The Zapata Times 12/31/2014

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Leadership woes El Cenizo mayor wants new fire department leader

By KENDRA ABLAZA THE ZAPATA TIMES

After two former volunteer firefighters in El Cenizo set abandoned homes on fire earlier this month, El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes is following through with his plan to shake up the department due to what he calls a lack of leadership.

The El Cenizo City Council today will listen to complaints

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and discuss in an executive session, or in private, the El Cenizo volunteer fire department and a performance evaluation FIGUEROA-OSORIO of El Cenizo Fire Chief Juan Alejandro.

More than a week ago, Reyes asked for the resignation of Alejandro, but the chief has not submitted his resignation.

JONES Reyes said then that he planned to

place an agenda item at the next council meeting to terminate the chief and appoint an interim.

Alejandro could not be reached for comment.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Laredo Morning Times on Dec. 17, the two former volunteer firefighters set the abandoned

See MAYOR PAGE 11A

RICK PERRY

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL Gov. wants to move past 2011

Border Patrol Enforcement Data Laredo Sector (2014) Apprehensions Staffing Rescues Deaths

44, 049 1,785 456 49

ILLEGAL DRUGS SEIZED (IN POUNDS) Marijuana 123,383 Cocaine 237 Heroin 44 Methamphetamine 58 TOTAL 123,722 Note: Fiscal Year 2014 runs from Oct. 1, 2013 - Sept. 30, 2014 | Source: Department of Homeland Security

Laredo Sector has busy border Apprehensions up by 15 percent from last year

By WILL WEISSERT

By GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE ZAPATA TIMES

AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Rick Perry would like to run for president in 2016 as a proven job-creator who modeled Texas’ strong economy in his own political gunslinger image and says he can do the same for the rest of the country.

To do it, he’ll have to convince voters to forget about “Oops.”

It’s the moment when Perry, in the midst of a 2011 presidential debate, was unable to recall the third of three federal agencies he’d promised to shutter, finally muttering “oops.” Asked about it in a recent interview with The Associated Press, Perry said, “That’s like going back and asking a football player who

With 2015 approaching, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will record more than 486,000 apprehensions throughout fiscal year 2014; about 9 percent of those apprehensions were recorded by Laredo Sector Border Patrol.

Records show 44,049 apprehensions were made by Laredo Sector Border Patrol between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014. The sector encompasses eight stations including Laredo North, Laredo South, Zapata, Hebbronville, Cotulla, Freer, Dallas and San Antonio, according to the agency’s website.

Nationally, apprehensions were up by about 15 percent from last fiscal year.

According to a press release from CBP, 420,789 apprehensions were recorded in 2013.

An additional 65,211 apprehensions were made nationally this fiscal year.

These additional apprehensions could have been a result of what is now being

See PERRY PAGE 11A

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

In this photo taken Dec. 9, Texas Gov. Rick Perry answers questions during an interview at the historic Texas Governor’s Mansion in Austin. Texas Gov. Rick Perry would like to run for president in 2016 as a proven job-creator.

See BORDER PAGE 11A

MICHOACAN, MEXICO

Vigilante group members turn themselves in

By GUSTAVO RUIZ ASSOCIATED PRESS

MORELIA, Mexico — The leaders of two rural vigilante groups and 35 of their members have surrendered to authorities following a clash that left 11 dead in the western state of Michoacan, a federal official said Tuesday.

Luis Antonio Torres, better

known as “Simon the American” because he grew up in the U.S., and nine of his followers surrendered on Tuesday, three days after his rival, Hipolito Mora, turned himself in. Mora’s son had been among the people killed in a Dec. 16 shootout between the two groups at a roadblock near La Ruana, a remote mountain town about 160 miles (300 kms) west of Morelia, the

state capital.

Federal security commissioner in Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said 37 people were in custody and authorities had identified another 19 who they hoped would also surrender.

What sparked the shootout was unclear, with each side blaming the other. Castillo said

See MEXICO PAGE 11A

Photo by Gustavo Aguado | AP

The leader of a local self-defense group, Hipolito Mora, right, stands armed at the entrance of the town of La Ruana, in the state of Guerrero, Mexico.

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Epoca de Oro New Year’s Scholarship Dance. Table reservations and tickets on sale at Rolis. Call Rosa at 337- 7178, Sid at 740-3572 or Daniel at 290-7341 for more information.

Elysian Social Club New Year’s Scholarship Dance. Mirage Reception Hall. Call Consuelo Ramirez 286-4253 for reservations and additional information.

THURSDAY, JAN. 1 First Day Hikes at Lake Casa Blanca International State Park. From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Mesquite Bend Nature Hike, about 1.75 miles. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., White-tail Loop Fossils Hike, about 1.25 miles. From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Junior Ranger Hike, about 1 mile. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Roadrunner Trail, about 2.25 miles.Meet at the Boat Ramp Restrooms for all hikes. Contact Holly Reinhard at holly.reinhard@tpwd.texas.gov or 725-3826.

SATURDAY, JAN. 3 Laredo Northside Market Association’s Market Day. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at North Central Park. The day will feature free rides on the Laredo Parks and Leisure Department kiddie train. For more information, visit facebook.com/laredonorthsidemarket.

TUESDAY, JAN. 6 WWE Smackdown at 6:45 p.m. at the Laredo Energy Arena, 6700 Arena Blvd. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com, the LEA box office and by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Alzheimer’s support group. 7 p.m. Meeting room 2, building B of the Laredo Medical Center. The support group is for family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s. Call 956-6939991.

SATURDAY, JAN. 10 Professional Bull Riders at 7 p.m. at the Laredo Energy Arena, 6700 Arena Blvd.

SUNDAY, JAN. 11 Professional Bull Riders at 2 p.m. at the Laredo Energy Arena, 6700 Arena Blvd.

SATURDAY, JAN. 24 STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU Student Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The 20th Annual Crime Stoppers Menudo Bowl at the LIFE Fairgrounds on Highway 59. Gates open 11 a.m. Fifty-eight teams are entered in the Menudo Cooking contest. For information call 724-1876.

SUNDAY, JAN. 25 STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU Student Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photo by Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News | AP

Kim Williams, the estranged wife of Eric Williams, testifies during the punishment phase of Eric Williams’ capital murder trial at the Rockwall County Courthouse in Rockwall, Texas. Williams pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison after earlier testifying that she helped her husband gun down a district attorney in a revenge plot.

Killer’s wife pleads guilty ASSOCIATED PRESS

KAUFMAN — A North Texas woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison after earlier testifying that she helped her husband gun down a district attorney, his wife and a top assistant in a revenge plot.

Kim Williams appeared in court two weeks after her husband, Eric Williams, was sentenced to death for one of the three killings.

She testified during Eric Williams’ sentencing hearing that she was a “willing participant,” driving the getaway car after the January 2013 shooting of prosecutor Mark Hasse and helping hide weapons after the March 2013 shootings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.

Investigators have said the couple sought to avenge Eric Williams’ 2012 prosecution for stealing county-owned equipment. He was a justice of the peace at the time and the conviction cost him his job and law license.

At her brief court appearance Tuesday, Kim Williams was sentenced immediately after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

She also gave up her right to appeal. She pleaded guilty in the death of Hasse. Her husband, from whom she’s now estranged, was convicted Dec. 4 of killing Cynthia McLelland.

Nathan Foreman, Cynthia McLelland’s son, thanked Kim Williams in court for testifying and providing prosecutors with information.

“I’m not sure closure is the right word, but it was riveting listening to your testimony,” he told her.

Missing Houston toddler found safe in Arkansas

1 strangled in home where 4 bodies found

Man detained at border convicted of murder

HOUSTON — Houston police say a missing child whose mother was found dead has been found safe in Arkansas where his father has been discovered dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A Texas-wide Amber Alert had been issued for 14-month-old Tyemetheus Pack after his mother, Angel Jackson, was found dead earlier Tuesday in Houston. The 26-year-old woman last was seen Christmas Eve and had texted a message that she’d been shot.

CROWLEY — Authorities investigating the deaths of four people whose bodies were found in a North Texas home say one had been shot repeatedly in the head while another was strangled.

The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that 18-year-old Linda Gonzalez was shot while a 13-year-old girl was the victim of strangulation.

HIDALGO — The U.S. Border Patrol says its agents arrested a Mexican man trying to re-enter the United States after being convicted of murder. The Border Patrol said Monday that the man was one of seven undocumented immigrants arrested near Hidalgo, Mexico. The agency says the man’s murder conviction in Hidalgo County was found while he was being processed.

Federal inspectors penalize 2 hospitals EL PASO — Two West Texas hospitals will have funding withheld after being penalized by federal inspectors for having patients who developed health problems while hospitalized. Patients at both facilities developed conditions such as infections.

Davis regrets campaign stance on open carry AUSTIN — Wendy Davis has said she regrets expressing support for the open carry of handguns in her failed gubernatorial bid. Davis says the position “wasn’t really in keeping” with her actual view. She supported legislation last year to allow college students with concealed handgun licenses to keep weapons in their cars.

TV meteorologist released from hospital TEMPLE — A Central Texas meteorologist who was shot earlier this month outside his TV station has been released from a hospital. Patrick Crawford was treated for three gunshot wounds, one to his abdomen and two others from shots that grazed him, including one to the head. He was treated at a Temple hospital. — Compiled from AP reports

MONDAY, JAN. 26 Chess Club. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. LBV- Inner City Branch Library at 202 W. Plum St. next to the Inner City Pool. Contact John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org., or laredolibrary.org/innercityevents.html or 7952400 x2521.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29 Spanish Book Club from 6-8 at the Laredo Public Library, Calton Road. Contact Sylvia Reash at 7631810.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 2nd Annual Krizia Lauren Keiser Memorial 5K Run/Walk & Kids Run at Uni-Trade Stadium, 6320 Sinatra Pkwy.

(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.)

AROUND THE NATION For Obama, reunion is a link to simpler times HONOLULU — Since returning to his childhood home this month on vacation, President Barack Obama has spent a good part of most days cloistered with three people whose company puts him at ease: a trio of pals from high school.

The three men are among the few people still in Obama’s life who knew him long before he was famous. On this visit, Obama has spent more than 22 hours with the group on the lush golf courses that dot the island of Oahu. When it rained, they went bowling, instead. And every year during Obama’s trip, they gather for a beachside barbecue.

Florida pastor shoots armed former employee KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Authorities say the pastor of a central Florida church shot and wound-

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2014.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Dec. 31, 1904, New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance.

On this date: In 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

In 1909, the Manhattan Bridge, spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was officially opened to vehicular traffic.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II. In 1951, the Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.

In 1972, Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he’d chartered and was traveling on to bring relief supplies to earthquake-devastated Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico.

In 1974, private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.

In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas.

In 1986, 97 people were killed when fire broke out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty in connection with the blaze.)

In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation (he was succeeded

by Vladimir Putin).

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush pledged $350 million to help tsunami victims, and didn’t rule out sending even more U.S. aid to help people recover from what he called an “epic disaster.”

Five years ago: A lone gunman dressed in black killed five people in Espoo, Finland, four of them at a crowded shopping mall, before returning home and taking his own life.

One year ago: Only hours before the law was to take effect, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, acting on a request from an organization of Catholic nuns in Denver, blocked implementation of part of President Barack Obama’s health care law that would have forced some religion-affiliated organizations to provide health insurance for employees that included birth control.

Today’s Birthdays: TV producer George Schlatter is 85. Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is 77. Actor Sir Ben Kingsley is 71. Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg is 68.

Actor Tim Matheson is 67. Pop singer Burton Cummings is 67. Actress Bebe Neuwirth is 56. Actor Val Kilmer is 55. Actress Gong Li is 49. Author Nicholas Sparks is 49. Actor Lance Reddick is 45. Pop singer Joe McIntyre is 42. Rapper PSY (Park Jae-sang) is 37.

Rock musician Bob Bryar is 35. Actor/singer Erich Bergen (Film/stage: “Jersey Boys”) is 29. Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas is 19.

Thought for Today: “Though the past haunt me as a spirit, I do not ask to forget.”

— Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans, English poet (17931835).

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President Barack Obama smiles while golfing with friends Bobby Titcomb, left, and Mike Ramos, on the 18th hole of the Mid Pacific Country Club in Kailua, Hawaii during the Obama family vacation. ed an employee during a gunfight after the employee learned he was being fired.

Pastor Terry Howell had been meeting with maintenance worker Benjamin Parangan Tuesday to terminate Parangan’s employment. Witnesses say Parangan

pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots at Howell. He wasn’t hurt but returned fire with his own weapon and hit Parangan. Deputies are investigating the shooting as a case of self-defense. — Compiled from AP reports

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State

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

17 in hospital after deadly high-rise fire ASSOCIATED PRESS

CASTLE HILLS, Texas — More than a dozen people remained hospitalized Monday following a fire that killed five residents at a senior-living facility near San Antonio, a city official said.

City Manager Diane Pfeil said at least 17 residents were still in the hospital. Meanwhile, officials hadn’t accounted for about 80 residents of the Wedgwood Apartments in Castle Hills, but Pfeil said authorities believed those people found refuge with family or had left for the holidays before the Sunday morning fire.

Authorities were calling emergency contacts for those residents to confirm their whereabouts.

“It was mass confusion, needless to say, when the event occurred,” Pfeil said.

Firefighters went through the 11-story complex and found no other victims, she said.

Two of those killed were identified Monday as Jose Gonzales,

Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer/San Antonio Express-News | AP

Firefighters and emergency units respond to a fire at the Wedgwood Senior Apartments, Sunday in San Antonio. Five people died after a fire broke out at the senior-living apartment building in the San Antonio suburb of Castle Hills, authorities said.

73, and Karen Rae Betz, 74, according to the Bexar County

Medical Examiner’s Office.

Names of the three other people

FSA: Farmers can update yield history SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini offered farmers new information to update program payment yields that will help them better select protections offered by the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. The new programs, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, are cornerstones of the commodity farm safety, offering farmers protection when market forces cause substantial drops in crop prices and revenues.

“The Farm Bill provided

landowners with the option of updating their farm program payment yields. This is the first time that many producers have been able to update yields since 1986,” said Dolcini. “We’ve worked with the Risk Management Agency to make available certified yield data that producers can use to better calculate how the new safety net programs can offer the best protection against market swings.”

Producers can check with their local FSA county office to see if data is available for them. This data belongs to the producer and only the producer associated with the crop insurance

records will be provided this service. Updating yield history or reallocating base acres can occur until Feb. 27, 2015.

FSA also issued a reminder that from Nov. 17, 2014, to March 31, 2015, producers will make a onetime election of either ARC or PLC for the 2014 through 2018 crop years. For more information, producers are encouraged to make an appointment to go into their local FSA county office. To find a local FSA county office, visit www.offices.usda.gov. Additional information on the new programs is available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

who died were being withheld pending notification of their rel-

atives.

A total of 150 firefighters from San Antonio and six other fire departments responded to the blaze, which was reported shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday. The fire left some “significant damage,” San Antonio fire spokesman Christian Bove said Sunday.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though it appears to have originated on the third floor. Pfeil said she was not sure when the building was last inspected but said she would have that information soon.

About 350 people live at the apartments, Pfeil said. About 150 residents were taken by city buses to a local high school, and some family members waited at a makeshift shelter in the cafeteria for word of their loved ones.

Others residents were taken to a hotel.

Property manager Entrada Management Services was arranging for the residents’ stays “if they don’t have anywhere else to go,” Bexar County Fire Marshal spokeswoman Laura Jesse said Sunday.

Former Houston Chronicle editor dies ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Jack Loftis, a former editor of the Houston Chronicle who shepherded the newspaper through 15 years of changing ownership and technology, has died. Loftis was 80.

The newspaper said Loftis died Monday night at a nursing home in suburban Bellaire.

A native of Hillsboro in Central Texas, Loftis wrote stories for his hometown newspaper while a student at nearby Baylor University, an early start to what became a half-century in the newspaper business. He joined the Chronicle in 1965 as a copy editor and rose through the ranks until being named editor in 1986. He retired in 2002.

A year after Loftis became editor, Hearst Corp. purchased the Chronicle from the nonprofit Houston Endowment. A newspaper long known for its

close relationships with Houston’s top officials and business elite now faced a changing mission as a part of a national media group.

Loftis distinguished LOFTIS himself for “an approach to fairness that really stood very well for the Chronicle and also for Houston during that particular time,” said Tony Pederson, a former Chronicle executive editor who met Loftis in 1974.

During Loftis’ tenure, the Chronicle invested heavily in national and international reporting, opening bureaus throughout Texas and Latin America to pursue stories of interest to readers in Houston.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

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

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

The biggest losers of the year in media, politics

By JENNIFER RUBIN THE WASHINGTON POST

This year was a nonstop horror show for some in the political class. Aside from President Obama, who presided over his party’s electoral debacle at the federal and state level, the year proved to be the undoing of a long list of characters and movements. Here are the worst of the worst of 2014: 1. Bob McDonnell went from one of the most respected Virginia governors to its most disgraced. After refusing to take a plea bargain for a single felony count, he was convicted on 11 counts and faces years in prison. He and now his children have taken to blaming the whole thing on his wife, which qualifies him as the cad of the year. At multiple junctures — before accepting lavish gifts, before contacting state officials on behalf of a major donor, at the plea bargain stage — he could have averted the train wreck. He gives new meaning to the phrase "when in a hole, quit digging."

2. The Beltway rightwing groups that cheered the shutdown found out that its ideal candidates were cranks, but worse than that, losers. Their wipeouts in Senate and House races, followed by the failure to dislodge the budget process for the remainder of the fiscal year, should convince all but the hermetically sealed far right that the country does not see the world the way they do.

Talk radio hosts talk, but do not reflect popular opinion. Political purists denigrate squishy moderates, but do not sway voters. As many of us suspected, the actual Republican Party (not the one imagined by Heritage Action or the Senate Conservatives Fund) is far more sane, internationalist and open to compromise than the mainstream and conservative media would have you believe.

3. Rolling Stone lost any patina of respectabil-

ity. MSNBC and CNN lost viewers. David Gregory lost his job. Jill Abramson lost her job. The New Republic lost its staff.

Chris Hughes lost liberals’ most overrated media outlet. Politico lost dozens of staffers.

Cable TV news lost perspective on everything from missing airliners to the Ferguson, Mo., incident. The media figures convinced that there was no GOP wave or that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the leading light of the GOP lost track of reality.

4. Hillary Clinton reminded everyone that she has nothing interesting to say, no political skills akin to her husband’s, no populist vibes, no greater love than money, no shame about accepting fees from hedge funds one day and declaring corporations don’t create jobs on another, no record of accomplishment, no ability to distance herself from President Obama on major issues (Iran, the war against the Islamic State and Cuba), no fan club in the left wing of the party, no rationale for a presidential run other than her gender and longevity on the national stage and no limit to her sense of entitlement.

5. Liberalism took hit after hit this year. Democrats wiped out across the board. The anti-Koch brothers and anti-women memes bombed. The results of the not-Bush approach to foreign policy caught up with the Obama team. The "jayvee" team gained territory and influence in the Middle East. Iran is edging toward its dream of a nuclear weapons capability.

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Our relations with Israel hit rock bottom. At home, the economy recovered despite Republican refusal to pass another stimulus. The liberal welfare state is proving to be unmanageable. In contrast to conservatism, which is enjoying a period of intellectual creativity, liberalism has become a movement dedicated to the status quo.

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EDITORIAL

Police respect, squandered NEW YORK TIMES

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York has spent weeks expressing his respect and admiration for the New York Police Department while calling for unity in these difficult days, but the message doesn’t seem to be sinking in.

When he spoke at a police graduation ceremony at Madison Square Garden on Monday, some in the crowd booed and heckled him.

This followed the mass back-turning by scores of officers when the mayor spoke Saturday at the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos; the virtual back-turning the day before by an airplanetowed banner ("Our backs have turned to you"), and the original spiteful gesture by officers on the night de Blasio visited the hospital where Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu, lay dead.

De Blasio isn’t going to say it, but somebody has to: With these acts of passiveaggressive contempt and self-pity, many New York police officers, led by their union, are squandering the department’s credibility, defacing its reputation, shredding its hard-earned respect.

They have taken the most grave and solemn of civic moments — a funeral of a fallen colleague — and hijacked it for their own petty look-at-us gesture. In doing so, they also turned their backs on Ramos’ widow and her two young sons, and others in that grief-struck family.

These are disgraceful acts, which will be compounded if anyone repeats the stunt at Liu’s funeral Sunday.

The New York Police Department is going through a terrible time, and the assassinations of those officers

only underscore the dreadful dangers that rank-andfile cops face every day. And, in truth, there is some thanklessness to being a cop. Officers often feel beleaguered, jerked around by supervisors and politicians, obligated to follow rules and policies that can be misguided, held responsible for their mistakes in ways that the public is not, exposed to frequent ridicule and hostility from the people they are sworn to serve. It has always been that way with cops.

But none of those grievances can justify the snarling sense of victimhood that seems to be motivating the anti-de Blasio campaign — the belief that the department is never wrong, that it never needs redirection or reform, only reverence. This is the view peddled by union officials like Patrick Lynch, the president of the

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association — that cops are an ethically impeccable force with their own priorities and codes of behavior, accountable only to themselves, and whose reflexive defiance in the face of valid criticism is somehow normal.

It’s not normal. Not for a professional class of highly trained civil servants, which New York’s Finest profess to be. The police can rightly expect, even insist upon, the respect of the public. But respect is a finite resource. It cannot be wasted. Sometimes it has to be renewed.

The failures of some cops, the misguided policing tactics that feed a sense of oppression in parts of the city, the offensive provocations of some in the police-reform protest movement and the horrific killings of two officers have led the city to a dangerous point.

EDITORIAL

The year of vanishing aircraft THE WASHINGTON POST

Following the disappearance of another plane over Southeast Asia, 2014 might well be remembered as the year of vanishing aircraft.

With advanced communications technologies available, large commercial planes shouldn’t go missing with little clear information about their fates.

It’s past time for aviation policymakers to demand more from the airlines.

It was three days since AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared with 162 people aboard. Yet experts can only guess at what happened.

The last bit of information came from the pilot, who asked permission to ascend to avoid bad weather.

Air traffic controllers denied the request. After that, there was silence — no mayday request, noth-

ing.

It’s tempting to presume that a violent thunderstorm brought the plane down. But that’s just one plausible speculation, because another jetliner packed with advanced electronics didn’t have 21stcentury communications and tracking systems on board. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared in March and still hasn’t been found, carried an Inmarsat satellite tracking system that allowed investigators to do some tracing — work that indicated it had turned toward the open Indian Ocean.

But it didn’t provide other key details. The AirAsia jet was tracked on radar, but that conveys only so much information.

Investigators might have an easier time finding the latest missing plane. For

now, the AirAsia plane is presumed to have gone down in relatively shallow water. And it’s true that the number of planes that disappear like this is tiny compared with the 100,000 or so that take off and land without incident every day.

But that doesn’t undermine the argument that investigators should know more now, with information transmitted directly from the aircraft. The interest in better aircraft communication and tracking isn’t just based on heading off speculation and panic, on ending the torment of loved ones waiting for solid news or on avoiding the need for massive search-and-rescue operations — though all of those considerations matter. If there are survivors, a timely rescue can save lives.

Since Flight 370 disappeared, international aviation authorities have been working on aircraft communications and tracking policies with more seriousness — but hardly with urgency. An industry panel recommended some steps this month, calling for airlines to have some tracking function "within potential areas of operation and range" that communicates aircraft location within a nautical mile at least every 15 minutes. The panel also examined the possibility of restricting pilots from switching off transponders — which appears to have happened in the Flight 370 case - but concluded that this should be a "long-term prospect."

Though these standards are pretty basic, some airlines have nevertheless balked.

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

International

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

UN rejects Palestine solution

By EDITH M. LEDERER ASSOCIATED PRESS

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years late Tuesday, a blow to efforts to get the U.N.’s most powerful body to take action to recognize an independent state of Palestine.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, had made clear its opposition to the draft resolution and would have used its veto if necessary. But it didn’t have to because the resolution failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption by the 15-member council.

The resolution received eight “yes” votes, two “no” votes — one from the United States and the other from Australia — and five abstentions. Until shortly before the vote, council diplomats had expected the resolution to get nine “yes” votes. But Nigeria, which had been expected to vote “yes,” abstained.

The defeated resolution would have affirmed the urgent need to achieve “a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution” to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict within 12 months and set a Dec. 31, 2017 deadline for Israel’s occupation to end.

It also called for an independent state of Palestine to be established within the 1967 Mideast borders — before Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — and demanded “a just solution” to all other outstanding issues.

THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

Wreckage, bodies reveal lost jet’s fate

By DEWI NURCAHYANI AND ROBIN MCDOWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia — Family members of those aboard AirAsia Flight 8501 collapsed in agony Tuesday as images of debris and a bloated body flashed across Indonesian television screens, proof that the plane crashed into the sea two days earlier with 162 people on board.

The jet vanished Sunday halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore after encountering severe storms. The disappearance triggered an international hunt for the aircraft by dozens of planes, ships and helicopters.

On the third day of searching, the first signs of the airliner — a life jacket and an emergency exit door — were found in shallow, aqua-colored waters only about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the plane’s last known coordinates.

Photo by Dewi Nurcahyani | AP

Indonesian Air Force Operational Command Rear Marshall Dwi Putranto shows a suitcase found floating near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared.

Parts of the jetliner’s interior, including an oxygen tank, were brought to the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun. Another find included a bright blue plastic suitcase, completely unscratched.

“I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead,” said Ifan Joko, who lost seven relatives, three of them children, as they traveled to Singapore to ring

in the New Year. “We still pray they are alive.”

First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta, commander of the Naval Aviation Center at Surabaya Air Force base, told reporters six corpses were spotted about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Central Kalimantan province.

Rescue workers descended on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve bodies. Efforts were hindered by 2-meter-high (6-foot) waves and strong winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi said.

The first body was later picked up by a navy ship. Officials said as many as six others followed, but they disagreed about the exact number.

Supriyadi was on the aircraft and saw what appeared to be more wreckage under the water, which was clear and a relatively shallow 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 feet).

Nation

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Photo by Rich Pedroncelli | AP

Patty Lang rides a snow disk down one of the runs at the Adventure Mountian snow park near Echo Summit, Calif., Tuesday.

Snow won’t end Calif. drought

By KRISTIN J. BENDER ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Brennan Linsley | AP file

In this Nov. 15, 2013 file photo, Wayne Sperling, right, leaves court while talking with his public defender, at the Denver Justice Center, in Denver. Sperling faces up to seven years in prison.

Man gets 5 years for keeping 4 sons in filthy home

By SADIE GURMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER — A father whose four young sons could communicate only in grunts when authorities rescued them from a filthy Denver apartment was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday by a judge who said he hoped it would send a message to parents that they can’t treat their children like pets.

Judge J. Eric Elliff said Wayne Sperling, 67, made outrageous excuses for neglecting the boys to the point where they could not recognize food and did not learn his lesson after an earlier child-abuse conviction cost him custody of three other children.

“The message is, you’ve got to treat your children with dignity and respect,” Elliff said. “They’re not pets. They are not possessions.

They are human beings that need to be carefully nurtured. That didn’t happen here.”

Prosecutors said Sperling, his wife and the boys lived in an apartment where nearly every surface was covered in cat feces and flies.

The children, ages 2 to 6, were malnourished when they were found on October 2013.

Sperling’s wife, Lorinda Bailey, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years of probation last

month, and Sperling’s attorney argued he should receive a similar sentence. Prosecutors sought the maximum of seven years in prison.

“They just weren’t equipped to be parents,” defense attorney Betsy Atkinson said.

But Elliff said the case was more tragic because it wasn’t a first for the family. The couple lost custody of three other children amid similar allegations in October 2006.

The children mostly grunted and pointed to communicate, and officers found a home full of trash and rotten food. Bailey and Sperling pleaded guilty in June 2007 to misdemeanor child abuse.

“There have been so many failures on so many different levels,” Elliff said. “Now we have seven children who are going to be scarred by these early childhood conditions.”

In the most recent case, an emergency room doctor suspected abuse when the youngest was taken to the hospital for a cut on his forehead. The doctor noticed he was unwashed, reeked of cigarette smoke and had bruises consistent with pinching. That led authorities to the apartment, where they found decomposing animals and about an inch of solidified cat feces and urine beneath one of the boy’s beds.

Sperling, mumbling, told the judge to do “whatever you feel is right” when given a chance to speak before he was sentenced.

Prosecutors said it was one of their most horrific cases they had ever seen, but Colorado’s child abuse laws kept them from pursuing harsher penalties because the children didn’t suffer serious physical injuries.

After the boys were rescued and given bagged lunches to eat, they acted as if they hadn’t seen food before, patting the sandwiches and playing with the apples, Deputy District Attorney Anita Drasan said. An adult mimed eating an apple to encourage them to eat; they licked the fruit instead, Drasan said.

The boys are improving while living in foster care, but still struggle as a result of the squalor. They have breathing problems and are sensitive to light, requiring them to wear special glasses, Drasan said.

“They didn’t smile, they didn’t laugh, and they lived in constant fear and were unable to express themselves,” Drasan said. And, reading a statement from their foster mother, she added, “these are fighters and survivors. They will grow to do great things. But they have a long battle before them.”

ECHO SUMMIT, Calif. — The winter’s first survey of the Sierra Nevada snowpack on Tuesday found more snow than last year at this time, but officials said much more is needed to end the California drought.

The Department of Water Resources conducted the survey at an elevation of about 6,800 feet some 90 miles east of Sacramento.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, said there were 21.3 inches of snow on the ground after recent heavy storms.

It was more snow than this time last year, but the water content was still far below average for the date.

California’s snowpack supplies about a third of the water needed by state residents, agriculture and industry as it melts in the late spring and summer.

“California needs much more rain and snow than we’ve experienced over the past two years to end the drought in 2015,” said department Director Mark Cowin. “The department encourages Californians to continue their water conservation practices.”

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency last Jan. 17.

After three years of drought, most storms that drenched the state this month have been powerful but relatively warm, delivering above-average rainfall to most of the state while

providing a modest early winter snowpack.

The water content of the snow measured Tuesday was about 33 percent of average.

Statewide, 105 electronic sensors in the Sierra detected a water content of about 50 percent of the multi-year average for the day.

That compares favorably with last winter’s first survey, when the snowpack water content statewide was only 20 percent of normal, which tied with 2012 as the driest readings on record.

Tuesday’s readings indicate that water content in the northern mountains is 20 percent of the average on April 1, when it normally peaks before the spring melt.

The Department of Water Resources and other agencies conduct manual snow surveys around the first of the month between January and May to check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings.

More snow is good news for those heading to the mountains to celebrate the arrival of 2015.

“Skiers have certainly enjoyed the early season snow storms, and cold temperatures have offered ideal conditions for snowmaking,” said Rachael Woods, a spokeswoman for Northstar California Resort. “We’ll ring in the New Year with fresh snow on the slopes.”

The company operates the Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood facilities in the state.

NYC mayor, police union meet

By JONATHAN LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Tess Freeman/Coeur d’Alene Press | AP

People stand inside a Wal-Mart in Hayden, Idaho, Tuesday. A 2-yearold boy accidentally shot and killed his mother at the Wal-Mart.

2-year-old shoots mom accidentally

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAYDEN, Idaho — A 2year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday.

The 29-year-old woman was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff’s spokesman Stu Miller told The Associated Press. Her family had come to the area to visit relatives, he said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit.

Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into the victim’s purse and grabbed a smallcaliber handgun, which discharged one time.

Deputies who responded to the Wal-Mart found her dead, the sheriff’s office said.

“It appears to be a pretty tragic accident,” Miller said.

The woman’s husband was not in the store when the shooting happened at

about 10:20 a.m. Miller said the man arrived shortly after the shooting. All the children were taken to a relative’s house.

The shooting occurred in the Wal-Mart in Hayden, Idaho, a town about 40 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. The store closed and was not expected to reopen until Wednesday morning.

Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said in a statement the shooting was a “very sad and tragic accident.”

“We are working closely with the local sheriff’s department while they investigate what happened,” Buchanan said.

There do not appear to be reliable national statistics about the number of accidental fatalities involving children handling guns.

In neighboring Washington state, a 3-year-old boy was seriously injured in November when he was accidentally shot in the face by a 4-year-old neighbor. The boy was wounded as the children played in a home in Lake Stevens, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio met privately for more than two hours Tuesday with the leaders of the New York Police Department’s unions, aiming to mend a rift with rank-and-file officers that has threatened to overwhelm his young mayoralty.

While administration officials characterized the meeting as the beginning of a process to heal wounds opened by protests about police conduct and the fatal shooting of two officers, union leaders struck a more cautious note, saying that “only time will tell” if relations would improve.

“Our main concern is the safety of our police officers of every rank on the streets in the city,” said Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, which represents rank-and-file officers, after the meeting.

“There were a number of discussions especially about the safety issues that our members face,” Lynch continued, reading a joint statement from all five unions. “There was no resolve. And our thought here today is that actions speak louder than words and time will tell.”

Lynch has been one of de Blasio’s fiercest critics, saying the mayor had “blood on his hands” after the brazen daylight ambush on two officers in their patrol car earlier this month.

A person who was briefed on the meeting but not authorized to speak publicly on a private gathering told The Associated

Photo by John Minchillo | AP

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a New York Police Academy graduation ceremony, Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Nearly 1000 officers were sworn in.

Press that Lynch repeated much of his recent public remarks accusing de Blasio of aligning himself with protesters who have created an anti-NYPD atmosphere that led to the shooting. The union leaders charged that de Blasio had helped create an unsafe environment for police, according to the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

De Blasio stressed that he has not been anti-police in his remarks, imploring the unions to check the transcripts of his speeches and interviews, according to the person. He also stressed that the two sides had common ground and should table their public disagreements.

No apology was issued from either side, the person said.

Relations between the unions — who are seeking

a new contract — and the mayor have been poor from the time he took office a year ago. But the anger of many officers toward de Blasio in recent days has been striking.

Twice in the last week — including at a funeral for one of the slain cops — officers have turned their backs to the mayor. And de Blasio received boos and heckles from some in the crowd Monday at a NYPD graduation ceremony.

At the mayor’s behest, Police Commissioner William Bratton invited the union leaders and other top NYPD officials to join him and de Blasio for the meeting at the new police academy in Queens.

De Blasio did not take questions from reporters but his press secretary said in a statement that the meeting “focused on building a productive dia-

logue and identifying ways to move forward together.”

“The mayor and police commissioner remain committed to keeping crime in New York City at historically low levels,” Phil Walzak said in the statement, “supporting the brave men and women in uniform who protect us every day, and finding ways to bring police and the community closer together.”

The two sides pledged to meet again, though no timeframe was issued.

There was no discussion about whether police would again turn their backs on de Blasio at the second officer’s funeral this Sunday, the person briefed on the meeting said, though the head of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association has asked his members to abstain from the act.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DETROIT LIONS

Lions’ Suh wins appeal, to face Cowboys ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh can play in Detroit’s wild-card game after his one-game NFL suspension was reduced to a $70,000 fine.

Hearing officer Ted Cottrell heard Suh’s expedited appeal Tuesday and ruled that Suh can play Sunday at Dallas but must

pay the fine.

Suh originally was suspended for stepping on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ left leg twice last Sunday in a loss to Green Bay for the NFC North title. He stepped on Rodgers once with each foot, which violated unnecessary roughness rules, according to the league.

But Cottrell, jointly ap-

pointed by the NFL and the players’ union, rescinded the suspension.

The Lions said they would not comment until Wednesday, when Suh will be available at their training complex.

One Cowboys defensive player, end Jeremy Mincey, seemed surprised by Cottrell’s decision.

“I didn’t understand that,” Mincey said.

JIM HARBAUGH INTRODUCED AS MICHIGAN’S NEXT COACH

Photo by Carlos Osorio | AP

Former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh will take over the Michigan football program. He made the playoffs three times in San Francisco after the team missed the postseason in eight consecutive seasons.

“You’ve got to play the game the right way. I’m not knocking him. I like his intensity. I love how hard he plays. But there comes a point where you’ve got to think before you react.

“Sometimes it happens.

I’ve done plays like what Suh did, so I’m not mad at him. It happens like that sometimes. You’re frustrated, you’re down and

you’re losing and things like that.”

Suh has a long list of fines and one previous suspension, for two games in 2011 for stepping on the right arm of Packers lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith.

Suh has been fined eight times in his career, but this is the first in 2014.

Suh was fined $100,000 for an illegal block on Vikings center John Sulli-

van in Week 1 of 2013 during an interception return. That was the largest fine in NFL history for onfield conduct, not counting suspensions.

Cottrell’s decision means the Lions will have one of their key defensive cogs. Suh finished the season with a team-high 8 1/2 sacks and helped Detroit rank second overall and first in run defense.

PÁGINA 8A

Zfrontera

Ribereña en Breve FRENTE FRÍO El frente frío número 23 está afectando la frontera sur de Texas y el norte de Tamaulipas, con descenso de temperaturas y potencial de lluvias puntuales en la región fronteriza.

La masa de aire polar asociada al sistema, originará vientos de hasta 60 kilómetros por hora en el territorio.

Se recomienda a la población tomar las medidas necesarias para el cuidado de la salud. Abríguese con ropa gruesa, en especial niños, enfermos, indigentes y adultos de la tercera edad.

Debido a las posibles lluvias, también se indica a la comunidad extremar precauciones al conducir en asfalto mojado y en caso de vientos fuertes, evitar caminar o estacionarse cerca de anuncios espectaculares, árboles o construcciones endebles.

DESTINOS TURÍSTICOS Autoridades tamaulipecas invitan a los turistas que buscan acercarse a la naturaleza, a visitar la Reserva de la Biosfera del Cielo, donde se imparten actividades senderismo, rappel, kayak, 4×4, fotografía, ciclismo, tirolesa, campismo, observación de aves, entre muchas más, en las que se aprecian las bellezas y riquezas de Tamaulipas.

El turismo de El Cielo se ha convertido en una vía de sustento para los pobladores de la zona.

El Cielo alberga cavernas donde habitan variedad de especies endémicas de la región, gran cantidad fauna, cohabitan 430 tipos de aves residentes y migratorias, también es hogar de 85 variedades de anfibios y reptiles Lugares como la Piedra del Elefante, la Campana, la Bocatoma, La Florida, son lugares que identifican el lugar.

El Gobierno de Tamaulipas invita a visitar sus Pueblos Mágicos, como una opción para visitar durante la temporada invernal Los Pueblos Mágicos de México se han convertido en un destino turístico para nacionales y extranjeros que gustan de disfrutar las tradiciones, gastronomía, artesanías, la arquitectura y todo lo que envuelve la cultura mexicana, además de ser una oferta basada en la historia y actividades propias del lugar, así como de la aventura y deporte extremo en escenarios naturales.

Los Pueblos Mágicos de Tamaulipas son Tula y Mier, México.

INFRAESTRUCTURA VIAL Con la finalidad de impulsan y fortalecen el desarrollo económico y social de sus habitantes, se han entregado 860 millones de pesos al municipio de Reynosa, México, Entre las obras más destacadas que se han realizado en Reynosa está el Distribuidor vial “La Laguna”, así como, el viaducto y la modernización de la carretera Reynosa – Rio Bravo, dijo Manuel Rodríguez Morales, titular de la Secretaría de Obras Públicas en el Estado de Tamaulipas.

Asimismo, Rodríguez destacó que estas obras en conjunto permitirán agilizar el tránsito vehicular y hacer más seguro los traslados en los cruces donde se concentra el mayor tráfico.

— Con información de tamaulipas.gob.mx

MIÉRCOLES 31 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2014

TAMAULIPAS

Crece industria

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El estado de Tamaulipas vio la apertura de 16 nuevas empresas en diferentes regiones del Estado durante el año 2014. La mayoría de las nuevas compañías abrieron sus puertas en ciudades fronterizas.

En 2014 se registró apertura de 16 compañías TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

E

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Durante el año 2014, el Estado de Tamaulipas registró la apertura de 16 empresas, en diferentes ciudades del Estado.

l 2014 representó un año de crecimiento en el ramo industrial para el Estado de Tamaulipas, después de que se abrieran 17 empresas a través de la región fronteriza, anunciaron autoridades tamaulipecas esta semana.

Un total de 16 empresas, con una inversión de 411.600.000 millones de dólares, generaron alrededor de 9.152 empleos directos, señaló Mónica González García, Secretaria de Desarrollo Económico y Turismo para el Estado. Ocho de las 16 empresas, corresponden a expansiones, mientras que ocho son empresas de nueva creación.

“Este año empezaron sus operaciones empresarios nacionales e internacionales, de los cuales 9

fueron de Estados Unidos, 2 de Corea del Sur, 1 de Corea del Norte y 2 nacionales”, dijo González. “Estamos orgullosos porque en Tamaulipas tenemos una cartera de inversión variada, somos una entidad privilegiada por su conectividad y su mano de obra de alta calidad”.

El municipio de Reynosa, México, es ahora sede de 7 nuevas empresas; Matamoros alberga a 4; Nuevo Laredo, México, vio la apertura de tres nuevas compañías; y Altamira, México, ahora cuenta con dos nuevas empresas.

Entre los principales beneficios que se han presentado están: mayor empleo, variedad de puestos laborales que permitan el desarrollo profesional y las oportunidades de proveeduría y comercio alrededor de dichos establecimientos.

FSA

TEXAS

Extienden acceso a información

Recuerdan a conductores no conducir intoxicados

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Los residentes ganaderos y agrícolas de la región tendrán mayor acceso a información relacionada con el rendimiento de pago de los programas a los que estén suscritos, y con ello realizar una mejor selección de protecciones ofrecidas por los programas de Cobertura de Riesgos Agrícolas (ARC, por sus siglas en inglés) y Cobertura de Pérdida de Precios (PLC, por sus siglas en inglés), del Departamento de Agricultura y Agencia de Servicios Agrícolas (FSA, por sus siglas en inglés), anunció el departamento esta semana.

Los nuevos programas, establecidos por la Ley Agrícola de 2014, son esenciales en la seguridad en las fincas de los productos básicos, que ofrecen protección a los agricultores cuando las fuerzas del mercado provocan caídas sustanciales en los precios de los cultivos y los ingresos, señala un comunicado de prensa.

Los productores deberán acudir a su oficina local de FSA y comprobar los datos disponibles para ellos. Estos datos serán proporcionados al productor que está asociado con los registros de seguro de las cosechas del servicio.

Las actualizaciones del historial de rendimiento pueden presentarse hasta el 27 de febrero de 2015.

FSA también emitió un recordatorio de que a partir del 17 de noviembre de 2014, y hasta el 31 de marzo de 2015, los productores deberán elegir uno de los programas ARC o PLC para el 2014.

Para obtener más información, se recomienda a los productores hacer una cita en su oficina de FSA. Para encontrar una oficina local en su condado puede visitar www.offices.usda.gov.

Información adicional sobre los nuevos programas está disponible en www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Debido a las celebraciones por el fin de año, autoridades del Departamento de Transporte de Texas (TxDOT, por sus siglas en inglés) recuerdan a la población conducir con responsabilidad, además, señalaron que habrá operativos para prevenir los accidentes y disuadir a los conductores en estado de ebriedad de conducir.

La Campaña Anual contra Conducir Intoxicado de TxDOT comenzó el 1 de diciembre y continuará hasta el primer día del Año Nuevo. Esta campaña tiene como objetivo promover la importancia de planear un transporte

sobrio. La campaña coincide con el aumento de patrullaje de las fuerzas policiales que busca reducir el número de accidentes en Texas causados por conducir intoxicado durante estas fiestas.

“Históricamente, la fiesta de Año Nuevo ha sido una época peligrosa en nuestras calles”, dijo el Director Ejecutivo de TxDOT, Lt. Gen. Joe Weber, USMC. “Los residentes de Texas deben planear su Transporte Sobrio o prepararse para sufrir las consecuencias.

Conducir en estado de ebriedad será algo que no toleraremos”.

Los conductores arrestados por conducir en estado de ebriedad (DWI) pueden ser encarcelados y enfrentar costos por tribunales y

multas de hasta 17.000 dólares.

En Texas, el límite legal para estar intoxicado es de .08 de concentración de alcohol en la sangre o en el aliento (BAC por sus siglas en inglés).

Durante la temporada de fiestas del año pasado, de entre las 6 p.m. del 31 de diciembre y las 12 a.m. del 1 de enero, se registraron 218 accidentes por manejar en estado de ebriedad en Texas, dando como resultado 10 muertes y 76 lesionados. Estos accidentes de tránsito fatales a consecuencia del manejo bajo la influencia de alcohol representan un aumento del 25 por ciento, comparados con la temporada de fiestas en el mismo período del Año Nuevo anterior.

INMIGRACIÓN

Hay obstáculos en plan POR CLAUDIA TORRRENS ASSOCIATED PRESS

NUEVA YORK — Los entre cuatro y cinco millones de inmigrantes sin autorización que se beneficiarían de las acciones ejecutivas anunciadas el 20 de noviembre por el presidente Barack Obama tienen ante sí una gran oportunidad, aunque también muchas dudas, preguntas y suspicacias.

A continuación algunos de los obstáculos que enfrentan: Los 465 dólares que se deben pagar por solicitud. Hay quienes no tienen ese dinero. Esta tarifa se aplica por persona, no por familia.

Temor a repercusiones migratorias. Si no se acepta la solicitud de alguien, esa persona podría ser deportada.

Temporalidad de las medidas, que sólo estarán vigentes durante tres años. Después podrían ser renovadas o no por otro gobierno si no hay una reforma permanente a las leyes de inmigración.

Falta de información y desinformación entre la comunidad inmigrante Imposibilidad de recopilar documentos que demuestren presencia continua en el país durante cinco años.

Temor a reportar nombres de parientes que están en el país

ilegalmente y no pueden acogerse al programa de suspensión de deportaciones.

Falta de acceso en zonas rurales a centros comunitarios o de ayuda a inmigrantes para poderse informar sobre las medidas.

Temor a las consecuencias de cualquier arresto, aunque sea por un delito leve. En teoría arrestos por delitos leves no deberían ser sinónimo de deportación, pero en la práctica se han registrado deportaciones tras arrestos por infracciones menores.

Para los jóvenes, el no poder matricularse en una escuela porque se trabaja. Tener un título es requisito para programa de suspensión de deportaciones jóvenes.

Year in Review

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

News in 2014 left public without answers

By ADAM GELLER ASSOCIATED PRESS

Twenty-thousand feet down the answers may be waiting, hidden in some underwater canyon far off Australia’s coast. But more than nine months after searchers began scouring the seas for a Malaysia Airlines jetliner that vanished with 239 people aboard, the catastrophe defies resolution.

In that way, the long, fruitless hunt for clues to Flight 370’s fate set the tone for many of the headlines that defined 2014. It was a year upended by calamity and conflict, disease and division that often left the public and its leaders grasping for answers.

From Ukraine to the Middle East, from the Ebola threat to the tensions exposed by police killings in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere, many of the top news stories fed into a growing sense of frustration.

Confronting the questions raised by the headlines brought little peace of mind. Instead, one event after another exploded, demanding attention but often rewarding it with weariness and lingering unease. Unlike 2013, when much of the news centered on Washington’s political dysfunction, many of this year’s biggest stories were rooted in far-flung locales, but their impact kept rippling.

That was certainly the case with the conflict over Ukraine, stretching back to President Victor Yanukovych’s ouster in February. When Russia filled the vacuum by grabbing the Crimean peninsula and working with militants bent on taking more territory from the western-leaning government, it set off a standoff reminiscent of the Cold War. Militants are blamed for downing a second Malaysian jet as it flew over Ukrainian airspace in July, killing all 298 aboard, the largest number of them Dutch. U.S.-led sanctions have begun tightening a vise on the Russian economy. Months later, both sides are locked in a stare-down that can hardly be called a peace.

In less harried times, even many of the biggest news events capture the public’s attention for just a few days, or perhaps weeks, before slipping from

Photo by Jerome Delay | AP file

In this Sept. 30 file photo, nine-year-old Nowa Paye is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, about 30 miles north of Monrovia, Liberia. view. But in 2014, Ukraine kept a lasting place in the headlines and was hardly an exception.

Consider that the Ebola crisis began with a case in Guinea last December. By March, the World Health Organization was tracking the outbreak and working to marshal a response. But a year after the outbreak began, there is no end to fears of a disease that has already killed at least 6,000 people.

Nearly all of those deaths came in three west African countries. But when a Liberian man with the disease died at a Dallas hospital this fall, followed by a handful of other U.S. cases, it set off a panic and doubts about whether the health system was ready. As the year neared an end, the WHO questioned reports of progress in containing the disease in Africa based on data it says is filled with inconsistencies.

The Malaysia Airlines disaster, too, captivated the world long after the plane disappeared shortly after takeoff in the early hours of March 8. Eventually, aircraft, ships and searchers from 26 countries were assembled to look for the wreckage. In October, a contractor dispatched ships with high-tech sonar to scan 23,000 square miles of Indi-

an Ocean floor. But the job could take until at least next May, officials say, and no wreckage has ever been found.

“The sense of helplessness, the feeling of powerlessness, and the pain have not eased but only worsened as times goes by,” said Liu Weijie, whose wife was aboard the flight. He was speaking after 100 days passed without any sign of the jet.

Meanwhile, violence in the Middle East once again took command of the headlines, sometimes in ways that shocked even a public numbed by the region’s tense history.

The worst violence broke out in Libya since dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown, after the Islamists in control of the national congress ignored a general’s February order to dissolve the chamber. With militias in control of Tripoli, the year ended with the country split by two governments, two parliaments, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.

In Gaza, the June kidnapping of three Israeli teens by Hamas operatives brought a crackdown

by Israeli forces, retaliatory rocket attacks and a 50-day war that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis. But it ended with no hint of a route to-

‘Boyhood’ AP’s favorite film of 2014

By JOCELYN NOVECK ASSOCIATED PRESS

1. “Boyhood” — This movie just pulsates with the feeling that it’s something utterly unique — something rare and exciting. It’s not just that director Richard Linklater managed to shoot it over 12 years, creating an astonishingly fluid view of a boy’s life; It’s how the film makes us FEEL. By the end, we know Mason (the sensitive Ellar Coltrane) so well, it feels wrong to leave him. Shouldn’t he be coming home with us?

2. “Birdman” — Absolutely bracing in its verve and inventiveness, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s meditation on fame, relevance and self-worth is a marvel. Michael Keaton is raw and vulnerable as an aging actor trying to exorcise his superhero past; Edward Norton is superb as a charismatic jerk. The cherry on top: Emmanuel Lubezki’s stunningly seamless camera work.

3. “Selma” — Talk about a movie that comes just when the country needs it. A beautifully restrained performance by David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. anchors this stirring account of events surrounding the famous march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. Director Ava DuVernay is equally adept at depicting intimate moments — like a testy Oval Office exchange between LBJ and George Wallace — as she is conveying the sweep of a historic movement.

4. “Ida” — Pawel Pawlikowski’s film is pure, austere, and powerful — exactly how one might describe its young star, Agata Trzebuchowska, who plays an orphaned novice about to take her vows when she learns she has an aunt, her only living relative.

Ida’s subsequent journey, in which she explores Poland’s dark wartime past to discover both who she is and who she wants to be, is mesmerizing.

5. “Mr. Turner” — Timothy Spall studied painting, drawing, even Greek and Roman architecture — all to play the great landscape painter J.M.W. Turner. And it shows: The wonderfully gruff Spall doesn’t seem to act in this movie as much as inhabit it, messily and fully. Mike Leigh’s gorgeously detailed biopic doesn’t fall into typical formula —

and the visuals do Turner proud.

6. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — Wes Anderson, we surrender — to your whimsy and singular imagination. This movie is a visual delight; it’s also a madcap caper and, a layer deeper, a more serious look at a dying way of life in Europe. Mostly, it’s a perfect vehicle for Ralph Fiennes, as a wonderfully pompous concierge, to display his lesser-known comic skills.

7. “Whiplash” — None of us would ever want to be in a classroom with the abusively demanding jazz instructor played by J.K. Simmons — it’s hard enough to be in the movie theater. But boy, Simmons grabs the role by the throat, thrillingly. Miles Teller is excellent, too, as the driven student who accepts this abuse, all to be a jazz drummer.

8. “The Theory of Everything,” “The Imitation Game” — Both are biopics that feel somewhat formulaic, but both feature lead performances that must be seen. Eddie Redmayne is remarkably effective as Stephen Hawking, eventually using only his eyes and a crooked smile to express what’s inside a blazing mind. Benedict Cumberbatch’s nervous energy is perfect for the role of Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Germans’ Enigma code.

9. “Foxcatcher” — Grim and unrelenting but expertly rendered, this real-life tale of the Olympic wrestling Schultz brothers and benefactor John DuPont is worth seeing both for the shocking story and the acting. Steve Carell makes a striking physical transformation, but it’s his reedy voice that’ll really creep you out.

Mark Ruffalo, the more nurturing brother, and Channing Tatum, the more troubled, are just as compelling.

10. “Still Alice,” “Get on Up” — Two more films to mention because of stellar central performances: As an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient, Julianne Moore is sensitive, warm, heartbreaking — and deserves all the awards buzz she’s getting. In “Get On Up,” Chadwick Boseman is truly galvanizing as James Brown — and deserves way more buzz than HE’S getting.

Honorable mentions: “Only Lovers Left Alive,” “Locke,” “Interstellar,” “American Sniper,” “Into the Woods.”

ward resolution.

After nearly four years of civil war in Syria, the U.S. and other countries appeared stuck in a circular debate about whether and how to intercede. But the radical Islamic State group’s rapid expansion, capped by militants’ videotaped beheadings of Western hostages, jarred an expanding coalition to launch a campaign of more 1,000 bombing attacks on IS strongholds in Iraq and Syria. As the year ends, though, leaders cautioned that their vows to destroy the insurgency could take years to fulfill.

“We recognize that hard work remains to be done,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Even as the war on Islamic State began, Americans turned their attention to suburban St. Louis, where in August a white police officer fatally shot black 18-year-old Michael Brown, after stopping him and a friend for walking in the middle of the street. Exactly what happened was clouded by conflicting witness accounts. Brown’s death, and a grand jury’s decision not to charge the officer, prompted a furor over law enforcement’s treatment of young, black men.

Other police killings in New York, Cleveland and elsewhere just fed the public’s frustration.

If any news event offered the chance for resolution, it was the November elections that presented fed-up voters with a means for shaking up the status quo.

That’s just what they did, handing Republicans control of the Senate they sought to battle President Barack Obama and boosting the party’s strength in a number of statehouses.

But there’s been little sign that will break gridlock in Washington, where Obama’s recent decisions — particularly an executive order curbing deportations — have stirred intense GOP enmity. With the election over, public disenchantment has remained in place, with polls showing that two of every three Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, despite continued improvement in the economy.

Clearly, not all of the news stories of the past year lacked resolution. There were winners and losers at the Winter Olympics and the World Cup — which spotlighted athletic excellence, along with Russia’s outsized spending and Brazil’s political discontent. The number of states allowing same-sex marriage doubled this year, reflecting shifting attitudes and politics.

In South Korea, parents grieving over the April ferry sinking that killed 300, most of them high school students, saw the captain sentenced to 36 years in prison, fixing some measure of responsibility, but without closure.

But those headlines could not distract from the larger narrative of a country and world faced by daunting challenges and few answers within reach.

That was clear in late October, when Peter Foley, an Australian coordinating the hunt for the vanished Malaysia Airlines jet, faced questions about its direction.

“We are in for the long haul,” Foley said.

He was referring only to the searchers and their role in trying to bring resolution to a singular conundrum. But he could just as well have been speaking about the challenges raised by any one of numerous news events in 2014, a year when making sense of the headlines required patience, but did little to reward it.

A divisive year for food

By J.M. HIRSCH ASSOCIATED PRESS

Have you picked a side yet?

If not, you’d better think fast, because the battle lines are being drawn and they cut right down the dinner table.

For if there was any theme to the food world in 2014, it was the prevalence of polarizing issues. Whether we were tussling over genetically modified organisms, or debating how healthy is too healthy for school lunches, or scolding one another for our gluten choices, this year our collective culinary consciousness seemed mired in disputes.

So here’s a roundup of some of the more contentious items on this year’s menu of food news:

To Gluten Or Not To Gluten Oh, that pesky grain protein. For several years now gluten has been the “new fat,” that demonized ingredient-ofthe-moment that countless Americans obsess over. And like so many dietary fads before it, the anti-gluten movement has heralded a tidal wave of products and promises.

But this is no ordinary Snackwell’s situation. Gluten — which can pop up unexpectedly across the food chain — really can make people diagnosed with celiac and other digestive disorders exceedingly ill. Except that those folks alone — by some measures about 3 million — can’t account for the growth of the gluten-free market into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

And there’s our dispute.

Experts increasingly — and with greater volume — question the value of going glutenfree without a diagnosis, yet plenty of people staunchly stand by anecdotal health benefits. And so we have a glut of gluten-free products, from doughnuts to dog food.

Now even Fido can pick a side.

At least we can now agree

Photo by Joe Ellis | AP file

In this Dec. 4 file photo, a customer, left, stands at the counter as a group of protesters demonstrate inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Jackson, Miss. on what gluten-free means.

As of August, the term is regulated, meaning manufacturers no longer can slap it willy-nilly on packages.

GMO, Yes Or No? Like it or not, genetically modified foods are on the menu. So this year, the debate centered on how much we should know about that.

Advocates of GMOs — mostly business interests behind the industry — say the foods not only are safe but are key to managing the world’s increasingly complex agricultural needs. Critics say we don’t yet know enough about the foods to make that leap.

But seeming to accept that the foods are here to stay, lately they have focused their efforts on legislation that would require labeling for foods containing GMO ingredients.

That set the stage for bigspending battles to win over voters. In May, Vermont became the first state to require the labels, but that’s on hold pending legal challenges. Ballot measures that would have required labeling in California and Washington already had been defeated, and a similar measure in Oregon failed this year.

Chefs like Tom Colicchio and Jose Andres lobbied on behalf of labeling, while some companies tried to get out in

front of the issue. In January, General Mills announced that its Original Cheerios would no longer contain GMO ingredients, but that’s a rarity. And rather than allow the food industry to face a patchwork of state laws, next year Congress is likely to take up the issue.

Lunch-Line Showdown It’s Michelle Obama vs.

Congress in a weighty battle.

To help address childhood obesity, the first lady made it her mission to help push through tougher nutrition standards for food served in schools. The changes — including prioritizing produce and whole grains — have been phased in since 2012.

But it’s been a struggle.

Some schools asked to opt out, saying the healthier foods were too costly, too difficult to prepare and unpopular with kids. The first lady this summer said she’d fight “to the bitter end” to keep standards high. The opt-out request didn’t fly, but this month Congress did greenlight easing off the requirements on whole grains, as well as delaying tougher standards on sodium.

And the waistline war will wage on. Child nutrition and school lunches will come before Congress again next year, and the standards are almost certain to be reconsidered.

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Zentertainment

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

Ice buckets, Oscars: A year in pop culture

By JOCELYN NOVECK ASSOCIATED PRESS

Just for fun, let’s try to picture the year in pop culture, all in one image.

We might begin with a singer oddly named Adele Dazeem, belting “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen.”

Suddenly a friend would pour a bucket of ice water over her head. Adele would immediately tweet the moment on her new iPhone 6, hashtag (hash)icebucketchallenge, while Ellen would pop out and take a group selfie that would (hash) BreaktheInternet.

Now let’s get more serious. It’s always a challenge to capture a year in pop culture, but we try nonetheless.

Herewith, our annual, highly selective trip down memory lane: PHARRELL WILLIAMS has lots of reason to be happy in January. After a huge 2013, the producer-rappersinger gets an Oscar nomination for “Happy” on the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack. A week later, he wins four Grammys, including album and record of the year for producing the funk-electronic anthem “Get Lucky.”

Happy, Lucky ... the guy certainly picks apt song titles.

The ground shifts in the late-night TV landscape: JIMMY FALLON takes over for JAY LENO and immediately establishes himself as the new king, with a younger, fresher vibe perfect for next-day YouTube viewing of bits like celebrity lip-syncing duels. Kicking off an eventful year in the tech world, FACEBOOK pays a massive $19 billion for WHATSAPP, the popular mobile messaging service favored by teenagers and young adults — who see Facebook as something better suited to their parents.

At New York Fashion Week, emerging star LUPITA N’YONGO makes a frontrow splash at Calvin Klein.

It’s OSCAR time, and this year’s show — the mostwatched in a decade — gives us a slew of pop culture moments. Introducing IDINA MENZEL, JOHN TRAVOLTA mangles her name in epic fashion, creating a new star: “the one and only ADELE DAZEEM.” Ever the Broadway trouper, Menzel doesn’t miss a beat as she sings the girl-power anthem “Let It Go.” N’YONGO completes her rapid ascent to superstardom with a supporting-actress trophy for “12 Years a Slave,” also the year’s best picture. And speaking of superstars, ELLEN DEGENERES takes that famous selfie with a gaggle of ‘em, causing Twit-

ter to crash for 20 minutes and beating the previous champion for retweets, a photo of BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA. Time for a new phrase in Hollywoodspeak: “CONSCIOUS UNCOUPLING,” the term used

by GWYNETH PALTROW to describe her enlightened split from CHRIS MARTIN. Oh, and OBAMA pitches his health plan to young people via an unusual platform: Zach Galifianakis’ comic Web series “Between Two Ferns.” Some conservative commentators call it undignified.

Yet more epic shifts in late-night: DAVID LETTERMAN announces he’ll retire in 2015. His replacement is Comedy Central star STEPHEN COLBERT, adored by the younger demographic.

LETTERMAN quips: “I happen to know they wanted another guy with glasses.”

And now, we know you were getting antsy for KIMYE news, so here it is: KIM KARDASHIAN and soon-tobe hubby KANYE WEST make the prestigious cover of VOGUE, sparking existential angst among some fashionistas.

Kardashian tweets that it’s “a dream come true!!!”

But the real dream comes when KIMYE ties the knot at a Renaissance fortress in Florence, Italy, following lavish pre-wedding festivities in France. ANGELINA JOLIE makes a splash as “Maleficent,” giving us a new take on the Disney character that’s now more super-

Photo by John Stillwell | AP file

Prince William and Kate Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George during a visit to the Sensational Butterflies exhibition in London. heroine than villainess. Also making a splash: LAVERNE COX, the openly transgender actress on “Orange is the New Black,” featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Let’s turn to sports: It’s WORLD CUP time, and who says America doesn’t love soccer? People are glued to their TVs, iPads, phones and other devices for the U.S. games, and a hero is born: TIM HOWARD, the U.S. goalie, who even in a 2-1 defeat to Belgium makes a record-setting 16 saves. He becomes a social media darling — on Wikipedia, he briefly becomes the Secretary of Defense, edging out Chuck Hagel. And he inspires an Internet meme naming all the “Things Tim Howard Could Save.” (Example: The dinosaurs from extinction.)

A collective “Awwwwww”

ricochets ‘round the world as Britain’s mediagenic royal couple, WILLIAM and KATE, release photos of the equally mediagenic PRINCE GEORGE, upon his first birthday. Turns out his fashion choices — lots of blues, and bib overalls — prove as

influential as his mom’s.

COX, meanwhile, is nominated for an Emmy — the first nomination for an openly transgender person.

It’s also time for the campy “SHARKNADO 2.” A shark in the New York subway?

No big deal. Manhattanites have seen rats that big.

Whoever would have thought a lowly bucket of ice would become a pop culture phenom? Celebs and regular folks alike take on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, generating many millions of dollars to fight the disease. Epic screams are heard, but the most entertainingly blood-curdling comes from OPRAH WINFREY. And what would August be without a wedding?

BRANGELINA finally ties the knot, at a small ceremony on their French estate. A very sad note to the month: The death of ROBIN WILLIAMS, whose manic energy graced screens big and

small, leaves a gaping hole in the cultural landscape.

Back to weddings — and in this year of celebrity knot-tying, nothing is bigger than the lavish Venice festivities surrounding the nuptials of the bachelor who said he’d never marry again, GEORGE CLOONEY, and British human rights lawyer AMAL ALAMUDDIN. Think traffic jams of paparazzi on gondolas. This isn’t even the only Hollywood celebrity wedding in Italy this month — NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, next year’s Oscar host, marries partner DAVID BURTKA. Big tech news: The new iPhone 6 arrives, with its larger screen and inevitable prestige factor. APPLE also unveils its smartwatch, bringing the features of an iPhone to one’s arm, and Microsoft spends $2.5 billion for the company that created the hit game “Minecraft.”

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Crude exports clarified in guidelines

By JIM SNYDER AND BRIAN WINGFIELD BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Obama administration opened the door for expanded oil exports by saying a lightly processed form of crude known as condensate can be sold outside the U.S. without government approval.

The publication of guidelines today on the website of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is the first public explanation of steps companies can take to avoid violating export laws, and may lead to more U.S.-produced oil being sent overseas.

The announcement though doesn’t end the ban on most crude exports, which Congress adopted in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo.

“It’s a long way from here to a full repeal of the export ban, and they went out of their way to stipulate that this is not, in their view, crude oil,” Jeff Navin, a former deputy chief of staff at the Energy Department, said in an e-mail.

“But it does show how they’re thinking about exporting at least some of our light products.”

Oil producers have been testing a four-decade-old prohibition on oil exports as domestic production has surged on the technological advances that have opened up shale rock formations to development in Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere.

The department earlier this year signaled a new way to export oil by approving permits for Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Enterprise Products Partners LP to sell condensate, a type of light oil, overseas after it had been processed in a distillation tower.

Floodgates’ Opened The guidelines could “open the floodgates to substantial increases in exports,” Citigroup Inc. said in a research note. Total U.S. production of light and ultra-light crude oil now exceeds 3.81 million barrels a day, and exports could reach 1 million barrels daily by the end

of 2015, Citi Research said.

Eric Hirschhorn, under secretary of Commerce for industry and security, said in a statement the guidelines clarify how the department will implement export rules and follow a “review of technological and policy issues.”

In addition to approving applications, the government also allows companies to “self-certify,” that is, to export their products without seeking the permission if they think the law allows for the exchange.

Billiton Plans BHP Billiton Ltd. will sell oil from Texas to foreign buyers without first getting the approval of the Commerce Department to do so, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans.

Navin, who is a partner at Boundary Stone Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm, said some companies may now be reluctant to self certify because violations of export laws carry crimi-

the border.

A total of 3,800 unaccompanied juveniles and 2,096 accompanied juveniles arrived in the United States through the Laredo Sector.

About 13 percent of the Laredo Sector’s overall apprehensions were people under the age of 17 in fiscal year 2014.

According to the overall sector profiles on the CBP website, about 40 percent of the fiscal year’s apprehensions were classified as “Other than Mexican.”

In the Laredo Sector, 17,509 OTM apprehensions

were made throughout the year.

The Rio Grande Valley Sector recorded 192,925 OTM apprehensions this fiscal year.

A total of 123,722 pounds of illegal drugs were seized at different Laredo Sector stations.

Marijuana, overwhelmingly, accounted for most of the drug seizures — 99.7 percent of the illegal drugs seized was marijuana.

Other drugs seized included 237 pounds of cocaine, 44 pounds of heroine and 58 pounds of metham-

Continued from Page 1A

nal penalties. The guidelines released today could ease those fears, he said.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., said the guidelines were helpful but that the broader restrictions that remain in place “limit our growth as an energy superpower.”

The guidelines released today, as answers to FAQs or frequently asked questions, say that condensate can be exported if it is run through a distillation tower, which separates the hydrocarbons that make up the oil.

The process must materially transform the oil, by “using heat to induce evaporation and condensation, into liquid streams that are chemically distinct from the crude oil input,” according to the FAQ. The oil’s gravity, or its density, also must be changed by the process, according to the department posting.

Processed products like gasoline and diesel fuel can already be exported under U.S. laws.

BORDER Continued from Page 1A called the “2014 American immigration crisis,” when a surge of mostly Central American immigrants crossed the Rio Grande and surrendered themselves to Border Patrol.

Border Patrol sectors along the Texas border, specifically the Laredo Sector and Rio Grande Valley, became overwhelmed with the amount of people coming into the U.S. during the summer months.

This international phenomenon led to increased relief efforts for unaccompanied minors arriving at

MEXICO it stemmed from “animosity and conflicts between self-defense groups.”

The vigilante groups emerged in 2013, as farmers and ranchers took up shotguns and hunting rifles to push back against organized gangs exerting control in the region, specifically the Knights Templar cartel.

In May, some members of the vigilante groups agreed to become part of an official rural police force that received guns, uniforms and pay from the government.

Since the shootout, Mexican military and federal police have assumed security responsibilities in several municipalities, replacing the rural police.

The detention of Mora marks his second arrest. In March, he was held on suspicion of murder, but later released without facing charges.

MAYOR Continued from Page 1A phetamine.

Throughout the Southwest border, agents seized 1,920,411 pounds of marijuana. More marijuana was seized at the Laredo Sector stations than at the El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio, El Centro, San Diego and Yuma Sector stations. The Rio Grande Valley and Tucson Sector stations were the two other areas that seized more marijuana than Laredo.

(Gabriela A. Treviño may be reached at 956-7282579 or gtrevino@lmtonline.com)

homes on fire because Mayor Raul Reyes did not provide them with new equipment and diesel fuel for fire trucks. They are identified as Pablo Ernesto Figueroa-Osorio, 18, and Jeremy Aaron Jones, 27.

Reyes denied those allegations, and labeled the actions as “childish.”

On Dec. 10, the Sheriff’s Office also received information indicating that volunteers of the El Cenizo Volunteer Fire Department were planning and starting multiple fires at abandoned homes.

An affidavit further details other fires the volunteers allegedly started. In total, there were five incidents recorded in the complaint.

The Council’s possible action today includes continuation of employment, reassignment, modification of duties, disciplinary action, dismissal or other actions. The Council may also appoint an interim or permanent department head.

(Staff writer César G. Rodriguez contributed to this report.)

PERRY Continued from Page 1A dropped a pass to win the Super Bowl, ‘Did that bother you?’ " As he looks at running a second time for president, Perry, 64, is banking on his record as governor of Texas to move past “oops.” It’s a strategy that didn’t connect in the last campaign, when the governor’s jobs record was drowned out by that moment and other gaffes, said Ray Sullivan, a former Perry chief of staff and spokesman for his 2012 campaign.

“Our own errors on the campaign trail led to a shortened campaign,” Sullivan said. “So the message got overshadowed.”

Should he run again, Perry will have two more years of his time as Texas governor to try to make the case anew.

His state has generated more than a third of the nation’s new private-sector jobs since 2001.

While critics say about 6 percent of the state’s hourly wage earners in 2013 got minimum wage or less, fifth highest in the nation, Perry counters that this figure has fallen three straight years since 2010, when Texas’ rate peaked at a national high

9.5 percent.

Perry credits the gangbusters state economy to low taxes, restrained regulation and caps on civil litigation damage awards, as well as improving high school graduation rates. He also oversees two funds offering economic incentives to lure top employers to Texas and repeatedly visited states with Democratic governors to poach jobs.

“You’re the chief yell leader, cheerleader,” said Perry, who was elected yell leader, a coveted campus spirit squad post, while a student at Texas A&M University.

When Waste Connections, Inc., was looking to relocate its headquarters from east of Sacramento in 2011, CEO Ronald Mittelstaedt received calls from both Perry and fellow Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada.

“Governor Perry, he is a very down-to-earth, easy to talk to man,” said Mittelstaedt, whose company eventually moved about 100 employees to suburban Houston.

John W. Harrington was laid

up after back surgery in 2013 when he heard frequent recruitment radio ads featuring Perry.

He soon transplanted his gun shop from California, to Shiner, Texas, a town otherwise famous for its brewery.

“Rick and guns, that’s kind of the epitome of what Texas is all about,” said Harrington, who held a ribbon-cutting barbeque with Perry.

Perry’s penchant for guns — he once famously shot a coyote while jogging in a rural corner of Austin in 2010 — helped solidify his image as a cowboy governor long before “oops,” and the personal role he plays in administering the incentive funds and recruiting jobs so aggressively for Texas have ensured much of the same sentiment has rubbed off on the state’s economy.

The incentive funds the governor oversees, though, have been savaged by state auditors.

They found that The Texas Enterprise Fund, offering dealclosing money to top business and employers, had awarded $222 million to 11 firms and uni-

versities that either didn’t apply for the funding or weren’t required to directly create jobs.

And Perry’s Texas Emerging Technology Fund is supposed to bolster high-tech startups, but some firms haven’t filed tax reports or made questionable job claims.

Both also have given money to firms linked to Perry donors, drawing “crony capitalism” complaints from conservative activists. But Perry dismissed that: “I consider myself to be very much an adherent to most of the tea party’s philosophical positions.”

Meanwhile, Texas leads the nation with about a quarter of residents lacking health insurance, and had the country’s highest annual total of workplace fatalities nine times during Perry’s tenure.

“The bragging that he has engaged in about the Texas miracle is going to come under very strict scrutiny and I think people are going to see it’s not what he claims it to be,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.

Beyond the questions related to how much credit Perry deserves for the Texas economy, and about “oops,” he will also be forced to contend with worries about his felony indictment.

The left-leaning government watchdog group Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint in 2013 when Perry publicly threatened — then made good on — a veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors, following the Democratic head of the unit’s drunken driving conviction. In August, an Austin grand jury indicted the governor for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.

Perry insists most Americans believe he did nothing wrong and that the case won’t affect any possible presidential aspirations. He concedes that “oops” might, but is hoping voters see it as a test of character.

“It’s easier to judge someone by how they get up from a failure when they’ve been knocked down,” Perry said. “Being tested is a good thing.”

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014