The Zapata Times 11/2/2013

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2013

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STATE DISTRICT COURT

Lopez’s travel funds cut

Guilty of murder

Sheriff’s $15K allowance no more

Man pleads guilty, sentenced to 40 years

By MATTHEW NELSON THE ZAPATA TIMES

A Zapata man accused of killing a 6-month-old child in 2010 pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder charges, just days be-

ALVAREZ-BRIONES

By MATTHEW NELSON

See COMMISSIONERS

PAGE 9A

The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.

On March 31, 2010, Alvarez-Briones was arrested after 6-month-old Carlos Eduardo Gonzalez died at Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio

from head injuries.

The child was initially taken to Laredo Medical Center but was airlifted to San Antonio.

The cause of death was

See ALVAREZ-BRIONES

PAGE 9A

GULF OF MEXICO

LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Zapata County commissioners voted Monday to remove a $15,000 annual travel expense for Sheriff Alonso Lopez after they found it could be seen as an improper salary increase.

The budget for the sheriff ’s office, recently approved by commissioners, included the travel expense that some commissioners feared could be seen as a fringe benefit increasing the sheriff ’s salary.

“Later on, somehow (County Judge Joe Rathmell) found out that it included a big salary increase for the sheriff,” Commissioner Jose Emilio Vela said.

While the majority of the budget called for pay raises to sheriff ’s deputies, the only part of the budget rescinded Monday was the travel expense for the sheriff.

By law, all elected officials must have their salary increases posted publicly two weeks before they become effective.

“There was an understanding from Commissioners Court that we had approved salaries from the forfeiture account, I think from the previous meeting … for increases to deputies but not to the sheriff himself,” Commissioner Eddie Martinez said.

After more careful examination, Commissioners Court found the requested amount “had the appearance of it being a salary increase and not just a pure travel expense,” County Attorney Said Alfonso Figueroa said.

“Because the commissioners felt there was sufficiently enough of a blurred line between the proposed travel expense and the impression that it

fore the case was set to go to trial.

Gabriel AlvarezBriones, 38, will live the next four decades behind bars. Once he is released from prison, he will be deported to Mexico.

RESTORING GULF OYSTERS

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP

A conservationist shows a live oyster plucked from an existing reef in the Gulf of Mexico, on Tuesday. Huge limestone boulders are being dropped into the water off the state’s coast in one of the largest oyster reef restoration projects in the United States.

Major oyster reef rebuilding begins on state’s coast

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI ASSOCIATED PRESS

MATAGORDA — A deep sea oyster reef restoration being touted as the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico began in an unlikely place: a quarry in landlocked Missouri.

That is where years of research, planning and precise engineering led Mark Dumesnil, an associate director of restoration for the Nature Conservancy in Texas, as he sought to restore what was once a nearly 500-acre oyster reef and is now no more than

hard sand and shell remains, with not one oyster in sight.

And so, about seven years after Dumesnil was first tipped off by wildlife ecosystem experts that restoration of Half Moon Reef might be possible, 36 barges carrying 93,000

tons of Missouri limestone traveled for 12 days down the Mississippi River, arriving in the Gulf in late October. Scientists, engineers, researchers and laborers will spend some eight weeks dropping the boulders onto a 54-acre plot 8 feet underwater as

part of a $5.4 million, twophase project designed to revitalize a damaged ecosystem.

The project also will provide a robust natural barrier from hurricanes and teach scientists

See OYSTERS

PAGE 9A

STATE’S NEW ABORTION LAW

Court ruling leaves women few options

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN AND CHRIS TOMLINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARLINGEN — In a Texas abortion clinic, about a dozen women waited Friday to see the doctor, already aware that they would not be able to end their pregnancies there.

A day after a federal appeals court allowed most of the state’s new abortion restrictions to take effect during a legal challenge, about

a third of Texas’ clinics were barred from performing the procedure.

Thursday’s ruling made Texas the fourth and largest state to enforce a provision requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital. In places such as the Rio Grande Valley and rural West Texas, the mandate put hundreds of miles between many women and abortion providers.

Anti-abortion groups welcomed the court’s surprise decision, which they insisted would protect women’s health. The ruling came just a few days after a lower federal court put the law on hold.

If women did not know about the ruling before they arrived at Reproductive Services of Harlingen, clinic administrator Angie Tristan told them. Abor-

See CLINICS

PAGE 9A

Photo by Chris Sherman | AP

Dr. Lester Minto has performed abortions for years at the Reproductive Services clinic in Harlingen, on Friday. A third of the abortion clinics in Texas can no longer perform the procedure starting Friday.

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, NOV. 2

ASSOCIATED PRESS

First United Methodist Church will hold a used book sale, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 1220 McClelland Ave. Hardback books are $1, paperback books 50 cents, and magazines and children’s books 25 cents.

TAMIU Planetarium shows. “The Little Star That Could” 2 p.m.; “Force 5: Nature Unleashed” 3 p.m.; “Destination Saturn” 4 p.m.; “Lamps of Atlantis” 5 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Matinee shows $4 at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. only. Call 326-3663.

Border Olympics brisket plate sale. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Laredo Civic Center parking lot. Donation $5 per plate.

Today is Saturday, Nov. 2, the 306th day of 2013. There are 59 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 2, 1948, President Truman surprised the experts by winning a narrow upset over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey.

On this date: In 1783, Gen. George Washington issued his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States near Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1795, the 11th president of the United States, James Knox Polk, was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C. In 1865, the 29th president of the United States, Warren Gamaliel Harding, was born near Corsica, Ohio.

In 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.

In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued a declaration expressing support for a “national home” for the Jews in Palestine.

In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden flying boat, the Hughes H-4 Hercules (dubbed the “Spruce Goose” by detractors), on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.

In 1959, game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he’d been given questions and answers in advance when he appeared on the NBC-TV program “Twenty-One.” In 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a brief statement to the nation in which he said that aerial photographs had confirmed that Soviet missile bases in Cuba were being dismantled, and that “progress is now being made toward the restoration of peace in the Caribbean.”

In 1963, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem (noh ding ZEE’-em) was assassinated in a military coup.

In 1976, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter became the first candidate from the Deep South since the Civil War to be elected president as he defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford.

Ten years ago: In Iraq, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying dozens of U.S. soldiers, killing 16. Five years ago: Barack Obama and John McCain uncorked massive get-out-the-vote operations in more than a dozen battleground states the Sunday before Election Day. One year ago: In the face of criticism from city officials and residents, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed down and announced that the New York City Marathon would be canceled, with much of the city still reeling from the impact of Superstorm Sandy.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 75. Political commentator Patrick Buchanan is 75.

Actress Stefanie Powers is 71.

Author Shere (shehr) Hite is 71. Rock musician Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 69. Country-rock singersongwriter J.D. Souther is 68.

Actress Kate Linder is 66.

Rock musician Carter Beauford (The Dave Matthews Band) is 56. Actor Peter Mullan is 54. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 52.

Thought for Today: “If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.” — James Thurber (1894-1961).

MONDAY, NOV. 4 Medical Mission. Free medical and dental services for adults and children. Registration from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall.

First come, first serve basis. Spiritual services at 7 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Healing Mass, spiritual talks and Confession. For more information, call Catholic Social Services at 956722-2443.

TUESDAY, NOV. 5 Medical Mission. Free medical and dental services for adults and children. Registration from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall.

First come, first serve basis. Spiritual services at 7 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Healing Mass, spiritual talks and Confession. For more information, call Catholic Social Services at 956722-2443.

Webb County Community Coalition of SCAN meeting. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. San Martin de Porres Catholic Church, 1704 Sandman St. Guest speaker: Dr. Todd Russell from Amistad Consult and Evaluation. Contact Veronica Jimenez at 724-3177 or veronica.jimenez@scan-inc.org/ Les Amis Birthday Club’s monthly luncheon. Noon. Holiday Inn Civic Center. Honorees: Amparo Garcia, Imelda Gonzalez and Hilda Lopez. Hostesses: Nely Garza, Maria Eugenia Garcia, Aurora Miranda and Minerva Sandoval.

Alzheimer’s support group meeting. 7 p.m. Meeting room 2, Building B of Laredo Medical Center. For family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6 Medical Mission. Free medical and dental services for adults and children. Registration from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall.

First come, first serve basis. Spiritual services at 7 p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Healing Mass, spiritual talks and Confession. For more information, call Catholic Social Services at 956722-2443.

Business Etiquette Workshop.

8:30 a.m. to noon. Room 101, De La Garza Building of Laredo Community College’s Ft. McIntosh Campus. Speaker is A.B. Barrera. $65 per person through Oct. 23 and $75 per person after. Register online at laredo.edu/edc or call 721-5110.

THURSDAY, NOV. 7 Rummage sale. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free. Contact 722-1674 or fumc_office@sbcglobal.net.

Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Call 727-0589.

Mercy McAuley Service Award Dinner. 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Honorees are Daniel Guevara, Judith Gutierrez and Dr. Ray Keck. Individual tickets $125. For info on sponsorships and tables, contact Rosanne Palacios at 721-7408 or rosanne.palacios@mercy.net.

FRIDAY, NOV. 8 Rummage sale. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free. Contact 722-1674 or fumc_office@sbcglobal.net.

SATURDAY, NOV. 9 Rummage sale. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free. Contact 722-1674 or fumc_office@sbcglobal.net.

TAMIU Planetarium shows. “One World, One Sky Big Bird’s Adventure” 2 p.m.; “The Future Is Wild” 3 p.m.; “New Horizons” 4 p.m.; “Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon” 5 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults.

Premium shows $1 more. Matinee shows $4 for 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. only.

Call 326-3663.

Photo by Mario Anzuoni, file | AP

Dr. Conrad Murray listens to testimony seated near his attorney Nareg Gourjian, right, during Murray’s trial in the death of pop star Michael Jackson, in Los Angeles on Oct. 3, 2011. Murray, who was convicted in Jackson’s death, is suing the state of Texas for stripping his right to practice medicine.

MJ’s doctor sues state

By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The Texas doctor convicted in the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson is suing the state for stripping his right to practice medicine, and his attorney said Thursday that the cardiologist has former patients eager for him to work again.

Conrad Murray, who was released from a California jail this week after serving less than two years for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death, accuses the Texas Medical Board of prematurely revoking his license. Murray claims in his lawsuit filed in Austin that his 2011 conviction isn’t final in California until his appeals are exhausted.

Murray states in an affidavit that he’s more than $400,000 in debt and can’t afford to pay court costs.

“Anybody who wants to work in this coun-

try ought to be able to have the right to do so. Dr. Murray is like everyone else, in that he needs to be able to do his line of work,” said Charles Peckham, Murray’s attorney.

Texas Medical Board spokesman Jarrett Schneider said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

Murray was convicted of causing Jackson’s death in June 2009 by providing him with the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. Jackson was in the midst of preparations for a series of comeback concerts and Murray was serving as his physician.

Murray filed the lawsuit Friday, three days before he was freed after serving half of a maximum four-year sentence.

Murray previously maintained clinics in Houston and Las Vegas. His medical license is currently suspended in California.

Retail gasoline prices continue to slip

Posthumous medal presented to WWII hero

Plan to drop Baylor phrase fails

HOUSTON — Retail gasoline prices across Texas have dipped 6 cents this week to settle at $3.04 per gallon.

AAA Texas on Thursday reported the latest statewide prices at the pump, as the national average declined a nickel to reach $3.28 per gallon.

Amarillo has the most expensive gasoline statewide with an average $3.06 per gallon. The cheapest gasoline was found in Beaumont and Galveston at $2.99 per gallon.

FARMERSVILLE — Gov. Rick Perry has presented the state’s highest military decoration to World War II hero Audie Murphy.

Perry was in the small town of Farmersville on Tuesday and bestowed the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor on Murphy posthumously.

Murphy was one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history.

WACO — A student leader at a Baptist university has nixed an effort to drop the words “homosexual acts” from the school’s sexual misconduct policy.

Wesley Hodges on Thursday vetoed a resolution that would have replaced the phrase with “nonmarital consensual deviate sexual intercourse.”

The sponsor, Trenton Garza, argued the current policy is unfair because it does not also ban all sexual acts between heterosexual students.

Man in Tyler burned after Halloween costume fire TYLER — Investigators say a man in East Texas has suffered severe burns after his Halloween costume caught fire in an alleged cigarette accident.

Tyler Fire Department officials on Friday did not immediately identify the hospitalized man or update his condition.

School district plans $69M football stadium KATY — Voters in a Houstonarea school district are being asked to approve a $69 million football stadium that would be the most expensive in state history.

Katy voters on Tuesday will consider a bond of nearly $100 million that would cover the cost of the stadium along with construction of other facilities.

Sundance Square Plaza opens in Fort Worth FORT WORTH — A popular section of Fort Worth has a new look.

The opening ceremony for Sundance Square Plaza in downtown was held Friday morning.

Backers describe the updated site as a European-style plaza.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Ohio dad dies after giving away bride from gurney CLEVELAND — An Ohio cancer patient has died less than three weeks after attending his daughter’s wedding on a gurney to fulfill his promise to walk her down the aisle.

A spokesman for University Hospitals in Cleveland says 56year-old Scott Nagy died at the hospital Monday.

The terminally ill Brunswick man wore a tuxedo and arrived by ambulance for his daughter Sarah’s Oct. 12 church wedding in Strongsville.

Nagy was diagnosed last year with urethral cancer and had been hospitalized for months.

Report of running man, girl draws police response ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A report of a possible kidnapping in Alaska drew a response of 20 police cars but turned out to be

CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Managing Editor, Mary Nell Sanchez........... 728-2543 Sports Editor, Adam Geigerman..................728-2578 Spanish Editor ........................................ 728-2569 Photo by Tina Fineberg | AP

Dressed as a zombie, Christina Dunham poses for photographs as she waits to take part in the Village Halloween Parade on Thursday, in New York.

something more innocent.

Police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro says a girl was late for her school bus Tuesday morning in Anchorage, and she and her father were trying to get it to stop. A witness called police about a man chasing after a girl.

Police descended on the area.

Castro says surveillance video confirmed that the older man was running behind the girl.

The Anchorage Daily Newsreports the girl reached school on time.

— Compiled from AP reports

SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted.

The Zapata Times is free.

The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500.

The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net

Local

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Medical mission to be at local church SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Diocese of Laredo’s Catholic Social Services and Medical Missionaries of Divine Mercy of Sugar Land will be hosting a medical mission at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall, 1609 Glenn St., next week.

The event, scheduled to run Monday through Wednesday, will offer free medical and dental services for children and adults.

Registration will take place Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All services will be offered on a first come, first serve basis.

Beginning at 7 p.m. every evening will be a Mass, spiritual talks and opportunities for confession.

For more information contact Catholic Social Services at 956-722-2443.

Man could face 20 years in robbery accusation

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A man accused of robbing the Hawk Quick Pick convenience store has been arrested, a Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office spokesman said Friday.

Authorities identified the man as Raudel Peña, 33, and charged him with robbery, a second-degree felony which could carry up to 20 years in prison and a

PEÑA

$10,000 fine.

Peña remained in custody at the Zapata Regional Jail on a $25,000 bond as of Friday eve-

ning.

On Oct. 27, deputies responded to the Hawk Quick Pick in the 700 block of Texas 16 for a robbery in progress call. Sgt. Mario

Elizondo, sheriff ’s spokesman, said deputies obtained video surveillance where it showed Peña ordering an employee to open the register.

Peña allegedly took about $50 or $60. No injuries were reported, according to Elizondo. Reports do not specify how or when Peña was apprehended.

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

THE BLOTTER Accident An accident was reported at about 5 p.m. Oct. 28 in the intersection of U.S. 83 and 17th Avenue.

Assault An aggravated assault with deadly weapon was reported at 8:59 p.m. Oct. 23 in the 5300 block of Salvador Lane.

An assault was reported at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday at the Zapata High School.

A burglary of habitation was reported at 3:12 p.m. Oct. 23 in the 5300 block of Petty Lane.

Theft Criminal mischief A criminal mischief was reported at 12:45 a.m. Oct. 26 in the 1500 block of Jackson Street.

Harassment A harassment incident was reported at 8:43 a.m. Oct. 28 in the 1900 block of Delmar Street.

Illegal water Burglary

reported at 4:43 p.m. Oct. 25 in the 1800 block of Villa Avenue.

An illegal water incident was

A theft was reported at 12:24 p.m. Oct. 25 in the 1000 block of Falcon Avenue.

A theft was reported at 2:17 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Conoco Pump-N-Shop.

A theft was reported at 11:25 a.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of La Paloma Drive.

A theft was reported at 3:48 a.m. Friday in the 400 block of Miraflores Avenue.

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Authorities re-arrest man

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

An illegal immigrant recently deported from the United States was arrested in Zapata County this week, federal court documents state.

Roberto Martines-Marquez is a citizen of Mexico who was previously removed from the United States. He was charged

with re-entry of deported immigrant.

Martines-Marquez was apprehended near Zapata.

After a brief interview, it was determined that he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Further investigation revealed that Martines-Marquez was previously removed from the United States on July 23 in Brownsville, a complaint filed Oct. 28 states.

There’s no record that Martines-Marquez had applied for or received permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security to re-enter the United States after deportation, the complaint reads.

(César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)

New schedules possible SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

This spring at Texas A&M International University, students will be able to tap into a new scheduling system that affords them greater flexibility and can compress and shorten some undergraduate and graduate courses.

TAMIU registrar Juan G. García said the scheduling system, dubbed “Dynamic Scheduling,” expands on an earlier initiative with the Criminal Justice program.

“In that instance, we compressed the traditional graduate course semester from a 15-week period to a 12, seven or five-week period. Student response was

positive and we’re now expanding the effort to undergraduate and graduate program courses,” García said.

“Dynamic scheduling means that courses are offered in mini-mesters of 5 weeks, sub-terms of 7 weeks and flexterms of 12 weeks with different entry points and times. The availability of these options, individually and combined, provides students with greater flexibility in how they schedule their courses, plan degree program progress and arrange their load. With dynamic scheduling, students can accelerate some degree paths and combine course loads at times that are more convenient to them,” Garcia said.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

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

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Fed judge knew the law in case AUSTIN — It’s important that federal judges are fully versed on the important things they can do. And it’s equally important that they’re fully cognizant of what they can’t do.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel showed a keen understanding of both sides of that equation this week in his decision striking down portions of Texas’ new abortion restrictions law.

And, though a federal appeals court on Thursday lifted Yeakel’s injunction against enforcement of portions of the new law, he offered solid logic in throwing out the provision requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.

“The court expresses grave reservations about allowing a hodgepodge of diverse medical committees and boards to determine, based solely on admitting privileges, which physicians may perform abortions,” he wrote, adding that the provision “places an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion.”

Bill provisions A portion of Yeakel’s opinion that caught my eye wasn’t in what he decided, it was in what he acknowledged that he, despite being a bona fide United States federal judge appointed for life, cannot decide.

“This court may not and will not decide whether there should be abortions in Texas,” he wrote. “This court is charged only with determining whether certain provisions of House Bill 2 are consistent with the Constitution of the United States under existing Supreme Court precedent.”

He is correct. Courts, for all their power, can only review specific questions before them. In this case, which seems destined for the U.S. Supreme Court, the question involves the additional restrictions Texas lawmakers this year placed on abortions. For better or for worse, and regardless of how the courts handle this specific case, the abortion battle will continue to play out in legislative chambers, subject to judicial review.

Split state Something else Yeakel wrote also hit home with me. It’s something that’s obvious, but somehow bears repeating, especially when it comes from a federal judge handling an abortion case.

“

KEN HERMAN

“Today there is no issue that divides the people of this country more than abortion,” Yeakel wrote. “It is the most divisive issue to face this country since slavery.”

I never had thought of ranking national issues based on divisiveness, but I can’t come up with an issue to use to challenge Yeakel’s assertion. Maybe the 1960s civil-rights battles.

“When compared with the intensity, emotion and depth of feeling expressed with regard to abortion, the recent arguments on affordable health care, increasing the debt ceiling and closing the government retreat to near oblivion,” he wrote. “Sincere and caring persons of good will are found on both sides of the issue, but neither side will ever change the position of the other.

“Legislatures and courts will continue to be confounded by the issue for the foreseeable future.

No ruling of this court will sway the opinion regarding abortion held by anyone,” Yeakel wrote in a finding sure to withstand appeal.

Reform needing assistance THE MIAMI HERALD

Maybe they want to appear decisive after some bipartisan poor performances. Perhaps they want to distract a disgusted electorate by exclaiming, “Look!

Over there!”

Whatever.

When both President Obama and his nemesis, House Speaker John Boehner, push for an immigration law by year’s end, as they did in separate events last week, motive is irrelevant.

This issue should have remained on Congress’ front burner un-

til a reform bill was passed and sent to the president’s desk. The Senate came through during the summer, passing a bill that remains the best chance yet to put undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship. It includes fines and tighter border security.

It is a path, however, that the most short-sighted opponents continue to block in the House, though their arguments are persuasive to a dwindling number of Americans.

There are 11 million undocumented immigrants shut out of living fully in

freedom’s light. The human toll of uncertainty is matched by the economic costs of their unresolved status. Families remain at risk of being separated; denied health insurance, they turn to emergency rooms for care we all pay for. And as recipients of Medicare and Social Security use up funds, Americans will need immigrant workers to replenish them.

On Tuesday, a mash-up of Republican Party activists, business executives and evangelical leaders are taking their case to Capitol Hill, where they hope to

strong-arm members of the House GOP to pass their own legislation. Those lawmakers can’t fail to note that the coalition are the people who have been solidly in the GOP’s camp for decades. To spurn them now would make the GOP’s tent even smaller than it is.

Given Obama’s and Boehner’s anemic power of persuasion these days, the likelihood of a law by year’s end is a long shot.

Yet neither of them can fail to be as vociferous and determined as immigration reform’s opponents.

Big divide In addition to being a most-divisive issue, abortion is one with little to no middle ground. And it’s marked by close to a total inability for one side to understand the other side.

One of the blindest spots in the argument is held by abortion rights supporters who believe the other side is driven by opposition to women’s rights. Abortion rights foes are motivated by a sincere belief that an unborn child or fetus, or whatever term you choose, is a form of life entitled to constitutional protection. You might agree, you might not. But if you don’t, it’s important that you understand that side isn’t driven by a desire to curtail woman’s rights.

One more thing about Yeakel’s ruling and whatever the higher courts wind up doing: This — judicial review in which all sides get to make their case — is the proper way to challenge legislative action. It’s far better than a screaming mob shutting down a duly constituted legislative body.

Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. Email: kherman@statesman.com.

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EDITORIAL

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Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

COLUMN

Internet could kill off malls

By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — I saw the future outside my apartment building this week — and it was a brown van. To be exact, it was a United Parcel Service van and the operator was struggling with a huge load of parcels on a hand truck.

You can’t tell too much from a parcel, but the shape gives the contents away to some extent: a small, rolled carpet; a large, flat-screen television; about a dozen boxes that could contain a variety of goods — goodies for fun and essentials to keep things going. Talk about Frankie Laines’ 1949 hit “Mule Train.”

Every day the UPS delivery man is at our building, sometimes with more, sometimes with less. Sometimes he brings clothes for my wife, and recently he brought a book for me.

What the trusty fellow in the brown van doesn’t unload, his compatriots from FedEx and the United States Postal Service do.

A sea of goods flow into this building each day;

goods that have never seen a retail store, never been offered for sale in a mall or high street shop, but goods that people want anyway.

Welcome to online shopping and the future disruption it’ll bring.

What’s missing with this shopping is the shop, whether it’s a big box store in the mall or a ma-and-pa operation.

It’s part of one of the great historical revolution brought about by the Internet. All the data show that online shopping grows every day.

Eventually, in the way that the malls undermined the neighborhood shop and the chains killed off those wonderful downtown department stores, a different one for each city (Garfinkel’s in Washington, D.C., Jordan Marsh in Boston and I. Magnin in San Francisco), the Internet may bury the malls.

Make no mistake, the Internet is a hellishly efficient and cruel exterminator of jobs, as well as a ruthless agent of social change.

As so often, the political class is still convinced that

job growth can be achieved by economic and regulatory policy shifts. It’s easier to blame presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, depending on your ideological persuasion, even though the evidence of massive change is everywhere, than to face a new reality.

It’s nigh impossible to speak to anyone on the phone at a bank, an insurance company or a utility without going through 20 minutes of computer-assisted torture in the form of voice prompts — “Press star 2 to get your balance.”

Academia has been surprisingly slow to study and quantify the job-threatening nature of the new order. MIT, Oxford and Harvard have spoken up, and now you can expect more pessimism from on high as academics get the sense of their own employment insecurity.

In the ivory towers, those citadels of refined arrogance, there is deep disquiet. The cause: MOOCS, or massive open online courses. These are attracting students by the hundreds of thousands; some

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

for credit, some just for the joy of watching the most articulate professors in action. They are creating a star system that favors the telegenic over everything else and could, in time, change the nature of higher education so profoundly that many lesser universities will close up shop.

History tells us that new ways of doing things lead to new areas of endeavor; agrarian people became urban manufacturers, manual labor gave way to service-sector work. The computerization of work is an equal-opportunity unemployer. Is new work possible?

Factories in China and Germany are as subject to computer predation as those in the United States.

We may yet see a global economic collapse driven by too much productivity — computer productivity.

This column was written on a computer and distributed by computer. The contents were generated by a human being, but that may change. Watch this space.

Stay online.

(Llewellyn King’s email: lking@kingpublishing.com.)

State

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

Fort Hood-area lacks mandated vet help

By JEREMY SCHWARTZ AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

HARKER HEIGHTS — The sun is still hours from rising when the first veterans arrive at the Killeen Heights Vet Center to line up for help in filing disability claims.

First in line is Elvin Puett, a 63-year-old Army veteran who grabbed his spot at 4 a.m. A week earlier he didn’t arrive until 5:30 a.m. and missed out on meeting with Willie Browning, a volunteer veterans service officer who is known throughout the region for doggedly pursuing veterans’ claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Behind Puett is Diana Proffitt, another 63-yearold Army veteran from Copperas Cove.

“It would probably be better if there were more places to go to,” Proffitt told the Austin AmericanStatesman while sitting on a bench in the pre-dawn darkness.

While volunteers like Browning and state-employed service officers handle much of the claims work in the county, demand for their help often exceeds their capacity.

Bell County, home of Fort Hood, has one of the largest veteran populations in the state — more than 43,000. Yet Bell County officials have chosen not to employ a full-time veterans service officer despite a state law requiring them to do so.

Since 1985, Texas law has required counties with more than 200,000 residents to maintain veterans service offices with at least one full-time employee. Of the 23 counties over 200,000, only Bell and Lubbock counties do not employ such officers, though Lubbock funds clerical staff to support a state officer, according to the Texas Veterans Commission.

The requirement is voluntary for smaller counties, but many have also hired at least part-time county veterans service officers, especially in recent years as service members have flooded home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bell County officials, on the other hand, have depended on a volunteer “veterans liaison” to fulfill the role since 1996 and say they’ve received few complaints about not having a county-employed officer.

However, that volunteer, former VA general counsel Jim Endicott, isn’t full-time and isn’t required to get the annual state training that county veterans service officers must have to keep up with ever-changing VA rules.

Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American Statesman | AP

Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American Statesman | AP

Veterans Glen Svacha, left, Damaris Purnell, center, and Elvin Puett wait in the pre-dawn hours to see a veteran service officer.

Army veterans and their families wait to see a volunteer veteran service officer at the Killeen Heights Service Center.

The state law contains no enforcement provision, effectively making it voluntary.

Bell County Judge Jon Burrows said there hasn’t been a need to hire a fulltime county veterans service officer, given that the county has seven state veterans service officers and various volunteer service officers at local veterans organizations. Bell County provides office space to the volunteer liaison as well as a local veterans nonprofit that helps veterans with disability claims.

“We have so many similar positions with Fort Hood, a lot of resources that blend in and do the same kind of stuff. .We are happy to have access to (Endicott’s) expertise. It seems foolish to (hire someone) now when we’ve got what we’ve got,” Burrows said. “We do things a little different, but my guess is we do them a little more efficiently.”

But state officials say their claims counselors at the Temple VA hospital and on Fort Hood are seeing heavy caseloads.

In the last two years, nearly 1,200 local veterans left the state offices in Temple before being served because of the lengthy wait times.

“Every one of my officers has waiting lines literally at startup,” said Jim Richman, director of claims representation and counseling for the Texas Veterans Commission.

“There’s plenty of work.”

To help meet the demand, state officials have authorized more than $5 million to hire additional claims counselors throughout the state to help reduce a historic backlog of VA disability claims.

While federal VA workers process claims, state, county and local veterans service officers play a crucial role in preparing what are increasingly complex disability claims for conditions such as traumatic

brain injury. Officials say well-trained service officers can speed the process by submitting what they call “fully developed” claims, which include all the necessary medical and military records, making them easier to process.

Applications for VA disability benefits have mushroomed nationally in recent years, driven both by an influx of recent veterans returning from war and by rule changes making it easier for Vietnam-era veterans to seek benefits for certain conditions related to Agent Orange exposure.

At one point last year, the VA’s Waco Regional Office, which serves veterans in Bell County and Central Texas, had the nation’s longest wait time for claims processing. Today, the average wait time to process a claim is 464 days in Waco — and 14,605 of the more than 26,000 pending cases have been sitting at least 125 days.

Advocates say even one extra full-time officer in Bell County will help.

“It’s always better to have more, I can’t say it enough,” said Paul Bastaich, president of the Veterans County Service Officers Association of Texas.

The primary task of county veterans service officers is to help veterans navigate the complicated VA benefits system, and in that sense their duties are similar to the hundreds of state and volunteer service officers across the state.

But veterans advocates around the state say county-employed veterans service officers do more than simply help veterans file claims.

In Harris County, for example, the county veterans service office helped negotiate free tolls for disabled veterans with local toll authorities; in Travis County, the office was a driving force behind the creation of an Iraq and Afghanistan war memorial; and in McLennan County, the

county service officer was instrumental in setting up a one-stop shop for veterans to get help with everything from transportation and employment to mental health care.

County veterans service officers, along with their state counterparts, “amplify the advocacy network many times over,” said Richman, the Texas Veterans Commission official.

County service officers say they act as official advocates for county veterans, representing them not only with other county departments, but with other state, federal and local government agencies.

“I feel like when you talk with someone and you let them know you are a county official, the agencies you pursue — that you need help from to advance your case — the doors tend to be a little more open,” said Steve Hernandez, the McLennan County veterans service officer. “It seems to get a better, more serious response.”

Hernandez said he has advocated on his veterans’ behalf on issues ranging from food stamps to college credit: “I can get on a conference call and tell them who I am and usually get some kind of resolution.”

As in Bell County,

McLennan County officials were initially reluctant to hire a full-time county service officer nearly a decade ago because of the number of state and federal service officers at the VA’s Waco Regional Office, where all Central Texas disability claims are processed. “The citizens rallied” behind the idea of hiring a county officer, Hernandez said.

Today, despite the fact there are more than 20 state claims officers at the Waco VA office, Hernandez says he sees about 250 veterans a month at his office in central Waco, including some from neighboring Bell County.

Since 1963, all Texas counties have been authorized to set up a county veterans service office, but the Legislature didn’t require them until 1985.

The new law required more populous counties to maintain an office staffed by at least one full-time employee located “distinct and separate from other county offices.”

That last requirement was inserted by lawmakers to make sure veterans could easily find the office and prevent counties from trying to fold the position into other duties.

According to an attorney general’s opinion clarifying

the law, the bill’s authors wanted veterans to be able to find the county service office in the phone book.

But Bell County’s website doesn’t tell veterans how to reach the volunteer liaison, and the Web page for veteran services reads “Coming Soon.”

“I don’t think any county’s ever been punished because they are not following the state statute,” said Bastaich, the Veterans County Service Officers Association president. “The state doesn’t get into counties’ business.”

The law didn’t apply to Bell County at first: The county had a population of 179,511, according to the 1985 census. But it passed the 200,000 threshold in 1993 and now has a population of 323,000. Growth has been especially sharp over the last decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The county’s largest city, Killeen, which surrounds Fort Hood, grew 47 percent between 2000 and 2010.

And the county has a particularly high percentage of disabled veterans. It has 12,000 disabled veterans license plates, three times as many as much larger Travis County.

State Rep. Ralph Sheffield, who represents Bell County in the Texas House, said the law doesn’t give the state any way to force counties to comply. But he added that he hasn’t heard complaints that the county lacks the position.

“The county is trying to be financially sound,” Sheffield, R-Temple, said. “I’m not getting any grumbles so there is no sense in any kind of knee-jerk reaction.”

Les Cooks, past president of the state’s county service officer association and the veterans service officer in Rockwall County near Dallas, said the need for an official position isn’t always easily seen.

“But I will put it like this,” he said. “If you build it, they will come.”

State

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Dan Patrick touts conservative record

By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The cutthroat lieutenant governor’s race may well come down to who, in a crowded field of accomplished conservatives, can move furthest to the right. If that’s the case, state Sen. Dan Patrick says he’ll cruise to victory.

“I’m clearly the most conservative candidate,” Patrick, a radio talk-show host from Houston who founded the Tea Party Caucus in the Texas Legislature, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “There’s no comparison.”

His opponents, of course, beg to differ.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — who is seeking re-election only after now-Sen. Ted Cruz upset him in last year’s GOP primary to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison — argues he’s helped spearhead some of the most conservative legislation the state has ever known.

And the other two Republicans trying to unseat Dewhurst say they, too, have impeccable conservative credentials: Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson authored Texas’ concealed-carry firearms law while serving in the state Senate, and Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples says he’s built a network of strong tea party support.

If no Republican wins a majority in the March primary, there will be a runoff election between the top-two finishers two months

Photo by Jason Fochtman/The Courier | AP

Senator Dan Patrick answers a question as Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples look on during a statewide Republican primary debate at First Baptist Church of Conroe, on Oct. 23, in Conroe. Candidates for land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and lieutenant governor attended the debate. later.

Born Dannie Scott Goeb, the state senator began using Dan Patrick while working as a sportscaster in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. He legally changed his name in 2003.

In office since 2007, Patrick says his record in the Legislature proves his core beliefs are conservative enough to energize grassroots activists who helped propel Cruz to his once seemingly unlikely 2012 victory.

Even though Democrats hold 12 of the Texas Senate’s 31 seats, Patrick has threatened to break with tradition and deny minorityparty members a chance to lead any of the chamber’s committees.

“The idea that a third of our committees have to be Democratic is not something I believe in,” Patrick said.

Patrick has helped lead other conservative crusades, such as displaying “In God We Trust” in the Senate Chamber and championing a successful constitutional amendment that inserted “under God” into words of the pledge to the Texas flag.

But he’s best-known for heading the powerful Senate Education Committee during this year’s legislative session.

A born-again Baptist, Patrick says he’s happy to embrace the role of “education evangelist.”

Under his watch, lawmakers approved the largest expansion of charter schools statewide since 2001, increasing the cap on the number of charter licenses issued from 215 to 305 by 2019.

However, his championing of school vouchers — ambitious proposals to let families use public

money to remove kids from struggling public schools and send them to private or religious ones — fizzled.

“We came up a few votes short of passing school choice and I had zero help from leadership,” Patrick said, swiping at Dewhurst.

The lieutenant governor oversees the flow of legislation in the Senate.

A guitar and piano player who often answers constituents’ emails in the wee hours of the morning, Patrick titled his memoir, “The Second Most Important Book You Will Ever Read: A Personal Challenge to Read the Bible.”

Patrick is the majority owner of both the Houston radio station that airs his afternoon show and of a Dallas station.

Critics say he brings the same

abrasive style that made him a successful on-air personality to his committee meetings.

“If you’re with him, it’s all hearts and flowers, but if you don’t agree with him he bullies and degrades you,” said Kathy Miller, president of the watchdog group Texas Freedom Network, which monitors public education policy from a progressive prospective. “Once a radio shock-jock always a radio shock-jock.”

Even allies of Patrick, one of the Legislature’s most polarizing presences, marvel at his ability to move from passive and calm to emotionally teary-eyed to standoffish and back again in virtually no time.

But Patrick will admit a change of heart when it comes to Texas’ firebrand in Washington, Cruz.

Last year, Patrick said he was voting for Dewhurst in the GOP Senate primary and traded barbs with Cruz on his radio show. That support helped prompt Dewhurst to pick Patrick to head the Education Committee.

Patrick has since said, however, that he’d support a Cruz if he runs for president in 2016. And he’s turned on Dewhurst.

“He made a decision last election he didn’t want to be lieutenant governor anymore and now he wants to be lieutenant governor again,” Patrick said. “He appears to be someone who just wants to hold office as opposed to someone who has a vision of what he wants to do.”

Cancer agency to stick with leader

By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Alejandro Salazar holds on to a swing as he watches the flood waters move on Canella Drive in Austin, on Thursday. Heavy overnight rains brought flooding to the area.

Four dead from floods ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — Rescue personnel have recovered the body of a woman and her infant child, both of whom were swept from her vehicle during flash floods in the Austin area.

Travis County Sheriff ’s spokesman Roger Wade said Josefina Rodriguez, 31, was found dead about 1 1/2 miles from where her vehicle was pushed from a road by rising waters in south Austin. Rescuers continued to search Onion Creek for her 8-month-old son. The pair had been missing since Thursday morning.

The deaths bring to four the number of people killed by the Central Texas flooding Thursday. Rains that began Wednesday dumped up to 13 inches in some parts. The storms prompted dozens of emergency res-

cues.

Austin police said the body of a man was recovered Thursday, also from Onion Creek. Another man, a special education teacher on his way to work, died Thursday in Caldwell County when his car entered water that had risen over the road, according to the Austin AmericanStatesman.

Wade said Onion Creek had returned to its banks

by Friday, allowing a search team walking its banks to find Rodriguez’s body.

“At its highest, it was swollen to about 40 feet,” Wade said. “That’s the highest it’s ever been recorded.”

The storms prompted dozens of emergency rescues, interrupted public transit and resulted in a broad recovery effort as homeowners were left with

flood-damaged homes.

Flooding was reported not only in Central Texas, but also in the Houston area and into southeastern parts of the state.

The Coast Guard said Friday four people on an 18foot sailboat caught in high seas and winds off Texas were rescued. The vessel was located Thursday about 24 miles offshore of Matagorda Bay and towed.

Game wardens with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife rescued Hope Pryer and her infant son Friday from floodwaters near Austin.

“We got flooded with all this water,” Pryer said.

“Through the downpour, cars, homes, our shed, all of our son’s baby stuff — gone.”

She added, “By the time we got clothes together, it was already too late.”

Slain cop to get honors

By JAMIE STENGLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — About 45 minutes after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas, Officer J.D. Tippit was on patrol in the nearby Oak Cliff neighborhood. He slowed down as he saw a man who met the vague description of the shooting suspect walking down the street.

Moments later, Tippit got out of his patrol car and Lee Harvey Oswald opened fire, killing Tippit instantly.

In tribute to the fallen officer, the city’s police force can wear a special badge throughout November, which marks the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination and Tippit’s death.

“We wanted to pay our respect to the sacrifice that J.D. Tippit made to the city of Dallas,” said Ron Pinkston, president of the Dallas Police Association, which is helping facilitate the sale of the badges.

Tippit’s 85year-old widow, Marie Tippit, appreciates the gesture. She said the MARIE TIPPIT badge bearing her husband’s name, number and date of death not only honors him but also serves as a reminder of all of those who have died in the line of duty.

“It was just remarkable that I kept going. Without God’s help I wouldn’t have because I just couldn’t picture how we were going to live without him,” she said.

“I just couldn’t figure that out.

“I had three children that needed their Dad, but he wasn’t there anymore.”

J.D. Tippit had broken from his usual routine that day and ate lunch at home, where his wife fried some potatoes and made a sandwich for him.

“I kissed him bye not realizing that would be the

last time I would see him, but I felt the Lord really blessed by letting him come by that one last time,” she said.

He was killed at about 1:15 p.m. by Oswald, who was arrested shortly after at the Texas Theatre. Oswald was killed two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby during a police transfer.

Tippit, 39, had been an officer for 11 years when he was killed. He and Marie, who were both from the small northeast Texas town of Clarksville, were married Dec. 26, 1946, after he returned from World War II, where he served as paratrooper in the U.S. Army.

“He was a great family man,” said Marie Tippit, now a great-grandmother.

“He loved his work. He felt that he was helping.”

The badges, made by Utah-based SymbolArts, cost $70, with $5 from each sale going to the Dallas Police Association’s Assist the Officer Foundation.

AUSTIN — New overseers of Texas’ $3 billion fight against cancer signaled Friday they will stick with the interim executive who steered the revamped agency through turmoil, a criminal investigation and national embarrassment.

The CanROBERTS cer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas formally rebooted with a public meeting at the Texas Capitol, the first since lawmakers this spring overhauled the once-celebrated agency that came unraveled by improperly awarded grants and questionable spending.

Wayne Roberts took over in December in a fireman’s role after the agency, known as CPRIT, lost its entire executive team to sudden resignations and prosecutors began looking into $11 million in taxpayer funds awarded to a private startup without review.

Roberts has served as interim executive director since.

On Friday, a new CPRIT governing board voted to solicit only internal applicants for the per-

“

So much of the discussion focused on the last 12, 14 months and how important continuity is under these circumstances.”

PETE GEREN, CPRIT BOARD MEMBER

manent job, signaling Roberts is their pick. Because the job must be posted for 10 days, neither Roberts nor the board would confirm the selection.

“So much of the discussion focused on the last 12, 14 months and how important continuity is under these circumstances,” said Pete Geren, a former Democratic congressman who now sits on the new CPRIT board. “We don’t have time to reach outside and get somebody else up to speed.”

Roberts would say only that he would apply for the job provided he meets the qualifications. Roberts is a longtime fixture in state government but mostly behind the scenes, including a stint as Gov. Rick Perry’s budget director.

Lawmakers mandated that CPRIT hire a new

full-time chief executive

by Dec. 1.

Perry and other state leaders this week lifted a nearly yearlong moratorium that had barred the agency from awarding grant money while under heavy scrutiny. The criminal investigation involving CPRIT is ongoing.

Kevin Gardner, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center who has received CPRIT awards, testified that he was grateful for Roberts and lawmakers rebuilding the agency but lamented the freezing of funds during the moratorium.

“This is the single most frustrating aspect I’ve had professionally in my career,” Gardner said. “It goes without saying that cancer doesn’t take the last 10 months off, but many of us trying to find it had to.”

SÁBADO 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2013

Agenda en Breve LAREDO 11/02 — El Centro de Desarrollo de la Ciencias Lamar Bruni Vergara de LCC estará realizando una limpieza al Paso del Indio a partir de las 8 a.m., el registro comenzará a las 7:30 a.m.

11/02— Habrá una ceremonia de corte de listón para inaugurar el Primer Mercado de Productos Orgánicos, a partir de las 8:30 a.m. en el North Central Park, ubicado en 10202 Internacional.

11/02— LBVESC estará ofreciendo una exhibición de las actividades que realizan a partir de las 10 a.m. en el Centro. Costos por adulto 4 dólares y 2 dólares estudiantes y adultos mayores. Gratuito a estudiantes de LCC. 11/02— First United Methodist Church tendrá su venta de libros usados, desde las 8:30 a.m. hasta la 1 p.m. en el 1220 McClelland Ave. Libros de pasta dura: 1 dólar; pasta blanda, .50 centavos.

11/02— El Estadio UniTrade estará hospedadno el Pancho’s BBQ Challenge, que se celebrará en los jardines del estadio a partir de las 9 a.m. y contará con música en vivo. Evento gratuito 11/02— “The Nerd”, una producción teatral de otoño, se presentará en el teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts a las 8 p.m.

Costo: 5 dólares.

11/03— Se estará llevando a cabo un juego de softball de ex alumnos a la 1 p.m. en el campo Dustdevil.

Para más información puede visitar www.GoDustdevils.com.

11/03— “The Nerd”, una producción teatral de otoño, se presentará en el teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts a las 3 p.m.

Costo: 5 dólares.

11/04— Se ofrecerán servicios médicos gratuitos para personas de bajos recursos económicos, a través de la Brigada de Médicos Misioneros de la Divina Misericordia, del 4 al 8 de noviembre, a partir de las 8 a.m. en San Luis Rey Catholic Church, 3502 Sanders. Evento organizado por Servicios Sociales Católicos y la Diócesis de Laredo. Informes llamando al 722-2443.

Zfrontera

PÁGINA 7A

CORTE

Dictan sentencia POR MATTHEW NELSON TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Un hombre que enfrentaba cargos por el homicidio de un menor de seis meses de edad se declaró culpable el miércoles y fue sentenciado a 40 años en una prisión en la Corte de Distrito Judicial 49 del Condado de Zapata.

Gabriel Álvarez-Briones, de 38 años, presentó una súplica el miércoles y vivirá las próximas cuatro décadas tras las rejas. Una vez que sea colocado en libertad, será deportado a México.

El caso estaba programado a ir a juicio el 4 de noviembre.

El 31 de marzo de 2010, ÁlvarezBriones, fue arrestado por la muerte del menor de seis meses de edad, Carlos Eduardo González en

el Methodist Children’s Hospital en San Antonio, por lesiones en la cabeza.

El menor inicialmente fue trasladado al Laredo Medical Center, pero fue transportado a San Antonio via aérea y más tarde murió.

Se determinó que la causa de la muerte fue un fuerte trauma contundente en la cabeza. Las lesiones que el menor presentaba incluían “graves traumas en la cabeza y presentaba visibles ematomas en el área del torso” señala la acusación.

Los doctores también determinaron que el cráneo del menor estaba fracturado, un hiper acrecentamiento del tallo cerebral y desprendimiento de la retina. Álvarez- Briones confesó durante un interrogatorio grabado que golpeó la cabeza del menor con su

cabeza. Más tarde afirmó que los oficiales lo habían forzado a realizar esa confesión después de que lo amenazaran con la pena de muerte y con dirigir a su familia a Servicios de Protección Infantil.

La confesión grabada tiene un espacio de más de dos horas en las que Álvarez- Briones afirma que estaba siendo forzado por los oficiales. Álvarez- Briones estaba cuidando al menor, ya que la madre de éste Celia González, de 22 años, estaba trabajando en ese momento.

Durante el curso de la investigación, Gonzáles también confesó el homicidio. Gonzáles se retractó de su confesión en una declaración grabada. Ha estado en México desde entonces, ya que estaba

en el país sin documentos legales.

La sentencia de Álvarez- Briones está programada para comenzar a ser cumplida inmediatamente en el Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correction Institutions Division.

A lo largo de las deliberaciones del caso, Álvarez- Briones había sido aislado de la población general de la prisión.

“Muchas veces cuando los niños son víctimas de un crimen, especialmente de homicidio, los otros internos agraden físicamente al presunto autor del delito”, dijo el abogado defensor José Eduardo Peña, en una entrevista al Laredo Morning Times en octubre.

(Localice a Matthew Nelson en 728-2567 o en mnelson@lmtonline.com)

COMUNIDAD

CONDADO

DÍA DE MUERTOS

Retiran fondos para viaje ‘Sería visto como bono adicional’ POR MATTHEW NELSON TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

NUEVO LAREDO, MX 11/02— NUEVO LAREDO, México— Estación Palabra estará presentando: Bazar de Arte a partir de las 12 p.m.; el Festival Infantil estarán presentando a Cuantacuentos en el área infantil, a partir de las 2 p.m.; “Paseo por Milán”, una serie de lecturas y actividades sobre el día de muertos en México a través del tiempo a las 3 p.m., eventos gratuitos.

11/02— NUEVO LAREDO, México— Se estará celebrando el Día de Muertos con una exhibición de altares en el Centro Cívico a partir de las 6 p.m., así mismo habrá presentaciones municipales.

El evento será enlazado para continuar en el Panteón Municipal Antiguo.

11/02— NUEVO LAREDO, México — II Festival de Teatro Vértices presenta “La Pinche India” a las 7 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, Reynosa y Belden. Entrada Libre..25 centavos.

11/02— NUEVO LAREDO, México — Festival S.O.S. al Rescate del Rock II se presentará en Carabulo, Jesús Carranza 115, a partir de las 10 p.m. Actuarán Los Foxy’s, Nemulov, Mobil y Efecto Carmin. Cover: 50 pesos.

11/02— NUEVO LAREDO, México— El grupo de Teatro Laberintus estará presentando la obra de teatro “La Nave de José Luis Pineda Servín, a las 12 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, entre las calles Reynosa y Belden (sector centro). Costo 20 pesos.

Foto por Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

La laredense Lula Morales de pie junto a su “altar de muertos” que realizaron ella y cu compañera de trabajo, dentro de su casa en honor a sus seres queridos y amigos que han fallecido.

SALUD

Se estará efectuando brigada médica a favor de ciudadanos POR MALENA CHARUR TIEMPO DE LAREDO

Una semana dedicada a los cuidados de salud será la que proporcionará la Brigada de Médicos Misioneros de la Divina Misericordia de la Arquidiócesis de HoustonGalveston, en las ciudades de Laredo, Zapata y El Cenizo.

La Diócesis de Laredo y los Servicios Sociales Católicos serán los anfitriones de esta brigada, que por quinto año consecutivo realiza este servicio consistente en brindar consultas médicas gratuitas a residentes de bajos recursos.

“La misión existe para servir a las personas de bajos recursos que no cuentan con seguro médico, que no cuenten con los medios para ver a un doctor, o que tengan alguna condición médica”, dijo Rebecca Solloa, Directora Ejecutiva de Servicios Sociales Católicos.

Solloa informó que en el pasado, la brigada médica brindaba sus

servicios en México, pero por cuestiones de inseguridad y violencia en ese país, decidieron empezar a traer la misión a la comunidad de Laredo. La iglesia San Luis Rey, será el lugar donde se estén brindando las consultas gratis a la población en Laredo; en Zapata atenderán en la iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes; y, en El Cenizo, la atención se otorgará en la iglesia de Santa Mónica.

“Este año, las consultas médicas incluirán servicios médicos generales, revisiones dentales y de visión”, señaló Solloa.

El sacerdote Michael Gergen, párroco de la iglesia San Luis Rey, dijo que el año pasado se atendieron cerca de 1.300 personas, y que para brindar un mejor servicio se requiere de voluntarios.

“Estamos muy agradecidos con este equipo de trabajo. Vienen cerca de 20 ó 30 personas, entre médicos y enfermeras que sólo hablan inglés, por lo que necesitamos vo-

luntarios que hablen inglés y español, así como para que ayuden en otras actividades, con el fin de dar una mejor atención a los pacientes”, indicó Gergen.

Las consultas se brindarán del lunes 4 al jueves 7 de noviembre, en el horario de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m., y el viernes de 8 a.m. a 12 p.m., en la iglesia San Luis Rey en Laredo.

Para la ciudad de Zapata, el servicio se proporcionará únicamente del lunes 4 al miércoles 6 de noviembre; mientras que el jueves 7 y viernes 8 de noviembre, se atenderá a la comunidad de El Cenizo.

“Invitamos a la población para que se atienda en esta clínica móvil y que puedan aprovechar esta oportunidad de tener una mejor salud”, concluyó.

Para mayores informes, favor de llamar a Servicios Sociales Católicos al (956) 722-2443.

(Localice a Malena Charur en el 728-2583 o en mcharur@lmtonline.com)

Los Comisionados del Condado de Zapata votaron el lunes para remover el viaje anual de 15.000 dólares para el Alguacil Alonso López después de que descubrieron que podría ser visto como un aumento salarial inadecuado.

El presupuesto para la oficina del alguacil, recientemente aprobado por los comisionados, incluye los gastos de viaje que algunos comisionados temían podrían ser vistos como un beneficio adicional que aumentaría el salario del alguacil.

“Más tarde, de alguna manera (el Juez del Condado Joe Rathmell) descubrió que se incluyó un gran aumento en el salario del alguacil”, dijo el Comisionado José Emilio Vela.

Mientras que la mayoría de los presupuestos solicitan un aumento salarial a los oficiales del alguacil, la única parte del presupuesto de la que se rescindió el lunes fueron los gastos de viaje del alguacil.

Por ley, todos los funcionarios electos deben de presentar sus aumentos salariales públicamente dos semanas antes de que entren en vigor.

Después de un examen más cuidadoso, la Corte de Comisionados encontró que la cantidad solicitada “tenía la apariencia de ser un aumento de salario y no solo únicamente gastos de viajes”, dijo Said Alfonso Figueroa, Fiscal del Condado.

El tribunal teme la “percepción de inapropiado” si se hubieran permitido los gastos de viaje, especialmente durante la actual “crisis presupuestaria” que enfrenta el Condado de Zapata, dijo Figueroa.

López actualmente utiliza un vehículo del condado. El alguacil anterior utilizaba su vehículo personal, y los 10.200 dólares en subsidios se entienden como una indemnización.

Figueroa dijo que cree que la cantidad de gastos de viaje se aprobó por un solo período de pago. Todo el dinero utilizado para esto será devuelto al condado de Zapata.

(Localice a Matthew Nelson en 728-2567 o en mnelson@lmtonline.com)

National

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Conservative groups eye control of GOP

By STEVE PEOPLES AND PHILIP ELLIOTT ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Virtually unknown outside Washington, a coalition of hard-line conservative groups is fighting to seize control of the Republican agenda.

Tea party allies like the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and Heritage Action for America showed their might by insisting that the GOP embrace the government shutdown that hurt the nation’s economy and the party’s reputation.

Now emboldened, these groups are warning that their aggressive agendapushing tactics aren’t over — and they’re threatening retribution against Republicans who stand in their way.

“They refuse to learn,” Chris Chocola, a former Indiana congressman who leads the Club for Growth, says of lawmakers who buck the will of right-leaning groups. His group is already seeking or supporting primary challengers for 10 congressional Republican incumbents seeking reelection next fall.

Mainstream GOP groups — such as Karl Rove’s American Crossroads or the party’s formal campaign committees — ques-

tion their more conservative counterparts’ role, fed up by their outsized influence in shaping the party’s current agenda.

Outside forces For decades, interest groups like the National Rifle Association have shaped debates on single issues.

But Republicans suggest that not since the Christian Coalition of the 1990s have outside forces played such a sweeping, integral role in guiding Republican priorities as the tea party-led fiscal conservatives have in the ongoing budget debate.

“You have a small group in Congress that has become the surrender caucus,” argues Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. “They’ve surrendered their voting card to the wishes of these outside groups.”

Such divisions on display between the Republican Party’s pragmatic and ideological wings — and their affiliated outside groups — carry huge risk for the GOP heading into the 2014 midterm congressional elections. Republicans will seek to win power in the Senate and preserve their narrow House majority next fall.

But primaries that leave eventual nominees battered

and broke for the general election could hamper that goal.

Millions in influence Nevertheless, tea partyaligned groups already are spending millions of dollars calling on compromiseminded Republican lawmakers from New Hampshire to Idaho to embrace more aggressive tactics against President Barack Obama’s agenda.

This is their message as Congress wrestles with health care implementation, considers immigration reform and gets ready for new rounds of debt talks: Republicans who work with the Democratic president do so at their peril.

It appears that no Republican is too large for these groups.

The Senate Conservatives Fund — founded by tea party hero and former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint — has launched television ads against Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who helped craft the recent budget compromise that ended the shutdown. It also has criticized Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Sen. Jonny Isakson of Georgia.

The Club for Growth also is targeting Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, despite his role as leader of the campaign committee charged with preserving the Republican House majority. The group already has launched a website entitled, “Primary My Congressman,” and so far identified 10 potential campaigns to unseat Republican incumbents.

That group and others also are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a challenge against longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, of Mississippi, in hopes of persuading him to retire. And the Tea Party Patriots is going after Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

Battle of money Behind the scenes, GOP campaign officials are urging donors to fund mainstream groups to counter the conservative outfits.

These officials are doing so even as they question the right-flank’s ultimate effectiveness, given that its groups, although vocal, typically have far less money compared with other organizations standing with Republicans from the estab-

lishment wing.

The most powerful Republican allies from the last election — mainstream Republican groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads and its sister organization Crossroads GPS — poured more than $212 million combined into the 2012 election. Combined, the Club for Growth, Heritage Action and the Senate Conservatives Fund spent $21 million.

Possible disputes National GOP officials are watching for signs of rifts among the right-leaning groups, which could dilute their power. The shutdown debate itself exposed at least one disagreement.

The Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and Heritage Action for America defiantly insisted that any deal to end the shutdown and raise the nation’s debt ceiling must dismantle or delay Obama’s health care law. Lawmakers who didn’t stand them with them risked primary challenges.

But some tea party allies like Americans for Prosperity, the group funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, opposed the tactics that led to the shutdown. Now that

group is trying to move on, investing $2 million in a four-state ad campaign that hammers Democrats over the troubled health care law implementation.

“We’re convinced that repealing Obamacare is long-term effort,” AFP president Tim Phillips says, explaining why it didn’t sign onto the rightflank’s demands to defund the law as part of a budget compromise.

In a sign of another possible crack in the conservative coalition, a spokesman for Heritage Action for America says that in the near future, it likely will focus its health care criticism on Democrats, who stood together during the shutdown debate.

“There needs to be some breaks in that unity,” says Heritage spokesman Dan Holler. “That may happen naturally, or it may need to be forced.”

But Chocola said the Club for Growth wouldn’t stop pressuring Republicans, particularly as congressional leaders begin to debate a new budget.

Chocola wouldn’t rule out another push to link such legislation to the president’s health care law, but said his group might shift its strategy if major shifts to entitlement programs are included.

Just six sign up for Kerry decries surveillance Obamacare

By DEB RIECHMANN ASSOCIATED PRESS

By LISA MASCARO TRIBUNE WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON — Just six enrollments occurred on the opening day for www.healthcare.gov, the troubled Obamacare website, according to documents released late Thursday by a House oversight committee.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, obtained the tally from meeting notes compiled by officials inside the “war room” at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which was overseeing the rollout of the insurance marketplace.

The White House has declined to say how many people have signed up in the new health insurance marketplace, and Kathleen Sebelius, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary, testified this week that her department has not been able to collect accurate data.

Department spokeswoman Joanne Peters said late Thursday that the documents released by the committee “appear to be notes. They do not include official enrollment statistics.”

The department plans to release enrollment statistics “on a monthly basis” once reliable information is available, Peters said. “We are focused on providing reliable and accurate information and we do not have that at this time. ... We have always anticipated that the pace of enrollment will increase throughout the enrollment period,” she said.

Issa’s committee obtained the doc-

uments after requesting them from the contractors developing the website for the administration. The committee subpoenaed Sebelius on Thursday for additional documents, including those related to attempted and completed enrollments.

The administration said Thursday that dozens of computer engineers from top technology firms have been brought in as part of its “tech surge” to help fix the problems with the site.

The website where Americans can shop for health insurance is central to the new healthcare law, which mandates that all individuals carry policies by March 2014 or face a penalty. Since the site’s troubles became clear, officials have also noted that insurance can be sought over the phone or in person at facilities helping to usher in the program.

According to the notes obtained

by Issa’s committee, six enrollments happened on Oct. 1. On the next day, there were 248. Officials hope to enroll 7 million people for coverage next year.

Obama stood behind his signature law this week, reminding Americans of the benefits, including provisions that prohibit companies from denying coverage for people with preexisting medical conditions.

In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Sebelius apologized for the botched debut, taking responsibility as the administration scrambles to get the site running properly. The administration has promised to have the site running smoothly by the end of the month.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry’s remark that some National Security Agency surveillance “reached too far” was the first time a high-ranking Obama administration official acknowledged that U.S. snooping abroad might be seen as overzealous.

After launching into a vigorous defense of surveillance as an effective counterterror tool, Kerry acknowledged to a video-conference on open government in London that “in some cases, I acknowledge to you, as has the president, that some of these actions have reached too far, and we are going to make sure that does not happen in the future.”

“There is no question that the president and I and others in government have actually learned of some things that had been happening, in many ways, on an automatic pilot because the technology is there,” Kerry said, responding to a question about transparency in governments.

Kerry was responding to questions from European allies about reports in the past two weeks that the National Security Agency had collected data on tens of millions of Europe-based phone calls and had monitored the cell phones of 35 world leaders, including that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The State Department said Friday his remarks were in

sync with what President Barack Obama has already said on the controversial spying practices. But ObaKERRY ma has said the administration was conducting a review of surveillance practices and said that if the practices went too far they would be halted.

Kerry first joked with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, whom he said should also answer the question about surveillance because otherwise, would it mean that Britain did not do its own surveillance abroad? The joke was a subtle jab at the U.S. position that allies spy on each other routinely.

Kerry said in the wake of 9/11, the United States and other countries realized they were dealing with a new brand of extremism where people were willing to blow themselves up, even if it meant civilians would be killed.

“There are countless examples of this,” Kerry said, citing the Sept. 21 al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, which killed at least 67 people.

“So what if you were able to intercept that and stop it before it happens?” Kerry asked. “We have actually prevented airplanes from going down, buildings from being blown up and people from being assassinated because

we’ve been able to learn ahead of time of the plans.”

Repeating comments

Asked if Kerry’s comments were off-the-cuff or part of a formal administration response to irritated allies, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry was reiterating the same comments administration officials have been conveying all week. However, Obama has said that just because the technology exists to conduct certain kinds of surveillance, it doesn’t mean the U.S. should use it.

“I think that we wouldn’t be having a review if we didn’t think we should look at these programs. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Psaki said.

She said Kerry was conveying “what we all feel, which is that this warrants taking a close look at, evaluating our appropriate posture as it comes to heads of state, how we coordinate with our allies, addressing concerns expressed by our allies, working with them, taking into account their input as well and seeing if we can strengthen our cooperation.”

In an interview on Monday with Fusion, Obama said intelligence capabilities have continued to develop and expand in recent years.

“That’s why I’m initiating now a review to make sure that what they’re able to do doesn’t mean what they should be doing,” Obama said.

Gunman kills TSA agent in Los Angeles

By TAMI ABDOLLAH AND JUSTIN PRITCHARD ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — A man carrying a note that said he wanted to “kill TSA” pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, cutting down one Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding at least three others, authorities said.

The gunman was wounded in a shootout with police and taken into custody, authorities said.

The attack at the nation’s third-busiest airport sent terrified travelers running for cover and disrupted flights from coast to coast.

The slain employee was the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12year history of the agency, which was founded in the aftermath of 9/11.

Two law enforcement officials, speaking on condi-

Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu | AP

Passengers leave terminal 2 after a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding three others. tion of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly, identified the gunman as Paul Ciancia, 23, of Pennsville, N.J. He had apparently been living in Los Angeles.

He was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a handwritten note that said he wanted to kill TSA employees and “pigs,” according to one of the officials, who was briefed at LAX on the investigation.

The official said Ciancia was shot in the mouth and was in critical condition.

Early Friday afternoon,

Ciancia’s father in New Jersey had called authorities for help in finding his son after the young man sent one of his siblings a text message about committing suicide, Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings said.

The chief said he called Los Angeles police, which sent a patrol car to Ciancia’s apartment. There, two roommates said that they had seen him Thursday and that he was fine, according to Cummings.

Cummings said that the Ciancias — owners of an auto body shop — are a

“good family” and that his department had had no dealings with the son.

The attack began around 9:20 a.m. when the gunman pulled an assault-style rifle from a bag and began firing inside Terminal 3, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said.

The terminal serves such airlines as Virgin America, AirTran, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air and JetBlue.

The gunman then went to the security screening area, where he fired more shots and went into the secure area of the terminal, Gannon said. Officers ex-

changed fire with him and seized him, Gannon said.

As gunfire rang out, panicked travelers dropped to the ground. Those who had made it past security ran out of the terminal and onto the tarmac or sought cover inside restaurants and lounges.

“We just hit the deck.

Everybody in the line hit the floor and shots just continued,” said Xavier Savant, who was waiting in the security line where the shooting took place. He described it as a “Bam! Bam! Bam!” burst of gunfire.

Savant said people bolted

through the metal detectors and ran into the terminal.

“My whole thing was to get away from him,” said Savant, an advertising creative director who was heading to New York with his family for a weekend trip.

As police searched for other possible shooters, they escorted travelers out of the airport, which continued operating but stopped some flights from taking off or landing.

Just a few weeks ago, airport police and the Los Angeles Police Department had jointly trained for a similar shooting scenario, according to Gannon, who said officers told him the drill was critical in preparing them for the real thing.

Across the U.S., aviation officials stopped LAXbound flights from taking off from other airports, causing delays around the country. Some Los Angelesbound flights that were already in the air were diverted to other airports.

At least three other TSA officers were wounded.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

OMAR ALBERTO MUÑOZ SAN YGNACIO — Omar Alberto Muñoz, 64, passed away Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, in Zapata.

Mr. Muñoz is preceded in death by his son, Omar Alberto Muñoz Jr. and his father, Florentino Muñoz.

Mr. Muñoz is survived by his wife, Hermelinda S. Muñoz; daughters, Belia Rosa Muñoz, Clarissa Marlen Muñoz, Melissa Janet Muñoz; grandson, Arturo V. Guerra; mother, Belia Rosa B. Muñoz; brothers, Flumencio (Amada) Muñoz, Luis Antonio (Betina) Muñoz; sisters, Edna Amada (Luis A.) Lozano; and by numerous nephews, nieces and many friends.

Visitation hours were held Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home.

The funeral procession departed Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral

ALVAREZ-BRIONES determined to be blunt force trauma to the head. His injuries included a fractured skull, retinal detachment and visible bruising on his torso area.

Alvarez-Briones confessed during a taped interrogation to hitting the child’s head with his hand. He claimed later that law enforcement coerced him into a confession by threatening him with the death penalty.

The taped confession has a gap of

Mass at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in San Ygnacio. Committal services followed at Panteon Del Pueblo in San Ygnacio.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. HWY. 83, Zapata.

CLINICS tions are a two-day process in Texas. On Fridays, women arrive here for their initial consultation with the doctor. On Saturdays, they return for the procedure.

Despite Tristan’s explanation that they would not be able to have abortions on Saturday, some women decided to stay on the slim hope that something would change.

A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that Texas can enforce the law while a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moves forward.

The law that the Legislature passed in July also bans abortions at 20 weeks and, beginning in September 2014, requires doctors to perform all abortions in surgical facilities.

But it’s the provision about admitting privileges that has idled Dr. Lester Minto’s hands here in Harlingen.

After the law was adopted, the clinic began preparing to close, shredding old patient records and drawing down their inventory, ordering only enough supplies to keep going for a month at a time.

Minto, who has been performing abortions for 30 years, predicted the women he sees would take dangerous measures in their desperation. He made clear he would not perform abortions Saturday if they remain prohibited, but he did not rule out taking other steps in the future.

“I’m going to continue helping girls somehow,” he said.

Without access to his services, “they’ll do drastic things,” Minto predicted.

“Some, they may even commit suicide.”

He said he has seen women take various concoctions hoping to end pregnancies. Others have been beaten by boyfriends who pounded their abdomens with bats.

The communities Minto

more than two hours during which Alvarez-Briones claims he was being coerced by law enforcement.

Alvarez-Briones was babysitting the child for the 22-year-old mother, Celia Gonzales, who was working at the time.

During the course of the investigation, Gonzales also confessed to the murder. Gonzales retracted her confession during a taped statement. She has since gone to Mexico because she was an undocumented immi-

COMMISSIONERS was a salary augmentation for the sheriff, that is why they rescinded the order,” Martinez said.

The court feared the “perception of impropriety” if the travel expense had been allowed to continue, especially during the current “difficult budgetary crises” facing Zapata County, Figueroa said.

“The appearance is what immediately raised the red flag to the commissioners,” Figueroa said.

“It wasn’t technically a raise. He requested a travel expense allotment that’d be allotted for him for the travel that he has to incur as part of the office. But the way that it was listed was kind of blurry between a travel expense and a potential fringe benefit implying a salary increase,” Figueroa said.

Lopez is currently using a county vehicle. The previous

Continued from Page 1A

serves are among the nation’s poorest. On top of that, many of his patients cross the border from Mexico, where abortion is illegal in most places.

Others live in the U.S. illegally.

If this clinic and one in nearby McAllen are forced to close, women seeking abortions would be faced with taking days off work, finding childcare and paying for hotels in cities such as San Antonio, Austin or Houston.

That’s more than many can afford, including a 39-year-old woman from Willacy County who was waiting Friday to see Minto. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was fearful of the judgment she would face in her small, rural community.

The woman said she and and her husband are happily married but already have several children. They’re just getting back on their feet financially after her husband recently found work. The pregnancy was not planned.

“I just can’t afford to have another one,” she said, crying. But the money to travel north for an abortion isn’t there either.

“It’s so unfair. It’s just politics,” she said. “It’s my decision. It’s not anybody else’s.”

Asked what she would do if the clinic were not allowed to perform her abortion, she said: “I think I will have to go through with the pregnancy. I don’t have the finances to travel.”

Among the clinics that could not perform abortions under the current restrictions are those of Whole Woman’s Health in McAllen, San Antonio and Fort Worth.

“Women who need our care will now have nowhere to turn, and the staff and physicians in our clinics now face furlough and likely unemployment,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, the agency’s CEO and

president, said Friday in a statement. “This law affects real people, real lives and real families.”

The Supreme Court prohibits legislatures from banning most abortions, acknowledged Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. But, he said in a statement, “states should have the right to protect women from dangerous abortion procedures.”

Texas follows Utah, Tennessee and Kansas in enforcing the admitting privileges law.

Similar laws are under temporary court injunctions in Alabama, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Mississippi, which also falls under the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court has left in place the temporary injunction against the Mississippi law.

If lifted, the Mississippi injunction would force the state’s only remaining clinic to stop providing the procedure. The Supreme Court has ruled in past decisions that lawmakers may not pass laws that would effectively end abortions in a state because that would put an undue burden on women trying to exercise their right to end a pregnancy.

In Thursday’s opinion, appellate Judge Priscilla Owen noted that the Texas law would not end the procedure, only force women to drive a greater distance to obtain one.

Almost all Republican lawmakers who make up the majority in both chambers of the Texas Legislature are vocally anti-abortion and have repeatedly pledged to try to stop abortion. Gov. Rick Perry has also dedicated himself to making abortion illegal, saying late Thursday that his administration would continue “doing everything we can to protect a culture of life in our state.”

Continued from Page 1A grant.

Throughout the case’s proceedings, Alvarez-Briones had been isolated from the general prison population.

“A lot of times when children are the victims of a crime, especially homicide, the other inmates physically assault the alleged perpetrator,” defense attorney Jose Eduardo Peña said in October.

(Matthew Nelson may be reached at 728-2567 or mnelson@lmtonline.com)

Continued from Page 1A

sheriff used his personal vehicle, and the $10,200 allowance was meant as compensation.

“Apparently it was a misunderstanding. According to the sheriff, he thought he had presented (an itemized) list to Commissioners Court, but we never saw one — I never saw one at least — and I think it was just a misunderstanding between the sheriff ’s department and Commissioners Court. I certainly never saw the list,” Martinez said.

Figueroa said he believes the travel expense amount was approved for only one pay period. All money used for this will be returned to Zapata County, which will in turn pay that money back to the forfeiture fund.

(Matthew Nelson may be reached at 728-2567 or mnelson@lmtonline.com)

OYSTERS whether reefs can rebuild in drought conditions, becoming another mechanism for marine habitats to withstand devastating dry spells.

“This project is designed to be innovative and different,” said Dumesnil, who has financial backing from a variety of agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas General Land Office.

Oysters filter 50 gallons of water daily. Each acre of reef the oysters cling to filters another 24 million gallons of water daily. Together, they are vital to a healthy marine ecosystem and to commercial fisheries because they are home, feeding and breeding grounds for hundreds and even thousands of other fish, shrimp, clams, crabs and other life. In Texas alone, the oyster industry is a nearly $30 million a year industry, according to state statistics.

Oyster reefs, however, have been severely damaged by overfishing and other causes during the last century. Nearly 50 percent of the reefs in the Gulf, and 85 percent of those globally, have disappeared, according to The Nature Conservancy.

In 1907, a survey of Matagorda Bay done by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries indicated Half Moon Reef covered 494 acres of seabed. Since then, however, a variety of factors led to a slow death, including the release in the 1920s of a major logjam in the Colorado River that allowed large amounts of fresh-

Continued from Page 1A

water to flow into the estuary about 10 years later, upsetting the delicate salinity levels that oysters need to thrive; rerouting in the 1940s of the intracoastal waterway, which released tons of sediments, and may have helped bury and kill oysters; commercial dredging of live and dead oyster shells between 1922 and 1983, often to build roads; and the damage from Hurricane Carla in 1961.

Oyster reef restoration has long been done along shorelines, successfully helping decrease erosion and protect sensitive coastal communities from tropical storms. Similar projects in deeper waters, including off the Virginia coast, have also been done, but generally on smaller scales and with flatter, less contoured materials and not typically limestone.

The idea behind this project, Dumesnil explained, and the reason boulders of varying sizes are being used, is to try to replicate as closely as possible a real reef, and to get the eventual growth of it to be vertical — as it would be if it were naturally occurring.

“If we were here 100 years ago ... we would see reef, oysters breaking the surface of the water. So you would see waves breaking on the oyster reef, it was that high, 6 to 7 feet high,” said David Buzan, project manager for Atkins North America. “Now, we’re building a reef that’s 3 feet high with the hopes that oysters will grow on it, colonize

it and eventually return that oyster reef back to the height that it originally was 100 years ago.”

The limestone from Missouri was specifically chosen because it was the precise material, Dumesnil said, needed to guarantee it wouldn’t sink into the seabed allowing the oysters to build vertically. Project designers also decided to build 32 rows of 650-foot reefs, deliberately leaving space between them.

The hope is that as the spat — or oyster babies — stick to the boulders they will eventually fill in the gaps while growing the reef vertically.

“What we were wanting to do is build in as much diversity in the design of the project,” Dumesnil said. “The more diverse a habitat is the more diverse and types and kinds and numbers of species will use that.”

Coincidentally, the project is being launched as Texas struggles through years of drought, which has increased the salinity of Matagorda Bay and other estuaries as less freshwater from rivers flows into the Gulf. This is allowing scientists to study the effects this has on oyster reefs and learn whether they can grow in drought conditions, an issue of increasing concern for scientists who expect more frequent dry spells due to global warming, said Laura Huffman, the director of the Nature Conservancy in Texas.

“We want to test the conditions at their more extreme,” Huffman said.

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS A&M AGGIES NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Offensive struggles Photo by Bob Levey | AP

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin believes wide receiver Mike Evans, Johnny Manziel’s favorite target, should be in the Heisman race.

Manziel, Evans semifinalists

By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Tim Sharp | AP

Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray injured his knee against the Redskins and has missed the last two games, putting a major strain on Dallas’ running game.

COLLEGE STATION — As No. 12 Texas A&M gets a break from the high-pressure Southeastern Conference with

a nonconference game against UTEP on Saturday, coach Kevin Sumlin took time to reflect on his two star players.

He raved about quarter-

See AGGIES PAGE 2B

Injury-plagued Cowboys try to regather

By DREW DAVISON MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

IRVING — There are explanations for the Dallas Cowboys’ struggling offense of late.

Against the Washington Redskins, Dwayne Harris had a big return game that limited opportunities. Against the Philadelphia Eagles, there were windy conditions. Against the Detroit

Lions, there were double-teams on both Jason Witten and Dez Bryant that hadn’t been expected.

That’s not even mentioning the absence of starting running back DeMarco Murray, who exited early in the second quarter against the Redskins with a knee injury that has kept him out the past two weeks.

Regardless of the reason,

though, the Cowboys know they must improve on offense. The offensive struggles the past three weeks are worrisome, especially against lower-ranked defenses. The Redskins and Eagles were ranked 32nd in total defense when the Cowboys faced them, and the Lions were 31st.

See COWBOYS PAGE 2B Photo by LM Otero | AP

Quarterback Case McCoy has been a major part of Texas’ resurgence and the Longhorns are tied with Baylor atop the Big 12.

HOUSTON NATIVES Luck, Keenum square off

Texas eyes fifth straight victory

By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS

By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck and Texans quarterback Case Keenum both have strong ties to Houston, are in their second year in the NFL, and are starting for their respective teams.

That’s where their similarities end.

Luck was the first overall pick in the 2012 draft and started from Day 1. Keenum joined the Texans as an undrafted free agent and spent all of last season on the practice squad.

Luck has thrown for 1,574 yards and 10 touchdowns. Keenum had 271 yards passing and a touchdown in his only NFL game on Oct. 20.

The pair will meet Sunday night when the AFC South-leading Colts face a Houston team looking to end a five-game skid.

"I think you realize when you go into an NFL locker room, after a certain period of time, it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted or how you got there," Luck said. "If you get a chance and you play well, that’s what matters."

Keenum agreed.

"Drafted first overall or undrafted, I think, it’s kind of all put to the side when it comes down to it," Keenum said.

Luck went to high school in Houston before attending Stanford. Keenum is from Abilene, Texas and set career NCAA records for yards passing (19,217) and touchdown passes (155) at the

See TEXANS PAGE 2B

AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns are on a roll, with four straight wins that have sent them to a share of the

lead in the Big 12.

Up next? Kansas, a program that has lost 25 consecutive league games and has shown no sign that streak

See LONGHORNS PAGE 2B

Photo by Ed Zurga | AP

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty and the undefeated Bears have a bye week before facing the Sooners at home Nov. 7.

Baylor keeps climbing Big 12 ladder

By STEPHEN HAWKINS Photo by Tim Umphrey | AP

Second-year quarterback Case Keenum will pick up his second straight start for the Texans Sunday night against the Colts.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WACO — The Baylor Bears were the laughing stock of the Big 12, stuck at the bottom of

the league when coach Art Briles arrived six years ago.

They had just finished their 12th consecutive losing season

See BAYLOR PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B

Zscores

AGGIES Continued from Page 1B back Johnny Manziel and receiver Mike Evans after the two were selected semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.

Then he wondered why only Manziel was being touted as a Heisman Trophy contender.

“I’m puzzled why Mike Evans isn’t in the Heisman race,” Sumlin said. “I think he’s as good a player as there is in the country.”

Manziel, who became the first freshman to win the Heisman last season, is again a front-runner for the award after throwing for 2,594 yards with 22 touchdowns and running for 497 yards with six more scores.

The 6-foot-5 Evans is second in the nation with 1,101 yards receiving and has scored 11 touchdowns, but hasn’t been mentioned much in Heisman talk.

“He’s second in the country in yards per game and everybody knows we’re going to throw him the ball,” Sumlin said.

One possible explanation for Evans not getting Heisman consideration is because he’s on the same team as Manziel. But Sumlin brushed off that thought after the experience he had as an assistant at Oklahoma in 2004.

“People say you can’t have two guys that can do that,” Sumlin said. “But I was on a team at Oklahoma that had Jason White and Adrian Peterson.”

That season Matt Leinart won the award and Peterson and White finished second and third.

Five things to know about the UTEP-Texas A&M game: BIG UNDERDOGS The Miners are 46-point underdogs and have lost five in a row entering Saturday’s game. Texas A&M has won both previous meetings in the series, but the teams haven’t met since 2000.

UTEP coach Sean Kugler knows his team has a big challenge.

“To say we’ve got our work cut out for us is an understatement,” he said.

BAYLOR Continued from Page 1B

“We’re going to have to play our best and be mistake-free to even have a chance to be in this game. That’s not sugar coating it.”

400 CLUB Texas A&M has finished with at least 400 yards in 20 straight games. It’s a school record and the second-longest streak in the FBS. They’ve surpassed the 500yard mark in their last seven games and have had at least 400 yards in all but one game since Sumlin took over.

NEW QUARTERBACK Blaire Sullivan takes over the offense with former A&M player Jameill Showers out with a shoulder injury. Sullivan had 112 yards passing and a touchdown after Showers was injured against Rice. Sullivan has 402 yards passing and 261 yards rushing in nine career games.

“He’s just got to play within the system and take what’s there for you,” Kugler said. “He’ll get more opportunities with practice reps and he’ll be much better this week.”

IMPROVED DEFENSE Texas A&M’s struggling defense had a better performance last week against Vanderbilt. The unit had three interceptions — one returned for a touchdown — and seven sacks in that game.

“For them to have some success is important,” Sumlin said. “We’re better. We’re not great by any means, but we’re better. Hopefully some success by the young guys and some success by the defense will make us better.

We’ll continue to get better and gain some confidence from that moving forward.”

AGAINST TOP-25 UTEP is 1-30 all-time against ranked opponents on the road. The Miners last win over a ranked team away from El Paso came in a 31-27 victory over No. 14 Arizona State in 1974. UTEP’s last win overall against a ranked opponent came when the Miners beat No. 12 Houston, then coached by Sumlin, 58-41, in 2009.

since the league’s inception. There were four different coaches in that span, along with a 29-game conference losing streak that is still the longest in the Big 12.

"I’ve never really looked at what had happened prior to that," Briles said. "I didn’t feel like it was relevant. And it’s really not."

Especially with what the No. 5 Bears (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) are doing now in quite a reversal.

With their fast-paced offense that leads the nation at 64 points and 718 total yards a game, the Bears are outscoring opponents by an average margin of 48 — like so many of the lopsided losses they used to routinely endure themselves. They scored 69 in their season opener, and have reached 70 points four times since.

Baylor is the Big 12’s only undefeated team and, with its highest ranking in 60 years, the only one in the top 10.

"I certainly think that people view us as a legitimate threat," Briles

said. "Whether we’re viewed as the perennial program that this is one that you better watch out for all the time, I don’t know. Time will tell on that. But I do think now that we’ve earned enough respect where when people look at us, they’re thinking that’s a tough out."

While the Bears have a school-record 11-game winning streak, there is still a long way to go this season for a possible Big 12 title and BCS shot. They still have to play the rest of the teams in the top half of the league standings, and go to rival TCU. Next is arguably the most-anticipated game ever at the world’s largest Baptist university, Thursday night at home against No. 13 Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1). The Bears also still have to play No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 18 Oklahoma State and co-Big 12 leader Texas. That regular-season finale against the Longhorns will be their last game at Floyd Casey Stadium before moving into a new $260 mil-

lion on-campus stadium being built along Interstate 35 on the banks of the Brazos River.

"Art had a road map when we hired him," athletic director Ian McCaw said, recalling that Briles talked about first becoming competitive, then going to a bowl game and eventually competing for a Big 12 title and more. "He laid it all out, kind of the vision and progression of the program. And it’s becoming a reality."

The Bears are coming off a 59-14 victory at Kansas, which lost its 25th consecutive Big 12 game. The Jayhawks would break Baylor’s mark of futility if they lose their last five games.

Baylor went winless in Big 12 games four different seasons, including the one before Briles was hired, and won only once in the conference six other times. The Bears’ 447 points this year are already more than twice as many as they scored in nine of those seasons.

LONGHORNS Continued from Page 1B will end Saturday in Austin. But dial back the calendar to 2012 and the Longhorns will remember a game the Jayhawks could have — and probably should have — won.

Texas had to rally for a last-minute touchdown to get out of Lawrence with 21-17 victory that came on Case McCoy’s touchdown pass with 12 seconds to play. McCoy had come off the bench to replace ineffective starter David Ash. McCoy’s winning drive almost never got started. His first pass went to straight to a Jayhawks defensive back who let the ball hit him in the chest before dropping it.

McCoy also had to convert a fourth down to keep the drive going.

Coach Mack Brown remembers the play. He called it “my nightmare.”

McCoy had to replace Ash again this season because of an injury.

Ash sustained a concussion on Sept. 7 against BYU and has played only one half of a game since then because of recurring symptoms.

With McCoy and a rejuvenated defense and running game, the Longhorns have a surge of confidence from the win streak.

For Kansas, the long struggle continues. Early defensive success against Baylor last week quickly withered away in another blowout loss. Jayhawks coach Charlie Weis

COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B "If you look at the season as a whole, you’re going to have games that are more difficult," quarterback Tony Romo said. "I think we’ve had two road games (the past two weeks). That’s part of it.

They’ve created some good pressure up front. I’ve thrown away more balls the last two games than I had previously maybe in four or five. That’s trying to stay ahead of the chains and things like that.

"The other part is just executing. We’ve just got to be better. It all comes into play."

The Cowboys have a chance to get going yet again against a lowly defense: The Minnesota Vikings are ranked 30th in the league. But Romo isn’t taking that for granted with how the past three weeks have gone, saying the Vikings’ defensive stats are somewhat misleading.

Or he might just remember being sacked six times and leading only a fieldgoal drive against them in the Cowboys’ 34-3 playoff loss after the 2009 season.

That was followed by a 2421 loss to Minnesota in the 2010 season.

But that’s in the past for both teams.

Some things remain the same, with Romo having taken his fair share of hits this season. He was sacked only once against the Lions last week, but took several shots after throws.

Part of that is not having enough time in the pocket and the receivers having trouble getting open.

The other part, however, is Romo simply being off.

He has completed only 56.1 percent of his passes for an average of 231 yards per game with five touchdowns and three interceptions the past three games.

In his first five games, he averaged 304.6 yards per

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

said he’ll try to use last year’s game against Texas to show his players that they can still compete.

Texas returned 19 starters from last year’s team, all players who were on the wrong end of the score against the Jayhawks until McCoy’s game-winning drive.

“We’re showing the game from last year,” Weis said. “It’s the same guys, fellas. ... That’s who you’re going against. They are the same guys.”

Here’s five things to look for Kansas plays Texas: STEADY MCCOY McCoy has been so good through the last four games mostly because he had eliminated the turnovers that plagued him earlier in his career. But he also got a little loose with the ball and threw two interceptions in a 30-7 win last week over TCU. If steady McCoy turns back into swashbuckler McCoy, trouble could be on the horizon for the Longhorns. Brown said he’d remind McCoy of those mistakes in practice this week to reign in turnover problems.

TEXAS’ DEFENSIVE LINE The Longhorns’ reputation is still suffering from the beating they took against BYU in the second game of the season, but the play on the field has been a complete turnaround. And it starts

with the guys up front, where ends Jackson Jeffcoat and Cedric Reed and tackles Malcom Brown and Chris Whaley have stuffed opposing running backs and hounded quarterbacks. Jeffcoat, a senior, has a team-high six tackles and is playing the best, injury-free football in his career, and Reed is the only lineman in the Big 12 leading his team in tackles.

“They are rushing the passer as good as anybody in the country,” Brown said.

BIG PLAY MARCUS Sophomore Marcus Johnson has emerged as Texas’ latest big-play threat with touchdown catches of 59 and 65 yards the last two weeks, giving McCoy another speedy target along with senior Mike Davis.

Asked why he and Johnson seem to have a special connection, notably on deep sideline passes, McCoy joked they had plenty of time in practice to perfect they’re timing because neither was a starter. “I’ve been throwing to him a long time.

We’ve both been backups,” McCoy said.

TEXAS SPECIAL TEAMS The Longhorns have found a new touchdown threat in punt returner Daje Johnson, who scored a touchdown against Oklahoma and had another score against TCU nullified by a penalty.

TEXANS Continued from Page 1B

Photo by Brent R. Smith | AP

Indianapolis outside linebacker Robert Mathis has already tied a career-high with 11 ½ sacks and will try to keep the inexperienced Keenum off-balance all game.

Photo by Duane Burleson | AP

Quarterback Tony Romo has been one of the league’s best passers, but Dallas’ offense has struggled over its last three games. game, completing 71.8 percent of his passes with 13 TDs and two interceptions.

"Some weeks are going to be harder than others," Romo said. "I know it doesn’t look as pretty, but at the end, did you put up enough points or not? Did you get your team in the end zone enough times to win the football game?

"Sometimes it’s more in the first half. Sometimes it’s harder on the road.

Sometimes it’s tough. It’s just part of the game. But you’ve got to find a way to score enough points to outscore the opponent. We didn’t do that last week.

We’ve got to do it this week."

Finding a way to get the ball more to Bryant and Witten would help, and it has been an emphasis this week, offensive coordinator Bill Callahan said. The team is constantly looking at new routes and new schemes to best utilize their playmakers.

Bryant was targeted six

times last week, finishing with three receptions for 72 yards and two TDs. Witten was targeted twice and caught both passes for 15 yards. He has combined for nine catches and 90 yards the past three weeks.

Callahan also said that the offense has to improve its ability to convert on third down. And, of course, Murray’s return will be a boost.

The offense has struggled to establish a running game the past three weeks without Murray. They have rushed for only 184 yards on 71 carries in that span.

Rookie Joseph Randle, who has started the past two weeks, has 108 yards on 44 carries, averaging 2.5 yards a carry. Murray, meanwhile, averaged 4.7.

"We need to run it better, there’s no question about that," coach Jason Garrett said. "It needs to be a consistent part of our offense.

We’ve just got to keep working at it."

University of Houston.

Keenum made his NFL debut in Houston’s last game filling in for an injured Matt Schaub. The Texans lost 17-16, but coach Gary Kubiak saw enough promise in Keenum to give him another start with Schaub healthy.

"I think (he’s) growing," Kubiak said. "I liked him or I wouldn’t have brought him here in the first place. I think he has all of the physical ability to do what you need to do in this league to be successful."

Five things to know about the Colts-Texans game: BANGED-UP BACKS Houston’s top two running backs are dealing with injuries and are questionable. Starter Arian Foster has missed practice this week with a hamstring injury he sustained early in the last game. Backup Ben Tate finished that game despite breaking four ribs in the third quarter. He’s said he expects to play Sunday.

Houston signed three running backs on Monday to add depth: rookies Ray Graham and Dennis Johnson, and fourth-year player Deji Karim. Karim played three games for the Colts late last season, mostly on

special teams. He had a 101yard kickoff return for a touchdown last season to help the Colts to a 28-16 win in their last meeting with Houston.

REGGIE’S REPLACEMENT Sunday will be Indianapolis’ first game without star receiver Reggie Wayne, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a win over Denver. With the Pro Bowler out, the Colts will look to 2008 firstround pick Darrius Heyward-Bey and second-year player T.Y. Hilton to pick up the slack. Heyward-Bey has 18 receptions for 190 yards and a touchdown, and Hilton has 27 receptions for 412 yards and two scores.

AVOIDING ED Houston’s Ed Reed has just 14 tackles with no interceptions in five games this season, causing some to wonder if he can still be a difference maker at age 35.

Coach Chuck Pagano does not have that doubt.

Pagano was asked how to account for him.

"Don’t throw in his direction, first of all," Pagano said. "Wherever he’s at, just tell the quarterback, ’Don’t go near him.’ That’s one way. That’s easier said than done."

Reed leads active players

with 61 career interceptions and has four against the Colts.

MONSTER MATHIS Indianapolis linebacker Robert Mathis has already tied his career high with 11 ½ sacks. He reached the mark in both 2005 and 2008.

"The second year in (this defense), he’s much more comfortable," Pagano said.

"Obviously, it was a huge transition a year ago for him, going from a 4-3 end to a stand up outside linebacker. ... We’re not surprised that he’s putting the numbers up that he is."

Mathis has 103 sacks in his 11-year career. He’s had 15 ½ against Houston, which is the most of any opponent.

NO CUSHING The Texans are trying to regroup after losing star linebacker Brian Cushing to a season-ending knee injury for the second straight year.

"Unfortunately, we’ve been down this road before and some guys will have to step up," Kubiak said.

Fourth-year player Darryl Sharpton will take over for Cushing, and Kubiak will look to fellow starting linebackers Joe Mays and Brooks Reed to help make Sharpton’s transition easier.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

HINTS | BY HELOISE A WINDOW TO DANGER Dear Heloise: I usually take my small dog with me if I am running errands but not getting out of the car — like if I’m going to drop letters in the mailbox, pick up lunch through the drive-thru or other things. One day, the PASSENGER WINDOW went down. My dog had accidentally stepped on the window button. Now, I push the master lock into the “off” position so I am the only one who can open or close windows and doors. — A Reader, via email Yikes! This happens more than you want to know! This is a good reminder for parents, too. — Heloise PET PAL Dear Readers: Laura D. in San Antonio sent in a picture of her 8-week-old kitten, Satsuki, hiding in her new pumpkin decoration. Laura, who got the pumpkin as a present, says Satsuki climbed into it as soon as she set it down. It has now become one of her favorite hiding places. To see Satsuki’s picture, go to my website, www.Heloise.com, and click on “Pets.” — Heloise

DRIED PAINTBRUSHES Dear Heloise: Do you have a recipe for softening old, dried paintbrushes? I was able to get one softened by soaking it overnight in vinegar and a bit of water, but the other one is still hard and stiff. Love your column, and thank you for helping us in so many ways. — Maureen M., Gary, Ind. Maureen, you are right in using vinegar, but try using full-strength HOT white vinegar this time. Heat 1-2 cups of vinegar, then soak the brushes for about 30 minutes, followed by washing in hot, soapy water.

This is why vinegar should be in every home! Because of all its uses, I wrote my pamphlet Heloise’s Fantabulous Vinegar Hints and More! To receive a copy, send $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (66 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. To reduce the strong odor in a newly painted room, leave some small dishes filled with white vinegar around the room. — Heloise

DENNIS THE MENACE

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Raiders try to rebound against Cowboys

By BETSY BLANEY ASSOCIATED PRESS

LUBBOCK — First-year coach Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t think it’ll be tough to get Texas Tech motivated after his team’s first loss of the season.

The No. 15 Red Raiders fell 3830 at Oklahoma last week and hope to rebound against No. 18 Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

Kingsbury is using the past two games against the Cowboys as motivation. The number 98 is on signs around the locker room.

That’s the combined points by which the Red Raiders have lost the past two games to Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1).

Last year the Red Raiders lost at Stillwater 59-21. Two years ago in Lubbock the Cowboys left with 66-6 win.

“They’re coming back home to play against a team that’s really embarrassed you the last two years, to put it bluntly,” Kingsbury said. “I don’t think there should be any problem getting them motivated to play this game.”

The Cowboys got their running game going last week, but coach Mike Gundy knows that might not be enough.

“We need to become a better passing team to give ourselves a better chance to win this weekend,” he said.

Both teams need a win to stay in the hunt for the Big 12 title.

The Cowboys come into the game on a three-game win streak.

Until the Red Raiders (7-1, 4-1)

Photo by Sue Orgocki | AP

Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb threw two interceptions in last week’s loss to the Sooners, but the true freshman will start against Oklahoma State at home tonight. loss last weekend, Kingsbury had won 13 straight games — his final six as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator in 2012 and his first seven as the coach in Lubbock.

His players know they will have their hands full with the Cowboys.

“We’re going to have to take it from them,” Red Raiders leading receiver Jace Amaro said. “I feel like they have our number.

They’ve had our number the last two seasons.”

Here are five things to watch when Oklahoma State plays Texas Tech: TEXAS TECH TRICKERATION Look for more trick plays out of Kingsbury and his coaching staff. The Red Raiders pulled several at Oklahoma — getting a couple of TDs off five unorthodox plays. Kingsbury earlier this week said the team had “used it all up for the year,” but after the loss to the Sooners the Red Raiders’ WR Eric Ward hinted other-

TCU, WVU fight for winning records ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT WORTH — When TCU and West Virginia became the newcomers of the Big 12 last season, both were coming off consecutive championships in their previous conferences.

Forget a Big 12 title for now. The Horned Frogs and Mountaineers are fighting for the chance just to have a winning season.

Both take a 3-5 record into their second meeting as Big 12 foes Saturday.

Each is also 1-4 in conference play.

“The Big 12 is challenging, as we are figuring out,” WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said.

And that has certainly has changed the goals for each team this season.

Just to get the six wins needed for bowl eligibility, TCU and WVU both would have to win three of their last four games. They have to go undefeated Photo by LM Otero | AP down the stretch to guarantee a winning season.

TCU quarterback Casey Pachall returned from injury in last week’s Horned Frogs coach Ga- loss to Texas, throwing for 139 yards and an interception. ry Patterson this week talked about preparing for there, practice hard and time a team led the Big 12 a series of “four one-day put our best foot forward in both of those categories seasons” rather than his on Saturday.” to end a season was Neteam looking at the final Here are five things braska in 1996, the first month as a whole. to know when West Vir- year of the league. There “The tweak went from ginia travels to TCU for have been 14 different trying to win the confer- the first time: Horned Frogs credited ence title to trying to get SPITTING IMAGES with sacks, and seven who to a bowl game,” PatterSince getting to the Big have picked off passes. son said. “Right now, we 12 together, TCU and West Four players have at least just have to win one. If we Virginia have the same one of each. win one, then we have to exact record — 10-11 overCASEY’S COMEBACK win two.” all with a 5-9 record in When TCU quarterback TCU, which lost two in Big 12 games. Both were Casey Pachall broke his a row, has never had a 7-6 last season, losing non-throwing arm the secthree-game losing streak their respective bowl ond week of the season, in Patterson’s 13 seasons. games after going 4-5 in the initial projection was The only time the Frogs Big 12 play. And their one that he’d return against finished with a losing re- head-to-head matchup was West Virginia. Pachall incord in that span was at close, with TCU overcom- stead got back on the field 5-6 in 2004. ing a 10-point deficit in a week earlier, taking over Before the move to the the second half and win- for Trevone Boykin on the Big 12, TCU had won ning 39-38 in double over- third series in last week’s three consecutive Moun- time. storm-delayed home loss SLIPPING AWAY tain West titles without a against Texas. He could West Virginia has led provide a much-needed ofconference loss in that after halftime in each of fensive spark for the span.

West Virginia, which its last two games, only to Frogs, who are averaging won or shared in the last lose. The Mountaineers a league-worst 14.2 points two Big East titles before led Kansas State 12-7 in in Big 12 games.

WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN switching leagues, hasn’t the third quarter last The first eight games had a losing season since week before the Wildcats going 3-8 in 2001. The scored the final 28 points have been erased from Mountaineers have a while WVU had two turn- West Virginia’s board of three-game losing streak, overs its last four drives. defensive goals. Coach Daand now have to use bowl They took a 27-23 lead in- na Holgorsen said the to the fourth quarter Mountaineers “are starteligibility as motivation.

“I feel like we have a lot against Texas Tech before ing over. We have four to play for. I think the losing 37-27 after manag- games left, so it’s a new players feel like they have ing only 33 total yards its season. That’s what our message was.” WVU has a lot to play for,” Holgor- final five drives.

SACKS AND PICKS allowed an average of 552 sen said. “What we do TCU’s defense leads the total yards in their five matters and we have an obligation to put our best Big 12 with 24 sacks and Big 12 games, and 453 foot forward, get out 15 interceptions. The last yards overall.

wise. “We’re not going to pull out all the tricks.”

COWBOYS RUNNING GAME Oklahoma State junior running back Desmond Roland rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries in his first career start last week. He got a lot of help from his offensive line. “This was the first game that we were able to play that we had the same starting five, for the most part, as the game before,” Gundy said, add-

ing that consistency in practice for two weeks helped. “I would like to think that has an effect and hopefully they will continue to improve as we move forward.”

RECEIVER RODEO Five of the Big 12’s top 10 reception leaders will be on the field. Amaro, Ward, Jakeem Grant and Bradley Marquez for Texas Tech and Oklahoma State’s Josh Stewart. Stewart’s resume also includes punt returns. Twice this season he’s returned punts for touchdowns — one was a 95-yarder against TCU, which is the longest in the country this season and a Big 12 record.

RED RAIDERS STAMINA The Red Raiders will need to hold up better endurance-wise than they did during double-digit drives (16, 11 and 12 plays) the Sooners put together in their win. “I think that wore on them as the game went on,” Kingsbury said. “We’ve just got to find ways to get them off the field.” Oklahoma State is fifth in the conference in rushing offense, averaging 166 yards per game.

WEBB’S THE STARTER Davis Webb, who threw two of his seven interceptions this season against the Sooners, will work to attack the Cowboys’ pass defense that’s picked off 13 passes in seven games. Webb has thrown for 1,812 yards and 13 touchdowns — seven of those coming in his starts the past three games. “It’s the quarterback’s accuracy, more than anything,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said.

“That can be scary.”

Life without Griner

By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

WACO — There is one thing Baylor needs senior guard Odyssey Sims to do less of this season: all those lob passes she is so good at.

As for everything else, the Lady Bears will need all they can get from Sims since two-time AP Player of the Year Brittney Griner will no longer be under the basket to catch those passes while towering over opponents.

"It’s a lot different, just being used to having her down there for three years,” said Sims, also an All-American last season and Baylor’s only returning starter. “But I like how this year we can prove how good our guard play is, and we’ll be able to run a lot more. So that’s what I’m more excited about than anything this season.”

Things certainly will be much different for coach Kim Mulkey and the Lady Bears with the 6-foot-8 Griner gone after four impressive seasons. There were plenty of highlight dunks, a record-shattering 748 blocked shots and 3,283 points to put Griner second on the NCAA women’s career list.

The Lady Bears made it to the NCAA Final Four when Griner was a freshman, the only year with her that they didn’t sweep the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, and went to a regional final in 2011 before losing to eventual champ Texas A&M.

File photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP

All-American guard Odyssey Sims is the only returning starter for the Baylor women’s basketball team.

Baylor won the national title in 2012 while going undefeated in the NCAA’s first 40-win season, then unexpectedly came up short of another championship with a loss to Louisville in the regional semifinals last March.

Baylor, No. 10 in the AP preseason poll released Friday, is now Odyssey’s team.

“Odyssey is by far the most experienced player we have. She understands what it takes to win championships, she understands the work ethic,” Mulkey said. “She’s going to be asked to do more than ever before, both in her play and in the leadership capacity, and I think she’s ready for it.”

Sims averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 assists in her 108 games at Baylor the past three seasons, when she and Griner made up quite a tandem for opposing teams to defend.

Griner wasn’t the only senior on last year’s team.

The Lady Bears also go into this season without post players Brooklyn Pope and Destiny Williams, and guards Kimetria Hayden and Jordan Madden.

The tallest player left it 6-5 sophomore post player Kristina Higgins, an inch taller than junior post Sune Agbuke, with nobody else on the roster over 6-2.

Both played only about 5 minutes a game last season.

“I really think more so than the games, the experience they got to go against those seniors every day in practice had to make them better,” Mulkey said.

“Those two young ladies took beatings every day in practice. They weren’t afraid to guard Brittney Griner. I think that will do more than anything they could have done on the court last year, and I just think it’s going to be fun to watch them when the lights come on now. This is their turn.”