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Cold air returns
Guilty pleas in Zeta case Jacaman Sr., Jr. admit guilt in gun-smuggling operation By MATTHEW NELSON THE ZAPATA TIMES
Austin-area officials meeting about 3 a.m. were told icy conditions would not be bad, emergency management spokesman Jacob Dirr said. However, that changed after daybreak when it became obvious conditions had deteriorated. By then, some children in districts outside Austin already were on school buses while some teachers and principals were reporting they couldn’t get out of their homes because of ice, prompting officials to reverse earlier decisions and close or delay openings at the last minute. “I feel terrible about the way it played out,” Leander Superintendent Bret Champion told the Austin American-Statesman. “That put parents in bad spots after sending their kids on the bus. It made it look like we weren’t paying attention, when we were hyperpaying attention. “I would never have put kids on the road if I had known.” In Houston, freezing rain caused minimal difficulties and traffic was light. Most schools and city and county offices throughout the area were closed. The Texas Department of Transportation sent sanding trucks to overpasses
The illegal smuggling operation run out of Jacaman Guns and Ammo that sent firearm ammunition and magazines to the Zetas drug cartel turned out to be a family affair after the owner and his son pleaded guilty Tuesday to their involvement. Robert Jacaman Sr., the gun store’s owner, stood arm-in-arm with his wife Veronica Jacaman as he pleaded guilty in federal court in Laredo to conspiring to smuggle firearm ammunition and magazines to Mexico. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. ROBERT SR. Veronica Jacaman faces up to one year in prison after she pleaded guilty in August to failing to make entries in firearms records required to be kept by law. She faces up to one year in prison. Robert Jacaman Jr., son of Robert and Veronica Jacaman, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony for failing to report a feloVERONICA ny. The felony in question was the receipt and possession of a .223 caliber short-barrel rifle, which took place at Jacaman Guns and Ammo. The rifle’s barrel was less than 16 inches, and federal law prohibits a barrel shorter than 18 inches. For this, he faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Robert Jacaman’s plea agreement states that he conspired with others to export ammunition and magazines designed to fit AR-15 and AK-47-type firearms. He also admitted to working with Oswaldo “Baldo” Borrego-Ramos during the conspiracy. “Borrego-Ramos negotiated the purchase and delivery of the ammunition and firearm magazines with Jacaman,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. “Borrego-Ramos would then send couriers to deliver cash to Jacaman and others to pick up the items to smuggle them into Mexico. “In one instance, Jacaman even advised Borrego-Ramos of an outstanding balance which he had not paid for prior sales.”
See COLD PAGE 10A
See JACAMAN PAGE 10A
Photo by Jason Foctman/Conroe Courier | AP
Montie Alders walks down Metcalf Street near downtown Conroe, Texas, on Tuesday. The Zapata area, meanwhile, remains in a wind chill advisory until 11 a.m. today.
Wind chill advisory for Zapata in effect to 11 a.m. By MICHAEL GRACZYK
ber to the TV stations, and we’ll send a statement to them.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
H
OUSTON — Ice-glazed roads caused dozens of wrecks Tuesday as a line of moisture combined with frigid temperatures put normally balmy Central and Southeast Texas in the deep freeze for the second time in less than a week. Zapata, meanwhile, remains in a wind chill advisory until 11 a.m. today. A winter weather advisory ended at 6 a.m. The Zapata area was one of few that could see wintery precipitation, according to the National Weather Service in Brownsville. “Strong cold Arctic air bringing below freezing temperatures (Tuesday) in combination with a disturbance over Mexico will develop the potential for a mix of sleet and snow across deep South Texas,” the alert stated. “Light snow accumulation will be between half inch with some isolated locations close to one inch.” Zapata County schools will remain open, according to a spokesman Tuesday afternoon. “Right now we’re keeping our regular schedule,” said Rogelio Gonzalez, IT and school safety coordinator. “If anything happens, I have the phone num-
Across the state The most severe traffic problems appeared to be in the Austin area, where elevated decks of Interstate 35 and some flyover ramps were closed. Police reported more than 150 traffic wrecks throughout the area. The University of Texas and other school districts delayed opening or shut down for the entire day. The freezing rain extended from west and north of San Antonio to Temple, across Bryan-College Station and Huntsville and east to Louisiana. A trace of snow was reported in Waco. Jane Young, an 80-year-old pastor’s wife, was driving in an unfamiliar corner of Austin before dawn when sleet began falling. “As I drove, I prayed the whole way,” she said. “I said, ‘Lord, put your hands on mine and guide me. This is your car now.’” She made it to her destination, a polling station where she was volunteering during a special election to fill a vacant Texas House seat. “It was just so scary,” she said.
CRIME
Police arrest beauty queen Former Nuestra Belleza charged with interfering with officer’s duties By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Nuestra Belleza 2013 Tamaulipas beauty queen and former Nuestra Belleza Latina contestant was arrested early Sunday outside a local bar in North Laredo. Police charged Barbara Falcon-Prieto, 24, who has also competed in local beauty pageants, with interfering with a police officer’s duties, a misdemeanor. She is out on bail. Security officers from Agave Azul, 120 West Village Blvd., told police that a man was trying to exit the bar with an alcoholic drink in his hand. The security officer told the man that he could not exit the premises with the beverage, said Investigator Joe E. Baeza, Laredo Police Department spokesman.
The man then became “rowdy and belligerent” toward the security officer, police said. Police responded to the busiFALCON-PRIETO ness at 2:30 a.m. for reports of two “rowdy” men and two “rowdy” women. While an officer was trying to talk to an individual on the curb of the parking lot to investigate the incident, Falcon-Prieto began interrupting and impeding the officer’s investigation, Baeza said. “The female started to pull the officer’s right arm and hands
from the (man detained by police), impeding and interfering while (the officer) was trying to hold the rowdy subject during the investigation,” he said. Falcon-Prieto was allegedly pushing the officer away from the man and told the officer in Spanish, “Let him go” and “Leave him alone.” The officer ordered Falcon-Prieto to stay back several times but she was “aggressive and was not complying with the officer’s commands,” Baeza said. During the incident, a woman identified as Gabriela Molina, 22, was also placed under arrest and charged with interfering with public duties. The “rowdy” men were not taken into custody, according to police. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Courtesy photo
Barbara Falcon-Prieto is shown during her reign as Nuestra Belleza 2013 Tamaulipas, the Mexican state across the border from Laredo.
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Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
Wednesday, Jan. 29
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Documentary showing of “A Place at the Table.” 6:30 p.m. De La Garza Building, Room 101, of Laredo Community College Fort McIntosh Campus. Free. Refreshments served. Brings awareness to hunger issue in America. Call Salo Otero at 324-2432 or Sarah Lamm at 726-3120.
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2014. There are 336 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 29, 1964, Stanley Kubrick’s nuclear war satire “Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” starring Peter Sellers (in three roles) and George C. Scott, premiered in New York, Toronto and London. On this date: In 1820, Britain’s King George III died at Windsor Castle. In 1843, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born in Niles, Ohio. In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” was first published in the New York Evening Mirror. In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union. In 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which launched Prohibition, was certified by Acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk. In 1929, The Seeing Eye, a New Jersey-based school which trains guide dogs to assist the blind, was incorporated by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank. In 1936, the first inductees of baseball’s Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y. In 1958, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married in Las Vegas. In 1963, the first charter members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were named in Canton, Ohio (they were enshrined when the Hall opened in Sept. 1963). Poet Robert Frost died in Boston at age 88. In 1964, the Winter Olympic Games opened in Innsbruck, Austria. Actor Alan Ladd died in Palm Springs, Calif., at age 50. Ten years ago: An accidental explosion at a weapons cache near the Afghan village of Dehe Hendu killed eight U.S. soldiers. Five years ago: Declaring that ending pay disparity is not just a women’s issue, President Barack Obama signed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, giving workers more time to take their pay discrimination cases to court. One year ago: BP PLC closed the book on the Justice Department’s criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, with a U.S. judge agreeing to let the London-based oil giant plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties. Today’s Birthdays: Feminist author Germaine Greer is 75. Actress Katharine Ross is 74. Feminist author Robin Morgan is 73. Actor Tom Selleck is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bettye LaVette is 68. Actor Marc Singer is 66. Actress Ann Jillian is 64. Rock musician Tommy Ramone (Ramones) is 62. Rock musician Louie Perez (Los Lobos) is 61. Rhythm-and-blues/funk singer Charlie Wilson is 61. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is 60. Country singer Irlene Mandrell is 58. Actress Diane Delano is 57. Thought for Today: “Any idiot can face a crisis — it’s this day-to-day living that wears you out.” — Anton Chekhov, Russian author and playwright (born this date in 1860, died in 1904).
Thursday, Jan. 30 Orthopedic clinic. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center, 1220 Malinche Ave. Call 722-2431. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Country Club. Call Beverly Cantu at 7270589. Villa de San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society meeting. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. St. John Neumann Catholic Church meeting room. Sylvia Reasch and Lily Perez will be speaking about national and local cemeteries. New members are invited to join. Contact Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter at 7223497.
Friday, Jan. 31 TAMIU Planetarium shows. “Zula Patrol: Down to Earth” 6 p.m. and “Black Holes” 7 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663.
Saturday, Feb. 1 Free SAT workshop for high school juniors and seniors. 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. UTHSC Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 E. Bustamante St. To register and for more information, contact Area Health Education Center at 7120037 or dgarcia@mrgbahec.org.
Friday, Feb. 7 TAMIU Planetarium shows. “Wonders of the Universe” 6 p.m. and “Ancient Skies, Ancient Mysteries” 7 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663.
Saturday, Feb. 8 TAMIU Planetarium shows. “The Little Star that Could” 3 p.m.; “The Future is Wild” 4 p.m.; “Lamps of Atlantis” 5 p.m.; and “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” 6 p.m. General admission $4 children and $5 adults. Premium shows $1 more. Call 326-3663.
Thursday, Feb. 20 Winter Texan & Senior Citizen Appreciation Day. 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, March 10 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Thursday, March 13 42nd Annual Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Friday, March 14 42nd Annual Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Saturday, March 15 42nd Annual Zapata County Fair. 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Photo by Marco Garcia | AP
Police crime tape blocks the campus at Roosevelt High School after a school shooting Tuesday, in Honolulu. A police officer shot a 17-year-old runaway in the wrist at the high school after the teen cut one officer with a knife and punched two others, authorities said.
Officer shoots boy in wrist By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER AND OSKAR GARCIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — A police officer shot a 17year-old runaway in the wrist Tuesday morning at a Hawaii high school after the teen cut one officer with a knife and punched two others, authorities said. State Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said the boy showed up at Roosevelt High School near downtown Honolulu, and officials there recognized him as a runaway and called police. The boy had been a student at the public school before but wasn’t registered for classes there this semester, she said. Honolulu police Maj. Richard Robinson said officers arrived at the school and tried to take the boy into custody, but he lunged at them. The teen attacked one of the officers with
Winter storm causes wrecks, gridlock ATLANTA — Atlanta highways instantly became clogged with commuters who left work at the first sign of snow, bronze statues of civil rights heroes were encrusted, and snowplows that hardly ever leave the garage were sent rolling through the city. A winter storm Tuesday that would probably be no big deal in the North all but paralyzed the Deep South, where folks have little experience driving on snow and ice. “My family is from up north and we’re use to driving in the snow and stuff, and seeing everyone freak out, sliding and stuff, it’s pretty funny,” said Alex Tracy, a Georgia State University student who was watching the gridlock in downtown Atlanta. Many cities across the region don’t have big fleets of salt trucks or snowplows, and it showed. Dozens of wrecks happened from Georgia to Texas.
a kitchen knife, leaving him with a minor cut on his torso, Robinson said. He also hit two other officers, but neither suffered serious injuries. One of the officers then fired two shots, hitting the boy once in the wrist. The teen was taken to a hospital in serious condition, EMS spokeswoman Shayne Enright said. His injuries were not life-threatening. The incident prompted a lockdown at Roosevelt, which has an enrollment of nearly 1,400. The officer who fired is administrative leave during an investigation, Robinson said. Tenari Maafala, president of the statewide police officers union, said the knife posed a clear threat and officers are trained to stop a threat, regardless of the suspect’s age. “They didn’t come here looking to shoot somebody,” said Maafala.
Two people died in an accident in Alabama. As many as 50 million people across the region could be affected by the time the snow stops today. Up to 4 inches of snow fell in central Louisiana, about 3 inches was forecast for parts of Georgia. Up to 10 inches was expected in the Greenville, N.C., area, and along the state’s Outer Banks.
‘Zombie’ bees identified in Vt., 1st in Eastern US ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. — Vermont beekeepers face mite infestations, extreme temperature swings and the possibility of colony collapse. Last fall, a new threat emerged: zombie bees. Beekeeper Anthony Cantrell of Burlington discovered zombie bees in his hive in October, the first time they’d been found in the eastern United States. John Hafernik, a professor from San Francisco State University, discovered the first zombie bees in 2008. A fly called Apocephalus borealis attaches itself to the bee and injects its eggs,
which grow inside the bee, Hafernik said. Scientists believe it causes neurological damage resulting in erratic, jerky movement and night activity, “like a zombie,” Hafernik said by phone Tuesday. These aren’t undead bees doomed to roam for eternity. They often die only a few hours after showing symptoms, Hafernik said. Hafernik and his team of colleagues and students have been tracking the zombie bee spread across the United States. California, Washington, Oregon and South Dakota all have confirmed zombie bees while this is the first time the bee has been found this far east, said Hafernik. The fly previously attached to bumblebees as hosts, not honeybees, according to Hafernik. “Right now, we don’t know if it’s an isolated thing,” Stephen Parise, Vermont agricultural production specialist, said Tuesday. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture hopes to use trapping to investigate the threat. — Compiled from AP reports
Monday, March 24 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Monday, April 14 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Monday, April 28 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Monday, May 12 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
Monday, May 26 Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata County Courthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 7659920.
AROUND THE WORLD Confirmed death toll rises to 16 in Quebec fire L’ISLE-VERTE, Quebec — Authorities say 16 people are now confirmed dead and 16 remain missing after the fire that ripped through a seniors’ residence in Quebec last week. Emergency workers continued to comb through the ice-covered rubble on the sixth day of the excruciating recovery effort. Officials have used special machines that pump out hot air to melt thick ice coating the ruins. Only three people have been formally identified by the coroner’s office thus far.
Report questions Afghan troop literacy training KABUL, Afghanistan — Federal inspectors say a $200 million U.S. program to improve the literacy of Afghan soldiers has had limited impact. The NATO-led coalition had
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Soldiers shout during a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the battle that lifted the Siege of Leningrad in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Monday.
set a goal of having 100 percent of Afghan security forces reach basic literacy by the end of 2014 and set up a literacy training program. The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report
released Tuesday that officials responsible for the program estimated that half of the security force was illiterate as of February 2013 and that reaching 100 percent literacy might be “unrealistic.” — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
Local
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Performer returns to Texas Former Zapatan in Laredo for his play’s opening night, workshops SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The Laredo Theatre Guild International will open its season Friday, Jan. 31 with “Daddy’s Dyin’: Who’s Got the Will?,” a play by former Zapatan Del Shores, who is now living in Los Angeles as an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor and stand-up performer. Shores, who was born in Winters and spent part of his teen years in Zapata, will attend the production’s opening night. The play starts at 8 p.m. at Texas A&M International University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center Theatre. Directed by Carllyn Walker and produced by Joe Arciniega, the play follows the story of the Turnover family from Lowake, Texas, reunited after their father suffered a debilitating stroke. The humor of the play is embedded within its relationship dynamics and situations, making it simultaneously hilarious, moving
and relatable. The Los Angeles Times called it “a well written piece of mainstream theatre that’s consistently funny and occasionally touching,” and Variety called it “a masterful comedy.” Shores will also teach two master classes in the same theater on Saturday, Feb. 1. All ages and levels of talent were considered, but “parents should know that language and scene content will not be censored,” according to a news release. Registration for the classes are closed. Showings of “Daddy’s Dyin’” are scheduled through Sunday Feb. 9. There are no shows on Monday or Tuesday. Weekday and Saturday performances start at 8 p.m., and Sunday performances at 3 p.m. A special “Show your ID, Get in Free” promotion for teachers and students is Wednesday, Feb. 5. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students and se-
SHORES
niors (65+) with valid ID. They will be available for advance purchase at Blue Top at 101 Hillside Road, Suite No. 11; at Primped Style Bar, 7718 McPherson Road, Suite No. 1; at the TAMIU Bookstore; and at the box office prior to show times.
Courtesy photo
TxDOT wants public’s input
SEÑORA INTERNACIONAL
Meeting set for proposed rail service SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
As the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study project team continues exploring potential rail routes and types of service, TxDOT invites the public to offer input related to early proposals by attending an upcoming meeting or providing comments by Feb. 28. The meeting will be held Thursday, Jan. 30, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Texas A&M International University’s second-floor Student Center Ballroom. The federally funded TOPRS is looking at a range
of passenger rail service options along the 850-mile Interstate Highway 35 corridor, from Oklahoma City to South Texas. The study will end with a service-level environmental impact statement and service development plan. Those with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and may need auxiliary aides or services may contact Mark Werner, at 512-486-5137, at least three days prior to the meeting so arrangements can be made. For a list of all open-house locations/dates and to provide comments, visit txokrail.org.
Courtesy photo
State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, left, joins members of the LULAC Council No. 12 to formally name State Sen. Wendy Davis as this year’s “Señora Internacional.” Recipients of Señor and Señora Internacional are selected every year to represent the United States and the Republic of Mexico. The event recognizes outstanding individuals who are leaders in their community and role models for all.
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Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Livening up NFL football CHICAGO TRIBUNE
The New England Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski has kicked 360 points after touchdown, or PATs, in a row. He hasn’t missed since 2006. But it’s not the kind of streak that has fans glued to their couches. It’s rare for any NFL kicker to miss an extra point. There were only five missed PATs (out of 1,267 tries) in this year’s regular season — and 18 in the last three years combined, out of more than 3,000 attempts. It works out to about 0.5 percent. Tacking on the extra point is so automatic, so anticlimactic, that fans tend to use that 45-second window to fetch a beer, go to the bathroom or check the score on another channel. And that suited everyone just fine, if you want to know the truth, until NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell posed a question: If 99.5 percent of touchdowns are worth seven points, why bother with the kick? Goodell thinks the NFL could liven things up by eliminating the kick, scoring the touchdown as seven points and inviting teams to take a real risk: They could tack on another point by completing a conversion — but if it failed, officials would subtract a point. Or they could take the seven points and call in the kickoff unit. Give the guy credit: He gave football fans some-
thing to argue about now that the Brady vs. Manning thing has been settled. Our unofficial estimate is that 5 percent of fans like Goodell’s idea, 5 percent hate it and 90 percent think they have a better one. We have a better one ourselves, though it turns out a million other people have the same one, or close. Here it is: Keep the kick, but move it back. Way back. Far enough that maybe the kicker will make it and maybe he won’t. Spot the ball on, say, the 25-yard line. It’s the equivalent of moving the goal posts. To reward risk-taking, give teams the option of moving back even farther — let’s say to the 35 — to attempt a three-point kick. Or they could still try for the two-point conversion. Under this plan, a touchdown can be worth six, seven, eight or nine points. Suddenly, it makes sense to wait for the next commercial to fetch that beer. Moving the PAT back could be a real gamechanger, like the threepoint field goal in basketball. In the NBA, a daunting fourth-quarter deficit can be erased quickly by a hot three-point shooter. But the best of those shooters miss more than 6 times out of 10. When a player fires from beyond the arc, fans hold their breath. Nobody does that when Steve Gostkowski trots onto the field.
COLUMN
Healing after brutal tragedy THE WASHINGTON POST
A troubled young man armed with a shotgun took two innocent lives, and his own, at the Mall in Columbia, Md., on Saturday — an unspeakable, unbearable crime. It occurred in a relatively affluent suburb, in the anodyne precincts of an upscale shopping mall, amid a planned community known more for its cultural diversity and harmonious race relations than for violent crime. The murders appeared inexplicable; the gunman, 19-year-old Darion Marcus Aguilar, had no obvious motive for his actions nor connection with his victims. That makes his crime no harder or easier to digest. It just leaves questions.
Gun control It is meager comfort to the victims’ families, or to the community, to think that the shooter’s killing spree could have been more lethal than it was. He bought his weapon, a shotgun, in Maryland, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. In another state, Mr. Aguilar might have laid his hands more easily on an assault weapon, the sale of which was outlawed by lawmakers in Annapolis last year. But that doesn’t mitigate the trauma he visited on the mall or on the victims’ loved ones.
Finding meaning What makes a young man who works in a
doughnut shop, who has no apparent history of violence and no criminal record, kill? What drives him to buy a weapon, stock up on ammunition, fashion crude explosive devices from fireworks and head to the mall? Why does he shoot two apparent strangers, then stop shooting well before running short of ammunition? And why do these seemingly random acts of bloodletting persist in the United States even as crime rates plummet? Many homicide victims in this country know their killers or are related to them. That’s part of what makes a shooting at the mall — a place that functions as the town square — so horrifying. We may be inured to murderous flareups from drug deals gone bad; we may know how to process domestic disputes that end in rage and death. But a man walking into a skateboard shop at a mall and opening fire — it defies comprehension, no matter how often we have witnessed similar spectacles.
Healing Local and state officials, including Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, D, went to the Mall in Columbia on Monday — to eat, to speak with shoppers, to say sensitive and curative words. They were right to do so, and maybe it will help. But any talk of closure, or moving past this tragedy, is just that: talk. Some wounds, physical and psychological, may fade over time. But they never fully heal.
COLUMN
A war on income inequality PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS
Fifty years ago, Lyndon Johnson used his first State of the Union address to declare a war on poverty. At that time, 19 percent of Americans lived below the poverty line. Thanks to the programs created during Johnson’s war — including Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps and Head Start, among others — poverty was cut by one quarter over three years. Today, at 16 percent, the poverty rate is just three percentage points below 1964’s high-water mark; the United States now has 11 million more people living in poverty than it did 50 years ago. Tuesday night, during his State of the Union address, President Obama is expected to deliver what many might consider a system upgrade — version 2.0 of the war on poverty. This one is likely to be
called the War on Income Inequality, in which Obama will echo many of the themes he explored in a speech last month at the Center for American Progress, when he talked about income inequality as the defining challenge of our time. This is a compelling theme, and one that most of us can probably relate to. For example, since 1979, our economy has doubled in size, but all the money is going to fewer and fewer people: half of the income earned in this country is earned by the top 10 percent. Workers are 90 percent more productive than in 1979, but we earn just less than 8 percent more. It’s harder to move up the ladder, since much of that ladder is sunk in the swamp of low-wage work. To sum up: The rich keep getting richer, and the rest of us are getting poorer. This disparity is damag-
ing not only to hardworking families, but to the founding spirit of our country, where we are all created equal, with a level playing field for opportunity. We are encouraged that the public conversation about poverty has been elevated — even Republicans are talking about it — and even more encouraged at the volume of conversation about raising the minimum wage, and about extending unemployment benefits (which failed in the Senate just a few short weeks ago, before they went on break). Clearly even more is needed. But if “income inequality” becomes the new version of the war on poverty, we fear that some things may get left behind, and that the full plight of the 47 million people living in poverty may get overlooked. For one thing, there’s a greater chance
that the volatile political battles that now curdle any substantive discussion of problems will quickly turn the equality issue into claims that “Obama is a socialist.” For another, both inequality and poverty are hugely complex issues, and they are clearly interrelated. But the factors contributing to poverty can’t be reduced to income alone. Lyndon Johnson understood this. His State of the Union address included these words: “Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom. The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.”
COLUMN
Breathe locally, act globally THE WASHINGTON POST
The next time you’re in Los Angeles, take a deep breath. A significant portion of the pollution you’ll breathe into your lungs came from across the Pacific Ocean. Decades ago, Angelenos’ respiratory tracts may have been burned by the accumulation of local pollutants in and around Southern California’s valleys and basins. Since then, federal and state pollution controls did much to clean up the air. But a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds
that neither federal nor state authorities can as effectively restrain one pollution source: China. Chinese and American researchers estimated the amount and ultimate destination of smog-forming gases and particulates that Chinese factories pumped out in their production of export goods. Up to a quarter of the sulfate pollution in the Western United States wafted over from those factories. Their emissions add a day of substandard air in the Los Angeles area every year. And those are just the fraction of Chinese emis-
sions associated with world trade. Nations closer to China suffer much more. The health and well-being of many people in many countries, not just those choking on thick, brown air in Beijing, depend on China developing into not merely a great economic power but also one that manages its massive impact on the planet. Typically, greenhouse gases are thought of as unique among environment-altering emissions, in part because carbon dioxide released anywhere contributes to global warming everywhere. Climate
change, then, must ultimately be solved by many nations — particularly the emissions behemoths, the United States and China — moving in the same direction. But there are dozens of cross-border environmental issues, and they will require overcoming global political tensions and shortterm economic incentives that discourage different countries from cooperating. The world has already tackled one — the phaseout of emissions that thin the ozone layer — through the highly effective Montreal Protocol. Global leaders have many more to see to.
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phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-call-
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
ing or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
Crime
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
BLOTTER ASSAULT Pedro Luis Angel Valverde was arrested and charged with assault Thursday at the Zapata County Regional Jail lobby. Roberto Zapata was arrested and charged with assault, family violence Saturday in the 1200 block of Falcon Avenue.
DWI Debra Marie Medina was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated Sunday in the intersection of Fourth and Medina streets. George Luis Benavides was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated Sunday in the intersection of Seventh Street and Falcon Avenue.
POSSESSION Jorge Isidro Campos-Diaz was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance Monday by 10th Street and Villa Avenue.
PUBLIC INTOXICATION Adalberto Ramos Resendez was arrested and charged with public intoxication Monday in the intersection of 10th Street and Villa Avenue.
RECKLESS DRIVING Robert Emmanuel Camacho was arrested and charged with reckless driving and striking a fixture Sunday along Texas 16.
TERRORISTIC THREAT Atilano Flores Jr. was arrested and charged with terroristic threats Thursday at the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office.
THEFT Rigoberto Barrientos was arrested and charged with theft Monday at the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office. Jose Manuel Barrientos was arrested and charged with theft Monday at the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office.
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
States consider bygone executions By JIM SALTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers. Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago in a bid to make capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the Constitution. But to some elected officials, the drug shortages and recent legal challenges are beginning to make lethal injection seem too vulnerable to complications. “This isn’t an attempt to time-warp back into the 1850s or the wild, wild West or anything like that,” said Missouri state Rep. Rick Brattin, who this month proposed making firing squads an option for executions. “It’s just that I foresee a problem, and I’m trying to come up with a solution that will be the most humane yet most economical for our state.” Brattin, a Republican, said questions about the injection drugs are sure to end up in court, delaying executions and forcing states to examine alternatives. It’s not fair, he said, for relatives of murder victims to wait years, even decades, to see justice served while lawmakers and judges debate execution methods. Like Brattin, a Wyoming lawmaker this month offered a bill allowing the firing squad. Missouri’s attorney general and a state lawmaker have raised the notion of rebuilding the state’s gas chamber. And a Virginia lawmaker wants to make electrocution an option if lethal-injection drugs are not available. If adopted, those measures could return states to the more harrowing imagery of previous decades, when inmates were hanged, electrocuted or shot to death by marksmen. States began moving to lethal injection in the 1980s in the be-
File photo by Trent Nelson/Pool | AP
In this June 18, 2010, file photo, the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah, is shown. With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past, including firing squads. lief that powerful sedatives and heart-stopping drugs would replace the violent spectacles with a more clinical affair while limiting, if not eliminating, an inmate’s pain. The total number of U.S. executions has declined — from a peak of 98 in 1999 to 39 last year. Some states have turned away from the death penalty entirely. Many have cases tied up in court. And those that carry on with executions find them increasingly difficult to conduct because of the scarcity of drugs and doubts about how well they work. European drug makers have stopped selling the lethal chemicals to prisons because they do not want their products used to kill. At least two recent executions are also raising concerns about the drugs’ effectiveness. Last week, Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die by injection, gasping repeatedly as he lay on a gurney with his mouth opening and closing. And on Jan. 9, Oklahoma inmate Michael Lee Wilson’s final words were, “I feel my whole body burning.”
Missouri threw out its threedrug lethal injection procedure after it could no longer obtain the drugs. State officials altered the method in 2012 to use propofol, which was found in the system of pop star Michael Jackson after he died of an overdose in 2009. The anti-death penalty European Union threatened to impose export limits on propofol if it were used in an execution, jeopardizing the supply of a common anesthetic needed by hospitals across the nation. In October, Gov. Jay Nixon stayed the execution of serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin and ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to find a new drug. Days later, the state announced it had switched to a form of pentobarbital made by a compounding pharmacy. Like other states, Missouri has refused to divulge where the drug comes from or who makes it. Missouri has carried out two executions using pentobarbital — Franklin in November and Allen Nicklasson in December. Neither inmate showed outward signs of suffering, but the secrecy of the process resulted
in a lawsuit and a legislative inquiry. Michael Campbell, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said some lawmakers simply don’t believe convicted murderers deserve any mercy. “Many of these politicians are trying to tap into a more populist theme that those who do terrible things deserve to have terrible things happen to them,” Campbell said. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., cautioned that there could be a backlash. “These ideas would jeopardize the death penalty because, I think, the public reaction would be revulsion, at least from many quarters,” Dieter said. Some states already provide alternatives to lethal injection. Condemned prisoners may choose the electric chair in eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. An inmate named Robert Gleason Jr. was the most recent to die by electrocution, in Virginia in January 2013.
PÁGINA 6A
Zfrontera
Agenda en Breve LAREDO 01/29— El Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas presenta el documental “A Place at the Table” a las 6:30 p.m. en el Aula 101 de De la Garza Building en el Campus Fort McIntosh del Laredo Community College. Entrada gratuita. 01/29— Seminario gratis sobre fondos federales disponibles para Humanities Texas y el Texas Commission on the Arts, de las 4 p.m. a las 5:30 p.m. en Aula 224 del Western Hemisphere Trade Center de TAMIU. El seminario se dirige hacia maestros, profesores de la universidad, museos sin fines de lucro, galerías de arte, y otras profesiones de las artes y las humanidades. 01/31— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta: “Zula Patrol: Down to Earth” a las 6 p.m.; y, “Black Holes” a las 7 p.m. Costo general: 4 dólares para niños y 5 dólares para adultos. 01/31— LTGI presenta “Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will?”, de Del Shores, a las 8 p.m. en el teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Entrada general es de 15 dólares; estudiantes y adultos mayores a 10 dólares. 02/01— First United Methodist Church tendrá una venta de libros usados, de 8:30 a.m. a 1 p.m. en 1220 McClelland Ave. Libros de pasta dura a 1 dólar; de pasta suave a .50 centavos; revistas y libros infantiles a .25 centavos. 02/01— La Asociación Laredo Northside invita al Mercado de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m. en el área de juegos del North Central Park. La asociación entregará una donación al Laredo Parks and Leisure Services. 02/01— BALONCESTO: El equipo femenil de TAMIU recibe a Newman a la 1 p.m. y el equipo varonil recibe a Newman a las 3 p.m. Ambos partidos serán en el Edificio Kinesiology-Convocation. Costo de cada partido es de 5 dólares. 02/01— El Border Beer Festival (Festival Fronterizo de la Cerveza) de 7 p.m. a 1 a.m. en Laredo Civic Center. 02/01— “Solo Boxeo Tecate” se realizará en Laredo Energy Arena a partir de las 7 p.m. Están programadas 8 peleas. 02/01— LTGI presenta “Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will?”, de Del Shores, a las 8 p.m. en el teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Entrada general es de 15 dólares; estudiantes y adultos mayores a 10 dólares. 02/01— BÉISBOL: El equipo Dustdevil de TAMIU recibe a Southeastern Oklahoma State a las 12 p.m. en el Jorge Haynes Field. Visite GoDustdevils.com para más información. 02/01— LTGI presenta “Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will?”, de Del Shores, a las 3 p.m. en el teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Entrada general es de 15 dólares; estudiantes y adultos mayores a 10 dólares. 02/03— Un recital de solos de la facultad de percusiones se presentará en el Salón de Recitales del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de Texas A&M International University a las 7:30 p.m. Evento gratuito.
NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO 02/01— El grupo de Teatro Laberintus estará presentando la obra infantil “La Nave”, de José Luis Pineda Servín, a las 12 p.m. dentro del teatro del IMSS, entre Reynosa y Belden (sector centro). Costo 20 pesos. — Tiempo de Zapata
MIÉRCOLES 29 DE ENERO DE 2014
TAMAULIPAS
Enfrentamiento TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Autoridades del Estado de Tamaulipas anuciaron que Secretaría de Marina y civiles armados mantuvieron un encuentro violento. El Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas (GCT), que es integrado por fuerzas de seguridad estatales y federales, dio a conocer que la noche del domingo 26 de enero, en el municipio de San Fernando, Tamaulipas, México, se registró un enfrentamiento entre civiles armados y elementos de la Secretaría de Marina. El evento violento tuvo como resultado la muerte de un agresor
El evento violento tuvo como resultado la muerte de un agresor no identificado. no identificado. El enfrentamiento sucedió en la tarde-noche del domingo en el interior del rancho llamado “El Ángel”, que se encuentra ubicado en el kilómetro 20 de una brecha que está a la altura del kilómetro 25 de la carretera San Fernando-Reynosa, entronque Urracas-Reynosa. Las investigaciones previas establecieron que elementos de la Secretaria de Marina esaban patrullando y vigilando el sector,
cuando se detectó la presencia de varios vehículos con personas armadas a bordo. Los agentes señalaron a los vehículos para que detuvieran. Los civiles armados hicieron caso omiso y abrieron fuego contra los marinos. El hombre que resultó muerto tenía entre 25 a 28 años de edad. Un Agente del Ministerio Público de la Federación decomisaron, en el lugar de los hechos, tres vehículos de reciente modelo: Una
camioneta pick-up Dodge Dakota color gris, con placas de Tamaulipas; una camioneta Chevrolet Tahoe color gris y una camioneta pick-up Chevrolet Colorado color blanca, ambas con placas de circulación del Estado de Texas. Al hoy occiso le encontraron un arma larga, tres cargadores, una fornitura y un casco negro balístico. Del interior de los tres vehículos se aseguraron un bote de 20 litros con puntas metálicas (poncha-llantas), otras dos armas largas y un rifle, 23 cargadores, numerosos cartuchos de diferentes calibres, una fornitura y otro casco negro balístico.
COMUNIDAD
POLICÍA
PARQUES PARA ZONAS RURALES
Arrestan a reina de belleza POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
El Gobierno de Tamaulipas pondrá en marcha un plan piloto para construir parques en las comunidades rurales alrededor de Tamaulipas. Primer parque será en la ciudad de Padilla, al centro del estado vecino.
Continúan creando espacios recreativos TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
E
l Gobierno de Tamaulipas comenzará a ejecutar un plan piloto para la contrucción de parques en poblados rurales. Con el objetivo de promover la cohesión social y la integración de las familias en sus comunidades, se pondrá en marcha un plan piloto para construir espacios recreativos, con las características de los parques de barrio en las poblaciones rurales alrededor de Tamaulipas. Para iniciar con el proyecto, el primer parque rural será construido en la colonia Igna-
cio Zaragoza del municipio de Padilla (en el centro de Tamaulipas). La contrucción del parque tiene una inversión aproximada de 1 millón de pesos, aseguró el Secretario de Desarrollo Social, Homero de la Garza Tamez. Tras su participación en la reunión Intersecretarial celebrada el viernes 24 de enero, en la cabecera municipal de Padilla, el titular de la Sedesol dio a conocer que se autorizó la construcción de dicho parque con la intención de impulsarlo como proyecto piloto, con miras a desdoblar el programa a más comunidades en otros municipios.
Al igual que los parques de barrio que ha desarrollado el Gobierno del Estado en los sectores populares de las zonas urbanas, los parques rurales contarán con iluminación las 24 horas, áreas para la práctica de los deportes, andadores y cerca periférica. “Está ha sido una demanda de muchos años de las familias que habitan en las comunidades rurales, es por ello que el Gobernador nos ha instruido para poner en marcha este plan piloto que estamos seguros dará muy buenos resultados y mejorará el entorno de las familias que vivan en las zonas aledañas”, indicó.
Una reina de belleza que representó a Tamaulipas en el concurso “Nuestra Belleza 2013” y quien participó en el concurso “Nuestra Belleza Latina” fue arrestada el domingo afuera de un restaurante-bar local, al norte de Laredo. La policía acusó a Bárbara Falcón-Prieto, de 24 años de edad, con cargos por interferir con las funciones de un oficial de policía. Salió libre bajo fianza. Oficiales de Seguridad del Restarurante Bar, Agave FALCÓN Azul, en 120 de West Village Boulevard, dijeron a la policía que un hombre trató de salir del bar con una bebida alcohólica en la mano. Los oficiales de seguridad dijeron al hombre que no podía salir del negocio con la bebida, dijo el investigador Joe E. Baeza, vocero del Departamento de Policía de Laredo (LPD, por sus siglas en inglés). Pero el hombre fue “escandaloso y beligerante” con los oficiales de seguridad, dijo la policía. Oficiales acudieron al negocio a las 2:30 a.m. por reportes sobre dos hombres “escandalosos” y dos mujeres “escandalosas”. Mientras un oficial trataba de hablar a un individuo en la acera del estacionamiento para investigar el incidente, FalcónPrieto comenzó a interrumpir e impedir la investigación del oficial, dijo Baeza. “La mujer comenzó a estirar el brazo derecho del oficial y las manos (del hombre detenido por la policía), impidiendo e interfiriendo mientras (el oficial) estaba tratando con el sujeto escandaloso durante la investigación”, añadió. Falcón supuestamente empujó al oficial lejos del hombre y le dijo en español, “Déjalo ir”, “Déjalo solo”. El oficial ordenó a Falcón que se alejara en varias ocasiones pero estaba “muy agresiva y no obedeció las órdenes del oficial”, dijo Baeza. Durante el incidente, una segunda mujer, identificada como Gabriela Molina, de 22 años, también fue arrestada y acusada de interferir con funcionarios públicos. Los hombres “escandalosos” no fueron tomados en custodia, de acuerdo con la policía. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 7282568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
COLUMNA
Continúa falta de iniciatiavas eficaces POR RAÚL SINECIO ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
De noche todos los gatos son pardos, nos alerta conocido refrán. Lo anterior embona como anillo al dedo en menesteres del ecologismo. Todos alegan proteger nuestro entorno planetario. En cuanto los contrastamos, afloran las diferencias. Réplica de lo que muestran otros campos del acontecer humano, la aludida causa acumula características peculiares. Académicos, investigadores y personalidades de renombre le dan interés al tema. En la arena política destacan los partidos “verdes”, y completan el cuadro varias organizaciones no gubernamentales.
De estas últimas el movimiento ecologista obtuvo decisiva trascendencia. Por lo general, los grupos mencionados, implementan estrategias cercanas a la acción directa. Abundan casos en que ejercen de modo enérgico las garantías y libertades democráticas, sin romper el orden establecido. Compactos, dichos agrupamientos consiguen hacerse notar con protestas simbólicas, poco concurridas. Cuestionan los comestibles transgénicos, boicotean corridas taurinas, luchan contra fenómenos contaminantes y defienden a especies en peligro de extinción, por citar algunos ejemplos. No obstante, ninguno de los
más recientes movimientos sociales ha girado en torno al ecologismo.
Industria Las críticas relativas fueron centrándose en los corporativos. Se les reprocharía procesos fabriles que dañan el planeta en forma grave e irreversible. Bosques disminuidos, gases de efecto invernadero, aguas residuales y crecientes problemas de salud pública reafirmaron tales señalamientos e hicieron necesario que las autoridades expidieran regulaciones específicas. Detrás vino cierta tendencia. Acorde con ella, a la
negligencia del consumidor, no a las tecnologías del fabricante, le son imputables en mayor grado los plásticos que invaden mares, ríos y lagunas. Cosa similar ocurre con la denominada basura electrónica, las pilas o baterías, etcétera. Buenas acciones resultan por ende que la gente recolecte estos desechos, olvidándose de la industria que los introdujo al mercado.
Emisiones Cobró a la par fuerza el interés por relativizar los diagnósticos ambientalistas. El impacto de los aerosoles en la capa de ozono, según esto, podía situarse en nive-
les admisibles. Las apreciaciones que minimizan el calentamiento global recibieron amplia cobertura noticiosa y calaron hondo en la opinión pública. Iría conformándose una cultura de empuje. Denota consistencia para neutralizar responsabilidades, distorsionándolas o endosándoselas a terceros. De los saldos visibles, acaso sobresalga el que inmoviliza a la sociedad, dificultándole reflexiones e iniciativas eficaces. Las voces de alerta topan incluso con el boicot. Las consecuencias están a la vista. (Contenido cortesía de Raúl Sinencio, según fue publicado en “La Razón” de Tampico, México)
State
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
Texas schools Dem group doing trial run struggle with law provision By CHRIS TOMLINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Texas schools are scrambling to meet a provision of the federal health care overhaul that compels them to offer health insurance to employees who work at least 30 hours a week, according to a newspaper report published Tuesday. Substitute teachers, bus drivers and others already are eligible for health coverage but tracking compliance is proving difficult for administrators. Compared with traditional employers, school systems rely on more variable-hour workers and follow a different calendar. “It’s kind of a nightmare. It’s extremely complex,” said Holly Murphy, senior attorney for the Texas Association of School Boards. Some systems may cap part-time employees’ hours, while others may create new full-time positions to ease the demand from hourly workers, the Houston Chronicle reports. For instance, the Fort Bend Independent School District posted job openings for 74 educational assistants, one at each campus, who will essentially be fulltime substitutes eligible for benefits. Those positions should help take pressure off the district’s pool of 1,000 part-time substitutes, administrators said, although the district would still face the increased cost of providing benefits to more employees. Groups of school districts are considering creating coops that could share and provide benefits for full-time substitutes, Murphy said. The most common solution will likely be to limit the variable-hour workers
“
(The new system is) kind of a nightmare. It’s extremely complex.” HOLLY MURPHY, SENIOR ATTORNEY FOR TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS
to 29 hours, or three workdays a week, she said. That won’t necessarily mean that substitutes and other employees will lose access to insurance, however. The vast majority are already eligible under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, she told the Chronicle. Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said limiting hours isn’t in the spirit of the law and wouldn’t even be an option in the Houston Independent School District, which struggles with substitute shortages. “That’s the sort of shoddy behavior we were worried about,” she said. She applauded the Houston district’s move to begin offering this month a basic $5-a-month health insurance plan to employees earning less than $25,000 a year. “HISD did very early compliance,” Fallon said. “We have paraprofessionals and clerks and food service and custodial (employees) who can afford insurance for the first time, and we got told instantly it was the Affordable Care Act that did this.”
AUSTIN — The 40 volunteers crowded into a small, suburban living room in north Austin to get their marching orders for one of democracy’s oldest traditions: knocking on doors to ask people for their votes. Welcoming them was Jeremy Bird, a man credited with helping President Barack Obama win re-election and whose focus now is on implementing a strategy to turn this Republican stronghold blue. Bird and other Democrats from across the region are using a special election for an open House seat to test how the party’s Battleground Texas project plans to support their candidates ahead of the general election. Bird is one of the founders of Battleground Texas, a group dedicated to making this Republican stronghold competitive for Democrats. Celia Israel’s race for an open seat in the state House of Representatives is not expected to be difficult considering the district has historically voted for Democrats. “It’s nice to have a special election and a little bit of a test,” Bird said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Identifying, engaging and turning out voters will help the Israel campaign now and (gubernatorial candidate) Wendy Davis, (lieutenant governor candidate) Leticia Van de Putte and other Democrats in November. Not only are people more likely to turn out to vote again, but the results will give us a chance to check our voter model and fine tune it for the election.” The Republican Party of Texas doesn’t have a dedicated organization that provides an equivalent amount of hands-on
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Texas House of Representatives hopeful Celia Israel, left, walks door-to-door asking for votes Tuesday in Austin. assistance. But in a state where no Democrat has won a statewide election in 20 years, the Republican Party’s infrastructure is strong and campaigns are flush with cash, so the need is less. “I give them credit for doing what a party should be doing, but those are things we’ve already been doing,” said Steve Munisteri, the GOP state party chairman. “We already had 5,000 precinct captains and we’ve recruited another 200 since September, and this doesn’t count the contacts we’ve made or the names we’ve added to our list.” He said gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has a large campaign field staff where each organizer is required to make several hundred new contacts a week. Something Bird has plans to match. For Tuesday’s special election, Battleground has had the chance to work through all the phases of a campaign: making the voter lists, raising money, trying to persuade the undecideds and getting out the vote for election day. On Saturday, Israel’s volunteers each had a list
of homes to visit where Battleground’s research showed a reliably Democratic voter could be found. The volunteers were given a recommended script to follow, including thanking the prospective voter, asking whether the person would be willing to volunteer, and taking down an email address. The data collected by Battleground staff, combined with publicly available voter records, is critical to the group’s strategy to identify, register and recruit the 2 million Democrats they estimate are not voting in Texas elections. “Data collected from personal conversations is much more effective for predicting who people will support and at what level they’ll participate,” Bird said. Israel is running against tea party Republican Mike VanDeWalle, but few voters know about the election, so Battleground’s help in getting out the vote is critical. Battleground Texas volunteers have knocked on over 14,000 doors over two weeks, Bird said.
“Battleground Texas is not just a political slogan, it’s a political muscle, and we’re going to use it in 2014,” Israel said. Bird says the so-called “ground game” is only part of the puzzle. The group also helps with digital strategy and has trained 300 Democratic volunteers already, with more than 2,000 applicants for 600 more fellowships with the group this spring. Battleground is also building an online community to coordinate 10,000 volunteers across the state. The group also helps train campaigns to diversify their fundraising from email blasts, to medium-dollar events and how to approach major donors. Munisteri said Republicans don’t take Battleground Texas’s efforts lightly and have opened their field offices 15 months earlier than normal. “We recognized early that the Democrats might make a big play for the state, so our goal was to ensure not only that they were defeated in 2014, but defeated by a significant margin,” he said.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: ZAPATA HAWKS
NFL: SUPER BOWL
2nd quarter struggle Hawks lose again to St. Augustine
Photo by Matt Slocum | AP
Denver QB Peyton Manning and members of both teams answered questions at the Super Bowl media day.
By CLARA SANDOVAL
NFL holds media day
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
LAREDO — Zapata and St. Augustine squared off for the second time this season but the Hawks could not change the results as Zapata lost 65-43 Friday night. The second quarter was the downfall of Zapata as the Knights outscored Zapata 22-10 to take a commanding lead and never looked back as they continued to build their lead in the second half. "We came out flat the second quarter," Hawks head coach Juan Villarreal said. "I told them to have fun and I think they came out and had too much fun and were too relaxed. St. Augustine is a very good team. It was a battle." Zapata set the tone of the game, opening with five straight points. They came on a 3 by Raul Diaz and a bucket by Alonzo Gutierrez, before St. Augustine started to find their footing around the basket. The Knights responded late in the first quarter with a 7-0 run to take their first advantage of the game on a basket by Jesus Romero. The Hawks kept pace but trailed at the end of the first quarter as St. Augustine held an 11-9 lead. In the second quarter, Zapata started getting cold and had a hard time finding the basket, while St. Augustine enjoyed an offensive momentum shift their way. The Knights started to find their rhythm inside the paint with Alejandro Benavides, who scored eight of his 12 points in the quarter. Roberto Ramirez hit the first 3 for the Knights and had five points in the quarter to extend St. Augustine’s lead to15 points heading into halftime. With a 33-18 halftime edge, St. Augustine did not allow the 10-minute delay to slow it down. The Knights came in the third quarter and added 17 points while the Hawks could only muster 13 to fall further behind. Seven Knights shared the offensive load with Ramirez and Jesus Romero adding a pair of baskets to lead the way for St. Augustine. The Hawks were able to score in double figures in the second half, but their
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times
Zapata’s Javy Lopez battles St. Augustine’s Alejandro Benavides on Friday night at the St. Augustine Wellness Center. The Hawks lost 65-43. second quarter struggles proved to be too much to overcome as the Knights kept rolling. Rod Saldivar was the steady hand for the Hawks pacing Zapata with nine points while EG Garcia added eight and Gutierrez finished with seven.
Baseball Camp The Zapata High School baseball program is inviting all local youth to join them for their annual youth baseball camp on Feb. 1 at the Hawk baseball field. The camp is for ages 5 through 13.
Registration is from 8:30-9 a.m. while the camp runs from 9:15-12 p.m. Admission is $10. Join the baseball team and head coach Rene E. Alvarez along with his coaching staff consisting of Mario Benavidez, Domingo Oliva and Noel Garcia for a day of baseball. Participants will receive valuable instructions while refining hitting and throwing mechanics and proper fielding techniques. "Our goal is to teach, have fun and learn the game of baseball the Hawk baseball way," Alvarez said. Participants must provide their own glove. For more information please call (956) 750-7011.
NEWARK, N.J. — Peyton Manning is not interested in talking about where his career stands in football history. Not right now, anyway. Not when he’s still playing. And certainly not less than a week from playing in the Super Bowl for the Denver Broncos. The word “legacy” popped up repeatedly as the 37-year-old Manning, a four-time NFL MVP who broke records by throwing for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards this season, sat through his hour-long session Tuesday. Not surprisingly, Manning declined to take the bait. Lynch exits media day early Seattle Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch has made an early exit at Super Bowl media day. The running back abruptly left the session Tuesday, walking out after 61/2 minutes. He will be subject to a fine from the NFL. Earlier this month, Lynch was fined $50,000 for not cooperating with the Seattle media. The NFL put the fine on hold, saying it would be rescinded if his behavior improved. At this required Super Bowl gathering, Lynch was standing on the floor of the Prudential Center among a cluster of about 100 reporters. Lynch answered a half-dozen questions before walking away. The Seattle and Denver players were expected to speak to media members during the 45-minute session that lead up to Sunday’s game. Sherman speaks to media Not surprisingly, Richard Sherman couldn’t wait to start talking. He presented a much different side than that angry 20-second rant after the NFC championship game, which sparked a national debate over sportsmanship and racial attitudes. Sherman was charming, funny and didn’t raise his voice at all. He said he was glad to have the chance to show there’s more to him than what people saw after he made the play that clinched Seattle’s victory over San Francisco.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: HOUSTON ASTROS
Young Astros promising progress By KIRK BOHLS MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
AUSTIN — Jason Castro stood outside the Palmer Events Center last week, trying to remain oblivious to the chilly temperatures and the biting wind out of the north. “It’s a state of mind,” the Houston Astros catcher said, ignoring the cold. It almost has to be, because the actual state of the franchise has dipped far below the days of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and Roy Oswalt on a team that hasn’t really been competitive since its appearance in the 2005 World Series. Mind over matter, right? However, a smaller payroll and even smaller amount of major-league baseball experience have conspired against Houston, which hasn’t really mattered for some time. Jeff Luhnow sees hope, despite a record three consecutive 100-loss seasons. The Astros general manager points to a rising payroll that should ”probably be double what it was” last year when the Astros finished the year with a $29.5
million budget. The addition of free agent relievers and former Texas Rangers starter Scott Feldman, who has back-of-the-rotation talent, as well as up-and-down center fielder Dexter Fowler should pump up the salaries. Luhnow also said the club made a reasonable bid for Masahiro Tanaka, the Japanese pitcher who ultimately signed with the Yankees for $155 million, or about $55 million more than Houston was willing to part with. Even though it fell short, that’s progress and the right approach because Tanaka is only 25 and could have still been pitching for the Astros once they eventually become competitive when new outfield phenom George Springer breaks out, and the last two first picks of the draft — Stanford pitcher Mark Appel and 19-yearold shortstop Carlos Correa — come of age. No sense in throwing good money after bad, and the Astros still figure to be relatively bad for another couple of years while its minor-league organization continues its development
into one of the top five in all of baseball. Fewer than 100 losses would mark progress. “We want to be the most improved team in baseball,” Luhnow said during the Astros’ caravan stop in Austin in an attempt to make some inroads in a state that has swung heavily toward the perennial contending Rangers. “Of course, we had the worst record last year, so we should be. That’s a fair expectation.” The club needs to be if it plans to draw anything resembling a crowd. Houston has traded nearly every valuable piece, save for established second baseman Jose Altuve. Fans see very few recognizable faces and this April will greet a team with four newcomers in the starting lineup since designated hitter Carlos Pena, center fielder Justin Maxwell, right fielder Brandon Barnes and shortstop Ronny Cedeno have moved on. Luhnow and his staff identified the bullpen as the major culprit for the 51-111 season, the worst in club history, because relievers squandered leads in
41 games. To shore up that deficiency, the Astros signed veteran relievers Chad Qualls, Jesse Crain and Matt Albers, a trio with Houston ties who have combined to throw in more than 1,500 games, though none has been a closer since 2010 and won’t fill that role. “The sixth, seventh and eighth innings were winnable games,” Luhnow said, “and we couldn’t hold onto leads. That was our main priority to bring in guys who could hold those leads or keep the game tied. So we brought in guys so that if Jarred Cosart gives them a two-run lead, we could keep it.” The Astros are slowly graduating from a franchise in disrepair to one that is gradually building from within and improving the product on the field. Too slowly for fans? Probably. “We want to make sure the fan base is staying with us as we’re moving forward,” Castro said. “We thank them for that. I think they’ve been great, and I think they’ll see some rewards this year.
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
2013 first-overall draft pick Mark Appel will have a lot riding on his shoulders as the Astros are counting on the young starter in the years to come. They’ll see more guys come up and see some good things from the guys who got their feet wet.” That would include Castro behind the plate as well as Matt Dominguez at third and Josh Singleton at first and as young a pitching rotation as young can get with Jarred Cosart, Brett Oberholtzer and Brad Peacock. Houston will still skew young in 2014, probably younger than any other team, which is not a recipe for success in its new neighborhood, the American
League West. “We’ve communicated directly with the fans, and I think that transparency has helped them understand,” Luhnow said. “We’re not going to go from worst to first and stay there, but we do plan on going there over the course of a few years. I know they’re frustrated. We’re all frustrated with the losses. But we’ve made so much improvement. I think we’ll be able to surprise some people.” Any surprise would be good.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
THE MARKET IN REVIEW DAILY DOW JONES
STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS
u
u
NYSE 10,066.84
+85.49
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE) Name
NASDAQ 4,097.96
AK Steel ChinaDEd 500.com n KratonPP TAL Educ BiP GCrb MillenMda Cambrex 58.com n Vipshop
7.11 22.03 41.00 24.73 24.41 6.90 8.37 18.37 38.34 104.73
+1.12 +3.36 +6.09 +3.34 +3.15 +.86 +1.01 +2.12 +3.69 +9.35
+18.7 +18.0 +17.4 +15.6 +14.8 +14.2 +13.7 +13.0 +10.6 +9.8
Galectin un ReconTech Lantronix EchelonC Orbcomm IdenixPh SciClone lf SilicnMotn RocketF n YY Inc
Dow Jones industrials
16,560
Close: 15,928.56 Change: 90.68 (0.6%)
16,200
Last Chg%Chg
17,000
54.06+19.06 4.96 +1.37 2.57 +.49 3.68 +.59 7.84 +1.24 8.04 +1.17 5.24 +.75 17.26 +2.38 66.40 +8.61 65.28 +8.29
16,500
+54.5 +38.2 +23.6 +19.1 +18.8 +17.0 +16.7 +16.0 +14.9 +14.5
15,840
15,500
Last Chg%Chg Name
Last Chg%Chg
Dolan pfB SwEBioFu23 CSVInvNG Advantest NatrlGroc PUVixST rs MagnaChip PrUShNG rs Cementos SpOpp pfcld
2.40 9.10 4.79 10.57 34.75 68.44 16.16 47.45 9.77 58.90
16.10 24.30 11.50 23.50 10.14 51.52 49.82 3.11 4.13 2.22
-1.14 -1.50 -.60 -1.21 -3.32 -6.12 -1.41 -3.48 -.67 -3.98
-32.2 -14.2 -11.0 -10.3 -8.7 -8.2 -8.0 -6.8 -6.4 -6.3
LiveDeal RentACt SyngyP un ChefsWhs VimpelCm SeagateT FstCashF h Burcon g ZhoneTech Thermgn h
-7.42 -6.92 -2.00 -3.81 -1.49 -6.53 -5.70 -.34 -.44 -.23
-31.5 -22.2 -14.8 -14.0 -12.8 -11.2 -10.3 -9.9 -9.6 -9.4
MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) Name
Vol (00)
Last Chg Name
S&P500ETF 935337 179.07 +1.06 BkofAm 907065 16.73 +.42 iShEMkts 800642 38.33 +.24 FordM 545027 15.72 +.01 GenElec 498040 25.46 +.39 Corning 401464 17.10 -1.12 iShJapan 395191 11.63 +.10 iShR2K 383225 112.97 +1.18 B iPVix rs 369808 43.55 -1.84 MktVGold 348355 23.40 +.51
Vol (00)
DIARY Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows
Volume
2,318 772 105 3,195 27 42 3,319,678,478
Last Chg
SiriusXM 674806 3.63 -.03 Facebook 472270 55.14 +1.59 PwShs QQQ 429496 85.85 -.05 Cisco 407733 21.75 -.25 Apple Inc 350933 506.50-44.00 Microsoft 347900 36.27 +.24 Yahoo 322916 38.22 +1.57 Intel 316355 24.90 +.18 AriadP 281461 8.04 +.13 MicronT 270232 23.05 +.15
DIARY Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows
Volume
1,750 848 108 2,706 44 23 1,985,177,877
13,784.01 5,757.05 462.66 8,700.73 3,105.37 670.88 1,485.01 1,078.65 15,674.94 894.24
Name
Last
Dow Industrials Dow Transportation Dow Utilities NYSE Composite Nasdaq Composite S&P MidCap S&P 500 S&P MidCap Wilshire 5000 Russell 2000
CURRENCIES
Last PvsWeek
A
S
O
N
D
J
STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Name
Ex
AT&T Inc AEP BkofAm Caterpillar Cisco CCFemsa CmtyHlt ConocoPhil Corning Dillards EmpIca ExxonMbl Facebook FordM GenElec HewlettP HomeDp iShJapan iShEMkts iShR2K Intel
NY NY NY NY Nasd NY NY NY NY NY NY NY Nasd NY NY NY NY NY NY NY Nasd
Div
1.84 2.00 .04 2.40 .68 1.19 ... 2.76 .40 .24 ... 2.52 ... .50 .88 .58 1.56 .13 .86 1.41 .90
YTD Yld PE Last Chg %Chg
Name
Ex
Div
YTD Yld PE Last Chg %Chg
5.5 4.2 .2 2.6 3.1 1.1 ... 4.2 2.3 .3 ... 2.6 ... 3.2 3.5 2.0 2.0 1.1 2.2 1.2 3.6
IntlBcsh IBM Lowes Lubys MetLife MexicoFd Microsoft Modine Penney PwShs QQQ RadioShk S&P500ETF Schlmbrg SearsHldgs SiriusXM SonyCp UnionPac USSteel UnivHlthS WalMart WellsFargo
Nasd NY NY NY NY NY Nasd NY NY Nasd NY NY NY Nasd Nasd NY NY NY NY NY NY
.46 3.80 .72 ... 1.10 3.18 1.12 ... ... .88 ... 3.35 1.60 ... ... .25 3.16 .20 .20 1.88 1.20
1.9 2.1 1.5 ... 2.2 ... 3.1 ... ... 1.0 ... 1.9 1.8 ... ... 1.5 1.8 .8 .2 2.5 2.6
25 15 17 17 12 ... 22 10 13 12 ... 10 ... 12 17 11 21 ... ... ... 13
33.70 +.19 47.51 +.33 16.73 +.42 92.47 +1.18 21.75 -.25 104.70 +1.62 41.40 +.92 66.21 +.35 17.10 -1.12 90.70 +.43 7.81 +.08 95.65 +.73 55.14 +1.59 15.72 +.01 25.46 +.39 29.00 +.40 78.54 -.40 11.63 +.10 38.33 +.24 112.97 +1.18 24.90 +.18
-4.2 +1.6 +7.5 +1.8 -2.3 -14.0 +5.4 -6.3 -4.0 -6.7 -7.6 -5.5 +.9 +1.9 -9.2 +3.6 -4.6 -4.2 -8.3 -2.1 -4.1
15 12 22 49 17 ... 13 ... ... ... ... ... 16 ... 52 ... 18 ... 16 14 12
24.44 -.09 176.85 -1.05 46.96 -1.04 6.83 -.12 49.63 +.71 28.07 +.17 36.27 +.24 11.04 +.04 6.42 -.09 85.85 -.05 2.40 -.04 179.07 +1.06 87.76 -.15 38.41 +.02 3.63 -.03 16.42 +.19 172.80 +1.59 25.34 -.11 80.66 +.98 74.67 +.52 45.96 +.43
-7.3 -5.7 -5.2 -11.5 -8.0 -4.2 -3.0 -13.9 -29.8 -2.4 -7.7 -3.0 -2.6 -21.7 +4.0 -5.0 +2.9 -14.1 -.7 -5.1 +1.2
Stock Footnotes: g=Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars .h= Doe not meet continued- listings tandards lf = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred. rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified price. s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year. un = Units. vj = In bankruptcy or receivership. wd = When distributed. wi = When issued. wt = Warrants. Mutual Fund Footnotes: b = Fee covering market costs is paid from fund assets. d = Deferred sales charge, or redemption fee. f = front load (sales charges). m = Multiple fees are charged. NA = not available. p = previous day’s net asset value. s = fund split shares during the week. x = fund paid a distribution during the week. Gainers and Losers must be worth at least $2 to be listed in tables at left. Most Actives must be worth at least $1. Volume in hundreds of shares. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial.
Prime Rate Discount Rate Federal Funds Rate Treasuries 3-month 6-month 5-year 10-year 30-year
3.25 3.25 0.75 0.75 .00-.25 .00-.25 0.05 0.07 1.56 2.75 3.67
YTD 12-mo Chgg %Chg %Chg %Chg
15,928.56 +90.68 +.57 -3.91 +14.15 7,277.62 +78.44 +1.09 -1.66 +23.88 495.43 +2.54 +.52 +.99 +4.77 10,066.84 +85.49 +.86 -3.21 +12.66 4,097.96 +14.35 +.35 -1.88 +29.94 795.50 +2.99 +.38 -3.44 +17.01 1,792.50 +10.94 +.61 -3.02 +18.88 1,314.32 +11.81 +.91 -2.10 +19.99 19,185.70 +144.40 +.76 -2.64 +20.60 1,138.24 +10.51 +.93 -2.18 +25.45
MONEY RATES
15,000
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)
Name
10 DAYS
16,000
14,500
LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)
16,588.25 7,591.43 537.86 11,334.65 4,246.55 824.21 1,850.84 1,359.99 19,776.59 1,182.04
+14.35
GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)
Last Chg%Chg Name
STOCK MARKET INDEXES 52-Week High Low
0.035 0.06 1.65 2.83 3.74
Australia Britain Canada Euro Japan Mexico Switzerlnd
Last
Pvs Day
1.1401 1.6578 1.1151 .7319 102.87 13.2531 .8978
1.1426 1.6574 1.1096 .7317 102.75 13.3776 .8973
British pound expressed in U.S. dollars. All others show dollar in foreign currency.
MUTUAL FUNDS Name Alliance Bernstein GlTmtcGA m Columbia ComInfoA m Eaton Vance WldwHealA m Fidelity Select Biotech d Fidelity Select BrokInv d Fidelity Select CommEq d Fidelity Select Computer d Fidelity Select ConsFin d Fidelity Select Electron d Fidelity Select FinSvc d Fidelity Select SoftwCom d Fidelity Select Tech d T Rowe Price SciTech Vanguard HlthCare Waddell & Reed Adv SciTechA m
Total Assets Total Return/Rank Pct Min Init Obj ($Mlns)NAV 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Load Invt WS 609 78.77 -1.8 +14.5/D +13.9/D 4.25 2,500 ST 2,449 49.93 +1.1 +16.5/E +16.8/E 5.75 2,000 SH 847 11.67 +4.3 +41.1/C +17.0/E 5.75 1,000 SH 7,959 205.05 +13.4 +73.7/A +29.8/A NL 2,500 SF 921 71.52 -3.2 +31.4/A +19.2/B NL 2,500 ST 255 29.93 +2.5 +22.1/D +20.4/D NL 2,500 ST 703 73.02 -1.0 +21.9/D +24.5/A NL 2,500 SF 251 15.81 -2.7 +23.1/C +15.9/C NL 2,500 ST 979 62.81 +0.7 +31.1/B +22.8/B NL 2,500 SF 745 79.14 -2.8 +21.3/C +14.4/D NL 2,500 ST 3,394 116.92 -0.9 +39.5/A +27.9/A NL 2,500 ST 2,231 122.62 +0.4 +28.4/C +26.8/A NL 2,500 ST 2,927 38.78 -0.2 +34.6/B +23.1/B NL 2,500 SH 9,635 191.23 +2.5 +37.9/D +19.1/D NL 3,000 ST 3,577 15.67 -1.9 +45.3/A +23.9/B 5.75 750
CA -Conservative Allocation, CI -Intermediate-Term Bond, ES -Europe Stock, FB -Foreign Large Blend, FG -Foreign LargeGrowth, FV -Foreign Large Value, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA Moderate Allocation, MB -Mid-Cap Blend, MV - Mid-Cap Value, SH -Specialty-heath, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
Energy reform, impact topic of consortium By MALENA CHARUR THE ZAPATA TIMES
Mexico’s energy reform and the impact on foreign investors, among other topics, will be discussed by experts and guest speakers at the Eagle Ford Consortium on Wednesday at Texas A&M International University. The meeting is organized in conjunction with the university’s Binational Center for Research, Education, Leadership and Public Service, and will begin at 10 a.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. A highlight will be the presentation of the new Binational Committee of Eagle Ford Texas, whose mission is to create links with individuals and corporations who are interested in developing trade between the two countries for the oil sector as well as providing courses for certificate, diploma and career paths for those interested in the industry. “What drove the creation of the binational committee was connecting people with the same level of interests, so Americans can be linked to the Mexican side, which generates a consistent flow of information,” said Maria Eugenia Calderon-Porter, the Binational Center for Research, Education, Leadership and Public Service director and Binational Committee of Eagle
Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills | AP
Oil workers push a piece of machinery at the Centenario deep-water drilling platform off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. Ford Texas director. Topics Wednesday will include recently passed energy reform in Mexico and secondary laws that will be implemented and their progress. Energy-related concerns will be addressed by Mexican lawyers, economists and human resource officials.
Question and answer sessions will follow presentations. One presentation of concern to geologists is a geological formation in Mexico known as the Burgos Basin. Fernando Camacho, co-director of the Binational Committee, is responsible for developing a
team to create reports on the basin at the request of the Mexican Petroleum Institute. “There are many researchers in Coahuila forming what we call baseline information. (Camacho) will be here and will present updates,” Calderon-Porter said.
Also planned is a presentation by Juan Carlos Solis Mendoza of the Mexican Bar Association, who specializes in agricultural law. His presentation is important, Calderon-Porter said, because much of the land in Northern Mexico belongs to “ejidos,” or communal farms. “Who will benefit, or how do we understand who will participate, or how do we manage the ejidos as they are government lands, but the ejidatarios (Spanish for ‘farm workers’) own the product of these lands so they will have a very special place in all that lies ahead as they will also receive benefits,” CalderonPorter said. Among those who are scheduled to attend is Hector Garcia Garcia, legislator for Nuevo Leon state and chairman of the Burgos Basin Special Commission. “We will have a one-day workshop (today) where they will study American business to see what worked successfully, see what committees have been developed and what might apply to Mexico,” Calderon-Porter said. “It’s a great group of people looking to do the best thing for the people of the northern region of the Mexican Republic.” (Malena Charur may be reached at 728-2583 or mcharur@lmtonline.com. Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff.)
Google hopes new frames will sharpen Glass By BARBARA ORTUTAY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Google Glass is getting glasses. Google is adding prescription frames and new styles of detachable sunglasses to its computerized, Internet-connected goggles known as Glass. The move comes as Google Inc. prepares to make Glass available to the general population later this year. Currently, Glass is available only to the tens of thousands of people who are testing and creating apps for it. Glass hasn’t actually had glasses in its frame until now. Glass is basically a small computer, with a camera and a display screen above the wearer’s right eye. The device sits roughly at eyebrow level, higher than where eyeglasses would go. It lets wearers surf the Web, ask for directions and take photos or videos. Akin to wearing a smartphone without having to hold it in your hands, Glass also lets people read their email, share photos on Twitter and Facebook, translate phrases while traveling or partake in video chats. Glass follows some basic voice commands, spoken after the words “OK, Glass.” The gadget itself is not changing with this an-
nouncement. Rather, Google plans to make various attachments available for people who wear glasses or sunglasses. Starting Tuesday, the Mountain View, Calif., company is offering four styles of prescription frames and two new types of shades available to its “explorers” — the people who are trying out Glass. The frames will cost $225 and the shades, $150. That’s on top of the $1,500 price of Glass. Users can take the frames to any vision care
provider for prescription lenses. Google says it is working with insurance provider Vision Service Plan to train eye-care providers around the U.S. on how to work with Glass. Google says some insurance plans may cover the cost of the frames. VSP, which covers 64 million people in the U.S., will also provide coverage for the frames and prescription lenses as part of its partnership with Google. Isabelle Olsson, the lead
designer for Google Glass, says the new frames open the spectacles up to a larger audience. She demonstrated the new frames to The Associated Press last week at the Google Glass Basecamp, an airy loft on the eighth floor of New York City’s Chelsea Market. It’s one of the places where Glass users go to pick up their wares and learn how to use them. Walking in, visitors are greeted, of course, by a receptionist wearing Google
Glass. “We want as many people as possible to wear it,” she said. To that end, Glass’s designers picked four basic but distinct frame styles. On one end is a chunky “bold” style that stands out. On the other is a “thin” design — to blend in as much as possible. Olsson said Google won’t be able to compete with the thousands of styles offered at typical eyeglasses stores. Instead, Glass’s designers
Photo by John Minchillo | AP
The new Google Glass “Bold” prescription frames in “shale” color rests on a table at the Google Glass Basecamp space at Chelsea Market on Friday, Jan. 24, in New York.
looked at what types of glasses are most popular, what people wear the most and, importantly, what they look good in. The latter has been a constant challenge for the nascent wearable technology industry, especially for something like Google Glass, designed to be worn on your face. When Google unveiled Glass in a video nearly two years ago, it drew unfavorable comparisons to Bluetooth headsets, the trademarks of the fashion-ignorant technophile. In designing Google Glass, Olsson and her team focused on three design principles with the goal of creating something that people want to wear. These were lightness, simplicity and scalability. That last one means having different options available for different people — just as there are different styles of headphones, from in-ear buds to huge aviator-style monstrosities. Google Glass currently comes in five colors — “charcoal,” a lighter shade of gray called “shale,” white, tangerine and bright blue “sky.” The frame attachments out Tuesday are all titanium. Users can mix and match. “People need to be able to choose,” Olsson said. “These products need to be lifestyle products.”
The Zapata Times
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
Apple pushed to adapt By MICHAEL LIEDTKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple reshaped technology and society when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone seven years ago. Now, the trend-setting company is losing ground to rivals that offer what Apple has stubbornly refused to make: smartphones with lower prices and larger screens than the iPhone. The void in Apple’s lineup is a major reason why the company’s quarterly revenue may be about to fall for the first time in more than a decade, much to the dismay of investors who are worried that Apple Inc. is losing its verve and vision. Wall Street vented its frustration after Apple reported late Monday that it sold fewer iPhones than analysts anticipated during the holiday season. Apple compounded that disappointment with a forecast raising the possibility of a slight revenue decline in the current quarter. It would be the first time that Apple’s quarterly revenue has dropped from the previous year since 2003. Apple’s stock shed $44, or
8 percent, to close Tuesday at $506.50, marking the company’s largest one-day drop in a year. The sell-off leaves the stock about 28 percent below its peak of $705.07, reached in September 2012 when Apple’s leadership in smartphones and tablet computers was still generating robust revenue growth. Since then, Apple has been relinquishing market share to Samsung Electronics Inc. and other companies that primarily make devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Those competitors offer a broader selection of designs and prices than the iPhone and the iPad. That trend is one of the reasons that Apple’s revenue growth hasn’t exceeded 6 percent in any of the past three quarters. By contrast, Apple’s quarterly revenue was consistently increasing by at least 20 percent two years ago and even exceeded 70 percent during the 2011 holiday quarter. Apple remains in stellar shape financially, coming off a $13 billion profit in its most recent quarter — more than all but a handful of companies make in an entire year. The Cupertino, Calif., company also is sit-
ting on nearly $159 billion in cash. But Apple’s stock is unlikely to bounce back to its previous high unless the company’s growth accelerates. The challenges facing Apple have been most glaring in the smartphone market. Phones in less affluent parts of the world are selling for less than $200. By comparison, iPhones sold for an average of $637 in Apple’s most recent quarter. Even Apple’s cheaper iPhone 5C is just $100 less than the high-end 5S. Meanwhile, a variety of Android phones boast screens measuring 5 to 6.5 inches diagonally, while the latest iPhones are all 4 inches. Apple’s insistence on catering to the upper end of the smartphone market with only one choice of screen size is undercutting the company’s growth, International Data Research analyst Ramon Llamas said. “There is a gap where Apple is not playing, and it’s clear that many users want some of these other things in a phone,” Llamas said.
COLD Continued from Page 1A where ice was reported. Last Friday, a similar storm that also brought snowfall to some places was blamed for hundreds of traffic accidents in far wider area of Central and South Texas. “It’s not as bad as we projected,” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said. “But the schools, I think, were pretty smart and canceled classes.” The National Weather Service’s weather advisory for the Austin and San Antonio areas expired at midday Tuesday. A similar advisory for the Houston area was in effect until late afternoon. A winter storm warning
remained in effect until 6 a.m. Wednesday for six counties in far Southeast Texas, including Beaumont in Jefferson County. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports. “It’s a bummer when it happens to you and you are delayed a whole day,” C.J. Ochoa, 20, of Midland, who was stranded at Bush Airport after a vacation in Hawaii, told the Houston Chronicle. A hard freeze warning overnight into Wednesday extended over a wide swath of Central and South Texas, nearly to the Rio Grande Valley, where a freeze
watch was posted. Forecasters said highs would reach into the 70s by later in the week. The worst of the icy weather appeared to be east of Texas and into Louisiana, where a couple inches of snow was possible through early Wednesday along the Interstate 10 corridor. In Austin, the school closings threw the special legislative seat election into confusion, since many polling places were in the schools. Travis County officials said voters could go to any open polling place. ( Laredo Morning Times staff contributed to this report)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014
JACAMAN Continued from Page 1A
File photo by Times staff
Local and federal law enforcement agencies raided Jacaman Guns and Ammo, 504 E. Calton Road, in August 2012. The attorney’s office added: “Another co-defendant, Alejandro Rivera-Ruiz, admitted delivering more than $100,000 to Jacaman on behalf of Borrego-Ramos.” Borrego-Ramos allegedly told agents he was working for the Zetas, “supplying them with firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories such as firearm magazines from various sources, including Jacaman,” the attorney’s office said.
The operation came crashing down when authorities arrested two Mexican nationals in possession of 27,000 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition March 14, 2012. The men admitted they were to deliver the ammunition to a Mexican truck driver in the area who would then smuggle them across the border. Further investigation revealed the ammunition originated from Jacaman Guns and Ammo. Local and federal author-
ities raided the store in August 2012, days after the Jacamans were indicted. Borrego-Ramos, RiveraRuiz and the two Mexican nationals have all pleaded guilty and are serving their sentences in prison. Jacaman and his son are set to be sentenced May 27. They remain out on bond. Veronica Jacaman is set for sentencing March 31 and is also out on bond. (Matthew Nelson may be reached at 728-2567 or mnelson@lmtonline.com)