The Zapata Times 4/19/2017

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FOUNDATION John Kelly: HONORED Change laws COMMUNITY SERVICE

or shut up

Courtesy / LCC

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly speaks during a forum Tuesday at George Washington University in Washington.

Secretary calls out critics of Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement

By Alicia A. Caldwell A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Tuesday bluntly challenged members of Congress critical of the Trump administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement to either change the laws or "shut up."

In a wide-ranging speech,

Twenty-two students from area high schools and LCC were honored during the Laredo Community College President’s Student Leadership Award on Monday in the Private David B. Barkeley Cantu Veterans Memorial Chapel at the Fort McIntosh Campus. The students were chosen for demonstrating strong character, leadership and a commitment to helping others through community service. As part of their award, each student was awarded a $500 scholarship to attend LCC.

22 high school, LCC students received the President’s Student Leadership Award

Kelly also promised a border crackdown on marijuana, which is illegal under federal law but legal under state law in eight states and the District of Columbia.

The blunt-talking, retired Marine general defended the work of Homeland Security employees from immigration agents to airport security officers, saying they are unjustifi-

SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

T

Homeland continues on A11 Courtesy / LCC

WHITE HOUSE

Trump targets H-1B visa program

By Catherine Lucey and Scott Bauer

Laredo Community College President Ricardo J. Solis, far right, presented, from left, Rob Gonzalez, Shirley Gonzalez and Claudia Gonzalez of the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation with the 2017 LCC President’s Community Leadership Award. The ceremony was held Monday at the Private David B. Barkeley Cantu Veterans Memorial Chapel at the Fort McIntosh Campus.

heir names have become synonymous with education, the arts and community

service.

Since its founding in 2001, the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation has touched the lives of countless persons, including Laredo Community College students. In honor of LCC continues on A11

LBGT RIGHTS GROUPS

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

Gov. Abbott supports ‘bathroom bill’ KENOSHA, Wis. — President Donald Trump hopes to revive the economic populism that helped drive his election campaign, signing an order Tuesday in politically important Wisconsin to tighten rules on technology companies bringing in highly skilled foreign workers.

Trump toured the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc., and then he was expected to sign an order

By Paul J. Weber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Kiichiro Sato / AP

President Donald Trump speaks at Snap-On Tools on Tuesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

aimed at curbing what his administration says are hiring abuses in a visa program used Visa continues on A11

AUSTIN, Texas — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the first time Tuesday endorsed a "bathroom bill" and breathed new life into North Carolina-style efforts that businesses and LGBT rights groups hoped had stalled with time running out to sign into law.

Abbott's sudden public sup-

port following months of silence is significant. By now calling on the Republicancontrolled Legislature to send Abbott him a bill before the end of May, Texas is thrust closer to joining North Carolina as the only states in the U.S. with so-called "bathroom bills" that critics

condemn as discriminatory.

"As the debate on this issue continues, I will work with the House and Senate to ensure we find a solution and ultimately get a bill to my desk that I will sign into law," Abbott said in a statement.

Similar measures proposed in other conservative states this year have fizzled out. That includes Arkansas, where RepubAbbott continues on A11

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

THURSDAY, APRIL 20

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony. 6:30 p.m. Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library. Featured speakers will be Aarón and Esther Cohen, whose documentary, “Paradise in Auschwitz,” will be shown twice. The first showing will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the library’s MultiPurpose Room. The second showing will be Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Library’s Multi-Purpose Room. The ceremony and film showings are all free and open to the public. People of every faith and age are invited to attend the events.

Today is Wednesday, April 19, the 109th day of 2017. There are 256 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History: On April 19, 1967, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon (at that time, a men-only event) under an official number by registering without mentioning her gender; by her own estimate, she finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes.

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 TAMIU Scholarship Benefit Concert. 7 p.m. Laredo ISD Civic Center, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. One of México’s most revered mariachi music groups, Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán de Guadalajara, will perform their concert México Mágico. The annual event is presented by TAMIU and benefits the Artist in Residence Program and mariachi music student scholarships. Tickets are $40, $30 and $25 and available at the TAMIU Bursar’s Office in Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, room 137, or by calling Andria Hernández at 956.326.2152.

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 Spaghetti lunch. Noon to 1:30 p.m.

First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. Sponsored by the United Methodist Men. No admission fee, free-will donations accepted.

MONDAY, APRIL 24 Chess Club. Every Monday, 4-6 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete with other players in this cherished game played internationally. Free instruction for all ages and skill levels. Chess books and training materials are available.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 “A Toast to 25 Years of Music, Art and Fashion.” 11:30 a.m. Laredo Country Club. The Volunteer Services Council for Border Region Behavioral Health Center invites the community to this event to celebrate Administrative Professional Day Luncheon and Fashion Show. A raffle will also be held at the event. To purchase a table, contact Laura Kim at 956-7943130 or blaurak@borderregion.org.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

In this 2011 file photo, from left, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush stand for the National Anthem at the Kennedy Center.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH HOSPITALIZED IN HOUSTON HOUSTON — Former President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized in Houston for four days with a recurrence of a case of pneumonia he had earlier in the year, a family spokesman said Tuesday.

The 92-year-old former president and father of former president George W. Bush has been in Methodist Hospital in Houston since Friday for observation because of a persistent cough, Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said in a brief statement. He said doctors diagnosed a mild case of pneumonia that has been treated and resolved.

The former president "is in very good spirits and is being held for further observation while he regains his strength," McGrath said. He was hospitalized in 2015 in Maine after falling at his summer home and breaking a bone in his neck.

He was also hospitalized in Houston the previous December for about a week for shortness of breath. He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitisrelated cough and other issues. Bush has a form of Parkinson's disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

— Compiled from AP reports

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society Meeting . 3 to 5 p.m. Joe A. Guerra Public Library, second floor. Speaker: Celso Sanchez, "Don Tomas Sanchez, The Founder of Laredo.” Members free, guests $5. For more info, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Spanish Book Club. 6 to 8 p.m. Joe A Guerra Public Library, conference room. For more info, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

VMT journalism students' 21st Annual Photography Exhibit opening reception. 6 to 8 p.m. Laredo Center for the Arts. Laredo Area Community Foundation Gallery. For more information, contact Mark Webber at mwebber004@laredoisd.org.

VMT's literary magazine Tapestry is having its annual unveiling. 6 p.m. Second floor at the Laredo Center for the Arts. For more information, contact Mark Webber at mwebber004@laredoisd.org.

MONDAY, MAY 1 Chess Club. Every Monday, 4-6 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete with other players in this cherished game played internationally. Free instruction for all ages and skill levels. Chess books and training materials are available.

Ray of Light anxiety and depression support group meeting.

6:30—7:30 p.m. Area Health Education Center, 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. Every first Monday of the month. People suffering from anxiety and depression are invited to attend this free, confidential and anonymous support group meeting. While a support group does not replace an individual’s medical care, it can be a valuable resource to gain insight, strength and hope.

FRIDAY, MAY 5 2017 Laredo Open. May 5-7. Laredo Country Club. $150 registration fee, which includes live music, food, drinks and raffle prizes. Guest fee: $20 per day. Registration deadline: May 2 at midnight. Sponsor and player packet pickup and party is set for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 3 in the Rosewood Room. Sign up today at tennislaredo.com or at the LCC Tennis Pro Shop.

SATURDAY, MAY 6 Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. Public invited, no admission fee.

2017 Laredo Open. Laredo Country Club. $150 registration fee, which includes live music, food, drinks and raffle prizes. Guest fee: $20 per day.

Registration deadline: May 2 at midnight. Sponsor and player packet pickup and party is set for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 3 in the Rosewood Room.

Sign up today at tennislaredo.com or at the LCC Tennis Pro Shop.

Breathalyzer officer fired after showing up for work drunk AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin police officer whose duties included administering Breathalyzer tests has been fired after a self-administered test indicated he had reported for work drunk.

His supervising sergeant is suspended for 60 days.

A memo released Tuesday showed the officer reported for his shift one day last October, then drove his patrol car to the Travis County Jail for a selfadministered breath test required by his certification. The results showed a blood-alcohol concentration of .064-0.65 percent.

The officer drove back to his substation and gave the results to his supervisor, who told him to stay out of service until sober.

A state police scientist said an extrapolation of the results meant the officer reported for work with a .084-.124 percent blood-alcohol concentration, above the state limit for drivers of .08 percent.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Prosecutors toss thousands of tainted drug cases BOSTON — Prosecutors in Massachusetts moved to throw out several thousand drug convictions Tuesday, five years after a chemist at the state drug lab was caught tampering with evidence and falsifying tests.

The state's highest court had ordered district attorneys in seven counties to produce lists

by Tuesday indicating how many of approximately 24,000 cases involving Annie Dookhan they would be unable or unwilling to prosecute if the defendants were granted new trials. Dookhan pleaded guilty in 2013 to obstruction of justice, perjury and tampering with evidence after being accused of falsifying her work as far back as 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison and paroled last year.

"Today is a major victory for justice and fairness, and for

David L. Ryan / AP

In this 2013 file photo, former state chemist Annie Dookhan sits in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.

thousands of people in the commonwealth who were unfairly convicted of drug offenses," Matthew Segal, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

The ACLU estimated 20,000 cases would be thrown out Tuesday, which the group said would make it the single largest

dismissal of criminal convictions in U.S. history. Many of the defendants have already completed their sentences, though some probably remain in prison because of other charges not contaminated by the lab scandal. About 2,000 cases had been dismissed before Tuesday.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD UN: 16 staff members freed

by South Sudan refugees KINSHASA, Congo — The United Nations said late Tuesday that 16 staff members taken hostage by unarmed South Sudanese refugees at a U.N. camp in eastern Congo have been released unharmed.

The U.N. peacekeeping department said in a statement

released at U.N. headquarters in New York that "the camp is quiet and under full control" of peacekeepers at the Munigi base in North Kivu province.

The U.N. Mission in Congo said earlier that the South Sudanese refugees took 13 staff members hostage, demanding they be sent to another East African country to avoid their forced return to South Sudan.

Negotiations had continued into the evening.

The U.N. peacekeeping department said later there were

On this date: In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

In 1897, the first Boston Marathon was held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.

In 1935, the Universal Pictures horror film "Bride of Frankenstein," starring Boris Karloff with Elsa Lanchester in the title role, had its world premiere in San Francisco.

In 1943, during World War II, tens of thousands of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but ultimately futile battle against Nazi forces.

In 1951, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his Far East command by President Harry S. Truman, bade farewell in an address to Congress in which he quoted a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

In 1966, Bobbi Gibb, 23, became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon at a time when only men were allowed to participate.

In 1977, the Supreme Court, in Ingraham v. Wright, ruled 5-4 that even severe spanking of schoolchildren by faculty members did not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment.

In 1989, 47 sailors were killed when a gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa in the Caribbean. (The Navy initially suspected that a dead crew member had deliberately sparked the blast, but later said there was no proof of that.)

In 1993, the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

In 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope in the first conclave of the new millennium; he took the name Benedict XVI. Ten years ago: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a bleak assessment of Iraq, saying the war was "lost," triggering an angry backlash by Republicans. A jury in Selmer, Tennessee, convicted Mary Winkler of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her preacher-husband, Matthew.

Five years ago: Republicans rammed an election-year, $46 billion tax cut for most of America's employers through the House, ignoring a veto threat from President Barack Obama.

One year ago: Front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton swept to resounding victories in New York's primary. Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro delivered a valedictory speech to the Communist Party that he put in power a half-century ago, telling party members he was nearing the end of his life and exhorting them to help his ideas survive.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Elinor Donahue is 80. Rock musician Alan Price (The Animals) is 75. Actor Tim Curry is 71. Pop singer Mark "Flo" Volman (The Turtles; Flo and Eddie) is 70. Actor Tony Plana is 65. Former tennis player Sue Barker is 61. Motorsports Hall of Famer Al Unser Jr. is 55.

Actor Tom Wood is 54. Recording executive Suge Knight is 52. Singersongwriter Dar Williams is 50. Actress Ashley Judd is 49. Singer Bekka Bramlett is 49. Latin pop singer Luis Miguel is 47. Actress Jennifer Esposito is 45.

Actress Jennifer Taylor is 45. Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux is 43. Actor James Franco is 39. Actress Kate Hudson is 38. Actor Hayden Christensen is 36. Actress Catalina Sandino Moreno is 36. Actress-comedian Ali Wong (TV: "American Housewife") is 35. Actress Kelen Coleman is 33. Actor Zack Conroy is 32. Roots rock musician Steve Johnson (Alabama Shakes) is 32. Actor Courtland Mead is 30. Tennis player Maria Sharapova is 30.

Thought for Today: "There is a Law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it he must perish." — Alfred Adler, Austrian psychoanalyst (1870-1937).

CONTACT US 16 hostages.

"All staff have returned safely to their homes," it said. "No casualties have been reported.

The mission is investigating the incident."

Daniel Ruiz, the head of the North Kivu U.N. bureau, said earlier that two of the hostages were expatriates.

The South Sudanese refugees "are all disarmed, but they demand asylum in Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia."

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 |

A3

STATE

Rain in Southeast Texas brings flooding, closes schools ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Stephanie Stevens / The Lufkin News

Jamie Mahan’s students cut patterns out of recycled materials to make 66 pairs of shoes for children in Africa.

East Texas children use recycled items to help make shoes

By Stephanie Stevens TH E LUF K IN NEWS

LUFKIN, Texas — Sixty-six pairs of shoes made of recycled materials will be donated to children in Africa thanks to Jamie Mahan's class at Lufkin's Dunbar Primary School.

The Lufkin News reports students traced out pieces from jeans and recycled materials to be sent to Sole Hope, a nonprofit that turns the materials into shoes to protect children in Uganda from contracting jiggers through their feet.

Jiggers are parasitic insects that enter under a person's toes and in the webbing of feet, where they lay eggs. The eggs continue to multiply until the child can no longer walk. Shoes help protect children from the bugs.

Mahan said her class has been learning about reducing, reusing and recycling.

"We went on a learning journey where we went to the county land-

fill, the recycling plant and wastewater treatment plant so kids can see why we don't want things going into the landfill," Mahan said.

"We are running out of room."

Second-grader Wesley Bennett said he was surprised to learn how much garbage goes to the county landfill.

"Almost 1 million pounds of trash goes into our landfill every day," Wesley said. "How will that affect my kids' kids' kids' babies?"

Mahan's class wanted to use recycled goods to help others, she said, "So on Valentine's Day, instead of it being about ourselves, we wanted to share love with someone else, and we decided to share love all the way to Africa for kids who really need these shoes."

Students and friends brought recycled jeans and food cartons and cut out the shapes needed to make shoes. They also cut plastic pieces out of milk, orange juice and

tea cartons that will be put in the heels of the shoes.

Lynda Langston, who visited the class on April 10 to tell the kids how many shoes they had made possible, said each shoe bag has 12 different denim pieces.

"So we cut out 792 pieces," she said, congratulating the students on their hard work.

"It was hard to cut out the cartons, but I liked doing it," first-grader Brylie Hunt said. "I hope they like their shoes."

Students also brought rubber gloves, pins and other first aid items to send with the shoes.

"I brought lots of stuff like gauze and Band-Aids and stickers to make the kids feel better when their feet get poked at the hospital," second-grader Abe Ramsey said. "I can't imagine not having a pair of shoes. I have some; why can't other kids have some, too?"

He said he felt inspired to use recycled materials when he grows up.

HOUSTON — A storm system has dropped up to 10 inches of rain in some parts of Southeast Texas, flooding neighborhoods and closing schools.

The highest rainfall totals were recorded in Brazoria County, south of Houston, where the Dan-

bury school district closed its schools Tuesday following the overnight rain.

Danbury and the Galveston County town of Santa Fe were among the communities contending with flooded neighborhoods, and some waterways, such as the Brazos River just west of Hous-

ton, were near flood stage.

The National Weather Service has extended a flash flood watch into Tuesday afternoon for several counties.

Traffic along Interstate 45 and several other routes was slowed and forecasts call for another 3 to 6 inches of rain through Tuesday.

Baylor hires first female president amid assault scandal ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WACO, Texas — Baylor University has hired its first female president as the nation’s largest Baptist school faces several lawsuits stemming from a sexual assault scandal.

Linda Livingstone comes to Baylor from George Washington Uni-

versity in Washington, D.C., where she has been a dean and professor of management. Her academic career includes previous administrative and teaching roles at Pepperdine University and Baylor.

A Baylor investigation in 2016 found the school had mishandled sexual assault claims for years

and that the football program operated as if above the rules. Football coach Art Briles was fired and former President Ken Starr was demoted and later resigned.

Baylor faces lawsuits from about a dozen women, as well as criticism from state lawmakers and prominent donors.

Texas again voting on science lessons challenging evolution ASSOCIATED PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Board of Education is voting again this week on revised science curriculums requiring students to "evaluate scientific explanations" on the "complexity" of human cells and on the origin of DNA. That's language which academics say deliber-

ately casts doubt on the theory of evolution.

It's been cheered by religious conservatives, however. They argue it encourages high school students to think critically about science.

In February, the board scrapped anti-evolution rules asking students to consider "all sides" of scientific theory. But critics worry the new

curriculum still injects religious ideology into classrooms and could make students believe God helped create human life.

The board's 10 Democrats and five Republicans will vote on the new curriculum on Wednesday and then again Friday. They can still make changes either time.

Zopinion

Letters to the editor Send your signed letter to editorial@lmtonline.com

A4 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

OTHER VIEWS

COLUMN

The investing parallels of alcohol and marijuana

By Barry Ritholtz B L OOM BE RG

Imagine for a moment that you could go back in time to 1932, the year before the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, repealing Prohibition (and the 18th Amendment).

What might you do with the knowledge that the production, transport and sale of alcoholic beverages was about to be legalized? What sort of investment opportunities might you find? How would you deploy your capital?

Fast-forward to 2017.

Might we be in a similar, if not exactly parallel, situation regarding a different investment opportunity?

It’s a question I have been thinking about since the announcement that Canada will consider legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use. According to Bloomberg News: “Canada is advancing plans to become the first group of seven nations to legalize recreational marijuana nationally, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is keeping key details hazy and allowing arrests to continue while parliament debates his plan.”

The proposal would make Canada only the second country in the world to legalize the retail sale and use of pot after Uruguay (medical marijuana is already legal in about 20 countries).

This is potentially a big deal: Legal marijuana was a $3.4 billion business in 2015 in the U.S.; Arc View Market Research pegged the legal marijuana market in 2016 at $7.1 billion. That is expected to triple during the next three years to $22 billion.

It’s not too surprising that with that kind of growth, marijuana is attracting a lot of attention and potential investment dollars.

In an email exchange, Todd Harrison, managing partner at CB1 Capital, a hedge fund that plans to focus on marijuana growers and product-makers, wrote that “cannabis is already the fasting growing industry in the world despite the stateside illegality, making it a rare ‘outside-in’ global phenomenon.” He describes an “emerging secular bull market” that covers “disease treatments, wellness supplements, anti-aging creams, sleep remedies, pet food, education, nutraceuticals all while alleviating the societal dependence on opioids.”

Harrison’s fund, once it opens in July, plans to

invest in publicly traded stocks. For private companies, there are numerous venture capital firms that are investing in marijuana-related startups. Note that this isn’t limited to small fringe companies: Microsoft has begun offering cloud-based software that tracks marijuana plants from “seed to sale.”

In the U.S., the legalization movement began when Oregon decriminalized cannabis in 1973.

It picked up momentum when California passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1996. Since then, more than half of the states have amended their laws that had classified marijuana as an illegal drug.

As noted above, the comparison with alcohol is imperfect. Marijuana businesses face obstacles with using the banking system that brewers and spirits distributors never had. Federal rules against money laundering make it difficult for legal weed shops to make large cash deposits at banks.

There are other risks and complicating factors.

President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions both have said they oppose the move toward state legalization, which advanced when the Obama administration decided not to strictly enforce federal prohibitions. Also consider what might happen if Canada adopts broad national legalization. The U.S.-Canadian border is the longest international border in the world.

Would the Trump administration really devote extra resources to patrolling another, even bigger U.S. border, this time to the north?

Time and momentum probably are on the side of those pressing for legalization, even without the support of the current White House.

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing more medicinal usages, as are other countries.

As more countries and states move forward, the end of marijuana prohibition is looking ever more likely.

Famed investor Bill Miller observes that investors who seek to beat the market need a substantial “active share” -- the amount by which their investment holdings differ from their benchmark. Marijuana stocks are not in most major indexes, and they might provide just that sort of difference.

Things are likely to get interesting very soon.

Ritholtz is a Bloomberg View columnist.

OP-ED

Facebook fails to see the dark side of human nature

By Erika D. Smith THE SACRAMENTO BEE (TNS)

"I found somebody I’m about to kill. I’m going to kill this guy right here.

He’s an old dude, too."

I wish I had never heard the voice of Steve Stephens, cold and cocky as he trolled the streets of Cleveland on Easter Sunday.

Recording a shaky video with his smartphone, the 37-year-old stopped his white Ford Fusion and walked over to Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old father of nine and grandfather of 14 who was out for a walk.

Still recording, Stephens asks Godwin a question and then shoots him in the head, zooming in on the bloody scene before calmly walking back to his car.

This gruesome footage - and the pain of my hometown - was posted on Facebook, alongside photos of cute kids searching for eggs and families smiling on the steps of churches after services.

Police initially thought that Stephens, 37, had broadcast the shooting on Facebook Live, the service that lets users share their experiences in real time. It turns out he didn’t; he recorded it on his phone and uploaded it.

That’s horrific enough.

But the day is almost certainly coming when someone really will commit murder live on Facebook, a social network with 1.86 billion active users. When that happens, I’m not sure the Silicon Valley giant or its peers will be ready for it.

Time and time again,

enterprising geeks in the Golden State have failed to account for - or straight-up downplayed the dark parts of human nature. As they idealistically roll out apps and online services designed to make the world more utopian, they conveniently forget that some users will eagerly find ways to use their inventions to make the world more dystopian.

Ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, are seen solely through the eyes of the riders who hail them, not the drivers who get the short end of the stick with low wages and no benefits.

The magic of driverless vehicles, coming to a road near you, is talked about merely in terms of alleviating traffic jams and accidents, not of the millions of long-haul truck drivers, cabbies and delivery drivers who will soon be out of a job.

Airbnb, the online house-sharing service, didn’t expect hosts to decline customers based on foreign- or blacksounding names. Faced with evidence of that it was happening, the company had to issue new guidelines to curb the practice.

Technology is technology, but people are people. Greed and hate don’t just go away because the interaction is digital.

Facebook, in particular, has had to learn this lesson again and again.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always had an overly optimistic view of his baby. More than a social network or even a media behemoth, he sees Face-

book as a platform with the power to "make the world more open and connected" and "give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

A year ago this month, he told Buzzfeed of the then-new Facebook Live feature: "We built this big technology platform so we can go and support whatever the most personal and emotional and raw and visceral ways people want to communicate are as time goes on."

It turns out that "raw" and "visceral" are a lot darker than Zuckerberg ever imagined.

Facebook users have streamed rapes, assaults and torture live. Still more disturbing, so many people have livestreamed their suicides that Facebook recently released a suite of suicide prevention tools.

In January, an aspiring actor in Los Angeles started a Facebook Live session and shot himself in the head while sitting in a parked car. The man’s family in Texas spotted the livestream and alerted police, but officers couldn’t find him in time.

A few days earlier, a 14-year-old girl in Miami hanged herself on Facebook, first making a noose out of a scarf and attaching it to a door frame. Police, once again, arrived too late.

Perhaps most unsettling, a Turkish man, distraught over a breakup, told viewers in October: "No one believed when I said will kill myself. So watch this."

Then he tried to shoot himself, but the gun jammed. He pulled the

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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

trigger again and the screen went black.

The internet. It’s not just for cat videos anymore. And with the Godwin murder on Sunday, Zuckerberg likely will be forced to confront that reality.

That’s a good thing.

It was inexcusable for Facebook to leave the video of Godwin’s last moments on its site for three hours. In the world of social media, that’s an eternity. It was long enough for thousands, if not millions, of people to watch it, record it and share it to YouTube.

The video went viral in less than an hour, even as Stephens went on Facebook Live while on the run from police before he killed himself Tuesday while being pursued.

Facebook eventually deactivated his profile page. But my Facebook and Twitter feeds were still filled with links to the video, alongside pleas for people to stop watching and spreading it.

"This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook," the company said in a statement.

"We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety."

No company can prepare for every horrific eventuality. But imagining it can happen in the first place is a good place to start.

Erika D. Smith is a columnist for the Sacramento Bee.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 |

A5

CRIME

Former Texas death row inmate takes four life sentences in plea agreement

By Michael Graczyk A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

HOUSTON — A North Carolina man who spent nearly two decades on Texas’ death row for the fatal shooting of a Houston-area gun store owner has accepted four consecutive life sentences without parole in a plea agreement with prosecutors after the U.S. Supreme Court decided he should receive a new sentencing trial.

Randolph Mansoor Greer was 19 in 1992 when he was convicted of capital murder and condemned for the shooting death of Walter Chmiel, 47. The 1991 slaying was

Greer

part of a months-long crime binge by Greer in Texas and North Carolina. He also was charged in Greensboro, North Carolina, in connection with another capital murder, two rapes and four

robberies.

“Greer, now 43, has been incapacitated and will never again pose a threat to public safety,” First Assistant Harris County District Attorney Tom Berg said Tuesday.

Greer was removed from death row in 2011 after the Supreme Court decided the instructions to the jury that sent him there were insufficient.

At the time of his trial, courts were wrestling with evolving jury instructions about mitigating evidence, like mental impairment or dysfunctional childhood, and how that evidence should be applied to punishment in capital murder convic-

tions. The high court visited the issue several times, refining trial procedures through its rulings, and Greer’s case was among several of that time period in Texas that were returned to trial courts for new punishment hearings. A psychiatrist testified at his trial that Greer suffered from a manic conduct disorder.

Berg said before the new sentencing Monday, prosecutors had conferred with survivors of Greer’s crimes and families of his victims.

The plea also covered Houston cases where he was accused of the January 1991 abduction, rape and robbery of a woman

at an ATM and the abduction and rape of another woman from an apartment complex on June 26, 1991, a day before Chmiel was killed at his Alamo Gun Shop in the Houston enclave of Bellaire.

A gun shop customer testified at Greer’s trial that he entered the store to find Chmiel dead on the floor and how he was forced at gunpoint to help Greer load a bag with 26 new pistols as he begged for his life. Evidence showed the store owner was shot in the head as he filled out a receipt.

The customer called police with a description of Greer’s car and a license

plate number. The car had been stolen from a rape victim.

Other testimony at his trial came from North Carolina women who recounted how they were abducted and raped by Greer. Another woman testified she survived being shot multiple times June 1, 1991, during a $100,000 robbery at a Greensboro, North Carolina, jewelry store where she worked. A co-worker, Robert Parker Jr., was shot and killed and a customer was shot in the spine.

Authorities said the weapon used in those shootings was used in Chmiel’s slaying.

FBI: Texas man with extremist views planned mass shooting A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — The FBI says in a court filing that an Austin man who agents recently arrested exhibited "sovereign citizen extremism" and was planning a mass shooting.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court says 50-year-old Steven Boehle is facing charges that include unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Records show he was found in possession of firearms and hundreds

A criminal complaint filed in federal court says 50-year-old Steven Boehle is facing charges that include unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

of rounds of ammunition.

Boehle on several occasions had attempted to purchase more but was denied because of a 1993 domestic-violence conviction in Connecticut. Authorities say he also made false statements in an effort to buy

weapons.

An arrest warrant filed Monday revealed he was taken into custody April 12.

A message left with the federal public defender's office in Austin to speak on Boehle's behalf was not returned.

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Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE DÍA DE LA TIERRA

1 Por segundo año consecutivo, la Ciudad de Roma invita a la Recolección de Llantas para celebrar el Día de la Tierra, el sábado 22 de abril, desde las 8 a.m., en la Plaza Guadalupe.

PAGO DE IMPUESTOS

1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St. PAGO EN LÍNEA

1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día.

CAMINATA/CARRERA 5K

1 La Ciudad de Roma invita al Tributo a las Fuerzas Armadas con Caminata/Carrera 5K iniciando en Guadalupe Plaza, el sábado 20 de mayo a las 8 a.m. a 12 p.m.

LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL

1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956-849-1411.

MUSEO EN ZAPATA

1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83. Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m.

Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956765-8983.

GRUPOS DE APOYO

1 El grupo de apoyo para personas con Alzheimer se reunirá en su junta mensual, a las 7 p.m., en el Laredo Medical Center, primer piso, Torre B en el Centro Comunitario. Las reuniones se realizan el primer martes de cada mes en el mismo lugar y a la misma hora.

1 El grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital. Padecer cáncer es una de las experiencias más estresantes en la vida de una persona. Sin embargo, los grupos de apoyo pueden ayudar a muchos a lidiar con los aspectos emocionales de la enfermedad.

1 Grupo de Apoyo para Ansiedad y Depresión Rayo de Luz. En Centro de Educación del Área de Salud, ubicado en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. El grupo se reúne de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430, cada primer lunes de mes.

FRONTERA

Muro costaría 70 billones Demócratas: Cada milla podría costar hasta 36,6 millones E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Senadores demócratas presentaron un informe en el que se estima el costo de la construcción del muro fronterizo propuesto por el Presidente Trump.

"Un nuevo informe ha encontrado que la idea del muro fronterizo del Presidente Trump puede costarle a los contribuyentes hasta 70 mil millones de dólares —a pesar de la poca evidencia que indique que mejorará la seguridad”, dijo el congresista Henry Cuéllar, miembro del subcomité de Asignaciones de Seguridad Nacional, el cual financia a la Patrulla

Fronteriza.

“El costoso proyecto del presidente sería una solución del siglo XIV a un problema del siglo XXI a precios inaceptables. La administración también está planeando apropiarse tierras privadas de mis electores, a cambio de pequeños pagos ridículos.

A los tejanos de todas las orientaciones políticas no les gusta que agentes federales tomen posesión de sus propiedades. Combatiremos esta mala idea hasta que el Presidente finalmente admita que no va a suceder".

Algunos de los hallazgos más importantes en el reporte incluyen: 1 No existe una estimación confiable del costo de

COMERCIO

construcción del muro fronterizo en su totalidad, pero las estimaciones extrapoladas consideran que el costo de construcción y la tecnología e infraestructura asociadas con el proyecto será de casi 70 mil millones de dólares. Eso equivale a un costo total de más de 200 dólares por cada hombre, mujer y niño estadounidense. Un análisis de costo-beneficio del proyecto no está completo.

1 El costo proyectado por cada de milla de construcción está aumentando rápidamente y se estima que alcance hasta los 36,6 millones de dólares por milla. Esto no incluye los costos de adquirir los terrenos en los que se

construirá el muro. Tampoco incluye los costos de mantenimiento, que pueden llegar a casi 150 millones de dólares por año.

1 El Departamento no puede proporcionar al Comité una estimación anticipada del costo por adquisición de tierras. En el pasado, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos gastó por lo menos 78 millones de dólares para adquirir los terrenos donde actualmente existe la valla de seguridad fronteriza.

1 Cuando el gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha sido obligado a ir a los tribunales, los costos de adquisición de tierras pueden ser mucho más altos; En casos anteriores relacionados con vallas fronterizas, el gobierno gastó más de 11 millones de dólares por la adquisición de 271 acres de propiedad privada, un precio promedio de 42.600 por

acre. En un caso en el condado de Cameron, Texas, un terrateniente recibió una oferta inicial de 233.000 dólares por 3,1 acres. Después de una batalla legal de tres años, el gobierno finalmente pagó por lo menos 4,7 millones de dólares, un aumento de casi 2,000 por ciento sobre la oferta inicial.

1 Los litigios para adquirir propiedad privada y construir el muro pueden durar una década o más. De los más de 300 casos presentados ante un juez de distrito en Texas relacionados con la construcción de una valla fronteriza, más de 90 casos siguen sin resolverse y no se ha construido una valla en esos lugares.

1 Los prototipos del muro fronterizo serán financiados reduciendo el presupuesto destinado a la vigilancia móvil por video.

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, MÉXICO

McAllen lanza campaña publicitaria

VIVEN ÉXITO DE RÍO FEST 2017

Por Julia Wallace TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Solo unos cuantos días después de la apertura oficial de los Outlet Shoppes en Laredo, la Ciudad de McAllen anunció que estaría lanzando una campaña de publicidad de 250.000 dólares en México.

En una entrevista para el Rio Grande Guardian, el alcalde de McAllen Jim Darling no mencionó nada insinuando que esta campaña sea una reacción ante el nuevo centro comercial en Laredo. Él dijo que el objetivo es asegurar que McAllen no sufra por los comentarios del Presidente Trump sobre los mexicanos.

A principios de diciembre, Jaime “El Bronco” Rodríguez, gobernador de Nuevo León, pidió a sus residentes que no visitaran McAllen, Mission, Pharr y Mercedes o que fueran de compras a los Estados Unidos como protesta por la elección del Presidente Trump, de acuerdo con medios mexicanos.

Blasita López, vocera de la Ciudad de Laredo y presidenta del Centro de Convenciones y Visitantes (CVB por sus siglas en inglés) dijo que aunque McAllen siempre ha sido la competencia de Laredo, ella no cree que esta nueva campaña de publicidad sea personal.

“Fueron víctimas de algo sobre lo que no tienen control”, dijo López.

Dicho esto, el CVB de Laredo ha duplicado esfuerzos para mantenerse cerca de los mercados mexicanos, especialmente Monterrey, dijo López.

Sus esfuerzos de alcance sobre los outlets comenzaron específicamente en octubre 2016, de acuerdo con López.

El presupuesto anual de CVB para anunciarse en México es de 380.000 dólares. Estos anuncios se muestran en Monterrey, Saltillo, la Ciudad de México, Nuevo Laredo y otras ciudades en Tamaulipas.

Durante la planeación para el presupuesto de este año, CVB pidió fondos adicionales para ser usados específicamente en la promoción de los nuevos outlets en México. La cantidad extra fue de 94.000 dólares.

“En los últimos meses anteriores a la apertura de los outlets, hemos incrementado nuestros esfuerzos”, dijo López. “Eso nos ha ayudado a contrarrestar el efecto Trump”.

López dijo que su oficina ya ha visto un incremento de turistas mexicanos.

Una compañía de tours de Monterrey ha estado trayendo un autobús de visitantes a Laredo cada sábado desde hace 20 años. El fin de semana que los outlets abrieron, la compañía trajo siete autobuses, de acuerdo con López.

“Este es solo un hombre, un operador de tours”, ella dijo.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán

Cientos de paseantes disfrutaron de las actividades del evento Río Fest 2017, organizado por el Municipio de Miguel Alemán, México en conjunto con la Secretaría de Turismo y que concluyó el domingo.

Familias celebraron en márgenes del río E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Miguel Alemán, México— Todo un éxito resultó el festejo “Río Fest 2017”, que organizó el fin de semana la administración pública municipal de esa ciudad y que encabeza Rosa Icela Corro Acosta, y la Secretaría de Turismo, dirigida por Roberto Zilli de la Garza para el pueblo de Miguel Alemán.

La primera autoridad, acompañada por miembros del cabildo agradecieron a los

cientos de visitantes que acudieron al Río Fest 2017, en donde las familias tuvieron oportunidad de convivir, disfrutar de música en vivo, juegos mecánicos y buena comida en esta tradicional y alegre fiesta en las márgenes del Río Bravo siendo con la finalidad de intensificar en estas fechas de pascua la unión familiar.

"Prácticamente es una gran fiesta para toda la familia con stand de artesanías, comidas, juegos mecánicos y mucho

más" mencionó la alcaldesa.

Dicho evento finalizó el domingo con la animación musical de diferentes grupos que entregaron lo mejor de su repertorio para que las familias que se dieron cita en ese lugar disfrutaran de un gran ambiente grupero, presentándose en el foro artístico El Tropical Panamá, Grupo Viento, Beto Hernández y su Tropical del Bravo, así como el imitador de las estrellas Jorge Guerrero.

GUERRERO AYER Y HOY

Grupos indígenas resisten colonización Nota del editor: Esta serie de artículos sobre la historia de Ciudad Guerrero, México, fueron escritos por la guerrerense Lilia Treviño Martínez (1927-2016), quien fuera profesora de la escuela Leoncio Leal.

Por Lilia Treviño Martínez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

En la primera mitad del siglo XIX y aún siendo México independiente, los grupos indígenas siguieron incursionando en tierras ya colonizadas, y esta situación se acentuó cuando los colonos texanos se sublevaron tratando de independizarse, lo cual lograron en 1836.

Los ataques de lipanes y

comanches se intensificaron y algunos historiadores suponen que eran azuzados por los rebeldes texanos, quienes los utilizaban para amedrentar a los colonos.

A través de los relatos históricos, los indios de esta región han sido calificados como salvajes, bárbaros, crueles y sanguinarios, pero ellos vivían un determinado momento de su evolución cultural: eran nómadas y posiblemente vieron una amenaza para su forma de vida en los colonizadores que levantaban cercas para retener sus ganados, frenando así el ímpetu de las cabalgaduras indias, y poniendo trabas a sus incursiones de las cuales obtenían

ganancias.

Los calificamos de crueles, pero hay indicios que algunos de estos grupos se habían refugiado en la Costa del Seno Mexicano huyendo del sometimiento en que los tenían las encomiendas desde el siglo XVIII. ¿No estaban defendiendo su derecho natural a un espacio para vivir? ¿Acaso no llegaron ellos primero?

Es cierto que la colonización se llevó a cabo a costa de muchas dificultades y angustias para los colonos, también es cierto que causó notables alteraciones en la vida de los grupos étnicos que ya vivían en estos territorios y que finalmente fueron exterminados.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 |

A7

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: SAN ANTONIO SPURS

NFL: HOUSTON TEXANS

Green’s 3-point shooting helped Spurs keep the Grizzlies at bay Monday

Tom Terrific?

Too early to tell, but Savage has right look

Spurs have 2-0 lead heading to Memphis

By Tom Orsborn SA N ANT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS

SAN ANTONIO — In Game 1, Danny Green did it with his defense. In Game 2, it was his shooting that stood out.

Green scored 12 points on 4 of 5 from 3-point range to help the Spurs claim a 96-82 win over Memphis on Monday night and secure a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

In Game 1’s 111-82 win, Green scored just two points after missing both of his 3-point attempts. But that didn’t stop him from standing out defensively with four blocks, a steal and a shut-down effort on Memphis star point guard Mike Conley, who was held to 13 points, seven below his season average.

“If I make shots great, but Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) doesn’t care about it that much,” Green said. “The reason I get the minutes I get is because of defense.”

But on Monday night, it

By Brian T. Smith HOUSTON CHRONICLE

was Green’s offensive play that pushed him into the spotlight.

Green’s biggest basket in Game 2 triggered a 10-2 run by the Spurs that gave them a 90-75 lead with 3:20 left in the game. After a Zach Randolph hook shot pulled the Grizzlies within 80-75, Green sank a 3 on a designed play coming out of a timeout to give the Spurs some muchneeded breathing room.

On the other end, Green again showed off his defensive chops, blocking a layup attempt by Conley that led to a Kawhi Leonard layup.

Green followed that gem by grabbing a rebound off a Conley missed 3-pointer to ignite a possession that ended with Pau Gasol draining a 3-pointer to make it 88-75 with 5 minutes left.

With his four long-distance buckets, Green passed Peja Stojakovic into 25th place in the NBA record book for career 3s made with 164. He also leapfrogged Bruce BowEric Gay / Associated Press en (161) for second place in the franchise playoff chart to trail Spurs guard Danny Green was 4 of 5 from behind the arc in a 96-82 win on Monday. only Manu Ginobili (309).

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: HOUSTON ROCKETS

FOR ROCKETS, ROSTER WILL BE READY TO ADJUST TO THE THUNDER’S ADJUSTMENTS Houston has 1-0 lead in series

By Jonathan Feigen HOUSTON CHRONI CLE

Mike D'Antoni was not invited to the University of Houston training facility to check out Thunder practice.

Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan did not call the Rockets coach. The game plan will not be left on the Toyota Center court after shootaround.

The Rockets, however, would not do anything differently had the Thunder decided to share than if they find out with everyone else.

The Rockets would have accepted the intelligence.

They would probably take a few minutes to chat about how the Thunder planned to defend them in Wednesday's Game 2 of their firstround series. But they would do what they plan to do, anyway, which is a large part of the plan of D'Antoni's offense.

"Our adjustment," Rockets guard Pat Beverley said, "is adjusting to their adjustments."

The Thunder will no doubt tweak some of the defense, having changed things up for Game 1 since their regular-season meetings without much success.

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

Houston assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, left, works with guard James Harden during the Rockets’ practice session at the Toyota Center on Tuesday.

Game 2 has been over the years called "the adjustment game." The Thunder will seek to do some things differently and, as Donovan suggested, to just execute some of Sunday's plan better than they did in Game 1.

The Rockets, however, consider their offensive adjustments to be an ongoing process of reading and reacting, attacking when an opponent defends the arc, moving the ball to shooters when the defense protects the lane and letting James Harden probe and choose no matter what an opponent tries.

"James so far as a point guard, he's seen every kind of defense possible," D'An-

toni said. "They'll come up with one of those. It might be a little different from last game. Whatever it is, he'll read the situation and it'll open up something else."

In Game 1, the Thunder often switched big men to defend Harden. They kept defenders on the Rockets' shooters, with forwards Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson combining to take just five 3-pointers between them, missing them all.

With so many Thunder players stationed 24 feet from the basket, Harden found he could get to the rim without concern that help defenders could get there to interfere.

Still, the Thunder can consider their 3-point defense on Sunday a success, with the Rockets making just 10 of 33. Oklahoma City could stick with what worked tweak what did not, and make the Rockets wait to find out. Either way, the Rockets did not seem especially curious.

"That's all our offense is about, reading what the defense gives us and just take it, Harden said. "Last game, they did a really good job of taking away our 3s.

Just tried to get into the paint and get layups.

"If they change, we have to counter what they do.

We'll figure it out once the game starts.”

I already like the new guy better than the last guy.

The Texans' discarded $72 million man always felt like Mayor Brock or Professor Brock. A suave salesman trying to convince us he really could play the part. A smooth-talking, sharp-dressing professional with an amateur arm, always fighting and clashing behind closed doors with the big boss.

Is Tom Savage going to stick around longer than the already forgotten Osweiler?

Are we going to be dissecting someone new in six months or a year?

Because it's the Texans, it's Savage absolutely impossible to say.

But on the first day we got to meet Bill O'Brien's class of 2017, a fourth-year quarterback with two career starts and zero touchdowns to his name instantly reminded me why he was worth pulling for the second he came into the NFL. "The kid is a go-getter," said wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who's on the verge of playing for his 182nd QB in the last four years. "He doesn't quit. Even out there (Monday), he was trying to be first."

Savage was also chippy, edgy and proud. He knows he's already doubted. He's perfectly aware his eventual replacement could be drafted next week. He also insists he doesn't care.

While Osweiler became harder and harder to believe in as each week passed - who in the world keeps insisting an NFL team traveled well? - Savage was simple and true during his initial day on the job.

"With the naysayers and all that stuff … it's funny. People always ask me about that stuff, like the doubters and naysayers," Savage said .

"I'm going out there to play for everybody in that locker room and everybody who believes in me. " What about being handed one of 32 starting QB spots in the league, but only after Osweiler was shipped to Cleveland?

"I'll never expect to be the starter," Savage said. "I'm always going to play like I'm the third-string guy and trying to make the team.

And that's how I'm going to play regardless if I'm a fifth-year starter or whatever."

And what about that cross-country journey that saw Savage bounce from college to college, go more than 1,000 days without a start, then quietly sit behind everyone from Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Hoyer to Ryan Mallett and Osweiler before the Texans finally turned to him by default?

Fitzpatrick, Hoyer, Mallett, Osweiler, etc., ultimately had two things in common under O'Brien: They never fit with his vision, nor could they meet his stringent demands.

We're still figuring out what that vision truly is in Year Four. Is going 9-7 every year the bar? Is developing and sticking with a QB who can finally take the Texans to the next step a necessity or a luxury afforded only the NFL's elite?

Thankfully for Savage, he has had three years of living with, figuring out and learning from O'Brien. Heck, right now, he's still the only QB a career 27-21 coach has drafted.

So how does the Texans' new (temporary? permanent?) quarterback feel about the guy who's already been through so many?

"I love the guy. What I look forward to is going to practice every day," said Savage, sounding and appearing sincere. "He's going to be hard on me. That's what you want as a quarterback. He's the type of guy that is always talking shop with you, and that's the type of guy you want to go out there and you want to brawl for."

The O'Brien QBs whom fans always loathed or just shrugged off - Fitzpatrick, Hoyer, Mallett, Osweiler - are now surreal, fading memories. The gutsy, resilient quarterbacks this city actually took pride in - Case Keenum, T.J. Yates - won a few games but were never going to last.

Savage is still stuck in that latter group right now. If he's your new Week 1 answer, he'll take the field as one of the most inexperienced arms in the league and will easily be one of the most unlikely to win what New England just claimed.

But if No. 3 gets his shot and can actually play?

Well, he already has more local supporters than Mayor Brock ever did in Houston.

"I've (started) two games so far," Savage said. "I have a lot to go out there and prove, and this is going to be a heck of an opportunity."

Then he walked out the interview-room door, like so many Texans QBs before.

A8 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL Setback doesn't deter Arkansas plans for executions

By Andrew DeMillo and Sean Murphy A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

VARNER, Ark. — Arkansas officials vowed to carry out a double execution later this week after the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback to the state's plan to resume capital punishment for the first time in nearly 12 years by refusing to lift an order sparing an inmate just minutes before his death warrant expired.

The court's decision was the second time Don Davis has been granted a reprieve shortly before execution — he came within hours of death in 2010. It capped a chaotic day of legal wrangling in state and federal courts Monday as Arkansas tried to clear obstacles to carrying out its first executions since 2005.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson had set an aggressive schedule of eight executions by the end of April, when the state's supply of midazolam, a key lethal injection drug, expires. If the state had been able to move ahead with its 11-day execution plan, it would have been the most inmates put to death by any state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The executions of Davis and Bruce Ward were supposed to be the first two, but Ward received a stay from the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday and the state did not appeal the decision. The state did ask the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a stay granted to Davis, but the high court's lastminute refusal ensured he would not enter the death chamber Monday.

Attorneys had requested the stay while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case concerning inmates' access to independent mental health experts.

"The Arkansas Supreme Court recognized that executing either man, before the Court answers this question ... would be profoundly arbitrary and unjust," Scott Braden, an assistant federal public defender for the inmates, said Monday. Davis had already been served a last meal, and witnesses were being moved toward the execution chamber when the Supreme Court ruled just minutes before his death warrant expired at midnight.

White House cancels meeting deciding stance on climate pact

By Jill Colvin and Seth Borenstein ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is still deliberating whether to keep the U.S. in an international agreement to reduce climatewarming carbon emissions, even though he has called climate change a hoax.

The White House postponed a meeting Tuesday where top aides were to have hashed out differences on what to do about the non-binding international deal forged in Paris in December 2015. The agreement allowed rich and poor countries to set their own goals to reduce carbon dioxide and went into effect last November, after the U.S., China and other countries ratified it.

Not all of Trump's advisers share his skeptical views on climate change — or the Paris pact.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he supports staying in the deal.

However, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt,

said last week that the Paris pact "is a bad deal for America."

Officials had planned to discuss options on Tuesday, with the goal of providing a recommendation to Trump, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity despite the president's criticism of the use of anonymous sources.

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed the postponement of the meeting on scheduling conflicts among advisers who were expected to attend.

Some of them, she said, wanted to accompany the president on his trip to Wisconsin on Tuesday, and the White House decided to reschedule its internal climate talks.

Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to pull out of the Paris accord, but has wavered on the issue since he won the presidency.

He told the editorial board of The New York Times in an interview last year that he was "looking at it very closely.... I have an open mind to it. We're going to look very carefully."

Yet some of his aides,

Susan Walsh / AP

President Donald Trump walks up the steps of Air Force One at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee on Tuesday.

including Pruitt, see the deal as standing in opposition to Trump's "America first" mantra.

"Paris is something that we need to really look at closely, because it's something we need to exit, in my opinion," Pruitt said in an interview last week with Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends." ''It's a bad deal for America. It was an America second, third or fourth kind of approach."

Under the agreement, the U.S. pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels, which would be a reduction of about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions. Besides continuing Obama's efforts to reduce U.S. heat-trapping gases, Trump has two general options.

One option is to pull the United States out of the non-binding agreement, which Obama enacted without U.S. Senate ratification. It typically takes countries four years to pull out of new international trea-

ties, but because Obama enacted the accord as part of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro treaty, Trump could pull out of the older, broader treaty in one year.

Another option is to do nothing. Trump could publicly badmouth the treaty, but not formally withdraw from it. If the U.S. stays part of the agreement, which 125 nations or groups of nations have already ratified, and fails to reach its goal, technically nothing happens. There is no climate court, no enforcement action.

And because the agreement already went into force, nothing the United States does— even pulling out — can nullify the accord. It is in effect.

Nonetheless, a withdrawal or public announcement that the U.S. is abandoning its efforts to fight man-made climate change could spark repercussions individually from other nations, said Nigel Purvis, who was the top U.S. State Department environmental diplomat when

George W. Bush pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto climate treaty.

"Any sign that the administration would not be serious will provoke an international reaction that would undermine the administration's foreign policy," said Purvis, an international attorney who served in Democratic and Republican administrations. Other countries, he said, take climate change seriously and could retaliate in trade deals or tariffs or balk on negotiations over international security costs.

Trump has already reversed some of the former president's efforts to scale back carbon emissions to try to halt climate change, including restrictions on coal plants and drilling.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer has said Trump will make up his mind on the Paris agreement before a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Taormina, Italy in late May.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 |

A9

BUSINESS

Health care losses pull indexes down

By Marley Jay A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are falling Tuesday as weak first-quarter reports from Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs frustrate investors who hope that company earnings are on the rise. Health care companies are down the most, followed by banks. After the British government called for a surprise early election next month, European stock indexes are tumbling and government bond prices are rising.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,341 as of 2:45 p.m.

Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 124 points, or 0.6 percent, to 20,512. Goldman Sachs was responsible for half of that loss. The Nasdaq composite fell 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,843. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks dipped 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,359.

On Monday stocks made their biggest gain in six weeks. But over the last few weeks they've mostly drifted lower while bond yields have fallen to five-month lows.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest maker of health care products, is on track for its biggest loss in eight years after investors were disappointed with its sales. The company's top-selling Crohn's disease drug Remicade fell 6 percent. Meanwhile growth for many consumer health products slowed, and payers demanded bigger rebates on many products.

The Tylenol maker's stock lost $4.71 or 3.7 percent, to $121.01.

Prescription drug distributor Cardinal Health also dropped after it gave weak profit forecasts for this year and next as drug prices continue to fall. It will also pay $6.1 billion to buy a group of businesses from medical device maker Medtronic.

Cardinal Health sank $9.48, or 11.6 percent, to $72.35. Competitor AmerisourceBergen and

McKesson both fell 5 percent.

Goldman Sachs' revenue fell short of investor projections in the first quarter as its highlyregarded trading desks didn't perform as well as their competitors. The stock gave up $10.40, or 4.6 percent, to $215.86. It reached all-time high above $250 a share in March, but is on track for its biggest loss in almost a year.

Kate Warne, an investment strategist for Edward Jones, said the weak reports from Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson are having a big impact on stocks because investors expect a very strong round of company earnings reports this month.

Warne said investors expect earnings for S&P 500 companies to rise around 10 percent, the biggest gain in several years.

"The reason it's so important is that the stronger growth is likely to support higher stock prices even in the absence of pro-growth policies from the Trump administration," she said.

Some vets may go to CVS to address minor illnesses

By Hope Yen A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Some ailing veterans can now use their federal health care benefits at CVS "MinuteClinics" to treat minor illnesses and injuries, under a pilot program announced Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The new program, currently limited to the Phoenix area, comes three years after the VA faced allegations of chronically long wait times at its centers, including its Phoenix facility, which treats about 120,000 veterans.

The Phoenix pilot program is a test-run by VA Secretary David Shulkin who is working on a nationwide plan to reduce veterans' wait times.

Veterans would not be bound by current restrictions under the VA's Choice program, which limits outside care to those who have been waiting more than 30 days for an appointment or have to drive more than 40 miles to a facility. Instead, Phoenix VA nurses staffing the medical center's help line will be able to refer veterans to MinuteClinics for government-paid care when "clinically appropriate."

Shulkin has made clear he'd like a broader collaboration of "integrated care" nationwide between the VA and private sector in which veterans have wider access to private doctors.

But, he wants the VA to handle all scheduling and "customer service" — something that veterans groups generally support but government auditors caution could prove unwieldy and expensive.

Matt Rourke / AP

This 2016 file photo, shows a CVS drugstore and pharmacy in Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump plans to sign legislation to temporarily extend the $10 billion Choice program until its money runs out, pending the administration's plan due out by fall. That broader plan would have to be approved

by Congress.

"Our number one priority is getting veterans' access to care when and where they need it," said Baligh Yehia, the VA's deputy undersecretary for health for community care. "The launch of this partnership will enable VA to provide more care for veterans in their neighborhoods."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a long-time advocate of veterans' expanded access to private care, lauded the new initiative as an "important step forward."

"Veterans in need of routine health care services should not have to wait in line for weeks to get an appointment when they can visit community health centers like MinuteClinic to receive timely and convenient care," he said.

The current Choice program was developed after the 2014 scandal in Phoenix in which some veterans died, yet the program has often encountered long waits of its own. The bill being signed by Trump seeks to alleviate some of the problems by helping speed up VA payments and promote greater sharing of medical records.

Shulkin also has said he wants to eliminate Choice's 30-day, 40 mile restrictions, allowing the VA instead to determine when outside care is "clinically needed."

Despite a heavy spotlight on its problems, the Phoenix facility still grapples with delays.

Only 61 percent of veterans surveyed said they got an appointment for urgent primary care when they needed it, according to VA data.

Maureen McCarthy, the Phoenix VA's chief of staff, welcomed the new CVS partnership but acknowledged a potential challenge in providing seamless coordination to avoid gaps in care.

United CEO: no one will be fired for incident

By David Koenig ASSOCIATED PRE SS

The CEO of United Airlines says no one will be fired over the dragging of a man off a plane — including himself.

CEO Oscar Munoz said Tuesday that he takes full responsibility "for making this right," and he promised more details later this month after United finishes a review of its policies on overbooked flights.

Company executives said it's too soon to know if the incident is hurting ticket sales.

United has been pummeled on social media — #BoycottUnited is a popular hashtag — and late-night television.

Through Tuesday afternoon, its shares had fallen 4.3 percent since Flight 3411, wiping out nearly $1 billion in market value, although several other airline stocks declined in the same period.

After the market closed Monday, United reported a $96 million first-quarter profit, down 69 percent from a year earlier largely because of higher costs for fuel, labor and maintenance. The revenue picture was looking better — evidence was growing that after two years of falling average fares, United will be able to push prices higher this year.

On a conference call to discuss those results, Munoz started by apologizing again for the April 9 scene on a United Express plane at Chicago's O'Hare airport. David Dao, a 69-year-old Kentucky physician, was bloodied and dragged off the plane by Chicago airport officers who had been summoned by United employees when Dao wouldn't give up his seat. The three officers have all been suspended.

Munoz and other executives vowed to treat customers with dignity, and said that what happened to Dao will never happen again.

Munoz's early statements on the incident were widely criticized. He initially supported employees and blamed Dao, calling him "disruptive and belligerent."

On Tuesday, he was asked if the company ever considered firing anyone, including management.

"I'm sure there was lots of conjecture about me personally," said Munoz. He noted that the board of United Continental Holdings Inc. has supported him.

"It was a system failure across various areas," Munoz

continued.

"There was never a consideration for firing an employee."

Dao's lawyers have taken steps that foreshadow Munoz a lawsuit against the airline and the city of Chicago, which operates O'Hare Airport.

United announced two rule changes last week, including saying that it will no longer call police to remove passengers from overbooked planes. It is not clear whether United oversold Flight 3411, but the flight became overbooked when four Republic Airline employees showed up after passengers had boarded and demanded seats so they could commute to their next assignment, a United Express flight the next morning.

Some politicians and consumer advocates have called for a ban on overselling flights. Munoz declined to address that or other possible changes until the airline finishes a review by April 30.

Even in normal times, airlines closely — even daily — scrutinize numbers such as advance sales and occupancy levels on planes. Yet United officials said they couldn't measure whether the dragging has affected their business.

"It's really too early for us to tell anything about bookings and in particular last week because it was the week before Easter, that's normally a very low booking period," said United President Scott Kirby. He said that United's forecast for the April-throughJune quarter has not changed.

Limited competition at many major airports could blunt any nascent boycott of United. Wall Street analysts have been mostly silent about the Dao incident, perhaps believing that it won't have a noticeable impact on United profits. They did not ask United management any questions about it on Tuesday's call.

Barclays analyst Brandon Oglenski told Munoz that "accidents happen ... hopefully, we can put this behind us."

Back in December, the analyst had called United Continental the "most compelling stock" in the airline sector. The consensus estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by FactSet for United's full-year earnings has risen by 3 cents a share since the Dao incident.

Munoz said he has received "a lot of support" from United's high-end customers, although "obviously a lot of people have ideas and thoughts about how we can make things better."

A10 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Kevin Spacey to Prince William host the Tony speaks to Lady Awards show Gaga on mental

By Mark Kennedy A P EN TERTAI NME NT WRI TER

NEW YORK — Kevin Spacey has been picked to host this year's Tony Awards, putting the award-winning star of "House of Cards" in the unenviable position of steering a telecast surely facing a post-"Hamilton" hangover.

The telecast on June 11 will originate from the 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall, and producers are sure to be keeping their fingers crossed that they avoid any technical or human snafus that have marred previous awards shows this year, including the wrong winner announced at the Oscars and sound issues at the Grammys.

Spacey, who won Oscars for the movies "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty," won a Tony Award in 1991 in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" and starred in the Broadway and West End productions of "Long Day's Journey into Night." With a foot in both Broadway and Hollywood — and a career

singing onscreen and in concert to boot — Spacey brings glamour Spacey and acting chops to the job.

In a statement, he alluded to the telecast producers scrambling for a host after other celebrities dropped out. "I was their second choice for 'Usual Suspects,' fourth choice for 'American Beauty' and 15th choice to host this year's Tony Awards. I think my career is definitely going in the right direction," he said. "Maybe I can get shortlisted to host the Oscars if everyone else turns it down."

Producers hope Spacey will limit the audience erosion likely from the numbers last year when "Hamilton" and host James Corden drew 8.73 million viewers, up 35 percent from 2015 and its largest audience since 2001. Previous hosts include Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes.

health issues

By Danica Kirka ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LONDON — Prince William has enlisted Lady Gaga in his campaign to persuade people to be more open about mental health issues.

The heir to the British throne released a video Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop star via FaceTime. Lady Gaga, who last year spoke out about her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, places the call from her kitchen in California, and William answers at his desk in Kensington Palace.

"It's interesting to see and hear from you how much having that conversation . has really made a difference to you," William said in the video.

"It's so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line."

The conversation is part of the latest blitz by the young royals as they campaign to end the stigma associated with men-

tal health issues. William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, along with his brother, Prince Harry, have made mental health a focus of their charitable work.

It comes a day after the Daily Telegraph published an unusually candid interview with Harry.

The 32-year-old prince acknowledged that he spent nearly 20 years "not thinking" about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and that he only got help after two years of "total chaos."

Though the royal family has toiled for years for hundreds of charities, the work on mental health represents something of a departure — in part because of the taboo long associated with psychological issues. It can be seen as an extension of the work of Diana, who among other things shook the hand of an HIV-positive man during the height of the Aids crisis.

"She created the new template, the new orthodoxy," said Ellis Cashmore, a visiting professor

Heads Together campaign / AP

This screen grab image shows of Lady Gaga speaking to Britain's Prince William via FaceTime.

of sociology at Aston University and the author of "Elizabeth Taylor: A Private Life for Public Consumption."

"She was rewriting the script of the royals for the future."

Mental health charities are flatly thrilled. Comments from the royals gain immediate attention — particularly when they offer tantalizing revelations about their private lives. But mostly the comments show that it is normal to seek assistance when going through tough times.

The Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, said research shows that men particularly have trouble telling others when they feel depressed.

"Prince Harry sharing how he needed support to cope with losing his mother shows both how normal it is to go through a tough time and how much opening up can help," CEO Simon Gunning said in an email.

"Hearing public figures say they've felt better

after opening up can help chip away at feelings of embarrassment, meaning more guys will seek support when they need it."

Lady Gaga brings even more attention to the cause. She told Prince William in the video that talking more openly about mental health would let people feel like "we are not hiding anymore."

"Even though it was hard, the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people and let our generation, as well as other generations, know that if you are feeling not well in your mind that you're not alone and that people that you think would never have a problem, do," she said.

William also applauded grime musician Stormzy for talking about his battle with depression in the publication CALMzine.

"There may be a time and a place for the 'stiff upper lip', but not at the expense of your health," William said in CALMzine.

Viewership of ‘O'Reilly Factor’ drops without Bill O'Reilly

By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Through three days of Bill O'Reilly's vacation, his show's viewership declined by 26 percent in the hands of substitutes

Dana Perino, Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfeld.

O'Reilly is on a O'Reilly nearly two-week vacation at the same time

Fox News Channel's parent company looks into a woman's accusation that her career was slowed when she spurned his advances.

Dozens of his show's advertisers have fled following reports of harassment settlements

paid to other women.

O'Reilly has denied any wrongdoing.

Nielsen company figures show that so far, viewers aren't as interested in "The O'Reilly Factor" without O'Reilly.

Bolling did the best, with his 3.11 million viewer-

ship down 16 percent from O'Reilly's performance a week earlier.

The 2.32 million who watched Gutfeld on Friday was down 39 percent from the previous Friday.

O'Reilly's viewership spiked in the days following an April 2 New

York Times report on the harassment allegations.

In the week that followed, viewership increased to an average of 3.71 million, up 12 percent from the week before the report and 28 percent over the same week in 2016.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 |

A11

NATIONAL & FROM THE COVER ABBOTT From page A1 licans control every branch of government but Gov. Asa Hutchison said the state didn't need a bill similar to North Carolina's original law that caused economic upheaval and boycotts.

North Carolina last month repealed its law — known as HB2 — and replaced it with a compromise forged by the state's new Democratic governor. Abbott is now getting behind a new measure in the Texas House that supporters say is similar to that compromise but critics argue still discriminates.

The bill doesn't include contentious language that requires people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate, but instead bans cities from adopting nondiscrimination ordinances that would apply to restrooms. The North Caro-

VISA From page A1

by U.S. technology companies. Dubbed "Buy American, Hire American," the directive follows a series of recent Trump reversals on economic policies.

The president is targeting the H-1B visa program, which the White House says undercuts U.S. workers by bringing in large numbers of cheaper, foreign workers, driving down wages. He was signing the directive at Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a state he narrowly carried in November on the strength of support from white, working-class voters.

Trump currently has only a 41 percent approval rating in the state.

The tech industry has argued that the H-1B program is needed because it encourages students to stay in the U.S. after getting degrees in high-tech specialties — and companies can't always find enough American workers with the skills they need.

Trump has traveled to promote his agenda less than his recent predecessors. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he wanted to visit "a company that builds American-made tools with American workers."

The new order would direct U.S. agencies to propose rules to prevent immigration fraud and abuse in the program.

They would also be asked to offer changes so that H-1B visas are awarded to the "mostskilled or highest-paid applicants," said administration officials who spoke only on the condition of anonymity despite the president's

lina compromise similarly makes clear that state legislators— not local governments — are in charge of any future bathroom policies.

The NCAA had pulled seven championship events from North Carolina over the original law. But on Tuesday, the NCAA effectively ended that boycott following the compromise and awarded coveted men's basketball tournament games to North Carolina, in addition to committing Texas to host future championship events.

The NBA, NFL and corporate giants including Facebook and Google have previously warned Texas against adopting a bill that was similar to the original North Carolina law. The version Abbott is now backing — which could clear a key vote soon as Wednesday — still lacks the support from Texas' top business lobby.

One prominent Texas economist this week put the potential impact at

$3 billion, although Republicans have been skeptical of such studies.

"It's shameful and un-Texan for an elected official to view discriminating against transgender people and throwing Texas into a potential $3 billion economic panic as top priorities for the state," said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, a gay advocacy group.

Abbott until now has dodged being pinned down on whether he supported a "bathroom bill," even as the issue has dominated Texas' five-month legislative session. The powerful Republican House Speaker has staunchly opposed a version passed by the Senate in March — which mirrored North Carolina's original law — and has not let that the bill come up for a vote in his chamber. Abbott's support, however, puts pressure on the House to entertain some compromise.

frequent criticism of the use of anonymous sources.

The officials said the order also seeks to strengthen requirements that Americanmade products be used in certain federal construction projects, as well as in various federal grant-funded transportation projects. The commerce secretary will review how to close loopholes in existing rules and provide recommendations to the president.

The order specifically asks the secretary to review waivers of these rules in free-trade agreements. The waivers could be renegotiated or revoked if they are not benefiting the United States.

The trip brings Trump to the congressional district of House Speaker Paul Ryan, but he is out of the country on a congressional trip.

Trump campaigned on populist promises to stand up to China, which he contended was manipulating its currency and stealing American jobs, and to eliminate the ExportImport Bank, which he billed as wasteful subsidy. Trump reversed himself on both positions in interviews last week.

And while he has long pledged to support American goods and workers, his own business record is mixed.

Many Trump-branded products, like clothing, are made overseas. His businesses have also hired foreign workers, including at his Palm Beach, Florida, club.

Trump said at one point during the presidential campaign that he supported high-skilled visas, then said he opposed the program. At one debate, he said: "It's very bad for our work-

ers and it's unfair for our workers. And we should end it."

Potential changes could be administrative or legislative and could include higher fees for the visas, changing the wage scale for the program or other initiatives.

Critics say the program has been hijacked by staffing companies that use the visas to recruit foreigners — often from India — who will work for less than Americans. The staffing companies then sell their services to corporate clients.

Employers, including Walt Disney World and the University of California, San Francisco, have laid off tech employees and replaced them with H-1B visa holders. U.S. workers are sometimes asked to train their replacements to qualify for severance packages.

Ronil Hira, a professor in public policy at Howard University and a critic of the H-1B program, said Trump's planned order is "better than nothing." But he added, "It's not as aggressive as it needs to be."

Trump carried Wisconsin in November by under 23,000 votes — less than 1 percentage point — making him the first Republican to win the state since 1984. He campaigned on the promise of returning manufacturing jobs that have been lost in Upper Midwest states.

Snap-on makes hand and power tools, diagnostics software, information and management systems, and shop equipment for use in various industries, including agriculture, the military and aviation. It has eight manufacturing sites in North America and employs about 11,000 people worldwide.

LCC From page A1 that legacy, LCC has named the foundation the 2017 recipient of the President’s Community Leadership Award.

Foundation trustees were honored during a special ceremony on Monday at the Private David B. Barkeley Cantu Veterans Memorial Chapel at the LCC Fort McIntosh Campus.

Formerly known as the LCC President’s Beacon Award, the President’s Community Leadership Award was renamed under the leadership of LCC President Ricardo J. Solis. For the past 10 years, the award has been bestowed upon individuals or organizations that have tirelessly dedicated themselves to assisting LCC and wider communities.

Solis expressed his pleasure at being able to honor the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation.

“We are greatly honored by the support the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation and its trustees have shown us over the years, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them. Thanks to their generosity, generations of LCC students to come will find their educational experience at our college enriched,” Solis said.

Over the years, the foundation has greatly enhanced both the physical and the educational landscape of LCC. They have provided support for the arts at LCC through the construction of and updates to the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center and scholarships for performing arts students and the LCC Honors

Justices could limit recovery in securities fraud cases

By Sam Hananel ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed willing to make it tougher for the government to recover ill-gotten gains from people convicted of securities fraud.

Most of the justices — including newly confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch — suggested during arguments that such recoveries are subject to a strict fiveyear statute of limitations.

That could prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from collecting huge amounts of money in many cases where the alleged fraud goes back years or decades before officials bring charges. The agency collected more than $4 billion in those so-called "disgorgement" actions and other penalties in the 2016 fiscal year.

The high court is deciding whether venture capitalist Charles Kokesh must return $35 million from investor funds he used to pay himself and others at his New Mexicobased operation from 1995 to 2006.

The federal appeals court in Denver ruled that Kokesh must pay the full amount to the SEC. Law-

HOMELAND From page A1

ably maligned by critics as they enforce laws intended to keep America safe. He described Homeland Security staff as "political pawns" in his speech at George Washington University.

"They have been asked to do more with less, and less, and less," Kelly said.

"They are often ridiculed and insulted by public officials, and frequently convicted in the court of public opinion on unfounded allegations testified to by street lawyers and spokespersons."

Kelly said the public and public officials should err on the side of assuming that the agency's employees are acting within the law. And for members of Congress who don't like the laws, Kelly said they "should have the courage and skill to change the laws. Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines."

Critics have argued that the agency is too heavy-handed in enforcement operations, including arresting immigrants in the U.S. illegally whose only offense is being in the country without permission.

More than 21,000 immigrants in the U.S. illegally have been arrested since President Donald Trump took office in January, compared to about 16,000 people during the same time last year. About a quarter of

Program.

The Foundation has also extended its support to LCC’s Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center and the Private David B. Barkeley Cantu Veterans Memorial Chapel.

The Martinez’s legacy will continue, thanks in part to their support for the new Health Sciences Center to be constructed at the South Campus.

Members of the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation Board of Trustees are Shirley Gonzalez, president; Rob Gonzalez, vice president-investments/administration; Ana Gonzalez, secretary-community relations-succession; Bob Gonzalez, treasurer; and Claudia Gonzalez, advisory board member.

In addition to the presentation of the LCC President’s Community Leadership Award,

yers for Kokesh say the five-year window should reduce his payment to just $5 million because the SEC did not bring charges against him until 2009.

At issue is a law that prevents the government from going back more than five years to impose penalties or seek forfeiture of assets. The SEC argues the time limit doesn't apply because it's not assessing a penalty, only trying to recover illicit profits.

But justices across ideological lines seemed skeptical of the distinction.

"It does seem to me that we kind of have a special obligation to be concerned about how far back the government can go when it's something that Congress did not address," Chief Justice Roberts said.

Justice Elena Kagan said the SEC seemed to be using disgorgement both to compensate victims as well as to punish misconduct.

"It's a little bit artificial to try to tear them apart," she said.

Kokesh's attorney Adam Unikowsky told the justices that if disgorgement is about both recovering assets and imposing a penalty, it has to be considered punitive overall and subject to the five-year

limit.

"The purpose of the remedy is to impose unpleasant legal consequences of wrongdoing," he said.

Justice Department lawyer Elaine Goldenberg said it's not a punishment "because it doesn't take away anything that anyone was rightfully entitled to in the first place. It just remedies unjust enrichment."

But Gorsuch noted that in a criminal case, the same kind of remedy would be considered a penalty.

"So why does it make a difference that we just happen to be in the civil context," he said. "I mean, goodness gracious, the difference between civil and criminal has vexed this court for many years."

The case comes to the high court from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Gorsuch served for more than a decade before he was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch was not part of the three-judge panel that ruled against Kokesh last year. But he might find himself in the position of reversing his former colleagues if the high court sides with Kokesh.

A ruling is expected by June.

those arrests were immigrants who had no criminal history, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While the number of deportations has actually decreased slightly since Trump took office, the crackdown has left immigrant communities and advocates worried that just about any immigrant in the country illegally could be swept up. During the Obama administration, ICE agents were told to focus strictly on immigrants convicted of serious crimes or those who otherwise posed a threat to public safety.

Kelly said stepped-up enforcement has had a dramatic effect. He said dangerous criminals are being arrested or are hiding, fearing that ICE is looking for them.

A sharp drop in arrests at the Mexican border suggests that fewer people have been trying to cross illegally since Trump took office.

In March, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested about 12,100 people trying to cross the border illegally. It was the fewest number of arrests in a month in at least 17 years.

Border Patrol Chief Ron Vitiello said in a speech in San Antonio, Texas, last week that it was likely the fewest arrests in about 45 years.

In his remarks about drugs Tuesday, Kelly said arrests on marijuana charges will be used to bolster the case for deportation against immigrants in the country illegally, he said.

Kelly appeared to backtrack somewhat from comments in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press that aired Sunday.

Kelly said in that interview that the solution to drug problems in the United States was not "not arresting a lot of users. The solution is a comprehensive drug demand reduction program in the United States that involves every man and woman of good will."

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security committee released a report estimating that Trump's proposed border wall could cost $70 billion to build. Kelly has estimated its price tag at $21 billion, while congressional Republicans have put the cost at $12 billion to $15 billion.

Democrats also distributed a 30-page document from Customs and Border Protection that outlined where the agency planned to build new structures or replace aging infrastructure along the border. It said new construction would start in San Diego, an area of the border were the government already owns land along the frontier with Mexico.

If Congress approves extra money this year, the document shows, structures could be built along about 34 miles of border in Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The Border Patrols' sectors in Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, could see new structures if Congress approves money for the 2018 budget.

22 local high school and LCC students were presented with the President’s Student Leadership Award, formerly known as the Ray of Hope Award.

Nominated by their schools, two students from each high school and from LCC were presented with a $500 scholarship to help them pursue their education at LCC. These students were selected for the award for demonstrating strong character, leadership and a commitment to helping others through community service.

Recipients of the 2016-2017 LCC President’s Student Leadership Award are: 1 From Zapata High School, Brittney Ramirez and Rebecca Salinas 1 From J.B. Alexander High School, Brittney D. Gomez and Enrique Ramos III 1 From Cigarroa High School,

Fortino Padron and Carla Garcia 1 From Hebbronville High School, Jorge Marquez and Javier Garza 1 From Lyndon B. Johnson High School, Jazmin Plata and Jesus Cornado Galaviz 1 From Raymond and Tirza Martin High School, Juan J. Jimenez and Reynaldo Martinez 1 From J.W. Nixon High School, Jacqueline Turrubiartes and Clarissa Olivares 1 From St. Augustine High School, Santiago Rivas and Lynda Pedraza 1 From United High School, Kayla Delilah Charles and Maegen Treviño; from United South High School, Maya O. Ruiz and Juan Carlos Salinas 1 From Laredo Community College, Gabriela Chapa and Jorge Encinas Sicre

A12 | Wednesday, April 19, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Grand Canyon officials still searching for missing hikers

By Astrid Galvan A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

The remote area at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where searchers are in a fourth day trying to find a missing woman and a teenager, attracts only about 3,500 backpackers each year, according to the National Park Service.

Tapeats Creek, where Lou-Ann Merrell and Jackson Standefer lost their footing Saturday during a family trip, is not particularly difficult to hike, said Chris Forsyth, president of the Grand Canyon Hikers & Backpackers Association board. But heavy water flowing through the creek can make it challenging, he said.

Merrell is the wife of Randy Merrell, who helped found the Merrell Boot Co. The area has a more distinct geology than most of the park and attracts a fair number of visitors but is not as popular with tourists are other spots, like Havasupai Falls. Still, Forsyth, who says he has hiked that area five times, said a visit there calls for a multiple-day backpacking trip and at least some experience in hiking. He said his first trip through the canyon was at Tapeats Creek.

"The rock that forms the canyon at Tapeats Creek is a particular layer that isn't found everywhere in the Grand Canyon. It gives it a more unique sense of beauty," Forsyth said.

An intense search for Merrell and 14-year-old Standefer resumed Tues-

day, National Park Service spokeswoman Robin Martin said.

Standefer The search includes three ground teams consisting of about 20 people total, a National Park Service helicopter, a drone and an inflatable motor raft that was flown into the canyon.

Search crews are looking within a mile and a mile and half of where the hikers were last seen, as well as where the creek meets the Colorado River.

"We're really just looking in the water and areas where someone maybe would have been able to get out," Martin said.

Martin said about 3,500 people got permits in 2015 to camp in the general area where the two hikers went missing, the latest readily available data. About 41,000 total people that year got permits to backpack in the Grand Canyon in total.

Mark McOmie, the boy's uncle, said the Merrells are avid hikers and know the area well. He said Lou-Ann and Randy Merrell, who was also on the trip, live in Vernal, a city in eastern Utah.

McOmie was not on the trip.

Lou-Ann Merrell is "a very experienced backpacker," McOmie said. "If they can get to a spot where they cannot be in the water and stay warm, she's got the skills needed to get them through it.

The odds aren't great."

McOmie said searchers have found their back-

packs with belongings inside, which the family has interpreted with mixed feelings. He said it looks as if they were able to get their backpacks off.

"The bad part is that they don't have their gear," McOmie said.

The Merrells, Standefer and the boy's mother were on a path known as Tapeats Trail when the pair fell, authorities said.

The park service said it's too early to determine what went wrong. No rain or flash flooding was reported in the area, and it was not known whether the water level was higher than usual in Tapeats Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that runs through the Arizona landmark.

Creeks in the canyon often see higher water levels in the spring as snow melts. Forsyth said that he hasn't visited Tapeats Creek this year but has been to other parts of the park, where he's noticed more water than usual, he said.

The park service describes conditions in the area on its website, warning that melting snow or heavy rain can make crossing the creek impossible.

The North Rim, an area visited only by 10 percent of Grand Canyon visitors, has rapidly changing weather and visitors should be prepared for heat, cold, rain, wind or snow, the park service says.

The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said Jackson is an eighthgrade student at the allboys school.

A call to Merrell Footlab for comment wasn't immediately returned.