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NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE BACK
Over 1 ton of unwanted meds collected Law enforcement official says public’s response made for a successful event By César G. Rodriguez ZA PATA T I ME S
The Drug Enforcement Administration announced it collected more than 1 ton of unwanted prescribed medication during the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day that took place over the weekend. Assistant Special Agent in Charge James R. Reed said
authorities collected 1,433 pounds in Laredo, Zapata and Cotulla. Law enforcement collected an additional 1,355 pounds in Eagle Pass, Uvalde, Brackettville and Del Rio. “The public’s response to this event was great. This successful event was made possible by the outstanding contribution of our community-based partners: The Webb County
The Drug Enforcement Administration said they collected about 1,433 pounds of unwanted prescribed mediation from the Laredo, Zapata and Cotulla areas during the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Community Coalition of (Serving Children and Adults in Need); Webb-Zapata-Jim Hogg County Medical Society; and the TAMIU College of Nursing & Health Science,” Reed said. Assisting agencies included the Webb and Zapata County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol, the Laredo Police Department, Webb County Back continues on A8
MEXICO’S WAR ON DRUGS
Courtesy photo / Drug Enforcement Administration
TIJUANA, MEXICO
STANDOFF AT THE BORDER ENDING
Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images
Relatives and comrades of the 43 students of the teaching training school in Ayotzinapa who went missing on September 2014 hold a demonstration to mark 43 months since their disappearance in Mexico City on April 26, 2018.
Case of missing shines light on military
Hans-Maximo Musielik / Associated Press
People who traveled with the annual caravan of Central American migrants rest where the group set up camp to wait for access to request asylum in the US, outside the El Chaparral port of entry building at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday.
Accusations of human Some caravan members allowed to apply for asylum rights violations during By Kirk Semple combat operations surface NEW YORK TIME S
By Paulina Villegas N EW YORK T I ME S NEWS
MEXICO CITY — On a cold night in December 2009, three relatives in the Mexican state of Chihuahua were taken away by a group of armed men in military uniforms and were never seen again. Now the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights is examining the disappearances of the three civilians — Nitza Paola Alvarado Espinoza, José Ángel Alvarado Herrera and Rocío Irene Alvarado Reyes — for the first time. Their story is part of a case that the court — an independent judicial body with legal authority in Mexico — heard over two days, ending Friday. It involves accusations of human rights violations by the Mexican military during government operations that began more than a decade ago to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. The case sheds light on the broader effect that the militarization of public security has had on large parts of the country since troops were first mobilized for anti-narcotics operations in 2006. “My family is just one case among the thouMissing continues on A11
TIJUANA, Mexico — Several members of the Latin American migrant caravan that has enraged President Donald Trump were allowed to step onto U.S. territory to apply for asylum late Monday, ending a border standoff that had lasted more than a day and marking the beginning of the final chapter of the group’s monthlong odyssey. Shortly after 7 p.m. local time, eight migrants who, like most of the caravan’s participants, said they were fleeing violence in their homeland, passed through the metal gate separating Tijuana from San Diego, entered the immigration checkpoint and began the process to petition for sanctuary, caravan organizers said. The contingent that was admitted included four children and three women — the children’s mothers — and an 18-year-old man. The organizers said they did not know whether more of the migrants would be permitted to enter Monday night. The news was greeted with a guarded sense of relief by the caravan’s participants, many of whom had
Hans-Maximo Musielik / Associated Press
A migrant father and child rest where they set up camp to wait for access to request asylum in the US, outside the El Chaparral port of entry building at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday.
been hunkering down for more than a day in a makeshift encampment at the entrance to the border crossing waiting for the logjam to break. “On one hand, I’m very happy that it’s finally beginning, that perhaps they will start to accept us little by
little,” said Orfa MarÃn, a Honduran immigrant who has been traveling with her three children and her partner and was not among the first group to pass into the United States. “But on the other hand, we have to wait here Border continues on A11
In Brief A2 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND THE NATION
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2
A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S
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. KNOW Lupus. 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Laredo Medical Center – Community Room 1700 E. Saunders St. Laredo, Texas 78041 The presentation will be on the Signs and Symptoms of Lupus.
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.
TUESDAY, MAY 8 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes. Tiny Toes Super Milk Class – English. 6-7 p.m. This class offers mothers-to-be all the information they need before their baby’s birth to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.
THURSDAY, MAY 10 Tiny Toes Super Milk Class – Spanish. 6-7 p.m. This class offers mothers-to-be all the information they need before their baby’s birth to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.
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.
Rogelio V. Solis / AP
A customer prepares to make his selection among the various offerings at the gasoline pump in Richland, Miss. Crude oil prices are at the highest level in more than three years.
GASOLINE PRICES HIT THREE-YEAR HIGH LOS ANGELES — Get ready for a little bit more pain at the pump this summer. Crude oil prices are at the highest level in more than three years and are expected to keep climbing, pushing up gasoline prices along the way. The U.S. daily national average for regular gasoline is now $2.81 per gallon. That’s up from about $2.38 per gallon a year ago, according to Oil Price Information Service. And across the U.S., 16 percent of gas stations are charging more than $3 per gallon, according to AAA. “This will be the most expensive driving
season since 2014,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service. The price of U.S. crude oil has been on a mostly steady incline since last June, last week hitting $68.64, the highest since December 2014. Benchmark U.S. crude closed Monday at $68.57. Oil prices near $70 shouldn’t put the brakes on economic growth, however. While they’re boosting costs for some sectors of the economy, the energy sector and related industries have more money to spend on equipment and workers. — Compiled from AP reports
TUESDAY, MAY 15 Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – English. 6-7:30 p.m. This class gives mothers-to-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, full-term baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes. Veterans Conference…A new beginning. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 Bustamante, Laredo, Texas, 78041. Call Gerardo Alvarado for more information at (956) 794-3089. This conference is open to all veterans and their families
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. Joint Replacement Surgery Seminar. 6 p.m. Learn more about this innovative program, offered by the Laredo Bone and Joint Center at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-3009 or 7963223. Weight Loss Surgery Seminar. 6:30 p.m. Learn more about this innovative program, offered by the Laredo Bone and Joint Center at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956796-3223.
THURSDAY, MAY 17 Healthy Lifestyle Luncheon. 12 p.m. Laredo Medical Center invites adults who are 50 or better to have lunch and listen to a presentation on stroke by the city’s newest neurosurgeon, Dr. Scott Robertson. To reserve a space, call 956-796-2007 or stop by the Senior Circle at LMC, Tower B. Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – Spanish. 6-7:30 p.m. 1700 East Saunders. Tower B, 1st floor. This class gives mothers-to-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, full-term baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes. Celiac Support Group Meeting. 7:15 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1700 East Saunders, Tower B, 1st floor. The Laredo Chapter of the Celiac Disease Foundation invites the community to attend. For more information, email laredo@celiac.org.
SATURDAY, MAY 19 Laredo Spring Alzheimer’s Educational Symposium. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 Bustamante, Laredo, Texas, 78041. Call Ginny Funk for more information at (210) 822-6449 Ext. 8102. An informational symposium regarding Alzheimer’s.
TUESDAY, MAY 22 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders. Tower B, 1st floor. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.
Lawyer for trust claims $457 million Powerball ticket HARRISBURG, Pa. — A lawyer working for a trust is claiming a $457 million Powerball ticket sold at a Pennsylvania convenience store, leaving state lottery officials with no details about the person or people who will get the money. A lottery spokesman said Monday the agency had no information on whether the ticket sold at a Speedway in
Manheim on March 17 was won by one person or will be split among multiple people. The ticket was signed by the Emerald Legacy Trust and Blue Bell attorney Andrew Santana. Santana, who also signed the claim form, did not return messages seeking comment. “This ticket was signed by the trust, and under Pennsylvania’s law, legal entities such as trusts and corporations have always been permitted to file claims here,” said Pennsylvania Lottery spokesman Gary Miller. He said Santana is the only
person to have been in contact with the lottery regarding the jackpot winnings. It usually takes more than a month for the check to be processed. Miller said the state Right-toKnow Law does not specifically address lottery winners, and the agency is currently reviewing its public disclosure policy. The Emerald Legacy Trust chose the $274 million cash option, with an after-tax value of just under $200 million. The win is the eighth largest in Powerball history. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD Israel: Documents prove Iran lied about nuke program JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister on Monday unveiled what he said was a “half ton” of Iranian nuclear documents collected by Israeli intelligence, claiming it proved that Iranian leaders covered up a nuclear weapons program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015. In a speech delivered in English and relying on his trademark use of visual aids, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the material showed that Iran cannot be trusted, and encouraged President Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal next month. Iran lied big time,” Netanyahu declared. In Washington, Trump said it vindicated his past criticism of the deal. Later in the day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the “information provides new
Sebastian Scheiner / AP
Benjamin Netanyahu presents material on Iranian nuclear weapons development during a press conference in Tel Aviv.
and compelling details about Iran’s efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons.” But Netanyahu’s presentation, delivered on live TV from Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, did not appear to provide evidence that Iran has violated the 2015 deal, raising questions about whether it
would sway international opinion ahead of Trump’s decision. The U.S.-led deal offered Iran relief from crippling sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Netanyahu fought the deal while President Barack Obama was negotiating it, and he has been a leading critic since it was signed. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE STATE 57 charged in drug trafficking and kidnapping case DALLAS — Federal authorities have charged 57 members of several white supremacist prison gangs in a large North Texas drug trafficking and kidnapping conspiracy following a joint investigation by federal, state and local police agencies. Officials arrested 42 of the gang members last week, U.S.
Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said Monday morning during a news conference. Nine others were already in custody for unrelated state charges, and six are still being sought, she said. The defendants are linked to several violent and racist prison gangs that include the Aryan Circle, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, the Peckerwoods, the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, and the Dirty White Boys, the indictment says. "It is clear that these hate-
Today is Wednesday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2018. There are 243 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On May 2, 1908, the original version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," with music by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth, was published by Von Tilzer's York Music Co. On this date: In 1536, Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, was arrested and charged with adultery; she was beheaded 17 days later. In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Co. was chartered by England's King Charles II. In 1863, during the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, upheld 8-1 a Virginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people to promote the "health of the patient and the welfare of society." In 1946, violence erupted during a foiled escape attempt at the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay; the "Battle of Alcatraz" claimed the lives of three inmates and two correctional officers before it was put down two days later. In 1957, crime boss Frank Costello narrowly survived an attempt on his life in New York; the alleged gunman, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, was acquitted at trial after Costello refused to identify him as the shooter. In 1968, "The Odd Couple," the movie version of the Neil Simon comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, opened in New York. In 1970, jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby; she finished in 15th place aboard Fathom. (The winning horse was Dust Commander.) In 1982, the Weather Channel made its debut. In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa's first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat. In 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by elite American forces at his Pakistan compound, then quickly buried at sea after a decade on the run. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush sent lawmakers a $70 billion request to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into the following spring. Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, leading to an eventual official death toll of 84,537, with 53,836 listed as missing. Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws across the United States, died in Milford, Virginia, at age 68. Five years ago: President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico City on his first trip to Latin America since winning re-election. Dutchman RobertJan Derksen shot a 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the China Open, while 12-year-old Ye Wocheng opened with a 79 at Binhai Lake; at 12 years, 242 days, Ye became the youngest player in European Tour history, breaking Guan Tianlang's mark of 13 years, 177 days. Jeff Hanneman, 49, a founding member of heavy metal bank Slayer, died in Hemet, California. One year ago: Michael Slager, a white former police officer whose killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man running from a traffic stop, was captured on cellphone video, pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in Charleston, South Carolina. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologized on Capitol Hill for an incident in which a passenger was dragged off a flight, calling it "a mistake of epic proportions" as frustrated lawmakers warned airline executives to improve customer service or face congressional intervention. Today's Birthdays: Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 82. Actressactivist Bianca Jagger is 73. Country singer R.C. Bannon is 73. Actor David Suchet is 72. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 70. Rock singer Lou Gramm is 68. Actress Christine Baranski is 66. Singer Angela Bofill is 64. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 63. Actor Brian Tochi is 59. Movie director Stephen Daldry is 58. Actress Elizabeth Berridge is 56. Country singer Ty Herndon is 56. Actress Mitzi Kapture is 56. Commentator Mika Brzezinski is 51. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is 50. Rock musician Todd Sucherman is 49. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson is 46. Soccer player David Beckham is 43. Rock singer Jeff Gutt is 42. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 41. Actress Ellie Kemper is 38. Actor Robert Buckley is 37. Actor Gaius Charles is 35. Pop singer Lily Rose Cooper is 33. Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is 33. Thought for Today : "Like ships, men founder time and again." — Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980).
CONTACT US fueled gangs will do whatever they must do in order to carry on their drug trafficking business," Nealy Cox said. "Firearms, body armor, illegal drugs, drug proceeds and unspeakable physical violence are the tools of their trade." The conspiracy to sell methamphetamine ran from October 2015 through April 2018 and employed "stash houses" to store the drug, according to the indictment. — Compiled from AP reports
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 |
A3
CRIME
Artisan jewelry designer James Avery dead at 96 ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Courtesy photo
Border Patrol agents at the Zapata Station recently seized over $1 million worth of marijuana in two separate actions.
Border Patrol agents seize over $1M in pot S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S
Border Patrol agents from the Zapata Station seized over $1 million of marijuana during two events in Zapata. On April 23, Border Patrol agents seized 143.4 pounds of marijuana after conducting a vehicle stop
on a white Ford F-150 on U.S. 83 near Zapata. A search of the vehicle revealed seven bundles of marijuana inside the toolbox. The marijuana had an estimated value of $114,720. The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested. The driver and marijuana were
turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration and the vehicle was seized by Border Patrol. On April 25, Border Patrol agents seized over 1,100 pounds of marijuana after responding to suspicious activity near the Falcon Lake area. Agents
No guns allowed at AG to join Austin NRA event when Trump, Pence speak sick pay lawsuit A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
DALLAS — Attendees at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Dallas can carry their firearms — except during the forum where President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence speak Friday. A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend Friday. Pence had already been slated to speak at Friday’s leadership forum. The NRA posted a notice on its website saying that the arena will be under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service during the leadership forum. It’s standard for the Secret Service to bar firearms from being carried into places visited by the people they protect. Other prohibited items include toy guns, selfie sticks and knives, according to the notice the NRA posted. Some students at the Parkland, Florida, high school where 17 people were killed in February criticized the NRA on social media for what they see as hypocrisy. “It’s ironic that they feel they need to ban guns to protect themselves especially after their main philosophy has been more guns equals more protection yet they don’t think they need to protect our kids in the same way,” said David Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas who has pushed for stricter gun control since the shooting. Guns were also banned during Trump’s appearance at the NRA’s annual meeting in Atlanta last year. Alice Tripp, an NRA member and the legislative director of the
membership-based Texas State Rifle Association, said she sees “not even a little bit” of a problem with attendees not being able to carry guns during that portion of the meeting. She noted the Secret Service has its own view on how to ensure the safety of the people they protect. NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the group’s policy is that firearms are permitted in accordance with local law. She referred questions about the Secret Service’s policies to that agency. Texas allows licensed open carry of handguns and open carry of long rifles.
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AUSTIN — State Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to join a lawsuit against Austin’s sick leave ordinance — another example of top Texas Republicans hitting back at local policies enacted by liberal cities. In papers filed Monday in Texas District Court, Paxton argued that Austin’s ordinance, which takes effect Oct. 1, undermines state law setting minimum wage. In a statement, Paxton complained about Austin’s “disdain and blatant disregard for the rule of law.”
discovered 50 bundles of marijuana abandoned in the brush and observed several people absconding into Mexico. The marijuana had an estimated value of $903,895. No arrests were made in this case. The marijuana was turned over to the DEA.
KERRVILLE, Texas — James Avery, a World War II bomber pilot who grew his artisan jewelry business from his inlaws’ two-car garage to a national retail chain, has died. He was 96. A statement from the Kerrville, Texas-based business said Avery died Monday but provided no details. Avery began fashioning his mostly Christianthemed creations himself with his wife in his inlaws’ Kerrville garage in 1954. He didn’t hire his
first outside employee until three years later. Today, James Avery Avery Artisan Jewelry operates 80 stores in Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee, and sells designs through more than 200 Dillard’s department stores in 28 states. Avery retired from active management of the business in 2007 and turned control over to two of his sons.
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A4 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
#Metoo claims its first scalp By Christine M. Flowers P H ILA D E LPHI A DAI LY NEWS
#Metoo got its first legal scalp. It’s racked up some significant social and moral victories over the past six or seven months, but the person who will be looked to as being the first documented victim of the new perspective on due process will be Bill Cosby. Thursday afternoon, a jury in Montgomery County found the 80-yearold comedian to be guilty of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, marking a significant victory for District Attorney Kevin Steele. Actually, the scalp I referred to in the first sentence is one he can attach to his belt, and it’s one that he desperately coveted during his campaign for DA back in 2015. You have to give him credit, it’s a big and bloody one. But he didn’t do it alone and, frankly, he wasn’t able to do it by himself the first time around. Last year, the first jury to consider the matter wasn’t able to reach a verdict, and Judge Steven O’Neill announced a mistrial. Steele wanted that scalp, or I suppose he would say he wanted justice for the victims of an alleged serial rapist (tomato, toMAHto) and so he announced only minutes later that there would be a retrial. And so there was. But during the relative lull between hearings, a tectonic shift took place on the social landscape, and Harvey Weinstein became the most hated man in Hollywood. Then, others started being accused of sexual misconduct, both in the entertainment industry and politics, which gave the media an opportunity to consider that priests weren’t the only ones capable of abuse. Clearly, the times had changed. Clearly, the pendulum had swung. Clearly, this wasn’t going to be your grandmother’s Cosby trial, anymore. And as our ideas about victims and sexual assault changed radically and with a speed that not even Chuck Yeagar, the man who broke the sound barrier, could have anticipated, so did our requirements for due process. As we felt increased compassion and empathy - and a desire for retribution - for the alleged victims, the demands we made on prosecutors and their witnesses evolved. Whereas before the word of the accuser was not enough to convict the accused, the sounds of her narrative became more convincing. Whereas before the fact that she might have waited decades before speaking out was problematic, that lapse of silent years became less
damning. Whereas before our judges and juries required mountains of corroboration to build a circumstantial case, now the similar, echoed stories of a few other women sealed the deal. Cosby was accused by more than just a few women, and their stories were identical: He invited me to his room, he drugged me, he raped me. Women who were teenagers in the 1960s pointed their fingers at him. Women who are grandmothers now joined their voices to some who are only middle aged, and some women are even younger than that. There were no claims of abuse within the last 10 years. But #Metoo, a movement more powerful than an atomic bomb, shattered the due process paradigms that existed since well before I earned my law degree in 1987. Now, scalps are easier to win, and this time you can do it legally and have a judge and jury affirm the trophy. And that has troubled me from the beginning of the #Metoo movement. I have famously questioned the veracity of the Cosby accusers, well before #Metoo. I have written articles, and have become a bit of a legend in social media circles as that "rhymes with witch who defended a rapist." I regret nothing, because I haven’t changed my mind about the holes that make Swiss cheese of the legal foundations for the prosecution. For instance, unsealing a closed civil deposition where Cosby likely incriminated himself in violation of the 5th Amendment should never have been allowed by a federal judge. Allowing witnesses whose claims arose decades ago as proof of "prior bad acts" was more prejudicial than probative, and should never have been let in. Allowing Gloria Allred anywhere near a camera was also a constitutional violation of the highest legal (and aesthetic) order. But more troubling to me than the guilty verdict is what I suspect triggered it: a lazy acceptance of minimal proof, a willingness to right the wrongs of the past on the back of the present, an upheaval in a system that has simply switched one sort of victim for another. Bill Cosby has been found guilty. I respect the jury’s verdict, because I must respect the system. It is the only thing that separates us from anarchy. But I will go to bed tonight feeling a chill for what is certainly coming, in courtrooms around the country. Christine M. Flowers is a Philadelphia Daily News columnist.
COLUMN
How Democrats can stop, prevent future Trumps By Robert B. Reich TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Why did workingclass voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful megalomaniac for president? With the 2018 midterms around the corner, and prospective Democratic candidates already eyeing the 2020 presidential race, the answer is important because it will influence how Democrats campaign. One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working class fell for Trump’s economic populism. A competing explanation — which got a boost this week from a study published by the National Academy of Sciences — dismisses economic hardship and blames it on whites’ fear of losing status to blacks and immigrants. They were attracted to Trump’s form of identity politics: bigotry. If Democrats accept the bigotry explanation, they may be more inclined to foster their own identity politics of women, blacks and Latinos. And they’ll be less inclined to come up with credible solutions to widening inequality and growing economic insecurity. Yet the truth isn’t found in one explanation or the other. It’s in the interplay between the two. Certainly many white working-class men and women were — and still are — receptive to Trump’s bigotry. But what made them receptive? Racism and xenophobia aren’t exactly new to American life. Fears of blacks and immigrants have been with us since the founding of the republic. What changed was the economy. Since the 1980s, the wages and economic
One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working class fell for Trump’s economic populism. A competing explanation — which got a boost this week from a study published by the National Academy of Sciences — dismisses economic hardship and blames it on whites’ fear of losing status to blacks and immigrants. They were attracted to Trump’s form of identity politics: bigotry.
prospects of the typical American worker have stagnated. Two-thirds now live paycheck to paycheck, and those paychecks have grown less secure. Good-paying jobs have disappeared from vast stretches of the land. Despite the low official unemployment rate, there are millions who are either too discouraged to look for work or work part-time but want full-time jobs. When I was secretary of labor in the 1990s, I frequently visited the Rust Belt, Midwest and South, where blue-collar workers told me they were working harder than ever but getting nowhere. Meanwhile, all the economy’s gains have gone to the richest 10 percent, mostly the top 1 percent. Wealthy individuals and big corporations have, in turn, invested some of those gains into politics. As a result, big money now calls the shots in Washington — obtaining subsidies, tax breaks, tax loopholes (even Trump promised to close the "carried interest" loophole, yet it remains) and bailouts. The near-meltdown of Wall Street in 2008 precipitated a recession that cost millions their jobs, homes and savings. But the Street got bailed out
and not a single Wall Street executive went to jail. The experience traumatized America. In the two years leading up to the 2016 election, I revisited many of the places I had visited when I was labor secretary. People still complained of getting nowhere, but now they also told me the system was "rigged" against them. A surprising number said they planned to vote for Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump — the two anti-establishment candidates who promised to "shake up" Washington. This whole story might have been different had Democrats done more to remedy wage stagnation and widening inequality when they had the chance. Instead, Bill Clinton was a pro-growth "New Democrat" who opened trade with China, deregulated Wall Street and balanced the budget. (I still have some painful scars from that time.) Barack Obama bailed out the banks but not homeowners. Obamacare, while important to the poor, didn’t alleviate the financial stresses on the working class, particularly in states that refused to expand Medicaid. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton offered a
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letter. Laredo Morning Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. This space allows for public debate of the issues of the day. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Also, letters longer than 500 words will not be accepted. Via email, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
plethora of small-bore policy proposals — all sensible but none big enough to make a difference. Into this expanding void came Trump’s racism and xenophobia — focusing the cumulative economic rage on scapegoats that had nothing to do with its causes. It was hardly the first time in history a demagogue has used this playbook. If America doesn’t respond to the calamity that’s befallen the working class, we’ll have Trumps as far as the eye can see. A few Democrats are getting the message, pushing ambitious ideas like government-guaranteed full employment, single-payer health care, industry-wide collective bargaining and a universal basic income. But none has yet offered a way to finance these things, such as a progressive tax on wealth. Nor have they offered a credible way to get big money out of politics. Even if the Citizens United decision isn’t overturned, big money’s influence could be limited with generous public financing of elections, full disclosure of the source of all campaign contributions, and a clampdown on the revolving door between business and government. Trump isn’t the cause of what’s happened to America. He’s the consequence — the product of years of stagnant wages and big money’s corruption of our democracy. If they really want to stop Trump and prevent future Trumps, Democrats will need to address these causes of Trump’s rise. Robert B. Reich is a Tribune Content Agency columnist.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 |
A5
NATIONAL
Trump: African nations are ‘very tough places’
Trump suggests DMZ for meeting with Kim Jong Un
By Darlene Superville A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
By Matthew Pennington
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday did not deny having used a vulgar term to describe countries in Africa earlier this year. He also did not apologize for the comment as he stood in the Rose Garden alongside Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the first African leader to visit him at the White House. In fact, Trump seemed to double down on his view that some countries in Africa are “very tough places to live in.” “We didn’t discuss it,” Trump said at a joint news conference in response to a question first put to Buhari. The Nigerian leader was asked whether he had talked to Trump about reports that the U.S. president used the word “shithole” to describe African countries in January. Buhari skirted the issue, saying he was unsure about “the validity or whether that allegation against the president was true or not.” “So the best thing for me is to keep quiet,” Buhari said. In a meeting with a group of senators on Jan. 11, Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to one participant and people briefed on the remarkable Oval Office conversation. He said he instead would prefer immigrants from coun-
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Al Drago / Bloomberg
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
tries like predominantly white Norway. Trump later offered a partial denial in public but privately defended his remarks, The Associated Press reported in January. There was also internal debate in the West Wing over whether Trump said “shithole” or “shithouse,” the AP reported. At the news conference Monday, Trump told Buhari that “you do have some countries that are in very bad shape and very tough places to live in. But we didn’t discuss it because the president knows me, and he knows
where I’m coming from. And I appreciate that. We did not discuss it.” Later Monday, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman tweeted to Buhari: “FYI he said it.” Manigault Newman resigned in December, but her departure wasn’t effective until Jan. 20. Buhari is the first African leader to come to the White House since Trump took office. Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous country with nearly 200 million people, is the continent’s largest economy and its leading crude oil exporter.
Trump said he urged Buhari to remove trade barriers in a move that will allow additional U.S. investment in the country. Trump said that the U.S. sends Nigeria more than $1 billion annually in foreign aid and that the U.S. ought to get something in return for its financial contribution. “We will be investing substantially in Nigeria if they can create that level playing field that we have to, very much, ask for and maybe demand,” Trump said. Buhari did not directly respond to Trump’s call for the removal of trade barriers.
WASHINGTON — Like a consummate showman, President Donald Trump began rolling the drum Monday for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, suggesting the “big event” take place in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas. That’s where Kim just met his South Korean counterpart. But Trump said that the Southeast Asian city state of Singapore was also in the running to host what few would have predicted when nuclear tensions were soaring last year — the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea. While policy experts, and even his own national security adviser, voice skepticism that North Korea is sincere about giving up its nuclear efforts, Trump sounds like he’s gearing up for a date with history, and clearly wants the backdrop to be just right. First by Twitter, and then at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said he likes the idea of going to the southern side of the demarcation line that separates the Koreas, where South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Kim on Friday. “There’s something that I like about it because you are there, you
are actually there,” Trump said. “If things work out there’s a great celebration to be had on the site, not in a thirdparty country.” There’s been much speculation about where Trump and Kim might meet. Countries in Europe and Southeast Asia, in Mongolia and even a ship in international waters have all been suggested as possible venues. Monday was the first time that Trump had publicly named potential locations. His planned meeting with Kim will be the crucial follow-up to the summit between Kim and Moon on Friday where they pledged to seek a formal end this year to the Korean War — a conflict that was halted in 1953 by an armistice and not a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war. They also committed to ridding the peninsula of nuclear weapons. Former reality television star Trump now has to help turn the Korean leaders’ bold but vague vision for peace into reality. Undaunted, he gave the impression Monday that governments were vying to host his face-to-face with Kim and share in the attention it would bring. “Everybody wants us. It has the chance to be a big event,” the president said on a bright spring day in Washington, alongside Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
Frontera A6 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE FERIA DE RECLUTAMIENTO MUSICAL 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. COCINA SALUDABLE 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.
ZAPATA
Confiscan 1 millón Agentes encuentran más de 1.243 libras de marihuana E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza en la Estación de Zapata incautaron alrededor de 1 millón de dólares en marihuana durante dos eventos en Zapata. El 23 de abril, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza confiscaron 143,4 libras de marihuana después de realizar una detención de tráfico a una Ford F-150 color blanco en la carretera US 83 cerca de Zapata. Una revisión del vehículo reveló varios
Foto de cortesía
Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza en la Estación de Zapata incautaron alrededor de 1 millón de dólares en marihuana durante dos eventos en Zapata.
paquetes de marihuana dentro de la caja de herramientas. La marihuana tenía un valor estimado de 114.720 dólares. El
conductor, un ciudadano estadounidense, fue arrestado. El conductor y la marihuana fueron entregados a la Admin-
istración del Control de Drogas (DEA por sus siglas en inglés) y el vehículo fue incautado por la Patrulla Fronter-
CARAVANA DE MIGRANTES
COMIENZA A ENTREGARSE
EVENTO CONTRA LUPUS 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.
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 BOTES DE BASURA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Informes al 849-1411 Hans-Maximo Musielik / Associated Press
1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St. PAGO EN LÍNEA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día. LLENADO DE APLICACIONES 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez para una cita en el centro comunitario o en su domicilio al 956246-7177. MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83. Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956-765-8983.
NUEVO LAREDO
Incautan armas, lanzacohetes ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AVIARIO
PAGO DE IMPUESTOS
iza. El 25 de abril, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza confiscaron 1.100 libras de marihuana tras responder a un reporte de actividad sospechosa cerca del área del Lago Falcón. Agentes descubrieron 50 paquetes de marihuana abandonados en el área de la maleza y observaron a varias personas correr en dirección a México. La marihuana tenía un valor estimado de 903.895 dólares. No se realizaron arrestos en este caso. La marihuana fue entregada a la DEA.
Migrantes centroamericanos que viajan en caravana caminan hacia la frontera antes de cruzarla y solicitar asilo en Estados Unidos, en Tijuana, México, el domingo 29 de abril de 2018.
Más de 200 migrantes piden protección Por Elliot Spagat ASSOCIATED PRE SS
TIJUANA— Los inmigrantes centroamericanos que viajaron en caravana a través de México hasta la frontera con San Diego comenzaron a entregarse el lunes a las autoridades estadounidenses para solicitar asilo. Casi 200 migrantes, muchos de ellos con niños, decidieron solicitar protección en el cruce fronterizo más transitado de Estados Unidos después de que muchos de ellos huyeron de la vio-
lencia en sus países, dijeron los organizadores. Wendi Yaneri García, de 36 años, dijo tener confianza en que la dejarán en libertad mientras su caso de asilo pasa a la corte, ya que viaja sola con su hijo de 2 años, que ha estado enfermo. Indicó que la policía en su poblado natal de Atlántida, en Honduras, la encarceló por protestar contra la construcción de una planta hidroeléctrica, y que después de que salió en libertad recibió amenazas de muerte. El presidente estadounidense Donald Trump y
miembros de su gabinete han estado dando seguimiento a la caravana, a la que se refirieron como una amenaza para Estados Unidos desde que comenzó el 25 de marzo en la ciudad mexicana de Tapachula, cerca de la frontera con Guatemala. El secretario de Justicia Jeff Sessions ha dicho que la caravana es un "intento deliberado de socavar nuestras leyes y sobrecargar nuestro sistema", y prometió enviar más jueces de inmigración a la frontera para solucionar casos de ser necesario. Funcionarios del go-
bierno de Trump han criticado las que dicen son políticas de “detener y soltar” que permiten que la gente que solicita asilo sea puesta en libertad en Estados Unidos mientras su caso se procesa en los tribunales, un proceso que puede extenderse un año. La Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza no indicó a cuántos se les permitió el ingreso el lunes por la noche, pero Alex Mensing, organizador del proyecto para el grupo activista Pueblos Sin Fronteras, dijo que fueron ocho.
DEA
Recolectan medicamentos que ya no usan Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
La Administración del Control de Drogas anunció que recolectó más de una tonelada de medicamentos controlados que ya no eran requeridos durante el Día Nacional de Regresar Medicamentos Controlados que se realizó durante el fin de semana. El Agente Especial Asistente a Cargo James R. Reed dijo que las autoridades recolectaron alrededor de 1.433 libras en Laredo, Zapata y Co-
tulla. Las fuerzas del orden recolectaron adicionalmente 1.355 libras en Eagle Pass, Uvalde, Brackettville y Del Río. “La respuesta del público a este evento fue fabulosa. Este exitoso evento fue posible gracias a la excelente contribución de nuestros socios comunitarios, la Coalición Comunitaria del Condado de Webb (SCAN), la Sociedad Médica de los Condados Webb-Zapata-Jim Hogg, y la Facultad de Enfermería y Ciencias de la Salud de TAMIU”, dijo Reed.
Las agencias que colaboraron fueron la Oficina del Fiscal de Distrito de Zapata y Webb, la Patrulla Fronteriza, el Departamento de Policía de Laredo, el Comisario del Precinto 1 del Condado de Webb, el Comisario del Precinto 4 del Condado de Webb, los Distritos Escolares Independientes de Laredo y United, la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Webb, la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de La Salle, y la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata.
La misión del evento de recolectar los medicamentos es prevenir el abuso a medicamentos controlados y robo retirando de los hogares drogas posiblemente peligrosas, caducas, sin usar y que no son necesitadas, dijo la DEA. “Esta iniciativa aborda el tema de la seguridad pública y la salud pública. Las medicinas que se quedan en los cajones de la casa son altamente susceptibles a ser desviadas, mal usadas y abusadas”, dijo la DEA en una declaración.
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO — El ejército mexicano informó el sábado que requisó un amplio arsenal que incluye 206 fusiles, un lanzacohetes, equipo táctico y más de 185.000 cartuchos en una ciudad fronteriza con el estado de Texas. El arsenal fue hallado en cuatro inmuebles distintos de la ciudad de Nuevo Laredo, precisó la Secretaría de la Defensa en un comunicado. Dijo que también decomisaron dos fusiles Barret, capaces de derribar un helicóptero, y numerosas granadas, cohetes y tubos explosivos además de chalecos y uniformes “parecidos a los empleados por personal de las fuerzas armadas”. En uno de los inmuebles vivía secuestrada una familia de cinco miembros que fue liberada, agregó la nota. Según los militares, esta requisición “dimensiona la magnitud del tráfico de armas y municiones” en la frontera noreste del país. Se trata de la mayor aprehensión de la que se ha tenido noticia este año en ese estado, uno de los más violentos del país. Tres personas fueron detenidas en los hechos. El comunicado no indicó si pertenecen presuntamente a algún grupo, pero la ciudad de Nuevo Laredo está bajo dominio del Cartel del Noreste, una escisión de la organización delictiva de Los Zetas. En el estado de Tamaulipas, al que pertenece Nuevo Laredo, Los Zetas se enfrentan actualmente con el Cartel del Golfo y los llamados Zetas Vieja Escuela. Las fuerzas armadas tienen una fuerte presencia en la zona fronteriza y han protagonizado fuertes enfrentamientos en las últimas semanas. A finales de marzo, tres civiles en un vehículo murieron en Nuevo Laredo al transitar en medio de una balacera entre marinos y narcotraficantes. El automóvil de la familia fue alcanzado por balas disparadas desde un helicóptero que combatía a hombres armados. La Marina, de manera poco habitual, asumió su responsabilidad por los hechos.
Sports&Outdoors
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 |
A7
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
Houston Texans' J.J. Watt voted 84th on NFL Network top 100 list The defensive end played in just five games last season By Aaron Wilson HOUSTON CHRONI CLE
Despite playing only five games last season before breaking his leg, Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt was voted to the NFL Network top 100 list again in balloting done by NFL players. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year was voted 84th overall after being ranked 35th in 2017 and first overall in 2015. Watt said the list was a joke a year ago when he only played three games before being placed on injured reserve with a herniated disk that required two surgeries. During an NFL Network video, Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Michael Bennett said
injured players like Watt don't belong on the list. "Personally, I think if you get hurt it's kind of hard to be on the top 100 because you didn't finish the whole year," Bennett said. Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Mike Daniels disagreed, saying, "J.J. can definitely get back to being J.J.," Daniels said. "You don't play that dominant and just completely lose it. Does he deserve to be on the list? Yeah, the guys voted for him. Great players that get hurt or can't play for other reasons, if they make the list, they deserve to be on the list because the players are the ones who decide. If the players said it, let it be so." Being limited to a com-
bined eight games and just 23 tackles and 1 ½ sacks over the past two seasons hasn’t dented the legendary resolve of the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. If anything, Watt feels even more determined to blaze a comeback trail. The 29-year-old is putting himself through daily grueling training sessions to rehabilitate his leg in an effort to regain his old Pro Bowl form. “I love it, and whenever the passion goes away and whenever the love goes away, then it’ll be done,” Watt said following the second day of the Texans’ offseason conditioning program. “I mean, I broke my back, I broke my leg and I still have the passion, so I don’t know if it’s going to go away any time soon. I have a whole lot of it and I’m really, really excited about just working and having fun and getting
back out on the field.” After notching 17 1/2 sacks and 20 1/2 sacks in 2015 and 2014 and starting every game for the first five seasons of his storied career until hitting a wall the past two seasons with his health, the former Wisconsin star has arrived at a crossroads. What's the shelf life for Watt as a 29-year-old who plays a meat-grinder position and played nearly every snap for years and putting a ton of wear and tear on his body? Despite his medical odyssey, Watt hasn’t gotten discouraged and given into frustration. “It’s going well, had a good offseason so far,” Watt said. “It’s the offseason. I could tell you I’m feeling unbelievable, I could tell you I’m feeling real [expletive]. It wouldn’t matter until the game starts anyway. We go along one day at a time.
Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle file
Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt was voted as the 84th best player in the NFL by the NFL Network — despite only playing in five games in 2017.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: SAN ANTONIO SPURS
KAWHI CHATTER CONTINUES
MLB: HOUSTON ASTROS
A.J. Hinch, Yankees' Boone share bond By Chandler Rome HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Eric Gay / Associated Press file
Trade discussions around San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard are expected to be a hot topic heading into the NBA offseason.
Uncertainty around Leonard continues into offseason By Jabari Young SA N A NT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS
It was a little more than 24 hours before Gregg Popovich would make it official that Kawhi Leonard would miss more time after only playing nine games in the regular season. While staying at the team hotel in Brooklyn, Leonard was convinced something didn't feel right with his body and informed those close to him that he couldn't play. As it would turn out, his right quadriceps tendinopathy injury suffered another setback. Also, Leonard wasn't comfortable playing every other game or having to abide by a minutes restriction set in place by the Spurs. It was just more frustration added to an already tense season involving Leonard and the Spurs which now heads into an offseason filled with questions about the superstar's relationship and status with the team. Will the Spurs repair any behind the scenes issue with Leonard? If so, will the Spurs offer a five-year, $219 million extension? And if not, will the Spurs start to field calls about trade packages? Following a story by ESPN detailing the Spurs' relationship with Leonard, the possibil-
ity of a trade will only intensify around the NBA. The question is where would Leonard go? Though the ESPN story suggests Leonard's uncle, Dennis Robertson, is pushing for a trade to a big market, those close to Leonard told the Express-News no trade conversations with the Spurs or internally have taken place. Leonard's camp has not decided what route to take. They are waiting for the Spurs to decide they will offer Leonard the supermax. If that occurs, Leonard's camp will then decide if they will accept the offer and repair any damage with the team, which is partly due to what they believe was a misdiagnosis of Leonard's right quad leading to the current injury. Also, within Leonard's camp, there has been a feeling of dissipating support from the Spurs tied to leaks about his whereabouts while rehabbing, leaks about the Spurs' doctors clearing Leonard to play, and describing Leonard's medical team as "his group" – a term frequently used by Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. But if Leonard has played his last game with the Spurs, deciding which trade route to go will be a challenge for the Spurs.
In some NBA circles, the belief is some offers will include one of two options for Leonard. One option is "the Paul George package," which former Spur assistant GM and current Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti offered to the Indiana Pacers last offseason in exchange for George. In this option, the Pacers received Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, two young players with upside. The Thunder couldn't offer too much, as George, like Leonard after next season if he doesn't opt into the final year of his deal which will pay roughly $21 million, will become a free agent. The Thunder took the risk knowing George could walk, which is the same risk any team trading for Leonard will take if he doesn't re-sign. If Leonard is dealt, he then becomes eligible for a four-year deal worth roughly $160 million with his new team. The benefit for Leonard: He could decide to opt-out after two or three years of that deal and recuperate money surrendered by not signing an extension with the Spurs. Enter the Boston Celtics. There is a notion around the NBA the Celtics could offer forward Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown in a package for
Leonard, though as the team advances in the playoffs, that scenario seems unlikely. Another option would be the "Chris Paul package." Flashback to 2011: The then league-owned New Orleans Hornets (now the Pelicans) traded Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman, and a 2012 first-round pick (drafted Austin Rivers with the pick). The Hornets also received two future second-round picks in the deal. Enter the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the last few weeks, league sources told the Express-News the Sixers could make a push for Leonard this offseason and include their highly-coveted 2018 first-round pick. Add forward Dario Saric, forward Robert Covington, and last year's top overall pick Markelle Fultz, who is close with Dejounte Murray, to the mix, and the Sixers have an attractive package to offer the Spurs that also removes Leonard from the Western Conference. Sixers coach Brett Brown could also have an impact. Sources tell the Express-News Leonard would have no problem being coached by Brown, the former Spurs assistant coach.
Interviewing for baseball's most grueling job requires as much guidance as one can attain. Aaron Boone called A.J. Hinch. "Had I known he was going to be good at this job, I'd probably have sabotaged him," Hinch quipped Monday, hours before the two friends met as opposing managers for the first time. The two have a long history that pre-dated that Hinch late November phone call where Boone said he sought to "pick his brain for thoughts." Both Boone, 45, and the 43year-old Hinch played college baseball in California — Hinch at Stanford and Boone at USC. They were teammates on a Team USA Junior team, too, as teenagers. "He's someone that I respect a lot as me getting into this obviously for the first time, he's somebody that I leaned on and we've spoken already during the season," said Boone, the Yankees' first-year manager. "We talk about things and he's someone that's been a great sounding board for me and we've built a really good friendship." Boone played his final Major League game as an Astro in 2009, ending his 12-year career. Formerly an analyst on Sunday Night Baseball who had no managerial or on-field coaching experience before he was hired to replace Joe Girardi in December, Boone brought the Yankees to Minute Maid Park with a nine-game winning streak. "I have a lot of respect for him," Hinch said. "I think his demeanor is showing well in an incredibly intense environment and obviously the players have responded to him and he's doing some pretty good things."
A8 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
STATE
Jail drops solitary confinement use by half A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
HOUSTON — A Houston-area jail has cut its use of solitary confinement in half nearly five years after investigators found an inmate needing mental health treatment was ignored for weeks in a filthy cell. Harris County jail officials credit the decrease to two mental health and diversion programs and a decision to stop punishing rulebreakers with solitary, the Houston Chronicle reported . The number of inmates isolated in socalled administrative separation dropped from 240 in 2014 to 122 in March, according to sheriff’s office data. “We don’t use (administrative separation) as a punishment for violating jail rules — but previously that was an option,” said Maj. John Martin of the sheriff’s office. “Just discontinuing that practice has reduced the number of people in ad sep.” Figures show just over 1 percent of the jail’s population is held in solitary. The jail started tracking data about inmates in solitary weeks after KTRK-TV released
photos of inmate Terry Goodwin’s cell full of human waste and bugs. The jail created rehabilitative mental health units in 2015 and 2017 to offer a path out of isolation. The unit established in 2015 offers inmates programming and cognitive behavioral therapybased groups, which focus on communication, medication management and anger management. The unit launched last year focuses on inmates with more serious and persistent mental illness. Detainees are closely supervised, given TVs to help stave off boredom and offered group sessions. Mindsets are shifting in Texas regarding the purpose of jail and incarceration, said Jason Spencer, the sheriff’s office spokesman. He said, “There’s an understanding even among strong conservatives that people who are in jail or in prison are going to be back out and be in society at some point, and we’re better off if we’ve treated them like human beings and armed them with skills and strategies for becoming productive members of our community.”
PD: Boy, 10, dies after hiding in tumble dryer
Prosecutor seeks biker case dismissal, citing no cause
HOUSTON — Police say a 10-year-old Houston boy died after he climbed into a tumble dryer during a game of hide-and-seek. The Harris County medical examiner’s office said Monday that the boy was electrocuted. Investigators initially thought he may have suffocated when he climbed into the machine in the laundry room of an apartment complex
Friday. Christina Rodriguez identified the child to KTRK-TV as her son, third-grader Fernando Hernandez Jr. Police Detective Michael Arrington told the Houston Chronicle that other children who were playing with Fernando found him unresponsive in the dryer. Dryer deaths involving electrocution appear to be rare.
WACO — A special prosecutor is asking a Texas judge to dismiss one of the higher-profile cases stemming from the fatal 2015 shootout involving bikers and police outside a Waco restaurant. Special prosecutor Brian Roberts said Monday that no evidence supports charging Matthew Clendennen. Clendennen was among more than 150 bikers in-
dicted for allegedly engaging in organized criminal activity. Investigators say the shooting that left nine bikers dead and 20 injured was sparked by motorcycle club rivalries. Clendennen’s case drew particular interest because a judge imposed a gag order barring attorneys and investigators from publicly discussing it. Clendennen’s lawyers successfully fought it, arguing it was overly broad.
BACK From page A1
“This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health
issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly suscep-
tible to diversion, misuse, and abuse,” the DEA said in a statement.
ASSOCIATED PRE SS ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Precinct 1 constable, Webb County Precinct 4 constable, United and Laredo independent school districts, Webb County Sheriff’s Office, La Salle County Sheriff’s Office and Zapata County Sheriff’s Office. The take back event’s mission is to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs, the DEA said. Public Notice Region 11 of the Department of State Health Services, in partnership with the Texas Military Forces may conduct a health care program called “Operation Lone Star” in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Jim Hogg, Zapata and Webb Counties. Free medical and dental services may be provided for up to one week in late July and/or early August 2020. Questions should be addressed to: Innovative Readiness Coordinator ATTN: MSG Enrique Sanchez JFTX-J7 P.O. Box 5218 Austin, TX 78763-5218 (512) 782-5738 L-37
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 |
A9
BUSINESS
Consumer spending up as wages rise By Martin Crutsinger A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — Americans boosted their spending by 0.4 percent in March, the best showing in three months. Meanwhile, a key gauge of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve rose at the fastest pace in more than a year. The March increase in consumer spending followed two months of very weak readings with no gain in February and only a 0.2 percent increase in January, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The result is an encouraging sign that economic growth, which slowed in the first quarter, will accelerate in the current quarter. Personal incomes advanced a moderate 0.3
percent in March, matching the February gain, but they have been growing strongly. Consumer spending is considered key to economic growth since it accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The economy slowed to growth of 2.3 percent in the first quarter, reflecting a slowing in consumer spending. Many analysts believe stronger consumer spending this quarter will lift overall growth back to rates above 3 percent. An inflation gauge tied to consumer spending advanced 1.9 percent in March compared to 12 months ago. That was the fastest pace since a similar 12-month gain of 1.9 percent in February 2017 and prompted some analysts to predict that the central bank will ultimately decide to raise
Mary Altaffer / AP
Shoppers walk past the Victoria's Secret store on Broadway in the Soho neighborhood of New York. On Monday, the Commerce Department issued its March report on consumer spending.
rates four times this year to make sure inflation does not get out of hand. That would be up from three rate hikes last year. “As the weaker dollar feeds through to stronger imported goods prices and wage pressures continue to build, we think
Sprint, T-Mobile must sell $26.5B merger deal
inflation will rise above the Fed’s 2 percent target later this year and trend gradually higher from there,” said Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics. The Fed seeks to achieve moderate annual
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NEW YORK — To gain approval for their $26.5 billion merger agreement, T-Mobile and Sprint aim to convince antitrust regulators that there is plenty of competition for wireless service beyond Verizon and AT&T. The deal announced Sunday would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless companies and bulk them up to a similar size to Verizon and AT&T, the industry giants. But the companies argued that the combination would allow them to better compete not only with those two rivals but also with Comcast and others as the wireless, broadband and video industries converge. “This isn’t a case of going from 4 to 3 wireless companies — there are now at least 7 or 8 big competitors in this converging market,” T-Mobile chief executive John Legere said in a statement. He would be the CEO of the combined company. T-Mobile and Sprint have been considering a combination for years. But a 2014 attempt fell apart amid resistance from the Obama administration. And in 2017 an-
other potential deal fell through as well. The combined company, to be called T-Mobile, would have about 127 million customers. Consumers worry a less crowded telecom field could result in higher prices, while unions are concerned about potential job losses. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure acknowledged that getting regulatory approval is “the elephant in the room.” One of the first things the companies did after sending out the deal’s news release was to call Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The companies stressed that they plan to have more employees following the combination, particularly in rural areas, than they do as stand-alone companies now. They also emphasized that the deal would help accelerate their development of faster 5G wireless networks and ensure that the U.S. doesn’t cede leadership on the technology to China. And they said the combination would allow them to better compete with a growing number of competitors in a changing market. Verizon and AT&T have been expanding
their video-content businesses, while cable companies have been moving into wireless. That allows a single company to combine home and wireless internet and use content to support the communications businesses. Comcast, the cable giant that finished buying NBCUniversal in 2013, offers customers wireless service by reselling access to Verizon’s network. So does another dominant cable company, Charter. The all-stock deal values each share of Sprint at slightly more than 0.10 T-Mobile shares. Deutsche Telekom, TMobile’s parent, would own about 42 percent of the combined company. Japan’s SoftBank, which controls Sprint, would own 27 percent, and the remainder would be held by the public. The companies said they expect the deal to close by the first half of 2019 and would result in about $6 billion in annual cost savings. Investors have been anticipating a deal like this for some time. In addition to the thwarted attempt three years ago, the two companies were poised to combine in October, but the deal was called off after what analysts said was a disagreement over control of the combined company.
week. They are expected to keep rates unchanged after raising them in March. But many analysts believe the Fed will raise rates again in June. The 0.3 percent rise in incomes reflected a slowdown in the key category of wages and salaries, which rose only 0.2 percent in March, just half the 0.4 percent February gain. The 0.4 percent rise in spending reflected a 0.8 percent surge in spending on durable goods after two months of declines in this category which includes big-ticket items such as autos. The faster rise in spending compared to income growth meant that the saving rate slipped to 3.1 percent of after-tax income in March, down from 3.3 percent in February.
Fed: AT&T-Time Warner deal would hurt consumers By Marcy Gordon
By Stan Choe And Tali Arbel
increases in inflation of around 2 percent but has fallen below that target for the past six years. Now with unemployment at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, economists expect that tight labor markets will finally start to lift wage gains and overall inflation. But there is already a debate inside the Fed about what to do once it has hit the 2 percent inflation target. Some officials say the central bank let inflation rise for a time above that target. Other Fed officials argue that such a move would run the risk of allowing inflation pressures to get out of hand and force the central bank to slam on the brakes by raising interest rates so quickly that it could push the country into a recession. Fed officials will hold a regular meeting this
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. government pleaded its case Monday for blocking AT&T from absorbing Time Warner, saying the combination would hurt consumers. In the landmark antitrust trial’s last day in federal court, lead Justice Department attorney Craig Conrath argued that the $85 billion proposed merger “would have a massive effect on the structure of the payTV industry.” The Trump Justice Department sued in November to block the deal, saying it would force consumers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more to watch their favorite shows, whether on a TV screen, smartphone or tablet. Conrath told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that if he doesn’t block the merger outright, he should consider ordering other remedies such as “partial divestitures.” That could mean, for example, that AT&T wouldn’t be able to acquire key parts of Time Warner like Turner Broadcasting, which includes CNN, Conrath suggested. “That is an effort to kill the deal,” Daniel Petrocelli, the companies’ lead attorney in defending the
merger, countered later in his closing argument. “You take away those pieces and there is no deal.” The Justice Department had suggested before the trial began that AT&T could gain approval for the merger by selling off DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting. But AT&T had rejected any option that would cause it to lose control of CNN. Petrocelli said the government had failed to prove that the merger would dampen competition and raise prices for pay TV. “This whole case is a house of cards,” he said. In fact, consumers could end up paying less after a merger — even $500 million less annually — Petrocelli suggested, trying to poke holes in the model presented by the government’s economist witness. But Conrath said evidence presented by the government during the six-week trial showed that by hurting competition in that industry, the deal “would impose substantial harm on consumers” and raise prices. The merger would combine the phone giant with the owner of CNN, HBO, the “Harry Potter” franchise and pro basketball. It would be one of the biggest media mergers ever. The outcome of
the case could shape how consumers get — and how much they pay for — streaming TV and movies. It wasn’t clear whether Conrath’s suggestion of alternatives to blocking the merger indicated the government may be anticipating that it could lose the antitrust suit. Separately, there was a sign that AT&T may be under increased pressure to achieve the deal: the announcement Sunday of a merger agreement linking T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless companies, giving them bulk to more tightly compete against industry leaders AT&T and Verizon. The trial resulted from the first time in decades the government had sued to stop a merger of two companies that don’t directly compete. It could imprint future antitrust policy. After the weeks of argument and testimony from experts as well as customers and competitors of the two companies, it now falls to Leon to decide. Leon said he aims to issue his ruling by June 12, mindful of the financial consequences if the deal isn’t completed by the “drop-dead date” of June 21. Under the merger agreement, either company could walk away from the deal if it isn’t completed by then.
A10 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT
Stormy Daniels sues Trump for defamation By Catherine Lucey A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — The porn actress alleging a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump is escalating her legal fight, suing the president for defamation. Stormy Daniels filed the complaint in federal court in New York on Monday. At issue is a tweet Trump made in which he dismissed a composite sketch that Daniels says depicted a man who threatened her in 2011 to stay quiet about her alleged relationship with Trump. In the tweet earlier in April, Trump said: “A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!” The filing says the tweet was “false and defamatory,” arguing that Trump was speaking about Daniels and that he “knew that his false, disparaging statement would be read by people around the world, as well as widely reported.” It also says Daniels has been “exposed to death threats and other threats of physical violence.” Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. Her attorney Michael Avenatti said Monday: “We intend on teaching Mr. Trump that you cannot simply make things up about someone and disseminate them without serious consequences.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Trump in another legal
Jeenah Moon / The New York Times
Stephanie Clifford, the porn star better known as Stormy Daniels, speaks to reporters outside a federal courthouse in New York. Lawyers for Clifford filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump on Monday, based on statements he made on Twitter two weeks ago that questioned her credibility.
matter in New York did not respond to an email seeking comment. The lawsuit is the latest legal move from Daniels, who already is suing to be released from a non-disclosure deal she agreed to days before the 2016 election in exchange for $130,000. The payment was made by the president’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. That civil lawsuit was delayed in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday, with the judge citing a criminal investigation that Cohen is facing. Cohen asked for a delay after FBI agents raided his home and office several weeks ago. The FBI was
seeking records about the nondisclosure agreement. Cohen’s attorney said in court last week that because the criminal investigation overlaps with issues in the lawsuit, his client’s right against selfincrimination could be adversely impacted because he won’t be able to respond and defend himself. Several weeks ago, Daniels revealed a sketch on ABC’s “The View” that she said depicts the man who warned her in 2011 to stay quiet about a 2006 tryst with Trump. Daniels said the man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot when she was with her young daughter.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 |
A11
FROM THE COVER BORDER From page A1 until it’s our turn. It could be days.” The stalemate began Sunday afternoon when Customs and Border Protection, the arm of the Department of Homeland Security that regulates ports of entry, announced that it temporarily had no more capacity to process asylum-seekers at its San Ysidro border entry in San Diego, which abuts Tijuana. Still, about 200 migrants from the caravan who intended to seek asylum — accompanied by other caravan participants, supporters and dozens of journalists — set off in a procession from downtown Tijuana to the El Chaparral border crossing, setting up the standoff. Denied entry to United States to make their case for sanctuary, the migrants, nearly all of them from Central America, settled down in the pedestrian plaza in front of the Mexican border entrance. As the cold night fell, they unpacked the few warm clothes they carried in knapsacks and plastic bags, huddled under donated blankets and ate sandwiches distributed by volunteers. By daybreak, they had strung up plastic tarps to shield them from the sun and rain, and vowed to stay until the asylum-seekers among them were permitted to step on U.S. soil and petition for protection. On Monday evening, Trump posted a message on Twitter saying that the caravan was “openly defying our border” and showing the weakness of the nation’s immigration laws. The caravan’s organizers said that the migrants were a hardened group and that the wait, however uncomfortable, was a minor challenge compared with the challenges they had already endured — in their homelands, where they faced violence and poverty, and during their strenuous trip north. “This is the least of their suffering,” said Irineo Mujica, Mexico director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the transnational advocacy group that organized the caravan. The caravan began on
MISSING From page A1 sands of the disappeared,” Mitzi Alvarado, Nitza’s daughter, said in an interview. “In that way, we are the voice of thousands of Mexicans who suffer from the same situation.” As relatives await the ruling, the country faces one of the deadliest periods in recent history and a newly empowered military in charge of fighting it. Official statistics show that last year the murder rate was the highest on record, surpassing the bloodshed experienced during the peak of the drug war in 2011. In December, when Mexico passed a security law cementing the military’s role in fighting the drug war, it outraged the United Nations and local and international human rights groups. They warned that the measure would lead to abuses, leave troops on the streets indefinitely and militarize police activities for the foreseeable future. The armed forces declined to comment, but the defense secretary, Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, has publicly defended the military, saying it is the only institution effectively confronting organized crime. As drug violence rocketed in recent years, he has repeatedly asked the federal government for a legal framework that
March 25 in Tapachula, a city on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, and it quickly grew to include more than 1,200 migrants. Such mass migrations, which have become something of an annual tradition in Mexico, provide migrants with safety in numbers while giving advocates a platform to air their criticisms of regional migration policies. This caravan, in part because of its extraordinary size, came to the attention of Trump, who in a barrage of messages on Twitter in early April said that the caravan threatened the security and sovereignty of the United States. He also accused Mexico of doing little to stop illegal migration. Undeterred, the caravan continued north, its participants traveling atop freight trains and by hitchhiking, sleeping in gritty migrant shelters and parks and eating poorly. Hundreds dropped out along the way, choosing to travel on their own or remain in Mexico. More than 300 participants arrived in Tijuana last week and were joined in recent days by supporters from Mexico and the United States, including scores of volunteer lawyers and paralegals who have converged on this border city to provide free consultations to the caravan’s participants. The organizers and lawyers identified the strongest asylum cases — about 200, most of them children — and encouraged those people to apply for protection, while suggesting that the remainder seek protection in Mexico or elsewhere in Latin America. To qualify for asylum, applicants must prove that they have been persecuted or fear persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political belief or membership in a particular group. People who request protection at a U.S. entry point must submit to a screening by an asylum officer, called a credible-fear interview. If the officer finds the fear credible, the case is then referred to an immigration judge for a full hearing. But until late Monday, none of the asylum-seekers among the caravan
had been allowed by border officials to begin the process. Migrants’ advocates had accused the Trump administration of engaging in brinkmanship for political gain at the asylumseekers’ expense. In a statement late Monday announcing the resumption of asylum processing at San Ysidro, Customs and Border Protection officials explained that the number of unauthorized people they can process at border crossings depended on a range of factors including the complexity of cases, translation requirements, detention space and the number of migrants. “As in the past when we’ve had to limit the number of people we can bring in for processing at a given time, we expect that this will be a temporary situation,” the statement said. During the delay, most of the migrants adopted mindsets of hardened patience. “Really, nobody’s said anything,” said Arnaldo Rivera, 40, who fled his native Honduras with his wife and five children after the family was threatened by a gang. They were among the migrants who were waiting outside the entrance to the border crossing on Sunday, eating donated food and using a nearby public bathroom. The family had staked out a patch of the pedestrian plaza by spreading out a blanket and demarcating it with a few knapsacks containing their belongings. “It could be this afternoon, it could be tomorrow,” he said, shrugging. “God has the last word.” Late Sunday, local, state and federal authorities tried to persuade the migrants to decamp from the pedestrian plaza and spend the night in shelters. But in an act of communal defiance, the caravan’s participants elected to remain where they were. As the officials walked away, the migrants applauded and cheered. “We’ve experienced a lot and this isn’t going to stop us,” said Shannel Smith, 29, who fled gang violence in Honduras and is one of about 35 transgender migrants in the caravan.
protects the forces, saying the need for it is greater than ever. “Today the crimes we are dealing with are of another level and importance, they involve a lot of people, sometimes entire families, and we are acting without a legal frame,” Cienfuegos said in a public event in March. “Without it our help is impeded.” Other supporters of the law, including President Enrique Peña Nieto and federal government officials, have argued that the legislation would guide and regulate military operations offering legal certainty to both the armed forces and the population by clarifying the soldier’s tasks, limits and obligations. Such a framework, they said, had long been absent. According to government estimates, 32,000 people have been reported missing in Mexico since 2006, disappearances that have caused an indelible wound on families across the country. Members of the security forces are suspected in some of the disappearances, but many more are presumed to be the work of drug gangs. Mexico’s failure to investigate these cases has left families such as the Alvarados desperate for answers but with nowhere to turn. The court’s ruling in the Alvarado case, expected this year, could influence another case being considered by Mex-
ico’s Supreme Court. That case is evaluating challenges to a law that critics say strengthens the military’s role in policing the country’s streets. Under the past two Mexican administrations, the army’s role has been expanded to include operations against drug gangs as well as policing duties. At the same time, formal complaints filed by civilians with different government agencies about allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances have surged. And yet as allegations of serious crimes by soldiers and police officers piled up, the military remained largely untouched, protected by governments keen on enforcing the rule of law through the only force seen as able to stand up to the drug gangs. The three members of the Alvarado family were snatched from Ejido Benito Juárez, a small town south of El Paso, Texas. At the time, the drug war was raging in a particularly fierce way in the northern state of Chihuahua. The state now has one of the highest numbers of missing people in Mexico — more than 2,000 cases opened since 2007. In the eight years of the investigation, Mexican authorities have not prosecuted a single person in the Alvarados’ case nor offered any information on where
Chuck Zlotnick / AP
This image shows, from left, Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Wong in a scene from "Avengers: Infinity War." “Infinity War” was even bigger than previously estimated with final weekend numbers for the superhero smash at $257.7 million.
‘Infinity War’ record opening revised to $257.7M NEW YORK — “Avengers: Infinity War” was even bigger than previously estimated. The Walt Disney Co. on Monday reported final weekend numbers for the superhero smash at $257.7 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, further boosting the film’s record-breaking opening weekend. The revised figure was due to unexpectedly strong Sunday ticket sales, Disney said. The Marvel blockbuster grossed $69.2 million on Sunday, besting the record held by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” by more than $8 million. Disney had forecast a $250 million debut, which topped the $248 million record set by “The Force Awakens” in 2015. Accounting for inflation, “The Force Awakens” would still narrowly edge “Infinity War” by a few million. Marvel now holds six of the top 10 opening weekends of all time, with Disney accounting for nine of the 10. “Infinity War” also set a new global opening weekend record with ticket sales exceeding $630 million worldwide. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater
locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore: 1. “Avengers: Infinity War,” Disney, $257,698,183, 4,474 locations, $57,599 average, $257,698,183, 1 Week. 2. “A Quiet Place,” Paramount, $11,004,977, 3,565 locations, $3,087 average, $148,528,278, 4 Weeks. 3. “I Feel Pretty,” STX Entertainment, $8,176,757, 3,440 locations, $2,377 average, $29,620,318, 2 Weeks. 4. “Rampage,” Warner Bros., $7,205,315, 3,508 locations, $2,054 average, $78,030,872, 3 Weeks. 5. “Black Panther,” Disney, $4,736,428, 1,650 locations, $2,871 average, $688,364,917, 11 Weeks. 6. “Super Troopers 2,” 20th Century Fox, $3,729,287, 2,125 locations, $1,755 average, $22,214,216, 2 Weeks. 7. “Truth or Dare,” Universal, $3,268,145, 2,420 locations, $1,350 average, $35,374,140, 3 Weeks. 8. “Blockers,” Universal, $2,975,260, 2,324 locations, $1,280 average, $53,246,750, 4 Weeks. 9. “Ready Player One,” Warner Bros., $2,563,325, 2,365 locations, $1,084 average, $130,811,543, 5 Weeks. 10. “Traffik,” Lionsgate, $1,654,694, 1,046 locations, $1,582 average,
$6,786,968, 2 Weeks. 11. “Isle of Dogs,” Fox Searchlight, $1,427,275, 1,001 locations, $1,426 average, $27,047,998, 6 Weeks. 12. “MET Opera: Cendrillon (2018),” Fathom Events, $1,300,000, 900 locations, $1,444 average, $1,300,000, 1 Week. 13. “A Wrinkle in Time,” Disney, $981,856, 371 locations, $2,647 average, $94,930,902, 8 Weeks. 14. “I Can Only Imagine,” Roadside Attractions, $777,709, 970 locations, $802 average, $81,084,294, 7 Weeks. 15. “Chappaquiddick,” Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, $694,989, 704 locations, $987 average, $15,808,830, 4 Weeks. 16. “Sherlock Gnomes,” Paramount, $673,943, 731 locations, $922 average, $40,637,943, 6 Weeks. 17. “Tyler Perry’s Acrimony,” Lionsgate, $640,477, 540 locations, $1,186 average, $42,223,020, 5 Weeks. 18. “Bharat Ane Nenu,” Great India Films, $366,996, 189 locations, $1,942 average, $3,156,805, 2 Weeks. 19. “You Were Never Really Here,” Amazon Studios, $350,105, 233 locations, $1,503 average, $1,793,481, 4 Weeks. 20. “The Miracle Season,” MIRR/LD, $290,939, 430 locations, $677 average, $9,441,585, 4 Weeks.
they could be. During a hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Friday in San José, Costa Rica, members of the Alvarado family testified that they had been told by at least three investigators from different government agencies that their relatives had been held for questioning in nearby military headquarters after soldiers raided Ejido Benito Juárez in search of criminal suspects. One investigator even assured relatives that by the next day, those held would probably be free. When questioned, all the investigators later denied to the family that they had made such claims, Mexican prosecutors said. Feeling the doors of justice were being slammed shut by the Mexican authorities, the family had turned to international courts, where they are represented by the Center for Women’s Human Rights, a Mexican advocacy and legal aid organization. At the two-day hearing that ended Friday, Mexican prosecutors testifying before the court argued that they were dealing with a “very complex case” that probably involved “several actors.” Lines of investigation are continuing to be followed, they said. Although the prosecutors asserted that they had investigated the role of the military, they said
they did not find enough evidence to confirm it was responsible. Instead, noting that it was common for criminals to dress in military uniforms to trick the authorities, they suggested that the Alvarados might have been targeted by drug gangs. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, one of the two legal arms, along with the court, that police human rights in the Americas as part of the Organization of American States, first urged the Mexican authorities in 2010 to find the Alvarados and ensure protection for the rest of the family. Six years later, the commission concluded that the military was responsible for the disappearances, based on evidence, including witnesses’ testimony and reports by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission and other experts who analyzed the context of violence in the area. In its report, the commission refers to a context of chaos during military operations around the time the Alvarados where taken. People were snatched from their houses regularly and taken to military headquarters for illegal questioning. The Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission, the report says, had gathered hundreds of allegations of torture, illegal searches, cruel and degrading
treatment, threats, intimidation and forced disappearance. If that is also the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, it could push Mexico to further investigate the armed forces’ role and prosecute members of the military, pay the family reparations, issue a public apology or take further measures to ensure such disappearances do not happen again. Mitzi Alvarado and her twin, Nitza, were only 14 years old when their mother was taken away. For the past eight years, they and their younger sister, Daisy, have moved from one city to another. They lived with one set of relatives and then another, fearing that the agents they believed took their mother would come after them. Heightening their anxiety, soon after the disappearances another relative received phone calls warning the entire family to leave the state of Chihuahua within 24 hours or they would all be killed. Eventually, most did flee. The three sisters are now studying at El Paso Community College in Texas, where they live after being granted political asylum. Eight other family members are still awaiting word on their applications for political asylum in the United States. “The state orphaned us and that’s not fair,” said Mitzi Alvarado, weeping.
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A12 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES