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KARNES COUNTY OIL SPILL
NATURAL RESOURCES
Nearly 2 decades
Trading oil with Mexico approved
After 17 years, state poised to resolve oil spill By JIM MALEWITZ THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
In the time it has taken the state and federal governments to penalize a Koch Industries affiliate for a South Texas oil spill, 17 different quarterbacks started games
for the Dallas Cowboys, including the team’s current head coach. Now, however, Koch Pipeline Company is finally poised to pay up for spilling nearly 24,700 gallons of crude into Karnes County’s Marcelinas Creek — almost 17
years after the fact, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Though severe enough to harm local wildlife, the incident may not be remarkable in a state that sees hundreds of oil spills — large and tiny
— each year, and has dealt with the messy aftermath of BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion. But the gaping time lag between the pollution and penalty befuddled some legal experts.
See 17 YEARS PAGE 11A
Partial lifting of ban limited to some trade with US firms
TEXAS HISTORY
By JOSH LEDERMAN
COLLECTOR HONORED
EDGARTOWN, Mass. — The Obama administration approved limited crude oil trading with Mexico on Friday, further easing the longstanding U.S. ban on crude exports that has drawn consternation from Republicans and energy producers. Mexico’s state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, had sought to import about 100,000 barrels of light crude a day and proposed a deal last year in which Mexico would trade its own heavier crude for lighter U.S. crude. A major crude exporter for decades, Mexico has seen its oil production fall in recent years. The license applications to be approved by the U.S. Commerce Department allow for the exchange of similar amounts of U.S. and Mexican crude, said a senior Obama administration official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official didn’t disclose whether all 100,000 barrels requested would be allowed. “Texas will gain tremendously from this oil swap agreement. The petroleum industry in Texas, in large part due to shale production, such as the Eagle Ford Shale in my district, has revitalized our nation’s economy,” said Congressman Cuellar (D-TX28). “These swaps will further positively impact energy exploration in Texas and the United States. While the Commerce Department simultaneously rejected other applications for crude exports that violated the ban, the move to allow trading with Mexico marked a significant shift and an additional sign that the Obama administration may be open to loosening the export ban. Exchanges of oil are one of a handful of exemptions permitted under the export ban put in place by Congress. The export ban is a relic of the 1970s, after an OPEC oil embargo led to fuel rationing, high prices and iconic images of long lines of cars waiting to fuel up. But Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, have said those days are long gone, arguing that lifting the ban could make the U.S. an energy superpower and boost the economy. Republicans from energy-producing states hailed the decision, as did trade groups representing the oil industry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has pushed for lifting the ban, called it a positive step but added that she would still push for full repeal “as quickly as possible.” “Trade with Mexico is a long-overdue step that will benefit our economy and North American energy security, but we shouldn’t stop there,” said Louis Finkel, executive vice president of the American Petroleum Institute. But environmental groups have opposed lifting the ban out of concern it would spur further drilling for crude oil in the U.S. Pemex’s proposal has also drawn criticism in Mexico, where residents are sensitive about the country’s falling oil production despite warnings from officials that
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Rachel Denny Clow/Corpus Christi Caller-Times | AP
Jim Stever shows one of his 19th-century letters in Corpus Christi. The letter is part of Stever’s 116-letter Texas Republic Rates collection that earned him this year’s Grand Award at the Texas Philatelic Exhibition earlier this year. “I have the largest Texas Republic collection I know of in the Texas Postal History Society,” Stever told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
Man recognized for letters collection By DAYNA WORCHEL CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES
CORPUS CHRISTI — Rex H. “Jim” Stever guards the faded and fragile 19th-century letters from major Texas historical figures with his life. One, written in 1841, came from Republic of Texas President Sam Houston to a friend, Maj. Thomas Western. The two had fought for Texas independence together during the Battle of San Jacinto.
The other letter was written by one of the few survivors of the Goliad Massacre, Capt. Benjamin Holland. The treasured items are part of Stever’s 116-letter Texas Republic Rates collection that earned him this year’s Grand Award at the Texas Philatelic Exhibition earlier this year, or TEXPEX as it is commonly known. There were 29 other entries. The 91year-old World War II veteran
Photo by Rachel Denny Clow/Corpus Christi Caller-Times | AP
Jim Stever shows one of his 19th-century letters in Corpus Christi. The letter is part of Stever’s 116-letter Texas Republic Rates collection that earned him this year’s Grand Award at the Texas Philatelic Exhibition earlier this year, or TEXPEX as it is commonly known.
See TEXAS LETTERS PAGE 11A
See OIL TRADE PAGE 11A
IMMIGRATION DETENTION
Lawyers: Family detention still lengthy, unsafe By SETH ROBBINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — A group of immigrant rights lawyers say that detention of women and children caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is lengthy and unsafe, challenging the government’s claims that immigrant families are held only briefly and that their detention doesn’t violate a longstanding ban. In a filing Thursday to California U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, the lawyers also said the health and safety of immigrant
children is being jeopardized by “hopelessly inadequate” medical and psychological care at the detention facilities where they say the families are routinely kept for more than a month. The government has said the mothers and children are held for just weeks while their asylum claims are processed. But the lawyers said the families are held for longer because immigration officials delay the screening and processing of asylum claims, routinely hinder access to legal help and because bonds are too high for the women to pay to secure their release.
The immigration lawyers cited extensive complaints about health care at the facilities, including untreated or unrecognized ailments that resulted in children being hospitalized, lack of medicines, erroneous vaccinations and extremely long waits. “Children are placed at risk every day,” the lawyers said in the filing. The government poured millions of dollars into two large detention centers in Texas for women and children after tens of thousands of immigrant families, mostly mothers with chil-
dren from Central America, crossed the Rio Grande into the U.S. last summer. A third, smaller facility, is in Pennsylvania. All are overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but managed by private prison operators. They currently hold some 1,400 people, down from more than 2,000 earlier this summer. Homeland Security and ICE officials have said they aim to release families as soon as they pass interviews that are the first hurdle to being granted asylum. In recent weeks, more women have been fitted with an-
kle monitors when released from detention, sometimes under pressure and after bonds have been set, the lawyers said in the filing. In late July, Gee ruled that Homeland Security should release all children from the centers “without unnecessary delay,” along with any mothers not deemed a flight or national security risk. Many have petitioned for asylum after fleeing gang and domestic violence back home. Last week, Homeland Securi-
See DETENTION
PAGE 11A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Laredo Animal Protective Society and Best Friends for Life are holding a rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2500 Gonzalez Street. All proceeds will go to the construction of the Cat Village, for cats and kittens.
MONDAY, AUGUST 17 Beginning of staff development for teachers in the Laredo and United Independent School districts. St. Augustine High School will have its Back to School Mass and blessing at 9:30 a.m. in the Wellness Center.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18 “Moving Forward in the Grief Journey.” This workshop provides insight into what can keep one from moving forward. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Laredo Public Library Conference Room, 1120 E. Calton Rd. To register or for questions contact 210-757-9425 ext. 1703 or michelle.ramirez@gencure.org. Azteca Economic Development presents a series of small business workshops. Classes are free and in English at the Goodwill on I-35 and Mann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 7264462 to register or for more information.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 Azteca Economic Development presents a series of small business workshops. Classes are free and in English at the Goodwill on I-35 and Mann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 7264462 to register or for more information.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 South Texas Food Bank Empty Bowls IX fundraiser, 6 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. concert, Laredo Energy Arena. Concert by Kansas. Table (of 10) sponsorships start at $1,500, on sale from South Texas Food Bank staff 324-2432. Concert tickets $10, $15, $25 available at LEA box office and Ticketmaster.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 District Attorney Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz and J’s Party Town are holding a back-to-school supply drive from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at J’s Party Town, 6516 McPherson Rd. Show receipt of school supplies and redeem it towards riding go-karts and paintball.
MONDAY, AUGUST 24 First day of school for students in the Laredo and United Independent School districts.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 Azteca Economic Development presents a series of small business workshops. Classes are free and in English at the Goodwill on I-35 and Mann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 7264462 to register or for more information.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27 Spanish Book Club from 6 to 8 p.m. at Laredo Public Library-Calton Road. Contact Sylvia Reash at 7631810. Azteca Economic Development presents a series of small business workshops. Classes are free and in English at the Goodwill on I-35 and Mann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 7264462 to register or for more information.
Photo illustration by Gabriel C. Pérez | The Texas Tribune
A new law that goes into effect Sept. 1 will allow Texans to receive a cash refund on gift cards or certificates that have a balance of less than $2.50. The transaction must take place in person and there are exceptions.
Gift card laws changing By ALLY MUTNICK THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
Start checking your old wallets. A new law that goes into effect Sept. 1 will allow Texans to receive a cash refund on gift cards or certificates that have a balance of less than $2.50. The transaction must take place in person and there are exceptions. The law will not apply to prepaid calling cards, cards issued as part of a loyalty or rewards program, cards issued as a refund for returned merchandise, cards issued by a bank or airline, or cards initially worth $5 that cannot have value added to them. The law’s author is state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, a former business owner who says he penned the bill to strike a balance between the rights of consumers and retailers. “I believe all of us are carrying around gift
cards where we’ve used up virtually all the money,” said Bohac, who owned gift shops. “I wanted it to be $5, but $2.50, it seemed like people could live with that.” Though he acknowledged that retailers could see it as an infringement on a private contract, it faced little opposition in the Legislature. It passed in the House by 110-20 and in the Senate 26-5. The Texas Retailers Association, which represents thousands of stores in the state, keeps close tabs on legislation affecting businesses. President Ronnie Volkening said the association reviewed the legislation with its member stores around the time the bill was introduced and heard few complaints. “We don’t think that’s going to be a heavy burden,” he said of providing cash refunds. “It’s consistent with good customer service to volunteer to do that.”
Ex-judge gets 18 months in federal guns case
Man who molested students gets 25 years
Man guilty in shooting of woman, hired by husband
AUSTIN — A former Central Texas judge has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for illegally selling guns to a felon and lying about it. Ex-Williamson County Courtat-Law Judge Timothy Wright of Georgetown was sentenced Friday in Austin. The 70-year-old Wright in May pleaded guilty to engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license and to making false statements to a government agent.
AUSTIN — A former elementary school teacher in Austin has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for abusing several students while in classrooms. Alfredo Andrade-Gaytan was sentenced as part of a plea deal. The 34-year-old Andrade-Gaytan pleaded and will serve the terms concurrently.
DENTON — A convicted hired gunman faces up to 20 years in prison for shooting a Carrollton woman in the face after being solicited by her husband to kill her. Michael Lorence, 39, was convicted Thursday of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the 2012 wounding incident.
Ex-officer pleads no contest in assault case CUERO — A now-former police officer faces up to 10 years in prison for running over his Department of Public Safety trooper wife during an argument. Corey Tolbert pleaded no contest to reckless assault causing serious bodily injury. Tolbert was a sergeant.
Charges dropped against woman in cavity search HOUSTON — Drug possession and resisting arrest charges have been dropped against a Houstonarea woman who says female deputies violated her rights by doing a body cavity search in a parking lot. Charges were dismissed Thursday against Charneshia Corley of Spring. Corley’s attorney, Sam Cammack, says he then filed a complaint with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office claiming an unconstitutional search.
Challenge stops statue move at Univ. of Texas AUSTIN — The University of Texas has canceled plans to relocate a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis off the main campus after opponents asked a judge to block the move. A spokesman said Friday the school remains confident it will ultimately carry out a decision made this week to put the century-old statue in a museum. It had been targeted by vandals and come under increasing criticism as a symbol of racism. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 “Imitate Jesus!” is the theme for this year’s convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Corpus Christi. The first of two three-day events at the American Bank Center, 1901 N Shoreline Blvd., will begin at 9:20 a.m. with the English Convention. The keynote address is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. and is entitled “Concealed in Him Are All the Treasures of Wisdom.” The convention is open to the public; no admission fee.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 Martin High School Class of ’75 40th year reunion from 7 p.m. to midnight at 105 Regal Drive. Contact Yolanda Gonzalez-Robbins at 286-4627 or yolandarobbins@hotmail.com. Submit calendar items at lmtonline.com/calendar/submit or by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location, purpose and contact information for a representative. Items will run as space is available.
DA: Life sentence came down to 1 juror CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The district attorney who prosecuted Colorado theater shooter James Holmes says a jury’s refusal to give him the death penalty doesn’t mean the public is growing wary of capital punishment. George Brauchler says Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison because a single juror blocked his execution. The remaining 11 jurors felt strongly that Holmes should die for the July 2012 shooting that claimed 12 lives and left 70 injured. Brauchler says other jurors were surprised to learn that the holdout felt strongly in favor of a life sentence.
Campground closed after 2 squirrels die of plague YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Officials at Yosemite National Park say they are
Today is Saturday, August 15, the 227th day of 2015. There are 138 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On August 15, 1945, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced in a recorded radio address that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II. On this date: In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain. In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while the remainder were taken prisoner.) In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory. In 1939, the MGM musical “The Wizard of Oz” opened at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. In 1965, The Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York. In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, one day after P.W. Botha resigned as the result of a power struggle within the National Party. In 1995, the Justice Department agreed to pay $3.1 million to white separatist Randy Weaver and his family to settle their claims over the killing of Weaver’s wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Pioneering TV journalist and Timex watch pitchman John Cameron Swayze died in Sarasota, Florida, at age 89. Today’s Birthdays: Actress Rose Marie is 92. Political activist Phyllis Schlafly is 91. Actor Mike Connors is 90. Actress Lori Nelson is 82. Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 80. Actor Jim Dale is 80. Actress Pat Priest is 79. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 77. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is 77. Musician Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) is 73. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 71. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 69. Rock singermusician Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers) is 67. Actress Phyllis Smith is 66. Britain’s Princess Anne is 65. Actress Tess Harper is 65. Actor Larry Mathews is 60. Actor Zeljko Ivanek is 58. Actor-comedian Rondell Sheridan is 57. Rock singer-musician Matt Johnson (The The) is 54. Movie director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is 52. Philanthropist Melinda Gates is 51. Country singer Angela Rae (Wild Horses) is 49. Actor Peter Hermann is 48. Actress Debra Messing is 47. Actor Anthony Anderson is 45. Actor Ben Affleck is 43. Singer Mikey Graham (Boyzone) is 43. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 41. Actress Nicole Paggi is 38. Christian rock musician Tim Foreman (Switchfoot) is 37. Figure skater Jennifer Kirk is 31. Thought for Today: “Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me how to live.” — Alexander Herzen, Russian author (18121870).
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A dried out mine wastewater sediment pond is vivid with the colors of minerals and chemicals, in the San Juan Mountains north of Silverton, Colo., on Friday. The mines that settlers built in the 19th century are a part of the landscape. temporarily shutting a popular campsite after two squirrels died of plague in the area. Park officials said Friday that Tuolumne Meadows Campground will close from noon Monday through noon Friday so authorities can treat the area
with a flea-killing insecticide. Plague is carried by rodents and is spread by fleas. Transmission of plague between people is rare, and state health officials say the risk to human health is low. — 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
Area
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Grenades trip up duo ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEL RIO — Two were sentenced for trying to smuggle three-dozen grenades into Mexico.
Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times
Laredoan and Sam Houston State University professor Gilberto T. Diaz, Ph.D., discusses his book, “Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling Across the Rio Grande” at the Border Heritage Museum on Wednesday night. The book was his doctoral dissertation and is now published.
Prohibition explored in professor’s book By PHILIP BALLI LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Prohibition Era is characteristically consistent with such thoughts as the Roaring 20s, speakeasies and bootleggers; however, a Laredo historian recently offered a peek at what life was like for thirsty borderlanders along the Rio Grande and the tequileros – Mexican liquor smugglers – eager to sate that thirst. The Webb County Heritage Foundation hosted a book-signing Wednesday for George T. Diaz, a native Laredoan, who also gave a presentation during the public event at the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum. Diaz’s book, “Border Contraband: A History of Smuggling across the Rio Grande,” provides an indepth examination of the common violation of state laws on the U.S.-Mexico divide. The book begins by explaining how borderlanders’ everyday routines of carrying goods freely across the Rio Grande
were disrupted after the establishment of the Rio Grande as an international boundary at the end of the U.S.-Mexican War. This, coupled with many other factors Diaz explains, led to the creation of a contrabandista community in which, rather than accepting the federal restrictions, borderlanders sought to continue participating in illicit trade. Diaz’s book, which was published in February, has been lauded as a well-researched history of the clandestine side of U.S.Mexico trade relations. Oscar J. Martinez, a professor of history at the University of Arizona, praises Diaz’s book by stating, “This book addresses a major border subject that has long been neglected by scholars…It will be very useful to scholars, students and general readers.” Diaz said he was honored and happy to tell the story of the history of smuggling. “When I was conducting my research, I learned
there was no book that had been written on the history of smuggling,” he said. “So I ended up writing the book I wanted to read. As someone from the community, I was able to tell the story in a way that is informed and that understands community values.” Diaz is an assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University. He completed his doctorate degree in 2010. The book is his dissertation. Diaz’s presentation at the book-signing was based on research for his book, which began in 2003. Chapter four of the book focuses on narcotics and prohibition. The presentation was entitled Tequileros and Texas Rangers: A Tale of Prohibition along the Rio Grande. Prohibition created the demand for tequileros operations, which Diaz describes as simple, clever and effective. “Typically, tequileros operated at night in groups of three to five men (and)
See PROHIBITION
PAGE 5A
Juliette Ramirez pleaded guilty to exportation of a military-grade sub-munition and was sentenced Thursday to five years in a U.S. prison. Noe Ramirez
pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the exportation of a military-grade sub-munition. He received eight years in prison.
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Zopinion
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Time for a vacation in Washington WASHINGTON — It is that sane and glorious time when the nation’s capital dispenses its human cargo to places of origin and locations of respite. “I don’t know why everyone leaves,” I remarked to my neighbor. “There’s so much great parking.” (Don’t muddle; it’s a joke.) There is, indeed, great parking, as well as less traffic. With the political contingent largely gone, the Hill is as quiet as a morning after and “normal” people are dining out. Most awesome: One has time to think. August, often viewed as the end of things — summer, vacation, camp and children underfoot — marks for Washingtonians the arrival of peace. The usual, rapid chatter becomes a low, slow hum. Fewer sirens stab the air and the ever-present helicopters finally buzz off. In this near-sudden silence, one realizes that Washington is more often Fallujah than Paris — a war zone where armies of reporters, pundits and politicos wage war with words in theaters of green rooms and bunkers of makeup. What’s that sound? Ah, cicadas. Would that Washington would burrow beneath the toil of urgent matters and keep quiet for years at a time. August is good for dreaming, too. Look at me. I buried the lede and almost forgot everyone’s favorite part of all: Journalists leave town, too. When the three branches of government shutter the windows and lock the doors, what’s left to do? (The car-alarm coverage of Donald Trump may provide a hint.) Alas, where Trump goes, the media go. Rumor has it he’s heading to Iowa so it’s off to the Hawkeye State we go. Friday morning, “Meet the Press’“ Chuck Todd was reporting from the Iowa State Fairgrounds in a groundhoggian image of what these days we call “authentic.” The real people of America will soon enough let us know what they think of all this and that. Personally, I wonder what they think of all those Trump buses stationed in Wal-Mart parking lots around the state — sans The Donald? For Trump, you see, Being There isn’t actually required. The name is all. Look, Trump’s in town! Even when he’s not, really. When he does materialize, equal parts Liberace and P.T. Barnum, folks will show up if only to lay eyes on the real McCoy. Will Trump press
“
KATHLEEN PARKER
the flesh? What a disgusting thought for a reputed germaphobe. Will he kiss babies, those messy little bundles of orificial emissions? Such are the musings of an August morn — and a clear indication that my own vacation begins in just a few sentences more. For your indulgence and patience, I will share a secret I’ve kept mostly to myself the past year or so. It has to do with my absence for several months last summer and fall, which some of you may have noticed. If not, you are forgiven. My syndicate issued an explanation to my then-500 papers that I’d had an accident and would be taking a break to recover. I wasn’t eager to share the details for reasons that will become apparent. Basically, I slipped and fell down a steep staircase in May 2014, which resulted in a concussion — more aptly named a traumatic brain injury — that put me out of work and circulation. It was, indeed, traumatic, as well as terrifying. Thanks to months of therapy and many helping hands, it is over. My mentioning it now has to do with two things: One, I’m back to my old self, more or less. My goal was to return to two columns a week and to reappear on news shows before I admitted that for a long time I didn’t know who I was. My editors, Alan Shearer with the Washington Post Writers Group, and Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of the Washington Post, were both anchor and sail, keeping the boat afloat and buoying my spirits until the brain had finished its business. Two, I’m about to enjoy time off that I can consciously experience. Last year, I had bought a book titled “No Time to Think.” And then suddenly I could neither read nor think. This time, I can and shall do both. I will also continue work on a book I’m writing about what happened to me. My hope is that others might benefit from what I experienced and from what I learned about friends and family, seasons and time, rhythms and essence. It was quite a trip, about which more to come — in good time. Meanwhile, enjoy the cicadas — because you can. (Kathleen Parker’s email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.)
WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Hillary gets a harsh bashing By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST
“I believe I have met all of my responsibilities, and the server will remain private.” That was Hillary Clinton in March, insisting that her private e-mail server, which she used exclusively to send and receive e-mails during her time as secretary of state, was nobody else’s business. This past week, she turned that server over to the FBI, along with a thumb drive that has on it thousands of e-mails she sent as
secretary. The agency has been looking into the security of the unusual e-mail setup. On the same day that news broke, it was reported that the intelligence community’s inspector general had found four e-mails that traveled across the server (among the 40 the State Department allowed him to look at) that contained classified information — including two that had “top secret” material. In addition to previously insisting that the server need not be turned over, Clinton had said that she
never sent or received any classified information on it. Whether the information the inspector general found was labeled as “classified” at the time she sent or received it remains murky. Clinton and her campaign team did everything they could to cast the handing over of the server as part of her attempt to be totally cooperative — despite what they say are spuriousness allegations of wrongdoing. “This kind of nonsense comes with the territory of running for president,” communications director
Jennifer Palmieri said. But, really, not. This is the sort of thing that seems to follow the Clintons around. Clinton desperately needs her campaign to be about the future, but will the ongoing — and seemingly never-ending — look into her e-mail practices remind voters too much of the past? Hillary Clinton, for doing exactly what you said you wouldn’t have to do, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something. Chris Cillizza writes “The Fix,” a politics blog for the Washington Post. He also covers the White House.
EDITORIALS
Dissident snub isn’t US-like THE WASHINGTON POST
The American flag is a powerful symbol of the country’s long and noble struggle to defend the values of freedom and democracy. When Secretary of State John Kerry raised it over the U.S. embassy in Cuba on Friday, the ceremony marked an end to a halfcentury of hostility between the two nations. President Barack Obama has gambled that establishing normal relations with Cuba — commerce, information, culture and “soft power” — is the best way to change the isolated island, still in the grip of the Castro brothers and their sclerotic revolution. What’s unfortunate about the scenario is that Kerry decided to omit the very people in Cuba who embody the values that the American flag represents: human dignity, the wisdom of the individual above the state and free access to basic rights of expression in speech, assembly and thought. These people — the dissidents in Cuba who have fought tirelessly for democracy and human rights, and who continue to suffer regular beatings and arrests — did not witness the flag-
raising. They were not invited. The official U.S. explanation for excluding the dissidents was that the flag-raising ceremony is a government-to-government affair. This is lame. Inviting the dissidents would be a demonstration to Raul and Fidel Castro of what the flag stands for: people freely choosing their leaders, a pluralism of views and a public engaging in the institutions and traditions of a healthy civil society. Not inviting them was a sorry tip of the hat to what the Castros so vividly stand for: diktat, statism, control and rule by fear. Kerry offered to meet with some of them separately, out of public view. It is insulting and acquiesces in the Castros’ desire that the dissidents be hidden away. Engagement could help spark change in Cuba; most Cuban democrats agree. But it won’t happen automatically: Just look at China, with its capitalism and wealth blended with increasingly repressive rule. Obama could have designed an engagement policy that made room for human rights and its courageous advocates, as he once promised them he would do. Instead, he’s bestowed
all legitimacy on a government that can claim none in its own right — that rules through force, and not the consent of the governed. Maybe Kerry could have left an empty chair at the ceremony to symbolize the people, and the values, that were kept outside the fence.
A champion swimmer There are slam dunks, there are grand slams (and Grand Slams), and now there is the Ledecky Slam. Bethesda, Maryland, native Katie Ledecky, age 18, made history last week when she swept the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyles at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia, and stamped her name on a feat never before achieved in a major competition. Ledecky just graduated from high school. She is scheduled to have her wisdom teeth removed this week. She still does not have her driver’s license. Yet in Kazan she smashed three world records — all of which already belonged to her. Over the past two years, she has broken 10. Of the nine world championship finals Ledecky has swum, she has won, well, nine.
Ledecky is already the greatest female distance swimmer of this generation, and perhaps of all time. Her speed is unparalleled. Even more compelling is her range. It’s no small wonder the Ledecky Slam is such a rarity: Generally, there are distance swimmers, and there are sprinters. Somehow, Ledecky is both. All of Ledecky’s fans are eager to see the star clinch another slam. The only problem? There will be no 1,500-meter freestyle race in Rio de Janeiro next summer. To Olympic organizers, the metric mile may once have seemed too much for the female body to handle — just like the marathon did until 1984. They still have not come around, never mind that Ledecky swims the event faster than the male national record in 54 countries. It’s another flaw in a system filled with them, from authoritarian host countries to a corrupt organizing committee to doped up competitors. But while we might not always be cheering for the Olympics, in 2016 and beyond we will be cheering for Ledecky. Bringing the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle to the pool would give us one more reason to shout.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure
our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY (1985) | GARRY TRUDEAU
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Fire suspect faces judge in Iowa By TERRI LANGFORD THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
A man arrested in Iowa who is suspected of setting fire to a car last week at the Texas Capitol appeared before a judge on Friday. Late Wednesday, the Texas Rangers contacted the Marion Police Department in Iowa after tracking the suspect, Michael Patrick Wagner, 38, to the Hawkeye State from a parking ticket he received at the Capitol complex. “We found his car and they asked us to do a surveillance on him,” Lt. Scott Elam of the Marion police said of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Texas Rangers. The Iowa police officers followed Wagner as he went shopping and observed him shoplifting inside a Walmart. “We kept following him,” Elam said. Wagner returned to a hotel, and by 10 p.m. Wednesday, Marion officers had obtained a search warrant for his room and car. Wagner, who was last arrested in Marion in 2000 on a drunken driving charge, was charged with shoplifting. Although he was technically released on that misdemeanor charge, the Iowa officers kept him on the arson warrant out of Texas, Elam said. Wagner was interviewed by the Texas Rangers, who flew into Iowa late Wednesday night. After the interview with the Texas Rangers, Wagner was placed in the Linn County Jail in Iowa Thursday morning. Elam said Wagner will appear before a judge sometime Friday. If he waives extradition to Texas, Wagner should be back in Austin this weekend.
But if he doesn’t agree to the extradition, then the process could become more complicated, Elam said. “Hopefully he says yes to the extradition,” Elam said. Records show Wagner has a criminal record in Iowa that most recently includes a criminal mischief offense in 2013. Elam did not have any details on that charge. The Aug. 7 vehicle fire on the south side of the Texas Capitol was being investigated as intentional. DPS had said it was working to determine whether it was connected to a report earlier in the day of suspicious activity at the Capitol.
PROHIBITION …used horses, mules and donkeys in their operations,” the book states. Tequileros and Anglo bootleggers cooperated to circumvent the unpopular federal law and fill the niche that Prohibition created. During the 1920s and up until the end of World War II, Diaz said not all smugglers along the Rio Grande were considered to be criminals. “Some, like these tequileros, were heroes,” Diaz said. “During the 1920s, alcohol was illegal in the U.S., but a lot of people still wanted to drink. Alcohol wasn’t something that was considered wrong. So what happened was these tequileros, who wanted to make some money on the side, loaded their pack animals with illicit spirits and journeyed north to American markets.” However, U.S. law enforcement viewed tequileros as criminals and resisted them with deadly force.
Conflicts between American law enforcement and tequileros made Prohibition one of the bloodiest decades on the border. Diaz explained although Anglo bootleggers and Mexican tequileros both violated American laws, U.S. law enforcement took a much higher toll on tequileros than their Anglo counterparts. “The tequileros were getting into conflicts with Texas Rangers who were racist and killing Mexicans,” Diaz said. “That is why tequileros were considered folk heroes.” A major part of Diaz’s research involved comparing stories in the Laredo Times to corridos, or local folk songs. One of the many tequileros referenced in Diaz’s book was Leandro Villarreal, who was immortalized in the famous corrido “Los Tequileros.” Decades after his death at the hands of Texas Rangers, Leandro’s family members took pride
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in the legend that Leandro became in his last moments. On Nov. 10, 2000, family members and locals celebrated Leandro’s life in a memorial Mass held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Zapata, where Leandro is now buried, according to the book. Diaz said he went through all of the Laredo Times microfilms from 1919 to 1933, which are archived in the Texas A&M International University library. “I compared these folk songs about liquor smuggling during the 1920s with what was being said in the English language newspapers and law enforcement records,” Diaz said. In more than one instance, Diaz found Laredo Times stories correlated with the corridos. “The Laredo Times was basing its story on the officers’ accounts, while the corrido told the story of the smugglers involved
in the illicit trade,” Diaz said. “It’s like looking at the story through two different lenses and seeing how they conflict.” Diaz received a heritage award from the Webb County Heritage Foundation in May for the publication of his book. Margarita Araiza, executive director of the foundation, said they are always looking for publication of original material that has to deal with Laredo or Webb County history. “He is basically writing the story of our community and our history, and the fact that he is a local historian makes it even better,” Araiza said. “We received a lot of compliments about the presentation and about Dr. Diaz himself. A lot of people were expressing their delight that there is a native Laredoan doing this level of academic work.” (Philip Balli may be reached at 728-2528 or pballi@lmtonline.com)
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera EU-MÉXICO
Ribereña en Breve
Intercambio
ARRESTOS Ocho presuntos integrantes de un grupo delincuencial que se sabe operan en Reynosa, México, fueron detenidos por policías de Fuerza Tamaulipas, el miércoles. Guillermo Zúñiga Palomo, José Alberto Amaro del Valle, Manuel Alejandro Uvalle González, Itzel Simbron Galicia, José Alberto Quiñonez Garza, Miguel Martínez Vázquez, Tomás Amaya y Pablo Uvalle Espitia fueron detenidos en una brecha conocida como El Berrendo, cuando en actitud sospecha viajaban en tres vehículos diferentes. Les fueron aseguradas cuatro armas largas, cuatro cargadores, una báscula, una pesa gramera, tres vehículos, 332 dosis de cocaína en bolsitas, 268 dosis de droga conocida como piedra, dos bolsas pequeñas con marihuana y cinco bolsas pequeñas con polvo blanco, de acuerdo a un comunicado de prensa. Detenidos y mercancía, además de los vehículos, fueron puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público Federal. Tres hombres fueron acusados por los delitos de secuestro y extorsión en los municipios de San Fernando y Tula, México, durante operativos realizados el lunes por parte del Grupo Coordinación Tamaulipas. En San Fernando, ministeriales detuvieron en un campo de fútbol soccer llanero a Juan Carlos Ortiz Vega, de 26 años de edad. El reporte indica que el sospechoso declaró ser responsable de los secuestros de dos empresarios, y de haber extorsionado a otros comerciantes con regulares cantidades de dinero. Supuestamente Ortiz Vega estaba escandalizando en el campo de fútbol, portaba un arma punzocortante y además trató de agredir a los agentes. En Tula, policías ministeriales detuvieron a Jesús Antonio Guardiola Aguilar, de 21 años de edad y Adrián Salazar Vázquez, de 29 años, por el delito de extorsión en agravio de un matrimonio. El arresto de ambos se derivó de la causa penal 56/ 2014, oficio 207 de fecha 21 de noviembre del 2014, girada por el Juzgado de Primera Instancia Mixto del Noveno Distrito. En seguimiento a una denuncia ciudadana, policías estatales capturaron en Reynosa a Ricardo Gutiérrez Zúñiga, de 32 años de edad, hace una semana, en la cuadra 250 de calle Munich, en la colonia URVITEC. Fueron aseguradas dos subametralladoras, 19 armas cortas de diferentes calibres, tres armas largas, un arma larga con aditamento lanzagranadas, dos granadas calibre 40 milímetros, dos aditamentos tipo riel para arma larga, 309 cartuchos de diferentes calibres, 14 cargadores de diferentes calibres, y 60 kilogramos de cocaína envueltos en 8 paquetes. El reporte indica el aseguramiento de una camioneta Chevrolet GMC modelo 2004, de procedencia americana y con placas sobrepuestas. El detenido, el armamento, la droga y el vehículo fueron puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público Federal.
TORNEO El Torneo Anual de Pesca Infantil ‘Back to School’ organizado por la Cámara de Comercio de Zapata, en su quinta edición, se realizará el sábado 22 de agosto. El evento se realizará de 7 a.m. a 3 p.m. en Bravo Park Pond. Se están aceptando patrocinadores desde 300 dólares hasta 2.000 dólares. Para más información contacte a la Cámara de Comercio de Zapata, llamando al (956) 7654871.
SÁBADO 15 DE AGOSTO DE 2015
ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
El Departamento de Comercio de EU anunció el viernes la aprobación de licencias para intercambios de petróleo ligero de EU por importaciones de petróleo pesado de origen mexicano. Actualmente los Estados Unidos tienen prohibido exportar su petróleo crudo debido a una prohibición de petróleo crudo que fue establecida en 1975 y desde entonces ha dificultado el mercado de energía en vísperas de los grandes avances en la exploración de energía. El Departamento de Comercio pudo aprobar estas licencias según le fuera delegado por el Presidente,
a través de su autoridad en el Acta de Políticas de Energía y Conservación. El acuerdo anunciado el día de hoy será mutualmente beneficioso para ambos países. Muchas refinerías de petróleo americanas no están totalmente equipadas para procesar petróleo ligero, la clase que es abundante en la extensión productiva compuesta por esquistos a lo largo de los Estados Unidos. Por el otro lado, México produce grandes cantidades de petróleo pesado mientras que sus refinerías están mejor equipadas para procesar petróleo ligero. Los intercambios de petróleo ayudarán a la producción en las refinerías de petróleo a lo
largo de EU y México. A decir del Congresista Henry Cuellar (D-TX28), el estado de Texas obtendrá amplio beneficio gracias al acuerdo. “La industria del petróleo en Texas, en gran parte debido a la producción en esquistos, tales como el Eagle Ford Shale en mi distrito, ha revitalizado la economía de nuestra nación”, dijo Cuellar. “Estos intercambios impactarán además de manera positiva la exploración de energía en Texas y los Estados Unidos”. Cuellar expuso que EU y México mantienen una relación positiva en cuestión de comercio e intercambio. “El anuncio de hoy es una clara señal de que ambos países están an-
siosos por desarrollar más ampliamente sus sectores de energía”, sostuvo. “Un anuncio de este tipo es un paso fuerte hacia la Seguridad de Energía Norte Americana, la cual es una parte integral de nuestra Seguridad Nacional”. En tanto, el Representante de EU Will Hurd (R-TX23) expresó que el intercambio de energía es una componente clave de la relación económica con México. “El Renacimiento de la Energía Americana que ha florecido en Texas debido a la exploración de esquistos en Eagle Ford, Permian Basin y Barnett continuarán fortaleciéndose debido a esta decisión”, dijo Hurd.
EDUCACIÓN
TEXAS
PREMIO NACIONAL DE LA JUVENTUD
Dictan pena de 25 años a un ex maestro POR JOSHUA FECHTER SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
El Presidente de México, Enrique Peña Nieto, hace entrega a la tamaulipeca Delia Itzel López Dueñas, de 15 años de edad, del Premio Nacional de la Juventud 2015 en la categoría A de “Ciencia y Tecnología”.
Jovencita tamaulipeca entre ganadores TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
E
ntre los 20 jóvenes que recibieron esta semana el Premio Nacional de la Juventud 2015 se encontraba una estudiante de Tamaulipas, México. Delia Itzel López Dueñas, de 15 años de edad, originaria de Ciudad Victoria, estudia el bachillerato con especialidad en Mecatrónica y sus estudios ya le han dado reconocimientos previos. En el patio de Palacio Nacional, en la Ciudad de México, el Presidente de la República, Enrique Peña Nieto hizo entrega del Premio Nacional de la Juventud 2015, certamen en el que se reconoce a la trayectoria y labor de los jóvenes para impulsar un mejor País. López Dueñas obtuvo el reco-
nocimiento y la medalla como ganadora del Premio Nacional de la Juventud en Ciencia y Tecnología de la categoría A, por los proyectos ambiental de reciclaje de basura y el prototipo de alarma en materia de inseguridad. “Desde el gobierno de la república se le está dando impulso a las iniciativas de los jóvenes, estamos comprometidos firmemente con las necesidades de la juventud y sus preocupaciones, sus anhelos y objetivos; porque los jóvenes ya no son simples espectadores, al contrario son proactivos y dinámicos”, dijo Peña Nieto. En 2014, el Gobierno de Tamaulipas otorgó a López Dueñas el Premio Estatal de la Juventud, que significó la antesala para registrase al certamen nacional en la Ciudad de México. Ella ha destacado por presen-
tar proyectos como el “Basurero para Reciclaje Automático Selectivo”, mismo que le ha dado cinco primeros lugares en certámenes a nivel nacional, representó a México en el Certamen de Ciencia y Tecnología 2013 en la Ciudad de Lima, Perú, en septiembre de 2014 expuso su proyecto en la Cámara de Diputados de la Ciudad de México; en ese mismo año fue Ganadora del Premio Estatal de la Juventud 2014 en la categoría de Ingenio Emprendedor. Este año, la adolescente ingresó a la incubadora de genios de la Universidad Politécnica de Victoria por sus calificaciones en matemáticas, institución que le ofreció pasar a niveles de estudio en electrónica, mecánica, tecnologías de la información, robótica, entre otras áreas del conocimiento científico.
Un ex maestro de escuela primaria en Austin, quien admitió haber abusado sexualmente de tres estudiantes (cuyas edades eran de 5, 6 y 8 años) ha sido sentenciado a 25 años en prisión, de acuerdo a reportes de medios de comunicación. El Austin American-Statesman reportó que la Juez Estatal de Distrito Brenda Kennedy sentenció a Alfredo Andrade-Gaytán, un hombre de 34 años de edad quien diera clases en varias escuelas de Austin, a plazos carcelarios simultáneos de 10, 20 y 25 años en priANDRADE-GAYTÁN sión, el 4 de agosto, después que se declarara culpable de indecencia con un menor por exposición, indecencia con un menor por contacto y abuso sexual continuo de un menor. La policía arrestó a Andrade-Gaytán en 2014 por abusar de una estudiante de 6 años de edad en la Escuela Primaria Reilly mientras sus compañeras de clase se encontraban en el recreo durante un programa de verano para primaria, reportó el American-Statesman. Previo a ello, Andrade-Gaytán había bajado los pantalones y la ropa íntima de una niña de 5 años de edad en su escritorio de él y la había tocado durante la clase, de acuerdo a KXAN. Este incidente ocurrió en algún momento entre septiembre y diciembre del 2013 mientras daba clases en la Escuela Primaria Walnut. Una niña de 8 años de edad también dijo a la policía que Andrade-Gaytán la había tocado de manera inapropiada y la había “‘agarrado’ en más de una ocasión” en algún momento entre el 5 de enero del 2014 y el 5 de junio del 2014, después que él fuera transferido para dar clases a un grupo de tercer grado en Reilly, de acuerdo al American Statesman. El Distrito Escolar Independiente de Austin contrató a Andrade-Gaytán en 2005, reportó KXAN, donde dio clases en las escuelas primarias de Linder, McBee, y Read.
COLUMNA
Se maravillan europeos ante varias especies POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Apenas cruzan el océano Atlántico, los europeos quedan maravillados, porque ante ellos van desplegándose infinidad de especies desconocidas. Cristóbal Colón abre la saga. Cree que al paso de sus carabelas nadarán sirenas alrededor. Sobre cubierta, obtiene desconcertante recompensa. “El día pasado […] el Almirante” vio “sirenas que salieron bien alto de la mar, pero no eran tan hermosas como las pintan, [sino] que tenían forma de hombre en la cara”, glosa fray Bartolomé de las Casas. Sigamos a Job Hortop, un pirata inglés quien junto con numerosos compinches, es capturado en 1568 cerca de Pueblo Viejo, Veracruz. Antes de que los condenen por herejes, observa: “En el río Pá-
nuco hay un pez como un ternero, que los españoles llaman” manatí; “por la noche sale a pastar en tierra” y lo atrapan; “he comido de él y sabe casi a tocino”. Francisco Cervantes de Salazar confirma el arraigo de las sirenas con rasgos humanoides. “No es menos memorable el río de Pánuco”, anota en 1575. “Este río – recoge su ‘Crónica de la Nueva España’ – tiene muchos pescados, pero especialmente los que no hay en otros; hay en él” uno “que se llama manatí, cuyo pescado parece carne de vaca gorda, y jicoteas, que son a manera de tortugas”. Si bordeamos el Golfo de México, 14 kilómetros al oriente de la laguna de Tamiahua alcanzaremos la isla de Lobos. Escasas millas la separan de Cabo Rojo, al norte. Con toda claridad lo consigna el mapa “Hispania Nova”, que elabora Cornelius Wytfliet en 1597. Con-
tinúan haciéndolo cartógrafos posteriores, hasta el presente. Un episodio de la conquista explica por qué el sitio termina identificándose así. De la Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz zarpan rumbo al Pánuco expedicionarios con vinagre, aceite, carne, pan y vino. Hacia fines de 1522 zozobran a media travesía. “Sólo tres hombres se salvaron en una isleta”, Hernán “Cortés los rescató después” vivos, por haberse “mantenido de […] fruta semejante a los higos y de la carne de los muchos lobos marinos que allí pululaban. Desde entonces, seguramente, la isla se llamó de Lobos”, conjetura Manuel Toussaint. Rondan entretanto tierra adentro curiosos animalejos, con apelativo por demás autóctono. Según Guido Gómez de Silva, tlacuache proviene del náhuatl “tlacuatzin”, compuesto de “tlacua”, comer al-
go, y “tzin”, pequeño. Bocadillo, pues. Describe Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo en la decimosexta centuria: “Del tamaño de un […] conejo […] el pelo muy delgado, el hocico muy agudo, y los colmillos y dientes asimismo, y la cola luenga, de la manera que la tiene el ratón, y las orejas a él muy semejantes”, gusta “de matar a las gallinas”. A poco de independizarnos, en los alrededores de Laredo conoce Jean Louis Berlandier al único marsupial del país. “Una bolsa las hembras” poseen “debajo de la barriga […] La nueva generación es traslada a dicha bolsa […] sea por la pequeñez de los” críos, “sea porque las hembras, […] cumplido el voto de la naturaleza, se retiran al fondo de los bosques”, expone. (Con permiso del autor según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico, México).
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
State
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
Autopsies out in biker shootings By EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO — Autopsy reports for nine people killed in a shootout involving bikers and police in Waco were released Thursday, nearly three months after the confrontation outside the Twin Peaks restaurant — but authorities still have not said who shot whom. The autopsies, released by McLennan County Justice of the Peace Pete Peterson, showed that all nine were killed by gunshots, mirroring the results of preliminary reports released in May. Eighteen people were injured in the shootout. Waco Sgt. Patrick Swanton declined to comment, citing a gag order in the criminal case of Matthew Clendennen, one of the 177 people arrested and jailed following the May 17 shootout on allegations of engaging in organized criminal activity. All but two of the 177 have been released, and no one has been formally charged. “I can’t make heads or tails of these, but it’s not surprising that Waco authorities are less than forthcoming,” Clendennen’s attorney, Clint Broden, said of the autopsy reports. Authorities say the May 17 shootout outside the Twin Peaks restaurant stemmed from an apparent confrontation between the Bandidos, classified as a gang by the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Cossacks. The autopsies showed that at least four of the nine victims had illegal drugs in their system when they died, but offer no indication about whether the nine were killed by other bikers
or by police. Federal officials are also still conducting a ballistics investigation. A firearms examiner would need physical evidence, including bullets and bullet casings, to make a determination about the firearms used, said Ramit Plushnick-Masti, a spokeswoman for the Houston Forensic Science Center, whose office was not involved in the case. The autopsies were performed by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas. The reports found that: Daniel Boyett, 44, was shot twice in the head and once in the abdomen, and had trace amounts of methamphetamine in his system. Wayne Lee Campbell, 43, died from a gunshot wound to the head. Richard Matthew Jordan, 31, suffered one gunshot wound to the head, and tested positive for marijuana on a blood test. Richard Vincent Kirschner Jr., 47, was shot three times, and toxicology tests found traces of cocaine and alcohol. Jacob Rhyne, 39, died of gunshot wounds to the neck and abdomen. Jesus Rodriguez, 65, died from gunshot wounds to the head and trunk. Manuel Rodriguez, 40, died of gunshot wounds to the head and back. Charles Wayne Russell, 46, was shot once in the chest, and tested positive for marijuana. Matthew Smith, 27, was shot in the back and in the abdomen. Several of the bikers arrested have evidentiary hearings scheduled for next week.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
Cops went to house 4 times By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — On the day six children and two adults were fatally shot inside their Houston home, deputies made four separate visits to the house over about a nine hour period before they went inside, according to a timeline authorities released Thursday. The Harris County Sheriff ’s Office had initially declined to say how many times its deputies had gone to the home Saturday after receiving numerous 911 calls asking them to check on the family. The first call came from the children’s grandmother, who had received a text from her daughter saying she was being held at gunpoint, authorities said. David Conley, the former domestic partner of the children’s mother, Valerie Jackson, remains jailed, facing capital murder charges. Authorities say Conley handcuffed most of the eight family members and eventually shot each of them in the head. His attorney hasn’t returned messages seeking comment. Killed in the shooting were: Jackson, 40; her husband, Dwayne Jackson, 50; and her children, 13-year-old Nathaniel, 11year-old Honesty, 10-yearold Dwayne, 9-year-old Caleb, 7-year-old Trinity and 6-year-old Jonah. Authorities say Nathaniel was Conley’s son from his relationship with Valerie Jackson, while the Jacksons were the parents of the other five children. According to the timeline, the first 911 call for a welfare check was made at 10:42 a.m. Saturday. Deputies arrived at the home seven minutes later. They reported two vehicles in the driveway, “no response from inside the home, home secured,” and left the scene at 12:05 p.m. The sheriff ’s office re-
Photo by David J. Phillip/flile | AP
Harris County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. D.J. Hilborn, right, walks away from the scene of a multiple shooting Sunday, Aug. 9, in Houston. Eight people, including five children and three adults, were found dead inside a Houston-area home following the arrest of a man who exchanged gunfire with police, authorities said. ceived additional 911 calls on Saturday asking for more welfare checks at the home, and deputies went back to the house two more times, at 4:43 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. Each time, deputies also said that there was no response from inside the home and left the scene. At 7:51 p.m., another 911 call was made to the sheriff ’s office and deputies returned to the home at 8:55 p.m. Deputies remained at the home for nearly 1 1/2 hours before a child’s body was seen inside the house through a window at 10:26 p.m. Deputies tried to enter the home but were met by gunfire from Conley two minutes later, according to the timeline. A standoff ensued between Conley and authorities until Conley surrendered at 11:58 p.m. The sheriff ’s office has declined to say when the eight family members were shot or if any of them might have been alive during any of the
visits by deputies. Deputy Thomas Gilliland, a sheriff ’s office spokesman, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday. On Wednesday, the judge handling Conley’s case issued a gag order. Earlier this week, authorities said they couldn’t go in until they saw the child’s body through the window. “There certainly comes a time in any law enforcement’s career that we’re going to come across something where we think we might do something but the law may restrict us from doing such. In this situation, I can’t go into too much detail about it right now. The officers on the scene did not have enough information at the time to make forced entry into the residence,” Chief Deputy Tim Cannon said. Houston criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner said while police can’t typically go into a
home unless they have permission or have a search warrant, certain exceptions would be allowed under what’s known as exigent circumstances, where there is an emergency situation. “I’m just astonished that the officers didn’t investigate further,” he said. “There are so many things they could have done to confirm or disconfirm the nature of the call short of kicking down the door. If they thought someone was in danger, they should have kicked down the door. A door can be replaced. What a tragedy.” Meanwhile, a funeral service for the victims has been scheduled for Monday at Fallbrook Church in Houston. A GoFundMe account has been set up by Valerie Jackson’s family to raise money to have the bodies of the woman and her children flown to Minnesota, then driven to La Crosse, Wisconsin, for burial.
Nation
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
Police helping addicts By PHILIP MARCELO ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The young woman nursing a fresh black eye has come to the police station in this old fishing city for help. But she’s not looking to report a crime or seek someone’s arrest. She wants help kicking her heroin addiction. “It was better than the alternative,” says the woman, in her mid-20s, as she waits wearily for her ride to a detox center, following a long night that involved a stint in the emergency room, wrestling with the early pains of withdrawal and, finally, sleep in a police holding cell. “I just knew if I was let go, I’d just go out and use.” Gloucester is taking a novel approach to the war on drugs, making the police station a first stop for addicts on the road to recovery. Under a policy launched in June, heroin and opioid addicts who voluntarily turn themselves in at the station are fast-tracked into treatment services through a team of police officers, volunteers and trained clinicians. They aren’t charged with a crime, and much of their treatment cost is covered through public and private insurance, grants by service providers and by police using money seized from drug dealers. They can even hand over drugs and drug paraphernalia to police, no questions asked. As of Friday, police say 109 addicts have turned themselves in seeking help, 16 percent of them hailing from out of state and about 70 percent of them men. All have been placed into drug treatment programs at a total cost of about $5,000 to the department. The policy, which experts say is unique in the country, has thrust this city roughly 40 miles north of Boston into the debate over what role police should play in a national heroin epidemic that has hit New England particularly hard. “It’s the next logical step in the so-called war on
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
No evidence in stolen baby case By JIM SALTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Elise Amendola | AP
A woman walks from the police station in Gloucester, Mass., on July 10 for her ride to an area detox facility. The woman voluntarily came to the police for help kicking her heroin addiction. Gloucester is taking a novel approach to the war on drugs, making the police station a first stop for addicts on the road to recovery. drugs,” says Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello, a former narcotics officer who launched the effort. “We need to change the conversation.” Police departments across the country are testing new approaches. Select officers in Seattle, for example, are allowed to redirect low-level drug and prostitution offenders into treatment rather than arresting and sending them to jail. “Jail does nothing to help them stop abusing drugs,” says Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Nationally, heroin-related overdose deaths nearly doubled from 2011 to 2013, when more than 8,200 people died, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Massachusetts, an estimated 939 residents died from heroin and other opioid-related overdoses in 2013 — five of them in Gloucester, the state says. The city’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. A nonprofit has been founded to support the program and export its ideas to other communities, some of which are already starting to come up with their own Gloucester-inspired efforts. “Traditionally, law enforcement has tried to arrest their way out of the problem,” says Dan Langloss, police chief in Dixon, Illinois, who announced this week his department and the county sheriff’s office are adopting Gloucester’s
model starting Sept. 1. “That just doesn’t work.” Still, questions remain. The lead prosecutor for the Gloucester area has warned police they may lack legal authority to promise addicts they won’t be charged. “If several other communities adopted the same practice, it could overwhelm capacity,” says Chuck Faris, CEO at Spectrum Health Systems, a Massachusetts substance abuse treatment provider that’s taken in about 35 Gloucester-referred patients to date. It’s been a busy three days for Gloucester’s program when The Associated Press dropped in for a visit. The young woman, whose name the AP is withholding because she alleges sexual abuse as well as domestic violence by her boyfriend, is the last of six addicts who have come through the station doors in a roughly 30-hour span. “I know this isn’t the life I want to live,” says the Massachusetts native and college graduate. “I just didn’t know how to get out.” The woman says she landed at the police station after spending three days living on the street and shooting heroin. She eventually called a relative, who had heard about the Gloucester program and drove her to the police station. The woman wasn’t charged with a crime; she says she asked to stay overnight until a detox bed opened up.
ST. LOUIS — Recently discovered medical files further dispute a St. Louis woman’s allegations that her baby was stolen from a hospital here five decades ago and a federal investigation into the matter has now been closed, a U.S. attorney said Friday. U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said during a news conference that medical records show Melanie Diane Gilmore, who was named Diane Jackson at birth, was born at St. Louis’ City Hospital No. 1. That contradicts the story of Gilmore’s mother, Zella Jackson Price, who alleged that Gilmore was stolen at birth from another St Louis hospital, Homer G. Phillips, after she was told the child had died. “We can now say with complete confidence that there is no truth to that allegation and our investigation is now closed,” Callahan said. The reunion of Price, 76, and her daughter drew international attention earlier this year. A DNA test confirmed they were mother and daughter. Price’s story prompted hundreds of other women to come forward with concerns that their babies had also been stolen from Homer G. Phillips. Callahan said the federal investigation focused only on Price’s case because it was the only one in which a mother claimed a child had died, and later that child turned out to be alive. The newly discovered medical files, as well as Missouri adoption records previously obtained by The Associated Press, contradict Price’s allegation that her baby was stolen. Among the discrepan-
The reunion of Price, 76, and her daughter drew international attention earlier this year. A DNA test confirmed they were mother and daughter. cies is the place where Gilmore was born. The medical files, obtained by AP on Friday, are written on forms from City Hospital No. 1. The adoption files also say Gilmore was born at City Hospital No. 1. Though Price is black, City Hospital No. 1 served predominantly white people while Homer G. Phillips served a largely black clientele. Price said in July that she would never abandon a child. “That’s the biggest lie ever told,” Price said at the time. “I have five other children. They’re all spoiled like they were only children. Why would I give up this one?” At the time, she said the adoption file was rife with inaccuracies. In addition to listing what she said was the wrong hospital, she said her age and details about the biological father also were wrong. Price’s attorney, Albert Watkins, said the medical file was delivered to him Friday afternoon and that he was reviewing the documents. Watkins has said the previously released adoption file is a problem, and that officials did not follow proper procedures. Those files say Price abandoned the baby at City Hospital No. 1 and that officials tried to track her down over the years. Watkins has said the information in the adoption file may have been falsified as part of a cover-up. He
has maintained for months that Price’s daughter, and perhaps other supposedly dead babies at Homer G. Phillips Hospital, were stolen and sold for illegal adoptions. Watkins said Price’s story has remained consistent, relatives have corroborated Price’s story that she gave birth at Homer G. Phillips in 1965 but never brought home a baby, and that Price did not abandon or give up her other child. Gilmore was born prematurely on Nov. 25, 1965. Price said a nurse told her hours later that her daughter had died, but she was not allowed to see the deceased infant and never received a death certificate. Earlier this year, Price received a Facebook message from Mehiska Jackson, the daughter of Melanie Diane Gilmore of Springfield, Oregon. Gilmore’s children were searching for her birth mother. Price agreed to DNA testing that proved with near 100-percent certainty that Gilmore was her daughter. The two reunited in April. Since then, scores of other women have questioned whether their own infants, born from the 1940s through the 1970s, had really died soon after birth at Homer G. Phillips. But the hospital closed in 1979 and records have proven difficult to find. The St. Louis Health Department received more than 300 inquiries.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
MIGUEL ANDRES “MIKE” MARTINEZ March 24, 1980 – Aug. 12, 2015 Miguel Andres “Mike” Martinez 35, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, in Zapata, Texas. Mike is preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Juan F. Martinez Sr. and Guadalupe Benavides. Mike is survived by his daughter, Edna J. Martinez; mother, Ileana Montes; father, Juan F. Martinez, Jr.; brothers, Juan F. III (Joseline) Martinez, Alberto (Martha) Martinez, Mauro A. (Nayely) Martinez, Marco (Karina) Martinez; sisters, Erika (Horacio, Jr.) Cuellar, Ella I. (Ezequiel, Jr.) Peña; maternal grandparents, Jorge Montes Jr. and Edna M. Montes and by numerous cousins, nephews, nieces, other family members and friends. Visitation hours will be held Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession will depart Monday, August 17, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our
Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Committal services will follow at Zapata County Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made at Rose Garden Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral drector, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy. 83. Zapata, Texas.
and former petroleum geologist will compete at the national exhibition in late August in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The letters are folded up so that the blank outside page serves as an envelope or “cover,” which contains the recipient’s address and a stamp. This was a common way for letters to be sent at that time, Stever said. “I have the largest Texas Republic collection I know of in the Texas Postal History Society,” Stever told the Corpus Christi CallerTimes. He keeps his collection, which he amassed over 35 years, in a bank vault. Stever, a member of the Nueces County Historical Commission and a past president of the Nueces County Historical Society, purchased the letters at
auctions and from dealers at stamp shows. He also bought a few from private collectors, he said. “The letters are valuable and scarce,” Stever said. The letter written by Houston as he prepared to leave for Austin to be inaugurated as the third president of the Republic of Texas gave instructions to Western. “He asked Western to collect a $40 debt for him, which was a sizable amount in those days, and to look after Mrs. Houston,” Stever said. Western was to keep $10 for himself and save the rest for Houston’s wife so she could get what she needed. The letter was signed, “Fraternally Yours,” because the two were charter members of The Grand Lodge of Texas Ancient Free and Accepted
Feb. 1, 1945 – Aug. 8, 2015
Mexico could become a net importer if it doesn’t explore new oil reserves. The move to trade crude with Mexico comes as the Obama administration weighs a long-delayed decision about whether to ap-
prove the Keystone XL pipeline. That proposed project would carry crude oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast, so the influx of heavy crude from Mexico could play into a decision about
whether the controversial pipeline is necessary. Last month a Senate panel approved a bill championed by Murkowski that would lift the 40-year-oldban — plus open more areas of the Arctic, Gulf of
17 YEARS
with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Committal services will follow at Zapata County Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy. 83, Zapata, Texas.
“It’s extremely weird,” Jim Bradbury, a Fort Worth-based lawyer who focuses on environmental and energy issues. “Seventeen years is almost unexplainable to me.” In October 1998, months after the movie Titanic took home 11 Oscars, a tank sprung a leak at a Koch Pipeline crude oil receiving station. More than 30,300 gallons spilled out, much of it flowing into the creek, a tributary of the San Antonio River. Floodwaters carried the oil several miles downstream, coating the banks and a swath of vegetation, according to a complaint filed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. . Koch Pipeline and the governments have now agreed to resolve the case. Without admitting liability, the company will pay $770,000 — split between several state and federal agencies — to cover restoration and other costs, un-
der a consent decree also filed Tuesday. The agreement came under the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA), a federal restoration process for hazardous spills, and once the agreement is finalized following a public comment period, it will be the last resolution of three Koch spills in Texas that happened around the same time. The site had long been cleaned up, and the company settled with the landowners, Deanna Altenhoff, a Koch spokeswoman said Wednesday. “It is not uncommon for the NRDA assessment and regulatory process to take years." But it rarely takes this long, some experts said. Bradbury said he has negotiated consent decrees for similar incidents within just a couple of years, including many that have resulted in more complicated terms for the alleged polluter – more than just a fine. “It suggests to me that DOJ or somebody was slow
DETENTION ty attorneys asked the judge to reconsider her ruling, saying detention times have been shortened and that further limiting family detention could spark another surge in immigrants from Central
Masons. Houston’s letter, written in neat handwriting with paragraphs and punctuation, was a rarity at that time, said Stever, who has also written four books on the history of mail. “Usually, they were one long sentence with no punctuation,” he said. Another letter from one of the few Goliad Massacre survivors, Benjamin Holland, to a sister in New York, details Holland’s escape from the Mexican army on March 27, 1836. After the Texans were marched into a field to be executed, Holland was able to break free, shoot and kill a Mexican soldier, jump into a river and disappear into the woods, Stever said. He joined up with Gen. Sam Houston and his army to fight in the battle of San Jacinto.
In the letter, he asked his sister to send him a “good sword and some abrasive pistols with holsters,” Stever said. Allan Hayes, who just finished a term as president of the Nueces County Historical Society, said Stever had a “fantastic and beautiful collection” of letters and had done a great job of preserving it. “Jim is such a good speaker, and he always has good stories to tell,” said Hayes, who added that Stever frequently speaks at meetings of the organization. “He’s a fine collector and is very particular about his collection,” Hayes said. Stever has hopes of selling his collection soon as long as it remains intact. “I really don’t want to sell to someone who will separate it,” he said.
OIL TRADE Continued from Page 1A
ALFONSO LOPEZ JR. Alfonso Lopez, Jr. 70, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, in Houston, Texas. Mr. Lopez is preceded in death by his parents, Alfonso Lopez and Otila M. Lopez; brother, Alvaro (San Juanita) Lopez and a sister Beatriz Cavazos. Mr. Lopez is survived by his wife, Berta G. Lopez; sons, Alfonso, III (Azeneth) Lopez, Arturo (Angie) Lopez; daughters, Maricela Lopez, Margarita Hinojosa; grandchildren, Stephany Villarreal, Annaly Lopez, Alfonso Lopez IV, Arlo Lopez, Maria G. Silva, Madelin A. Silva, Dennique Lopez, Arturo Lopez Jr., Alyssa (Rey) Ramirez, Alvaro Lopez, Ricardo J. (Clarissa) Paredes, Jose A. Hinojosa, Karina A. Hinojosa, Carlos A. Hinojosa; three greatgrandchildren; brother, Angel (Lourdes) Lopez, Alonso (Susana) Lopez; sister, Belia (Rafael) Salinas; brother-in-law, Juvencio Cavazos, and by numerous cousins, nephews, nieces, other family members and friends. Visitation hours were held Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
TEXAS LETTERS Continued from Page 1A
America. The lawyers asked the judge to implement her earlier ruling calling for the quick release of detained women and children. Peter Schey, one of the lead attorneys and ex-
ecutive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, called the policy of detaining children inhumane, adding that Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson should be “ashamed of
Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas exploration. No Democrats on the committee voted for the bill. The environmental group Oceana called it “a massive give-away to Big Oil.”
Continued from Page 1A to the party in terms of acting on this thing,” he said. The justice department on Thursday said the parties first focused on cleaning up the creek in the spill’s aftermath. Then they assessed the extent of damage and worked on an appropriate restoration project. “Though selecting a suitable project ultimately took some time, the parties have diligently worked towards reaching an agreement that would fully fund the restoration of the damaged natural resources,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman, said in an email. The Texas General Land Office and the Commission on Environmental Quality, which stand to receive payments under the agreement, both referred questions to Paxton’s office, where a spokeswoman said she could not comment because the agreement is not final. The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to messages.
“Seventeen years is a pretty good stretch,” said Jim Phillips, former land office general counsel and a former chief of the attorney general’s energy division. Philips, who did not remember the Karnes County spill, suggested that the intense multi-state wrangling that followed BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill — which will ultimately yield Texas hundreds of millions of dollars after being resolved this summer — could have held up much smaller cases in recent years. “When BP happened, all of the smaller stuff like this got shoved on the back burner,” he said. Garry Mauro, who was finishing a 16-year tenure as land commissioner in the waning days of 1998, said he did not remember the spill, but he was surprised the claim took so long to resolve. “Seventeen years?” he asked. “Wow, that’s a long time.”
dy, and that the facilities were not properly licensed to care for children. Between Sept. 2013 and Oct. 2014, some 68,000 members of migrating families were caught at the border, according to
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Between last October and June of this year, less than 27,000 have been apprehended, which authorities say is due to better enforcement in the U.S. and Mexico.
Continued from Page 1A
himself ” for “detaining young children in adult prisons that are unsafe.” Gee ruled in July that detaining children violates parts of a 1997 settlement covering all children in federal immigration custo-
International
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
Flag raised over reopened US Embassy By BRADLEY KLAPPER AND MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA — Jubilant crowds waved American flags and chanted “Long live the United States!” as the Stars and Stripes rose over the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in Cuba on Friday after a halfcentury of often-hostile relations. Secretary of State John Kerry celebrated the day but also made an extraordinary, nationally broadcast call for democratic change on the island. Hundreds of Cubans mixed with American tourists outside the former U.S. Interests Section, newly emblazoned with the letters “Embassy of the United States of America.” They cheered as Kerry spoke, the United States Army Brass Quintet played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and U.S. Marines raised the flag alongside the building overlooking the famous Malecon seaside promenade. Meeting more than 54 years after the severing of diplomatic relations, Kerry and Cuban Foreign
Photo by Ramon Espinosa | AP
The U.S. flag waves outside the newly opened U.S. Embassy overlooking Havana’s seaside boulevard, the Malecon, in Cuba, on Friday. The Stars and Stripes rose over the U.S. Embassy after a half-century of often-hostile relations. Minister Bruno Rodriguez set an early September date for the start of talks on full normalization of a relationship so long frozen in enmity. Not all the talk was as warm as the sunny summer day. Kerry and Rodriguez said their nations would continue to disagree over
issues such as democracy and human rights. But they also said they hoped to make progress on issues ranging from maritime security and public health to the billions of dollars in dueling claims over confiscation of U.S. property and the U.S. economic embargo on the island.
It seemed that virtually all of Cuba was glued to television or listening by cellphone as Kerry directly addressed the island’s people on political reform. That’s a subject that has remained offlimits in Cuba even as the singleparty government has implemented a series of economic reforms and re-established diplomatic ties with the U.S. “We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders, express their ideas, practice their faith,” Kerry said. He spoke before an audience of Cuban and U.S. diplomats on the embassy grounds and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of islanders watching and listening live. Addressing reporters with Kerry after the ceremony, Rodriguez responded by indignantly opening his remarks with complaints of U.S. human rights transgressions — from police shootings of black men to mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base that Cuba
says must be returned. “Cuba isn’t a place where there’s racial discrimination, police brutality or deaths resulting from those problems,” Rodriguez said. “The territory where torture occurs and people are held in legal limbo isn’t under Cuban jurisdiction.” Many Cubans disagree with that assessment, including AfroCubans who say discrimination is still rampant despite the revolution’s egalitarian ideals, and human rights groups who say regular, short-term arrests of government opponents aim to intimidate dissent. In New York, Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American senator from Florida, said he would reverse the Obama administration’s new Cuba policy on his first day in office, arguing it gives the Castro government international legitimacy and more resources to repress its people. Kerry acknowledged the Obama administration would have a difficult fight in Congress to end the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 13A
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Zentertainment
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
Show dramatizes NY affordable housing fight By LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The power of writer David Simon’s work has drawn remarkable actors to TV dramas including “The Wire” and “Treme.” The latest evidence is “Show Me a Hero,” HBO’s six-episode miniseries based on a bitter 1980s battle over public housing in Yonkers, New York. It begins this weekend and airs 8-10 p.m. EDT on three consecutive Sundays through Aug. 30. Even Simon marveled at the cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Alfred Molina, Winona Ryder and Catherine Keener. All that talent for what sounds like — but is far from — a dramatized bureaucratic slog? “It makes no sense. I’m coming with, like, eight
hours on botany and seeing who I pull next time,” he jokingly told a meeting of the Television Critics Association. Stellar director Paul Haggis also was attracted to the miniseries, based on Lisa Belkin’s non-fiction book of the same name that recounted how a federal court order to build low-income housing in white neighborhoods split the city and wrecked its young mayor’s career. Haggis, himself an Academy Award-winning writer (2004’s “Crash,” also honored as best picture) said yes to “Show Me a Hero” before he saw any script, and for one reason. “David Simon,” he said in an interview. “I heard he had a project available and I pitched myself for it.” When producers asked which episode he wanted to
Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/file | AP
Actor Alfred Molina, left, and writer David Simon, right, smile while listening to writer/executive producer William F. Zorzi speak onstage during the “Show Me a Hero” panel in Beverly Hills, California. direct, Haggis replied: “I want to do them all.” This from a man who had only directed films based on his own scripts. And this despite the fact that the modest budget and pace of TV production re-
quired taping six to 10 pages of script a day compared to the relatively leisurely bigscreen tally of two to three pages, he said. “It was very challenging to capture this because, as David likes to joke, his com-
pany is the PBS of HBO. You don’t get the same kind of budget as if you put a zombie in it, which is natural,” said Haggis, hastening to add that HBO was “very good to us.” The result is one of the most intelligent, gripping and provocative projects to grace any screen this year, a study of the clash of what America is and what it hopes to be, as seen through the eyes of lawmakers, activists and the Yonkers residents caught in the maw of politics and social disruption. Simon and William F. Zorzi co-wrote the miniseries. “It’s a tale of very flawed individuals who are trying to do the right thing from their perspective,” Haggis said, including white homeowners who saw themselves as protectors of their neigh-
borhoods and property values under assault by housing to be placed throughout the city, not solely in poorer areas. The miniseries has a cinema verite feel, which Haggis said he felt was important given the subject matter: “I was being handed the truth in the script... but I had to make it feel real,” he said.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NFL: COLTS
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: CLEVELAND BROWNS
Mentoring Manziel Photo by Darron Cummings | AP
Andre Johnson joined the Colts in the offseason after spending 12 years with the Houston Texans.
Johnson catches on with Colts Veteran receiver spent 12 years in Houston By MICHAEL MAROT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Ron Schwane | AP
Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel completed 7 of 11 passes for 42 yards in Thursday’s loss to Washington. When he recognized the Redskins were in man-to-man coverage the field opened up, he scored on a 12-yard run, the kind of play that made him famous at Texas A&M.
Young quarterback getting advice from veteran By TOM WITHERS ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — Josh McCown doesn’t view Johnny Manziel as a threat. That alone makes the Browns’ quarterback situation much more stable than the mess they had last year. A respected veteran with a golden
reputation, but not many wins on his 12year NFL resume, McCown was signed by Cleveland as a free agent to provide stability to their quarterback position and mentor Manziel, who couldn’t control his Johnny Football persona and nearly partied himself out of the league as a rookie. They share Texas roots, but McCown
and Manziel have grown close in Ohio. “Josh is a pro, he’s been doing this a long time,” Manziel said Thursday night following Cleveland’s 20-17 exhibition loss to Washinton. “I’m always watching and trying to learn from him. He’s always giving me a
MLB: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
ANDERSON, Ind. — Andre Johnson is starting over. After thriving for 12 seasons in Houston, he’s working with a new quarterback and learning a new playbook. And now he’s ready to head home Saturday after finishing his first training camp on a college campus. On Sunday at Philadelphia, Johnson’s transformation will be complete when he dons a Colts jersey for his first game. “I don’t really bring much attention to that,” he said. “I just try to treat it as football — with a different team.” To Johnson, it’s just business. The seven-time Pro Bowler joined Indianapolis as the replacement for an old college friend, Reggie Wayne. All Johnson wanted was the right contract and a shot at winning a Super Bowl. It didn’t take him long to figure out Indy was the best fit.
See MANZIEL PAGE 2B See JOHNSON PAGE 2B
2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS
Bonds relieved after case dropped By JANIE MCCAULEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Legally cleared at last, Barry Bonds is unconcerned with everybody else’s thoughts on his career or credentials: He’s a Hall of Famer. Hands down. "I don’t even justify that. There’s no need," he said Thursday night at AT&T Park. "That’s without saying." The 51-year-old home run king said he feels a huge sense of relief since federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against him last month after a nearly decade-long steroids prosecution. "I can say yes, there’s a lot. Because it’d be not true if I said there wasn’t some weight lifted off my shoulders," Bonds said in an interview with The Associated Press, his first since the government announcement. "I’ve never been much of a talker. That’s never been my game. I don’t have time to put people down, I don’t have time to do all that stuff. I don’t care to. If people want to say negative things, that’s their opinion," the former San Francisco Giants star said. The government’s pursuit of Bonds ended July 21 with a
See BONDS PAGE 2B
Photo by Silva Izquierdo | AP
The World Health Organization’s top water expert said Friday that the body "never advised against viral testing" for Rio de Janeiro’s polluted waterways where about 1,400 athletes will compete in Olympic events next year.
Testing advised for Olympic waters By BRAD BROOKS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Ben Margot | AP
Former San Francisco Giants player Barry Bonds said he feels a huge sense of relief since federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against him last month after a nearly decade-long steroids prosecution.
RIO DE JANEIRO — The World Health Organization’s top water expert said Friday the body “never advised against viral testing” for Rio de Janeiro’s polluted waterways where about 1,400 athletes will com-
pete in Olympic events next year. Bruce Gordon, the WHO’s coordinator of water, sanitation, hygiene and health, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Geneva that testing for viruses “would
See OLYMPICS PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zsports
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
MANZIEL Continued from Page 1B lot of tips. I can hear him on the sideline even when he’s out (of the game) and I’m out there. “He has been very, very helpful, and it has been awesome having him around.” McCown hasn’t been officially selected as Cleveland’s starter for the Sept. 13 season opener, but the 36-year-old has done everything coach Mike Pettine has needed and appears comfortable in new coordinator John DeFilippo’s system. On Friday, Pettine said he hasn’t wavered from putting McCown No. 1 on the depth chart. Against the Redskins, McCown finished 5 of 5 for 33 yards and threw a touchdown pass in his only series with Cleveland’s first-team offense. But even on the sideline, McCown kept working. “He was poised, focused,” Pettine said. “He was into it. Even after that series, the whole rest of the game, he had the ear piece in, he knew the call, taking the mental reps on the sideline. He just showed tonight that he’s the ultimate professional.” Rewind to a year ago when Brian Hoyer and Manziel were locked in a day-to-day competition to win Cleveland’s starting job. There was tension as Hoyer, the hometown kid playing for family and a new contract, tried to hold off the former Heisman Trophy winner. It wasn’t healthy — for anyone — and the Browns recognized they couldn’t have a repeat this summer. McCown has embraced a teaching role with Manziel, who showed more signs of progress against the Redskins. He completed 7 of 11 passes for 42 yards and when Manziel recognized the Redskins were in man-to-man coverage the field opened up, he scored on a 12-yard run, the kind of play that made him famous in college. “That was a layup for him,” Pettine said. Manziel remains an unfinished product, but he’s more committed and McCown has been impressed with the 22-yearold’s willingness to work on his craft. “He always asks the right questions,”
OLYMPICS Continued from Page 1B
Photo by David Richard | AP
Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel might not be at the top of the depth cart just yet. The Browns signed 12-year veteran Josh McCown in the offseason to compete for the starting job. McCown said. “He’s thirsty to want to get better. I’ve been around other quarterbacks who kind of had their idea about how they were going to do it and they didn’t really listen to you or they just kind of nodded and moved on and did their own thing. But hats off to him. He’s asking the questions because he wants to play the position the right way.” This is what the Browns wanted, harmony not drama, a united quarterback room not one splitting at the seams. McCown understands that he’s a temporary fix, someone the Browns can rely upon while Manziel
develops — or doesn’t — and the team looks elsewhere for a franchise QB. As he watched from the sideline Thursday night in his debut with Cleveland, McCown cheered, encouraged and did all he could to help his new team. While Manziel’s career is just starting, McCown is nearing the end and he wants to savor every second. “They didn’t paint the field and light the stadium up for nothing,” he said. “I’ve been out of this game. So anytime you can be in a stadium and on a sideline full of guys, you don’t know when it’s your last snap and when it’s your last moment.”
NOTES: CB Justin Gilbert, who was beaten on several plays by the Redskins, described his performance as mostly “flawless.” Pettine disagreed, saying “he made that statement without having seen the film.” ... Pettine expects QB-turned-WR Terrelle Pryor to practice Saturday after being sidelined with a hamstring injury. However, rookie RB Duke Johnson (hamstring) remains out and may not play Thursday against Buffalo. ... Pettine singled out rookies Danny Shelton, Xavier Cooper and Ibraheim Campbell for their performance in the exhibition opener.
BONDS Continued from Page 1B one-paragraph motion by the U.S. Department of Justice announcing Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. would not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appellate decision that overturned Bonds’ obstruction of justice conviction. "That’s why I say God is good. Every player who’s ever played against me knows my ability, and that’s something I will never, ever have to explain," Bonds said. "I’m not insulted by anything. I don’t hold grudges. I’m not going to hold a grudge. I know what I brought to the game. I’m proud of that. That’s all, I’m proud of that." Bonds, the seven-time NL MVP, broke Hank Aaron’s career home record of 755 on Aug. 7, 2007, in the last of the slugger’s 22 big league seasons. Bonds hit 762 homers in all. In his third year on the Hall ballot in 2015, Bonds received 202 votes for 36.8 percent from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. A player must garner at least 75 percent of the vote to be elected. Bonds realizes there are plenty of people who still won’t like him or ever consider him a Hall of Famer, those who will always assume he cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs. He knows his legal victory doesn’t assure him a spot in Cooperstown, either. Or change his legacy, whatever that winds up being.
"I don’t mind if people get on me at times, I don’t mind that stuff," Bonds said. "That’s part of the game, that’s part of the business. I know now that I’m retired more so than when I was playing." "I think when you’re playing and you’re giving all you can, you want people to praise you more than being negative toward you. After being away for a while, some people just say you mature a little bit later. Got it after the fact," he said. Bonds also acknowledged how he wasn’t always the nicest guy to be around during his playing days, but, "I was preparing for my job. I thought at that time it was in my way in what I needed to do to go to work. So I was a little more standoffish or whatever you want to call it." A jury found Bonds guilty in 2011 for giving a meandering answer to a federal grand jury in 2003 when asked whether his personal trainer gave him anything that required a syringe for self-injection. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that conviction this past April. Bonds was charged in 2007, four years after his testimony before the grand jury after receiving a grant of immunity. He didn’t dispute that he took steroids, but testified to the grand jury that his former trainer, Greg Anderson, told him they were flaxseed oil and arthritic balm. After a three-week trial, Bonds was convicted for his response to
the question: "Did Greg ever give you anything that required a syringe to inject yourself with?" A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit unanimously upheld the conviction in 2013 but the larger group of judges ruled in April that there was insufficient evidence Bonds’ answer was material to the federal investigation into sports doping. His new passion of bicycling helped him cope with the stresses of his legal issues. "I can say yes. Cycling has. I see the world differently. I always saw it in the car," he said. "I’ve had knee surgeries, back surgeries, hip surgeries, cycling kind of ... I’m an athlete, that’s what I am. That’s what I do. I like to train, that’s what I enjoy to do." Now, with things behind him, Bonds certainly appears relaxed and at ease. He walked across the field to the visitors’ dugout on Thursday afternoon and walked through the tunnel straight to the Washington clubhouse, where he spent nearly 40 minutes inside with Nationals manager Matt Williams, a former teammate. Bonds emerged, smiling, then posed for a photo with Williams and a Nationals employee before their game against the Giants. "So, I’m thankful that it’s over. I’m appreciative of things, and it’s time to just move forward. For me, it’s just move forward," Bonds said of the legal case. "Every day is a good day."
be advisable” given it’s known that human sewage pollution is rife in Rio’s waters. “WHO would support additional viral testing to further inform the risk assessment by authorities and to verify and address concerns raised by independent testing,” Gordon said, indicating it was WHO’s official stance. “In this case, measuring coliphages and enteric viruses would be advisable.” The comments come after Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said earlier this week at a press conference in Rio that the International Olympic Committee ruled out viral testing because the WHO made it “very clear that bacterial testing is what should be followed.” The issue of more robust testing for Rio’s waterways is in the spotlight following an independent, five-month AP analysis published July 30 of samples from each of the venues where athletes will have contact with water. The results showed dangerously high levels of disease-causing viruses from human sewage at all water venues for next year’s games, with an expert’s risk assessment saying it was an almost certainty athletes would be infected by viruses, regardless of their sport, be it rowing, swimming or sailing. That doesn’t automatically mean an athlete would fall ill — that depends on numerous factors, including their immune system. The AP commissioned Brazilian virologist Fernando Spilki of Feevale University to test Rio’s waters for three types of human adenovirus, as well as rotavirus, enterovirus and bacterial fecal coliforms. The viruses can cause stomach and respiratory ailments that would easily knock an athlete out of competition. The viruses can cause more serious, though rarer, ailments including heart and brain inflammation. Brazil and nearly all nations rely on bacterial “markers” to determine the safety of recreational water. However, scientists have been pushing in recent years to include testing for specific disease-causing viruses in waters, as medical experts note that most waterborne illnesses are actually viral in nature. “The WHO absolutely cares about viral pathogens,” Gordon said. “Viral pathogens can absolutely be assumed to be in water that’s impacted by sewage. We know it will be there.” He said that in Rio’s waterways, “we know there is a problem.” “There is massive contamination and it’s sad to see on the news,” he said. “The WHO doesn’t want to see people get sick, whether they’re athletes or residents.” Gordon emphasized that standard bacterial testing should absolutely be done, and that the most important issue of all was not the monitoring but what Rio authorities would do to stop the massive flow of raw sewage into the city’s waterways. For decades, the city has made little headway on building out a sewerage system, with the majority of the city’s sewage not being treated. Olympic officials didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment, sent after hours at the IOC’s Switzerlandbased headquarters. Rio’s local organizing committee said it stood by the IOC’s comments earlier in the week. This weekend, more than 330 sailors from over 50 nations will take to the waters of Rio’s picturesque Guanabara Bay, competing in an Olympic sailing test event. Many of the boats will be launched from a small beach where the AP’s testing found human adenovirus levels 127,000 times what experts would consider highly alarming on a southern California beach.
JOHNSON Continued from Page 1B Despite helping Houston go from fledgling franchise to division champ in less than a decade, Johnson never reached a conference championship game and never played with a true franchise quarterback. Instead he caught passes from the likes of David Carr, Tony Banks, Sage Rosenfels, T.J. Yates, Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Mallett. Matt Schaub proved the best of the bunch. In Indy, things are very different. “I wanted to be at a place that had a stable quarterback,” Johnson said after signing his three-year, $21 million deal in March. “I feel like Andrew (Luck) is arguably the best quarterback in the game.” Luck also wanted the 34year-old receiver, the one he enjoyed watching as he played high school football in Houston, on his side. General manager Ryan Grigson and coach Chuck Pagano chased Johnson for other reasons. With Pro Bowler T.Y. Hilton and second-year receiver Donte Moncrief still developing and former CFL receiver Duron Carter and first-round draft pick Phillip Dorsett trying to find their way as NFL newcomers, the Colts thought Johnson could show the young guys what the consummate pro does. “You watch the way he works,” Moncrief said. “He’s big, but he knows how to get open and how to stay in the league.” Johnson also has a resume that makes the younger guys jealous. —He’s missed 23 games during his career and just one in the past three seasons. —He’s No. 9 on the
NFL’s career receptions list (1,012) and could jump as high as fourth with a solid season in 2015. —He’s No. 11 on the league’s career yardage list (13,597) yards and has a chance to crack the top five this season. —Two years ago, he became the second player in NFL history with five 100catch seasons. Still, after all that success, Johnson has embraced his new role — lining up in the slot more than he ever did in Houston. Plus, with Luck, Hilton and another old college friend, running back Frank Gore, all part of a potentially dynamic offense, Johnson no longer has to carry the team. What the Colts really appreciate about the wily 6-foot-3, 229-pound veteran, though, is his ability to force mismatches, which should open things up for himself and his new teammates. He has impressed Luck, fans and, most important, the Colts coaches with his consistent workouts at Anderson University. “He’s probably going to win more of those (one-onone) situations than he loses,” coach Chuck Pagano said this week. “He’s a big guy, he does have a big catch radius, he can make contested plays in traffic and that’s a plus for us.” It’s a facet Luck & Co. plan to take advantage of all season. And Johnson couldn’t imagine a better situation in which to chase his Super Bowl dream. “I think we have a great team,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to just take one side of the ball, it’s going to take everybody in order for us to get this done as a team.”
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015
Planning can save you time and money. Visit the park’s website so you will know operating hours, policies and show schedules. Here are some more hints gathered from my readers and me: Pick up a map of the park at the front gate. Arrange a set meeting place in case your group gets separated. If you will be in the park after dark, plan for a cool breeze after the sun sets. Pack an extra long-sleeve T-shirt, shawl or beach towel. You can use the towel to sit on if viewing evening shows or wrap around your shoulders when it’s cool. Go midweek if you can –– fewer crowds and less time waiting in lines for rides, shows, restrooms and snack bars. Please follow all safety instructions, especially on a ride or roller coaster. Don’t forget sunscreen and a hat to protect your face. Relax, and enjoy your day! –– Heloise
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
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HELOISE
LITTER SMELL NO MORE Dear Heloise: We have once-a-week trash pickup, and I have two cats. I put the cat-box waste into a plastic bag and add BAKING SODA to the contents, and place it into a separate trash-can liner. This contains the odor. –– Cynthia, San Angelo, Texas Meow, meow! Keeping our furry felines’ “powder room” clean is a priority for humans and felines. Baking soda is just the right thing to freshen all sorts of items around the house. SAVE MONEY Dear Heloise: I keep a box of facial tissue by my kitchen sink. It’s cheaper to use a tissue to clean small spills rather than a paper towel or dishcloth. –– Bunny B. in Las Vegas
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015