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ZAPATA COUNTY
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Sexual misconduct claims Tax assessor-collector Gonzalez arrested on 5 counts By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
The Zapata County tax assessor-collector has been arrested on allegations of sexual misconduct, according to the Department of Public Safety. A grand jury in Zapata handed down an indictment last
week charging Luis Lauro Gonzalez with five counts of official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, $4,000 or both. The Texas Rangers arrested Gonzalez, 57, on Nov. 30. He later bonded out from the Zapata County Regional Jail.
“At the request of the Zapata County Attorney’s Office, the Texas Rangers initiated an investigation after allegations of official oppression (sexual misconduct) involving (Gonzalez),” DPS Sgt. Conrad J. Hein said in a statement. He said Gonzalez was arrested without incident.
Zapata County Judge Joe Rathmell expressed disappointment. “It’s disappointing and troubling anytime an elected official is indicted on any charges. At this point, we’re going to let the legal process take its course,” he said. Claims continues on A8
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY STATISTICS
ARRESTS ALONG BORDER DROP
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Workers at Holiday Tree Farms sort freshly harvested Christmas trees at the Beaver Creek shipping yard in Philomath, Oregon.
Holiday tree exports double President Donald Trump’s threat angers growers By Daniel Flatley and Eric Martin BL OOMBERG NEWS
William Widmer / The New York Times
Border Patrol agents survey the Rio Grande near Roma. To make the case that its deterrence efforts have been effective, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that the number of arrests at the border dropped to the lowest in nearly a half-century.
People trying to sneak over falls to lowest level in 46 years By Nick Miroff WA S H INGT ON P O ST
The number people caught trying to sneak over the border from Mexico has fallen to the lowest level in 46 years, according to Homeland Security statistics released Tuesday that offer the first comprehensive look at how immigration enforcement is changing under the Trump administration. During the government’s 2017 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, U.S. border agents made 310,531 arrests, a decline of 24 percent from the previous year and the fewest overall since 1971. The figures show a sharp drop in apprehensions immediately after President Donald Trump’s election win, possibly reflecting the deterrent effect of his rhetoric on would-be border crossers, though starting in May the number of people taken into custody began increasing again. Arrests of foreigners living illegally in the United States have surged under Trump. U.S. Immigration and Customs EnBorder continues on A8
William Widmer / The New York Times
Border Patrol agents detain a group who attempted to illegally cross the Rio Grande into the United States near Hidalgo. To make the case that its deterrence efforts have been effective, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that the number of arrests at the border dropped to the lowest in nearly a half-century.
WASHINGTON — In the cheerless days of the last recession, as Americans were spending less on Christmas trees, Oregon’s evergreen growers spotted an opportunity. Demand had been growing for Northwest-grown firs in Mexico and the U.S. has a surplus. Agricultural officials from both countries forged a relationship that nearly doubled U.S. tree exports over four years, to $22.6 million in 2015. One in six of the state’s Christmas trees are now trucked south of the border. Now, state officials are worried that their gains could become a casualty of President Donald Trump’s decision to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement. If the U.S. ends up withdrawing from the agreement, as Trump has threatened, it could result in Mexico imposing a retaliatory tariff on the U.S. and pivoting to Canadian suppliers. "The administration does not understand the importance of U.S. agricultural exports and is putting billions of dollars of export sales at risk, unnecessarily," said Tim O’Connor, executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association. Withdrawing from NAFTA "would be devastating to U.S. agriculture and the U.S. economy." Helmuth Rogg, the Oregon Department of Agriculture official instrumental in building the relationship with Mexico, said withdrawing from NAFTA would undo years of hard work. The state is now Mexico’s largest supplier of Christmas trees. "The risk of getting rejected at the border and losing the trees and then a 20 percent tariff, I don’t think that would work for our growers," he said. The Trump administration is pushing for changes to NAFTA, which was established by the U.S., Mexico and Canada 1994 and now governs $1 trillion a year in commerce. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have opposed key U.S. proposals, such as one to raise regional content requirements for cars and a reported demand for the deal to expire after five years unless the countries agree to extend it. But farm groups, while largely supportive of Trump, have NAFTA continues on A8
Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, DEC. 16 8th annual Birdies on the Rio golf tourney. 7 a.m. registration at the Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for the biggest, baddest golf tournament in town. $150 per golfer (all-inclusive). Register at www.rgisc.org.
SUNDAY, DEC. 17 Ring Noel 9th Annual Handbell Concert. 4-5 p.m. First United Methodist Church Sanctuary, 1220 McClelland. Free and open to the public. Musical selections will include both sacred and secular arrangements of favorite Christmas/Advent carols as well as a Ring-Sing-A-Long with the bells and organ.
MONDAY DEC. 18 Special Screening of Documentary Film "Crazywise.” 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) - Main Entrance (next to Laredo Driver License Office), 1901 Bob Bullock Loop. “Crazywise” adds a voice to the growing conversation that believes a psychological crisis can be an opportunity for growth and potentially transformational, not a disease with no cure. The screening is 82 minutes long, followed by a 20-minute discussion. Event is free. Please RSVP at 956-307-2014. Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014
TUESDAY, DEC. 19 Bilingual Breast Cancer Support Group Meeting. 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom No. 7, the entrance to the parking lot is on Davis Street. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/or depression to participate in free and confidential support group meetings. Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 10 a.m. - noon. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, JAN. 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, FEB. 3 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, MARCH 3 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, APRIL 7 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Former president Barack Obama speaks to a gathering of more than 50 mayors and other guests during the North American Climate Summit on Tuesday in Chicago, Illinois.
OBAMA TALKS AT CLIMATE SUMMIT CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday told a summit of mayors driven to act after President Donald Trump rejected the Paris climate accord that cities and states are the “new face of American leadership” on climate change. Obama, who did not mention Trump by name, made a quick appearance at the conference hosted by his former chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He said it was an “unusual time” with the U.S. as the only country to walk away from the Paris agreement, but it was a chance for local leaders to come together
Conyers resigns from Congress amid harassment claims DETROIT — Democratic Rep. John Conyers resigned from Congress on Tuesday after a nearly 53-year career, becoming the first Capitol Hill politician to lose his job in the torrent of sexual misconduct allegations sweeping through the nation’s workplaces. The 88-year-old civil rights leader and longest-serving member of the House an-
and fulfill promises the country has made. “Ultimately the work is done on the ground,” Obama said. “Cities and states and businesses and universities and nonprofits have emerged as the new face of American leadership on climate change.” Chicago officials billed the North American Climate Summit, which began Monday evening, as the first of its kind for the city. Leaders elsewhere have taken similar action, despite Trump’s announcement earlier this year that the U.S. would pull out of the 2015 Paris agreement. — Compiled from AP reports
nounced what he referred to as his “retirement” on Detroit talk radio, while continuing to deny he groped or sexually harassed women who worked for him. “My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we’re going through now,” said the congressman, who called into the radio show from the hospital where he was taken last week after complaining of lightheadedness. “This, too, shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.” He endorsed his son John
Conyers III to succeed him. Conyers, who was first elected in 1964 and went on to become a founding member in 1971 of the Congressional Black Caucus, easily won re-election last year to his 27th term in his heavily Democratic district in and around Detroit. But after being publicly accused by one woman after another in recent weeks, he faced growing calls to resign from colleagues in the House, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND TEXAS Couple charged in girl’s death denied access to living girl DALLAS — A suburban Dallas couple facing charges after the death of their adopted 3-year-old daughter may have no contact with their biological daughter, a judge ruled Tuesday. State District Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon issued the ruling Tuesday after two days of testimony in the custody case involving Wesley and Sini Mathews of Richardson, Texas. Wesley Mathews is charged with first-degree felony injury to a child in the death of Sherin Mathews, who was adopted from India. His wife is charged with child endangerment or abandonment relating to the death. Investigators previously said Wesley Mathews had said Sherin died after choking while he was forcing her to drink her milk. On Tuesday, Richardson
David Woo / AP
Sini Mathews, mother of Sherin Mathews, waits for her and her husband's hearing to resume in Dallas.
police Detective Jules Farmer testified that Wesley Mathews told officers that he was forcefeeding Sherin, who was underweight, with milk from a bottle in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 7 when she choked. Mathews said he held his daughter as she died, then placed her body in the back of his car with a bag of garbage, drove to a
shopping center where he disposed of the garbage, then to a culvert where he hid her body. Her body was found there two weeks later. Also Tuesday, CPS investigator Kelly Mitchell testified that Sini Mathews was “eerily calm” when her biological child was removed from her custody. — Compiled from AP reports
Today is Wednesday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2017. There are 25 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On Dec. 6, 1917, some 2,000 people were killed when an explosives-laden French cargo ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Norwegian vessel Imo at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the Canadian city. Finland declared its independence from Russia. On this date: In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York. In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, was ratified as Georgia became the 27th state to endorse it. In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans. In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia. In 1942, comedian Fred Allen premiered "Allen's Alley," a recurring sketch on his CBS radio show spoofing small-town America. In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman. In 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing down and exploding. In 1967, three days after the first human heart transplant took place in South Africa, a surgical team at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, led by Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz transplanted the heart of a braindead two-day-old baby boy into an 19-day-old infant who died six hours later. In 1973, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew. In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland. In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life. Ten years ago: CIA Director Michael Hayden revealed the agency had videotaped its interrogations of two terror suspects in 2002 and destroyed the tapes three years later out of fear they would leak to the public and compromise the identities of U.S. questioners; the disclosure brought immediate condemnation from Capitol Hill. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, speaking at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Texas, said his Mormon faith should neither help nor hinder his quest for the White House as he vowed to serve the interests of the nation, not the church, if elected president. Five years ago: Shocking some of his closest Republican colleagues, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina announced he would resign his seat to head Washington's conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. Marijuana possession became legal in Washingon state, the day a measure approved by voters to regulate marijuana like alcohol took effect. One year ago: President-elect Donald Trump officially announced he would nominate retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be his defense secretary, bringing his pick onstage at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Mattis briefly addressed the crowd as he thanked Trump for choosing him. Today's Birthdays: Comedian David Ossman is 81. Actor Patrick Bauchau is 79. Singer Helen Cornelius is 76. Actor James Naughton is 72. Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is 72. Singer Frankie Beverly is 71. Former Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., is 69. Actress JoBeth Williams is 69. Actor Tom Hulce is 64. Actor Wil Shriner is 64. Actor Kin Shriner is 64. Actor Miles Chapin is 63. Rock musician Rick Buckler is 62. Comedian Steven Wright is 62. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 62. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 62. Rock musician Peter Buck is 61. Rock musician David Lovering is 56. Actress Janine Turner is 55. Rock musician Ben Watt is 55. Writerdirector Judd Apatow is 50. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg is 47. Writer-director Craig Brewer is 46. Actress Colleen Haskell is 41. Actress Lindsay Price is 41. Actress Ashley Madekwe is 36. Actress Nora Kirkpatrick is 33. Christian rock musician Jacob Chesnut (Rush of Fools) is 28. Tennis player CoCo Vandeweghe is 26. NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel is 25. Thought for Today : "When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven't." — Thomas Edison, American inventor (1847-1931).
SATURDAY, MAY 5 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
AROUND THE WORLD
SATURDAY, JUNE 2
VALLETTA, Malta — A Maltese court charged three men Tuesday with the carbomb slaying of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as details from the investigation indicated she was killed by a remote-controlled explosion of TNT. Seven other Maltese men were released on bail pending
First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, JULY 7 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Court charges 3 with murder of journalist, 7 on bail
further investigation. The arrest of the 10 men Monday was the first breakthrough in the Oct. 16 killing that shocked this Mediterranean island and led the European Parliament to send a delegation on a fact-finding mission related to the rule of law in Malta. The three main suspects, who all had previous police records, arrived under heavy police escort at the court late Tuesday and pleaded innocent to the charges, which included
CONTACT US murder and possession of explosive material. They were represented by a court-appointed lawyer. Peter Caruana Galizia, the victim’s husband, attended the hearing. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a leading investigative reporter whose exposes focused on corruption, drug trafficking and scandals involving Malta’s elite. She was killed when a bomb blew up in her car she drove near her home. — Compiled from AP reports
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SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Wednesdays and Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata and Jim Hogg counties. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times in those areas at newstands, The Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas, 78044. Call (956) 728-2500.
The Zapata Times
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 |
CRIME
ZAPATA COUNTY CRIME ROUNDUP
Zapata man arrested for possession of marijuana By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
A man was arrested in the Medina Addition neighborhood for allegedly possessing marijuana, according to the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities identified him as Albert Navarro, 19. He was charged with state jail felony possession of marijuana, which is punishable by up to two years behind bars and a possible $10,000 fine. Custody records showed Navarro remained behind bars as of Tuesday at the Zapata County Regional Jail. On Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit said it received consent to
Zapata County Sheriff’s Office / Courtesy photo
The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office said they seized the narcotics and cash shown in this photo on Sunday in the Medina Addition.
search a home in the 1500 block of Falcon Avenue. There, investigators said
they found 1.4 pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and some cash.
Former monk testifies in murder trial of ex-priest A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
EDINBURG, Texas — A former monk has testified that an ex-priest accused of killing a Texas woman in 1960 confessed to him three years after the killing. Dale Tacheny testified Monday in the murder trial for John Feit, who is accused of suffocating Irene Garza after she went to confession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen. An autopsy determined the teacher and former beauty queen was beaten, raped while unconscious and asphyxiated. Tacheny said the now 85-year-old Feit confessed to him in 1963, after the church sent Feit to a Missouri monastery where Tacheny worked. The former Trappist monk said Feit expressed no
A3
Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor / AP
Dale Tacheny testifies during John Feit's trial Monday at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg, Texas. Feit, a former Catholic priest, is on trial for the slaying of a South Texas teacher and ex-beauty queen Irene Garza 57 years ago.
remorse during the confession. Tacheny said he didn’t initially report the crime because it “was not my place to make a judg-
ment.” The 88-year-old said he instead tried to counsel Feit to change his behavior toward women. But in 2002, Tacheny went to police in San Antonio and reported what Feit allegedly told him decades earlier. Investigators said Feit gave them conflicting versions of what happened the day Garza died in April 1960. They said Feit initially alleged he didn’t take Garza’s confession and that another priest was present at the time. But he later said he was alone and had taken Garza’s confession, according to investigators. Feit’s attorney argues there is no physical evidence linking his client to the killing. He also said Tacheny made assumptions about the crime when he reported it to police in 2002.
Authorities said they need the community’s assistance to locate two wanted people. In addition, the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office said they have arrested a couple of people who were recently listed as wanted. Regarding those at large, officials said they need to locate the following: 1 Rene Aquiles Lopez is wanted on 10 arrest warrants accusing him of credit, debit card abuse. 1 Ovidio Salinas Gon-
Aquiles
Salinas
zalez is wanted for evading arrest. Zapata Crime Stoppers will pay a cash reward for information leading to the arrests. To provide information, call the Sheriff’s Office at 956765-9960 or Crime Stoppers 765-TIPS (8477).
Torres
Gonzalez
Furthermore, the Sheriff’s Office announced they have arrested two wanted men. 1 Rolando Gonzalez Jr. was charged with aggravated robbery. 1 Derly Torres Jr. was charged with misdemeanor theft.
Zopinion
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A4 | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
How not to advance same sex marriage By David Brooks N EW YORK T I ME S
Five years ago, Charlie Craig and David Mullins walked into a bakery in a strip mall in Lakewood, Colorado, to ask about a cake for their wedding. The baker, Jack Phillips, replied: “I’ll make you birthday cakes, shower cakes, cookies, brownies. I just can’t make a cake for a same-sex wedding.” As Adam Liptak of The New York Times reported, Phillips is a Christian and believes that the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman. Phillips is not trying to restrict gay marriage or gay rights; he’s simply asking not to be forced to take part. Craig and Mullins were understandably upset. As Mullins told Liptak, “We were mortified and just felt degraded.” Nobody likes to be refused service just because of who they essentially are. In a just society people are not discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. At this point, Craig and Mullins had two possible courses of action, the neighborly and the legal. The neighborly course would have been to use this situation as a community-building moment. That means understanding the concrete circumstance they were in. First, it’s just a cake. It’s not like they were being denied a home or a job, or a wedding. A cake looks good in magazines, but it’s not an important thing in a marriage. Second, Phillips’ opinion is not a strange opinion. Barack Obama was elected president arguing that a marriage was between a man and a woman. Most good-hearted Americans believed this until a few years ago. Third, the tide of opinion is quickly swinging in favor of gay marriage. Its advocates have every cause to feel confident, patient and secure. Given that context, the neighborly approach would be to say: “Fine, we won’t compel you to do something you believe violates your sacred principles. But we would like to hire you to bake other cakes for us. We would like to invite you into our home for dinner and bake with you, so you can see our marital love, and so we can understand your values. You still may not agree with us, after all this, but at least we’ll understand each other better and we can live more fully in our community.” The legal course, by contrast, was to take the problem out of the neighborhood and throw it into the court system. The legal course has some advantages. You can use state power, ultimately the barrel of a gun, to compel people to do what you think is right. There are clearly many cases in which the legal course is the right response (Brown v. Board of Education). But the legal course has some disadvantages. It is inherently adversarial. It takes what could be a conversation and turns it into a confrontation. It is dehumanizing. It ends persuasion and relies on the threat of state coercion. It is elitist. It takes a situation that could be
This is modern America, so of course Craig and Mullins took the legal route. If you want to know why we have such a polarized, angry and bitter society, one reason is we take every disagreement that could be addressed in conversation and community and we turn it into a lawsuit.
addressed concretely on the ground and throws it up, as this one now has been, to the Supreme Court, where it will be decided by a group of Harvard and Yale law grads. Most important, it is abstract. The situation between Phillips and Craig and Mullins was a highly specific event involving three persons. But the state doesn’t see particularity and it doesn’t think personalistically. The state seeks to create uniform, universal law. So the legal process simplifies, depersonalizes and abstracts. This case, which goes to oral argument Tuesday, is now revolving around an arbitrary argument over whether baking is more like an expressive profession like being an artist or a commercial profession like being a limo driver. The situation of Phillips, Craig and Mullins could be captured in a fine novel. But the legal system turns it into an arcane debate over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. This is modern America, so of course Craig and Mullins took the legal route. If you want to know why we have such a polarized, angry and bitter society, one reason is we take every disagreement that could be addressed in conversation and community and we turn it into a lawsuit. We take every morally supple situation and we hand it over to the legal priesthood, which by necessity is a system of technocratic rationalism, strained slippery-slope analogies and implied coercion. Legal conflict is a clumsy tool to manage the holy messiness of actual pluralistic community. The legal system does not deal well with local and practical knowledge, the wisdom to know when a rule should be applied and when it should be bent. It does not do well with humility, tolerance and patience — virtues that are hard to put into a rule and can be achieved only in a specific situation. It inevitably generates angry reactions and populist uprisings. Readers of this column know that I fervently support gay marriage, but I don’t think bakers like Jack Phillips are best brought along by the iron fist of the state. I don’t think the fabric of this country will be repaired through the angry confrontation of lawyers. In this specific situation, the complex art of neighborliness is our best way forward. David Brooks is a columnist with the New York Times.
COLUMN
Pearl Harbor and the legacy of Congressman Carl Vinson By Victor Davis Hanson TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Seventy-six years ago on Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese fleet surprise-attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Japanese carrier planes killed 2,403 Americans. They sunk or submerged 19 ships (including eight battleships destroyed or disabled) and damaged or destroyed more than 300 planes. In an amazing feat of seamanship, the huge Japanese carrier fleet had steamed nearly 3,500 miles in midwinter high seas. The armada had refueled more than 20 major ships while observing radio silence before arriving undetected about 220 miles from Hawaii. The surprise attack started the Pacific War. It was followed a few hours later by a Japanese assault on the Philippines. More importantly, Pearl Harbor ushered in a new phase of World War II, as the conflict expanded to the Pacific. It became truly a global war when, four days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The Japanese fleet had missed the three absent American carriers of the Pacific Fleet. Nonetheless, Japanese admirals were certain that the United States was so crippled after the attack that it would not be able to go on the offensive against the Japanese Pacific empire for years, if at all. Surely the wounded Americans would sue for peace, or at least concentrate on Eu-
For nearly a decade before Pearl Harbor, Vinson had schemed and politicked in brilliant fashion to ensure that America was building a two-ocean navy larger than all the major navies of the world combined. rope and keep out of the Japanese-held Pacific. That was a fatal miscalculation. The Japanese warlords had known little of the tireless efforts of one Democratic congressman from Georgia, Carl Vinson. For nearly a decade before Pearl Harbor, Vinson had schemed and politicked in brilliant fashion to ensure that America was building a two-ocean navy larger than all the major navies of the world combined. Vinson had assumed in the mid-1930s that fascist Japan and Germany posed existential threats to the United States. For America to survive, he saw that America would need mastery of the seas to transport its armies across the Pacific and Atlantic. From 1934 to 1940, Vinson pushed through Congress four major naval appropriations bills. The result was that the U.S. Pacific Fleet which Japan thought it had almost destroyed in December 1941 was already slated to be replaced by a far larger and updated armada. A little more than seven months after Pearl Harbor, the USS Essex — the finest carrier in the world — was launched. Essex was the first of 24 such state-of-the-art fleet carriers of its class to be built during the war.
Vinson’s various prewar naval construction bills also ensured the launching of hundreds of modern battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines. As bombs fell at Pearl Harbor, ships of the new American fleet were soon to be deployed, under construction or already authorized. Vinson’s foresight would save thousands of American lives in the Atlantic and Pacific. American naval power quickly allowed the U.S. to fight a two-front war against Japan, Germany and Italy. Vinson, a rural Georgian, was an unlikely advocate of global naval supremacy. Before World War II, the battleship was still thought to be queen of the seas. Yet Vinson emphasized aircraft carriers over battleships. That decision would result in absolute American naval supremacy of the oceans within two years of the Pearl Harbor attack. Stranger still, Vinson had fought for naval expansion in the middle of the Great Depression, at a time when the U.S. government was already deeply in debt and poor Americans had no desire for large peacetime defense spending. Vinson lived in the heart of impoverished rural Georgia, not on the East or West coasts, the traditional homes of U.S.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
warships. He was elected for 26 straight congressional terms. For 50 years, Vinson insisted on military preparedness, especially through naval power, to ensure deterrence and thereby keep the peace. Vinson’s remarkable congressional career began in 1914, before the American entry into World War I. He championed a strong Navy during the Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the start of the Vietnam War and the Cold War before retiring in 1965 at the age of 81. Prior to Vinson, the U.S. Navy was basically a small coastal patrol force fueled by coal. But as the chairman of House Naval Affairs Committee and later the House Armed Services Committee, Vinson ensured that American sea power — eventually led by behemoth nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (including the USS Carl Vinson) — would win wars and keep the peace through its global reach. Vinson would live 16 years beyond retirement, dying at the age of 97 in 1981. Today, most Americans do not recognize Vinson’s contributions to American security. But the real strategic story of the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor was that Japan foolishly bombed a mostly obsolete fleet, soon guaranteeing terrible revenge from its far greater and more modern replacement armada — thanks largely to the global visions of a rural Georgia congressman. Victor Davis Hanson wrote this for Tribune Content Agency.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 |
STATE Only 26 percent of Harvey survivors got FEMA support By Joel Achenbach WA S H INGT ON P O ST
A new survey of Southeast Texas residents shows that many survivors of Hurricane Harvey continue to suffer the effects — including financial losses and mental distress — of the historic late August storm, with the greatest hardship reported by Hispanics, African Americans and people with low income. The survey found that, although the flooding in Houston received the bulk of the media coverage, residents in the state’s “Golden Triangle,” which includes Beaumont and Port Arthur, as well residents in the coastal areas of Corpus Christi and Rockport where Harvey made landfall, were most likely to report damage to their homes or ongoing problems getting their lives back on track. The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Episcopal Health Foundation conducted the survey between Oct. 17 and Nov. 20, using cellphones and landlines to obtain responses from 1,635 randomly selected adults in 24 Texas counties hammered by Harvey. The survey’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Two out of three respondents said they’d personally suffered property damage, lost income or job disruptions. About 4 in 10 hurricane survivors applied for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Small Business Administration. But only 26 percent said they’d been approved, and 33 percent said they’d been denied. The remainder said their applications were pending or they simply didn’t know the status of their cases. About 4 in 10 of the people who had been denied assistance said they weren’t given a reason. About 6 in 10 said they were not given instructions on how to revise their applications. Sixty-four percent of black residents said they weren’t getting the help they need, along with 44 percent of Hispanics and 37 percent of whites. “A lot of people who were affected say they need more help,” said Liz Hamel, a researcher with Kaiser who worked on the study. A FEMA spokesperson Monday afternoon said the agency had not yet seen the embargoed study.
A5
Court weighs intent of Texas’ strict voter ID law By Kevin Mcgill ASSOCIATED PRE SS
David J. Phillip / AP
Mourners pray at a vigil for the victims of the First Baptist Church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A man opened fire inside the church in the small South Texas community killing more than two dozen and injuring others.
Pentagon finds lapses in giving FBI crime data By Robert Burns ASSOCIATED PRE SS
The Pentagon’s watchdog agency said Tuesday it found a “troubling” number of failures this year by military law enforcement agencies to alert the FBI to criminal history information. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps were found almost equally at fault, while the Air Force did notably better in the review. The Pentagon’s inspector general happened to be wrapping up a monthslong review of compliance with reporting requirements when former Air Force member Devin P. Kelley opened fire in a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church on Nov. 5, killing 25 people, including a pregnant woman. About 20 people were wounded in the attack, and two of them remained hospitalized Tuesday in San Antonio. Kelley had been convicted of assaulting family members in a 2012 court martial at Holloman Air Force Base, New
Mexico, but the information was not passed on to the FBI as required by Pentagon regulations. The lapse, acknowledged by the Air Force, meant he was not flagged in databases used for background checks of gun buyers. Last week the Air Force disclosed that in addition to failing to notify the FBI of Kelley’s criminal history, it found “several dozen” other cases of reporting omissions. It blamed gaps in “training and compliance measures,” and said the several dozen cases have since been presented to the FBI to update its databases. The Air Force also said it has made changes designed to prevent such lapses in the future. Tuesday’s report said that from February to October, the military’s law enforcement failed to submit 24 percent of required fingerprint cards for inclusion in FBI databases and 31 percent of required reports of court martial convictions.
A strict Texas voter ID law with a complicated legal history has been remedied with a provision that allows people who lack a required photo ID to vote if they sign an affidavit stating there was a reasonable impediment to them getting one, the state’s solicitor general told a federal appeals court panel Tuesday in New Orleans. The change renders moot any arguments against the law, passed in 2011 and reworked by the Texas Legislature in May after years of litigation, Scott Keller told a threejudge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, LA. The new law elimi-
nates “any lingering burden” on voters who for some reason cannot obtain an ID, Keller said. The reworked version also created potential criminal punishments for anyone lying on the affidavit. Tuesday’s hearing came after the same Texas-based federal judge who blocked the tougher 2011 version of the law blocked the new version in August. Opponents of the law said the injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos should be upheld. They echoed Ramos’ ruling that the law still requires IDs more likely to be possessed by white voters than Latinos or African-Americans. The new law clarified that both U.S. passport
books and cards would be accepted. But it didn’t expand the list of seven acceptable IDs beyond those in the 2011 version of a law that critics said was the toughest voter ID law in the country. Gonzales Ramos, who had likened the 2011 law to a “poll tax” on minority voters, said new criminal penalties for lying on the affidavit could scare away voters fearful of making an innocent mistake on the form. Janai Nelson, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, raised similar concerns Tuesday, saying the affidavit’s warning could have a “chilling effect” on some minority voters. “It takes back the very remedy that the state has provided,” she told the panel.
Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE SESIÓN INFORMATIVA SOBRE ZIKA
TEPOZÁN
Evacúan accidentado
1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a la Sesión informativa sobre Zika el 8 de diciembre, en el Centro Comunitario de Roma, 502 6th Street, en Roma, desde la 1:45 p.m. Link para registrarse https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/freezika-informationsession-
DESFILE DE NAVIDAD 1 El Desfile de Navidad y la iluminacióm de la Plaza del Condado se realizarán el jueves 7 de diciembre, los tres coches alegoricos mejor decorados recibirán trofeos. El desfile comenzará a las 6 p.m. en 17th Ave. detrás de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Lourdes. Inmediatamente después se encenderán las luces del árbol de Navidad en la Plaza del Condado donde Santa estará repartiendo regalos.
Foto de cortesía
Personal de bomberos suben al paciente al helicóptero que lo trasladó a un hospital en McAllen.
Pasajero es llevado vía áerea a hospital Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Una persona fue llevada vía área a un hospital de McAllen en condiciones críticas después de un choque de un solo vehículo sucedido durante el fin de semana en el sur de Zapata, de acuerdo con el
Departamento de Bomberos de Zapata. A las 10:22 p.m. del sábado, personal de EMS respondió a una colisión de vehículo alrededor de dos millas al sur de Tepozán. Los paramédicos dijeron que se encontraron al pasajero del vehículo prendido dentro del
auto. El equipo de bomberos utilizó las mandíbulas de la vida para sacar al paciente del vehículo, de acuerdo con el Departamento de Bomberos. El Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas se encuentra investigando el caso.
Foto de cortesía
El Departamento de Seguridad Pública se encuentra investigando el accidente que dejó una persona en condición crítica.
RECORRIDO DE CASAS Christmas Town & Country Homes Tour el domingo 10 de diciembre, se visitarán: La Hacienda de las Flores, Torres Homes, Bustamante Village. La admisión tiene un costo de 5 dólares. Incluye boletos, mapa, comida y refrigerios. De 1 a 5 p.m. Recorrido comienza en el Museo de Historia de Zapata. Para mayores informes llame al 956-765-8983.
REYNOSA, TAMAULIPAS
ALGUACIL
Incautan autos semi nuevos
AVIARIO
TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
1 La Ciuda de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero. Mayores informes al 956849-1411
BOTES DE BASURA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Informes al 849-1411
PAGO DE IMPUESTOS 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St. PAGO EN LÍNEA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día.
LLENADO DE APLICACIONES 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez al 956-246-7177.
LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL 1 Laboratorio Computacional de Roma abre de lunes a viernes de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza.
Piden ayuda para ubicar
Foto de cortesía/ Gobierno de Tamaulipas
Autoridades en Reynosa incautaron 137 vehículos semi nuevos que no cumplían con los requisitos de SAT. TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Elementos de la policía y funcionarios del gobierno de Tamaulipas incautaron 137 vehículos estadounidenses que se encontraban a la venta en la ciudad fronteriza de Reynosa por no cumplir con los requisitos fiscales, dice un comunicado del Gobierno del Estado. La Dirección de Auditoria de Comercio Exterior en apoyo al Servicio de Administración Tributaria llevó a cabo visitas domiciliarias a establecimientos de compra venta de vehículos semi nuevos de reciente modelo de procedencia extranjera,
con el objetivo de verificar el cumplimiento de diversas disposiciones fiscales y aduaneras relacionadas con automóviles de procedencia extranjera. Durante el operativo realizado la tarde y madrugada de este martes 28 de noviembre en un lote ubicado sobre el Boulevard Hidalgo, se corroboró que los autos en compra- venta cumplieran con el pago del Impuesto General de Importación, Impuesto al Valor Agregado, Cuotas Compensatorias, Derecho de Trámite Aduanero, así como la legal importación, tenencia y estancia en el país de los
vehículos de procedencia extranjera. Las visitas se realizaron con elementos de la Policía Estatal Acreditable y de la Secretaría de Marina Armada de México, para garantizar el orden y la seguridad de los operativos en los que llevó a cabo el embargo de los vehículos que no cumplieron con las disposiciones descritas. En total fueron embargados 137 vehículos, entre los que destacan automóviles europeos, deportivos y de lujo como BMW, Jaguar, Volvo, Chevrolet y otros. Y la mayor parte de ellos con valor comercial muy
superior a los 150.000 pesos. Los posesionarios de los vehículos, reconocieron pagar cuotas que van desde los 100 hasta los 300 dólares a presuntos integrantes del crimen organizado para permitirles el ingreso de los automóviles a territorio nacional. El Gobierno del Estado de Tamaulipas indicó que reitera su compromiso con el orden y la seguridad, atacando la comercialización de bienes que podrían representar fuentes de financiamiento ilícito de grupos delictivos, nunca al patrimonio de las familias tamaulipecas.
Las autoridades de Zapata se encuentran pidiendo la ayuda del público y la comunidad para localizar a un sospechoso que tiene 10 órdenes de arresto en su contra. La Oficina del Alguacil López del Condado de Zapata publicó el martes en su perfil de Facebook una fotografía de un sospechoso pidiendo ayuda para encontrar su paradero. Rene Aquiles López, tiene 10 órdenes de arresto por el cargo de abuso de tarjeta de débito o crédito, dice la publicación. Zapata Crime Stoppers pagará una recompensa en efectivo a la persona que proporcione información anónima que lleve al arresto de López. Si Usted conoce el paradero del sospechoso llame a la Oficina del Alguacil al 956-765-9960 o a Zapata Crime Stoppers al 765TIPS (8477).
MEDINA ADDITION
Arrestan hombre acusado de posesión Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Un hombre fue arrestado en el vecindario Medina Addition por supuestamente encontrarse en posesión de marihuana, de acuerdo con la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata. Las autoridades lo identificaron como Al-
bert Navarro, de 19 años de edad. Él fue acusado de posesión de marihuana, una felonía estatal castigada con hasta dos años en prisión y una posible multa de 10.000 dólares. Registros de custodia muestran que Navarro permanecía tras las rejas el martes en la Cárcel Regional del Condado de
Zapata. El domingo, la unidad de narcóticos de la Oficina del Alguacil realizó una búsqueda consentida en una casa en la cuadra 1500 de la avenida Falcón. Ahí, los investigadores dijeron haber encontrado 1,4 libras de marihuana, parafernalia relacionada con drogas y algo de efectivo.
Foto de cortesía
La Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata dijo que incautaron los narcoticos y el efectivo mostrado en esta foto el domingo en Medina Addition.
Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 |
A7
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS
Playoffs again? Here’s what the Cowboys are up against Dallas 2 back with 4 remaining By Brandon George TH E DALLAS MORNI NG NEWS
A year ago Monday, the Cowboys became the first NFL team to clinch a playoff spot, thanks to an 11-game winning streak. Now, after wins Sunday by Seattle and Green Bay, the Cowboys face long odds to earn a second consecutive playoff berth for the first time since 2006-07. The Cowboys know they have to win out to give themselves a chance at the playoffs, and even 10-6 may not be good enough. Dallas is two games behind NFC wild-card front-runners Carolina and Seattle with only four to play. The Cowboys’ best
chance to reach the playoffs appears to be surpassing 8-4 Seattle. Dallas finishes with three of its last four on the road, but the one home game is against the Seahawks on Christmas Eve. They don’t just need Carolina and Seattle to lose. The Cowboys also need Atlanta (7-5) and Green Bay (6-6) to stumble because both teams hold the tiebreaker edge with head-to-head wins over Dallas. And don’t look now, but Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (fractured collarbone) is returning to practice. Sure, the game at the Giants on Sunday sets up well after firing coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese on
Monday. A few weeks ago, the Cowboys’ last three games against Oakland, Seattle and the Eagles looked much easier to navigate. But the Chiefs have lost four consecutive games — and six of their last seven — to pump life into 6-6 Oakland, now in a threeway tie for the AFC West lead. The Seahawks’ win over the Eagles kept Seattle only one game behind the Rams in the NFC West. And Philadelphia is now tied with Minnesota at 10-2 for the best record in the NFC. That could keep the Eagles playing their starters in the finale with home-field advantage perhaps on the line.
Wesley Hitt / Getty Images file
The Cowboys, led by head coach Jason Garrett, are two games back of the two wild-card spots in the NFC occupied by Carolina and Seattle with four to play.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
HOUSTON’S WATT CONFIDENT HE’LL BE READY FOR NEXT SEASON
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: TEXAS RANGERS
Masterpress / Getty Images file
Japanese pitcher and outfielder Shohei Otani met with Rangers co-owner Ray Davis and seven other team representatives Tuesday at his agent’s office in Los Angeles.
Eric Christian Smith / Associated Press file
J.J. Watt is progressing in his recovery from a broken leg suffered Oct. 8 and began walking without the help of crutches last week.
Texans star motivated to return strong from a broken leg By Kristie Rieken A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
HOUSTON — J.J. Watt is confident he’ll return to the field for the Houston Texans next season, feeling good as he recovers from a broken leg. Watt, who broke his left leg on Oct. 8, began walking without the help of crutches last week and is looking forward to the next steps in his rehabilitation. “It’s a long process,” he told The Associated Press. “So it’s walking, it’s strengthening, then eventually it’s running and getting back to football. But we’re on track, and next season shouldn’t be a problem I don’t believe. I have a very excited attitude and we obviously have great rehab guys and trainers and stuff so it’s going to be good.” Watt sustained a tibial plateau fracture to end his season early for the second straight year. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year re-
turned in 2017 after missing the last 13 games of last season following his second back surgery. The defensive end played every game in his first five seasons in the NFL before his injury last year. He knows that he has a long way to go before he’ll be ready to play football again, but the 28-year-old got a boost when he was able to walk again. “Friday was my first day walking and it was an extremely happy day,” he said. “You don’t get to walk for two months, it’s crazy how such a simple thing like walking can really just — it was awesome. So now to be able to move around I feel great. I feel really good. I’m very excited about the rehab process. Obviously it’s a long process but I’m excited.” Watt had 15 tackles this season, but didn’t get a sack in five games. He had 1 1/2 sacks last season, after leading the NFL with 17 1/2 sacks in
2015 and finishing second in 2014 with 20 1/2. Before his latest injury Watt became a key figure in Houston’s rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey after a fundraiser he began raised more than $37 million. He’s been extremely hands on in working with the organizations and visiting the people who have received the donations, raising the question of if he plans to focus on humanitarian efforts when his NFL career is done. But Watt isn’t quite ready to declare what his plans for after football will be. “I’m not sure,” he said. “In the past I’ve had quite a few thoughts about what I’d do after my career. But honestly I’m just so excited and so focused on getting back on the field that I’m really not thinking a whole lot about after because I’m hoping I get to stay on the field for quite a while. So I’m honestly just really, really excited
to get back on the field.” Watt was honored Monday night, along with Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year. Along with returning to be the fearsome defender he once was for the Texans, Watt is also hoping he’ll be invited back to an Astros game to throw out the ceremonial first pitch after his last try wasn’t up to his lofty standards. In his first public appearance which came less than three weeks after his injury, Watt’s throw before Game 3 of the World Series sailed a bit outside after he handed his crutches to his girlfriend and tossed it while balancing on his right leg. “It was more frustrating that I missed the plate,” he said. “So I put that one on myself. So no excuses even on crutches. So hopefully next year I can go back out there and throw one across the plate.”
Shohei Otani meets with eight-man contingent of Rangers personnel By Jeff Wilson FORT WORTH STAR-T EL EGR AM
Officials with the Texas Rangers met Tuesday afternoon with Japanese free agent Shohei Otani at his agent’s office in Los Angeles, where a contingent led by co-owner Ray Davis, general manager Jon Daniels and manager Jeff Banister delivered their sales pitch to the two-way star. A source said that others in the Rangers’ contingent included assistant general manager Josh Boyd, senior director of medical operations Jamie Reed, strength and conditioning coach Jose Vazquez, and Japanese scouts Joe Furukawa and Hajime Watabe. At stake is landing the prize of the offseason, an affordable mega talent who the Rangers believe can pitch and have success at the plate in the major leagues. They are one of seven finalists, and the source said that
the Seattle Mariners, believed by many to be the front-runners, met with Otani in the morning. The Rangers travel party is geared toward many of the points Otani wanted discussed in the memo he asked all 30 MLB teams to complete. One of the seven subjects was player development and the training staff, which accounts for the presence of Reed and Vazquez. Boyd has been traveling to Japan since Otani was 18 to scout him and attempt to forge a relationship. Furukawa and Watabe have been on the ground in Japan and have helped with assimilating past Japanese players, but primarily Yu Darvish, into the organization - another area Otani wants addressed. All three can give their scouting report on Otani, and Daniels and Banister can explain how they plan to utilize him as a hitter and a pitcher.
A8 | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
FROM THE COVER CLAIMS From page A1 Rathmell previously told The Zapata Times that three female employ-
BORDER From page A1 forcement (ICE) officers made 110,568 arrests between inauguration and the end of September, according to the figures published Tuesday, a 42 percent increase over the same period during the previous year. Tom Homan, ICE’s temporary director and Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, praised the president and gave a vigorous defense of ICE’s more aggressive approach. “This president, like him or love him, is doing the right thing,” Homan told reporters at a news conference Tuesday in
NAFTA From page A1
ees accused Gonzalez of sexual harassment. A fourth female employed at another location also came forward with an allegation. In May, Rathmell sent a
letter to Gonzalez requesting him to work from home. The judge previously stated to The Zapata Times that the women reported “unwanted touching.”
Washington, accompanied by the heads of the U.S. Border Patrol and Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). “A 45-year low in border crossings? That’s not a coincidence,” Homan said. “That’s based on this president and his belief and letting the men and women of ICE and the Border Patrol do their job.” Trump’s sweeping promises to crack down on illegal immigration fueled his presidential campaign and are at the center of his most ambitious domestic policy proposals, including construction of a wall along the border with Mexico. Asked whether such a
barrier was justifiable given its high cost and the decline in illegal immigration, DHS officials endorsed the president’s plan. “In this society, we use walls and fences to protect things. It shouldn’t be different on the border,” said Ronald Vitiello, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol. Despite the decline in arrests, Vitiello said his officers face growing dangers. During fiscal 2017, Border Patrol agents were assaulted 847 times, a 45 percent jump, according to the agency’s statistics. The statistics released Tuesday show Mexican nationals account for a diminishing share of those arrested along the border.
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tried to prevent the U.S. from leaving NAFTA and made the case for other free trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In one of his first acts as president, Trump pulled the U.S. out of that agreement. "The industry really needs these kind of trade agreements — TPP and NAFTA — to keep these markets moving," said Chris Aldrich of Natives Northwest Company, a wholesale vendor of Christmas trees in Washington state. If NAFTA is scuttled, it would leave each country to set tariffs on imports. That’s what has the tree farmers anxious. In 2009, the Mexican government imposed a 20 percent tariff on Christmas trees in retaliation for a U.S. ban on long-haul truckers from the country. That resulted in a 10 per-
cent drop in demand for trees from McKenzie Farms, said CEO McKenzie "Ken" Cook. Last year, he shipped 250 truckloads of trees to Mexico. While a NAFTA withdrawal would "impact us greatly," Cook said he’s not worried about his survival this year because a shortage of trees has stoked domestic demand and driven up prices. But a large percentage of U.S.grown trees still go to Mexico. "That’s a lot of trees to find another place to sell," Rogg said. Bob Schaefer harvests Christmas trees at the Noble Mountain Tree Farm using drones and helicopters. According to him, the Mexican government has "made the industry in the U.S. jump through a few hoops" to export there. "They’ve tried to protect their industry with import restrictions," he said. Last year, Mexico’s Environment and Natural
Resources Ministry introduced new requirements for imported Christmas trees, adding ten more pests to the inspection list and reiterating the requirements that trees be sprayed with insecticides and mechanically shaken for a minimum of 15 seconds at 700 revolutions per minute before they are shipped. Mexico growers estimate they will sell about 700,000 trees this year — roughly equal to the number the nation imports from the U.S, according to the National Forestry Commission. "We expect a positive outcome of the NAFTA modernization process," Raul Urteaga Trani, general coordinator of international affairs for Mexico’s agriculture ministry, said in an email. "Nevertheless, the current debate and threats of U.S. potential withdrawal of the agreement have made Mexican producers of Christmas trees increase domestic production."
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 |
A9
BUSINESS
S&P drops to third loss after rally fades By Stan Choe ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
An employee sorts packages at the United Parcel Service Hub in Hodgkins, Illinois on Tuesday. UPS is expecting slight delays in package deliveries through the middle of this week after a surge in e-commerce sales swamped its network.
UPS warns of delays as shipments swamp network By Michael Sasso BL O O MBE RG
United Parcel Service is expecting slight delays in package deliveries through midweek after a surge in e-commerce sales swamped its network after Thanksgiving. Online orders on Cyber Monday and the days after overwhelmed expectations, UPS spokesman Steve Gaut said Tuesday, causing a “bubble” to develop at certain package centers. Heavy volumes forced one- or two-day delays for certain items ordered last week. The company worked over the weekend to catch up. Much of the backlog is already cleared, and UPS doesn’t expect to miss Christmas deadlines because of it, Gaut said. “The bubble has worked its way through the system, and we expect everything to be back in line with our forecasts by tomorrow,” Gaut said. UPS has been prepar-
ing for months to handle the spike in deliveries during the peak holiday season, implementing a 27-cent surcharge for the first time on packages shipped to U.S. residences over certain weeks. The company also expects to add 95,000 temporary workers. The shopping surge prompted the company to notify many of its drivers that they would be required to work as many as 70 hours over an eightday spell, Gaut said. Sixty hours over a seven-day period is more typical during peak season. Drivers are entitled to an extended rest following that period. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that UPS made that move without first consulting the local unions representing employees. “This is, after all, the third consecutive year in which Cyber Monday purchases have overwhelmed the company’s
capacity to deliver packages for the holidays,” Teamsters General President James Hoffa wrote in a letter to UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney on Monday. UPS has implemented the temporary 70-hour workweek over eight days in the past, although it is using it more broadly around its network this year, Gaut said. News of the delays at Atlantabased UPS was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal. The courier’s Express unit delivered 89 percent of packages by the end of the expected delivery day between Nov. 27 and Dec. 2, compared with an ontime rate of more than 99 percent at FedEx Corp., according to ShipMatrix Inc., a data provider that tracks shippers’ performance. UPS’s Cyber Monday week performance was at least 95 percent in the previous four years, according to ShipMatrix.
The survey only measures UPS’s Express deliveries and does not measure its much larger Ground unit. Gaut declined to make any internal UPS on-time statistics available. UPS delivers almost double the volume of packages over peak season that FedEx does. UPS expects to deliver 750 million packages globally during peak season, compared with as many as 400 million at FedEx, according to each company’s forecast. FedEx alerted customers that Monday night storms at its airline hub in Memphis, Tennessee, disrupted sorting and flight operations and could delay some shipments Tuesday. “FedEx is proud of the outstanding service we’ve been able to provide during the first week of the peak holiday season,” the company said by email. FedEx is “well-positioned” to meet expected record demand, it said.
Record imports lifts US trade deficit to $48.7B By Paul Wiseman A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Record imports lifted the U.S. trade deficit to $48.7 billion in October, highest since January. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the trade gap rose 8.6 percent in October from $44.9 billion in September. Imports hit a record $244.6 billion in October, and exports were unchanged at $195.9 billion. A trade deficit means that the United States is buying more goods and
services from other countries than it is selling them. A rising trade gap reduces U.S. economic growth. President Donald Trump views America’s massive trade deficits as a sign of economic weakness. He blames them on bad trade deals and abusive practices by China and other trade partners. Conventional economists argue that trade deficits are largely caused not by flawed trade agreements or cheating by particular countries but by a bigger economic force: Amer-
icans spend more than they produce, and imports have to fill in the gap. So far this year, the United States is running a trade deficit of $462.9 billion, up 11.9 percent from a year earlier. U.S. exports are up 5.3 percent this year; a weaker dollar has made U.S. goods less expensive overseas. Imports are up 6.5 percent the first 10 months of 2017. The politically sensitive trade deficit in goods with China rose 1.7 percent to $35.2 billion from
September to October and is up 7 percent this year to $309 billion. In October, the United States ran a surplus of $20.3 billion with the rest of the world in services such as banking and tourism. But that was overwhelmed by a $69.1 billion deficit in the trade of goods. Crude oil imports were up $1.5 billion in October. Imports of drilling and oilfield equipment climbed by $304 million, and imports of cellphones rose by $303 million.
NEW YORK — Another afternoon fizzle for stocks left the Standard & Poor’s 500 index with its third straight loss on Tuesday. The market seemed like it was headed for a gain in the morning, after technology stocks recovered from one of their few stumbles this year. But the tech rally lost momentum as the afternoon went on, and losses for telecom stocks and utilities helped cement the S&P 500’s longest losing streak in nearly four months. The S&P 500 fell 9.87 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,629.57. It had been up 0.3 percent in the morning, and it marked the second straight day where an early rally ended up petering out. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 109.41, or 0.5 percent, to 24,180.64, and the Nasdaq composite fell 13.15, or 0.2 percent, to 6,762.21. Losers outnumbered winners on the New York Stock Exchange by nearly two to one. The market’s ups and downs have come as investors sift through Congress’ twin proposals to revamp the tax system. The Senate and House of Representatives are trying to reconcile their respective versions before sending it to President Donald Trump for his approval, and investors are trying to figure out which industries and companies will come out as winners and losers from it. After leading the market for most of this year, technology stocks moved into the losers’ column recently. Technology companies already pay some of the lowest effective tax rates of companies in the S&P 500, so they have less to gain from the proposal. Tech stocks in the S&P 500 began to stumble last week as expectations ramped up for the tax overhaul and as investors shifted into companies that stand to benefit most from lower rates, such as financial companies. It culminated in a loss of 1.9 percent for S&P 500 tech stocks on Monday, the first trading day after the Senate passed its version of the tax overhaul. The Senate’s proposal to keep the alternative minimum
The market’s ups and downs have come as investors sift through Congress’ twin proposals to revamp the tax system. The Senate and House of Representatives are trying to reconcile their respective versions before sending it to President Donald Trump for his approval, and investors are trying to figure out which industries and companies will come out as winners and losers from it.
tax for all companies also hurt tech stocks. It’s a rare stumble for the tech industry, which had climbed twice as much as the S&P 500 in the first 11 months of the year. And that attracted buyers. Chip makers and internet companies led the market on Tuesday, and technology stocks in the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent. It was the only sector of the 11 that make up the index to rise, though it had been up as much as 1.4 percent earlier in the day. Micron Technology rose $1.31, or 3.3 percent, to $41.21 for the largest gains in the S&P 500. “I don’t think this is the beginning of the end for tech,” said Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen. “Tech is going to be supported by very strong earnings, which is ultimately what’s going to drive the market next year.” The rest of the market, though, was down on Tuesday. Telecom stocks fell 1.8 percent for the sharpest loss among the index’s sectors. A day earlier, it had the market’s strongest gains. Utilities, industrial companies and retailers were also weak. Edison International slumped $10.26, or 12.8 percent, to $70 for the biggest loss in the S&P 500. Wildfires are raging outside Los Angeles, and investors are guessing the damage could result in losses for the company’s Southern California Edison electric utility subsidiary.
A10 | Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT
ABC Ross will no longer cover Trump stories By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — Suspended ABC News reporter Brian Ross will no longer cover stories involving President Donald Trump following his erroneous report last Friday on former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The network on Tuesday confirmed the order by ABC News President James Goldston, who expressed his anger over the error on an internal phone call that was leaked to CNN. ABC declined to make Goldston available for an interview on Tuesday. Ross was suspended for four weeks without pay over the weekend. He had reported incorrectly that Trump, when he was still a candidate for president, had told Flynn to make contact with the Russians. That would have been a big development in the ongoing investigation over whether the Trump campaign worked with the Russians to influence the election. Instead, Ross later corrected his story, based on an unnamed source, to say that Trump’s instructions came when he was president-elect, not a candidate. It was immediately seized upon by Trump as an example of “fake news,” even with a suggestion that the false report was a factor in Friday’s stock market tumble. Trump tweeted on Sunday that anyone who lost money in the stock market on Friday should consider suing ABC for damages.
Fred Lee / Associated Press
ABC correspondent Brian Ross speaks on "Good Morning America" in New York. Ross will no longer cover stories involving President Donald Trump following his erroneous report last Friday on former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
In the staff call reported by CNN, Goldston said he didn’t think he had ever felt more rage, disappointment and frustration as he did in the aftermath of the botched report. “I don’t even know how many times we’ve talked about this, how many times we have talked about the need to get it right,” he said. “That how we have to be right and not first. About how in this particular moment, with the stakes as high as these stakes are right now, we cannot afford to get it wrong.” He also expressed frustration about why it took the network several hours to correct the report. ABC did not dispute CNN’s reporting about Goldston’s comments. The mistake came at a time that the impact of Trump’s attacks on the media is becoming clear. The Poynter Institute this week, based on a survey taken in early November,
said that 44 percent of Americans believe that the media fabricates stories about Trump more than once in a while. Roughly three-quarters of Republicans believe this, Poynter said. The survey also found that 31 percent of Americans agree with the president that the media are “the enemy of the people.” Among Trump supporters, 63 percent agree with that conclusion, Poynter said. Journalist Sally Quinn, while promoting a documentary on her late husband, former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, spoke Friday roughly around the time Ross was making his mistake about the pressure journalists are under now. “Everyone has to be more careful, and every story has to be vetted more than ever before,” she said. “If one person makes a mistake it makes us all look bad. We all get tainted.”