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FEDERAL COURT
Immigrant teenager allowed abortion Minor to undergo procedure at 15 weeks of pregnancy By Jessica Gresko A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for a 17-yearold immigrant held in custody in Texas to obtain an abortion. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 6-3 that new dates should be set for the teen to obtain the procedure. The decision overruled a ruling by a three-judge panel of the court that at least temporarily blocked her from getting an abortion. Tuesday’s decision could still be appealed to the Supreme Court. The teen, whose name and country of origin have been withheld because she’s a minor, is about 15 weeks pregnant. She entered the U.S. in September and learned she was pregnant while in federal custody in Texas. She obtained a state court order Sept. 25 permitting her to have an abortion. But federal officials have refused to transport her or temporarily release her so that others may take her to have an abortion. Lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for sheltering children who illegally enter the country unaccompanied by a parent, have said the department has a policy of “refusing to facilitate” abortions and that releasing the teenager would require arranging a transfer of custody and follow-up care. The teenager’s lawyers have said all the government needed to do was “get out of the way.” An attorney appointed to represent the teen’s interests has said she could transport her to and from appointments necessary for the procedure, and the federal government would not have to pay for it. A federal judge sided with the teen and set dates for the procedure last week, but the government appealed. The three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled 2-1 on Friday that the government should have until Oct. 31 to release the teen, so she could obtain the abortion outside government custody.
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WASHINGTON D.C.
Trump readies opioid plan Prepares to formally declare crisis as national emergency By Carla K. Johnson and Jill Colvin ASSOCIATED PRE SS
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s long-awaited declaration that the opioid epidemic is a national emergency finally arrives this week, but some advocates are worried that it won’t be backed with the money and commitment to make much difference.
Trump is expected to make the formal declaration and deliver a major speech on the topic Thursday, more than two months after he first announced that would be his plan. There is concern the White House actions will be empty talk without a long-term commitment to paying for more addiction treatment: An emergency declaration would lack punch Opioid continues on A12
Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News
In this Sept. 25 photo, a syringe is seen on the ground behind a restaurant in San Antonio.
DALLAS, TEXAS
BODY FOUND IS MISSING TODDLER
Tony Gutierrez / AP
Residents from Garland and Richardson, Texas get a close-up view of a drain ditch opening that has become a makeshift memorial site on Monday in Richardson.
Father changes story, claims she choked to death By Claudia Lauer ASSOCIATED PRE SS
DALLAS — The father of a missing toddler whose body was found in a culvert under a road in suburban Dallas has changed his story to say the girl didn’t wander off two weeks ago, but that she choked to death while drinking milk in the family’s garage. Richardson police said Tuesday that the Dallas County medical examiner’s office used dental records to identify 3year-old Sherin Mathew, whose body was found Sunday by
searchers with cadaver dogs. The girl was reported missing by her father, Wesley Mathews, on Oct. 7. Wesley Police said the Mathews cause of death is unknown. Mathews, who adopted Sherin from India in June 2016 with his wife, Sini Mathews, was arrested Monday after he voluntarily revised his police statement on what happened to the girl. A phone call to his attorney, Rafael De La Garza,
was not immediately returned Tuesday. Mathews initially told police that he had sent the girl to stand outside at 3 a.m. because she refused to drink her milk. In his revised statement Monday, he said the girl choked on the milk and that he removed her body from the home after he believed she had died. Richardson police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Perlich said Tuesday that the investigation is continuing, despite the revised statement. “This by no means completes our investigation. It is possible
there would be additional arrests or modifications of the charges as the investigation proceeds,” he said. Mathews was initially charged with abandoning or endangering a child when he first reported the girl missing. Police charged him Monday with first-degree felony injury to a child, which is punishable with up to life in prison. He was being held on $1 million bond. Perlich said police believe Sini Mathews was unaware of her husband’s actions and that Toddler continues on A12
UNITED STATES SENATE
Officials approve $36.5B disaster aid bill By Andrew Taylor A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a $36.5 billion emergency aid measure Tuesday to refill disaster accounts, provide a much-needed cash infusion to Puerto Rico, and bail out the federal flood insurance program. The 82-17 vote sends the measure to the White House, where President Donald Trump is sure to sign it. The measure provides $18.7
billion to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s rapidly dwindling accounts, and $16 billion so the flood insurance program can keep paying claims. It brings the total approved by Congress during this fall’s hurricane season to more than $50 billion — and that’s before requests expected soon to cover damage to water and navigation projects, crops, public buildings and infrastructure, and to help homeowners without flood insurance rebuild.
“We’re still waiting for all the data to come in from Texas to determine what the need is,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, whose Gulf Coast district was slammed by Hurricane Harvey. “We’ve already done the supplementals to keep the agencies going, but the long-term stuff — public assistance, FEMA and housing — are the big questions. We still haven’t gotten all the numbers in from the state.” The White House said in a statement that the aid would “provide critical relief ” from
the recent natural disasters and Trump “remains steadfast in his commitment to providing the resources necessary to recover from the hurricanes and wildfires.” The measure fails to address demands from the Florida and Texas delegations for more funding now, but lawmakers representing those states have won assurances from GOP leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and Trump himself that more help is in the works.
“I want to stress that much, much more will be needed in my state,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “It’s not over and done with, and it’s not time to just move on.” The current measure would permit FEMA to allocate up to $5 billion to assist Puerto Rico’s central government and various municipalities through a cash crisis. Maria has largely shut down the island’s economy and choked off tax revenues. The island’s electric grid has been mostly destroyed and Bill continues on A12
Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2017. There are 67 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 25, 1854, the "Charge of the Light Brigade" took place during the Crimean War as an English brigade of more than 600 men charged the Russian army, suffering heavy losses.
SATURDAY, OCT. 28 Dia Del Rio Loving Laredo Hike at Dusk. 5:30 p.m. Benavides Sports Complex, 600 S. Bartlett. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for a Halloween-inspired hike at the Chacon Hike & Bike Trail with bat watching at dusk at the Meadow Street Bridge. Free event.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, NOV. 4 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions. 8th annual Birdies on the Rio golf tourney. 7 a.m. registration at the Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for the biggest, baddest golf tournament in town. $150 per golfer (all-inclusive). Register at www.rgisc.org.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 8 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 15 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 22 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
A cyclist lays down on a bench in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Temperatures in Southern California climbed Monday as authorities warned of several days of dangerously high heat plus gusty Santa Ana winds that boost the risk of wildfires.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ENDURES RECORD HEAT LOS ANGELES — Baseball fans were heading to Dodger Stadium for the first game of the World Series Tuesday as temperatures in downtown Los Angeles hit a record-breaking 103 degrees by early afternoon. The day started out extra hot and dry as winds, known as the Santa Anas, kept overnight temperatures in the 80s and 90s in some areas following a siege of triple-digit heat on Monday. Relative humidity levels also stayed low, leaving vegetation susceptible to fire.
Lawsuit: New Jersey town illegally targeted Orthodox Jews MAHWAH, N.J. — New Jersey sued one of its towns Tuesday over two recent ordinances the state says illegally targeted a Jewish community from nearby New York, likening the conduct of town officials to the “1950s-era white flight suburbanites” who sought to keep blacks out of
Southern California firefighters scrambled to put out small fires before withering Santa Ana winds could whip them into conflagrations as a fall heatwave roasted the region. Los Angeles fire crews jumped on several small fires that erupted along the north edge of the city as gusts blasted through nearby mountains. One fire brought morning rush hour traffic to a halt on the State Route 118 freeway until it was extinguished. — Compiled from AP reports
their neighborhoods. The lawsuit against Mahwah and its township council seeks to block the ordinances and the return of more than $3.4 million in state grants the town has received from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The state contends Mahwah violated New Jersey’s Green Acres Act by banning out-ofstate residents from its parks. The state notes that land acquired under the law cannot be restricted on the basis of religion or residency.
One of the measures cited in the suit limits the use of a public park to state residents. The second effectively bans the building of an eruv, a religious boundary created by placing white plastic piping on utility poles. “In addition to being on the wrong side of history, the conduct of Mahwah’s township council is legally wrong, and we intend to hold them accountable for it,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino said. — Compiled from AP reports
SATURDAY, DEC. 2 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Mexican president met Odebrecht, says he did not receive funds
Marco Ugarte / AP
In this Sept. 7 photo, Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto wipes sweat from his forehead during the International Financial Inclusion Forum at the National Palace in Mexico City.
scripts from a Brazilian investigation in which an Odebrecht official said, “We accompanied the current President Enrique Peña Nieto and the PRI campaign full time.” The anti-corruption group said banking records and published statements by a former Odebrecht official suggested
that a top official of Peña Nieto’s campaign may have received $3.14 million from an Odebrecht front company. The official, Emilio Lozoya, has denied that, saying he had no connection with the bank account mentioned in the investigation. — Compiled from AP reports
SATURDAY, FEB. 3 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama, seeking to shore up support among women, intensified his pressure on Mitt Romney to break any ties with a Republican Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock of Indiana, who said that if a woman became pregnant from rape it was "something God intended." Romney ignored the emotional social issue, holding to an optimistic campaign tone as he fought for victory in crucial Ohio.
Today's Birthdays: Former American League president Dr. Bobby Brown is 93. Actress Marion Ross is 89. Actress Nancy Cartwright (TV: "The Simpsons") is 60. Rock musician Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers; Chickenfoot) is 56. Actress Tracy Nelson is 54. Actor Mathieu Amalric is 52. Singer Speech is 49. Actress-comedian-TV host Samantha Bee is 48. Actor Adam Goldberg is 47. Actor-singer Adam Pascal is 47. Rock musician Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies) is 47. Actress Persia White is 47. Actor Michael Weston is 44. Actor Zachary Knighton is 39. Actress Mariana Klaveno is 38.Pop singer Katy Perry is 33. Rock singer Austin Winkler is 33. Singer Ciara is 32. Actress Krista Marie Yu (TV: "Dr. Ken") is 29. Actress Conchita Campbell is 22. Thought for Today: "Bureaucracy, the rule of no one, has become the modern form of despotism." — Mary McCarthy, author and critic (born 1912, died this date in 1989).
CONTACT US
SATURDAY, JAN. 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush visited Southern California, telling residents weary from five days of wildfires: "We're not going to forget you in Washington, D.C." The Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1 at Fenway to take a 2-0 World Series lead.
One year ago: A federal judge in San Francisco approved a nearly $15 billion settlement, giving nearly a half-million Volkswagen owners and leaseholders the choice between selling their diesel engine cars back or having them repaired so they didn't cheat on emissions tests and spew excess pollution. Four people were killed in a river rapids ride accident at a popular theme park in Queensland, Australia. The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 in the World Series opener.
AROUND THE WORLD
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto acknowledged in a letter published Tuesday that he met several times with officials of a Brazilian construction firm that has admitted paying bribes throughout Latin America. But Peña Nieto’s office denied a report citing Brazilian case files that suggested his 2012 election campaign might have received money from the Odebrecht company. The office wrote in a letter published by the newspaper Reforma that “no official of Odebrecht or its subsidiaries had any involvement in the campaign.” The nonprofit group Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity had reported Peña Nieto’s met three times with company officials, citing tran-
On this date: In 1415, during the Hundred Years' War, outnumbered English soldiers led by Henry V defeated French troops in the Battle of Agincourt in northern France. In 1760, Britain's King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II. In 1939, the play "The Time of Your Life," by William Saroyan, opened in New York. In 1945, Taiwan became independent of Japanese colonial rule. In 1954, a meeting of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Cabinet was carried live on radio and television; to date, it's the only presidential Cabinet meeting to be broadcast. In 1957, mob boss Albert Anastasia of "Murder Inc." notoriety was shot to death by masked gunmen in a barber shop inside the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York. In 1962, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba; Stevenson then presented photographic evidence of the bases to the Council. In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan. In 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there. In 1994, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, claimed that a black carjacker had driven off with her two young sons (Smith later confessed to drowning the children in John D. Long Lake, and was convicted of murder). Three defendants were convicted in South Africa of murdering American exchange student Amy Biehl. In 2002, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, a week and a-half before the election. Actor Richard Harris died in London at age 72.
AROUND TEXAS Ex-school chief sentenced for immigration scam DALLAS — An ex-Texas school official has been sentenced for falsifying immigration documents that allowed foreign teachers to work in his district. Former Garland ISD human resources director Victor Leos
was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $317,000 in restitution Monday. The 63-year-old pleaded guilty in April to receiving kickbacks and travel benefits from 2007 to 2012. Court documents say Leos submitted false statements indicating qualified U.S. applicants couldn’t be found for open positions so bilingual teachers from abroad
were needed. Leos recruited teachers from Mexico, Central and South America and the Philippines. District officials say the scheme cost the district about $3.2 million, half of which was spent on immigration counsel and to continue visa and permanent residency applications for teachers Leos brought to the district. — Compiled from AP reports
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 |
A3
STATE
Prosecutors drop 62-year-old Austin man accused corruption case of plotting ex-girlfriend’s death against lawmaker An arrest affidavit says Keith ASSOCIATED PRE SS
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN, Texas — Prosecutors are dropping their case against Democratic state Rep. Dawnna Dukes months after the longtime Austin lawmaker was indicted on corruption charges. Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said Monday the case unraveled over conflicting witness statements about whether Dukes improperly sought travel reimbursements. Moore now says felony charges “should not have been pursued.” Dukes was accused of misspending campaign funds and doctoring records, as well as directing her legislative staff to work on non-official business.
Prosecutors say Dukes repaid the state more than $1,300 in salary for a staffer who ran personal errands. Dukes also restored $5,000 in campaign funds.
Shaun Clarke, an attorney for Dukes, says the 12-term lawmaker is relieved and chided prosecutors for “smearing” her name. Prosecutors say Dukes repaid the state more than $1,300 in salary for a staffer who ran personal errands. Dukes also restored $5,000 in campaign funds. Dukes first took office in 1994. She’s again seeking re-election.
$1.4M in grants announced to fight bat disease A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
HOUSTON — A public-private partnership is granting nearly $1.4 million to test treatments to halt a disease threatening the nation’s bat population. The white-nose syndrome fungus, first detected in New York state in 2006, has spread to 31 states and five Canadian provinces. Texas and Nebraska are the most recent states infected. The grants announced Tuesday in Houston include more than
$320,000 to Texas Tech University and Bat Conservation International to assess whether specific microclimate conditions can be manipulated to minimize the disease. It attacks hibernating bats and is responsible for killing more than 6 million bats over the past decade. The partnership called the Bats for the Future Fund includes the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Shell Oil and Southern Co.
AUSTIN, Texas — A 62-year-old Austin man has been charged with soliciting capital murder after police said he tried to hire an ex-Marine acquaintance to kill his ex-girlfriend for dating a black man. An arrest affidavit says Keith James Cote offered the man $10,000 to kill
James Cote offered the man $10,000 to kill the woman and an extra $15,000 of he could “watch him put a bullet in her head.” the woman and an extra $15,000 of he could “watch him put a bullet in her head.” The would-be hit man
informed police of the offer and played along with Cote for investigators. Cote was arrested
Monday and booked into in the Travis County Jail with bond set at $1 million. If convicted of the first-degree felony, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. The ex-girlfriend told investigators that Cote had abused her during their relationship of several years but hadn’t seen him since 2015.
Police gun down heist suspect wielding screwdriver, scissors ASSOCIATED PRE SS
HOUSTON — A male robbery suspect wielding a screwdriver and scissors has been shot dead by Houston police after officers say he charged them with weapons in hand. A Houston police state-
The man’s identity wasn’t immediately determined. ment says the man was sought in the holdup of a restaurant in west Houston near Bellaire about 7
Body of crewman found on Texas coast ASSOCIATED PRE SS
PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE — Authorities say a body found on Padre Island south of Corpus Christi is that of a crewman who went missing after a fuel barge exploded and caught fire last week. The Kleberg County sheriff’s office says U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered the body Monday evening. The Nueces County medical examiner’s office used identifying marks provided by the family to
identify the remains as 26-year-old Dujour Vanterpool, who lived in the Houston area. Another crewmember remains missing. The pair disappeared after a forward section of the barge exploded and caught fire early Friday as an adjoining tugboat was pulling anchor about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Port Aransas. Six crew members safely escaped. The barge was carrying about 132,000 barrels of crude oil, some of which leaked into Gulf waters.
a.m. Tuesday. When the man was found walking along a street near the restaurant, officers confronted him. The police statement said the man defied demands that he drop his weapons and lie down, so he was shot with a stun gun. The stun gun had no
effect however. The suspect then charged officers and was shot fatally. The man’s identity wasn’t immediately determined. An internal department investigation and an outside investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office are underway.
Man dies from infection while doing Harvey repairs ASSOCIATED PRE SS
GALVESTON, Texas — Health officials say the death this month of a 31-year-old Galveston man is the result of Hurricane Harvey because he was doing repair work to clean up from the storm when he contracted a flesheating bacterial infection. Josue Zurita went to the hospital Oct. 10 with a serious infection to his arm and died six days later. Dr. Philip Keiser with
the Galveston County Health District says bacteria from Harvey debris or floodwater entered the man’s body through a wound or cut. Zurita, a carpenter, was working on repairing damaged homes when he contracted the rare infection, which kills soft tissue. State and local authorities have tallied at least 80 Harvey-related deaths in flood-affected areas since the storm hit Aug. 25.
Zopinion
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A4 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Melania, work on the biggest bully of them all By Jennifer Rubin WA S H INGT ON P O ST
“By our own example, we must teach children to be good stewards of the world they will inherit. We need to remember that they are always watching and listening,” she said. “It is our responsibility to take the lead in teaching children the values of empathy and communication that are at the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity and leadership.” Was that Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., chiding President Donald Trump for his ongoing verbal cruelty directed at a pregnant Gold Star widow? Nope. An NFL player chiding Trump for his ongoing abuse of AfricanAmerican athletes who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights in quiet protest during the national anthem? Nope. Maybe one of the many Republicans he has mocked with a childish nickname? A member of the media he singled out for hostile booing at a rally? Or the mayor of San Juan flabbergasted by Trump’s lack of empathy for more than 3 million Americans? Nope, not any of these. That admonition came from first lady Melania Trump in a statement kicking off her week of anti-bullying advocacy. No, you cannot make this stuff up. Married to the man who has brought to the Oval Office more cruelty, vindictiveness, racism, xenophobia and misogyny than all his predecessors combined, Melania Trump visited seventh- and eighth-graders to tell them, “I think it’s very important to choose kindness and compassion.” Her message is so devastatingly on point that you do wonder whether this is a passive-aggressive (well, maybe just aggressive) shaming of her husband, who has spent the past few days labeling an African-American congresswoman a liar and effectively saying that a pregnant widow had lied as well. Surely Melania Trump knows that the president’s gratuitous insults, destructiveness (destroy Obamacare at the expense of the neediest Americans), miserliness and bombast are emblematic of the bullying behavior she warns children not to display. Do as I say, not as my husband does. Then again, Melania Trump was among those who wrote off her husband’s recorded boasting about sexual assault as just locker-room talk. President Trump has not “just” lowered the level of discourse, bred division and empowered neo-Nazis. He has done more than sully adults’
discourse and foster international animosity. Unsurprisingly, his own behavior is cited as a possible cause in the uptick in schools of - you guessed it - bullying. Mica Pollock, a professor of education at the University of California at San Diego, wrote for The Post last November: “Children and youth hear the words adults hear. They hear them on the Internet, over a shoulder and repeated by other kids on the playground or in the classroom. And words matter. They shape what young people think about themselves, each other, adults and their country. “From Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, young people have heard distorting claims about Mexicans as rapists to deport and distrust, of Muslims as violent anti-Americans who should be banned from entry to the United States, of African Americans as people living in hellish inner cities, of women as people to grope without permission, and of violence toward critics as admirable passion, to name just a few examples. “Such comments echo through school hallways, too. . . . Teachers reported that children and youth across the country were hearing Trump’s language on the news and restated in the mouths of peers. The report documents Latino, African-American, and Muslim children, and children of immigrants, terrified and fighting with peers; reporting slurs and threats from peers that Trump would hurt or kill their families; and asking teachers whether their entire families (even as American citizens) would be deported, walled off or worse by Trump.” And that was two days before the presidential election, which rewarded the bully in chief with the most powerful job on the planet. That was before the president spent his first nine months demonstrating less self-control and worse manners than those seventh- and eighthgraders are expected to demonstrate. No wonder we have a bullying problem. Parents elected someone who reveled in his own bullying, and many of them still cheer him on. He is “telling it like it is,” they insist. Melania Trump might sit her husband down and explain that a good way for adults to clamp down on bullying is to model kind, decent, compassionate behavior. She might also explain that bullies are invariably insecure children who need to pick on others so as to maintain their self-esteem. Melania Trump, you see, could tell the president that bullies are losers.
COLUMN
The U.S. expects too much from its presidents By Leonid Bershidsky BL OOMBERG
Whatever Americans think of how President Donald Trump is handling the policy-making part of his job, for a showman, he’s unquestionably making a hash of the ceremonial aspects of the job. But maybe, in the media age, expectations have become unfair too; in much of the rest of the world, unlike in the U.S., those running the government share responsibility for symbolism. Trump is consistently late to react to tragedies and painfully clumsy when finally speaking about them. Trump’s reaction to the Charlottesville clashes, which resulted in a death, required days of clarifications and self-justification. His speech following the Las Vegas shooting was so peremptory and cliched that it sounded hypocritical to some. The art and the skill of a leader in making such speeches is to make a deep emotional impression, but Trump appears to lack the necessary sensitivity for that. He complained about the budgetary burden of fixing Puerto Rico while visiting the ravaged island (tossing paper towels may not have been the best idea, either). He apparently told a fallen soldier’s widow — though he denies it — that her son had known what he’d signed up for, and now he’s been embroiled for days in a controversy of his own making over whether he’s doing as much as previous presidents to console Gold Star families. Politically divided as it is, and fragile as it looks, the U.S. doesn’t really need any of this -- but Trump keeps stepping in it because that’s what expected of a U.S. president. Walter Bagehot, the 19th century British think-
er, wrote in “The English Constitution” about the clear distinction between the symbolic power of office and the job of government: “The Queen is only at the head of the dignified part of the constitution. The prime minister is at the head of the efficient part. The Crown is, according to the saying, the ‘fountain of honour;’ but the Treasury is the spring of business.” That doesn’t mean that prime ministers are exempt from reflecting the public mood in times of crisis and responding; their parties have to be elected after all. Margaret Thatcher famously wrote a personal letter to every family that lost someone in the Falklands War -but that, much less phone calls, had not been expected of her. It was, in the end, her way of acknowledging personal responsibility for the war. British Prime Minister Theresa May was heavily criticized for not visiting the sight of the Grenfell Tower fire quickly enough. But the main expectation is that the government will respond efficiently to the crisis with policy. In her speech after, the prime minister dwelled on the details of the government response, leaving the brief emotional part for Germany, too, largely leaves the “dignified part” to the largely ceremonial president. Chancellor Angela Merkel had held her post for more than four years before making her first appearance at fallen Bundeswehr soldiers’ funeral, and even then, it was ultimately to clarify a policy. Merkel explained why Germany had sent troops to Afghanistan, where the servicemen had been killed, and promised the troops wouldn’t stay there “one day longer than necessary.” (In Russia, the president too hogs all
the roles — and Putin takes neither pride nor pleasure in them, as his disastrous response to the Kursk submarine crisis early in his presidency showed. But Russians, unlike Americans, don’t expect the president to react to every military casualty.) The U.S. doesn’t have a system in which the various sets of duties can be distributed between a presidency or monarchy, a prime minister’s job and multiple faction leaderships in parliament. In the U.S., according to the Congressional Serial Set, “The president simultaneously serves to perform functions that parallel the activities of a king or queen in a monarchy and the prime minister or premier in a parliamentary democracy.” That’s unfair to the office holders, who are expected to draw up policies, make everyday executive decisions and manage a vast bureaucracy as well as carry out a wide range of demanding symbolic duties — from throwing out ceremonial first pitches at baseball games to consoling the families of those who die for the country. Some historical circumstances may call for a kingly president, someone to embody the U.S. global leadership as well as the dignity of its domestic institutions. Others may call for a policy wonk, and yet others for a stellar negotiator and manager. Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon weren’t much good at the symbolic part of the job, either. Ronald Reagan was remembered as a president who was great at articulating the nation’s hopes and grief. And while George W. Bush was much criticized for the Iraq war, his most iconic moment was his bullhorn speech to emergency rescue workers days after the 9/11 attacks, a speech that set up the
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CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
war on terrorism that followed. Degrees of competency in this clearly vary, though Trump is on one extreme end of the spectrum. Every time he manages to look “presidential” for a few minutes, he then destroys the impression with another gaffe or reality TV antic. The U.S. demands even more ceremony of its presidents than other countries in part because of the expectation that the head of state is also the moralauthority-in-chief where Christian leadership is prized and the president is expected to channel those attitudes. Trump never has, not on the campaign trail or after. His big speeches were never unifying or optimistic and so many voters never saw him as presidential. He won anyway because the ceremonial duties are less important than other worries Americans have. He could certainly delegate some of that to his vice president or others; but Trump likes to be center-stage. The question is, if he wasn’t elected to be good at the ceremony, does it matter that he’s awful at it? It shouldn’t matter. It’s unreasonable to expect one person to be both king and store manager. But that means being patient with the inevitable failures of the one person who is supposed to be everything at once. Today, quite possibly, the U.S. needs a disruptor of tradition, someone who holds a mirror to a divided nation so his successor can try to heal it. By not following the cues or satisfying expectations, perhaps Trump at least fulfils that role. He should stop pretending he cares about that side of the job and let others do more of what he clearly can’t. Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 |
CRIME
Terray Sylvester / AP
From left to right, Trevor Gray, 15, Alexzander Miller, 15, Mikadyn Payne, 16, and Kyle Anger, 17, all of Clio, Michigan, appear for their arraignment in front of Judge William Crawford on Tuesday in Genesee County District Court in downtown Flint, Michigan.
Teens denied bond in death linked to rock throwing A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
FLINT, Mich. — A judge on Tuesday declined to set a bond and release five Michigan teenagers charged with second-degree murder after a rock thrown from an overpass on Interstate 75 killed a man. Not-guilty pleas were entered in a Genesee County court, six days after Ken White, 32, was killed by a 6-pound rock. He was a passenger in a van. The teens are charged as adults. Kyle Anger, who turns 18 next week,
is accused of throwing the rock that hit the van. He’s being held in jail while the others are in juvenile detention. “It’s just a sad situation that hopefully will be determined by the facts of the case,” said Erwin Meiers, an attorney for Trevor Gray, 15. Police said at least 20 rocks were found on I-75 in Vienna Township, 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Detroit. Other cars were damaged. “I can’t give them enough punishment,” said White’s father, Kenny White. “Even if they
spend 30 years in prison, they get to wake up every single day. They still get phone calls from their parents. They still get visitors. My son don’t get none of that no more.” The teens also face charges of conspiracy and property destruction. The others are 16-year-olds Mark Sekelsky and Mikadyn Payne, and 15-yearold Alexzander Miller. Sekelsky’s attorney, Frank Manley, called White’s death a tragedy but cautioned against a “mob mentality” and a “one-size-justice-fits-all” for the five defendants.
Man pleads guilty to raping his mother A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati man has pleaded guilty to raping his 63-year-old mother but has suggested he might have been drugged before the attack, causing him to black out. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the 46-year-old
man initially said he wanted out of a plea deal but on Tuesday accepted an 11-year prison sentence. A defense attorney says the man struggled with the idea of a long prison sentence. Prosecutors say the man’s mother suffered a broken neck, bruises, cuts and bite marks during the
assault earlier this year. The man says he doesn’t know what happened. He says someone might have put something in his drink. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault and is not naming the man to avoid identifying his mother.
A5
Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE SESIÓN INFORMATIVA 1 El jueves 26 de octubre la agencia de seguros Brush Country llevará a cabo una sesión informativa gratuita sobre seguros médicos de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en sus instalaciones ubicadas en 702 Hidalgo Blvd. Entrada libre. Habrá premios y refrigerios.
AYUDA PARA VIVIENDA 1 La Ciudad de Roma ha anunciado que recibió una subvención para compra de viviendas y remodelación de casas. Las solicitudes se reciben desde el 16 de octubre hasta el viernes 27 de octubre, de 8 a.m. a 12 p.m. y de 1:30 p.m. a 4:30 p.m. en 301 Lincoln Street en Roma. Se dará preferencia a adultos mayores y personas con discapacidad. Mayores informes con Josie Hinojosa al 956849-1411 x2230.
TORNEO DE PESCA 1 Torneo de pesca Joe’s Big Gar en el Lago Falcón, el sábado 28 de octubre. El torneo inicia a las 8 a.m. y termina las 4 p.m. Premios para los ganadores del primer, segundo y tercer lugar. Las inscripciones inicial el viernes 27 en Do It Best Store de Roma, de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m. Cuota de entrada de 30 dólares.
SUR DE TEXAS
Baja a 3,8% tasa de desempleo TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
La tasa del desempleo en Laredo ha alcanzado una baja histórica, reportó Workforce Solutions del Sur de Texas el martes. Workforce Solutions dijo que la ciudad tuvo un 3,6 por ciento de desempleo durante el mes de septiembre. Para el área de desarrollo de fuerza laboral de los condados de Webb, Zapata y Jim Hogg, fue de 3,8 por ciento. La tasa estatal y nacional es de 4 y 4,1 por ciento, respectivamente. “De acuerdo con todas las definiciones estándar de información de desempleo, una tasa de desempleo por debajo del 4 por ciento es considerada empleo total”, dijo Rogelio Treviño director ejecutivo de Workforce Solutuions del Sur de Texas en un comunicado de prensa. Él agregó, “En mis más
de 30 años de experiencia en el desarrollo de la fuerza laboral, nunca había visto una tasa de desempleo por debajo del 4 por ciento para nuestra región, lo cual muestra que la economía del sur de Texas continua creciendo y los empleadores están contratando”, dijo Treviño. “Laredo y el sur de Texas han mostrado gran resiliencia para sobrellevar obstáculos de desarrollo económico y continúan encontrando maneras para que los negocios sigan creciendo y prosperando y así contratando a nuestra fuerza laboral”. La tasa de desempleo para el área metropolitana, la cual forma parte del Condado de Webb, se encuentra más baja que el mes pasado. La reducción es un reflejo de los 1.931 nuevos trabajos comparando septiembre con agosto. La fuerza laboral
civil en el sur de Texas se encuentra en 121.279. Alrededor de 116.666 personas estuvieron empleadas y solo 4.613 estuvieron desempleadas en septiembre. El sector de recursos naturales y minería agregó 338 trabajos (3 por ciento) en septiembre, servicios profesionales y negocios agregó 214 (9 por ciento), proveedores de información 112 (1 por ciento), actividades financieras 55 (4 por ciento) y otros servicios 53 (2 por ciento). El Alcalde Pete Sáenz recibió alegre las buenas noticias, y notó que el factor haciendo la diferencia parece ser la renovada actividad en la industria del gas y petróleo. Los trabajos en esta industria son significativos y de mayor compensación, dijo Sáenz. Los precios del petróleo recientemente
han fluctuado en un poco más de 50 dólares por barril, dijo Sáenz con la esperanza de que esto continúe. “Estamos abiertos para los negocios en Laredo. Damos la bienvenida a compañías explorando nuestra ciudad para mayor desarrollo”, él dijo. Sin embargo, Olivia Varela, directora ejecutiva de Laredo Development Foundation, dijo que hay dos lados de la moneda en este caso. Una tasa de desempleo baja puede ser un reto en el campo de reclutamiento porque no hay una gran fuerza laboral que ofrecer. “Es algo que se espera obtener, pero una vez que llegas ahí, hay otros resultados”, dijo Varela. “Pero 3,6 es fantástico para Laredo”. Y todavía hay miles de personas que están desempleadas aquí, dijo
OFICINA DEL FISCAL DE DISTRITO
ZCISD
PROMUEVE VIDA SALUDABLE
TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
1 El Consulado móvil de salud visitará Zapata el 28 de octubre. Las personas con algún problema de salud pueden asistir para ser referidos con aliados que puedan ayudarlos. Se estarán emitiendo servicios de documentación como pasaportes mexicanos y matricula consular.
PAGO DE IMPUESTOS
GRUPOS DE APOYO EN LAREDO 1 Grupo de apoyo para personas con Alzheimer se reúne el primer martes de cada mes en el Laredo Medical Center, primer piso, Torre B en el Centro Comunitario a las 7 p.m. 1 Grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital. 1 Grupo de Apoyo para Ansiedad y Depresión Rayo de Luz se reúne de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430, cada primer lunes de mes.
Aconsejan sobre disfraces en escuelas Por Malena Charur
CONSULADO MÓVIL
1 Los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma.
Treviño. “Aunque esta baja tasa de desempleo son buenas noticias y muestra que la gente en nuestras regiones está encontrando empleo, todavía tenemos más de 4.600 individuos buscando trabajo. Por lo tanto, nosotros en Workforce Solutions del Sur de Texas continuamos trabajando con los negocios locales, socios educativos y buscadores de empleo preparando nuestra fuerza laboral para cumplir con las necesidades de empleadores”, dijo Treviño. Entre las áreas metropolitanas de Texas, la tasa de desempleo de Laredo en septiembre ocupó el 12avo lugar. Fue más baja que ciudades como El Paso, HoustonThe Woodlands-Sugar Land, Corpus Christi, Brownsville-Harlingen y McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.
Foto de cortesía / ZCISD
Alaniz, acompañado de la mascota de la Oficina del Fiscal de Distrito “Huggy the Bear” hizo énfasis en la importancia de actividades físicas como la danza.
Por César G. Rodríguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz, fiscal de distrito de los Condados Webb y Zapata, visitó la Escuela Primera Villarreal el martes. Alaniz ofreció una presentación a los estudiantes en el marco de la Semana de Listón
Rojo. El fiscal de distrito habló sobre las consecuencias del consumo de drogas, el efecto que tienen en el cuerpo así como también hizo hincapié en las opciones saludables y sensatas que existen en lugar de las drogas. Alaniz también hizo énfasis en la importancia del ejercicio y otras actividades físicas como la
danza. En ese momento, la mascota de la oficina del fiscal “Huggy the Bear” hizo una breve aparición para bailar con los estudiantes. “¡Los estudiantes de la Primaria Villarreal bailan porque están libres de drogas!”, escribió Alaniz en su página de Facebook al publicar un video de los pequeños bailando.
El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent District ha emitido un comunicado para dar a conocer una serie de recomendaciones y lineamientos con respecto a los disfraces que pueden vestir los estudiantes el Día de Halloween. El comunicado está dirigido a los padres de familia que autoricen que sus hijos vayan disfrazados a las escuelas del distrito. “...la escuela del Condado de Zapata les pide que respectivamente sean precavidos al comprar o hacer el disfraz. Les pedimos que por favor escojan algo apropiado y de buen gusto para que sus hijos estén cómodos durante el día”, se lee en el comunicado. Además, el distrito advierte que ese día no se permitirán visitantes disfrazados en ningún campus y que aquellos que no se ajusten a las recomendaciones se les solicitará que cambien el disfraz por el uniforme escolar. Entre las recomendaciones se encuentran: 1 Un traje que no sea de miedo 1 Un traje que les dé libertad de movimiento 1 Un traje que no sea compatible con la violencia 1 No se permitirán trajes de payaso 1 No se permitirán apoyos puntiagudos o afilados que asemejen un arma 1 En la escuela secundaria y en la preparatoria no se permitirá el uso de máscaras “ Con su ayuda, el 31 de octubre será uno memorable y seguro para todos nuestros estudiantes”, finaliza el comunicado.
GUERRERO AYER Y HOY
Declaran a Antigua Ciudad Guerrero zona histórico-arqueológica Nota del editor: Esta serie de artículos sobre la historia de Ciudad Guerrero, México, fueron escritos por la guerrerense Lilia Treviño Martínez (1927-2016), quien fuera profesora de la escuela Leoncio Leal. Por Lilia Treviño Martínez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
La información periodística despertó el interés de muchas personas e instituciones de los dos países vecinos; los expertos emitieron sus opiniones, y, en concordato con ellas, se pasó a las primeras acciones tendientes a la conservación del legado histórico. El 7 de febrero de 1994, el H. Cabildo de Guerrero
presidido por Rafael Contreras Gutiérrez, por instrucciones de la Secretaría de Turismo desde México, tomó el acuerdo de declarar zona histórico-arqueológica a la Antigua Ciudad Guerrero. En 1995, la Comisión Histórica de Texas, solicitó al Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), asistencia
para la conservación del área binacional Guerrero Viejo, México, Zapata y San Ygnacio, Texas. En el mes de agosto de 1997 tuvo lugar una concurrida reunión de guerrerenses, tanto de residentes, como del Guerrero de afuera, quienes manifestaron amor por la cultura y deseos de colaborar en acciones para
rescatar, siquiera en parte, aquel patrimonio cultural. Se tomó el acuerdo de formar una asociación para llevar a cabo la obra propuesta, y se nombró un comité. El 8 de octubre de ese mismo año el grupo se constituyó en Asociación Civil, con el nombre “Hijos y amigos de Ciudad Guerrero, Tamaulipas”.
Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 |
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
Texans’ running game climbs to No. 3 Foreman, Miller, Watson have all rushed for over 200 yards By Aaron Wilson H OUSTON CHRONICLE
Between the scrambling of rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson and physical running backs Lamar Miller and D'Onta Foreman, the Texans' running game is ascending. The Texans have climbed to third overall in the NFL in rushing offense, averaging 137.7 yards per game. A Pro Bowl alternate last season, Miller leads the Texans with 372 rushing yards and has one touchdown. A third-round draft pick from Texas who grew up in Texas City, Foreman has gained 207 yards and had a season-long 39-yard run against the Cleveland Browns.
And Watson has rushed for 202 yards and two scores. "I think there’s a lot of different things that go into that," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "I think that our backs and our line and our tight ends are doing a really good job. I think they’ve really been coachable as to what we want them to do. "I think the addition of having Deshaun, Deshaun’s rushed for a lot of yards, so that helps that stat. I think that’s a great stat, I think it’s an accomplishment to this point in the season, but it has to continue." Foreman is averaging 4.1 yards per carry. after leading all college running backs last season with 2,028 rushing yards for the Longhorns.
“He still has a long way to go, but he’s coming along," running backs coach Charles London said. "He runs hard, he gets pads down. He’s getting better and better each week. He’s still learning how to be a pro, but you can see progress, I think. “He’s a downhill, northsouth, violent runner. He’s always falling forward. He runs tough. He gets better with the more carries that he gets, so hopefully that continues as the season goes on.” Heading into Sunday's game against the Texans, the Seattle Seahawks rank 13th in rushing defense. They're giving up 113.7 ushing yards per game. "We have to be able to run the football," O'Brien said.
Eric Gay / Associated Press file
Houston running back Lamar Miller leads the Texans with 372 rushing yards on the season.
"This defense, Seattle’s defense, is obviously a great defense. I mean, they have their own nickname, ‘Legion of
Boom.’ They’re a great defense, so we’ve got to be ready for what they do and we have to continue to improve.”
NCAA FOOTBALL: TCU HORNED FROGS
HORNED FROGS LOOKING TO SOLIDIFY THEIR PLAYOFF POSITION TCU travels to Ames on Saturday By Stephen Hawkins A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
FORT WORTH — When TCU last played Iowa State before the release of the College Football Playoff rankings, the Horned Frogs won by 52 points in the 2014 regular season finale. They then dropped out of the top four and were left out of the playoff. A win of any margin over the surprising No. 25 Cyclones this time would almost certainly solidify the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs being in the top four of the initial playoff rankings this season. TCU (7-0) is the Big 12’s only undefeated team and headed to Iowa State (5-2) on Saturday. It is the last game before the CFP selection committee releases the first of its six weekly rankings for the season on Tuesday night. “We’re worried about going up to Ames and coming back 1-0 because if you don’t do that, none of that stuff matters next week,” running back Kyle Hicks said. “If we don’t handle business and take care of what we have now, it’s not going to really matter next week,” cornerback Ranthony Texada said. “Day by day, the little things, it will take care of itself if we’re doing that.” Hicks and Texada, both fifthyear seniors, are clearly immersed in coached Gary Patterson’s longstanding message. “I have to win a ballgame for it to matter to us,” Patterson said. “Maybe I’ll think about that on Sunday. ... We need to make sure that we take care of our business, and we’ll see what everybody has to say after that.” TCU plays three of its next four games on the road, including at 10th-ranked Oklaho-
Ron Jenkins / Associated Press
TCU quarterback Kenny Hill (7) and the Horned Frogs will look to stay unbeaten when they travel to Iowa State on Saturday.
ma, the two-time defending Big 12 champion and only league team with a playoff appearance. Hicks and Texada were redshirt freshmen who played in all 13 TCU games in 2014. Texada started every game in that 12-1 season, with TCU’s only loss a 61-58 shootout at Baylor before finishing with a 42-3 win over Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl after being left out of the first fourteam playoff. The Frogs were third in the CFP rankings before that 55-3
win over Iowa State in 2014, but dropped three spots to sixth. Eventual national champion Ohio State, coming off a 59-0 win in the Big Ten championship game, and Baylor passed them. There is clearly one way for the Frogs to make sure the selection committee has no questions about them, especially that first weekend in December for the final rankings after the first Big 12 championship game during the four-team playoff era.
“It hurt and guys were a little disappointed, but at the end of the day we couldn’t control that. I tell the younger guys that we’re really in control of what our season can be right now,” Texada said. “You win out then you don’t have to worry about it.” TCU hasn’t given up a touchdown its last two games, including a 43-0 win over Kansas at home last Saturday night. Iowa State also shut out the Jayhawks at home, 45-0 the
week before that between road wins against Oklahoma and Texas Tech. The Frogs have also won at Arkansas, No. 11 Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and at home against No. 22 West Virginia. “If this team can work through and navigate this season with no or one loss ... playing on the road in places we have to go, things you have to do, it truly would be an amazing feat by this group,” Patterson said. “It’s hard to do.”
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: HOUSTON ROCKETS
Rockets sign guard Isaiah Canaan By Jonathan Feigen H OUSTON CHRONICLE
The Rockets on Tuesday signed guard Isaiah Canaan to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, two individuals with knowledge of the deal said.
Canaan was the Rockets' second-round pick in 2013 before he was traded to Philadelphia for K.J. McDaniels. He averaged 12.6 points per game for the 76ers that season and 11.4 points over two seasons with the 76ers. He spent
last season with the Bulls and went to training camp with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season before he was released. The Rockets had an open roster spot with guard Demetrius Jackson, who has played off
the bench with Chris Paul out, signed to a two-way contract that does not count against their limit of 15 players. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was the associate head coach in Philadelphia when Canaan was with the 76ers.
David Zalubowski / Associated Press file
Houston signed Isaiah Canaan to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract on Tuesday.
A8 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT
Ludacris promises ‘a lot of tears’ in new YouTube series By Mark Kennedy A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — Ludacris is hoping the new music competition Ludacris series he’s hosting on YouTube will take an aspiring artist and “catapult them to superstardom.” The “Vitamin D” rapper is host of “Best.Cover.Ever,” which pairs budding musicians with established stars for a shot at performing a duet on the online giant. The 10-episode series debuts Nov. 20 . The series stars Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Jason Derulo, Charlie Puth, the Backstreet Boys, Flo Rida,
Nicky Jam, DNCE and Bebe Rexha. During each roughly 30-minute episode, the music stars pick two artists who best covered one of their songs from hundreds of video submissions and invite them to Los Angeles for a chance to sing with their idol. “I can just say there are a lot of tears involved,” said Ludacris. “I think some of the best moments are the ones where you don’t realize how hard people have been working and how hard they’ve been struggling to make ends meet to continue on with their dreams.” The season kicked off this summer with calls for covers by the 10 music acts. Fans were asked to submit their videos of such songs as Lovato’s “Confident,” Perry’s “Firework,” Urban’s “Some-
where in My Car,” DNCE’s “Toothbrush” and Derulo’s “Trumpets.” It’s an opportunity Ludacris said he would have adored when he was first starting out. “I remember when I was a kid, I always loved LL Cool J. It would have been a dream come true if I could have sung ‘I’m Bad’ or one of his songs with him and get noticed,” he said. “A lot of these kids are struggling and they’re working so hard to build a fan base. This is not only an opportunity to live out one of their dreams with their favorite artists, but to continue to try to catapult them to superstardom and give them that little boost that they need.” The online series is the second Ludacris has hosted. He also is the host of the “Fear Factor” revival on MTV, which has been booked for a second season. “You know what? I’m just crossing a lot of things off of the bucket list,” he said. “There are certain things that I’ve always wanted to do and I just love taking advantage of all aspects of entertainment.”
‘Walking Dead’ views down By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — “The Walking Dead” aired its 100th episode for its eighth season premiere the other night, although it wasn’t necessarily cause for celebration at AMC. The show had 11.4 million viewers on Sunday night, down 33 percent from last fall’s seventh season premiere, which had 17 million, the Nielsen company said.
AMC said there are all kinds of mitigating factors, primarily that last year’s premiere was a cliffhanger that drew an unusual number of fans. Live television viewership is down across the board, particularly among the younger viewers that are the most avid fans of “The Walking Dead.” It’s still the most popular scripted show on television for viewers aged 18-to-49years-old. The premiere numbers are on a par with the 10.9 million viewer
average for the last eight episodes that aired. But those numbers have to raise eyebrows over at AMC, particularly coming off a season that disappointed some of the show’s fans. Despite the ratings weakness, the season debut received some strong reviews. The episode “manages to add some energy into an aging series and to at least partially hit the reset button,” wrote Kelly Lawler for USA Today.
Papers linked to Holocaust go on display in New York ASSOCIATED PRE SS
NEW YORK — The American public is getting a chance to view newly discovered Jewish documents that had been presumed destroyed during the Holocaust. Ten documents brought over from Lithuania went on display Tuesday at New York’s YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, which is working with the Lithuanian government to archive the 170,000-page collection. The documents were hidden to protect them from the Nazis during World War II. They resurfaced during a move in 2016, and YIVO confirmed their significance this year. The wide-ranging col-
lection includes manuscripts by famous Yiddish writers, religious writings, poetry and record books of shuls and yeshivas. There are letters by Sholem Aleichem, whose writings inspired the “Fiddler on the Roof” character Tevye, and a Yiddish postcard written by the artist Marc Chagall in 1935. Another major cache of historical artifacts was found in the church in 1991. “The troves discovered in Lithuania are the most important body of material in Jewish history and culture to be unearthed in more than half a century, since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” said David Fishman, professor
of Jewish history at The Jewish Theological Seminary, who went to Lithuania in July to evaluate the documents. They are “startlingly large in volume, and remarkably diverse in character and subject matter,” Fishman said. “All of East European Jewish life passes through your eyes. It will take researchers many years to digest and analyze these documents.” Highlights of the Manhattan exhibition, which can be seen by appointment until January, include a 1751 astronomy manuscript with descriptions and drawings of the solar system and an 1883 Russian censor’s copy of a theatrical poem by Abraham Goldfaden.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 |
A9
BUSINESS
Stocks on record run after strong earnings By Sarah Ponczek B L OOMBE RG
Encouraging earnings reports from U.S. manufacturers sparked optimism in the world’s largest economy, lifting equities, the dollar and Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high Tuesday after Caterpillar and 3M delivered results that topped estimates, while General Motors and Fiat Chrysler also rallied on earnings. Benchmark Treasury yields broke through the key 2.4 percent level, while
Bloomberg’s dollar index reached the highest point since July. “For the most part, I think, you’ll see earnings continue to come in good — and not just earnings, but increases in revenue that look stronger than expected,” said Gary Bradshaw, a portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas. “The economy is doing great here domestically, the whole world economy is certainly improving, and we’re optimistic that the market is going to continue to go higher because it is earnings-driven.”
Elsewhere, investors were eyeing catalysts stretching from an impending European Central Bank meeting and the crisis in Catalonia, to upheaval in the U.S. Senate and the choice of the next Federal Reserve chair. European government bond yields widened and the euro strengthened after data showed the region’s economy maintaining momentum. Japanese equities built on recent gains, with the Nikkei climbing for a record-breaking 16th consecutive session as the yen weakened. Gold fell as industrial metals advanced.
The strong results from some of America’s biggest companies fueled speculation that growth is picking up even as President Donald Trump’s economic policies remain largely unfulfilled. An intensifying war of words between the president and Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has muddied the prospects for a tax overhaul. Arizona Republican Jeff Flake announced he wouldn’t seek re-election to his Senate seat, delivering a speech highly critical of Trump and further complicating the taxreform picture.
Oil patch companies need production workers By Collin Eaton H OUSTON CHRONICLE
MIDLAND, Texas — Three years ago, when crude prices still floated above $100 a barrel and the nation’s oil fields were booming, Clint Concord could hire 20 new workers a day in the West Texas oil patch to meet the constant demand from his production company clients. Concord said he’s lucky to find one qualified candidate every two days to keep up with the work. Concord, a senior operations at Byrd Oilfield Service, estimates his company is losing $7,000 a day because it still doesn’t have enough truck drivers to deliver equipment to its crews. “Some people got smart and got out of the oil field,” Concord said. “They’re finding other career paths because they can’t handle the inconsistency of it.” The oil bust that wiped out scores of companies and tens of thousands of jobs is still weighing on the industry more than 18 months
Steve Gonzales / AP
In this June 26 photo, a Halliburton employee works near rows of hydraulic fracturing pumping units in Midland, Texas.
after prices hit bottom in early 2016, its brutal memories contributing to a labor shortage that is slowing the energy recovery. From small companies like Byrd to global giants like Houston’s Halliburton, the oil field services companies that drill, frack and haul equipment, supplies and wastewater are finding
far fewer people willing to work for a boom-andbust industry. Halliburton has hired hundreds of workers in West Texas this year to meet demand for hydraulic fracturing services, but even the largest U.S. fracking company has had to look beyond Texas to replenish a workforce that was decimated by
years of cheap oil prices. The company holds job fairs in places like Alabama, Mississippi and Nevada. “We have a real bottleneck with people out here,” said Chris Gatjanis, who runs Halliburton’s operations in the Permian. “When the market fell, we reduced our head count. All of us did. Some of those people didn’t come back to the industry. They were burned and hurt. It takes a while to build that back up.” Halliburton and its oil field services rivals Schlumberger and Baker Hughes cut more than 100,000 jobs worldwide between them as oil prices fell in 2015 and early 2016. Since the middle of last year, as crude prices and drilling activity recovered, oil producers and service companies have hired around 30,000 workers in Texas, after cutting more than 100,000 oil field jobs across the state — roughly one in every three such jobs — between December 2014 and July 2016.
McDonald’s launches new Dollar Menu By Craig Giammona BL O O MBE RG
McDonald’s is preparing to up the ante in the fast-food price wars. The world’s largest restaurant chain, facing heavy competition in the U.S., will launch a new value-priced menu nationally next year. The lineup will offer items for $1, $2 and $3, the company said on Tuesday. The rollout will pro-
vide a long-awaited replacement to the Dollar Menu, which was popular with customers but less so with McDonald’s franchisees. The company has experimented with various discounts — including McPick 2 for $5, which let customers choose two items — in a bid to find something that wasn’t too hard on the profit margins of restaurant operators. Almost 100 percent of
franchisees have signed up to participate in the new value program, McDonald’s said. The stakes are high to get the formula right. Wendy’s and Burger King, McDonald’s closest competitors, have heavily promoted their discounted menus. And many U.S. consumers have retained a thrifty attitude in the years since the last recession. But McDonald’s is adding the new menu
from a position of strength. It has seen U.S. restaurant traffic grow for two consecutive quarters, following years of declines. With the new value lineup, the company is trying to lock in those gains, said Michael Halen, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “You have to have some everyday value because a decent portion of that business is very pricesensitive,” he said.
At Thursday’s ECB meeting, officials are expected to offer more insight into plans for tapering the QE program that runs through the end of 2017. Elsewhere, President Xi Jinping of China consolidated his power before the Communist Party’s unveiling of its top leaders on the Politburo and supreme Standing Committee on Wednesday. The composition may determine the pace of Xi’s reform plans, from deleveraging to modernizing the military. Stocks in Shanghai gained, while those in Hong Kong dropped.
Oil jumps as investors mull U.S. inventories, OPEC deal By Jessica Summers BL OOMBERG
Oil climbed to the highest level since April as traders awaited a government report that’s expected to show shrinking U.S. stockpiles while OPEC considers an extension to output caps. Futures advanced 1.1 percent in New York. A U.S. tally of stored supplies probably will show a fifth straight weekly decline when it’s released on Wednesday. Meanwhile, OPEC members are scheduled to gather next month to discuss prolonging output cuts and are currently said to be weighing how to prevent a new price-killing glut from forming when the curbs eventually end. “People are bullish because they think that U.S. inventories are starting to rebalance and that crude exports will help bring them down,” Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts, said by telephone. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to extend supply cuts beyond their March expiration date, which has supported oil above the key $50-a-barrel psychological threshold. In addition, oil demand is proving more resilient than some expected, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih said in Riyadh. OPEC is implying it’s “likely to accept the current supply discipline for the rest of 2018, and ultimately the market is
looking at that as optimistic,” said Bart Melek, head of global commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto. And one major contributor to weak crude prices — U.S. shale drillers — appear to be curtailing some activity. The most recent rig count by Baker Hughes showed the biggest one-week drop in the Permian Basin fleet in 19 months. Schlumberger Ltd. and Baker Hughes, the two largest oilfieldservice companies, blamed their own lackluster profit reports on the reluctance of North American explorers to boost spending. West Texas Intermediate for December delivery added 57 cents to settle at $52.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 6 percent below the 100-day average. Brent for December settlement gained 96 cents to end the session at $58.33 on the Londonbased ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark traded at a premium of $5.86 to WTI. U.S. crude inventories now sit at the lowest level since January 2016. Inventories probably dropped by 3 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey ahead of weekly Energy Information Administration data. Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for New York-traded futures contracts, probably declined by 500,000 barrels, according to a separate forecast compiled by Bloomberg.
A10 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
INTERNATIONAL
Mexico pushes for higher minimum wage
Einstein’s theory sells for $1.3M By Ian Deitch
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
MEXICO CITY — The push to raise Mexico’s low wages has gotten some unusual champions. The Mexican Employers’ Federation said Monday that the minimum wage should be raised 19 percent, to the equivalent of about $5 a day. And telecom magnate Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, told a business conference that
“what has to be done is to substantially increase people’s incomes.” He called for a larger, betterpaid middle class to stimulate Mexico’s internal market. The issue of Mexican wages has become a sticking point in talks with the United States and Canada on the North American Free Trade Agreement because of accusations that Mexico has unfairly attracted industry by
keeping wages low. The current minimum wage is $4.20 a day, or about 52 cents an hour. That is only about 7 percent of the $7.25 hourly minimum wage in the U.S. The Mexican employers’ group said its new $5-a-day proposed wage is needed to at least meet the minimum food, transportation and housing expenditures of one person.
Moscow journalist in intensive care after stabbing attack By Nataliya Vasilyeva A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
MOSCOW — A wellknown Russian radio journalist who was stabbed in the throat by an attacker has been operated on and transferred to an intensive care unit, her employer said Tuesday. Tatyana Felgenhauer, a top host and deputy editor-in-chief at Ekho Moskvy, Russia’s only independent news radio station, scribbled a letter to her colleagues from her hospital bed to thank them for their support. “I will be fine,” she wrote. “I had a good sleep for the first time in my 16 years on the radio.” Felgenhauer spent hours in a medically induced coma following Monday’s attack at the station’s studios in central Moscow — the latest in a slew of assaults on journalists and opposition figures. Most have remained unsolved. CCTV footage released by the radio station on Tuesday showed the attacker spraying gas into the face of a security
guard in the reception area, ducking under the turnstile and running. The Investigative Committee has identified the assailant as 48-year-old Boris Grits, who holds Russian and Israeli citizenship. After being apprehended, he told investigators he had been in “telepathic contact with Felgenhauer” for five years. Grits was put in custody immediately after the attack. A Moscow court ordered his formal arrest Tuesday and said he should be kept in custody for two months pending an investigation. While Ekho Moskvy is majority-owned by a media arm of the statecontrolled Gazprom natural gas giant, its programs have often been critical of the government, angering many in Russian political and business circles. Its hosts and journalists have previously reported death threats. State-owned media have long targeted Ekho Moskvy along with other rare independent media outlets for its critical reporting.
The state television channel Rossiya 24 put out a report two weeks ago that claimed that the station paid for “destabilizing society” ahead of Russia’s presidential election in March. Another popular Ekho Moskvy host, Yulia Latynina, fled Russia in September following a suspected arson attack on her car. Latynina wrote in Tuesday’s edition of Novaya Gazeta that despite the latest assailant’s apparent mental troubles the attack seems to be a logical follow-up to increasingly militant rhetoric in the state media that described Ekho Mosvky journalists as enemies. “Grits’ mental disorder curiously matches the party line,” Latynina said. “The attack on Felgenhauer falls neatly into the line of numerous attacks on independent journalists and opposition politicians that were met with impunity.” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described the attack as the “action of a madman.”
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
JERUSALEM — While Albert Einstein’s theory of happiness may be relative, it fetched $1.3 million at a Jerusalem auction on Tuesday. The Nobel-winning scientist’s musings, on a handwritten note, may not be as famous as his groundbreaking theory of relativity, but they still shed light on one of the great modern minds. Winner’s Auctions and Exhibitions said Einstein was traveling in Japan in 1922 when he was told he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. In Tokyo, Einstein scribbled the
note in German to a bellboy after he did not have cash to give him a tip. “A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness,” it reads. Gal Wiener, CEO of the auction house, said Einstein told the bellboy that because of his fame, the handwritten note “will probably be worth more than a regular tip.” Wiener said bidding began at $2,000 and quickly escalated, with the bidding war lasting around 25 minutes. Another note Einstein gave the bellboy, which read “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” was
Menahem Kahana / AFP/Getty Images
This Oct. 19 photo shows an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man displaying one of two notes written by Albert Einstein, in 1922, on hotel stationary from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo Japan, at the Winner's auction house in Jerusalem.
sold for over $200,000, Wiener said. He would not identify the buyer or seller of either note. Einstein was a founder of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and left it his literary estate and personal papers. He declined an invitation to serve as Israel’s first president. Einstein died in 1955.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 |
A11
NATIONAL
Woman seeks to change Higher entry fees eyed at 17 popular national parks Florida marriage law By Brendan Farrington A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Sherry Johnson was 11 years old when she was forced to marry her 20year-old rapist through a loophole in a Florida law that doesn’t set a minimum age for marriage if a girl is pregnant. That was nearly five decades ago, but the problem still exists today and Johnson, now 58, is hoping to change state law to prevent anyone under the age of 18 from getting married. The first step toward that goal happened Tuesday, when a Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that would end child marriage in Florida. “A child cannot do anything for themselves,” Johnson said in an interview with Associated Press before the vote. “Why marry a child that cannot open a bank account, can’t drive a car, can’t vote. Why allow them to do that? Why are your forcing someone to do that against their will?” Florida doesn’t allow anyone under the age of 18 to independently consent to marriage. Children aged 16 and 17 can marry with the consent of both children’s parents. But if there’s a pregnancy involved, there is
no minimum age for marriage as long as a judge approves the marriage license. Between 2010 and 2016, 3,161 children — 72 of them under the age of 16 — were married in Florida, according to state Department of Health statistics provided by the Tahirih Justice Center, which is fighting nationally to change laws allowing child marriages. At least one child was married in every one of Florida’s 67 counties and in some cases the spouse was at least twice the minor’s age. The problem isn’t just in Florida, said Jeanne Smoot, a lawyer with the Virginia-based Tahirih Justice Center. “It’s a problem across the country. More than 200,000 children under the age of 18 are estimated to be married from 2000 to 2015 alone. This is a real and serious problem in the United States,” Smoot said. “It’s a problem all states need to address, but Florida stands to be a leader at the moment.” And since girls can’t consent to have sex, they are presumably marrying their rapists, she said. “A child who is pregnant at that age ... is a rape victim,” she said. “The law right now is
blind to that kind of risk of harm that has already happened and puts that child in that position of further lifelong rapes and abuse.” For Johnson, it’s created a lifetime of pain she says she is still recovering from. The man she was forced to marry raped her when she was 9, she gave birth at 10 and was forced to marry at 11. He was a church deacon and the bishop of the church pressured her mother to consent to the marriage, she said. And when a court clerk in the Tampa area refused to issue the marriage license, they went to the next county over for the ceremony. Johnson said she had five more children before she broke free from the marriage several years later. She wasn’t able to attend school and found herself in a string of abusive relationships. “There are some things that I’m still dealing with. It just takes time. But during that time, I’ve learned how to take those lemons and make lemonade out of them,” she said, adding that her work to change the law is therapeutic. “I can help some of these other young people and let them know that you do not have to marry because someone tells you to marry.”
By Felicia Fonseca ASSOCIATED PRE SS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The National Park Service is floating a steep increase in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, mostly in the West, to address a backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects. Visitors to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion and other national parks would be charged $70 per vehicle, up from the current fee of $30 for a weekly pass. At others, the hike is nearly triple, from $25 to $70. A 30-day public comment period opened Tuesday. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says the entrance fee increases will help restore and renovate the park units. “We need to have a vision to look at the future of our parks and take action in order to ensure that our grandkids’ grandkids will have the same if not better experience than we have today,” he said in a statement. “Shoring up our parks’ aging infrastructure will do that.” The proposal comes not long after many of the parks that charge entrance fees upped them. The rationale is the same this time around — to address a backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects.
Matthew Brown / AP
In this 2016 photo, a large bison blocks traffic as tourists take photos of the animals in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
The Park Service estimated deferred maintenance across its sites at $11.3 billion as of September 2016, down from $11.9 billion in 2015. The Park Service says it expects to raise $70 million a year with the latest proposal at a time when national parks repeatedly have been breaking visitation records and putting a strain on park resources. Nearly 6 million people visited the Grand Canyon last year. The higher fees would apply during the five busiest, contiguous months. For most, that means May through September when many families are on vacation. Kevin Dahl, Arizona senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said maintenance costs should fall to Congress, not visitors. “We’ve supported increases at the parks, they are a huge value for the price of entrance,” he said.
“But we want to look closely at this and we want local communities to look closely at this to see if it would impact visitation because we don’t want to price people out of the parks.” Not all Park Service sites charge entrance fees. The 118 that do keep 80 percent of revenue and send 20 percent into a pot to help all park units with things like The entrance fee proposal applies to Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Zion in Utah; Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Joshua Tree in California; Grand Teton and Yellowstone in Wyoming; Mount Rainier and Olympic in Washington; Shenandoah in Virginia; Acadia in Maine; Rocky Mountain in Colorado; and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Fees also would go up for pedestrians and motorcyclists. Annual passes for federal lands would be unchanged at $80.
U.S. government Ranchers dealt blow in grazing battle wins in young immigrants’ cases
Service on socially disadvantaged native and Hispanic families,” said Carlos Salazar, president of the ranchers’ group. “I believe the agency knows they have the courts on their side and their goal is to take ownership of the land and water from the local folks.” Confrontations across the U.S. West have erupted in recent years over allegations that the federal government is overstepping its authority and trampling property and water rights. But the dispute with the New Mexico ranchers is rooted in claims of discrimination that have spanned decades. In motions filed over
the years, the ranchers point to a 1972 policy that emerged following the raid of the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse in 1967 over unresolved land grant issues. The policy noted the relationship Hispanic residents of northern New Mexico had with the land and declared their culture a resource that must be recognized when setting agency objectives and policies. Government attorney Andrew Smith said during a hearing earlier this year that the Forest Service was concerned given historical problems and that managers opted not to reduce grazing by greater numbers as requested by environmentalists to avoid more injury to local communities. Grazing permits are reassessed every decade, and the Forest Service will begin another review next year. The ranchers say it’s too early to say what effect the ruling will have on future forest planning, but they have extended invitations to the Trump administration to discuss their long-standing concerns. “Hopefully we can get them to come and see what’s happening to the health of our rural communities,” said Dave Sanchez, vice president of the ranchers’ group.
sion chairman Steve Collins said. Leslie Nigels, director of the Division of Historic Properties, said the plaque would be removed in a few days. The decision angered both supporters of the statue and those who want it removed because it honors someone who led the fight to preserve slavery. The statue was erected in 1936 with the help of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and $5,000 in taxpayer money approved by the state Legislature. Tuesday, a past president of the Kentucky division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy vowed to file a lawsuit to keep the plaque in place.
“It’s wrong. It’s the censoring of history,” said Susan McCrobie, who was president of the Kentucky division until 2016 and is now the group’s historian. “If that plaque comes off that statue, we are damaged because that statue was erected under our name and our patronage.” Efforts to remove the statue gained momentum following the racially motivated murders of nine people at a South Carolina church in 2015, a tragedy that prompted the removal of Confederate monuments in several states. Later that year, the commission decided to keep the statue but promised to provide it with more historical context.
By Susan Montoya Bryan ASSOCIATED PRE SS
By Larry Neumeister A S S OCI AT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court handed the U.S. government a victory Tuesday in its fight against lawsuits opposing a decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan directed Brooklyn judges to expeditiously decide if a court can properly review the decision to end in March the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The government insists it cannot. Activists are suing the government in New York, California, the District of Columbia and Maryland. DACA has protected about 800,000 people, many of them currently in college, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families that overstayed visas. A three-judge 2nd Circuit panel issued a brief order after hearing oral arguments. It said the government will not have to continue to produce documents or submit to depositions before the lower court decides whether the cases can proceed. It also said it will only decide the issue of whether to order the lower court to limit document production once those issues are addressed. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim M. Mooppan told the panel that the government planned to ask the Brooklyn federal court by early next week to dismiss the lawsuits. He said lawyers fighting the government were engaging in a “massive fishing expedition” for documents and testimony that would reveal the deliberative processes at the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice
Department. He called it “wholly improper.” Mooppan seemed to get a sympathetic ear from appeals judges, with one of them saying the government’s opponents seemed to be pursuing “a disguised application under the Freedom of Information Act.” “There are a lot of different ways this is very wrong, your honor. That might be one of them,” Mooppan said. He said the courts should not entertain challenges to government actions by those who merely assert “there is bad faith behind them.” Attorney Michael Wishnie, arguing for those challenging the decision to end DACA, said the government’s claims that it was overly burdened by requests to turn over tens of thousands of pages of documents relate to a lawsuit in San Francisco. He said two New York lawsuits, including one brought by 15 states and the District of Columbia, have proceeded in a “measured and deliberate” manner that has required very little document production by the government. He added that lawyers in New York and California were working together to prevent duplication and that the San Francisco lawsuit pertained to different legal claims. Wishnie also noted that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has not blocked document production as the case proceeds. Wishnie spoke after Circuit Judge Barrington Parker cited government claims that it was asked to produce between 30,000 and 1 million documents. “We’ve heard that every single lawyer in Homeland Security in Washington is handling your document request. Help me understand what’s going on,” Parker said.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A group of Hispanic ranchers has been dealt a blow in their years-long feud with the federal government over grazing rights on land in New Mexico that has been used by their families for centuries. Attorneys for the ranchers argued that the U.S. Forest Service violated the law when deciding to limit grazing on historic land grants even though the government has recognized that the descendants of Spanish colonists have a unique relationship with the land. The ranchers claimed the agency failed to consider social and economic effects that would result from limiting grazing in a region where poverty and dependence on the land for subsistence is high. In a recent ruling, U.S. District James Browning dismissed remaining counts against the government, finding that the National Environmental Policy Act does not require the Forest Service to consider social and economic effects that are a direct result of an agency’s action. The law narrowly centers on effects to the phys-
Susan Montoya Bryan / AP
In this 2015 photo, a group of young farmers and ranchers stand up as advocates speak about discrimination and civil rights violations involving Latinos and women during a news conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
ical environment, the judge ruled. The ranchers say they are disappointed and that the Forest Service had a responsibility to consider a history in which they claim the property rights of Hispanics have been ignored and an institutional bias has been allowed to persist. Efforts to get the Obama administration to address discrimination and civil rights violations repeatedly went unanswered, and many of the plaintiffs saw the court case as a way to validate their concerns. “I see this opinion as a cover up and continued support of further adverse actions by the Forest
Plaque declaring Jefferson Davis a ‘hero’ to be removed By Adam Beam ASSOCIATED PRE SS
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A plaque proclaiming Jefferson Davis as a hero and a patriot will be removed from Kentucky’s Capitol, the latest effort to alter Confederate monuments across the country following outbreaks of racially motivated violence. The Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted to remove the plaque, which is attached to a 15-foot-tall marble
statue of Davis in the rotunda of the state Capitol. The plaque declares Davis is a “patriot, hero, statesman” and lists his accomplishments in both the United States and Confederate governments. Last month, a committee recommended the state remove the plaque because of its “subjective” language. “There are people who don’t think he was heroic. And so we just decided to remove it to eliminate that subjective word,” commis-
A12 | Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
FROM THE COVER TODDLER From page A1 she was asleep at the time he told police Sherin died. The mother had not been charged as of early Tuesday. Perlich said Sini Mathews cooperated with police to identify Sherin’s body, but had otherwise not answered questions. A phone call to her attorney, Kent Starr, was not immediately returned Tuesday. According to an arrest affidavit filed Tuesday by Richardson police, Wesley Mathews said Monday in an interview that he had been trying to get the girl to drink her milk in the garage. “Eventually the 3-yearold girl began to drink the milk. Wesley Mathews then physically assisted the 3-year-old girl in drinking the milk,” according to the affidavit. Mathews told police that Sherin began to choke, she was coughing and that “her breathing slowed.” He said he eventually he felt no pulse and believed the child had died. Investigators wrote that he “then admitted to removing the body from the home.” The affidavit does not say whether Mathews told police he administered any medical aid to the child. Perlich said the Mathews previously told police that the girl had developmental disabilities and was malnourished when they adopted her from India. The couple described a special diet regimen that required her to eat whenever she was awake, in order to help her gain weight. He said he punished her for not drinking her milk by making her stand outside. He went to check on her at 3:15 a.m. and discovered was missing. Mathews said he decided at that point to do laundry while he waited for daylight to look for the girl or for her to return..
OPIOID From page A1 without money, said Andrew Kessler, who represents substance abuse treatment providers as a lobbyist in Washington. “If there’s no new money to expand our treatment infrastructure, I
BILL From page A1 more than one-fourth of Puerto Rico’s residents don’t have potable running water. Some conservatives, however, are becoming uneasy with the steadily growing cost of this year’s spate of hurricanes. “People here will say they have great compassion and want to help the people of Puerto Rico
don’t know what the punch is going to be,” Kessler said. He acknowledged that declaring a national emergency “would put it in the national spotlight. Create buzz. Create talk.” But with news coverage of the opioid crisis already saturating front pages and
newscasts, he said, “I don’t know how much more buzz we can generate.” Some health advocates also worry that devoting more public health resources to opioids could pull attention and resources from other health problems such as cancer, dia-
betes and heart disease. What’s needed, they say, are new funding streams and a willingness to work hand-in-hand with states and local governments. “An emergency declaration without significant new funds will likely be unsuccessful. The problem is enormous and
requires a similar investment in a comprehensive strategy that includes primary prevention,” said Becky Salay, director of government relations at Trust for America’s Health, a Washingtonbased public health research and advocacy organization.
and the people of Texas and the people of Florida,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Texas. “It is compassion with money that doesn’t exist, money that’s borrowed.” But Republicans controlling Washington are proving more willing to send aid to Texas and Florida this year than they were with New York and New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy hit those states — which are strongly Democratic — five years ago. And just
last year, Republicans held up funding sought by President Barack Obama to combat the threat of the Zika virus and to help Flint, Michigan, repair its lead-tainted water system. Now the challenge is whether Puerto Rico, which sustained enormous damage after Hurricane Maria’s landfall more than a month ago, will get enough aid to rebuild. Trump tweeted earlier this month that the fed-
eral government can’t keep sending help to Puerto Rico “forever” and suggested that the U.S. territory was to blame for its financial struggles. “You’ve got over 1,000 communities that haven’t had any assistance,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J. He said Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory whose people are American citizens, can “absolutely” count
on Washington to treat the island as an equal to Texas and Florida. There’s also unrest among opponents of the heavily subsidized federal flood insurance program, which many lawmakers say is in need of reform. The federal flood insurance program, said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, “encourages thousands of Americans to live in some of the most dangerous real estate in the country.”