TEXAS CLIMBING STANDINGS
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2016
FREE
LONGHORNS GET BACK INTO THE MIX OF BIG 12 TITLE RACE, 1B
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION
ZAPATA COUNTY
Early voting starts Tuesday
Courtesy photo
The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office seized a marijuana load Sunday. Authorities said they seized 576.2 pounds of pot.
County will have seven contested races Precinct 4 county constable
commissioner
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Early voting for the March 1 primary election begins Tuesday. There are seven contested races in Zapata County in the Democratic primary. They are:
Precinct 1 county constable
Sheriff
Mario H. Garcia Jr. Gregory “Greg” Gutierrez
Sigifredo “Sigi” Gonzalez Jr. Alonso Lopez
Precinct 1 county commissioner
Precinct 2 county constable Jimmy Mendoza Daniel “Danny” Arriaga Julian J. “Jay” Gutierrez
Paco Mendoza Juan Carlos (Charle) Solis Mario Alvarez
Precinct 3 county
Benito Reyes Cynthia Garza-Herrera Eddie Martinez
Precinct 3 county constable Ramiro “Ram” Hernandez Eloy “Jay” Martinez
Manuel “Manny” Medina III Baldemar “Balde” Montes Manuel Mario Flores Jr. Daniel “Danny” Perez Sr. Three of the local races are uncontested. They are: Zapata County Democratic Party Chair: Doroteo “Teo” Garza County attorney: Saíd Alfonso “Poncho” Figueroa County tax assessor-collector: Luis Lauro Gonzalez According to the Zapata County website, those who want to cast an early ballot can do so at the Zapata County Courthouse, 200 E. 7th Ave., Building B. Early voting ends Feb. 26. The following are election day
See ELECTION PAGE 10A
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
Sheriff’s office seizes load of marijuana By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office seized a marijuana load Sunday, according to reports. Authorities said they seized 576.2 pounds of pot valued at approximately $460,960. No arrest was made, Sheriff ’s Officials said Wednesday.
Deputies monitoring traffic along Texas 16 observed a black Chevrolet pickup traveling east. When deputies followed the vehicle, the Chevrolet allegedly accelerated and turned into the JRJ oilfield yard. Reports state the suspect vehicle parked in between two semi-pickup trucks.
See LOAD PAGE 10A
MONTERREY, MEXICO
49 INMATES DEAD IN MASSIVE PRISON RIOT Photo by Jacquelyn Martin | AP
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets the crowd after speaking during a town hall meeting.
Hillary Clinton gets state superdelegates 50 Texas Democratic officials also support the former Secretary of State By ABBY LIVINGSTON TEXAS TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With early voting in Texas just four days away, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced she’d picked up a handful of endorsements in the state ahead of its March 1 Democratic presidential primary. The campaign listed about 50 Texas Democratic officials who are now backing her campaign. Many of those likely will be able to help her turn out the vote in their own backyards. But three of those en-
dorsers are specifically crucial: Democratic National Committee members Betty Ritchie, Dennis Speight and Lenora Sorola-Pohlman. As members of the DNC, they are what is known among Democrats as superdelegates who have outsized say in the party’s nomination fight between Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. The Texas Tribune previously reported Speight and Sorola-Pohlman were Clinton backers. Ritchie’s endorsement was not publicly known prior to Friday’s announcement.
See CLINTON PAGE 10A
Photo by Emilio Vazquez | AP
Inmates stand on the rooftop of the Topo Chico prison as police stand guard on the perimeters, after a riot broke out around midnight, in Monterrey, Mexico, Thursday. Dozens of inmates were killed and several injured in a brutal fight between two rival factions.
Two gangs clash at crowded penitentiary By PORFIRIO IBARRA AND MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTERREY, Mexico — A brawl between rival drug gangs at an overcrowded penitentiary in northern Mexico turned into a riot Thursday, leaving 49 inmates dead and 12 injured in the coun-
try’s deadliest prison melee in years. No escapes were reported in the clash at the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, said Nuevo Leon state Gov. Jaime Rodriguez. The riot took place on the eve of Pope Francis’ arrival in Mexico, a visit that is scheduled to include a trip next
week to another prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Rodriguez said in the morning that 52 people had died, but he lowered that by three in the late afternoon. The reason for the changed death toll was not clear. At a news conference the governor read a list of
40 names of confirmed victims, saying five of the remaining bodies had been charred by fire and four were yet to be positively identified. One of the injured was in grave condition. Terrified relatives gathered at the prison
See INMATES PAGE 10A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
Saturday, February 13
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Operation Feed the Homeless hosted by the Laredo Free Thinkers will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Jarvis Plaza. Please volunteer your time to serve food or pass out clothing. Or donate much needed food, toiletry or clothing items. For more information visit the Laredo Free Thinker’s Facebook page or call 744-5674. Enjoy an evening of romance under the stars at the TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium, 5201 University Blvd. There will be music, food and legends of our stars. There will be two showings, one at 5 p.m. and one at 7 p.m. $25 per person or $45 per couple. Includes beer and/or wine, chocolates, light hors d’oeuvres and one rose per couple. For tickets call 956-3262463.\ The movie “ 13 Hours: the secret soldiers of Benghazi” will be free of charge at Regal Cinema( by the LEA) at 1 pm. Ticket pickup will be from 12:15 pm to 12:55 pm. Adults only. For more information please call 726-1266.
Today is Saturday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2016. There are 322 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was officially declared winner of the 1860 presidential election as electors cast their ballots. On this date: In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. In 1935, a jury in Flemington, New Jersey, found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was later executed.) In 1945, during World War II, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden. The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, from the Germans. In 1960, France exploded its first atomic bomb in the Sahara Desert. In 1975, a late-night arson fire set by a disgruntled custodian broke out on the 11th floor of the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center; the blaze spread to six floors, but caused no direct casualties. In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York. In 1988, the 15th Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed. In 1996, the rock musical “Rent,” by Jonathan Larson, opened off-Broadway. Ten years ago: Auditors reported that millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina disaster aid had been squandered, paying for such items as a $450 tattoo and $375-dollar-a-day beachfront condos. Five years ago: Egypt’s military leaders dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and promised elections in moves cautiously welcomed by protesters who’d helped topple President Hosni Mubarak. One year ago: Calling cyberspace the new “Wild West,” President Barack Obama told the private sector during a White House cybersecurity summit at Stanford University that it needed to do more to stop cyberattacks aimed at the U.S. every day. Today’s Birthdays: Actor George Segal is 82. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 72. Singer Peter Gabriel is 66. Actor David Naughton is 65. Rock musician Peter Hook is 60. Actor Matt Salinger is 56. Singer Henry Rollins is 55. Actor Neal McDonough is 50. Singer Freedom Williams is 50. Actress Kelly Hu is 48. Rock singer Matt Berninger (The National) is 45. Rock musician Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down) is 44. Singer Robbie Williams is 42. Singer-songwriter Feist is 40. Rhythm-andblues performer Natalie Stewart is 37. Actress Mena Suvari is 37. Rock musician Dash Hutton (Haim (hym)) is 31. Actress Katie Volding is 27. Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (also known as Prince Michael Jackson I) is 19. Thought for Today: “An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.” — C.S. Lewis, English author (1898-1963).
Tuesday, February 16 Join the MOS Library Knitting Circle at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 1-3 p.m. Please bring yarn and knitting needles. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Crochet for Kids at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Please bring yarn and a crochet needle. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
Thursday, February 18 Shayne Murphy paintings exhibit reception at TAMIU’s CFPA Art Gallery from 6–7:30 p.m. The exhibit is open through April 7. Preschool Read & Play at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Story time and crafts for preschoolers. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Family Story Time & Crafts at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
Friday, February 19 A Fresh Start to a Healthier You. Learn practical cooking and shopping tips and recipes for success in the kitchen at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4:30-5:30 p.m. For more information, contact Angie Sifuentes, Webb County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, 956-523-5290, angelica.sifuentes@ag.tamu.edu.
Saturday, February 20 The first of the Laredo Free Thinkers Lecture series with Professor Shawn Miller will be held at the Holding Institute at 5:30 p.m. This lecture’s theme will be economics and budgeting. It is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, February 23 Join the MOS Library Knitting Circle at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 1-3 p.m. Please bring yarn and knitting needles. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403. Crochet for Kids at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Please bring yarn and a crochet needle. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.
Thursday, February 25 Spanish Book Club from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at City of Laredo Public Library – Calton. For more info, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810. STEM Professional Development and Internship Fair from 1–4 p.m. at the Student Center Rotunda. Provides opportunities to those interested in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sectors for TAMIU students, alumni and the Laredo community. Employers will also host corporate presentations throughout the day. Spanish Book Club from 6-9 p.m. at City of Laredo Public Library – Calton. For more info, call Sylvia Reash at 956-763-1810
Photo by Julie Jacobson | AP
Passengers from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas, await transportation after arriving at Cape Liberty cruise port, Wednesday, in Bayonne, N.J. Carrying 4,500 passengers and 1,600 crew members, the ship returned early from a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas after it was battered by a major storm in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cruise ship inspected ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAYONNE, N.J. — The Coast Guard on Friday inspected a cruise ship that was battered and damaged by an intense winter storm to determine if it will be able to set sail as scheduled on a weekend voyage. Royal Caribbean was forced to cancel Anthem of the Seas’ seven-day cruise to the Bahamas, and the ship returned to Bayonne on Wednesday night after a storm packing hurricane-force winds and waves as high as 30 feet damaged part of its propulsion system and left 4,500 passengers hunkered down in their cabins. The 1,141-foot ship’s left azipod was rendered inoperable during the storm, Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said. An azipod is a propeller that is mounted to a steerable pod that contains an electric motor.
The azipod was replaced, Rowe said, and Coast Guard officials were examining it along with the ship’s lifeboats and other safety equipment to see if they meet standards. The ship can safely maneuver with one azipod, Rowe said. In addition to the partial loss of propulsion, Rowe said, the ship had largely cosmetic damage, including broken glass, china and balcony doors. Four passengers had minor injuries. Royal Caribbean said it expects the ship will sail as scheduled Saturday on an eightday cruise to the Bahamas. Many passengers criticized the cruise line for allowing the ship to sail from New Jersey last Saturday as the storm moved up the coast. Royal Caribbean said the storm identified gaps in its planning system and the company was “strengthening” its policy.
California heat and dry spell stoke drought worry
Shooter’s mother thinks of victims daily
Boy severely burned in meth lab explosion
SONOMA, Calif. — Where did El Nino go? Ten days with record heat and no rain have Californians worrying about the drought again. The strong El Nino had brought the state near-normal rain and snow this winter, raising hopes that four years of record dry conditions were over. But highs surging to 95 degrees in Southern California have surfers and golfers out in February. Climate researcher Sam Iacobellis with Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego says this El Nino so far hasn’t brought the strong rain and other weather patterns that meteorologists expect with big El Ninos. Forecasters with the National Weather Service say it’s normal to have some long dry spells even during strong El Ninos. Forecasters expect some rain next week.
DENVER — The mother of Columbine High School shooter Dylan Klebold says she didn’t know anything was wrong with her son before the 1999 attack, and that she thinks about the victims and their families every day. In an interview set to air on “20/20” on Friday night, Sue Klebold tells ABC News’ Diane Sawyer that before the attack she considered herself a parent who would have known something was wrong, but “I didn’t know, and it’s very hard to live with that.” Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire at the suburban Denver school on April 20, 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves. Sue Klebold’s interview coincides with the release of her memoir, “A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy.”
ERIE, Pa. — Police in Pennsylvania say a 3-year-old boy suffered serious burns when a onepot methamphetamine lab exploded. Erie police say 34-year-old Stephen Godfrey was cooking the drugs when they exploded, burning the boy Feb. 4. The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment of severe burns to his face, hands, legs and abdomen. Fire inspectors initially thought the boy’s blanket got too close to a wall-mounted heater, causing a small explosion and fire. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Godfrey, who faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 18 on charges of felony drug manufacturing, endangering a child and other crimes. Police say Godfrey removed the drug-making materials before firefighters arrived. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND TEXAS Prosecutors face tough road in priest cold case HOUSTON — Prosecutors face a tough road in their case against a former priest accused this week in the killing of a young Texas teacher and beauty queen nearly 56 years ago, according to legal experts. John Bernard Feit, 83, remained in custody Friday in Phoenix following his indictment in South Texas’ Hidalgo County for the murder of 25-year-old Irene Garza. Feit had been considered a suspect in the past, and two fellow priests told authorities he confessed to them. But like many cold cases, this one will pose special difficulties stemming from decades-old evidence, a lack of DNA and the long delay in bringing charges. “These are challenges that are not unsurmountable, but they are going to be looked at very carefully by the defense,” said
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Delcia Lopez/The San Antonio Express-News | AP
Family photos of Irene Garza as a teen and beauty queen are displayed at the home of her aunt in Edinburg, Texas. A former priest was arrested Tuesday, in Arizona in the 1960 slaying of the 25-year-old schoolteacher and beauty queen. Philip Hilder, a Houston criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. Authorities allege the then-27year-old Feit killed Garza on April 16, 1960, after hearing her confession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, where
he was a priest. Her body was found days later. An autopsy determined Garza, who was named Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958, had been raped while unconscious and was beaten and suffocated. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
Local & State
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
State to recommend court ban on bite mark evidence By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas became the first state Friday to call for banning bite mark analysis in criminal cases, dealing a major credibility blow to a technique that critics rebuke as junk science and will now likely encounter greater skepticism in courtrooms across the U.S. Although the Texas Forensic Science Commission doesn’t have the power to enforce an outright ban, its recommendation for a moratorium on bite mark evidence is expected to weigh heavily on the minds of judges statewide and beyond. There is no scientific proof that teeth can be definitively matched to human skin. At least two dozen men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks have been exonerated nationwide
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Lynn Garcia uses a projector as she takes part in a Texas Forensic Science Commission meeting. since 2000. Critics say it is long overdue that the practice joins other discredited evidence such as bullet-lead analysis and microscopic hair analysis. “For far too long courts have permitted this incredibly persuasive evidence that is cloaked in science, when in fact there has been no scientific research to substantiate the practitioners’ claims that it is possible to identify
someone from a bite mark,” said Chris Fabricant, an attorney for the New York-based Innocence Project. The commission, a state agency whose members are appointed by state Republican leaders, didn’t shut the door on supporting bite mark evidence under strict criteria in the future. But commissioners said the burden is now on a small
and mostly ungoverned group of forensic dentists who defend the technique to come back with better research. Supporters of bite mark evidence, who argue the practice has helped convict child killers and serial killer Ted Bundy, told the commission this week that those studies are in the works. “This should have been going on for years. Hopefully we’ll go along a lot faster than we should have been,” forensic dentist Frank Wright said. Putting new scrutiny on bite marks has thrust the obscure Texas Forensic Science Commission into the national spotlight for the second time in recent years. In 2009, thenGov. Rick Perry abruptly removed three people from the state board just 48 hours before commissioners were to consider a report that a faulty investigation led to a Texas man’s execution.
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
4 sex offenders deported THE ZAPATA TIMES
U.S. Border Patrol said Wednesday that agents from the Laredo Sector arrested four previously deported convicted sex offenders over a recent three-day period. Jose Guadalupe Grimaldo-Requena, a 30-year-old from Mexico, was apprehended by Border Patrol agents assigned to the Zapata Station. During processing, agents discovered that he had been convicted of sexual assault of a child in 2008 in a Dallas County District Court in Texas and sentenced to eight years confinement. He is a registered sex offender and was on parole until June 19, 2016. Daniel Perez-Lopez, a 32year-old from El Salvador, was apprehended by Laredo South agents. During processing, agents discovered that in 2005, Perez-Lopez was convicted of assault and rape in 2005 in Prince William County, Virginia
and sentenced to nine years confinement. Benito Montiel-Ramiez, a 32-year-old from Mexico, was also apprehended by Laredo South agents. During processing, agents discovered that he had been convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a child in 2011 in Laredo and was sentenced to 10 years confinement. Carlos Guzman-Zavala, a 37-year-old from Mexico, was apprehended by Border Patrol agents assigned to the Hebbronville Station. During processing, agents discovered that he had been convicted of aggravated sexual assault with a weapon in 2008 in the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois and sentenced to four years confinement. He is a registered sexual offender. “This is indicative of the efforts the men and women of the Laredo Sector Border Patrol make in keeping our community safe,” said Chief Patrol Agent Mario Martinez.
A&M president decries harassment reports ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M University is still trying to determine which students may have shouted a racial slur and referenced the Confederate flag to a group of black and Latino high school students touring the campus. About 60 students from a southwest Dallas charter school reported they were taunted by students on campus during a visit Tuesday. Two black high school students said they were approached by a white A&M
student wearing Confederate flag earrings, state Sen. Royce West said Thursday. Others in the tour group said they heard white A&M students telling them to “Go back where you came from,” and using an anti-black slur, said West, who said he was contacted by university officials. The Dallas Democrat called for the possible expulsion of any students involved in the incident, and said he wanted to see action from the university’s leadership next week. Texas A&M’s leaders “have political capital with me,”
said West, the vice chairman of the Texas Senate’s higher education committee. “If you’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior, then you’ve got to make a statement,” West said. “This gang of students that participated in this should be disciplined accordingly.” No video or audio of the incident has emerged yet, complicating efforts to find out who said what, University President Michael K. Young said Friday. A counselor from the tour group appears to have called the police, and a
campus officer did investigate at the scene, he said. Young said Friday that racism needed to be addressed broadly at Texas A&M, where the student body is 3.4 percent black, and elsewhere. One element of that discussion, he said, was addressing the meaning of the Confederate flag for white students who might not get the connections it has for many people to slavery and discrimination. “If this event serves as an occasion to kind of galvanize the community even more to expand and deepen their efforts on
that, I’m absolutely delighted to do that, because that’s what has to happen,” Young said. Joshua Lewis, a Texas A&M student who serves on the university’s Black Student Alliance Council, said he’s never had racial slurs directed at him, though other students have told him they have had them. Subtler forms of racial insensitivity are more common, he said, like other students assuming he is a scholarship athlete because he’s black. Lewis said he was encouraged by strong state-
ments this week from Young and campus leaders, but wanted to do more to improve campus dialogue and awareness of race. “No one’s going to have a reset button to change these ideologies,” Lewis said. “But we have to start thinking of creative ways to not only get students from diverse backgrounds who want to come to the school, but be at the school and then stay at the school.” Texas A&M is one of the state’s biggest and most prestigious universities and is about 90 miles outside of Houston.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Latino’s not loving Cruz and Rubio By MARY SANCHEZ THE KANSAS CITY STAR
It’s striking that in a presidential season with two viable Latino contenders, discussion of Hispanic voters has been negligible. This will change as the primaries move to states with larger Latino populations, Nevada being first up. In those states, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio will come under questioning for ethnic loyalty. This scrutiny will do them no favors. While some may imagine that Cruz or Rubio would get a boost in the general election from being the first Hispanic presidential nominee, either one would only help to hand the White House to the Democrats. The reason is simple: They continue to spurn other Hispanics. Here we have two children of immigrants trying to get elected by demonizing immigrants. Indeed, Rubio and Cruz embody a reality that they and their party deny: Latinos become Americanized very quickly. Both men are very close to their immigrant roots, one generation away. Yet both men are highly assimilated. Rubio’s love of rap music and respect for Pitbull, N.W.A., Tupac and Nicki Minaj, is often cited. Cruz, raised in Texas and the son of an evangelical preacher, has a penchant for Western attire and after 9/11 switched his preference from classic rock to country music. This is not exceptional for Latino families, whether they are legally in the United States or not. Assimilation happens; it’s an unstoppable force of our society. Neither man speaks with an accent; only Rubio is bilingual. Latino immigrant families shift from Spanish, becoming monolingual in English by the third generation. They follow the same pattern, the same fluid rate of language acquisition, as previous immigrant groups, be they European or Asian. In fact, some studies suggest that language shifts are now occurring faster for Latinos, due to technology. But to appeal to a GOP base that is positioned as anti-immigrant, these two have taken to casting other Latino immigrants as the outsiders, as resistant to becoming Americanized, as unworthy of opportunities to right their immigration status, whether that be by legislation or executive order. On the campaign trail this year, only one message is permissible to Republican candidates: Latinos are to be feared and deported. Build the wall! Secure the borders! End birthright citizenship! Never mind that migration from Mexico has dramatically slowed and that
illegal migration peaked nearly a decade ago. Some ascribe Rubio’s and Cruz’ lack of sympathy to being of Cuban descent. Cubans enjoy a huge advantage over other immigrants. If they can reach U.S. soil, they have an easy path to permanent legal status within a year. It’s a leftover policy from the Cold War, when many were fleeing the persecution of communist repression, although that wasn’t the case with either of the senators’ families. Increasingly, that connection to yesteryear is fraying. Cuban-Americans are moving away from their once steadfast ties to the GOP. Interestingly, Rubio probably got a taste of the non-Cuban immigrant experiences. He spent a portion of his teen-age years in Las Vegas, where his father found work as a bartender. The young Rubio was often assumed to be MexicanAmerican and counted many Mexican-American schoolmates as his closest friends. It reasonable to assume that he knew kids who had parents or other family members who were in this country without legal status. Perhaps that experience is what led Rubio to join the Gang of Eight, a group of senators who authored the last sane proposal for immigration reform, in 2013. Now he tries to scrub that fact from his record. A record 27.3 million Latinos will be eligible to vote this election cycle. Nearly half, 44 percent, will be millennials, according to Pew Research Center. Data crunchers believe that the eventual winner of the 2016 presidential election will need to draw at least 40 percent of Hispanic votes. Immigration obviously isn’t the only issue of interest to Latinos; it isn’t even the most important. Jobs, the economy, education rank very high too. However, it is a kind of gut-level test about attitudes. Rubio, especially, with his shifting to attract right-wing votes, has jilted Latino voters who would like to like him. Given their current posturing on immigration, neither Rubio nor Cruz has a chance. The backlash is coming. A group of high-profile Latino celebrities, including Benjamin Bratt, America Ferrera, George Lopez and Zoe Saldana, organized to call on the GOP presidential candidates to end their anti-immigrant fear-mongering. Guitarist Carlos Santana, in a statement, underlined the plea this way: "It’s never too late to graduate from the university of fear!" Sadly, it may be if you are seeking the Republican nomination.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
COLUMN
Black votes matter By FRANCIS WILKINSON BLOOMBERG VIEW
Debating Thursday night in Milwaukee, Hillary Clinton felt the fierce urgency of now. So did Bernie Sanders. With the Democratic primary campaign moving from Iowa and New Hampshire to Nevada and South Carolina later this month, and a bonanza of states in March, both candidates are fighting for support from black and Hispanic voters — and will continue to do so as long as the contest lasts. Neither can win the Democratic nomination without these votes. "The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher," Clinton said campaigning Thursday. "African-Americans can’t wait for solutions. They need results now." Clinton says "President Obama" as often as possible, and toward the debate’s end accused Sanders of insufficient loyalty to him. The Sanders campaign implies over and over that Obama couldn’t muster the revolution we need and that Clinton’s failure would be even greater. She seizes that invitation to defend the record and ethics of the na-
tion’s first black president — including his campaign contributions from the financial sector, thereby implicitly defending her own. "I’m running for president to knock down all the barriers that are holding Americans back," Clinton said in the debate, citing a litany of black Americans limited by discrimination (black votes, check), immigrants living in fear (Hispanic votes, check) and women working for lower pay (women’s votes, check). Earlier in the day Clinton had received the endorsement of the black establishment in the form of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. For good measure, Rep. John Lewis, the living symbol of the civil rights movement, took a hard whack at Sanders’s personal biography - just as Sanders is casting himself as a long-time fighter for racial justice, who even attended the 1963 March on Washington. "I never saw him. I never met him," Lewis said. "But I met Hillary Clinton." This is the way you win Democratic primaries. Or at least it has been. Obama defeated Clinton in 2008 on a number of fronts. But one of the most important was
black voters. He beat her 55 percent to 27 percent in South Carolina, where more than half the primary electorate was black. Obama won black voters 78 to 19 in the state. Clinton never recovered from the blow. Now Clinton is hoping to do to Sanders what Obama did to her - run him off the field in every state with a large black population. She wants Sanders to be viewed as a dreamy grandpa without a clue. Sanders’s best course may be to use his enormous advantage among white youth as a bridge to black youth - ceding the Congressional Black Caucus to Clinton while winning their kids and grandkids. He’s done pretty well so far without the "establishment." At the debate, Sanders compared the onerous criminal penalties for black youth smoking pot to the nonexistent penalties paid by financial executives whose companies broke laws. He spoke of minority youth unemployment, a "broken criminal justice system" and the "over-policing" of black communities. And he sought to best Clinton on compassion for undocumented immigrants
fleeing violence in Central America. He’s not ceding anything. When Sanders reaches out to voters who are "tired of establishment politics, tired of establishment economics," as he said at the debate, he can just as easily conjure a black face or a Hispanic surname as a white one. He even said race relations would improve during his presidency. Debate moderators Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff knew the score too. They asked several questions specifically about race - the sort rarely if ever raised in the less colorful alter-world of Republican debates. Metropolitan Milwaukee is reputed to be the most racially polarized metro area in the U.S. It could hardly be more polarized than the two national parties. As the political calendar turns to states with large black or Hispanic populations, the Democratic discussion will turn more acutely toward minority issues. The two candidates are comfortable using phrases like "institutional racism." It may not seem possible, but the vast distance between the two parties and what they talk about is about to grow even wider.
COLUMN
A good debate for both Dems By KEN HERMAN COX NEWSPAPERS
Here’s one thing maybe we all can agree on about the Thursday Democratic presidential debate on PBS: Impressive energy and endurance for a couple of senior citizens seeking Secret Service-assisted living. Good flow. Good interaction. Very PBSish, though during lulls I thought it might be fun to bring Chris Christie on stage for a surprise, drive-by attack segment.
Former U.S. Sen. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. socialist Bernie Sanders both made progress toward what they have to do to win their party’s nomination. And regardless of whether you agree with their proposals, you heard both offer specifics, a nice contrast from the trust-me-I’ll-makeAmerica-great-again rants from a certain leading candidate of a certain other major American political party. Each of the Democratic
contenders has specific demographic targets in mind as they work toward their next battles, the Feb. 20 Nevada caucuses and the Feb. 27 South Carolina primary, two contests with more diverse electorates than Iowa (where Clinton barely won) and New Hampshire (where Sanders won huge). Clinton acknowledged her need to do better among women -- particularly young women -- a demographic we and she thought would be in her camp. But I thought she gave a great an-
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
swer when that question came up, an answer that went beyond any sense of entitlement to the votes of those in her gender. Clinton said she is prochoice on women’s votes. “I have spent my entire adult life working toward making sure that women are empowered to make their own choices, even if that choice is not to vote for me. I believe that it’s most important that we unleash the full potential of women and girls in our society,” she said.
State
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Judge defines her lifetime of service By ROBERT STEIN AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS
AMARILLO, Texas — It was more than 80 years ago, but Mary Lou Robinson still remembers one of the events that set her on a path to becoming a lawyer. A young girl she went to school with was not allowed to attend classes after she refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance out of religious reservations. An outraged Robinson wished that something would be done to help the girl. “It seemed to me that when things were really wrong in the world, that law was what changed it and that lawyers were the ones that motivated the changes,” she said. Robinson, now 89, is in the twilight of a six-decade career as an Amarillo judge that has been capped off with a more than 35-year run as U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Texas. On Wednesday, Robinson assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement where judges may work a lighter caseload while still drawing salary. “After 60 years as a judge, you’re willing to do a little less,” she told the Amarillo Globe-News (http://bit.ly/1PB2j3Q), “but I’m still working.” Robinson was born in 1926 in Dodge City, Kan. Her family moved to Amarillo when she was 6 and just beginning grade school. Encouraged by her mother, post office supervisor Frances Aynn Strueber, Robinson’s goal was to be the first person in her family to earn a college degree. She graduated from Amarillo High School in 1944 and Amarillo College two years later, where she is recognized as a distinguished alumna. After that, Robinson earned an economics degree in 1948 from the University of Texas and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1950.
She was one of six women in her graduating class at law school. Today, women make up nearly half of the school’s graduating class in any given year. She married A.J. Robinson, who died in 1992, while still enrolled in school, and together they started a practice in Austin called Robinson and Robinson. After graduating from law school, she and her husband moved to Amarillo and continued their practice. Doors started opening up in front of her after that, she said. The first opened in 1955, when Potter County Commissioners’ Court named her judge of the newly created Potter County Court at Law. Robinson, 28 at the time, became the first woman to serve as a judge of a court higher than a justice of the peace court in Amarillo’s history. “When I was first a judge, women couldn’t serve on juries,” she said,
Photo by Michael Schumacher/The Amarillo Globe News | AP
This photo shows Judge Mary Lou Robinson who has taken senior status after more than 35 years as a U.S. District Judge.. recalling the many barriers that women faced. Robinson, one of just two female lawyers in Amarillo, was keenly aware of her responsibility as a pioneering female judge. “If I really fouled up, it wasn’t Mary Lou that fouled up,” she said. “It was
women who couldn’t do the job.” Robinson also had to juggle the needs of a family with her duty to the courts. She gave birth to daughter Rebecca in 1954 while working in private practice and Diana in 1957 while she was judge of the county court at
law. A son, Matthew, followed three years later. “She came home from work every night and cooked dinner for the family and was there to help drill us on multiplication tables and spelling,” said Diana Robinson, 58. “It probably wasn’t until I was grown and had a family of my own that I could appreciate how much energy the woman had because she made it all look easy.” In 1960, another door opened for Robinson. She was elected judge of the 108th District Court in Amarillo, and in 1973 she was appointed justice of the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo, making her the first female appellate judge in Texas. She was appointed chief justice of that court in 1977 and continued to serve in that capacity until 1979 when President Jimmy Carter nominated her to the federal bench, where she has remained ever since. She became the second
woman to serve as a U.S. district judge in Texas. Sarah T. Hughes, who administered the U.S. presidential oath of office to Lyndon Johnson aboard Air Force One hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, was the first. Kennedy appointed her in 1961. Robinson’s appointment 18 years later was seen as a milestone for many. “She is one of the women who really has paved the way for many, many others to see the potential to enter the legal profession,” said Darby Dickerson, dean of the Texas Tech University School of Law. “Her success in the different roles that she has taken on helped people understand that women were very capable of holding these positions.” Come to court unprepared, speak out of turn or attempt to showboat for the jury and you can expect a swift reprimand from Robinson.
National
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
Right fight, wrong tactics in Oregon standoff By BRADY MCCOMBS AND KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Right fight; wrong strategy. That’s what many ranchers and sympathizers opposing federal control of public lands in the West concluded after the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon. For some, the weekslong standoff that ended Thursday with the surrender of the final occupiers has only strengthened their resolve to fight the government’s control of vast expanses of Western land. But not all condone the tactics of the armed group that drew the nation’s gaze to the snowy landscapes of eastern. “We’re not backing off,” said Greg Whalen, a military veteran from Las Vegas who supports the Bundy ranching family that led the occupation. “We’re actually going to fight harder — peacefully.” Whalen and others say protests must remain a key part of the strategy — but they must be civil to avoid giving a reason for arrests. Others suggest the battle should shift to the courts to pry authority over open space from the federal government. State lawmakers, notably in Utah, are considering a legal way to take control of U.S. lands that account for a majority of the West, including most of Nevada; about two-thirds of Utah, Idaho and Alaska; and half of Oregon. Federal officials say U.S. control ensures the land is used in the interest of the environment,
Photo by Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian | AP
A man waves the American flag from atop a car at the Narrows roadblock, Thursday, near Burns, Ore. The last four occupiers of a Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon surrendered Thursday. outdoor enthusiasts and industries, such as ranching, mining, and oil and gas. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert denounced the tactics in the standoff but called it “a wakeup call for all of us that there (are) legitimate issues out there that are causing frustration.” Supporters say sympathy from prominent Western politicians shows that their mantra — that locals can do a better job managing federal lands than outof-touch bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. — has been embraced by more than gun-toting protesters. “We’re not just cowboys with hats who are hicks and don’t know what’s going on,” said LisaMarie
Johnson, who stood with Cliven Bundy at his Nevada ranch in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents. Bundy is the father of the Oregon occupation’s leaders. “People in New York City don’t understand what’s going on out here,” the Nevada resident said. The dispute predates statehood in some places. But calls for action have gotten louder as federal agencies designate protected areas for endangered species and set aside tracts for mining, wind farms and natural gas exploration. The latest wave has roots in the Sagebrush Rebellion, which began more than 40 years ago over grazing rights in Nevada.
Occupiers that seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon on Jan. 2 demanded the U.S. turn over the land to locals and release two ranchers imprisoned for setting fires. Tom Haynie, a 58-yearold Las Vegas resident who’s also passionate about solar energy, medical marijuana and water in the West, subscribes to a common belief in the movement. “The government wants to control everything,” Haynie said. “But it’s the people’s land, not the federal government’s land.” Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney in Utah, said it appears the federal government is trying to send a message: You will face
legal consequences if you cross the line from peaceful protest. Cliven Bundy was arrested Wednesday in Portland for his actions nearly two years ago in the Nevada standoff. A total of 25 people have been charged with the Oregon occupation. Four people were prosecuted in Utah for riding ATVs on an off-limits trail in 2014, including a wellknown county commissioner who was convicted and became a cause celebre in the movement. Therein lies the danger in the federal strategy: The intended message may be misinterpreted, Tolman said. “I think people are going to be more hardened
and more upset, and in some ways, you make martyrs out of those who have chosen this route,” Tolman said. Many are giving that status to Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who was killed by police in a Jan. 26 traffic stop that also led to the arrests of Cliven Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy. Finicum, an Oregon standoff spokesman, was memorialized at his funeral last week near the Utah-Arizona border as a freedom fighter murdered in the name of liberty. Authorities say he was reaching for a gun. Some worry that Cliven Bundy and his sons will garner similar sympathy as they remain in jail. But others say they don’t consider them leaders of a movement that has more moderate voices working through the courts. “How can you go up there and take over government property and expect to accomplish anything from it?” said Demar Dahl, an Elko County commissioner in Nevada and advocate for state control of lands. “Whatever we do, we’ve got to do within the law.” Jerry DeLemus traveled twice from his home in New Hampshire to play peacemaker — once during the Nevada standoff and once during the Oregon occupation. “I love the Bundys,” DeLemus said this week. “But they made a tactical mistake going out to that refuge. They were portrayed as armed anti-government protesters taking over government buildings. There was a lot of fear.”
Pot shop tied to club, mayor By KRISTEN WYATT ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLENDALE, Colo. — Colorado’s newest pot shop has some wondering whether strippers and weed are too closely aligned on a busy highway just east of downtown Denver. The Smokin Gun Apothecary opened on a site formerly occupied by the Denver area’s best known strip club, Shotgun Willie’s. The strip club hasn’t gone away — it’s moved just across the parking lot, testing ethical and potentially legal issues about the state’s growing legal recreational pot industry. Beyond banning the sale of pot and alcohol in the same shop, Colorado has no regulation regarding marijuana and other adult businesses. Zoning rules require shops to be away from schools or anywhere children congregate. Colorado’s rules about using pot are hazier. The state bans public marijuana consumption. But the state allows local governments to decide whether to allow private pot clubs. Smokin’ Gun is preparing a rooftop lounge area in anticipation of a local ordinance to allow shoppers to toke up. Both businesses have the same owner, who envisions pot shoppers getting discounted drinks at the strip club. Deborah Dunafon plans to sell mugs at the pot shop that customers can use for a free beer at the strip club. Colorado law bans the sale of both marijuana and alcohol at the same place, so there won’t be any alcohol flowing where weed is sold, she said. Dunafon says there’s no reason to fear the strip club will break state law and allow her pot-shop patrons to get high next door in her strip club. “It’s a wild, rowdy place, and if you smoke a bowl, you’re not exactly rowdy,” Dunafon said with a laugh. She’s the only person in the country who owns both a legal weed shop and a strip club. It’s not exactly a first, though: a man in San Clemente, California, had to relinquish his stake in two nude clubs after pleading guilty in 2013 to running at least nine illegal dispensaries in southern California. The Smokin Gun scandals don’t stop at the common ownership with a strip club, though. Deborah Dunafon’s husband, Mike Dunafon, is mayor of this tiny enclave of 4,500 surrounded on all sides by Denver. The mayor last year cast the deciding vote on the Glendale City Council to approve the Smokin Gun’s site plan — a vote that prompted an ethics complaint by
Photo by Matt York | AP
A Phoenix police officer, left, tries to give instructions to parents waiting to reunite with their children, Friday, in Glendale, Ariz.
Two students killed in shooting Photo by Brennan Linsley | AP
A large roadside sign marks the entrance of longtime strip club Shotgun Willie’s, and Smoking Gun Apothecary, the new marijuana dispensary in Glendale. nonpartisan watchdog group Colorado Ethics Watch. Mike Dunafon had recused himself from the vote initially because of the potential for a perceived conflict of interest. However, when the vote was tied at 3-3, a city manager said the mayor was able to break the tie under Colorado statute, according to minutes from the meeting. “This is a clear conflict of interest,” said Luis Toro, head of Colorado Ethics Watch. The complaint goes to the Glendale City Council, which could decide to reprimand the mayor. No date has been set for a vote. Mike Dunafon insists the complaint is frivolous and points out that he wasn’t married to the strip club owner at the time. “They were rookie council-people who just happened to say, ‘I don’t like marijuana,”’ Mike Dunafon said. “I said, ‘You don’t get to not like marijuana. It’s a legal business.’ " City council members later voted again on the proposal without Mike Dunafon, and two opposing council members changed their votes to yes for the Smokin Gun. The council members declined requests by The Associated Press to explain why they changed their minds. Toro said his group isn’t taking
issue with the pot shop, just the mayor’s participation in the vote. Even though the Dunafons weren’t yet married at the time, the mayor was living with the strip-club owner and should not have been making decisions about her shop, Toro argued. “The concern isn’t about the shop opening. It’s about him voting” on a question that affects his girlfriend or wife, Toro argued. A lawyer for the city of Glendale insisted that the Dunafons’ finances are separate and that the mayor did not violate ethics. “He had no stake or financial interest in the Smokin Gun, and he was not married to anyone who had a financial interest in the Smokin Gun,” Jeffrey Springer said. “The allegation that he somehow shouldn’t have voted is ridiculous.” Even if the council reprimands Dunafon, the pot shop is opening this week to some anticipation even in a city dotted with hundreds of pot shops. The front door is flanked by two pillars shaped to resemble marijuana joints, complete with smoke effects. Inside, shoppers can step inside the preserved interior of a bank that dates to 1870, a nod to the decade when the nation’s first antidrug laws passed.
By JACQUES BILLEAD AND PAUL DAVENPORT ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Two students were shot and killed Friday at a high school in a Phoenix suburb but the danger at the campus was over, police said, as hundreds of worried parents crowded outside nearby stores to await word on their children. Two 15-year-old girls were shot once at Independence High School, but it was not clear what led up to their deaths, Glendale Officer Tracey Breeden told reporters. Authorities were not looking for anyone else, and a gun was found near the bodies, she said. The circumstances suggested the possibility of a murdersuicide or double-suicide, but Breeden said no determination had been made. She had no information on the relationship between the girls, who died at the scene and were found near an administration building. Police arrived within two minutes of being called, and the school of more than 2,000 students went on lockdown, Breeden said. Hundreds of worried parents soon began arriving at nearby discount and convenience stores. Breeden told parents awaiting word on their kids that “your children are safe.”
Cheryl Rice said she went to a store after a friend called about the shooting and asked after Rice’s 15-year-old daughter. But the girl called as Rice arrived at the store. “She said, ‘I’m OK,’ so I of course started crying,” Rice said. She said it was horrible waiting for word about her child. “You don’t know if it’s your daughter or not. You don’t know who’s being bullied. You don’t know who is being picked on. You don’t know anything. It could be anybody,” Rice said. School district officials said parents will be bused to the school to be reunited with their children. Other students who got permission from their parents left campus on their own. Glendale Union High School District alerted parents to the shooting through emails and automatic phone calls and released information on social media, Superintendent Brian Capistran said. Students typically are not allowed to use their cellphones during lockdowns, but as calls from parents flooded the district, officials asked teachers to have students call family, Capistran said. Social workers and counselors will be available to students and staff when school resumes Tuesday, the superintendent said.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
Zentertainment
PAGE 7A
Nominated album expands US-Cuba dialogue By CHARLES J. GANS ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Arturo O’Farrill’s Grammy-nominated “Cuba: The Conversation Continues” just happened to be made in Havana by American and Cuban musicians at a dramatic turning point in relations between the two countries. The pianist and composer had brought his New York-based Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra to record for the first time in Cuba in December 2014 when during a rehearsal they heard Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announce plans to normalize relations. “We were just stunned, none of us expected this,”
said O’Farrill, interviewed by telephone from his Brooklyn home. “Every musician in the room was electrified by their presence in such an historic moment and moved emotionally. I think there were a lot of inspired performances.” The 55-year-old O’Farrill returned to Havana in December, arriving just days after his double-album received two Grammy nominations. O’Farrill’s orchestra had previously won two Grammys for Best Latin Jazz Album, but he felt particularly gratified to see his orchestra nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album at Monday’s awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision | AP file
Arturo O’Farrill arrives at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. O’Farrill is nominated for two Grammys. His nomination for Best Instrumental Composition — for “The Afro Latin Jazz Suite” — has a more per-
Stage version of ‘Frozen’ to kick off next year By MARK KENNEDY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Disney has announced that Denver will be the place where it tests its upcoming “Frozen” musical. Disney Theatrical Productions said it will mount the show at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in August 2017. It is expected to land on Broadway in 2018 alongside its hits “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” The show will be directed by Alex Timbers, a two-time Tony Award nominee who directed “Peter and the Starcatcher,” ‘’Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” ‘’The Pee-Wee Herman Show” and “Rocky” on
Photo by Greg Allen/Invision | AP file
Disney Theatrical Productions announced Tuesday, on Twitter that Alex Timbers, pictured, will helm the musical, "Frozen." Broadway. It had been previously revealed that the husbandand-wife songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen
Anderson-Lopez are returning to work on the show and Jennifer Lee, co-director and screenwriter of the film, is writing the story.
sonal meaning. He calls the album’s centerpiece “a loving tribute” to his father, Chico O’Far-
rill, a bandleader, composer and arranger who played a key role in the emergence of Latin Jazz in New York in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His masterpiece, “The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite” was recorded in 1950 by Machito’s orchestra with bebop pioneer Charlie “Bird” Parker on alto sax. O’Farrill says his composition, commissioned by Harlem’s Apollo Theater, was inspired by his father’s suite, sharing its experimental spirit. Chico O’Farrill left Cuba for New York in 1948. After Fidel Castro took power in 1959, he never returned to his homeland “which was very heartbreaking for him” and died in 2001,
O’Farrill said. O’Farrill began traveling to Cuba in 2002 to perform, sometimes bringing his two sons, Adam, a trumpeter, and Zack, a drummer, who both play on the new CD. O’Farrill believes that normalizing relations offers hope of a better life for ordinary Cubans. He wants the U.S. to lift its economic embargo imposed in 1962, calling it “one of the great injustices in the world” because it has “only hurt the little people” while the communist government remains in place. But a saxophonist-clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, says the normalization only serves to legitimize “a failed and cruel regime.”
International
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
Pope meets Russian Orthodox leader By NICOLE WINFIELD ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA — Pope Francis met Friday with Patriarch Kirill in the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, an historic development in the 1,000-year schism that divided Christianity that may, however, be more about Russia asserting itself than any new ecumenical progress. “Finally!” Francis exclaimed as he embraced Kirill in the small, wood-paneled VIP room of Havana’s airport, where the threehour encounter was taking place. “We are brothers.” They kissed one another three times on the cheek, and Kirill told the pope through an interpreter: “Now things are easier.” Francis was having the brief talks in Cuba before heading off on a five-day visit to Mexico, where the pontiff will bring a message of solidarity with the victims of drug violence, human trafficking and discrimination to some of that country’s most violent and poverty-stricken regions. The meeting and signing of a joint declaration was decades in the making and cemented Francis’ reputation as a risk-taking statesman who values dialogue, bridge-building and rapprochement at almost any cost. Indeed, while the meeting with Kirill has been hailed by many as an important ecumenical breakthrough, Francis has also come under criticism for essentially allowing himself to be used by a Russia eager to assert itself among Orthodox Christians and on the world stage at a time when the country is increasingly isolated from the West. The joint declaration is expected to touch on the single most important issue
Photo by Adalberto Roque | AP
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, and Pope Francis talk during their meeting at the Jose Marti airport. of shared concern between the Catholic and Orthodox churches today: the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria who are being killed and driven from their homes by the Islamic State group. It is being signed in the uniquely ideal location of Cuba: far removed from the Catholic-Orthodox turf battles in Europe, a country that is Catholic and familiar to Latin America’s first pope, but equally familiar to the Russian church given its anti-American and Soviet legacy. The Vatican is hoping the meeting will improve relations with other Orthodox churches and spur progress in dialogue over theological differences that have divided East from West ever since the Great Schism of 1054 split Christianity. But Orthodox observers say Kirill’s willingness to finally meet with a pope has less to do with any new ecumenical impulse than grandstanding within the West and the Orthodox Church at a time when Russia is increasingly under fire from the West over its military actions in Syria and Ukraine. Kirill, a spiritual adviser to Russian
President Vladimir Putin, leads the most powerful of the 14 independent Orthodox churches that will meet this summer in Greece in the first such pan-Orthodox synod in centuries. The Russian church has long sought greater influence over the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul. “This isn’t benevolence. It’s not a newfound desire for Christian unity,” said George Demacopoulos, the Greek-Orthodox chairman of Orthodox Christian studies at Fordham University in New York. “It is almost entirely about (Kirill) posturing and trying to present himself as the leader of Orthodoxy.” Popes as far back as Paul VI have met with the ecumenical patriarch, who is the “first among equals” in the 250 million-strong Orthodox Church and the only patriarch who can speak for global Orthodoxy. But the Russian Church is the biggest, wealthiest and most powerful in Orthodoxy, and has always kept its distance from Rome. Catholic and Orthodox split in the Great Schism of 1054 and have remained estranged.
RE-ELECT SHERIFF ALONSO M. LOPEZ
I
Sheriff Alonso M. Lopez would like to make the public aware and all the citizens of Zapata County the many accomplishments and goals that the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and my administration have succeeded in since I took Office. There has been numerous false accusations, defamatory statements, and wrong information publicized about me and my administration since the beginning of my political campaign by my opponent and or individuals supporting my opponent. I am a very strong believer in running a positive campaign
and have shown the people of ZAPATA that change is good and it provides opportunity for new faces and new ideas to show and shine in their respected areas. This strong belief is a course of action that is very positive to the progress and future of the citizens of Zapata as a Whole. As I took Office on January 2013, as the Sheriff for Zapata County I was accompanied by my new administration. As with any new administration, change is inevitable, and there were people who were against change and of course people that welcomed change and embraced it. The Zapata
County Sheriff ’s Office has gone through many changes which has benefit this Office and the County. With that said I would like to take the opportunity to not only share just a few of the accomplishments that The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and I have success in, but also address and give you some insight on projects that are on-going and in the making at this time for the future.
VOTE 2016 Accomplishments - Zapata County: * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office has assisted the County by donating many vehicles to use to save money in a time of budgeting issues. * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office donated a VACCUM TRUCK TRACTOR which was seized for transporting illegal drugs to The Zapata County Waste Water Department. This VACCUM TRUCK TRACTOR has been utilized by them in daily drainage and sewage issues to provide assistance to Zapata County and its citizens which has saved The County of Zapata money.
The Zapata County Regional Jail: * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office has made many changes to The Zapata County Regional Jail. A quarter of the Regional Jail had been closed for some time. That section with the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office, The Zapata County Judges Office, The Zapata County Commissioners Court and The Zapata County Attorney’s Office all working together for the betterment of Zapata County were able to reopen that section of the regional jail. * Primarily the opening of that section of the Regional Jail resulted in The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office changing of the per-diem rate per inmate and generating more jobs for the people of Zapata County. * The Zapata Regional Jail had been operating under a perdiem rate of $34.42 for Federal inmates since the 1990’s. * With the assistance of my Staff and my administration in providing me with numbers and information we were able to have our Federal Inmate per-diem rate go up to $50.00 a day per inmate. * Because of this increase in our per-diem rate per inmate, our Detention Officers overtime rate took an impressive increase from $11.75 an hour to $16.00 an hour.
Zapata County Regional Jail Control Room: * Upgraded and added new security cameras for added security of The Regional Jail Facility. * Replaced the extremely outdated and malfunctioning con-
trol panel with a new, state of the art touchscreen panel, which allows quicker access and enhanced security measures.
Medical Division: * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office provided up to date college training, certifying my Medical Officers as Certified Medical Assistants on The National Registry. * Purchased an EKG machine that helps expand the capabilities of the infirmary.
Communications Division: * Obtained funding from the State through the regional 911 program to fully furnish and remodel the Telecommunications Dispatch area, * And adding an extension multipurpose video conference office and Emergency Management hub.
Patrol Division: * Have equipped my patrol division with (2) K-9’s to assist my Deputy Sheriff ’s when needing assistance in their duties. * Have equipped provided High Impact / Dynamic Entry Gear for the entry team.
Community of Zapata: * Developed and passed an Ordinance with the help of the Zapata County Judge’s office, the Zapata County Attorney’s Office, The Zapata County Commissioners Court and The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office to regulate and later shut down the Smoke Shoppes from this County that sale K2, Kush, bath salts, and other synthetic drugs that are extremely harmful to the youth and citizens of Zapata County. * Have initiated and established The Teddy Bear Program. * Re-established THE ZAPATA CRIME STOPPERS PROGRAM. * The New and Improved ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE WEB PAGE. * Have ESTABLISHED A SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK. * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office E-News Facebook Page,
The Zapata Crime Stoppers Facebook Page.
Administration: * The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office has Up-graded our Jail Management System and Our Records Management System. Both of these systems had been outdated for some time. * Have provided and Upgraded to New Computers throughout The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office, The Zapata County Regional Jail, and The Zapata County Jail. These are just some of the highlights of what I have been diligently working on with my staff and my Administration for the betterment of the children, senior citizens, and local citizens of Zapata. I encourage each and every one of you to attend my upcoming campaign events or functions, to where I will gladly answer any questions or concerns. I would like to take a minute to recognize my entire staff, dispatchers, deputies, investigators, detention staff / officers and administration for their hard work and dedication to The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office. These outstanding men and women put their lives on the line every-day to ensure that we continue to provide the best service, safety, and security possible to our great Community and Citizens of Zapata County. YOU THE YOUTH AND CITIZENS OF ZAPATA COUNTY ARE MY #1 PRIORITY GUARNTEED FROM YOUR FULLTIME SHERIFF ALONSO M. LOPEZ. GOD BLESS AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE. EARLY VOTING FROM FEBRUARY 16, 2016 TO FEBRUARY 26, 2016. ELECTION DAY TUESDAY MARCH 1, 2016.
SHERIFF ALONSO M. LOPEZ Political Ad Paid by Alonso M. Lopez
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
What Facebook’s new policy on nudity means By MAE ANDERSON
for disabling the account of an Iowa photographer who posted shots of a friend and her newborn moments after birth; the images partially showed her friend’s breasts, but not her nipples. Laura Eckert’s photography business, New Creation Photography & Design, specializes in pictures of pregnant women and the first moments of a baby’s life. Facebook emailed Eckert to apologize and say that disabling the account had been in error.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — What are Facebook’s rules for posting nude images? The question is at the forefront again after a French court ruled Friday that a French art teacher can sue the social media service after it suspended his Facebook account. Although Facebook hasn’t given a reason, the account suspension came after he posted an image of a classical painting featuring a female nude. Facebook’s rules on nudity have evolved over time. The latest community-standards policy, from March 2015, says Facebook restricts photos of genitals or fully exposed buttocks, as well as some images of breasts if they include the nipple. But Facebook says it allows photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring. “We restrict the display of nudity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content — particularly because of their cultural background or age,” the policy states. Here’s what that means in practice:
ARTWORK
Francois Mori / Associated Press
Visitors look at Gustave Courbet’s 1866 "The Origin of the World," painting which depicts female genitalia at Orsay museum, in Paris, France, Friday. Facebook lost a crucial legal battle Friday.
BREASTFEEDING
low photos of nursing mothers.
Breastfeeding pictures were the subject of controversy for years. Breastfeeding moms protested when images were pulled. In 2009, 11,000 people staged a virtual “nurse-in,” replacing their profile photos with nursing ones. It’s not clear when Facebook’s policy changed internally, but about two years ago the policy wording changed to specifically al-
MASTECTOMY PHOTOS In 2013, more than 20,000 people signed an online petition, led by photographer David Jay and breast-cancer survivor Ann Marie GianninoOtis, urging Facebook not to ban mastectomy images. Facebook responded with an official policy that permits the
vast majority of mastectomy photos. Giannino-Otis said Friday that while the policy change helped, many mastectomy photos are still flagged by other users and removed by Facebook. Facebook didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday.
BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY In 2011, Facebook apologized
Facebook’s policy allows “photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.” Yet many users have run into trouble after posting art containing nudity. Frederic Durand-Baissas, the teacher whose account was suspended, had posted Gustave Courbet’s 1866 nude painting “The Origin of the World.” Artist Jerry Saltz said in a column for New York magazine’s Vulture blog that he lost his account after posting graphic images from medieval art. And in January a Facebook account for the Christopher Stout gallery in New York was suspended after posting an image of an artist sitting topless on a toilet.
US stocks end a down week on an up note By ALEX VEIGA ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. stocks ended a down week on a high note Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak on the strength of energy and financial companies. A sharp rebound in oil prices and an encouraging report on retail sales helped lift the stock market to its first gain since late last week. Despite the rally, the major U.S. stocks indexes ended the week down about 1 percent and they remain down more than 8 percent for the year. “It’s a relief to see after several very ugly days in a row, but I wouldn’t hang my hat on it and say the worst is over,” said Rob Eschweiler, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 313.66 points, or 2 percent, to 15,973.84. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 35.70 points, or 2 percent, to 1,864.78. The Nasdaq composite added 70.67 points, or 1.7 percent, to 4,337.51. Global stocks have been in a slump since the beginning of the year on concerns that growth in China, which has been the engine of the global economy in recent years, is slowing far faster than expected.
Plunging oil prices and low inflation have added to the market’s jitters that the global economy is sputtering. Those worries also helped drive the stock market lower in recent days, and continued to batter stocks in Asia. Japan’s main stock index lost nearly 5 percent Friday. But the downbeat trend in the U.S. snapped as investors were encouraged by retail sales and a rally in European stocks. A surge in oil prices helped put investors in a buying mood early on. A day after sinking to its lowest level since May 2003, benchmark U.S. crude climbed $3.23, or 12.3 percent, to close at $29.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gained $3.30, or 11 percent, to $33.36 a barrel in London. The oil rebound sent the S&P 500’s energy companies 2.6 percent higher. Marathon Oil was the best performer in the sector, rising 48 cents, or 6.8 percent, to $7.49. “Oil, which has been one of the most fickle, most volatile series that everybody’s watching, is having a nice day,” said Tim Dreiling, regional investment director for The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank. “Europe is con-
Photo by Mark Lennihan | AP
European stocks rose Friday, shrugging off a bad day in Asia, as the sell-off in banking shares abated and oil prices rebounded. tinuing to look good. And it looked like (the market) was oversold.” Financial shares led the market’s advance. The sector is the worst performing part of the market this year because investors expect that low interest rates around the world will sap bank profits, but it rallied 4 percent Friday. JP Morgan Chase climbed $4.42, or 8.3 percent, to $57.49, while Citigroup added $2.56, or 7.3 percent, to $37.54. Bank of America rose 79 cents, or 7.1 percent, to $11.95. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank AG surged 12.1 percent after the bank offered to buy back more than $5 billion in bonds in a display of financial strength. The stock gained $1.87 to
$17.38. Traders also welcomed a report from the Commerce Department indicating a modest gain in retail sales last month. The data, which came in ahead of expectations, suggested that consumers kept shopping despite sharp drops in stock prices. The positive sales report and recent jobs data showing a pickup in wage growth suggest the economy is holding up better than Wall Street thinks, Eschweiler said. “It solidifies our view that the markets are pricing in a significantly higher probability of recession than what we think the fundamentals currently dictate,” he said. Encouraging quarterly
results from some companies also helped lift the market. Wynn Resorts surged 15.8 percent after the casino operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results Thursday. The stock gained $9.45 to $69.14. Groupon vaulted 29 percent after the online daily deal service’s latest quarterly profit and revenue topped Wall Street estimates. The stock added 65 cents to $2.89. Some companies didn’t fare as well, however. Activision Blizzard slid 7.9 percent after the video game company’ reported weaker-than-anticipated quarterly revenue Thursday. The stock was one of the biggest decliners in the S&P 500 index, losing $2.40 to $28.12. Pandora Media slumped 12 percent after the Internet radio company’s fourth-quarter profit fell short of estimates and the company didn’t comment on rumors that it’s looking to sell itself. The stock lost $1.09 to $8. In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 2.5 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was up 2.5 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 3.1 percent. In Asia, Japan’s main stock index fell sharply, leading other Asian markets lower. Tokyo’s Nikkei
225 plunged 4.8 percent after earlier sinking as much as 5.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gave up 1.4 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.2 percent. Shares in New Zealand and Southeast Asia also fell. Markets in China and Taiwan were closed all week for Lunar New Year holidays and will reopen on Monday. A day after surging 4.5 percent, gold fell $8.40, or 0.7 percent, to $1,239.40 an ounce. Silver was flat at $15.79 an ounce. Copper, an industrial metal that will often rise and fall along with investor’s optimism about the global economy, rose 2 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.03 a pound. In other energy trading in New York, wholesale gasoline jumped 10 cents, or 10.8 percent, to close at $1.04 a gallon, while home heating oil climbed 9 cents, or 9.2 percent, to close at $1.07 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $1.97 per 1,000 cubic feet. Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.74 percent from 1.66 percent late Thursday. In currency markets, the dollar rose to 113.26 yen from 112.27, while the euro fell to $1.1255 from $1.1330.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
CLINTON Continued from Page 1A The public release of these backers comes as the Texas primary is taking on increasing importance in the race for the Democratic nomination. Sanders mightily wounded Clinton Tuesday night with a strong victory in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. But her allies argue that Texas, a backwater in Democratic politics, is nonetheless loaded with Clinton-friendly party delegates, including these superdelegates. The Democratic Party created the designation in the 1980s to wrest control from the party’s activist class, just the type of people supporting Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton has now publicly secured the support of at least 15 Texas superdelegates, mostly consisting of sitting members of Congress. State Rep. Marisa Márquez, D-El Paso, is the lone member of the Legislature publicly backing Sanders, but she is not a superdelegate. Sanders aides say they are confident that a favorable turnout will help him make the case to superdelegates after voters cast their ballots March 1. Superdelegate John Patrick, the Texas president of the AFL-CIO, recently told the Tribune that the Sanders camp reached out to him after the Iowa caucuses to seek his support. Patrick says he remains undecided.
ELECTION Continued from Page 1A voting sites: Pct. 1, Zapata County Courthouse, 200 E. 7th Ave., Building B Pct. 1A, Falcon Commu-
nity Center, 3rd & Ramireño, Falcon, Texas Pct. 1B, Lopeño Community Center, 4th St. & "A" Avenue, Lopeño, Texas
Pct. 2, Zapata County Pavilion, 23rd Ave. & Glenn St. Pct. 2A, Guadalupe & Lilia Martinez Public Branch Library, 1103 N. U.S. 83, San
Ygnacio, Texas Pct. 3, New Community Center, 605 N. U.S. 83 Pct. 4, Precinct No. 4 Annex Bldg., 1701 17th Ave.
LOAD Continued from Page 1A The driver abandoned the vehicle and could not be located in the surrounding area. Deputies then noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the pickup, according to reports. That’s when authorities discovered several black bundles hidden in the bed of the pickup covered by a tunnel truck cover, records state. Deputies said the bundles contained marijuana. An investigation is underway. If anyone has information on the case, they are asked to call the Sheriff ’s Office at 956-765-9960 or the Zapata County Crime Stoppers at 765-TIPS (8477). (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Courtesy photo
Authorities discovered several black bundles hidden in the bed of a pickup covered by a tunnel truck cover. The driver had abandoned the vehicle and could not be located in the area.
INMATES Continued from Page 1A gates, where officials posted the names of the dead as they became known. “Ayyy, my son is on the list!” 63-year-old Maria Guadalupe Ramirez screamed when she saw the name of her son, Jose Guadalupe Ramirez Quintero, 26, before collapsing into the arms of a daughter and human rights workers. Ramirez’s grief echoed the concerns of others whose loved ones were tossed into Topo Chico along with some of Mexico’s most hardened criminals, despite being sentenced for minor offenses or even while they were still on trial. “He had already gotten out. They picked him up again just for drinking. ... There is injustice in this prison,” she said, shaking her fists and sobbing. The fighting began around midnight with
prisoners setting fire to a storage area, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky. Rescue workers were seen carrying injured inmates — some with burns — from the facility. Rodriguez said the clash was between two factions led by a member of the infamous Zetas drug cartel, Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, also known as “Z-27,” and Jorge Ivan Hernandez Cantu, who has been identified by Mexican media as a Gulf cartel figure. A turf war between the gangs bloodied Nuevo Leon state and neighboring Tamaulipas between 2010 and 2012. The Zetas once nearly controlled the area around Monterrey. Zaldivar Farias was a suspect in the 2010 killing of American David Hartley on Falcon Lake, which makes up part of
the border between Mexico and Texas. Hartley was reportedly gunned down while touring the reservoir with his wife on jet skis. In the morning, a crowd of people bundled against the cold gathered at the prison gates, demanding to be let in to learn the fate of their relatives. Some threw rocks, kicked and shook the gates as riot police with plastic shields kept the crowd out. Prison officials later began letting people enter in small numbers. Mario Martinez was still awaiting word on his father-in-law, who was being held at the prison pending trial. He said the danger of violence inside was well-known long before the riot. “This (place) was a time bomb,” Martinez said. “The authorities should not ignore what the peo-
ple inside are saying.” Authorities were reinforcing security at other prisons and had transferred some inmates out of Topo Chico, Rodriguez told Milenio. After initially saying the fighting didn’t involve gunfire, but he later reported that at least one of the victims was shot to death. The deadliest prison riot in recent memory also occurred in Nuevo Leon, in February 2012, when Zetas gangsters killed 44 Gulf cartel members at the overcrowded Apodaca federal lockup. A month earlier, 31 died in a Tamaulipas prison where inmates set upon each other with makeshift knives, clubs and stones. According to a 2014 report by the National Human Rights Commission, Topo Chico was designed to house 3,635 prisoners but actually held about
4,585 that year. Inmates there used violence as a way of exerting control in the prison, it added. Another report by the commission in 2013 highlighted violence and inmate control in many of Mexico’s prisons, symptoms of corruption and lack of resources. The report, based on visits and interviews at 101 of the most populated facilities, found that 65 of them were run by inmates, not authorities. Leslie Solis, a security and justice researcher at the public-policy think tank Mexico Evalua, said the commission’s most recent rating of Topo Chico indicated that “we had it coming” and “all the conditions were in place for this” — too few guards, poor training and the entry of illicit objects and substances. Constitutional reforms
in 2008 and 2011 tried to reorient Mexico’s prison system toward respect for human rights and preparing convicts to reintegrate into society, but in most of the country that has not occurred, Solis added. Some parts are so under the thumb of organized crime that authorities do not have the resources to confront it. Potential solutions include more judicious use of prison sentences for nonviolent crimes, and locking up fewer people who are still waiting for Mexico’s plodding judicial system to handle their cases. At Topo Chico, for example, 26 percent of prisoners were still awaiting a sentence. “This clash ... has to serve as an alarm or a call to authorities to take responsibility and not permit this to happen again,” Solis said.
SÁBADO 13 DE FEBRERO DE 2016
Agenda en Breve FERIA DEL CONDADO DE ZAPATA La Feria del Condado de Zapata elegirá a sus representantes de belleza a finales de este mes. El Concurso para Reinas de la Feria del Condado de Zapata se celebrará el 28 de febrero a las 2 p.m. en el Auditorio de Zapata High School.
Zfrontera POLICIACAS
CAMPAÑA ELECTORAL
Decomisan marihuana
Anuncian visita de B. Clinton
POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ
INVITAN A CAMINAR Se conmina a escuelas, organizaciones, empresas y familias a participar en el evento ‘Walk Across Texas!” hoy sábado 13 de febrero a partir de las 9 a.m. en el Parque Romeo Flores. Pida informes llamando al (956) 765-9967
DÍA PARA AGRADECER Winter Texan and Citizen Appreciation Day se realizará el jueves 25 de febrero en el Zapata Community Center, 605 N. U.S. Hwy 83, de las 12 p.m. a las 5 p.m. La música en vivo estará a cargo de Terry Porter Rowe & Jeanette Silva. Asistentes podrán participar en la “Mesa Mejor Decorada”, donde habrá premios para el primer, segundo y tercer lugar. Durante el evento habrá revisiones de salud, comidas, refrigerios, rifas de regalos, módulos de información, entretenimiento y una serie de actividades. Informes llamando al Zapata County Chamber of Commerce en el (956) 7654871.
PÁGINA 11A
TIEMPO DE LAREDO
La Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Webb decomisó un cargamento de marihuana el domingo, de acuerdo con reportes. Autoridades dijeron que decomisaron 576.2 libras de marihuana valuadas en aproximadamente 460.960 dólares. No se realizaron arrestos, dijeron oficiales del alguacil el miércoles. Oficiales monitoreaban el tráfico sobre Texas 16, cuando observaron una camioneta
Chevrolet, estilo pick up, color negra. Cuando los oficiales siguieron el vehículo, la Chevrolet presuntamente aceleró y dio vuelta en el campo de petróleo JRJ. Registros indican que el vehículo sospechoso se estacionó entre dos camionetas. El conductor abandonó el vehículo y no pudo ser localizado en el área circunvecina. Entonces los oficiales notaron un fuerte olor a marihuana que emanaba de la camioneta, de acuerdo con reportes. Entonces, cuando las autori-
dades descubrieron varios paquetes negros escondidos en la caja de la camioneta, cubiertos, indican registros. Oficiales dijeron que los paquetes contenían marihuana. Una investigación está en proceso. Si hay alguna persona que posea información en el caso, se les pide llamar a la Oficina del Alguacil al (956) 765-9960 o a Alto al Crimen del Condado de Zapata al 765-TIPS (8477). (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
ZCF JR. ROYALTY
CERTAMEN TIENE GANADORES
SOCIEDAD GENEALÓGICA La Sociedad Genealógica Nuevo Santander se reunirá el sábado 5 de marzo, a las 2 p.m. en Zapata County Museum of History.
MATAMOROS, MÉXICO El Instituto Tamaulipeco para la Cultura y las Artes (ITCA) ofrecerá un taller de de ilustración Cosas 3-D en el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas (MACT) en Matamoros. El taller se realizará del 22 al 26 de febrero, y será impartido por Aarón Martínez. El objetivo del taller es aprender las bases de modelado en tercera dimensión con las cuales el alumno podrá desarrollar ilustraciones, gráficos de en movimiento, visualización de productos, juguetes de arte y mucho más. Se busca que los asistentes comprendan el proceso de creación en el sistema operativo Cinema 4D así como la exportación de trazos del programa Ilustrador. El curso está dirigido al público de 16 años en adelante y es recomendado específicamente para diseñadores, animadores e ilustradores que quieran profundizar en Cinema 4D y a todas las personas entusiastas del 3D. El taller se realizará de 4 p.m. a 8 p.m. De manera gratuita. Para mayores informes llame a los números (868) 8131499 y (868) 8137730.
DESFILE La Feria del Condado de Zapata invita a los residentes, organismos y grupos de la comunidad a inscribirse en el Desfile de la Feria de Zapata. La fecha límite para entregar su solicitud de entrada es el miércoles 9 de marzo. El desfile tendrá lugar a las 9 a.m. del sábado 12 de marzo. La alineación del desfile será de 7 a.m. a 8:30 a.m., en U.S. Hwy 83 y 3rd Ave. Habrá trofeos para diferentes categorías. Los ganadores serán anunciados a la 1:30 p.m. en Zapata County Fairgrounds.
Foto de cortesía
En la imagen se observa a los ganadores del certamen ZCF Jr. Royalty 2016. Ellos son: Tiny Miss, Darely García; Little Miss, Karyzza Arambula; Little Cowboy, Ramiro Garcilazo, IV; Jr Miss Alyssa Ramirez; y Teen, Rebecca López. El evento se realizó en el auditorio de ZHS y estuvo ambientado por Paloma Limas y Step It Up Company.
POR KENDRA ABLAZA TIEMPO DE LAREDO
Bill Clinton tiene programado visitar Laredo este mes para asistir a una recaudación de fondos privada y dar un discurso público en Texas A&M International University, dijo el Representante Henry Cuellar. El evento compensará la visita inicialmente prevista para el 4 de diciembre, que fue pospuesta debido a la muerte del amigo cercano de Clinton, y ex asesor de seguridad nacional Sandy Berger, dijeron autoridades. Cuellar, D-Laredo, dijo que el evento de recaudación de fondos se realizará el 22 de febrero en apoyo a la campaña presidencial 2016 de Hillary Clinton, en la casa de Cuellar en Laredo. Esa tarde, Bill Clinton se dirigirá a estudiantes y al público en TAMIU, para abordar temas que desafían al país, dijo Cuellar. “Creo que será la primera vez que tengamos a un presidente o ex presidente en Texas A&M International”, dijo Cuellar. “Estoy contento de que estará aquí y contento de que venga a Laredo”. Las oficinas del ex PreCLINTON sidente Bill Clinton y de Hillary Clinton no pudieron ser contactadas para confirmar el evento. Autoridades de TAMIU no pudieron ser contactadas para realizar comentarios el jueves. A principios de esta seCUELLAR mana, el portavoz de TAMIU, Steve Harmon, dijo a Laredo Morning Times que no podía conformar si el ex Presidente Bill Clinton se presentaría en Texas A&M International University este mes. “Desde luego, la universidad estaría feliz de dar la bienvenida al ex presidente, si su agenda lo permite”, dijo Harmon en un correo electrónico. Cuellar no dio detalles sobre cuantas personas podrán asistir a la recaudación, pero los asistentes serán del Condado de Webb y condados aledaños, dijo previamente. Cuellar dijo que espera que Clinton hable de temas sobre cómo asegurar que la educación sea accesible; cómo mantener la tasa actual de crecimiento laboral y comercio a nivel nacional, entre otros asuntos. “Algunos de los mayores (rangos) de crecimiento laboral ocurrieron durante su (mandato)”, dijo Cuellar. “También teníamos un presupuesto balanceado y NAFTA, que ha sido bueno para el área fronteriza”. Cuellar dijo previamente que por largo tiempo ha apoyado tanto a Bill como a Hillary Clinton. Dijo que fue el primer congresista en avalar a Hillary Clinton, y trabajó para la campaña de Bill Clinton en 1992 en el Condado de Webb. Dijo que los Clinton han visitado Laredo en alrededor de tres ocasiones— dos de estas visitas fueron en 2008, dijo. Cuellar dijo que espera que Hillary Clinton visite Laredo más adelante, este año. (Localice a Kendra Ablaza en 728-2538 o en kablaza@lmtonline.com)
COLUMNA
Tamaulipas comienza su vida democrática POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Tras la caída la dictadura porfiriana, los mexicanos ansían sacudirse el vetusto orden e insertarse en una democracia representativa. Tamaulipas procede de manera estremecedora, a tal manera que irregularidades sacuden el primer gobierno del periodo. Ni las presunciones de crimen político están ausentes. Porfirio Díaz abandona el poder en mayo de 1911 y parte al exilio. Mediante el sufragio ciudadano, que le concede ventaja sobre los demás aspirantes, Francisco I. Madero alcanza la presidencia de la República. Asume el cargo a principios de noviembre de 1912. Lo anterior ocurre de acuerdo con los tratados suscritos en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México.
Estos ponen fin a las hostilidades de la revolución maderista. Lo convenido también contempla que en las entidades federativas renuncien los gobernadores, piezas claves del viejo régimen, dando pie a las elecciones libres. Al frente de la comunidad tamaulipeca estaba Juan B. Castelló, antes fue integrante de la cámara baja. Los vínculos que lo encumbran, ofreciéndole halagüeñas perspectivas, terminan lastrándolo sin remedio. Efectivamente, es familiar de Carmen Romero Rubio y Castelló, esposa del caduco dictador. El aludido pariente solicita el 31 de mayo de 1911 permiso temporal para dejar el poder ejecutivo del estado. Por escrito pretexta que el “arreglo de asuntos de interés público” le reclama ir a la metrópoli capitalina. En sesión extraordinaria y bre-
vísimo trámite, la asamblea legislativa el mismo día le concede licencia, sin fijarle o insinuarle siquiera término. Juan B. Castelló no vuelve a asumir las funciones. Cubre la vacante en calidad de interino Espiridión Lara. Cubre el puesto 6 meses debido a problemas de salud. Le suple Matías Guerra. Con antecedentes en análogos menesteres, por cuenta de reconocida filia porfirista, Matías Guerra entonces compone el Supremo Tribunal de Justicia, del que mientras tanto le permiten separarse. Corre en paralelo el proceso orientado al nombramiento popular del nuevo mandatario tamaulipeco. Se prevé verificar los comicios relativos el 5 de febrero de 1912, aniversario de la carta magna. Aunque varios compi-
ten, sólo dos puntean en las preferencias respectivas. El Partido Constitucional Progresista lanza a José Gracia Medrano. Por el Partido Liberal descuella Fermín Legorreta. Fermín Legorreta enferma y fallece el 31 de enero previo a las votaciones. Median circunstancias que generan suspicacias, contraídas a una deliberada negligencia médica. Según Ciro R. de la Garza Treviño, “muchos hechos […] parecen demostrarlo, y su familia […] está bajo esta impresión […] Todo hace suponer que […] fue sacrificado por intereses políticos”. Desentendiéndonos incluso de las apreciaciones transcritas, el cuadro va de mal en peor. A escasas horas de instalarse las casillas, decretan el 4 de febrero los diputados: “Se admite al […] Lic. Matías
Guerra la renuncia” como “gobernador interino”. El referido personaje reemplaza a Fermín Legorreta y con indebidas ventajas participa en la contienda. Mayoritario el Partido Liberal en la entrante legislatura, su candidato emergente obtiene inapelable triunfo. Las arbitrariedades repuntan aún más: al salir del interinato gubernamental Matías Guerra, le corresponde integrarse desde luego a las actividades jurisdiccionales, por ser magistrado. Pero de plano desdeña este importante compromiso y privilegia las mieles del puesto electivo, sin fincársele responsabilidades. Incursiona así Tamaulipas en la democracia surgida tras el porfiriato. (Publicado con permiso del autor conforme aparece en ‘La Razón’ de Tampico, Tamps.)
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NCAA BASKETBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Texas in the hunt ‘Horns climb Big 12 ranks
Photo by Tony Gutierrez | AP
By JIM VERTUNO
Mets relief pitcher Jenrry Mejia received a lifetime ban from the MLB on Friday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — “Havoc” is finally taking hold at Texas, where first-year coach Shaka Smart and the No. 24 Longhorns have shaken off a slow start to join the hunt for the Big 12 title. Texas (16-8, 7-4 Big 12) sits firmly among the four teams in a second-place logjam just one game out of first heading into Saturday night’s big road matchup at No. 14 Iowa State (17-7, 6-5). And though it took a while, Smart’s “havoc” style of aggressive defense and up-tempo offense has taken root in the last few weeks. Beat Iowa State and Texas knows that a league crown the Longhorns haven’t worn since 2008 could be there for the taking. “We know we’re going to have a great chance of winning” the league, guard
See TEXAS PAGE 2B
Jenrry Mejia gets lifetime ban By RONALD BLUM ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP
Kendal Yancy and Texas have climbed back into the Big 12 title race and are in a four-way tie for second place.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
NEW YORK — Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia became the first player to receive a lifetime ban under Major League Baseball’s drug agreement after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance for the third time. The commissioner’s office said Friday that Mejia tested positive for the ana-
bolic steroid Boldenone, which athletes have used to increase muscle mass and once was popular for use in horse racing. The 26-year-old righthander was the Mets’ closer in 2014, then was suspended for 80 games last April 11 following a positive test for Stanozolol, a drug popular among bodybuilders. At the time,
See BAN PAGE 2B
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: ALL-STAR GAME
FINAL ALL-STAR GAME Photo by Steven Senne | AP
Milwaukee acquired a pair of prospects from the Athletics on Friday in exchange for outfielder Khris Davis.
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have traded power-hitting outfielder Khris Davis to the Oakland Athletics for a pair of prospects. Milwaukee acquired catcher Jacob Nottingham and right-handed pitcher Bubby Derby in the deal Friday. The A’s and Brewers each won only 68 games last year. The 28-year-old Davis hit 27 home runs last season, 10th-most in the National League, and he batted .247 with 66 RBIs in 121 games. Davis is not eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season. Davis has played exclusively in left field during his three seasons in the majors. The A’s have used switch-hitting veteran Coco Crisp and slickfielding Sam Fuld in left. The Brewers have acquired several young players since hiring gen-
By TIM REYNOLDS ASSOCIATED PRESS
eral manager David Stearns last September. Shortstop Jean Segura and reliever Francisco Rodriguez are among the veterans Milwaukee has traded. Nottingham, who turns 21 in April, hit .316 with 17 home runs and 82 RBIs in Class A last year. He was acquired by the A’s in midseason for the deal that sent Scott Kazmir to Houston — where new Brewers general manager had been assistant GM. Derby, who turns 22 later this month, was 1-1 with a 1.21 ERA in 14 total games at the rookie and Class A levels. The A’s also designated left-hander Sean Nolin for assignment. Closer Aroldis Chapman agrees with Yankees at $11,325,000 NEW YORK — Closer Aroldis Chapman and the New York Yankees agreed Friday to a one-
TORONTO — Kobe Bryant answered questions in Spanish and Italian, raved about Canadian hospitality, showed off knowledge of both Greek basketball and English soccer. He announced plans to go to the Philippines and Taiwan, thanked fans from Japan and even asked a reporter how to say a phrase in Mandarin. It all made perfect sense. The basketball world belongs to Bryant, at least for one more weekend. About 750 million people around the globe are expected to follow Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game in one form or another, and it’s a safe guess most will do so to keep a keen eye on Bryant’s final appearance in the league’s midseason showcase. His farewell season now officially starting to wind down, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star was the center of attraction at media day Friday — and seemed most appreciative. “I just feel very blessed to be able to play so many years, man,” Bryant said. “Twenty years is a long time, so I feel very good about it.” Bryant was the leading vote-getter in the fan balloting that chose the starting lineup for Sunday’s game, a lifetime achievement award more than anything related to his play this season. At 37 years old, he’s obviously not the same player he was
See DAVIS PAGE 2B
See ALL-STAR PAGE 2B
Athletics acquire Davis ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bryant highlights weekend
Photo by Lynne Sladky | AP
Kobe Bryant was selected to the All-Star roster for the 18th time this season.
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
FIFA bans Jerome Valcke for 12 years By GRAHAM DUNBAR ASSOCIATED PRESS
GENEVA — Jerome Valcke, Sepp Blatter’s longtime right-hand man, was banned from all soccer-related activity for 12 years Friday for misconduct during his term as FIFA secretary general. Valcke was found guilty by FIFA’s ethics committee of wide-ranging offenses, including taking private jets for personal use, destroying evidence and trying to force through an undervalued sale of 2018 and 2022 World Cup television rights for the Caribbean. “Mr. Valcke acted against FIFA’s best interests and caused considerable financial damage to FIFA, while his private and personal interests detracted him from his ability to properly perform his duties,” the ethics committee said in a statement. Valcke’s ban is four years longer than the eight-year sanctions handed down to FIFA President Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini in December for a financial conflict of interest. The ethics judges said Valcke violated seven sections of FIFA’s code of ethics, compared to four each by Blatter and Platini, and
also fined him 100,000 Swiss francs ($102,500). The ban is likely not the end of Valcke’s legal troubles. He is expected to be asked to give evidence to American and Swiss federal prosecutors investigating widespread corruption in international soccer. His soccer ban comes one month after the 55year-old Frenchman was fired by FIFA for a second time in a colorful career. The former television presenter and marketing executive had been suspended last September. The firing was based on an internal report about his conduct, including use of expenses and private jets. FIFA commissioned that report last year before a 2014 World Cup ticket agent alleged that Valcke sought to profit from a black market deal which later fell through. That allegation, made by ticket agent Benny Alon, prompted Valcke’s suspension and the ethics case to be opened. “During the course of the investigations, several other acts of potential misconduct arose,” the ethics judges said. “By travelling at FIFA’s expense purely for sightseeing reasons as well as repeatedly choosing pri-
vate flights for his trips over commercial flights without any business rationale for doing so, Mr. Valcke gained an advantage for himself and relatives,” the statement said. “It was found that Mr. Valcke attempted to grant the TV and media rights for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups to a third party for a fee far below their actual market value and had taken concrete preparatory action in this regard.’ The ethics panel added: “Mr. Valcke deliberately tried to obstruct the ongoing proceedings against him by attempting to delete or deleting several files and folders relevant to the investigation.” Valcke has consistently denied wrongdoing, and can appeal to FIFA and later to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “With today’s decision, the FIFA ethics committee has shown that it is not a credible, independent or objective decision-making body,” Valcke’s U.S.-based lawyer Barry Berke said in a statement, criticizing an “unjust and politically motivated decision.” “Mr. Valcke is confident that when all the facts come out, it will be clear that he did absolutely noth-
File photo by Christophe Ena | AP
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, left, are pictured in a Dec. 19, 2014 file photo.Valcke was banned for 12 years Friday by FIFA’s ethics committee. ing wrong in carrying out his duties for the good of FIFA and the sport,” Berke said. Valcke was picked by Blatter as secretary general in 2007, with the main task of overseeing World Cup preparations, months after being fired as marketing director for misconduct in sponsorship negotiations. A civil suit brought in federal court in Manhattan by MasterCard — which was ousted as a World Cup sponsor when FIFA signed instead with Visa — cost the scandal-hit soccer body $90 million to settle in 2006. In Brooklyn, the U.S. Attorney’s office is leading an investigation of racketeering linked to senior
soccer officials that has implicated Valcke in an alleged World Cup bidding bribery conspiracy. In 2008, Valcke was asked to sign off on payments totaling $10 million from a FIFA account of money which belonged to South African organizers of the 2010 World Cup. South African officials asked FIFA to transfer money to the control of then-FIFA vice president Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago. American prosecutors allege the money was a bribe to three FIFA voters to support South Africa’s bid in 2004, and not — as now claimed — to create a legacy fund supporting the African diaspora in the Caribbean.
Switzerland’s attorney general is investigating financial mismanagement at FIFA, including during Valcke’s tenure, and suspected money laundering during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests. Criminal proceedings have been opened against Blatter over his approval of a $2 million payment to Platini in 2011, and the undervalued sale of Caribbean TV rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup to Warner. A spokesman for attorney general Michael Lauber said last month that a whistleblower had helped with the case, and charges could be brought against Blatter within a year.
BAN Continued from Page 1B he said, “I can honestly say I have no idea how a banned substance ended up in my system.” Mejia returned July 12, appeared in seven games for New York, then was banned for 162 games on July 28 after a positive test for Stanozolol and Boldenone. “I think not surprisingly there’s a tremendous amount of disappointment, I think to some extent, anger, to some extent, amazement that this could happen so soon after a previous suspension was completed,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said then. “This is the consequence of making bad choices.” The Mets said Friday they
“were deeply disappointed.” The Major League Baseball Players Association declined comment, and a spokesman for Mejia’s agents said the pitcher had no comment. Under pressure from Congress to toughen their drug program, major league players and teams agreed in November 2005 that a third positive test for PEDs would result in a lifetime ban. His 162game suspension had matched the longest under the big league program, a year-long ban served by the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez in 2014 that originally was 211 games before an arbitrator reduced it.
Mejia may apply one year from now to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for reinstatement, and Manfred at his discretion has the power to let Mejia back in baseball — but no earlier than for the 2018 season. If an application is made and denied, Mejia could ask baseball’s arbitrator to end the ban, claiming the penalty is without “just cause.” The arbitrator cannot reduce the ban to less than two years. Outfielder Josh Hamilton, then in the minor leagues, was suspended several times for drugs of abuse from 2003-05 but was allowed to return each time. During a time when there was not a
drug agreement, Steve Howe was suspended for life by Commissioner Fay Vincent in 1992 after the pitcher’s seventh drug- or alcohol-related incident. Arbitrator George Nicolau said doctors concluded Howe suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and cut the suspension to time served, which was 119 days. No players have been banned for life under the minor league drug program. A Dominican signed by the Mets in 2007, Mejia reached the major leagues in 2010 and became their closer in 2014, when he had 28 saves in 31 chances. He is 9-14 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 starts and
DAVIS Continued from Page 1B year contract worth $11,325,000, avoiding salary arbitration. Acquired from Cincinnati in December, Chapman had asked for $13.1 million and had been offered $9 million when the sides exchanged figures last month. The agree-
ment was $275,000 above the midpoint. Chapman threw the 62 fastest pitches in the major leagues last season, ranging from 103.92 to 102.36 mph. He was 4-4 with a 1.63 ERA and 33 saves in 36 chances, striking out 116 and walking
33 in 66 1-3 innings. He made $8,075,000. Major League Baseball is investigating Chapman under the sport’s new domestic abuse policy following a disturbance in Florida on Oct. 30 involving his girlfriend. Prosecutors decided not to file
TEXAS Continued from Page 1B charges. Players have won three of four cases decided this year. Just two players remain scheduled for arbitration hearings next week: Colorado second baseman DJ LeMahieu and Houston designated hitter Evan Gattis.
ALL-STAR Continued from Page 1B when he was helping the Lakers win five championships, though during the season he’s shown flashes of what made him one of the game’s all-time elite. Bryant said he’d be fine playing 10 minutes Sunday. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant isn’t buying that one. “We definitely want to send him off on a good note,” Durant said. “We know he’s going to be super competitive.” It is a festive sendoff, for certain. Dozens of media members staked out space around Bryant’s podium long before he started speaking Friday, though some just wanted to take selfies with him in the background. Bryant was a featured panelist at the NBA’s technology summit earlier in the morning to share ideas with league executives and others, and has his wife and their two daughters in Toronto so the whole family can bask in the celebrations. “This is pretty cool,” Bryant said. “I’m looking around the room and I’m seeing guys that I’m playing with that are tearing the league up that were
like 4 for my first All-Star Game. ... How many players can say they played 20 years and actually have seen the game go through three, four generations? It’s not sad at all. I’m really happy and honored to be here and see this.” So were his All-Star peers. Cleveland’s LeBron James still might be the best player in the world, Miami’s Dwyane Wade has more championship rings than any other All-Star this year besides Bryant, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are getting the hometown support and Golden State’s Stephen Curry is the reigning MVP for a team that won last year’s title. But they all know the spotlight is going to be on No. 24. “I think it’s going to be special,” said James, who got Bryant’s sneakers autographed after the Lakers visited Cleveland earlier this week for his own trophy case. “Not only for myself, but for the fans here and for all of Kobe’s fans.” And Bryant’s career-best 81-point game against the Raptors might be a sore subject in Toronto, but it
still stands out to Curry as the quintessential Kobe moment. “I’ve been hot before and made every shot I threw up there and got on a little streak in a game,” said Curry, the game’s premier sharpshooter. “But to score 81 points, so many things have to go right and the situation has to be just perfect for it and you have to have a special talent level like Kobe to do it. “Just watching the game, it still doesn’t make sense. How did he do it?” Bryant made the decision early this season that he would retire, then announced it weeks ago not because he wanted a farewell tour — he originally wasn’t keen on that idea, though has been moved by the tributes that have come as he’s visited NBA cities as an opponent for the last time — but because he wanted to start the process of moving on for both himself and the Lakers. As far as All-Star selections, only Kareem AbdulJabbar has more than Bryant’s 18. “I know it will kind of be bittersweet for a lot of people, but it should be celebrated like it will be,”
95 relief appearances. Mejia began last year as the Mets’ closer, but couldn’t get loose while warming up on opening day at Washington and went on the disabled list with elbow inflammation. Because of the suspensions, Mejia received just $496,311 of his $2,595,000 salary last year. He will receive none of his $2.47 million salary this year. In Mejia’s absence, Jeurys Familia became New York’s closer, and the Mets went on to reach the World Series for the first time since 2000. New York lost the World Series to Kansas City in five games.
said Miami’s Chris Bosh, who was slated to play in the All-Star Game but withdrew Friday afternoon with a calf injury. “He’s the legal voting age in All-Star years. That’s crazy. His body of work is second to none. I think it’s good for him to have some sort of closure and he can move on.” Bosh out of NBA All-Star Game due to calf injury Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat will miss Sunday’s All-Star Game with a calf injury, and has been replaced on the Eastern Conference roster by Atlanta’s Al Horford. That also means Bosh will not take part in the 3point contest on Saturday. The Heat made the announcements Friday afternoon. Bosh’s withdrawal and Horford replacing him were first reported by Yahoo Sports. Bosh’s agent, Henry Thomas, did not return messages seeking comment. Bosh did not mention the injury during Friday’s All-Star media day availability session. He said earlier Friday that he was looking forward to playing in Toronto, where he spent his first 7 NBA seasons.
Kendal Yancy said. “It just keeps growing and growing, our belief in each other.” It certainly didn’t start that way when Texas was 3-3 and Smart described the Longhorns as a mentally fragile bunch. The Longhorns have clearly shaken off that label in a league long known for its physical play and where intimidation is part of the game. “They’re not going to punk us,” Yancy said. “We’re fighting back ... We’re winning that battle as well.” Smart has pushed his players in that direction. In Monday night’s 63-60 loss at No. 3 Oklahoma — a game the Sooners won with a last-second 3-pointer — center Prince Ibeh was caught up in a jostling incident that resulted in officials calling a double technical foul. During the timeout, while game officials sorted out the foul, television microphones picked up Smart cautioning his team not to get caught up in “shenanigans” but also forcefully telling them, “We will stand up!” “We’re not a soft group,” Ibeh said. “This team has an edge.” Ibeh could find himself in a frontcourt battle Saturday night with Cyclones forward Jameel McKay. Iowa State announced Friday that McKay, who averages 12 points and nine rebounds, will return after a two-game suspension. Ibeh has had a turnaround senior season under Smart. Under previous coach Rick Barnes, Ibeh spent most of his career coming off the bench until a broken foot injury forced out starter Cam Newton
and pushed Ibeh on the court as a starter. Ibeh has blossomed in his final chance. A defensive force who averages nearly two blocks per game, Ibeh has had his moments on offense, too, with doubledoubles against Vanderbilt and TCU, and a solid ninepoint effort against Oklahoma. The toughness Smart wants has projected itself in other ways, particularly with the trapping defense he used so well at VCU to the bursts of up-tempo offense fueled by guard Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix. None of this started particularly well. A miserably long trip to China for the season-opener resulted in a lethargic loss to Washington. A trip back across the globe to a holiday tournament in the Bahamas produced two more losses in three games. Then the pieces slowly starting fitting into place. Felix hit a buzzer-beater to beat North Carolina. Then came key road wins at West Virginia and Baylor. Texas also won its first matchup with Iowa State at home. At Oklahoma, the Longhorns led for nearly the entire game before Buddy Hield’s big shot gave the Sooners the win. To finish out this season, Texas will play five ranked opponents over its final seven games, including home matchups against West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas. “We’re pretty good when we’re the underdogs,” Yancy said. Win a bunch of those remaining games and Texas won’t be underdogs any more.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
Fire in the Kitchen! Editor’s Note: The accompanying photo for this and future Saturday Heloise pet columns will be available to newspapers that receive the column through the website. If you receive the column by APwire or U.S. mail and would like to receive the photo at no extra charge, you can download it. Call Reed Brennan Media Associates Customer Service at (800) 708-7311, ext. 236. --Dear Readers: What if a SMALL FIRE started in your kitchen? Right now? Don’t think, act! Is there a fire extinguisher that you can get to? There should be, and it should be the right kind. Fire extinguishers are classified "A," "B" and "C," meaning they are used for different types of fires. "A" extinguishers put out fire from paper and wood, etc. "B" eliminates gas and grease. "C" is for electrical. READ the label, and look
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
at the graphics on your fire extinguisher NOW. It’s a little late if you need to grab it and use it! Remember P.A.S.S.: Pull the pin out, Aim from 10 feet away from the fire, Squeeze the lever and Sweep from side to side until the fire is out. NOTE: If you can’t put it out, get out! Don’t try again! A fire can turn ugly in only a few seconds. Be safe. -- Heloise TIDY TINS Dear Heloise: I save the holiday-themed popcorn tins for inexpensive decorating. I use them as wastebaskets in the bathroom and throughout the house. They’re great for potted plants, and for storage, too! -Louise W., Waco, Texas Louise, the wastebasket next to my computer where I am working right now is themed with Good Housekeeping Magazine covers from February 1922, 1934 and 1936! The price for the magazine then? Twenty-five cents! It was a gift tin filled with sinfully yummy popcorn many years ago, and I smile when I see it. (Journalistic disclosure: I’m a contributing editor and columnist for Good Housekeeping magazine.) -- Heloise
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016