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Driver in smuggling tragedy pleads guilty
Border gunbattles leave 11 dead ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Charged for deaths of 10 immigrants By Jason Buch and Guillermo Contreras SA N A NT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS
The semitruck driver who transported dozens of immigrants in his sweltering trailer this summer from Laredo to San Antonio — where police arrested him in a Walmart parking lot and later charged him in the deaths of 10 of the immigrants — pleaded guilty Monday to smuggling. James Matthew Bradley, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and one count of transporting aliens
resulting in death. He faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced by a federal judge in January. On July 23, police responding to a call found the trailer in the parking lot of the Walmart on the South Side. Eight of the 39 undocumented immigrants at the scene were dead, and two later succumbed to heat-related injuries. The dead were from Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. Police found Bradley in the cab, along with a Derringer gun, ammunition and $5,643 in cash, prosecutors revealed Monday. Immigrants interviewed by Guilty continues on A8
Marvin Pfeiffer / San Antonio Express-News
James Matthew Bradley, Jr., center, is escorted into the John H. Wood, Jr. Federal Courthouse to meet with his lawyers on July 26.
NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
REWRITING NAFTA STALLED
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico — A running series of gunbattles caused at least 11 deaths in the northern Mexico border state of Tamauilpas, authorities said Monday. Officials said the shootouts in the border city of Reynosa and the nearby town of Rio Bravo started late Sunday. Gunmen hijacked vehicles and used them to block streets, and spread bent nails to puncture tires to facilitate their getaways. Authorities called in a helicopter to support ground patrols moving to break up the roadblocks. One group of four gunmen was killed near a gas station after they opened fire on a military patrol, officials said. Three other bodies were discovered at other points around Rio Bravo. Police found 13 improvised armored vehicles, which are usually light trucks with welded steel plating. Such vehicles are often used by drug gangs in Tamaulipas. Officers also found six hand grenades, 17 40-mm rifle-launched grenades and about three dozen guns, inMexico continues on A8
U.S. SENATE
GOP supports border wall budget
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, center, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, left, and Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal hold a press conference at the conclusion of the fourth round of negotiations for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
Funds to be set in a trillion-dollar spending bill in December By Erik Wasson BL OOMBERG
Chances for a deal being reached this year are slim By Paul Wiseman A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Talks to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement have stalled over tough American demands, dashing hopes that a deal can be reached this year. A fourth round of negotiations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada ended in mutual exasperation Tuesday. Talks will continue next month in Mexico City and will spill over
into next year. The negotiators had originally hoped to reach an agreement this year — before Mexico’s presidential election and U.S. midterms turn up the political pressure in 2018. President Donald Trump, who called NAFTA a job-killing “disaster” on the campaign trail, has threatened to withdraw from the 23-year-old pact if he can’t get what he wants. Canada and Mexico are balking at America’s demand that a revamped deal do something to
reduce America’s trade deficits. “We have seen no indication that our partners are willing to make any changes that will result in a rebalancing and a reduction in these huge trade deficits,” U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland countered that America’s “unconventional” proposals would “turn back the clock” and warned against a “winner-take-all mindset.” NAFTA ripped down most trade barriers between the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico. Trade surged within the NAFTA bloc, benefiting American farmers who export corn and other products. But many U.S. manufacturers moved production south of the border to take advantage of Mexico’s low labor costs, then shipped goods back to the United States. The influx of imports swelled America’s trade deficit with Mexico, which came to $62 billion last year. (The United States logged an $8 billion trade
Senate Republicans have drafted a Homeland Security spending bill that includes the full $1.6 billion President Donald Trump wants for a wall at the Mexican border, increasing the chances of a shutdown fight before current government funding runs out Dec. 8. Bill author Senator John Boozman of Arkansas told reporters Tuesday the border wall funds would be resolved in a giant trillion-dollar spending bill in December, along with the issue of whether to continue work permits for immigrants
NAFTA continues on A8
Budget continues on A8
Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 18
A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S
First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2017. There are 74 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 18, 1767, the Mason-Dixon line, the boundary between colonial Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, was set as astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey.
The 32nd Distinguished Business Awards banquet. 6 p.m. Laredo Country Club. The Laredo Chamber of Commerce announced the selection of Ermilo Richer Jr. and Ermilo Richer III as Laredo 2017 Businesspersons of the Year. For ticket and sponsorship information, call 956-722-9895 or email miriam@laredochamber.com.
On this date:
SATURDAY, OCT. 21 Dia del Rio Paso del Indio Nature Trail Workday. 7:30 a.m. registration @ Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center (LCC main campus by the windmills). Help the Rio Grande International Study Center mulch, clean and beautify Laredo’s oldest nature trail. Complimentary lunch and T-shirts. Free event. Caleb Jones / AP
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, OCT. 28 Dia Del Rio Loving Laredo Hike at Dusk. 5:30 p.m. Benavides Sports Complex, 600 S. Bartlett. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for a Halloween-inspired hike at the Chacon Hike & Bike Trail with bat watching at dusk at the Meadow Street Bridge. Free event.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, NOV. 4 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions. 8th annual Birdies on the Rio golf tourney. 7 a.m. registration at the Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for the biggest, baddest golf tournament in town. $150 per golfer (all-inclusive). Register at www.rgisc.org.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 8 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 15 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 22 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, DEC. 2 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
In this June 30 photo, Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin speaks at a news conference in Honolulu about President Donald Donald Trump's travel ban.
HAWAII BLOCKS LATEST TRAVEL BAN HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii blocked most of President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban Tuesday, just hours before it was set to take effect, saying the revised order “suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor.” It was the third set of travel restrictions issued by President Donald Trump to be thwarted, in whole or in part, by the courts. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued the ruling after the ban on a set of mostly Muslim countries was challenged by the state of Hawaii, which warned that the restrictions would separate families
ACLU aims to stop transgender bathroom initiative in Montana HELENA, Mont. — The ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of a proposed ballot initiative that would require transgender residents to use public bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their sex at birth. The lawsuit was filed Tues-
and undermine the recruiting of diverse college students. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the ruling “dangerously flawed” and said it “undercuts the president’s efforts to keep the American people safe.” The Justice Department said it will quickly appeal. At issue was a ban, announced in September and set to go into effect early Wednesday, on travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with some Venezuelan government officials and their families. — Compiled from AP reports
day in District Court in Cascade County on behalf of seven transgender Montanans, the parents of a transgender 9year-old and the city of Missoula. The Bozeman City Commission voted Monday to join the effort. “This proposed measure legalizes discrimination,” said Alex Rate, legal director for the ACLU of Montana. The ACLU and the plaintiffs argue the Locker Room Privacy Act would deprive transgender Montanans of equal protection under the law and
violate their rights to privacy, dignity and due process. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the initiative unconstitutional and to prevent Secretary of State Corey Stapleton from placing it on the November 2018 ballot. The Montana Family Foundation is sponsoring the initiative. Foundation president Jeff Lazloffy has argued that predators claim they are transgender to access public bathrooms used by the opposite sex. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD Foreign experts to help Malta investigate reporter’s killing VALLETTA, Malta — A Dutch forensic team arrived in Malta on Tuesday to help investigate the car bomb slaying of a journalist who scrutinized the country’s top politicians and other powerful figures, an official said, as angry Maltese demanded the truth about who killed the anti-corruption crusader. Maltese Home Minister Michael Farrugia said FBI agents also would be sent to the Mediterranean island in the coming days to assist police in Monday’s killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, who exposed Maltese links to offshore tax havens through the Panama Paper leaks. “My mother was assassinated
Rene Rossignaud / AP
Candles sit next to the Love Monument in St. Julian on Tuesday, the day after the killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
because she stood between the rule of law and those who sought to violate it, like many strong journalists,” one of three sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, wrote on Facebook. “But she was also targeted because she was the only person doing so. This is what happens
when the institutions of the state are incapacitated,” he wrote. It was unclear who might have engineered the bombing. Her car exploded, spinning in the air and landing as a fiery hulk in a field, right after she left her home Monday afternoon. — Compiled from AP reports
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Ten years ago: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, ending eight years of self-imposed exile; a suicide bombing in a crowd welcoming her killed more than 140 people, but Bhutto escaped unhurt. Five years ago: In a case that would reach the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and said the gay population had "suffered a history of discrimination."
One year ago: President Barack Obama hosted his final state dinner as he welcomed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, to the White House. The Toronto Blue Jays staved off elimination in the American League Championship Series, beating the Cleveland Indians 5-1 in Game 4. In the National League contest, the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 series lead by defeating the Chicago Cubs 6-0. Today's Birthdays: Sportscaster Keith Jackson is 89. Actress Dawn Wells is 79. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is 78. Singer-musician Russ Giguere is 74. Actor Joe Morton is 70. Actress Pam Dawber is 67. Author Terry McMillan is 66. Writer-producer Chuck Lorre is 65. Gospel singer Vickie Winans is 64. Director-screenwriter David Twohy is 62. International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 61. International Hall of Fame boxer Thomas Hearns is 59. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 57. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 56. Actor Vincent Spano is 55. Rock musician Tim Cross is 51. Tennis player Michael Stich is 49. Singer Nonchalant is 44. Actress Joy Bryant is 43. Rock musician Peter Svenson (The Cardigans) is 43. Actor Wesley Jonathan is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer-actor Ne-Yo is 38. Country singer Josh Gracin is 37. Country musician Jesse Littleton (Marshall Dyllon) is 36. Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn is 33. Jazz singermusician Esperanza Spalding is 33. Actress-model Freida Pinto is 33. Actor Zac Efron is 30. Actress Joy Lauren is 28. TV personality Bristol Palin is 27. Actor Tyler Posey is 26. Actor Toby Regbo is 26.
Thought for Today: "I do not prize the word cheap. It is not a badge of honor ... it is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country!" — President William McKinley (1843-1901).
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WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
In 1685, King Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes that had established legal toleration of France's Protestant population, the Huguenots. In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. The cornerstone was laid for Baltimore City Hall. In 1892, the first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened (it could only handle one call at a time). In 1922, the British Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (later the British Broadcasting Corp.) was founded. In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, New Jersey, at age 84. In 1944, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II. In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio. In 1967, the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine (which carried a cover date of Nov. 9) was published. In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers. In 1982, former first lady Bess Truman died at her home in Independence, Missouri, at age 97. In 1997, a monument honoring American servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
AROUND TEXAS Spurs’ Gregg Popovich labels Donald Trump ‘a soulless coward’ SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has called President Donald Trump “a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling
others” in response to Trump’s comment Monday that former President Barack Obama and other commanders in chief “didn’t make calls” to families of fallen soldiers. Former Obama staffers and a spokesman for former President George W. Bush pushed back on Trump’s comments. The White House press secretary said that Trump wasn’t criticizing his predecessors.
Popovich has been an outspoken critic of Trump, but tells The Nation magazine that Trump’s comments Monday were “beyond the pale” and “as low as it gets.” He calls Trump “a pathological liar in the White House, unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it.” — Compiled from AP reports
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 |
STATE
NTSB: Balloon crash pilot was probably impaired By Paul J. Weber A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN, Texas — The pilot in the deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history was probably impaired by Valium, opioids and cold and allergy medicine when he ignored weather warnings and flew the ride into a power line, investigators said Tuesday. Besides Valium and oxycodone, there was enough of the over-thecounter antihistamine Benadryl in Alfred “Skip” Nichols’ system to mimic “the impairing effect of a blood-alcohol level” of a drunken driver, said Dr. Nicholas Webster, a National Transportation Safety Board medical officer. During a meeting in Washington, NTSB revealed its findings about the July 2016 crash near Austin that killed all 16 people aboard. Investigators scolded the Federal Aviation Administration for lax enforcement of the ballooning industry and recommended that balloon pilots submit to the same medical checks
Cliff Owen / AP
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators Dr. Nick Webster, left, Capt. David Lawrence, center, and Paul Suffers present their findings as the NTSB announces its findings in the investigation of the balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas that killed 16 people, at their Washington headquarters Tuesday.
as airplane pilots. Nichols, 49, had at least four prior convictions for drunken driving, though no alcohol was found in his system after the crash. Investigators said Nichols was told during a weather briefing before the flight that clouds may be a problem. He brushed off the warning. “We just fly in between them,” Nichols allegedly answered back, according to NTSB investigators. “We find a hole and we go.” Visibility was 10 miles
about two hours before the balloon took off from a Walmart parking lot near the rural town of Lockhart but had diminished to just 2 miles before the ride began. Investigators said Nichols told his psychiatrist three months before the crash that he was not using his antidepressant medication and that his psychiatrist documented his mood as “not good.” Nichols was prescribed 13 medications and was also being treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
known as ADHD, which investigators say also was a contributing factor. The final public hearing by the NTSB into the crash wasn’t the first time the federal government’s crash-site investigators have urged the FAA to more closely regulate the balloon industry. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt ripped the FAA and questioned why the agency was endorsing voluntary pilot requirements written by the Balloon Federation of America instead of tightening regulations. “Why is the FAA promoting it? It is not an FAA program,” Sumwalt said. “The FAA is treating this as the be-all, end-all. They are abdicating their responsibility to provide oversight. They are saying, ‘The BFA will take care of this so we do not have to do anything.’ That is what is sad.” The FAA said in a statement that it will carefully consider the NTSB recommendations but did not address Sumwalt’s criticism.
A3
‘Cite and release’ for marijuana cases passed in Dallas ASSOCIATED PRE SS
DALLAS — Dallas County commissioners have approved a “cite and release” program that allows police in Dallas to issue a court summons to those found possessing less than 4 ounces of marijuana instead of taking them to jail. The Dallas Morning News reports commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to allow the program. The measure had been passed
by the Dallas City Council but required county approval for implementation. Officials say the program will start Dec. 1. Supporters say “cite and release” frees up police to focus on violent crimes. Commissioner John Wiley Price was the only vote against the measure. He felt it didn’t go far enough to help defendants and was unfair to people found with marijuana in areas of the county outside Dallas.
Mayor: Major part of Rockport will not be rebuilt after Harvey ASSOCIATED PRE SS
VICTORIA, Texas — The mayor of the Gulf Coast community of Rockport says Hurricane Harvey destroyed about a third of the town and that 30 to 35 percent of it will probably never be rebuilt. Mayor Charles “C.J.” Wax said during a panel discussion Tuesday in Victoria that only about 300 businesses out of the 1,300 in Rockport have reopened since Harvey came ashore in August.
Wax says people know Rockport as the city of trees but most were lost as crews have removed nearly 800,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris. Wax was joined by three other mayors of communities devastated by Harvey. They spoke as part of a discussion hosted by the Texas Tribune. Port Aransas Mayor Charles Bujan told the panel that 75 percent of the homes in his community were either severely damaged or destroyed.
Zopinion
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A4 | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Will pumpkin spice destroy the world? By Frank Bruni N EW YORK T I ME S NEWS S ERVIC E
There are villains out there of infinitely greater consequence than the one I’m about to describe, and the news of late teems with them. But surely we still have the levity, and the taste buds, to look past the White House and beyond Hollywood and tremble before a lesser boogeyman. Boogey thing, really, because I’m talking about a flavor and not a figure, a scent instead of a gent. Lock the refrigerator, bolt the cupboards and barricade the pantry. Pumpkin spice is here. And there. And everywhere. This is fall, after all, and that’s when we’re awash in pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice cereal, pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin spice doughnuts. They used to stage their invasion on the cusp of Halloween. Now they barely wait for September to take over the world. One day we’re still catching the faint perfume of Coppertone on summer-bronzed arms; the next we’re trapped, aromatically speaking, inside an enormous orange gourd. It happens that quickly, that insidiously: a zombie apocalypse, if the zombies wore nutmeg cologne. And it really must stop. But it won’t. It can’t. I finally realize that, because at last I see that pumpkin spice is more than a curiosity, bigger than a phenomenon. Pumpkin spice is America. It’s invention run amok, marketing gone mad, the odoriferous emblem of commercialism without compunction or bounds. It’s the transformation of an illusion — there isn’t any spice called pumpkin, nor any pumpkin this spicy — into a reality. Oh, hell, let’s just go there: It’s Donald Trump. I don’t mean the color of his hair, though pumpkin spice is as good a description of it as any. I mean that pumpkin spice became special by shamelessly insisting that it was and ruthlessly creeping into every corner of the culture that was docile, dippy or lazy enough to accommodate it. I mean that it began as a novelty: Ooh, pumpkin spice, what’s em>that/em>? Our curiosity became our attention, our attention became our submission, and suddenly pumpkin spice owned us. It was barring refugees, hectoring impressionable Boy Scouts, undermining Obamacare and telling us it had a higher IQ than Rex Tillerson. For fun it golfed, even with Rand Paul. Pumpkin spice historians trace its origins as a sensory superstar to Starbucks in 2003. If Howard Schultz runs for president, he’ll have to answer for this. The chain’s pumpkin spice latte debuted then and instantly took off — it would eventually establish its own Twitter account, with more than 100,000 followers — and then American entrepreneurs did what they do best: glommed onto a lucrative thing and beat it into the ground. Before long there were pumpkin spice pancakes, pumpkin spice almonds, pumpkin spice marsh-
One day we’re still catching the faint perfume of Coppertone on summer-bronzed arms; the next we’re trapped, aromatically speaking, inside an enormous orange gourd. It happens that quickly, that insidiously: a zombie apocalypse, if the zombies wore nutmeg cologne.
mallows. There was pumpkin spice vodka. There was even pumpkin spice candy corn, a feat of fakery atop fakery that’s almost too much to digest. It’s the culinary equivalent of staring into the void. Pumpkin spice speaks to our talent for lying, especially to ourselves and in particular about what we eat. Although pumpkin spice products wear sylvan, seasonal drag, evoking autumn leaves and the harvest, they’re as far from the earth as Sandra Bullock in all but the last minutes of “Gravity.” “A processed food flavor” is how my former colleague Michael Moss described pumpkin spice in a New York Times exposé of sorts — about a “spice,” no less! — that made clear that there is often “little or no actual pumpkin in it.” Sometimes there are slight vestiges of genuine clove and vague traces of honest-to-goodness cinnamon. Frequently there are just chemical impostors. Somehow we accept the association, foisted on us, of these counterfeit confections with a chill in the air, a Jack-o’-lantern on the stoop and a Butterball in the oven. Pumpkin spice exploits our suggestibility and relies on our conformity, pegging us as pliant lemmings. Along it comes and en masse we march over the cliff of epicurean and olfactory logic. And yet. We have this nick-of-time knack for knowing when we’ve reached peak lunacy and poking wicked fun at ourselves. That’s our saving and self-effacing grace, and pumpkin spice points the way to it. Mother Jones magazine recently published a roundup of pumpkin spice ridiculousness: pumpkin spice fettuccine, pumpkin spice pet shampoo, even pumpkin spice underarm deodorant. The website Eater maintains an inventory of “foods that have no business being pumpkin spiced” but that nonetheless met that gastronomic damnation. It includes pumpkin spice bagels, pumpkin spice yogurt pretzels, pumpkin spice kale chips and pumpkin spice Kahlua. “Saturday Night Live” lampooned the pumpkin spice obsession in a fake commercial that imagined a pumpkin spice “intimate care wash” from the makers of Summer’s Eve — Autumn’s Eve. It was raunchy, hilarious and a sign of light at the end of this perversely pungent tunnel. We can take only so much pumpkin spice, and its days at Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s are numbered. Maybe its days at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., too.
COMMENTARY
NAFTA: Mend it, don’t end it. By Jared Bernstein WASHINGTON P O ST
Let me start by saying I think NAFTA should be improved, not scuttled. I’ve long advocated for updated rules of the road for international trade, but roads need rules, just better ones, where “better” means rebalancing workers’ and investors’ rights. That said, the reporting on the renegotiation process, now in round 4, has sometimes exaggerated potential tariff impacts. First, should the renegotiation fail and the United States pull out of NAFTA, tariffs would rise and, again, let me be unequivocal: That should be avoided. The smooth functioning of a North American trading bloc would be facilitated by an agreement, though not just any agreement. But here’s what I haven’t seen reported much: If NAFTA were to unravel, tariffs would be set by the World Trade Organization’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) rules.
But let’s look at some of these tariffs that would prevail. Our two biggest agricultural exports to Mexico are corn and soybeans. According to Lori Wallach, with whom I’ve written on these issues, under the WTO’s actual, or “applied,” MFN tariff rates, over 90 percent of corn and 70 percent of soybeans would still be traded duty-free. Now, the MFN tariff rates on different agricultural goods jump around. Frozen pork carcasses face 20 percent; smoked pork bellies face 10 percent. If you’re thinking this is pretty arbitrary and unnecessarily complex, I agree, which is another reason to mend, not end, the agreement. But if you consider the trade-weighted, applied MFN tariff levels based on current trade flows between the three NAFTA signatories, the average tariffs without NAFTA are 2.7 percent for the United States, 4.6 percent for Mexico and 2.4 percent for Canada. That’s not duty-free, I
grant you, nor is it a desirable outcome. But it’s not a disaster either, and those rates are much smaller than many you see reported. Next, the status-quo purveyors are out in force, with little recognition that the nation’s views on the downsides of trade have shifted in influential ways. Somehow the election of Trump and the threat of wrongheaded, damaging, populist responses to globalization has failed to enter their consciousness, at least to the point where they’re willing to recognize that some renegotiation on behalf of workers — on all sides of the border — are necessary. As Wallach has written, a better NAFTA would include a “major rollback” of the investor dispute settlement mechanism. As it stands, individual corporations can circumvent domestic courts and challenge governments by going before tribunals of three corporate lawyers to demand compensation from a host country’s taxpayers for alleged
breaches of investor protections. Though I understand the uncertainty that the review period could inject, I think it’s worth it as it adds what’s been lacking the most from the trade agreements crafted over the past few decades (really, the past few centuries): transparency and good, old-fashioned democratic accountability. This mattered less when the downsides of globalization were less clear, before the relentless pressure of persistent trade deficits on communities built around manufacturing were so acutely felt. For years, establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle could ignore those pressures with impunity. They can no longer do so, and the NAFTA renegotiation presents us with a realtime test of whether the system recognizes that reality, or remains in denial. Of course, failure to renew the agreement is a risk, but so is the status quo.
EDITORIAL
Facebook must begin preparation for the next United States election BL OOMBERG
By nearly any measure, Facebook Inc. is an extraordinary success. Its market capitalization exceeds $500 billion. Its user base outnumbers all but one continent. Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive officer, is one of the world’s wealthiest people. No one should begrudge Facebook (or Zuckerberg) this success. Yet as it begins to play a more central role in American media and politics, the public has a right to expect it to accept the responsibilities that come with its growing power and influence. Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation and have pledged to bring more transparency to political advertising on the network. Such ads proved immensely powerful during the 2016 election — Donald Trump’s digital guru says they were “how he won” — yet they’re
free from the kind of disclosure required of television and radio ads. That no longer makes sense: Campaigns spent $1.4 billion on digital advertising in 2016, more than they spent on cable TV, while 67 percent of Americans now say they get news from social media. The company has announced it is hiring 1,000 people to manually review ads with significant political content. It will also require more disclosure of ad buyers and will make ads available for anyone to see, by visiting the buyer’s Facebook page. Those are positive steps, but the company can go further. The public has a right to expect Facebook and its competitors to be more alert to intrusions by foreign governments. It’s now clear that Russia engaged in a pervasive online campaign to sow discord in U.S. politics and help elect Trump. In part, it did so by using fake accounts and buying divi-
sive advertising on social media — including some worth $100,000 so far disclosed by Facebook, which may have reached 10 million Americans. Better controls are necessary to ensure foreign governments and entities aren’t running political ads — admittedly a tough task as effective political ads need never mention a candidate or election. Nevertheless, Facebook could start by opening up more of its data to outside security researchers and sharing more information with government officials and other tech companies. On this score, the industry’s counterterrorism efforts could serve as a model. All this will require investing in people and technology. Fortunately, Facebook is not short of resources. And then there’s the company’s vaunted ability to innovate: Once Facebook acknowledged that the proliferation of fake news on its network was a problem, for instance, it soon found that a rela-
tively simple flagging system could reduce the reach of such hoaxes by 80 percent. Similar ingenuity can be brought to bear on these other challenges. Part of Facebook’s genius has been profiting from media content produced by others, not paying for the reporting, researching, editing, fact-checking and lawyering that good journalism requires. The problem is that such hard work is what upholds standards, prevents hoaxes, educates voters, shapes civil discourse, holds politicians to account, and generally stands between democracy and the abyss. Facebook is not, as Sandberg and Zuckerberg are fond of pointing out, a traditional media company. That simple fact, however — for which its shareholders are undoubtedly grateful — does not allow it to abdicate its civic responsibilities to the political system in which it has flourished.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 |
A5
CRIME
8 men face Houston’s ‘Tourniquet Killer’ set for lethal injection sex-trafficking By Michael Graczyk A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A stick was used to tightly twist a cord from a window blind around the neck of a 21-yearold woman found strangled and dumped in the driveShore thru lane of a Houston Dairy Queen in 1992. Maria del Carmen Estrada’s slaying went unsolved for more than a decade until a tiny particle collected from beneath her fingernail matched the DNA of convicted sex offender Anthony Allen Shore. Shore, 55, whose signature killing method prompted him to be dubbed Houston’s “Tourniquet Killer,” was set for lethal injection Wednesday evening for her murder. He’d be the seventh Texas inmate executed this year. He’d also be the 21st prisoner put to death nationally, one more than the total number carried out in the U.S. in 2016. When police arrested Shore, who was on pro-
bation for his 1998 conviction for sexually assaulting two relatives, he confessed to killing Estrada and three others, including a 9-year-old and two teenage girls. All were Hispanic. Three had been sexually assaulted. “There were voices in my head that I was going to have her, regardless, to possess her in some way,” Shore, a former tow truck driver, phone company repairman and part-time musician, told detectives about Estrada. She was walking to work about 6:30 a.m. on April 16, 1992, when he offered her a ride that she accepted. It wasn’t until five years after Shore’s DNA went into a state database following his 1998 sexual assault conviction that the match to Estrada’s death was made. At his trial in 2004, with the confession and DNA results in evidence, a jury convicted him of capital murder. The next day, Shore’s lawyers told jurors that against their judgment and advice, their client wanted it known he wanted the death penalty. Jurors then heard four days of prosecution evidence
about the three other slayings and heard from three women who testified he raped them. The trial judge ultimately asked Shore directly if his lawyers’ statements about him wanting the death penalty were accurate. Shore replied: “This is very accurate.” His Harris County jury decided he should die. In appeals, lawyers appointed for Shore argued he suffered from brain damage early in life that his trial attorneys didn’t discover and the brain injury affected his decision about wanting the death penalty. A federal appeals court earlier this year turned down his appeal and two weeks ago the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case. The six-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected a clemency petition Monday. “I would describe Anthony’s demeanor as that of any condemned man, that even though his life is severely altered by being in prison, especially on death row, he would rather have that than death,” Knox Nun-
FBI arrests three men in cartel-linked crime in Fort Worth A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
FORT WORTH, Texas — FBI agents in Fort Worth have arrested three men accused of trying to collect money in a kidnapping and extortion scheme involving a fourth man who claims ties to a Mexican drug cartel. The Star-Telegram reports that 21-year-old Fernando Cabrera, 19year-old Nygul Anderson and 18-year-old Albert Gonzalez have been charged with conspiracy to possess extortion proceeds. A juvenile was also arrested during the alleged ransom drop at Fort Worth’s Home Depot last week but hasn’t been charged. Police say the suspects traveled to the store to pick up $100,000 from a man who was receiving threatening calls from a Mexican phone number. The caller allegedly told the man he worked with a cartel and would kidnap and kill his brothers if the money wasn’t dropped off. Anderson says the men were getting the money for Cabrera’s relative.
nally, one of Shore’s attorneys, said. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has described Shore as a “true serial killer” who terrorized young Hispanic females in the Houston area for years. Besides Estrada, Shore confessed to the slayings of Laurie Tremblay, 15, found beside a trash bin outside a Houston restaurant in 1986; Diana Rebollar, 9, abducted while walking to a neighborhood grocery store in 1994; and Dana Sanchez, 16, who disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking to her boyfriend’s home in Houston.
charges ASSOCIATED PRE SS
FORT WORTH, Texas — Federal authorities have arrested eight men in North Texas on charges they sold women, including at least three juveniles, to have sex with men who had responded to online advertising. Officials said in a statement Tuesday that the men, ranging in age from 24 to 33, are each facing sex-trafficking charges and are in federal custody. Authorities say Fort
Worth police in March were acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children when they found a juvenile being sold for sex. Fort Worth investigators found photos of the girl advertised on the site Backpage.com. Police also found two other juveniles in a closet of the hotel room where they found the first girl. Authorities say the men were often violent if the victims didn’t comply with orders.
Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Caminata contra cáncer 1 El sábado 21 de octubre se llevará a cabo la cuarta caminata anual Walk All Over Cancer! Inscripciones en el Ayuntamiento llamando al 956-849-1411 x 9241 o al 956-844-1428. Caminata iniciará en Citizens State Bank y termina en el Centro Comuniario de Roma.
Consulado móvil 1 El Consulado móvil de salud visitará Zapata el 28 de octubre. Las personas con algún problema de salud pueden asistir para ser referidos con aliados que puedan ayudarlos. Se estarán emitiendo servicios de documentación como pasaportes mexicanos y matrícula consular.
Pago de impuestos 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St.
Pago en línea 1 Los residentes de la Ciudad de Roma pueden pagar el servicio del agua en línea las 24 horas del día.
Llenado de aplicaciones 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez para una cita en el centro comunitario o en su domicilio al 956246-7177.
Laboratorio Computacional 1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956-849-1411.
COMISIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LÍMITES Y AGUAS
PATRULLA FRONTERIZA
Estudio muestra condiciones alarmantes Por John MacCormack SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS
Un estudio de seguridad realizado por la Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas (IBWC por sus siglas en inglés) en las presas ubicadas a lo largo de la frontera de Estados Unidos y México ha mostrado condiciones preocupantes. “La inspección de seguridad arrojó deficiencias urgentes y de suma prioridad en cinco presas de seis”, se lee en una sección del reporte de Justificación Presupuestaria 2018 del Congreso, en la cual se hicieron comentarios especiales a la presa Amistad ubicada en el Condado Val Verde. El reporte también señala que de nueva cuenta no se asignaron fondos a la IBWC este año para reparar defectos en las presas. El estudio de seguridad fue realizado por la “Junta de Asesores Técnicos, el cual incluye al Cuerpo de Ingenieros del Ejército de los Estados Unidos”. La IBWC es una agencia binacional que se ocupa de los asuntos relacionados con los tratados y el agua, incluida la demarcación de límites, la calidad del agua, el control de inundaciones en la
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News
ARCHIVO — Pescadores en la presa Falcón el miércoles 19 de abril de 2017. Un estudio realizado por la Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas ha mostrado condiciones preocupantes en cinco presas ubicadas a lo largo de la frontera.
frontera y la propiedad nacional de aguas. También supervisa la presa Morelos en el río Colorado en California, y cinco presas en el río Bravo, desde la presa Retamal al este de McAllen hasta la presa American en El Paso. Entre ellas se encuentran las presas Amistad y Falcón, que crean grandes depósitos binacionales de agua. En gran parte, se desconoce exactamente qué presas tienen qué problemas. Tampoco está claro si alguna representa un riesgo de seguridad pública. Citando razones de seguridad y confidencialidad de la agencia, un funcionario de la IBWC se negó a poner a dispos-
ición el informe de seguridad o permitir a un periodista hablar con un ingeniero sobre las presas. La agencia también se ha negado a divulgar el informe de seguridad y documentos relacionados en respuesta a solicitudes de la Ley de Libertad de Información. "No hay nada que pueda darte. Está exento de la IBWC", dijo la vocera de la IBWC, Lori Kuczmanski. "No podemos divulgar nuestras vulnerabilidades. Eso es realmente de lo que se trata. Estas son presas binacionales", agregó. Los cinco congresistas de Texas cuyos distritos incluyen al río Bravo tampoco respondieron a
solicitudes hechas por el San Antonio ExpressNews a través de correos electrónicos para comentar sobre el informe de seguridad. El informe del Congreso también señala problemas con la presa American y el canal American, que proporcionan agua de riego para El Paso. “Se encuentra en muy mal estado y requiere de un reemplazo antes que colapse”, se lee en el reporte, aparentemente refiriéndose al canal. Al discutir la presa Amistad, al norte de Del Rio, el reporte delineó problemas específicos. "El diseño final del proyecto para la reparación de socavones en la presa Amistad se proyecta para diciembre de 2017", señala el informe, al tiempo que agrega que los trabajos de reparación comenzarán en una fecha que aún no se determina. "El inicio de la fase de construcción... sigue siendo diferido hasta años futuros. Se espera que el costo de estas mejoras sea bastante significativo. Dado que es un proyecto binacional, la Comisión Mexicana de Límites y Aguas Internacionales participa técnica y financieramente", señala el informe.
Agentes arrestan a cinco personas Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Una pareja llevó a agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza a una persecución en un vehículo donde viajaban inmigrantes indocumentados, dijeron oficiales federales. El martes por la madrugada, ciudadanos preocupados reportaron que habían visto a individuos subir a un Dodge Durante en el vecindario El Azteca, dijeron las autoridades. Los agentes siguieron el vehículo al área de la avenida Springfield y la calle Gale, donde terminó la persecución. Miguel Contreras, supervisor de operaciones especiales de la Patrulla Fronteriza, dijo que los agentes tomaron custodia del conductor y la pasajera. Los agentes también detuvieron a tres personas que supuestamente habían cruzado la frontera ilegalmente. Mientras la investigación continua, Contreras dijo se espera que la pareja se enfrente a cargos de tráfico humano.
DEPARTAMENTO DE BOMBEROS DEL CONDADO DE ZAPATA
PREPARAN A ESTUDIANTES EN CASO DE SINIESTRO
Museo en Zapata 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83. Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956-765-8983.
Grupos de apoyo 1 Grupo de apoyo para personas con Alzheimer se reúne el primer martes de cada mes en el Laredo Medical Center, primer piso, Torre B en el Centro Comunitario a las 7 p.m. 1 Grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital. 1 Grupo de Apoyo para Ansiedad y Depresión Rayo de Luz. En Centro de Educación del Área de Salud, ubicado en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. El grupo se reúne de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430, cada primer lunes de mes.
Cortesía / Distrito Escolar Independiente del Condado de Zapata
Estudiantes de Arturo L. Benavides Elementary School recibieron una presentación por parte del Departamento de Bomberos del Condado de Zapata, sobre cómo responder y mantenerse a salvo en caso de un incendio.
GUERRERO AYER Y HOY
Sensibilizan para el rescate Nota del editor: Esta serie de artículos sobre la historia de Ciudad Guerrero, México, fueron escritos por la guerrerense Lilia Treviño Martínez (1927-2016), quien fuera profesora de la escuela Leoncio Leal. Por Lilia Treviño Martínez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Al retirarse las aguas del poblado, las ruinas de la ciudad
quedaron al descubierto; afloraron los tesoros arquitectónicos escondidos, y con ello la Antigua Ciudad Guerrero recobró su papel protagónico. Los estudiosos de una región cada vez más amplia los descubrieron, y se inició la romería en forma de grupos ansiosos de conocer, fotografiar, rescatar, y obtener, en forma gratuita e ilegal, un recuerdo de inestimable valor. Víctima de saqueos y latroci-
nios, sin vigilancia adecuada, sin saberse a quién pertenecía todo aquello, sin que hubiera una instancia con responsabilidad definida, la ciudad inerme ya casi en ruinas, se alzaba reclamando atención. Se impuso la necesidad de “hacer algo”. Y el 18 de mayo de 1992, un grupo de personas, en su mayor parte guerrerenses movidos por su amor al terruño, y encabeza-
dos por el Dr. Rubén Flores Gutiérrez, se reunieron para intercambiar opiniones y tomar algunos acuerdos previos. Asistieron a esta reunión el Delegado Federal de Turismo, Oscar Morales, y el Presidente Municipal, Eloy González Garza. “El Mañana” de Nuevo Laredo, no tardó en difundir la noticia: “Claman rescate histórico en Nueva Ciudad Guerrero”, decía el 23 de ese mismo mes de mayo.
Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 |
A7
NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS
Herman still talking rebuilding at 3-3 Longhorns host Oklahoma State in another tough test on Saturday By Jim Vertuno A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — Midway through a first season most notable for two close losses, an emerging freshman quarterback and an off-hand “fairy dust” comment, Tom Herman has a 3-3 team that is not really any closer to reaching a bowl game than Charlie Strong’s last one was. When asked to grade his program so far, Herman gave his players top marks for effort if not for results “We’re well on schedule in terms of our effort level and physicality,” Herman said this week after Texas lost 29-24 to rival Oklahoma. “I told our assistant coaches at the start training camp if we can get them to play hard and play physical we’ll have a chance to be in every game. ... We’re here for a reason and that’s to rebuild this thing from a bunch of years of mediocrity and sub-mediocrity. “We understand that’s going to take time,” Herman said. “We also want to win right now.” Herman is at Texas because Texas got tired of seven years of not winning a Big 12 title and three straight years of losing.
Ron Jenkins / Associated Press
Texas head coach Tom Herman and the Longhorns are 3-3 at the midway point of the college football season.
Strong’s last team started 3-3 and finished 5-7, missing a bowl game for the second straight season. The back half of this year’s schedule doesn’t look much easier. Tenth-ranked Oklahoma State visits this Saturday with games still to come at No. 4 TCU and No. 23 West Virginia, and a season finale against improving Texas Tech. The only two games most would consider easy wins are on the road at winless Baylor and home against Kansas, one of
WNBA: SAN ANTONIO STARS
the worst road teams in college football history. (This is where Texas fans would gently remind Herman the Longhorns lost at Kansas last season, a defeat that sealed Strong’s fate.) Herman isn’t coaching on short time. Texas gave him a long-term contract that guarantees him more than $25 million and he’ll get time to turn things around. Herman said the only thing that surprised him over the first six games was an ugly, season-opening loss to Mary-
land in which the Longhorns gave up 51 points, the most they’d surrendered at home in 20 years. Texas fans bristled at his post-game comment that he could just sprinkle “fairy dust” on the program to turn it into a winner again. “The first game surprised me. Surprised everybody. A lot of introspection after that one,” Herman said. “The way that we responded from that was awesome.” Texas shut out San Jose State the next week and the Longhorns had a late-fourth quarter lead at then-No. 4 USC before losing in overtime. Freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger has pumped life in the offense with his tough running and lategame play making. Ehlinger seized on the chance to play after last season’s regular starter Shane Buechele got hurt, and he hasn’t let it go. “I think we’re going to come together as a team. We’re going to translate this pain of losing (to Oklahoma) so we can be the best we can be moving forward,” Ehlinger said. A question over the next six games will be Ehlinger’s durability. He was injured much of his senior season in high
school and took a beating from Oklahoma last week. That Ehlinger has emerged as Texas’ best rusher is a concern. “I worry about it. We don’t want our quarterback carrying it 20-22 times. If you’ve got to have it to win the game, we’ll do it,” Herman said. “He’s like a wild horse right now, trying to tame him. You don’t want to take away his energy.” Texas at least seems to be closing the gap with top teams. Strong’s teams lost 11 games by at least 21 points over the previous three seasons. The 2017 Longhorns are just a handful of plays from being 5-1. But even those stats could create the false optimism of moral victories. In his last season, four of Strong’s last five losses were by five points or less, starting with a fivepoint loss to Oklahoma. Herman said he didn’t set reaching a bowl game as a minimum standard for his first season. “We’ve never said we want to make a bowl game or we want to beat Oklahoma or we want to beat USC,” Herman said. “We said we want to be in the conversation for the Big 12 title in the month of November and December.”
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
NFL PLAYERS, OWNERS HOLD ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TALKS ON ISSUES
Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images file
The San Antonio Stars are relocating to Las Vegas to become the first professional basketball team in Vegas.
San Antonio Stars set to 11 owners, more than a dozen players discussed social issues relocate to Las Vegas
Richard Drew / Associated Press
Former NFL football player Anquan Boldin, left, Philadelphia’s Malcolm Jenkins, center, and San Francisco’s Eric Reid, right, along with a few other players met with owners over anthem protests.
By Barry Wilner ASSOCIATED PRE SS
By Doug Feinberg A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — The WNBA says the San Antonio Stars are being bought by MGM Resorts International and moving to Las Vegas, joining the NFL and NHL with teams tied to the gambling mecca. The Stars will begin play next season with home games at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. MGM, an owner of about a dozen casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, has hired Bill Laimbeer as the team’s president of basketball operations and coach. WNBA president Lisa Borders said Tuesday the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the relocation. This will be the first professional basketball team in Las Vegas, which has become a coveted target for sports teams over the past few years. The expansion Vegas Golden Knights began their first NHL season this month. In March, the NFL approved the Oakland Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas by the 2020 season.
NEW YORK — NFL players and owners met Tuesday to discuss social issues, a session Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross called “constructive” and Colts defensive back Darius Butler termed “positive.” A group of 11 owners and more than a dozen players met at the league’s headquarters. Among the topics discussed was enhancing the players’ platforms for speaking out on social issues. “We heard what they had to say and they heard us,” Ross said. “It’s open talks and that’s a good thing.” Ross said the NFL’s policy on the national anthem “did not come up.” That policy states that the players “should” stand for the anthem, and some have suggested the league would seek to change that to “must” stand. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to the teams last week that the NFL prefers for players to stand during “The StarSpangled Banner.” Butler, who played Monday night in Nashville before attending the meeting hours
later, said both sides are headed in the right direction. He said the players delivered “our perspective. Obviously it’s a different perspective. I think that’s the most important thing when it comes to these issues is perspective and respecting everyone’s rights regardless of how they feel.” The players’ union and the league issued a joint statement just before the annual fall owners meetings began. “Today owners and players had a productive meeting focused on how we can work together to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities,” the statement said. “NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together. “As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military. In the best American tradition, we are coming to-
gether to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change.” On hand at the meeting were Goodell and the league’s football operations chief, former player Troy Vincent; and owners Michael Bidwill (Arizona), Arthur Blank (Atlanta), Terry Pegula (Buffalo), Robert McNair (Houston), Shad Khan (Jacksonville), Ross, Robert Kraft (New England), John Mara (New York Giants), Art Rooney (Pittsburgh), Jeffrey Lurie (Philadelphia) and Jed York (San Francisco). Representing the players were NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, union president Eric Winston, former player Anquan Boldin, and current players Butler (Indianapolis), Russell Okung (Los Angeles Chargers), Kenny Stills, Julius Thomas and Michael Thomas (Miami), Mark Herzlich (New York Giants), Kelvin Beachum and Demario Davis (New York Jets), Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long (Philadelphia), Eric Reid (San Francisco) and Josh Norman (Washington). Earlier, outside of the hotel where the owners are meeting, two dozen supporters of Black
Lives Matter New York held a rally backing the players for speaking out — particularly former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the anthem last year in protest of racial injustice in America. Demonstrations during the anthem increased when President Donald Trump called the players unpatriotic if they knelt during the anthem, with both players and league executives saying the meaning of the protests has been misconstrued by the president and his supporters. At a game earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence walked out of Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium after several 49ers knelt during the anthem. Jenkins said after the meeting that Kaepernick had been invited but didn’t attend. Also Tuesday, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was confronted by two people in the lobby of the Manhattan hotel where the owners are meeting. The protesters shouted at him about the issue of white supremacy while Jones was surrounded by bodyguards. Jones stopped to listen but said nothing, and the protesters were peacefully led away.
A8 | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
FROM THE COVER GUILTY From page A1 investigators said that anywhere from 70 to 200 people were crowded into the overheated trailer, with only one small vent for air, according to previous court documents. In a recording of Bradley’s plea hearing, prosecutor Christina Playton said immigrants in the trailer told investigators there had been 70 to 100 people in the trailer. And when Bradley pulled the rig into the parking lot, the truck was being followed by seven vehicles, including vans and SUVs, Playton said. “When Bradley stopped, a man from one of the vehicles opened the rear trailer door and the aliens began to jump out of the vehicle trailer,” Playton said at the hearing. “Some of the aliens entered the waiting vehi-
MEXICO From page A1 cluding a .50-caliber sniper rifle. The dead included a man
BUDGET From page A1 brought to the U.S. illegally as children, known as Dreamers. “That will be part of the negotiations,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, the president is going in insist that the border funding be there.” Boozman said the spending bill would direct construction to the areas on the border where the most human trafficking occurs. A wall along the entire border would be debated later, he said. Democrats last week called the year-end spending bill a chance to restore Obamacare insurance subsidies, and they’ve also discussed using it to protect Dreamers from deportation. Because Senate
cles and were driven away. Others ran away from the truck into the bushes. Others staggered around and eventually fell to the ground.” The recording also revealed that Bradley’s assistant federal public defender, Alfredo Villarreal, said Bradley provided information about the smuggling ring to investigators during at least six interviews, a reason his plea deal was sealed. His information led to charges against one alleged smuggler who remains in custody, records show. As part of the plea deal, Bradley agreed to forfeit the Peterbilt truck and the trailer, the cash and the gun and ammo, Playton said, according to the recording. “Today’s admission of guilt by Mr. Bradley helps to close the door on one of the conspirators responsible for causing the
tragic loss of life and wreaking havoc on those who survived this horrific incident,” said Shane M. Folden, the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio. “This case is a glaring reminder that alien smugglers are driven by greed and have little regard for the health and well-being of their human cargo, which can prove to be a deadly combination.” Bradley was one of two people charged in the case. Pedro Silva Segura, 46, was arrested in Laredo the day after the trailer was discovered on charges that he harbored immigrants in a safe house in that city. But it wasn’t until last month that he was indicted in the same case as Bradley in San Antonio. Silva could face the death penalty if convicted of conspiracy to transport and harbor
undocumented immigrants for financial gain resulting in death and up to 20 years in prison if convicted of transporting and harboring undocumented aliens for financial gain resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. Prosecutors in Laredo have dismissed the charges there, and Silva is awaiting transfer to San Antonio, where he’ll face harsher potential penalties. Federal officials meanwhile have shut down the Iowa trucking company that hired Bradley. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an “out-of-service order” last week to Pyle Transportation after a review found that the company’s safety rating was so unsatisfactory that it was unfit to remain in business. Pyle Transportation owner Brian Pyle has denied knowledge of the alleged smuggling
conspiracy. He has said he sold the trailer and hired Bradley, who had worked previously for the company, as a contractor to drive it to Brownsville to deliver it to the buyer. Federal regulators launched a compliance review into the company, which had been operating with a “conditional” safety rating because of prior violations, after the human trafficking case. Earlier this month, authorities identified the 10th victim as Flabio Cambo, 32, of Ecuador. Cambo, whose family in Ecuador had reported him missing, was carrying documents identifying him as being from Mexico, said Ruth María Dueñas de García, Ecuador’s consul general in Houston. Authorities were able to compare photos of Cambo with the unidentified victim and confirm that it was him, Dueñas said.
apparently killed by assailants after he and a child sought shelter from gunfire in a house on their way to school. The man and child emerged from the house when the shooting died down temporarily, and
that is when the man was hit. Three people also were killed in what appeared to be targeted shootings in the town of Padilla, farther south. Reynosa is across the border from McAllen, Texas, and has
been the scene of turf battles between factions of the Gulf cartel. In Chihuahua, another northern border state, prosecutors said Monday that the death toll from a shootout in the
remote mountain town of Uruachi had risen to seven. About 100 state police officers were sent to the town after the Friday gunfight, which apparently involved a dispute between rival gunmen.
Democrats have the power to filibuster government funding bills, the disputes over immigration, the border wall and Obamacare make the possibility of a shutdown fight very real. The Homeland Security spending bill is likely to get a Senate Appropriations Committee vote next week. The House passed an omnibus spending bill last month that included money for the border wall. The Senate spending panel delayed taking up its bill for months as it weighed whether to go along with the wall funding. Trump has demanded that Congress deliver funding for his border wall and make dramatic changes to immigration policy in exchange for
letting Dreamers stay in the country. Democrats say the president had reneged on an agreement last month to allow about 800,000 Dreamers to remain in the U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California dined with Trump last month and said afterward they had reached a tentative accord with the president to advance legislation to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and protect from deportation undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. That deal, both leaders said, would combine those protections with a boost in border security resources, but not for a border wall.
NAFTA From page A1 surplus with Canada in 2016). To cut the trade deficit with Mexico, the United States is demanding that more auto production be made in America before qualifying for NAFTA benefits. But companies have built complicated supply chains that straddle NAFTA borders, taking advantage of each country’s strengths — such as cheap labor in Mexico and skilled workers and proximity to customers in the United States and Canada. Changing the rules, they say, would disrupt their operations. “These proposed rules would increase the cost of manufacturing and raise
prices for consumers,” said Ann Wilson, senior vice president for government affairs at the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, which represents auto suppliers. “It would just make North America less competitive, and it would impose an indirect barrier to trade,” said trade lawyer Miguel Noyola, a principal at Baker & McKenzie LLP. Lighthizer is also targeting a NAFTA provision that now allows companies to appeal to private tribunals when they object to decisions by the government of the country where they’re investing — perhaps a costly environmental regulation. Those tribunals mean companies don’t have to worry as much about the political risks — and ac-
count for the potential cost — when they invest in less-developed countries. Effectively, Lighthizer argues, they put “a thumb on the scale” in Mexico’s favor. The U.S. wants to limit companies’ ability to appeal government decisions under NAFTA. The U.S. is also proposing that the new NAFTA expire unless the countries agreed every few years to extend it. Critics say the so-called sunset clause would create too much uncertainty for businesses. “Who would want to make an investment if they don’t know what is going to happen in five years?” says former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico James Jones, now chairman of Monarch Global Strategies.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 |
A9
BUSINESS
Travel industry ramps up effort to promote Caribbean tourism By Beth J. Harpaz A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
The travel industry is ramping up efforts to remind consumers that many Caribbean islands were unaffected by hurricanes and that their economies depend on tourism. Tourism agencies and travel companies are promoting deals, events and fundraising efforts while reinforcing the basic message that most islands were unscathed by the storms and are eager for visitors. The Travel Leaders travel agency, for example, has launched a “consumerawareness campaign to promote Caribbean destinations that are open for business for fall and winter travel,” with agents becoming “ambassadors” for the region by providing travelers with information on conditions and packages. “This hurricane season has been devastating for a number of Caribbean islands, but the negative economic impact on the region will be compounded if visitors avoid travel to unaffected destinations,” Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko said in a statement. Travel Leaders Group is also raising money for hurricane victims and impacted communities through its Family Bonds Foundation.
Joe Cavaretta / AP
In this Oct. 3 photo, The Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas arrives at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Royal Caribbean has announced that its ship Adventure of the Seas will resume port calls to St. Thomas on Nov. 10.
A new website, CaribbeanIsOpen.com , is part of a million-dollar initiative funded by the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association. “This initiative is also a vital tool to assisting the Caribbean by stimulating the economy,” the group’s president, Michele Paige, said in a statement. “Many Caribbean destinations fortunately missed any impact from the hurricanes, and most affected destinations worked around the clock to reopen for tourism.” The website notes that even destinations that saw some damage from the hurricanes are starting to host cruise visits, such as Key
West, Florida, and St. Kitts. Royal Caribbean announced that its ship Adventure of the Seas will resume port calls to St. Thomas on Nov. 10, and that the ship hopes to be in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Martin by the end of November. AAA Travel is also launching a “Caribbean is Open for Business” campaign, calling the region a top AAA-recommended destination for fall and winter getaways, listing Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & The
Grenadines, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks & Caicos and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. In Dominica, the Secret Bay resort set up a fundraising page to benefit staff after many of its regular visitors from past years asked how they could help. Turks and Caicos is advertising its annual Caribbean Food & Wine Festival in Providenciales, Nov. 2-5, noting that the not-forprofit festival will raise funds for Turks & Caicos educational institutions damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Skylark.com, a luxury vacation site, sent out a plea for donations to the official website for the recovery of the U.S. Virgin Islands . Skylark added that “much of the Caribbean was completely unaffected,” with a link to the website’s "ideas on where to go .” Even islands that suffered no storm damage are on a mission to make themselves visible. One public relations agency sent out a press release noting that the Bahamas were “fortunate to have come out of the 2017 hurricane season without impact to the country’s primary tourism product,” adding for good measure that there have been no documented cases of Zika virus there since November 2016.
Gulf of Mexico oil spill may be largest since the 2010 BP disaster By Nico Grant BL O O MBE RG
An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last week may be the largest in the U.S. since the 2010 blowout at BP’s Macondo well that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig and killed 11 people. The Delta House floating production facility about 40 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, released 7,950 to 9,350 barrels of oil from early Wednesday to Thursday morning, according to closely held operator LLOG Exploration Co. That would make it the largest spill in more than seven years, data from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement show, even though it’s a fraction of the millions of barrels ejected in the 2010 incident. “Way offshore, the oil had time to dissipate before it could cause lots of damage,” Edward Overton, emeritus professor of the Department of Environ-
mental Sciences at Louisiana State University, said by telephone. “I’m sure there’s some impact associated with this spill out in the deep water, but I don’t think there was enough for the oil to sink.” The LLOG spill was triggered by a fracture in a flowline jumper, Rick Fowler, the company’s vice president for deepwater projects, said in an email. That’s a short pipeline used to connect nearby subsea structures. Multiple barriers placed on either side of the fracture stopped the release, but the the flowline jumper hasn’t yet been repaired, Fowler said Monday. Oil production from Delta House dropped to around 57,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from more than 90,000 before the spill, he said. The subsea system affected by the fracture was shut in, though nearby connected systems weren’t. The fracture wasn’t caused
by Hurricane Nate and there were no associated injuries, he said. BSEE, the federal agency which regulates offshore energy and mineral extraction, started a five-member panel investigation into the cause of the spill Monday, according to an online statement. The members, including inspectors, engineers and accident investigators, will issue their findings and make recommendations. “This panel investigation is a critical step in ensuring BSEE determines the cause, or causes, of the incident and develops recommendations to prevent similar events from occurring in the future,” Lars Herbst, BSEE’s Gulf of Mexico region director, said in the statement. The Delta House platform, floating in 4,500 feet of water, came online in April 2015 with peak capacity of 100,000 barrels a day of oil and 240 million cubic
feet a day of national gas. Its oil output enters the Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude pool. HLS’s premium to benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude widened 15 cents to $5.55 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data compiled at noon New York time. It has strengthened 45 cents since Oct. 12. The 2010 blowout and explosion at the Deepwater Horizon ultradeep-sea drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana left 11 workers dead and set off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BSEE, an agency of the Interior Department, was established in the wake of the incident as part of reforms designed to separate federal regulatory responsibilities from lease sales and revenue generation. “Deepwater Horizon was a wakeup call to the industry, because of the magnitude of the cost to BP,” Overton said. “That sends a strong message — don’t do this.”
Oil near $52 after crude stockpiles fall By Jessica Summers BL OOMBERG
Oil was little changed after an industry report was said to show U.S. crude stockpiles fell, while supplies of products gained. Prices traded near $52 in after-market trading in New York following the release of data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. The data was said to show crude stockpiles dropped by 7.13 million barrels last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories increased. A crude draw of that magnitude would be the largest since mid-August, if it’s confirmed by Energy Information Administration data to be released on Wednesday. “If you’re an objective bull, you really have to be kind of disheartened,” Kyle Cooper, director of research at IAF Advisors in Houston, said by telephone. Inventory trends have been bullish, yet prices aren’t reacting strongly, he said. Earlier Tuesday, futures prices ended the session little changed after declining amid a report that the Kurdish Peshmerga agreed to return to 2003 Iraq borders. The report came from Sky News Arabia, without saying how it obtained the information. Iraq had called for cooperation to keep exports in the northern part of the country flowing after the government regained control of oil fields and energy facilities in Kirkuk, which will allow for more investment and will enhance exports, according to an Oil Ministry statement. “This is a pretty strong indicator that the conflict is not going to continue, that some of the temporary loss of production is going to come back,” James Williams, president of London, Arkansas-based energy researcher WTRG Economics, said by telephone. “It’s certainly in Iraq’s interest to keep the Kirkukarea oil fields going and with the retreat to the border, they really don’t have much more argument against it.” West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery traded at $51.99 a barrel at 4:42 p.m. after settling at $51.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level in more than two weeks. Total volume traded was about 5 percent below the 100-day average. Brent for December settlement added 6 cents to end the session at $57.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.77 to WTI for the same month The API report also showed gasoline supplies climbed by 1.94 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 1.64 million barrels, according to people familiar with the data, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. A build in distillates of that size would be the largest since early July, if EIA data confirms it. A Bloomberg survey showing oil inventories probably fell by 3.25 million barrels last week. Oil stored at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub probably rose by 1 million barrels, according to a forecast compiled by Bloomberg The Suezmax Minerva Georgia completed loading on Monday at Ceyhan, while four other tankers are waiting to take on Kurdish crude, according to shipping agent reports and tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. “The anxieties over the Iraq and Kurdistan situation are rapidly easing,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund, in a telephone interview. “The risk premium that had gotten built into prices from what looked to be a significant battle brewing is coming right back out, because there was no battle.”
A10 | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT
Jennifer Lopez raises $26M for Puerto Rico A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have raised $26 million for Puerto Rico disaster relief, with another $9 million raised by a benefit show. The two hosted “One
Voice: Somos Live!” on Saturday with Marc Anthony. Lopez Lopez says that amid “swirling negativity divid-
ing our country,” the outpouring of support for Puerto Rico following the devastating hurricane was gratifying. The benefit show included performances by Demi Lovato, Ricky Martin, Mary J. Blige and Gwen Stefani.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo starting HLN series By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — CNN’s Chris Cuomo is hearkening back to his newsmagazine days with a series for the sister network HLN that initially touches on hot-button issues like the opioid crisis, illegal immigration and the sex trade. The documentary series, “Inside with Chris Cuomo,” debuts Friday at 9 p.m. and doesn’t affect his day job as co-host of CNN’s “New Day” morning show. “This is the kind of work we all want to do most often, which is a deep dive into a subject that matters,” said Cuomo, who worked on ABC’s “20/20” before moving to CNN in 2013. HLN, the former Headline News network, is revamping to have a greater emphasis on crime and investigative programming. On Friday’s first episode, “SOS New Hampshire,” Cuomo looks at the drug problem in the state, focusing on addicts and people trying
Cuomo
to save them. While the heroin epidemic has become a popular topic for news investigations, it’s clear from the scope and growth of the problem that more focus is needed, Cuomo said. Another episode of the series profiles Dr. Corrine Stern, the medical examiner in the border town of Laredo, Texas, who often sees the tragic aftermath of people who try to illegally enter the U.S. from Mexico. “What it reveals about the reality of illegal immigration in this country was a little bit of a surprise — the lethality of it, the horror of it, the desperation of what has to motivate you to take this on,” Cuomo said. “When
you see how far they have to go and under what conditions, you would never do it.” Cuomo’s series will air five consecutive Friday nights. He also looks at child custody battles involving a polygamous sect on the border of Arizona and Utah and the illegal sex trade in Los Angeles. Cuomo, whose brother is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also talks about the growing population of women in prison from New York’s only maximum security prison for women. Production has already started for a second season. Cuomo said the storytelling appeals to him and that he hopes it feeds a hunger for strong journalism. “As a journalist, you’re getting back to basics of what your raw function is in a non-entertainment environment, where you’re not just focused on ‘what will people really like,”’ he said. “You have a different mandate, and that’s where we are right now.”