The Zapata Times 10/22/2014

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ZAPATA COUNTY

359 pounds of pot seized Man faces charges; if convicted, faces five to 40 years in prison

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A man accused of transporting pot through Zapata County has been indicted, according to federal court records obtained Tuesday.

The indictment dated Oct. 15

charges Jose Luis Villalba-Cardenas with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

If convicted, Villalba-Cardenas faces five to 40 years in pris-

on, according to the indictment.

He will be arraigned 11 a.m.

Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga. He is in federal custody under no bond.

Border Patrol agents seized 359 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of

NUEVO LAREDO

$287,200. Agents said the seizure occurred Sept. 14 when agents responded to a tip of a white Ford pickup being loaded with marijuana at the intersection of U.S. 83 and Chele Road.

Agents encountered the vehicle and turned on their emergency lights to pull over the sus-

pected vehicle. Agents noticed a marijuana odor as soon as Villalba-Cardenas rolled down its window. Agents then discovered marijuana bundles in the rear seat of the pickup.

(César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)

UNLOCKING MYSTERIES

3 dead after weekend firefights

THE HELP OF A DOG

Gun battles occurred following recent travel warning

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

Firefights echoed in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico over the weekend, leaving three dead and several detained in clashes between gunmen and the Mexican military, according to the Tamaulipas attorney general’s office.

The gun battles occurred following a recent travel warning to Mexico issued by the U.S. Department of State on Oct. 10. U.S. citizens are urged to “defer non-essential travel” to Tamaulipas, the warning states.

The warning goes on to mention four specific cities in Tamaulipas, including Nuevo Laredo.

“Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Victoria have experienced numerous gun battles and attacks with explosive devices in the past year. Violent conflicts between rival criminal elements and/or the Mexican military can occur in all parts of the region and at all times of the day,” the warning reads.

Tamaulipas authorities said the first incident took place Friday in Colonia La Joya in West Nuevo Laredo. Mexican troops patrolling the highway that leads to the Quetzalcóatl International Airport came under fire from a pickup occupied by gunmen, authorities said.

Soldiers fought back, killing one man whom authorities did not identify. Troops arrested Alfredo López Fernández, José Miguel Anastasio Quevedo and Yolanda Magdalena Luna Beltrán. In addition, soldiers said they seized one assault rifle, one handgun, one magazine, a cartridge belt and a radio.

Shots fired echoed a second time at 3:30 a.m., also Friday, in West Nuevo Laredo. Mexican troops said they came across a vehicle

See NUEVO LAREDO PAGE 11A

Photo by Gregory Bull | AP

Buster hangs his tongue out during a break while searching an area near Bishop, Calif., on Sept. 20. For years, Buster and his owner Paul Dostie have worked together to unlock mysteries, to find the bodies of fighting men, or of victims of unsolved crimes or disappearances.

‘Cadaver dog’ work more accepted by cops, courts

By MARTHA IRVINE ASSOCIATED PRESS

B

ENTON, Calif. — The burly Labrador retriever sticks out his wide snout to sniff the dirt and dusty air. He’s clearly excited as he runs, yelping, through the high desert of California’s Eastern Sierra region.

“Buster, go find!” Paul Dostie commands.

They are a team, the black Lab and the retired police officer. For years, they have worked together to unlock mysteries — to find the bodies of fighting men who fell long ago on foreign battlefields, or of victims of unsolved crimes or disappearances. In all, Dostie says that Bus-

See CADAVER DOGS PAGE 11A

Photo by Martha Irvine | AP

An old newspaper and missing child poster sit on a table at the Plumas County Sheriff’s Department in Quincy, Calif., on Sept. 22. They are related to the case of Mark Wilson, who was 13 when he disappeared in 1967.

TEXAS’ RESPONSE TO EBOLA

State names 2 units to treat future Ebola patients

By JAMIE STENGLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, talks with a lab manager Terry Juelich, wearing a biohazard suit, and Curtis Klages at the Galveston National Lab on Tuesday in Galveston, Texas.

DALLAS — Texas, which saw the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. and two more since then, has designated two containment facilities in Galveston and a Dallas suburb to treat any future patients.

Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday that the facilities, with specially trained staff and dedicated space, will take in those diag-

nosed with the disease, which killed a Liberian man visiting Dallas and infected two nurses who treated him.

“The goal is for these facilities to rival the most advanced units in the world when it comes to the quality of care and the security and safety of the personnel in those facilities, as well as in the general population,” Perry said at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Methodist Health System is turning over an entire floor of one of its facilities in the Dallas suburb of Richardson. UT Southwestern will provide doctors in specialties including infectious diseases and critical care and nurses, while Parkland Hospital System will provide pharmacists, nurses and lab technicians. Perry said the unit will be ready to go within 24 hours and

See EBOLA

PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Molina Healthcare’s “Tour of Giving," event. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Iglesia Senda de Gloria, 125 E. Mendoza Street in Colonia Pueblo Nuevo off Hwy 359. Contact Leigh Woodward at leigh.woodward@molinahealthcare.com.

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2014. There are 70 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 22, 1934, bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents and local police at a farm near East Liverpool, Ohio.

On this date: In 1746, Princeton University was first chartered as the College of New Jersey.

In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the “American system of rugged individualism” in a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.

In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre was named winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, even though the French writer had said he would decline the award.

In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.

Ten years ago: In a wrenching videotaped statement, aid worker Margaret Hassan, kidnapped in Baghdad, begged the British government to help save her by withdrawing its troops from Iraq, saying these “might be my last hours.” (Hassan was apparently killed by her captors a month later.)

Five years ago: Mortars fired by Islamic militants slammed into Somalia’s airport as President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed boarded a plane, sparking battles that killed at least 24 people; the president was unhurt.

One year ago: The United States defended drone strikes targeting al-Qaida operatives and others, rejecting reports

by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International questioning the legality of attacks that the groups asserted had killed or wounded scores of civilians in Yemen and Pakistan.

Today’s Birthdays: Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale is 78. Actor Christopher Lloyd is 76. Actor Derek Jacobi is 76. Actor Tony Roberts is 75. Actress Catherine Deneuve is 71. Actor Jeff Goldblum is 62. Movie director Bill Condon is 59. Actor Luis Guzman is 57. Actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk is 52. Olympic gold medal figure skater Brian Boitano is 51. Christian singer TobyMac is 50. Comedian Carlos Mencia is 47. Country singer Shelby Lynne is 46. Reggae rapper Shaggy is 46. Movie director Spike Jonze is 45. Rapper Tracey Lee is 44. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is 39. Actor Michael Fishman is 33. Talk show host Michael Essany is 32. Rock musician Zac Hanson (Hanson) is 29. Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 24.

Thought for Today: “There is no such thing as notoriety in the United States these days, let alone infamy.

Celebrity is all.” — Christopher Hitchens, Anglo-American author and essayist (1949-2011).

THURSDAY, OCT. 23 Laredo Genealogical Society presents “Ayer,” 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Guadalupe Hall. Contact Sanjuanita Hunter at 722-3497 for more information.

120th anniversary observance in Laredo: the Sisters of Mercy will present, “Band of Sisters” from 6 p.m. to TBA. TAMIU Center for Fine & Performing Art Theatre. Contact Rosanne Palacios at rosanne.palacios@mercy.net for more information.

Exhibit titled “Four Strokes of Color”. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. La Posada Hotel. Contact Kike Lobo at elobo@laposadahotel.com or go to the website anartegallery09.com.

Live classical music performances by the Laredo Community College’s Performing Arts Department at the Laredo Public Library’s Multi-Purpose Room, located at 1120 East Calton Road. From 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Contact Name: John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org or visit the website www.laredolibrary.org.

FRIDAY, OCT. 24 Planetarium movies. From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium. Claudia Herrera at claudia.herrera@tamiu.edu, or visit tamiu.edu/planetarium. At 6 p.m.

Wonders of the Universe. At 7 p.m.

Lamps of Atlantis.

Mass for Breast Cancer Survivors. 6 p.m. Holy Redeemer Church, 1602 Garcia St. 30th Annual Update in Medicine Conference. Noon to 5 p.m.

UTHSC Laredo Regional Campus.

Geared for medical professionals, social service providers, medical/nursing students and others interested in learning the latest medical information on cancer, diabetes, mental health and other topics. For continuing education and other information call the Area Health Education Center at 7120037.

Registration is now in progress for the 35th Guajolote 10K Race. Register at Hamilton Trophies (1320 Garden), Hamilton Jewelry (607 Flores), or on-line at www.raceit.com, Guajolote 10K Race. For information, call (956) 724-9990 or (956) 722-9463.

SATURDAY, OCT. 25 30th Annual Update in Medicine Conference to be held at the UTHSC Laredo Regional Campus, 1937 E. Bustamante from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Geared for medical professionals, social service providers, medical/nursing students and others interested in learning the latest medical information on cancer, diabetes, mental health and other topics. For continuing education and other information call Area Health Education Center at 712-0037.

Lights in the Park Luminaria Memorial for breast cancer awareness.

8 p.m. North Central Park, International Boulevard.

UISD Annual Parent Festival. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. United High School, 2811 United Ave. Event is free and open to all UISD parents. Contact UISD Federal and State Programs Department or email : negutierrez@uisd.net or visit www.uisd.net for more information.

Program addressing children and adolescent mental illness. From 9.30am. to 12.30pm. Room 236 of the Student Center Auditorium at Texas A&M International University. For reservations call Laura Kim at (956) 794-3130.

Listen to live classical music performances by the Laredo Community College’s Performing Arts Department at the Laredo Public Library’s Multi-Purpose Room, located at 1120 East Calton Road. From 11:00am to 12:00pm. Contact John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org or visit the website www.laredolibrary.org.

MONDAY, OCT. 27 Monthly meeting of Laredo Parkinson’s Disease Support Group. At 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, First Floor Community Center. Patients, caregivers and family members invited. Free info pamphlets available in Spanish and English. Call Richard Renner (English) at 645-8649 or Juan Gonzalez (Spanish) at 237-0666.

Photo by Franklin Reyes | AP

In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, a man drives a classic American car on The Malecon in Havana, Cuba. This classic still running on the streets of Havana is part of a fleet of classic cars that have become an icon of tourism in the socialist nation.

Cuba’s new classic cars ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAVANA — When Martin Viera’s Chevrolet rolled out of the dealer’s lot, Harry Truman was president of the United States, gasoline cost 27 cents a gallon and a 24-year-old lefty named Tommy Lasorda was pitching for Almendares in the Cuban winter baseball league.

That world is long gone, but the Chevy’s still running on the streets of Havana — part of a fleet of classic cars that have become an icon of tourism in the socialist nation.

For decades, the cars slowly decayed. But officials in recent years have eased state control over the economy by allowing limited self-employment. So those lucky enough to have a pre-revolutionary car can earn money legally by ferrying tourists — or Cubans celebrating weddings — along Havana’s water-

front Malecon boulevard.

That’s allowed many to paint and polish their aging vehicles.

Viera’s 1951 Chevrolet and Osmani Rodriguez’s 1954 Ford are now part of Havana’s tourist draw.

Rodriguez, who has three daughters, said the opening to self-employment “was a great benefit for me. I bought an apartment to live in and really it improved my standard of living a lot.”

The cars may gleam on the outside, but they’re often battered, rolling monuments to ingenuity within. Many scavenge parts from Soviet-era cars and trucks.

While the U.S. embargo that took effect in 1961 stopped the flow of new cars, and most parts, a few Cubans now manage to bring in replacement parts when friends or family visit from the U.S.

Dead infants found in Winnipeg storage locker

Bombings kill 9 people in Iraqi capital

Jerusalem stone may answer questions

WINNIPEG, Canada — The remains of as many as four infants were found in a storage locker in Winnipeg, Manitoba, yesterday after U-Haul International Inc. employees made a disturbing discovery.

Police were called to a storagelocker facility at 1 p.m. Monday, Winnipeg Police Constable Eric Hofley said. It is too early to say whether foul play is involved, though concealing human remains is a crime, he said.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials say two separate bombings have killed nine people in Baghdad, the latest victims in near-daily attacks that have targeted the country’s capital.

Police officials say a bomb at an out-door market in the southern district of Abu Dashir, a mostly Shiite neighborhood, killed four people and wounded nine on Tuesday. They say a little bit later, a bomb blast near a small restaurant in central Baghdad killed five people and wounded 12.

JERUSALEM — Israeli archaeologists said Tuesday they have discovered a large stone with Latin engravings that lends credence to the theory that the reason Jews revolted against Roman rule nearly 2,000 ago was because of their harsh treatment.

The inscription backs up historical accounts that Rome’s Tenth Legion was present in Jerusalem in the run-up to the revolt.

Congo doctor wins EU human rights prize

STRASBOURG, France — European lawmakers have awarded their top human rights prize to Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege who campaigns against sexual violence targeting women in war. Mukwege, 59, set up the Panzi Hospital in eastern Congo’s Bukavu and works with victims of sexual violence there.

Police in Macedonia arrest 9 in helicopter scam

SKOPJE, Macedonia — Police in Macedonia have arrested a former Defense Ministry official and eight others for allegedly embezzling $2.8 million from the government by filing fake expenses related to a helicopter maintenance program.

North Korea frees 1 of 3 Americans

WASHINGTON — Jeffrey E. Fowle, 1 of 3 Americans imprisoned by North Korea, has been released and is on his way home after six months of captivity, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

A State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf also said U.S. officials were trying to secure the release of the other two prisoners. — Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION N. America treated to solar eclipse Thursday CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — North Americans, get set for the fourth and final eclipse of the year.

On Thursday, most of North America will have prime viewing of a partial solar eclipse. The new moon will hide part of the sun from view. The best views will be in the U.S. Northwest and northern Canada, especially Prince of Wales Island. In the eastern half of the U.S., the eclipse will occur near sunset.

Sky gazers are urged to protect their eyes with special filtered glasses. Regular sunglasses are not good enough.

This makes for two solar and two lunar eclipses this year.

Protocol breached during murder suspect’s release

BALTIMORE — Corrections officials say a breach in protocol

CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Manging Editor, Nick Georgiou................... 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press | AP

An assault team from the Sevier County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Marshal Service prepare to raid a home that allegedly hosted a dog breeding operation in Kodak, Tenn., on Tuesday. Fifty dogs were taken from the home. led to the accidental release of a murder suspect in Baltimore.

Thirty-year-old Rodriquez Purnell was released Friday from the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center.

He was awaiting trial in the 2013 shooting death of 27-year-old

Terrance Rheubottom. He also had been convicted of assaulting a corrections worker.

It said Purnell was let go because procedures were not followed according to department policy. — 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.

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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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Man admits setting Condition of nurse with 1986 fire, killing 2 boys Ebola upgraded to good ASSOCIATED PRESS

By NOMAAN MERCHANT

WASHINGTON — National Institutes of Health says the condition of the first nurse to be diagnosed with Ebola after treating an infected man at a Dallas hospital has been upgraded to good.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — A Texas man admitted Tuesday to setting a backyard fire that killed his two young stepsons a quarter-century ago, bringing a surprising end to a long fight over whether faulty fire science had wrongfully imprisoned him.

Ed Graf pleaded guilty to two counts of murder even as a jury in Waco was deliberating during his retrial. He took a plea deal that carries a 60-year prison sentence but counts his 28 years in custody as time served, making him immediately eligible to apply for parole.

Authorities have spent years studying arson murder cases in Texas, where the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for the fire deaths of his three children has been questioned by legal advocates and fire experts amid questions about the underlying fire investigation science.

Graf ’s case was one of the longest and highest-profile being studied by experts and officials in the state.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is working with the Innocence Project to review problematic cases and has flagged several as being based on faulty conclusions.

Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, said he didn’t see Graf ’s case as a setback.

“The most important thing is that we get the science right,” Blackburn said. “Not everybody who got convicted on the basis of junk science is innocent.

Not everybody who got convicted on the basis of junk science deserves an acquittal or a pardon, and this is proof of that.”

Prosecutors accused

The NIH said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that Nina Pham’s clinical status had been upgraded from fair. The statement said no other information was available.

The 26-year-old Pham arrived at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda,

Maryland, late Thursday.

She had been flown there from Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

Pham is one of two nurses in Dallas who became infected with Ebola while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of the disease Oct. 8.

State selects company to run psychiatric facility ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune Herald | AP

Ed Graf, center, looks at Don Youngblood, right, as defense attorney Michelle Tuegel, left, looks on after pleading guilty to the murder of his two sons during his retrial Tuesday in Waco, Texas.

Graf of locking his stepsons, ages 8 and 9, in a backyard shed in Hewitt in 1986 and setting it on fire.

They said he wanted to collect on life insurance policies on them.

But a panel convened by the State Fire Marshal’s Office concluded that the two investigators who testified against Graf in 1988 were wrong. The panel said those experts misinterpreted patterns on the wall and other evidence suggesting the fire was an accident.

The panel did not issue an opinion on whether Graf was guilty.

Texas’ highest criminal court agreed with the panel and granted Graf a new trial.

Graf repeatedly insisted he was innocent, telling The Associated Press in a jailhouse interview two years ago that he thought the boys may have set the

fire by accident. Witnesses testified at both of his trial that Joby and Jason Graf liked to play with matches.

Prosecutors did not present any scientific evidence, but relied on witness testimony suggesting Graf had embezzled money from a bank and was acting suspiciously before and after his sons’ deaths.

Graf ’s ex-wife, Clare Bradburn, had long insisted that she believed her exhusband was guilty. Bradburn said in court Tuesday that she had waited 28 years for Graf to finally plead guilty, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

According to the newspaper, the son they had together, whose name was changed from Edward Graf III to Jacob Bradburn, told Graf in court: “May God have mercy on your soul because no one on this Earth should.”

AUSTIN — Texas leaders are closer to privatizing a much maligned North Texas psychiatric facility despite concerns from mental health care advocates.

The Austin AmericanStatesman reports state officials announced Monday that Tennessee-based Correct Care Solutions has the winning bid to operate Terrell State Hospital.

“In the event that this happens, we’re honored to be chosen as the successful vendor for this project,” company spokesman Jeremy Barr said.

The state and company are negotiating the deal and a decision on whether to move forward with the privatization should be made by the year’s end. State health officials said privatization might be the best way to improve the hospital, which was scrutinized following

a patient death.

“We need to look at all the options on how we can deliver better care,” said Stephanie Goodman, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission.

A 62-year-old Pittsburg woman died at the facility in 2013 after being restrained for 55 hours. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shortly thereafter cut off federal funding because of poor conditions at the hospital.

TAKING A SPIN

Photo by Andrew Buckley/The Courier | AP

Skyler and Tayler Toth take a spin during Lake Houston United Methodist Church’s Pumpkin Patch and Festival on Saturday in Huffman, Texas.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

COMMENTARY

OTHER VIEWS

Does preschool help kids?

By DAVID ARMOR SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST

In political campaigns around the country, at least one proposal enjoys bipartisan support: expanding early childhood education. In gubernatorial races in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Michigan and Georgia, both the Democratic and Republican candidates support expanding government provision of “high-quality” pre-kindergarten education.

And why wouldn’t they?

A raft of recent studies claim major benefits for children who start school early.

The problem is, most of the studies that show benefits have major research design flaws, one of which is an inability to demonstrate long-term gains.

And the few top-quality studies out there reveal few, if any, lasting benefits.

The best studies randomly assign children to “pre-k” (treatment) and “no pre-k” (control) groups, and then follow them for several years to see if the pre-k children show greater achievement gains than children without pre-k. This is the “gold standard” in education research and the same type of study used for testing prescription drugs.

A national study of the federal Head Start program followed these rigorous protocols and found no lasting results. Children in Head Start show immediate (although modest) gains during preschool, but during kindergarten and first grade the differences disappear because children without preschool quickly catch up. This is called the “fade-out” problem.

A recent randomized study for the high-quality Tennessee program showed the same result.

Though these results are well known among pre-k evaluators, they often explain them away, arguing that “fade out” is caused by low quality pre-k instruction. They point to state-developed programs in Oklahoma, New Jersey, Georgia and Boston, all of which showed much larger gains during the preschool year than Head Start programs.

The “high-quality” descriptor also occurs because these state programs embed pre-k in the regular school system with certified teachers, all of whom have at least a bachelor’s degree. (The federal Head Start programs does not require BAs.) The problem is that all of these state pre-k studies relied upon a special nonrandom design that compares kindergarten children who finished pre-k the previous year (the treatment group) to children who are just starting preschool (the control group).

The design (called “regression continuity design” or RDD for short) requires that the school system impose a strict age cutoff so that the treatment group is one year older, and it relies on statistical methods to adjust for the age difference between the two groups of children. Testing is done at the beginning of the school year. Any difference between the two groups after adjusting for the age difference is assumed to be the result of pre-k.

This non-random study design has two major flaws

that impair the tests’ reliability and prevent definitive conclusions. First and foremost, because both the treatment and control groups have had preschool, these studies can’t examine the critical “fade-out” problem.

Randomized studies can follow the pre-k and no-pre-k children into grade school, where they can see whether the pre-k gains are lasting or not. So far, no randomized study has found lasting effects, and the non-random state studies provide no clarification.

The second flaw is a problem called “attrition,” meaning children who drop out of the treatment group. The control group students who are just starting pre-k can’t have attrition by definition. According to Department of Education standards for RDD designs, valid inferences require that attrition be documented and results adjusted. The reason is that program dropouts are more likely to be disadvantaged children with lower skills and more social problems, and their test scores are inevitably lower than non-dropouts.

Oklahoma, New Jersey and Georgia did not report attrition rates, even though attrition from the treatment group clearly occurred. For example, in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, study, 26 percent of the control group mothers were high school dropouts, compared to only 16 percent for the treatment group. In Georgia, 26 percent of the control group were limited English speakers compared to only 8 percent of the treatment group. Attrition from the treatment group can explain why Tulsa and Georgia reported such high test scores for children completing preschool.

Two additional “high quality” programs have garnered much attention, and both used randomized designs. One is the Perry Preschool cost-benefit evaluation by Nobel economist James Heckman, which demonstrated significant success, and the other is the Abecedarian Project, which demonstrated significant long term IQ gains.

There are several problems relying on these studies to support expanding universal preschool. Study participants were all disadvantaged African American children; the programs were far more intensive — and costly — than the type of pre-k in contemporary state programs; and the programs educated two small groups of children in two communities more than 40 years ago. Moreover, a national experiment to replicate the Abecedarian concept, Early Head Start, has found few significant long-term benefits, especially for the most disadvantaged children.

The reality is that the research on state preschool programs does not yet support effectiveness for the type of universal preschool programs being promoted today. It certainly does not support expensive government expansions of preschool education as currently envisioned, particularly for middle-class children with no demonstrable need for a “head start.” We need much more high-quality randomized research studies showing large and longterm benefits, at reasonable costs, before any expansion of pre-k can be justified.

COMMENTARY

Nurses need to be listened to

By SUZANNE GORDON MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Stop blaming nurses for the potential spread of Ebola.

In the nationwide hysteria over the Ebola virus, many people are pointing fingers at two of the nurses who risked their lives to take care of Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Resources Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

But this scapegoating does not help us focus on the systemic obstacles that make it difficult for nurses to protect their patients, the public and themselves — whether against Ebola or any other dangerous virus or bacteria.

As the caregivers who

are with patients 24/7, bedside nurses are the ones who spot critical changes in a patient’s condition. But rather than seeking nurses out to solicit information about a patient’s situation, too many physicians ignore them.

In fact, many don’t even read the nurses’ notes section of patients’ charts.

When I recently talked to a prominent patient safety physician at a major teaching hospital, he told me that attending physicians and residents in his institution refuse to use a nationally recommended communication protocol known as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), which is designed to facilitate the shar-

ing of information between physicians and nurses.

Why? Because that’s a protocol nurses use, and doctors don’t want to use “nursing language,” he said.

Nurses are often silenced or even disciplined when they try to draw attention to major safety problems or mistakes— particularly those made by medical higher-ups.

In 2010 in Texas, two nurses were fired — and one was actually prosecuted — when they reported that a physician in their hospital was engaging in serious breaches of safety.

Then there’s the issue of protective equipment. During the SARS scare more than 10 years ago, nurses’ organizations warned that

hospitals weren’t providing nurses with the kind of equipment (and training to use it) that would actually protect them, as well as their patients and the public.

Another contagious disease and a decade later, and nurses have not been given either adequate gear or training in how to use it, as the National Nurses United union recently noted.

Creating a safe workplace for nurses — and other health-care staff — is a nonnegotiable condition of asking them to risk their lives to care for patients.

This means not only providing them with protective equipment and the training to use it, but also soliciting and welcoming their input.

EDITORIAL

Mexico’s instability worsens DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Amid the recent commotion over Ebola, it might have been easy to miss a story from Mexico: the Sept.

26 mass kidnapping of 43 student teachers in the city of Iguala. Their disappearance and suspected massacre should not fade from Americans’ attention, regardless of the health care crisis at our doorstep.

Many politicians in Washington now view the Ebola crisis as a national security concern, along with immigration and fears that Islamic State jihadists could

exploit disorder in Mexico to sneak into the United States. As American xenophobia rises, the U.S.-Mexico border becomes, again, a focal point of concern.

Mexico must not feed the fear mongering by furthering its reputation for lawlessness. President Enrique Peña Nieto should step up and demonstrate clearly that his government forces maintain sovereign control over all Mexican territory.

Mexicans, and the world, should expect nothing less.

Unfortunately, criminal gangs and drug cartels have made Swiss cheese of that

notion. The mass kidnapping in Iguala, about 120 miles south of Mexico City, exposes how drug gangs are imposing their will — not just at the violence-plagued border but deep within the Mexican heartland. The student teachers, all young men, had been involved in a protest over national education reforms. The fact that the student teachers were defending a corrupt status quo, and had commandeered buses as part of their protest, was no justification for what befell them.

Police believed to be under the control of a big drug

cartel in Guerrero state opened fire to halt the protesters and then drove survivors away. Authorities searching for them uncovered mass graves outside Iguala containing the remains of more than 28 people, but they appear unrelated to the kidnappings.

The mayor of Iguala, a city of about 150,000, has gone into hiding. His wife’s three brothers have been among Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords, linked to the notorious Beltran Leyva cartel. The gang’s leader, Hector Beltran Leyva, was captured Oct. 1.

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CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Nation

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

CDC releases revised Ebola gear guidelines

By MIKE STOBBE AND EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — The government announced Tuesday that everyone traveling to the United States from Ebola-afflicted African nations will have to be screened at one of five airports, as officials took to the road with new guidelines to promote head-to-toe protection for health workers who might be at risk of contracting the disease.

Customs and Border Protection officers at New York’s Kennedy, Newark Liberty, Washington’s Dulles, Chicago’s O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airports had already started screening people arriving from West Africa, using no-touch thermometers to determine if travelers have a temperature, a symptom of a possible Ebola infection.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday that now everyone traveling from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea will have to land in the U.S. at one of the five airports and then fly on to their destination.

About 94 percent of the roughly 150 people traveling daily from West Africa to the U.S. arrive at the one of the five airports.

The move falls short of meeting demands by some elected officials that the Obama administration halt all travel from West Africa. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described the action as an “added layer of protection against Ebola entering our country.”

It comes as the Centers for Disease Control worked to spread the word about its new protective guidelines. The, advice, released Monday night, had been avidly sought by health workers after two Dallas nurses became infected while caring for the first person diagnosed with the virus in the United States.

It’s not clear exactly how they became infected, but clearly there was some kind of problem, CDC Director Dr. Tom

Photo by Matthew Barakat | AP

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh, left, with Fairfax City Police Chief Carl Pardiny speaks during a news conference in Fairfax, Va., on Monday.

Suspect charged in DC area rape

By MATTHEW BARAKAT ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast/file | AP

Registered nurse Keene Roadman stands fully dressed in personal protective equipment during a training class at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Oct. 16.

Frieden said.

“The bottom line is the guidelines didn’t work for that hospital,” he said.

CDC officials demonstrated the recommended techniques Tuesday at a massive training at New York City’s Javits Center.

“We’re here today because one health care worker getting Ebola while caring for a patient is too many,” Dr. Arjun Srinivasan told the gathering.

Earlier CDC guidelines had been modeled on how Ebola patients in Africa were treated, though that tends to be less intensive care done in rougher settings — like tents. They also allowed hospitals some flexibility to use available covering when dealing with suspected Ebola patients.

The new guidelines set a firmer standard, calling for full-body garb and hoods that protect worker’s necks; setting rigorous rules for removal of equipment and disinfection of hands; and calling for a “site manager” to supervise the putting on and taking off of equipment.

They also call for health workers who may be involved

in an Ebola patient’s care to repeatedly practice and demonstrate proficiency in donning and doffing gear — before ever being allowed near a patient.

And they ask hospitals to establish designated areas for putting on and taking off equipment, whether it’s a room adjacent to an Ebola patient’s room or a hallway area cordoned off with a plastic sheet.

The CDC cannot require hospitals to follow the guidance; it’s merely official advice. But these are the rules hospitals are following as they face the possibility of encountering patients with a deadly infectious disease that a few months ago had never been seen in this country.

The president of a group representing 3 million registered nurses said she’s glad to finally see better federal advice. Health care workers said the CDC’s old guidance was confusing and inadequate, and left them fearfully unprepared for how to deal with an Ebola patient.

“Today’s guidance moves us forward,” said Pamela Cipriano, president of the American Nurses Association, in a statement.

FAIRFAX, Va. — Authorities have brought additional charges against the man accused of abducting an 18-year-old college student in Virginia: the abduction, rape and attempted capital murder of a 26-year-old woman in a Washington, D.C. suburb.

A Circuit Court grand jury in Fairfax County on Monday handed up the new indictment against Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 32, who is already in custody in the case of Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia sophomore who disappeared Sept. 13.

At a news conference Monday, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh declined to discuss any details of the case, but did say the victim is cooperating. Police had previously said that on Sept. 24, 2005, a 26-year-old woman was walking home from the grocery store about 10 p.m. on a Saturday night, when her assailant grabbed her from behind, dragged her into a wooded area behind some townhomes, and sexually assaulted her.

The man fled the area when he was startled by a passerby, police said.

Morrogh said he will seek a bench warrant later this week requesting that Matthew be brought to Fairfax for an initial appearance, and he expected that to be granted. But no court date has been set. Morrogh said he was not sure whether Matthew would be

tried first in Charlottesville or in Fairfax.

“I’m willing to go first, last or whenever,” Morrogh said.

Matthew’s attorney has repeatedly refused to discuss his client, and a message on his law office telephone on Monday said he was not taking questions in the case.

After an extensive search for Graham, law enforcement officials found human remains on Saturday in a heavily wooded area that is dotted with farms, about 12 miles southwest of the Charlottesville campus of U.Va. They continued to search the area Monday for additional evidence or clues.

The remains were taken to the Virginia Medical Examiner’s office in Richmond to be identified.

A spokesman in the office could not say Monday when the results of the forensic examination would be completed.

Police let Graham’s parents know about the discovery before they publicly released the information.

One of the officials who made the discovery said the remains were found just as he and his team were about to move to another site.

“We were on our way back to our vehicle and I just decided to keep going,” Sgt. Dale Terry of the Chesterfield County Sheriff ’s Department told WRIC TV. “So we swept a different area and luckily we just came upon what we came upon. ... Divine intervention is the only thing I can think of.”

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

Nation

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

Schools scoured in search for suspect

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Alan Rogers/Casper Star-Tribune | AP

Lalenya Yahnke, left, and Teasha Kahl apply for their marriage license Tuesday morning at the Natrona County Clerk’s office in Casper.

Wyoming gay couples get marriage licenses

By BOB MOEN ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming has become the latest state to allow same-sex unions, bringing the wave of legalizations to a place where the 1998 beating death of Matthew Shepard galvanized a national push for gay rights.

Gay couples began to apply for marriage licenses Tuesday morning, albeit far more quietly than in other states where bans were recently struck down.

Hundreds of same-sex couples in Idaho and Nevada flooded clerk’s offices and courthouses in recent weeks and married immediately afterward to cheering crowds.

In Wyoming, however, only a handful of couples received licenses across the state as the change went into effect.

In the state’s largest city, Cheyenne, two couples were licensed right away, and Jennifer Mumaugh and A.J. McDaniel became the first gay couple to legally marry in the state’s most populous county.

Mumaugh said attitudes in Wyoming have shifted in recent years to be more open to gay couples. She said she expected gay marriage to eventually become legal, but didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

“With Wyoming being the Equality State, it’s kind of like, ‘Well, duh,”’ she said. “But Wyoming does have a stigma.

I’m surprised with the progress of the state and that of the people throughout the state over time.”

About 175 miles north, in Casper, Dirk Andrews and Travis Gray were the first of three couples licensed after the state formally dropped its defense of a law defining marriage as a union between one man

and one woman.

They plan to marry in a ceremony in few weeks and say they, too, have experienced support.

“Neighbors and friends have been great,” said Andrews, a kindergarten teacher. “Co-workers, for the most part, if they don’t agree, they just don’t talk about it, but they haven’t been mean or negative about it.”

Andrews and Gray, as well as Mumaugh and McDaniel, had considered going out of state to wed, but held off in hopes that gay marriage would finally come to Wyoming, a state shadowed by Shepard’s death for the last 16 years. The gay college student was robbed, beaten and left tied to a fence in freezing weather.

He died Oct. 12, days after the attack.

“There’s definitely people who are holding up his memory and, I hope, feeling like we’re coming a long way,” said Rev. Audette Fulbright, who has long performed non-binding ceremonies for gay couples in Cheyenne.

Wyoming has now joined several other politically conservative states in allowing gay marriage after a series of recent court rulings have struck down state bans as unconstitutional.

More than 30 states now recognize same-sex unions, many coming in changes triggered by a U.S. Supreme Court decision Oct. 6 that refused to hear appeals from states that wanted to defend gay marriage bans.

Gay rights supporters have said bans on same-sex unions are violations of 14th Amendment protections that guarantee equal protection under the law and due process. Opponents have said the issue should be decided by states and voters.

SWIFTWATER, Pa. — With two possible sightings in four days, a man charged in the deadly ambush of a state police barracks appears to have moved out of the deep woods and into a more heavily trafficked area of the Pocono Mountains.

The sightings led to another round of school closures and a feeling among some residents that law enforcement is spinning its wheels more than five weeks into the massive manhunt.

Officials in the Pocono Mountain School District canceled classes shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday, reversing course after saying the night before that schools would stay open. Wendy Frable, a district spokeswoman, said officials changed their minds because law enforcement wasn’t searching on campus Monday night but had an extensive search presence there Tuesday morning.

“Our parents and staff are understandably concerned when they hear reports of possible sightings anywhere near schools,” Superintendent Elizabeth Robison said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities are looking for Eric Frein, 31, who’s charged with opening fire outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks on Sept. 12, killing a trooper and seriously wounding another. The suspect has been described as a selftaught survivalist and expert marksman who hates law enforcement.

Police had spent weeks searching for Frein in the woods around his parents’ home in Canadensis, but shifted their primary search area about 5 miles to the southwest after a woman out for a walk Friday night reported seeing a

Photo by Butch Comegys/The Scranton Times-Tribune | AP

U.S. Marshals Service members aim their rifles toward the woods on Lower Swiftwater Road on Saturday in Swiftwater, Pa. rifle-toting man with a mud-covered face near Pocono Mountain East High School. Police said they believe the man was Frein.

On Monday afternoon, an officer with Pocono Mountain Regional Police spotted a man dressed in green in the woods near the Swiftwater post office, less than a half-mile from the school. That prompted an intense police search as students were heading home for the day — a potentially volatile situation that had some parents fuming.

With classes canceled Tuesday, state police and the FBI searched the school district’s Swiftwater campus, clearing and securing the high, junior high and elementary schools.

“Having law enforcement take the time to go through our schools to make sure they are secure is very reassuring to me and should also be reassuring to the parents of our students,” Robison said.

With Frein still on the loose, though, some residents aren’t sure police are up to the task.

Hubert Harvey, 70, said he’s surprised Frein hasn’t been caught by now and believes authorities are “just wasting money and time” by sending legions of officers into the woods day

after day.

“They’re going about it the wrong way,” he said.

“What they need is a couple of good guys who can track and a couple dogs and they will find him.”

James Fish, 72, of Swiftwater, is skeptical that Frein had even been spotted in the area.

“Obviously he’s a skilled survivor,” he said. “He’s going to walk out so some lady can see him? That’s ridiculous.”

Nevertheless, Fish said his wife was worried and upset. He reminded her that Frein is believed to be targeting law enforcement and “average citizens aren’t too much at risk.”

The manhunt is now concentrated along the heavily trafficked Route 611 corridor in the heart of the Poconos.

On Tuesday, police with dogs were seen searching a clothing collection bin across the street from a popular restaurant.

Up the road, 15-year-old Kat Nordstrom and her friend Sam Ryan, 16, were at Dunkin’ Donuts at a time when they’d normally be in class.

Frein was the talk of the high school Monday, with some students joking about the situation “because they think nothing is going to happen,” Nordstrom said.

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

Oscar de la Renta, legendary designer, dead

By SHELLEY ACOCA AND JOCELYN NOVECK ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — At his Fashion Week runway show in September, Oscar de la Renta sat in his usual spot: in a chair right inside the wings, where he could carefully inspect each model just as she was about to emerge in one of his sumptuous, impeccably constructed designs.

At the end of the show, the legendary designer himself emerged, supported by two of his models. He didn’t walk on his own, and didn’t go far, but he was beaming from ear to ear. He gave each model a peck on the cheek, and then returned to the wings, where models and staff could be heard cheering him enthusiastically.

De la Renta, who dressed first ladies, socialites and Hollywood stars for more than four decades, died Monday evening at his Connecticut home at age 82, only six weeks after that runway show. But not before another high-profile honor was bestowed on him: The most famous bride in the world, Amal Alamuddin, wore a custom, off-theshoulder de la Renta gown to wed George Clooney in Venice. Photos of the smiling designer perched on a table at the dress fitting appeared in Vogue.

De la Renta died surrounded by family, friends and “more than a few dogs,” according to a handwritten statement signed by his stepdaughter Eliza Reed Bolen and her husband, Alex Bolen. The statement did not specify a cause of death, but de la Renta had spoken in the past of having cancer.

“He died exactly as he lived: with tremendous grace, great dignity and very much on his own terms,” the statement said.

“While our hearts are broken by the idea of life with-

Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision | AP

Neil Diamond performs on NBC’s "Today" show in New York on Monday.

Photo by Amanda Schwab/Starpix | AP

Designer Oscar de la Renta, right, and model Karlie Kloss are shown backstage before the presentation of the Oscar de la Renta Spring 2013 collection at Fashion Week in New York on Sept. 11, 2012. The designer, a favorite of socialites and movie stars alike, has died. He was 82. out Oscar, he is still very much with us. ... All that we have done, and all that we will do, is informed by his values and his spirit.”

The late ‘60s and early ‘70s were a defining moment in U.S. fashion as New York-based designers carved out a look of their own that was finally taken seriously

by Europeans. De la Renta and his peers, including the late Bill Blass, Halston and Geoffrey Beene, defined American style then and now.

De la Renta’s specialty was eveningwear, though he also was known for chic daytime suits favored by the women who would gather at the Four Seasons or Le Cirque at lunchtime. His signature looks were voluminous skirts, exquisite embroideries and rich colors.

Earlier this month, first lady Michelle Obama notably wore a de la Renta dress for the first time. De la Renta had criticized her several years earlier for not wearing an American label to a state dinner in 2011.

Among Obama’s predecessors favoring de la Renta

were Laura Bush, who wore an icy blue gown by de la Renta to the 2005 inaugural ball, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wore a gold de la Renta in 1997.

“We will miss Oscar’s generous and warm personality, his charm, and his wonderful talents.” Bush said in a statement. “ We will always remember him as the man who made women look and feel beautiful.”

A statement from former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, said: “Oscar’s remarkable eye was matched only by his generous heart. His legacy of philanthropy extended from children in his home country who now have access to education and health care, to some of New York’s finest artists whose creativity has been sustained through his support.”

De la Renta made just as big a name for himself on the Hollywood red carpet — with actresses of all ages.

Penelope Cruz and Sandra Bullock were among the celebrities to don his feminine and opulent gowns.

His clothes even were woven into episodes of “Sex and the City,” with its style icon, Carrie Bradshaw, comparing his designs to poetry.

One actress who wore a de la Renta gown to this year’s Oscars was Jennifer Garner.

“Mr. de la Renta loved women,” she said on Monday evening, wiping away tears. “And you saw it in every design that he did. He honored women’s features, he honored our bodies. He wasn’t afraid to pull back and let the woman be the star of the look.”

De la Renta was also deeply admired by his fellow designers. “He set the bar,” designer Dennis Basso said on Instagram Monday night. “But most of all he was a refined elegant gentleman.”

De la Renta also is survived by his son, Moises, a designer at the company.

De la Renta’s first wife, French Vogue editor Francoise de Langlade, died in 1983.

Love, discipline fuel Neil Diamond’s latest album

By SANDY COHEN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

— Neil Diamond wrote and recorded his first studio album of new material in six years floating in the heady glow of new love.

The 73-year-old entertainer, who married for the third time in 2012, says happiness with his new bride fueled his work on “Melody Road,” out Tuesday.

“There’s no better inspiration or motivation for work than being in love.

It’s what you dream of as a creative person,” Diamond said in a recent interview.

“I was able to complete this album — start it, write it and complete it — under the spell of love, and I think it shows somehow.”

Not that he allowed his wife, Katie McNeil, in on the making of the songs.

A songwriter since the early 1960s, Diamond has become extremely disciplined about his process.

He writes every day, regardless of inspiration or deadlines. He doesn’t listen

to, or play, any other music while working on his own material, and he doesn’t preview his songs for anyone until they’ve been recorded.

His wife didn’t hear the album — even the songs he wrote for her — until it was finished.

“I’m very strict with myself now because I’m the only one who’s looking over my shoulder,” Diamond said. He spent 18 months holed up making “Melody Road,” a collection of 12 tracks he says tells the story of his life over the past 20 years.

There are songs about heartache, about family, and several about finding love.

Diamond is thoughtful as he discusses his work.

He says he really does suffer for his art.

“I’m locked in a room and I should be with my grandson or granddaughters and I can’t be,” he said.

“I’ve missed out for the sake of my music and I understand that, but it doesn’t make it any easier to do.”

PÁGINA 8A

Zfrontera NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO

Tamaulipas en Breve

Tiroteos fatales

PREVENCIÓN DE IRAS

Ha comenzado a operar el programa estatal Temporada Invernal, que tiene como propósito implementar acciones de vigilancia epidemiológica y medidas preventivas para hacer frente a las Infecciones Respiratorias Agudas (IRAS).

Los grupos que presentan mayores riesgos de contraer la influenza son los adultos mayores de 65 años y los niños menores de 2 años de edad, mujeres embarazadas y personas con algún tipo de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, señaló Norberto Treviño García Manzo, secretario de Salud, en un comunicado de prensa del Estado.

Las 12 Jurisdicciones Sanitarias del estado cuentan con brigadas de vacunación, añadió Treviño García Manzo.

“Los objetivos para esta temporada invernal son vacunar al 100 por ciento de los niños de 6 a 59 meses de vida y mayores de 60 años”, se lee en el comunicado. “Vacunar al 100 por ciento de la población de riesgo (embarazadas, personas con VIH, diabetes, cardiópatas, obesos, asmáticos y personal de salud)”.

Asimismo la Secretaria de Salud pide a la población comenzar a utilizar ropa abrigadora durante las mañanas, evitar tener contacto con personas enfermas de las vías respiratorias y llevar a cabo el hábito de lavado de manos.

MIÉRCOLES 22 DE OCTUBRE DE 2014

POR CÉSAR G. RODRÍGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Tiroteos fueron escuchados en Nuevo Laredo, México, el fin de semana dejando tres personas muertas y varios detenidos en enfrentamientos realizados entre hombres armados y militares mexicanos, de acuerdo a la Procuraduría General de Justicia del estado de Tamaulipas.

Los enfrentamientos armados aparecen después de una reciente alerta de viaje a México emitida por el Departamento de Estado el 10 de octubre, donde se exhorta a los ciudadanos estadounidenses a “aplazar viajes no esenciales” a Tamaulipas, se establece en la alerta.

La alerta menciona cuatro ciu-

dades específicas en Tamaulipas, incluyendo Nuevo Laredo.

“Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo y Ciudad Victoria han experimentado numerosos enfrentamientos armados y ataques con artefactos explosivos el año pasado.

Conflictos violentos entre elementos rivales criminales y/o el ejército mexicano pueden ocurrir en toda la región y en cualquier momento del día”, se lee en la alerta.

Las autoridades de Tamaulipas dijeron que el primer incidente tuvo lugar el 17 de octubre en la colonia La Joya, al oeste de Nuevo Laredo. Las tropas mexicanas que patrullaban la carretera que conduce al Aeropuerto Internacional Quetzalcóatl se vieron bajo el fuego que provenía de una camioneta ocupada por hombres armados, di-

jeron las autoridades.

Los soldados repelieron el fuego dando muerte a un hombre a quien las autoridades no identificaron. Las tropas arrestaron a Alfredo López Fernández, José Miguel Anastasio Quevedo y Yolanda Magdalena Luna Beltrán. Además, los soldados dijeron que decomisaron un rifle de asalto, una pistola, un cargador, una cartuchera y un radio.

Los tiros volvieron a escucharse en una segunda ocasión a las 3:30 a.m., el 17 de octubre al oeste de Nuevo Laredo. Las tropas mexicanas dijeron que se encontraron con un vehículo cuyos ocupantes estaban actuando de manera sospechosa. Se iniciaron disparos cuando los soldados intentaron detener el vehículo.

MEDIO AMBIENTE

BELLEZA NATURAL

PUEBLO MÁGICO

La antigua ciudad de Tula, Tamaulipas, celebra tercer aniversario como Pueblo Mágico.

Tula, que fungió como capital de Tamaulipas de 1846 a 1947, logró el reconocimiento de la Secretaría de Turismo, como Pueblo Mágico en 2011, hecho tras el cual se invirtieron 95 millones de pesos en infraestructura turística, mejoramiento urbano y restauración de fachadas.

Asimismo se han impulsado programas de capacitación para incrementar la calidad y mejorar la experiencia del turismo, señala un comunicado de prensa.

Para el festejo del tercer aniversario, el Presidente Municipal, Juan Andrés Díaz, con apoyo de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico y Turismo organizaron diversas actividades, entre ellas un recorrido para constatar los avances de las obras de imagen urbana.

Díaz señaló que en 2015 iniciarán un proyecto para el Cerro de la Cruz.

— Reportes con información del Gobierno de Tamaulipas

ÉBOLA

EU emite nuevos procesos POR MIKE STOBBE Y EMILY SCHMALL ASSOCIATED PRESS

INAUGURAN CENTRO DE SALUD

El Centro de Salud 300 de Tamaulipas ha abierto sus puertas.

El nuevo Centro de Salud, de una inversión de más de 6 millones de pesos, está ubicado en la colonia Emiliano Zapata de la ciudad de Madero, Tamaulipas, y beneficiará a más de 17.000 habitantes de sectores.

En los 300 espacios se atienden al menos a 300.000 personas, lo que representa una estimación de 4 millones de consultas anuales en diversos servicios como medicina general, curaciones y vacunas, programas de detección oportuna de cáncer, diversas campañas de salud, atención dental y farmacia entre otros, señala un comunicado de prensa.

La confrontación dejó a un hombre muerto y tres arrestados. Sus nombres no fueron dados a conocer. Los militares decomisaron un rifle de asalto, una pistola, siete cargadores, 167 tiros de alto calibre, 50 dosis de cocaína, una bolsa de marihuana y un vehículo.

Una tercera confrontación armada dejó otro hombre muerto a las 8:30 p.m., el mismo día durante un patrullaje en una ubicación que no fue dada a conocer en Nuevo Laredo. Las autoridades dijeron que el ejército mexicano se defendió cuando fueron atacados. Las tropas confiscaron cuatro rifles de asalto, 23 cargadores, 420 cartuchos útiles y un vehículo.

(Localice a César G. Rodríguez en el (956) 728-2568 o en crodriguez@lmtonline.com)

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Una mariposa monarca fertiliza una margarita. El Estado de Tamaulipas es un lugar de descanso para las mariposas en su camino a Michoacán, México.

Mariposa monarca visitará Tamaulipas TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

E

l Estado de Tamaulipas será el espacio natural que las mariposas Monarca elijan como lugar para alimentarse y descansar, antes de llegar a su destino en Michoacán, México.

Por tal motivo se han estructurado Santuarios Naturales a lo largo del vecino Estado, donde las mariposas podrán ser observadas durante su trayecto, alimentándose o descansando, de acuerdo con Heberto Cavazos Lliteras, sub Secretario de Medio Ambiente.

De acuerdo con investigaciones reportadas por Tamaulipas esta temporada las mariposas comienzan a encontrar una planta llamada algodoncillo o chipuz (Asclepia curassavica) e inician la puesta de huevecillos en el estado. Los lugares más reconocidos por este hecho son Veracruz y Madero, Aldama, Soto La Marina, San Fernando en la zona costera y en el centro del Estado como Gómez Farías, Güémez, Hidalgo y Victoria, además de la zona fronteriza en Río Bravo y Reynosa.

Para mediados de abril las mariposas monarca nacidas en Tamaulipas, continúan su viaje hacia Estados Unidos para otra etapa y un nuevo el ciclo reproductivo, que se repetirá al menos tres veces más entre las nuevas generaciones, las cuales cubrirán una distancia de 4.500 kilómetros hasta llegar a los bosques de pino de Norteamérica.

Canadá, Estados Unidos y México, tienen acuerdos internacionales para proteger la ruta de mi-

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El Estado de Tamaulipas será el escenario de descanso de las Mariposas Monarcas que viajan a Michoacán, México, procedentes de Canadá. gración de las mariposas monarcas.

Monitoreo permanente Alrededor de los estados, que como Tamaulipas, son paso natural de las mariposas se iniciaron trabajos de coordinación para el monitoreo de invierno entre la Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, los sectores educativos, organizaciones civiles y voluntarios en los años 2012 y 2013, señaló Cavazos Lliteras. Con base en ellos se ha identificando la ruta que siguen las mariposas monarca durante su migración, y se ha educado al público sobre la importancia de cuidar su entorno.

La amplia geografía de Tamau-

lipas y su biodiversidad representan un paso seguro para la Mariposa Monarca, por ello se realiza un monitoreo constante en la ubicación de las colonias de esta especie, señaló Alfonso Banda Valdez, Dirección de Recursos Naturales y Manejo de Áreas Naturales de la sub Secretaria de Medio Ambiente.

En años anteriores se llegaron a realizar 45 recorridos en 18 comunidades de 5 municipios del Altiplano tamaulipeco, entre ellos Jaumave, Tula, Ocampo Bustamante y Miquihuana.

Se ha detectado que en la vertiente de la Sierra Madre Oriental las mariposas encuentran como alimentarse, abastecerse de agua y pernotar en la biodiversidad de Tamaulipas, señala un comunicado de prensa del estado.

ATLANTA, Georgia— Las autoridades federales estadounidenses comenzaron a difundir nuevos protocolos que fomentan el uso de protección completa para los trabajadores sanitarios que atienden a pacientes de ébola.

Las autoridades difundieron el lunes por la noche las recomendaciones, que los trabajadores sanitarios exigían desde que dos enfermeras en Dallas se infectaron del virus cuando atendían al primer enfermo de ébola diagnosticado en Estados Unidos.

Personal de los Centros de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) comenzarían el martes las demostraciones de las técnicas recomendadas en un enorme centro de formación en el Centro Javits de Nueva York, con una asistencia esperada de miles de personas.

Las peticiones de nuevos estándares se vieron impulsadas por los inesperados contagios este mes de dos enfermeras del Hospital Presbiteriano de Salud de Texas. No está claro cómo se infectaron las trabajadoras, pero se sabe que hubo algún problema, indicó el director de los CDC, Tom Frieden.

Los nuevos protocolos son más estrictos, requiriendo trajes de protección y capuchas completas que cubran el cuello de los trabajadores e imponiendo normas rigurosas para la retirada del equipo y la desinfección de las manos, además de introducir la figura de un supervisor para las maniobras de colocar y quitar las protecciones.

También piden a los trabajadores que pudieran participar en la atención a enfermos de ébola que ensayen varias veces cómo se pone y se quita el traje antes de acercarse a un paciente.

En cuanto a los hospitales, se pide la designación de zonas para colocar y retirar el equipo, ya sea una habitación contigua a la de un paciente de ébola o una zona de pasillo acordonada con plásticos.

Los CDC no pueden obligar a los hospitales a seguir las guías, se trata sólo de recomendaciones oficialesEsta semana 50 personas que habían tenido contacto con el paciente diagnosticado en Estados Unidos, el liberiano Thomas Eric Duncan, completaron el periodo de observación de 21 días y dejaron de estar consideradas en riesgo de desarrollar la enfermedad.

En Texas quedan unas 120 personas bajo observación por posibles síntomas, que terminan su cuarentena el 7 de noviembre, indicó el alcalde de Dallas, Mike Rawlings. Otras 140 personas están siendo monitoreadas en Ohio por su contacto o posible contacto con la enfermera Amber Vinson, según autoridades de Ohio.

RIBEREÑA

Incautan más de tres toneladas marihuana TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

El municipio de Camargo, Tamaulipas, fue el escenario del decomiso de toneladas de marihuana, dijeron autoridades del Estado el lunes.

La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, aseguró poco más de tres toneladas de marihuana en Camargo, tras labores de inteligencia ejecutadas en diferentes puntos de la ciudad, indicó un comunicado de prensa emitido por el

Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas.

El decomiso fue constituido de 3.165 kilogramos de marihuana y 2 kilogramos de semilla del mismo narcótico, señala el comunicado.

“(El contrabando) fue descubierto por personal militar en una vivienda ubicada en la calle Capitán García entre Guerrero y Jiménez, en el sector centro de ese municipio de la Ribereña”, se lee en el comunicado.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors Lady Hawks up to No. 17 in poll

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

The Zapata Lady Hawks are having a great week after picking another victory in the district race and earning state recognition.

Zapata swept Hidalgo 3-0 (25-5, 25-19, 25-11) to stay at the top of District 16-4A pushing their district record to 9-1.

The usual suspects filled out the stat sheet as Zapata’s three-headed monster of Cassey Garcia, Alexis Alvarado and Tere Villarreal led the offensive attack. Garcia finished with a game-high 11 kills followed by Alvarez with eight and Villarreal with seven.

The Lady Hawks did some damage from the service line with seven aces. Kaity Ramirez and Villarreal each had three aces while Alex Garcia added another. Ramirez did most of her damage with the ball as she led the team with 18 assists while Brianna Gonzalez had 11.

On the defensive end, Gonzalez had 16 digs and Alexa Garcia had eight for the Lady Hawks.

Zapata can also celebrate as the Lady Hawks are ranked No. 17 in the state by the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association in Monday’s polls. The Lady Hawks have a 9-1 district record and are 21-7 on the season with two games left.

Football The Hawks saw their

six-game winning streak snapped Friday night in a key district game. Zapata’s Hector Leduc missed an extra point in the fourth quarter as Kingsville escaped with a 21-20 victory. Zapata fell to 1-1 in District 16-4A. ZHS (6-2) got on the scoreboard early scoring two touchdowns in the opening quarter but had a hard time getting their offense going in the second half. Orlando Villarreal (86 yards on 20 carries) finished Zapata’s drive

with a 2-yard touchdown with 8:13 left in the first quarter. Leduc made it 7-0 with the extra point.

Three minutes later, Zapata found the end zone on a run by Rolando Ibanez for a 6-yard touchdown with 5:43 left on the clock.

Zapata’s offense stalled for the next two quarters just as Kingsville found their running game. Roger Arkadie scored two touchdowns during the span and Jesse Galindo added another one in the

third quarter to give the Brahmas a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter.

The Hawks defense buckled down and shut out Kingsville in the fourth quarter as Zapata mustered one last drive to get the ball into the red zone. Quarterback Raul Ruiz (6-for-12, 81 yards) capped off the drive with a 4-yard run with 8:53 left in the game but failed to convert on the extra point.

Clara Sandoval can be reached at sandoval.clara@gmail.com

File photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Cassey Garcia and the Lady Hawks are up to No. 17 in the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association poll released Monday.

International

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

Hong Kong students, officials talk but don’t agree

By KELVIN CHAN AND JACK CHANG ASSOCIATED PRESS

HONG KONG — Hong Kong student leaders and government officials talked but agreed on little Tuesday as the city’s Beijing-backed leader reaffirmed his unwillingness to compromise on the key demand of activists camped in the streets now for a fourth week.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters that the government won’t let the public nominate candidates to run in inaugural direct elections to succeed him in 2017, as demanded by thousands of protesters occupying thoroughfares across the city. But he added that there’s room to discuss how to form the key 1,200member nominating committee.

Leung said such changes could be covered in a second round of consultations over the next several months.

“How we should elect the 1,200 so that the nominating committee will be broadly representative there’s room for discussion there,” Leung said. “There’s room to make the nominating committee more democratic, and this is one of the things we very much want to talk to not just the students but the community at large about.”

Soon after Leung spoke to The Associated Press and three other news agencies, top officials from his government began much-awaited, televised talks with student leaders.

In opening remarks, student leader Alex Chow said that an August decision by China’s legislature ruling out so-called civil nomination and requiring the nominating committee has “emasculated” Hong Kong.

Chow and four other stu-

By BENJAMIN SHINGLER AND ROB GILLIES ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Wally Santana | AP

A pro-democracy student protester wipes her eyes as she watches with others a live broadcast of government officials meeting with student protest organizers, in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. dent leaders, wearing black T-shirts that said “Freedom Now!,” faced off against five senior government officials in dark suits across a Ushaped table.

“We don’t want anointment,” said Chow, secretarygeneral of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of three groups leading the protests.

The student leaders accused senior officials of “creating the current political problems” by submitting a report to Beijing on electoral reform that “misrepresented the views of the Hong Kong people.”

“After suffering from tear gas and police batons, the people of Hong Kong only hope that those with power in Hong Kong’s government can openly and sincerely solve the problems that you have created,” said Lester Shum, the federation’s vice secretary.

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, the government’s No. 2 official, said the government would consider sending another report to Beij-

CEO killed in Russian plane crash

By LYNN BERRY ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW — The head of French oil giant Total SA was killed at a Moscow airport when his corporate jet collided with a snowplow whose driver was drunk, Russian investigators said Tuesday.

Total confirmed “with deep regret and sadness” that Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died in the crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.

The three other people on board, all of them French crew members, also died when the Frenchmade Dassault Falcon 50 hit the snowplow on takeoff at 11:57 p.m. Monday.

The plane crashed onto the runway and burst into flames, investigators said.

The driver, who was not hurt, was operating the snowplow under the influence of alcohol, Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main investigative agency, told reporters at the airport. She said investigators are questioning the driver and also air traffic controllers and witnesses to the crash.

De Margerie, 63, was a regular fixture at international economic gatherings and one of the French business community’s most outspoken and recognizable figures, with his trademark silver moustache.

He was a vocal critic of sanctions against Russia, arguing that isolating Russia was bad for the global economy. He traveled regularly to Russia and recently dined in Paris with a Putin ally who is under EU sanctions.

On Monday, de Margerie took part in a meeting of Russia’s Foreign Investment Advisory Council with members of Russia’s

Terrorist blamed in car attack

government and other international business executives.

President Vladimir Putin extended his condolences in a telegram sent to French President Francois Hollande.

Putin said de Margerie “stood at the origins of the many major joint projects that have laid the basis for the fruitful cooperation between Russia and France in the energy sphere for many years,” according to a text released by the Kremlin.

Hollande expressed his “stupor and sadness” at the news. In a statement, he praised de Margerie for defending French industry globally, and for his “independent character and original personality.”

De Margerie had risen through the ranks at Total, serving in several positions in the finance department and exploration and production division before becoming president of Total Middle East in 1995. He became a member of Total’s policy-making executive committee in 1999, became CEO in 2007, and added the post of chairman in 2010.

He was a central figure in Total’s role in the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq in the 1990s.

Total paid a fine in the U.S. in this case, though De Margerie was acquitted on corruption charges by a French court.

Paris-based Total is the fifth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world, with exploration and production operations in more than 50 countries, according to a profile on the company’s website.

Total shares opened lower Tuesday morning after the news, then climbed slightly to 42.95 euros in early Paris trading.

ing reflecting the protesters’ views, though she repeatedly chided the students for being “idealistic” rather than “pragmatic.”

The officials stuck to the government line that Hong Kong’s mini-constitution cannot be amended to accommodate protesters’ demands, while also saying that many others don’t share their views.

“We hope you would understand that there are a lot of people who are not in Mong Kok, who are not in Admiralty. There are many people at home who aren’t insisting on civil nomination,” said Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen.

Both sides showed little willingness to compromise.

Lam said she hoped for further talks though the students weren’t sure whether they would continue.

Thousands of people intently watched the meeting on giant screens in the main protest area in Admiralty, on a highway next to city government headquarters. They cheered student

leaders who criticized the government intransigence’s and booed Lam when she commended police for exercising restraint.

Police armed with pepper spray and batons have clashed violently in recent days with protesters armed with umbrellas and goggles in the blue-collar district of Mong Kok over control of the streets. Nearly 300 people have been injured since the protest began. Police said 94 have been arrested since Oct. 3.

The protesters heaped on more boos when the screens went black after the talks ended, reflecting what several said was their overall disappointment with the meeting.

“The government didn’t do anything,” said Alex Chan, a 40-year-old technology consultant. “But it’s only the start, the first time.

Everybody has to find a way to end this situation.”

Leung said one obstacle to resolving the conflict is a lack of consensus as to what would end the occupation.

SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, Quebec — A young convert to Islam who killed a Canadian soldier in a hit-and-run had been on the radar of federal investigators, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and had seized his passport, authorities said Tuesday.

The suspect was shot dead by police after a chase in the Quebec city of Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu.

A second soldier suffered minor injuries in Monday’s attack.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the attack “clearly linked to terrorist ideology.” Quebec Police spokesman Guy Lapointe said the act was deliberate and that one of the two soldiers was in uniform. Lapointe said there were no other suspects at this time.

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case identified the suspect as Martin Couture-Rouleau, 25.

The suspect was known to authorities and recently had his passport seized, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said. He was one of 90 suspected extremists in the country who intend to join fights abroad or who have returned from overseas. However, it was not known whether the suspect had any ties to Islamic militant groups.

“He was part of our investigative efforts to try and identify those people who might commit a criminal act travelling abroad

for terrorist purposes,” Paulson said.

There was no answer at Couture-Rouleau’s single story white brick home in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, on Tuesday morning, and no sign of police.

Neighbor Daniel Fortin said he had known Couture-Rouleau, who lived with his father, since he was a child.

Fortin said over the past year or so, he grew out his beard and began wearing loose-fitting Muslim clothing but that he never felt threatened by him. Fortin said Couture-Roleau’s father was worried as he became increasingly radicalized and “tried everything,” to help him.

Another neighbor, who declined to be named, said she didn’t know the family well but saw police visit the home on more than one occasion over the past few months.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the slain soldier, 53-year-old Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, was a 28-year veteran with “distinguished service.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family members, his friends and his colleagues,” the prime minister said.

“This was a despicable act of violence that strikes against not just this soldier and his colleagues but frankly against our very values as a civilized democracy,” Harper said in Parliament.

Lapointe said the other victim is in stable condition with minor injuries.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf condemned the attack and said they are in touch with Canadian officials.

Fight for Brazil’s battleground state heats up

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON ASSOCIATED PRESS

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — Brazil’s deadlocked presidential race is the most heated since the nation returned to democracy, and nowhere is the battle more bare-knuckled than in the state where both candidates were born.

Minas Gerais, which has produced more presidents than any other state in the globe’s fifth-largest nation, is key to whether incumbent Dilma Rousseff gets another four years in office or if challenger Aecio Neves returns the presidency to the Brazil’s main opposition party after more than a decade in the wilderness.

Because Minas Gerais is also the country’s second most populous state with about 20.5 million of Brazil’s 203.3 people, the nation’s vote for president on Sunday hinges in large part on its voters.

“It’s the Ohio of Brazil,” said Mauricio Moura, a Brazilian pollster and professor of political strategy at George Washington University. “Brazil has never elected a president who didn’t win in Minas Gerais.”

Minas Gerais is also decisive because of a diverse political makeup that mirrors Brazil overall. There is heavy support for Neves’ center-right party in wealthier parts of the capital and the south, and backing for Rousseff’s Workers’ Party in the poorer areas in the north and west that rely more on federal government social programs such as subsidized housing loans and a cash transfer arrangement paying families to ensure their children stay in school.

In first-round voting on Oct. 5 Rousseff took just over 43 percent of the state’s votes to Neves’ nearly 40 percent, even though Neves served two terms as governor of Minas Gerais and left office in 2010 with a 92-per-

Photo by Adirana Gomez | AP

Supporters of Brazil’s President and Workers Party candidate Dilma Rousseff shout slogans in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on Friday. cent approval rating.

Since that first vote, both campaigns have sharply focused on the state. In a sign of the growing acrimony, debate on the wide, palm treedotted streets of Belo Horizonte, long known for its impeccably polite citizens, has turned nasty.

Rousseff supporters have revived five-year-old, unproven media accusations that Neves pushed and hit his then-girlfriend and now wife, Leticia. The couple denies the episode ever happened.

Neves’ detractors also criticize him for building a $7 million regional airport on land his uncle owned in Minas Gerais. The candidate says procedures were correctly followed and auditors have found nothing wrong with the choice of land.

The political mentor of the 66-year-old Rousseff, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, alluded to the alleged incident involving Neves and his wife while leading a rally in Belo Horizonte last weekend. He also used the term “daddy’s boy” to refer to the political pedigree and family wealth of the 54-year-old Neves, whose

grandfather Tancredo Neves was elected in 1985 to be Brazil’s first president after the 21-year military dictatorship, but died a day before taking office.

“You can vote for whomever you want,” a man’s voice boomed from the giant speakers on a Rousseff campaign truck recently crawling through the streets of Belo Horizonte, a colonial city of about 2.4 million and the Minas Gerais state capital. “But do you want a man who beats his wife and built an airport for his uncle? It’s your choice, but I am just saying.”

As the sound truck bearing Rousseff campaign banners rolled around Belo Horizonte insulting Neves, pedestrians stared and people stepped out of hair salons and other businesses to wave their hands and shake their heads in disapproval.

Some made obscene gestures.

“They are terrified of losing power and they are scared,” said Rafael Oliveira, a Neves supporter distributing flyers on the street.

But those Neves supporters seem just as desperate to woo undecided voters and the 14 percent of the

electorate who cast firstround ballots for Marina Silva, the former environment minister since eliminated from the race. Silva now backs Neves.

At a Neves support rally in downtown Belo Horizonte last week, speakers called Rousseff a “fascist” and “terrorist”— an apparent reference to her time as a youthful Marxist guerrilla in an armed organization that fought against Brazil’s military regime. Rousseff has long maintained that she personally never participated in violent acts.

In a poor rural area on the capital’s outskirts, Maria Lindaura Dos Santos recently hung clothes to dry outside the house, a newly developed area where the government offers loans for low-income families who want to buy houses.

They still have no sewage system, but the new neighborhood is pulling through, she said.

“No one used to do anything for people in the villages. But we have a house, and a bus stop nearby,” said Dos Santos, a Rousseff supporter. “They are the only ones who remember we exist.”

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Spanish woman free of Ebola

By CIARAN GILES AND ALAN CLENDENNING ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADRID — Conclusive tests show a Spanish nursing assistant infected with Ebola is cured of the virus, doctors said Tuesday, signaling a huge step forward in her 15-day battle for survival.

Four blood tests over the past four days indicated Teresa Romero’s system had eliminated the virus, said Dr. Jose Ramon Arribas of Madrid’s Carlos III hospital.

He added that Romeo will no longer have to be kept in isolation but will be closely monitored for after effects of the virus.

The family spokeswoman for Romero, Teresa Mesa, said the nursing assistant could remain hospitalized for about two more weeks.

Romero, 44, tested positive Oct. 6. She received plasma from a recovered Ebola patient, but health authorities have disclosed no more treatment details.

“She’s recovering well, her spirits are high,” Mesa told reporters. “She’s not wearing an oxygen mask anymore. She’s eating. The recovery is going great.”

Romero was the first known person to contract the disease outside of West Africa in the latest outbreak.

She had treated two Spanish missionaries who died of Ebola at the hospital in August and September after they were flown back from West Africa.

EBOLA Continued from Page 1A in the future will need just six hours of notice to prepare for a patient.

The other unit will be at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, southeast of Houston.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, which treated the three previous Ebola cases, was not included in the plan.

Thomas Eric Duncan, who had traveled to Dallas from Ebola-ravaged West Africa, died there on Oct. 8. A nurse who treated him tested positive for Ebola on Oct. 11, and another tested positive on Oct. 15. Both nurses were initially treated at Presbyterian but were later flown to high-level biohazard infectious disease centers in Maryland and Atlanta.

About 110 people in Texas, including Texas Presbyterian employees, are still being monitored for possible infection with

Ebola because they may have had contact with one of those three people.

Perry formed a task force to look at the state’s readiness to deal with infectious diseases shortly after Duncan was diagnosed. The governor said the panel had recommended that at least two facilities be designated to take Ebola patients.

State officials said no new state funds are being dedicated to the centers.

Both are using existing facilities with staff who have already been training to work with such patients, said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission. She said the hospitals already get state and federal funding and can support the centers within their current budgets.

The Methodist Campus for Continuing Care includes a recently vacated intensive care unit and an

emergency department.

Dr. Sam Bagchi, Methodist’s chief medical informatics officer, said the campus no longer houses core hospital operations.

At Galveston, Perry said, staff members have “safely studied some of the most dangerous viruses in the world for a decade.” He said it is also home to a training center “where researches around the world come to learn how to handle the most infectious diseases.”

Perry said Presbyterian was not included in order to grant some relief to the employees who have been in a situation “not unlike a military operation that has been on the front lines.”

The Dallas hospital, where Duncan was initially misdiagnosed and sent home, has defended its practices and protocols and said it followed what it described as frequently changing CDC guidelines.

NUEVO LAREDO Continued from Page 1A

whose occupants were acting suspicious. Shots rang out when soldiers attempted to pull over the vehicle.

The confrontation left one man dead and three arrested. Their names were not released. Mexico’s military seized one assault rifle, one handgun, seven magazines, 167 high-caliber rounds, 50 cocaine doses, a marijuana baggie and one vehicle.

A third armed confrontation left another man dead at 8:30 p.m., the same day as the other two incidents, during soldiers’ roving duties in an undisclosed location in Nuevo Laredo. Authorities said the Mexican army defended itself when they came under fire.

Troops seized four assault rifles, 23 magazines, 420 rounds of ammo and one vehicle.

CADAVER DOGS Continued from Page 1A ter’s alerts have aided in the recovery of the remains of about 200 people.

“He’s a one-in-a-million dog,” Dostie says.

Maybe, but he’s far from the only dog doing this kind of work. Increasingly, law enforcement investigators across the country are putting their faith in dogs like Buster to help find remains — bodies, bones and blood from the missing and the murdered.

Cadaver dogs, as these specially trained canines are sometimes called, were used in searches after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and to help find victims of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.

More recently, these dogs have helped convict some murder suspects, even when no body is found. Trainers and some forensic scientists say the dogs can detect human residue that’s been left behind in a trunk, or on a blanket or tarp, or a temporary grave of some sort. In some cases, the dogs also help pinpoint areas where air and soil can be tested with increasingly sophisticated detection devices — though these methods have not been without controversy.

Proving what these dogs know isn’t easy.

“If only Buster could talk,” Dostie quips, as he works his dog through a wide patch of scraggly brush, about 50 miles east of Yosemite National Park.

Near an old mine shaft, Buster eventually zeroes in on a spot, then stops and barks with more urgency. “Show me, Buster!”

Dostie shouts.

In his younger days, Buster would lie down on a spot like this to indicate an “alert.” But having lost a leg to cancer, the 12-year-old canine now prefers to poke his nose in the direction of a particular spot in the dirt, or at a rock, or whatever has set off his nose.

As a reward, Dostie tosses Buster a blue rubber toy he’s been holding behind his back while the dog searches. “Good boy,” he says.

To the untrained eye, it might seem that Buster is simply barking for that toy.

But this routine has helped unearth the remains of everyone from crime victims to missing Americans lost in World War II battles in Europe and on the south Pacific island of Tarawa. Dostie and Buster travel to former war zones with History Flight Inc., a nonprofit foundation whose mission includes finding the tens of thousands of fallen American veterans whose bodies were never recovered.

Among others, Buster helped find Lt. Robert Fenstermacher, an Army Air Corps pilot whose plane crashed in Belgium after being shot down in 1944. Last year, his family gathered as he was laid to rest, nearly 70 years later, in Arlington National Cemetery. “(Now) we can finally say to Robert: ‘Welcome home. You served your country and family with honor and made us proud,”’ the pilot’s great-nephew, Robert Fenstermacher Jr., said at the funeral, as he thanked Buster, Dostie and other search volunteers.

History Flight volunteers and paid staff also use ground-penetrating radar, historical records and witness accounts to pinpoint remains. The method has led to the recovery of 13,000 bones of American veterans on Tarawa alone, most of them not yet identified, says Mark Noah, founder of History Flight.

Other searches are often much simpler — just the handlers and dogs, walking on foot, mile after mile to find a body. That was how Deborah Palman, now a retired specialist with the Maine Warden Service, and her German shepherd, Alex, found the body of a Canadian woman named Maria Tanasichuk in 2003. Police later determined she’d been shot in the head execution-style by her husband David Tanasichuk.

“We had worked so long for so many days — a lot of long, hard searches,” Palman says. “You’ve sort of thrown yourself into numbness, and you convince yourself you’re not going to find what you’re looking for.”

Then, during another long day trekking through a forest outside Miramichi, New Brunswick, Palman recalls how Alex ran to her as if to say, “Hey, come look at this. Follow me!”

Palman pulled back some brush and saw green fabric, and signs that a body was underneath.

“My pulse must have shot up over 200,” she says.

That find was the break in the case that led to David Tanasichuk’s conviction.

Local police departments have been reluctant to use the cadaver dogs for searches because their trainers are volunteers, but that’s been changing, as the dogs’ training has become more standardized in the last decade — and as they’ve helped solve more cases.

Labs and German shepherds are the

most common breeds used for cadaver work. Like most of the dogs, Buster started young, though Dostie concedes that he ignored the pudgy puppy when his wife brought him home 12 years ago. She’d begged her husband to let her keep Buster — and then Dostie started noticing what a good nose the dog had.

The dogs are often trained at cemeteries and at specialized “body farms” that have decomposing bodies at various stages.

While humans, when alive, have individual scents, chemical reactions from decomposition are basically the same in every human, though those reactions — and the scent — change over time, forensic experts say.

When more than one dog has alerted independently in the same spot, some judges have been persuaded to allow cadaver dog evidence and testimony from the dogs’ handlers, even if investigators haven’t found the body.

In February, for instance, cadaver dog evidence helped convict a suburban Chicago man, Aurelio Montano, of killing his wife. She disappeared in 1990, and although her body was never found, investigators got a tip, years later, and dug up a rug at a horse farm on which more than one cadaver dog alerted. They contended that Montano had wrapped the body in the rug — also identified by his daughter as having once been in their home — and buried it. Those same investigators said Montano later exhumed his wife’s remains and disposed of them in an unknown location.

The dogs’ alerts on the rug, coupled with witness testimony, proved to be enough to convict Montano.

That sort of testimony has been less than effective in other cases, though.

In the high-profile 2011 Florida trial of Casey Anthony — accused of killing her young daughter — more than one cadaver dog alerted on the trunk of Anthony’s car.

Arpad Vass, then a senior research scientist with the Oak Ridge National Lab, testified that using air samples from the trunk, he had found high levels of chloroform, which can be found when a body breaks down. However, that finding was questioned by other witnesses and pundits, who said the science wasn’t ready for primetime. And unlike Montano, Anthony was freed.

Cadaver dogs “are an incredible investigatory tool — no question about it,” says

Lawrence Kobilinsky, professor and chairman of the department of sciences at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Certainly, he says, they can help uncover valuable evidence in criminal cases — a body, or bones or maybe clothing.

But he is among those who doesn’t think the dogs’ alerts and subsequent tests of soil and air where should be admissible in court, at least not yet.

“What we need to do is strengthen the science,” Kobilinksy says.

And even in investigations, dogs alerting is often just the first step in what can be a lengthy, sometimes fruitless endeavor.

“Everybody thinks, you just dig a hole, but it’s not always that obvious,” says Vass, who is continuing to develop technology to help locate clandestine graves and to evaluate chemical markers associated with human decomposition. Often, he says, buried bodies create a “chemical plume” that runs downhill from a grave, making it difficult to find.

“Dogs,” Vass says, “are just one tool in the toolbox.”

Cost also can be a factor.

In Plumas County, California, Buster and two other dogs have alerted on an outdoor well on separate occasions. The well is near the home where 13-year-old Mark Wilson was living when he disappeared in 1967.

Wilson was never found.

Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood can’t be sure the boy’s body is in that well.

But he thinks it’s worth investigating, so much so that he asked for assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has offered a forensics team.

The sheriff ’s department, however, still must foot the estimated $96,474 bill to excavate and restore the site, which is in the front yard of a home. That’s no small amount of money in a county, once a busy logging and lumber hub, that’s been hit by economic hard times.

With the funding turned down by the county board, the sheriff says he’ll seek help from foundations or other sources.

“How can I justify not pursuing this?” he asks. “Well, you can’t.”

Buster, meanwhile, is still at work and may make another long trip to Tarawa.

Noah, of History Flight, paid for the dog’s cancer surgery, out of gratitude and to keep Buster’s nose in the field.

“As long as he wants to work, he gets to work,” Dostie says. “It’s up to him.”

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014