The Zapata Times 10/5/2016

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2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Trump fueling Latino turnout Hispanics inspired to vote after insults

By Bill Lambrecht HEARST NEWSPAPERS

John Locher / AP

In this June 9 photo, Fabiola Vejar, right, registers Stephanie Cardenas to vote in front of a Latino supermarket in Las Vegas.

TEXAS

Many at-risk children ignored

WASHINGTON — Latino leaders say Donald Trump’s personal insults of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado could further propel turnout in November, and a new poll suggests that Trump’s attacks may be having an effect on Latinos’ already negative view of the GOP nominee.

But despite Trump’s missteps and a surge in voter registration, some Latino advocates worry that Democrats and deep-pockets donors are failing

Latino Tracking Poll An eight-week tracking poll asks registered Latino voters who they would vote for if the election were today.

CLINTON

SEPT. 25 - OCT. 1 73%

TRUMP

16%

SEPT. 18-24 72%

SEPT. 12-17 71%

18%

18%

Source: Tracking polls of registered Latino voters done by Latino Decisions. The first poll interviewed 250 new registered voters every week, along with the most recent 250 from the previous week. The margin of error is 4.4 percentage points

to support mobilization efforts needed to get irregular voters to the polls.

A poll of Latinos released Sunday showed further erosion

TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

‘SUMMER’ IN FALL

in the GOP nominee’s ratings — 77 percent unfavorable now — 5 percentage points worse than a week ago. Democrats are lookLatino continues on A11

ZAPATA COUNTY

Diocese of Laredo hosting Red Mass SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

CPS failed to visit thousands

By Edgar Walters and Annie Daniel TH E TEXAS T RI BUNE

On any given day in the past six months, nearly a thousand of Texas’ “highest-priority” children — considered by the state to be at immediate risk of physical or sexual abuse — were not checked on even once

by Child Protective Services investigators.

Another 1,800 of those kids were seen by investigators, but not within the required 24-hour window following an urgent report of possible abuse or mistreatment.

The numbers, publicly released by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on Tuesday, paint a disturbing picture of the Texas child welfare system as it buckles under a funding crisis. The agency has said it faces a $40 million budget shortfall, combined with large caseloads for its employees, rapid staff turnover and a severe shortage of high-quality foster homes. State lawmakers have vowed to pass reforms when they reconvene in 2017.

Some highlights from the CPS data, which tracked chilChildren continues on A11

Cuate Santos / The Zapata Times

The Laredo Theater Guild International presented Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for Laredo ISD and Saint Augustine high school students Tuesday morning at the TAMIU Fine and Performing Arts Center Theater. The play will run Oct. 6-8 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. at TAMIU.

M

y name is Jose M. “Pepe” Ramirez III, and I am humbly asking the voters of Zapata Count for their vote in the upcoming general and School Board Election. I am officially announcing my bid for election to the ZCISD School Board of Trustees, Place 3. I am a lifelong resident of Zapata County, and am married to Maria Noemi Ramirez, a guidance counselor at Villarreal Elementary, who has worked for the District for 27 years. I have three children, Adrianna Noemi, a Texas A&M graduate, Jose IV, a freshman at TAMIU, and Amanda Emma,

a 10th grader at Zapata High School. I am a high school graduate of Zapata High School, and a college graduate of Texas A&M University in College Station and The Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. I have been employed at Zapata National Bank for 26 years, and have served as the Bank’s President and CEO for 17 years. Besides being a former member of the ZCISD School Board, I have been a volunteer of various organizations, including the Zapata County Fair, the Zapata County Appraisal District, and the Chamber of Commerce.

I believe that the students of the District should always be our number one priority and am committed to continued student’s educa-

tional progress and college readiness. I am knowledgeable and experienced in the School’s fiscal budget and finances and will responsibly work on improving salaries and working conditions for all district employees. During my past tenure, I was instrumental in the construction of most of the district’s state of the art school facilities, while passing along a minimum tax burden to our County’s Taxpayers. If elected to the School Board, I will lead ZCISD with true honesty, integrity, and fairness, while making sure we always uphold high standards, high expectations, and continued progress for the children of our School District. I am a strong supporter of School extracurricular activities and truly believe that successful and winning

The Diocese of Laredo, the federal and state judiciaries, as well as officials and bar associations from Webb, Maverick, Dimmit, Zavala, La Salle, Zapata and Jim Hogg counties — the seven Yeary counties composing the diocese — have announced the 16th annual Red Mass at San Agustín Cathedral in Laredo on Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.

The Red Mass Planning Committee said it is thankful for the willingness of Kevin Yeary, justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, to serve as this year’s keynote speaker for the Red Mass. Yeary, a member of Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Lawyers, will share his personal reflections on faith and the law.

Monica Zapata Notzon, 111th District Court judge, said Yeary is a wonderful choice as the 2016 Red Mass keynote speaker because of his ties to Laredo. He was raised in Laredo, graduated from St. Augustine High School and his grandfather is the namesake for the Laredo Community College library.

“He exemplifies our hope that, through faith and kindness, our new judicial year will be embodied in professionalism and spiritual growth,” Notzon Mass continues on A11

programs lead to successful and motivated schools. If elected, I will work hard to provide the best education for the children of this community by providing them the best educational resources, facilities, and qualified personnel to carry out the job. Finally, I believe in open communication and am always available to speak to any citizen, parent, or employee of ZCISD. I humbly and respectfully ask every Zapata citizen of Precinct 3 for their vote, with early voting starting on October 24th, and the General Elections on November 8th. Together, and with your support, we can provide the youth of ZCISD the strong leadership and education the children of our District so strongly and rightfully deserve.

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

1

City of Laredo Comprehensive Plan’s Public Design Workshop (Charrette). Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road. This event is part of a two-week intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others can collaborate on their vision for the City of Laredo’s comprehensive plan. Drop in anytime from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to get a first-hand look at how a comprehensive plan is constructed and make a suggestion.

1 SRX Chess Club. Every Wednesday, 4–5 p.m. Santa Rita Express Library, 83 Prada Machin Drive, on the corner of Malaga Drive and Castro Urdiales Avenue. Learn the basics of chess and compete with friends.

Limited chess sets available for use.

1 Shira De Llano Art in Health exhibit. 7–9 p.m. Gallery 201, 513 San Bernardo Ave. Free and open to the public. Border Region Behavioral Health Center is proud to present the artwork created by individuals participating in the Shira De Llano Art in Health program art exhibit. This program was created in the belief that the creative process involved in artmaking is healing and life enhancing.

1 City Council District V Forum.

6:30 p.m. Laredo Community College’s Kazen Student Center. Hosted by the Laredo Next Generation Rotary Club. Gain knowledge on the candidates and what they plan to do if elected.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 1

Depression screenings. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. TAMIU Student Center Rotunda, 5201 University Blvd. Border Region Behavioral Health Center staff will be conducting depression screenings in honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week.

1 Depression screenings. 2–5 p.m.

LCC Kazen Center, West End Washington Stree. Border Region Behavioral Health Center staff will be conducting depression screenings in honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week.

1 Science Fair Workshop. 4–5:30 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco Street. This workshop is packed with information and demonstrates how to make your project the best.

1 Wii U Gaming. Every Thursday, 4–5 p.m. Santa Rita Express Library, 83 Prada Machin Drive, on the corner of Malaga Drive and Castro Urdiales Avenue. Game with friends on Wii U. 1 City of Laredo Comprehensive Plan’s Public Design Workshop (Charrette). Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road. 6 p.m. This event marks the end of a two-week intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others can collaborate on their vision for the City of Laredo’s comprehensive plan. The many ideas residents brought to the table will start to materialize in a draft document that will be presented as part of the city’s comprehensive plan.

1 Angel of Hope painting unveiling. 10 a.m. Laredo Medical Center main foyer entrance. Open to cancer survivors and their family and friends.

The public is invited to attend.

1 Candlelight prayer Mass. 11:30 a.m. LMC chapel. Open to those battling cancer, survivors of cancer, and to remember those who have lost their life to cancer. The public is invited to attend.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 1

DUPLO Fun Time. Every Friday, 10:30–11:30 a.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco Street. LEGOs for toddlers.

1 Breast Cancer Ball. 7 p.m. Los Arcos Reception Hall, 407 Shiloh Drive. Hosted by the Laredo Cancer Society.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 1

Walk to end Alzheimer’s. 9 a.m.

Texas A&M International University. To register for the event, visit alz.org/ walk/laredo. On-site registration begins at 7:30 a.m. For more information, contact Melissa Guerra at 956-693-9991 or mlguerra62@gmail.com. The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9 1

“Wolf Boys” book signing. 2 p.m.

Books-A-Million, Store 568, 5300 San Dario Ave. Dan Slater will be signing his book, “Wolf Boys.” He will be doing a reading and a Q&A followed by the signing.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally.

Free. For all ages and skill levels.

Instruction is offered.

1 Movie and Popcorn. Every Monday, 4–5 p.m. Santa Rita Express Library, 83 Prada Machin Drive, on the corner of Malaga Drive and Castro Urdiales Avenue. Enjoy a family movie and refreshments.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 1

Rock wall climbing. 4–5:30 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Take the challenge and climb the rock wall! Fun exercise for all ages. Free. Bring ID. Must sign release form. Every Tuesday. For more information, call 795-2400 x2520.

1 LEGO Workshop. Every Tuesday, 4–5 p.m. Santa Rita Express Library, 83 Prada Machin Drive.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 5, 1986, in an incident that helped expose the Iran-Contra affair, a plane secretly ferrying supplies to Nicaraguan Contra rebels was shot down over southern Nicaragua by Sandinista forces. One of the plane’s occupants, Eugene Hasenfus, parachuted to safety while three other men were killed. Hasenfus was captured, tried and convicted in Nicaragua, but then was pardoned and allowed to return to the United States.

Hector Retamal / Getty

A man walks in a flooded street in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 4. Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti, triggering floods and forcing thousands to flee the path of a storm.

HURRICANE SLAMS HAITI PETIT-GOAVE, Haiti — Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti’s southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds Tuesday, tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris. At least nine deaths were blamed on the storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean.

Forecasters said Matthew could hit Florida toward the end of the week and push its way up the East Coast over the weekend. The forecast triggered a rush by Americans to stock up on food, gasoline

Paris climate pact set to enter force after EU greenlight BRUSSELS — The landmark Paris climate change pact is poised to enter into force around the world after European Union lawmakers endorsed the agreement.

In the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the lawmakers voted Tuesday by 610 to 38 with 31 abstentions for the 28 EU nations to simultaneously ratify the agreement

and other emergency supplies.

The dangerous Category 4 storm — at one point the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade — blew ashore around dawn in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hitting a corner of Haiti where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks. It unloaded heavy rain as it swirled on toward a lightly populated part of Cuba and the Bahamas.

Damage in the hardest-hit part of Haiti appeared to be widespread.

— Compiled from AP reports

to limit global warming.

The deal cannot take effect until 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions, have adopted it.

Sixty-two countries had done so as of Tuesday but they accounted only for about 52 percent of emissions. On Wednesday, New Zealand became the 63rd nation to ratify the Paris accord.

The EU’s fast-track ratification takes the Paris Agreement past the 55 percent threshold.

The handover to the U.N. of a legal document formally doing

that is expected to happen by Friday.

“With the action taken by the EU parliament, I am confident that we will be able to cross the 55 percent threshold very soon; in a matter of days,” Ban told reporters.

The Paris agreement commits rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Clinton reaches out to women while Trump on defense PRESCOTT VALLEY, Arizona — Hillary Clinton appealed to voting mothers Tuesday outlining ways she hopes to curb gun violence as president and provide paid family leave and sick days for struggling working moms. Donald Trump tried to blame his opponent about revelations that his massive financial losses could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for years.

Clinton, appearing at a family town hall outside Philadelphia, said, “It should not be so hard to be a young parent. And it should not be so hard on the other end of the age spectrum to take care of your loved one.”

She was making a case to suburban female voters who have sometimes backed Republicans in past presidential races.

Trump, meanwhile, sought

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Texas petroleum drilling company announced Tuesday it has made a large-scale oil discovery off Alaska’s North Slope.

Dallas-based Caelus Energy Alaska LLC announced a find of 6 billion barrels of light oil on its state leases in the Arctic Ocean waters of Smith Bay about 450 miles northwest of

Ten years ago: The House ethics committee opened an investigation into the unfolding congressional page sex scandal that resulted in the resignation of U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. (The panel later issued a report that was critical of Republican lawmakers and aides, but which also found that no rules had been broken.) Secretary Five years ago: Steve Jobs, 56, the Apple founder and former chief executive who’d invented and mastermarketed ever sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, died in Palo Alto, California. Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, 89, a civil rights activist who endured arrests, beatings and injuries from fire hoses while fighting for racial equality in the segregated South of the 1960s, died in Birmingham, Alabama.

One year ago: The United States, Japan and 10 other nations in Asia and the Americas reached agreement on the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Sean Simmers / AP

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a selfie with supporters at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa. Tuesday.

to shore up support in deep-red Arizona during a challenging stretch for his campaign that aides hoped would be steadied Tuesday night by a strong performance by his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, against Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in the vice presidential debate.

The celebrity businessman —

who was also grappling with new allegations of boorish treatment of women and criticism of his comments about veterans’ health — resorted to blaming Clinton for the tax code that could have allowed him to not pay taxes for nearly two decades after he apparently lost nearly $1 billion in 1995.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS Texas oil company announces big offshore discovery

On this date: In 1829, the 21st president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, was born in North Fairfield, Vermont.

In 1931, Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon completed the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Washington state some 41 hours after leaving Japan.

In 1941, former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation’s highest court, died in Washington at age 84.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised White House address as he spoke on the world food crisis.

In 1953, Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.

In 1969, the British TV comedy program “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” made its debut on BBC 1.

In 1970, British trade commissioner James Richard Cross was kidnapped in Canada by militant Quebec separatists; he was released the following December.

In 1974, the Irish Republican Army bombed two pubs in Guildford, Surrey, England, resulting in five deaths and dozens of injuries. (Four men who became known as the Guildford Four were convicted of the bombings, but were ultimately vindicated.)

In 1984, the space shuttle Challenger blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on an 8-day mission; the crew included Kathryn D. Sullivan, who became the first American woman to walk in space, and Marc Garneau, the first Canadian astronaut.

In 1988, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

In 1990, a jury in Cincinnati acquitted an art gallery and its director of obscenity charges stemming from an exhibit of sexually graphic photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

In 1999, two packed commuter trains collided near London’s Paddington Station, killing 31 people.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Glynis Johns is 93. Comedian Bill Dana is 92.

College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer is 79. Singer-musician Steve Miller is 73. Rock singer Brian Johnson (AC/DC) is 69. Actress Karen Allen is 65. Writer-producer-director Clive Barker is 64. Rock musician David Bryson (Counting Crows) is 62.

Rock singer and famine-relief organizer Bob Geldof is 62. Designer Maya Lin is 57. Actor Daniel Baldwin is 56.

Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is 51. Actor Guy Pearce is 49. Pop-rock singer Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) is 42. Actress Parminder Nagra is 41. Actor Scott Weinger is 41. Actress Kate Winslet is 41.Actor Jesse Eisenberg is 33. TV personality Nicky Hilton is 33. Actress Azure Parsons is 32.

Rhythm-and-blues singer Brooke Valentine is 31. Actor Kevin Bigley is 30. Actor Jacob Tremblay (Film: “Room”) is 10.

Thought for Today: “My friends are my ‘estate.’ Forgive me then the avarice to hoard them.” — Emily Dickinson, American poet (18301886).

CONTACT US Fairbanks.

Chief Operating Officer Jim Musselman called the discovery exciting for the state, which receives a majority of its revenue from the oil industry.

“It has the size and scale to play a meaningful role in sustaining the Alaskan oil business over the next three or four decades,” Musselman said of the discovery in a prepared statement.

The Smith Bay development could deliver 200,000 barrels per day of light oil to the trans-

Alaska pipeline, increasing volume and reducing the average viscosity of oil, which would help extend its viability, the company said.

The discovery is based on 126 square miles of three-dimensional seismic data and a pair of wells drilled this year from ice pads.

The company did not have time to flow test either well.

The tests detect flow rates and pressure and help assess the capacity of a field.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 |

A3

STATE

Texas inmate argues 1997 death sentence racially tainted

By Michael Graczyk A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

HOUSTON — A Texas jury took only 17 minutes to convict parolee and former mechanic Duane Buck of gunning down his ex-girlfriend and a man at her Houston apartment, then deliberated about four hours before deciding he should be put to death.

Now nearly two decades later, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to look for a third time at whether the death sentence the jury gave Buck was tainted by testimony and evidence related to the fact he is black.

“Injecting race into a capital sentencing proceeding is not only wholly improper, it poses a special risk of harm to the defendant, and one that, respectfully, this Court cannot — and must not — tolerate,” Buck’s lawyers said in briefs submitted ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled arguments before the high court.

They have been fighting for years to get a new punishment hearing.

Buck’s case doesn’t present a broad challenge to the death penalty but draws attention due to Texas’ standing as the nation’s leader, by far, in carrying out 537 executions since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume.

At issue is whether the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was correct when it refused attempts by Buck’s attorneys to reopen a judgment against Buck. That ruling blocked his lawyers from moving forward with an appeal

contending Buck’s constitutional rights were violated when his Buck defense lawyers put on an expert witness who referred to Buck’s race during his testimony.

In Texas death penalty trials, one of the “special issues” jurors must consider when deciding punishment is whether the defendant they’ve convicted would be a continuing future danger.

A psychologist, Dr. Walter Quijano, one of two defense experts hired

by Buck’s lawyers for his 1997 trial, compiled a report listing race as among several statistical factors like age, sex and criminal past that influenced the probability Buck would commit a violent act in the future.

“It’s a sad commentary that minorities, Hispanics and black people, are over-represented in the criminal justice system,” Quijano testified, according to court records. He also said based on his interview and testing of Buck, the defendant was unlikely to commit future violent criminal acts although Quijano said he could “never rule out any probability.”

During the course of cross-examination, a Harris County prosecutor asked him once about race and sex being a factor in future dangerousness and Quijano replied, “Yes.” Defense attorneys submitted his report into evidence and over objection of prosecutors it was admitted. The prosecutor referred to

Quijano during closing arguments to jurors but did not mention race.

Buck’s current lawyers contend his trial attorneys were deficient for using Quijano and for not objecting to his testimony during the cross-examination and that lawyers early in the appeals process were deficient for not raising the issue of trial attorney ineffectiveness.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office said in its brief to the justices that Quijano’s disputed testimony “played a very limited role, and Quijano’s ultimate conclusion was that (Buck) would likely not be a future danger.”

Buck’s case was among six in 2000 that thenTexas Attorney General John Cornyn, now a Republican U.S. senator, in a news release said needed to be reopened because of Quijano’s racially charged statements. In the other five cases, new punishment hearings were held and each convict again was sentenced to death.

Buck’s lawyers contended the attorney general broke a promise by contesting his case, although the 5th Circuit said while that circumstance was “odd and factually unusual,” they could find nothing in the case record to indicate the state made an error or promised not to oppose any move to reopen the case.

Buck, now 53, was within a six-hour window scheduled for his lethal injection in 2011 when the justices issued a reprieve so they could consider his appeal for a review of arguments about the race-tinged testimony.

The court ultimately refused, although Justice

Sonia Sotomayor, joined

by Justice Elena Kagan, said Buck had presented issues that “deserve encouragement to proceed further.” A new appeal went to the Supreme Court in 2014, and a fullblown review was denied.

Buck’s lawyers then returned to the federal courts with a civil procedure known as Rule 60b, which seeks relief from a judgment due to extraordinary circumstances.

The 5th Circuit, noting there was “little guidance as to what constitutes ‘extraordinary circumstances,”’ rejected the appeal a year ago as procedurally barred. The court added, however, that even if the issue had been raised properly, it would have been rejected because the race issue first was brought up by Buck’s own trial lawyers, making it “a classic example of the defense ‘opening the door’ for the prosecutor to pursue the subject.”

It’s that rejection now before the high court.

Testimony showed Buck in July 1995 went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, Debra Gardner, 32, about a week after breaking up with her, shot his stepsister, killed Kenneth Butler, 33, and hunted down and killed Gardner, who had fled outside.

Buck tried to drive away in his car, but it wouldn’t start. He was arrested by police while trying to run away.

Buck at the time was on parole after serving about a year of a 10-year prison term for delivery of cocaine. He also had a previous conviction for unlawfully carrying a weapon.

Feds tell Texas: Report special education benchmark’s impact ASSOCIATED PRE SS

AUSTIN — The federal government on Monday ordered Texas officials to eliminate an 8.5 percent benchmark on special education enrollment unless they can show it didn’t keep children with disabilities from receiving appropriate educational services.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the U.S. Department of Education directed the state to report back in 30 days on the benchmark’s impact and on which school districts might have relied on it to deny special education services to children. Its findings on those districts should include “the specific steps” Texas will take to “remedy the effect of such past practices,” the department said.

The newspaper revealed the existence of the arbitrary enrollment target last month, reporting that the Texas Education Agency quietly implemented the benchmark.

When the policy began in 2004, about 12 percent of Texas students received some form of special education services such as tutoring, therapies and counseling. That was close to the longtime national average of roughly 13 percent. In the years since, the Texas percentage has plummeted to the lowest in the United States by far.

In 2015, for the first time, it reached exactly 8.5 percent.

Sue Swenson, the department’s acting assistant secretary for special education, wrote in a threepage letter to the head of the TEA that it appears Texas’ “approach to monitoring local educational

agency compliance ... may be resulting in districts’ failure to identify and evaluate all students suspected of having a disability and who need special education.”

“Depending on TEA’s response,” Swenson wrote, the federal government “will determine whether additional monitoring activities or other administrative enforcement or corrective actions are necessary.”

The TEA has denied that children with disabilities have been kept out of special education but has promised to review the issue. The agency said in a statement that it “welcomes the opportunity” to discuss its policies.

The newspaper found that the agency has required some school districts that serve more than 8.5 percent of children to create “Corrective Action Plans,” and schools have responded to the policy by making special education much harder to access.

TEA officials have attributed the dramatic declines to new teaching techniques that they say have lowered the number of children with “learning disabilities.”

Since 1975, federal law has mandated that public schools provide specialized education services to all eligible children with any type of disability.

Swenson’s letter disclosed that Texas and the U.S. Department of Education have previously discussed the state’s target, in 2014. In that exchange, according to the letter, TEA’s special education director said the districts that exceeded 8.5 percent weren’t penalized but merely monitored.

Zopinion

Letters to the editor Send your signed letter to editorial@lmtonline.com

A4 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Trump, taxes and citizenship You can be a taxpayer or you can be a citizen. If you’re a taxpayer your role in the country is defined by your economic and legal status. Your primary identity is individual.

You’re perfectly within your rights to do everything you legally can to look after your self-interest.

Within this logic, it’s perfectly fine for Donald Trump to have potentially paid no income taxes, even over a long period of time. As Trump and his allies have said, he would have broken no law. He would have taken advantage of the deductions just the way the rest of us take advantage of the mortgage deduction or any other; it’s just that he had more deductions to draw upon.

As Trump and his advisers have argued, it is normal practice in our society to pay as little in taxes as possible. There are vast industries to help people do this. There is no wrong here.

The problem with the taxpayer mentality is that you end up serving your individual interest short term but soiling the nest you need to be happy in over the long term.

A healthy nation isn’t just an atomized mass of individual economic and legal units. A nation is a web of giving and getting.

You give to your job, and your employer gives to you. You give to your neighborhood, and your neighborhood gives to you. You give to your government, and your government gives to you.

If you orient everything around individual selfinterest, you end up ripping the web of giving and receiving. Neighbors can’t trust neighbors. Individuals can’t trust their institutions, and they certainly can’t trust their government. Everything that is not explicitly prohibited is permissible.

Everybody winds up suspicious and defensive and competitive. You wind up alone at 3 a.m. miserably tweeting out at your enemies.

And this is exactly the atomized mentality that is corroding America. Years ago, David Foster Wallace put it gently: “It may sound reactionary, I know.

But we can all feel it.

We’ve changed the way we think of ourselves as citizens. We don’t think of ourselves as citizens in the old sense of being small parts of something larger and infinitely more important to which we have serious responsibilities.

We do still think of ourselves as citizens in the sense of being beneficiaries — we’re actually conscious of our rights as American citizens and the nation’s responsibilities to us and ensuring we get our share of the American pie.”

The older citizenship

“

DAVID BROOKS

mentality is a different mentality. It starts with the warm glow of love of country. It continues with a sense of sweet gratitude that the founders of the country, for all their flaws, were able to craft a structure of government that is suppler and more lasting than anything we seem to be able to craft today.

The citizen enjoys a sweet reverence for all the gifts that have been handed down over time, and a generous piety about country that is the opposite of arrogance.

Out of this sweet parfait of emotions comes a sense of a common beauty that transcends individual beauty. There’s a sense of how a lovely society is supposed to be. This means that the economic desire to save money on taxes competes with a larger desire to be part of a lovely world.

In a lovely society we all pull our fair share. Some things the government does are uncontroversial goods: protecting us from enemies, preserving the health and dignity of the old and infirm. These things have to be paid for, and in the societies we admire, everybody helps.

In a lovely society everybody practices a kind of social hygiene. There are some things that are legal but distasteful and corrupt. In a lovely society people shun these corrupt and corrupting things.

The tax code is a breeding ground for corruption, so they don’t take advantage.

The lottery system immiserates the poor so they don’t contribute to its acceptability by playing.

In a lovely society everyone feels privilege, but the rich feel a special privilege. They know they have been given more than they deserve, and that it is actually not going to hurt all that much to try to be worthy of what they’ve received. Citizens aren’t just sacrificing out of the nobility of their heart.

They serve the common good for their own enrichment, too. If they practice politics they can learn prudence; if they serve in the military they can learn courage. You can say that a billionaire paying no taxes is fine and legal. But you have to adopt an overall mentality that shuts down a piece of your heart, and most of your moral sentiments.

That mentality is entirely divorced from the mentality of commonality and citizenship. That mentality has side effects. They may lead toward riches, but they lead away from happiness.

David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.

OP-ED

The sad story of America’s empty sandlots

By Timothy R. Rice THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Each summer they wait under sunny skies and warm breezes. But no one comes. If you listen carefully, you might hear echoes of childhood voices that now belong to grown men and women. Otherwise, the only sound on them is the hum of lawn mowers trimming the grass.

Summer is officially over. And our ball fields and playgrounds endured another silent vigil abandoned by the kids.

Once parents and coaches pack up the uniforms, equipment and rule books each spring, ball fields are orphaned — at least until the organized youth sports leagues reappear when school resumes. Every summer the children disappear. Some retreat to their cellphones and laptops. Others head to camps, or vacations. A few join the so-called elite “travel teams,” which sadly fuel their parents’ irrational hope of someday avoiding college tuition through an athletic scholarship.

Gone are the days of pickup games best depicted in the classic 1993 baseball movie “The Sandlot,” when children gathered on their own to play games in parks, playgrounds and empty lots. In larger cities, those games were played on streets transformed into fields measured by curbs, manhole covers and street lights. Depending on the season and the neighborhood, the games varied from baseball, football, street hockey, soccer and bas-

Those summer fields are now dead.

And they have been dead for decades.

Sociologists can better explain the reasons, but it seems the fields lost their life when we moved from simply letting our children play games to managing their lives, especially in organized youth sports. ketball to other regional games such as stickball or halfball. But the ball fields, the parks and the streets were alive with kids playing games all summer.

Those games had no formal rules, no umpires, no uniforms and no coaches. Best of all, they had no parents.

Two recent newspaper articles depict today’s sad state of affairs on our ball fields. One portrays high school coaches in Syracuse, N.Y., under siege from parents driven to erratic and often irrational behavior trying to ensure their children’s success on the field. Another is the tale of adult men, raised in another era, still playing sandlot football at a playground in New York City.

Sandlot games involved more than kids entertaining themselves.

Without realizing it, kids learned about teamwork, leadership, fairness, negotiating and even sometimes a hard does of cruelty.

Team captains were appointed by consensus.

The rules varied, depending on who got the last word, the size of the field or how many kids happened to show up.

There was no umpire for close plays at bases made from empty boxes or worn turf. The calls sim-

ply evened it out later in the game. Ties always went to the runner. It was rough justice, but it worked. And it seemed that almost every kid endured the indignity of being the last one picked, or being ridiculed based on his performance or something stupid like the color of his socks or his name.

When we tired of playing each other, we challenged some other neighborhood kids to beat us.

The game went on without uniforms or parents setting the schedule. And just like in “The Sandlot,” the game invariably ended when we lost the ball, broke the bat or, worse yet, a window.

Those summer fields are now dead. And they have been dead for decades. Sociologists can better explain the reasons, but it seems the fields lost their life when we moved from simply letting our children play games to managing their lives, especially in organized youth sports.

After sharing the Syracuse article with a friend who once served as a high school sports coach in suburban Philadelphia, he shouted, “Amen; they got it right.” He loved the kids he coached but, he said, some parents were too much: constantly interfering,

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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

harassing, fighting, lobbying and sometimes threatening. And guess who suffered? The kids of the misguided parents whose mission seems to be ensuring that their children never fail and are never rejected.

Meanwhile, in New York City, a bunch of overweight and aging former sandlotters thrive on Sunday mornings playing rough touch football. My neighbor, age 63, plays in a similar football game in suburban Philadelphia. Sadly, there are no kids fighting the old guys for space on the field.

Each September, a bunch of retired guys become little kids again, spending Sunday mornings devising trick plays to fool the opposition, and diving to make plays that the best players in the NFL would be challenged to make. When the snow gets too deep, or the weather too cold, they retreat to their recliners until next season.

Those aging sandlotters still make their own rules, pick their own teams and settle their own disputes. And then — unlike 40 or 50 years ago when they would have stolen a drink from a neighbor’s garden hose — they might share a few beers after the game.

Meanwhile, the kids have abandoned our ball fields. Let’s hope they return next summer. The old guys can’t bring life to the empty fields forever. And kids still have a lot to learn on their own that no parent or coach can teach.

Timothy R. Rice is a writer in Havertown, Pa.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 |

A5

NATIONAL

Bill Clinton avoiding controversy after health-care riff

By Bill Barrow A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ATHENS, Ohio — Bill Clinton is trying to avoid muddling his message again as he campaigns for his wife in battleground Ohio a day after he described President Barack Obama’s signature health care law as “the craziest thing in the world.”

This time, Bill Clinton only briefly mentioned health care as he spoke for 45 minutes Tuesday at Ohio University. The former president lamented that too many Americans “can’t get affordable health insurance premiums in a lot of places” if they don’t work for large companies, and he said his wife offers solutions.

It was a far cry from his remarks Monday in

Flint, Michigan.

“You’ve got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” Bill Clinton said then. “It’s the craziest thing in the world.”

The former president made no reference Tuesday to those earlier statements, even as they continued to reverberate, prompting responses from the White House and his wife’s top aides.

Separately on Tuesday, Bill Clinton also sidestepped reporters’ questions about Trump bringing up his marital infidelity.

“He’s been making those attacks from the

beginning of this campaign, so I don’t think that’s anything new,” Clinton said in Marietta, Ohio.

His relationship with a White House intern was the subject of his 1998 impeachment. Bill Clinton did not respond to specific questions about Trump’s recent suggestion that Hillary Clinton also was not “loyal” to her husband.

Seemingly aware that he should avoid fanning the flames, Bill Clinton told reporters, “My job is very limited: I’m supposed to tell people why she’s the best choice to be president.”

The exchanges are the latest reminder that the 42nd president is both a tremendous asset and a wild card for his wife’s candidacy.

He draws enthusiastic

crowds eager to a see a former president who is anything but a normal political spouse, but he’s also generated unwanted stories, including this summer when he approached Attorney General Loretta Lynch for a private meeting at an airport. The meeting was days before the FBI announced that it would not recommend any charges against Hillary Clinton related to her use of a private email server while she served as Obama’s secretary of state.

John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, tried to tamp down any controversy over his health-care riff.

“We need to fix the problems, and I think that’s what President Clinton was referring to,” Podesta said.

In Ohio, Bill Clinton

Jeff Schrier / AP

Former President Bill Clinton speaks to a crowd at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich. while campaigning for his wife, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on Monday.

told the mostly student crowd Tuesday that Hillary Clinton supports a so-called “public option,” a government insurance plan to compete alongside private plans marketed in Affordable Care Act exchanges.

At the White House, Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not “exactly clear what argument” Bill Clinton was making in Michigan.

Earnest said Obama still has “strong confidence” in the law, and he cited subsidies that still allow “the vast majority” of shoppers in the individual policy market to find

affordable coverage.

“President Obama has of course acknowledged that with cooperation from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, there are some things that could be done to further strengthen the law,” Earnest said, “and you know, that’s something that Secretary Clinton has vowed to pursue if she is elected president of the United States, and President Obama is certainly going to do everything he can to support that effort.”

In Ohio, Bill Clinton deflected a heckler early in his remarks.

Video of Los Angeles police shooting shows suspect with gun

By Amanda Lee Myers and Christopher Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — Video released Tuesday shows a black man killed

by Los Angeles police was armed just before he was shot dead but the footage failed to capture him when officers say he twice turned toward them holding the loaded semi-automatic handgun.

The video shows the man identified by police as 18-year-old Carnell Snell crouching behind an SUV parked at a strip mall and pulling a handgun from the waistband of his sweatpants.

Snell then tucks the

gun back into his waistband and runs around the corner of a strip mall as officers chase him. All then disappear from view because they were no longer within the range of the surveillance camera.

Snell’s shooting Saturday came amid heightened tensions over police actions involving black people and other minorities across the country. Snell was the third black man in five days killed in confrontations with Southern California police.

Police said the video — posted to the police department’s YouTube channel following pressure by protesters to release it — supports the account

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck gave defending the shooting.

Beck said the video showed Snell had an opportunity to get rid of the gun but decided to keep it when he ran around a corner of the strip mall, disappearing from the footage that showed two officers running after him.

“Obviously if you’re not seeking confrontation why wouldn’t you just discard the weapon?”

Beck said.

After Snell ran around the mall’s corner and out of range of the camera, he sprinted between two houses and turned toward officers while holding the gun, Beck said.

Officers fired three shots that missed Snell, who then climbed a fence and turned again toward the officers while holding the gun, Beck said. Police fired three more times, hitting Snell in the torso and knee.

The video showing the moments leading up to the shooting was made public just as Black Lives Matter organizers gathered Tuesday morning to protest Snell’s killing at a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Demonstrators at the civilian oversight board’s meeting continuously disrupted Beck and commission members with expletives and insults and

ignored repeated requests to maintain order. One woman who said her son had been killed by police threatened to kill officers herself.

No arrests were made but the meeting was closed to the public after protesters refused to stop chanting, “Black lives, they matter here!”

Protester Melina Abdullah accused police of selectively releasing a portion of video of Snell’s shooting to “posthumously assassinate” his character.

“I don’t care if he had a gun,” she shouted. “His life matters.”

The release of the video marked the latest example

of police departments that have decided to release footage of deadly confrontations amid public pressure.

In North Carolina, Charlotte police released snippets of recordings showing Keith Lamont Scott slowly backing out of an SUV on Sept. 20.

Police fatally shot Scott after they say he refused commands to put down a gun.

In the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, police released a still frame showing 38-year-old Alfred Olango with his hands together at chest level and pointed at an officer directly in front of him.

Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE FIESTA ROMA 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a su festival Roma Fest Parade 2016. El Marshal del desfile será Yamil Yunes. El concurso de los carros alegóricos inicia a las 3 p.m.

Desfile desde las 5 p.m. el domingo 9 de octubre.

FERIAS DE SALUD 1 La Oficina de Servicios Fronterizos de DSHS y el Consejo Binacional de Salud SMAC, invitan al público a acudir a dos ferias de salud. Una se llevará a cabo en Colonias Unidas en Río Grande City el 13 de octubre de 8 a.m. a 11 a.m.; la segunda se realizará el mismo día en el Centro Comunitario Roma de 2 p.m. a 4 p.m. Informes con Lupita Guerrero al 956-7298600.

EXHIBICIÓN DE ÁRBOLES FAMILIARES 1 El Museo de Historia del Condado de Zapata y la Sociedad de Genealogía Nuevo Santander invitan a la exhibición de árboles familiares y cocina en sartenes de hierro fundido el viernes 21 de octubre y sábado 22 de octubre de 10 a.m. a 2 p.m. El evento se llevará a cabo en el Museo de Historia del Condado de Zapata.

FIESTA FAMILIAR DE HALLOWEEN

VOTO LATINO

Trump incita participación Votantes se inspiran a votar tras insultos Por Bill Lambrecht HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — Líderes latinos dicen que los insultos personales de Donald Trump hacia la ex Miss Universo Alicia Machado podrían continuar alentando la participación electoral en noviembre, una nueva encuesta sugiere que los ataques de Trump pudieran tener un efecto en la visión ya negativa de los latinos hacia el candidato del GOP. Pero a pesar de los malos pasos de Trump y un aumento en el registro de votantes, algunos defensores de los latinos están preocupados de que los demócratas y los donadores de alto perfil están fallando en apoyar los esfuerzos de movilización necesitados para llevar a votantes irregulares a las urnas.

Una encuesta de latimos emitida este domingo mostraba una mayor erosión en el puntaje del candidato republicano

—ahora el 77 por ciento desfavorable— cinco puntos porcentuales menos que hace una semana. Los demócratas están viendo estados claves, entre ellos Florida, Nevada y Colorado, lugares en donde la percepción de los latinos sobre Trump todavía puede volverse decisiva.

La encuesta, patrocinada por el National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund y Noticias Telemundo, capturó el desplome de Trump tras las declaraciones la semana pasada sobre Machado que habría subido de peso cuando era Miss Universo.

Latinos sintieron los ataques en el debate y después como una ofensa hacia ellos, y Trump empeoró el daño con sus tuits cuando se refirió al “video sexual” de Machado, un alegato falso.

La encuesta apartidista mostró por qué Trump es un referendo en la publicidad de los demócratas que se enfoca en los latinos: Hillary Clinton es

grandes poblaciones hispanas también dijeron que ha aumentado el número de registrados a votar.

Demócratas en Texas y Washington dijeron que se están construyendo esfuerzos enfocados en los latinos. El portavoz del Comité Nacional Demócrata Walter García dijo que el partido estará realizando esfuerzos adicionales los próximos días.

“Trabajamos constantemente en asegurarnos de resaltar lo peligrosa y divisiva que es la candidatura de Trump”, él dijo.

Texas, un estado de tendencia republicana, típicamente se conforma con migajas de los fondos por parte del partido demócrata durante las elecciones presidenciales.

Pero el Director del Partido Demócrata en Texas Gilberto Hinojosa indicó que la apertura de oficinas en Houston y Austin esta temporada son esenciales para cambiar el distrito.

vista favorablemente por dos tercios de los latinos —mucho mejor que cualquier otro grupo— y lideró a Trump con un 73-16 por ciento cuando se preguntó qué candidato preferían.

La encuestadora de Houston Sylvia Manzano de Latino Decisions dijo que a pesar de algunos reportes de latinos siendo ignorados, los resultados de su encuesta muestran que el nivel de interés ya ha eclipsado lo que encuestas anteriores mostraban hace cuatro años.

“He escuchado en los medios que los latinos no están entusiasmados, pero no tenemos evidencia para apoyar eso”, ella dijo.

En el Condado de Bexar, el cual sobrepasó la marca de 1 millón de votantes registrados a finales de junio, tenía 1.028.657 votantes registrado el lunes— 100.000 más que en 2012, dijo la Administradora de Elecciones Jacquelyn Callanen. Otras ciudades con

DÍA DEL RÍO

WIKILEAKS

ORGANIZAN EVENTOS

1 La Patrulla Fronteriza y el Departamento de Parques y Vida Silvestre invitan a la fiesta familiar del terror el viernes 29 de octubre en el Parque Municipal de Roma.de 5 a 9 p.m.

Habrá concursos de disfraces para todas las edades, juegos, comida y mucho más.

FIRMA DE LIBROS 1 La Dra. Alma González Pérez dictará una conferencia y estará firmando su nuevo libro de poesía en la reunión mensual de la Sociedad de Genealogía Nuevo Santander el sábado 12 de Noviembre en el Museo de Historia del Condado de Zapata.

La cita es a las 2 p.m.

LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL 1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956-849-1411.

SE SUSPENDE JUNTA 1 La Sociedad de Genealogía Nuevo Santander informa a sus socios y a la comunidad en general que debido a las fiestas decembrinas no habrá reunión durante ese mes.

Promete filtraciones sobre elecciones ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83.

Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el (956) 7658983.

En una llamada de conferencia el viernes, Hinojosa dijo: “Todos sabemos que el mayor problema que hemos tenido en convertir al estado al azul es la participación de la comunidad latina. Dejamos cuatro millones de votos en la mesa cada elección de esa comunidad. Texas no es un estado rojo, es un estado que no vota”.

El Representante de los EU Joaquín Castro, D-San Antonio, indicó el incremento de casi 940.000 residentes legales que han comenzado su trámite a la naturalización es una indicación de un electorado latino energizado.

Castro también está haciendo campaña en Texas, ayudando a financiar una estrategia en la cual la gente se acerca a sus amigos y familiares que a su vez se acerca a otros alentándolos a votar.

“Ellos te ayudan no por qué les guste salir un sábado, sino porque tú se los pediste”, él dijo.

Foto (archivo) por Laredo Morning Times

Ludvig Wills hace su parte para limpiar los arbustos y la maleza como parte de los esfuerzos de RGICS del Día del Río en el Paso del Indio en LCC.

Foto (archivo) por Laredo Morning Times

Ivette Alfaro realiza una prueba al agua en el estanque de TAMIU durante la Ronda de Investigación de RGISC por el Día del Río.

RGISC celebra fuente de agua potable en región E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

El mes de octubre servirá para celebrar el Río Grande durante las celebraciones del 22avo Anual Día del Río. El Centro de Estudios Internacional del Río Grande (RGISC por sus siglas en inglés) realizará una serie de eventos en honor a la única fuente de agua potable de Laredo: El Río Grande.

La invitación es en particular para aquellos individuos que se preocupan por el medioambiente y buscan hacer un cambio en la comunidad y para estudiantes en búsqueda de horas de servicio comunitario.

Todos los eventos son gratuitos y abiertos al público en general, aunque algunos requieren registro.

1 Las celebraciones comenzaron con la Proclamación y Bendición nativo americana el pasado martes bajo el Puente Uno en el Parque Tres Laredos. A la ceremonia asistieron funcionarios de Laredo y Nuevo Laredo, México para una bendición única del grupo nativo americano Promesa al Sol. 1 Séptima Ronda Anual

de Investigación al Río: el evento se llevará a cabo el martes 11 de octubre durante todo el día en el Río Grande. Durante éste participaran casi 90 equipos de estudiantes de los Estados Unidos y de mexica que medirán signos vitales del Río Grande- Río Bravo y sus tributarios. La Ronda de Investigación es un programa binacional de RGISC que ha sido galardonado por promover una competencia amistosa en la cual equipos de estudiantes entregan datos de la calidad del agua, cortometrajes, arte y ensayos.

1 “Un río los atraviesa: La transformativa historia de dos ríos que dan vida a Laredo y Boston”: La conferencia se realizará el jueves 13 de octubre a las 5:30 p.m. en el salón multiusos de la Biblioteca Pública de Laredo, ubicada en 1120 de Calton Road. Durante el evento Bob Zimmerman de la Asociación Charles River Watershed con base en Boston se enfocará en los cinco principios de la transformación del agua y proporcionara un caso de estudio del Río Charles.

Charles era uno de los ríos más contaminados

de los Estados Unidos hasta el 2013 cuando Boston realizó su primer “natación publica” después de décadas.

En la conferencia podrá aprender lecciones comprendidas por Boston para salvar este icónico río estadounidense que también pueden ser aplicadas al Río Grande—actualmente catalogado como uno de los 10 ríos en mayor peligro del mundo. Habrá bocadillos y servicio de traducción disponible.

1 Segundo Anual Día de Trabajo en el Paso del Indio: El evento se realizará el sábado 15 de octubre a las 7:30 a.m. en el camino natural Paso del Indio en el Centro para el Estudio de la Ciencia Medioambiental Lamar Bruni Vergara, localizada en el campus principal de LCC. En paseo se necesita de voluntarios que busquen restaurar y embellecer el camino natural más viejo de Laredo. Los equipos trabajarán para plantar nuevos árboles dentro del jardín para árboles nativos, podar el camino, construir casas de pájaros, tirar la basura, plantar flores, podar árboles, hacer maceteros de llantas viejas, entre

otras cosas. Los organizadores servirán una comida y los voluntarios pueden solicitar crédito para horas de trabajo comunitario.

1 Remo en el Río con Dr. Tom Vaughan: El evento se realizará el sábado 22 de octubre a las 8 a.m. en el Parque Father McNaboe (al final del Rancho Viejo Road en Mines Road). El cofundador y acreedor del Premio Jefferson al Servicio Público, Tom Vaughan invita a remar sobre el Río Grande para admirar la belleza espectacular del río y observar muchas especies de aves y vida salvaje que habita la región. Los kayaks y los remos serán proporcionados. Se requiere registro y el cupo es limitado.

1 Día del Río-Pintando el Río en el Atardecer: Esta actividad se llevará a cabo el sábado 29 de octubre de 4 p.m. a 7 p.m. en el Parque Tres Laredos, ubicado en 13000 de la calle Pedragal, abajo del Puente I. El evento cerrará la serie de celebraciones con pintura al aire libre, yoga, poesía y música en vivo.

Los artistas pueden llevar sus propios materiales pintura y caballete al evento.

BERLÍN— El fundador de WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, prometió el martes que hará revelaciones "significativas" de temas como las elecciones de Estados Unidos y Google en las próximas semanas, coincidiendo con el décimo aniversario de la organización.

Hablando desde Berlín en una teleconferencia de prensa por el aniversario, Assange dijo que WikiLeaks planea iniciar una serie de publicaciones esta semana, pero no especificó fechas ni contenido.

El grupo espera "publicar cada semana durante las próximas 10 semanas" y las filtraciones incluirán "material significativo" sobre guerra, armas, petróleo, Google y las elecciones estadounidenses, agregó.

Suecia quiere extraditar a Assange por una investigación por violación. El fundador de WikiLeaks, que está recluido en la embajada de Ecuador en Londres desde 2012, alega que teme ser extraditado a Estados Unidos para enfrentar cargos por espionaje.

WikiLeaks, que publicó material confidencial sobre el Comité Nacional Demócrata días antes de la convención del partido este año, se negó a especificar cuál de los dos partidos se verá afectado por la próxima filtración, pero aseveró que las denuncias de que él desea perjudicar a la demócrata Hillary Clinton son "falsas".

Cuando se le preguntó si siente cierta empatía personal hacia el republicano Donald Trump, Assange contestó: "Siento empatía personal con todos los seres humanos".

"Ciertamente me dan lástima tanto Hillary Clinton como Donald Trump", dijo Assange.

"Ambos están atormentados por sus ambiciones, cada uno a su manera".

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 |

A7

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: TEXAS RANGERS

Andrus moving past ALDS errors Rangers open AL Division Series Thursday

By Stephen Hawkins A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ARLINGTON — Elvis Andrus refuses to be defined by what happened last October, and those two errors the Texas Rangers shortstop made on routine plays.

There was the misplayed grounder in that disastrous seventh inning of the ALDS-deciding fifth game at Toronto. Later came a dropped throw on what would have been a sure force out in the inning punctuated by Jose Bautista’s go-ahead homer and emphatic bat flip .

Tears flowed from Andrus’ eyes after that loss, a gut-punch finish likely just short of the feeling the Rangers had in 2011 after twice coming within a strike of winning their first World Series.

But out of that also came a fresh determination and drive for Andrus, who at 28 and in his eighth season is the team’s longest-tenured position player.

“I put it on my shoulder, and I’m built for

that. I knew it was going to be a challenging year for me,” Andrus said.

“But at the same time I was excited, I was excited to actually how see what I was made of, and the regular season is the first step. I think that I’m way more ready for the postseason this year.”

The AL West champion Rangers, in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years, clinched home-field advantage for the entire postseason.

They host Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Thursday against the wild-card game winner — either Baltimore or those Blue Jays.

With a career-best .302 batting average in the regular season, Andrus had his first .300 season.

He also had career highs with eight home runs , 69 RBIs and 46 extrabase hits, and his 70 strikeouts were the fewest in his career.

Andrus views and treats third baseman Adrian Beltre like a big brother — “I’m the one being annoying,” Andrus said with a smile, a refer-

ence to some of their often entertaining interactions on the field and in the dugout.

Beltre knows what happened to Andrus in Toronto last year could have happened to anybody.

“We talked about it after that happened, and that kind of pushed him to learn from that mistake and have more motivation to come this year and do what he did,” Beltre said. “This year has been really good for him, and it was nice to see that instead of breaking him, it kind of made him stronger. Elvis has a really good mentality.”

General manager Jon Daniels said it still stands out to him, seeing an emotional and accountable Andrus at his locker after that seasonending loss, answering every question candidly.

He said his shortstop immediately embraced the idea that he wanted to work to get better.

Daniels also spoke this week about Andrus taking more of a leadership role this season with younger players on the

team, like Beltre and former teammate and current Rangers special assistant Michael Young have with the shortstop.

“Elvis works hard every offseason, so that part isn’t new,” Daniels said. “Elvis has been to the postseason a lot. ...

Since he’s been here, he’s only been on winning teams, and I think he understands how hard it is, and not to take it for granted. That’s what I saw this winter, was him kind of taking that realization and putting it into action.”

Andrus has seen the replays of those ALDS errors and that seventh inning a few times, and said it doesn’t affect him.

Those clips are sure to be shown quite a few times this postseason, as long as the Rangers keep playing.

“I would like to see that quite a few times, especially before every game,” Andrus said.

“See what it did to me. ...

I have no problem with that.”

More October baseball just makes for a better Elvis comeback.

Elaine Thompson / Associated Press

Elvis Andrus set career highs in the regular season with a .302 batting average, eight home runs, 69 RBIs and 46 extra-base hits.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: DALLAS STARS

STARS’ CAPTAIN BENN AIMS TO BUILD ON 1ST PLAYOFF SERIES WIN first two periods of a 6-1 loss to the Blues.

“I think it took us a long time to kind of learn when you’re not playing and when you are playing last year,” Lehtonen said.

“But now we know what to expect so I think that’s going to be easier. Still never know how it’s going to go.”

Dallas hosts Ducks Oct. 13 to open year

By Schuyler Dixon A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DALLAS — Jamie Benn will open a season coming off a playoff series victory for the first time in the Dallas captain’s career, while Patrick Sharp hardly knows any other way.

Together, they’re trying to take the Stars beyond the second-round exit of last season, which ended with a humbling Game 7 loss to St. Louis.

If Tyler Seguin can stay healthy alongside Benn, his fellow high-scoring All-Star forward, and Dallas can find a way to make a two-goalie system with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi work a little better, the Stars should be in contention.

“It was fun last year,” Sharp said of his first season in Dallas after spending 10 years with Chicago and winning three Stanley Cup titles. “I think we broke through in a lot of areas and proved to ourselves and the league that we can be a top team. If everybody improves a little bit and we commit to what we did last year, good things can happen.”

Benn didn’t make the playoffs his first four seasons before Dallas lost in the first round to Anaheim in 2014. He won the league scoring title a year later when the Stars missed the playoffs.

Dallas finally broke through with a Western Conference-leading 109 points (50-23-9) last season and a six-game victo-

SETTLING IN Sharp, a forward, and defenseman Johnny Oduya were getting used to a new home a year ago after winning a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks.

If Jason Spezza is any indication, they’ll be more productive. Spezza struggled his first season in Dallas two years ago after 11 seasons in Ottawa, then almost doubled his goals last season.

“Much more comfortable, much more feel at home,” Sharp said. “The guys were very welcoming last year, but being 10 years in one spot, it’s tough to move.”

Jim Cowsert / AP

Jamie Benn is looking to lead the Stars deeper into the playoffs this year after earning the first playoff series win of his career last year. Benn finished with team highs of 41 goals and 48 assists in the regular season.

ry over Central Division rival Minnesota to start the postseason.

“Just needed to get out of the first and you didn’t make it through the second, so we know how hard it is,” said Benn, who signed an eight-year, $76 million contract extension in the offseason.

“I think we go into this year with that mentality of a playoff team and play like a playoff team and just try to build and keep getting better.”

Things to consider as

the Stars go after their first extended postseason run since 2008, when they lost to Detroit in the West finals: EARLY INJURY BUG Seguin has been out in the preseason with a hairline fracture of a heel sustained while getting ready for the World Cup. That’s after missing all but one playoff game last season because of an Achilles injury. He’s expected to be ready for the opener Oct. 13.

Another center, Cody Eakin, will miss at least the few weeks of the regular season after injuring a knee in a camp practice, and promising forward Mattias Janmark could miss the season after surgery for a joint disorder in a knee. Radek Faksa, another young forward, is dealing with a concussion.

“It’s better to get those out of the way now,” said Benn, who was eased into preseason work after abdominal surgery in the

offseason.

TWO GOALIES AGAIN Lehtonen and Niemi split time in the regular season and the playoffs, and coach Lindy Ruff doesn’t think the approach will be much different. That includes using both to manage the busier parts of the schedule. While the system helped boost Dallas to the top seed in the West, it failed them in the playoff finale when Lehtonen gave up five goals in the

YOUNG D Ruff’s biggest concern is the consistency of a young group of defensemen highlighted by budding stars John Klingberg and Stephen Johns. The Stars believe in their youth at the blue line enough that they traded the rights to nine-year veteran Alex Goligoski to Arizona. Dallas gave Oduya a fellow veteran in the group by adding Dan Hamhuis in free agency.

“We’ve got the platform to build off as long as we can get our young defensemen in the right place,” said Ruff, going into his 19th season after spending his first 15 as a coach in Buffalo. “By no means do I think it’s going to be easy.”

A8 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Lagerfeld blames Kardashian for being too public with wealth

By Thomas Adamson A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

PARIS — Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld criticized Kim Kardashian to The Associated Press for being too flashy with her money following her $10 milllion heist, while Usher brushed away safety concerns around the ordeal that continued to dominate Paris Fashion Week.

Lagerfeld criticizes Kardashian for flaunting wealth Chanel’s couturier suggested to The AP that Kardashian was partly to blame for the heist, in which the reality television star was tied up and robbed of millions of dollars of jewelry. “(She is) too public, too public — we have to see in what time we live. You cannot display your wealth then be surprised that some people want to share it,” Lagerfeld said after the Chanel show.

“I don’t understand why (Kardashian) was in a hotel with no security and things like this. If you are that famous and you put all your jewelry on the net you go to hotels where nobody can come near to the room,” he added.

Usher has stayed at the Kardashian heist residence The U.S. singer who arrived in Paris hours after Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed of $10 million worth of jewelry

— and is familiar with the residence it occurred in — says he’s defiant in Kardashian the face of the crime.

“I feel more secure than ever, absolutely (safe),” said the 37-yearold singer, who told the AP he has stayed in the No Address Hotel — where the heist occurred — and said it still remains a secure environment.

The No Address Hotel or L’Hotel de Pourtales, is a favourite of A-list celebrities, with past guests reportedly including Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince, Madonna, Jay-Z and Beyonce.

“It’s very unfortunate that that would be the one thing that would represent this incredible week of fashion, so I hope that it doesn’t overshadow,” he said. “(Gun crime) like that happens all the time. In America people get robbed everywhere, man.

Unfortunately it does maybe take a celebrity to shine a light on unfortunate situations,” he added.

Courtney Love is unfazed despite being attacked in Paris last year Courtney Love, who sat next to Kardashian at the Givenchy show on the eve of the robbery, spoke of her profound shock.

But she said that it wouldn’t make her reconsider coming back to the

Thomas Samson / Getty

Journalists work as police officers stand guard at the entrance to a hotel residence at the Rue Tronchet, near Madeleine, central Paris, on Oct. 3, where reality television star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint.

City of Light.

“As a friend of hers, I feel very horrified. ... I don’t know what went on with security,” she said.

“It was terrible. ... (But) I don’t see the underbelly so much. Maybe I should more. It’s a bubble for me,” Love told the AP from the Chanel front row.

But only last year, the former Hole singer wasn’t so unfazed by Paris turmoil, when she had her car attacked by striking taxi drivers.

“The Uber thing, that was terrifying,” she acknowledged at Tuesday’s show.

Last June, Love made headlines by tweeting: “They’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage,” and “They’re beating the cars with metal bats. This is France?? I’m safer in Baghdad.”

Chanel’s data center Huge sprawling hard drives in large metallic casing and multicolored wires spilling out of myriad machines was the decor for Chanel’s forward-looking “Data Center” ready-to-wear show.

It set the tone for a technological, futuristic

collection that riffed on the vivid colors of the cables in the backdrop.

The signature tweed skirt suits opened the show, with two models in robotic masks and galactic white paratrooper boots.

The exploration of the house DNA led on to youthful styles — that were opened up and airy on models in hip-hopstyle caps.

Skirt suit jackets sported square Velcro fasteners, instead of buttons, with skirts with a sexy split down the front.

“Velcro is so much easier than a button,” Lagerfeld said.

He characterized the collection designs as “intimate technology” — femininity hidden behind something high-tech.

Some styles evoked the busy textured surface of a circuit board with the ultra-vivid colors of computer circuitry. At times, it was a little too-much, as in one loose black, pink and purple double-breasted jacket on which the colors emanated out in blurred lines like overheated wires.

Elsewhere it worked, like a tight black jacket with silver solder-like

markings.

Emporio comes to Paris “Hunger Games” star Sam Claflin and singer Charli XCX hit the front row of the Emporio Armani show Monday night.

Giorgio Armani decided on the one-off event in the City of Light this season to celebrate the restyling of the brand’s boutique and its Caffe in Paris’ Left Bank area, Saint Germain. Emporio Armani shows are presented in Milan.

The exhaustive 85 looks, with both male and female designs, presented a more wearable vision of fashion than the shimmering gowns fashion insiders are used to at the Armani Prive couture shows that are held in Paris.

Menswear jackets on female models was a repeat theme in the diverse show, which was given a funky edge by models wearing shades with tight, rope-like pigtails hanging down the torso.

Armani’s typically tasteful tonal shades of blue, gray and red mixed up with myriad shimmering pajama looks with elephant motifs that

evoked the silks of India.

The show was clearly a celebratory event, but could have benefited from increased brevity.

Kenzo’s shoulder play In Kenzo’s Tuesday show, designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon christened this season’s look of the oversize wide round shoulder and with a high tight waist — in a strong display that emphasized the silhouette.

A thick khaki safarilike outfit with huge curved voluminous shoulders sporting utilitarian pockets was among one of the 51-piece collection’s first looks — and was, in true funky Kenzo style, topped with a chic Victorian-style high collar.

Voluminous, almost Sinbad, pants tapered finely at the waist in another look in deep navy.

A combat green capeshirt in synthetic material, led on to trapeze-style explorations of form.

One raincoat-style dress, gathered at the waist with toggles and capped with a mid calf underskirt, was stand out. It produced beautiful, delicate ripples that flowed down the torso.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 |

A9

BUSINESS

Holiday sales expected to be up 3.6 percent

By Anne D’Innocenzio A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Americans are expected to spend at a faster clip than last year for the critical holiday season, helped by an economy that should only continue to pick up, according to the nation’s largest retail industry trade group.

The National Retail Federation, based in Washington, D.C., is forecasting holiday sales for the November and December period to rise 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, much better than the 3 percent growth seen in the year-ago period.

The figure also is much higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent and above the 3.4 percent growth seen since the

recovery began in 2009.

The dollar figure excludes sales from autos, gas and restaurants but includes online spending and other non-store sales. The group estimates that non-store sales should rise 7 percent to 10 percent to as much as $117 billion. Last year, that rate was 9 percent.

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay noted that this year has had some rocky moments like a warm winter and an unseasonably warm fall.

That has hurt sales of clothing and forced stores to discount more heavily.

But Shay said all the fundamentals are in place even if the noise from the presidential elections might serve as a shortterm distraction.

“Our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the econo-

my and industry expectations,” Shay said. “We remain optimistic that the pace of economic activity will pick up in the near term.”

The forecast is based on an economic model that takes into account such indicators as consumer credit, disposable personal income and monthly retail sales. It’s a key industry barometer for retailers who depend on the last two months of the year. Holiday sales account for nearly 20 percent of annual retail industry sales. It also offers a snapshot of the mindset of the shopper.

The forecast comes as retailers continue to wrestle with broader changes in how shoppers are buying. They’re shifting more of their money to experiences like travel and away

from clothing and other stuff. And they’re increasingly buying more online, forcing stores to look at new ways to bring shoppers into their stores.

But National Retail Federation executives told reporters on a call Tuesday there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

“We are in better shape than we were last year,” said the retail trade group’s economist, Jack Kleinhenz.” We have a lot more people working this year.”

Government figures show that 2.5 million more Americans have jobs as of August compared to a year earlier. The government is scheduled to release September job numbers on Friday. The current unemployment rate is 4.9 percent, lower than the 5.1 percent rate a year ago.

And a report from the Census Bureau that was released last month showed that U.S. households got a raise last year after seven years of sluggish incomes. Increasing pay also boosted the poorest households, slashing poverty by the sharpest amount in nearly a half a century. The median U.S. household’s income rose 5.2 percent in 2015 to an inflation-adjusted level of $56,516, according to the Census. That marks the largest one-year gain on data dating back to 1967.

It’s up 7.3 percent from 2012, when incomes declined to a 17-year-low.

Given the tight labor market, retailers are even dangling perks like higher pay, extra discounts and more flexible schedules to lure temporary holiday workers. Still, while the

Google gets aggressive with new phones, other gadgets

By Michael Liedtke and Brandon Bailey A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is ratcheting up its rivalry with Apple and Amazon in unveiling new smartphones and an internet-connected speaker sporting a digital assistant that the company hopes to make indispensable.

The devices unveiled Tuesday are part of Google’s bold move to design and sell its own hardware, instead of just supplying Android and other software for other companies to make products.

Google’s previous attempts at hardware have had limited distribution and included such highprofile flops as its internet-connected Glass headgear.

This time around, Google is betting big that it has matured to the point that it can design software and hardware to work seamlessly with each other — an art that Apple mastered during the past 15 years as it mesmerized consumers with its iPods, iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Borrowing another page from Apple’s book, Google is backing its expanded product lineup with the biggest marketing campaign in its 18year history. The company isn’t disclosing how much it will spend, but made it clear the ads touting products “Made by Google” will be ubiqui-

tous during the next few months.

“They have done some advertising in the past, but it’s never been with this kind of ‘let us take care of everything for you’ way,” Gartner analyst Brian Blau said. “This is more like Apple’s way of doing things.”

Gadgets on parade Google executives showed off a series of gadgets in rapid succession in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The new Pixel phones, starting at a price of $650, are aimed squarely at Apple’s iPhone and could also siphon sales from the biggest manufacturer of Android-powered phones, Samsung.

Android now powers more than 80 percent of the smartphones sold around the world. But Samsung has increasingly been adding more of its own software, including its own mobile wallet, on its phones.

Analysts warned that Google’s increased emphasis on its own branded devices runs the risk of alienating Samsung, as well as LG and other longtime partners that make Android gadgets.

Google, though, emphasized it still plans to work with other manufacturers, even as it tries to become a bigger player in hardware.

Meanwhile, Google’s new Home speaker represents a counterpunch to Amazon’s Echo, a similar

device that has become a big hit since its release about 15 months ago. Google Home will cost $129, undercutting Echo by $50.

Home will be available on Nov. 4 for $129, with advance orders starting Tuesday.

Google also announced a virtual-reality headset called Daydream View, a new Wi-Fi router and an update to the company’s Chromecast device for streaming video.

The phone Available in two sizes, the Pixel phones replace Google’s previous foray into smartphones with a Nexus brand introduced six years ago. Google never hailed Nexus as its own phone, but instead positioned it as an example of how it believed the Android system worked best.

In promoting the Pixels, Google highlighted a camera it says trumps the latest iPhone, a longlasting battery and a dedicated headphone jack — a staple that Apple eliminated from the iPhones released last month. And while past Google phones primarily relied on sales through Google’s online Play store, the Pixel will also be sold by Verizon in the U.S. The phones come out Oct. 20, with advance orders starting Tuesday.

Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said in an email that Google was smart to emphasize the performance of the new smart-

Michael Short / Bloomberg

The Google Wifi router, from left, Chromecast Ultra, Home, Pixel XL, Pixel and Daydream View devices sit on display during a product launch event in San Francisco on Tuesday.

phone cameras, as “consumers care about this a lot.” But he said other features in the new phones didn’t seem that much different from what Samsung and Apple have offered in their latest devices.

Smart assistant The phones and speaker will serve as a showcase for Google’s digital helper, Google Assistant.

The helper will respond to spoken questions such as “How do you remove wine stains out of the carpet?” and commands to control the volume of the television and other home appliances with internet connections.

Google Assistant escalates the company’s battle against Apple, which offers a virtual helping hand through Siri, and Amazon, whose Alexa concierge resides in Echo and other devices.

Google believes its assistant will be more knowledgeable, more personable and more versatile than the competition. Its confidence stems from the more than 70 billion facts that it has stockpiled in a database that it calls a “knowledge

graph,” as well as the ability of its dominant search engine to quickly scan the web to retrieve a specific piece of information.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai boasts that the assistant will draw upon the company’s advances in artificial intelligence to deliver “a personal Google for each and every user.”

The artificial intelligence programming is designed to learn more about the person using it with each interaction, according to Google.

That’s one reason why Google eventually wants the assistant on more devices, though the company currently doesn’t have plans to build directly into Android the way Siri is automatically included in Apple’s mobile software. Instead, Google will allow other device makers to include the assistant in their products if they want, beginning early next year.

“Search has been Google’s golden ticket for the past 20 years of the internet, and now they are hoping artificial intelligence will become the next golden ticket,” Blau said.

overall number of jobs for seasonal workers looks to be flat this year, the biggest growth area in recent years has been in transportation and warehouse jobs because of the rise in online shopping.

Shoppers also are enjoying lower food prices at the grocery store, which offer relief to those living from paycheck to paycheck.

The National Retail Federation warned that geopolitical uncertainty, the presidential election and unseasonably warm weather could hurt shopping patterns. Last year, for example, major stores like Macy’s had to aggressively discount coats and boots after mild temperatures lingered into the winter months because shoppers didn’t need to buy heavy winter apparel.

Tyson Foods to pay $1.6 million to settle hiring charges ASSOCIATED PRE SS

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tyson Foods Inc. will pay $1.6 million to settle federal allegations of hiring discrimination at six plants in Arkansas, New Mexico and Texas.

Tyson and the U.S. Labor Department announced the deal Tuesday.

The agency alleged the Springdale, Arkansasbased company’s hiring and selection procedures at the six plants discriminated on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity. The company said in a statement that it disagrees with the claims and settled to avoid the cost of going to trial.

Tyson will pay back wages, interest and benefits to 5,716 applicants who were turned down for jobs from 2007-2010 at plants in Rogers and Russellville, Arkansas; Santa Theresa, New Mexico; and Amarillo, Houston and Sherman, Texas.

Tyson will also extend job offers to 474 affected people as positions become available. It also will revise hiring and training practices.

A10 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

Weird science: 3 win Nobel for unusual states of matter

By Karl Ritter A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

STOCKHOLM — Three British-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for discoveries about strange states of matter that could result in improved materials for electronics or quantum computers.

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, who are now affiliated with universities in the United States, were honored for breakthroughs they made in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work opened the door to a previously unknown world where matter can assume unusual states or phases.

“Their discoveries have brought about breakthroughs in the theoretical understanding of matter’s mysteries and created new perspectives on the development of innovative materials,” the academy said.

The 8 million kronor ($930,000) award was divided with one half going to Thouless and the other to Haldane and Kosterlitz for “theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.”

Topology is a branch of mathematics that describes properties of objects.

The judges said there is now hope that “topological materials” could pave the way for new generations of electronics or quantum computers that are much more powerful than current computer systems.

Nobel judges often award discoveries made decades ago to make Thouless sure they withstand the test of time.

Thouless, 82, is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.

Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Kosterlitz, 73, is a physics professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and currently a visiting lecturer at Aalto University in Helsinki.

Haldane said he found out about the prize through an early morning telephone call.

“My first thought was someone had died,” he told The Associated Press.

“But then a lady with a Swedish accent was on the line. It was pretty unexpected.”

Kosterlitz, a dual U.K.U.S. citizen, said he got the news in a parking garage while heading to lunch in Helsinki.

“I’m a little bit dazzled.

I’m still trying to take it in,” he told AP. While most people are familiar with objects in three dimensions, the Nobel laureates analyzed materials so thin they have only two dimensions, or even one.

Scientists had once been skeptical that any interesting atomic-scale behavior takes place in these settings, but the Nobel laureates proved them wrong, said Phillip Schewe, a physicist and writer at the University of Maryland in College Park.

For example, Kosterlitz and Thouless showed that, against Kosterlitz expectations, twodimensional materials could conduct electricity without any loss to resistance. That property is called superconductivity.

Kosterlitz said he was in his 20s at the time and that his “complete ignorance” was an advantage in challenging the established science.

“I didn’t have any preconceived ideas,” he said.

“I was young and stupid enough to take it on.”

Their analysis relied on topology, which is the mathematical study of properties that don’t change when objects are distorted. A doughnut and a coffee cup are equivalent topologically because they each have exactly one hole. In topology, properties change only in whole steps; you can’t have half a hole.

Prize committee member Thors Hans Hansson explained the concept by holding up a cinnamon bun, a bagel and a pretzel with two holes in it to reporters in Stockholm.

Thouless explained an experiment conducted with a very thin layer of material. Its electrical resistance varied in response to changes in a magnetic field, but while the strength of the field was changed smoothly, the resistance changed in sharply defined steps.

This effect is so precise that it is now used to define the unit of electrical resistance, the ohm.

Don’t expect Fitbits to improve health or help drop pounds

By Maria Cheng A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

LONDON — Wearing a fitness tracker may help you keep tabs on how many steps you take, but the devices themselves — even with the lure of a cash reward — probably won’t improve your health, according to the biggest study yet done on the trendy technology.

Scientists say that although the activity trackers may boost the number of steps people take, it probably isn’t enough to help them drop pounds or improve overall health.

“These are basically measuring devices,” said Eric Finkelstein, a professor at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, who led the research. “Knowing how active you are doesn’t translate into getting people to do more and the novelty of having that information wears off pretty quickly.”

Finkelstein and colleagues tested the Fitbit Zip tracker in a group of 800 adults in Singapore, by dividing them into four groups. Of those people, more than half were overweight and obese and about one third were active.

A control group got information about exercise but no tracker and a second group got the Fitbit Zip; everyone in those groups also got about $2.92 a week. Participants in the last two groups got the tracker and about $11 for every week they logged between 50,000 and 70,000 steps. One of the groups had the money donated to charity while the other kept the cash.

After six months, people with the Fitbit and who got the cash pay-

ment showed the biggest boost in physical activity.

But after a year, 90 percent of participants had abandoned the device.

The physical activity of the Fitbit wearers did not decline over the year as much as it did for those who were not given a tracker, but the higher activity level wasn’t enough to produce any improvements in weight or blood pressure.

“These trackers can encourage people to take more steps, but it still seems like these random extra steps aren’t enough to really improve your health,” Finkelstein said.

He said what’s needed is more “active steps,” or what would amount to brisk walking or more rigorous exercise.

The study was paid for

by Singapore’s ministry of health and published online Tuesday in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

The results seem to reinforce those of another recent study, published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In that study, conducted over two years, researchers found that adding wearable activity tracking devices to a diet and fitness program didn’t result in more weight loss. Those who didn’t wear devices lost about five pounds more than those who wore them, but both groups slimmed down and improved their eating habits, fitness and activity levels.

Nobel committee member David Haviland said this year’s prize was Haldane more about theoretical discoveries even though they may result in practical applications.

“Topology is a very abstract branch of mathematics which isn’t used so frequently in physics,” Haviland said. “But these theoreticians have come up with a description of these materials using topological ideas, which have proven very fruitful and has led to a lot of ongoing research about material properties.”

Haldane said the award-winning research is just starting to have practical applications.

“The big hope is that some of these new materials could lead to quantum computers and other new technology,” he said.

Kosterlitz was not so sure.

“I’ve been waiting for my desktop quantum computer for years, but it’s still showing no signs of appearing,” he said. “At the risk of making a bad mistake, I would say that this quantum computation stuff is a long way from being practical.”

This year’s Nobel Prize announcements started Monday with the medicine award going to Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for discoveries on autophagy, the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content.

The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Moldova official says Russia is meddling

By Alison Mutler ASSOCIATED PRE SS

BUCHAREST, Romania — The speaker of Moldova’s parliament accused Russia Tuesday of meddling in the country’s politics ahead of a presidential election that could cement the former Soviet republic as a contender for European Union membership or further Russan control.

Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu said the government thinks “the Russians are financing political parties and leaders” and backing antigovernment protests.

Candu told The Associated Press that Moldova’s leaders also suspect Russia of “manipulating media outlets and doing propaganda.”

“I try to be positive and optimistic, but there are external factors that are of concern for us,” he said in a telephone interview.

Candu is in Washington to discuss the political and economic situation in Moldova with the International Monetary Fund and U.S. State Department officials and others ahead of the Oct. 30 election.

Socialist Party candidate Igor Dodon, who favors closer ties with Moscow and opposes the current ruling party’s push to join the EU, is leading in opinion polls.

However, a runoff is expected since it is unlikely

any candidate will secure a majority of votes.

Russian lawmaker Oleg Paholkov told Moldovan media site deschide.md last month that Russia is supporting Dodon because he wants to federalize Moldova to include two pro-Russian regions.

Candu said Moldova had had “challenges with Russia and (its) military forces,” referring to military drills Russia has staged jointly in recent months with separatist troops in the breakaway republic of Trans-Dniester.

Moldova’s president has limited executive power since the country has a parliamentary system of government.

Candu, a former economy minister, conceded that the government needs to regain public trust that eroded after $1 billion went missing from three banks before parliamentary election in November 2014, sparking months of protests and political instability. Moldova had six prime ministers in one year.

Parliament has recently voted anti-corruption laws, obliging public officials to disclose their assets and making the misuse of EU funds a criminal offense.

Moldova, he said, needs “stability, irrespective of results of the elections and to minimize the influence of so-called friends.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 |

A11

FROM THE COVER MASS From page A1

Cuate Santos / The Zapata Times

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Tuesday’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” performance was part of LISD's Class on Stage partnership with the Laredo Theater Guild International.

LATINO From page A1 ing at key battleground states, among them Florida, Nevada and Colorado, as places where Latinos’ still-diminishing view of Trump could prove decisive.

The tracking poll, sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund and Noticias Telemundo, captured fallout from Trump’s ongoing jabs last week at Machado for gaining weight when she was Miss Universe. Latinos found the attacks in the debate and afterward as offensive to them, and Trump compounded the damage in his Twitter tirade when he referred to Machado’s “sex tape past,” widely seen as a false allegation.

Trump apparently was referring to a 2005 nightvision clip from “La Granja,” a Spanish reality program, that shows Machado and a man moving rhythmically under a blanket or sheet absent nudity or anything explicit, similar to some scenes in U.S. reality shows.

The nonpartisan tracking poll showed why Trump is a refrain in Democratic ads focused on Latinos: Hillary Clinton is viewed favorably by two-thirds of Latinos — far better than by people generally — and led Trump 73-16 percent when Latinos were asked which candidate they prefer.

Houston pollster Sylvia Manzano of Latino Decisions, which conducts the tracking surveys, points to still another possible reason for Trump’s ongoing decline among Latinos: Cuba — and Trump’s efforts to drum up business opportunities in the 1990s during the embargo, an issue followed especially closely in Florida.

Manzano said that despite some reports of Latinos becoming tuned out, her polling shows that the level of interest already has eclipsed what surveys showed four years ago.

“I’ve heard media chatter about Latinos not enthused, but we don’t have evidence to support that,” she said.

In Bexar County, which surpassed the 1 million mark in registered voters in late June, had 1,028,657 registered voters Monday — 100,000 more than in 2012, said Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen. Other cities with large Hispanic populations also say registration has surged.

Nonetheless, advocates worry that Democrats and philanthropies aren’t devoting more to corralling that enthusiasm in the campaign’s last weeks. The San Antoniobased Southwest Voter Registration Education Project operated in as many as 14 states in the past decade but limited funding this election has reduced efforts to just three states beyond Texas.

“I think campaigns and corresponding groups are supporting efforts to turn out the voters that the

campaigns think they need. In Hillary’s case, its white men,” said Lydia Camarillo, Southwest Voter vice president.

Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, a Los Angelesbased national advocacy group, said he, too, worries about missed opportunity. He said Machado “represents pride in the Latino community. He (Trump) insulted one of our heroes.”

Monterroso added: “It looks to me that it’s politics as usual in not building for the future. I don’t see the coordination. I don’t see it in the streets.

I don’t see it in the barrios.”

Democrats in Texas and Washington say efforts aimed at Latinos are building. Democratic National Committee spokesman Walter Garcia said additional party efforts will unfold in coming days.

“We’re constantly working to make sure that we highlight how dangerous and divisive Trump’s candidacy is,” he said.

Red-state Texas typically settles for drips from the national party funding spigot in presidential election years. But Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa pointed to the DNC opening offices in Houston and Austin this season and heavy national funding of Alpine Democrat Pete Gallego in his challenge of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, in the San Antonioarea quintessential swing district.

In a conference call Friday, Hinojosa said: “We all know that the biggest problem we’ve had in getting the state to turn blue is the turnout in the Latino community.

We leave 4 million votes on the table every election from that community.

Texas is not really a red state, it’s a nonvoting state.”

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, pointed to the nearly 940,000 increase in the number of legal immigrants who have applied to become citizens as further indication of an energized Latino electorate.

Castro is doing his part for Democrats nationally: He campaigned in Louisiana over the weekend and has trips planned for Florida and Iowa.

Castro also is partybuilding in Texas, helping to finance a strategy in which people reach out to friends and relatives who in turn reach out to others with encouragement to vote. He likened the method to people asking others to help them move on a weekend.

“They help you not because they like moving on a Saturday but because you asked them to,” he said.

In the Latino Victory Project’s late efforts, a rock ’n’ roll soundtrack accompanies the sound of money. Latino Victory was formed two years ago by actress and activist Eva Longoria and Henry Muñoz, the San Antonio entrepreneur and Democratic Party finance chairman.

Latino Victory is partners with the rock band Mana, of Guadalajara, Mexico, in an online campaign, #CuentaConmigo (count on me), with concerts so far in El Paso and Las Vegas and another planned in Miami.

The Longoria-Muñoz PAC also has spent $1.3 million this election, most of it supporting Latino candidates.

“You can’t take our community for granted,” said state Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso. “Just because Trump is out there doesn’t mean these funding organizations have to make less investment. They can’t be short-sighted.”

Nevada, where more than 1 in 5 voters are Latino, is the battleground state with the biggest Latino percentage and potentially a place where Latinos could make a big difference Nov. 8.

Latinos see their best chance yet to send the first Latina to the U.S. Senate in the battle to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat and former two-term state attorney general, trails U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, a physician and three-term congressman, in recent polls.

Heck led by just two points in a Las Vegas Review-Journal survey published Sunday, suggesting that a robust turnout could put Cortez Masto over the top.

Last week, Cortez Masto answered charges by two of Heck’s former advisers that she is “hispandering” for votes, with one of her critics remarking that she doesn’t speak fluent Spanish.

Cortez Masto, whose grandfather emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico, called the barbs a slap at Mexican-Americans “who have come to this country … have worked hard, and have made a life for them and their families.”

In the battleground state of Florida, an influx of Democratic-leaning voters arriving from Puerto Rico is rapidly changing the Hispanic electorate and may be a key factor in November, analysts say.

In the past, Republicans could bank on strong support from Cuban-Americans in Florida. That GOP support has eroded in recent years, particularly among young Cuban-Americans.

In 2012, Barack Obama captured the CubanAmerican vote.

Since then, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida after fleeing the island’s debt crisis and economic woes, many of them settling in the Orlando area.

Susan MacManus, a commentator and University of South Florida professor, noted intense organizing in the Orlando area and successes in state legislative contests of candidates of Puerto Rican heritage.

“We’re really starting to see the exertion of Puerto Rican political power. That has to be helpful to Hillary Clinton,” she said.

said.

Fourth Court of Appeals Justice Patricia Alvarez reiterated that the selection of Yeary is especially fitting.

“Judge Yeary is a devoted Catholic, devoted family man and a great friend of Laredo,” she said. “He is proud of growing up in Laredo and his heart and spirit remain rooted in Laredo. His selection as 2016 Red Mass keynote speaker is an excellent choice for this wonderful event.”

The Red Mass originated in 13th century France and gradually spread to other parts of Europe — including England in the early 14th century. The celebrant has traditionally been vested in red and the justices of the court clothed in scarlet. Red is the color of the Pentecost in Roman liturgy. The descent of the Holy Spirit in flames upon the Apostles at Pentecost is understood to be a source of wisdom, understanding,

CHILDREN From page A1 dren one day each week between March 28 and Sept. 12: 1 In Harris County alone — home to the city of Houston — there were 267 highest-priority kids on any given day that CPS never had a face-toface visit with. That accounted for nearly 30 percent of the 935 highest-priority kids not seen across the state.

1 In Dallas County alone, there were 228 highestpriority kids each day who never had a face-toface visit from CPS. 1 Among all Texas kids who fell into the secondhighest-priority category,

counsel and fortitude, all gifts essential to justice.

Saint Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, is often identified with the Red Mass for his contributions to English common law and his faith in the face of tyranny.

Today, the Red Mass is celebrated across the United States and involves lawyers, officials and judges of all faiths. Notably, the Red Mass coincides with the opening of the October term of the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court regularly attend the Red Mass held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. The Mass is viewed as a blessing of the upcoming work of the Supreme Court and other judges and public officials. Cardinal Donald Wuerl has described the Red Mass as “an opportunity to pray for all of those involved in the administration of justice.”

“I extend an invitation to people of all faiths and of every branch of government to join us for the Red Mass, where we continue

the tradition of asking God’s blessing upon members of our judicial and legislative bodies,” said Diocese of Laredo Bishop James A. Tamayo. “Everyone is welcome to attend.”

Pastors, rabbis and ministers are encouraged to join the procession by contacting Leti Valdez at 956-764-7808.

The Red Mass Planning Committee, under the leadership of Tamayo and Senior U.S. District Judge George Kazen, include: U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña; U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga; 111th District Court Judge Monica Zapata Notzon; Senior Judge Elma Salinas Ender; District Attorney Isidro Alaniz; Webb County Attorney Marco Montemayor; Public Defender Virginia Aranda; Nathan Chu, president of the Laredo-Webb County Bar Association; Joe Maldonado; Mary Ellen Smith; John Kazen; Victor Villarreal; Donato Ramos Sr.; Arnulfo Gonzalez Jr.; Madeline López-Escoto; Adriana Benavides Maddox; and Emilio Davila Jr.

which includes suspected cases of abuse or neglect that are considered less urgent, 3,926 had never had a face-to-face visit from a CPS investigator.

1 An additional 11,878 kids in that second tier did have a face-to-face visit, but it happened after the 72-hour time window mandated by state law for those less urgent cases.Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, said the numbers were indefensible.

“Not seeing kids who may be child abuse victims is not acceptable,” he said in an email. “That’s our job and we have to be better.”

The data itself remains

murky because the agency says its counting method was inconsistent over time. While there appears to be an increase in the number of kids who were never checked on, Crimmins said an internal policy change likely accounted for the upward trend.

The child welfare agency has asked the Legislature for funding to add 510 more investigators and special investigators to its ranks. “The key is getting more workers in the field, regardless of turnover,” Crimmins said, adding that many investigators attempt to locate families who are “not home, who have moved or who do not want to be found.”

A12 | Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES