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ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Nuques resigns
State ranks Villarreal at lower level
No reason given for leaving his position By JUDITH RAYO THE ZAPATA TIMES
The ZCISD Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Superintendent Raul Nuques on Monday evening as well as appointed an acting superintendent. Trustees present were Ricardo Ramirez, Manuel Gonzalez, Anselmo Treviño, Dora Martinez, Jose Flores, Diego Gonzalez and Veronica Gonzalez. Nuques was not present when trustees voted 6 to 1
to approve his resignation. Veronica Gonzalez voted against. In an unanimous vote, trustees also appointed Roberto Hein, who serves as a consultant for the district, to serve as acting superintendent. Flores said Hein was a high school principal for eight years. “I’m very happy that he is going to join us,” he said. “We felt we needed somebody respectful to come in at this time.” Nuques’ resignation
HOUSTON HOMICIDE
was effective as of Monday. His contract was set to expire June 2018. After the vote, attorney Juan Cruz read a joint statement by Nuques and trustees in regards to the voluntary separation agreement. “Both the ZCISD Board of Trustees and Mr. Nuques believe that it is in ZCISD’s best interests to allow Mr. Nuques’ resignation to be effective Aug. 10 so that Mr. Nuques can
By JUDITH RAYO LAREDO MORNING TIMES
For a second year in a row, Zapata County Independent School District’s Fidel and Andrea R. Villarreal Elementary School was labeled “improvement required,” according to recently released accountability ratings. “All faculty and staff from Villarreal Elementary, stand up and be
NUQUES See NUQUES
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proud,” said then-Superintendent Raul Nuques in an email to his colleagues. “I can assure you that you are on the road to excellence.” The district made gains with Zapata Middle School, which was labeled “improvement required” last year. This year, the school was labeled “met standard.” Nuques said the mid-
See SCHOOL PAGE 10A
MINING WASTE
POLLUTED WATERWAYS
Associated Press
David Conley makes his first court appearance Monday, in Houston. He is charged with capital murder in eight deaths.
Kids had been taken from home by state
Jon Austria/The Daily Times | AP
Pete McKay, San Juan County commissioner in Colorado, looks at the site Monday where the Gold King Mine breach occurred, north of Silverton, Colo. Local officials in towns downstream are demanding answers about possible long-term threats to the water supply.
EPA official takes responsibility for the spill By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN AND ELLEN KNICKMEYER ASSOCIATED PRESS
By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Six children who were fatally shot in their Houston home along with two adults had been temporarily removed by Child Protective Services from the household in 2013 after allegations of abuse and a lack of supervision. The agency filed a lawsuit in 2013 to remove the children. They were placed in foster care but were later returned to the home. The case was dismissed in 2014. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Tuesday that his agency can’t comment on why the Judge Glenn Devlin dismissed the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for Devlin declined comment. David Conley is charged with capital murder for the deaths Saturday of the six children, along with their mother, Valerie Jackson, who was Conley’s ex-do-
“
There are certain circumstances when we can make entry and … where we can’t. Sometimes the law prohibits that.” SGT. CRAIG CLOPTON
mestic partner, and the woman’s husband. Carlos Sanchez, 40, who lived across the street from the family, recalled once finding the oldest child, 13year-old Nathaniel, after dark on a street in the neighborhood. The teenag-
See HOUSTON
PAGE 11A
Photo by Matt York | AP
Hydrologic Technician Ryan Parker carries a water sample from the San Juan River on Tuesday, in Montezuma Creek, Utah. A spill containing lead and arsenic from an abandoned mine in Silverton, Colo., leaked and eventually flowed into the San Juan River, on Aug. 5. The spill was caused by a team working for the EPA.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Townspeople affected by the millions of gallons of waste spilled from an abandoned gold mine and now flowing through their communities demanded clarity Tuesday about any long-term threats to their water supply. Colorado and New Mexico made disaster declarations for stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers and the Navajo Nation declared an emergency as the waste spread more than 100 miles downstream, where it will reach Lake Powell in Utah sometime this week. EPA workers accidentally unleashed an estimated 3 million gallons of orangeyellow waste, including high concentrations of arsenic, lead and other potentially toxic heavy metals, while inspecting the longabandoned Gold King mine near Silverton, Colorado, on Aug. 5. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, who plans to tour the damage personal-
ly, said Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that she takes full responsibility for the spill, which she said “pains me to no end.” She said the agency is working around the clock to assess the environmental impact. EPA officials said the shockingly bright plume has already dissipated and that the leading edge of the contamination cannot be seen in the downstream stretches of the San Juan River or Lake Powell. So far, the Bureau of Reclamation has no plans to slow flows on the lower Colorado River, below Lake Powell, where the water is a vital resource for parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Chris Watt, a bureau spokesman in Salt Lake City, said his agency is testing the water at the request of the EPA, and can’t discuss the impact without learning the results. None of this has eased concerns or quelled anger among people in the arid Southwest who depend on this water for their survival.
See MINE LEAK PAGE 11A