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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
See LIBRARIES
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Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
Monday, Dec. 30
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Laredo Parkinson’s disease support group’s monthly meeting. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Last Monday of each month. Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, First Floor Community Center. Provides information and support for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease and for their primary caregivers. Contact Richard Renner at 645-8649, 7245619 or renner.richard@gmail.com.
Today is Saturday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2013. There are three days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On Dec. 28, 1973, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Alexander Solzhenitsyn published “The Gulag Archipelago,” an expose (ekspoh-SAY’) of the Soviet prison system. On this date: In 1612, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei observed the planet Neptune, but mistook it for a star. (Neptune wasn’t officially discovered until 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle.) In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down because of differences with President Andrew Jackson. In 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union. In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton (STAN’-tun), Va. In 1879, a section of the Tay Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, collapsed as a train was traveling over it, sending an estimated 75 people to their deaths in the river below. In 1912, San Francisco’s Municipal Railway began operations with Mayor James Rolph Jr. at the controls of Streetcar No. 1 as 50,000 spectators looked on. In 1917, the New York Evening Mail published “A Neglected Anniversary,” a facetious essay by H.L. Mencken supposedly recounting the history of bathtubs in America. In 1937, composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris at age 62. In 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1961, the Tennessee Williams play “Night of the Iguana” opened on Broadway. Former first lady Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington at age 89. In 1972, Kim Il Sung, the premier of North Korea, was named the country’s president under a new constitution. In 1987, the bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons were found at his home near Dover, Ark., after Simmons shot and killed two other people in Russellville. (Simmons was executed in 1990.) Ten years ago: Libya, for the first time, allowed U.N. nuclear officials to inspect four sites related to its nuclear weapons program. Five years ago: A bombloaded SUV exploded at a military checkpoint in Afghanistan, claiming the lives of 14 school children in a heartbreaking flash captured by a U.S. security camera. One year ago: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children. Today’s Birthdays: Comic book creator Stan Lee is 91. Former United Auto Workers union president Owen Bieber is 84. Actor Martin Milner is 82. Actress Nichelle Nichols is 81. Actress Dame Maggie Smith is 79. Rock singer-musician Charles Neville is 75. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is 69. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., is 67. Thought for Today: “Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.” — Jawaharlal Nehru (jah-WAH’hahr-lahl NAY’-roo), Indian statesman (1889-1964).
Tuesday, Dec. 31 Presale tickets for Epoca de Oro’s dance event. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Roli’s Music Hall, 101 E. Taylor St. $20, or $25 at the time of the event.
Saturday, Jan. 4 First United Methodist Church used book sale. 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hardbook books $1, paperback books 50 cents, and magazines and children’s books 25 cents. Contact 956-722-1674 or fumc_office@sbcglobal.net.
Photo by Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle
The downtown Houston skyline from atop the BG Group Place at 811 Main St. is shown on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Houston. Police surveillance of downtown Houston is expanding with 180 new cameras that will bring the number of video feeds available to law enforcement authorities by early 2014 to nearly 1,000.
Wednesday, Jan. 8 I Can Cope class, sponsored by American Cancer Society and Doctors Hospital of Laredo. Classes offered second Wednesday of each month. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Doctors Hospital Cancer Treatment Center Lobby. For people with cancer and their family and friends. Guest speakers include professionals in the field of cancer management. Free. Contact Diana Juarez at 319-3100 or diana.juarez@cancer.org.
Thursday, Jan. 9 Laredo Border Slam Poetry spoken word competition. 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Second and fourth Thursdays of each month. Gallery 201, 513 San Bernardo Ave. Three minutes to perform, two rounds, five random judges from the audience. Cash and quirky prizes. $2 suggested donation at the door. Email juliaorduna@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/laredoborderslam.
Saturday, Jan. 11 CFC Trail Ride and Rib Cook Off. Alexander Station, Jacaman and McPherson roads behind Texas Community Bank. Round robin from Alexander Station to Crescent Loop Park. Riders $20. Hay ride $5. Registration onsite 8 a.m. Trail ride 10 a.m. Rib cookoff (beef and pork categories) $100 per team. Benefits local charities. Call United Way of Laredo office at 7239113, extension 2.
Monday, Jan. 13 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Saturday, Jan. 18 Crime Stoppers Menudo Bowl. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. L.I.F.E. Fairgrounds, Highway 59. Admission for adults $5 and children 12 years and under free. Live music, Brush Country Trail Ride, Laredo Wrestling Alliance, motorcycle ride, merchandise booths, children’s games and rides, food booths, displays on federal agencies, ranch rodeo starting at 10 a.m. and team roping at 2 p.m. Proceeds benefit Crime Stoppers. Contact 724-1876 or rimestoppers@bizlaredo.rr.com.
Monday, Jan. 27
Expanding surveillance ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Police surveillance of downtown Houston is expanding with 180 new cameras that will bring the number of video feeds available to law enforcement authorities by early 2014 to nearly 1,000. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday most cameras are pointed on public areas around downtown, including its theater district and stadiums. “With all the homeland security requirements that we have — we have more critical infrastructure to protect than New York City — we can’t do it without video,” Police Chief Charles McClelland told the newspaper. The city has spent more than $18 million in federal money to build its camera system and has another $5 million in reserve. Houston also has expanded its video net-
Teen turns in envelope stuffed with $100 bills
Woman defaces well-known Austin mural
Historic South Texas cross damaged by vandals
SAN ANTONIO — A teenager is receiving many happy returns after turning in an envelope she found stuffed with $100 bills. Seventeen-year-old Kayla Blackmon told the San Antonio Express-News on Thursday that the man expressed his gratitude by giving her $100.
DALLAS — A woman has been arrested after police saw her defacing a well-known Austin mural of a frog-like creature saying “Hi, How Are You.” According to an arrest affidavit, 32-year-old Rebecca Guest was arrested Christmas Eve and charged with a Class A misdemeanor for the act of graffiti. An obscene word was spray-painted several times on the mural.
RIO GRANDE CITY — Authorities are investigating after a historic wooden cross in South Texas was cut down and the crucified Jesus cut into pieces. The monument erected more than a century ago is known as La Santa Cruz, or the Holy Cross. It’s located on top of a hill above U.S. Highway 83 in Rio Grande City. Damage is estimated to be about $2,000.
Girl killed when ice cream truck backs over her
Bike route to connect Fort Worth and Dallas
SAN ANTONIO — A 6-yearold girl who had just purchased candy from an ice cream truck in San Antonio was killed Thursday afternoon when the vehicle backed over her. Police say the 50-year-old driver did not know April Nicole Soliz had jumped on the bumper and is not expected to face charges.
FORT WORTH — New bike trails will be added to already-established ones to connect Dallas and Fort Worth. The North Central Texas Council of Governments plans to use 30 miles of already-established bike trails in Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving and Dallas and connect those routes with 34 additional miles. — Compiled from AP reports
Police fatally shoot man believed to have hostage COLLEYVILLE — Police say a 49-year-old man believed to be holding a hostage has been killed by North Texas tactical officers after he burst from a home and pointed a handgun at them. The unidentified man was shot multiple times Thursday evening when he exited the front door of the home in Colleyville. WFAA-TV in Dallas reports the man was holding a teenage girl against her will, but police did not immediately confirm the information.
Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Thursday, Feb. 13 Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Friday, Feb. 14 Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Saturday, Feb. 15 Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Thursday, Feb. 20 Winter Texan & Senior Citizen Appreciation Day. 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Submit calendar items at lmtonline.com/calendar/submit or by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location and purpose and contact information for a representative. Items will run as space is available.
work through private sharing agreements. The expansion comes despite shrinking national security grants for video surveillance and studies showing mixed results on whether the presence of cameras improves public safety. Nancy La Vigne, a justice policy researcher with the nonprofit Urban Institute, said cameras help but can’t replace beat officers. “You need that human interaction,” said La Vigne, whose 2011 study of surveillance networks showed variances in their effectiveness. But C.O. Bradford, a Houston city councilman and former Houston police chief, said the technology is necessary. “It is almost professional malpractice not to have technology deployed in public areas where you know large groups of people are going to gather on a regular basis,” he said.
AROUND THE NATION Driver survives 300-foot plunge off Calif. cliff PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — A driver who plunged 300 feet off of a Southern California ocean cliff was rescued after firefighters waded into the surf to free him from the car. KNBC-TV says the 19-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition and told paramedics that he intentionally drove off the cliff in the Bluff Cove area of Palos Verdes Estates. Authorities were called to the scene at about 2 a.m. Friday.
Highways reopen in eastern Pa. after pileups READING, Pa. — Highways in eastern Pennsylvania have been reopened after being shut down for hours because of pileups that ensnared dozens of vehicles on snow-covered roads. No deaths have been reported. Pennsylvania Turnpike offi-
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Evan Straske, 11, of Huntington Woods, Mich., takes flight after hitting a mound while sledding down a hill at Martin Road Park in Ferndale, Mich., on Thursday.
cials say 35 vehicles piled up Thursday, blocking westbound lanes and causing a 4-mile backup about 50 miles west of Philadelphia. Turnpike spokeswoman Renee Colborn says the highway reopened after 5 p.m. and about 10
people were taken to hospitals. Meanwhile, state police say 25 to 30 vehicles piled up on Interstate 78 and shut down about 5 miles of westbound lanes. The lanes reopened after 3 p.m. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
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A&E brings back ‘Duck Dynasty’ patriarch By LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson will return to work on A&E’s reality show despite his comments about gay immorality, the channel said Friday, reversing its decision to suspend him after facing a backlash and threatened boycott. In a statement Friday, A&E said it was bringing Robertson back after discussions with his Louisiana family featured in the reality series and “numerous advocacy groups.” Last week, the channel had put Robertson on what it called an indefinite “hiatus” because of his comments in a GQ magazine article that the Bible views gays as sinners akin to adulterers, prostitutes and swindlers. A&E said it decided to drop Robertson from the show about a wealthy family that makes duck calls because it is part of a company whose core values are “centered around creativity, inclusion and mutual respect.”
Robertson’s remarks were quickly slammed by groups including GLAAD, the gay rights watchdog organization. But A&E’s move against Robertson provoked a flood of support from those who share his views and others who defended his freedom of speech. A petition calling for A&E to bring him back reached 250,000 signatures and counting in about a week. Robertson’s well-known supporters included former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who complained that his free-speech rights were being trampled. Bobby Jindal, governor of the state of Louisiana, complained that Miley Cyrus got a pass for twerking on TV while Phil got shown the door. While reiterating that Robertson’s views are not those of the channel, A&E noted Friday that he has publicly said he would “never incite or encourage hate.” The show itself is more than one man’s views, it added. “It resonates with a large audience because it is a show
about family, a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness,” A&E said. The Robertson family said it had no immediate comment Friday. Last week, the family said in a statement on its Duck Commander website that although some of Phil Robertson’s comments were coarse, “his beliefs are grounded” in the Bible and he “is a Godly man.” They also said, “as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.” “Duck Dynasty” is on hiatus until Jan. 15, and the network has said that nine of next season’s 10 episodes have already been filmed. That means Robertson likely wasn’t needed in front of the camera before next March. A&E said it intended to launch a national public service campaign “promoting unity, tolerance and acceptance among all people.”
Photo by A&E | AP
Phil Robertson was reinstated by A&E on Friday, saying it decided to bring him back after discussions with his family and “numerous advocacy groups.”
Targets in settlement inquiry assail findings By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Nearly six months after a federal judge appointed former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate alleged misconduct inside the settlement program for compensating victims of BP’s 2010 Gulf oil spill, the targets of his inquiry are questioning his independence and trying to rebut his findings. Lionel “Tiger” Sutton III, a lawyer whose resignation from the staff of claims administrator Patrick Juneau spawned the investigation, urged U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier last week to throw out a scathing report that Freeh issued in September. The report concluded that top members of Juneau’s staff, including Sutton, engaged in conduct that was improper, unethical and possibly criminal. Sutton’s lawyer, Michael Walsh, argued in a Dec. 18 court filing that Freeh doesn’t have any evidence that his client broke any laws or had a conflict of interest during his work on the settlement. “When one is able to see through the innuendo, out of context statements, factual mistakes, incorrect assumptions, faulty legal analysis, lack of evidence, self-dealing and fantasies that make up the Freeh report, the conclusion is clear. At no time did Sutton commit any crime or knowingly violate the written terms of his Employment Agreement or the Settlement Agreement,” Walsh wrote. Freeh’s report also accused two private attorneys, Glen Lerner and Jon
Andry, of using Sutton’s position in the settlement program to benefit their clients’ claims. In return, the report said, Sutton received more than $40,000 in fees for referring a claimant to their law firm before he joined Juneau’s staff. Lerner’s lawyers said there is no evidence that Sutton tried to provide any “improper advantage” to any of the clients that Lerner and Andry represented. “The evidence shows that the payments made to Sutton were not the product of any agreement among the three lawyers, but were made based on a good faith understanding that Sutton was entitled to the payments and that his receipt of them had been disclosed and approved by Mr. Juneau,” they wrote earlier this month. Also cited in Freeh’s report is Sutton’s wife, Christine Reitano, who worked as a lawyer on Juneau’s staff. Freeh said Reitano had a conflict of interest when she recommended that a vendor for the settlement program hire her husband. Additionally, Freeh questioned Reitano’s truthfulness when she denied having a role in arranging the payments to her husband from Lerner and Andry’s firm. Juneau fired Reitano in June, shortly after her husband resigned. Freeh recommended disqualifying Sutton, Reitano, Andry and Lerner from representing anyone with spill-related settlement claims and called for the Justice Department to investigate whether they broke any laws. Barbier allowed the four
attorneys to respond in writing to the report’s allegations before he rules on Freeh’s recommendations. Reitano’s attorney, Mary Olive Pierson, argued in a Dec. 16 court filing that Freeh’s investigation methods are “unexplained and incomplete.” “Mr. Freeh made no effort at objectivity and his report was obviously result driven,” Pierson wrote. In an interview, Pierson said Freeh is BP’s “man on the job.” “He is running the claims office now,” she said. “BP is getting exactly what it wants.” Before Barbier appointed him to lead the investigation, Freeh disclosed that he is a partner at a law firm that is working on an unrelated case with lawyers for Kirkland & Ellis, a firm that represents BP. Andry’s lawyers questioned Freeh’s impartiality and said they need more information about his connection to the firm to determine if he should be disqualified from leading the investigation of the settlement program. One of Andry’s attorneys, Lewis Unglesby, said Freeh’s “onesided presentation of the facts” omits and misstates evidence that would clear Andry of any wrongdoing. “Mr. Freeh’s report reads more like a BP opinion than a measured, objective evaluation of all the evidence,” Unglesby wrote. Barbier ultimately rejected Andry’s request for more information after Freeh said he already has “fully and accurately” disclosed any relationships with the parties and their attorneys. Freeh’s investigation isn’t done.
Target says encrypted PINs were stolen By MAE ANDERSON AND BARBARA ORTUTAY ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Target said Friday that debit-card PINs were among the financial information stolen from millions of customers who shopped at the retailer earlier this month. The company said the stolen personal identification numbers, which customers type in to keypads to make secure transactions, were encrypted and that this strongly reduces risk to customers. In addition to the encrypted PINs, customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on back of the cards were stolen from about 40 million credit and debit cards used at Target
stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Security experts say it’s the second-largest theft of card accounts in U.S. history, surpassed only by a scam that began in 2005 involving retailer TJX Cos. Target said it doesn’t have access to nor does it store the encryption key within its system, and the PIN information can only be decrypted when it is received by the retailer’s external, independent payment processor. “We remain confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure,” spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an emailed statement Friday. “The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our sys-
tems.” The company maintains the “key” necessary to decrypt data never existed within Target’s system and could not have been taken during the hack. However, Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan said Friday that the PINs for the affected cards are not safe. Litan said that while she has no information about the encrypted PIN information in Target’s case, such data has been decrypted before, in particular the 2005 TJX Cos. hacking case that’s believed the largest case of identity theft in U.S. history. In 2009 computer hacker Albert Gonzalez plead guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and other charges after masterminding debit and credit card breaches in 2005.
Photo by David Becker/Invision | AP
Singer Britney Spears speaks to the crowd after arriving at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino before the debut of her new Las Vegas residency, “Britney: Piece of Me,” on Dec. 3.
Britney starts long gig By HANNAH DREIER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is getting its newest pop fixture. Britney Spears began her two-year residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on Friday, just in time to catch the town’s massive New Year’s Eve crowds. The Grammy-winning singer will perform 50 shows each in 2014 and 2015. Casino executives say the gig may be extended if it proves a success. Spears, 32, is expected to recap her biggest hits, including “Oops. I Did It Again,” “...Baby One More Time” and “Toxic.” A collection of pop
stars, including Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, are expected to attend the opening. Spears is among the youngest stars to have settled down to quasi-retirement in Las Vegas. Other successful Strip headliners include Celine Dion and Elton John. The show takes place in a relatively intimate theater with nightclub touches, including table and bottle service. Tickets range from $59 to $179. Before the announcement of the residency, Spears’ strongest Las Vegas tie derived from her short-lived marriage here. A 22-year-old Spears married her childhood friend in Sin City in 2004, and got
the marriage annulled 55 hours later. Spears made a grand Las Vegas entrance this month with fire-breathers, contortionists, snake charmers and hunky dancers welcoming her during a staged event at Planet Hollywood. A portion of the Strip was temporarily closed so that she could pull up to the casino in a convertible. Spears told Las Vegas, “this is my city” now, then immediately went home to Los Angeles. Spears has released seven platinum-plus albums since she debuted on the music scene in 1999. Her eighth album, “Britney Jean,” was released this month to tepid reviews.
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Zopinion
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
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OTHER VIEWS
Feeling WWI By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS
The new year is beginning with the shadow of an old year flitting around the retina of our consciousness. That year is 1914, the year that Europe was convulsed in the world’s worst war — 9 million dead. It was also the war from which the world never fully recovered. In its destruction of the old order in Europe, World War I laid the blueprint for the rest of the century; its emancipations and its enslavements, its triumphs and its horrors. The century following World War I has been a century in which blood and ideas have flowed freely. As a consequence of the war and the Treaty of Versailles which ended it: The Russian Revolution ushered in communism, and later the Cold War. Britain and France carved up the Middle East with boundaries that created new countries, such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia, without regard to the promises that had been made to the Arabs during the war or regard for their sensibilities. The Ottoman Empire fell, making way for modern Turkey. The Austro-Hungarian Empire fell, changing the face of central and eastern Europe. Monarchical rule ended in Europe. Germany was so emasculated by the peace that the ascent of Adolf Hitler was possible. Mechanized war was perfected with industrialized killing by gun, bomb and, for the first time, aircraft. The combatants lost the cream of their crop of young men, many of who would have risen to affect the 20th century after the war. The consequences of the loss of a generation of young men can be speculated upon, but not calculated. The stage was set for the United States — which played a decisive role in the war from the spring of 1917 on, but was not as deeply affected as the European powers — to become the dominant nation in the later part of the 20th century and to this day. The social order throughout Europe began to liberalize. Its feudal underpinnings would remain until World War II, but there was a loosening of the old bonds of class across Europe. Women were beginning to share their gifts with society. African colonies were taken from Germany and handed to Britain for a kind of safe-keeping, but not for the imperial expansion that Britain had been enjoying for two centuries. Britain, France, Portugal and Holland remained the colonial powers — Britain’s possessions were many times greater than the rest put together. Fury at the colonial system was building, especially against British control of what are now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The beginning of the end of the colonial concept had begun, but it had many hurdles and another world war to go before it all ended in an avalanche of independencies. World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo. The Balkans were the tinder for the war, but the fuel was everywhere: It was the growth in nationalism and its arrogance; a lack of enough understanding of what a modern war would look like; militarism in many countries, and especially in Germany, where the high command found a fatal friend in Kaiser William II. As tensions in Europe escalated, the players scrambled for allies and these alliances led to the broader war. For example, the German High Command did not think that Britain would join the war, despite Britain’s commitments to France and Russia. It thought Britain could and would remain neutral. The great myth of the time was that the European powers were so intertwined in their trading relationships that war would cost too much and so peace was secure. Yet all the ingredients of combustion were present in 1914, and they were abetted by a lack of great leaders in all the countries that would fling themselves at each other. It was a time of crushing mediocrity in European governance. That may have been the real cause of the world’s greatest, most terrible miscalculation, 100 years ago. A leadership vacuum. Beware. Happy New Year. Llewellyn King’s email is lking@kingpublishing.com.
COLUMN
State’s men’s club “
KEN HERMAN
AUSTIN — I’ll have my 2014 predictions next week, but I’m ready with one today: Texans will, for the first time in a long time, fill all top statewide offices with males. Some history: In 1982, Ann Richards was elected state treasurer, a job so important it doesn’t exist any more. She later became governor, a job so important we’ve let one guy do it for almost all of the 21st century. Richards’ 1982 election marked the end of a 50year streak in which Texans opted not to put any females in top statewide offices. Since ’82, we’ve always had at least one female in those posts. Kay Bailey Hutchison helped keep that streak alive with her 1993 to 2012 stint in the U.S. Senate. She was state treasurer before that. In fact, the final three state treasurers were females: Richards, Hutchison and Martha Whitehead. That’s probably why the job was abolished in 1995. The last two males in the job were Warren G. Harding (a different one) who succeeded Jesse James (also a different one), who held the post from 1941 until he died in 1977.
With Hutchison’s retirement, Comptroller Susan Combs became the only female in top statewide office, a category that excludes the Railroad Commission and the two statewide appellate courts. Combs is not seeking re-election in 2014, when we’ll pick a U.S. senator and the Big Six state government jobs: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner and agriculture commissioner. (OK, the Big Five and ag commissioner). We’re getting a new governor, a new attorney general, a new comptroller, a new land commissioner, a new ag commissioner and possibly a new lieutenant governor. So there’s great potential for new diversity in those jobs. Not gonna happen. I’m predicting a white-guy sweep (with one asterisk we’ll discuss below). Atop the ballot, GOP U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, white guy, will be re-elected, despite an entertaining primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman of Friendswood, who reinforces America’s worst fears about Texas. Five Democrats, including one nicknamed F-Jet, are seeking the job. One will be nominated and will lose to Cornyn. The new attorney general will be decided in the allwhite-guy GOP primary featuring Railroad Commissioner
Barry Smitherman; state Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney; and state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas. Sam Houston (a different one) is the only Democrat running. Despite high name ID, the Dems’ white guy will lose to the GOP’s white guy. Femaledom’s best shot might be in the GOP comptroller primary, where tea party favorite Debra Medina, an unsuccessful 2010 candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, is running against Katy Sen. Glen Hegar and Kerrville Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, white guys, and very long shot Hispanic Raul Torres of Corpus Christi. The only Dem in the race is Mike Collier, white guy. (Curiosity: We haven’t had a GOP male comptroller since Reconstruction.) Five white guys are seeking the GOP nomination for ag commissioner. One of them will win and defeat one of the three white guys seeking the Dem nomination. The best shot for more diversity in top statewide office may be in how you define Republican George P. Bush, your next Texas land commissioner. Bush’s dad is ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. His mom is Columba Bush, a Mexico-born Hispanic. Just as President Barack Obama is black, George P. Bush qualifies as Hispanic. To date, I’ve heard no debate about his gender.
Which brings us to governor and lieutenant governor. Fort Worth Sen. Wendy Davis will be the Dems’ nominee for the former and San Antonio Sen. Leticia Van de Putte will be the Dem nominee for the latter. Either or both could win, but at this point nobody expects it to happen, not even realists who want it to. Odds are that Republican Greg Abbott, white guy, now your attorney general, will be your next governor. There’s doubt about who your next lite governor will be, but little doubt about what it will be. Barring a Van de Putte upset, it will be a white guy: incumbent David Dewhurst; Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston; Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson; or Ag Commissioner Todd Staples. So it looks as if the best chance for our diverse state to get more diversity in top statewide offices is if Bush is Hispanic. (Like Bush, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has one Hispanic parent.) And it looks as if it would take a GOP primary win by comptroller candidate Medina or a huge upset November win by Davis and/or Van de Putte — or some unanticipated surgery — to get some gender diversity. Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: kherman@statesman.com.
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Nation
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
Bail hearing set Lawyers want church official out of prison By MARYCLAIRE DALE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers for a Roman Catholic church official will demand his immediate release from prison Monday after an appeals court overturned his conviction in a novel priest-abuse case aimed squarely at the church hierarchy in Philadelphia. Monsignor William Lynn, 62, is the first Catholic official ever prosecuted over his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints. He has served 18 months of the 3- to 6-year sentence handed down by a judge who said he helped predators remain in ministry, endangering new victims. But the Superior Court threw out the conviction Thursday, ruling that the state’s child-endangerment law did not apply in the late 1990s to church supervisors like Lynn. The Superior Court said the case never should have been filed. “The laws at that time were inadequate to deal with this kind of problem. And I think that the judge and the prosecutor stretched the law, trying to find some way to punish somebody,” the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit theologian and senior analyst with the National Catholic Reporter, said Friday. “They stretched the law too far, in the opinion of the appeals court.” The bail issue now moves back to the trial judge, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, who had upheld the charges and ultimately blasted Lynn for failing to stand up to his bishops. Lynn won’t be in court Monday to face her for the first time since his July 2012 sentencing. However, his lawyers filed a bail petition seeking immediate action “in light of the unequivocal language of the Superior Court opinion, as well as the amount of time Msgr. Lynn has already served.” Prosecutors vowed a fight to restore Lynn’s conviction, and will oppose bail. Even if Lynn goes free, his long ordeal offers “a warning, to every ‘yes man’ in the church, that that can get him in trouble,” Reese said. The three-month trial last year
painted Lynn, the secretary for clergy, as a loyal if timid aide to Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and Justin Rigali. He documentLYNN ed hundreds of abuse complaints filed against dozens of priests at the archdiocese from the late 1950s through his 1992-2004 tenure, then locked the explosive files in a secret archives room. The accused priests were often transferred to new parishes without warning, although Lynn said he often tried to get them and their victims help. Prosecutors tracked down many of the scarred victims from the secret files. Sarmina allowed 20 of them to testify about their sordid childhood encounters with trusted priests, even though the crimes were too old to prosecute. They described countless rapes, sadist religious rituals and failed attempts to get help from other adults. The Superior Court never ruled on whether that graphic testimony was appropriate at Lynn’s trial. But the testimony served as something of a “truth and reconciliation” panel for Catholics, Reese said. The defense has long argued that Lynn was charged retroactively under a 2007 law that broadened the scope of the child-endangerment law to include those who supervise predators. Sarmina, though, had rejected the argument. The Superior Court found her ruling “fundamentally flawed.” Lawyers who represent victims suing the Philadelphia archdiocese doubt the reversal of Lynn’s conviction, if it sticks, will affect their civil cases. They could cost the church millions, but had been on hold during the criminal case. “This was a landmark prosecution based on landmark revelations,” said lawyer Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., who represents scores of priest-abuse accusers. “As disappointing as the overturning of that conviction is, it really is a small piece in a larger picture that has now been revealed, like no place ever before.”
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Water projects are unifier By HENRY C. JACKSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Those occasionally infamous multimilliondollar water projects that have been derided by good-government types over the years as Exhibit A of pork-barrel spending in Congress are making a comeback. The reason: Apparently, this is one of the few areas where members of both parties see eye to eye. Republicans and Democrats who found little common ground in 2013 are rallying around a bill they hope to pass early next year authorizing up to $12.5 billion over the next decade for flood diversion in North Dakota, widening a Texas-Louisiana waterway, deepening Georgia’s rapidly growing Port of Savannah and other projects. That’s the Senate bill’s total. The House version would cost about $8.2 billion. Negotiators are confident they can merge the two and pass the package for President Barack Obama’s signature early in 2014. Unlike a farm policy-food stamp bill also the subject of ongoing House-Senate negotiations, the differences in the two houses’ water project bills are modest and the acrimony is less. Negotiators say the roughly $4 billion gap between the two bills is more about how they are written than substantive policy or political differences. “The important thing is that we all care about reform,” said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Shuster’s Senate counterpart, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has said much the same thing. The last time Congress enacted a water projects bill was 2007, and it took two-thirds majorities in both houses to override President George W. Bush’s veto of it. Negotiators held their first formal meeting just before Thanksgiving on blending the two versions. Talks continued until Congress left for its year-end break and will resume in January. Lawmakers have been drawn to the big investment in infrastructure sketched out in both bills — and the promise of jobs that entails. Business groups, led
Photo by Dave Kolpack/file | AP
Workers inspect a clay levee being built to protect homes on the north side of Fargo, N.D., from expected flooding from the Red River, on April 23. by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have lobbied members to support the bills, saying they’ll help keep American businesses competitive. The bills try to address perceptions of years past that water project legislation was loaded with favors inserted by key lawmakers for their home districts and states. This time, both bills eliminate billions of dollars in dormant and duplicative projects. Those reforms still aren’t enough for some conservative groups that pressed lawmakers to oppose the bills, saying they are reform in name only and don’t do enough to cut spending. “Even before the predictable increase in authorizations as this bill goes through the process, this legislation would only shave a few billion dollars off the backlog,” Heritage Action and other groups wrote House members. Tea party sympathizers in the House largely brushed off conservative critics, buying into the idea that this water projects bill represents both reform and needed investment. To wavering Republicans, Schuster cited Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which directs Congress to establish roads and regulate interstate commerce. For their part, Democrats breezed past environmental groups concerned about language that speeds up the environmental review process for projects. The House bill passed 417-3 in late October, winning support of everyone from Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi to tea party stalwarts like Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan. The Senate easily passed its version of the bill in May by a vote of 83-14. Both bills accelerate environmental reviews and allow more money from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to be spent on harbor improvements, but the House version of the bill ramps up spending from the fund more slowly. Among them: Dredging and widening the Sabine-Neches Waterway, billed as “America’s Energy Gateway” because the nearly 80-mile waterway services many oil and natural gas refineries in Texas and Louisiana. $954 million for environmental restoration along the Louisiana coast. Expanding the Port of Savannah. Georgia officials have long lobbied for federal backing to improve one of the country’s fastest growing ports; the bills designate up to $461 million for that purpose. Flood diversion for the flood-prone Red River Valley region of North Dakota and parts of Minnesota. The bills authorize spending of about $800 million to relieve flooding in a region that includes the cities of Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn. The region has suffered major floods in four of the past five years. Up to $43 million to reduce hurricane and storm damage risks along the San Clemente, Calif., shoreline.
Nation
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
Documents released By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Police in Connecticut released thousands of pages of documents Friday from the investigation into last year’s school massacre in Newtown, which could shed additional light on the world of the 20-year-old gunman. The paperwork “has been redacted according to law,” and it includes text, photos, videos and recordings of 911 calls received by state police. In a letter accompanying the report, Reuben F. Bradford, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, wrote that much of the identifying information involving children and many witnesses were withheld, as were “all visual images depicting the deceased.” “Balancing the oftencompeting interests of government transparency and individual privacy has been difficult,” Bradford wrote. “I believe that the redacted report that is being released includes as much detail as possible while protecting confidential information.” Prosecutors issued a summary of the investigation last month that portrayed the gunman, Adam Lanza, as obsessed with mass murders, but the report concluded that Lanza’s motives for the massacre might never be known. The summary report referred to items found on a computer at Lanza’s house that included writings detailing relationships, personal beliefs, a daily schedule, desires, goals and other topics. Lanza gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators with a semi-automatic rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, after killing his mother inside their home. He
Photo by Patrick Semansky/file | AP
A sign is shown outside the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade, Md. A civil rights lawyer says the American Civil Liberties Union is very disappointed that a New York judge has found that a government program that collects millions of Americans’ telephone records is legal.
Surveillance is legal By LARRY NEUMEISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Connecticut State Police | AP
This photo shows items from the home where Adam Lanza lived with his mother in Newtown, Conn. committed suicide with a handgun as police arrived at the school. To try to figure out the motive, investigators said, they interviewed members of Lanza’s family, teachers and others. They said they also tried within the limits of privacy laws to gather information on his medical treatment. Lanza “was undoubtedly afflicted with mental health problems; yet despite a fascination with mass shootings and firearms, he displayed no aggressive or threatening tendencies,” it said. In fifth grade, Lanza wrote “The Big Book of Granny,” in which the main character has a gun in her cane and shoots people, and another character talks of liking to hurt people, especially children. The book was among items seized from Lanza’s home, but there was no indication he ever handed in the book
at school. Lanza became obsessed with the 1999 bloodbath at Columbine High in Colorado and other mass killings, the report said. He also kept a spreadsheet ranking mass murders. The report also said that in 2005, Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder — an autism-like condition that is not associated with violence — and that he lacked empathy for others and behaved strangely. Nobody was allowed into his room, not even to clean, according to the report. It said Lanza also disliked birthdays, Christmas and holidays and did not like to have his hair cut. He also wouldn’t touch doorknobs, his food had to be arranged on the plate in a certain way, and he changed clothes often during the day. He was a loner at school and was repelled by crowds and loud noises.
Man pleads guilty By LINDA DEUTSCH ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A California man who used the Internet and Facebook to connect with al-Qaida pleaded guilty Friday to a federal terrorism charge after admitting he attempted to assist al-Qaida by providing weapons training, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, 24, of Garden Grove unexpectedly entered the plea before U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter, who scheduled sentencing for March 21, prosecutors said in a statement. Reporters were not notified of his court appearance and were not present. Nguyen faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. Nguyen’s lawyer, Yasmin Cader, refused to comment on his decision, quickly hanging up the phone on a reporter, and U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek said prosecutors also would have no comment. The judge who accepted the plea previously had expressed skepticism about whether Nguyen had any special skills to offer al-Qaida. Nguyen had confessed to federal agents after he was unmasked by an undercover FBI agent posing as a recruiter for the terrorist group. He said that he planned
to offer himself as a trainer of some 30 al-Qaida forces to ambush troops in Syria, where he had already spent five months fighting with rebels, Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Heinz said after his arrest in October. She said he underwent 50 hours of interrogation during which he confessed to his plan. Nguyen’s admission was contained in a plea agreement filed in federal court, according to a U.S. attorney’s press release issued after the plea was entered and accepted. “Nguyen admitted that approximately one year ago he traveled to Syria where he joined opposition forces,” the statement said. “Using a social network site during a four-month period he was in Syria, Nguyen told people that he was fighting against the Assad regime and that he had had a ‘confirmed kill.”’ Nguyen returned to the U.S., where he told associates that he had offered to train al-Qaida forces in Syria but was turned down, the U.S. attorney’s office said. At a hearing last fall, Judge Walter asked Heinz what Nguyen had to offer the terrorist group and she said, “He was providing himself.” The judge noted that Nguyen was never a member of the U.S. armed forces, having been rejected
because of a hearing problem. “I don’t see evidence that this defendant had any particular skill in firearms,” he said, “or that he had the ability to procure or deliver weapons. ... This is the part of the case that escapes me.” It was not immediately known what changed his mind between then and the entry of the plea. Prosecutors said that between Aug. 3 and Oct. 11 Nguyen met with a man he thought was an al-Qaida recruiter but who actually was working for the FBI, telling him about what he’d done in Syria and saying he wanted to return to jihad. On Oct. 1, Nguyen purchased a ticket for travel from Mexico to Pakistan and he was arrested by FBI agents on Oct. 11 as he was about to board a bus from Santa Ana, Calif., to Mexico. He had been told he would be meeting “his sheik” in Peshawar, the prosecutor had said. When he was arrested, authorities said he exclaimed, “How did you guys find out?”
NEW YORK — Citing the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled Friday that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of millions of Americans’ telephone records is legal, a valuable tool in the nation’s arsenal to fight terrorism that “only works because it collects everything.” U.S. District Judge William Pauley said in a written opinion that the program lets the government connect fragmented and fleeting communications and “represents the government’s counter-punch” to the al-Qaida’s terror network’s use of technology to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. “This blunt tool only works because it collects everything,” Pauley said. “The collection is broad, but the scope of counterterrorism investigations is unprecedented.” Pauley’s decision contrasts with a ruling earlier this month by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, who granted a preliminary injunction against the collecting of phone records of two men who had challenged the program. The Washington, D.C. jurist said the program likely violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on unreasonable search. The judge has since stayed the effect of his ruling, pending a government appeal. Both cases now move to appeals courts for a conflict that some believe will eventually be settled by the Supreme Court. The chances that the nation’s top court will address it increase if the appeals courts reach conflicting opinions or if the current use of the program is declared illegal. Pauley said the mass collection of phone data “significantly increases the NSA’s capability to detect the faintest patterns left behind by individuals affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations. Armed with all the metadata, NSA can draw connections it might otherwise never be able to find.” He added: “As the Sept. 11 attacks demonstrate,
the cost of missing such a threat can be horrific.” Pauley said the attacks “revealed, in the starkest terms, just how dangerous and interconnected the world is. While Americans depended on technology for the conveniences of modernity, al-Qaida plotted in a seventh-century milieu to use that technology against us. It was a bold jujitsu. And it succeeded because conventional intelligence gathering could not detect diffuse filaments connecting al-Qaida.” The judge said the NSA intercepted seven calls made by one of the Sept. 11 hijackers in San Diego prior to the attacks, but mistakenly concluded that he was overseas because it lacked the kind of information it can now collect. Still, Pauley said such a program, if unchecked, “imperils the civil liberties of every citizen” and he noted the lively debate about the subject across the nation, in Congress and at the White House. “The question for this court is whether the government’s bulk telephony metadata program is lawful. This court finds it is. But the question of whether that program should be conducted is for the other two coordinate branches of government to decide,” he said. A week ago, President Barack Obama said there may be ways of changing the program so that is has sufficient oversight and transparency. In ruling, Pauley cited the emergency of the program after 20 hijackers took over four planes in the 2001 attacks, flying two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and a fourth into a Pennsylvania field as passengers tried to take back the aircraft. “The government learned from its mistake and adapted to confront a new enemy: a terror network capable of orchestrating attacks across the world. It launched a number of counter-measures, including a bulk telephony metadata collection program — a wide net that could find and isolate gossamer contacts among suspected terrorists in an ocean of seemingly discon-
nected data,” he said. Pauley dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which promised to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. “We’re obviously very disappointed,” said Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “This mass call tracking program constitutes a serious threat to Americans’ privacy and we think Judge Pauley is wrong in concluding otherwise.” Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said: “We are pleased the court found the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata collection program to be lawful.” In arguments before Pauley last month, an ACLU lawyer argued the government’s interpretation of its authority under the Patriot Act was so broad it could justify the mass collection of financial, health and even library records of Americans without their knowledge, including whether they had used a telephone sex hotline, contemplated suicide, been addicted to gambling or drugs or supported political causes. A government lawyer had countered counterterrorism investigators wouldn’t find most personal information useful. Pauley said there were safeguards in place, including the fact the NSA cannot query the phone database it collects without legal justification and is limited in how much it can learn. He also noted “the government repudiates any notion that it conducts the type of data mining the ACLU warns about in its parade of horribles.” The ACLU sued earlier this year after former NSA analyst Edward Snowden leaked details of the secret programs that critics say violate privacy rights. Pauley said the fact that the ACLU would never have learned about an order authorizing collection of telephony metadata related to its telephone numbers but for Snowden’s disclosures added “another level of absurdity in this case.”
SABADO 28 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2013
Agenda en Breve LAREDO 12/28— Se pospone el Festival de Invierno de Tennis en Market Street Tennis Court, debido a las inclemencias del tiempo. Más información llamando al 7247179. 12/30— Se reunirá el grupo de apoyo para pacientes con Parkinson de Laredo a las 6:30 p.m. en el Laredo Medical Center, en la Torre B, en el primer piso del Centro Comunitario. Durante la reunión se dará información sobre esta enfermedad, así mismo apoyo a los familiares y pacientes. Para más información puede llamar al 645-8649, 724-5619 o escribir a renner.richard@gmail.com. 12/30— La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a los padres a llevar a los niños para realizar manualidades navideñas a las 4 p.m. Este día se hará un salero para el Año Nuevo. Favor de no dejar a los niños sin atender en la biblioteca. Informes con Christine Deffendall en el 795-2400 extensión 2248. 12/31— La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a los padres a llevar a los niños para realizar manualidades navideñas a las 4 p.m. Este día se hará un sombrero para el Año Nuevo 2014. Favor de no dejar a los niños sin atender en la biblioteca. Informes con Christine Deffendall en el 795-2400 extensión 2248 01/02— Las oficinas de TAMIU y la Biblioteca Sue and Radcliffe Killam reabrirán sus puertas el día de hoy. 01/02— La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a los padres a llevar a los niños para realizar manualidades navideñas a las 4 p.m. Este día se harán un copo de nieve. Favor de no dejar a los niños sin atender en la biblioteca. Informes con Christine Deffendall en el 795-2400 extensión 2248 01/03— Empieza el primer día de clases para el Wintermester en TAMIU. También es el último día para agregar o dar de baja clases para este periodo especial de Wintermester. Las colegiaturas deberán pagarse en su totalidad para evitar ser dados de baja por no realizar el pago. Informes en 326.2250. 01/07— El equipo de baloncesto femenil de Lyndon B. Johnson High jugará en contra de United South High a las 6 p.m. en LEA. Costo de boletos 3 dólares por adulto y 2 dólares por estudiantes de las escuelas y niños menores de 17 años. 01/07— El equipo de varones de Lyndon B. Johnson High se enfrentará al de United South High a las 8 p.m. en LEA. Costo de boletos 3 dólares por adulto y 2 dólares por estudiantes de las escuelas y niños menores de 17 años.
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO 01/05— El grupo de Teatro Laberintus estará presentando la obra infantil “La Nave”, de José Luis Pineda Servín, a las 12 p.m. dentro del teatro del IMSS. Costo 20 pesos. 01/06— Se abrirán las inscripciones para las clases de flauta, clarinete, trompeta, violín, chelo, viola, contrabajo, guitarra, teclado, percusión, canto y coro infantil, entre otras en la Escuela de Música. 01/07— El grupo de Teatro Laberintus estará presentando la obra para adolescentes y adultos “Sueño de una noche de verano” de William Shakespeare, a las 7 p.m. dentro del teatro del IMSS ubicado en Reynosa y Belden. Costo 20 pesos.
Zfrontera Entregan millones
PÁGINA 7A
TAMAULIPAS
TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Durante el 2013 el estado de Tamaulipas entregó más de 252 millones de pesos en créditos consolidados de los programas empresariales y microcréditos, a través del Fondo Tamaulipas. El Fondo Tamaulipas es un concepto que brinda apoyo a las microempresas así como a las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES), a través de esquemas de financiamiento innovadores. El principal objetivo es impulsar una cultura emprendedora y de fomento a la inversión. Jesús Alberto Palomo Valles, Director del Fondo Tamaulipas, informó que se entregaron poco más 130.8 millones de pesos para los diferentes sectores: comercial, industrial y de servicios. En el área comercial se entrega-
El estado de Tamaulipas entregó más de 252 millones de pesos en créditos para empresas pequeñas, medianas y microempresas, a través del Fondo Tamaulipas. Se han entregado poco más de 130.8 millones de pesos para los sectores comercial, industrial y de servicios. Entre los apoyos otorgados, se cuenta con créditos empresariales entregados a 7.623 mujeres. ron 12.017 créditos cuyo monto alcanzó la cantidad de 158 millones de pesos; en el área industrial los créditos otorgados sumaron alrede-
dor de 52 millones de pesos distribuidos en 2.822 créditos, mientras que en el ramo de servicios se otorgaron 3.714 créditos que alcanzaron
los 42 millones de pesos entregados. “Tenemos buenos resultados de estos apoyos entregados por el Gobernador Egidio Torre Cantú a tamaulipecos emprendedores, por lo que estima que para el próximo año, puede irse incrementando el número de créditos, en beneficio de más personas para expandir o poner su propio negocio”, reiteró Palomo Valles. Palomo Valles agregó que en microcréditos se entregaron más de 121 millones de pesos y que con estas acciones se genera el incremento de empleos formales e indirectos. Entre los apoyos otorgados, se cuenta con créditos empresariales entregados a 7.623 mujeres, para consolidar sus empresas y cuya cifra sobrepasó en muchos los créditos solicitados y otorgados a los varones.
ECONOMÍA
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO
INVERSIÓN
Explican Plan de Obra 2014 TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
La imagen muestra una toma al Puerto de Matamoros, México, donde Petróleos Mexicanos y el Gobierno de Tamaulipas anunciaron una inversión para exploración y explotación de aguas profundas.
Invierten en Puerto de Matamoros TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
A fin de continuar impulsando al comercio en la zona noreste de México, así como la exploración y explotación en aguas profundas, el Gobierno de Tamaulipas tiene considerado un proyecto amplio para el Puerto de Matamoros, México. Vicente Saint Martín Ochoa, Subsecretario de Planeación y
Proyectos Estratégicos, resaltó que Petróleos Mexicanos realizará una inversión aproximada a los 1.700 millones de pesos en la construcción de una terminal marítima. En Matamoros ya iniciaron los trabajos de empotramiento, reconstrucción y prolongación de las escoleras norte y sur en donde se invertirán recursos por aproximadamente 1.000 millones de pesos.
“Estamos cerrando el año con una gran inversión para el Puerto de Matamoros, proyecto que detonará el desarrollo económico de la zona”, dijo Saint Martín. El Proyecto del Puerto de Matamoros, agregó, será el parte aguas para que siete empresas internacionales se instalen y posicionen a Tamaulipas como eje principal de inversionistas en el mundo.
Con obras como la edificación de un Campus de Estudios Medio y Superior, la construcción de un Centro Cultural Juvenil Parque Silao, el primer edificio del Servicio Médico Forense, plazas de Pies Mojados y el Parque Sustentable Los Fresnos el gobierno municipal de Nuevo Laredo, México, espera generar proyectos de impacto social en la ciudad. Tras la aprobación del Plan de Obra Pública 2014 con una inversión de más de 871 millones de pesos, la actual administración buscará mejorar el entorno social y económico de esta frontera. El presidente municipal Carlos Canturosas Villarreal dijo que es importante producir espacios que coadyuven a la regeneración del tejido social y a la vez redunden en más fuentes de empleo. Con la primera etapa de construcción del nuevo campus de estudios, que incluye secundaria y preparatoria, se pretende que más de 1.000 jóvenes tengan acceso a la educación dentro de una superficie de 5.5 hectáreas. Otro proyecto es el Centro Cultural Juvenil Parque Silao y Colonia Palmares que tienen como objetivo acercar los espacios culturales a la comunidad que habita al poniente y sur de la ciudad. También se realizará la edificación del primer Servicio Médico Forense (SEMEFO), el cual será una institución de apoyo judicial que auxilie a la impartición de justicia, ya que no solo es un centro que atiende a casos de personas fallecidas, sino además lleva casos con implicaciones médico-legales de personas vivas. También se construirán nueve plazas de Pies Mojados y se realizará el Parque Sustentable Los Fresnos donde habrá un bosque natural. Por otro lado, se proyectan 53 pavimentaciones en diferentes colonias de la ciudad como la Francisco Villa, Reforma Urbana, Ejido el Progreso, Villas del Sol y Constitucional. En el tema del encalichado se atenderá a Ampliación Vamos Tamaulipas y Naciones Unidas.
FIN DE AÑO
Consejos de fin de año que ayudan a ahorrar ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Es momento para prepararse para la próxima temporada de declaración de impuestos. El IRS brinda tres consejos de fin de año que debe considerar: 1. Inicie un sistema de archivo. Si usted no tiene un sistema de archivo para sus registros de impuestos, debe comenzar uno ahora. Puede ser tan simple como guardar los recibos en una caja de zapatos, o más complejas, como la creación de carpetas u hojas de cálcu-
lo. Siempre es una buena idea guardar los recibos y registros relacionados con los impuestos. Mantener un buen registro ahora le ahorrará tiempo y ayudará a presentar una declaración de impuestos completa y exacta el próximo año. 2. Haga contribuciones caritativas. Si va a dar a la caridad, considere donar antes de que termine el año. De esa manera usted puede reclamar su contribución como una deducción detallada para el 2013. Esto incluye las donacio-
nes que usted carga a la tarjeta de crédito para el 31 de diciembre, incluso si no paga la factura hasta el 2014. Un donativo con cheque también cuenta para el año 2013, siempre y cuando lo envíe por correo en diciembre. Recuerde que usted debe dar a una organización benéfica calificada para reclamar una deducción de impuestos. Asegúrese de guardar sus recibos. Usted debe tener un registro escrito de todas las donaciones de dinero para poder reclamar
una deducción. 3. Contribuya a cuentas de retiro. Es necesario contribuir a su plan 401 (k) o plan de jubilación similar para el 31 de diciembre para que cuente para el 2013. Por otra parte, usted tiene hasta el 15 de abril del 2014 para establecer una nueva cuenta de IRA o añadir dinero a una IRA existente y todavía cuenta para el 2013. El Crédito de Ahorro, también conocido como el Crédito por Aportaciones a Cuentas de Ahorro para la
Jubilación, ayuda a los trabajadores de bajos y moderados ingresos de dos maneras. Ayuda a las personas a ahorrar para la jubilación y gana un crédito tributario especial. Los trabajadores elegibles que contribuyen a las cuentas IRA, 401(k) o planes de retiro del lugar de trabajo similares pueden obtener un crédito tributario en su declaración de impuestos federal. Para más información sobre todos estos temas, visite la página Web IRS.gov.
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
Photo by David Wilson/courtesy | AP
Photo by Lynne Sladky | AP
Bill Lennon, left, and sisters Diane, center left, Peggy, center right, and Janet, right, who were a household name during their heyday on the Lawrence Welk show, sing the The Star-Spangled Banner with unidentified family members on the family ranch near Branson, Mo., on July 4, 2008.
Vehicles and an airplane from James Bond films are on display at the Dezer Collection Museum in North Miami, Fla. More than 1,000 vehicles are on display at the 250,000-square-foot museum.
Branson documentary Thousands of vehicles Miami museum has 1,200 cars, bicycles, Vespas explores back story By SUZETTE LABOY ASSOCIATED PRESS
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Documentary filmmakers A.J. Schnack and David Wilson knew it would be easy to make fun of Branson, middle America’s flag-waving, family-friendly celebration of musical variety shows and early-bird dinner specials. But the Midwest natives felt a stronger obligation to dig beneath the surface and portray local performers and town leaders as more than aw-shucks Ozark folk. The result is “We Always Lie to Strangers,” a new film that unspools a nuanced story of how the southwest Missouri resort is dealing with the aftermath of an economic recession, an aging audience and performance troupes whose gay cast members live a version of “don’t ask, don’t tell” among their conservative Christian neighbors. “We wanted to present stories that go beyond the facade,” said Wilson, who grew up in and still lives in the college town of Columbia. “We knew there was something there beyond the stereotype.” Tourism boosters across Missouri held their breath. A critical look at the place that refers to itself as “the live music show capital of the world” could have serious ramifications in a town of just more than 10,000 residents that supports 50 theaters and 100 shows with combined total of nearly 65,000 seats — more than Broadway. “We were very, very nervous about the final product,” said Missouri tourism director Katie Steele Danner, a former Branson resident who attended the festival screening.
Penetrating the city’s fiercely guarded barrier, which provided the movie’s title, took five years and hundreds of hours of footage. The film follows four story arcs: the Presley family, whose country jubilee opened a half-century ago and paved the way for the dozens of theaters to follow; the Lennon siblings, proud California liberals who followed Lawrence Welk to town after starring on his TV show as children; the struggling Magnificent Variety Show, whose cast members must pass out discount coupons to disinterested tourists while hoping their late paychecks don’t bounce; and performer Chip Holderman, a single father whose “lifestyle” clashes with his ex-wife’s new husband. The filmmakers initially thought they would chronicle alternative youth culture in a town with few outward signs of rebellion or dissent. Instead, they were drawn to a version of Branson that doesn’t appear in glossy tourism brochures: rural homeless, illiterate hotel workers and variety show co-owner Tamra Tinoco singing “Johnny B. Goode” to an unsuspecting audience while simultaneously writing a backstage note to her employees that “paychecks will be here tomorrow. Wait another day.” The documentary will be distributed nationally in 2014. It kicked off the annual St. Louis International Film Festival in November. Dan Lennon, whose singing sisters were a household name during their Welk heyday, said the film is a “realistic portrayal of our community. It’s not an ideal one.” After decades as the butt of jokes, realism has cache
LIBRARIES didn’t know how many people had been jailed on library-related offenses. “I was a police officer for 12 years, and while it wasn’t a regular daily thing, we had maybe a couple of these a year,” he said, adding that he didn’t know why Enck’s arrest in October got so much attention. In that case, police were called to the 22-year-old’s apartment on an unrelated disturbance charge, but officers arrested him after finding a past warrant for the study guide. Enck was released on a $200 bond, requested time-served — and returned the book. He said he couldn’t do it earlier because he checked it out before beginning a threeyear prison term for robbery. Being jailed for absconding with library materials “is an uncommon occurrence, but can happen once in a while,” said Mark Gould of the Chicago-based American Library Association. But he said there was no accurate count on how many states and communities issue arrest warrants. It’s an issue that has cost libraries a lot of money. Nearly 150 libraries in Texas participated in a survey earlier this
in Branson. Whether it was a televised visit by “The Beverly Hillbillies” to the Silver Dollar City theme park or the recurring jabs by “The Simpsons” — whose “Ode to Branson” intones, “They took Nick at Nite and made it a town” — Branson has been comedic lowhanging fruit from the start. “If you wanted to make fun of Branson, Missouri, it’d be like shooting fish in a barrel,” Bill Lennon said. “It’s so easy. But there’s some complexity.” Schnack, who grew up in Edwardsville, Ill., outside St. Louis and attended the University of Missouri, said he discovered a commitment to craft among Branson’s performers that rivals the more celebrated stages in New York, London or Los Angeles. Sure, Gary Presley’s baggy overalls, tattered straw hat and exaggerated country accent play up the hillbilly trope, but he and others also slyly subvert that image — often at the expense of the city slickers who come to town for what Schnack called “high-quality entertainment that pushes against the envelope maybe just a little bit, but never enough that it would make the audience uncomfortable.” “They know how to do that in a very specific way,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a surprise that Branson is very successful.” A century ago, visitors flocked to Branson’s limestone Marvel Cave, drawn to a rugged region immortalized in the Ozarks novel “The Shepherd of the Hills.” Now, they’re drawn to golf resorts, outlet malls and God-and-country entertainment by entertainers such as the Osmond family, Yakov Smirnov and 3 Redneck Tenors.
Continued from Page 1A
year that found 966,000 items were checked out long enough to be considered lost, with the total cost exceeding $18.2 million, said Gloria Meraz, a spokeswoman for the Texas Library Association. Among the most notable library-related arrests came in 2011, when a man from Newton, Iowa, served more than a week in jail for failing to return 11 library books and six CDs worth $770. Iowa law classifies failure to return library materials as theft, and the town has a 1993 ordinance, said Sue Padilla, director of the Newton library. Padilla said she saw a spike in returned overdue materials after the arrest. “We did notice that some things that had been out for quite a while did suddenly come back,” she said. The library hasn’t been back to court since that case, she said. She said going to court was a last resort, but that “we try to be good stewards of those things that were purchased with taxpayer funds.” Other notable cases include police being called to the home of a 4-yearold whose family had racked up more than $80 in overdue fines for four
books in Freeport, Pa. Police also visited a family’s home in Charlton, Mass., to collect overdue books. Back in Texas, two women in Baytown were arrested following traffic stops in 2006 and 2010, after police discovered they had outstanding warrants for unreturned library books. Indiana-based Unique Management Services is a collection agency that works with more than 1,600 libraries nationwide to recover overdue materials and administer fines and fees. During sluggish economic times, libraries became more anxious than ever to recover unreturned books, said Kenes Bowling, the agency’s customer development manager. “They feel the budgetary pressure, no doubt,” Bowling said. “But what we’ve seen over the years is that, no matter what the library does, there’s still a percentage of folks who need third party encouragement.” That includes a woman whose excuse for unreturned books ranks as Bowling’s favorite: He said she claimed the leg on her dining room table had broken “and the stack of books under it were just right.”
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — The classic cars lined up against an empty, vintage gas station along a busy street in North Miami attract visitors to a much larger space right behind it. More than 1,000 cars are on display at the 250,000square-foot Miami Auto Museum at The Dezer Collection that includes American classics, military and electric cars, bicycles and more. The museum is so large that if every passenger on three 747 airplanes were given just one item from the museum, they could all bike, drive or pedal their way out, said curator Myles Kornblatt. There are eight galleries spread throughout two large buildings in a part of Miami not known to showcase collectibles, much less $25 million to $30 million worth of one-of-a-kind vehicles. “We are a bit of a hidden gem,” Kornblatt said. Jorge Ivan Vergara Salazar, who came from Colombia to Miami on a family vacation, recently visited the museum and said he was surprised to find so many rare cars under one roof. “Everything that you see in television, like James Bond and Indiana Jones, those are all marvelous things. You get astonished by the things that are here
in America,” Salazar, 49, said in Spanish while touring the museum. Real estate developer Michael Dezer, 72, started his massive collection as a teenager and has one of the largest Vespa scooter collections in the world. “I knew it was original before I showed up,” said AJ Palmgren, a self-proclaimed “Knight Rider” historian who traveled from Des Moines, Iowa, to Florida for a family vacation. He made sure to stop at the museum on this trip because the television series about the talking, crimefighting car has been his passion since the day it first aired Sept. 26, 1982. “It’s very familiar. I’ve studied all of the remaining surviving original cars,” he said while standing next to KITT, the black Pontiac Trans Am that was featured in the popular 1980s television series. The museum houses the largest collection of micro cars on display, including a Velorex made in Czechoslovakia. Some are so small that they could barely accommodate one person, yet many were known for carrying two or three. There’s also a Duesenberg Model X from 1927, a sedan car with a rear windshield to shield the backseat passengers. It is just one of five known to still exist. Among the most popular galleries at the museum is the Hollywood Cars of the
BENEFITS were designed as a cushion for the millions of U.S. citizens who lost their jobs in a recession and failed to find new ones while receiving state jobless benefits, which in most states expire after six months. Another 1.9 million people across the country are expected to exhaust their state benefits before the end of June. “When Congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right,” President Barack Obama said last week at his year-end news conference. But Obama has no quick fix. He hailed this month’s two-year budget agreement as a breakthrough of bipartisan cooperation while his administration works with Democratic allies in the House and Senate to revive an extension of jobless benefits for those unemployed more than six months. The Obama administration says those payments have kept 11.4 million people out of poverty and benefited almost 17 million children. The cost of them since 2008 has totaled $225 billion. At the depth of the recession, laid off workers could qualify for up to 99 weeks of benefits, including the initial 26 weeks provided by states. The most recent extension allowed a total of up to 73 weeks, depending on the state. Restoring up to 47 extra weeks of benefits through 2014 would cost $19 billion, according to the Congressional Budget office. House Democrats led by Reps. Sander Levin of Michigan and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland sought to include an extension through March by offsetting the costs with potential farm bill savings. They were rebuffed.
Stars exhibit, which showcases cars, submarines, airplanes and more that were featured in movies, including the BMW motorcycle from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and the Mitsubishi Eclipse from the “Fast and the Furious” film in 2001. The Batboat used in the Batman television series that aired during the 1960s was signed by the builder, George Barris, and the Batmobile (also a Barris creation) is also on display. The museum also houses the largest collection of everything James Bond, including the Aston Martin sports car he drove in 1964’s “Goldfinger.” “There were no James Bond vehicles that really survived the first film, so you have to get to the second one,” Kornblatt said. And that film was 1963’s “From Russia with Love.” The boat featured in that film with Sean Connery is “the oldest surviving James Bond movie vehicle,” Kornblatt said. A majority of the cars at the museum are originals. “The replicas are sort of like a great side dish because we have so many originals,” Kornblatt said. “It’s the idea that at some point, whether kids or enthusiasts, there’s going to be something that makes them say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen one of those before.’ And people walk away very happy with what they see.”
Continued from Page 1A
Senate Democrats and some Republicans plan another push in 2014. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., have introduced a bill offering a similar three-month extension, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to bring it up. But as with much in Congress, an extension is no sure thing. House Speaker John Boehner spoke with Obama about an extension earlier this month. Boehner and said his caucus would consider the possibility “as long as it’s paid for and as long as there are other efforts that will help get our economy moving once again.” He said White House has yet to introduce a plan that meets his standards. For other Republicans, the bar is higher. Many of them look at signs of economic growth and an unemployment rate now down to 7 percent and expected to drop further as evidence the additional weeks of benefits are no longer necessary. The effect of jobless benefits on the unemployment rates has been fiercely debated for decades. To qualify, people have to be seeking work. Tea partiers such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky argue that the payments aggravate rather than relieve unemployment. The benefits allow some jobseekers to hold out for higher wages. Without the benefits, they might accept lower-paying jobs, reducing the unemployment rate. Others may be looking for work only to keep the benefits flowing and will drop out of the job market entirely once the checks stop. In theory, that also would push the unemployment
rate lower. The flip side is that the benefits — in addition to alleviating suffering — get spent on consumer goods, stimulating the economy and creating jobs. Extended unemployment insurance “is really a lifeline to help pay the bills, put food on the table, and put gas in the tank so people can look for work,” argued Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director at the left-leaning National Employment Law Project. Michael Feroli, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, said ending the extended benefits will lower the unemployment rate by half a percentage point as the long-term unemployed leave the labor force. While that statistical change may look good on the surface, Feroli cautioned the drop could be accompanied by a similar decrease in consumer spending. That would also hurt clothing retailers, car dealers and other Main Street businesses. Extending the program, on the other hand, would boost GDP growth by some 0.2 percent and increase full-time employment by 200,000 next year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, but at the price of increasing the government’s debt. Advocates of extended benefits say communities hardest hit by the recession will feel the sudden loss of cash in circulation the most. They cite a set of their own troublesome figures: three jobseekers still competing for each opening; some 4 million people in the ranks of long-term unemployed; unemployment lasting on average 37 weeks, two months longer than most states provide insurance.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
THE WEEK IN REVIEW WEEKLY STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS
u
NYSE 10,353.22+157.15
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE) Name USEC rs Barracuda n Autohme n GencoShip 58.com n Hyperdy rs Meritor NorandaAl BoxShips GlbShipLs
Last 6.28 35.49 34.91 2.53 38.99 4.38 9.79 3.13 3.42 6.06
Chg +1.81 +9.91 +7.69 +.51 +7.73 +.78 +1.63 +.51 +.54 +.88
%Chg +40.5 +38.7 +28.3 +25.2 +24.7 +21.7 +20.0 +19.5 +18.8 +17.0
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE) Name Textura n Dolan pfB Edenor DirGMBear DirDGdBr s PrUVxST rs PSBMetDS BarcShtB DaqoNEn iPBtaPrMt
Last Chg 29.54 -11.62 14.00 -3.60 5.11 -.83 67.42 -10.60 43.60 -6.64 16.26 -2.22 13.47 -1.73 16.55 -2.09 34.19 -4.31 34.50 -4.25
%Chg -28.2 -20.5 -14.0 -13.6 -13.2 -12.0 -11.4 -11.2 -11.2 -11.0
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NASDAQ 4,156.59 +51.85
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE) Name InterCld wt FrSeas rs NV5 wt VisnChina WPCS rs DynRsh Amyris SeanrgyM h IntrCloud n SynrgyP wt
Last Chg %Chg 10.20 +5.26 +106.6 2.53 +1.28 +102.4 2.50 +1.22 +95.3 31.20 +14.05 +81.9 2.53 +.96 +61.1 11.46 +4.21 +58.1 5.23 +1.81 +52.9 2.10 +.72 +52.0 15.20 +5.13 +50.9 2.10 +.67 +46.9
Vol (00)
Name Tesaro Shiloh SteinerLeis ChinaNRes CntlVyCm NwstBio wt CSVxSht rs ZoomTch rs TowerSemi YouOnDm
Last Chg Name
S&P500ETF2229451183.85+2.29 Twitter n 1951903 63.75 +3.74 BkofAm 1600898 15.67 +.07 FordM 1281094 15.30 -.12 iShEMkts 1233789 41.30 +.82 Sprint n 976786 10.79 +.93 EMC Cp 932941 25.00 +.46 GenElec 884289 27.83 +.47 iShR2K 857476115.16 +1.67 Penney 800393 9.01 +.69
Last 28.00 19.61 48.25 3.15 11.00 2.13 7.28 4.08 5.82 2.23
Chg -9.70 -3.66 -8.07 -.49 -1.69 -.33 -.90 -.50 -.68 -.26
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%Chg -25.7 -15.7 -14.3 -13.5 -13.3 -13.3 -11.0 -11.0 -10.5 -10.4
Volume
2,269 913 528 112 3,245 63 8,026,176,015
Last Chg
Facebook 2555805 AriadP 1782825 BlackBerry 1417701 DryShips 1269984 SiriusXM 1201609 Cisco 982028 MicronT 877597 PwShs QQQ 706434 Microsoft 700603 Intel 698000
DIARY Advanced Declined New Highs New Lows Total issues Unchanged
STOCK MARKET INDEXES
Dow Jones industrials
73.47
62.94 CLOSED 122.33
Close: 16,478.41 1-week change: 257.27 (1.6%)
MON
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16,500
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16,529.01 7,373.57 537.86 10,360.85 2,471.19 4,175.36 1,844.89 19,667.72 1,167.97 5,569.59
FRI
16,000 15,500
55.44 +.32 6.64 +.21 7.30 +.08 4.68 +.99 3.52 -.01 22.02 +.89 21.52 -.65 87.52 +1.02 37.29 +.49 25.60 +.55
DIARY Advanced Declined New Highs New Lows Total issues Unchanged
Volume
1,889 809 549 39 2,747 49 4,965,005,618
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Dow Jones Industrials 16,478.41 Dow Jones Transportation 7,352.08 Dow Jones Utilities 487.94 NYSE Composite 10,353.22 NYSE MKT Composite 2,419.52 Nasdaq Composite 4,156.59 S&P 500 1,841.40 Wilshire 5000 19,623.62 Russell 2000 1,161.09 Lipper Growth Index 5,561.52
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AT&T Inc AEP AriadP BkofAm BlackBerry Caterpillar Cisco CCFemsa CmtyHlt ConocoPhil Dillards DryShips EmpIca ExxonMbl Facebook FordM GenElec HewlettP HomeDp iShEMkts Intel
NY NY Nasd NY Nasd NY Nasd NY NY NY NY Nasd NY NY Nasd NY NY NY NY NY Nasd
1.84 35.18 +.88 +2.6 +4.4 2.00 46.50 -.22 -0.5 +9.0 ... 6.64 +.21 +3.3 -65.4 .04 15.67 +.07 +0.4 +35.0 ... 7.30 +.08 +1.1 -38.5 2.40 90.87 +1.94 +2.2 +1.4 .68 22.02 +.89 +4.2 +12.1 1.19 121.33 -.01 ... -18.6 .25 38.79 +.50 +1.3 +26.2 2.76 70.39 +.51 +0.7 +21.4 .24 96.31 +.79 +0.8 +15.0 ... 4.68 +.99 +26.8 +192.5 ... 8.41 +.27 +3.3 -16.4 2.52 101.51 +2.83 +2.9 +17.3 ... 55.44 +.32 +0.6 +108.3 .40 15.30 -.12 -0.8 +18.1 .88 27.83 +.47 +1.7 +32.6 .58 28.19 +.40 +1.4 +97.8 1.56 81.64 +1.60 +2.0 +32.0 .87 41.30 +.82 +2.0 -6.9 .90 25.60 +.55 +2.2 +24.2
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IntlBcsh IBM Lowes Lubys MetLife MexicoFd Microsoft Modine Penney RadioShk S&P500ETF Schlmbrg SearsHldgs SiriusXM SonyCp Twitter n UnionPac USSteel UnivHlthS WalMart WellsFargo
Nasd NY NY NY NY NY Nasd NY NY NY NY NY Nasd Nasd NY NY NY NY NY NY NY
.46 26.66 +.10 3.80 185.08 +5.06 .72 48.83 +.86 ... 7.32 -.36 1.10 53.96 +.84 2.94 29.76 +.24 1.12 37.29 +.49 ... 12.54 -.19 ... 9.01 +.69 ... 2.67 +.05 3.35 183.85 +2.29 1.25 89.90 +2.63 ... 46.16 +.22 .05 3.52 -.01 .25 17.09 -.47 ... 63.75 +3.74 3.16 166.05 +2.45 .20 30.09 +2.14 .20 80.15 +.75 1.88 78.47 +1.04 1.20 45.50 +.54
+0.4 +2.8 +1.8 -4.7 +1.6 +0.8 +1.3 -1.5 +8.3 +1.9 +1.3 +3.0 +0.5 -0.1 -2.7 +6.2 +1.5 +7.7 +0.9 +1.3 +1.2
+47.4 -3.4 +37.5 +9.4 +63.8 +2.5 +39.6 +54.2 -54.3 +25.9 +29.1 +29.7 +11.6 +21.6 +52.6 +42.0 +32.1 +26.2 +65.8 +15.0 +33.1
Stock Footnotes: g=Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars .h= Doe not meet continued- listings tandards lf = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred. rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified price. s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year. un = Units. vj = In bankruptcy or receivership. wd = When distributed. wi = When issued. wt = Warrants. Mutual Fund Footnotes: b = Fee covering market costs is paid from fund assets. d = Deferred sales charge, or redemption fee. f = front load (sales charges). m = Multiple fees are charged. NA = not available. p = previous day’s net asset value. s = fund split shares during the week. x = fund paid a distribution during the week. Gainers and Losers must be worth at least $2 to be listed in tables at left. Most Actives must be worth at least $1. Volume in hundreds of shares. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial.
Prime Rate Discount Rate Federal Funds Rate Treasuries 3-month 6-month 5-year 10-year 30-year
Pari-mutuel wagering, Bowen said, constituted most of the gambling revenue outside of Las Vegas. Since the explosion in state lotteries and casinos in the past 20 years, Bowen said, horse racing now represents only 2 percent of the U.S. spending on gambling. But when racing was big, records indicate, Hinojosa was one of the top jockeys. He finished sixth in total wins in 1961 and 1962, said Allan Carter, the historian at the National Racing Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Hinojosa was among the top 20 money-winners for five years during his long career. Hinojosa raced in the Triple Crown several times. He placed second in the 1974 Preakness, riding Neopolitan Way, and finished fourth in 1961 and 1978. He placed fifth in the 1961 Belmont Stakes. Hinojosa also raced in some of the largest and most lucrative races around the country, Carter said. Listed as Herbert Hinojosa by Equibase, an online archive of the industry, he had 25,160 starts, winning 3,334 and earning $17.9 million over his career. But the horses and the money only tell part of his story. Herbie Hinojosa has plenty of memories, but it’s difficult for him to put them in a coherent timeline. Rather, they pop up in conversation as fascinating anecdotes that sometimes are hard to comprehend. When he was 17, he argued with his promoter over money. Specifically, the promoter was pocketing all of it and Herbie wasn’t getting any. They were in Las Vegas when the argument came to a head. The angry promoter told Hinojosa he was going out for pizza. He never came back, leaving the teen Hinojosa to fend for himself. Hinojosa says he found shelter in the stables of Las Vegas Park, the track where he had been racing. He slept there and then wandered the casinos during the day, hanging out and looking for work. Then came the greatest thing that could ever happen to a lost, lonely teenage boy. “The showgirls who worked there got to know me,” he said matter-of-factly. “They liked me. They felt sorry for me.” The women, he said, began buying him food and giving him some of their tip money. Soon, he had collected enough $10 and $20 bills to leave town. He returned to New Mexico, where he first raced professionally, and started over. He got married two years later to a woman from Tucson, where he raced occasionally. When racing played out in a city, he and his family
would move to the next track with scheduled races. Hinojosa made his way east, hitting tracks in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Florida. Then he bounced back west, landing in California, and that’s where Hinojosa began hanging out with a very different crowd of race fans. Horse racing always has drawn the rich and famous, Bowen said. Current race horse owners include football players Drew Brees and Wes Welker, celebrity chef Bobby Flay and baseball’s Joe Torre. The track was an even bigger celebrity magnet in 1963. By day, Hinojosa raced against Willie Shoemaker and Eddie Arcarro, two of the sport’s most iconic names. By night, he was hobnobbing with celebrities such as Walt Disney, James Arness, Bob Hope, Buster Keaton, Jim Nabors, and Redd Fox. He worked for and hung out socially with Audie Murphy. He counted Roy Rogers, another owner, as a close friend. “When I was in Chicago, (Rogers) came to visit me and asked me to help him pick some horses,” Hinojosa said. “So I did.” Hinojosa once had dinner with singer Judy Garland, who had been paid an appearance fee by a Maryland track owner. Dinner with the winner was part of the deal. It helped that Hinojosa was a handsome man. Despite being only 5-foot-2, people were drawn to him. Murphy, for example, listed his height as 5-5. Hinojosa said the actor was much smaller and suspects their proximity in height, as well as their shared love of horses, motivated the friendship. Then there was Dickinson. At the time, she was one of the most desired women in show business. Hinojosa met her after a race at the Santa Anita track and later claimed they had a fling. When British royalty visited, Hinojosa was invited to dine with Queen Elizabeth II. He had sports buddies, too. He raced for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney and socialized at the track with baseball’s Jim Palmer, hockey’s Gordie Howe and legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas. Life wasn’t always about drinks with Uncle Walt or dinner with Johnny U. Hinojosa had three sons and two daughters with his first wife, he said. All three boys died. One perished in an auto accident and another died from cirrhosis of the liver. Charles E. Hinojosa — “Chucky Boy,” as Hinojosa referred to him — tried to follow in his father’s footsteps and race horses. He broke his neck in a racing accident in Charles
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CURRENCIES Pvs Week
3.25 0.75 .00-.25
Last
Pvs Day
3.25 Australia 1.1280 1.1245 0.75 Britain 1.6459 1.6420 .00-.25 Canada 1.0714 1.0643 Euro .7281 .7303 0.06 Japan 105.14 104.72 0.09 Mexico 13.0662 13.0674 1.68 Switzerlnd .8926 .8962 2.89 3.82 British pound expressed in U.S. dollars.
0.07 0.09 1.74 3.00 3.92
All others show dollar in foreign currency.
MUTUAL FUNDS Name
Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV
Total Return/Rank Pct Min Init 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Load Invt
Alliance Bernstein GlTmtcGA m Columbia ComInfoA m Eaton Vance WldwHealA m Fidelity Select Biotech d Fidelity Select BrokInv d Fidelity Select CommEq d Fidelity Select Computer d Fidelity Select ConsFin d Fidelity Select Electron d Fidelity Select FinSvc d Fidelity Select SoftwCom d Fidelity Select Tech d PIMCO TotRetIs T Rowe Price SciTech Vanguard 500Adml Vanguard HlthCare Vanguard InstIdxI Vanguard TotStIAdm Vanguard TotStIdx Waddell & Reed Adv SciTechA m
WS 604 ST 2,374 SH 850 SH 7,765 SF 776 ST 250 ST 631 SF 248 ST 924 SF 706 ST 2,998 ST 2,148 CI 154,660 ST 2,762 LB 79,840 SH 9,503 LB 86,106 LB 83,932 LB 101,510 ST 3,406
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80.18 49.39 11.19 180.75 73.90 29.21 73.73 16.25 62.43 81.40 118.03 122.18 10.68 38.86 169.70 186.49 168.62 46.50 46.48 15.97
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4.25 2,500 5.75 2,000 5.75 1,000 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL 2,500 NL1,000,000 NL 2,500 NL 10,000 NL 3,000 NL5,000,000 NL 10,000 NL 3,000 5.75 500
CA -Conservative Allocation, CI -Intermediate-Term Bond, ES -Europe Stock, FB -Foreign Large Blend, FG -Foreign LargeGrowth, FV -Foreign Large Value, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, MB -Mid-Cap Blend, MV - MidCap Value, SH -Specialty-heath, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
HORSE RACING Continued from Page 1A sports. “You can tell he’s worldly,” says Manuel Hinojosa (no relation), the McAllen architect who’s writing a book about the jockey. “He’s seen things and done things that most people will never experience.” Heriberto Hinojosa was born in 1936 to a family of migrant workers in El Ranchito, a colonia on the banks of the Rio Grande. Neighbors owned horses. The young and wiry Hinojosa, dubbed “El Chango,” or “the monkey” by his family, loved to brush and ride the animals. His family, which included six brothers and two sisters, struggled to get by. When work beckoned from Mexico, they left El Chango behind, in the care of an aunt, because he was too tiny to pitch in. He was 5, maybe 6 years old. Shortly after that, a neighbor could see that El Chango had a knack for getting the most out of a horse. Soon, the boy was competing all over South Texas. “I didn’t lose too many races,” Hinojosa told the San Antonio Express-News. By the time he was 7, Hinojosa’s childhood had been hijacked by a quartet of crooked politicians in Matamoros. The group — including the mayor and the police chief — put the boy in races throughout northern Mexico. That ended with a mob hit on the International Bridge. The mayor and his driver were returning Hinojosa to Texas when they were ambushed by rival gangsters. “They told me to lay down and be still,” said Hinojosa, who escaped the shooting unharmed. Years later, with permission from the boy’s absentee parents, a Valley racing promoter took then-17-year-old Hinojosa to New Mexico. He continued winning. Hinojosa logged his first parimutuel win in 1954, riding a 3-year-old filly named Hermana Moreno at Ruidoso Downs, according to racing industry records. What followed over the next 40 years was a career of ups and downs that took Hinojosa to hundreds of tracks around the country and to the pinnacle of racing popularity. In those days, says a racing expert, horse racing was one of America’s biggest attractions. Attendance numbers vary from source to source, said Ed Bowen, a former racing journalist and now president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation of Lexington, Ky., but racing always outdrew football and baseball in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The country had more than 300 operating tracks, and a daily horse racing story was a fixture in most sports pages.
12,883.89 5,210.30 443.69 8,298.36 2,186.97 2,951.04 1,398.11 14,700.70 827.72 4,022.43
Name
MONEY RATES
15,000
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)
MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) Name
WEEKLY DOW JONES
Town, W.Va. Besides the emotional toll, Hinojosa endured plenty of pain from racing accidents. He walks with a limp, the result of a broken right leg and shattered ankle suffered when the horse he was riding collapsed near the end of a race. To this day, Hinojosa’s right foot points out at a 90degree angle as a result of that injury. Hinojosa says he has broken his collarbone, both arms, the other leg, and his right shoulder. The biggest injury, however, occurred off the track in late 1963. Hinojosa was at home when he tripped and fell through a plate glass window, causing severe tendon and muscle damage in his right arm. Recovery was long and painful. He was at the peak of his career when the accident occurred. He healed, but he never was the same. He raced less often and with less success. At one point, he was racing several hundred times a year, sometimes six times a day. His last two races, according to the National Racing Museum archives, were in 1995 when he was 59 years old. He won both of them. Hinojosa retired to Boston with his second wife and raised two more kids. That marriage failed, and Hinojosa returned to Brownsville in 2001 to be with his mom, who was 92 at the time. She died five years later. Hinojosa decided to stay. The tiny house in Southmost seems incongruous for a jockey who made millions. Hinojosa says he spent most of his money, but isn’t hurting for cash. “I’m doing OK,” he said. “I’ve got enough to live on and to survive.” Even though he’s hobbled by old injuries, he is the primary caregiver for his livein companion. She has Parkinson’s disease and movement is difficult for her. A home health nurse comes daily, but only stays a few hours. Manuel Hinojosa, who also owns a Port Isabel sports bar and is a major sports memorabilia collector, has spent a year trying to drum up publicity and attention for a guy who might be one of the greatest sports figures to ever come from the lower Valley. The retired jockey has lived large and now he’s not. But he’s not bitter. “He never speaks ill of anyone,” Manuel Hinojosa said. “The way things have turned out ... it doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t regret anything.” If there’s bitterness, Heriberto Hinojosa doesn’t show it. “I’ve had my ups and downs,” he says. “But that makes you a better man. In my mind, I’m 18 again. At least that’s how I feel.” “I feel good about life.”
ANXIETY Continued from Page 1A On a holiday often sealed with a kiss, nearly 4 in 10 say they most want to be next to their spouse, and 13 percent cite a significant other or romantic interest as a preferred companion. Parents like to be with their children, more than the children like to be with their parents. Less conventional choices: 2 percent cite their pets, 3 percent God, Jesus or their religious congregation, and less than 1 percent said they wanted to ring it in with their co-workers. Of course, some opt out altogether: 18 percent say they’re not planning to celebrate on New Year’s Eve, and 9 percent say there’s no one with whom they’d like to party, preferring instead their pillow, TiVo or their own thoughts.
What mattered in news The implementation of the health care law topped the list of the most important news stories of 2013, with 26 percent citing it. In an Associated Press survey of news directors and editors, 45 of 144 journalists surveyed called the health care rollout their top story. In the AP-Times Square poll, the death of Nelson Mandela occurred as the poll was underway. It rose quickly, with 8 percent naming it as the most important news of the year, matching the share citing the federal government’s budget difficulties or shutdown. The budget fight, which led to a partial shutdown of the federal government in October, was rated extremely or very important by 60 percent of Americans, and prompted rare bipartisan agreement. About two-thirds in each major party, 65 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats, rated it highly important. A majority said the Boston Marathon bombings were extremely or very important, and 47 percent considered the national debate over gun laws that important.
Pop culture: mostly forgettable moments Miley Cyrus’s MTV Video Music Awards performance. The launch of “Lean In.” Apologies from Paula Deen and Lance Armstrong. Walter White’s exit and the entrance of the Netflix series “House of Cards.” What do they all have in common? More Americans say these pop culture moments were more forgettable than memorable. Just one pop culture moment was deemed more memorable than forgettable: The birth of Prince George to Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate. Among men, 64 percent called the debate on work-life balance sparked by the book “Lean In” and other writings forgettable. About half of women agreed. About 1 in 5 younger Americans said the launch of original programming through streaming services like Netflix or Hulu was a memorable moment, about doubling the share among those age 50 and up. Residents of the West were more likely than others to consider memorable the San Francisco “Batkid” (31 percent) or the final season of the series “Breaking Bad” (19 percent). The AP-Times Square New Year’s Eve Poll was conducted by GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communications from Dec. 5-9 and involved online interviews with 1,367 adults. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for all respondents. The poll is a cooperative effort between AP and the organizers of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration, the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment. The Alliance is a non-profit group that seeks to promote Times Square, and Countdown Entertainment represents the owners of One Times Square and the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop. The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, a probability-based Internet panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Respondents to the survey were first selected randomly, using phone or mail survey methods, and were later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn’t otherwise have access to the Internet were provided with the ability to access the Internet at no cost to them.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS
Romo out Photo by Matt Rourke | AP
Nick Foles has given the Eagles new life, going 7-2 in nine starts and leading the league in quarterback rating.
Foles, Orton square off Former backups will help decide NFC East champion By SCHUYLER DIXON ASSOCIATED PRESS
all finales — to the New York Giants two years ago and Washington last season. He also lost to the Eagles in the same situation in 2008 and now will miss a chance to improve his 1-6 record in elimination games. “He’s devastated,” Garrett said. “Devastated. He puts a lot into this.” Philadelphia (9-6) is trying to complete a worst-to-first turnaround from a 4-12 season under first-year coach Chip Kelly. The Cowboys (8-7) want to end a three-year playoff drought and
ARLINGTON — Nick Foles and Kyle Orton were backup quarterbacks when the season began. With Tony Romo out after back surgery, they will be the starters for Philadelphia and Dallas when the Cowboys play their third straight season finale against an NFC East rival with a division title on the line Sunday night. Foles has a 7-2 record in nine starts and leads the league in quarterback rating, which is why Michael Vick didn’t get his job back when he was healthy again last month. Orton is almost exactly two years removed from his last start, back when Kansas City was finishing a 7-9 record in the same season he was dumped by Denver in favor of Tim Tebow. He’s played three games — and thrown just 15 passes — in two years as Romo’s backup. Add the absence of defensive leader Sean Lee with a neck sprain, and the Cowboys are facing long odds trying to end a three-year playoff drought most notable for losses the past two seasons to the New York Giants and Washington in playoffs-or-bust finales. “Obviously for him and I, everything you’ve worked for, you’ve done over the course of a dec-
See ROMO PAGE 2B
See ORTON PAGE 2B
Photo by Evan Vucci | AP
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will not have a chance to improve upon his 1-6 record in elimination games in the all-important season finale against the Eagles Sunday.
Cowboys QB has back surgery, Orton will start By SCHUYLER DIXON ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRVING — Tony Romo’s season is over, and the Dallas Cowboys will have to win without their star quarterback in a third straight playoffs-or-bust finale. Coach Jason Garrett said Romo had back surgery Friday, and Kyle Orton will start when Dallas faces Philadelphia on Sunday night with the NFC East title and a postseason berth on the line. Garrett said Romo underwent treat-
ment all week in hopes of playing after injuring his back in a season-saving 2423 victory against Washington. The winning touchdown came after the injury on Romo’s fourth-down pass to DeMarco Murray in the final 2 minutes. Romo hurt himself when he tripped over his foot while trying to escape pressure earlier in the fourth quarter. “He might have had his finest hour against the Redskins last week, what he did at the end of that ballgame under the circumstances,” Garrett said. “Pretty special.” Romo lost the past two winner-take-
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: TEXAS RANGERS
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
Texans try to finish victorious ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Ron Jenkins | AP
Shin-Soo Choo inked a seven-year, $130 million deal with the Rangers last week, and general manager Jon Daniels called him a “perfect fit.”
Choo to bat leadoff for Rangers By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARLINGTON — Shin-Soo Choo will be the leadoff hitter for the Texas Rangers in an offense they feel they have successfully remade this offseason. Choo was formally introduced Friday, nearly a week after agreeing to a $130 million, seven-year deal. “It was a perfect fit,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “His skill set, his personality,
his personal goals and desires really lineup up perfectly with ours and what our club needed. ... He’s really been one of the most productive offensive players in the game for a period of time now.” The 31-year-old South Korean outfielder has a .288 career average and .389 on-base percentage in 853 major league games for Seattle (200506), Cleveland (2006-12) and Cincinnati (2013).
See CHOO PAGE 2B
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mike Munchak’s future with the Titans will be decided once the season ends. Wade Phillips is hoping his work coordinating Houston’s defense is good enough to remove the interim from his title and make him the Texans’ next head coach. First, their teams have to wrap up the season. "Everyone wants to win the last one," Munchak said. The Titans (6-9) are trying to salvage a second straight losing record by finishing with a twogame winning streak before new president and CEO Tommy Smith decides whether to keep Munchak for a fourth season. A win would give them one more than last year’s 6-10 mark and also end the team’s longest home skid at five since the franchise relocated to Tennessee. "There’s so much uncertainty in the air right now, so ... my focus and I think everybody else’s focus is on this next game," Titans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, 2-6 as the starter. Tennessee at least ended a three-game skid by winning in Jacksonville 20-16 last week for its first win in the AFC South. That victory was enough to clinch second in the weak division for the Titans. Beating the
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
Texans head coach Wade Phillips is hoping the work he’s put in as defensive coordinator will put him into consideration for Houston’s vacant head coaching spot. Texans on Sunday would snap a three-game losing string against the franchise that replaced them in Houston, where Smith lives. The Texans (2-13) haven’t won since beating the Titans 30-24 in overtime the second week of this season, far from what the defending two-time AFC South champs expected for 2013. A win would end a miserable 13-game skid that includes a 37-13 loss to Denver last week, but could put the No. 1 overall draft selection next May in jeopardy.
Phillips looks at the Titans and sees a team still playing hard for Munchak. Being an interim coach hasn’t been easy with a team he didn’t build. "I’ve got a pretty good record as a head coach when I’ve had the team at the start of the season," Phillips said. "I think they’ll consider that." Five things to look for as these AFC South teams wrap up disappointing seasons and start working on 2014:
See TEXANS PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
ROMO Continued from Page 1B avoid a third 8-8 finish in Garrett’s three full seasons as coach. Dallas will have to do it without its defensive leader, too. Linebacker Sean Lee will miss his third straight game with a sprained neck. He’ll wind up sidelined for five of the last six regular-season games. He was out for two with a hamstring injury. Lee was forced to watch last year’s season-ending loss to the Redskins with a toe injury sustained in the sixth game. “You have this picture of how the season is going to go and two years in a row, it doesn’t go the right way from a personal standpoint, from a physical standpoint,” Lee said. “I’m just trying to stay positive, trying to help out any way I can, but I hate not being on the football field.” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on his radio show that the team and Romo hoped an injection would ease the pain enough
to allow him to play. But his condition didn’t improve, and Jones said doctors advised it was better not to wait for surgery. Jones said the hope is that Romo will be ready for offseason practices in May. Romo missed all the offseason workouts this year after surgery to remove a cyst from his back in April. Garrett and Jones said the latest injury is not related, but wouldn’t be more specific about Friday’s procedure. News of the second back surgery comes nine months after Romo signed a six-year, $108 million extension with $55 million guaranteed. “He played very well coming off the first procedure he had in the spring,” Garrett said. “We are completely confident he’s going to rehab and come back 100 percent.” Orton, who declined to talk to reporters Friday, will make his first start since the finale in 2011,
when he finished the season in Kansas City after getting replaced by Tim Tebow in Denver. He’s appeared in three games and thrown just 15 passes in two seasons as Romo’s backup. “We’ve been operating as if Kyle Orton is going to be our starting quarterback,” Garrett said. “At the same time we were trying to do whatever we could to see if we could help Tony and get him back as quickly as possible. We just felt like this was the best course of action.” NOTES DE DeMarcus Ware missed practice because of an elbow injury but told reporters he is playing. He’s listed as questionable. ... WR/KR Dwayne Harris and CB Morris Claiborne are set to return from hamstring injuries. Both are probable. Harris missed three of the past four games, and Claiborne missed six of seven. ... LB Ernie Sims is doubtful with a groin injury.
Photo by Alex Brandon | AP
Tony Romo underwent treatment all week in hopes of playing Sunday after edging the Redskins last week to keep the Cowboys’ playoff hopes alive.
ORTON Continued from Page 1B ade is for moments like this,” said tight end Jason Witten, who came into the league with Romo in 2003. “And if he’s not able to go, obviously that’s a blow. But you want to do it for guys like that.” Not so fast on the advantage for the Eagles, says Foles as he tries to finish a worst-to-first rebound from 4-12 to the postseason for Philadelphia under firstyear coach Chip Kelly. “I don’t care who’s quarterbacking, who’s playing,” said Foles, who has 25 touchdowns and two interceptions. “If you’re not up for that, I don’t know if you’ll ever be up to play football.” Five things to consider as the Eagles visit the Cowboys five years after blowing out Dallas 44-6 in a winner-takeall finale in Philadelphia: NO ROMO He injured his back in the fourth quarter of last week’s 2423 victory at Washington that kept Dallas’ playoff hopes alive. After the injury, Romo directed the winning drive capped by his fourth-down pass to DeMarco Murray for a 10-yard touchdown. But Witten said Romo was clearly in a lot of pain after the game. Coach Jason Garrett said Romo had season-ending surgery Friday. The Cowboys added 41year-old Jon Kitna to have another arm in practice, and he will be Orton’s backup two years after retiring and becoming a teacher and coach. “He has knowledge of the game in terms of he’s been through issues and problems and he knows how to solve them,” offensive coordinator Bill Callahan said of Orton. “That’s why we have that opportunity to have a veteran quarterback as a backup.” MY HOW THINGS CHANGE The Eagles have been held without a touchdown once this season, in a 17-3 loss to Dallas in October. Foles was 11 of 29 for 80 yards before the Cowboys knocked him out of the game with a concussion. Since then, Foles is 6-1 and averaging 287 yards passing per game. He tied the NFL record for touchdown passes in a game with seven against Oakland the first start after the Cowboys shut him down. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have given up the first two 600-yard games in franchise history; an NFL-record 40 first downs; eight straight scoring drives to Chicago backup Josh McCown; and
TEXANS Continued from Page 1B
Photo by Darron Cummings | AP
Case Keenum could return as Houston’s starter this week. He’s thrown nine touchdowns and six interceptions, better numbers than Matt Schaub.
Photo by Brandon Wade | AP
It’s been almost two years since Kyle Orton started, but he’ll get the nod for the Cowboys Sunday as Tony Romo recovers from back surgery. five in a row to Green Bay sub Matt Flynn when the Packers rallied from 26-3 down at halftime. Dallas did get two late stops that were big boosts in the rally to beat Washington. HIGH-FLYING EAGLES LeSean McCoy leads the NFL with 1,476 yards and has a chance to be Philadelphia’s first league-leading rusher since Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren in 1949. He can also break Brian Westbrook’s franchise record of 2,104 yards from scrimmage. He needs 93. The Eagles’ DeSean Jackson needs 106 yards receiving to break Mike Quick’s franchise record of 1,409 in 1983. The Cowboys won the first game in large part because they limited the damage from McCoy (55 yards rushing, 26 receiving) and Jackson (three catches for a season-low 21 yards). GARRETT’S HOT SEAT Dallas owner Jerry Jones gave Garrett another vote of confidence on his radio show this week — the second one in about a month. Romo’s absence will be
an interesting factor if Jones is stuck with a fourth straight season without a trip to the playoffs. If the Cowboys don’t win, they’ll have 8-8 records in all three full seasons under Garrett, who currently is 29-26 since replacing Wade Phillips during the 2010 season. “His future is bright in my eyes with the Cowboys,” Jones said. KELLY’S CLIMB Win or lose, Kelly’s first season in Philadelphia is a success. A 10-6 finish would match the 1999-2000 seasons for the best turnaround in franchise history at six games (from 5-11 in 1999 to 11-5 in 2000). Those were the first two years under Andy Reid, who was replaced by Kelly in the offseason. Kelly smoothly handled the decision to keep Foles as the starter ahead of Vick, and his fastpaced offense has a chance to join the 2011 Saints and 2013 Broncos as the only franchises with 13 games of 400 yards or more of total offense in a season.
WARMACK VS. WATT Call this matchup Take 2. Texans defensive end J.J. Watt got his first two sacks this season when these teams played in September, easily getting the better of Titans rookie right guard Chance Warmack. The 10th overall draft selection talked when drafted of looking forward to playing against Watt, and now Warmack gets his second chance at the defensive end — with the benefit of a full season’s experience. "He’s excited about it ..." Munchak said. "He’s so much better at a lot of things than he was back in Week 2. That’s the fun thing about him. He’s excited about challenges. He knows he’s a great player like J.J. Watt. You’re going to see him at his best. It doesn’t matter what the record is." KEENUM BACK AT QB? Case Keenum missed last week’s game with a splint on his right thumb, and Phillips said a ligament injury kept the quarterback from being able to grip the ball. But Keenum practiced Thursday and could return to the starting lineup. Keenum at least has more touchdown passes (9) than interceptions (6), which is better
than what Matt Schaub can say at this point. WHO’S THIS GUY? Jonathan Grimes will be the fifth running back to start for Houston in a season in which the Texans currently have 13 players on injured reserve. Grimes was signed Dec. 18 and got his first career carry in the loss to Denver when he finished with five rushes for 23 yards. PROTECTING THE BALL The Titans have dropped to minus-3 in turnover margin with only two takeaways in the past four games. That’s far better than the Texans have managed. Even though Houston ranks seventh in total yards allowed per game, the Texans have only 10 takeaways all season compared with 27 giveaways for a differential of minus-17. NUMBERS WATCH Chris Johnson of the Titans needs 50 yards rushing to reach 1,000 for each of his first six seasons, which would make him only the sixth running back in NFL history to do that. Texans receiver Andre Johnson needs 142 yards to become the first in NFL history with at least 100 catches and 1,500 yards receiving in four seasons.
CHOO Continued from Page 1B Choo has at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases three times, including last season when he started 150 games in center field and was the primary leadoff hitter for the Reds in his only year there. With numerous teams interested during free agency, Choo said he was looking for a winning team and somewhere his wife and three young children would be comfortable. “The Texas Rangers were the best fit for me,” Choo said. “It was very easy to pick.” Agent Scott Boras called it a “tremendous baseball fit” for both sides. Texas last month acquired five-time All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder from Detroit in a trade for second baseman Ian Kinsler.
Only Mike Trout (564) and Miguel Cabrera (562) have reached base more than last two seasons than Choo (556) and Fielder (542). “We talked early on about our desire to remake our offense, both in personnel, but also equally importantly in style,” Daniels said. “We feel very good about what we’ve been able to accomplish to this point.” Texas missed the playoffs for the first time in four years and scored only 730 runs, its fewest in a non-strike season since 1992. Choo was presented jersey No. 17, which had been worn by freeagent slugger Nelson Cruz, the 2011 AL championship series MVP who hit 27 home runs with 76 RBIs in 109 games for Texas last season. Cruz was suspended 50 games after Major League
SHIN-SOO CHOO
Baseball’s investigation into a Florida clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs, but returned to play in the AL wild-card tie-
breaker game the Rangers lost. The addition of Choo, whose salary will average about $18.6 million per season, also lessens the likelihood of Texas being serious bidders for Japanese star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Rangers co-owner Bob Simpson said the team is ’comfortable where we are in terms of financial commitment ’’ and that “Tanaka would be a tough thing.” The Texas payroll is expected to be over $130 million next season. When the ownership group took over during the 2010 season, the same year the Rangers went to the first of consecutive World Series, the payroll was less than $60 million. Choo’s deal is the third-richest this offseason, behind only Robinson Cano ($240 million, 10 years from Seattle) and Jacoby
Ellsbury ($153 million, seven years from New York Yankees). Choo will make $14 million in 2014 and 2015, $20 million from 2016-18, and $21 million the last two years of the deal. There is also a limited no-trade clause and award bonuses, the largest being $250,000 for being selected AL MVP. Rangers manager Ron Washington plans to play Choo in left field and utilize him at the top of the batting order. He had a .423 OBP with Cincinnati and scored 107 runs last season. “He’ll be the kind of guy to come back to the dugout and let everyone know exactly what that pitcher is doing. ... That’s oldschool baseball right there,” Washington said. “He’s a young man bringing old-school values, and that’s what I like the most.”
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
HINTS | BY HELOISE
“
HELOISE
Dear Heloise: When setting up the Christmas tree, I put down a big PLASTIC TREE BAG, then set up the tree in the stand. Next comes the tree skirt. When it’s time to take down the tree, I remove the tree skirt and stand, and pull the plastic bag over the tree. This keeps most needles from scattering all over the floor. — Eddie T. in Colorado Good preventive thinking! My mother taught me to use a king-size flat sheet, and lay the tree (decorations are off, of course!) in the middle. Just grab the side and drag the tree outside, or have someone help you carry it out. Very little mess to clean up. — Heloise PET PAL Dear Readers: Avalon I. in Grapeland, Texas, sent a picture of her cat, Misty, sitting atop a propane
tank, watching the world go by — or perhaps the birds and the bees, as her owner put it. To see Misty’s photo, go to my website, www.Heloise.com, and click on "Pets." — Heloise EASY ICE CREAM Dear Heloise: I was looking for a quick-and-easy dessert to make for my daughter. I had some presliced bananas in the freezer. I took them out and put them in my small blender, then added a small amount of milk and blended. An easy homemade ice cream! Well, a good-enough one for my daughter. I now make it all the time, and feel much better giving it to her. — Tiffany in Texas COLD DAY, WARM HANDS Dear Heloise: On those very cold but sunny days, leave an extra pair of gloves on the dashboard of your car when you leave it for shopping, etc. Thanks to the sun having heated them, you will feel warm immediately, even though your car is still cold. — Jan S., Rockville, Md.
DENNIS THE MENACE
FAMILY CIRCUS
PEANUTS
GARFIELD
DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it:
DILBERT
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013
Phillips still deciding who to start at QB Keenum limited in practice, but may start By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Interim coach Wade Phillips doesn’t know who will start at quarterback for the Texans in their finale Sunday at Tennessee. Phillips said Friday that Case Keenum was limited in practice because he was sore and that the decision on who will start will be made Sunday. Keenum has an injury to a ligament in his right thumb and missed last week’s game. If Keenum can’t play, Matt Schaub will start as the Texans try to snap a franchise-record 13-game losing streak. Schaub was benched after six games in favor of Keenum. He threw for 176 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in Houston’s 37-13 loss to Denver last week. “We’re going to wait and see how Case is,” Phillips said. “It could be a situation where he
Photo by Patric Schneider | AP
Benched six games into the season in favor of Case Keenum, Texans quarterback Matt Schaub threw for 176 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in last week’s 37-13 loss to the Broncos. wouldn’t be able to start but he could be the backup.” Keenum fell on his thumb and injured it on the last of his four
sacks in a loss to the Colts two weeks ago. If he is unable to play, T.J. Yates will be the backup to Schaub.
Keenum, who went undrafted after wrapping up a record-setting career at the University of Houston in 2011, wants another
chance to pick up his first win. Keenum has thrown for 1,760 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions this season but has lost all eight of his starts. “I want to go win and that’s my mindset,” Keenum said. “I think everybody in that locker room feels the same way. I love playing. I love competing and I love winning. It’s definitely better than the alternative and I think that’s what we all want to go do.” Houston has the worst record in the NFL, and a loss will guarantee the Texans the top overall pick in next year’s draft. The Texans are also dealing with injuries to their running backs. Phillips said that last week’s starter, Dennis Johnson, didn’t practice and is “very questionable” for Sunday’s game. Deji Karim, his backup against Denver, is out after breaking his collarbone Sunday. Phillips said that Jonathan Grimes, who was signed last week, will start at running back against Tennessee. Grimes will be the fifth different running back Houston has started this season.
50th TD questioned By ARNIE STAPLETON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Wade Phillips would like to put an asterisk on Peyton Manning’s touchdown record. The Houston Texans’ interim coach said Friday the league agreed with him that Manning’s record-tying 50th TD toss Sunday shouldn’t have counted because Eric Decker bobbled the ball. The touchdown still counts, however, as does Manning’s 51st TD throw. That one to Julius Thomas minutes later capped Denver’s 37-13 win and broke Tom Brady’s record of 50 TD passes set in 2007. That football, along with Manning’s grass-stained No. 18 jersey and his cleats, were sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Decker said Phillips should just let it go, telling The Associated Press on Friday, “I caught it. This doesn’t change anything. It’s still a big catch for me and one I’ll remember for a while.” Same with Manning, who told Decker after the reception with 6:57 left, “Great catch, man!” Decker’s 20-yard reception with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter gave Denver a 30-13 lead, and the TD was upheld on replay, much to the chagrin of Phillips, who felt Decker didn’t have control of the ball until after his momentum carried him out of the back of the end zone. Phillips sent the play to the league this week, contending the wrong call was made. “We did get some good news. Actually, it’s bad news for Peyton Manning because the league did come back and say that the ball was juggled by Decker and shouldn’t have been a
Photo by Tom Gilbert | AP
North Texas quarterback Derek Thompson and the Mean Green will play in their first bowl game since 2004, a turnaround engineered by third-year head coach Dan McCarney.
UNT going bowling Photo by Sharon Ellman | AP
Houston head coach Wade Phillips said the NFL agreed that Peyton Manning’s 50th touchdown throw should not have counted. touchdown,” Phillips said at the beginning of his Friday news conference. He jokingly added, “I guess they’re going to have to take that Hall of Fame ball that they sent to the Hall of Fame back. I feel bad for Peyton celebrating breaking the record and it really didn’t happen.” “I guess they still count it, don’t they? Anyway, the League came and said that it was not a touchdown. Unfortunately, they ruled it a touchdown on the field and then they reviewed and said it was a touchdown. But now the league came back and said it wasn’t, which we said all along.” Broncos coach John Fox shrugged off Phillips’ comments, noting there’s been plenty more TD passes that Manning has had this season that were overturned on replay. “I’m on the other side of a lot of those too but it really doesn’t change anything. So I’ll just leave it at that,” Fox said at his Friday news conference.
Later, Fox told The AP there was one play in particular, against Tennessee on Dec. 8, in which Decker caught a pass and rolled into the end zone for the apparent score but he was ruled down shy of the goal line upon further review. TV replays, however, don’t clearly show a defender touching him before he rolls across the goal line. “I still thought that was a touchdown, but I don’t pay much mind to all that stuff because it doesn’t change anything,” Fox said. “I don’t really put much stock in all that.” Decker said he still doesn’t think he was touched on that play, but those kinds of calls all even out in the end. As for Phillips checking with the NFL on his record-tying TD catch, Decker added: “Obviously, coaches want the games to be called fair. He didn’t think it was the right call, which I thought it was. So, he’s going to voice it to the league. But it still counts.”
By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENTON — Derek Thompson remembers how dysfunctional things seemed when he first got to North Texas. The quarterback even preferred playing on the road in his early days, far away from the aging campus stadium. Thompson and leading tackler Zach Orr are among 17 players who can genuinely appreciate how far the Mean Green have come during their college careers. That group arrived at the end of a string of losing seasons under a coach whose high school success never translated to the college level, moved into a new stadium with a new coach and now will play on New Year’s Day in the school’s first bowl game since 2004. “It’s a night-and-day difference. When I got here, I didn’t really know what a football family really felt like,” Thompson said. “There’s a lot of guys that left, that quit the program. ... It’s unbelievable the change. I know a lot of
programs go through stuff like that, but I don’t think there’s another program in the nation that was as dysfunctional as we were when I got here.” The Mean Green (8-4) wrap up their third season under coach Dan McCarney against similarly improved UNLV (7-5) in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. “He just brought a toughness, discipline and physicality to this program,” All-Conference USA linebacker Orr said of McCarney. McCarney was part of impressive turnarounds with Hayden Fry at Iowa and Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin before his first head coaching job at Iowa State, which went from winless the season before McCarney got there to five bowls in a span of six seasons. He was part of a national championship with Urban Meyer at Florida before North Texas. The Mean Green were 13-58 the six seasons before McCarney arrived. That included 6-37 in 3 1/2 seasons under Todd Dodge, the first head coach since Gerry Faust at Notre Dame in 1981 to go
from high school to NCAA Division I. Dodge was 79-1 with four state championships his final five seasons at Southlake Carroll High School, about 30 miles from the Denton campus. When McCarney got there, he said a lot of players viewed consequences as punishment instead of “things you have to do just to give yourself a chance to be successful.” Nearly half of the players had GPAs under 2.0 — this semester more than 50 had at least a 3.0 GPA, and every player is academically eligible to play in the bowl. UNT went 5-7 and 4-8 its first two seasons under McCarney, while there was some initial turnover in the roster. “Some of them eliminated themselves. I eliminated some because there were some guys here either character or academics or talent, they didn’t want to be here and live up to the expectations and the standards of the program,” McCarney said. “The ones that have stuck with me and have been with me, how gratifying and fulfilling is that now.”
Westbrook has knee surgery By STEVE REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had arthroscopic knee surgery Friday and will be sidelined until after the All-Star break. Westbrook will miss at least 27 games. “He will be missed,” coach Scott Brooks said before Oklahoma City’s game Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats. “Obviously we are a very good team with him, and without him we’re still going to be a very good team.” General manager Sam Presti said in a news release earlier in the day that Westbrook has been playing pain-free, but “recently had experienced increased swelling” in his right knee. “After consultation and consideration by his sur-
geon in Los Angeles, a plan was established to monitor the swelling that included a series of scheduled MRIs,” Presti said in the release. “On the most recent MRI it was determined by the surgeon that there was an area of concern that had not previously existed, nor was detectable in the previous procedures, and it was necessary to evaluate Russell further. The consulting physician determined that arthroscopic surgery was necessary to address the swelling that was taking place.” Brooks said Reggie Jackson, who is averaging 12.5 points, will start. Jeremy Lamb will also see increased playing time in Westbrook’s absence. “Guys believe in what he does for our team,” Brooks said of Jackson. “He’s only going to get bet-
ter. He’s a young point guard in this league.” Westbrook’s knee problems began in April when he tore his meniscus in the second game of the Western Conference playoffs, sidelining him for the remainder of the postseason and all but ending Oklahoma City’s chances of reaching the NBA Finals. He had a second arthroscopic surgery as the Thunder were preparing for training camp after developing inflammation in the knee. However, Westbrook missed only two regular-season games before returning to the floor. Oklahoma City has since gone on a 21-3 tear with Westbrook in the starting lineup. The five-year NBA player is averaging 21.3 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Thunder, who entered Friday night’s
game with a 23-5 record, a half-game behind the firstplace Portland Trail Blazers in the Northwest Division. Oklahoma City has won 10 of its last 11 games. In his last game on Christmas, Westbrook didn’t look like a player who was in pain, finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 123-94 rout of the New York Knicks. Brooks said he didn’t know the knee was an issue until after Wednesday’s game. “He’s passed every medical benchmark and he was playing great basketball, probably some of the best basketball in the entire league,” Brooks said. “We’re looking forward to him coming back and getting back to the level that he has played at — and he will.”
Photo by John Minchillo | AP
Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook will miss at least 27 games after suffering a right knee injury and getting surgery Friday.