The Zapata Times 4/26/2017

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Drug Take Back Day

Border wall demands drop

Officials invite public to properly dispose unwanted medication

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

DEA, Zapata County Sheriff’s Office and the Zapata County Community Coalition of Serving Children and Adults in need are inviting the community to properly dispose of unwanted and unused medication.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 13th opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous

expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs,” the DEA said in a statement.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is slated for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Zapata County Courthouse, 200 E. 7th Ave. It is free and anonymous, according to the DEA. “Don’t miss the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This is a great opportunity that provides our community with a safe, convenient, and County continues on A12

Trump and GOP back down on overspending

By Andrew Taylor and Alan Fram ASSOCIATED PRE SS Victor Strife / Laredo Morning Times

This file photo shows U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents separate various pill form and liquid form prescription medication before sealing them away in boxes for proper disposal.

UISD STUDENT ACTIVITY CENTER

SPECIAL OLYMPICS TEXAS AREA 21 SPRING GAMES

WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators on Tuesday inched toward a potential agreement on a catchall spending bill that would deny President Donald Trump’s request for immediate funding to construct a wall along the Mexico border. The emerging measure would increase the defense budget and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown on Trump’s 100th day in office this Saturday.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Republican negotiators were following the lead of Trump, who signaled Monday evening that he would not insist on $1 billion worth of wall funding now as an addition to the $1 trillion-plus spending bill. Trump told a gathering of conservative media reporters that he might be willing to wait until September for the funding.

Border continues on A12

GULF CARTEL/ZETAS

Cuate Santos / Laredo Morning Times

Dozens die in drug fights

Zapata Special Olympians and their teachers participated in the Parade of Athletes at the 2017 Special Olympics Texas Area 21 Spring Games at UISD SAC on Tuesday.

At least 35 have died across Mexico

Almost 1,000 participants compete for the gold medal

By Aaron Nelsen SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S

N

early 1,000 local children and adults with intellectual disabilities from the Laredo area are competing for the gold medal in track and field events at the annual Area 21 Spring Games, which kicked off Tuesday and continues through Thursday at United ISD Student Activity Center.

Those interested in volunteering are welcome to show up on any of the three days.

Events got underway Tuesday morning when members of local law enforcement agencies gathered at San Martin de Porres Church for the torch run. From there, they ran with a lit torch all the way to the United ISD Student Activity Center for the opening ceremony of the Area 21 Spring Games.

The opening ceremony, Motor Activities Training Program Challenge Day and relay races were held Tuesday. For the first

Events got underway Tuesday morning when members of local law enforcement agencies gathered at San Martin de Porres Church for the torch run.

time in the history of this event, the relay races will feature a unified relay, whereby athletes with and without intellectual disabilities will team up and share segments of the 4x100m relay.

The MATP is for athletes who cannot compete in official Special Olympics sports because they cannot physically perform movements or cannot follow the rules due to cognitive or behavioral limitations. The focus of MATP is on training and participation, rather than competition.

For this reason, there are no official rules for competition.

Emphasis is placed on achieving

the needs of every participant and lets the athlete share his/ her developed skills with family and friends. Participants are awarded based on participation,

REYNOSA, Mexico — A string of deadly clashes with drug gangs over the weekend has left at least 35 dead across Mexico, including two top cartel leaders in Tamaulipas early Saturday morning, according to officials.

Federal forces in Reynosa killed Julian Loisa Salinas, the Gulf Cartel leader in Reynosa, and Francisco “Pancho” Carreon, head of the rival Zetas cartel in the state capital of Ciudad Victoria, was killed, officials said.

Salinas, also known as Juan Manuel Loisa Salinas, or “Comandante Toro,” had slipped through the fingers of authorities several times before he was killed by marines in Saturday’s gunbattle.

Scenes of burning vehicles used as blockades spread across social media. Federal authorities have called for reinforcements in the days ahead as men loyal to Salinas seek retribution for their lead-

Olympics continues on A12

Fights continues on A12

Cuate Santos / Laredo Morning Times

Supporters of the Zapata Special Olympians watch the Parade of Athletes at the 2017 Special Olympics Texas Area 21 Spring Games at UISD SAC on Tuesday.

personal bests, and it allows for adapted equipment and physical assistance.

After the eight-week training program is completed, a Challenge Day is offered that meets

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

“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.

Today is Wednesday, April 26, the 116th day of 2017. There are 249 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On April 26, 1777, according to a widely accepted account from the American Revolutionary War, 16-yearold Sybil Ludington, the eldest child of Col. Henry Ludington, a militia commander in Dutchess County, New York, rode her horse into the night to alert her father's men of the approach of British regular troops who were sacking Danbury, Connecticut.

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.

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 World Tai Chi & Qigong Day. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Blas Castaneda Park, 5700 McPherson Road. The event is free and open to the public.

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.

TUESDAY, MAY 2 Alzheimer’s Support Group Meeting. 7 p.m. Meeting room 2, building B of the Laredo Medical Center. The support group is for family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer's. For information, call 956-693-9991.

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.

SUNDAY MAY 7 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.

SATURDAY, MAY 6 Health and Wellness Fair 2017. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road.

The fair will have free screenings for blood pressure, fitness and nutrition demos, a puppet show and reading time, giveaways and door prizes.

MONDAY, MAY 8 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.

MONDAY, MAY 15 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.

Megan Farmer / AP

Justin Hubbard, left, hands his newborn baby, Drea Hubbard, to his wife, Kymica Hubbard, during a news conference Monday in Omaha, Nebraska.

WOMAN DELIVERS BABY AT ZOO OMAHA, Neb. — A woman whose baby was due mid-May went into labor early and gave birth at a Nebraska zoo. Drea Hubbard was born Sunday at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces. Her mother, Kymica Hubbard, 24, said the birth took about two minutes from when her water broke.

"I was having contractions and it was getting closer and closer together and I was telling my husband, 'OK, it's time to get off the (zoo) train and let's go to the emergency room,' but he kept telling me I'm over-exaggerating," she said. Hubbard

'Superbug' fungus new menace in US, mostly NY, NJ NEW YORK — A 'superbug' fungus is emerging as a new menace in U.S. hospitals, mostly in New York and New Jersey.

The fungus called Candida auris is a harmful form of yeast. U.S. health officials sounded alarms last year because two of the three kinds of commonly used antifungal drugs have little effect. "It's acting like a superbug" bacter-

was taken by surprise when Drea's head appeared. Her husband, Justin Hubbard, 27, caught the child and wrapped her in a sweater as other zoo visitors gathered around.

"She was crying. You know, cooing.

And it was just the most beautiful thing that a man can ever see. I mean, it was a truly blessed experience," Justin Hubbard said. "It was a crazy experience." Neither parent noticed that a large crowd had surrounded them until after the baby had been delivered.

— Compiled from AP reports

ia, said Dr. Paige Armstrong of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It tends to be diagnosed in patients after they've been in hospitals for several weeks.

The fungus can infect wounds, ears and the bloodstream. A study presented at a CDC conference this week detailed how researchers traveled to South America to help investigate an outbreak in three Colombia cities. They found the fungus on surfaces in hospital rooms and on the skin of nurses and patients — even after patients

were treated with antifungal medications. On Tuesday, state health officials provided new details about the 44 cases in New York. Aside from one case in Rochester, all were in New York City, at 15 hospitals and a doctor's office. No site has had more than six cases. Seventeen New York patients died, but state officials said everyone infected had other illnesses.

New Jersey has had 15 cases, Illinois, 4, and there's been one case in Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD

Riccardo Gangale / AP

In this 2009 file photo, Sudan, a northern white rhino, arrives at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

species from extinction. "We partnered with Ol Pejeta conservancy to give the most eligible bachelor in the world a chance to meet his match," said Matt David, head of communications and marketing at Tinder. "We are optimistic given Sudan's profile will be seen on Tinder in 190 countries and over 40 languages." The

conservancy's website had crashed by Tuesday evening.

"The plight that currently faces the northern white rhinos is a signal to the impact that humankind is having on many thousands of other species across the planet," said Richard Vigne, the conservancy's chief executive officer.

— Compiled from AP reports

AUSTIN, Texas — Medical marijuana advocates in Texas are promoting support from more conservative sources to push longshot legislation that would ease pot laws in a state that's lagging behind much of the rest of the country on medical marijuana.

Conservative Christian mothers of autistic children

Five years ago: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor became the first head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court as he was found guilty of arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for "blood diamonds" mined by slave laborers and smuggled across the border. Pakistan's Supreme Court convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt but spared him a prison term for refusing to reopen a corruption case against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari.

Today's Birthdays: Architect I.M. Pei is 100. Movie composer Francis Lai is 85. Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 84. Rock musician Jimmy Stafford (Train) is 53. Actor-comedian Kevin James is 52. Record company executive Jeff Huskins is 51. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey is 51. Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste is 50. Rapper T-Boz (TLC) is 47. First lady Melania Trump is 47. Actress Shondrella Avery is 46. Country musician Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flatts) is 46. Country musician Michael Jeffers (Pinmonkey) is 45. Rock musician Jose Pasillas (Incubus) is 41. Actor Jason Earles is 40. Actor Leonard Earl Howze is 40. Actor Tom Welling is 40.

Actress Jordana Brewster is 37. Actress Stana Katic is 37. Actress Marnette Patterson is 37. Actor Channing Tatum is 37. Actress Emily Wickersham is 33. Actor Aaron Weeks is 31.

Thought for Today: "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." — Dr. Thomas F. Jones, Jr., American college official (1916-1981).

CONTACT US

AROUND TEXAS Advocates push longshot pot bills

Ten years ago: The Senate joined the House, 51-46, in clearing legislation calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to begin by Oct. 1, 2007, with a goal of a complete pullout six months later. Eight Democratic presidential hopefuls gathered in Orangeburg, South Carolina, for their first debate of the 2008 campaign, during which they heaped criticism on President Bush's Iraq policy. Former White House aide and movie industry lobbyist Jack Valenti died in Washington, D.C. at age 85.

One year ago: Republican Donald Trump roared to victory in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island while Democrat Hillary Clinton prevailed in four of those states, ceding Rhode Island to Bernie Sanders. Kelly Ripa returned to her daytime talk show after time off to "gather (her) thoughts" in response to learning her co-host Michael Strahan was leaving.

World's last male northern white rhino gets help from Tinder NAIROBI, Kenya — The world's last male northern white rhino has joined the Tinder dating app as wildlife experts make a last-chance breeding effort to keep his species alive. "I don't mean to be too forward, but the fate of the species literally depends on me," the rhino's profile says. "I perform well under pressure." The campaign called "The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World," by a Kenyan wildlife conservancy and the dating app, focuses on the rhino named Sudan. The 43-year-old and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age. Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the app aim to raise $9 million for research into breeding methods in an effort to save the

On this date: In 1607, English colonists went ashore at present-day Cape Henry, Virginia, on an expedition to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops near Port Royal, Virginia, and killed.

In 1913, Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old worker at a Georgia pencil factory, was strangled; Leo Frank, the factory superintendent, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.

In 1923, Britain's Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future King George VI), married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.

In 1937, German and Italian warplanes raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War; estimates of the number of people killed vary from the hundreds to the thousands.

In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.

In 1952, the destroyer-minesweeper USS Hobson sank in the central Atlantic after colliding with the aircraft carrier USS Wasp with the loss of 176 crew members.

In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.

In 1972, the first Lockheed L-1011 TriStar went into commercial service with Eastern Airlines.

In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

and veterans suffering posttraumatic stress disorder rallied outside the state Capitol on Tuesday, entreating the Republican-majority Legislature to advance two bills legalizing medicinal cannabis, one by San Antonio Democratic Sen. Jose Menendez and one by Rep. Eddie Lucio III, a Brownsville Democrat.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia now allow for comprehensive medical marijuana programs, but the

Texas bills have nearly no chance of passing.

The country's largest conservative state, Texas surprised many in 2015 by approving the use of cannabis oil to treat some forms of epilepsy and other medical disorders. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott vowed upon signing that bill into law that Texas would go no further toward marijuana legalization for medical or any other use.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 |

LOCAL

Educational and Career Fair S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S

Laredo Community College and Zapata County Independent School District are teaming up to host an Educational and Career Fair on Wednesday, April 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Zapata County Technical & Advanced Educational Center (ZTAEC), located at 605 North U.S. Highway 83 and 7th Street.

Admission is free and open to the public.

During the fair, LCC

staff will be present to offer information and promote various programs available at LCC, including workforce education, general academic studies, Economic Development Center programs, science, technology, engineering and math programs.

In addition, LCC’s Continuing Education program will promote several initiatives aimed at preparing prospective students for their imminent careers as pharmacy technicians, substitute

teachers, and knowledge on workplace safety.

For individuals looking to garner Englishlanguage speaking skills or a high school GED, the college’s Adult Education and Literacy program also will be present.

For more information on the educational and career fair, contact the Adult Education and Literacy Department at 794-4436 or the Office of the Associate Vice President for Instruction at 794-4002.

Austin mayor says city not ‘sanctuary’ after Sessions meeting A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Mayor Steve Adler says he left a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions believing that the Texas capital isn’t a “sanctuary city” in the eyes of the federal government.

Adler and other mayors met with Sessions on Tuesday in Washington to get a better understanding of what it means to be considered a “sanctuary community.” The label could cost cities and counties federal grant money as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already denied Travis County some state grant funds for

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler, center, speaks to reporters outside the Justice Department in Washington on Tuesday.

refusing to continue honoring all federal immigration detainer requests.

Adler says he didn’t directly ask Sessions whether Travis County

qualifies as a “sanctuary city.” But he said Sessions told him that not honoring voluntary detainer requests wasn’t a punishable violation.

A3

Zopinion

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

A4 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series is not shockingly timely

By Megan McArdle B L OOM BE RG V IEW

We are all necessarily prisoners of our own place and time, and thus, I was in my youth necessarily a fan of "The Handmaid’s Tale." I read it; I discussed it very earnestly with like-minded friends; I copied author Margaret Atwood’s muted style and dystopian preoccupations in my own, less competent fiction.

However, a new television show has been made out of the book, and is attracting rave reviews, less for its acting, script or stunning visuals than for its "unexpectedly timely" message.

Nonsense.

Whatever future we should fear Donald Trump will usher in, it will bear precious little resemblance to Atwood’s Gilead.

But people keep saying the TV adaptation of "The Handmaid’s Tale" is unexpectedly timely in this age. Perhaps I had forgotten some Trumpian intimations from the text. So I reread the book. To try to get as close to the original experience as possible, I listened to Suzanne Vega on Spotify. Alas, my household does not contain anything that may safely substitute for a velvet choker.

My quarrel is not with the politics of "The Handmaid’s Tale," nor with its realism. Expecting plausibility from dystopian fiction is like expecting haute cuisine from a highway service area. Of the dystopian fiction I’ve read, only "1984" comes even remotely close to feeling real, and that’s because Orwell was working from two vivid contemporaneous examples, from which he lifted freely.

Fictional dystopia is sort of the photonegative of the movies produced by actual totalitarian regimes.

Masses of people wearing identical creepy clothes, forming into precise lines, chanting the same things.

Yes, in regimes like North Korea and Hitler’s Germany, those mass rallies occurred. The men marched and the girls danced in eerily infinite lines. But afterward, most of them went home to the banal, the ordinary, and the familiar - altered by political fear and economic shortages, but not wholly transformed into something unrecognizably inhuman.

In interviews since its publication, Atwood has emphasized that all the details in the book were based on things that really happened in the world.

One sees the historical referents when reading, and yet the entire effect is completely unrealistic, because she’s drawn details from too many oppressive regimes and

collaged them.

Dystopian regimes in real life have common features, yes, but they are not actually interchangeable; indeed, they are surprisingly specific.

Reading accounts of those actual regimes, I’m always surprised at how culturally embedded they remained, even as they proclaimed that they were enacting a new world order in which everything would be different.

People still got married and settled into family domesticity under communist regimes that were supposed to be sweeping away all the vestiges of private lives in favor of creating "new Soviet man" or his many cousins; people in theocratic states still had considerable variance in the level of religious observance; theoretically internationalist ideologies fell back on nationalist sentiment to motivate the masses. All of which is to say: The Taliban certainly existed, but it could not exist in America, because it would have no popular base from which to launch its attacks, no historic practice of burka wearing to ratify bringing them back.

Nor could such a movement gain power here along the lines that Atwood outlines. I’ve seen her praised for actually thinking through the mechanism by which her fictional state might emerge, and kudos for the effort, but we must also acknowledge that, as written, it doesn’t really make all that much sense.

She is not illustrating how Trump will transform America.

America hasn’t had a unified theocratic tradition since the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the descendants of those Puritans are now pouring their fervent moralism into buying Priuses and complaining about Trump.

The closest modern equivalent, the statewide hegemony of the Latter-day Saints in Utah, doesn’t look very much like "The Handmaid’s Tale" and hasn’t the faintest prayer of co-opting the rest of the nation’s fractured religious traditionalists, many of whom do not even consider the Mormons to be Christian. And even if some movement did, somehow, gather a Mormon-like critical mass, Trump is hardly likely to be its avatar; our most religious red state was also the one where Trump had the greatest trouble.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying implausibilities on a screen or page.

But there is something very wrong with hysterically declaring that those things are reality.

Megan McArdle is a Bloomberg View columnist.

COLUMN

Washington didn’t create the North Korea crisis John Bolton WASHINGTON P O ST

In “1984,” George Orwell crafted an iconic Party directive: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” If rewriting history heedless of reality proves one’s Orwellian credentials, Mike Chinoy made the grade in his recent Post Global Opinions op-ed “How Washington hard-liners helped to create the North Korean crisis.”

Chinoy’s misstatements and omissions, complete with “memory holes” for Pyongyang’s behavior, are directly relevant both to the North’s ongoing menace and also to Iran and other proliferators. Aspiring nuclear-weapons states are often surprisingly brazen in their work. In some cases, they have actually used counter-proliferation agreements as camouflage for further illicit nuclear and ballistic-missile activity.

Unfortunately, gullible Americans have fallen for the ploy, focusing on the written “obligations” rather than the proliferators’ actual conduct.

Here is Chinoy’s version of Washington’s past dealings with North Korea. He claims that Pyongyang decided to abandon its nuclearweapons program in the 1994 Agreed Framework, which compensated the North Koreans with substantial heavy-oil shipments, and, incredibly, two light-water nuclear reactors. Sadly, Bush administration hardliners subsequently tanked the framework and then frustrated Pyongyang’s subsequent attempts at a diplomatic solution, thus contributing to today’s crisis.

Poor, misunderstood Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un

Why ... anyone would believe North Korean “commitments” to renounce nuclear weapons is hard to understand.

The real problem is that ... people are prepared to believe that agreements constitute reality, rather than actual behavior. and their comrades: so close to peace on the Korean Peninsula. Albright in Pyongyang: Really, what could go wrong? The New York Times’ Walter Duranty, who received a Pulitzer Prize for missing the 1930s Ukraine famine, must be smiling wherever his soul resides today.

The Agreed Framework was only one of several agreements over the past quarter-century in which North Korea solemnly pledged to cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Pyongyang violated every one, typically before the ink was dry. More fundamentally, the North repeatedly breached its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations and its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, making its Agreed Framework pledges as credibility-free as its underlying obligations not to pursue nuclear weapons in the first place.

As early as 1998, Ambassador Jim Lilley, one of America’s great Asia experts, wrote that “the signs are becoming increasingly clear that the North Korean nuclearweapons program has never stopped.” In 1999, former secretary of state James Baker called Clinton’s approach “a policy of appeasement,” and rightly so. Concern about Pyongyang was far from a monopoly of the socalled “hard-liners.”

Theoretically, supplying North Korea fuel oil

and “proliferation-proof” light-water reactors was to compensate for the power-generation “lost” by closing the Yongbyon reactor, seen by Clinton’s team as the greater proliferation threat. In polite terms, this theory was utterly fanciful. Yongbyon was always, and is still, intended to produce plutonium to be separated from the reactor’s spent fuel for nuclear weapons.

The proposed light-water reactors would also produce plutonium, albeit less efficiently. Even Clinton’s negotiators had less confidence in North Korea than Chinoy. They later admitted that they expected (erroneously) the regime to fall before the light-water reactors became operational.

Not long after President George W. Bush took office, new evidence revealed that North Korea was also pursuing the uranium-enrichment route to nuclear weapons.

Enrichment was easier to conceal and consistent with Pyongyang’s longstanding proclivity for carrying out illicit activities in underground structures hidden from overhead surveillance.

So obvious were the North’s violations by early 2002 that even the Agreed Framework’s State Department advocates could not justify certifying North Korean compliance with its obligations, as Congress required, resorting instead to statutory waiver provisions to keep the benefits flowing. In today’s con-

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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

text, the State Department recently failed even that basic test, certifying, contrary to fact, that Iran is complying with the Obama administration’s nuclear deal.

Proof of North Korea’s breaches of the Agreed Framework was finally so strong that the Bush administration decided to confront Pyongyang with our evidence. In a nowfamous encounter on Oct. 4, 2002, after denying the previous day that they were conducting uranium enrichment, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju admitted it to the American delegation. The North had shredded the Agreed Framework.

Why, after this eightyear charade, anyone would believe North Korean “commitments” to renounce nuclear weapons is hard to understand. The real problem is that many otherwise sensible people are prepared to believe that agreements constitute reality, rather than actual behavior. Reporters and diplomats often say things like “the agreement ended [fill-in the blank]’s nuclear program.” Needless to say, no agreement does any such thing, only the verified conduct of the parties themselves.

The contemporary lessons are plain. In the past, while American true believers were kneeling in prayer and lighting incense candles to fanciful agreements with North Korea, Iran, Syria and their ilk, these rogue states were committing murder in the cathedral.

Time to face reality instead.

Bolton is a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 |

A5

STATE

Dallas police Officer fatally shoots officers at lowest robbery suspect, 16 level in a decade A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

HOUSTON — Investigators say officers fatally shot a 16-year-old armed robbery suspect and wounded two others during a Houston-area restaurant holdup.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says an 18-year-old suspect was arrested Monday night in a nearby vehicle.

A sheriff's statement Tuesday said three suspects, wearing hoodies and bandannas, were seen running toward the fast-food restaurant. Authorities say two suspects had guns and took money from the cash drawers.

Officers confronted the fleeing suspects. The sheriff's statement says the suspects fired on officers, who returned

fire and shot all three teens. No officers were hurt.

Officials say the 16year-old suspect died at a hospital. A 15-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition. A 17year-old, who suffered lesser injuries, and the unharmed 18-year-old were charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

At least one dead as plane crashes in Central Texas A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Authorities say at least one person is dead after a twin-engine airplane crashed into a Central Texas pond after the

pilot reported engine trouble. Sgt. Erik Burse of the Texas Department of Public Safety says the body of the pilot has been recovered from the wreckage near Huntsville. He said

divers are still searching the pond for other victims.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna 421 crashed around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday.

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

DALLAS — The number of police officers serving Dallas has fallen to its lowest level in about a decade while the department also is falling short of its goal for new hires, the interim police chief told a city council committee.

Chief David Pughes said Monday that the number of officers on the force is 3,077. That’s down from nearly 3,700 officers some six years ago.

He said the department will be short-staffed as the summer approaches and crime generally increases.

Concerns over the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System have led many officers to retire at a rate faster than the department can hire and

train new ones, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Dallas so far this year has lost 244 officers, many of whom had more than 20 years of experience.

Officials believe another 120 will leave by the end of September.

Pughes said he’s considering hiring many of those retired officers to temporarily bolster patrol numbers.

“I’m actually excited about the possibility of bringing retirees back in whatever capacity they can work,” Pughes said.

The move could be a short-term remedy in the face of fewer new hires than hoped. The department so far this year has hired just 80 officers and expects to add about 200 by year’s end, far below a

target of around 450, the newspaper reported.

The hiring rate is surprising in light of a surfeit of applications in the wake of the July sniper shootings during a downtown protest where five officers were killed and nine others wounded. The department said job applications more than quadrupled in the two weeks following the shootings.

David Brown, who was police chief before retiring in October, at the time had urged those protesting police actions to help change law enforcement from within by applying to become a cop.

Despite the rise in applications, a rigorous hiring and training process results in many applicants being dropped from consideration.

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Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE RECOLECCIÓN DE MEDICINAS 1 Agencias de las fuerzas del orden y sin fines de lucro invitan a la comunidad a deshacerse de sus medicinas no necesarias, expiradas o peligrosas de manera segura. La recolección de medicamentos se realizará el sábado 29 de abril de 10 a.m. a 2 p.m. en la Corte de Zapata ubicada en 200 E. de la avenida 7. El evento es gratuito y anónimo.

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.

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.

DEA

Invitan a desechar medicina Prevenga abuso de medicamentos Por César G. Rodríguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

La Administración para el Control de Drogas (DEA por sus siglas en inglés) y la Coalición Comunitaria del Condado de Zapata para Servir a Niños y Adultos Necesitados invitan a la comunidad a desechar medicamentos no deseados de manera correcta.

“La Administración para el Control de Drogas dará al público la treceava oportunidad en siete años de prevenir el abuso y el robo de píldoras mediante una campaña para deshacerse de medicamento expirado potencialmente peligroso, sin usar o no deseado”, dijo la DEA en un co-

municado.

El Día Nacional de Entrega de Medicamentos está programado para el sábado 29 de abril de 10 a.m. a 2 p.m. en el Palacio de Justicia del Condado de Zapata, ubicado en 200 E. 7th Ave. Las personas podrán entregar medicamentos de manera gratuita y anónima, de acuerdo con la DEA. “No se pierda el Día Nacional de Entrega de Medicamentos. Es una gran oportunidad que brinda a nuestra comunidad una manera segura, conveniente y responsable de desechar medicamentos”, dijo Raymundo Del Bosque Jr., jefe de la Oficina del Alguacil, en un comunicado.

“Este evento también

nos permite educar al público en general sobre medicamentos recetados y su abuso. Traiga todos sus medicamentos expirados o no deseados al Palacio de Justicia”.

Autoridades destacaron que la iniciativa aborda un asunto de seguridad y salud pública.

“Hay medicamentos que se deterioran en los gabinetes que son altamente susceptibles al mal uso y el abuso. Las tasas de abuso de medicamentos recetados en los Estados Unidos son alarmantemente altas, al igual que el número de intoxicaciones accidentales y las sobredosis debido a estas drogas", dijo la DEA.

Foto por Victor Strife | Tiempo de Zapata

En esta foto de archivo, agentes de la DEA separan diferentes medicamentos antes de colocarlos en bolsas para ser desechados durante el Día Nacional de Entrega de Medicamentos.

No se harán preguntas, según los miembros de la coalición.

"Ayúdenos a deshacernos de los medicamentos sin usar y expirados este sábado ... Estaremos recolectando junto con la DEA y (la Oficina

TEATRO

ZCISD

‘LAS SOLDADERAS’ SE CORONAN CAMPEONES ESTATALES

LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL

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.

Hoy inicia feria de trabajo E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

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 956-765-8983.

del Alguacil) fuera del Palacio de Justicia del Condado de Zapata. Habrá auto-servicio disponible", dijo la coalición en un comunicado.

Para más información sobre el evento, visite www.DEA.gov

Foto de cortesía

El grupo de Zapata High School pasará a la historia como el primer elenco, equipo de producción y directores de Zapata en ganar esta competencia.

Primera vez que Zapata High School obtiene 1° lugar Por Malena Charur TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

E

l elenco, el equipo de producción y la dirección de la obra para One-Act-Play de la Liga Interescolástica Universitaria (UIL por sus siglas en inglés) “Las soldaderas”, interpretada por miembros de la preparatoria Zapata High School han hecho historia al coronarse como campeones estatales de 4A State UIL OAP. “Las soldaderas”, una obra que trata de aquellas mujeres guerreras que pelearon durante la Revolución Mexicana, es una obra cuyo guión fue adaptado para la puesta en escena de este evento por la directora de la obra, Nelly Cuéllar García, dijo Rogelio González, director de servicios estudiantiles del distrito escolar Zapata County Independent School District.

“Las competencias de UIL OAP empiezan desde diciembre donde competimos a nivel distrito, luego, al avanzar competimos con escuelas del área, para luego pasar a las regionales y por último a las esta-

tales”, señaló González.

Dijo que cada año la directora de One Act Play, Cuéllar, selecciona una obra y este año optó por “Las Soldaderas”, lo cual les llevó a obtener el campeonato el 13 de abril en Austin.

Se trata del primer elenco totalmente femenino de estudiantes de preparatoria que han hecho historia al ganar la competencia estatal y el primer elenco, equipo de producción y directores de Zapata en ganar esta competencia como un equipo en la historia de Zapata.

“El principal reto fue que por primera vez nuestro elenco estuvo formado totalmente por mujeres”, indicó. “Ha sido una experiencia muy motivadora porque hemos hecho historia por ganar con un elenco totalmente por mujeres y por ser la primera vez que Zapata gana esta competencia”.

La obra será puesta en escena para toda la comunidad el domingo 30 de abril a las 2 p.m., en el auditorio de la preparatoria Zapata High School. El evento es gratuito y abierto al público. No se permiten entradas tardías, las puertas se cierran a las 2 p.m.

El Colegio Comunitario de Laredo y el Distrito Escolar Independiente de Zapata han unido esfuerzos para realizar la Feria de Educación y Trabajo hoy de las 5:30 p.m. a las 7:30 p.m. en el Centro Educación Técnica y Avanzada del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 605 North US Highway 83 y la calle 7. La admisión es gratuita y abierta al público en general.

Durante la feria, personal de LCC estará presente para ofrecer información y promocionar varios programas disponibles en LCC, incluyendo educación de la fuerza laboral, estudios académicos en general, programas del Centro de Desarrollo Económico, ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y programas de matemáticas.

Además, el programa de Educación Continua de LCC promocionará varias iniciativas enfocadas en preparar estudiantes prospectos para sus carreras como técnicos farmacéuticos, maestros substitutos y conocimiento sobre seguridad laboral.

Para individuales buscando mejorar sus habilidades con el lenguaje inglés o interesados en obtener un GED para validar sus estudios de preparatoria, el programa de Educación Adulta y el Programa de Alfabetización también estará presente.

Para mayores informes sobre la feria de educación y carrera, contacte al Departamento de Educación Adulta y Alfabetización al 794-4436 o la Oficina del Vicepresidente Asociado 7944002.

MÉXICO

Mueren 35 personas en fin de semana Por Aaron Nelsen SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS NEWS

REYNOSA, México— Una serie de encuentros con bandas del narcotráfico durante el fin de semana ha dejado al menos 35 muertos por todo México, incluyendo dos líderes de carteles en Tamaulipas la madrugada del sábado, de acuerdo con funcionarios.

Fuerzas federales en Reynosa mataron a Julián Loisa Salinas, el líder del Cartel del Golfo en Reynosa y a Francisco “Pancho”

Carreón, líder del cartel de los Zetas en Ciudad Victoria, la capital estatal, dijeron oficiales.

Salinas, también conocido como Juan Manuel Loisa Salinas, o “Comandante Toro” se le había escapado a las autoridades en varias ocasiones antes de ser abatido por marinos durante un tiroteo el sábado.

Escenas de vehículos quemándose usados para bloquear acceso estuvieron esparcidos por redes sociales. Las autoridades

federales han pedido refuerzos en los días anteriores ya que hombres leales a Salinas buscan venganza por la muerte de su líder.

Nueve personas fueron reportadas fallecidas en Michoacán después de un aparente tiroteo entre bandos criminales el sábado, reportó la Associated Press.

Ha habido más de 2.000 homicidios a nivel nacional durante el mes de marzo, de acuerdo con las autoridades.

Foto de cortesía

Imágenes de estructuras quemándose fueron compartidas por redes sociales.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 |

A7

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Cowboys honor Ware, ponder need with post-Romo future secure

By Schuyler Dixon A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

FRISCO, Texas — Jerry Jones honored DeMarcus Ware with a ceremonial signing Monday that allowed the franchise sacks leader to retire as a Dallas Cowboy on the same day the team owner discussed how the draft might help find the next dominant pass rusher.

Whenever the Cowboys decide to pay homage to Tony Romo with their 10-year starter heading to the broadcast booth, they will do so feeling secure about their future under center. They won’t be thinking much about quarterbacks in the first round Thursday night.

Jones couldn’t have imag-

ined this a year ago before the Cowboys took Dak Prescott in the fourth round with the idea he might someday replace Romo. Instead, Prescott put up one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history to basically end Romo’s Dallas tenure.

So maybe the Cowboys can get lucky in their search for the next Ware, who won his only Super Bowl in three seasons with Denver after Dallas cut him in a salary cap move following the 2013 season when he had 117 sacks in nine years. The 34-year-old Ware, who retired last month , finished with 138 1/2 sacks, eighth on NFL’s career list.

Dallas just hasn’t had much luck trying to replace Ware, using second-round picks in 2014 and 2015 on another De-

Marcus with back issues (DeMarcus Lawrence) and a player who had a documented substance-abuse problem (Randy Gregory, now suspended for almost all of 2017).

The Cowboys have the 28th pick after a franchise-record 11-game winning streak led to the top seed in the NFC, a run fueled by Prescott and fellow rookie sensation Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL rushing champion after getting picked fourth overall. Dallas lost its divisional playoff to Green Bay. Defense would appear to be the focus because Dallas also needs help in the secondary following the departures in free agency of cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne and safeties Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox.

Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press file

Dallas enters this year’s NFL Draft looking for their next great pass rusher as the team has not been able to replace DeMarcus Ware, who left for Denver in 2013 and retired a Cowboy last week.

NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS

2017 NFL DRAFT

FOREMAN: INFANT SON DIED DURING FINAL SEASON AT TEXAS

John Bazemore / Associated Press file

Clemson wide receiver Mike Williams is one of many players in this year’s NFL Draft with an uncertain future. He could be a top 10 pick or fall late into the first round.

Eric Gay / Associated Press file

Texas star running back D'Onta Foreman lost his infant son during last season with the Longhorns due to an intestinal infection.

Longhorns star RB reveals infant son died during last year

By Nick Moyle SA N A NT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS

D’Onta Foreman’s girlfriend, Carissa, was 23 weeks into her pregnancy when she gave birth.

D’Onta Vanton Foreman, Jr. was born on Sept. 16, 2016. He weighed less than a pound.

The next day, Foreman rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns against California. He commemorated one score by cradling air, a celebration with meaning unknown to most watching.

Back in Texas, D’Onta Jr. was confined to a neonatal intensive care unit. He was fighting for his life.

“It was tough,” Foreman said during a revealing interview with NFL Network. “It was so hard to keep stuff a secret. I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me. I just wanted to go out there and compete and I’d give it my all.”

Foreman had long dreamed of fatherhood, of having a baby boy to give everything to, including his name.

“That was the tipping point for him,” said Anthony Johnson, UT’s running backs coach in 2016. “I think the birth of his child opened his eyes and from that point on he

went on a tear.”

Foreman accumulated 817 rushing yards and seven touchdowns over UT’s next five games, plowing over hapless defenders as he struggled to conceal the crushing burden he dealt with off the field.

The night before Texas was scheduled to play Texas Tech, Foreman received news he feared would arrive, in one form or another.

D’Onta Jr. had developed an intestinal infection. The prognosis was bleak.

Foreman never played a better in his life. He piled up a careerhigh 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-37 win.

“That was the best game of my life,” he said. “Very best game of my life. It was just something about that game, it was like, ‘I’m doing it for my son. I’m leaving it all out here.’”

Then he and his brother, receiver Armanti, began the long drive back home, racing against the specter of death.

They didn’t make it.

Foreman called his mother during their journey. She delivered the blow as softly as possible – D’Onta Jr. had died. It was Nov. 5.

“I really didn’t know how to feel,” Foreman said. “I was like numb. I was driving and then I was crying while I was driving. I was crushed and I was so hurt. I feel like something was taken away from me before I even got the chance to experience it.”

Rather than openly share the news, Foreman put his head down and kept moving. He led the nation with 2,028 yards and won the Doak Walker Award, given annually to college football’s best running back.

Following the season, and after consulting his twin brother, Foreman declared for the 2017 NFL draft.

"We kinda had a serious conversation," Armanti said. "I told him, 'This was always our dream.

Go live out your dream.'"

Carissa is pregnant again, which both frightens and excites Foreman.

Their child is due on Sept. 16 — D'Onta Jr.'s birthday.

“He will never be replaced,” Foreman said. “But to have another baby on that same day, I hope it happens. I’ma do everything I can to keep making my name, or our name, as big as it can be. He won’t be forgotten by me.”

One certain projection in mock NFL drafts this year: uncertainty

By Victor Mather NEW YORK TIME S NEWS SERVICE

Making a mock draft is not easy. Divining the intentions of 32 NFL teams, evaluating scores of players, factoring in potential trades and coming up with a list of picks that makes sense tests the mettle of even the most informed fan or pundit.

And it looks like this year’s mock drafts may bear even less resemblance to reality than usual. The problem starts almost at the top. Sure, pencil in Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett at No. 1, but then?

There are also a number of players whose draft position is anybody’s guess.

Walter Cherepinsky, the president of walterfootball.com, another draft site, said the question marks included “players who didn’t test very well and didn’t do well at the combine.”

“Mike Williams of Clemson could fall out of the first round, yet we know a team that’s going to consider him in the top 10,” he said.

Cherepinsky and Esch both said there is a great deal of uncertainty about players with character issues, like Joe Mixon, the Oklahoma running back who punched a woman in the face at a cafe.

Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster got kicked out of the combine after an altercation with a hospital worker, then was found to have a diluted drug sample. A former candidate to be drafted No. 2, he may now have fallen as far as No. 20.

Good luck guessing his draft position.

Medical exams at the combine found shoulder issues with another potential high pick from Alabama, defensive lineman Jonathan Allen. But how will it affect his draft position? Even the experts are not sure.

A8 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

Venezuela's Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz decries violence as deaths rise

By Fabiola Sanchez And Christine Armario A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's chief prosecutor on Tuesday denounced a wave of unrest that has resulted in 26 deaths, vowing to hold all those responsible accountable and calling on both sides of a heated political spectrum to "lower the tone of confrontation."

"The death of a person hurts very much," Luisa Ortega Diaz said. "Whether they are with the government or the opposition."

More than 400 people have been injured and nearly 1,300 detained in clashes since last month's Supreme Court ruling that stripped congress of its last

powers. In an unusual move, Ortega Diaz broke with the government in the immediate days after the decision to denounce it as a "rupture" of the constitutional order. The ruling was later partially reversed amid a storm of international criticism.

On Tuesday, Ortega Diaz took pains not to single out the opposition or the government as bearing the bulk of responsibility for the violence.

"I want to express my firmest rejection to violence as an arm of political action," she said.

"Politics should not lead us to war."

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets over the last month to protest against socialist President Nico-

las Maduro, who they blame for triple-digit inflation, hours-long lines to get food, shortages of medical supplies and a rise in crime. Protesters have clashed with security forces, which have used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, and overnight looting has destroyed dozens of businesses.

Opposition leaders have blamed armed pro-government militias known as "colectivos" for a number of the deaths, while government officials have accused the opposition of working with criminal gangs to foment unrest.

"They are experts in blaming the government," Diosdado Cabello, leader of the ruling socialist party, told journalists Monday.

Sabers rattle amid Korean standoff, WH to brief senators

By Matthew Pennington A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills and a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, escalating the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons program as the Trump administration prepared an extraordinary White House briefing for senators.

Fears North Korea could mark the 85th anniversary of its military's founding with a nuclear test explosion or a ballistic missile launch proved unfounded. But the unpredictable communist nation rattled its saber all the same, with drills that served as a reminder of the threat it poses below the border to U.S.-allied South Korea.

The exercise in the area of east coast city of Wonsan involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. An official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm such details. Seoul lies only 25 miles from the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, well within artillery range.

President Donald Trump has sent more U.S. military assets to the region in a show of force while leaning on China to exert economic pressure on its wayward ally. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who spoke to Trump on Monday, is urging restraint from both Pyongyang and Washington.

In Washington, top Trump administration officials are due to brief

South Korean Defense Ministry / AP

In this photo, a South Korean navy sailor watches the destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer during a joint exercises between the United States and South Korea in South Korea's West Sea on Tuesday.

the entire U.S. Senate on Wednesday. A rapid tempo of North Korean weapons testing in the past year has pushed Kim Jong Un's authoritarian nation closer to developing a nucleartipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham voiced confidence Tuesday that Trump won't allow North Korea to reach that point.

Graham, a defense hawk who dined with Trump on Monday night, said the North should not underestimate the president's resolve. "We are probably in one of the most challenging situations since the Cuban missile crisis," Sen. John McCain, another Republican who joined Trump for the dinner, told a congressional hearing Tuesday, referring to the 1962 standoff with the Soviet Union that pushed the superpowers close to nuclear confrontation.

McCain said a North Korean nuclear missile capable of striking an American city was "an imminent danger."

McCain said Trump is "exploring all options" on North Korea. A pre-emptive strike, he said, "would be the last one." The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is headed toward the Korean Peninsula and will hold a joint exercise with South Korea. However, the deterrence effect of the operation may have been undermined by confusion over when the carrier arrives. The deployment was announced more than two weeks ago. In the meantime, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived Tuesday at the South Korean port of Busan for what was described as a routine visit to rest crew and load supplies. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan. At the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers probed experts on the potential consequences of a pre-emptive U.S. military strike on North Korea.

Ariana Cubillos / AP

An anti-government protester stands in front of burning barricade on a highway in Caracas, Venezuela on Monday.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 |

A9

BUSINESS

FCA, Google begin offering rides in self-driving cars

By Dee-ann Durbin A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler and Google for the first time will offer rides to the public in the self-driving vehicles they are building under an expanding partnership.

Waymo, Google's self-driving car project, said Tuesday it's adding 500 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans to its self-driving vehicle fleet.

It will allow hundreds of people in the Phoenix area to take rides in the vehicles so it can get feedback on the experience.

Phoenix-area residents could apply on Waymo's website starting Tuesday. The vehicles will also pick up riders in Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert, Waymo said. All of the vehicles will have Waymo backup drivers who can take over in an emergency.

Fiat Chrysler and Waymo have been partners since last spring, when they announced they would build 100 self-driving Pacifica hybrids minivans. Those vehicles were delivered to Waymo in December. The companies have been testing the vehicles in Arizona, California and Michigan.

Waymo began offering a small number of public rides in Arizona two months ago before deciding to expand the program, a spokesman said.

Waymo — created by Google in 2009 — has given rides to the public before in its hometown of Mountain View, California. In 2015, it let a blind man ride around Austin, Texas, in one of its completely self-driving pods. The Phoenix program will be much larger in scale, and it will be the first to use the Pacifica minivans.

Waymo isn't the first to put regular passengers in self-driving cars

Mary Altaffer / AP

In this 2012 file photo, containers of Chobani yogurt are shown at the Chobani yogurt bar in the Soho neighborhood of New York.

Carlos Osorio / AP

This 2014 file photo shows a sign outside Fiat Chrysler Automobiles world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

in the race to develop the technology. Ride-hailing company Uber has had self-driving Volvos on the road in Pittsburgh since last fall.

Boston startup nuTonomy is giving taxi rides to passengers in Singapore and Boston. In all cases, there is a backup driver behind the wheel.

Waymo said it wants to learn where people want to go in a selfdriving vehicle, how they communicate with it and what kinds of information and controls they want.

Fiat Chrysler builds the Pacifica minivan in Windsor, Canada, just across the border from Detroit. It adds Waymo's self-driving software and hardware, including sensors and cameras, at a facility in Michigan. Fiat Chrysler's U.S. headquarters is in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

"This collaboration is helping both companies learn how to bring

self-driving cars to market, and realize the safety and mobility benefits of this technology," said Waymo chief John Krafcik in a company release.

Michelle Krebs, an executive analyst for the car shopping site Autotrader, says studies have shown that a majority of Americans are still reluctant to ride in a fully self-driving car. Opening Waymo's vehicles to the public will help build riders' confidence, she said.

"The key to acceptance is exposure and education," she said.

Ultimately, Waymo says, selfdriving cars could prevent many of the 1.2 million deaths that occur on worldwide roads each year.

Waymo has made clear that it intends to form partnerships with automakers and not build its own self-driving cars. It's also in talks with Honda Motor Co. about a potential collaboration.

Official estimate could upend Trump tax plan before release

By Stephen Ohlemacher and Josh Boak A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — A new congressional estimate could upend President Donald Trump's tax plan even before he releases it.

Trump is scheduled to unveil the broad outlines of a tax overhaul Wednesday that includes a massive cut in the corporate income tax, reducing the top rate from 35 percent to 15 percent.

The official scorekeeper for Congress said Tuesday that a big cut in corporate taxes — even if it is temporary — would add to long-term budget deficits. This is a problem for Republicans

because it means they would need Democratic support in the Senate to pass a tax overhaul.

Democrats mused that Republican lawmakers who slammed the growing national debt under President Barack Obama are now being asked to embrace a tax plan that could add trillions of government red ink over the next decade.

Democrats say they smell hypocrisy.

"I'm particularly struck by how some of this seems to be turning on its head Republican economic theory," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-

Pa., said, "On a lot of fronts, both the administration and Republicans have been contradictory, to say the least."

"There's no question we should try to reduce (the corporate tax rate), but I don't see how you pay for getting it down that low," Casey said.

"Fifteen percent, that's a huge hole if you can't make the math work."

Last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to analyze the budget effects of a temporary cut in the corporate tax rate, to 20 percent, that would expire after three years.

On Tuesday, the committee, which is the official scorekeeper for Con-

gress, said the temporary rate cut would reduce tax revenues by nearly $500 billion in the first decade, and by a "nonnegligible" amount in the years to follow.

This is important because the Senate cannot pass legislation that would add to long-term budget deficits without a 60-vote majority. That means Democrats would have to support it, and Republicans and Democrats have major differences when it comes to tax reform.

Republicans had been working under a budget maneuver that would allow them to pass a tax bill with a simple majority in the Senate — but only if it didn't add to long-term deficits.

Chobani yogurt company sues right-wing radio host

By Kimberlee Kruesi ASSOCIATED PRE SS

BOISE, Idaho — Greek yogurt giant Chobani filed a lawsuit Monday against right-wing radio host Alex Jones, accusing the conspiracy theorist of publishing false information about the company.

Chobani says that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories earlier this month that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children.

The company filed the lawsuit in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yogurt plant in the world. "(Jones) is no stranger to spurious statements.

He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut," Chobani's attorneys wrote. "Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community."

The complaint says InfoWars released a video on April 11 describing Chobani's practice of hiring refugees and a sexual assault case that did not involve the yogurt company.

During the video, an Info Wars reporter republished statements that claimed the Chobani plant brought crime and tuberculosis since it opened the plant five years ago while also pointing out previous

reports of its willingness to hire refugees in Twin Falls.

Twin Falls is one of the two cities in Idaho with a refugee resettlement center.

The video was promoted using the headline "Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists," even though the lawsuit points out that InfoWars didn't mention or prove that statement in the report. The story was tweeted out by Jones and other outlets.

InfoWars didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report was critical of Ulukaya's support of hiring refugees while reporters then reacted to a separate issue involving three Twin Falls refugee boys who admitted to charges involved in the assault of a 5-year-old girl at an apartment complex.

The 2016 assault sparked months of turmoil in Twin Falls after the story about the incident was spun by farright blogs and antiimmigration groups into accounts that exaggerated and falsified many of the details.

"The defendants defamatory statements were designed to cause — and did in fact cause — customers to call for a boycott of Chobani's products," the lawsuit stated.

Chobani's attorneys say Jones has ignored requests to remove the inaccurate coverage. It's seeking at least $10,000 in damages.

A10 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

'Bachelor' star charged Disney sets release for 'Star Wars: Episode IX' in deadly car crash

By Lindsey Bahr

By Ryan J. Foley A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Chris Soules, an Iowa farmer who starred on "The Bachelor" two years ago, was arrested Tuesday after authorities say he caused a deadly traffic accident and fled the scene.

Soules, who was portrayed as a wholesome country boy looking for love on season 19 of the ABC reality show, was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that rearended a tractor in northern Iowa near Aurora on Monday night, the Iowa State Patrol said.

The crash caused the tractor to roll and go into a ditch on one side of the road, while Soules' truck went into a ditch on the other side, the patrol said. The tractor driver was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The patrol identified him as 66-yearold Kenneth Mosher, a farmer from Aurora.

Soules wasn't injured in the accident and left the area before emergency responders arrived, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office said. He was arrested later at his home in Arlington, which is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Aurora and 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Iowa City.

Authorities said someone had called 911 to report the crash, but they didn't release the identity of the caller or audio of the call. Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses and determined that Soules caused the crash and fled, according

Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office / AP

This Tuesday shows Chris Soules, former star of ABC's "The Bachelor.”

to a complaint, which doesn't name the witnesses.

Alcohol was found at the scene, and investigators are trying to determine whose it was, said Sheriff Bill Wolgram.

Court records show that Soules has had some driving infractions in the past, including a 2006 conviction for operating while intoxicated.

Soules, 35, was arrested about five hours after the crash and then booked into the Buchanan County Jail on a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

He was released around midday on $10,000 bond, and will be required to surrender his passport and wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet until his trial, jail officials said.

The sheriff's office said the crash remains under investigation and addi-

tional charges could be filed.

Soules' lawyers, Sean and Molly Spellman, didn't immediately reply to messages seeking comment. His spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, issued a statement saying Soules "was devastated" to learn that Mosher died.

"His thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Mosher's family," said Rosenfield, who declined to comment further.

Soules first drew national attention as a participant in "The Bachelorette" in 2014, when he tried to win the affections of star Andi Dorfman but was passed over. A fan favorite, ABC had him back as "The Bachelor" the following year. His appearance drew attention to farming life and some of the struggles facing rural Iowa. He proposed to Chicago fertility nurse Whitney Bischoff at the end of his season, but their relationship ended shortly after the show.

Soules has since served as a spokesman for various agricultural interests and worked in farm real estate and investing.

The crash comes as Gov. Terry Branstad and lawmakers have expressed alarm about a rising number of deaths on Iowa roadways caused by intoxicated and distracted drivers. Branstad last week signed laws allowing officers to pull over drivers for texting while driving, increasing the penalties for textingrelated vehicular homicides, and creating a statewide sobriety and drug monitoring program for intoxicated drivers.

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — "Star Wars" is coming back to the summer movie season.

The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday announced that the Colin Trevorrowdirected "Star Wars: Episode IX" would fly into theaters on May 24, 2019, making it the first in the main trilogy to debut in the summer box office season, which kicks off at the beginning of May. Both "The Force Awakens" and the upcoming

"The Last Jedi" were December releases, as was the "Star Wars" spinoff "Rogue One." The "Star Wars" anthology film focused on young Han Solo will test the Memorial Day weekend first with its previously announced May 25, 2018, release.

Disney also set a barrage of release dates for the next few years, including for the fifth "Indiana Jones" film, the liveaction "The Lion King" and "Frozen 2."

The still-untitled "Indiana Jones" movie was

pushed back a year and was now set to arrive in theaters on July 10, 2020, with Steven Spielberg returning as director along with star Harrison Ford.

Director Jon Favreau's live-action "Lion King," featuring Donald Glover as Simba, was expected to debut on July 19, 2019, while the animated sequel to the smash-hit "Frozen" will come later that year on Nov. 27, 2019.

Disney also pushed its 3-D animated film "Gigantic" back two years to November 2020.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 |

NATIONAL

A11

Fatal wreck snarls Interstate 5 in Los Angeles

By Reed Saxon ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Jeff Chiu / AP

In this Jan. 25, 2017 file photo, Lordes Reboyoso, right, yells at a rally outside of City Hall in San Francisco.

Judge blocks Trump order on sanctuary city funding

By Sudhin Thanawala A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked any attempt by the Trump administration to withhold funding from "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration authorities, saying the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction in two lawsuits — one brought by the city of San Francisco, the other by Santa Clara County — against an executive order targeting communities that protect immigrants from deportation.

The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court.

The judge said that President Donald Trump cannot set new conditions for the federal grants at stake. And even if he could, the conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, Orrick said.

"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves," the judge said.

A Justice Department attorney, Chad Readler, had defended the president's executive order as an attempt to use his "bully pulpit' to "encourage communities and states to comply with the law."

The Trump administration had further argued the lawsuits were premature because the government hasn't cut off any money yet or declared any communities to be sanctuary cities.

Meanwhile, mayors from several U.S. cities threatened with the loss of federal grants emerged from a meeting Tuesday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying they remain confused about how to prove their police are in compliance with immigration policies — a necessary step for them to receive grant money.

During a recent court hearing, the Trump administration and the two California governments

disagreed over the order's scope.

San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued that the order threatened billions of dollars in federal funding for each of them, making it difficult to plan their budgets.

But Readler, acting assistant attorney general, said the threatened cutoff applies to three Justice Department and Homeland Security grants and would affect less than $1 million for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco.

In his ruling, Orrick sided with San Francisco and Santa Clara, saying the order "by its plain language, attempts to reach all federal grants, not merely the three mentioned at the hearing."

"And if there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments," the judge said.

The Trump administration says that sanctuary cities allow dangerous criminals back on the street and that the order is needed to keep the country safe. San Francisco and other sanctuary cities say turning local police into immigration officers erodes trust that is needed to get people to report crime.

The order also has led to lawsuits by Seattle; two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond. The San Francisco and Santa Clara County lawsuits were the first to get a hearing before a judge.

San Francisco and the county argued that the president did not have the authority to set conditions on the allocation of federal funds and could not compel local officials to enforce federal immigration law.

The sanctuary city order was among a flurry of immigration measures Trump has signed since taking office in January, including a ban on travelers from seven Muslimmajority countries and a directive calling for a wall on the Mexican border.

A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban.

The administration then revised it, but the new version also is stalled in court.

LOS ANGELES — A fiery collision Tuesday involving two big trucks and several smaller vehicles killed one person and injured 10 others while triggering a massive traffic jam on Interstate 5 just north of downtown Los Angeles.

One of the injured was in critical condition, and the other nine had minor injuries, said Brian Humphrey, a Fire Department spokesman. A dog also was killed.

Flames initially raged through the wreckage strewn across the southbound lanes. There was also a damaged car and trailer on the other side of the freeway divider.

Paramedics triaged the injured and took them away in ambulances.

Most of one tractortrailer and the cab of a

Reed Saxon / AP

Investigators view the wreckage after a fiery collision of two big trucks and several smaller vehicles killed one person and injured several others while triggering a massive traffic jam on Interstate 5 just north of downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.

tanker truck were obliterated by the time Los Angeles and suburban Glendale firefighters extinguished the fire.

A small sedan was left wedged under the remains of the big-rig trailer, and a pickup truck was perched partially atop the

center divider wall.

California Highway Patrol Officer Ryan Bejar said the cause of the wreck was under investigation.

The crash occurred on a section of I-5 dubbed the Golden State Freeway between landmark Grif-

fith Park and the Los Angeles River.

Interstate 5 is part of web of interconnected freeways in the Los Angeles region and is a corridor for long-distance trucking and travel as well as heavy commuter traffic.

Arkansas conducts nation's 1st double execution since 2000

By Andrew Demillo and Kelly P. Kissel ASSOCIATED PRE SS

VARNER, Ark. — After going nearly 12 years without executing an inmate, Arkansas now has executed three in a few days — including two in one night.

Jack Jones and Marcel Williams received lethal injections on the same gurney Monday night, just about three hours apart. It was the first double execution in the United States since 2000.

While Jones, 52, was executed on schedule, shortly after 7 p.m., attorneys for Williams, 46, convinced a federal judge minutes later to briefly delay his execution over concerns about how the earlier one was carried out. They claimed Jones "was moving his lips and gulping for air," an account the state's attorney general denied, but the judge lifted her stay about an hour later and Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m.

In the emergency filing, Williams' attorneys wrote that officials spent 45 minutes trying to place an IV line in Jones' neck before placing it elsewhere. It argued that Williams, who weighs 400 pounds, could have faced a "torturous" death because of his weight.

Intravenous lines are placed before witnesses are allowed access to the death chamber.

An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the execution said Jones moved his lips briefly after the midazolam was administered, and officials put a tongue depressor in his mouth intermittently for the first few minutes.

His chest stopped moving two minutes after they checked for consciousness, and he was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m.

Asked why Jones' lips moved, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said he understood that the inmate was apologizing to the department

Arkansas Department of Correction / AP

This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Jack Jones, left, and Marcel Williams.

director, Wendy Kelley, and thanking her for the way she treated him.

Williams was already in the death chamber when the temporary stay was issued. He was escorted out of the chamber and used the restroom, then was brought back in after the stay was lifted.

Initially, Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions over an 11-day period in April. The eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of one lethal injection drug expires on April 30.

Besides the two executions Monday, Arkansas put to death one other inmate last week and has a final one scheduled for Thursday. Four others have been blocked.

Before last week, Arkansas hadn't had an execution since 2005 or a double execution since 1999.

Jones, who'd argued that his health conditions could lead to a painful death, gave a lengthy last statement. His final words were: "I'm sorry."

"I hope over time you can learn who I really am and I am not a monster," he said in the roughly 2-minute statement.

Williams declined to make a final statement.

Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and

killing of Mary Phillips.

He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot.

He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips' 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.

Jones said earlier this month that he was ready for execution. He used a wheelchair and he'd had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes.

Williams' "morbid obesity makes it likely that either the IV line cannot be placed or that it will be placed in error, thus causing substantial damage (like a collapsed lung)," his attorneys wrote in an earlier court filing asking justices to block the execution.

Both men were served last meals on Monday afternoon, according to Graves, the corrections department spokesman.

Jones had fried chicken, potato logs with tartar sauce, beef jerky bites, three candy bars, a chocolate milkshake and fruit punch. Williams had fried chicken, banana pudding, nachos, two sodas and potato logs with ketchup, Graves said.

In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates said the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners — midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride — could be ineffective because of their poor health.

Williams weighed 400 pounds, was diabetic and had concerns that the

execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line.

The poor health of both men, their lawyers claimed, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam.

The state shouldn't risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they aren't unconscious, they have told courts.

The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Oklahoma planned a double execution in 2014 but scrapped plans for the second one after the execution of Clayton Lockett went awry.

Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.

Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.

Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Errickson's death.

Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month.

"I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board.

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state. The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right."

Including Jones and Williams, nine people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas, three in Arkansas and one each in Missouri and Virginia.

Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Police: Wife's Fitbit logs steps after husband says she died A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ELLINGTON, Conn. — Police in Connecticut have cited Fitbit records in an arrest warrant for a 40-year-old man charged with killing his wife in 2015.

Richard Dabate faces murder, tampering with evidence and making a

false statement charges in the fatal shooting of 39year-old Connie Dabate on Dec. 23, 2015.

Authorities say the 40-year-old Dabate told them a masked man had entered their home, shot his wife and tied him up before he burned the intruder with a torch. But the New York Daily News

reports Connecticut State Police wrote in an arrest warrant that Connie Dabate's Fitbit was logging steps after the time Richard Dabate told them she was killed.

Dabate's bail was set at $1 million last week. His lawyer told the Hartford Courant that his client maintains his innocence.

Mark Mirko / AP

In this April 17, 2017 file photo, Richard Dabate, center, appears with attorneys while being arraigned, in Rockville Superior Court in Vernon, Connecticut.

A12 | Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER FIGHTS From page A1 er’s slaying.

Nine people were reported dead in Michoacán after an apparent gang gunfight Saturday, the Associated Press reported.

There have been more than 2,000 homicides nationally in March alone, according to authorities.

COUNTY From page A1 responsible means of disposing their prescription drugs,” said Sheriff’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. in a statement.

“This event also allows us to educate the general public about the prescription drugs and medications abuse. Bring all your unwanted and expired medications to the front of the courthouse.”

Authorities said the initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.

“Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs,” the DEA said.

No questions will be asked, according to coalition members.

“Help us dispose of unused, expired medication this Saturday … We will be collecting along with the DEA and (Sheriff’s Office) outside of the Zapata County Courthouse. Drive-Thru availability,” the coalition said in a statement.

For more information on the event, visit www.DEA.gov.

BORDER From page A1 Other stumbling blocks remain, but the decision

by Trump and his GOP allies to back down on the wall steered the talks on the spending measure in a positive direction.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was optimistic the talks would produce “an agreement in the next few days.”

An existing temporary funding bill expires Friday at midnight and all sides anticipated that another stopgap measure would be required to buy time for the House and Senate to process the massive spending bill, which would wrap together 11 unfinished agency spending bills through September.

Trump campaigned throughout the country last year promising a wall across the entire 2,200 mile southern border, promising that Mexico would pay for it. But while the idea is a priority of Trump’s most fervent supporters, it is resolutely opposed by Democrats and even many Republicans, who see it as wasteful and who prefer other steps like new technologies and additional border agents to curb illegal immigration.

“I support additional border security funding,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a GOP critic of Trump who dined with the president Monday at the White House. “But a 2,200-mile wall, I don’t think there’s a whole lot of support for it.”

Trump vowed to fight

for the wall.

“The wall is going to get built,” he said at the White House Tuesday.

Asked when, he said, “Soon.”

Democrats vowed not to give up, either, and look forward to the fight.

“It’s not a negotiation,” Schumer said. “No wall.”

Meanwhile, Trump appeared poised to procure about $15 billion to boost the military. Democrats said they were satisfied with the emerging outlines of the measure, which stick closely to versions of the legislation that were being negotiated late last year.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., observed that GOP negotiators “have simply ignored” a roster of “$18 billion in extreme cuts” offered by White House budget director

Mick Mulvaney to lower the measure’s cost. The measure would also while maintain foreign aid accounts that Trump has targeted, along with a series of grant programs popular with lawmakers in both parties, such as community development block grants.

Several issues remain unresolved. Democrats, with McConnell’s help, were pushing to extend health benefits for 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families whose medical coverage is set to expire at the end of April. Democrats faced White House opposition in an uphill battle to give Puerto Rico help with its Medicaid commitment, while Republicans are pressing policy “riders” to undo new Obama-era financial regulations.

OLYMPICS From page A1 not place. Instead of competitions, there are skill stations where athletes are given the opportunity to demonstrate their personal best.

Track and field events for high school students and adults will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, while elementary and middle school athletes will compete from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday.

Athletes in this year’s games range in age from 8-66 years old. Competitors 12 years old and up will be vying for a chance to qualify for the upcoming statewide competition — Summer Games — which will take place in Arlington from May 2628.