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FRACKING BAN
FEDERAL COURT
Denton to vote on fracking
Bank-fraud scheme
Opponents battle oil, gas firms on issuing drilling permits
Two accused of stealing $800K from local bank THE ZAPATA TIMES
Two women from Zapata have been arrested for allegedly stealing $800,000 through a bank-fraud scheme.
Petra del Bosque, 54, and Anita Arredondo, 52, both of Zapata, were arrested Thursday after a grand jury in a Laredo federal court handed down a 10-count indictment, a copy of which
was not made immediately available. Del Bosque, a former employee of Zapata National Bank, and Arredondo face 10 counts of bank fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office
states that the indictment alleges Arredondo worked for a construction company in Zapata as a clerk in the accounts payable depart-
See BANK PAGE 10A
By EMILY SCHMALL
MEXICO VIOLENCE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENTON — Anti-fracking activists and campaigners backed by big oil and gas companies sparred outside of voting sites on the last day of early voting in a North Texas university town that’s considering a ban on new permits for hydraulic fracturing. The referendum is on Tuesday’s ballot in Denton, which is about 40 miles north of Dallas. Though preexisting permits would remain valid, opponents have called it a wholesale ban on drilling. “There are good drillers and bad drillers, and people with drilling near their houses should look into which kind they have before trying to ban it,” said Larry Schumacher, a paid campaigner for Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy, the political action committee created to defeat the measure. Industry groups have warned the ban could be followed by litigation and a severe hit to Denton’s economy. Scores of cities in other states have considered similar bans over health and environmental concerns. But the proposal in Denton is a litmus test on whether any community in Texas — the nation’s biggest oil and gas producer — can rebuff the industry and still thrive. The rankling began when local activists submitted a petition to Denton’s City Council in June with enough signatures to force a vote on the ban. Because the council rejected it, the measure went to a public vote and is on Tuesday’s ballot. “This is it. The city will uphold the ban as law” if it’s approved by voters, city spokeswoman Lindsey Baker. Supporters of the measure have raised only a fraction as much as opponents, according to the city secretary’s latest political campaign reports. Exxon Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy, based in Fort Worth, and Houston-based Enervest Operating have each donated $45,000 to Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy. Ed Soph, treasurer of the Pass the Ban PAC, said most of his group’s contributions are individual donations of $50 or less. “It’s David versus Goliath,” he says. Fracking involves blasting a mix of water,
See OIL PAGE 10A
COPS MAY BE INVOLVED
Photo by Joel Martinez/The Monitor | AP
Raquel Alvarado talks about her three children, Erica Maria Alvarado Rivera, Alex Rivera and Jose Angel Rivera, on Thursday, in Progreso. The three were found dead near Matamoros, Mexico, after visiting El Control, a small town near the Texas border west of Matamoros, Mexico.
Police questioned in deaths of 3 Americans By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
MATAMOROS, Mexico — Authorities are investigating a possible police connection to the killing of three U.S. citizens visiting their father in Mexico who were found shot to death along with a Mexican friend more than two weeks after going missing. Parents of the three siblings, whose bodies were
identified Thursday, have said witnesses reported they were seized by men dressed in police gear calling themselves “Hercules,” a tactical security unit in the violent border city of Matamoros wracked by cartel infighting. Nine of the unit’s 40 officers are being questioned, Tamaulipas state Attorney General Ismael Quintanilla
See MISSING PAGE 12A
Associated Press
Erica Maria Alvarado Rivera, left, and her brother Alex, right, were found shot to death in Mexico. According to witnesses armed men took Erica, 26, and her brothers, Alex, 22, and Jose Angel, 21, on Oct. 13, in Mexico.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Judge nixes Ebola quarantine for Maine nurse By ROBERT F. BUKATY ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT KENT, Maine — A Maine judge gave nurse Kaci Hickox the OK to go wherever she pleases, handing state officials a defeat Friday in their bid to restrict her movements
as a precaution against Ebola. In a case that has come to encapsulate the clash in the U.S. between personal freedom and fear of Ebola, Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere ruled that Hickox must continue daily monitoring of her health but
said there is no tion, bad science and need to isolate her bad information” ciror restrict her culating about the lemovements because thal disease in the she has no sympU.S. toms and is thereAfter the ruling, a fore not contagious. state police cruiser HICKOX The judge also that had been posted decried the “misoutside Hickox’s conceptions, misinforma- home left, and she and her
boyfriend stepped outside to thank the judge. Hickox, 33, called it “a good day” and said her “thoughts, prayers and gratitude” remain with those who are still battling Ebola in West Africa. She said she had no immediate plans other than to watch
a scary movie at home on Halloween. Gov. Paul LePage said he disagreed with the ruling but will abide by it. “As governor, I have done everything I can to protect the health and safe-
See QUARANTINE
PAGE 10A