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COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE
ZAPATA COUNTY
Three from Zapata indicted
Sales tax change Voters approve 2 percent increase, effective now By GABRIELA TREVIÑO THE ZAPATA TIMES
Citizens of Zapata voted to approve a county proposition in the Nov. 4 election, which called for a 2 percent sales tax in-
crease. The proposition read as follows on the election ballot: “Authorizing the creation of the Zapata County Assistance District and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of 2 per-
Group faces human smuggling charges
cent for the purpose of financing the operations of the district.” The county had tried to pass the proposition five years ago; however, citizens voted against the tax increase.
However according to Zapata’s Precinct 1 Commissioner Jose Vela, city officials campaigned for the proposition’s approval by letting voters know
See TAX PAGE 10A
AUSTIN
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Three Zapatans have been indicted after law enforcement said they caught them amid a human smuggling attempt on U.S. on Nov. 5. Misti Lea Grandstaff, Mario Humberto Garza III and Manuel Alejandro Garza were indicted Tuesday on human smuggling charges. Mario Garza is an alleged Valluco gang member. At about 3 p.m. Nov. 5, Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office investigators flagged down a Border Patrol agent, requesting help with a traffic stop on U.S 83. They told the agent they saw a driver, later identified as Grandstaff, picking up four people near the brush on U.S. 83. That information was relayed to a sheriff ’s deputy, who then pulled over the vehicle, a 1999 silver Pontiac Grand Prix. Grandstaff allegedly admitted to picking up the illegal immigrants and that she had been hired by Garza to transport four of them to Zapata for $100. Investigators had seen a red Ford Mustang usually driven by Garza following the Pontiac. Deputies pulled over the Mustang and detained three people: Garza, his brother Alejandro Garza and Javier Castro. Mario Garza later told authorities he was a member of the Valluco gang. In a post-arrest interview, Grandstaff claimed the Garzas were involved in the smuggling attempt. Mario Garza acted as the foot guide for the group of immigrants while Manuel Garza was the scout, she told law enforcement.
GUNMAN OPENS FIRE
Photo by Laura Skelding/Austin American-Statesman | TNS
FBI personnel photograph the federal courthouse and mark evidence at the scene on Friday where a gunman, identified by law enforcement sources as Larry Steve McQuilliams, targeted buildings in downtown Austin before being shot and killed by police Friday morning in Austin, Texas.
Shooter targeted Mexican Consulate, downtown area By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A gunman fired more than 100 rounds at downtown buildings in Austin and tried to set the Mexican Consul-
ate ablaze early Friday before he died during a confrontation with police, authorities said. Some of the targeted buildings are near the popular Sixth Street entertainment district, where bars close at 2 a.m.,
about the same time the shootings began. Thousands of people are typically on the street at that time, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said. “Many, many rounds were fired in downtown Austin,”
Acevedo said. “With all the people on the streets, we’re very fortunate. I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased.”
See GUNMAN PAGE 10A
RIO GRANDE
State changes role of game wardens to secure border By ASHER PRICE AND JEREMY SCHWARTZ AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN
Photo by Jay Janner/Austin-American Statesman | TNS
Game warden Capt. James Dunks carries an M4 Bushmaster carbine while patrolling the Rio Grande near Brownsville on Sept. 24.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — As part of Operation Strong Safety, the state’s latest effort to bolster the U.S. Border Patrol, hundreds of well-armed Texas game wardens, from as far away as the upper reaches of the Panhandle, have rotated through the Rio
Grande Valley, many of them patrolling the restive waterway in gunboats. The deployments are just the most recent way the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been drawn into border operations over the last decade. But an Austin American-Statesman investigation shows that the state’s efforts to boost border secu-
rity, coupled with an evolving role for Texas game wardens, might have weakened natural resource protection efforts in other parts of the state. Data obtained through the Texas Public Information Act show that the number of citations for traditional hunting, fishing and
See BORDER PAGE 11A