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BORDER ENERGY
MEXICO VIOLENCE
Pipeline battle
Federal officer shot to death
Congressmen fight for lines to Canada, Mexico By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — Before the House voted 238-173 to pass legislation streamlining permits for border crossing energy projects last week, Rep. Gene Green played a pivotal role lining up support for the measure. The oil-patch lawmaker, who cosponsored the legislation with Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., had been trying for months to lure his Democratic colleagues to support
GREEN
the measure by insisting that new pipelines and power lines are needed to keep pace with booming North American oil and gas
production. But his arguments bucked the views of other Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are skeptical of the legislation, and even the Obama administration, which has issued a veto threat against
the bill. It’s a familiar role for Green, who is part of a small group of Democratic lawmakers representing districts with deep, longstanding oil interests. Green’s congressional district encompasses the Houston ship channel and refineries alongside it. “Every member has to represent their districts,” Green said in an interview. “We’ve worked it over the process to try and pick up more votes.”
Ultimately, 17 Democrats joined 221 Republicans in voting for the legislation, which is unlikely to advance in the Senate this year. The legislation aims to scrap the existing permitting process for pipelines, power lines and other energy infrastructure that cross U.S. borders into Mexico and Canada, which has been built up through a series of presidential orders dating back to the 1950s.
See PIPELINE
PAGE 9A
IMMIGRATION
THE SOUTHERN BORDER Mexico’s border gets scrutiny By DAVID MCCUMBER
3 others wounded on San Fernando-Reynosa highway THE ZAPATA TIMES
A confrontation in Mexico near the Texas border between security forces and armed civilians resulted in the death of one officer and wounding of three others, authorities said Thursday. The incident happened at about 10 a.m. at kilometer 49 of the San Fernando-Reynosa highway in Tamaulipas state, in an area known as “Periquitos,” a press release stated. Authorities said a police unit was on patrol when armed men riding in several trucks stopped them and told the four officers to exit their vehicle. Then the gunmen reportedly started firing. An officer with the Federal Police Regional Security Division died instantly, according to a Tamaulipas state government press release. The three other officers were wounded. The wounded men were transported by air to a Monterrey, Mexico hospital, while the deceased officer’s body was taken to the medical examiner’s office in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. Authorities believe the suspects fled towards Reynosa. Law enforcement officers from several jurisdictions began a search for the suspects, while the federal attorney general’s office opened an investigation. (Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff.)
HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — Increasingly, members of Congress are pointing to Mexico’s southern border, not its border with the United States, as the place where the tide of illegal migration from Central America should be turned. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has repeatedly called for more U.S. involvement in helping Mexico “secure its borders,’’ saying, “The 500-mile border between Guatemala and Mexico is a sieve.’’ Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, also sees it as a big part of the long-term solution. “It makes sense for us to be playing defense on that border instead of playing defense on our 1-yard line,’’ he said. But even though Mexico’s government has developed a detailed multi-agency strategy to improve security on its southern flank, it’s clear that Mexico’s goals and those of the United States are not completely aligned. According to a senior Mexican government official, the “guiding principles’’ of the southern border strategy, developed by Mexico’s secretariats of governance, defense, navy and the attorney general’s office, are “absolute respect to human rights; migrant protection through policies to regulate migratory flow and NOT to close the border; and a frontal fight
FEDERAL COURT
Two guilty pleas Photo by Juan Carlos Llorca | AP
A doll rests on top of a bunk bed in one of the rooms at the barracks for law enforcement trainees turned into immigrant detention center at the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Artesia, N.M., on Thursday. against corruption.’’ While the strategy does refer to “detention and repatriation’’ of illegal immigrants possibly headed to the United States, it calls for “intense diplomatic activity’’ with Central American countries as part of the process necessary to accomplish that. Mexican officials are particularly sensitive to the perception that the border strategy is being conducted in lockstep with Washington. U.S. lawmakers refer frequently to the Mèrida Initiative, a 2008 agreement calling for the United States to provide money and training to improve internal security in Mexico and other countries in the region. Recently, additional State Department funds for the pro-
gram were authorized in the House Appropriations Committee after the Obama administration had proposed a 45 percent cut from last year’s levels. On Thursday, Cuellar announced $88 million in aid for Mexican border security “with a focus on the southern border.’’ But to some in the Mexican government, the implication is that the United States thinks the Mèrida program gives it a lever to impose its priorities on Mexico. Two Mexican officials who declined to be identified pushed back on that premise. One said privately, “We don’t need the United States’ money. All of the money we’ve received from the Mèrida Initiative since 2008? Every year we spend nine times that much
Man, wife say they’re guilty to immigration charge By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ
on security.’’ What has been invaluable, though, is the training. “For us to be able to send our people to Quantico (the FBI academy in Virginia) for advanced training is something we can’t get elsewhere,’’ one official admitted. Much of the Mèrida focus has been on drug cartel violence, and the Mexican government has dramatically and effectively stepped up its war on the cartels, with well-publicized campaigns in the states of Michoacán and, more recently, Tamaulipas. “We view this simply as a shared problem,’’ a senior Mexican government official said. “Of course, the United States has an interest in our
A husband and wife accused of transporting undocumented immigrants from Zapata to Laredo pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Laredo, according to reports. David Solis and Jasmine Villegas pleaded guilty to transport and attempt to transport undocumented immigrants for financial gain, which is the sole count in the criminal information document filed against them Monday. Punishment on that offense could be up to 10 years behind bars, according to court records. The couple remains in federal custody. Their arrests date back to May 30 when U.S. Border Patrol acted on anonymous information received on a human smuggling attempt involving a blue Dodge pickup, according to a criminal complaint. Court records go on to mention that
See MEXICO PAGE 9A
See FEDERAL COURT PAGE 7A
THE ZAPATA TIMES
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
Saturday, June 28
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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. 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 “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” 5 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 3263663.
Today is Saturday, June 28, the 179th day of 2014. There are 186 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo (sahruh-YAY’-voh) by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip — the event which sparked World War I. On this date: In 1778, the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth took place in New Jersey; it was from this battle that the legend of “Molly Pitcher” arose. In 1838, Britain’s Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) was signed in France, ending the First World War. In Independence, Missouri, future president Harry S. Truman married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act, which established the Federal Housing Administration. In 1939, Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service with a flight that departed New York for Marseilles, France. In 1944, the Republican national convention in Chicago nominated New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president and Ohio Gov. John W. Bricker for vice president. In 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul (sohl), the capital of South Korea. In 1964, civil rights activist Malcolm X declared, “We want equality by any means necessary” during the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York. In 1978, the Supreme Court ordered the University of California-Davis Medical School to admit Allan Bakke (BAHK’ee), a white man who argued he’d been a victim of reverse racial discrimination. In 1989, about 1 million Serbs gathered to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. In 1994, President Bill Clinton became the first chief executive in U.S. history to set up a personal legal defense fund and ask Americans to contribute to it. Ten years ago: The United States resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya after a 24-year break. Five years ago: Death claimed TV pitchman Billy Mays, 50, at his Florida home and Las Vegas impressionist Fred Travalena, 66. One year ago: Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi rallied in Cairo, and both sides fought each other in Egypt’s second-largest city of Alexandria, where two people — including an American — were killed and scores injured. Today’s Birthdays: Comedian-movie director Mel Brooks is 88. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., is 80. Comedianimpressionist John Byner is 77. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is 76. Rock musician Dave Knights (Procul Harum) is 69. Actor Bruce Davison is 68. Thought for Today: “One of the sources of pride in being a human being is the ability to bear present frustrations in the interests of longer purposes.” — Helen Merrell Lynd, American sociologist and educator (1896-1982).
Monday, June 30 Monthly meeting of Laredo Parkinson’s Disease Support Group. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, First Floor Community Center. Patients, caregivers and family members invited. Free info pamphlets available in Spanish and English. Call Richard Renner (English) at 645-8649 or Juan Gonzalez (Spanish) at 2370666.
Tuesday, July 1 Monthly meeting of Les Amies Birthday Club. 11:30 a.m. Holiday Inn Civic Center. Hostesses are Lydia Linares, Alicia S. Zuñiga and Luisa Peña. Individuals will be honored. “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. Alzheimer’s support group. 7 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, building B, meeting room 2. For family members and caregivers taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s.
Thursday, July 3 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.
Saturday, July 5 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.
Tuesday, July 8 “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, July 10 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.
Friday, July 11 Free Chick-fil-A at Chick-fil-A North Laredo (Loop 20). Visit the restaurant and dress up like a cow from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. to get free food.
Tuesday, July 15 “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.
Photo by Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle | AP
Firefighters and emergency crews treated people outside in a makeshift triage area set up in the front yards of nearby homes after a floor collapsed under a large crowd of people gathered for a religious event Thursday, in Katy. People were in a room above a detached garage when the floor gave way, West I-10 Fire Department spokesman Tim Thomas said.
2 remain hospitalized By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
KATY — Officials say only two people remain hospitalized a day after a floor collapsed under a large crowd at a Houston-area religious gathering. West I-10 Fire Department spokesman Tim Thomas said Friday no information was being released about the conditions of the two individuals still receiving treatment. Officials say 36 people were transported to hospitals Thursday, with most suffering from minor injuries. The collapse occurred while as many as 125 people assembled for the event in a residential neighborhood in Katy, just west of Houston. People were in an apartment above a detached garage when the floor gave way, though it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were inside at the time, Thom-
State panel OKs $97M for El Paso trolley service
State retail gasoline prices up 2 cents
Child migrant processing center ready in July
EL PASO — Work could begin in August to reintroduce a trolley service to El Paso after the Texas Transportation Committee approved Thursday $97 million for the project. The El Paso Times reports plans call for the trolleys to make 27 stops along a route that will include the University of Texas at El Paso and the international border.
IRVING — Retail gasoline prices have risen 2 cents this week across Texas. AAA Texas on Thursday reported the average price at the pump reached $3.52 per gallon. The association says Dallas has the highest gas price statewide at $3.58 per gallon.
McALLEN — The conversion of a 55,000-square foot warehouse in South Texas into a processing facility for unaccompanied children who have entered the country illegally is expected to be ready by mid-July. Construction permits, obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, revealed plans for four fence-enclosed pods inside a corrugated steel warehouse in McAllen.
Man pleads guilty to terrorism charge AUSTIN — Federal prosecutors say an Austin man has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he sought to join an al-Qaida splinter group leading militants in Iraq. Authorities announced Friday that 23-year-old Michael Wolfe admitted to attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Tuesday, July 22 “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, July 24 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.
Submit calendar items at lmtonline.com/calendar/submit or by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location and purpose and contact information.
Girl dies week after falling from moving car DALLAS — One of four children hospitalized last week in North Texas after falling from atop a moving car has died of her injuries. The girl and three other children were wearing wet clothes from a day at a pool when they rode on the vehicle’s trunk and hood June 17. The other children were treated and later released from a hospital. The driver of the vehicle has been charged with drunken driving and other offenses.
Base gets expanded cybersecurity role SAN ANTONIO — A South Texas military installation and affiliated agencies will add more than 1,100 personnel as part of increased cybersecurity duty. Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Pete Gallego on Wednesday announced expansion of the cybersecurity mission at Joint Base San Antonio. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION
Thursday, July 17 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.
as said. More than a dozen ambulances rushed to the scene Thursday shortly after the collapse was reported around 1 p.m. Firefighters and emergency crews treated people in a makeshift triage area set up in the front yards of nearby homes. Some of those injured were lifted onto stretchers before being taken away by ambulance. Leticia Sahagun-Rubio, who lives across the street, said she was in her home when she heard a commotion outside. When she looked at her neighbor’s home, “I saw streams of people were just coming out,” she said. Thomas said Friday the floor had not “pancaked in” as first reported but that only a portion of the floor collapsed. The cause of the collapse is still being investigated.
Police say family of 4 found dead in California TURLOCK, Calif. — Police in Central California said on Friday they found a family of four dead inside a home in what appeared to be a murder-suicide. Officers made the discovery at the home in Turlock around 10 p.m. Thursday after a family member called to report that the four had not been seen or heard from, Turlock police said. The victims are a 78-year-old man, his 69-year-old wife, and their two adult sons, aged 39 and 42, Turlock police spokeswoman Mayra Lewis said. Lewis said a preliminary investigation has determined the four died in a murder-suicide, although it was not immediately clear how they died.
Oops! Hidden-cam culprit gives himself away SEEKONK, Mass. — Massa-
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Andrew Marquis gets a hug from his nephew, Ryan Verrill, of Lewsiton, Maine, after his national guard engineering unit returned home from Afghanistan, on Friday, in Augusta, Maine. chusetts police say they were able to identify a man who hid a video camera in a women’s locker room because he captured himself on video while setting up the camera. Police say the camera was discovered in a 24-hour Planet Fit-
ness health club Wednesday. Officers who examined the video say it shows the man setting up the hidden camera. Gym employees identified the man as a club member. Police say no one has been arrested. — 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
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Grants help university students with research State-of-the-art equipment obtained through funding helps students look for answers SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Finding ways to clean up heavy metal pollution, discovering an alternative to antibiotics, and working on protein purification are just three of the challenges students at Texas A&M International University addressed in their research with the help of equipment acquired through National Science Foundation grants. “The pieces of equipment that have been awarded to the university through various research grants are integral components to be able to carry out research activities. For example, in my lab the grants enabled us to get a high-performance centrifuge, a chromatography system and a freeze-drier,” said Ruby Ynalvez, TAMIU associate professor of biology. Students benefit from the equipment by learning how to operate the machines and they apply the principles of the techniques that they learn inside the classroom in their respective research, Ynalvez added. Her research students have engaged in biochemical, molecular biology and microbiological techniques. “All science majors should become involved in research, it’s the next logical step. Experiments are about trial and error, but when they work, the feeling is so satisfying,” Alvaro Sánchez said. Sánchez’s research involved testing algae cells for their potential to collect/sequester toxic heavy metals. “We want to see if we can use these algae to clean up heavy metal pollution in the environment,” explained Sánchez. It’s not just the possibility of improving the environment that motivates Sánchez. He enjoys the process of conducting research. “I like physically using the knowledge that I acquired through my courses and applying them to practical purposes. I feel a sense of pride when my experiment finally works,” he said. Ynalvez concurred.
Courtesy photo
Texas A&M International University students and recent graduates have conducted research. They are, left to right: Ignacio R. Alaniz III, Sophia Quiñones, Juan José García, Laura A. De Llano, Kassandra Compeán, Ruby A. Ynalvez, TAMIU associate professor of biology, Patrick J. Palacios, Amanda Michelle Garza, Ricardo Pedraza Jr. and Alvaro Sanchez. “Most of our students are excited to do research. I believe they want to be a part of the discoveries, no matter how small,” Ynalvez said. Ricardo Pedraza Jr. agreed. “My favorite part about conducting research is the hands-on experience I get. I was so accustomed to reading textbooks and attending lectures. However, through biology research with Dr. Ynalvez, I learned more about the various cellular processes. This is a different approach to learning that I really appreciate,” Pedraza said. For his research, Pedraza explained that he was trying to overexpress a gene to study its protein’s heavy metal tolerance, which could be used to clean heavy metal pollution. “I learned several laboratory techniques and I also improved several personal characteristics such as patience and determina-
tion,” Pedraza said. The additional benefits to research are a bonus, but the goal is still to teach students research skills. “Students learn laboratory techniques that will help them with their future jobs or in the next level of their academic career. For students to conduct research is a very valuable experience during their undergraduate years,” Ynalvez said. Kassandra Compeán, Graduate Retention Enhancement at TAMIU biology fellow, said conducting research caused her to change her career plans and she now plans to pursue a career as a biomedical research veterinarian after she completes graduate school. GREAT fellows receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education for research initiatives. “My research focused on eval-
uating antimicrobial activity of several plant extracts and trying to identify the compounds that exhibit this activity. The significance of my research is to be able to find new antimicrobial agents because bacteria are becoming resistant to current antibiotics,” Compeán explained. “Research methods vary greatly, so you just try something and if it doesn’t work, you try something else. Also, knowing that you can discover something important in the world is very exciting,” Compeán said. Patrick J. Palacios, GREAT biology graduate fellow, shared Compeán’s enthusiasm about how being a scientist means sharing discoveries and making contributions to the scientific world. “Desired results are not a guarantee, but when you do get results in your research, it is a satisfying feeling knowing that
you have just discovered something that wasn’t known before,” Palacios said. His research focused on protein purification. “Lectin proteins have been known to possess many characteristics, such as anti-cancer, anti-HIV and anti-fungal properties. Using the state of the art equipment, such as the BioLogic LP system, high performance centrifuges and the Labconco freezedrier, lectin purification is made possible,” Palacios explained. One of the other skills students learn is commitment. Ignacio R. Alaniz III conducted research with Ynalvez for three years. “I enjoy the sense of discovery. Whatever it may be: knowledge, results, or a different avenue towards your goal, research has something to offer for everyone in every field. Spending hours in the laboratory to reach the goal in mind was an enjoyable challenge, but the knowledge gained from literature, peer and mentor interaction, and conferences greatly encompasses this amazing opportunity I have been afforded,” Alaniz said. His research included finding an alternative antibiotic and a source to cleanse water sources from toxic metals. The research conducted by Sánchez, Pedraza and Alaniz is funded through Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program. Ynalvez received the grant in 2013 and for research on environmental pollution by heavy metals, an increasingly serious public health and environmental problem worldwide. The project’s success will provide a basis for the development of an innovative approach for assessing and removing heavy metals in polluted waters. Ynalvez stressed that although most students are excited to conduct research, it is a commitment. Students must understand the objectives and goals of their research and they have to comprehend the significance of the contribution of their research to the scientific community.
Zopinion
PAGE 4A
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
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COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Senator lauds self to media
“
KEN HERMAN
AUSTIN — First, let’s acknowledge that it’s a good thing when our elected officials communicate with us. Second, let’s certify it’s OK for our elected officials to use our money to communicate with us. And third, let’s stipulate that state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and whose district includes parts of Travis and Hays counties, is a long-serving, hardworking elected official. Her status in Texas Senate history approaches legendary, and with good reason. Sometimes she uses news releases to remind us of that. In fact, she recently did just that in a news release about some awards her news releases and other communications have won. “Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, won 26 awards in the Press Women of Texas 2014 Communications Contest for work published in 2013, contest officials announced recently,” said the release. “Her winning entries included 10 first-place winners, six second-place winners, six third-place winners and four honorable mentions.” Congratulations to all involved. “Interestingly,” we’re told in the release about the awards, “the senator’s four entries in the speech category won all four awards — from first through honorable mention.” More: “The senator’s other first-place award winners included her ongoing series of communications to constituents about issues related to growth and development in the Eagle Ford Shale, her statement regarding school finance, a news release about her 50,000th consecutive vote and a podcast interview conducted by Andrew Roush of Al-
calde magazine.” Zaffirini’s annual newsletter — “Senator Judith Zaffirini Reports to the Families of District 21” — took three first place awards. The senator is pleased. “These awards reflect my deep commitment to communicating effectively with my constituents via a variety of media,” Zaffirini said in the communication about her award-winning communications. The senator’s staff also uses this momentous moment to remind us ”the senator has won more than 760 awards for her professional and public service work, including more than 220 for communication projects.” And there’s more: “Second in seniority in the 31member Texas Senate, she is the namesake of Texas A&M International University’s Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, United ISD’s Senator Judith Zaffirini Elementary School, Laredo Community College’s Senator Judith Zaffirini Library, Lake Casa Blanca International State Park’s Senator Judith Zaffirini Road and Edinburg’s Judith Zaffirini Residential Treatment Center that focuses on fighting drug addiction.” Impressive. Thanks for the reminder. First-place winners in the Press Women of Texas’ contest advance to the National Federation of Press Women’s communications contest. Good luck to the senator, who’s won NFPW awards in the past, including for her 2011 news release about her 47,550th consecutive vote in the Senate. Let’s tune in next year to see if the news release about the awards for her news releases wins anything in the Press Women of Texas 2015 Communications Contest. Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: kherman@statesman.com.
WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Tea party has a rough time By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST
Political movements peter out unless they prove they can win. That reality is a problem for the tea party, which just had one of its worst weeks since emerging on the scene way back in 2009. Tea-party-backed candidates in Senate primary races in Mississippi and Oklahoma lost to more establishment types, robbing the GOP’s purist wing of more representation in Washington. The big blow came in Mississippi, where conservative state Sen. Chris McDaniel fell to Sen. Thad Cochran in a runoff occasioned by the fact that neither man secured more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 3 primary. McDaniel won more votes in that election and was widely considered the favorite in the runoff because of the energy among his tea party backers. But Cochran effectively expanded the electorate — to include many AfricanAmerican voters — and this time McDaniel found
himself on the losing end of a narrow result. McDaniel, showing the sort of poor sportsmanship usually reserved for international soccer, refused to concede — insisting that, somehow, he had not lost. There wasn’t even a debate about whether T.W. Shannon, a tea party favorite in the Oklahoma Senate race, came up short. Shannon, who carried endorsements from the likes of Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, got crushed by Rep. James Lankford on Tuesday. Shannon was hoping to push Lankford into a runoff but came nowhere close, taking just 34 percent of the primary vote. Dave Brat’s historic victory over Rep. Eric Cantor in Virginia earlier this month feels a long way away for the tea party after a disastrous week of dashed expectations. The tea party, for plummeting back to Earth, 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.
COLUMN
It’s alright to use nuclear power but not to toss waste By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS
MARCOULE, France — In times to come, sociologists may well puzzle on America’s attitude to nuclear energy. We love our nuclear defense capacity — its weapons, its submarines, and its aircraft carriers. But we have a kind of national anxiety about the use of the same science, under the most controlled conditions, to make scads of electricity. Equally perplexing is our duality of opinion about nuclear waste. At every turn, those who dislike nuclear power — often with pathological disaffection — raise the issue of nuclear waste as a reason to give up on nuclear power. However, they do not have the temerity to suggest that we abandon nuclear aircraft carriers, subs, and even weapons. The point is that whatever happens to the faltering nuclear power program in the United States, it will have nuclear waste aplenty — in addition to the waste that already exists — from the 100 civil reactors now in operation, and all of the military applications. One step toward reducing nuclear waste is well underway here in France; in fact, it has been part of the country’s nuclear program for 40 years. The French recycle the waste from many of their reactors, along with the waste from six other nations.
Using technology developed decades ago in the United States, the French recycle nuclear fuel cores in a production chain that begins at the La Hague plant in Normandy — the northwestern region known for its orchards and
Jimmy Carter pulled the plug; he believed it would lead to nuclear proliferation. France forged ahead, and now China is going to do likewise in a major way. The United States may not be as enthusiastic about burning plutonium
The United States was set for world leadership in recycling when President Jimmy Carter pulled the plug. Calvados, an apple brandy — and ends at the Marcoule nuclear site in the southeast, near Avignon, on the banks of the Rhone — famous for the vineyards that produce Cotesdu-Rhone and Chateauneufdu-Pape wines. When a nuclear power plant operates, it produces some plutonium, but only burns a small amount of valuable uranium 235, the fissile isotope at the heart of the nuclear power process. The French extract these fissile products at La Hague. Then they ship the plutonium to the Melox plant on the Marcoule site, where they are made into a new fuel for civil reactors. This fuel, which is made from plutonium oxide mixed with uranium oxide, is known as MOX. The United States was set for world leadership in recycling when President
from civil nuclear reactors, but it is, or was, building a state-of-the-art facility near Aiken, S.C., to make MOX, in order to burn up plutonium from disassembled nuclear weapons. In 2000, as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russians, the United States committed to decommission many nuclear warheads, releasing 34 metric tons of plutonium and to making this into MOX to be used in civil reactors. The Russians pledged to burn up in their reactors an equivalent amount of plutonium from weapons once aimed at the United States. Now the Department of Energy wants to put the 60percent-complete Aiken facility into a kind of limbo that it describes as “cold standby.” Contractors fear this is the beginning of the end of
the project, and that it will neither be revived nor will the supply chain be there to go on with it in the future. The department only requested enough money in the 2015 budget for the cold standby, not for the completion of the facility. So far $3.9 billion has been spent, and the project is an important employer in South Carolina. Congress, mindful that the Obama administration did considerable damage to the concept of safekeeping of used nuclear fuel when it abandoned the $18-billion Yucca Mountain, Nev., waste repository as it was about to open, wants none of this. Used-fuel cores are piling up at civil reactors, their future uncertain. So Congress, on a bi-partisan basis, is seeking to put the funds for the South Carolina facility back into the budget. The House and Senate have voted to do this. The message is clear: Not again, Mr. President. No word from the White House. Here in France, they are hoping that the lessons learned from burning plutonium will evolve into even more elegant solutions to the nuclear waste problem. The one certain thing is that nuclear waste will keep coming, and the administration has so far frustrated efforts to deal with it. (Llewellyn King’s e-mail is lking@kingpublishing.com.)
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Nation
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
Senate avoids tough votes Democrats hoping to hang on to their existing seats
US plans to join land mine treaty By NEDRA PICKLER ASSOCIATED PRESS
By ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A fear of voting has gripped Democratic leaders in the Senate, slowing the chamber’s modest productivity this election season to a near halt. With control of the Senate at risk in November, leaders are going to remarkable lengths to protect endangered Democrats from casting tough votes and to deny Republicans legislative victories in the midst of the campaign. The phobia means even bipartisan legislation to boost energy efficiency, manufacturing, sportsmen’s rights and more could be scuttled. The Senate’s masters of process are finding a variety of ways to shut down debate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., now is requiring an elusive 60-vote supermajority to deal with amendments to spending bills, instead of the usual simple majority, a step that makes it much more difficult to put politically sensitive matters into contention. This was a flip from his approach to Obama administration nominees, when he decided most could be moved ahead with a straight majority instead of the 60 votes needed before. Reid’s principle aim in setting the supermajority rule for spending amendments was to deny archrival Sen. Mitch McConnell a win on protecting his home state coal industry from new regulations limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, faces a tough re-election in Kentucky. This hunkering down by Democrats is at odds with the once-vibrant tradition of advancing the 12 annual agency budget bills through open debate. In the Appropriations Committee, long accustomed to a freewheeling process, chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., has held up action on three spending bills, apparently to head off politically difficult votes on changes to the divisive health care law as well as potential losses to Republicans on
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/file | AP
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is seen in Washington on Tuesday. Reid has started demanding 60-vote majorities for virtually all Senate business. amendments such as McConnell’s on the coal industry. “I just don’t think they want their members to have to take any hard votes between now and November,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. And there’s “just no question that they’re worried we’re going to win some votes so they just shut us down.” Vote-a-phobia worsens in election years, especially when the majority party is in jeopardy. Republicans need to gain six seats to win control and Democrats must defend 21 seats to the Republicans’ 15. So Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, probably shouldn’t have been surprised when his cherished bill to fund the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments got yanked from the Appropriations Committee’s agenda this month. Word quickly spread that committee Democrats in Republican-leaning states feared a flurry of votes related to “Obamacare.” “It’s not as if they haven’t voted on them before,” Harkin griped. “My way of thinking is, ‘Hell, you’ve already voted on it. Your record’s there.”’ Harkin blamed Senate Democratic leaders. Two other appropriations bills have run aground after preliminary votes. The normally noncontroversial energy and water bill was pulled from the committee agenda after it became known that McConnell would have an amendment to defend his state’s coal mining industry. Again, after consulting with
Reid, Mikulski struck the bill from the agenda. McConnell pressed the matter the next day, this time aiming to amend a spending bill paying for five Cabinet departments. Democrats again headed him off. Democrats privately acknowledge that they’re protecting vulnerable senators and don’t want McConnell to win on the carbon emissions issue. They also see hypocrisy in McConnell’s insistence on a simple majority vote for his top — and controversial — priority while he wants Democrats to produce 60 votes to advance almost everything else. Another measure, financing the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, failed to get a committee vote last week after speeding through a subcommittee hearing. Mikulski blamed problems with timing. But it was known that Republicans had amendments on hot-button issues coming. Fear of voting is hardly new. In the last two years of the Clinton administration, Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., blocked Democrats from offering a popular Patients’ Bill of Rights, and more. At the time, Charles Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois were among the Democrats who cried foul. These days, Durbin and Schumer hold the No. 2 and No. 3 Democratic Senate leadership posts and now that their party is running the place, they’re backing Reid’s moves to clamp down on GOP amendments.
WASHINGTON — After two decades of waffling, the United States on Friday announced its intention to join an international treaty banning land mines, without setting a time frame while working through possible complications on the Korean Peninsula. Human rights advocates applauded the progress, but said the Obama administration should immediately commit to a ban and begin destroying its stockpile, while Republicans accused the president of disregarding military leaders who wanted to maintain land mines in the U.S. arsenal. The 15-year-old Ottawa Convention includes 161 nations that have signed on to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. President Bill Clinton had a goal of joining the treaty, but the Bush administration pulled back amid objections from military leaders. Obama ordered up a review of the U.S. policy when he came to office five years ago, and a U.S. delegation announced the change in position Friday to a land mine conference in Maputo, Mozambique. “We’re signaling our clear aspiration to eventually accede to the Ottawa Convention,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters travelling with the president Friday. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States has no land mines currently deployed around the globe but maintains an active stockpile of just over 3 million. “They are all in inventory and that’s where they will stay,” Kirby said. He added that the stockpile will begin to expire in about 10 years and be completely unusable in about 20 years. Human rights advocates say all land mines being used in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea belong to South Korea, but the U.S. maintains a stockpile in South Korea in case of an invasion from the north. Earnest said Friday’s an-
nouncement did not indicate a reduced commitment to South Korea. “This issue is going to require some additional study and eventually we would like to find a way that we can, like I said, continue the robust defense in place of our allies in South Korea while eventually attaining to the Ottawa Convention, “ Earnest said. Physicians for Human Rights director of programs Widney Brown said the U.S. announce-
The United States has no land mines deployed around the globe but maintains a stockpile. ment is “a step in the right direction, but we remain concerned about anything less than a full commitment to sign the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible.” “The U.S. government has been missing a key opportunity to lead on a groundbreaking agreement that has achieved great success in preventing deaths of innocent victims, including many children,” she said. Steve Goose, head of delegation for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said the U.S. should at least set a target date to join the treaty, immediately pledge not to use land mines and begin destruction of its stockpiles. “While they are saying they are working toward banning them in the future, they are leaving open the option of continuing to use them in the meantime, which is kind of a contradictory way to approach things,” Goose said in a telephone interview from the Mozambique conference. “They’re bad enough to ban them, but we still want to use them.”
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera
Agenda en Breve ROMA, TX 06/28— Baile ranchero a beneficio de Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, en terrenos de la iglesia ubicados en El Sauz, Texas, a partir de las 7 p.m. Música a cargo de Country Roland Jr. Costo: 12 dólares, adultos. Niños de 12 años o menores, 2 dólares. 07/02— Ciudad de Roma invita a la ceremonia de inicio de la pavimentación de Avenida Ebony y Proyecto de Drenaje a las 11 a.m. en el crucero de US 83 y Ebony N. en el Estacionamiento de Iglesia Belén. Invitado especial, el Congresista Henry Cuellar. 07/04— Celebración del Día de la Independencia, a partir de las 6 p.m. en Roma Municipal Park. Habrá comida, carnaval, música, y fuegos artificiales. Entrada gratuita.
LAREDO 06/28— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” a las 2 p.m.; “Earth, Moon and Sun” a las 3 p.m.; “Wonders of the Universe” a las 4 p.m.; “Destination Saturn” a las 5 p.m. Costo: 3 dólares niños y 4 dólares adultos. 07/01— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta, “Zula Patrol: Down to Earth” a las 2 p.m.; “The Little Star that Could” a las 3 p.m.; “Star Signs” a las 4 p.m.; “Black Holes” a las 5 p.m. Costo: 3 dólares, niños; y 4 dólares, adultos. 07/01— SOCCER: Laredo Heat recibe a Austin Aztex a las 8 p.m. en el Complejo de Soccer de TAMIU. 07/03— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta, “Zula Patrol: Down to Earth” a las 2 p.m.; “The Little Star that Could” a las 3 p.m.; “Star Signs” a las 4 p.m.; y, ”Black Holes” a las 5 p.m. Costo: 3 dólares para niños y 4 dólares para adultos. 07/04— La Ciudad de Laredo invita a los festejos por el 4 de julio, de 5 p.m. a 12 a.m. dentro del Estadio Uni-Trade, 6320 de Sinatra Parkway. Habrá música, concursos, juegos, entre otras actividades. Entrada gratuita. 07/05— Venta de libros usados en First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave., de 8:30 a.m. a 1 p.m. Libros de pasta dura a 1 dólar; pasta blanda a .50 centavos; revistas y libros infantiles a .25 centavos.
SÁBADO 28 DE JUNIO DE 2014
MENORES INMIGRANTES
Junta diplomática POR ALDO AMATO TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
El surgimiento de menores sin compañía que ingresan de manera ilegal al país a través del Sur de Texas, ha dado pie a una visita por parte de diplomáticos Hondureños. Hoy, el Congresista de EU, Henry Cuellar, estará recorriendo la estación de Patrulla Fronteriza y la Base Aérea Lackland, junto con la Primera Dama de Honduras, Ana García de Hernández, así como del embajador Jorge Alberto Milla Reyes. La visita es un seguimiento del recorrido que el mismo Cuellar realizó a principios de este mes, junto a autoridades locales, por
las instalarando que ciones de tengan una Patrulla visión sobre Fronteriza. lo que está Cuellar pasando a dijo que a los largo de pesar de la frontera”. CUELLAR GARCÍA MILLA REYES que planea Durante discutir la meses reseguridad fronteriza con García cientes, Patrulla Fronteriza de de Hernández y Milla Reyes, le EU en el Valle de Río Grande ha gustaría, primero, enfocarse en reportado una afluencia de inmiuna solución inmediata. grantes centroamericanos que es“Es importante que trabajemos tán entrando al país de manera con esos países para asegurarnos ilegal, creando problemas de sode que esos niños regresen a sus brepoblación en las instalaciones países de origen seguros”, dijo de detención. Los inmigrantes inCuellar. “Simplemente no pode- cluyen un basto número de menomos hablar acerca de la seguri- res sin compañía. dad fronteriza porque no está traAduanas y Protección Frontebajando actualmente. Estoy espe- riza (CBP, por sus siglas en in-
glés) dijo que del 1 de octubre al 15 de junio, el sector de Río Grande detuvo a 37.621 niños solos, comparados con los 13.532 detenidos durante el mismo periodo del año fiscal pasado. Esto representa un incremento de 178 por ciento, de acuerdo con CBP. Aquellos que cruzan con su familias están siendo liberados, con la premisa de presentarse ante un juzgado de inmigración. “Tenemos que ir ante estas organizaciones de tráfico que engañan a estos inmigrantes”, dijo Cuellar. “Tenemos que proceder con lo que ha funcionado en el pasado. Reducir los miles de inmigrantes que llegan al país”. (Localice a Aldo Amato en 7282538 o en aamato@lmtonline.com)
UNITED WAY DAY OF CARE
TAMAULIPAS
APOYAN EDUCACIÓN
Muere oficial federal tras ataque en carretera TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | City of Roma
Representantes de la Ciudad de Roma, el Departamento de Policía de Roma, Roma ISD y Roma Housing Authorities, así como de otras entidades del Condado de Starr participaron en el evento United Way Day of Care esta semana. El objetivo de los voluntarios fue crear 900 bolsas con artículos escolares que se donarán a nuevos estudiantes del noveno grado de preparatoria para el Roma ISD y RGCISD.
Un enfrentamiento registrado cerca de la frontera de Tamaulipas, entre fuerzas del orden y civiles armados, tuvo como resultado la muerte de un oficial, mientras que otros tres resultaron heridos, revelaron autoridades el jueves. El incidente se registró alrededor de las 10 a.m. a la altura del Kilómetro 49 de la carretera San Fernando-Reynosa, México, a la altura del punto conocido como “Periquitos”, agrega el reporte. Una unidad de policía se encontraba patrullando el sector, cuando hombres armados a bordo de varias camionetas les salieron al paso y empezaron a disparar. El oficial de la Policía Federal División Seguridad Regional murió al instante tras el ataque, reveló un comunicado de prensa del Gobierno de Tamaulipas. En el mismo lugar, quedaron los tres agentes lesionados. Los heridos fueron transportados, vía aérea, a un hospital en Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. El cuerpo del oficial fallecido fue transportado al Servicio Médico Forense en Ciudad Victoria, México. Los sospechosos huyeron por brechas que comunican con rumbo a Reynosa, indicaron autoridades. Oficiales de diversas corporaciones se unieron a la búsqueda de los agresores, en tanto que la Procuraduría General de la República inició las investigaciones correspondientes.
COLUMNA
NUEVO LAREDO, MX 06/28— “Leo… Luego Existo”, con el actor Constantino Costas, en Estación Palabra, a las 6 p.m. Evento gratuito. 06/29— Teatro Laberintus A.C. presenta “Invisible” a las 12 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS (Reynosa y Belden). Obra para toda la familia. Costo: 20 pesos. 06/29— Domingo de Teatro Universitario presenta “Asunto Terminado” a las 5 p.m. en el Teatro Lucio Blanco de Casa de la Cultura, Lincoln y Chimalpopoca. Entrada gratuita. 06/29— El Grupo de Danza Folklórica Mextli presenta el espectáculo “De San Agustín a Nuevo Laredo” en el Centro Cívico, a las 6 p.m. Evento gratuito. 07/04— Programa “¡A qué la Canción!” con coros de Jardines de Niños de la Zona Escolar 95, a las 9 a.m. en el Teatro de la Ciudad ‘Adolfo López Mateos’, Netzahualcóuotl esquina con Lauro Aguirre, en la colonia Viveros. 07/06— Laberintus A.C. presenta “Invisible” a las 12 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, entre Reynosa y Belden. Obra es para toda la familia. Costo 20 pesos.
Describen muerte de Teniente Coronel Esta es la primera parte de dos donde el autor describe la muerte del primer mandatario de Nuevo Santander, ahora Tamaulipas,José de Escandón y Helguera.
POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
De boca en boca corre la noticia: a media semana el palacio del gobernador amanece con un cadáver. Mayor sacudimiento produce saber que los restos co-
rresponden precisamente al principal inquilino del importante recinto. Transcurre 1804 en San Carlos, con población de casi 2.000 almas. Inmediata al cerro del Diente, la villa está convertida en capital de Nuevo Santander, establecido a mitad del siglo anterior, y que tras independizarse México da paso al estado de Tamaulipas. Fundador y primer mandatario de Nuevo Santander, José de Escandón y
Helguera, conde de Sierra Gorda, abre la saga. Méritos y privilegios le acarrean la hazaña de someter amplios territorios al control efectivo de la corona hispana. A la par Escandón acumula tanto poder que bajo diversas acusaciones enfrenta un juicio de residencia y abandona el cargo en 1767. Concentrado en la Ciudad de México, poco después muere allá, lejos de sus antiguos dominios. Sucesor propietario, Vi-
cente González de Santianés cambia de Santander a San Carlos el asiento capitalino de la norteña jurisdicción. Frente al costado poniente de la plaza se erige sólido edificio de mampostería. Con dos plantas, balcones superiores y amplio portón, abarca buen tramo de la cuadra. En 1802 asume la gubernatura Francisco Ixart. Teniente coronel recién llegado de la península ibérica, donde forma parte de la eli-
te castrense, recibe el nombramiento del mismísimo rey Carlos IV. Pasados dos años cierto subalterno interpone en altas instancias queja contra él por supuestos excesos y malos tratos. El virrey le ordena a Icart liberar al quejoso y reintegrarlo al servicio activo. Quizás esto acongoja más de la cuenta al gobernante. (Con permiso del autor, según fuera publicado en La Razón de Tampico, México)
UNA VISIÓN DEL PASADO
Fotografía histórica del chalán o ‘ferry’ que se utilizaba en el Río Grande para cruzar a Roma, Texas, el año de 1880. La imagen forma parte de un libro histórico del Condado de Starr. Foto de cortesía | La del Miernes
Nation
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
Golden Gate Bridge gets suicide barrier funds By SUDHIN THANAWALA AND TERRY COLLINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge moved a big step closer to getting an oft-debated suicide barrier after bridge officials on Friday approved a $76 million funding package for a net system that would prevent people from jumping to their deaths. The bridge district’s board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the funding for a steel suicide net, which includes $20 million in bridge toll revenue. Federal money will provide the bulk of the remaining funding, though the state is also pledging $7 million. A tearful Dan Barks, of Napa, who lost his son, Donovan, to suicide on the bridge in 2008, said after the vote that he was almost speechless. “A lot of people have done so much incredible work to get this accomplished,” he said. After the vote, he rose
from his knees and shared a tearful embrace with Sue Story of Rocklin, whose son Jacob jumped off the bridge in 2010. “We did it, Dan! We did it! It’s no longer the Bridge of Death anymore,” she said. At least some of the money still requires additional approval. The bridge’s board, however, has now taken its final step in adopting the net. “The tragedy of today is that we can’t go back in time, we can’t save ... the people who jumped off the bridge. But the good thing, with this vote today, we can vote in their memory,” board member Janet Reilly said. “We will save many lives who have followed in their footsteps and that’s what so extraordinary about today.” The Golden Gate Bridge, with its sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, has long been a destination for people seeking to end their lives. Since it opened in 1937, more than 1,400 people have plunged to their
deaths, including a record 46 suicides last year, officials said. Officials have been discussing a suicide barrier on the bridge for decades. The bridge’s board voted in 2008 to install a stainless steel net, rejecting other options, including raising the 4-foot-high railings and leaving the iconic span unchanged. Two years later, they certified the final environmental impact report for the net, which would stretch about 20 feet wide on each side of the span. Officials say it will not mar the bridge’s appearance. But funding for the project remained an obstacle. A hurdle was overcome two years ago when President Barack Obama signed into law a bill making safety barriers and nets eligible for federal funds. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California in a statement Friday praised the bridge’s board and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who has been a staunch supporter of a barrier.
FEDERAL COURT Continued from Page 1A agents observed a pickup driven by Solis matching the description. Authorities attempted to pull over but Solis refused. Suddenly, a black passenger car driven by Villegas approached the marked Border Patrol unit as if attempting to crash into it, according to court records. Since the Dodge refused to stop, an agent pulled over next to the black passenger car since it had stopped on the side of the road. Agents detained Villegas there. Assisting agents followed Solis until they apprehended him. Federal authorities detained a total of seven illegal immigrants, court records show. Solis was allegedly tasked with moving immigrants from Zapata to Laredo for $200, authorities
allege. Villegas allegedly acted as a lookout since she claimed that Solis told her to call him if there were
“any cops on the road,” the complaint states. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Golden Gate Bridge handout | AP
This undated artist rendering provided by the Golden Gate Bridge authorities shows the proposed netting suicide barrier that is to be installed under the iconic bridge in San Francisco.
Entertainment
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
Police arrest LaBeouf ‘Transformers’ star Shia LaBeouf arrested, accused of disrupting Broadway show in New York City By RACHELLE BLIDNER
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
Another slide delay World’s tallest water slide still not safe
ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Shia LaBeouf was released from police custody Friday after he was escorted from a Broadway theater for yelling obscenities and continued to act irrationally while being arrested, authorities said. After his court appearance, the actor, wearing a ripped blue T-shirt, skinny jeans and boots, walked several blocks to The London NYC Hotel on West 54th Street. He declined to comment. The 28-year-old, who starred in the first three “Transformers” movies, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and harassment Thursday night at the show “Cabaret.” The inside of the Broadway theater, which used to be a notorious, coke-fueled disco in the 1970s, has been reworked to look like a decadent Berlin cabaret from the 1930s, with tiny nightclub tables, an offstage working bar and waitresses who offer shots, small dishes and cocktails. LaBeouf was in the audience and had paid for his ticket himself. During the show, he was seen offering a strawberry to a woman and lighting a cigarette. According to police, security guards asked LaBeouf to leave the Studio 54 theater at about 8:45 p.m., but he refused, used obscene language and physically interfered with employees. Police said he made aggressive statements and threats to security guards and police officers. He was acting irrationally, continued to make aggressive statements and used foul language after he was removed from the theater and throughout the arrest process, police said. Officers said he appeared intoxicated or un-
Photo by John Minchillo | AP
Actor Shia LaBeouf leaves the Midtown Community Court, on Friday, in New York, following his arrest the previous day for yelling obscenities during a Broadway performance of “Cabaret.” der the influence of some kind of drug. A spokesman for “Cabaret” says LaBeouf was “disruptive during Act 1” and was escorted out of the theater at intermission. LaBeouf, who was represented by a Legal Aid attorney Friday, was due back in court July 24. On Friday, as the pack of reporters trailed him to the hotel, a reporter fell out of her shoe. LaBeouf stopped to help her get back into it. LaBeouf ’s other films include “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “Disturbia” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” Last year, he pulled out of what would have been his Broadway debut in “Orphans,” a play starring Alec Baldwin. LaBeouf left the production over what was described as “creative differences” and was replaced by Ben Foster.
LaBeouf has been arrested previously. In 2008, he was taken into custody on suspicion of drunken driving after another driver crashed into his vehicle in West Hollywood, California, but prosecutors later concluded there was insufficient evidence to file a formal charge. In 2007, he was arrested for refusing to leave a downtown Chicago drugstore. Prosecutors dropped the case after store officials said they didn’t want to continue it. In February, the actor participated in a performance-art oddity at a Los Angeles art gallery wearing a bag over his head with the words “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE” scrawled in black ink across it. The stunt came days after he posed on the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival in the same getup.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With nearly half of its season already in the books, a water park in Kansas has been forced to delay the opening of the world’s tallest water slide for the third time and hasn’t set a new date for its debut. Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City announced Thursday that Verruckt, a 17-story, 168-foot-tall water slide, would not open on Sunday as scheduled. The park’s news release did not give a reason for the latest delay, although earlier this week two media sneak preview days were canceled because of problems with a conveyor system that hauls 100-pound rafts to the top of the slide. Verruckt, which means “insane” in German, was certified as the world’s tallest water slide in April by Guinness World Records. The slide sends riders on four-person rafts plummeting at 60 mph to 70 mph. The ride’s initial opening date was moved from May 23 to June 5 to allow for more testing, then pushed back again to June 29. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said earlier this week that park officials would not hesitate to delay operation again for however long it takes to make sure the slide is safe. “We’ll take embarrassment before putting someone in the slide when it is not ready,” she said. In a news article linked to the news release announcing the latest delay, Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry told USA Today that he and senior designer John Schooley had based their calculations when designing the slide on roller
Photo by Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star | AP
Schlitterbahn’s new Verruckt speed slide/water coaster is seen in 2013 in Kansas City, Kan. coasters, but that didn’t translate well to a water slide like Verruckt. In early tests, rafts carrying sandbags flew off the slide, prompting engineers to tear down half of the ride and reconfigure some of its angles at a cost of $1 million, Henry said. He said testing of the slide was conducted after dark to avoid media heli-
copters that had been buzzing over the park. The Associated Press reached out Friday morning through Prosapio for an interview with Henry, but he had not responded to that request several hours later. Sunday’s opening had been scheduled to coincide with a one-hour special on the Travel Channel.
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
THE WEEK IN REVIEW WEEKLY STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS
d
NYSE 10,974.42 -43.68
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE) Name LightInBox 58.com n Valhi Voxeljet n TaroPhrm HovnanE WLyonHm IntegrysE IronMtn Entravisn
Last Chg 6.42 +1.36 54.90 +10.91 6.29 +1.25 19.63 +3.79 137.97 +24.09 5.30 +.85 30.40 +4.65 70.92 +9.97 34.81 +4.84 6.26 +.86
%Chg +26.9 +24.8 +24.8 +23.9 +21.2 +19.1 +18.1 +16.4 +16.1 +15.9
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE) Name NQ Mobile PBF Engy TurqHillRs AlonUSA BalticTrdg KratonPP QksilvRes Steelcse Delek MarathPet
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DIARY Advanced Declined New Highs New Lows Total issues Unchanged
DIARY
1,917 1,297 540 63 3,266 52 14,898,427,705
MON
17,000
-119.13
TUES
STOCK MARKET INDEXES 49.38
-21.38
WED
THUR
52-Week High Low
5.71
16,978.02 8,256.79 572.70 11,334.65 4,399.87 1,968.17 1,431.89 20,909.48 1,212.82 5,893.58
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15,000
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Garden Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy. 83, Zapata, Texas.
GRACIELA PEÑA Aug. 19, 1958 – June 24, 2014
tal services will follow 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.
Dow Jones Industrials 16,851.84 Dow Jones Transportation 8,175.52 Dow Jones Utilities 571.71 NYSE Composite 10,974.42 Nasdaq Composite 4,397.93 S&P 500 1,960.96 S&P MidCap 1,426.55 Wilshire 5000 20,846.00 Russell 2000 1,189.50 Lipper Growth Index 5,867.51
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3.25 0.75 .00-.25
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MEXICO Continued from Page 1A security. We have an interest in the United States’ security as well, particularly when it comes to the huge market for illegal drugs there. And if the United States used the same tactics internally that they ask Latin America to use, military or street law enforcement intervention to stop crime, there would be chaos in the streets.’’ Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala and Belize presents many challenges, not the least of them geographical. Of the 713 miles of border, some 213 are defined by rivers, and much of the 500 remaining miles traverse jungle, a lot of it mountainous. The region is largely undeveloped. The Mexican strategy is said to identify 11 formal crossings and more than 370 informal crossings, many of them little more than footpaths through dense tropical forest canopies. Also, agricultural activity in the Mexican border state of Chiapas has for decades depended greatly on migrant labor, much of it from Guatemala. Mexican authorities “don’t think of migration from Central America as necessarily bad,’’ said Eric L. Olson, associate director of the Latin American program at the Wilson Center. “A million and a half Central Americans are crossing that border every year, the vast majority of them not to go to the United States but to go to work in Mexico.’’ Problems identified in the Mexican strategic plan include: Uncontrolled flow of migration, including illegal migration and human trafficking; Weapons and drugs crossing the border; Organized crime groups exploiting the border for their own purposes, and using extortion to gain impunity; Poor coordination among local, state and federal authorities; Law-enforcement corruption, and in some areas the absence of law enforcement. Given those realities, the strategy’s main goals are to increase security and law enforcement, control and regulate the flow of migration, and promote social and economic development in the region. Despite the countries’ differences, the Mexican government’s evident
attention to the border issues can only be construed as good news for the United States, regional experts say. Christopher Wilson, senior associate at the Mexico Institute, another Wilson Center program, said, “Clearly Mexico is interested in stemming some of the migratory flow, but the bigger concerns are terrorism and drug trafficking. In that regard, there’s a fair amount of overlap between U.S. and Mexican interests.’’ For example, Mexican officials recently expressed concerns that some unaccompanied minors from Central America were being recruited by the cartels, and were staying in Mexico and becoming involved in criminality. One cartel, the Zetas, originally made up mostly of former members of the Mexican military, is now run by Central Americans. Wilson said, “While I don’t think they’re interested in replicating the U.S. Border Patrol and our approach to border enforcement, they are achieving a pretty high number of apprehensions and deportations.’’ Mexico’s plan includes setting up three bands of control. The first is an initial “border control line,’’ viewed as the initial point of contact with people wishing to enter Mexican territory. “We want to make migrants feel this is the safest way to enter, and there is nothing to be afraid of,’’ a Mexican official said. That will involve modifying the 11 formally established crossings. The strategy specifically calls for the oversight of more than one authority at each post in order to “inhibit corruption,’’ the official said. The plan is to build a database of migrants’ biometric information at these centers to better regulate migrant flow. Next, an “internal control line’’ between 18 and 60 miles from the border will be established to interdict illegal “people, weapons and drugs,’’ and to offer migration services. This line will consist of control stations at the key points of Huixtla, Playas de Catazajá, Trinitaria and Palenque, secured by both the military and federal police. While some construction work has already been done on these stations, they are being rebuilt now to accommodate the multiple-authority principle for reduction of corruption.
Finally, at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a mountainous “choke point” that is the narrowest part of Mexico, a “contention line” will be established by mobile enforcement patrols, endeavoring to apprehend any illegal people or contraband that have made it past the first two lines. Included in this is a heavier reliance on technology, including air surveillance and remote sensors — but the strategy makes clear that those tools are to be used to stop criminal activities, but not against the flow of migrants. Finally, the strategy calls for “sustainable development’’ of the region, including health care delivery systems for migrants and temporary workers; enforcement of laws against child labor; increased emphasis on education in the region; and supporting both traditional and innovative commercial activity, with the goal of reducing the region’s extreme poverty. “To me there’s a central choice that Mexico hasn’t resolved,’’ the Mexico Institute’s Wilson said. “Do you try to stop the migration or do you regularize it? I don’t think Mexico’s ready to fully commit to either stop or fully regularize the migratory flow. I’m still not convinced it’s a really clear strategy.’’ He called Mexico’s efforts “The beginning of what will be a decadeslong process.’’ Wilson said that while the region is much more politically stable than it was 20 years ago, “at the same time you still have a lot of rural communities beyond the reach of the Mexican federal government, managing their own affairs with indigenous or traditional government.’’ “The southern border has been the forgotten border for decades,’’ added the Wilson Center’s Olson. “The fact that Mexico is thinking about how it wants to build security there, how it wants to work with Guatemalans and other Central Americans, is an important step forward. “But it’s absurd to think that we in the United States can impose our view on a border that’s not even ours,’’ Olson added. “To think we can seal that border is a grand fallacy.’’ (Email: david.mccumber@hearstdc.com)
PIPELINE Continued from Page 1A
ROEL MEJIA June 13, 1955 – June 24, 2014 Roel Mejia, 59, passed away Tuesday, June 24, 2014, at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo. Mr. Mejia is preceded in death by his mother, Francisca Mejia; brother, Armando Mejia and a sister, Margarita Mejia. Mr. Mejia is survived by his wife, Teresa Mejia; son, Rafael Mejia; daughters, Lorena Mejia, Mary Mejia; father, Aurelio Mejia; brothers, Aurelio Jr. (Juana) Mejia, Antonio (Yolanda) Mejia, Jose (Veronica) Mejia, Martin J. (Brenda) Mejia; sisters, Julia Mejia, Lydia Rodriguez, Carmela (Ruben) Hernandez, Flor
Wk Wk YTD Chg %Chg%Chg
Name
March 10, 1934 – June 26, 2014
Graciela Peña, 55, passed away Tuesday, June 24, 2014, at Mission Regional Hospital in Mission. Mrs. Talamante is survived by sons, Emilio (Mari) Garza, Hermilo Talamante Jr., Baldomero (Marlen) Talamante; grandchildren, Emely Garza, Emilo Garza III, Lupita Garza, Juan Manuel Garza, Baldomero Talamante Jr.; great-grandchildren, Melanie Janet Urbina; brother, Arturo Peña, Florentino (Antonia) Acosta; sister, Leticia Aleman (Rene); and by numerous other family members and friends. Visitation hours were held Thursday, June 26, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Thursday, June 26, 2014, at 10 a.m. for a 10:30 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Commit-
Last
Last
MACARIO CONTRERAS Macario Contreras, 80, passed away Thursday, June 26, 2014, at his residence in Zapata. Mr. Contreras is preceded in death by his parents, Jose and Lorenza Contreras; brothers, Lino Contreras, Margarito Contreras, Jesus Contreras and a sister, Maria Guadalupe Contreras. Mr. Contreras is survived by wife, Graciela R. Contreras; son, Josue (Ixsell) Contreras; grandchildren, Briana Contreras, Joshua R. Contreras, Bryan J. Contreras; brothers, Jose G. Contreras; sisters, Maria Isabel Contreras, Josefina Contreras, Elida Contreras, Paula Guerrero; and by numerous other family members and friends. Visitation hours will be held Monday, June 30, 2014, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a service at 7 p.m. at Rose
14,551.27 5,952.18 464.81 8,814.76 3,294.95 1,560.33 1,114.04 16,442.14 942.79 4,493.72
Name
MONEY RATES
15,500
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S&P500ETF3435339195.82 -.12 BkofAm 3200519 15.33 -.12 Twitter n 1600691 40.93 +1.69 iShEMkts 1502732 43.35 -.21 iShR2K 1471888118.34 +.09 FordM 1427166 17.28 +.61 B iPVix rs 1405449 28.86 -.70 GenElec 1390172 26.43 -.54 RiteAid 1369290 7.18 +.04 MktVGold 1329766 25.98 +.16
Close: 16,851.84 1-week change: -95.24 (-0.6%)
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(Pedro) Franco, Sofia Mejia and Vilma Mejia and by other family members and friends. A graveside service was held Friday, June 27, 2014, at noon 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.
Instead, the legislation would replace the existing approval process with a new “certificate of crossing” before any oil pipeline or electric transmission line could be constructed across U.S. borders with Canada or Mexico. Environmental assessments would still be required under an existing federal law, but the government would face a fourmonth deadline to complete the permit reviews, unless proposed construction is deemed outside the U.S. public interest. The Secretary of State would be in charge of issuing the crossing certificates for oil pipelines, while natural gas pipelines would remain under the purview of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy would vet electric transmission lines. Although the measure was inspired by the protracted fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, Green and Upton repeatedly insisted that
it would not give TransCanada’s proposed project a free pass. “This legislation isn’t about Keystone no matter how badly opponents want to make it (so),” Green said. In a bid to soothe critics, Upton and Green added a provision specifying that pending projects would not qualified for the streamlined process that would be created by the bill. It also would only go into effect in July 1, 2016. If Keystone XL were rejected under the current process, Green allowed, TransCanada could wait two years and reapply under the new system, if the legislation were enacted. But, he stressed, that is not the intent. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Del Rio, also argued that the measure wasn’t a Keystone handout. “It’s not about Keystone or even the president, because it doesn’t go into effect until 2016,” he said on
the House floor. Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachussetts was not convinced. This is “a blatant attempt to rig the game in favor of the Keystone pipeline project,” he insisted. Pipelines already send natural gas to Mexico, and power lines in the Northeast send supplies to and from Canada. But Green envisions a day the U.S. will hope to take some of those energy supplies from Canada and Mexico. For instance, he said, chemical plants along the Gulf Coast may eventually draw on gas harvested in Mexico’s share of the Eagle Ford formation. “We’re not just aiming it on Keystone,” he said. “At any given time we’re going to be needing permits to send natural gas to northern Mexico. Twenty years from now, we may be needing permits to bring natural gas from northern Mexico.” jennifer.dlouhy@chron.com
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NBA: SAN ANTONIO SPURS
GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY: ZAPATA LADY HAWKS
Closing a chapter Garcia made 4 consecutive trips to state
“
File photo by Julie Jacobson | AP
Kyle Anderson spent two seasons at UCLA, posting 14.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in his second year. He was the final pick of the first round Thursday night.
CLARA SANDOVAL VAL
Girls’ cross country has a long history of success in Zapata, with 10 straight appearances at the state meet under coach Mike Villarreal, so it’s no surprise that our second Zapata Times All-City athlete hails from the program. Jazmine Garcia is the first female named to the Zapata Times All-City team after an accomplished high school career that netted numerous local and state honors over her four years. She was a star even before she stepped onto the Zapata High School campus, as she dominated the middle school scene for two years. But she has never been a runner that rests on what she has achieved in the past. Garcia is always looking to improve in her sport and finished her high school cross country career where it all began — at the Class 3A UIL cross country championships in Round Rock. Under the watchful eye of Villarreal, Garcia became only the second athlete in Zapata history to make four straight appearances at the state meet. The only athlete to match her feat was Jessica Martinez, who went on to run for Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Garcia dominated from the first day she arrived at Zapata High School and was a consistent force in the district and region over the past four years. She ranks among the best to ever suit up for the Lady Hawks. This year, she went out with a bang by capturing the District 31-3A individual girls’ title to earn another shot at a state berth. Garcia headed to the Region IV-3A cross country meet as one of the favorites and ran one of the best races of her career. She wasted no time, taking the lead in the first 800 meters, and never relinquished it as she won the regional title
Spurs select Anderson San Antonio grabs 6-9 UCLA guard in first round By RAUL DOMINGUEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
File photo by Clara Sandoval | Laredo Morning Times
Zapata’s Jazmine Garcia polished off an impressive four-year career with another trip to Round Rock. She finished 23rd overall at the 3A state meet after winning the regional race. for the first time in her career. At the state meet, Garcia placed 23rd overall with a time of 12:17.31 to conclude her high school cross country career. As a freshman, Garcia recorded Zapata’s highest finish at the state meet when she placed ninth overall, bringing home a medal awarded to the top 10 runners at the championships. Garcia reflected on her landmark career in her last cross country meet in a
Zapata uniform and thanked her teammates for helping her reach these heights. "One thing that I would like to compliment more than anything is my team, because they are my No. 1, not me," Garcia said at the time. "Without them, I would not be here today at the state meet." Next year Garcia will be running for Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. E-mail: sandoval.clara@gmail.com
SAN ANTONIO — UCLA forward Kyle Anderson was regarded as one of the most talented passers and more unselfish players in the NBA draft this season. Joining the league’s most unselfish and best passing team almost seems too good to be true for the 20-year-old Anderson, who was picked by the Spurs with the 30th selection of the NBA draft Thursday night. “My first reaction is wow,” Anderson said. “Watching the Spurs since last year’s playoffs, I could really tell how well they share the ball. Everybody gets everybody involved. I think that’s one of my best attributes coming into this league. I think I could fit in with the offense really well once I get to learn it.” Anderson, who left the Bruins after his sophomore season, averaged 14.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
See ANDERSON PAGE 2B
2014 FIFA WORLD CUP: UNITED STATES
Jones ready for Belgium Midfielder broke nose in Thursday’s midair collision with Bedoya By JANIE MCCAULEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Paul Sancya | AP
Droves of national team fans turned out Thursday morning in Detroit for a public viewing party of the match between the United States and Germany.
U.S. fanbase bigger than ever before By EDDIE PELLS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Never mind that there were dozens of TV sets at the bar, many turned to pro wrestling, poker and bowling to provide background noise early one weekend morning. Jon Forget walked in, asked the bartender to change one set to soccer and got laughed out of the joint. Fast forward almost two decades and there’s no room to sit
at the bar Forget runs these days. His concept for a soccer pub near downtown Denver is taking off, and a new generation of American-born soccer fans piled in by the hundreds Thursday to watch the U.S. advance to the World Cup knockout round despite a 1-0 loss to Germany. Forget’s success at the 3-yearold Three Lions pub is a microcosm of what’s happening
See FANS PAGE 2B
SAO PAULO — U.S. midfielder Jermaine Jones has a broken nose after Thursday’s game against Germany, but remains available to play in the round of 16 against Belgium on Tuesday in Salvador. U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Michael Kammarman said Friday that Jones and fellow midfielder Alejandro Bedoya each were checked on the field for concussion symptoms during the 1-0 loss at Recife following their second-half collision, and three more times since then. There were no issues for either player so far. The team arrived back to its Sao Paulo hotel at 11 p.m. Thursday night, and Bedoya and Jones were examined again Friday morning. Jones won’t wear a protective mask and the fracture hasn’t caused discoloration in the area. “I don’t remember really what happened. I went for a header,” Jones said. “The feeling was that it was broken.”
Photo by Ricardo Mazalan | AP
U.S. midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, right, and Jermaine Jones bumped noggins in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Germany. Jones is expected back against Belgium. Kammarman added that Jones’ injury doesn’t appear serious, as there is no visible bruising of the like forward Clint Dempsey had when he
broke his nose in the Ghana game. “He looks unaffected. You
See JONES PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014
Silver makes special pick
FANS Continued from Page 1B
NBA commish drafts former Baylor standout Austin in first round By JIM O’CONNELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Between the 15th and 16th picks in Thursday night’s draft came a very special selection by the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver announced at that point that the NBA would let Isaiah Austin fulfill the dream of every young player, making him a ceremonial pick. Just over a week ago, the sophomore center from Baylor was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the heart. It ended his playing career. The illness was discovered during a physical for the draft. “For Commissioner Silver to even invite me here was a tremendous blessing and it just shows how much class that man has,” Austin said. “It’s really been a tough week for me, and it’s been really rough. I’ve just had a tremendous amount of support from everybody around the world, telling me they’re praying for me and everything. I can’t thank everybody enough.” The crowd at Barclays Center rose to its feet as Austin, sitting in the waiting area with most of the first-round picks, hugged family members and put on a generic NBA cap. He went up to the stage and posed with Silver, just as all the drafts picks do when they are called. During the season, the 7-foot-1 Austin revealed he had a prosthetic right eye after multiple operations couldn’t repair a detached retina. Austin, expected to be a high pick when healthy, said he felt he has “a great story to share.” He said Baylor coach Scott Drew has already offered him a coaching position with the Bears. “I have a whole life ahead of me,” Austin said. “I’m not going to sit here and I’m not going to sulk about not being able to play basketball anymore, because I can still be involved with the game somehow or some way.”
Photo by Ed Andrieski | AP
The Three Lions sports bar in Denver has become a popular spot for American fans during the World Cup.
Photo by Jason DeCrow | AP
A week ago, Baylor center Isaiah Austin, right, had his eyes set on an NBA career. But predraft testing revealed he had Marfan syndrome, a condition that makes playing competitive basketball a life-threatening activity. Austin said there was plenty to enjoy on what would have been his draft day. “Just being around all the draftees and seeing my friends get drafted, it just brings joy in my heart because I know how hard we work to get to this point,” Austin said. “I’ve been through it. ... Just to see how people persevere through their own problems, because everybody has their own problems. It’s touching and it’s heart-warming, really.” Minutes after Austin made the walk across the stage, there were comments on social media. Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves tweeted: “Happy Isaiah Austin was able to hear his name called at the NBA draft. Very cool to
see.” The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard tweeted: “Adam Silver hasn’t been on the job 12 mos and is already doing a remarkable job! Very classy move. God bless Isaiah Austin.” Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder tweeted: “Adam silver is such a classy man! That’s love right there. I’m emotional for him. Damn I love that.” Austin is already spreading his message of perseverance. “I want people to know they can push through anything, because I’ve done it,” he said. “I just want them to know they have the power within themselves to do it if they keep faith and a positive attitude.”
ANDERSON Continued from Page 1B The 6-foot-9 forward was the first player in Pac-12 history to record 200 rebounds and 200 assists in the same season. “His whole skill level, it’s a really interesting game,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. “He passes probably as well as the best passer in the draft, terrific rebounding numbers (and) multipleposition player. He has just been a winner. You don’t expect guys that look like him picking with the last pick in the first round.” Buford said Anderson’s position in the NBA is still undecided given his skill set and size, but that the 230-pound forward would work that out with coach Gregg Popovich. Anderson’s place with San Antonio could be impacted by the free-agency plans of Boris Diaw, the 6-9 forward whose passing helped sparked the Spurs’ five-game victory over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. “He’s a great player to watch,” Anderson said of Diaw. “He’s great the way he can share the ball (and) can knock down open shots. He’s a great teammate. Just those qualities can take you very far in the league and that’s what it’s done with him.” Diaw, along with Patty Mills and Matt Bonner, is an unrestricted free agent and Aron Baynes is a restricted free agent. Most, if not all, are expected to return as San Antonio attempts to win its sixth NBA championship. The
File photo by Vasha Hunt | AP
San Antonio selected Tennessee guard Jordan McRae (52) and Baylor forward Cory Jefferson in the second round, but quickly traded both to the 76ers in exchange for Nemanja Dangubic. Spurs averaged 22 assists per game last season, crediting their unselfish play with the ability to overcome Miami’s superstar trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. San Antonio selected shooting guard Jordan McRae of Tennessee with the 58th pick and power forward Cory Jefferson of Baylor with the 60th and final pick, but sent both to Philadelphia for Nemanja Dangubic, a 6-8 swingman who has spent the past three seasons playing in Serbia. With Tim Duncan exercising his $10.4 million
player option to return for his 19th season rather than retire, the Spurs do not have an immediate need. Depth was one of the team’s biggest strengths last season, with its bench averaging a league best 45.1 points per game during the regular season and 41 points in the playoffs. “I’m going to a great organization in general,” Anderson said. “Guys really care about developing their players and that’s something you can see from the outside looking in watching such a great team like that and great coaches. So, I’m just really excited to be a part of it.”
The bench could play an even larger role next season. In addition to continuing to limit the minutes of veterans Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the team’s depth could ease the early stress for several Spurs who are playing for their respective national teams this summer. Ginobili will play for Argentina and Mills and Baynes for Australia and in the FIBA Basketball World Cup beginning Aug. 30 in Spain. NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard will attempt to make the U.S. team.
JONES Continued from Page 1B can’t even see any discoloration,” Kammarman said. “So it appears to be a minor fracture. He is fine, he’s available to play.” Forward Jozy Altidore’s status for the knockout stage remains unclear,
though he is making positive progress since straining his left hamstring in the first half of the Americans’ opening win against Ghana on June 16. He ran at a good pace around the field without any signs of pain under
sunny skies at Sao Paulo Futebol Clube on Friday morning and did some stretching on the sideline with the assistance of the training staff. He has run several times now without further problems. “We are very optimis-
tic. Every day is a big step forward with Jozy,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “It’s 11 days now and it’s looking better every day, so we are optimistic we have him being a part of the Belgium game.”
around America during the World Cup. Social media numbers are strong, TV ratings are setting records and, other than Brazil, no country’s fans have bought more tickets to the games than those from the United States. All this in a country that long fought against soccer’s global intrigue, even though the number of American kids playing the game has been rising slowly for decades. “Over the past 25-30 years, you’ve seen people come over here from around the world and they know the game and they start influencing Americans,” Forget said. “This generation has the proper training, a lot more have played at a high level. They understand the game. It’s not boring to them.” In fact, just the opposite. Merritt Paulson, who owns the MLS Portland Timbers franchise that regularly sells out its 21,000seat stadium, calls the burgeoning group of 20-something soccer fans, many of whom took their high school passion into recreational adult leagues, the “on-demand generation.” “They want what they want, when they want it and how they want it,” Paulson said. “It’s that shorter attention span. The fact that soccer games are two hours, start to finish, win, lose or draw, with very condensed action, fits very well into the psychographics of those folks.” In the U.S., soccer is a youth-driven sport; about 70 percent of “core” soccer players — those who play 26 or more times a year — are ages 6-17, according to the most recent numbers from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. These days, instead of leaving the game after high school, that age group is graduating into the most vocal segment of fans. Of the 3.1 million tweets about the U.S. vs. Ghana game earlier this month, 53 percent of them came from people 18-34, according to Nielsen Social. And 69 percent of people checking in on their Facebook accounts from host cities in Brazil were in that age group. Networks and sponsors covet younger viewers, which helps explain ESPN’s decision to go allin on World Cup telecasts; every game has been televised live since 1998. The U.S.-Portugal game last Sunday drew 24.7 million viewers — the most ESPN has ever garnered for an event not involving American football. Tapping into a populous that has become more ethnically diverse, the number of U.S networks televising soccer grew from 11 to 21 and programming hours rose from 2,600 to 3,890 over the last four years — a 43 percent increase that matched the increase in TV advertising spending (from $266 million to $378 million), according to Nielsen. NBC Sports televises
“For decades, there was this wariness about soccer within U.S. culture and wariness that affected people at the top.” —Jay Coakley, professor Premier League games, Fox has the UEFA Champions League and takes over the World Cup telecasts starting in 2018. All in all, it’s a much different landscape from three decades ago, when the only regular soccer programming in America was the reliable PBS stalwart, “Soccer Made In Germany.” “For decades, there was this wariness about soccer within U.S. culture and wariness that affected people at the top,” said Jay Coakley, a professor who examines sports’ role in society. “Now, that wariness is disappearing. People at the top are seeing soccer as a means of marketing their own interests.” Video games, fantasy leagues, highlight shows, the steady stream of Ronaldo, Messi and other stars, both on the field and in advertisements, keep the sport in touch with the American mainstream in a way it hasn’t been before. “Walking down the street now, you see kids wearing Manchester United jerseys and Chelsea Football Club jerseys and Barcelona, and I didn’t even know what those were as a kid,” said Mike Helfand, a 42-year-old Chicago attorney who has traveled the globe watching U.S. teams play. Though America’s major league, the MLS, has work to do to bring its level up to the European leagues, the league’s steady expansion, improving talent level and fan-friendly pricing will keep the sport on the radar after the World Cup ends. Since 2010, the number of adults attending a bigtime soccer match in the United States has increased by 87 percent. The farther the U.S. goes in this year’s World Cup, the higher than number could rise over the next four years. All of which has Forget looking to expand his soccer-pub business. “I’ve had people come to the pub because a friend dragged them down here,” he said. “They’ll spend two hours watching a game and they’ll walk out the door and say, ’I’m coming back next week.’ It can be a defining moment for people. It’s very, very different than what we’ve been used to here in America.”
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HELOISE
Dear Heloise: I love your olive nut spread, but wonder if there is a healthier version? — Janet F. in Indiana Try this: Heloise’s Almost No-Fat Olive Nut Spread. Gather the following ingredients: 8 ounces softened, low-fat or nonfat cream cheese 1/2 cup nonfat mayonnaise or nonfat sour cream 1/4 to 1/2 cup pecans, almonds or peanuts (chopped) 1 cup chopped green olives or salad olives (the olives filled with pimentos) 2 tablespoons of juice from the olive jar Dash of pepper (or more if you like) Mix all these ingredients together, and store the spread in the refriger-
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ator. To make it your own, add chopped jalapenos, a dash of hot sauce or some garlic black pepper. This recipe and others can be found in my Heloise’s All-Time Favorite Recipes pamphlet. To order one, please send $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (70 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Recipes, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Cut up some of your favorite vegetables and use this spread as a dip. Delicious! — Heloise PUPPY PADS Dear Heloise: I bought some of those puppy pads when my dog was younger and was potty-training. I had some left over. The other day, I accidentally dropped a whole glass of juice. Instead of using all my paper towels, I grabbed one of the pads and used it to soak up the majority of the juice. It worked great! I then just had to go over the spot lightly so it wouldn’t be sticky. — Hailey in Alabama
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SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014