The Zapata Times 1/6/2018

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CBP

2 arrested in maquinita bust

Border reviews of tech rising Record number of inspections recorded at border crossings

By Jill Colvin ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Courtesy

District Attorney’s Office executed simultaneous search warrants at multiple locations suspected of illegal gambling and money laundering,” said District Attorney Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz in a statement.

Alaniz further stated, “These raids were conducted in Zapata and Laredo … of multiple gaming establishments belonging to Zapata resident Hilda Villarreal and her family. These raids are a result of a six-month long term investigation. Arrests are ongoing and pending as the investigation continues.”

In Laredo, authorities raided the Magic Spin and Wild Spin, 220 W. Calton Road; Good Fortune, 2300 E. Saunders St.; Village of Fortune, 200 W. Village Blvd.; and a home in

WASHINGTON — The government inspected a record number of international travelers' electronic devices last year, expanding a practice that has drawn alarm from privacy advocates.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that its border agents inspected 30,200 phones and other electronic devices in fiscal year 2017, which ended in September — a nearly 60 percent spike from 2016, when 19,051 devices were searched.

But the agency stressed the searches represent just a tiny fraction — 0.007 percent of arriving international travelers — out of more than 397 million.

"In this digital age, border searches of electronic devices are essential to enforcing the law at the U.S. border and to protecting the American people," CBP's deputy executive assistant commissioner John Wagner said in a statement.

The searches are aimed at combatting terrorism, child pornography and other crimes.

But the practice has drawn fire from privacy advocates who

Raid continues on A10

Devices continues on A10

A maquinita location in Zapata was raided, along with others in Laredo and Falcon Heights, in a crackdown known as Operation One Arm Banded on Friday. Two individuals were arrested on charges of gambling promotion and organized criminal activity.

Raids took place across three cities on Friday

By César G. Rodriguez LAREDO MORNING TIME S

The Magic Spin and Wild Spin, located on the 200 block of Calton Road, were raided on Friday by authorities.

Local and state authorities raided multiple locations Friday in Laredo, Zapata and Falcon Heights as part of a crackdown on maquinitas.

As of Friday afternoon, police records showed two people arrested: Rebecca Lopez-Villarreal, 49, and Lucio Saldivar, 76.

Each was charged with gambling promotion, a misdemeanor, and engaging in organized criminal activity, a felony.

Lopez-Villarreal was also charged with keeping a gambling place, a misdemeanor.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety in conjunction with the Laredo Police Department and the Border Prosecution Unit of the Webb-Zapata

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS

Courtesy

Trump seeks $18 billion to extend border wall

By Elliot Spagat A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration has proposed spending $18 billion over 10 years to significantly extend the border wall with Mexico, providing one of its most detailed blueprints of how the president hopes to carry out a signature campaign pledge.

The proposal by Customs and Border Protection calls for 316 miles (505 kilometers) of additional barrier by September 2027, bringing total coverage to 970 miles (1,552 kilometers), or nearly half the border, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter.

It also calls for 407 miles (651 kilometers) of replacement or secondary fencing, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

Trump has promised to “a big, beautiful wall” with Mexico as a centerpiece of his presi-

dency but offered few details of where it would be built, when and at what cost. His administration asked for $1.6 billion this year to build or replace 74 miles (118 kilometers) of fencing in Texas and California, and officials have said they also will seek $1.6 billion next year.

The 10-year plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, resulted from discussions with senators who asked the agency what it would take to secure the border, the official said.

It comes as the administration intensifies negotiations in Congress on a package that may include granting legal status to about 800,000 people who were temporarily shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Trump said last year that he was ending DACA but gave Congress until March to deliver a legislative fix.

The plan on border security came in response to a request

by U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, said Wall continues on A10

Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor

U.S. Border Patrol Agent Enrique Rodriguez looks up a trail recently used by human traffickers while patrolling the Rio Grande Wednesday in Hidalgo, Texas. A Border Patrol agent was shot while on a river patrol Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, near Brownsville. The unidentified agent sustained non-life threatening injuries in the shooting.

Shooting highlights dangers for agents on river patrol

By Mitchell Ferman THE MONITOR

HIDALGO — Past the pig farm, beyond the landfill and among several deflated rafts along the banks of the Rio

Grande, a Border Patrol boat hummed slowly upstream.

A loud bang sounded off in the distance, and three agents turned toward what’s known as Rock Alley, a steep bluff where the river bends sharply and the

water between Mexico and the United States narrows.

Scouts mask as fisherman, some without bait on the end of their rods, along the edges of the alley. This, agents say, is the Patrols continues on A10

Zin brief A2 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, JAN. 6

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

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.

8th annual Birdies on the Rio golf tourney. 7 a.m. registration @ the Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Join the Rio Grande International Study Center for the biggest, baddest golf tournament in town. $150 per golfer (allinclusive). Register at www.rgisc.org.

MONDAY, JAN. 8 Webb County Commissioners Court meeting. 9 a.m. 1000 Houston St. For more information, visit http://webbcounty.com/AgendaandMinutes/

MONDAY, JAN. 15 Stephanie Strasburg / AP

Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in Spanish. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Holding Institute, 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom #1. 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

THURSDAY, JAN. 18 Spanish Book Club. 6-8 p.m. Joe A. Guerra Public Library off Calton Road.

For more information, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24 Laredo Gateway Rotary presents Paul Harris Foundation Dinner. 6:30 p.m. Laredo Energy Arena. The Paul Harris Fellow honoree is Juan Francisco Ochoa, restauranteur extraordinaire. For table information, contact Rotarian Bill Green at 956-728-2501 or 956-237-9704 or email bbgreen@lmtonline.com

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.

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.

SATURDAY, JUNE 2 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, JULY 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.

SATURDAY, AUG. 4 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.

Submit calendar items by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location, purpose and contact information for a representative. Items will run as space is available.

Erin Bond and her husband, John go in for a group hug with Olga Kemaeva, 34, the widow of Russian tourist Anton Kemaev. Mr. Bond believes he received Kemaev's kidney in a transplant.

RECIPIENT MEETS DONOR’S WIFE ASSOCIATED PRE SS

PITTSBURGH — A Russian man who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Pittsburgh last month donated his organs — and the Army National Guard veteran who received his kidney gave an emotional thank-you to the man's widow.

Anton Kemaev was on a travel visa touring around the United Stateswhen he was shot in the head Dec. 19. The 35-yearold fitness trainer was in the passenger seat of a car, and police say neither he nor the driver was the intended target.

He was in critical condition for nine

Man says he killed his ailing parents with their consent SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A South Carolina man who says he killed his ailing parents because they asked him to has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Stephen Belcher, 40, of Boiling Springs, pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter in his 69-year-old parents' deaths.

Belcher said his parents had

days before his Dec. 28 death. His wife decided to donate his organs.

Shortly thereafter, John Bond got a call that there was a kidney ready for him.

Little by little, they were given information about the donor. The Bonds learned that he'd been a young, healthy Russian man. A few days after that, they learned he had been shot. They searched on Google and discovered it had to be Anton Kemaev. Kemaev had been set to return home this week. He thanked her and told her she saved his life, and she said it was what her husband would have wanted.

asked him to kill them because of their health problems.

Belcher initially was charged with murder in the shooting deaths of Henrietta Green Belcher and William Edward Belcher. Their bodies were found Nov. 15, 2016. Investigators said they had been killed 10 days earlier.

"What my client did was not legal, but what my client did was merciful," defense attorney Doug Brannon said.

Belcher's wife, Vonda Belcher, said the couple moved from Georgia to the area to better

take care of his parents.

Prosecutor Barry Barnette says the lesser charge was part of a plea deal. Circuit Judge Derham Cole gave Belcher a 10-year prison sentence.

Deborah Belcher, Stephen's sister, said he was better able to care for their parents than she could. He carried his mother when necessary, helping her get around the family's house, something Deborah could not do.

"I do understand it, and I forgive him,” she said.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD Manhunt underway for suspects in jewelry theft case ROME — One was a delicate, tasseled pendant, featuring a flawless 10-carat diamond surrounded by a ring of rubies and diamonds. The other was simpler but no less gorgeous: two pear-shaped 30.2-carat diamond earrings surrounded by smaller, irregular-cut diamonds suspended like starbursts.

The Al Thani Collection on Friday revealed details of the precious jewels stolen Wednesday from a Venetian palace exhibit in a brazen theft that sorely embarrassed Italian security officials. A manhunt has been launched for the thieves, who calmly pocketed the gems and mixed in with the crowd to make their getaway.

Surveillance footage of the theft Wednesday at the Doge's Palace in Venice show one of the thieves calmly opening the showcase window, as if he had

Andrea Merola / AP

Some jewels are on display at the 'Treasures of the Mughals and the Maharajahs' exibithion, at Venice's Doge's Palace, in Venice.

a key, putting the jewels in his pocket and sauntering off while another stands nearby watching.

Police say the alarm was triggered a minute later, giving the thieves time to escape. That makes them think the job was done by professionals who knew what they were doing and what they wanted. A gold

necklace in the same display case was reportedly left untouched.

The Al Thani Collection is a renowned collection of 270 pieces of Indian and Indianinspired jewelry and precious stones, jades and artifacts, spanning 400 years from the Mughal period to the present.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS County judge says state panel warned him about conduct GOLIAD, Texas — A state panel warned a county official in South Texas to change his conduct after complaints about comments he made, including one in which he said he should get a human hunting permit so he could shoot a county official.

Goliad County Judge Pat Calhoun, the county's top administrator, said he received a

Today is Saturday, Jan. 6, the sixth day of 2018. There are 359 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 6, 1968, a surgical team at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, led by Dr. Norman Shumway performed the first U.S. adult heart transplant, placing the heart of a 43-year-old man in a 54-year-old patient (the recipient died 15 days later).

On this date: In 1540, England's King Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. (The marriage lasted about six months.)

In 1759, George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in New Kent County, Virginia.

In 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public demonstration of their telegraph in Morristown, New Jersey.

In 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state.

In 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, New York, at age 60.

In 1945, George Herbert Walker Bush married Barbara Pierce at the First Presbyterian Church in Rye, New York.

In 1974, year-round daylight saving time began in the United States on a trial basis as a fuel-saving measure in response to the OPEC oil embargo.

In 1987, the U.S. Senate voted 88-4 to establish an 11-member panel to hold public hearings on the IranContra affair.

In 1993, authorities rescued Jennifer Stolpa and her infant son, Clayton, after Jennifer's husband, James, succeeded in reaching help, ending the family's eight-day ordeal after becoming lost in the snow-covered Nevada desert. Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, 75, died in Englewood, New Jersey; ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev died in suburban Paris at age 54.

In 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Detroit's Cobo Arena; four men, including the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, went to prison for their roles in the attack. (Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution, but denied any advance knowledge about the assault.)

In 2001, with Vice President Al Gore presiding in his capacity as president of the Senate, Congress formally certified George W. Bush the winner of the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.

Ten years ago: In a video posted on the Internet, al-Qaida's Americanborn spokesman, Adam Gadahn, urged fighters to meet President George W. Bush with bombs during his upcoming Mideast visit.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama returned to Washington after a winter vacation in Hawaii that was interrupted by the "fiscal cliff" crisis.

In his first public speech in six months, a defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad rallied a cheering crowd to fight the uprising against his authoritarian rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with what he called "murderous criminals."

One year ago: Congress certified Donald Trump's presidential victory over the objections of a handful of House Democrats, with Vice President Joe Biden pronouncing, "It is over." An arriving airline passenger pulled a gun from his luggage and opened fire in the baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, killing five people and wounding eight. (A suspect is in custody.) Actresses Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher were laid to rest together at Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills.

Today's Birthdays: Country musician Joey, the CowPolka King (Riders in the Sky) is 69. Former FBI director Louis Freeh is 68. Rock singer-musician Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) is 67. Singer Jett Williams is 65. Actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson is 63. World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez is 61. Actor Scott Bryce is 60. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kathy Sledge is 59. TV chef Nigella Lawson is 58. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eric Williams (BLACKstreet) is 58. Movie director John Singleton is 50. Actor Aron Eisenberg is 49. Actor Norman Reedus is 49. TV personality Julie Chen is 48. Actor Danny Pintauro (TV: "Who's the Boss?") is 42. Actress Cristela Alonzo is 39. Actress Rinko Kikuchi is 37. Actor Eddie Redmayne is 36. Retired NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas is 36. Actress-comedian Kate McKinnon is 34. Rock singer Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) is 32.

Thought for Today: "He threatens many that hath injured one." — Ben Jonson, English dramatist and poet (1572-1637).

CONTACT US private warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Calhoun said the warning was downgraded from a private reprimand after he visited the commission in Austin last month.

"They said, 'The colorful language needs to stop,'" Calhoun said. "I said, 'That's a fair enough deal.'"

The commission's executive director, Eric Vinson, said he couldn't confirm whether there was an investigation into mis-

conduct by Calhoun due to privacy reasons.

County Commissioner Mickey White was among those who complained about Calhoun. He said Calhoun told him he might seek a hunting license that would allow him to kill White.

County Treasurer Daphne Buelter filed a complaint last year alleging that Calhoun made threatening and unprofessional comments to her.

Buelter also said Calhoun told another county official he would bury the person where

"the dogs wouldn't find them," and would shout and scream at people attending juvenile court, which Calhoun presides over.

Calhoun said the comments were just part of his sense of humor and that the complaints are "a complete political witch hunt."

Calhoun said he will stay out of trouble with the commission and is committed to toning down his language. He has about a year left in his fouryear term.

— Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, January 6, 2018 |

A3

CRIME & MORE

Autopsy shows toddler died from ‘homicidal violence’

By David Warren A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DALLAS — A 3-yearold girl whose body was found in a culvert near her suburban Dallas home little more than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage died from "homicidal violence," according

to autopsy findings released Wednesday.

Steven Kurtz with the Dallas County medical examiner's office said Sherin Mathews was a victim of homicide but that he couldn't provide any other details from the autopsy at this point. .

Police in Richardson have released their findings in Sherin's October

death to the Dallas County district attorney's office, and a grand jury this month is expected to review charges filed against the girl's adoptive parents, Wesley and Sini Mathews.

Wesley Mathews initially told police Sherin disappeared after he punished her by sending her out in the night to stand

by a tree near the home.

He later told investigators Sherin had developmental disabilities and was malnourished. He described a special diet regimen in which she had to eat whenever she was awake in order to gain weight.

Mathews said he had been trying to get the girl to drink milk in the gar-

age of their home.

"Eventually the 3-yearold girl began to drink the milk. Wesley Mathews then physically assisted the 3-year-old girl in drinking the milk," according to the affidavit.

Mathews told police that Sherin choked and coughed and eventually he felt no pulse and believed the child had died.

Texas man facing kidnapping charges after arrest in Colorado

By Claudia Lauer A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DALLAS — A Texas man wanted for questioning in the death of a woman and the abduction of her two daughters has been charged with kidnapping.

Terry Allen Miles, 44, was arrested in a remote area of southern Colorado Wednesday evening after several tips of sightings had been reported there. The two girls, ages 14 and 7, were recovered safely and taken to a hospital to be checked for injuries.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a news release Thursday that Miles had been charged with kidnapping.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver, where Miles made his first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, said he waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Colorado and consented to being transported to Texas. Spokesman Jeff Dorschner said Miles reserved his right to have a preliminary hearing and detention hearing

when he arrives in Texas.

Law enforcement officials have been looking for Miles as a person of interest in the death of the girls' mother, Tonya Bates.

Co-workers called police in Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin, Texas, to ask that they check on Bates when she did not show up for work Saturday.

An officer found Bates dead from apparent blunt force trauma.

An affidavit submitted by an FBI special agent seeking kidnapping charges against Miles says police contacted Bates' family, who told them Bates' daughters lived with her and she had a roommate, who they identified as Miles.

Police issued an Amber Alert for the girls, noting they could be with Miles and could be driving in Bates' car, which was also missing from her home.

Special Agent Sean Mullen wrote in the affidavit that Miles' mother had received a text message from him about 1 a.m. Saturday using one of the daughters' cellphones. According to the affidavit, the

El Paso County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office via AP

This photo provided by the El Paso County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office shows Terry Allen Miles, a person of interest in the death of a woman and abduction of her two daughters.

text read, "Mom I left with the kids and came home to something bad I think Tonyas boyfriend.

I cant talk now tonya was involved in some bad stuff I will talk to you later when im safe these guys are crazy Mexicans."

Law enforcement officials tracked the girls' phones, finding one in the woods near a WalMart in Round Rock.

Surveillance footage from the store showed Miles buying camping gear, including a 10-person tent, rope and tarps, then leaving in a vehicle that matched Bates' car.

The other daughter's phone showed a location near two cell towers in New Mexico on January 1. A license plate reader also captured a picture of the car travelling toward Colorado.

Deputy Chief Jay Harrison of the Trinidad Police Department in Colorado said Miles may have been camping near Stonewall.

He said deputies and officers had been looking for Miles in the remote area near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains about 24 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado, Wednesday evening. After he was spotted, authorities said he began to drive erratically.

After more deputies arrived, Harrison said they were able to pull over Miles and take him into custody without any problems.

According to Louisiana court records, Miles is on probation from a 2015 domestic violence conviction and a 2014 conviction for possession

of stolen goods.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso told the Austin AmericanStatesman that Miles had a history of domestic violence arrests and convictions. He was convicted two other times in 2009 and 2011 on domestic violence charges.

Mancuso said Miles is still a person of interest in the 2014 homicide of the mother of a woman he was dating and living with at the time. He was also charged with second-degree attempted murder for trying to suffocate a woman he was dating in 2011 and allegedly staging a suicide scene.

The 2011 charges were dropped when that woman committed suicide before she could testify.

"He will live with a woman until she's had enough, then he beats up on her and moves on and finds another victim," Mancuso said.

Miles was also convicted twice in California with of injuring a spouse or cohabitant, in 1995 and 2002.

Associated Press writer Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.

Investigators wrote that he "then admitted to removing the body from the home."

Her body was found in the culvert Oct. 22.

Richardson police Sgt. Kevin Perlich would not say if additional charges could be forthcoming, explaining that decision would be left to the district attorney's office.

Inmates end hunger strike ASSOCIATED PRE SS

IOWA PARK, Texas — Nearly 40 inmates on a hunger strike since Christmas at a prison in North Texas have ended their protest over alleged limited recreational time and food portions.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says the 37 inmates at the Allred Unit in Iowa Park accepted meals again Wednesday. All are serving time in administrative segregation — isolated from the general population because they're deemed a security risk or danger to others.

Corrections spokesman Jason Clark said Thursday that administrators met with offenders about their complaints and the dialogue continues. He didn't provide specifics.

Clark says no striking inmates required medical attention.

Officials earlier said most of the striking prisoners had food in their cells that they bought from the commissary.

Iowa Park is 120 miles (193 kilometers) northwest of Fort Worth.

Zopinion

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A4 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Department of Injustice

By Timothy Egan TH E N EW YORK T IME S

After foraging through the dumpster of discarded ideas, the Trump administration has dragged out another fetid reject as part of its campaign to roll back modernity, common sense and the will of the people.

We know that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a small, backward-looking man with even smaller, more backward-looking ideas, but what was the thinking behind his new federal crackdown on legal marijuana? Punish the blue states? Create cannabis chaos in the large swath of the American West and the other states where voters have said they want police to spend their time on real crime?

Or is it just another betrayal of the fools who voted for a man aptly described from inside the White House in Michael Wolff ’s new book, as “less a person than a collection of terrible traits”? For one way to really tick off Trump’s base is to start arresting them.

There comes a time in the evolution of social policy when law enforcement, science, medical authorities and the majority of the public reach a consensus about changing course. At this moment, criminalizing marijuana has never been more unpopular, nor a more unjust way to ensure that otherwise law-abiding people have to fear police.

It’s not just that 71 percent of Americans oppose federal government efforts to stop marijuana sales, but an equally large majority thinks overall drug abuse should be treated as an addiction and mental health problem, rather than a criminal offense. The consensus crosses class lines and the racial divide, even if enforcement of drug laws does not.

And yet, after the government spent more than $1 trillion over the past four decades on the failed drug war, Trump now wants to double down on the most failed aspect of modern prohibition. According to the most recent statistics, more than 1 million people a year are arrested for simple drug possession in the United States — and more than half a million of those arrests are for marijuana possession.

More people are arrested for pot possession than all the crimes that the FBI classifies as violent — one arrest every minute. This at a time when only 14 percent of the people think marijuana should be illegal.

The voters have spoken on this, in the 29 states and the District of Columbia where marijuana use is legalized in some form.

I live in one of those states, Washington, a pioneer in prohibition rollback. What you hear most from people, confirmed by studies, is that state-regulated pot retailing has turned out to be no big deal. Legalization did not significantly increase youth drug abuse, or increase impaired driving. But it’s brought in nearly half a billion dollars in tax revenue just in Colorado.

At this moment, criminalizing marijuana has never been more unpopular, nor a more unjust way to ensure that otherwise law-abiding people have to fear police.

It’s neither a panacea nor an open door to abuse. It’s just the obvious thing to do — a big duh, acknowledging the private right of a freedom-loving people.

The real problem, as any sentient public servant can tell you, is opioid abuse. Overdoses from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999 — as have sales. Almost 200,000 Americans have died since 1999 from taking a lethal dose of drugs pushed by the major pharmaceutical companies. Only the Civil War and World War II had higher fatalities.

And here’s where it gets particularly crazy.

Big Pharma, the one drug dealer the Justice Department should be throwing all its resources at, has been trying to limit marijuana legalization efforts. It doesn’t want the competition from a natural palliative that is infinitely safer than the drugs sold from your neighborhood CVS, or alcohol for that matter. Among the efforts: Insys Therapeutics, a company whose former executives have been charged with conspiracy to bribe doctors to prescribe more of their product, gave $500,000 in 2016 to defeat Arizona pot legalization.

In announcing the throwback to a discredited policy Thursday, Sessions described the effort as a “return to the rule of law.” It’s a return to insanity, and to creating more outlaws. From here on, federal prosecutors will have discretion to attack small-business owners selling a product deemed legal by their state. Weren’t Republicans supposed to be champions of states’ rights?

The Justice Department “has trampled on the will of the voters,” said Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, a Republican in a state full of independent voters. Sessions had promised, before his confirmation, not to go after the legal marijuana industry, said Gardner. Trump did the same. “I think it’s up to the states,” Trump said during the presidential campaign. “I am a states person.”

While Trump gorges himself on the twin health risks of junk food and Fox News alone in his bed at the White House, Sessions is now free to pursue an archaic moral crusade. He calls marijuana a “gateway drug,” a substance that is only “slightly less awful” than heroin.

As arrests mount once again, as the black market bounces back, as vital police resources are wasted, Trump’s new era of prohibition will have the same effect as that of the old Prohibition: to make criminals of nonviolent citizens, and cynics of the law.

COLUMN

‘Year’ of the woman?

We could do with an era

By Mary Sanchez THE KANSAS CITY STAR

The telephone calls from reporters arrive like clockwork every January to the Center for American Women and Politics.

"Is this going to be The Year of the Woman?" they want to know.

This month has been no different. Political reporters ascribe great significance to changes in the running tally of women in Congress, even though the number tends to shift in low single digits from one election to the next. Any gains, even one woman added, is big news.

The Center for American Women and Politics is the go-to think tank for all information about women’s political participation, and in a Jan. 2 press release it announced that, with Tina Smith sworn in as the new senator from Minnesota, there is a "record number of women in the Senate." There are now 22 women senators, 17 Democrats and five Republicans.

Is that so much to rejoice about? Women fill fewer than 20 percent of the seats in Congress (106 women, also an increase of one from 2016).

Such a sprinkling of women will never fundamentally change the gender-based power norm of American politics until attitudes of both voters and the women running for office change.

Women fill fewer than 20 percent of the seats in Congress. Such a sprinkling of women will never fundamentally change the gender-based power norm of American politics.

There are many excellent organizations working to advance the interests of women in politics: EMILY’s List, VoteRunLead and Name It. Change It. The #MeToo movement has generated a combination of anger and energy directed at toppling blatantly sexist people and institutions that persist in media, civil society and - as we may see in 2018 - politics.

However, despite the presence of some highpowered women in Congress and in the party executive structures, it is predominantly men in both parties who still decide who runs, who is recruited and who gets funded, supported and then allowed access to important committees.

Kelly Dittmar, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University-Camden and a scholar for the center, is guardedly optimistic about how women candidates may do this year.

"Most years are not the year of the woman," she said, but she senses something afoot that is not captured by headcounts.

Women, she believes, are on the cusp of finally being able to run cam-

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To be published, letters must include the writer's first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity.

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Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We

paigns that more authentically portray them as women candidates, with their gender being an added value that they can run on. Not entirely, of course. Female political candidates still often suffer from a double bind: They must be simultaneously feminine enough and masculine enough to appeal to voters.

She points to the relatively few times that Hillary Clinton in her campaign pointed to her gender as an added asset.

"Clearly, I’m not asking people to vote for me simply because I’m a woman," Clinton said in July 2015, before going on to add, "I think one of the merits is I am a woman."

In previous campaigns, such language would not have been encouraged because it might turn off voters.

What has changed, Dittmar said, is that the sexual assault scandals, combined with the stagnation that has come to typify the "do-nothing" Congress, have created a general willingness to see women as the solution.

There is a history of women being appointed or elected to fill slots vacated by men who have

want to assure our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. Laredo Morning Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms.

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Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

behaved badly. The current climate of men falling to sexual harassment allegations certainly qualifies, and seats continue to open at a healthy pace.

Those are opportunities for female candidates, especially if they do not have to run against incumbents, always an uphill battle for a newbie.

Here is where stereotypes can help. Women are perceived by voters as more ethical than men. Consultants often feel that voters will be more open to a women candidate because they don’t want the same scandal repeated, Dittmar said.

That fact could dovetail well with the increasing interest among women to run for elected office. And there is money behind what women want from politics. The Center for Responsive Politics recently reported that the numbers of female donors to federal candidates and committees is booming, up by more than 280 percent.

Again, the real shift could occur if those women aren’t treated as just a momentary corrective but rather as a catalyst for deep questioning and even upending of the status quo in politics, which has largely been created by and for men.

Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star.

civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Also, letters longer than 500 words will not be accepted.

Via email, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, January 6, 2018 |

A5

BUSINESS

Tips to trim your bill as cable costs rise this year

By Tali Arbel A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Cable and satellite TV providers are ringing in the new year with an unwelcomed gift: higher cable bills.

Comcast, for instance, says customer bills will rise 2.2 percent, on average, in 2018. AT&T is raising DirecTV's prices by up to $8 a month in mid-January. Smaller providers are planning

increases, too.

Over the past decade, prices for TV service have risen almost twice as fast as inflation, according to an analysis of government data. Data provider S&P Global Market Intelligence says customers' cable and satellite TV bills have soared 53 percent since 2007, to $100.98 in 2017.

Annual rate hikes are as guaranteed as death and taxes. But you can push back and trim your bill.

Push back You can threaten to ditch your cable company in hopes of getting a discount. Companies will often offer a promotional rate for a year or two — though they may also try to get you to upgrade packages in the process.

BillFixers, a service that fights on your behalf in return for a cut of your savings, estimates that 55 percent of customers are on a promotion at any given time.

WHY DO I HEAR...

BUT NOT UNDERSTAND? Study by Cambridge University in England Reveals Key Answer

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ntil recently, there was no practical way to identify dead regions of hearing cells in the ear.

However, a new British-developed procedure using standard test equipment now allows for identification of dead hearing cell regions.

The study suggests that the presence or absence of dead regions may have serious implications in thefitting of hearing aids.

This research reveals that amplifying dead cells is a mistake which will result in poorer speech understanding in noise. A new type of digitally programmable microcircuit is now being released from Audibel – one of the world leaders in nanoScience technology – that can be programmed to bypass the dead cells. As a result, the patient’s usable hearing cells receive amplification, thereby improving speech understanding in noise.

“We are employing a like method in our diagnostic sound booths using a sound field speech in noise procedure”, said Randy Schoenborn of NewSound Hearing Centers. “ This test simulates hearing in a noisy crowd. We are able to determine maximum speech understanding by frequency shaping

FREE Hearing Evaluation Find out what you’re hearing, what you’re not, and how NewSound can help.

this new hearing aid.” The results have been phenomenal. For the first time, a patient is able to actually realize the exact percentage of speech understanding improvement in noisy listening environments.

These new products come in all shell sizes, including the smallest digital models, with low introductory prices available. During its release, NewSound Hearing Centers is offering this new frequency-shaping hearing instrument on a 30-day satisfaction trial. “Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed,” Schoenborn said.

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If you find a lower advertised price on an identical hearing aid at any local retail competitor, NewSound will beat their price by 10% when you buy from us. Just bring in the competitor’s current ad!

But just having a discount doesn't mean it's a good one. BillFixers' founder, Ben Kurland, recommends calling to complain about prices and rejecting the first deal offered. More often than not, a better discount will be available if you ask for it. Repeatedly.

Many promotions are automatic after you initially sign up for service and last for a year or two. That may protect you from immediate

price hikes, at least partially. Those deals don't always include equipment charges and separate fees for over-theair networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. Cord-cutting An increasingly popular option is to just peace out. Though there are still 94 million cable and satellite TV customers, that's roughly 4 million fewer than two years ago, according to MoffettNathanson Re-

search.

You don't have to drop TV networks completely.

Online TV services such as YouTube TV, DirecTV Now and Sling TV offer smaller packages of channels, often for less than what cable charges.

MoffettNathanson estimates these services have 3.5 million customers combined.

Make sure the service has your favorite channels, as these services have notable gaps.

Zfrontera A6 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Vacaciones de Navidad 1 El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent School District informa que las oficinas administrativas y las escuelas pertenecientes al distrito tendrán sus vacaciones de Navidad del 25 de diciembre 2017 al 5 de enero de 2018.

1 El distrito escolar Roma Independent School District informa de su horario por vacaciones navideñas: el distrito está cerrado hasta el 7 de enero de 2018; la oficina de impuestos del distrito estará abierta el 3 y 4 de enero de 2018, de 8 a.m. a 1 p.m.; todo el personal regresa en horario normal el lunes 8 de enero de 2018; todos los estudiantes regresan en horario normal el martes 9 de enero de 2018.

Foro empresarial 1 La Ciudad de Roma en conjunto con la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores invitan al Foro Empresarial para Emprendedores que se llevará a cabo el jueves 18 de enero de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m., en Roma Community Center, 502 6th Street. Evento gratuito, para inscripciones llame al 956-6657535.

Junta 1 La reunión de la Sociedad Genealógica del Nuevo Santander se ha reprogramado para el sábado 20 de enero en el museo Zapata County Museum of History.

OPERATION ONE ARM BANDED

Catean maquinitas Por César G. Rodríguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Autoridades municipales y estatales catearon varios establecimientos de maquinitas el viernes en Laredo, Zapata y Falcon Heights como parte de una campaña llamada Operation One Arm Banded.

Hasta el viernes por la tarde, registros policiacos indican que dos personas fueron arrestadas: Rebecca López-Villarreal, de 49 años y Lucio Saldívar, de 76 años. Cada uno fue acusado de promoción de juegos de azar, un delito menor, y de participar en actividades del crimen organizado, un delito grave.

Además, López-Villareal fue acusado de mantener un establecimiento de juegos de azar, un delito menor.

"El Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas en conjunto con el Departamento de Policía de Laredo y la Unidad Fiscal Fronteriza de la Oficina del Fiscal del Distrito Webb-Zapata ejecutaron órdenes de cateo simultáneas en varios lugares donde se sospechaba que se llevaban a cabo apuestas ilegales y lavado de dinero", dijo el fiscal Isidro R. "Chilo" Alaniz en una declaración.

Alaniz declaró además, "Estas redadas se llevaron a cabo en Zapata y Laredo... a múltiples establecimientos de juego pertenecientes a la residente de Zapata Hilda Villarreal y su familia.

Estas redadas son el resultado de una investigación a largo plazo de seis meses. Los arrestos están en curso y pendientes

mientras la investigación continúa".

En Laredo, las autoridades catearon los negocios Magic Spin y Wild Spin, en 220 W Calton Road; Good Fortune, 2300 E. Saunders St.; Village of Fortune, en 200 W. Village Blvd.; y una casa en la cuadra 3000 de Robert Frost en la subdivisión D&J Alexander Estates al norte de Laredo.

“En este momento aquí en Laredo, se están llevando a cabo redadas en (el Condado) de Zapata y en Falcon Heights”, dijo Baeza alrededor del mediodía del viernes.

Las autoridades catearon los negocios Magic Spin, Gold Mine y una casa en el Condado de Zapata. En Falcon Heights, las autoridades ejecutaron una orden de cateo en Lucky Spin.

“La preocupación que

TAMAULIPAS

RESCATAN Y LIBERAN TORTUGAS

1 Crime Stoppers de Laredo organiza un paseo en motocicleta contra el crimen dentro del evento Menudo Bowl, el 20 de enero. Evento tiene costo. Preregistro el 12 de enero.

Mayores informes al 956-724-1876.

Exámenes de salud

Genealogía 1 ¿Desea saber más sobre su historia familiar? ¿Necesita ayuda para iniciar su genealogía? Venga y reciba ayuda personalizada para investigar a sus ancestros utilizando recursos en línea. Voluntarios entrenados le ayudarán, todos los martes de 6:30 p.m a 8 p.m., en Roma Birding Center. Evento gratuito patrocinado por la Iglesia de Jesús de los Santos de los Últimos Días.

Aviario 1 La Ciudad 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.

tenemos es la violación a leyes establecidas sobre apuestas que restringen a este tipo de establecimientos para pagar dinero”, dijo Baeza.

Agregó que la “mayor perspectiva” es si las ganancias provienen de lavado de dinero.

“Hasta ahora, nadie ha sido acusado (de lavado de dinero)”, dijo Baeza.

Además, la Patrulla Fronteriza puso bajo custodia a un inmigrante que se sospecha haya entrado ilegalmente en el negocio de maquinitas sobre la calle Calton.

PATRULLA FRONTERIZA

Paseo contra crimen

1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a la realización de exámenes de salud cardiovascular Life Line Screening con tecnología avanzada de ultrasonido que proporciona una visión en el interior de las arterias, en el Centro Comunitario de la Ciudad de Roma, de 8 a.m. a 3 p.m., el 31 de enero, patrocinado por Peripheral Vascular Associates. Se requiere registro previo llamando al 1-888653-6450.

Foto de cortesía

Un negocio de maquinitas fue cateado el viernes en Zapata como parte de una operación policíaca denominada Operation One Arm Banded.

Foto de cortesía / Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El Departamento de Protección a la Tortuga Marina de la Comisión de Parques y Biodiversidad de Tamaulipas, México, realizó el rescate de más de 200 tortugas de las variedades Caguama y Verde en las playas de La Pesca, en Soto La Marina, que estaban varadas por el letargo que las bajas temperaturas provocan a estos reptiles endémicos de las costas del pacífico y atlántico mexicano.

Agentes están expuestos a peligros Por Mitchell Ferman THE MONITOR

HIDALGO — Pasando una granja porcina, más allá del vertedero y entre varias balsas desinfladas en el río Bravo, un bote de la Patrulla Fronteriza se desplazaba lentamente río arriba.

Se escuchó un fuerte estallido a la distancia, y tres agentes se dirigieron hacia lo que se conoce como Rock Alley, un empinado risco donde el río se curva bruscamente y el cauce que separa a México y Estados Unidos se estrecha.

Observadores se disfrazan de pescadores, algunos sin anzuelo en el extremo de sus cañas de pesca, a lo largo de los bordes del callejón. Este tramo, dicen los agentes, es el más peligroso en el río entre la nueva estación de bombeo de Hidalgo y una presa al oeste de Hidalgo.

Otros observadores a menudo deambulan a lo largo de la cima del acantilado, notificando a contrabandistas en otros puntos a lo largo del río

cuando pueden enviar narcóticos y víctimas del tráfico de personas.

Otro ruido sonó unos segundos más tarde.

Otros dos ruidos similares se escucharon poco después, pero los agentes no sabían si se trataba de fuegos artificiales o disparos.

Debido a que el peligro que yace al otro lado del río es frecuentemente desconocido para ellos, los agentes que patrullan en bote se encuentran en un estado constante de alerta.

La semana pasada, cerca de Brownsville, un agente asignado a la unidad ribereña que patrulla el río en bote sufrió una herida en la parte trasera de la cabeza tras recibir un disparo desde México, de acuerdo a un comunicado de la Patrulla Fronteriza.

Los agentes están entrenados para buscar detalles en ambos lados del río.

“Estamos totalmente expuestos; no hay protección para nosotros”, dijo Sean O’Loughlin, comandante de buque.

COLUMNA

Magnificencias antiguas de la Huasteca Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

“Del país de la lluvia y de la niebla / vengo yo, Xochiquetzal, de Tamoanchan”, consigna el poeta.

Algunos creen que le canta a la mismísima Huasteca. Si acertaran, estaríamos ante inmemorial referencia. Porque los versos proceden del horizonte prehispánico.

Fresca aún la conquista hispana, John Chilton puntualiza: “Las noticias … que yo proporciono … son fidedignas”. Directo observador, al recorrer la región aludida hace el retrato hablado de los pobladores originarios.

“Son … altos de cuerpo” –aprecia el viajero inglés–; “con el cabello largo”,

portan “arco y flecha”, de manera que “eran grandes flecheros”.

Sin quedarse atrás, fray Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa complementa los trazos. Resalta la pluma del misionero carmelita: “Toda la tierra es” tan “llana y amena, que parece un pedazo de paraíso”.

En cuanto a las mujeres, se engalanan “mucho y pónense bien sus trajes, andan muy bien vestidas”, recogiéndose “sus trenzas en las cabezas, con que se tocan, de colores diferentes y retorcidas con pluma”, informa fray Bernardino de Sahagún.

La gente –asienta—emplea “muchas joyas, esmeraldas y turquesas finas y todo género de

piedras preciosas”. Subraya el cronista franciscano: Lucen “ropas y … mantas … pulidas y curiosas”, pues confeccionan “las mantas que llaman centzontimatli, centzoquachtli, que quiere decir mantas de mil colores; Faltos de canteras en las inmediaciones, construyen audaces templos encima de plataformas compuestas de tierra apisonada. Proveyéndoles materia prima las conchas de lagunas, ríos y costas, los recubren con estuco, que pulen hasta dejarlo brillante. “Con ello lograban que el sol, al proyectarse sobre los monumentos (de sus ciudades), les diese apariencia de estar forjados en plata”, esclarece Wilfrido Du Solier.

Foto de cortesía / Conaculta

Ilustración templo huasteco por Leonid Nepomniachi.

Arquitectura irrepetible en Mesoamérica, había plazoletas alrededor de estos inmuebles ceremoniales o cúes. Por lo regular cónicos, estaban provistos de escalinatas, orientadas siempre hacia donde el planeta Venus da paso a la

alborada. Los huastecos –señalan Nicola Kuehne Heyder y Joaquín A. Muñoz Mendoza—“dominaron conocimientos de tipo astronómico”, “siendo (también) este pueblo (…) descubridor” “del pulque”, obtenido “del maguey”.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, January 6, 2018 |

A7

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Cowboys defensive coordinator Marinelli may not return in 2018

By Mac Engel FO RT WORT H STAR-T E LE GRAM

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made it clear he wants the trio of head coach Jason Garrett, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to return, but the latter is not a guarantee.

The veteran defensive coordinator is mulling whether to return for the 2018 season, according to team sources. And if he does, 2018 will likely be it.

The Cowboys, and head coach Jason Garrett, are giving Marinelli as much time as he wants. Veteran coaches of Marinelli’s age routinely contemplate retirement once the offseason begins.

Marinelli will turn 68 in July, and physically the grind of the 2017 season took a hard toll on his body. He had hip

replacement surgery in 2007, and often times walking appears to be none too easy.

Marinelli signed a three-year contract in January of 2015.

Assistant coaches Wade Wilson (quarterbacks) and Joe Baker (secondary) both were informed they will not be back in 2018. Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia is expected to be let out of his contract to join Jon Gruden’s staff with the Oakland Raiders.

Tight ends coach Steve Loney is retiring from the NFL. The team is also prepared to lose linebackers coach and passing game coordinator Matt Eberflus to a promotion from another team in the offseason.

The Cowboys added Marinelli in January of 2013 to coach the defensive lines. He replaced Monte Kiffin as the Cowboys defensive coordina-

tor the following year and helped the team transition back to a 4-3 scheme.

In 2014, the Cowboys won 12 games despite having a defense that had virtually no pass rush, and finished ranked 19th in the league.

In 2015, the Cowboys ranked 17th in defense.

In ’16, the Cowboys defense ranked 14th, and this season the unit finished eighth overall.

Under Marinelli, the Cowboys have never had the type of talent on defense as the offense.

He’s been handed a steady diet of OK players, to serious head cases in Rolando McClain and Greg Hardy.

Players such as linebacker Sean Lee have thrived under Marinelli, as has DeMarcus Lawrence.

Marinelli is a conservative coach who is liked and respected by his peers and players, even

Max Faulkner / Fort Worth Star-Telegram file

Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is reportedly deciding whether or not to return for the 2018 season.

though he can be especially hard on defensive linemen.

Marinelli has not worn out his welcome by any means. This change

NCAA FOOTBALL: LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

years from 2006 to ’08.

Marinelli was with the Chicago Bears from 2009 through 2012 as a defensive coach before coming to the Cowboys.

would be his decision.

He has been in pro football since joining Tampa Bay in 1996. He was the Detroit Lions head coach for three

NFL: HOUSTON TEXANS

Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press file

Stephen B. Morton / Associated Press file

The Texans are considering six possible candidates for the open general manager job.

Last year’s Heisman-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson will leave Louisville after his junior season to head to the NFL draft.

Texans add two Quarterback Lamar more candidates Jackson leaving Louisville for NFL draft for GM search

By John McClain

By Gary B. Graves A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

Lamar Jackson is leaving Louisville to enter the NFL draft, one season after becoming the youngest Heisman Trophy winner.

The 20-year-old junior quarterback tweeted Friday that he talked with his family before announcing the decision, which was confirmed by the school.

His decision was somewhat expected after he compiled some statistics that were better than those from his Heismanwinning numbers as a sophomore. He finished third in this year’s vote.

Jackson thanked Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino, teammates and fans on Twitter. “It has been nothing short of an honor to be a member of (hash) CardsNation and to play for this university.”

Jackson, 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, is a dynamic player but it’s uncertain how high he’ll be drafted this spring.

Despite accounting for 5,261 offensive yards and 45 touchdowns — his second consec-

utive season in which he surpassed 1,500 yards rushing and 3,500 passing — questions remain about his accuracy and size.

The native of Pompano Beach, Florida, led the Cardinals to three consecutive bowl games, though they lost their last two. Jackson totaled 329 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s TaxSlayer Bowl but also threw four interceptions in Louisville’s 31-27 loss to No. 24 Mississippi State.

Fox Sports NFL analyst Charles Davis believes Jackson can play at the next level because of improved decisionmaking, along with his mobility.

“If we went back to 2016, I admit that I was not as bullish on his prospects as an NFL quarterback as I am now,” Davis said recently. “What I saw in the last year reminds me of (Dallas Cowboys quarterback) Dak Prescott as a junior — minus the size because Dak is a bigger, thicker guy, and there’s no getting around that.

“A lot of his big plays before occurred because of the run.

This year I saw a better pocket presence, I saw better accuracy, better delivery. I’ve seen that improvement, that growth.”

Louisville moves on without its first Heisman winner, whose resume is filled with highlights.

Jackson’s definitive moment was hurdling a Syracuse defender into the end zone in 2016 en route to 610 yards and five TDs. He accounted for five TDs and 362 yards in a 63-20 pummeling of highly ranked Florida State the following week, a performance that established him as the Heisman favorite.

Jackson also had Louisville in consideration for the 2016 College Football Playoff before a late-season slide. A midseason slump — including a second consecutive loss to Clemson in another marquee matchup — dimmed some of the spotlight before he rallied the Cardinals with three straight wins to earn another New York trip for the Heisman presentation.

“My time in Louisville has produced some of the best memories of my life,” Jackson tweeted.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Add Philadelphia vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas and Dallas vice president of player personnel Will McClay to the list of candidates who could become the Texans' new general manager.

Douglas and McClay would give the Texans six possible candidates to replace Rick Smith.

Owner Bob McNair said this week the Texans would begin interviews next week, would interview four to six candidates and hoped to have the new general manager in place within two weeks.

McNair also said that time frame isn't etched in stone, and more candidates could emerge, depending on how the initial round of interviews go.

Teams can deny permission for executives under contract to interview with other teams even if it is a promotion.

Four other candidates are Buffalo vice president of player personnel Brian Gaine, New England vice president of player personnel Nick Caserio, Texans vice president of football operations/assistant general manager

Jimmy Raye III and Green Bay director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst.

McNair said the new general manager will answer to him and vice chairman Cal McNair and have full control of personnel and everything that goes with that position – the same as Smith had.

After 12 years as the team's general manager, Smith took a leave of absence to help care for his wife, Tiffany, who's underdoing treatment for breast cancer, and their three children.

The McNairs, president Jamey Rootes and coach Bill O'Brien make up the search committee.

Douglas is one of the NFL's most highly respected personnel experts. He spent his first 16 years in the NFL with Baltimore before moving to the Chicago Bears. He's been with the Eagles for the last two years and has done an outstanding job, by all accounts.

McClay, a Missouri City native who was a starting defensive back at Rice for four seasons, is valued by Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones as a terrific personnel man.

McClay played and coached in the Arena Football League. He also coached Jones' Dallas Desperados AFL team.

A8 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

FBI investigating possible corruption within the Clinton Foundation

By Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo TH E N EW YORK T IME S

WASHINGTON — FBI agents have renewed asking questions about the dealings of the Clinton Foundation amid calls from President Donald Trump and top Republicans for the Justice Department to take a fresh look at politically charged accusations of corruption.

People familiar with the FBI’s steps said Friday that agents have interviewed people connected to the foundation about whether any donations were made in exchange for political favors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Career prosecutors shut down that investigation in 2016 for lack of evidence.

During the presidential campaign, Trump branded his rival “Crooked Hillary” and promised to send her to jail if he won.

He briefly struck a more magnanimous tone after the election, however, and said he had no interest in pushing for a prosecution.

That has changed as Trump’s legal problems

have mounted. With four former aides facing federal charges and a special prosecutor investigating him and his campaign, Trump has resumed his attack on his favorite target. He has openly called for Clinton to be investigated and one of her top aides to be imprisoned.

His calls break with long-standing presidential practice. Since the Watergate scandal, the Justice Department has conducted criminal investigations largely free of White House political influence.

Trump, by contrast, has declared he has “absolute authority” over the Justice Department.

It is not clear exactly when the FBI renewed its interest in the Clinton Foundation, or whether agents were instructed by anyone in Washington to start investigating again.

The FBI’s decision to take additional investigative steps is sure to outrage Democrats who will see the investigation as an attempt by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to placate the president.

“Time after time, the Clinton Foundation has

been subjected to politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false,” Craig Minassian, a spokesman for the foundation, said in a statement.

Added Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton: “Let’s call this what it is: A sham. This is a philanthropy that does lifechanging work, which Republicans have tried to turn into a political football. It’s disgraceful, and should be concerning to all Americans.”

The foundation has been a repeated target for Republicans. In 2015, conservative author Peter Schweizer published a book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” The book was an investigation of donations made to the Clinton Foundation by foreign entities.

Schweizer is the president of the Government Accountability Institute, where Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, was a founder

Ruth Fremson / NYT

Hillary Clinton, accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, concedes the presidential election to Donald Trump in New York in this Nov. 9, 2016 file photo. FBI agents have renewed asking questions about the dealings of the Clinton Foundation amid calls from President Trump and top Republicans for the Justice Department to take a fresh look at politically charged accusations of corruption.

and the executive chairman.

The Justice Department, in a letter sent in November to the House Judiciary Committee, said prosecutors would examine allegations that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to a 2010 decision by the Obama administration to allow a Russian nuclear agency to buy Uranium One, a company that owned access to uranium in the United States, and other issues.

The letter appeared to be a direct response to Trump’s statement days earlier that he was disappointed with Sessions for not investigating Hillary Clinton. An administra-

tion official said the FBI had taken investigative steps related to the foundation investigation before the Justice Department sent the letter to the judiciary committee.

In the letter, the Justice Department wrote that the attorney general had directed “senior prosecutors to evaluate certain issues.”

Those prosecutors would make “recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a special counsel.”

Several FBI offices, including those in New York and Little Rock, Arkansas, had been investigating the foundation.

At the direction of Mark F. Giuliano, then deputy director of the FBI, the investigations were consolidated at FBI headquarters in Washington and placed under the supervision of career public integrity prosecutors.

The decision by senior FBI officials and prosecutors not to move forward with the case angered some agents while others believed there was little evidence to support more aggressive steps during a presidential campaign.

Transgender inmate seeks transfer to female prison

By Michael Tarm ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Michael Macor / Associated Press

In this July 7, 2015 file photo, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, right, is led into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, left, and Assistant District Attorney Diana Garciaor, center, for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. Garcia Zarate, a homeless undocumented immigrant acquitted of killing Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier was sentenced to a lesser gun charge on Friday.

Immigrant acquitted in shooting sentenced for gun charge

By Paul Elias A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN FRANCISCO — A Mexican man acquitted of murder in the shooting death of a San Francisco woman that sparked a national immigration debate was sentenced Friday to time served for illegal gun possession.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng also denied a defense request to give Jose Ines Garcia Zarate a new trial for his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Garcia Zarate will now be taken into federal custody to faces two gun possession charges in federal court.

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department said it would hold Garcia Zarate in its jail until U.S. Marshals pick him up.

Garcia Zarate’s lawyer Tony Serra said he expects a transfer this weekend.

Serra also said he plans to inject as much politics as he can into his defense of Garcia Zarate in federal court, a marked departure from the tactic his state court lawyers took to insulate the San Francisco jury from any mention of his immigration status and the nationwide debate around it.

During the presidential

campaign, President Trump pointed at Steinle’s death as a reason to build a wall along the Mexican border and tighten immigration policies. The president has also threatened to withhold federal funding to cities with sanctuary city policies.

“A vote for guilty in the federal case is a vote for Trump,” Serra said outside court Friday.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said he was pleased with the sentence and declined to comment on the federal charges.

Federal prosecutors charged Garcia Zarate with two gun possession charges after a San Francisco jury acquitted him of murder for the shooting death of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier in July 2015.

Garcia Zarate was sentenced to three years in jail for the state conviction. He has been in San Francisco’s jail since July 1, 2015 and with credit for time served, he fulfilled the term of his three-year sentence, the judge ruled.

He had previously been convicted of illegally reentering the United States and been deported five times before Steinle was fatally shot. The San Francisco sheriff’s department released him from jail several weeks before

the shooting, ignoring a request from federal immigration officials to detain him for a sixth deportation.

His lawyers said he has served a total of 17 years in federal prisons for three illegal re-entry convictions.

San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” policy bars local officials from helping federal immigration authorities in deportation matters unless they have a warrant. Donald Trump pointed to the shooting during his presidential campaign as another reason to build a wall along the Mexican border and tighten immigration policies.

Garcia Zarate said he was sitting on a city pier when he found and picked up a gun wrapped in rags. His lawyer said he didn’t know it was a weapon until it accidentally fired, the bullet ricocheting of the pier’s concrete walkway and striking Steinle in the back.

San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi on Friday criticized federal prosecutors for adding the charges, which he called “ridiculous” and politically motivated.

“This is rarely done” after a defendant is acquitted on the same charge in a state court, Adachi said.

CHICAGO — A 26year-old transgender woman serving a 10-year sentence in Illinois for burglary is seeking a rarely granted transfer to a female prison where she says she'll be less vulnerable to the kinds of sexual assault, taunting and beatings she's been subjected to in male prisons.

Deon "Strawberry" Hampton describes in a lawsuit filed last year asking for the transfer how guards and fellow inmates would regularly single her out for brutal treatment at the highsecurity prison in southern Illinois, Menard Correctional Center, and earlier at Pinckneyville Correctional Center.

A U.S. magistrate judge began a first-of-itskind evidentiary hearing in Hampton's case Friday in Benton, southeast of St. Louis, to help the court decide whether to order the transfer. The hearing, which will last several days, is focused on Hampton's gender identity and on whether she could pose a risk to female inmates if moved.

While at the Pinckneyville prison, she alleges that guards made her and another transgender inmate perform sex acts on each other as the guards hurled slurs and laughed. When she was transferred to the higher security Menard, she says guards there warned they would retaliate for complaints she made about Pinckneyville guards.

Unable to comfortably represent herself as female in the male prison — where she can't wear her hair or nails long — has also been devastating physiologically, said one filing from her lawyers at the Chicago-based MacArthur Justice Center and the Uptown People's Law Center. "I feel inhuman," Hampton was quoted as saying.

While prison officials do have the option of assigning such male-tofemale transgender inmates to women's prisons — it happens infrequently. Federal data from 2016 indicates there were no transgender

Illinois Department of Corrections via AP

This undated photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Deon "Strawberry" Hampton, a transgender Chicago woman serving a 10-year sentence for burglary.

Hampton is seeking a transfer from a male to a female prison where she says she'll be less vulnerable to abuse.

prisoners in Illinois' two female prisons; there were 28 in the state's 24 male prisons.

Surveys support claims that transgender inmates are at greater risk of abuse.

The latest available Justice Department data estimates there were over 3,200 transgender inmates in state and federal prisons as of 2012. And nearly 40 percent reported being victims of sexual misconduct by other inmates and guards — compared to around 4 percent of the general prison reporting such abuse.

Some prisons and jails nationwide have faced similar legal challenges.

Jennifer Picknelly, a transgender woman who in Massachusetts, sued a sheriff alleging she was mocked with anti-transgender slurs, extorted and raped while an inmate at a Hampden County jail for men in 2016. She recently agreed to drop the suit in exchange for a slightly earlier release.

Having a court decide where to send Hampton and other transgender inmates "would directly interfere with the operations of the (department) in a situation where Plaintiff is merely attempting to manipulate

the system," Illinois Department of Corrections lawyers argued in a filing.

The same state filing casts doubt, not only on Hampton's accounts of abuse by guards, but on her gender identity — alleging that Hampton in initial sessions with prison health workers never claimed to be transgender and, in the words of the filing, "was ok with being male."

But a key witness for Hampton, clinical psychiatrist George Brown, said in a declaration to the court before Friday's hearing that Hampton shows all the features of someone convinced of their identity as a female, saying Hampton has identified as female since the age of 5.

He also challenged the department's contention that Hampton is a greater risk to women because she hasn't had sex reassignment surgery, saying such a view "conflicts with all reliable medical literature." He added Hampton's low testosterone levels due to previous hormone treatments meant she was "functionally chemically castrated."

A decision on the transfer request isn't expected for several weeks.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, January 6, 2018 |

A9

ENTERTAINMENT

4 women accuse filmmaker Paul Haggis of sexual misconduct

By Michael Balsamo and Lindsey Bahr A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — A civil lawsuit charging Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis with raping a publicist has prompted three additional women to come forward with their own sexual misconduct accusations, including another publicist who says he forced her to perform oral sex, then raped her.

One of the other women speaking out told The Associated Press that Haggis tried to sexually assault her. "I need to be inside you," she recalled him saying, before she managed to run away.

Another of the new accusers said Haggis held down her arms, forcibly kissed her on a street corner, then followed her into a taxi. She said she later escaped his clutches.

When asked about the new accusations, Christine Lepera, attorney for the 64-year-old screenwriter of "Million Dollar Baby" and "Crash," said, "He didn't rape anybody."

Haggis has denied the original rape allegation in a counter-complaint to the lawsuit, and said the accuser and her lawyer had demanded a $9 million payment to avoid legal action, which he characterized as extortion.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed Dec. 15 in Manhattan, is identified in court papers as Haleigh Breest. The other three women subsequently came forward to Breest's New York attorneys. They spoke to the AP on the condition that they not be identified for fear of retribution.

The AP generally does not identify people who say they were the victims of sexual assault.

On Friday afternoon, Breest's attorneys filed an amended complaint that

includes details of the allegations lodged by the three new accusers.

In separate interviews with the AP, the three provided detailed accounts of encounters they say occurred between 1996 and 2015. The women were early in their careers in the entertainment business when, they say, the Hollywood heavyweight lured them to private or semi-private places under the guise of discussing productions or a subject of a professional nature.

They all said Haggis first tried to kiss them. In two of the cases, they said, when they fought back, Haggis escalated his aggression.

The new rape accuser said she was a 28-yearold publicist working on a television show being produced by Haggis in 1996 when he called to ask to review photos from the show that night in her office.

"I thought it was odd, but I agreed. He was the ultimate boss. I didn't feel inclined to say no," she said.

When Haggis arrived, she said, everyone else had left the office for the night and he insisted they speak in a back office. She said Haggis began kissing her as soon as they walked into the room.

"I just pulled away. He was just glaring at me and came at me again. I was really resisting. He said to me, 'Do you really want to continue working?'" the woman said.

"And then he really forced himself on me. I was just numb. I didn't know what to do."

She said he made her perform oral sex, then pushed her to the floor and raped her.

When she returned to work the next day, she was so scared of Haggis that she asked a friend to come to work with her, she said.

Her account was corroborated by another friend, who said that in the weeks after the attack the woman lost weight and appeared to be depressed. When she asked what happened, the woman said Haggis had raped her a few weeks earlier, the friend said.

The friend spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because she still works in the entertainment industry and feared possible retaliation.

The accuser said she considered calling the police but feared that no one would believe her and worried that Haggis could end her career.

"The power, the anger, the financial resources, you feel like you are not really a match for that," she said.

The woman said she felt inspired to come forward after seeing Haggis' photo and a news story about Breest's lawsuit, amid the growing #MeToo movement of women speaking out about sexual misconduct by powerful men in Hollywood, politics, the media and other industries.

Breest accuses Haggis of raping her after he lured her back to his apartment in Manhattan following a film premiere in 2013.

She had accepted his offer of a ride home. Instead, she said, he brought her to his apartment in SoHo and invited her inside for a drink.

Fearing she would insult him if she declined the offer, Breest went into his apartment and had a glass of wine.

Quickly, Haggis became "sexually aggressive," she said in her lawsuit, and began kissing her.

She was "petrified and felt paralyzed," the suit said, when Haggis asked her, "You're scared of me, aren't you?"

Haggis then forced her into a bedroom and onto

a bed and tried to tear off her tights, she said. She called out "no," but he wouldn't stop, she said.

He forced her to perform oral sex on him, he fondled her, asked if she liked anal sex, then raped her, according to the lawsuit.

When she woke up hours later, feeling sore, scared and humiliated, she saw Haggis sleeping in another bedroom, and left.

Breest said she went to a clinic to be checked for sexually transmitted diseases, then told several friends and a psychologist.

The third accuser was in her 30s when she met with Haggis at his Los Angeles office in the late 2000s to pitch him a potential television show.

When she arrived for the meeting, set for 9 p.m., there were other employees around, but all quickly left. She said he had a bottle of wine open on his desk, too, and that when she sat down on a couch in his office, Haggis told her he had an arrangement with his wife to have extramarital relationships.

Panicked, she said, she looked for her car keys and an escape route, as Haggis came around a table and tried to kiss her.

She said the thought to herself, "How am I going to escape alive?"

"I felt like my life could have been over," she said.

She ran to her car.

Haggis followed her outside, but she managed to get in and drive off before calling her sister and several friends to tell them what happened, she said. A friend told the AP she remembered being told about the incident.

The new accuser who said Haggis forcibly kissed her, then followed her into her taxi, said the encounter occurred in 2015 in Canada. She said she was in her late 20s at

Darren Calabrese / AP

In this Sept. 6, 204 file photo, director Paul Haggis poses for a photo in Toronto during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

the time and knew Haggis from film events.

She said that when the taxi arrived at her apartment, Haggis threw money at the driver, chased her and kissed her again before she was able to get into her residence and shut the door. She said Haggis waved his hands at her once she was inside and sent her harassing text messages for the next 24 hours, until she blocked him.

After years of working in television, Haggis broke out in the mid-2000s when he became the first screenwriter to write back-to-back best picture winners, "Million Dollar Baby" and "Crash," which he also directed. He also gained attention for his defection from Scientology in 2009, and public criticism of the religion in a 2011 New Yorker article, a book and an HBO documentary. All the women interviewed denied any connection to Scientology.

Haggis has presented himself as an advocate of the underdog in his films, addressing racism, euthanasia and war. He also is known for his involvement with charities, including the Haiti-focused Artists for Peace and Justice, and his condemnation of Harvey Weinstein.

In an interview with The Guardian in October, Haggis said that while he

didn't think sexual harassment and abuse were endemic in Hollywood, it was a "fairly sexist" town. He also spoke further about Weinstein.

"A lot of people are compromised by Harvey's alleged actions," said Haggis. "Although everyone thinks it is vile behavior, you have got to focus on those who may have colluded and protected him. For me, they are as guilty as he is and in some cases more so, if I can say that. I mean, he was a predator and a predator is a predator.

But what about those who would rather look the other way?"

In a statement Thursday, Breest's lawyers responded to Haggis' counter-complaint.

"We view Mr. Haggis's claims against Haleigh Breest as ludicrous, and a further act of aggression.

In our system of justice, those who have been wronged have the clear right to seek redress and hold those responsible accountable for their misconduct," said Jonathan Abady of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP. "In an act of remarkable hubris, Mr. Haggis has the temerity to claim that he, not her, was the victim. It is a preposterous and transparent PR stunt that will not succeed. Ms. Breest will not be intimidated or deterred from seeking justice."

Judge rejects 'Bachelor' star's fatal accident law challenge

By David Pitt A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star is fighting to avoid prison after driving his pickup into the back of a tractor and killing a neighbor.

Chris Soules, who became known as "Prince Farming" during his 2015 appearance on "The Bachelor" and also appeared on "The Bachelorette" and "Dancing With The Stars," lost a legal battle Friday in the felony case against him.

A judge dismissed his constitutional challenge to an Iowa law requiring the surviving driver in a fatal accident to remain at the scene until police arrive. He faces trial on Jan. 18.

Soules rear-ended a farm tractor driven by Kenneth Mosher on a rural northern Iowa road just after sunset on April 24. Mosher died soon after at a hospital.

The accident sent the tractor Mosher was driving and Soules' pickup into ditches on opposite sides of the road.

Soules called 911 and identified himself, administered CPR to Mosher and remained at the scene until emergency personnel arrived. But before law enforcement could arrive, Soules was driven home.

He was arrested at 1:16 the next morning at his home near Arlington, 12 miles northeast of the accident scene. Sheriff's reports indicate he declined to let officers into his house until after they obtained a search warrant.

He was charged with failure to remain at the scene of a fatal accident, which carries a penalty of up to five years in pris-

Rodney White / AP

Former TV reality show star Chris Soules attends a hearing in Buchanan County District Court in Independence, Iowa.

on.

His attorneys claim Iowa's law violates the constitutional rights of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to avoid self-incrimination.

The law in question says, in part, "a surviving driver shall promptly report the accident to law enforcement authorities, and shall immediately return to the scene of the accident or inform the law enforcement authorities where the surviving driver can be located."

Most states consider it a felony to leave the scene of an accident in which someone is injured or dies, but Iowa's law differs in that it has been interpreted to require the surviving driver to be present when law officers arrive.

"No other state has a comparable requirement," Soules' attorneys said in court documents.

A driver forced to meet face-to-face with police is exposed to interrogation and observation by officers and risk self-incrimination, his attorneys argued.

State prosecutors contend the purpose of the law is to prevent drivers from evading liability for driving recklessly, driving while drunk or driving with a suspended or revoked license.

"The state submits the legislature foresaw that drunk drivers could flee the scene of a fatal crash precisely because they wanted to escape and sober up before confronting law enforcement officers who may detect telltale signs of intoxication," prosecutors said in court documents.

Initial court documents Buchanan County Attorney Shawn Harden filed in May said Soules was seen purchasing alcohol at a convenience store shortly before the accident. They allege he attempted "to obfuscate the immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the accident, including a determination of his level of intoxication and an explanation of the empty and partially consumed open alcoholic beverages located in and around his vehicle ..."

Had Soules been tested at the scene or soon after and

found to have been legally drunk, a much more serious charge such as vehicular homicide could have been brought.

It carries a prison sentence of as much as 25 years.

Soules, 36, pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2005 and was sentenced to one year of probation and a 60-day suspended jail sentence. In 2001, when he was 19, he twice pleaded guilty to underage possession of alcohol and also was fined for having an open container in a car.

The ruling Friday by Judge Andrea Dryer says Iowa's requirement to remain at the scene is not a seizure under the state or federal constitutions and it does not require the driver to divulge anything to police that would violate rights against self-incrimination.

Soules became a television reality show celebrity after appearing on the ABC network's "The Bachelorette" in 2014 and played the starring role in the network's "The Bachelor" in 2015. He also was chosen to be one of 12 celebrity competitors on "Dancing With The Stars" in that year but was eliminated during week eight of the competition, finishing fifth.

One of Soules' attorneys, Brandon Brown, said in court documents that he may claim as a possible defense diminished capacity "based upon his then-existing medical condition due to injuries sustained."

Brown did not provide an immediate response to the judge's ruling or indicate whether Soules would appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court but indicated a statement was planned for release Friday.

Darron Cummings / AP file photo

David Letterman has lined up former president Barack Obama to be his first guest when he returns to a TV talk show later this month.

Letterman welcomes Obama to Netflix show ASSOCIATED PRE SS

NEW YORK — David Letterman has lined up former president Barack Obama to be his first guest when he returns to a TV talk show later this month.

Obama will join Letterman on Jan. 12 for the launch of the new "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman" on Netflix.

Other guests slated to be on the show include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern. In each hourlong episode, Letterman will conduct a long-form conversation with a single guest and explore topics of his own outside the studio.

It will be the first talk show Letterman has hosted since he stepped down from CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" in May 2015.

A10 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER DEVICES From page A1 argue the government shouldn't be able to search devices without warrants or probable cause.

CBP officials credit the spike, in part, to the fact that people now carry more devices — often several at a time — along with growing traveler volume and risk assessments.

The agency Friday also released an updated written directive that clarifies how passwords and cloud data should be handled.

The new rules make clear that agents are only allowed to inspect information physically present on a device — and not information stored remotely, such as on the cloud.

To prevent officers from accessing information they shouldn't, they are now required to request that travelers turn off their devices' network connectivity, or disable it themselves.

Passwords provided by travelers to access their phones, computers, tablets and other devices must also be deleted or destroyed immediately following a search, the directive says.

It also differentiates between basic searches, during which officers can

PATROL From page A1 most dangerous stretch on the river between the new Hidalgo Pumphouse and a dam west of Hidalgo.

Other scouts often wander along the top of the bluff, notifying smugglers at other points along the river when to send narcotics and victims of human smuggling across.

“Hopefully that’s just a firework,” Sean O’Loughlin, a vessel commander, said of the bang heard

scroll through passengers' contacts, photos and other material without reasonable suspicion of criminal behavior, and advanced searches, in which devices are connected to external equipment so their contents can be reviewed or stored.

That more intense search now requires the approval of a supervisor and "reasonable suspicion of activity in violation" of the law or "a national security concern," such as a person's presence on a terror watch list.

The increase in searches comes as the Trump administration has moved to ramp up border security and dramatically curtail who is permitted to enter the country.

Hugh Handeyside, a staff attorney in the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, described the changes as a "step in the right direction," but said they are largely cosmetic and still allow the government to conduct unconstitutional searches.

"Officers can still conduct what amounts to a digital strip search of passengers" without a warrant, he said.

The group filed a lawsuit last year against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched at the border.

during a Wednesday morning shift.

Another noise then rang out seconds later.

“You guys good?” radioed an agent aboard a boat shortly downstream.

O’Loughlin responded: “10-4. Looks like there’s some activity up by Rock Alley.”

Two more similar noises were heard soon thereafter, but agents remained uncertain whether it was fireworks or gunfire.

Because the danger that lies on the other side of the river is often unknown to them, agents

Courtesy

Multiple maquinita locations were raided on Friday in Laredo, Zapata and Falcon Heights as part of an ongoing investigation known as Operation One Arm Banded. Two arrests were made in Laredo.

RAID From page A1 the 3000 block of Robert Frost in the D&J Alexander Estates Subdivision in north Laredo.

“As we speak here today in Laredo, there are also raids taking

WALL From page A1 Jason Samuels, a spokesman for the Arizona Republican.

An administration official confirmed the document was prepared at the request of congressional negotiators and said funding for the wall and other security measures must be part of any legislative package on

who patrol by boat are in a constant state of high alert.

Near Brownsville last week, an agent assigned to the Riverine Unit, which patrols the river by boat, suffered a grazing wound to the back of his head after being shot from Mexico, according to a Border Patrol statement.

The agent sustained a “non-life-threatening injury from a small caliber weapon,” the statement read. “The incident is currently under investigation.”

Agents are trained to

place in Zapata (County) and in Falcon Heights,” Baeza said at about noon Friday.

Authorities raided the Magic Spin, Gold Mine and a home in Zapata County. In Falcon Heights, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the Lucky Spin.

“The concern that we have is the violation of the established gambling laws restricting these types of establishments from paying out money,” Baeza said.

He added that the “bigger picture” is whether the proceeds come from money laun-

dering.

“At this point, nobody has been charged (with money laundering),” Baeza said.

In addition, U.S. Border Patrol took custody of suspected undocumented immigrant at the 8-liner business on Calton.

immigration. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the wall would be “first and foremost” in any package that includes new protections for DACA recipients. She also said the administration wanted to close “loop-

holes” on issues that include handling asylum claims and local police working with immigration authorities.

Nielsen called the $3.2 billion requests for fencing during the administration’s first two years a down payment.

“This is not going to get us the whole wall we need, but it’s a start,” she said.

The Customs and Border Protection document

includes $5.7 billion for towers, surveillance equipment and other technology; $1 billion over five years for road construction and maintenance; and $8.5 billion over seven years for 5,000 new Border Patrol agents, 2,500 border inspectors and other personnel, the U.S. official said.

The document doesn’t specify where the extended wall should be built.

look for specifics on both sides of the river.

“We’re out in the open; no protection for us,” O’Loughlin said. “I mean, at any given moment someone could pop out and throw a rock or take off a shot.”

This patrol also passes under the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, where scouts linger on the Mexican side of the bridge. Sometimes they’ll drop rocks or buckets of urine on the agents as they pass underneath.

People have also hung fishing hooks to try to injure agents.

“Hasn’t happened to me, thankfully,” O’Loughlin said.

As the boats rumbled under the bridge Wednesday, another vessel commander, Enrique Rodriguez, waved at two men standing on the bridge.

One shouted and waved his arm several times, pointing toward the United States.

“They already passed,” the man said, apparently

referring to a group of immigrants that had already illegally crossed the river.

After more routine patrolling, the boats sped toward Rock Alley. Some people flung fishing rods; others dropped nets.

But the noises that rang out were on the agents’ minds. Such is the need to be on guard in the area that agent Marcelino Medina had his hand on his holster while the boats approached the alley.