MANZIEL CASE TO GRAND JURY
WEDNESDAY APRIL 20, 2016
FREE
MANZIEL’S FATE DECIDED SOON, TEXANS CUT FORMER STARTING QB, 7A
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
LOCAL
LAREDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Zapata crime
Search for president nears end
Man wanted for aggravated assault By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and Zapata Crime Stoppers need the community’s assistance with information on a wanted man. Authorities identified the suspect as Carlos Gonzalez. Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Ramon Benavides issued a warrant for Gonzalez’s arrest for aggravated assault with motor vehicle. “Gonzalez is wanted for assaulting a male subject while
unconscious in his vehicle and crashed into the other victim’s vehicle while he was still inside the pickup truck,” reads a statement from the Sheriff ’s Office. Information GONZALEZ leading to Gonzalez’s arrest may be rewarded. All callers may remain anonymous. People with information
See ASSAULT PAGE 8A
Woman allegedly caught shoplifting By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES
A woman from Zapata County was arrested in Laredo on shoplifting charges, authorities said. On April 13, the suspect, Marlene Valadez, 21, was charged with theft, a misdemeanor. At 5:20 p.m., police officers responded to a theft at the Wal-Mart, 4401 Zapata Highway. An asset protection manager alleged he
saw Valadez concealing merchandise in a baby diaper bag, according to police. Stores representatives stopped Valadez on her way out and confronted VALADEZ her about her alleged actions, according to police.
See SHOPLIFTING PAGE 8A
Community encouraged to participate in open forums THE ZAPATA TIMES
Laredo Community College’s Presidential Search Committee has narrowed down the field of applicants to four finalists. In an effort to introduce the finalists to students, employees and the community, LCC will host open forums at the Fort McIntosh and South campuses. Each candidate will be introCRUZ duced and then given the opportunity to answer questions. Attendees will then be able to provide feedback on each finalist. The finalists are Anthony Cruz, Robert Muñoz, Luis Pedraja and Ricardo Solis.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PEDRAJA
IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
Wednesday, April 20 Dr. Cruz: 10–11 a.m. (South) and 4–5 p.m. (Fort McIntosh) Dr. Pedraja: 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. (South) and 5:15–6:15 p.m. (Fort McIntosh)
SOLIS
MUÑOZ
Thursday, April 21 Dr. Muñoz: 10–11 a.m. (South) and 4–5 p.m. (Fort McIntosh) Dr. Solis: 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. (South) and 5:15–6:15 p.m. (Fort McIntosh)
See PRESIDENT PAGE 8A
TEXAS
Bad timing for costly lawsuits Oil bust coincides with potential billion-dollar losses By PAUL J. WEBER Photo by Eric Gay | AP file
In this Tuesday, July 7, 2015, file photo, immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala, who entered the country illegally, board a bus after they were released from a family detention center in San Antonio, Texas.
countries and come here. They say releasing unaccompanied children to sponsors who lack legal papers encourages illegal immigration and reduces the chances the children will attend deportation hearings in immigration court. Immigrant advocates say the minors are fleeing violence and should be granted asylum. The top priority for children, they say, is to be placed with parents or close relatives so they can get on stable footing in the U.S. Any effort to deport sponsors might spook them from coming forward and put the children at risk. Immigration status is not a factor in determining whether someone can sponsor a child. But sponsors are asked their status, and those in the country illegally must
AUSTIN — The oil bust already shrinking Texas’ coffers is colliding with the possibility of the state getting socked with multibillion-dollar verdicts in major lawsuits, budget officials said Tuesday, which could test years of Republican resistance to cracking the state’s emergency piggybank. No lawmakers or budget-crunchers raised the potential of spending cuts or a shortfall when the Legislature returns in 2017. But state Comptroller Glenn Hegar urged caution, even as he rejected comparisons to financial reckonings unfolding in other oil-producing states like Oklahoma and Louisiana. On top of imminent court rulings over school finance and tax refunds that could cost the state billions, Texas is piling up unpaid bills over Medicaid and most recently will have costs from this week’s flooding in Houston that has killed at least five people. “There’s going to be some hard choices that need to be made when we come back in January,” said Ursula Parks, director of the state Legislative Budget Board, testifying to House budget writers at the Capitol. Hegar said Texas has lost more than 100,000 jobs, mainly in the oil and gas sector, since energy prices began tumbling and the price of crude dropped at one point below $30 a barrel. This week began with the oil prices hovering around $40 a barrel, still well below highs that exceeded $100 a barrel in 2014 and left Texas flush with money
See IMMIGRANT PAGE 8A
See OIL BUST PAGE 8A
Most kids sent to stay with undocumented adults By AMY TAXIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — The vast majority of immigrant children who arrive alone at the U.S. border are placed by the government with adults who are in the country illegally, federal data reviewed by The Associated Press show. The government has long said that it places the children with family and friends regardless of immigration status. But since more children began arriving on the border in 2014, officials have not revealed how often those sponsors had legal papers. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Health and Human Services provided data showing that 80 percent of the 71,000 mostly Central American children placed between February
Immigration status is not a factor in determining whether someone can sponsor a child. 2014 and September 2015 were sent to sponsors who were not here legally. Another 6 percent were placed with adults who had temporary protected status, a U.S. government program that has let some Central American citizens stay and work in the country legally for more than a decade. Four percent were sponsored by American citizens and 1 percent by immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Many of the others were placed with sponsors who had other forms of legal status or who have filed immigration applications. Tens of thousands of chil-
dren from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras began arriving on the border in Texas in 2014, overwhelming border officials, overflowing government shelters and further backlogging the country’s immigration courts. Once apprehended by border agents, the children were placed in the care of Health and Human Services in line with U.S. law until caseworkers could screen and select suitable sponsors to care for them. Republican lawmakers have blamed the border influx on Obama administration policies they say encourage kids to leave their
ASSOCIATED PRESS