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MS-13 gang members’ arrest up Apprehensions increase by more than 200 percent after years of decline By Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is emphasizing the menace of the transnational MS-13 gang in explaining why the National Guard troops requested by President Donald Trump are needed at the border with Mexico. Trump has justified his call
for a border wall and crackdown on illegal immigration in part on the need to stop MS-13, a vicious gang held responsible for murders in cities across the U.S. But sealing the border completely would not eliminate the gang. It was founded in the U.S. in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants and has sunk roots in the country. MS-13 continues on A5
John Mone / Associated Press
A National Guard troop watches over the Rio Grande River on the border in Roma on April 10, 2018.
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO
STUDENTS ALLEGEDLY DISSOLVED IN ACID
CENTRAL AMERICAN CARAVAN
Guillermo Arias / AFP/Getty Images
Central American migrants travelling gather outisde a soup kitchen for breakfast and legal counseling in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on Friday.
Ulises Ruiz / AFP/Getty Images
A student holds a sign, "Nowadays, Your Dreams are Dissolved in Acid," as she takes part in a protest against violence and the murder of three film students. A Mexican rapper confessed to dissolving the bodies of three missing film students in acid.
Rapper confesses and is under special protection in prison By Mark Stevenson A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
MEXICO CITY — When three film students went to tape a college project in the western Mexico city of Guadalajara, they wound up crossing paths with another young man with dreams of celebrity, a 24year-old rapper who had built a YouTube channel with more than a halfmillion views based on songs describing an anguished, violent life of drugs and crime. The students, who hoped one day to join the wave of Mexican directors who have swept the Oscars in recent years, instead stumbled into the hands of a drug gang that employed the aspiring rapper. Investigators say that his job,
in this case, was to dump their bodies in sulfuric acid and dispose of the remains. The gang duties were a sort of day job for Christian Omar Palma Gutierrez, a rapper who went by the handle “Qba.” He had 50,000 followers on his social media accounts, and 670,000 views on his YouTube music videos . He had been scheduled to appear at a rap festival in Tijuana on April 29. The man who produced Palma Gutierrez’s videos said the performer would dub his voice over instrumental tracks downloaded from the internet. He had bragged about making between 3,000 and 6,000 pesos ($155 to $310) per month from his YouTube videos — not terrible for a
high-school dropout in Mexico but hardly enough to support his wife and children. “He had dreams of growing, of making a living from this, so his parents wouldn’t have to struggle any more so his family could get ahead,” said the producer, who goes by the name “Sismo” Garduno. The heavily tattooed Palma Gutierrez — he favored baggy shirts and shorts, Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Raiders baseball caps, and called himself “modefukka” — made videos depicting a life hanging out with his “homies,” drinking and taking drugs. In one, he croons, “My voice will be the house where they rest in peace, so they are tormented in darkness, but they’ll like it,” as he simulates beating and kicking a tied-up man with a bloody bag over his head, eventually lighting his body on fire with gasoline.
Asylum seekers gather at the border U.S. lawyers offer free immigration advice
Garduno said the image was just metaphorical. “In Qba’s case, regarding the video of the tied-up man, it was symbolic, saying he was killing them with his music,” Garduno said. But there was nothing symbolic about Palma Gutierrez’s work for the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, Mexico’s fastest-growing and most violent gang. As part of one of the cartel’s Guadalajara cells, Palma Gutierrez would sometimes help kidnap or torture rivals, according to sources close to the investigation who have seen the case file and are not authorized to be quoted by name. But his main job was serving as what the gang calls a “cook.” For 3,000 pesos per week, he dumped bodies head-first into acid baths set up in water tanks in the yard of a cartel safe-house. He would come back after two days — after the
TIJUANA, Mexico — About 170 migrants in a caravan of Central American asylum-seekers have arrived in Tijuana, joining about nearly 200 others on their final stop before entering the United States. Three tourist buses were guarded by a Mexican police escort on a curvy, mountainous road from the Mexican border city of Mexicali. Lawyers planned free workshops on the U.S. immigration system on Friday and Saturday in Tijuana. Many planned to seek asylum starting Sunday at San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing, the nation’s busiest. Migrant shelters in Tijuana’s Zona Norte neighborhood, home to the many of the city’s seedy bars and bordellos, were full. That forced organizers to look elsewhere for temporary housing, said Leonard Olsen of Pueblos Sin Fronteras, a group leading the effort. Migrants who stayed overnight at a shelter in Mexicali were tired from the long journey and nervous about the possibility of being detained in the U.S. but also knowledgeable about their rights to seek protection from persecution in their home countries, Olsen said. Many Central American asylum seekers say they face death threats by criminal gangs in their homelands. “This is a moment that will change their lives,”
Rapper continues on A5
Caravan continues on A5
By Gerardo Carrillo and Elliot Spagat ASSOCIATED PRE SS
In Brief A2 | Saturday, April 28, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
RGISC’s 3rd Earth Day Fest with Kayak Races and Eco-Games. The Rio Grande International Study Center will host its 3rd Earth Day celebration. 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Lake Casa Blanca State Park. Fun-filled family event. Free event and free entry to park. Register now for kayak races, $20 per person, at www.rgisc.org or call 956718-1063 for more info. World Tai Chi Day. 9-10 a.m. Blas Castaneda basketball court on 5400 McPherson. The public is invited to join and participate with The Laredo Tai Chi Club for World Tai Chi Day.
SUNDAY, APRIL 29 United Methodist Men Spaghetti Luncheon. 1220 McClelland Ave. 12 p.m. to 1:30 pm. All you can eat spaghetti, bread, salad, drink, and dessert. Public is invited. Free will donations accepted. Proceeds are used to support the church’s mission projects.
TUESDAY, MAY 1 15th Annual Mental Health and Substance Abuse Symposium. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo. 1937 Bustamante St. For more information, call the Area Health Education Center at 956-7120037. Les Amies Birthday Club Monthly Meeting. 11:30 a.m. Ramada Plaza. 800 Garden St. Hostees are Olivia Arroyo, Amparo and Maria Teresa Ramirez. This month’s honoree is Herminia Molina.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, MAY 5 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Matt Slocum / AP
Bill Cosby, center, leaves the the Montgomery County Courthouse after being convicted of drugging and molesting a woman Thursday in Norristown, Pa.
COSBY CONVICTED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT NORRISTOWN, Pa. — After decades of whispers, lawsuits, investigations and close calls — and a multitude of women who lost hope anyone would ever believe their word against that of America’s Dad — Bill Cosby could be headed to prison at age 80 for the remainder of his life. The comedian was convicted Thursday of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago in a verdict women’s advocates called a turning point in the #MeToo movement
that proved what Cosby’s accusers had been saying all along — his nice-guy image was a sham. The verdict, in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, sealed the spectacular late-in-life downfall of an entertainer who broke racial barriers in Hollywood on his way to TV superstardom as sweater-wearing, wisdom-dispensing Dr. Cliff Huxtable. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated 14 hours over two days before convicting Cosby of violating Constand in 2004. — Compiled from AP reports
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, MAY 26 Mexico Lindo 2018. Laredo Little Theater, 4802 Thomas Ave. 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 years of age or younger.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
SATURDAY, JUNE 2 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.
Former HSBC Bank executive gets 2 years in prison NEW YORK — The former head of HSBC Bank’s foreign exchange cash trading was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison on charges he traded ahead of his customers to make millions of dollars in a scheme known as “front running.” Mark Johnson exploited confidential information and betrayed a client in order to generate profits for HSBC and
enrich himself, said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Johnson has been held accountable for his crimes and today’s sentence should serve as a deterrent to fraudsters seeking to cheat their victims.” Johnson, 51, a United Kingdom citizen, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court after being convicted in October 2017 of wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud. He also must pay a $300,000 fine. Johnson and a co-defendant misused confidential information given to them by a client
who wanted the bank to execute a foreign exchange transaction related to the planned sale of part of its ownership interest in an Indian subsidiary in 2011, according to authorities. Prosecutors say Johnson and other traders they directed bought British Pound Sterling for HSBC’s “proprietary” accounts prior to converting about $3.5 billion in sales proceeds on behalf of the client into British Pound Sterling, knowing the large transaction would boost the price. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE STATE Retired engineer seeks answers on bayou flooding DICKINSON, Texas — Hurricane Harvey’s epic rain in August 2017 convinced many residents and elected officials in Southeast Texas that the drastic flooding required drastic drainage solutions. The Galveston County Daily News reports one drastic solution is transforming the scenic bends in the bayous of Galveston County into straight, concrete ditches. But before creating concrete-lined rivers, officials would consider dredging the bayous. Dredging requires specific equipment to suction silt from the bottom of the bayou to a barge or to the banks. Proponents argue that removing the silt and making bayous deeper and wider would help control flooding by increasing the water volume capacity. Opponents worry that dredging would
Jennifer Reynolds / AP
Gerhard Meinecke points out some of the drainage issues along Dickinson Bayou where it crosses under Interstate 45.
harm the environment. Government agencies want to study all the factors. A lack of government action to dredge Dickinson Bayou frustrates Galveston County resident Gerhard Meinecke so much that he’s starting his own advocacy committee, he said. Meinecke, a retired engineer who lives on the Dickinson-
Texas City border, has ideas to solve drainage problems, but no government agency is acting on them, he said. Most don’t even return his calls, he said. His detailed list includes dredging Dickinson Bayou, redesigning bridges and building a canal north of the bayou that feeds into Galveston Bay. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD 3rd Catholic priest in a week found dead in Mexico MEXICO CITY — A Roman Catholic priest who had been reported kidnapped has been found dead in central Mexico, authorities said Thursday. Prosecutors in Morelos state said a relative identified the body of Rev. Moises Fabila Reyes, 83. The Archdiocese of Mexico confirmed his death and said he served at the Basil-
ica of Guadalupe, Mexico’s main religious pilgrimage site. He appeared to have died of a heart attack and is the third priest killed or to have died under suspicious circumstances in Mexico in a week. A total of two dozen priests have been killed in the country since the current president took office in 2012. “In a few days, Mexico has experienced the worst public safety crises of its modern history. Not only are young people being disappeared and killed,
Today is Saturday, April 28, the 118th day of 2018. There are 247 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 28, 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States. On this date: In 1758, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. In 1789, there was a mutiny on the HMS Bounty as rebelling crew members of the British ship, led by Fletcher Christian, set the captain, William Bligh, and 18 others adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. (Bligh and most of the men with him reached Timor in 47 days.) In 1918, Gavrilo Princip, 23, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and the archduke's wife, Sophie, died in prison of tuberculosis. In 1925, the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts, which gave rise to the term "Art Deco," began a six-month run in Paris. In 1940, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded "Pennsylvania 6-5000" for RCA Victor. In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country. In 1958, the United States conducted the first of 35 nuclear test explosions in the Pacific Proving Ground as part of Operation Hardtack I. Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, began a goodwill tour of Latin America that was marred by hostile mobs in Lima, Peru, and Caracas, Venezuela. In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title after he refused to be inducted into the armed forces. U.S. Army Gen. William C. Westmoreland told Congress that "backed at home by resolve, confidence, patience, determination and continued support, we will prevail in Vietnam over communist aggression." In 1974, former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice H. Stans, accused of attempting to interfere in a Securities and Exchange Commission probe of financier Robert Vesco in exchange for a $200,000 contribution to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, were acquitted of all charges by a federal jury in New York. In 1988, a flight attendant was killed and more than 60 persons injured when part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 tore off during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu. In 1993, the first "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," promoted by the New York-based Ms. Foundation, was held in an attempt to boost the selfesteem of girls by having them visit a parent's place of work. (The event now includes sons.) In 1996, a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle went on a rampage on the Australian island of Tasmania, killing 35 people; the gunman was captured after a 12-hour standoff at a guest cottage, and is now serving a life prison sentence. Ten years ago: The first tax rebates were direct-deposited into bank accounts from a $168 billion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. In a defiant appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, Democrat Barack Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, said criticism surrounding his fiery sermons was an attack on black churches, and he rejected those who labeled him unpatriotic. Five years ago: Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building in Bangladesh that collapsed and killed more than 1,100 people, was captured by a commando force as he tried to flee into India. Today's Birthdays: Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 88. Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 77. Actor Paul Guilfoyle is 69. Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 68. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 66. Actress Mary McDonnell is 66. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon is 65. Actress Nancy Lee Grahn is 62. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is 58. Rapper Too Short is 52. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 47. Actor Chris Young is 47. Rapper Big Gipp is 45. Actor Jorge Garcia is 45. Actress Elisabeth Rohm is 45. Actress Penelope Cruz is 44. Actor Nate Richert is 40. TV personalities Drew and Jonathan Scott are 40. Actress Jessica Alba is 37. Actor Harry Shum Jr. is 36. Actress Jenna Ushkowitz is 32. Actress Aleisha Allen is 27. Thought for Today: "If youth only had a chance or old age any brains." — Stephen Leacock, humorist-educator (1869-1944).
CONTACT US the dimension of this barbarity has reached all levels of society and the Church has had a “Black April,” the Catholic Multimedia Center wrote in an article. “Three priests have died in violent circumstances, raising indignation and concern among bishops across the country.” The Morelos state prosecutors’ office said relatives had reported Fabila Reyes’ abduction to federal anti-kidnapping prosecutors in Mexico City. — Compiled from AP reports
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, April 28, 2018 |
A3
STATE
Police investigate severed heads found near lakes A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
HOUSTON — Severed heads have been discovered in the last month near lakes in Texas and Louisiana, and investigators are trying to determine if the gruesome discoveries are linked. The Houston Chronicle reports that the two victims haven’t been identified but were white
women with reddish hair. Their heads were found in plastic bags and in similar surroundings at Lake Houston and near Calcasieu Lake. The lakes are about 150 miles (241 kilometers) apart. A prison inmate doing cleanup labor found the severed head in Louisiana on March 1. It was in a grassy marsh next to Highway 27 in Cameron
Parish. Volunteer cleanup crews near Lake Houston made the other macabre discovery on March 24 in Huffman. No one has been arrested. The Cameron Parish Sheriff ’s Office and Houston police acknowledge similarities in the cases and are sharing information.
Ralph Barrera / AP
This 2016 photo shows District Judge Julie Kocurek on her first public appearance after spending weeks recovering from an assassination attempt in November 2015.
Gunman in church shooting Man accused of trying to promised not to hurt anyone kill judge found guilty By Paul J. Weber and Richard Lardner A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — The gunman in a mass shooting at a Texas church last year told a military judge in 2012 he “would never allow myself to hurt someone” again while admitting to abusing his stepson and a long struggle with anger, according to Air Force records obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. The documents and transcripts offer a rare look at Devin Patrick Kelley speaking at length and in his own words, as few examples have previously surfaced in the six months since he opened fire during a Sunday service in tiny Sutherland Springs, Texas. Kelley killed more than two dozen people in November 2017 in the worst mass shooting in Texas history. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church. “I don’t think adults change. I don’t think people change,” Kelley said during his courtmartial at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, according to a transcript. He was convicted of assaulting family members and ultimately given a bad conduct discharge. “I believe in miracles. I believe in angels and I believe in demons, but I think for most people, they’re going to be who they are and live their lives out, but based on the choices they make, if they’re a wife beater, they’re gonna probably beat their next wife. If they’re a child beater, they’ll probably beat their own child.” The AP obtained hundreds of pages surrounding Kelley’s court martial through a Freedom of Information Act request. Kelley admitted to pushing his stepson while the toddler crawled on the floor and slapping him across the face when he wouldn’t stop crying. He cracked the child’s
skull and broke his clavicle. His ex-wife wrote an affidavit that described in graphic detail how Kelley repeatedly hit her, choked her and twice pointed a gun at her. She wrote that when she suggested they get a divorce during a drive, Kelley lost control of their car while grabbing her hair, causKelley ing them to strike a guard rail. “Sir, this is the worst thing I’ve done in my life and I will never allow myself to hurt someone like this again,” Kelley said. Five years later, Kelley went aisle to aisle at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs looking for victims. Witnesses said he shot crying babies at point-blank range and the dead ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old. Authorities put the official death toll at 26 because one of the 25 people killed was pregnant. Investigators have said the attack appeared to stem from a domestic dispute Kelley was having with his mother-inlaw, a member of the church who wasn’t present that day. Air Force prosecutors had pushed for a stiffer sentence than the 12 months confinement and bad conduct discharge that Kelley received from the military jury. They wanted four years of prison time so that he might get his anger under control, according to the trial transcript. “Who’s next?” said
Capt. Brett Johnson, the assistant trial counsel. “What are we going to do to ensure that this does not happen again? That the next time he lashes out in anger to strike a child, to choke a woman, let him think back to the four (years) he sat in confinement, then maybe he will think again.” The records show Kelley struggled to comply with the exacting standards of military service. A May 2012 evaluation rated his performance as an airman first class “average” and noted that he’d received letters of reprimand for insubordination to a superior enlisted service member and an assault on a family member. Kelley did not meet the requirements for conduct, character and military bearing, according to the evaluation. After a confrontation with a civilian colleague over work duties, Kelley described being “scared and holding back tears” when the person yelled and tried to intimidate him, according to his summary of the incident, which is among the documents released. The civilian wanted to settle the dispute immediately in front of a staff sergeant, but Kelley said he needed time to get control of his emotions. During the court-martial, Kelley submitted pictures of him in Boy Scouts, handling pets on his family ranch and rock-climbing with his family. He described being bullied on the football team in high school, hiding “behind alcohol and self-denial” and considering suicide before reconnecting with God.
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AUSTIN — A federal jury in Texas on Thursday convicted a man who authorities say attempted to assassinate a state judge in an effort to avoid being sent to prison. Jurors found Chimene Onyeri, 30, guilty of multiple counts of fraud, racketeering and other charges. Federal prosecutors told jurors over the course of the trial that Onyeri, as part of a racketeering enterprise, shot state District Judge Julie Kocurek as she was in an SUV returning to her home in November 2015. Onyeri had appeared in court before Kocurek prior to the shooting, and prosecutors said he wanted her dead to avoid going to prison on a probation violation. Onyeri acknowledged in court that he was outside the judge’s home, but testified that he only intended to damage her SUV.
Kocurek underwent more than 20 surgeries and lost a finger after the attack. Sentencing is scheduled for August and Onyeri faces up to life in prison. Onyeri The attack prompted Gov. Greg Abbott last year to sign into law a measure that beefed up security for judges. The bill required the state to establish a special judicial security division and allows personal security for state judges who have been threatened or attacked. Court security officers now get special training and the law restricts release of personal information of current and former judges. The Austin AmericanStatesman reports that prosecutors during the trial sought to prove two arguments to the jury: that Onyeri shot Kocurek, and
that the attack was related to a fraud ring that Onyeri is accused of leading. If the jury had acquitted Onyeri of the racketeering charge, Travis County prosecutors were expected to file an attempted capital murder charge in state court, according to the newspaper. Onyeri and others from 2012 to 2015 committed various fraudulent schemes in Louisiana and Texas, according to court records. Those schemes included converting stolen debit card numbers obtained from skimming devices into cash, said prosecutors, who had argued that Onyeri believed those schemes would be disrupted if Kocurek ordered him to prison on the probation violation. “The law enforcement response to this evil has been truly exemplary,” Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said in a statement. “The investigation was tireless and meticulous.”
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A4 | Saturday, April 28, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Stricter gun laws would not have stopped shooting By Amy Swearer TH E H ERI TAGE F OUNDAT ION
In the days that followed a shooting incident at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tenn. — where a 29-year-old Illinois man is alleged to have killed four individuals and wounded several others — a familiar script played out, with the usual calls for stricter gun control laws shouted as strongly as ever. Just as familiar is our failure to perceive the consistent lesson from these events: Current laws already had mechanisms in place to prevent the bloodshed, and not a single "common-sense gun law" would have made a difference. Travis Reinking has a long history of mental health problems, including recent run-ins with both state and federal law enforcement. He should long ago been disqualified from firearm possession under federal law: 1 Despite being placed on a psychiatric hold after becoming suicidal under the delusion that music star Taylor Swift was harassing him, Reinking wasn’t involuntarily committed to mental health treatment or otherwise judged a danger to himself or others. 1 Despite allegedly threatening individuals outside of a public pool with an AR-15 rifle and repeatedly exposing his genitals to lifeguards while screaming "I’m a man!" he wasn’t charged with a crime and his firearms license wasn’t revoked. 1 Despite being arrested by the Secret Service for breaching a White House security barrier in an attempt to "set up a meeting with the president," his case was dismissed after he completed community service. 1 Despite Illinois officials properly revoking the suspect’s state firearms license after he complained to law enforcement that people were "tapping into his computer and phone," Reinking wasn’t reported to the NICS database so that other states would be alerted to the danger he posed. 1 Despite Sheriff’s deputies being aware that the suspect’s father had returned firearms to his clearly mentally ill son in the past, they released Reinking’s seized firearms to his father’s possession. The father promptly transferred the guns back to his son, including the semi-automatic rifle used in the killings. Clearly, there are questions about how this suspect managed to avoid a criminal or mental health history that would have disqualified him from firearm possession under federal law. There are also
questions about whether the revocation of his state firearms permit should have been reported to the FBI background check database. Yet, in many respects, Illinois law worked exactly as intended, and a mentally ill individual who posed a risk of danger to himself or others was disarmed. The problem, of course, is that neither current law nor any more restrictive laws could have prevented the suspect’s father from returning the firearms to his son, or from procuring new ones for him. Universal background checks, raising the minimum age of purchase to 21, perfect records-sharing between states — none of it would have prevented it. Nor would prohibitions on "assault weapons" — a made-up term with no bearing on a gun’s lethality — have prevented it. They didn’t prevent Connecticut from experiencing Sandy Hook or California from experiencing San Bernardino. California has an "A" rating from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and has long prohibited so-called "assault weapons." Yet according to the Mother Jones mass public shooting database, California has experienced far more mass public shootings since 2000 than any other state. Last month’s shooting at a veteran’s home in Yountville was the state’s 10th mass public shooting incident in the last 18 years, compared to just four in Texas and two in Tennessee. "Assault weapon" bans don’t work because modifying a firearm’s scarylooking features doesn’t make it harder to kill people. Besides, just 24 hours after the Waffle House incident, a deeply disturbed young man in Toronto killed 10 people and injured another 15 in a horrific act of mass public violence. He needed nothing more than a van to cause twice the amount of carnage incurred in Nashville. Laws have the power to disarm law-abiding citizens. They can punish those who break the law after the violence has already occurred. But they have no power to prevent an irresponsible parent from re-arming his son with the very guns he agreed to keep inaccessible, and from failing to inform law enforcement that an individual proven to be a danger to himself and others now has firearms. They have no power to stop a bad guy bent on violence from committing horrific acts, regardless of weapon. Only a good guy can do that. And it’s safer for him if he’s armed. Amy Swearer is a Heritage Foundation columnist.
COLUMN
After police officer killed, Dallas relives a nightmare By Robert Wilonsky DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Just past 8:10 Tuesday night, as he drove away from Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas for the first time after a news conference, Mayor Mike Rawlings said he was considering canceling the next day’s meeting of the Dallas City Council. At that moment, he said he didn’t feel it would be appropriate to carry forward — not with two young Dallas police officers, Rogelio Santander and Crystal Almeida, clinging to life after being shot at a Home Depot, and a civilian, Scott Painter, likewise in critical condition. And at the time, the shooting suspect, 29-yearold Armando Luis Juarez, was not yet in custody. "This is not good, to do this again," said the mayor who, less than two years ago, helped bury five officers slain after a downtown rally by a madman carrying an AK-47. Rawlings would later say he felt "off-balance," as though he were reliving a nightmare he thought he was rid of in the aftermath of July 7, 2016. Wednesday morning, after discussions with some council colleagues, Rawlings had changed his mind about moving ahead
with the meeting: "Our police officers have to go to work with heavy hearts, and the City Council needs to go to work with our heavy hearts," he said before morning prayers and the pledge. "I think it’s right we get to the citizens’ business." On this day, that business included determining what to do with Dallas’ Confederate monuments, which meant yet another morning’s worth of speech-making and finger-wagging from dozens of speakers, some wearing the Confederate battle flag. Many prefaced their remarks with hasty condolences before plowing ahead with prepared speeches. Halfway through, the mayor interrupted the public to break the awful news: Santander, shot in the head Tuesday evening, had died at 8:11 a.m. Rawlings ordered flags to half-staff, and the shouting over the causes of the Civil War was paused long enough for a moment of silence for the 27-yearold who joined Dallas’ police force in December 2014. Sgt. Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, would tell me later that Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall had hoped to inform the rank-
and-file of Santander’s death before the mayor made it public. Hall has lived through this many times over: Close to a dozen officers were killed in the line of duty during her 18 years wearing a Detroit police uniform. And her father, a Detroit cop, was killed by an unknown shooter when she was 6 months old. All that death, Mata said, "takes a toll on your life." Hall has revealed little so far about what happened at that Home Depot on Tuesday afternoon. Instead, she has asked only for prayers for the fallen and injured. As Mata likes to say, there is no rule book for how to handle a tragedy like the one that has befallen the Dallas Police Department yet again. The memory of what happened that horrific night in July 2016 has probably faded for most; a sculpture honoring DPD officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and Patrick Zamarripa and DART Officer Brent Thompson is not yet completed, as long as we’re discussing monuments. For a moment back then, the nation mourned our loss. There were network headlines, candle-
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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
light vigils, services presided over by presidents and countless days of weeping in front of DPD HQ. And then the fallen officers became more grim statistics: According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 161 officers died in the line of duty in 2016; 135 the year after; this year, already, 46 have been killed. Santander’s name and face have already been added to the Officer Down website. He is joined by Cpl. Eugene Cole, a law enforcement officer from Maine who was shot and killed early Wednesday by a man out on bond for a previous weapons charge. This happens everywhere seemingly every day. I saw Mata at Presbyterian on Tuesday night, standing next to the DPD chaplain carrying a wellworn Bible. We were awaiting the arrival of Rawlings and Hall so the news conference could begin. Mata, in that whisper of grief, said this is the awful truth of this job. "Just a bad guy with a gun," he said, staring at the floor. Mata, like Rawlings, told me later this felt like July 7 all over again. Robert Wilonsky is a Dallas Morning News columnist.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, April 28, 2018 |
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FROM THE COVER
Texas City hosts first supertanker as U.S. crude gushes out By Alaric Nightingale B L OOMBE RG NEWS
A 2 million barrelcarrying supertanker arrived for the first time at a jetty in Texas City as surging U.S. oil output drives up incentives to export. The Nave Quasar, a Very Large Crude Carrier, signaled from the jetty at the Gulf of Mexico terminal on Friday morning, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The tanker is being brought into Enterprise Products Partners LP’s Texas City terminal to determine measurements for future VLCC load-
RAPPER From page A1 acid had done its work — and open drain valves to release the fluid into the storm drain, and remove any remaining sludge to dump it in fields, the sources said. That was how the dreams of the three film students ended. Investigators say the film students, whose ages ranged from 20 to 25, had nothing to do with the drug trade. Their mistake was to unwittingly film at a home that had been used as safe house by a rival drug gang. The Jalisco cartel was watching the house, and when the three students emerged, they were followed, abducted and taken to Jalisco cartel safe house for interrogation. One died under torture, leading the gang to kill the other two. The sources said Palma Gutierrez has confessed and is under special protection in prison because the cartel wants to kill him for cooperating with prosecutors. The cartel had killed one member of his gang teaml already, and neither Palma Gutierrez nor his public defender could be reached for comment. Many saw a broader tragedy in the case. Palma Gutierrez “sings well, and he tells a story
MS-13 From page A1 Some of its members are U.S. citizens and not subject to deportation or border enforcement. A look at Abbott’s statement and the more complex reality behind it. “Stunningly, and disturbingly, there’s been an increase of more than 200 percent of MS-13 coming across the border,” Abbott said during a visit to National Guard troops at Weslaco, Texas on April 12. It’s true MS-13 apprehensions have risen after
week tumbled to a record discount of more than $4 a barrel relative to Brent, the international benchmark. Freight costs on a very large crude carrier for delivery to Asia
would probably be less than half that, highlighting the potential return for companies with the ability to get oil onto ships. Shipments on VLCCs
have proven difficult from U.S. Gulf Coast ports where waters can be too shallow once carriers are fully loaded, meaning cargoes move on smaller ships. It still remains to be seen how much oil Nave Quasar will actually load. Another carrier, the Anne, tested at the Port of Corpus Christi last May but didn’t collect a cargo. The deepening price discounts are already driving up exports, which soared to a record 2.3 million barrels a day in the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, known as
in his videos, like the stories film students tell,” commentator Luis Cardenas wrote in a column in the newspaper El Universal. “For two years, Omar screamed in his songs that something was very wrong, and millions saw that ... and none of us did anything at all,” Cardenas wrote. “Now three young people are dead and one life is ruined forever.” There is another generation in all of this: Omar’s son, Tyson, who appears from photos to be about 4. In pictures posted on his Facebook page, Omar is shown coaching his tiny son to throw gang signals and look tough. Garduno, the producer, said adopting U.S. gangstyle “cholo” customs has become a wave among Mexican youth. “My experience in this genre is that a lot of them want to feel very “cholo,” Garduno said. Luis Gonzalez Perez, the head of the country’s human rights commission, said after Palma Gutierrez’s arrest this week that “what we have to do is to stop this climate of violence, because there is the risk that if there are no jobs, no education, if the young people don’t have recreational opportunities, well the drug cartels are going to recruit them.” AP-WF-04-27-18 1624GMT
CARAVAN From page A1
Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said late Wednesday that any person trying to cross into the U.S. who makes false claims to immigration authorities will subject to criminal prosecution. She said prosecution was also possible for any people who might assist or coach immigrants to make false claims in bids to enter the U.S. Nielsen’s threat is consistent with the administration’s narrative of widespread asylum fraud and claims that asylumseekers are coached on what to tell U.S. authorities. The secretary also said asylum seekers in the caravan should seek protection in the first safe country they reach, including Mexico. The U.S. government is marshaling resources to ensure that cases are promptly decided, Nielsen said. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he may assign additional immigration judges to handle cases involving
members of the caravan. As Sunday’s showdown at the busy Tijuana-San Diego border crossing neared, Amnesty International hoisted a billboard promoting the right to asylum in the U.S. on a truck in Tijuana that drove around the city. Four locations in Tijuana were being set up for lawyers to tell the migrants what they should expect when they turn themselves in to U.S. custody for questioning by immigration officers. It is unclear how many people will eventually petition for asylum. Jose Maria Garcia Lara, president of the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, said about 35 percent of more than 100 people on a Central American caravan last November decided to stay in Tijuana. The Juventud 2000 shelter, on the edge of Tijuana’s red-light district, was filled with colorful dome-shaped tents and was housing more than 150 people on Thurs-
several years of decline. Abbott, a Republican, was speaking in the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest sector of the southern border, and his reference to the sharp increase was for that area. For that sector, the increase in MS-13 apprehensions is even greater than Abbott said — nearly 300 percent in the six months through March, according to Border Patrol data. But the numbers are small at 123 MS-13 arrests of the more than 66,000 apprehensions in that sector during that time. Nationwide, the Border Patrol says 181 of its arrests
were MS-13 gang members during the same six-month period. Until this year, apprehensions of MS-13 had declined gradually from 437 in 2014. If the current rate of MS-13 apprehensions continues another six months, the total number for the year would reverse that trend but wouldn’t top 2014. Tattoos “are the most common” way agents determine whether someone is in MS-13 although interviews and background checks also identify gang members, Border Patrol spokesman Marcelino Medina said.
ings, at least of partial cargoes, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nave Quasar will not load any supplies at this time for shipment, the person said. This site’s water depth, also known as draft, needs to be increased to about 76 feet from 45 feet to enable supertankers to fully load. The company said it was too premature to discuss the project. While profits from shipping U.S. oil overseas are surging on paper, the logistics to do so remain a challenge in a country that was set up for decades as an importer. The price of crude at Houston earlier this
E. Joseph Deering / Houston Chronicle
A fisherman enjoys the solitude of lakes along the Texas City Dike as oil tankers pass in the back.
Olsen said in Mexicali, as he waited for the buses to arrive a few hours behind schedule. Caravans have been a fairly common tactic for advocacy groups to bring attention to asylum-seekers and the latest group pales in size compared to previous border surges, but it gained huge visibility after President Donald Trump unleashed strong criticism from the moment it began March 25 in the Mexican city of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border. The caravan drew as many as 1,000 people as it crossed Mexico as Trump and top aides portrayed them as a significant threat and evidence of a dysfunctional border. Trump cited the caravan as justification for the border wall he wants to build on Thursday, even though the asylum-seekers plan to turn themselves in to border inspectors and are legally entitled to seek protection. He said he ordered the Homeland Security Department to “stop the caravan” but that more needs to be done. “We need a strong, impenetrable WALL that will end this problem once and for all,” he wrote to campaign supporters.
the LOOP facility, started exports in February and will receive its third VLCC in May, according to a person familiar with the matter. U.S. crude output surged to 10.59 million barrels a day in the week to April 20, the highest in weekly data going back to 1983. The U.S. ended 40-year-old trade limits on crude exports in late 2015. Lists of charters compiled by Bloomberg show the cost of recent U.S. Gulf of Mexico bookings to Asia would work out at about $1.50 to $2 a barrel, depending on where in the continent the ships go.
day. Guatemalan Ignacio Villatoro, 41, said Trump’s rhetoric about the caravan saddened him because he felt it might lessen chances of getting asylum for himself, his wife and four children. He still plans to attempt on Sunday. “God is just and powerful,” he said, lingering outside his tent. “A miracle is going to touch the hearts of immigration agents and the president.” The Villatoros fled a town near the Mexican border for reasons Ignacio declined to discuss because he said he feared for his family’s safety. They hope to join relatives in Los Angeles, where he said his children could learn English, go to school, play in parks and buy toys — luxuries that are out of reach to them in Guatemala. ——— Spagat reported from Tijuana, Mexico. AP-WF-04-27-18 0718GMT
Frontera A6 | Saturday, April 28, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Genealogía 1 ¿Desea saber más sobre su historia familiar? ¿Necesita ayuda para iniciar su genealogía? Venga y reciba ayuda personalizada para investigar a sus ancestros utilizando recursos en línea. Voluntarios entrenados le ayudarán, este martes 01 de mayo de 6:30 p.m a 8 p.m., en Roma Birding Center. Evento gratuito patrocinado por la Iglesia de Jesús de los Santos de los Últimos Días.
Medicamentos caducos 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a la comunidad a la recolección de medicamentos sin uso y/o caducos en la plaza Roma Guadalupe el sábado 28 de abril, de 10 a.m. a 1 p.m.
Torneo de caza
LAREDO
Catean maquinitas 12 negocios acusados por apuestas y lavado de dinero TIEMP O DE LAREDO
Autoridades locales, estatales y federales catearon simultáneamente el jueves doce negocios de maquinitas en Laredo y varias casas por alegatos de apuestas ilegales y lavado de dinero. La investigación abarcó varios meses y se convirtió en un esfuerzo en conjunto de varias agencias que tuvo en la mira a varias personas involucradas en la operación de apuestas ilegales, dijo la Fiscalía del Condado de Webb. En junio de 2017, la unidad de narcóticos del Departamento de Policía de Laredo recibió información que indicaba que los establecimientos de maquinitas propiedad
1 1er Torneo de caza de cerdo y depredadores del sur de Texas, el 28 de abril de las 10 a.m. hasta el 29 de abril a las 10 a.m. Mayores informes en Brush County Insurance Agency, 702 Hidalgo Blvd., Suite 4, en Zapata, o al teléfono 956-750-3600.
u operados por Hui Li, de 33 años, Rong Li, de 34 años, Hang Li, de 39 años, Mei Yue Chen, de 33 años, Ming Quan Chen, de 38 años, Zhu Quan Jiang, de 37 años, y Zeng Jie Li, de 27 años, estaban realizando pagos en efectivo ilegales a los clientes, según la Fiscalía. Bajo la ley estatal, las maquinitas no pueden entregar premios con valor superior a 5 dólares a sus jugadores, y tampoco pueden entregar efectivo. Como parte de la investigación, LPD dijo que identificó tres residencias ligadas a la investigación de apuestas ilegales. Dos de las casas están situadas en la cuadra 100 de Majestic Palm Drive y la
otra es un departamento en la cuadra 2400 de Monarch Drive. Los siguientes establecimientos de maquinitas fueron identificados como parte de la investigación de apuestas ilegales, de acuerdo a la Oficina del Fiscal de Distrito: 1 Money Town Amusement Center, 401 Shiloh Drive, Laredo 1 SJ Amusement Center, 3917 Jaime Zapata Highway, Laredo 1 Lobo's Amusement Center, 201 Del Mar Blvd., Laredo 1 Casino Amusement Center, 4301 McPherson Road, Laredo 1 Lucky Bonus Amusement Center, 4210 S. U.S. 83, Laredo 1 Lucky KOI Amusement
CITY OF ROMA POLICE DEPARTMENT
REALIZAN SIMULACROS
Torneo de Softbol 1 Torneo de Softbol Batalla de las Insignias, donde particiarán bomberos y policías del Condado de Zapata, el 28 de abril, a beneficio de Israel “Ike” Gutiérrez. Cuota de entrada 150 dólares más 10 dólares para los umpires de los equipos. Mayores informes con Martha al 956-251-3075 o con Carlos al 956269-6436.
Cocina saludable
1 3er. evento anual contra Lupus, el 10 de mayo en el parque Bravo. Mayores informes con Gilda Jasso al 956-2379456 y 956-2088390.
Aviario 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero. Mayores informes al 956-849-1411
Center, 9110 McPherson Road, Laredo 1 Lucky Buck Amusement Center, 220 W. Calton Road, Laredo 1 Golden Casino Amusement Center, 4914 San Bernardo Ave., Laredo 1 Jackpot 7 Amusement Center, 530 S. U.S. 83,
Foto de cortesía / City of Roma PD
Un elemento canino y oficiales tácticos de policía de la Ciudad de Roma realizaron prácticas de resolución de conflictos y rescate en autobuses. El Departamento de Policía agradeció el apoyo del distrito escolar Roma Independent School District por prestar los autobuses escolares para este entrenamiento que tiene como objetivo continuar brindando seguridad a la comunidad.
Laredo 1 Lucky Fish Amusement Center, 5507 McPherson Road, Laredo 1 Babylon Amusement Center, 4160 S. U.S. 83, Laredo 1 KOI Amusement Center, 8510 Las Cruces Drive, Laredo
MÉXICO
Rapero arrojó en ácido cuerpos de estudiantes ASSOCIATED PRE SS
1 El departamento de Artes del distrito escolar Roma Independent School District invita a los estudiantes de los grados 5 a 11 interesados en unirse o tener más informacióm de los grupos de conjunto, folklórico, coro y orquesta, a presentarse de 4 a 6 p.m., en la cafetería de RBMS.
Evento contra lupus
El negocio Jackpot 7 Amusement Center ubicado en 530 S. US Hwy-83 fue uno de los establecimientos cateados el jueves 26 de abril.
Por Mark Stevenson
Feria de reclutamiento musical
1 Cena esta nocheEscuela de Cocina Saludable, organizado por Texas A&M AgriLife Extension del Condado de Zapata, el 4 de mayo, de 6 a 8 p.m., en Zapata High School. Mayores informes en la Oficina de Extensión de Zapata, en el 956765-9820 i regístrese en Zapata County Courthouse, suite 249 en el segundo piso.
Danny Zaragoza / Laredo Morning Times
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO— Tres estudiantes de cine estaban trabajando en un proyecto escolar en la ciudad mexicana de Guadalajara cuando cruzaron caminos con otro joven con sueños de celebridad: un rapero de 24 años que tiene un canal en YouTube con más de medio millón de vistas. Sus videos con canciones describen una vida angustiada y violenta por las drogas y los crímenes. Los estudiantes cayeron en las manos de un grupo del narcotráfico con el que trabajaba el rapero. Los investigadores dicen que el trabajo del rapero en este caso fue arrojar los cadáveres de los muchachos en ácido sulfúrico para deshacerse de los restos. Trabajar con la delincuencia organizada era el trabajo diario de Christian Omar Palma Gutiérrez, quien se hacía llamar "Qba". En sus redes sociales tenía 50.000 seguidores y 670.000 vistas en sus videos en YouTube. El 29 de abril planeaba presentarse en un festival de rap en Tijuana. El hombre que produjo los videos de Palma dijo que el artista mezclaba su voz con pistas instrumentales que bajaba de internet. Presumía ganar entre 155 y 310 dólares al mes gracias a sus videos en YouTube, no tan mal para un joven que dejó la escuela en México, pero apenas lo suficiente para mantener a su esposa
e hijos. En sus videos, Palma sale vestido con camisetas holgadas y pantalones cortos, mostrando sus tatuajes, con gorras de los Dodgers de Los Ángeles o los Raiders de Oakland y se hace llamar "modefukka". En ellos retrata una vida donde se la pasa con sus "carnales", bebiendo alcohol y tomando drogas. En uno dice: "Mi voz será la casa de que descansen en paz para que se atormente la oscuridad pero les va a gustar... Como si fuera de su gusto lo que hago les dirán más y con gusto les regalo la otra mitad les va a encantar", mientras simula que golpea y patea a un hombre atado con una bolsa cubriéndole la cabeza, al que luego quema con gasolina. Palma trabajaba para el cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, el grupo del narcotráfico más violento del país y el de más rápido crecimiento. Su labor principal era "cocinar" por 3.000 pesos a la semana, el rapero echaba cadáveres de cabeza en tambos de agua y los cubría con ácido en una casa de seguridad del cártel. Regresaba después de dos días —una vez que el ácido había desecho los restos— y abría las válvulas para drenar los líquidos al desagüe y remover cualquier fango para tirarlo en los campos, dijeron las fuentes. Así terminaron los sueños de tres estudiantes de cine.
COLUMNA
Trigo entre granos de arroz Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Súbditos de Moctezuma II los ven desembarcar en Veracruz. Ignoran aquellos extranjeros al poderoso emperador, que les pide salir de sus dominios. Ostentan espadas de metal reluciente, bravos mastines, artefactos que escupen fuego con estruendo, cosas desconocidas en los señoríos traspuestos. Algo
más causa asombro: consigo traen gente de piel oscura, sin nadie sospechar el prodigio que obraría uno de ellos, cuyos efectos perduran. Moctezuma declina ir al encuentro solicitado por los expedicionarios. “Den media vuelta y regresen de inmediato”, manda decirles con embajadores. Acompañan cada respuesta obsequios espléndidos, a manera de soborno. Incluyen piedras y metales preciosos. Lejos de colmar ambi-
ciones, los presentes terminan desbordándolas. Hernán Cortés sigue internándose. Alrededor de 500 a la sazón, distan los españoles de asegurar solos el triunfo. Respaldos tlaxcaltecas los potencian. Tras seis meses de marcha, alcanzan la capital del imperio en 1519 y establecen precario dominio. Moctezuma, dizque apesadumbrado por aterradoras profecías domésticas, fallece en circunstancias oscuras.
Cometen entretanto los invasores abusos que desencadenan la defensa tenochca. Con este motivo, huyen vencidos bajo las sombras del posterior 30 de junio, la célebre Noche Triste. Mientras reedifican la metrópoli caída, el jefe vencedor pasa a Coyoacán, localidad aledaña. Con víveres traídos de ultramar, a la residencia donde Cortés habita cierto día llegan varios sacos de arroz. Dispuestos luego para el consu-
mo, aparecen dentro algunos granos dorados, que desentonan por entero con el cereal blanco. Son tan sólo tres. Juan Garrido se encarga de sembrarlos. Podrido uno, los restantes germinan. “Nacieron los dos, y uno … tuvo ciento y ochenta granos. Tornaron … a sembrarlos, y poco a poco hay infinito de ellos, apunta Francisco López de Gómara. Según antiguas crónicas, nace así el trigo mexicano.
Sports&Outdoors
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, April 28, 2018 |
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS
COWBOYS DRAFT VANDER ESCH AT 19
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS
Max Faulkner / Forth Worth Star-Telegram
|Jason Witten, left, is reportedly retiring after 15 seasons with the Cowboys to join ESPN’s Monday Night Football. David J. Phillip / Associated Press
The Dallas Cowboys selected Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch with the 19th pick in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday. Vander Esch was the Mountain West defensive player of the year last season.
Dallas goes defense in first round with Boise State LB, still looking for a WR By Schuyler Dixon A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys decided linebacker was a bigger priority than receiver even after releasing franchise touchdown catch leader Dez Bryant. The Cowboys took Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State with the 19th pick in the first round of the draft Thursday night. He walked the stage at his new home field in nearby Arlington, where Dallas was hosting the first draft in an NFL stadium. “It made me speechless,” Vander Esch said. “It’s the craziest moment of my life so far.” The Mountain West defensive player of the year will have a chance to start right away alongside 2016 All-Pro Sean Lee and Jaylon Smith, who is getting ready for his second season after sitting out as a rookie following a major knee injury in his final game at Notre Dame. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Vander Esch was fifth in the country in tackles and had three interceptions and four sacks for a defense that ranked 22nd nationally. All the top receivers were still available when the Cowboys selected, including Alabama’s Calvin Ridley, who was Bryant’s prediction on Twitter if Dallas went with a receiver. Instead, the Cowboys picked the position that involved another significant loss in the offseason. Dallas let the versatile and durable Anthony Hitchens go to Kansas City in free agency. “He was the highest-rated player on our board at the time,” coach Jason Garrett said of Vander Esch. “We felt like he
fit a need for our football team, but more than that, just someone who can make an impact on our football team.” The Cowboys targeted receivers in free agency, adding Allen Hurns from Jacksonville and journeyman Deonte Thompson. They could go after another pass-catcher in the second or third rounds. Dallas released Bryant earlier this month in a cost-cutting move after three sub-par seasons since the $70 million, five-year contract he signed following an All-Pro season in 2014. Bryant’s 73 touchdowns were more than Hall of Fame receivers Bob Hayes and Michael Irvin. Vander Esch disputed reports from before the draft that a neck injury had led to concerns for some teams, saying he “hadn’t had any neck injuries.” His agent has said he sustained a stinger and concussion on the same play early in the 2016 season and missed seven games, but said Vander Esch hasn’t had any medical issues since then. “There was nothing,” Vander Esch said. “They took like a bad CT scan or something at the combine and some people started talking about it.” The Cowboys didn’t hesitate on Vander Esch two years after taking Smith early in the second round knowing he probably wouldn’t play as a rookie. “Our independent doctors as well as our trainers gave him a medical grade that allows us to draft him in the first round,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “I do not stand here concerned about his medical.” A former walk-on from tiny Riggins, Idaho, who played eight-man high school football, Vander Esch had career-high 16
tackles in a triple-overtime loss to Washington State in September. “It’s been an incredible journey thus far,” Vander Esch said. “I think (eight-man football) really developed me as a football player. You couldn’t come off the field because you had to play both ways. You got in shape real quick. You really learn how to open field tackle.” The Cowboys have a history of taking Boise State defenders. Cornerback Orlando Scandrick played 10 seasons as a fifthround pick in 2008 before his release this offseason. Dallas moved up to get defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence early in the second round in 2014, and he finished second in the NFL with 14 1/2 sacks last season. Defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford is going into his seventh year as a thirdround choice in 2012. Cowboys not feeling urgency to draft receiver without Bryant FRISCO, Texas — The Cowboys are feeling more confident that they might have replaced Dez Bryant in free agency, so another day of the NFL draft could come and go without them taking a receiver. After picking linebacker Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State at No. 19 in the first round, the Cowboys have the 50th overall pick in the second round and the No. 81 overall selection in the third round Friday night. Executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones says club officials talked extensively before selecting Vander Esch about how comfortable they were with the additions of receivers Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson in free agency.
ESPN: Cowboys’ Witten retiring after 15 seasons to join ‘MNF’ Dallas TE meeting with Jerry Jones on Friday ASSOCIAT ED PRE SS
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten plans to retire after 15 seasons and join ESPN as its lead analyst for the “Monday Night Football” broadcast, the network reported Friday. Citing sources it did not identify, ESPN said Witten planned to meet with owner and general manager Jerry Jones before making the move official. Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the team had no comment. The news on the second day of the draft could affect Dallas’ plans just a week after Witten suggested he might play until he was 40 and intended to return this coming season. Witten turns 36 early next month. It’s the second straight year that a Cowboys star is retiring to go into broadcasting. Former quarterback Tony Romo became the lead analyst for CBS last season. Witten is the franchise leader in games and consecutive games played along with starts and consecutive starts. The 10-time Pro Bowler will finish tied with defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones, safety Bill Bates and late offensive lineman Mark Tuinei for most seasons in franchise history. The decision by Witten also
means that the Cowboys have lost two of their top three players in career touchdown catches this month. The club released receiver Dez Bryant, the club leader with 73 TD grabs, in a cost-cutting move. Witten is third with 68, three behind Hall of Famer Bob Hayes. A third-round pick out of Tennessee in 2003, Witten is the franchise leader in catches (1,152) and yards (12,448). He and Tony Gonzalez are the only tight ends with at least 1,000 catches and 10,000 yards. But stats and flash never really defined Witten, always praised by coach Jason Garrett as the best two-way tight end in the NFL because of his blocking ability. Even though he was still active, the team paid tribute to him in its new practice facility with a huge picture of Witten running down the field against Philadelphia in 2007 without his helmet, which was knocked off on a hit as he stayed on his feet and kept going for almost 30 yards. The decision by Witten will mean the lead analyst job at all three networks will be held by former players who spent their entire careers with the Cowboys. The other is Fox’s Troy Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl winner at quarterback in the 1990s.
A8 | Saturday, April 28, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
BUSINESS
Facebook and big tech rally stock market By Marley Jay A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday as Facebook led a rally by technology companies. Most of the market moved higher as interest rates declined from the four-year highs reached over the last few days. Facebook saw its stock price wither last month after its data privacy scandal, but shares surged Thursday as the controversy didn’t appear to affect the social media platform’s business in the first quarter. Other big technology companies like Alphabet and Microsoft also rallied and reversed some of their recent losses. Strong first-quarter results from companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill and O’Reilly Automotive helped
retailers and other consumerfocused companies. Amazon surged and energy companies also climbed. Stock indexes rose and interest rates decreased after a Commerce Department survey showed business investment decreased in March for the third time in the last four months. Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said investors were happy to see the decline in business investment because it might encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a slower clip. “To me the biggest risk (to the market) is the Fed, and the Fed hiking rates too much, given at least the level of economic growth we expect,” he said. The S&P 500 index jumped
27.54 points, or 1 percent, to 2,666.94. The Dow Jones industrial average added 238.51 points, or 1 percent, to 24,322.34. The technologyheavy Nasdaq composite advanced 114.94 points, or 1.6 percent, to 7,118.68. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 7.43 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,557.89. Three months ago the S&P 500 and Dow closed at all-time highs. At that time they had repeatedly set records for a year and a half. But since Jan. 26 the market has been hit by worries about rising inflation and a potential trade war between the U.S. and China, and big names like Facebook and Amazon have had a rough ride. The S&P is down 7.2 percent in the last three months and the Dow has slumped 8.6 percent.
Facebook surged 9.1 percent to $174.16 after the company’s advertisers appeared to shrug off the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal. Facebook said its revenue jumped and there were few signs users or advertisers were abandoning the company since the scandal broke in mid-March. Alphabet, Google’s parent company and the only digital publisher larger than Facebook, rose 2 percent to $1,043.31. Twitter gained 1.7 percent to $30.27. Facebook has faced a backlash about how it collects and uses data since the revelation that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm linked to the Trump campaign, had gained information on up to 87 million of its users. Facebook stock is down 5.9 percent since then, and other
technology companies have also stumbled as investors worried about the possibility that the government would start regulating them more harshly, which could affect their profits. Amazon jumped 4 percent to $1,517.96. It rose another 6 percent in aftermarket trading as Wall Street was pleased with the online retailer’s first-quarter results. Wren, of Wells Fargo, said that big name technology and consumer-focused stocks have struggled since the market reached its recent highs, but they should continue to do well. “This cycle isn’t over and technology and the consumer discretionary sector are going to continue to participate in the upside (for the market),” he said.
Mortgage rates climb to highest since 2013 A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates continued to climb this week, reaching their highest level in more than four years and denting prospective home purchasers’ prospects amid the spring buying season. It was the third straight week of increases for long-term mortgage rates. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 4.58 percent from 4.47 percent last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate averaged 4.03 percent a year ago. The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans rose to 4.02 percent from 3.94 percent last week. Spiking interest rates on U.S. Treasury bonds, driven by rising commodity prices that boosted inflation expectations, helped lift long-term mortgage rates to their highest level since August 2013. The interest paid by the government on its debt has been rising. The yield on the key 10-year Treasury note reached its highest level since January 2014 this week, blowing past 3 percent to 3.03 percent. In addition to influencing home borrowing costs, the 10-year rate also is tied to auto loans and other consumer credit, and the breach of the significant 3 percent level sent shock
Gene J. Puskar / AP
This file photo shows a Whirlpool microwave and oven on display in the appliance section of a Lowe's store. Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose 2.6 percent in March.
Jeff Chiu / AP
This file photo shows a home for sale in San Francisco. Freddie Mac reported on the weeks average U.S. mortgage rates on Thursday.
waves through financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 424 points, or 1.7 percent, on Tuesday to 24,024. It was down as much as 619 points earlier. The yield on the 10year note fell back to 2.99 percent early Thursday. People shopping for homes are dealing with higher mortgage costs and fewer properties for sale. Rising rates could further erode inventories as existing homeowners renovate homes rather than put them up for sale to avoid a more expensive mortgage that would come with a new house. If higher loan rates lead to fewer homes on the market, it could push prices higher and further squeeze would-be homebuyers. Despite the increase in
mortgage rates, homebuyers have snapped up newly built houses as the economic outlook has continued to improve in recent months. Sales of new U.S. homes jumped 4 percent in March, propelled by a surge of buying in the West, the government reported Tuesday. Sales last month showed a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000. For the first three months of 2018, sales ran 10.3 percent higher than a year earlier. Still, the solid sales growth for new homes also shows that many would-be buyers can’t find existing homes that are available to purchase. Listings for existing homes sank to the lowest levels on record for March, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
US durable goods orders up 2.6 percent By Martin Crutsinger ASSOCIATED PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose 2.6 percent in March, but a key category that tracks business investment spending fell for the third month out of the past four. The big rise in orders for durable goods, which followed an even bigger 3.5 percent advance in February, was driven by a surge in demand for commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Airplane orders shot up 44.5 percent last month. Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders would have been flat last month after a modest 0.9 percent rise in February. American industry has benefited from stronger global growth and a drop
in the dollar that makes U.S. products less expensive overseas. But a rebound in demand in the key investment category seems to have stalled so far this year. The category that follows business investment plans edged down 0.1 percent in March after a 0.9 percent increase in February. It was also down in January and December, raising concerns about this important driver of economic growth. Analysts said the drop in investment orders was a bit surprising, given that Congress in December passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut that was aimed in part at giving businesses incentives to boost spending to expand and modernize their operations. But some said they still expected gains in this area in com-
ing months. “We still expect investment growth to pick up over the rest of the year as tax cuts boost domestic demand and capacity constraints bite,” said Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. For March, orders for machinery fell by 1.7 percent, while demand for computers dropped 2.6 percent. Orders for primary metals such as steel did rise 1.4 percent and demand for communications equipment shot up 8.2 percent. The 44.5 percent surge in orders for commercial aircraft followed a 39.1 percent rise in February after a 27.9 percent drop in January. Orders for motor vehicles and parts edged up a slight 0.1 percent last month after a strong 2 percent gain in February.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, April 28, 2018 |
X3
ENTERTAINMENT
CinemaCon gets first look at Freddie Mercury biopic By Lindsey Bahr A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
LAS VEGAS — 20th Century Fox Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider addressed Disney’s deal to purchase most of Fox and also gave a first look at the highly anticipated Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” in a wide-ranging and emotional presentation to theater owners and exhibitors Thursday at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. Rami Malek’s transformation into the Queen front-man certainly ended the session on a high note, as attendees got a glimpse of the band’s epic journey from outcasts to superstars. But it was Fox’s fate beyond their current slate, which includes this summer’s “Deadpool” sequel and Oscar-winner Steve McQueen’s followup to “12 Years a Slave,”
“Widows,” which comes out in November, that overshadowed the more immediate future. “Today, we face a new transition, a potential merger that will have lasting implications for the movie business. I have no more insight into this transaction than you but I’m holding onto the very basics,” Snider said. “Going forward let’s stay dedicated to the future of cinema.” Disney in December struck a deal to buy a large part of Fox for about $52.4 billion including its movie and television studios, and the unclear specifics and timeline have loomed large for many in the entertainment industry, throwing into question whether Fox, which has become known at the conference for its showstopping and self-aware theatrics — like always having its distribution
chief Chris Aronson perform some bit in costume — would even have its own CinemaCon presentations after this year. The last major studio to make an appeal to theater owners as the week-long conference comes to an end Thursday night, Fox rolled out an emotional montage featuring highlights from its 85 years of making movies, from “Star Wars” to “Titanic.” Aronson played his part, wearing Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum costume from “The Greatest Showman” in a bit about how he spent the night drinking with Deadpool and Wolverine. But it was “Bohemian Rhapsody” that caused the biggest stir. The project is 10 years in the making and has not been without its high-profile ups and downs, including Sacha Baron Cohen’s departure from the film
Chris Pizzello / AP
Rami Malek, who plays the late Queen singer Freddy Mercury in the upcoming film "Bohemian Rhapsody," discusses the film.
and then director Bryan Singer’s abrupt firing in the middle of production in December. Dexter Fletcher was brought in to replace him and finish the film. Fletcher did not appear in Las Vegas to promote the film, instead leaving the task to producer Graham King and star Malek. Malek, best known for starring in the television series “Mr. Robot,” said
when he got the role, he fluctuated between thinking it could be a career-defining or career-killing performance. “He is without a doubt the greatest performer that has ever existed,” Malek said of Mercury. “There is no one like this human being.” The film, he said, explores Mercury’s background that will add a level of pain and beauty to the music that so
many know so well. It hits theaters Nov. 2. And he’s already gotten some pretty significant praise from someone uniquely qualified to judge. Queen guitarist Brian May emailed Malek after seeing the film to tell him that he was moved to tears, and wrote that, “If Freddie were here today, he wouldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved.”
Gupta backs medical marijuana By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
NEW YORK — CNN’s medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has taken the unusual step of publicly urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reconsider his opposition to medical marijuana, particularly as a way to fight the opioid epidemic. Gupta wrote a public letter to Sessions, saying that he had changed his mind on the use of medical marijuana, “and I am certain you can, as well.” He said he made his plea after Sessions declined to be interviewed for his special on the topic, which airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. EDT on CNN. A spokeswoman for Sessions declined comment on Thursday. The CNN special follows football player Mike James and others who say that medical marijuana has both eased the pain of injuries and weaned them from addiction to opioids. Medical marijuana is currently legal in 29 states and Washington, D.C. Before he began researching the issue a few years ago, Gupta said he was not a believer in medical marijuana and, in fact, thought it was essentially being used as a ladder to recreational use of the drug. But he said he became convinced that research on the issue was intentionally skewed negative, and he spoke to enough people who swear by it. “The idea that it could
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Tim Fischer / Midland Reporter-Telegram
Dr. Sanjay Gupta publicly urged U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reconsider his opposition to medical marijuana. Gupta wrote a public letter to Sessions, saying that he had changed his mind on the use of medical marijuana.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper hosted a town hall meeting with former FBI director James Comey on Wednesday.
Trump praises CNN’s Cooper By David Bauder ASSOCIATED PRE SS
work for people, and sometimes is the only thing than can work for people, should give it the respect that it deserves,” he said in an interview. Still, reporters generally tell stories and don’t become advocates the way Gupta has by writing to Sessions. “I don’t see it, first of all, as a step into advocacy,” he said. “As a journalist, one of the things that we’re obligated to do is speak truth to power and this is a good example of that.” The opioid epidemic lends urgency to the issue, he said. The special quotes Sessions in a public appearance saying “how stupid is that” to the opinion that medical
marijuana could be used to stem heroin addiction. Gupta said the marijuana use needs to be carefully regulated and tested to determine the correct dosages. In his letter to Sessions, Gupta said that if researchers started from scratch to design a medicine to help turn around the opioid epidemic, it would likely look like cannabis. He said he’s not morally opposed to recreational use of marijuana, which is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. But he said he didn’t want to confuse the two issues. “People comingle the two issues and I think it’s really hurt the medical marijuana movement,” he said.
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump has found something to like about CNN — Anderson Cooper. For an hour, at least. The president has been a relentless media critic during his time in office, particularly toward CNN. But he said in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that he watched Cooper host a town hall meeting with former FBI director James Comey the night before. “Anderson Cooper was surprisingly tough and he did a good job,” Trump said. Cooper declined comment. Trump’s half-hour telephone interview with the three hosts of his
favorite morning show was a whirlwind of commentary about world events and the media. The president said that Fox News Channel, packed with friendly commentators, could be tough on him. Fox hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade tried to elicit news and even challenge Trump occasionally, while at other times making clear they were kindred spirits. For much of the interview, they seemed merely trying to slow down a runaway train. Trump criticized NBC “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd for a comment about North Korea, and reiterated his bitterness toward NBC News for treating him roughly after he “made a fortune” for the network as host of
“The Apprentice.” He said he watches CNN “and they’ll have a council of seven people, and of the seven people, every one of them are against me. Where do they even find these people?” That exasperated Fox’s Kilmeade, who interrupted to say, “I’m not your doctor, Mr. President, but I would ... recommend you watch less of them.” “I don’t watch them at all,” Trump said. “I watched last night.” Trump said that “the people have to understand how dishonest the news is. In all fairness to Fox, you guys don’t always treat me great, but you treat me fairly. You know, it’s not like Fox is perfect for me. They’re not. They’re tough, but at least it’s fair.”
Netflix documentary explores RFK’s legacy By Alanna Durkin Richer A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
BOSTON — He was once called the most likely American in the 20th century to become president. But Robert F. Kennedy’s bid to follow in his older brother’s footsteps as commander in chief was cut short the same way John F. Kennedy’s White House term was: by a man with a gun. Fifty years later, Bobby Kennedy’s life and transformation into a liberal hero is coming to Netflix in a new fourpart documentary series available Friday. Through archival footage and interviews with
friends and staffers, “Bobby Kennedy for President” takes an indepth look at what drove him to seek public office, the events that shaped him and his legacy decades after his assassination. “If we want to understand why Bobby Kennedy was so important to people, we have to understand all of it,” said Dawn Porter, director and executive producer, also known for “Gideon’s Army” and “Trapped.” The series opens with a broadcaster’s prediction that “no American in this century has ever been so likely to be president as Robert Francis Kennedy.” It takes viewers through Kennedy’s
File photo by Bob Schutz / AP
Robert F. Kennedy, left, speaks with civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins and A. Phillip Randolph on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC. Civil rights lawyer Joseph Rauh stands in the background at center.
combative time as attorney general, and his depression after his brother’s death, entry
into the 1968 presidential race and assassination 83 days later. The documentary
explores Kennedy’s growth on issues like civil rights, through the guidance of black leaders like John Lewis, now a Democratic congressman. In documenting Kennedy’s journey from a “cop-at-heart” lawyer to polished politician, it highlights experiences that affected him, like a trip to the Mississippi Delta that opened his eyes to rural hunger. Viewers hear from key figures in Kennedy’s life, including Paul Schrade, who was shot in the head when 24-year-old Sirhan Sirhan fired at Kennedy on June 5, 1968. The series, produced by RadicalMedia, Trilogy Films and LooksFilm, also features interviews
from Sirhan’s brother, Munir Sirhan, and Juan Romero, the Ambassador Hotel busboy who was at Kennedy’s side as he uttered his last words: “Is everybody OK?” For Romero, a Mexican immigrant, it was one of the few times he has openly spoken about Kennedy’s death — something he had felt guilty about for years since Kennedy stopped to shake his hand before the gunshots. Romero had met Kennedy the day before while delivering room service. Kennedy thanked him and shook his hand then, too. “I never felt so American,” Romero told The Associated Press.
X4 | Saturday, April 28, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
NATIONAL
DNA from genealogy site helps catch killer Better By Michael Balsamo and Jonathan J. Cooper A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
SACRAMENTO, California — More than three decades after his trail went cold, one of California’s most prolific serial killers and rapists was caught by using online genealogical sites to find a DNA match, prosecutors said Thursday. Investigators compared the DNA collected from a crime scene of the Golden State Killer to online genetic profiles and found a match: a relative of the man police have identified as Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, who was arrested at his suburban Sacramento home on Tuesday. Authorities didn’t give the name of the site, one of many that allows people to send in their DNA and find long-lost relatives, like Ancestry and 23andMe. They also didn’t outline the rest of the investigative process - how they used that match to home in on DeAngelo, the former police officer accused of being California’s notorious Golden State Killer. Despite an outpouring of thousands of tips over the years, DeAngelo’s name had not been on the radar of law enforcement before last week, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said. Contacted Friday, both Ancestry and 23andMe.com said they weren’t involved in the case. Investigators also revealed Thursday that DeAngelo is the prime suspect in the 1975 kill-
ing of a community college teacher, raising the total number of his alleged victims to 13. Detectives are trying to link Joseph DeAngelo to the slaying and about 100 burglaries that occurred in Visalia, in Central California, while DeAngelo served DeAngelo as a police officer in nearby Exeter, Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar said. The police chief said he believes DeAngelo is the socalled Visalia Ransacker, who terrorized the farming community about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Fresno from early 1974 until late 1975. Authorities alleged that he was responsible for 12 murders and dozens of rapes in California from 1976 to 1986. The suspect, they said, was tied to many of those crimes through DNA. The Ransackers’ crimes have not yet been added to the tally announced Tuesday in Sacramento because there is no DNA evidence connecting DeAngelo to the Visalia crimes, Salazar said. DeAngelo is suspected of shooting to death journalism teacher Claude Snelling after Snelling caught him trying to kidnap his 16-year-old daughter, Salazar said. DeAngelo matches the description of Snelling’s killer, and the serial burglar operated the same way DeAngelo is alleged to have operated in the other crimes, Salazar said.
The Visalia suspect used sophisticated “pry tools” to gain entrance to locked homes, just as DeAngelo is alleged to have used in the other crimes, Salazar said. The Visalia suspect was seen wearing a ski mask and eluded capture because of an apparent deep-knowledge of police work. “He was very elusive and always had a good escape route,” Salazar said. Visalia police also have fingerprints and shoe tracks that will be investigated for matches to DeAngelo. Detectives will look to see if items taken during the Visalia burglaries are uncovered during the investigation of DeAngelo, Salazar said. Also Thursday, investigators searched DeAngelo’s home, looking for class rings, earrings, dishes and other items that were taken from crime scenes. Authorities were seeking weapons and other items that could link the suspect to the crimes, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Lt. Paul Belli said. He declined to say what, if anything, investigators had found. Investigators backed two vehicles, a motorcycle and fishing boat out of the home’s three-car garage and installed tarps to block prying eyes and news cameras. Retired FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said he and others have speculated that the serial killer had police or military training because of the sophistication of the crimes and the suspect’s ability to elude cap-
ture. DeAngelo had both. He served six years as a police officer after serving for nearly two years in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He worked as an officer in Exeter from 1973 until 1976, when he joined the Auburn Police Department outside Sacramento. Auburn fired him in 1970 after he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent. Investigators have linked DeAngelo to 11 murders that occurred after he was fired from the police department. “There may have been a revenge aspect to it,” Van Zandt said. “He was going to show police that he was smarter than any of them and that it was a mistake to fire him.” Investigators said DeAngelo appeared to stop killing and raping after 1986 and settled down to steady employment and a middle-class life. Former profilers said most serial killers usually don’t stop until they die or get arrested, but a few have voluntarily quit. Scientists developed a way to identify rapists and others through DNA fingerprinting in 1986, the same year as DeAngelo’s last alleged murder. Experts noted that DeAngelo, who graduated from Sacramento State with a criminal justice degree, most likely knew about the highly publicized DNA breakthrough. “He knew police techniques,” said John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Louis Schlesinger. “He was smart.”
3 flight crew members killed in medical helicopter crash By Gretchen Ehlke A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
MILWAUKEE — A medical helicopter crashed in wooded, rough terrain in northern Wisconsin, killing all three people on board, authorities said Friday. Search and rescue crews found the wreckage of the Ascension Health Spirit helicopter early Friday near the small town of Hazelhurst, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Green Bay, after Oneida County sheriff ’s dispatchers received a call that it was missing, according to Chief Deputy Dan Hess. The three people killed were flight crew members, and no patients were on board when the helicopter crashed, Hess
said. The victims’ identities have not been released pending notification of their families. The three crew members killed in the crash are believed to have died on impact, Oneida County Medical Examiner Larry Mathein told Wausau TV station WAOW. He said the body of the pilot is being sent for an autopsy under standard protocol. Christina Ward, a spokeswoman for Air Methods, which provides aviation operations for Ascension, said one of its pilots was among the dead. Ascension Health operates its own ground medical transportation in the region. Ascension Health and Air Methods issued a joint statement Friday saying they were
suspending operations of air and ground medical transport units until they determine it’s appropriate to resume operations. The companies said they are working with their emergency services partners and medical transportation colleagues in the region to meet patient needs. Authorities said the last known contact with the downed helicopter was at 10:55 p.m. Thursday. Dispatchers received a call that the chopper was missing 25 minutes later, and a search was launched. “It’s heavily wooded terrain and hard to get to,” said Tom Ryden, whose local business, R & R Motor Sports, provided three amphibious all-terrain vehicles and helped searchers
reach the rural crash site. Ryden said the area is also hilly with high ridges and swamps. The medical helicopter departed from Madison late Thursday and was headed to Woodruff when it crashed about 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of its destination, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Ascension Health, a nonprofit health system, has not returned messages from The Associated Press seeking further details about the crash. Mathein’s office also didn’t return messages from the AP. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. At least eight agencies were involved in the search.
diagnosis finds more with autism By Mike Stobbe ASSOCIATED PRE SS
NEW YORK — The government estimates that autism is becoming more common, but it’s only a small increase and some experts think it can be largely explained by better diagnosing of minority children. About 1 in 59 U.S. children were identified as having autism in 2014, according to a Thursday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that focused on 8-year-old children. That’s up from 1 in 68 children in both 2010 and 2012. White children are diagnosed with autism more often than black or Hispanic children, but the gap has closed dramatically. Autism used to be 20 percent higher in white kids than black children, and that difference shrank to 10 percent. The gap between white and Hispanic kids shrank from 50 percent to 20 percent. The causes of autism aren’t well understood, and it’s not clear if other factors might also be at play — like, for example, more couples having babies later in life, said Thomas Frazier, chief science officer for the advocacy organization Autism Speaks. There are no blood or biological tests for autism. It’s identified by making judgments about a child’s behavior. Traditionally, autism was diagnosed only in kids with severe language and social impairments and unusual, repetitious behaviors. But the definition gradually expanded, and autism is now shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions. The new CDC report is based on a tracking system in 11 states that focuses on 8-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age. The researchers check health and school records to see which children meet criteria for autism, even if they haven’t been formally diagnosed. It is one of three autism estimates by the CDC but is considered the most rigorous. The researchers gathered data from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, casting a net that included about 300,000 children. The 1 in 59 was an average: It was as high as 1 in 34 in New Jersey, and as low as about 1 in 75 in five states.
City returning to normal after oil refinery fire By Steve Karnowski A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
Authorities said Friday they believe there’s no further danger to the public in northwestern Wisconsin after an oil refinery explosion injured at least 13 people and sent billowing plumes of black smoke into the air. Superior Mayor Jim Paine said at a news conference that his community was getting back to normal after Thursday’s explosion and fire at the Husky Energy refinery. Authorities lifted an evacuation for Superior order just before 6 a.m., allowing residents to return to their homes and jobs in the Lake Superior port city of 27,000 people. “While yesterday was a very scary day, it had the potential to be absolutely catastrophic. And the difference between those two days is the hard work, skill and professionalism of hundreds and hundreds of people,” Paine said. “The team that really managed this crisis had prepared for this for a long time, and when the crisis came they, kept a cool head, the acted with sound judgment and in many cases downright courage.”
Air monitoring crews worked through the night and collected data that supported the decision to lift the evacuation order, said David Morrison, an on-scene coordinator from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said “We found consistent low trace levels, well below any health standards, virtually everywhere that we went for volatile chemicals, particulates and dust — the kinds of things that can adhere to smoke,” Morrison said. Refinery manager Kollin Schade said six injured workers were taken to hospitals and seven others were treated at the scene following Thursday’s explosion. Two were hospitalized overnight but were expected to be released Friday, he said. The Essentia Health system said that its hospitals and care centers in the area saw 16 patients as a result of the incident, including some refinery workers but also several residents who were treated and released for minor, evacuation-related injuries. A man who suffered a blast injury was upgraded to good condition. Fire Chief Steve Panger said local authorities were still
Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
A road is closed as smoke pours from a fire at the Husky Oil Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin. Schools and a small hospital near the fire have been evacuated. At least 11 people were injured when a tank containing crude oil or asphalt exploded at the refinery.
working with federal agencies to determine the cause of the explosion. He said the immediate area of the explosion and the ensuring asphalt fire remained “very hot” on Friday, and that fire crews on loan from nearby Duluth, Minnesota, were still mopping up. The explosion happened about 10 a.m. Thursday at the
refinery owned by Calgary, Alberta-based Husky Energy, prompting authorities to evacuate a 3-mile (5-kilometer) radius around the plant, as well as a sparsely populated 10-mile (16-kilometer) corridor south of it where the plume of smoke extended for miles. Most of Superior was covered by the order. Paine acknowl-
edged that one concern that led to the evacuation was the presence in the plant of hydrogen fluoride, a highly corrosive chemical that can produce toxic vapor clouds. It’s used in about a third of the country’s oil refineries to make high-octane gasoline. Schade said the unit that uses the chemical was not damaged.