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UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
Benefits ending
Poll: Better year ahead
1.3 million losing unemployment benefits today
People are also anxious in what 2014 could bring
By BRADLEY KLAPPER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — More than 1 million Americans are bracing for a harrowing, postChristmas jolt as extended federal unemployment benefits come to a sudden halt this weekend, entailing potentially significant implications for the recovering U.S. economy and setting up a tense battle when Congress reconvenes in
the new year. For families dependent on cash assistance, the end of the federal government’s “emergency unemployment compensation” will mean some difficult belt-tightening as enrollees lose their average monthly stipend of $1,166. Jobless rates could drop, but analysts say the economy may suffer with less money for consumers to spend on everything from clothes to cars.
Having let the “emergency” program expire as part of a budget deal, it’s unclear if Congress has the appetite to start it anew. An estimated 1.3 million people will be cut off when the federally funded unemployment payments end today. Some 214,000 Californians will lose their payments, a figure rising to more than a halfmillion by June, the Labor Department said. In the last
12 months Californians received $4.5 billion in federal jobless benefits, much put back into the local economy. More than 127,000 New Yorkers also will be cut off this weekend. In New Jersey, 11th among states in population, 90,000 people will immediately lose out. Started under President George W. Bush, the benefits
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RETIRED HORSE RACING JOCKEY
LIVING THE HIGH LIFE
By JENNIFER AGIESTA ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Large number of Americans see 2013 as anything but a banner year and aren’t reluctant to wave goodbye on New Year’s Eve, a new AP-Times Square poll says, reflecting anxiety stretching from the corridors of power in Washington to corporate boardrooms, statehouses, and city and town halls. Although the poll shows that people generally are looking forward to the new year with optimism and no blatant sense of foreboding, it also unmasks pent-up worries about international crises and instability, and concerns at home about the standard of living, health care and schools. What the public thought of 2013:
Good year or good riddance? On the whole, Americans rate their own experience in 2013 more positively than negatively, but when asked to assess the year for the United States or the world at large, things turn sour. All told, 32 percent say 2013 was a better year for them than 2012, while 20 percent say it was worse and 46 percent say the two years were really about the same. Young people were more apt to see improvement: 40 percent of people under age 30 called 2013 a better year than 2012, compared with 25 percent of people age 65 or older. The public splits evenly on how the year turned out for the country, 25 percent saying it was better than 2012, 25 percent saying it was worse. As with most questions about the state of affairs in the U.S. these days, there’s a sharp partisan divide. Democrats are more apt to say the U.S. turned out better in 2013 than 2012 (37 percent) than are Republicans (17 percent). Thinking about the world at large, 30 percent say 2013 was worse than 2012, while just 20 percent say it was better. But the outlook for the new year is positive: 49 percent think their own fortunes will improve in 2014, 14 percent are anticipating the new year to be a downgrade from the old. Thirty-four percent say they don’t expect much to change.
Where’s the party?
Photo by Lisa Krantz/San Antonio Express News | AP
Retired jockey Herbie Hinojosa looks through photographs chronicling his career at his home in Brownsville. Hinojosa lives the simple life of a Rio Grande Valley retiree. But behind the sly smile and the puffs of smoke lie memories of an extraordinary life.
Retired Valley man rode horses that won millions By ROY BRAGG SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
BROWNSVILLE — Heriberto Hinojosa’s days begin in the garden behind the modest home he shares with a live-in companion. After lunch, the diminutive 77-year-old walks to a nearby store for cigarettes. Later, he spends the afternoon watching sports television. Hinojosa lives the simple life of a Rio Grande Valley re-
tiree. But behind the sly smile and the puffs of smoke lie memories of an extraordinary life. Back when the sport of kings was one of America’s most popular attractions, Hinojosa was horse racing royalty. As one of the nation’s busiest and most successful jockeys, he rode horses that won millions of dollars. He raced in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, and competed for some of the richest purses in the country.
He played cards at the Waldorf, drank with Hollywood stars and says he dated a young and vibrant Angie Dickinson. He traveled the nation and spent quality time with the most famous people in the world. He also spent time in the dark corners of the sport. For the past 12 years, he’s been living in obscurity. Now, a local architect and sports enthusiast wants to make sure Hinojosa gets the attention he deserves.
Even now, the soft-spoken Hinojosa sometimes can slip back into the character of Herbie/Herb/Herbert Hinojosa, names bestowed upon him by sports writers of the 1950s and 1960s. When Hinojosa reaches back, his vocabulary expands, his wit is dry and he speaks with a nuance learned from decades of dealing with some of the shadiest and flakiest characters in
Most Americans — 54 percent — say they’ll be ringing in the new year at home, while 1 in 5 are heading to a friend’s or family member’s house. Only 8 percent say they’ll go to a bar, restaurant or other organized event. Younger Americans are least apt to spend the holiday at home: 39 percent of those under age 30 will celebrate at home, 33 percent at someone else’s home, 13 percent at a bar or other venue. Regardless of their own time zone, nearly 6 in 10 say they’ll watch at least some of the celebration from New York City’s Times Square.
Countdown companions Wherever they’re spending the holiday, most Americans prefer the company of family. Asked with whom they want to be when the clock strikes midnight, 83 percent name a family member.
See HORSE RACING PAGE 9A
See ANXIETY
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PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Unreturned books could mean jail time By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Call it throwing the book at the bookworms. A Texas man who was arrested for failing to return an overdue library book ignited an online flurry of snarky comments and headlines about the Lone Star State extending its toughon-crime bravado to books. But
such cases aren’t unheard of, and many communities faced with shrinking budgets and rising costs have ordinances calling for fines or even arrest warrants when library property isn’t returned. In Texas alone, the issue has cost libraries an estimated $18 million. Jory Enck learned that the hard way. He was arrested for
not returning a GED study guide that he checked out three years ago in the Central Texas community of Copperas Cove. Enck declined comment to The Associated Press, but he told the Killeen Daily Herald that he wouldn’t set foot in a library again: “I think I will probably just purchase a book from Amazon.” A Texas state law took effect
in September that defines the failure to return library books as theft. The law, which doesn’t trump stricter community ordinances, mandates up to a $100 fine per offense. Other states also call for fines or even arrest warrants in such cases, including Iowa — where an overdue-book offender was jailed for a week — Vermont and Maine.
In Copperas Cove, about 70 miles northwest of Austin, a 2002 ordinance mandates a $200 fine for each library item that goes unreturned 20 days after a written notice is sent demanding its return. If the fine isn’t paid, the municipal court issues a warrant, city spokesman Kevin Keller said. Keller said he
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