meses. Pero la misión aérea, que comenzó en marzo de 2012, ha logrado 10 veces eso en el mismo tiempo. Además, costó 35 millones de dó-
lares ejecutar la operación aérea en comparación con los 110 millones que costaron misiones anteriores, de acuerdo con autoridades estatales y federales. En 2006-2007, la presencia costó 1.300 millones. Aun así, Víctor Manjarrez, director asociado del Centro de Seguridad Fronteriza e Inmigración de la Universidad de Texas en El Paso, se pregunta si los helicópteros son lo mejor para la Guardia Nacional. “Las operaciones aéreas son más bien costosas”, en opinión del también exsupervisor de la Patrulla Fronteriza. “La capacidad de ver cosas es mucho mayor ahora que hace 10 años, y las operaciones aéreas (de la Guardia Nacional) casi duplican algunos de esos esfuerzos. Pero me pregunto si es lo más apropiado con relación al costo”.
INMIGRACIÓN
TAMAULIPAS
ALZAN VOZ
Foro ayudaría a desarrollo económico
Niños señalan razones
TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
By ALDO AMATO TIEMPO DE LAREDO
Llegó sola a este país con la esperanza de ir a la primaria. Emilia, de 9 años de edad, es una de los miles de niños inmigrantes originarios de Centroamérica que han escaparon de la violencia diaria por el narcotráfico en sus países natales. Ella, junto con otros inmigrantes, llegaron a través de McAllen para encontrar mejores oportunidades en Estados Unidos. El Congresista de EU, Henry Cuellar, pasó el sábado en las instalaciones de Patrulla Fronteriza en McAllen y escuchó las historias de supervivencia de Emilia y otros niños. “Tenemos una obligación humanitaria con los menores que cruzan la frontera sin compañía”, dijo Cuellar. “Siento que Patrulla Fronteriza, las Fuerzas de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas, la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias, el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de la Guardia Costera están haciendo todo lo posible, dadas las circunstancias, para asegurarse de que inmigrante sea tratado con dignidad y respeto. No existe un protocolo fuerte para lidiar con inmigrantes de Centroamérica y algunos de los trabajos más impor-
Foto de archivo por Jerry Lara | San Antonio Express-News
Danny Hernández, Jr., de 1 año de edad, espera junto a su familia para abordar un autobús rumbo a Long Island, New York, en la terminal de McAllen el miércoles 11 de junio. La familia es originaria de Zihualtepec, Honduras. tantes de izquierda es mejorar el proceso para devolverlos a sus países de origen”. Emilia, quien pasó un día perdida a lo largo de la frontera entre Texas y México, es una de tres inmigrantes procedentes de Honduras. Inmigrantes como Wendy, de 14 años, también escaparon de la violencia en su vecindario en El Salvador, y pasó ocho días tratando de llegar a su madre que vive en Virginia. Algunos inmigrantes han pagado a los traficantes cantidades no reveladas de dinero, no solo para mejorar las condiciones de ellos mismos, sino también las de los miembros de sus familias. Christian Daniel, llegó con su hermana de 11 años de edad desde El Salvador, para continuar con su educación. Antes de comenzar su viaje, dijo que investigó que era más fácil cruzar a
través de Texas. Domitilla, de 14 años de edad, huyó de la violencia en Guatemala y fue “forzada a caminar millas y correr de las autoridades”. Cuellar dijo que estaba preocupada acerca de hablar de los malos tratos que recibió por parte de los traficantes durante su viaje de 20 días a Estados Unidos. Cuellar dijo que habló con funcionarios de Estados Unidos, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, acerca de las maneras en que se pueden fortalecer las fronteras. “Estados Unidos necesita hacer un mejor trabajo al trabajar con México, para fortalecer su frontera del sur y trabajar con los países de Centroamérica”, dijo Cuellar. “Los traficantes saben si traes inmigrantes a Estados Unidos y si tienen hijos, te dejarán ir”. (Localice a Aldo Amato en 728-2538 o en aamato@lmtonline.com)
Tamaulipas será sede del foro de la “Reforma para Transformar el Campo” el 26 de junio en el Polyforum “Dr. Rodolfo Torre Cantú” en Ciudad Victoria, México. “El propósito de la reunión es establecer la nueva política pública agroalimentaria con sus cimientos jurídicos, administrativos y de organización para lograr el cambio estructural que permita una nueva etapa de desarrollo y bienestar para el agro mexicano”, dijo Carlos Ernesto Solís Gómez, Secretario de Desarrollo Rural, durante una reunión previa para ultimar detalles. El evento pretende transmitir una propuesta donde el campo tamaulipeco sea más justo, rentable y sustentable, para con ello conjuntar las opiniones y propuestas de todos los actores involucrados en el sector, de acuerdo con un comunicado de prensa. Para lograr el objetivo se han desarrollado las siguientes actividades: ocho foros nacionales temáticos con organizaciones sociales y privadas, siete foros regionales con vocación territorial, foros estatales y un foro nacional global, señaló Solís.
Los ejes temáticos serán desarrollados en torno a los temas “Productividad del minifundio a través de integrarlo en modelos de asociatividad y con plena certeza jurídica”, “Aprovechar la Reforma Energética para producir fertilizantes, biocombustibles (etanol) y mejoradores de suelo (azufre)”, “Optimizar el uso del agua a través de ampliar la superficie con sistemas tecnificados de riego”, “Asegurar la inocuidad y la sanidad de los alimentos para proteger la salud de los mexicanos”, “Fortalecer la producción nacional, fomentar la constitución de la banca de desarrollo del sector agroalimentario mediante crédito oportuno a tasas competitivas y garantías adecuadas”. El evento desarrollará en 11 mesas temáticas que tratarán las políticas públicas y programas gubernamentales, granos y oleaginosas, hortalizas y frutales, cultivos industriales (caña, agave, sábila) y agroindustria, ganadería, pesca y acuacultura, forestal y silvicultura, desarrollo rural, comercialización, financiamiento y administración de riesgos, agua y tecnificación de riego, investigación, extensionismo y transferencia de tecnología.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS: ZAPATA HAWKS
NFL: HOUSTON TEXANS
Year in review Zapata entered playoffs in every sport Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series taking a look at the year in Zapata athletics.
By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata High School enjoyed one of the most memorable sports seasons as the Hawks and Lady Hawks consistently made postseason appearances. When all the dust settled, all the Zapata team sports made the postseason as they took home eight district titles, a co-district championship and three runner-up finishes. The school also finished third twice and in fourth once. The Hawks picked up three district titles in baseball, cross country and track. Not to be outdone, their female counterparts won five championships coming from basketball, cross country, golf, tennis and volleyball. Right from the start, Zapata was already turning heads with its fall sports programs which set the tone for the rest of the year. All four sports – boys’ and girls’ cross country, football and volleyball – made the postseason. Out on the cross country course, both teams were
steady all season and things came together nicely at the District 31-3A meet as they both took home the district title. At the regional meet, Zapata won the individual titles with Luis Garza and Jazmine Garcia being crowned regional champions for the first time in school’s history. "It was nice to win the district title again but heartbreaking that we missed state as a team by 11 points," Zapata girls’ cross country coach Mike Villarreal said. "It was bittersweet with Jazmine winning the individual regional title. It was a great group of hard-working girls. They didn’t complain about the workload, the heat or anything out of their control." Garza and Garcia concluded their respective high school cross country careers at the state meet before moving on to the college level. On the gridiron, the football team rode the legs of senior fullback Mike Alvarez as the Hawks secured third place in District 31-3A. Zapata took home the bi-district title before falling in the area round. In volleyball, coach Rosie Villarreal worked her magic once again and had the Lady Hawks at the top of
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson did not attend the first day of mini-camp for the Texans.
Texans pick QB, Johnson a no-show By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
File photo by Clara Sandoval | Laredo Morning Times
Zapata’s Jazmine Garcia took home the regional title in cross country this season for the Lady Hawks. the district standings with their fourth consecutive district championship on hand despite losing a large senior class last year. The Lady Hawks moved on to take the bi-district title before bowing out in the area game. "It was a great year," Villarreal said. "Even though some people had reservations because of the players we has lost, it took determination as a team to play together and win our fourth district title in a
row." Meanwhile, team tennis came home with the District 31-3A title and finished fifth in the region. "We won the first ever doubles title at Winter Classic and placed second at the Border Olympics," Zapata tennis coach Robert Alvarez said. "Also in the fall we won the team tennis district championship and finished fifth at regionals." Clara Sandoval can be reached at Sandoval.Clara@Gmail.com
HOUSTON — The Texans have a starting quarterback. Now they need star wide receiver Andre Johnson back in the fold. New coach Bill O’Brien named Ryan Fitzpatrick the starter, an announcement overshadowed somewhat by Johnson’s absence Tuesday on the first day of a mandatory threeday mini-camp. Johnson hasn’t participated in any of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts and said last month that he wouldn’t attend these workouts, either. On Tuesday, he missed the opening day of workouts that are the last before training camp in late July. Fitzpatrick signed with the team in the offseason a day before Matt Schaub was traded to the Raiders and O’Brien made him compete with the three
other quarterbacks on the roster for the starting job. “He definitely earned it,” O’Brien said. “He earned it with his preparation. He earned it with his accuracy. He earned it with his command at the line of scrimmage.” A former starter for the Buffalo Bills, the nineyear veteran started nine games last season for Tennessee after Jake Locker was injured. Fitzpatrick threw for 2,454 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. “This is where I wanted to be,” Fitzpatrick said. “I wanted another shot at it. I wanted another chance to be the guy.” Johnson has said he has not asked for a trade but last month wondered if Houston was “still the place for me.” The 32-yearold receiver is Houston’s longest-tenured player after joining the franchise in its second season.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: CLEVELAND BROWNS
Manziel inks contract ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — Johnny Football has some NFL money to rub between his fingers. Johnny Manziel agreed to a contract with the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday, becoming the fourth of the team’s six draft picks to do so. Terms were not immediately available. The former Heisman Trophy winner will enter training camp next month as Cleveland’s No. 2 quarterback behind veteran Brian Hoyer, who has been limited during offseason practices while recovering
from offseason knee surgery Browns coach Mike Pettine has stressed that Manziel has some catching up to do, but has made it clear that Hoyer’s lead was not “insurmountable.” The Browns moved up in last month’s draft to select the popular and polarizing Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick. Manziel rubbed his fingers together when he walked onto the stage during the draft, his signature “money” gesture that has endeared him to some fans and annoyed others critical of his reputation for partying.
Manziel went 20-6 in two seasons at Texas A&M, where he became the first freshman to win the Heisman and earned the “Johnny Football” nickname for his dynamic playmaking abilities. More recently, he has been in the spotlight for his leisure activities, particularly a weekend getaway in Las Vegas. “If I want to go out and have some fun and it doesn’t hinder what my main goals in life are, then I really don’t care what anyone has to say,” Manziel said after a recent practice.
Photo by Mark Duncan | AP
Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (left) signed his rookie deal with the Browns after the team selected him with the No. 22 pick of the NFL draft.
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
Marsh, creator of ‘Cadillac Ranch,’ dies By BETSY BLANEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
LUBBOCK, Texas — Eccentric Texas businessman-turnedartist Stanley Marsh 3, whose partially buried row of Cadillacs became a road-side tourist attraction in the 1970s, died Tuesday. He was 76. Marsh, long known in his hometown of Amarillo as a prankster and philanthropist but who faced indictment alleging he molested teenage boys late in life, died in Amarillo, criminal attorney Paul Nugent said. An heir to his family’s oiland-gas fortune, Marsh was a quirky but successful banker and television executive. But he was best known for his art, most notably “Cadillac Ranch,” a row of 10 graffiti-splattered cars seemingly standing on their noses along Interstate 40 west of Amarillo. The display, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary Saturday, quickly became a tourist attraction after Marsh commissioned the Ant Farm, a radical art and design collective, to build it in 1974. The cars — acquired from junkyards, private owners and used car lots — were moved a mile west in 1997. In 2012, when Marsh was 74, several lawsuits were filed alleging he’d paid two boys, ages 15 and 16 at the time, for sexual acts. He settled the lawsuits the next year, but was indicted two months later on charges that accused him of sexually assaulting six teenagers in recent years. Marsh denied the allegations and vowed to fight them in court. No trial date had been set.
Photo by Evans Caglage/file/The Dallas Morning News | AP
In this June 1984 file photo, Stanley Marsh 3 leans on one of the 10 Cadillacs buried down on his ranch west of Amarillo, Texas, along old Route 66. Stanley Marsh 3 died Tuesday. He was 76. “It is unfortunate Stanley died before he had the opportunity to clear his good name,” Nugent said in an emailed statement. “The criminal accusations made by those seeking to become millionaires will now forever remain mere allegations — untested and unproven in a criminal courtroom.” Marsh’s artistic creations include a mesa painted to look as if it were floating and a football field-sized pool table hidden in the Panhandle terrain that only could be seen from the air. Hundreds of his mock road signs popped up in Amarillo neighborhoods, bearing such slogans as “Big Deal” and “My Grand-
mother Can Whip Your Grandmother.” “Amarillo has lost a bit of its color,” longtime friend Wyatt McSpadden said. “He certainly enlivened what might have been a kind of dull place.” Marsh, whose health had deteriorated in recent years after a series of strokes, had long been pulling pranks in Amarillo. “By nature I’m an introvert, and I’m a shy person,” Marsh once said. “When I do these stunts, which cause a great deal of attention, I can kind of shift gears and act like a master of ceremonies.” Marsh was born on Jan. 31, 1938, in Amarillo. His father and
grandfather made their fortunes in the oil and gas business, but Marsh didn’t follow in their footsteps. His given name was Stanley Marsh "III," but he changed it to “3” because he thought the former was pretentious. His creative bent began as a child and included carving swords and painting with watercolors, prompting some to tell him that made him an artist. “It’s a lot better to be an artist than to be just somebody who makes things, so I said, ‘Of course I’m an artist,’” he told The Associated Press in 2009. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s
degree in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Wendy, adopted five children and had numerous grandchildren, and lived in Toad Hall, a 300-acre estate on the outskirts of Amarillo. He returned to Amarillo after college in the late 1960s and impressed those who knew him as a prankster with his business skills by heading a local bank. In 1967, Marsh purchased KVIITV and turned it into the city’s top-rated television station within a few years. Marsh sold the station in 2002 but continued to go to his office and pursue artistic endeavors. In 1975, Marsh showed up at the Washington bribery trial of then-U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connally, a Texan accused in a milk-price scandal, dressed in a fringe Western jacket and carrying a pail of cow dung. Despite such antics, Marsh said he considered himself mature and responsible, a “leader of men who is doing what I want to do, and more people should be like me.” But some felt he went too far. In 1994, Marsh was accused of locking a local teenager in a chicken coop and threatening him with a hammer for stealing one of the hundreds of diamondshaped street signs he’d placed around town, some of which read: “Steal This Sign.” Marsh later pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors. Although his art and shenanigans were often public, Marsh said he never wanted to be figured out. In 1994, he said he wanted his epitaph to read in part: “Thanks, everybody. I had a good time.”
VACANCIES Continued from Page 1A more time in jail and there are longer waits to appear in court. “The whole system is under enormous stress,” said former U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson, who left the bench in San Antonio in 2008 and has yet to be replaced. “It is important that all three branches of government work, and right now the judicial branch is not
working. It is a matter of high emergency, at least at the trial court level.” The Judicial Conference of the United States has recommended increasing the number of federal judgeships in the state by eight, as well as a few additional temporary judges. “Judges are not only doing their jobs and handling their dockets, but
they are also handling the dockets of their retired colleagues,” said Furgeson, now the dean of the new University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law. “Imagine if the Dallas Mavericks or the San Antonio Spurs or the Houston Rockets played their games with only four players on the court. Things wouldn’t go very well.”
Part of the delay in filling the judicial slots is that it involves a long process with many different players, legal experts said. State senators recommend candidates to the White House, which reviews the nominees and makes federal court appointments.
Then they need confirmation from the Senate. “There are multiple kinds of gridlock, and there have been obstruction efforts at every level of the judicial nomination process,” said Michelle Schwartz, director of Justice Programs at the Alli-
ance for Justice. “But the obstruction starts from the very beginning. When the president looks first to home state senators to nominate candidates, all too often we see senators dragging their feet in making recommendations.”
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
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FDA preparing plan to reduce sodium levels By MARY CLARE JALONICK ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty — a long-awaited federal effort to try to prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. The Food and Drug Administration is preparing voluntary guidelines asking the food industry to lower sodium levels, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press. Hamburg said in a recent interview that the sodium is “of huge interest and concern” to the agency. “We believe we can make a big impact working with the industry to bring sodium levels down, because the current level of consumption really is higher than it should be for health,” Hamburg said. It’s still unclear when FDA will release the guidelines, despite its 2013 goal to have them completed this year. Hamburg said she hoped the agency would be able to publicly discuss the issue “relatively soon.” On Tuesday, FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said there is no set timeline for their release. The food industry has already made some reductions, and has
Photo by Al Behrman/file | AP
A shopper walks down the canned soup aisle at a grocery store in Cincinnati, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty. prepared for government action since a 2010 Institute of Medicine report said companies had not made enough progress on making foods less salty. The IOM advised the government to establish maximum sodium levels for different foods, though the FDA said then — and maintains now — that it favors a voluntary route. Americans eat about 1½ teaspoons of salt daily, about a third
more than the government recommends for good health and enough to increase the risk of high blood pressure, strokes and other problems. Most of that sodium is hidden inside common processed foods and restaurant meals. In addition to flavor, companies use sodium to increase shelf life, prevent the growth of bacteria, or improve texture and ap-
pearance. That makes it more difficult to remove from some products, Hamburg noted. Once the guidelines are issued, Americans won’t notice an immediate taste difference in highersodium foods like pizza, pasta, bread and soups. The idea would be to encourage gradual change so consumers’ taste buds can adjust, and to give the companies time to develop lower-sodium
foods. “I think one of the things we are very mindful of is that we need to have a realistic timeline,” Hamburg said. Health groups would prefer mandatory standards, but say voluntary guidelines are a good first step. Still, Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest says he is concerned companies may hesitate, worried that their competitors won’t lower sodium in their products. If that happens, “then FDA should start a process of mandatory limits,” Jacobson says. That’s what companies are worried about. Though the limits would be voluntary, the FDA is at heart a regulatory agency, and the guidelines would be interpreted as a stern warning. Brian Kennedy of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country’s biggest food companies, says the group is concerned about the FDA setting targets and any guidelines should be based on a “rigorous assessment of all available scientific evidence.” The food industry has pointed to a separate 2013 IOM report that said there is no good evidence that eating sodium at very low levels — below the 2,300 milligrams a day that the government recommends — offers benefits.
Amazon is about to jump into smartphones By MAE ANDERSON AND RYAN NAKASHIMA ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Amazon, a company of seemingly boundless ambition, appears to be venturing into yet another market: smartphones. The corporate juggernaut that started out with books and soon moved into music, video, cloud computing and Kindle e-readers is hosting a launch event Wednesday in Seattle, and media reports indicate the product will be an Amazon phone — perhaps one with multiple cameras that can produce 3-D photos. Amazon declined to comment, but analysts said the goal is almost certainly a device designed to get customers to buy more things from Amazon. It might include an Amazon shopping app or other features tied in tightly to the products the company sells. “It’s Amazon. That says to me the core value proposition is going to be about shopping,” said Ramon Llamas of the research firm International Data Corp. Amazon’s phone comes at a time when the nation’s largest ecommerce company is at a crossroads. Its stock, which surged for years despite narrow profits, has dropped 18 percent in 2014 to about $326, in part because investors have been losing patience with its habit of plowing revenue back into new ventures. Analysts said the move into smartphones is a bit of a headscratcher, since the company is a
late entrant into the highly competitive market. For all its success with other products, Amazon will be hardpressed to compete with Samsung and Apple, the No. 1 and 2 mobile phone companies in the world. Globally, Samsung led mobile phone manufacturers with 31 percent of the 288 million units shipped in the first quarter, followed by Apple at 15 percent. In the U.S., Apple dominates with more than 37 percent of the 34 million units shipped, with Samsung at close to 29 percent. Some analysts have speculated that the 3-D feature might tie into an Amazon shopping app. Shoppers might be able to use the phone to take a 3-D picture of a product in a store, then search for the object on Amazon and buy it online. Analysts said the phone could also come with a data plan that could let owners use Amazon services without using up any data. “Anything that generates more repeat orders and more frequent purchases is probably part of what they intend to do with this,” said R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian. To compete, Amazon needs more than an expected 3-D viewing feature, which has been tried before by smartphone makers like HTC and LG, Llamas said. Competing on price won’t help if it leaves people with the impression that the device is cheaply built, and getting customers to buy a phone without being about to touch it first could prove difficult, he said.
“If they sell it only online, as Amazon sells many of its goods and products, that could be a challenge,” he said. Here’s a look at the impact Amazon has had in music, video and other markets it has entered:
Books Amazon.com Inc. started as an online bookstore in 1995 in CEO Jeff Bezos’ garage in Bellevue, Washington. As more and more bookstores have closed, Amazon is now believed to be the nation’s largest bookseller, with an estimated 30 percent of a total book market that PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates hit $34.9 billion last year, and 60 percent of an e-book market that PwC pegged at $7.9 billion. Mike Shatzkin, founder and CEO of book industry consultancy The Idea Logical Co., said book publishers view Amazon with “a mixture of dependence and fear.” “They can’t live without Amazon’s sales, and they can’t live with Amazon’s market power,” he said.
Music Amazon is a major player in music. It has sold compact discs by mail since 1998 and digital downloads since 2007. Russ Crupnick, managing partner of consulting company MusicWatch, pegs Amazon’s share at 18 percent of the $2.8 billion digital download market in the U.S. last
year and 23 percent of the $2.1 billion market for CDs. In comparison, Apple’s iTunes commands about 67 percent of digital downloads and doesn’t sell CDs. Amazon is the only competitor to Apple of any real size. Amazon last week launched a music streaming service that makes more than 1 million tracks available to members of its $99-ayear Amazon Prime subscription plan.
Tablets Amazon took over the e-book market soon after its first Kindle was launched in 2007. It took a big step by introducing its full-color Kindle Fire tablet in 2011, with a price starting at $199 and a screen just 7 inches diagonally. “At the time, none of the other vendors had something similar,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an IDC analyst. But since then, others have matched the size and price, especially Samsung, which has made big gains. Amazon’s share of global shipments has slid from more than 7 percent in 2012 to 2 percent in the first quarter of the year. “Other vendors have cheaper, better products,” Ubrani said.
Movies and TV shows Amazon is a large retailer of DVDs and Blu-ray discs and also offers online rentals and purchases of digital video products. Amazon has 15 percent of the
$1.8 billion U.S. market for movie and TV show rentals and downloads, trailing Apple’s 58 percent, according to Dan Cryan, an analyst with market research firm IHS. As for subscription video streaming, Cryan estimates Amazon accounted for 15 percent of the 43.6 million active U.S. subscribers of streaming video plans through its Prime Instant Video service. Netflix accounted for 73 percent of active streaming subscribers, while Hulu Plus had 12 percent. CLOUD SERVICES Amazon essentially created the marketplace for what is known as cloud infrastructure as a service in 2006 with Amazon Web Services. That is where it allows its servers to be used by third parties to host the data and applications they need to run mobile apps, websites and other services. As the overwhelming market leader, Amazon maintains five times the computing capacity of the next 14 service providers combined, according to Gartner analyst Lydia Leong. Amazon is aggressive with price cuts and innovation, which will probably keep competitors like Microsoft from catching up for years, Leong said.
Overall retail Amazon sold $40.8 billion worth of goods in North America last year. That’s 17 percent of all e-commerce, according to Anne Zybowski, vice president of retail insights at research firm Kantar Retail.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014