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US-MEXICO BORDER
MISS TEXAS TEEN USA
Rio Bravo gunbattle GEIS
GLORIA
GUTIERREZ
HOWARD
Two community police officers, five gunmen die ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said attackers killed four members of a civilian police patrol in the turbulent southern state of Guerrero, while two city police officers and five gunmen died in a series of gunbattles in the northern border town of Rio Bravo. The prosecutors’ office in Guerrero said late Thursday that seven members of a community police force were attacked as they patrolled the
streets of the city of Tixtla, which is home to the teachers college that had 43 of its students vanish more than a year ago after being detained by municipal police in a nearby city. Four members of the vigilantestyle community force died in the attack. The community police are civilians allowed to carry weapons and defend their towns in many parts of rural Mexico where official police forces are mistrusted. They have often clashed with organized crime
gangs. The attackers have not been identified, but residents have said two drug gangs appear to be fighting over turf in the area. On Friday, officials in the northern border state of Tamaulipas said two police officers and five suspected gunmen died in at least three gunbattles in Rio Bravo, which on the Texas border near McAllen. Two confrontations occurred late Thursday when gunmen attacked police patrols in the town, killing two officers and
wounding a female officer. Her injuries are not life-threatening. A bystander was also hit by gunfire and was listed in stable condition. The officers returned fire and killed two suspects while other attackers fled, authorities said. Gunmen later opened fire on state police in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, and three suspected attackers were killed, officials said. The area has been the scene of turf battles between rival factions of the Gulf Cartel.
TEXAS
IMMIGRATION
More languages spoken at home
GROWING STREAM
MENDOZA
Five to appear in pageant Area teens to compete for title
By ALEXA URA AND JOLIE MCCULLOUGH By GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO
TEXAS TRIBUNE
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Immigrants from all over the world — China, Russia, India, Italy, Venezuela — gathered at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Austin on a recent Monday with a shared goal: learning English. In one classroom, they ran through pronunciation exercises, sounding out phrases like “sit on the seat” and “so you saw him.” In another, they learned vocabulary words related to apartment complexes. “Fire escape, playground, big screen TV, balcony,” they repeated after their teacher, stumbling over “recreation room” and “landlord.” As the state’s demographics shift, the number of languages spoken in Texas households is growing — up to 164 in the last U.S. Census count. So are the challenges associated with providing educational services to an increasingly diverse state population. Of the 23.7 million people in Texas who are five years of age or older, more than a third speak a language other than English at home. A large majority of those — almost 85 percent — speak Spanish. But changing immigration patterns are increasing the number of other foreign languages spoken in Texas households, from Vietnamese and Chinese to Tagalog, the language spoken in the Philippines. “In some ways it speaks to immigrant patterns,” said state demographer Lloyd Potter. “Most of the individuals who are
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across the southwest border. The increases come as Americans’ concerns about border security are heightened after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris raised fears that terrorists would try to sneak into the United States. And they are complicating the Obama administration’s efforts to reassure
Five area teens will compete for the title of Miss Texas Teen USA 2016 this weekend in Houston at the Hilton Post Oak Hotel. Eighty-four contestants from all over the state will be competing in the pageant. A Laredoan, Daniella Rodriguez, Miss Texas USA, will be hosting the show. Rodriguez previously won the title of Miss Texas Teen USA in 2013. Lauren Guzman, another local pageant winner, previously won Miss Teen Texas USA and Miss Texas USA 2014. A preliminary pageant will be held Saturday night. The final show will be held Sunday afternoon, where the girls will compete in interview, swimsuit and evening gown competitions. The winner will go on and compete at Miss Teen USA 2016 pageant to be held next year in the Bahamas. Contestants are under the direction of Laredo Pageant Production’s executive director, Roel Gonzalez, and director, Saul Gonzalez. The following local contestants will be participating: Vielka Gutierrez, 15, Miss Falcon Lake Teen USA Elba Mendoza, 16, Miss Laredo Teen USA Karla Howard, 17, Miss Del Rio Teen USA Andrea Gloria, 18, Miss
See BORDER PAGE 13A
See PAGEANT PAGE 13A
Photo by Ilana Panich-Linsman | New York Times
The Anzalduas Dam on the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas, Nov. 12. The numbers of migrants crossing the Rio Grande illegally have risen sharply in recent weeks, replaying scenes from the influx of Central American children and families in South Texas last year.
More migrants crossing border recently By JULIA PRESTON NEW YORK TIMES
MISSION, Texas — The numbers of migrants crossing the Rio Grande illegally have risen sharply in recent weeks, replaying scenes from the influx of Central American children and families in South Texas last year. Once again, smugglers are bringing hundreds of women and children each day to the Mexican banks of the river and sending them across in rafts. In a season when illegal crossings normally go down, “The numbers have started going the other way,” said Raul L. Ortiz, acting chief of the Border Patrol for the Rio Grande Valley. Since Oct. 1, official figures show, Border Pa-
The increases come as Americans’ concerns about border security are heightened after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris raised fears that terrorists would try to sneak into the United States. trol apprehensions of migrant families in this region have increased 150 percent over the same period last year, while the number of unaccompanied children caught by agents has more than doubled. The new flows here are smaller than the surge in the summer of 2014 but come after a year of declines in illegal crossings