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DISTRICT COURT
MEXICO
30 year sentence Man pleads guilty to 2003 murder, assaults By MATTHEW NELSON THE ZAPATA TIMES
LAREDO — Joseph Allen Garcia was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a 2003 murder and three counts of aggravated assault Friday. Garcia, 27, reached the agreement as both sides were preparing for a second trial. He was sentenced to 30 years for murder, 10 years for two counts of
aggravated assault and two years for a third count of aggravated assault. The charges stem from a 2003 shooting that left Mario Alberto Gonzalez dead. “His affiliations, his resources and his strong will was going to make this another long, hard fought battle. We were prepared, but here in the late hours, getting close to our trial again, we reached an agreement,” District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said.
“The two biggest things here that the state took into consideration is accountability and responsibility.” Alaniz said he believes Garcia to serve “90 percent of his time based on his prior criminal history (and) based on the fact that these crimes did entail the use of a deadly weapon.” Garcia’s defense attorney Roberto Balli called the sentence “lengthy,” but
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POLITICS 2014
BUSH VISITS THE AREA
Photo by Marco Ugarte/file | AP
A group of leftist Mexico City lawmakers have introduced a bill Thursday to legalize the sale of marijuana in the nation’s capital.
Mexico City eyes legal pot sales Left-leaning legislators want to follow lead of US states, Urugay By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Delcia Lopez | The Monitor
George P. Bush greets supporters at the Hidalgo Chamber of Commerce, in McAllen, on Wednesday. George P. Bush is running for Land Commissioner of Texas and was touring the Valley on his bus, visiting Zapata and Laredo on Thursday.
Laredo, Zapata were on his list for Thursday By MATTHEW NELSON THE ZAPATA TIMES
W
ith three weeks until the Republican primary, George P. Bush, candidate for commissioner for the Texas General Land Office, arrived at Cosmos Bar and Grill in Laredo on Thursday to applause and flashing cameras, to which he greeted with handshakes and smiles.
His appearance is part of a six-week, 35-city campaign in anticipation for the Republican primary March 4 that also included an appearance in Zapata on Thursday. “I’ve always been drawn to public service as a public high school teacher, being in the military and felt that, on a personal level, it was a good time to offer my services to the State of Texas,” Bush said during his
bilingual speech in Laredo. The land commissioner oversees the use of public land, its resources and allocation. Other responsibilities include protecting the Gulf Coast as well as chairmanship on the Veteran’s Land Board and School Land Board, among others. Each term is four years. Bush, 38, stressed his past as a former public school teacher, intelli-
gence officer with the U.S. Navy Reserve as well as his involvement with the private oil and gas industry. For veterans, Bush said he wanted to address the high rate of suicide among veterans. He said he believes post-traumatic stress disorder and unemployment are contributing factors to veterans’ decision to resort to suicide.
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MEXICO CITY — Leftist lawmakers on Thursday proposed allowing the sale of marijuana within Mexico City, seeking to join Uruguay and the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado in creating legal markets for the drug. The bill is vague on many key points and faces legal hurdles that may be impossible to overcome but it creates at least the possibility of an island of legalization of one drug in a nation that has been devastated by the fallout from the U.S.-backed fight to stop the northbound flow of recreational narcotics. Most legislators in the Mexico City assembly haven’t said whether they back the proposal, but the local legislature controlled by the leftist Democratic Revolution Party is the most liberal in Mexico and has previously legalized abortion and gay marriage. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera supports the plan. Approval could force a legal showdown with the federal government, which would have to decide whether to effectively override the local law by enforcing federal laws barring drug trafficking, challenging the city law in the courts, or both. President Enrique Pena Nieto has come out against drug legalization, which he says will not reduce the violence that has left tens of thousands dead across the country over the last seven years. The initiative would allow stores in the city of 8 million to sell marijuana in amounts up to 5 grams. The bill envisages a limit on the cumulative amount that each business could sell, but doesn’t specify what that could be. Since 2009, Mexican federal law has allowed the possession of no more than 5 grams of marijuana, about four joints, for personal use, but it still requires the arrest of anyone caught buying or selling any amount. The bill is silent on the number of stores that would be allowed, or how marijuana sales would be regulated, taxed and enforced. The sponsors are also asking allies in the federal congress to push forward with a law that would legalize marijuana production throughout the country, effectively providing a source for any legal pot shops. That federal bill, which also proposes allowing Mexicans to legally possess up to 30 grams of marijuana, is almost certain to go nowhere in the national legislature, which is dominated by Pena Nieto’s party and the conservative National Action Party.
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LAREDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Trustees vote to hold $100M bond election By ALDO AMATO LAREDO MORNING TIMES
LAREDO — LCC will float a $100 million bond After nearly a year of deliberation, the Laredo Community College Board of Trustees voted Thursday to hold a bond election in May to help complete renovations and help recruit new students to the campus. Trustees met for a special called meeting to discuss a proposed bond election set for May 10. If approved by voters, the bond would pay for the third phase of major renovations to
the college’s downtown Fort McIntosh campus. LCC trustees Leonides Cigarroa Jr., Allen Tijerina, Carlos Carranco Jr., Hilario Cavazos III, Mercurio Martinez and Rene De La Viña all voted in favor of a May election while Jesse A. Porras and Gilberto Martinez Jr. opposed. Board President Cynthia Mares was absent from the meeting. Cavazos said the decision on the bond amount could be made as early as the next LCC board meeting, which will be held Feb. 27. “I am definitely for a bond
that would pay for these much needed renovations,” Gilberto Martinez said. “However I wanted us to have this in November when more voters are likely to participate. There would definitely be a bigger presence due to other elections going on.” The college increased tax rates and student fees in 2009 to bankroll its $120 million facilities master plan, which involved a comprehensive renovation of the college’s downtown campus. A seven-cent increase is likely this time around but officials said tuition will not go up. Porras said although he is in
favor of renovations and attracting new students, he would like to focus on the college’s current predicaments beginning with enrollment. Records show student enrollment is the lowest it has been in five years, falling by about 1,300 students since fall of 2011. After peaking at 10,046 students in 2011, enrollment has slipped to 8,732 this year, according to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “I am not against progress, however we have to remain cautious,” Porras said. “From what I’ve heard is that we’re basically
broke and I don’t want us to be in so much debt that we’ll be forced to drive up tuition. Students are exploring other options and I don’t want this board to have that legacy.” What a majority of trustees agreed on was that the college had to increase its marketability efforts. De La Viña said Texas A&M-International University has been poaching students for years. “TAMIU is getting hundreds of new students each year,” he said. “We have to be in the
See BOND PAGE 10A