The Zapata Times 11/21/2015

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WEBB COUNTY-ZAPATA COUNTY

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6 immigrants found El Cenizo man arrested on transporting charge

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A man from El Cenizo was recently arrested for picking up six illegal immigrants near the Webb and Zapata County line, according to court documents.

Francisco Javier Martinez, of El Cenizo, was charged with transport-

ing illegal immigrants.

U.S. Border Patrol detained Martinez Nov. 11.

That afternoon, agents said they observed several people coming out of a high brush area and getting into a silver Chevrolet Malibu near the Webb and Zapata County line, according to a criminal complaint Nov. 13.

Agents said they were

able to detain one man near a gate. Agents notified Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be on the lookout for the vehicle. Later, an agent spotted a vehicle fitting the description speeding on U.S. 83.

The agent allegedly saw the Malibu dropping off several people on Pecan Street and Rancho

Grande. Five people were apprehended at that location, records state.

Agents said they later located the Malibu at the intersection of Century Drive and Sunset Loop.

Identified as the driver, Ramirez was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

Agents alleged the Mali-

See ARRESTED PAGE 12A Photo by Vincent Thian | AP

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday. The Obama administration appealed to the Supreme Court Friday to rescue its plans to shield from deportation millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

RETURNING TO MEXICO

Obama makes plea to Supreme Court Plan would protect, give work permits to as many as 5 million immigrants

By MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Gregory Bull | AP

Feliciano Bermejo, 49, speaks during an interview Wednesday, in Tijuana, Mexico. Bermejo spent 21 years in the United States before returning voluntarily to Mexico. A new study finds more Mexicans are leaving the U.S. than coming to the country.

Four immigrants tell their stories

By JULIE WATSON ASSOCIATED PRESS

TIJUANA, Mexico — There are many reasons for the historic reversal of migration between the U.S. and Mexico, according the Pew Research Center, which

announced Thursday that more than 1 million Mexicans headed south to re-establish their lives in the last five years, while only 870,000 migrated north to the U.S. Some have grown tired of living in the

shadow of the law, and say border jumping has become too dangerous.

Jobs are easier to find now in Mexico, and family ties are powerful. Here are some of their stories: ———— Feliciano Bermejo

spent 21 years north of the border, raising three sons who are U.S. citizens, before he was stopped in Atlanta for driving with a suspended license. He was reported to immigration

See MEXICO PAGE 12A

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration appealed to the Supreme Court Friday to rescue its plans to shield from deportation millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Moving quickly to put the issue before the justices in time for a decision while President Barack Obama is still in office, the administration called for the court’s immediate review of its plan to protect and give work permits to as many as 5 million immigrants. The immigrants affected are mainly the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

The appeal, filed exactly a year after Obama announced his executive actions on immigration, injects the Supreme Court into a dispute between 26 mainly Republican-led states and the Democratic administration, amid a presidential race in which immigration has been a flashpoint. So far, the federal courts have sided with the GOP-led states and ef-

fectively blocked the plan.

If the high court agrees to hear and decide the case by late June, and if the justices side with the administration, that would leave roughly seven months in Obama’s presidency to implement his plans.

But time is running short for consideration of the immigration issue in the court’s current term.

Texas, the lead state in the lawsuit, has 30 days to respond but could ask for more time. If the justices don’t agree by mid-January to hear the case, the issue probably will not be decided until after Obama leaves office in January 2017.

At issue is the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which Obama said would allow people who have been in the United States more than five years and who have children who are in the country legally to “come out of the shadows and get right with the law.”

Texas quickly led a legal challenge to the program, and has won every round in court so far. Most recently, the 5th U.S. Circuit

See OBAMA PAGE 9A

JUAREZ-LINCOLN INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE

8 Syrians detained in Laredo

By SETH ROBBINS AND ALICIA A. CALDWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Zapata Times file photo

This 2009 photo shows an aerial view of the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, heading south.

Eight Syrian refugees turned themselves into immigration authorities in Laredo this week, officials said Thursday.

Their arrival and uncertainty about their future in the United States comes at a time of political upheaval over Syrian refugees following the deadly Paris attacks.

Two families — two men, two women and four children — presented themselves Tuesday at the Jua-

rez-Lincoln International Bridge, the Department of Homeland Security said in a release. The men were taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pearsall, and the women and children to one in Dilley.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who along with several other governors across the country recently ordered state officials to suspend entrance for Syrian refugees following last week’s deadly attacks in Paris, tweeted a link Wednesday night to the conservative Breitbart News Net-

work website, which reported that Syrians had been “caught” at the border.

“THIS is why Texas is vigilant about Syrian refugees,” the governor wrote.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump followed suit Thursday with a tweet of his own: “ISIS, Maybe? I told you so. WE NEED A BIG & BEAUTIFUL WALL.” Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Syria to escape the civil war, most of them to Europe. For Syrians with means, a lengthy trek to the U.S. border could provide another path

to asylum. Between 2004 and 2013, 1,449 Syrians were granted asylum in the United States, most in 2012 and 2013, and were not part of the 70,000 refugees from around the world that the U.S. accepts annually.

According to U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, last fiscal year, the U.S. admitted 1,800 refugees, and 189 of them settled in Texas.

American SAFE Act The Obama administra-

See SYRIANS PAGE 9A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cesar Chavez Memorial Alliance of South Texas and Laredo Chess Club are hosting a chess tournament, kindergarten-12th grade, to raise funds for scholarships at LCC’s De La Garza Building, West End Washington Street.

Registration is from 9-9:45 a.m. First round begins at 10 a.m. and awards are at 3:30 p.m. For more information, contact Manuel Bocanegra at 775-7027 or manuelboc45@gmail.com Discussion on preventing cancer and Alzheimer’s from Dr. Godines. Also, a lecture commemorating the 51st anniversary of JFK’s assassination.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows, 5201 University Blvd. 2 p.m.: The Little Star that Could; 3 p.m.: Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens; 4 p.m.: Back to the Moon; 5 p.m.: Pink Floyd’s The Wall. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. 2 p.m. show is $1 less.

For more information call 956-326DOME (3663).

Today is Saturday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2015. There are 40 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 21, 1985, U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (Pollard later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to life in prison; his release on parole is scheduled to take place today, Nov. 21, 2015.)

On this date: In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1922, Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

In 1934, the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes,” starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney, opened on Broadway.

In 1942, the Alaska Highway, also known as the Alcan Highway, was formally opened at Soldier’s Summit in the Yukon Territory.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18-1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1974, bombs exploded at a pair of pubs in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people. (Six suspects were convicted of the attack, but the convictions of the so-called “Birmingham Six” were overturned in 1991.)

In 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. An estimated 83 million TV viewers tuned in to the CBS primetime soap opera “Dallas” to find out “who shot J.R.” (The shooter turned out to be J.R. Ewing’s sister-in-law, Kristin Shepard.)

In 1990, junk-bond financier Michael R. Milken, who had pleaded guilty to six felony counts, was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to ten years in prison. (Milken served two.)

In 1995, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time, rising 40.46 points to end the day at 5,023.55.

Ten years ago: General Motors announced it would close 12 facilities and lay off 30,000 workers in North America.

Five years ago: Justin Bieber received four American Music Awards, becoming at age 16 the youngest performer to win artist of the year.

One year ago: After a three-day onslaught that dumped a historic 7 feet of snow on the Buffalo, New York, area and killed at least 12 people, the sun came out, but so did predictions of flooding caused by rain, temperatures up to 60 degrees and blocked catch basins.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Joseph Campanella is 91. Actress Marlo Thomas is 78. Actress Juliet Mills is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe is 71. Actress Goldie Hawn is 70. Actress Cherry Jones is 59. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 52. Singer-actress Bjork is 50. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is 49. Football player-turned-talk show host Michael Strahan is 44. Actress Jena Malone is 31.

Pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen is 30. Actor-singer Sam Palladio is 28.

Thought for Today: “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” — Robert Benchley, American humorist (1889-1945).

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium will show a Thanksgiving Break Special. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut; 3 p.m.: Season of Light; 4 p.m.: Let it Snow. General Admission is $3. For more information call 956-326DOME (3663).

Chess Club meets at the LBV–Inner City Branch Library from 4–6 p.m.

Free for all ages and skill levels. Basic instruction is offered. Call John at 795-2400, x2521.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium will show a Thanksgiving Break Special. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut; 3 p.m.: Season of Light; 4 p.m.: Let it Snow. General Admission is $3. For more information call 956-326DOME (3663).

Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. Free. All participants must bring ID and sign release form. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV–Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Call 7952400, x2520.

LCC Jazz Ensemble Concert at Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center theater, West End Washington Street, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature a mix of bebop, rockbop, and 1970s jazz hits. LCC music students will also show off their improvisational skills with special student solos.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 RGISC Mural Unveiling Block Party from 2-5 p.m. at North Central Park. Five nature-themed murals and yarn-bombings will be unveiled as a part of the 21st annual Dia del Rio celebration.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 Chess Club meets at the LBV–Inner City Branch Library from 4–6 p.m.

Free for all ages and skill levels. Basic instruction is offered. Call John at 795-2400x2521.

Parkinson’s Disease Support Group will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Laredo Medical Center, first floor, Tower B in the Community Center. Meetings are open to individuals who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease as well as family, friends and caregivers of Parkinson’s patients. For more information, call Richard Renner at 6458649 or 237-0666.

Photo courtesy of Beverly Woodruff | AP

This undated photo provided by Beverly Woodruff shows from left, Nathan Kamp, Thomas Kamp and Austin Kamp. William Hudson, who is charged in the killings of six people, including Nathan, Tim and Austin, at a Texas campsite had earlier befriended the group and helped dislodge one of their vehicles from mud, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Accused man called violent

By JAMIE STENGLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — The wife of an East Texas man charged with killing a family at a campsite detailed his violent behavior in a court record almost a decade ago, saying he had punched, pushed and threatened to kill her.

“His temper and violence are getting worse and worse,” Catrina Hudson said in a 2006 affidavit. “I am deathly afraid of him, and afraid that he will kill me, and my daughter if he gets the chance.”

The mother of a newborn at the time, she asked for and was granted a temporary protective order against William Hudson on the same day she filed for divorce, Nov. 30, 2006.

The divorce petition was dropped about a month later, and it’s unclear whether they are still married.

Hudson, 33, has been charged with six

Woman survives driving off top of 3-story garage

counts of capital murder after allegedly attacking a blended family who were camping on property near where he lived in Anderson County. Hudson remains jailed on no bond, and no motive has been released.

Thomas Kamp, 46, had purchased the land in August. He and Hannah Johnson lived together in Midlothian, south of Dallas, with Johnson’s 6-year-old son Kade. They were camping with Johnson’s parents and two of Kamp’s children from a prior marriage, Nathan Kamp, 23, and Austin Kamp, 21.

Hannah Johnson’s mother, Cynthia Johnson, was the lone survivor, and told authorities that Hudson had been drinking with the group before accompanying the Kamps and Kade into the woods. She told authorities she heard gunshots before Hudson returned to the campsite and gunned down her daughter and husband.

Officer, good Samaritans Unemployment rate up in rescue man in burning car October to 4.4 percent

ABILENE — Police say a West Texas woman has non-life-threatening injuries after her foot slipped off the brake and her truck drove off the top of a threestory parking garage, landing upside down in a street. She was trying to park in a bank’s garage Friday. Police believe the woman accidentally hit the accelerator, causing the pickup truck to crash through a retaining wall.

COLLEGE STATION — A College Station officer and some good Samaritans have saved a driver from a burning car in a rescue captured on police car video. University of Texas student Jose Izquierdo was in fair condition Friday at a Houston hospital, nearly a week after the accident. Izquierdo suffered broken bones last Saturday when his car hit a tree and caught fire.

AUSTIN — The Texas unemployment rate for October rose to 4.4 percent, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday.

The figure compares to a statewide jobless rate of 4.2 percent in September. Nationwide unemployment was 5.0 percent last month, the TWC said.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area had the highest jobless rate in Texas at 7.4 percent.

Toddler fatally burned put in oven by sibling

Gunfire at Waco home leaves man dead

2 brothers get prison in drugs, weapons case

HOUSTON — A toddler who died after suffering severe burns was put in an oven by one of her two 3-year-old siblings when the children were left alone in their Houston apartment, according to court documents. The two siblings told investigators with Texas Child Protective Services that one of them put 19-month-old J’zyra Thompson in the oven and the other turned it on.

WACO — Police say gunfire at a Central Texas house has left a man dead and a girl hurt after she was grazed by bullets.

Waco police say the incident happened before dawn Friday.

Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton says officers arrived at the home to find one man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a Waco hospital where he was pronounced dead.

MIDLAND — Two West Texas brothers have been sentenced to prison in a drugs and weapons case linked to a 2014 raid on their Odessa home.

Prosecutors say 40-year-old Pedro Madrid was sentenced Thursday to 38 years in federal prison. His brother, 38-year-old Elizar Madrid, received a 21-year term.

— Compiled from AP reports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1 Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. Free. All participants must bring ID and sign release form. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at LBV–Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Call 7952400, x2520.

Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. at Laredo Medical Center, first floor, Tower B in the Community Center. Meetings are open to individuals who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease as well as family, friends and caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients. For more information, call Melissa Guerra at 724-7141 or Laredo Medical Center at 796-3223.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 One year anniversary of Operation Feed the Homeless at Jarvis Plaza from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Food, music and a coat drive. Please donate or volunteer. For additional information contact us on Facebook on the Laredo Free Thinkers page or call 744-5674.

Trail Clean-Up and Open House.

LCC’s Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center will host their trail day clean up from 8 a.m.–12 p.m. at the Paso del Indio Nature Trail.

AROUND THE NATION Students grow food at Los Angeles school garden LOS ANGELES — Elizabeth Castro had never tasted beets or kumquats before she joined an after-school gardening program at her inner-city Los Angeles high school.

Now, the 15-year-old helps grow the produce on campus in an urban neighborhood filled with auto shops and fast food restaurants — and she’s taken samples for her family to try.

“Many things that I experienced here, I had never experienced before,” Castro told U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on a tour of the 1.5-acre site along with her fellow students.

Red panda goes missing from California zoo EUREKA, Calif. — A red panda is missing on California’s far north coast.

The tiny creature named Ma-

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U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and John C. Fremont High School students hold a beet grown in the school’s Gardening Apprenticeship Program plot on the campus south of downtown Los Angeles Friday. sala disappeared from the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Thursday.

Zoo manager Gretchen Ziegler tells the Times-Standard newspaper that anyone who spots the 1 1/2-year-old panda should not ap-

proach it but try not to lose sight of it and call the zoo or police.

Ziegler says the biggest threat to Masala would be cars or an animal that preys on small animals. Red pandas are about the size of house cats.

— Compiled from AP reports

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

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Zopinion

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

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

OTHER VIEWS

COLUMN

Will we repeat the injustice of 1942?

By MARY SANCHEZ THE KANSAS CITY STAR

This is how fear mongering works. The year could be 1942 … or 2015.

"I’m reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And it appears that the threat of harm to America from ISIS now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then."

Those are the words of David Bowers, the mayor of Roanoke, Va. The "sequester" he alludes to was the unjust and inhumane internment by the U.S. government of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II. It wasn’t just "foreign nationals" who suffered this treatment but citizens as well, including those born in our country.

Bowers’ historically vacuous statement was apparently his contribution to the current debate over whether the U.S. should follow through on its promise to accept refugees from the Syrian civil war.

What he implies is that Syrian refugees are just as likely to do the bidding of the Islamic State as Japanese-Americans were to serve the war aims of Imperial Japan.

That drew shudders from the descendants and colleagues of a distinguished American by the name of Minoru Yasui. Yasui spent virtually all of his 70 years trying to get the U.S. government not only to apologize for but also to understand the injustice of having interned him and nearly 120,000 other people of Japanese ancestry during the war.

Yasui was born in Oregon. He had a law degree and had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army’s Infantry Reserve. Nevertheless, he was kept in prison and internment for three years.

The reason? His ancestry.

The Yasui family has worked for years to gain their patriarch justice. He was announced as a posthumous recipient the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month. A few days later, the hysteria over the Syrian refugees reached a fevered pitch, inspiring Bower’s remarks.

"If Yasui was here, he would condemn what is happening," said Peggy Nagae, a Portland attorney who served as the lead attorney in reopening the case of his conviction for breaking laws restricting Japanese-Americans.

She notes that a 1981 governmental report, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, determined that the internment was not justified by military necessity but a

"grave injustice," the result of "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership."

No acts of espionage or sabotage were ever found among those interned. Yet the Japanese-Americans were thought to be waiting, plotting something really big against their own country.

Yasui purposefully broke a curfew, trying to mount a legal test. He spent nine months in solitary confinement while awaiting an appeal for disobeying an order for enemy aliens. The fight went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the curfew constitutional as a wartime necessity.

Yasui was assigned to the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho and later was sent to work in an ice plant.

After the war, he ended up in Denver, where he helped establish civil rights organizations and worked closely with African-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. Yasui died in 1986.

And it wasn’t until nearly 50 years after the internment, in 1990, that the first checks of compensation for that act were issued by President George H.W. Bush. About $20,000 went to each internee.

For Nagae the parallels between Yasui’s era and the fears driving the politics today, especially after the Paris terrorist attacks, are stark. Her own father had also been interned and was befriended by Yasui.

"Fear is used to justify actions on the basis of military security and national security," she said.

"It’s an issue and conflict that doesn’t go away."

Chani Hawkins, Yasui’s granddaughter, is working on a documentary film and other memorials to her grandfather’s life.

"We feel it is an important lesson that we must learn from as a country so similar mistakes are not repeated," Hawkins said.

Apparently, many of us haven’t learned. More than half the nation’s governors have asserted that no Syrian refugee will be resettled in their state.

It’s a posture that won’t pass constitutional scrutiny — but also that makes little sense. The system of security checks for refugees is already rigorous, including vetting by counter-terrorism agencies. Yet a bipartisan House bill hurriedly passed last week would upend the complex security process already in place for judging refugee applications.

"Race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership." Let’s remember those words — and make sure they play no part in how we respond to the Syrian refugee crisis.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters.

To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication.

We want to assure

our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms.

Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed.

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

COLUMN

Hillary Clinton takes on ISIS This week we had a chance to watch Hillary Clinton respond in real time to a complex foreign policy challenge. On Thursday, six days after the Paris attacks, she gave a comprehensive anti-terrorism speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The speech was very impressive. While other candidates are content to issue vague calls to get tough on terror, Clinton offered a multilayered but coherent framework, not only dealing with ISIS but also putting that threat within the crosscutting conflicts that are inflaming the Middle East.

For example, instead of just issuing a generic call to get tough on the terrorists, she pointed to the reality that ISIS will be toppled only if there is an uprising by fellow Sunnis. There has to be a Sunni Awakening against ISIS in 2016, like the Sunni Awakening that toppled al-Qaida in Iraq starting in 2007.

That will not happen while President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria is spreading mayhem, terror and genocide. As long as

“

DAVID BROOKS

they find themselves in the grips of a horrific civil war, even sensible Sunnis will feel that they need ISIS as a counterpoint to the butchery coming out of Damascus.

Clinton therefore gestured to the reality that you can’t really deal with ISIS unless you are also willing to deal with Assad. Assad is not some secondary threat who we can deal with after we’ve tamed the ISIS monster. Assad created the failed state and the power vacuum that ISIS was able to fill. Assad serves as chief recruiter for ISIS every time he drops a barrel bomb on a school or a market. Assad, as Clinton pointed out, has murdered even more Syrians than ISIS has.

Dealing with both Assad and ISIS simultaneously throws you into the bitter and complex jockeying between Sunni and Shiite, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It puts pressure on

your Ukraine policy (Vladimir Putin will want concessions as a price for backing off his aggression in the Middle East). Everything is connected. Which is why the presidency is for grownups, not rank outsiders.

Some of Clinton’s specific prescriptions were a little too limited and Obamaesque for my taste (she didn’t even call for more U.S. Special Forces to improve the bombing campaigns, though she said she would be open to it). But she is thoughtful and instructive on both the big picture and the right way forward. She seems to understand that if we end up allying with Russia in a common fight against terrorism, we will end up preserving Assad, preserving ISIS and making everything worse.

Some Republicans have stained themselves with refugee xenophobia, but there’s a bigger story here: For a time, the Middle East was held together by Arab nation-states and a belief in Arab nationalisms. Recently Arab nationalisms have withered and Arab nationstates have begun to dissolve from their own de-

crepitude.

Along comes ISIS filling that vacuum and trying to destroy what’s left of Arab nations. ISIS dreams of a caliphate. It erases borders.

It destroys order.

The Arab nation-states were not great. But the nation-state system did preserve a certain order. National identities and boundaries enabled Sunnis and Shiites to live together peaceably. If nations go away in the region we’ll get a sectarian war of all against all, radiating terrorism like we’ve never seen.

The grand strategy of U.S. policy in the Middle East, therefore, should be to do what we can to revive and reform Arab nations, to help them become functioning governing units.

That means confronting the forces that thrive in failed states. That begins with stepped-up military pressure on ISIS. Candidate Clinton laid out a supple and sophisticated approach. The next president will have to provide the action.

David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.

COLUMN

Ben Carson had the worst week

By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — In Washington, there’s nothing rarer, or more damaging, than when people criticize you on the record.

That’s why a New York Times piece published Tuesday — headlined "Ben Carson Is Struggling to Grasp Foreign Policy, Advisers Say" — hurts so bad.

The piece featured Duane R. Clarridge, 83,

identified as a top adviser to Carson on national security and terrorism, absolutely blowing out his boss.

"Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East," Clarridge told reporter Trip Gabriel.

Another "close friend," Armstrong Williams, lamented Carson’s inability in a TV interview to say whom he’d ask to form a coalition against the Islam-

ic State. He’d "been briefed on it so many times," Williams said.

The Carson campaign’s response bordered on the comical. "For the New York Times to take advantage of an elderly gentleman and use him as their foil in this story is an affront to good journalistic practices," it read.

Okay, so: Clarridge is too old or senile to give an interview to the Times but is plenty good enough to par-

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

ticipate in briefings with Carson on national security and terrorism? Riiiiight.

Though Carson still leads the GOP field in some polls, this kerfuffle fuels the perception that he has little grasp of foreign policy at a time when concerns about national security are surging.

Ben Carson, for watching your allies turn against you in public, you had the worst week in Washington.

Congrats, or something.

Local

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER

Zapata agents thwart smuggling attempt SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A human smuggling attempt was recently thwarted by agents assigned to the Zapata Border Patrol Station, according to Customs and Border Protection.

On Nov. 9, Border Patrol agents working linewatch operations apprehended six undocumented immigrants with assistance from Zapata County Sheriff deputies and CBP Air and Marine Operations, a report states.

“This is an example of

law enforcement agencies working together, securing the border against all threats and serving the community,” said Chief Patrol Agent Mario Martinez.

A total of two abandoned vehicles were found near the highway, according to CBP. The case is under investigation.

To report suspicious activity such as drug and/or alien smuggling, contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free telephone number at 1-800-343-1994.

Courtesy photo

Helpers carry Christmas gifts as part of the 2014 Christmas Parade and Lighting of County Plaza activities.

Courtesy photos

Zapatans enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner courtesy of Dr. Stanley’s Pediatric Practice Association on Nov. 17 from 6-8 p.m. The dinner was free for all who attended, and was held at the Zapata County Community Center, 605 N. U.S. 83. This was the first-ever Thanksgiving Dinner put on by the association. “It was a complete success!” reads a news release.

Local Christmas activities near SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce would like to invite all businesses, churches, clubs, schools, organizations and elected officials to participate in this year’s Christmas Parade and Lighting of County Plaza.

The parade will take place Thursday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.

Those participating in the parade can line up from 5-5:30 p.m. on Glenn Street and 17th Avenue behind Our Lady of Lourdes

Catholic Church.

Immediately following the parade, the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony will take place at the County Plaza, followed by gifts from Santa for children up to the age of 10.

Trophies will be awarded to the top three bestdecorated parade entries.

Parade entry forms must be turned in no later than Dec. 1 at the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce, 601 N. U.S. Hwy 83, or emailed to cbalderas@zapatachamber.com.

PÁGINA 6A

Zfrontera CRUCE DE MENORES SIN COMPAÑÍA

Ribereña en Breve

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, MX Después de seis meses de trabajo, el sábado 21 de noviembre al mediodía se llevará a cabo la inauguración de la reconstrucción y rehabilitación de las instalaciones del Parque México. Como evento central será un partido entre los Sultanes de Monterrey y los Saraperos de Saltillo. Como invitado estará Néstor Alba Brito, secretario de la liga mexicana de béisbol. La obra tuvo una inversión de casi cinco millones de pesos.

POR DYLAN BADDOUR HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Durante recientes meses se ha visto un incremento dramático en el número de menores que intentan, solos, cruzar la frontera sur de Texas, de acuerdo con nuevas estadísticas de Patrulla Fronteriza.

Después de varios meses donde la cantidad de menores que llegaban solos a la frontera mostró una notable disminución tras la ola de inmigración que se presentó durante el verano de 2014, los números han vuelto a aumentar hasta alcanzar los niveles más altos que se han registrado a principios del otoño en al menos seis años.

Es durante agosto y septiembre, los meses más recientes de los que se tienen datos disponibles, donde se presenta el incremento más notable. En el sector Big Bend de Patrulla Fronteriza de Texas, el número de menores sin un acompañante que fueron detenidos durante este periodo al intentar entrar al país, promedió 24

DESFILE POR NAVIDAD La Cámara de Comercio del Condado del Condado de Zapata invita al Desfile de Navidad y Encendido de la Plaza del Condado, el jueves 3 de diciembre. Se invita a que se registren para participar en el evento llamando para detalles al (956) 7655434. El día del desfile la alineación iniciará a las 5 p.m. en Glenn St. y 17th Ave. (detrás de Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church). El desfile dará inicio a las 6 p.m.

Foto por Danny Zaragoza/archivo | Laredo Morning Times

En la imagen de archivo se observa a integrantes de los medios de comunicación durante un recorrido junto a agentes de Patrulla Fronteriza de Laredo, por los lugares que se utilizan con mayor frecuencia para el tráfico de personas. entre el 2010 y el 2014. Este año los agentes calculan 319.

Durante estos dos meses, a nivel estatal, 7.390 menores solos fueron detenidos, con un 85 por ciento de incremento en relación al mismo periodo de tiempo el año pasado.

“Claramente estamos viendo un importante despunte”, dijo Marc Rosenblum, un agente directivo en el Instituto de Política Migratoria en Washington DC. Él acredita el fenómeno a la violencia continua en gran parte de Sudamérica, y

a un drástico incremento de la violencia en El Salvador.

Igualmente mencionó la decadencia de viejos patrones estacionales de migración que predicen un gran número de inmigrantes en primavera y verano, y su disminución en otoño e invierno. Esto denota un ligero aumento en las detenciones generales que se han realizado en la frontera de Texas, durante un periodo de un año, y que continúan siendo una fracción de lo que se promedió durante las décadas de los 80, 90 y 2000.

En agosto y septiembre, casi siempre se observa una disminución en la llegada de inmigrantes, que generalmente tiene su punto más alto entre marzo y junio.

Ahora, las llegadas de menores durante este periodo exceden por mucho a la cantidad de menores que llegaron durante el mismo periodo de tiempo.

De acuerdo a los registros de las detenciones de menores sin acompañante que efectuó Patrulla Fronteriza entre agosto y septiembre en la frontera de Texas: en 2011 hubo 1.660 detenciones; 3.185 en 2012; 5.820 en 2013; 4.476 en 2014 y 7.390 en 2015.

En el sector de Rio Grande Valley, donde se concentró la ola de detenciones en junio del año pasado, se presentó la detención de 50.000 menores y 200.000 personas, que llegaron durante un periodo de 12 meses.

Un portavoz de Patrulla Fronteriza dijo que la mayoría de los menores sin acompañante detenidos son originarios de países como Honduras, Guatemala y El Salvador.

TAMAULIPAS

QUINTO INFORME

TAMAULIPAS Un grupo de 45 personas fueron rescatadas cuando viajaban “en condiciones de hacinamiento” dentro de un camión a la altura del Kilómetro 069+400 de la Carretera Ciudad Valles-Ciudad Victoria, en el tramo Antiguo Morelos-Ciudad Mante.

El grupo estaba compuesto por personas procedentes de Honduras, Guatemala y El Salvador, entre ellos nueve mujeres y 13 menores de edad. El Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas explicó que todos presentaban signos de deshidratación.

Después de recibir atención médica, las 45 personas fueron puestas a disposición del Instituto Nacional de Migración, para que regresen a su país de origen.

Fueron detenidos dos sospechosos, el chofer y un guía, de quienes las autoridades creen son integrantes de un grupo delictivo que se dedica al tráfico de personas.

Ellos quedaron a disposición del ministerio público.

El miércoles, la policía de Tamaulipas aseguró a 49 personas de origen centroamericano quienes pretendían abordar una Jeep Cherokee, modelo 1999, cuando circulaba por la carretera Ciudad Victoria-Soto La Marina.

Entre el grupo había 28 con origen de El Salvador y 21 de Guatemala, de los cuales 13 eran mujeres, y también había algunos menores de edad.

Dentro de la camioneta se ubicaron a cuatro presuntos traficantes de humanos, los cuales fueron puestos a disposición de las autoridades federales.

Después de recibir atención médica las 45 personas fueron puestas a disposición del Instituto Nacional de Migración, para que regresen a su país de origen.

INVESTIGACIÓN

Nueva alza

PRESENTACIÓN DE LIBRO El domingo, la escritora Alma González Pérez presentará el libro “Cantos del alma y del corazón”, una colección de poesía original en español.

Durante el evento, programado a las 3 p.m. en el Centro Parroquial Rev. Peter J. McNamara, en Intocable Blvd. y avenida 16, González también firmará copias del libro.

A través de los 50 poemas escritos en el libro, se buscan expresar los sentimientos y emociones que surgen de la experiencia diaria de vivir. Cada poema, cuenta con una fotografía que complementa los escritos.

El libro se divide en siete secciones, 51 fotografías y un total de 104 páginas.

SÁBADO 21 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2015

Foto de cortesía por Ángel Pacheco Cárdenas | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Ante más de 5.000 asistentes el Gobernador del Estado de Tamaulipas, Egidio Torre Cantú, realizó su Quinto Informe de Gobierno.

Torre habla de logros alzados en 2014-2015 TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

R

ecordando de nueva cuenta a su hermano, el Gobernador de Tamaulipas, Egidio Torre Cantú, dio lectura a su quinto informe de gobierno, el miércoles en Tampico, México.

“Servir a los tamaulipecos es el más alto honor, la mayor distinción, trabajar por el bienestar de sus familias, el máximo de los privilegios”, dijo Torre Cantú. “Así lo creyó firmemente mi hermano (Rodolfo) cuando de cara a la gente abrazó sus aspiraciones, hizo suyo sus anhelos, se comprometió a dar todo su esfuerzo y más por todos los tamaulipecos”.

Al citar al Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas, dijo que éste cuenta con 3.000 elementos que cubren los 43 municipios de la entidad, bajo una inversión que supera los 16 mil millones de pesos en infraestructura, equipamiento y capacitación.

En materia de salud sostuvo que en los últimos tres años, el estado se ha consolidado con el primer lugar nacional en programas de prevención y promoción de la salud. Destacó la red hospitalaria y en especial al nue-

vo hospital de Tampico que se está por concluir, y los de Madero y Matamoros en construcción.

Al referirse al campo, indicó que la agricultura de la entidad destaca a nivel nacional por la producción de 3.5 millones de toneladas de sorgo al año; y, a nivel nacional Tamaulipas produce el 40% y el 91% en soya y sábila, respectivamente.

En el rubro de turismo expuso que la ocupación hotelera ha crecido al doble durante los pasados cinco años, la afluencia de turistas se ha triplicado, y tan solo en la zona sur “más de 1.7 millones de personas han visitado en lo que va del año la playa Tampico – Miramar”.

Sostuvo también que Tamaulipas crece en el tema de energía.

“Somos un estado con un extraordinario potencial energético que nos está permitiendo iniciar con éxito una nueva etapa de prosperidad para México y Tamaulipas”, dijo Torre Cantú.

En materia de infraestructura destacó lo que se ha realizado en cuanto al uso sustentable del agua. Así, hizo referencia a la construcción de nuevas potabilizadoras como la del norte

de Nuevo Laredo; la planta DUPONT en Altamira, se avanza en nuevos acueductos como El Nacimiento en Ciudad Mante y el Acuaferico en Ciudad Victoria.

En vialidades mencionó la construcción de cuatro pasos vehiculares en Nuevo Laredo; el distribuidor vial la Laguna del libramiento sur dos y del viaducto en Reynosa; la modernización del bulevar Portes Gil en Matamoros; el bulevar Tamaulipas en Ciudad Victoria; los bulevares Rodolfo Torres Cantú en Morelos y Xicoténcatl y la avenida Monterrey en Tampico-Madero.

Los puentes vehiculares en La Moderna en Ciudad Victoria y Francisco Sarabia en Ocampo; está por iniciar el distribuidor vial conocido como El Barquito de Altamira; la carretera Reynosa-Laredo, la carretera Reynosa-Río Bravo, el sendero nacional en Matamoros y Valle Hermoso, la carretera de Victoria y límite de estado con Nuevo León y la carretera Manuel Aldama – Soto La Marina, entre otros.

Al evento asistieron más de 5.000 invitados, de acuerdo con un comunicado de prensa.

Foto por Gustavo Caballero | Getty

Ali Landry, ex Miss USA y su esposo Alejandro Monteverde, hijo y hermano de las víctimas, durante la premier de “Little Boy” en Miami, Florida.

Arrestan a 4 en caso Gómez TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Silvestre Mar González, de 25 años; Armando Martín Balderas Guzmán, de 50 años; Juan Manuel Burgos Ponce, de 21 años; y, José Armando Guerrero Olmedo, de 21 años, fueron detenidos en relación al secuestro y homicidio de dos empresarios de Tampico, México, de acuerdo con autoridades del Gobierno de Tamaulipas.

Oficiales aseguran que los cuatro están vinculados a la muerte de Juan Manuel Gómez Fernández y Juan Manuel Gómez Monteverde.

Los cuerpos de Gómez Fernández y Gómez Monteverde, padre y hermano del director mexicano de cine Alejandro Gómez Monteverde, fueron encontrados en Pueblo Viejo, Veracruz, en septiembre.

Mar González fue detenido en la Monterrey, Nuevo León, donde se ocultaba tras la detención de seis integrantes de la banda que él dirigía en Tampico y Altamira, y en Pueblo Viejo.

Además del secuestro de empresarios, el sospechoso también privaba de la libertad a migrantes centroamericanos, transportistas y comerciantes de los municipios colindantes con Tamaulipas y Veracruz, de acuerdo con las autoridades.

Balderas fue detenido en la Ciudad de México, donde tenía una semana ocultándose en casa de unos familiares. Él había sido destituido como comandante de la policía municipal de Pueblo Viejo, donde enfrentó un proceso penal por portar un arma larga y una granada. De acuerdo a las investigaciones, Balderas encabezaba un grupo que se dedicaba a ubicar a posibles víctimas y reportaban los detalles a Mar González.

Burgos Ponce y Guerrero Olmedo fueron detenidos en Tampico. Su detención fue posible luego de investigaciones realizadas en Nuevo León, Tamaulipas y el Distrito Federal.

Con información de Grupo Coordinación Tamaulipas

PATRULLA FRONTERIZA

Arrestan sujeto, alegan tráfico de personas POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Recientemente, un hombre de El Cenizo fue arrestado por recoger a seis inmigrantes indocumentados, de acuerdo con documentos de la corte.

Francisco Javier Martínez, fue acusado de transportar inmigrantes indocumentados.

El 11 de noviembre, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza reportaron haber visto a varias personas salir

de un área con maleza y entrar a un vehículo Chevrolet Malibu, color plateado, cerca de la línea divisoria del Condado de Webb y el Condado de Zapata, de acuerdo con una querella criminal presentada el 13 de noviembre.

Oficiales dijeron que lograron detener a un hombre cerca de la entrada, pero además notificaron a oficiales de carretera del Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas para que buscaran el vehículo.

Más tarde, un oficial detuvo un vehículo sobre la U.S. 83, el cual concordaba con la descripción.

Supuestamente, el agente vio al Malibu dejar a varias personas sobre calle Pecan y Rancho Grande.

Cinco personas fueron arrestadas en el lugar, señalan registros. Agentes dijeron que posteriormente localizaron el Malibu en la intersección de Century Drive y Sunset Loop.

Ramírez, quien conducía el vehículo, era el único

ocupante. Oficiales sostuvieron que Ramírez transportaba a los inmigrantes en el Malibu.

Agentes especiales de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional respondieron a una investigación por intento de contrabando. Ramírez prefirió hablar con ellos, señalan registros.

“Francisco Javier Ramírez señaló que se le pagarían 120 dólares por persona para recoger a los inmigrantes indocumentados cerca de la pista de carre-

ras por las fronteras de los condados de Webb/Zapata.

Declaró que iba a recibir el pago por parte de un amigo de la infancia, un conocido traficantes (de personas) y narcóticos en Laredo”, señala la querella.

Ramírez añadió que se asustó y aceleró cuando vio a la unidad de la Patrulla Fronteriza mientras se subían los inmigrantes al Malibu, añaden reportes.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Zentertainment

PAGE 7A

‘The Force Awakens’ has big potential

By RYAN NAKASHIMA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo courtesy of Columbia Records | AP

This CD cover image released by Columbia Records shows “25,” the latest release by Adele.

‘25’: Every track is grand

By MESFIN FEKADU ASSOCIATED PRESS

Can Adele even sing a Blevel song?

Every track on her highly anticipated “25” sounds grand, from the piano tune “Remedy” to “Water Under the Bridge,” which is layered and full of echoes and sounds as if it was created just to be performed live.

And even when the singer collaborates with producers who at times sound formulaic and radio friendly, she brings them to new levels. Max Martin, who has created pop anthems for Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Taylor Swift, sounds unrecognizable on “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” which has Adele on guitar. Bruno Mars and his producer cohorts, Philip Lawrence and Christopher Brody Brown, work more than magic on the R&B-flavored “All I Ask,” another piano tune that immediately grabs your attention.

And that’s just it: “25” not only meets incredibly high expectations, it exceeds them.

Adele’s growth is best heard on “Million Years Ago,” a touching, soft song that is majestic and unforgettable.

“Sometimes I just feel it’s only me, who never became who they thought they’d be, I wish I could live a little more, look up to the sky, not just the floor,” she sings in her top-notch tone.

The 11-track album is not a far stretch from “21,” the singer’s best-selling 2011 album that helped her reach nearly impossible heights in contemporary music.

“Love In the Dark,” written with Sia collaborator Samuel Dixon, is reminiscent of “Turning Tables” from “21”; she’s looking back on “When We Were Young,” which sounds like a pop classic; and the drum-filled “I Miss You” is eerie and moody — in a good way.

Even the top-selling single, “Hello,” continues to sound better and better after each listen.

“Hello, can you hear me?” she sings.

Yes, Adele. And we’re so glad we do.

LOS ANGELES — Riding galaxy-sized expectations, the new “Star Wars” movie is already setting records for pre-opening ticket sales, with still a month to go. But does that mean the movie’s destined to be the biggest of all time?

Though several signs point in that direction, the outcome isn’t guaranteed.

The movie is on track to have the biggest December opening ever, topping “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which took in $85 million in the U.S. and Canada on its opening weekend in December 2012.

Ticket seller Fandango says advance ticket sales for “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens” has already topped every other movie, though it didn’t provide figures. Imax says it has sold $18 million domestically, double the previous record. Imax receipts account for a third of pre-release sales for this movie, putting the domestic total at more than $50 million.

Whether it bests the biggest grosser of all time — “Avatar,” with $2.8 billion worldwide — depends on word of mouth and whether fans love it enough to watch it multiple times through the new year.

“Star Wars” will have the advantage of having weak competition for months.

Marvel’s “Deadpool” doesn’t come out until midFebruary, while Warner Bros.’ “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” isn’t out until late March.

“I think it’s going to own January,” said Erik Davis, managing editor of Fandango, one of the nation’s largest online ticket retailers. “I know one guy who has nine tickets to see it in the first week alone. That’s what we’re talking about.”

A single ticket in big cities can cost $25 or more after paying for extras like Imax and 3-D. Social media activity is also off the charts, according to entertainment news website Moviepilot Inc. Exactly a month from release, “The Force Awakens” had 405 million trailer and

Photo courtesy of Disney | AP

This photo provided by Disney shows Daisey Ridley as Rey, left, and John Boyega as Finn, in a scene from "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens." teaser views on Facebook and YouTube. That’s 87 percent more than this summer’s “Jurassic World,” which opened domestically with a record $208.8 million in ticket sales and owns the all-time No. 3 spot with $1.7 billion worldwide. No. 2 is “Titanic,” at $2.1 billion.

What’s more, the 178,000 weekly searches for the movie on Google is more than three times as high as “Jurassic World,” which had 51,800 weekly searches a month from release, ac-

cording to Moviepilot.

“People are searching and craving and demanding content,” Moviepilot CEO Tobi Bauckhage said.

“That’s a very strong signal.”

To be sure, December releases tend to be smaller than in the summer, so coming out on top may take a marathon rather than a sprint.

As for the all-time high, one thing “Avatar” had going for it: It rode a wave of consumer interest in 3-D, which costs a few dollars more than regular tickets.

That frenzy has largely cooled off. Traditionalists with a nostalgia for the originals might prefer 2-D screenings, especially with director J.J. Abrams’ use of more realistic-looking special effects like puppetry.

The Walt Disney Co., which owns “Star Wars” maker Lucasfilm, declined to comment.

Advance sales don’t always equate to record grosses. The first installment of “The Hunger Games” was the leader in advance sales, but topped

out at a worldwide gross of $693 million, not even in the all-time Top 10.

What “The Force Awakens” benefits from, however, is interest that now spans multiple generations.

The movie also has a much bigger Chinese box office to tap. “Avatar” pulled down a monstrous $204 million in China through 2010, but the theatrical market there is now at least three times as big.

The big unknown is that no one’s actually seen the movie yet.

It could make the difference between the so-so reaction to the “Star Wars” prequels in Episodes 1 to 3 — with heavily parodied characters like Jar Jar Binks and video-game-like action scenes — and the satisfying revival that fans are hoping for.

“The brand name alone and the excitement for the franchise will get huge numbers in the door,” Rentrak senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.

“But for very long-term prospects, you have to have a movie that delivers.”

In any ensemble, Ruffalo still stands out

By JAKE COYLE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Is there any better team player in movies than Mark Ruffalo?

Whether running in a pack of superheroes, wrestlers or journalists, Ruffalo has a rare ability to slide seamlessly into an ensemble while nevertheless standing out for his talent in doing so. A year after Ruffalo received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance as Olympic wrestler David Schutlz in “Foxcatcher,” the actor is again expected to be Oscar nominat-

ed for his key role as a dogged Boston Globe reporter in the newspaper procedural RUFFALO “Spotlight.”

“I’ve been at the right place at the right time for these two movies, and been able to disappear into the beauty of an ensemble, to serve something that’s bigger than any one particularly individual,” says Ruffalo. “They say something at a moment when the culture’s ready to hear it. A movie, if it speaks to people, it bubbles

out of the culture and lands at a moment when we’re ready to have a discussion.”

Ruffalo, one of the movie industry’s most outspoken advocates for environmental (and other) causes, rarely turns down a conversation. (He began a recent interview eagerly imploring a reporter: “Talk to me!”) He has regularly poured his considerable energy into both political activism (most notably hydraulic fracturing) and passionate, striving characters, from the bipolar but exuberant father of “Infinitely Polar Bear” to his redemptionseeking music executive in

“Begin Again.” He does enthusiasm well, on screen and off.

“I see a lot of light on the horizon. I call it ‘the sunlight revolution’ and it isn’t just about renewable energy,” says Ruffalo. “It’s about enlightening and bringing to light the wrongs of the past. Everywhere I look, I see this inquiry happening.

I think people are conscious. I think people are sick of it. They want righteousness. They want to know that’s there’s justice in the world, and they tend to move toward that when given the choice.”

“Spotlight,” which ex-

pands to theaters nationwide this weekend, dovetails with that mission. The film, directed by Tom McCarthy, is about the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting by the Boston Globe’s team of investigative reporters — named Spotlight — that uncovered the widespread sex abuse of Catholic Church priests and subsequent efforts to cover up abuse cases.

The cast, including Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams and Stanley Tucci, is uniformly excellent. And the film is one of the year’s most acclaimed.

Nation

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Nuclear dump could harm farm community

By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS — Radioactive well-water contamination could threaten some 1,400 people in a rural farming community if federal regulators allow the nation’s deadliest nuclear waste to be buried in the Nevada desert, state officials said in a report issued Friday.

A 53-page document submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission derides environmental assessments of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository as legally inadequate. It also characterizes the project itself as “an unworkable waste management plan at an unsafe repository site.”

The state says groundwater studies don’t properly address the danger to people in nearby Amargosa Valley or the cultural and

spiritual effect that construction of the repository would have on Native Americans.

“In the end, there are real people there,” said Robert Halstead, chief of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects and the top state official leading opposition to the project.

“That’s the thing about the way the NRC has approached the whole process,” Halstead said Friday.

“Their maps imply there is no population there. They label it as the Amargosa desert.”

George Gholson, chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, submitted additional comments Friday accusing commission officials of failing to evaluate effects that building the project would have on tribal members.

“Radioactive contamination of groundwater and

Photo by Jow Cavaretta | AP file

In this Jan. 2002 file photo, first-graders from Amargosa Elementary School line up between classes in Amargosa Valley, Nev., with Yucca Mountain about 10 miles away in the background. springs ... affronts the Timbisha’s way of life, is disrespectful to cultural beliefs, and constitutes an environmental justice infringement on the rights of a sovereign nation,” the letter said.

The documents amount to the state staking its legal ground to oppose the Yucca Mountain project. They came on the last day of an environmental study comment period ahead of yet-to-

be-scheduled licensing hearings and amid calls from some in Congress to restart the long-mothballed project.

Commission officials didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

More than three decades of study yielded findings that water seeping through tunnels containing some 77,000 tons of spent nuclear reactor waste could become

contaminated and slowly migrate into groundwater west along the normally dry course of the ancient Amargosa River, toward Death Valley in California.

An NRC staff report released in August characterized the risk as small. It said someone drinking 2 liters of groundwater a day would accumulate less radiation than from natural and background sources.

Some area residents told commission officials during hearings in Amargosa Valley in September that they fear contamination and the stigma of being labeled a nuclear dumping ground.

“They’re writing us off as a sacrifice zone,” said Ed Goedhart, a former dairy farmer and Republican state lawmaker. “I, for one, am not OK with it.”

Others said they want plans for the Yucca Mountain project finally put be-

fore the agency for a yes or no decision.

“As the local jurisdiction most affected by the program, we and eight other Nevada counties have asked that the license application process be finalized,” said Dan Schinhofen, a Nye County commissioner. “As long as the science determines a repository to be safe, we support the effort.”

The idea of burying the nation’s nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas was first proposed in 1982. Congress approved the site in 2002, over the state’s objection.

Work stopped in 2010 after President Barack Obama was elected, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada became Democratic majority leader, and Congress shut off funding.

Officials say a full slate of licensing hearings could take at least three years.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Trump calls for registering US Muslims

By JULIE PACE AND JILL COLVIN ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential rivals rushed Friday to condemn Donald Trump’s support for a government database to track Muslims in the United States, drawing a sharp distinction with the Republican front-runner on a proposal also deemed unconstitutional by legal experts.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called the prospect of a registry “abhorrent.” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said the idea was “unnecessary” and not something Americans would support. And Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has largely avoided criticizing Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, said, “I’m not a fan of government registries of American citizens.”

“The First Amendment protects religious liberty, and I’ve spent the past several decades defending the religious liberty of every American,” Cruz told reporters in Sioux City, Iowa.

The rebukes came after Trump voiced support for a mandatory database for Muslims in the U.S. while campaigning Thursday in Iowa. The real estate mogul was asked by an NBC News reporter about the prospect of a database and whether Muslims would be required to be registered. In a video posted by the network,

Trump said, “They have to be.”

Asked whether Muslims would have to register at mosques, Trump said, “Different places. You sign up at different places. But it’s all about management.”

On Friday, Trump said on Twitter that he didn’t suggest creating a database but instead was answering a question from a reporter.

However, he did not disavow the prospect of a registry on social media or at an event Friday morning.

Trump has also voiced support for closing certain mosques as a way to contain the terror threat in the U.S. His comments followed the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, elevating fears in the U.S. and prompting calls for new restrictions on refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.

The U.S. House passed legislation this week essentially barring Syrian and Iraqi refugees from the United States. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has slotted the bill for possible Senate consideration, though it’s unclear whether the chamber could get enough votes to override a threatened veto

by President Barack Obama.

The Republican candi-

Photo by Travis Dove/New York Times | AP

Donald Trump speaks at a forum held at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., Friday. dates’ unified criticism of Trump was striking. His rivals have vacillated in their handling of other inflammatory comments from him, wary of alienating his supporters while increasingly concerned that he’s maintained his grip on the GOP race deep into the fall.

Civil liberties experts said a database for Muslims would be unconstitutional on several counts, while the libertarian Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro said the idea also violates basic privacy and liberty rights.

Marci Hamilton, a Yeshiva University legal expert on religious liberty, said requiring Muslims to register appears to be a clear violation of the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom.

“What the First Amendment does and what it

should do is drive the government to use neutral criteria,” Hamilton said. “You can use neutral criteria to identify terrorists. What it can’t do is engage in one-religion bashing. That won’t fly in any court.”

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League in New York called Trump’s proposal “deeply troubling and reminiscent of darker days in American history when others were singled out for scapegoating.”

Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged all Republican candidates to disavow Trump’s comments. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called Trump’s words “outrageous and bigoted.”

“This is shocking rhetoric,” Clinton wrote on Twitter. “It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this

country.”

Several did just that.

“You’re talking about internment, you’re talking about closing mosques, you’re talking about registering people, and that’s just wrong,” Bush said CNBC. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said creating a national registry based on religion and closing mosques “will do nothing to keep us safer and shows a lack of understanding on how to effectively prevent terrorist attacks.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said requiring people to register with the federal government because of their religion “strikes against all that we have believed in our nation’s history.” Kasich had faced criticism following the Paris shooting for saying he would set up an agency with a mandate to promote what he called “Judeo-Christian values” overseas to counter Islamist propaganda.

Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has challenged Trump’s lead in the GOP primary, has also made eyebrow-raising statements about Muslims following the Paris attacks.

“If there’s a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you’re probably not going to assume something good about that dog,” Carson said Thursday.

“It doesn’t mean you hate all dogs, but you’re putting

your intellect into motion.”

Asked Friday about a registry for Muslims, Carson said the U.S. should have a database on “every foreigner who comes into this country,” but he rejected the idea of tracking U.S. citizens based on their religion.

“One of the hallmarks of America is that we treat everybody the same,” he said.

“If we’re just going to pick out a particular group of people based on their religion, based on their race, based on some other thing, that’s setting a pretty dangerous precedent.”

The first reference to a database came in Trump’s interview with Yahoo News published Thursday in which he did not reject the idea of requiring Muslims to register with the government or giving them special identification cards noting their religion.

“We’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely,” Trump told Yahoo.

According to Yahoo, Trump also suggested he would consider warrantless searches, saying, “We’re going to have to do things that we never did before.”

Trump was pressed on the database by NBC Thursday evening. Later that night, Trump told reporters he “never responded” to the questions from Yahoo and ignored follow-ups about his remarks to NBC.

7-year-old found dead Midwest’s first storm

By BRUCE SCHREINER

By JAMES NORD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. — A man was arrested Friday and charged with murder and sex crimes in the death of a 7-year-old Kentucky girl whose body was found in a creek minutes after she disappeared during a football game.

In addition to murder, Timothy Madden, 38, of Scottsville, is charged with kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, Trooper B.J. Eaton said at a news conference at the Kentucky State Police post in Bowling Green.

Madden is charged in the death of Gabriella Doolin.

Madden was taken in handcuffs from the post to a squad car just before the news conference began. A reporter asked if he had anything to say, and Madden replied, “I’m innocent.”

Eaton said Madden would be held in the Barren County jail. Post commander Capt. John Clark would not release any other details about Madden, citing the ongoing investigation.

The girl’s father had harsh words on his Facebook page posted Friday morning.

“This animal should not

PIERRE, S.D. — Millions of people will feel the effects — to varying degrees — of the first significant wintry storm of the season, which is forecast to bring up to a foot of snow to parts of the Midwest.

Iowa and northern Illinois are bracing for some of the largest snow totals, but several states are under a winter storm warning or watch, the National Weather Service said Friday.

The storm system is moving east and will last through Saturday evening when it tails through Michigan, according to Richard Otto, lead forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center.

The snowfall is “right on track” for the season, Otto said. But don’t look for it to be the picturesque light, fluffy snow that often occurs in the dead of winter, he said — much of it will be wet and heavy.

Already, southern South Dakota saw significant snowfall and poor traveling conditions Fri-

Photo by Sky Walker/WKRN | AP

In this image taken from video, Kentucky State Police escort Timothy Madden from State Police Post 3, Friday, in Bowling Green, Ky. be walking and breathing,” Brian Doolin wrote.

At the family’s whiteframe home outside Scottsville, several vehicles were parked in the yard. A trampoline was set up in the backyard, a basketball goal in the front, and a cat and kittens were on the front step. A woman answering the door declined to comment and asked a reporter to leave.

Gabbi, as she was called, was reported missing about 7:40 p.m. Saturday by her mother while they were at a football game at Allen County-Scottsville High School in south-central Kentucky. Her body was found about 25 minutes later in a

creek in a wooded area behind the school.

The girl was playing with other children during the game, Eaton said. The creek where her body was found was just a few hundred yards from the football field.

An autopsy conducted Sunday ruled the girl’s death a homicide. State police have not released other details, including the manner of death.

Doolin’s funeral was held Thursday at Scottsville Baptist Church. Members of the Scottsville community lined the streets holding pink and blue balloons to release as the hearse carrying her body drove by.

Photo by Brandon Pollock/The Courier | AP

A pedestrian crosses Lafayette Street through the first snowfall of the season in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, Friday. day morning, with a foot or more of snow expected by the time it tapers off.

Tractor-trailers pulled off slow-moving interstates to park for the day, said Bret Brown, a cashier at Roadway Express truck stop in Sioux Falls.

“A lot of people complaining about it, nobody wants to be out in it,” he said.

“Interstates are down to 10 miles per hour, the side streets are blocked and there’s a lot of cars in ditches everywhere.”

In central and eastern Iowa, road conditions were deteriorating around the state Friday evening as they became covered in

snow or ice. Six to 10 inches of was expected.

Meanwhile, northern Illinois was under a winter storm warning, with six to 10 inches of snow expected. The weather service said it’ll start off as rain and snow early Friday night, but turn into wet snow through Saturday afternoon.

Utility company ComEd said it was increasing staffing to make sure crews are ready to respond to power outages.

The weather service also issued a winter storm watch for northern Indiana, saying snow accumulations of 4 to 7 inches are possible.

OBAMA Continued from Page 1A Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the states on November 9.

Eleven days later, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said in the court filing that allowing those rulings to stand would force millions of people “to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families.”

The future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally has been much discussed by Republican and

Democratic presidential candidates.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has pledged to go further than Obama to protect large groups of immigrants from deportation.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has proposed deporting all people who are living in the U.S. illegally, an idea embraced by some GOP candidates and dismissed by others.

Obama said he was spurred to act on his own

by Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive immigra-

tion legislation. An earlier program that is not being challenged, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, shields immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. More than 720,000 young immigrants have been granted permission under that program to live and work legally in the United States.

Immigrant advocacy groups and unions rallied outside the court Friday to applaud the administration’s action. But they also took aim at Republican

presidential candidates.

“Immigrant-bashing and hate-mongering is not going to get them elected in 2016,” said Jaime Contreras, vice president of the Service Employees International Union affiliate 32BJ SEIU. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas predicted in a statement that his state ultimately would prevail in its challenge and called on Obama to work with Congress rather than “defend an unconstitutional executive order as he winds

down his time in office.”

The White House also has shifted its enforcement actions to focus on criminals, those who pose a threat to national security or public safety, and recent border-crossers.

The change means that people who are here illegally but who are not otherwise violating the law are less likely to face deportation.

About 231,000 people were deported in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to inter-

nal government documents obtained by The Associated Press.

That was the smallest number since 2006 and a 42 percent drop since a record high of more than 409,000 in 2012.

But Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said immigration agents in parts of the country continue to undertake deportation proceedings against people who would be protected by Obama’s plan.

Arizona town of Sonoita.

According to Cuellar’s office, Honduran police detained five Syrian men believed to be headed into the U.S. “It makes sense that we work with Mexico, Central America and Canada to better secure our border,” Cuellar said.

He went on to thank the Honduran and Mexican government for their cooperation “in keeping both of our nations safe.”

The Border Patrol said in

a statement that it “checked their identities against numerous law enforcement and national security related databases” and found no “derogatory information” about the individuals apprehended in Laredo. They remain in federal custody.

However, the recent arrivals appear to stand a reasonable chance of staying in the country, at least for a little while.

(TZT staff reporter Gabriela A. Treviño contributed to this report.)

SYRIANS Continued from Page 1A tion announced earlier this year that the number of people invited to move to the U.S. as refugees would be increased to 85,000 in the coming year, including about 10,000 Syrians. That program is now under scrutiny, and the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved GOP-backed legislation on Thursday that puts up new hurdles for Syrian and Iraqi refugees trying to come to the U.S. Overwhelmingly, House Democrats voted against

the bill. Cuellar voted in favor.

“The devastation and sheer terror that women, children and families are facing in war-ravaged Syria is a world humanitarian crisis that we cannot simply turn our backs to. However, I believe we do need a very tough screening process for any Syrian refugee who wants to come to the United States and that is why … I voted in favor of the American SAFE Act,” Cuellar said in a news re-

lease. “This bill requires that, in addition to Department of Homeland Security screening, the FBI ensure that each individual receives a background investigation before admission to the U.S.”

Border apprehensions More than 145,000 people from countries other than Mexico were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2015 federal bud-

get year that ended Sept. 30.

The overwhelming majority was from Central America, though five were from Syria. Border Patrol agents apprehended 14 Syrians in federal fiscal year 2014.

The Syrians turned themselves over to authorities in Texas one day after the Border Patrol in Arizona caught five Pakistanis and an Afghan trying to sneak into the country. The six were apprehended along with two smugglers accompanying the group near the

International

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Gunmen attack in Mali kills at least 20

By BABA AHMED ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAMAKO, Mali — Heavily armed Islamic extremists seized dozens of hostages Friday at a Radisson hotel, but Malian troops, backed by U.S. and French special forces, swarmed in to retake the building and free many of the terrified captives. At least 20 people, including one American, were killed along with two gunmen during the more than seven-hour siege, a Malian military commander said.

An extremist group led by former al-Qaida commander Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility for the attack in the former French colony, and many in France saw it as a new assault on their country’s interests a week after the Paris attacks.

While French President Francois Hollande did not link the violence at the Radisson Blu hotel with last week’s bloodshed in Paris, he declared that France would stand by the West African country.

“Once again, terrorists want to make their barbaric presence felt everywhere, where they can kill, where they can massacre. So we should once again show our solidarity with our ally, Mali,” he said.

Gunfire continued throughout the day at the hotel, which is popular with airline crews and other foreigners doing business in the capital of Bamako, but the shooting had stopped after dark.

Officials would not confirm that the entire complex had been secured by nightfall, although the only activity was firefighters carrying bodies to waiting ambulances.

Malian state television said late Friday night that the government had announced a 10-day state of emergency beginning at midnight as well as a three-day period of national mourning beginning Monday.

Army Cmdr. Modibo Nama Traore said late Friday that 20 people had been killed, including an official with Mali’s gendarmerie. In addition, he said five people were injured including two police officers.

The U.S. State Department said one American was among the dead, though it did not identify the victim out of respect for the

Photo by Harouna Traore | AP

Mali troops, center, try to control a crowd of onlookers near the Radisson Blu hotel, after an attack by gunmen on the hotel in Bamako, Mali, Friday. Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades stormed the luxury Radisson Blu hotel. family.

Though Traore had earlier said as many as 10 attackers were involved, he said Friday night that there may have been only two gunmen, both of whom were killed. A police officer at the hotel displayed photos of the two dead gunmen, their bodies riddled with bullets.

The siege began when assailants shouting “God is great!” in Arabic burst into the complex and opened fire on the hotel guards, Traore said earlier on Friday. An employee who identified himself as Tamba Diarra said by phone amid the attack that the militants used grenades.

About 170 guests and employees were initially taken hostage, but some apparently escaped or hid in the sprawling, cream-and-pink hotel that has 190 rooms and a spa, outdoor pool and ballroom. They included visitors from France, Belgium, Germany, China, India, Canada, Ivory Coast and Turkey.

“It was more like a real terrorist attack,” said U.N. Mission spokesman Olivier Salgado. “The intention was clearly to kill, not to necessarily have people being hostage.”

Traore said 126 people had been escorted to safety, and that at least one guest reported the attackers instructed him to recite verses from the Quran as proof of his Muslim faith before he was allowed to leave.

As people ran for their lives

along a dirt road, troops in full combat gear pointed the way to safety, sometimes escorting them with a protective arm around the shoulder. Local TV showed heavily armed troops in what appeared to be a lobby.

Monique Kouame Affoue Ekonde of Ivory Coast said she and six other people, including a Turkish woman, were escorted out by security forces as the gunmen rushed toward the fifth or sixth floor. Ekonde said she had been “in a state of shock.”

Malian special forces went “floor by floor” to free hostages, Traore said.

U.S. special forces assisted, said Col. Mark Cheadle of the U.S. Army’s Africa Command. At least six Americans were evacuated from the hotel, Cheadle said. U.S. officials were trying to verify the location of all American citizens in Mali.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price praised the bravery of the Malian, French, U.N. and U.S. security personnel who responded, adding that Washington was prepared to assist Mali’s government as it investigates “this tragic terrorist attack.”

A unit of French soldiers was sent to Bamako in support of Malian security forces, the French Defense Ministry said. About 40 special police forces also played a supporting role, France’s national gendarme service said.

The U.N. mission sent security

Parisians honor the dead one week later

By KARL RITTER AND LORNE COOK ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS — A week after the deadliest attacks on France in decades, shellshocked Parisians honored the 130 victims with candles and songs Friday, knowing that at least one suspect is still at large and fearing that other militants could be slipping through Europe’s porous borders.

Having established how the attacks against a soccer stadium, sidewalk cafes and a rock concert were carried out, investigators were still piecing together details on the assailants and how they converged in the French capital.

Prosecutors said Friday that they had determined through fingerprint checks that two of the seven attackers who died in the bloodshed had entered Europe through Greece on Oct. 3.

Previously they had said only one attacker had been registered in Greece, an entry point for many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in Europe. That man carried a Syrian passport naming him as Ahmad Al-Mohammad, though it’s unclear whether it was authentic.

The five other attackers who died had links to France and Belgium. One of the seven dead has not been identified, while a manhunt is underway for one suspect who escaped, Salah Abdeslam, 26. French police stopped Abdeslam the morning after Friday’s attacks at the Belgian border but then let him go.

French police official Jean-Marc Falcone, speaking on France-Info radio, said he was unable to say if Abdeslam, whose brother, Brahim, blew himself up in the attacks, could be back on French territory.

The suspected ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a pre-dawn raid

Photo by Pierre Terdjman/New York Times

A makeshift memorial at Rue de Charonne one week after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, Friday.

Wednesday on an apartment in the Paris suburb of SaintDenis, along with Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old woman who said she was his cousin. Prosecutors said Friday that a third person was killed in the raid but did not release the identity.

They also said Aitboulahcen had not blown herself up with a suicide vest, as initially believed, which suggests the body parts collected after the raid belonged to the third, unidentified, person.

Meanwhile in Brussels, European interior and justice ministers vowed to tighten border controls to make it easier to track the movements of jihadis with European passports traveling to and from warzones in Syria.

“We must move swiftly and with force,” French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. “Europe owes it to all victims of terrorism and those who are close to them.”

Cazeneuve said the 28-nation bloc must move forward on a long-delayed system for collecting and exchanging airline passenger information, data he said is vital “for tracing the return of foreign fighters” from Syria and Iraq.

Highlighting how easily some Islamic militants seem to be able to move in and

out of Europe, French officials say they don’t know when and how Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian of Moroccan descent, entered France. They had believed he was in Syria until receiving a tipoff Monday that he was in France.

Abaaoud was wanted in Belgium where he had been convicted in absentia of recruiting foreign fighters for the Islamic State group and kidnapping his brother, who he persuaded to join him in Syria at age 13.

According to Moroccan news site Le360.ma, which has close ties to the royal palace, it was Morocco that gave the French information about Abaaoud’s whereabouts. France has only said it got the information from a country outside Europe.

On Friday French President Francois Hollande met Jordan’s King Mohammed VI and thanked the monarch for “Morocco’s assistance in the wake of last Friday’s attacks.”

Marking a week since the carnage, some Parisians lit candles and paid tribute to the victims with silent reflection.

“I’m still reeling, because these are the neighborhoods where we young people go out a lot, places we know well,” said student Sophie Garcon.

reinforcements and medical aid to the scene, said U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. A few U.N. staff were in the hotel but they got out safely, he added.

Reflecting the chaos surrounding the siege, various death tolls were reported during the day.

French Foreign Minister JeanYves Le Drian said 19 people died — 18 in the hotel and one Malian soldier killed in the fighting.

A U.N. official had earlier said initial reports put the number of dead at 27, but that different casualty figures have been reported and the organization is working with authorities to get an exact total. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was still ongoing.

Throughout the siege, officials in various countries from Europe to Asia sought to find out whether their citizens staying at the hotel were safe.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, citing its diplomats in Mali, reported about 10 Chinese citizens took shelter in their rooms, and all were safe.

Also reported safe were 12 members of an Air France flight crew and five from Turkish Airlines. All 20 guests from India were evacuated as well, said Vikas Swarup, spokesman for India’s Foreign Ministry.

The attack was perceived by many in France, particularly in the government, as a new attack on its interests.

An extremist group that two years ago split from al-Qaida’s North Africa branch and led by Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility in a recorded statement carried by Al-Jazeera. The group said it wanted fighters freed from Mali’s prisons and a halt on attacks against northern Malians.

The group, known as the Mourabitounes, was formed in 2013 after Belmoktar left al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and joined with a Malian militant group. The statement said the Mourabitounes had attacked in coordination with the “Sahara Emirate” affiliated with al-Qaida.

The French military operation in Mali in 2013 against Islamic extremists who were holding the northern half of the country was the first of several foreign interventions that Hollande launched as president. Those interventions have prompted increased threats against France and its interests from extremist groups ranging from al-Qaida’s North African arm to the Islamic State group.

French news websites and allnews TV networks immediately switched from nearly nonstop coverage of the Paris attacks investigation and aftermath to the Bamako siege.

Jens David Ohlin, an international law expert at Cornell University, said France has “invested so much military energy in pushing the Islamic rebels out of Mali.”

“While Mali might not have the same emotional significance to the French as Paris does, it is certainly an important part of the French military strategy,” he added.

Northern Mali remains insecure and militant attacks have extended farther south this year, including Bamako. In March, masked gunmen shot up a Bamako restaurant popular with foreigners, killing five people.

France has 3,500 troops operating in Mali and four other countries in the Sahel region as part of a five-nation counterterrorism operation.

The Netherlands also has troops working with the U.N. mission.

According to the Dutch Defense Ministry, about 450 of its personnel are involved in the mission. Most of the Dutch force is based in Gao, but there are a few officers at the U.N. mission headquarters in Bamako.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Home values point to sharp wealth divide

By JOSH BOAK ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — It’s still possible in Boston for a mail carrier, an accountant and a Harvard-trained psychiatrist — basically, the crowd from “Cheers” — to live as neighbors.

That finding by the real estate brokerage Redfin makes the capital of Massachusetts a rarity at a time when neighborhoods in most U.S. cities are increasingly isolated from each other by income and home values.

Redfin analyzed home sales over the past 24 months in 20 major U.S. cities, breaking down the data by neighborhood. Many of the cities reflect home values that have outpaced wages over the past 15 years and contributed to a widening wealth gap among neighborhoods that mirrors a national trend.

San Francisco, for example, enjoys the benefits of tech fortunes, but its homes are largely unaffordable for the police officers, firefighters and teachers the city needs. And while housing in Baltimore seems affordable, low and unstable incomes there have depressed home ownership rates. Ribbons of highways have also ferried the middle class out of cities such as Detroit, leaving behind concentrations of poverty.

Redfin said its analysis is a first step in examining changes over time in neighborhoods and in economic mobility.

“Our argument is the shape of the American city is the shape of American life,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin.

“When the only time you meet

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP file

In this May 12, 2008 file photo, the "Painted Ladies," a row of historical Victorian homes, underscore the San Francisco skyline in a view from Alamo Square. someone wealthy is when you’re handing them a croissant, the likelihood that your kids are going to attend a good school and know how to pursue a career go down.”

More than half of Boston contains a mix of high-end and affordable homes, compared with a national average of 13 percent.

Boston’s most economically mixed neighborhoods tend to be centered around its Roxbury district, a section that has been predominantly working class, black and Latino in a city with a long history of racial and ethnic divisions. Its growing economic diversity reflects the changing character of Roxbury, where many middle-income homebuyers are settling after being priced out of other sections of Boston.

The trend has unfolded in Roxbury neighborhoods such as Highland Park and Egleston

Square. Real estate broker Christopher Buono said higher prices over the past five years in other areas of Boston have led more buyers into these neighborhoods. And the steady flow of students each year to the 35 colleges in Boston has made many homes attractive to investors seeking to rent them out.

Pockets of Roxbury were close to abandoned during the 1970s, said broker Deborah Bernat. But renovations and development have introduced condos and townhomes with such luxury features as gas fireplaces and balconies. The result has been a mixture of blue-collar residents with startup executives.

“Sustainable integration is the goal,” Bernat said. “It’s one of the things that I love about the neighborhood.”

To assess affordability, Redfin compared sales prices to median incomes. Other cities

with above-average levels of economic diversity include Denver, Seattle and Washington, D.C., which have benefited from an influx of educated workers and technology companies.

But high-tech can also widen the wealth gap. Almost all of San Francisco — the hub for the most prominent software and computer firms — consists of homes worth more than what a middle-income family there can afford. Other cities, such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, contain small clusters of wealthy neighborhoods along with large swaths of relatively low-priced homes, but many residents lack the stable income and savings to buy.

In some cases, the data suggest that better-off residents work in a city but live in the suburbs, so that only a small share of the city itself is economically diverse. A mix of

high-end and affordable housing exists, for example, in less than 10 percent of San Antonio, Memphis, Jacksonville, Detroit, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio.

Home values began to climb faster than incomes in late 1999.

Housing prices had long hewed closely to gains in average hourly earnings. But a gap developed between the two during the housing boom, narrowed slightly during the Great Recession and then widened again once the economy began to recover roughly six years ago.

The separation of neighborhoods by income has prevented children from progressing economically, according to research published last year by economists at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. Boston ranked fourth in upward mobility. By contrast, Jacksonville, Detroit, Indianapolis and Columbus each ranked toward the bottom.

Many families face financial obstacles to send their children to schools that could enhance their economic prospects. A minority of the country can afford to buy homes in ZIP codes with high-quality schools, according to a report released Thursday

by RealtyTrac, a real estate data company.

Homes are too expensive for average wage earners in 65 percent of ZIP codes with elementary schools where students performed above average on standardized tests. The median sales price for homes in ZIP codes with these schools was $411,573 — nearly double the median for homes in areas with lower-performing schools.

Sugar, corn industries settle sweetener spat

By BRIAN MELLEY ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — The sugar and corn industries ended their bitter billiondollar dispute over sweeteners Friday in a secret out-of-court settlement.

The deal midway through a trial in Los Angeles federal court put an end to dueling lawsuits that pitted sugar processors against the makers of high fructose corn syrup over losses each side blamed on efforts by their rival to win over consumers.

Sugar processors were seeking $1.5 billion in a false-advertising claim against corn refiners and agribusinesses giants Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill and other companies after they tried to rebrand their publicityplagued product as “corn sugar.”

Western Sugar Cooperative and other sugar processors said they lost money when corn refiners launched a “sugar is sugar” ad campaign that

stated, “Your body can’t tell the difference.”

Corn refiners and the companies countersued for $530 million, saying they lost that much after the sugar industry made false and misleading statements that included a comment that high fructose corn syrup was as addictive as crack cocaine.

They blamed the sugar industry for being behind the “junk science” that associated the product with diabetes and obesity.

The arch-rivals sugarcoated their rancor in a settlement statement that announced their commitments to “practices that encourage safe and healthful use of their products, including moderation in the consumption of table sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners.”

Attorneys on both sides refused to discuss terms of the settlement or whether any money would be exchanged.

Eric Rose, a spokesman for the sugar processors, said they “achieved a satisfactory settlement of the

Photo by Seth Perlman | AP file

This Aug. 30, 2011 file photo, farmer Jason Podany uses combine to harvest corn near Farmingdale, Ill. disputes in the lawsuit.”

Big Sugar and Big Corn have battled in the marketplace since the 1970s when high fructose corn syrup was introduced as a cheaper alternative to sugar.

The fortunes for corn began slipping when studies in the mid-2000s began connecting the product to health problems such as obesity.

Corn refiners launched the ad campaign to support its bid before the Food and Drug Administration to

change the name to “corn sugar.”

The FDA rejected the request in 2012, finding that sugar was a solid, dried and crystallized food, not syrup.

Although some consumers passionately favor one product over the other, science has determined they are nearly identical and are metabolized the same way, said Roger A. Clemens, a University of Southern California research professor of pharmacology

and pharmaceutical science.

Sugar is sucrose, which is half fructose, half glucose. High fructose corn syrup is typically 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.

The trial had presented a chance for jurors to weigh in on the vexing debate and side with one sweetener after years of dispute in the court of public opinion over the evils of both.

A big win by one side over the other could have had a broader impact on the food industry, the law and advertising.

Attorney Dan Herling, who was not involved in the case but has handled suits alleging false or misleading labeling or advertising of foods, said a jury verdict could have provided a model for lawyers looking to take on foods with genetically modified or non-organic ingredients.

“I would also imagine that people who come up with marketing campaigns would have to take a step back and say if we do this

not only how is the market going to react, but is it going to lead to a lawsuit,” Herling said.

Attorney Mark Lanier, who represented sugar processors, predicted before the trial that if he prevailed, other companies would the follow the likes of Hunt’s ketchup and Capri Sun juices and switch to sugar from high fructose corn syrup.

“I think both sides will get massive PR out of the win or the loss,” he said.

“Good PR or bad PR. Both sides have a lot hanging on it.”

The settlement essentially brings the case to a draw in the public eye.

The outcome was similar to one between the sugar industry and the makers of Splenda seven years ago.

Sugar processors alleged that McNeil Nutritionals engaged in misleading advertising for promoting the sweetener as a natural food product with the slogan “tastes like sugar because it’s made from sugar.”

Terms of that deal have never been disclosed.

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

MEXICO Continued from Page 1A authorities, and agreed to return to Mexico voluntarily, leaving his family behind, so his record would not be marred with a deportation.

The 49-year-old is keeping his fingers crossed that when his oldest turns 21 next year, the young man will be able to request legal residency for his father and reunite the family.

But he’s not banking on being allowed to return legally, and said he won’t try to sneak into the U.S. The border has become too dangerous since he last crossed in 1994, and so he is building a life in Mexico.

Thanks to his work experience in Atlanta, where he rose to being a

supervisor at a company that installs fire alarms and sprinkler systems, he landed a job building oil platforms for Pemex. Now he sends his family $200 weekly from his job in Tampico to support them in the United States.

“It’s weird, right?” he said. “People sometimes ask me, how is it that instead of money being sent to you here, you’re sending money from here to over there? But, well, they need it more than me. I’m living here alone.”

——— When Rodrigo Quiroz got word his 79-year-old mother was dying, he hopped on a bus in Phoenix and rushed back to Mexico. He talked to her by phone on his way, but

ARRESTED Continued from Page 1A bu driven by Ramirez was the one loading up immigrants Homeland Security Investigations special agents responded to investigate the smuggling attempt. Ramirez opted to speak to them, records state.

“Francisco Javier Ramirez stated he was to be paid $120 per person to pick up illegal immigrants near the race track

by Webb/Zapata County

line. He stated he was to be paid by a childhood friend, a known (human) and narcotics smuggler in Laredo,” states the complaint.

Ramirez stated he got scared and sped off when he saw a Border Patrol unit while loading the immigrants into the Malibu, records state.

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

she died before he was able to catch another bus to his hometown of Culiacan.

“I never got to see her alive again,” he said.

At first, the 43-year-old planned to continue his life in Arizona, where he worked for seven years in construction and picking melons and watermelons.

He hired a smuggler. But after the guide abandoned the group outside of the Mexican border town of Tecate, he realized he no longer had it in him to chase dollars.

“My mother’s death really made me think,” he said. “I want to be near my family. I don’t want to go back to the United States anymore. There’s work here too.”

A Tijuana shelter is helping him find work.

His wife may join him there after their 17-yearold daughter graduates from high school in Culiacan.

He misses watching the Diamondbacks play, but said he can do without the stress of living illegally.

——— Lost in the Arizona desert, Saul Solis ate the fruit of the prickly pear and cut open other cactus to stay alive.

On the ninth day, the 40year-old could not stand.

It took all his strength to wave a mirror he had, sending up a glint of light with the hope it would be spotted. He heard a helicopter circling before he

passed out.

When he woke, he had an oxygen mask on and was surrounded by Border Patrol agents. He spent two days in the hospital before he was sent across the border to Mexicali.

“I felt like God gave me a second chance, so now that I’m back, I want to live here,” he said.

Solis learned to remodel homes during his 19 years in the United States, which ended abruptly when he got picked up in an immigration raid outside a Home Depot in Tacoma, Washington. Now he hopes those skills will translate into work in Tijuana. His brother, still in Washington, plans to send him his tool set.

————— Jose Arellano Correa, 41, always felt it was too risky to take his wife and children to the United States. He spent a decade working in restaurants in Los Angeles and in New Jersey, but says he never adapted, and often felt discriminated against for being Mexican.

In 2005, he rejoined his family in Mexico City, where he now works as a taxi driver and has no regrets.

“My mother was sick, my kids were sad and no amount of money is worth such sadness,” he said.

“The only way I’d go back now is legally. And if I could go, I would want to work and be able to come back to see my family.”

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors NCAA ATHLETICS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Frogs stay focused TCU still has a chance at Big 12 title

By JOHN TRANCHINA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Ron Jenkins | AP

TCU’s Trevone Boykin will be a game-time decision this Saturday against Oklahoma after playing just one quarter last week.

NORMAN, Okla. — The Oklahoma Sooners are focusing on their game this weekend against TCU, trying to ignore the discussion about the College Football Playoff ’s perceived bias against Big 12 teams.

That’s because the No. 7 Sooners (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 7 CFP) know they need to defeat No. 11 TCU (9-1, 6-1, No. 18 CFP) at home on Saturday to have any chance of claiming the Big 12 Championship or sneaking into the playoff.

Oklahoma is coming off an impressive 44-34 win over then-No. 6 Baylor last week.

“Our focus is obviously on another excellent team coming in here with one loss,” said OU coach Bob Stoops. “I

QB situation unclear for Texas A&M

guess it’s recognized what we did a week ago.

Going on the road and beating a top-six team in the country by double digits, says something.

We’ll see if we can play well again this week and say even more.”

With a visit to No. 4 Oklahoma State looming next week, Oklahoma has a tough road ahead.

But if the Sooners can win out, they hope to earn a spot in the top four.

“The obvious part for us is we have to play well these last two weeks,” Stoops said. “We have opportunities, but the only way anything happens for us is if we win this week. Then, there will be more to talk about after that.

We’ve done all we can to play well and put ourselves to be one of the

See TCU PAGE 2B

By CHIP CIRILLO

By PAT EATON-ROBB ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE — Texas A&M looked like a Southeastern Conference contender after winning its first five games then a recent slide dropped the Aggies out of contention.

Quarterback issues and run defense have been the biggest problems for Texas A&M (7-3, 3-3 SEC West), which has dropped three of its last five games heading into Saturday night’s matchup with Vanderbilt (4-6, 2-4) in the Commodores’ home finale.

Kyler Murray, Kyle Allen and Jake Hubenak battled for the starting job at quarterback this week after the coaching staff opened the competition back up.

Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said he would announce a starter shortly before the start of the

STORRS, Conn. — No. 13 Houston has its sights set on winning the American Athletic Conference championship, completing an undefeated season and getting a New Year’s Day Bowl bid.

But none of that will be possible if the Cougars don’t first win Saturday at UConn (5-5, 3-3 American).

The Huskies are at home, coming off a bye week and needing one win to become bowl eligible for the first time since the 2010 season.

Houston coach Tom Herman said he’s told his team that this has all the makings of a trap game and to prepare accordingly.

“This is the part of the season where you don’t take your foot off

See AGGIES PAGE 2B

Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen battled with Kyler Murray and Jake Hubenak for the starting job this week.

Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman leads the nation in yards receiving per game and his 20 touchdown grabs.

Bears have Cowboys’ full attention

By CLIFF BRUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS

STILLWATER, Okla. — Baylor stands in the way of perhaps the biggest Bedlam matchup ever.

Rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will face off next week in a matchup that could vault the winner into the College Football Playoff. For the stakes to be that high, No. 4 Oklahoma State (10-0, 7-0 Big 12, No. 6 CFP) will need to do its part and defeat a Baylor team that

is trying to bounce back from last week’s 44-34 loss to Oklahoma.

Baylor has Oklahoma State’s undivided attention. The 10th-ranked Bears (8-1, 5-1, No. 10 CFP) lead the nation in points and yards per game, and their defense has plenty of talent.

“It’s another chance for us to play well and show people around the country what we’re really about,” Oklahoma State

See BAYLOR PAGE 2B

Houston targeting win against UConn

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Photo by Orlin Wagner | AP

See COUGARS PAGE 2B

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. rolled his left ankle against Memphis and is likely to be a game-time decision against UConn.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS

Jets face test in stopping Watt

By DENNIS WASZAK JR. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Gary Landers | AP

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has 9 ½ sack this season, one behind the league leader. The Texans face the Jets Sunday.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Ryan Fitzpatrick saw enough of J.J. Watt last season with the Houston Texans to know why he’s such a force to be reckoned with.

The high motor. The athleticism. The desire to win every play in every game.

“He plays hard every snap in practice, too,” said Fitzpatrick, traded by the Texans to the New York Jets in March. “But it was a big difference when you’re wearing a red (nocontact) jersey and he’s not allowed to hit you versus

when you’re out there and the lights are on.”

That’s what Fitzpatrick faces Sunday when the Jets take on the Texans in Houston.

No longer is he protected by practice rules. It’s on New York’s offensive line to keep Watt away from Fitzpatrick.

And that’s certainly easier said than done. Ask just about any other team that has played against him.

“He’s one of a kind,” Jets right tackle Breno Giacomini said.

Watt was the AP Defensive Player of the Year last season after one dominant,

game-wrecking performance after another. The defensive end thinks he’s off to just as dynamic a start this season.

“You can go ahead and look at the stats,” Watt said during a conference call. “I mean, you tell me.”

Well, he has 9 1/2 sacks — one behind NFL leader Chandler Jones of New England — 42 tackles, five passes defensed and 28 quarterback hits. According to the Texans, Watt’s numbers through nine games are higher for sacks, total tackles and tackles for loss (16) than at this point last season.

That’s a lot of time being spent in the backfield making things miserable for quarterbacks and offensive coordinators.

“He’s a high-effort player,” said Giacomini, who will be largely responsible for keeping Watt away from Fitzpatrick. “His pad level is great. He does a good job of reading the tackle’s set. If you give him something, he’s going to take it.”

Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey acknowledged that the Texans have been moving Watt all

See WATT PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B

Zscores

McFadden questionable against Miami ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING — Dallas running back Darren McFadden is questionable against Miami with a groin injury, and his expected backups are both undrafted rookies with two combined carries this season.

McFadden was a limited participant in practice for the second straight day Friday after he wasn’t listed on the first injury report of the week Wednesday.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on his radio show that the team was being cautious with the oft-injured eighth-year player.

Rod Smith had two carries with Seattle before the Seahawks waived him and the Cowboys picked him up. Dallas signed Trey Williams off Wash-

Photo by Brian Blanco | AP

Dallas running back Darren McFadden is questionable against Miami with a groin injury. ington’s practice squad.

McFadden’s status could force Robert Turbin into action even though the fourth-year back has only been with the team since Wednesday.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

BAYLOR Continued from Page 1B quarterback Mason Rudolph said. “We’re playing a great team in Baylor. It’s a high-powered offense and a great defense, so it will be an awesome challenge. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to.”

The Cowboys are the league’s only unbeaten team, and they can clinch a share of the conference title Saturday. Baylor also still has a chance to win the conference.

“The way I can mathematically figure it, I think we’re still very much alive,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “It’s very hard to go undefeated in this league. We know that, and everyone else in the league knows it.”

Baylor quarterback Jarrett Stidham said the Bears have something to prove.

And a win against an unbeaten team on the road this late in the year would look awfully good on the Bears’ resume.

“I think we always have a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “That’s how it is here at Baylor. But we’re going to approach this week like we do every week. OSU is a great football team and a

Photo by Tony Gutierrez | AP

Baylor lost to Oklahoma last week and now takes on undefeated Oklahoma State one week before the Bedlam matchup. great program, and we know they’ll have a live crowd there in Stillwater.”

Here are some things to watch on Saturday: HANDLING OGBAH Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah ranks third nationally with 11 sacks. He has 15.5 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hurries. Left tackle Spencer Drango and his teammates will try to keep Ogbah away from Stidham, who is recovering from a back injury.

“He’s very good,” said Drango, a first-team AllAmerican last season. “He

leads the conference in sacks, so it’ll be a good challenge. I think he’ll switch sides a little bit. But he’s tall and disruptive in the backfield, so it’ll be a good challenge for us.”

COWBOYS QBs Oklahoma State plays two very different quarterbacks. Rudolph, the starter, is a 6-foot-4 sophomore pocket passer who has thrown for more than 3,000 yards this season. J.W. Walsh is a dual threat quarterback who plays mostly in short yardage and red zone situations. He has 10 rushing and 10 pass-

ing touchdowns.

BAYLOR BALANCE? Baylor statistically has one of the most balanced offenses in college football, but that hasn’t been the case the past few games.

After rushing for at least 276 yards in each of their first seven games, the Bears were held to 103 yards against Kansas State and 159 against Oklahoma.

They’ll need to do better to help slow Ogbah.

COLEMAN COMEBACK Baylor star receiver Corey Coleman leads the nation in yards receiving per game and his 20 touchdown grabs, but Oklahoma held him to three catches for 51 yards last week. He also failed to reach the end zone for the first time this season.

FRESHMAN JITTERS? Stidham was one of the nation’s top recruits coming out of high school, but Ogbah still sees a young player on film.

“You can tell he’s a true freshman,” Ogbah said.

“You can see in his eyes, he gets nervous, too. I know he doesn’t want to run, he’d rather sit in the pocket and throw the ball.”

WATT Continued from Page 1B around the defensive line, setting up largely over the right tackle and guard, but sometimes over the left tackle and even moving inside at times.

That creates an almost manic approach to the ingame planning, just making sure there’s a blocker on Watt before every snap.

There’s a lot of guesswork when a team has to play the percentages on where he usually lines up — but even that isn’t foolproof.

“He’s one of the premier

defensive players in the league, if not the premier defensive player in the league,” Gailey said. “We were talking about it the other day and he reminds me of the way we used to have to handle Howie Long — same type of player. You have to know where he is and you have to account for him every play.”

And not only on defense.

Watt has no catches this season on offense, but he caught three touchdown passes last season — and

the Jets know he could add that element to Houston’s goal-line attack at any time.

“We have to leave no stone unturned,” defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said.

Jets coach Todd Bowles played safety with Washington and San Francisco from 1986-93, and can’t recall anyone he played with or against in that era who compares to Watt.

“Before, when I watched football, he’s probably a faster version of Randy

White from the Cowboys,” Bowles said. “Maybe lighter, but probably faster.”

Bowles was then asked about Gailey’s comparison to Long, a Hall of Famer who was one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers with the Raiders from 1981-93.

“Howie had a motor as well,” Bowles said. “He may be a little more athletic than Howie and probably a little faster than Howie, but similar. You could go either way.”

Watt needs a half-sack to

AGGIES Continued from Page 1B game.

“I think all quarterbacks that have been in the game have had good moments and some bad moments,” Sumlin said. “What we’re looking for is consistency in position. Not here and there.”

Allen started the first seven games, but he threw three interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in an Oct. 17 loss to No. 3 Alabama (No. 2 College Football Playoff). Allen threw for just 88 yards the following week as the Aggies fell 23-3 to No. 25 Mississippi (No. 25 CFP).

That’s when Murray took over. The highly touted freshman is 2-1 as a starter after going 42-0 with three state titles at Allen High School in Texas. But Murray has thrown five interceptions in his last two games, including three in a 26-10 loss to Auburn on Nov. 7.

On defense, the Aggies have allowed 210.2 yards rushing per game, the highest average of any SEC team.

Vanderbilt will probably try to exploit that with running back Ralph Webb, who has averaged 107.3 yards rushing over his last four games.

“What Ralph told me (Tuesday), though, is he needs to jump in the ice

tub,” Commodores coach Derek Mason said. “He’s been going at it pretty hard and I think . he knows, where we’re at in the season, he’s got to continue to push.”

Here are some other things to watch when Vanderbilt hosts Texas A&M: DANGEROUS WEAPONS Texas A&M freshman Christian Kirk, the SEC’s second-leading receiver, has 63 catches for 826 yards and six touchdowns. Teammate Ricky Seals-Jones, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, is the only Aggie with at least three receptions in each of Texas A&M’s last six games. He has 37 catches for 473 yards and two TDs. “Those guys can put you on ESPN real quick,” Mason said. Kirk also is the nation’s leading punt return, as he averages 24.5 yards with two TDs. When Mason was Stanford’s defensive coordinator, he recruited Kirk.

SACK FACTORY Texas A&M has 28 sacks to rank third in the SEC. Defensive end Myles Garrett leads the SEC with 10 1/2 sacks, while Daeshon Hall is ninth with six. “It’s a sack factory,” Mason said. “If they get you behind the chains, they’re going to come after you and they’re good at it.”

record his fourth consecutive 10-sack season, and 3 1/2 would give him 70 for his career — in just five seasons.

“It’s not just him on that defense,” Giacomini said.

“The whole front seven is really good. That being said, he’s a hell of a player.”

Meanwhile, the Jets have allowed an NFL-low 10 sacks all season. Three of those came against Geno Smith, who filled in for Fitzpatrick after he injured his left thumb against Oak-

land on Nov. 1. Fitzpatrick, who had surgery last Friday to repair a torn ligament in his non-throwing hand, has shown some good ability to escape pressure and avoid sacks.

He could be on the run quite a bit Sunday — and without that red jersey on.

“I don’t know if he has any weaknesses,” Bowles said of Watt. “He’s just one of those rare players that doesn’t come around very often.”

COUGARS Continued from Page 1B

STRONG LEG Texas A&M’s Taylor Bertolet leads the nation with five field goals from 50-plus yards this season. He’s three short of tying the Football Bowl Subdivision single-season record of eight, set by Tennessee’s Fuad Reveiz in 1982. Tony Franklin holds the Texas A&M record with seven in 1976. Bertolet’s career long was a 55-yarder in a win over Mississippi State. He is 16 off 22 on field goals and has 185 career touchbacks on kickoffs.

RUSHING MILESTONE Webb ranks fourth in the SEC with 924 yards rushing, putting him 76 shy of the 1,000-yard plateau. Texas A&M’s Tra Carson is 136 yards from the 1,000 mark.

BLACK DEATH Vanderbilt’s defense, nicknamed “Black Death,” made two goal-line stands in a victory over Kentucky.

The Commodores rank fourth nationally in red zone defense. “We just go out there with a tough mentality that they’re not going to score on us,” said linebacker Darreon Herring, who is second on the team with 52 tackles. Vanderbilt safety Oren Burks is the SEC’s reigning defensive player of the week after intercepting two passes and scoring a touchdown against Kentucky.

the gas, you put it down even harder,” he said.

The Cougars come into the game with a big question at quarterback. Heisman hopeful Greg Ward Jr. rolled his left ankle against Memphis and is likely to be a game-time decision on Saturday.

Ward has thrown for 13 touchdowns and rushed for 16, leading an offense that averages almost 512 yards and 43.5 points a game.

Herman said if Ward is 100 percent healthy, he will play. If he’s not, the coaches will have to decide whether to rest him and go with Kyle Postman, who completed 21 of 33 passes against Memphis and engineered the comeback win.

“Is Greg Ward with a 70 percent ankle better than Kyle Postman? We’ll have to make that decision if that’s the case,” Herman said.

UConn is simply looking to find any offensive production. UConn’s defense scored the team’s only points in a 7-3 win at Tulane before the bye week. The Huskies rank 113th out of 127 FBS teams in total offense, averaging just under 337 yards and 19 points a game.

They will be facing a

defense that is giving up an average of just 20 points a game.

But the pressure on Saturday won’t be on the Huskies, who won just two games a year ago and already have exceeded a lot of expectations this season.

“It’s just so great for our football family to be at this point in November, talking about meaningful games,” coach Bob Diaco said. “We’ve taken the next step in our program, which is exciting.”

Here are some other things to watch for on Saturday: TURNOVERS Houston comes into the game leading the nation in turnover margin (plus-18), taking the ball away 27 times while losing it just nine times.

UConn, though, has a ball-hawking defense that has come up with 15 interceptions this season, six of them from sophomore cornerback Jamar Summers, including one that he returned 67-yards for a touchdown against Tulane.

RANKED FOES UConn has not fared well against ranked opponents, with just two wins in 25 previous games.

The Huskies lost their

only game against a ranked team this year, falling at then-No.22 Missouri, 9-3.

MARGIN OF VICTORY Houston has been beating opponents by an average of 23.3 points a game and is one of just five teams in the FBS who have beaten at least six opponents by 21 points or more.

SENIOR DAY-YOUTH MOVEMENT UConn will be honoring 16 seniors who will be playing their final home games for the Huskies. But just one senior, right guard Tyler Samra, starts for the UConn offense.

The Huskies have five seniors starting on defense: end Kenton Adeyemi, tackle Julian Campeni, safety Andrew Adams and linebackers Graham Stewart and Marquise Vann.

HERMAN’S FUTURE Herman could be in for a raise if he decides to stay at Houston. The school’s Board of Regents this week agreed to let the school’s chancellor negotiate an amended contract for Herman, who is in his first year as head coach. He has been mentioned as a possible candidate for several other head coaching jobs across the country.

TCU Continued from Page 1B teams in the top four.”

TCU, which hosts No. 10 Baylor on Nov. 27, could still claim the Big 12 title if it wins both remaining games, depending on what happens with Oklahoma State. However, getting into the playoff seems pretty remote.

“Our goals are the same every year,” said Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson. “Anything can happen. This group is not going to quit, no matter what everybody thinks the odds are.”

It’s still unclear if TCU quarterback Trevone Boy-

kin will play because of a sore ankle. Boykin, a legitimate Heisman contender, played just one quarter last week before hurting his ankle. Patterson called Boykin a gametime decision.

Some other things to watch for Saturday: SENIOR MOMENT Saturday is “Senior Night” for the Sooners, as they play their final home game of the season. For some, it can be an emotional ceremony. “It’ll definitely be something that will be on all of our minds,” said center Ty

Darlington. “It’s the last time to play on Owen Field. It’s going to be bittersweet for sure.” Stoops said: “It’s always tough for me. You become so attached to all your players.

To know they’re on their way out is always a little bit emotional.”

INJURY WOES The Horned Frogs aren’t sure if All-Big 12 center Joey Hunt will play because of an undisclosed ailment. They’re already without top receiver Josh Doctson, who is sidelined with an injured wrist.

AIR RAID DISPLAY Sooners QB Baker Mayfield has played his way into Heisman consideration, especially after completing 24 of 34 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 76 yards and another TD, against Baylor last week.

On the season, he ranks third in the nation in completion percentage (70.2), second in yards per passing attempt (10.0), and second in efficiency rating (183.9). “It feels pretty good,” Mayfield said of the Heisman talk. “If we continue to play well, that

means your quarterback is going to get some recognition.”

GREEN DAY TCU running back Aaron Green piled up 177 yards rushing last week on 30 carries, both career highs, and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 973 rushing yards this season, one more than Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine. Averaging 5.4 yards per carry, Green should become TCU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Ed Wesley in 2010.

PERINE ROLLING Perine, after gaining 1,713 yards last year as a

freshman, had a slower start to this season, but has been on a roll of late.

Following his performance of 28 rushes for 166 yards and two touchdowns last week against Baylor, Perine has amassed 552 yards and nine touchdowns over the last four games (138-yard average). “He’s such an exceptional runner,” Stoops said. “To go with the power, you have the speed and such great movement for a guy that big. His success really open up a lot of other options offensively.”

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Dear Heloise: In a few days, I will have our KITTEN SPAYED. The doctor usually clips the ear to identify that the kitten has been spayed. I do not want to mar her and would like to know if there is an indelible ink of some kind that I can mark on her paw for future identification. – Rose Ann in Houston Hi, Rose Ann! Check with your veterinarian. The doctor might tattoo the animal on her belly, if you request, or the medical history of the animal can be recorded in a microchip.

Normally, doctors who work for rescue groups clip the ear of feral cats when doing TNR (trap, neuter, return) to control the stray cat population. – Heloise IN THE ’NECK’ OF TIME Dear Heloise: My husband used to have a problem with "ring around the collar." I got tired of scrubbing his shirt collars and using lots of expensive pretreaters.

(Heloise here:

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Cheap hair shampoo works to release this type of stain.)

I’ve come to realize that asking him to scrub his neck in the shower has gone a long way toward ending this problem. So simple! – Georgia in Pennsylvania Yes, so simple! Tackling laundry stains should be a family affair. Educating everybody on laundry stinks and stains can save time and money.

Georgia, here are some items to stash in the laundry room to make washday even easier: * A plastic mesh scrubber to clean the lint trap. * A laundry marker to label clothes. * Baking soda. Throw in a cupful to boost cleaning power and to freshen a load.

In fact, baking soda is my tried-and-true go-to for so many cleaning jobs around the house! I’ve used and experimented with baking soda for my long tenure of writing this column, and I’ve written an entire pamphlet chock-full of baking-soda hints, recipes and howtos– Heloise

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015