The Zapata Times 5/25/2016

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5TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

Court revisits Texas voter ID law Supporters say strict photo ID rules prevent election fraud

By Kevin Mcgill ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Eric Gay / AP

In this Feb. 26, 2014 file photo, an election official checks a voter's photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas. A federal appeals court is set to take a second look Texas’ strict voter ID law.

INTERSTATE 35

NEW ORLEANS — Whether a strict Texas voter ID law should be struck down, upheld, or, perhaps, adjusted is now up to 15 federal appeals court judges.

The full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard

arguments Tuesday about the law, which requires voters to present one of seven specific forms of photo ID to cast a ballot.

The state and other supporters of the law say it prevents fraud. Opponents, including the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups, say in-person voter fraud is

extremely rare and that Texas’ law discriminates by requiring forms of ID that are more difficult to obtain for low-income, African-American and Latino voters.

It was unclear when the full court would rule.

Last year, a three-judge panel of the court upheld Voter continues on A11

FORT WORTH NATURE CENTER AND REFUGE

1 dead, eight hurt in rollover

BISON MAKING A COMEBACK

Teen lost control of vehicle while avoiding capture

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

An alleged human smuggling attempt Sunday turned deadly when the driver lost control of the vehicle while avoiding a controlled tire deflation device deployed by U.S. Border Patrol, authorities said.

A man from Honduras died in the crash and eight others suspected of entering the country illegally were injured, Border Patrol said in a statement.

The identity of the deceased has not been released pending the notification of next of kin, said Trooper Conrad J. Hein, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Hein said DPS is spearheading the crash investigation.

Those injured were taken to hospitals in Laredo and San Antonio, authorities said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protectin identified the driver as a 15-year-old U.S. citizen.

He’s not likely to face federal charges due to his age.

Border Patrol said the case unraveled at about 5:35 p.m. when agents said they saw a suspicious vehicle driving

Rodger Mallison / Fort Worth Star-Telegram/AP

This photo shows a herd of American bison, which are one of the most popular features of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge in Fort Worth, Texas. Bison once roamed the Great Plains by the millions and even made their way through Texas.

By Bill Hanna FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

F Rodger Mallison / Fort Worth Star-Telegram/AP

This photo shows people taking photos of a herd of American bison, which are one of the most popular features of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge in Fort Worth, Texas.

ORT WORTH, Texas — Bison once roamed the Great Plains by the millions and even made their way through North Texas.

But in a matter of years they were hunted to the brink of extinction, dropping from an estimated 30 million to 60 million as European settlers arrived in North America to around 1,000 by 1889.

While their numbers have recovered Bison continues on A11

Rollover continues on A11

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Many veterans do not have a cemetery near TH E ZAPATA T IME S

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Zapata, announced Monday the passage by the full U.S. House of the Fiscal Year 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs House Appropriations bill. The bill includes language by the

congressman that could provide for new burial places for veterans in Cuellar Texas’ 28th Congressional District. The bill was approved by the

House Thursday on a vote of 295-129.

The language Cuellar introduced in the bill encourages the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to look at the possibility of private donors offering land to establish new independent veterans cemeteries

or satellites of existing ones. The VA aims to provide a burial place for all veterans within 75 miles of where they live.

However, 8 percent of veterans across the country fall outside this range. Although eligible veterans can receive benefits from the VA for

burial in non-VA cemeteries, the congressman would like to see local veterans have their own dedicated resting place.

By donating land as a satellite cemetery, the 28th District could bypass the competitive application process for VA cemeteries. Current-

ly, in order for a VA cemetery to be built, the Texas Land Commissioner must apply to the VA, with the blessing of the locality, and compete with other similarlyminded communities.

With a number of plots of land already set aside Veterans continues on A11

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

1 ARTEXPRESSIONS student art exhibit. 5 p.m. Gallery 201, 513 San Bernardo Ave. Meet the student artists as well as their instructors and enjoy great art and music. For more information, call 237-0627.

1 20th Annual Photography Exhibition. 6-9 p.m. Laredo Center for the Arts, in the Laredo Area Community Foundation Gallery, 500 San Agustin Ave. Journalism and online media students will be displaying their work.

1 LEGO Robotics. 6:15–7:15 p.m.

McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St. Make a LEGO robot and program its movement. Duplo LEGO play available for toddlers.

1 Bible study. 7–9 p.m. Lighthouse Assembly of God Church, 8731 Belize Drive. Every Wednesday. The Word of God has the power to comfort, heal and change hearts. For more information, contact Norma Perez at 251-1784 or normalight1@gmail.com

THURSDAY, MAY 26 1 Spanish Book Club. 6–8 p.m.

Laredo Public Library – Calton. For more information, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

1 Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. Shows begin at 6 p.m.

TAMIU. “Space Pirates” starts at 6 p.m. and “A Starry Tale” starts at 7 p.m. General admission is $5 and $4 for children and TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

For more information, call 326-3663.

1 Groovin’ – A Ballroom GalaDance featuring SoundTown.

7:30–10:30 p.m. LISD Civic Center Ballroom, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. $15. Come and enjoy VMT’s premiere Jazz Ensemble SoundTown and their vibrant, energetic, and jazzy sounds.

Tickets are available at the VMT office located at 2102 East Lyon St., 956273-7800. Tickets will also be sold at the door. Proceeds will benefit the student activity fund.

SATURDAY, MAY 28 1 Cemetery Clean-Up. 8–11 a.m. City of Laredo Cemetery, 3200 N. Meadow Ave. Councilman Roque Vela invites the community to help prepare the Veterans’ Section of the City of Laredo Cemetery with a cleanup event.

Anyone wishing to volunteer can sign up by calling Tonie Gamboa at 3335096. Volunteers should bring hats, sunscreen and any garden tools.

Water and lunch will be given to all volunteers.

1 Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. Shows start at 2 p.m.

TAMIU. “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket,” “Cosmic Adventures,” “Space Next” and “A Starry Tale.” General admission is $5 and $4 for children and TAMIU students, faculty and staff.

For more information, call 326-3663.

1 Mexico Lindo. 7 p.m. Laredo Little Theatre, 4802 Thomas Ave. $10.

Presented by the Gabriela MendozaGarcia Ballet Folklorico. This concert features regional folkloric dances of Mexico. Children and adults will perform dances from the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Veracruz. In addition, the adult company will premier “Chicano Power!

Dances of Political Expression” which is the most recent scholarly and choreographic work of the director.

Here, the dancers will portray the music and dances of those involved with the Chicano movement.

SUNDAY, MAY 29 1 Mexico Lindo. 3 p.m. Laredo Little Theatre, 4802 Thomas Ave. $10.

Presented by the Gabriela MendozaGarcia Ballet Folklorico. This concert features regional folkloric dances of Mexico. Children and adults will perform dances from the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Veracruz. In addition, the adult company will premier “Chicano Power!

Dances of Political Expression” which is the most recent scholarly and choreographic work of the director.

Here, the dancers will portray the music and dances of those involved with the Chicano movement.

MONDAY, MAY 30 1 Laredo Parkinson’s Disease Support Group. 6:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1st Floor, Tower B in the Community Center. The meeting is open to anyone with Parkinson’s disease, a friend or family member of a PD patient, and primary care givers of patients with PD who are interested in learning more about the disease.

Pamphlets with more information in both English and Spanish are available at all support group meetings.

For more information, call Richard Renner at 645-8649 or 237-0666.

1 Chess Club. Every Monday from 4–6 p.m. LBV – Inner City Branch Library. Free for all ages and skill levels. Basic instruction is offered. For more information call John at 956795-2400 x2520.

1 Foster/Adoptive Information Day. 5:30 p.m. Circles of Care office, 709 Alta Visita, Suite 103. Circles of Care invites all individuals interested in becoming a foster parent or adoptive parent to their information day.

TUESDAY, MAY 31 1 Knitting Circle. 1–3 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St. Please bring yarn and knitting needles. For more information, contact Analiza PerezGomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.

1 Crochet for Kids. 4–5 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St. Please bring yarn and a crochet needle.

Today is Wednesday, May 25, the 146th day of 2016. There are 220 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On May 25, 1916, the Chicago Tribune published an interview with Henry Ford in which the automobile industrialist was quoted as saying, “History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s dam is the history we make today.”

Amr Nabil / AP

An Egyptian journalist holds a candle and a poster supporting EgyptAir during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 in front of the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt.

SIGNS OF JET’S EXPLOSION FOUND

By Sam Magdy and Brian Rohan ASSOCIATED PRE SS

CAIRO — Body parts recovered from the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 showed signs of burns and were so small that they suggested the jet was brought down by an explosion, a member of the team examining the remains said Tuesday. But the idea of a blast was promptly dismissed by the head of Egypt’s forensic agency as “baseless” speculation.

The cause of Thursday’s crash of the EgyptAir jet flying from Paris to Cairo that killed all 66 people aboard still has

Police find five hacked-up bodies in Veracruz, Mexico MEXICO CITY — Authorities in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz found the hacked-up bodies of what appear to be five men along with a sign attributing the killings to a dispute between drug cartels, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The state prosecutors’ office said the body parts were found next to a sign listing the nicknames of five men. The mes-

not been determined. Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations are searching the Mediterranean Sea north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the jet’s voice and flight data recorders, as well as more bodies and parts of the aircraft.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister has said he believes terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure or some other catastrophic event. But no hard evidence has emerged on the cause, and no militant group has claimed to have downed the jet.

sage also read: “The cleanup, respectfully, CJNG, we are here” and “this is what happened to me for coming to Veracruz, where there is a full cleanup of all the dirty Zetas.”

The initials CJNG refer to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has been battling the Zetas cartel for control of the state. Veracruz has been the scene of bloody killings by both cartels.

The remains were found near the city of Cordoba and were so badly mutilated even prosecutors aren’t sure how

many victims there are.

The prosecutors’ office said in a statement that “all the necessary tests are being performed to identify the remains, which appear to belong to five males.”

The killings came two days after four gunmen opened fire from the deejay’s booth at four men sitting at a table in the La Madame club in the state capital, Xalapa. All four died at the scene, and a fifth victim died at a hospital, state prosecutors said.

— Compiled from AP reports

Surgery advised to treat diabetes

Woman, child dead after train hits SUV SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Fire officials say a woman and child are dead after an Amtrak train collided with an SUV in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mark Lennihan / AP file

International diabetes organizations are calling for weight-loss surgery to become a more routine treatment option.

Television news footage of the crash scene in San Leandro showed the front of the SUV crushed beneath the train.

Alameda County fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles says firefighters responded to the scene around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a train crash with people trapped in the vehicle.

They confirmed the two deaths when they arrived at the scene.

Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham says the crash occurred at a railroad crossing, though she did not know whether the arms were down or not. Graham says there were 39 passengers on the train.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS Charter schools allegedly abusing visa program A complaint filed Tuesday with Texas education officials accuses a charter-school network of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserts that the network, Harmony

Ten years ago: Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in Houston of conspiracy and fraud for the company’s downfall. (Lay died in July 2006 from heart disease and his convictions were vacated; Skilling was resentenced to 14 years in prison after his original 24-year sentence was overturned.)

Five years ago: A judge in Salt Lake City sentenced street preacher Brian David Mitchell to life in prison for kidnapping and raping Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 at the time of her abduction in 2002. After a 25-year run, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” aired its final broadcast, which had been taped the day before.

One year ago: On Memorial Day, President Barack Obama saluted Americans who had died in battle, telling listeners at Arlington National Cemetery the country must “never stop trying to fully repay them” for their sacrifices.

AROUND THE NATION

WASHINGTON — International diabetes organizations are calling for weight-loss surgery to become a more routine treatment option for diabetes, even for some patients who are only mildly obese.

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are a deadly pair, and numerous studies show stomachshrinking operations can dramatically improve diabetes.

But Tuesday’s guidelines mark the first time the surgery is recommended specifically as a diabetes treatment rather than as obesity treatment with a side benefit. They expand the number of eligible candidates.

On this date: In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

In 1810, Argentina began its revolt against Spanish rule with the forming of the Primera Junta in Buenos Aires.

In 1935, Babe Ruth hit his last three career home runs — nos. 712, 713 and 714 — for the Boston Braves in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. (The Pirates won, 11-7.)

In 1946, Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, Abdullah I. In 1959, the U.S. Supreme Court, in State Athletic Commission v. Dorsey, struck down a Louisiana law prohibiting interracial boxing matches. (The case had been brought by Joseph Dorsey Jr., a black professional boxer.)

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

In 1968, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.

In 1977, the first “Star Wars” film (retroactively designated “Episode IV: A New Hope”) was released by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

In 1979, 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared while on his way to a school bus stop in lower Manhattan.

In 1981, daredevil Dan Goodwin, wearing a Spiderman costume, scaled the outside of Chicago’s Sears Tower in 7 1/2 hours.

In 1986, an estimated 7 million Americans participated in “Hands Across America” to raise money for the nation’s hungry and homeless.

In 1992, Jay Leno made his debut as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” succeeding Johnny Carson.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Ann Robinson is 87. Former White House news secretary Ron Nessen is 82.

Author W.P. Kinsella is 81. Country singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall is 80.

Actor Sir Ian McKellen is 77. Country singer Jessi Colter is 73. Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 73. Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 72. Actress Karen Valentine is 69. Actress Jacki Weaver is 69. Actress Patti D’Arbanville is 65. Playwright Eve Ensler is 63.

Actress Connie Sellecca is 61. Rock singer-musician Paul Weller is 58. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is 56. Actorcomedian Mike Myers is 53. Actor Matt Borlenghi is 49. Actor Joseph Reitman is 48. Rock musician Glen Drover is 47.

Actress Anne Heche (haych) is 47.

Actor-comedian Jamie Kennedy is 46.

Actress Octavia Spencer is 46. Actor Justin Henry is 45. Rapper Daz Dillinger is 43. Actress Molly Sims is 43. Singer Lauryn Hill is 41. Actress Erinn Hayes is 40. Actor Cillian Murphy is 40. Rock musician Todd Whitener is 38. Actor Corbin Allred is 37. Actress-singer Lauren Frost is 31. Musician Guy Lawrence (Disclosure) is 25. Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman is 22.

Thought for Today: “History is something that never happened, written by someone who wasn’t there.” — Author unknown.

CONTACT US Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors.

Harmony, which operates 46 charter schools across Texas, denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

It was filed by attorney Robert Amsterdam, who was hired by the Turkish government to investigate some 150 publicly funded U.S. charter schools started by followers of a reclusive Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania. The cleric, Feth-

ullah Gulen, is a political foe of Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who has launched a crackdown on Gulen and his moderate Islamic movement in Turkey. In a news release, Amsterdam accused the Harmony schools of using taxpayer money to “finance an illegal ... visa scheme that places underqualified Turkish teachers into key positions in its schools, while simultaneously underpaying its more qualified nonTurkish teachers.”

— Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 |

A3

LOCAL & STATE

Zapata Lions Club plans golf tournament fundraiser S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S

The Zapata Lions Club is hosting its third annual Leobardo Martinez Jr. Scholarship Golf Tournament on Saturday, June 11 at Los Ebanos Golf Course.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will contribute to over $6,000 in scholarships to be given to 42

graduating Leo High School members.

The format of the tournament will be a three member Florida scramble. The cost is a $75 donation per player.

For more information, contact Los Ebanos Golf Course at 765-8336, Eduardo Martinez at 7658449 or Aaron Cruz at 240-3408.

Ex-border county commissioner, ex-judge confess to bribery A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DEL RIO — A former county commissioner and a former justice of the peace have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for bribery in an ongoing probe of public corruption in their corruption-plagued South Texas border county.

A federal judge in Del Rio sentenced former Maverick County Precinct 3 Commissioner Jose Luis Rosales to 51⁄2 years in prison for taking a bribe,

while former Maverick County Justice of the Peace Cesar Iracheta got 7 years and 10 months in prison for paying a bribe.

Each could have gotten up to 10 years in prison.

Rosales took kickbacks after manipulating bidding on Maverick County construction contracts in 2012. Iracheta, who also had a construction business, paid up to $10,000 to a county commissioner in return for construction contracts worth about $49,000.

Farmers, ranchers offered loan funding SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

Beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as underserved applicants, may be eligible for Farm Service Agency loans.

USDA Texas FSA Executive Director Judith A. Canales reminds producers that FSA offers targeted farm ownership and farm operating loans to assist qualifying applicants.

“Each year, a portion of FSA’s loan funds are set aside to lend to targeted underserved and beginning farmers and ranchers,” said Canales.

“Farming and livestock production are capital intensive business ventures and FSA is committed to helping producers start, expand and maintain their agricultural operations.”

USDA defines underserved applicants as a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of the group without regard to their individual qualities. For farm loan program purposes, targeted underserved groups are women, African Americans, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, and Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Underserved or beginning farmers and ranchers who cannot obtain commercial credit from a bank can apply for either

FSA direct loans or guaranteed loans. Direct loans are made to applicants by FSA. Guaranteed loans are made by lending institutions who arrange for FSA to guarantee the loan. FSA can guarantee up to 95 percent of the loss of principal and interest on a loan. The FSA guarantee allows lenders to make agricultural credit available to producers who do not meet the lender’s normal underwriting criteria.

“During fiscal year 2015, Texas FSA obligated $157.6 million in loans and guarantees to assist 1,592 targeted underserved and beginning producers,” said Canales.

The direct and guaranteed loan program provides for two types of loans: farm ownership loans and farm operating loans.

Farm ownership loan funds may be used to purchase or enlarge a farm or ranch, purchase easements or rights of way needed in the farm’s operation, build or improve buildings such as a dwelling or barn, promote soil and water conservation and development and pay closing costs.

Farm operating loan funds may be used to purchase livestock, poultry, farm equipment, fertilizer, and other materials necessary to operate a successful farm. Oper-

ating loan funds can also be used for family living expenses, refinancing debts under certain conditions, paying salaries for hired farm laborers, installing or improving water systems for home, livestock, or irrigation use and other similar improvements.

In addition to customary farm operating and ownership loans, FSA now offers Microloans through the direct loan program. The focus of Microloans is on the financing needs of small, beginning farmer, niche and non-traditional farm operations, such as truck farms, farms participating in direct marketing and sales such as farmers’ markets, CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), restaurants and grocery stores, or those using hydroponic, aquaponic, organic and vertical growing methods. Microloans are available for both ownership and operating finance needs. To learn more about microloans, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/ microloans.

Repayment terms for direct operating loans depend on the collateral securing the loan and usually run from one to seven years. Financing for direct farm ownership loans cannot exceed 40 years. Interest rates for direct loans are set periodically according to the Government's cost of

borrowing. Guaranteed loan terms and interest rates are set by the lender.

To qualify as a beginning producer, the individual or entity must meet the eligibility requirements outlined for direct or guaranteed loans. Additionally, individuals and all entity members must have operated a farm for less than 10 years. Applicants must materially or substantially participate in the operation.

For farm ownership purposes, the applicant must not own a farm greater than 30 percent of the average size farm in the county at the time of application. All direct farm ownership applicants must have participated in the business operations of a farm for at least three years out of the last 10 years prior to the date the application is submitted. If the applicant is an entity, all members must be related by blood or marriage and all entity members must be eligible beginning farmers.

For more information on FSA’s farm loan programs and targeted underserved and beginning farmer guidelines, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/farmloansor contact your local FSA Office. Zapata’s office is located at the Zapata Service Center, Hwy 16 & 8th Street, 956765-4344.

About 500 attend funeral for slain 11-year-old Houston boy A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

HOUSTON — About 500 mourners filled a Houston church to capacity Tuesday for the funeral for an 11-year-old boy who was stabbed to death as he walked home from school.

Josue Flores’ slaying a week ago remains unsolved.

“It’s like a wound that’s still left open and we pray that will close quickly for the family,” the Rev. Anil Thomas of Holy Name Catholic Church said.

Some of Josue’s classmates from Marshall Middle School were among those attending services. A high school mariachi band provided music.

“He was such a loving, smart boy,” one classmate, Benisa Garcia, said.

Some classmates were crying as his casket was taken from a funeral home for a procession to the

Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle/AP

Juan Flores Jr. is comforted during a funeral service for his brother Josue Flores at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Tuesday, in Houston.

church. Following the funeral mass, Josue was buried in Houston’s 120year-old Historic Hollywood Cemetery.

The sixth-grader was

walking home from a science club meeting after school May 17 when he was attacked on a sidewalk a couple of blocks from his home in a neigh-

borhood just north of downtown Houston. Witnesses said they heard loud screaming and saw Josue struggling with a man. The boy collapsed on

the grass near the sidewalk and the man ran off.

A bystander flagged down police and alerted them to the wounded boy, who was taken to a hospital

with multiple stab wounds and pronounced dead a short time later.

A 31-year-old man with a long criminal history was arrested last week for the slaying, but a murder charge against him was dropped Friday when detectives found evidence to support his alibi that he wasn’t involved in the killing.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has urged anyone with information about the slaying to come forward. A $15,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

On Tuesday, police declined to say whether Turner’s plea had provided any new clues toward solving the case.

“This is still an active investigation,” police spokesman Victor Senties said. “Obviously, we’re not going to discuss specific tips.”

Zopinion

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

A4 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Why is Clinton disliked?

I understand why Donald Trump is so unpopular. He earned it the old-fashioned way, by being obnoxious, insulting and offensive. But why is Hillary Clinton so unpopular?

She is, at the moment, just as unpopular as Trump. In the last three major national polls she had unfavorability ratings in the same ballpark as Trump’s. In the Washington Post/ABC News poll, they are both at 57 percent disapproval.

In the New York Times/CBS News poll, 60 percent of respondents said Clinton does not share their values. Sixtyfour percent said she is not honest or trustworthy. Clinton has plummeted so completely down to Trump’s level that she is now statistically tied with him in some of the presidential horse race polls.

There are two paradoxes to her unpopularity. First, she was popular not long ago. As secretary of state she had a 66 percent approval rating.

Even as recently as March 2015 her approval rating was at 50 and her disapproval rating was at 39.

It’s only since she launched a multimilliondollar campaign to impress the American people that she has made herself so strongly disliked.

The second paradox is that, agree with her or not, she’s dedicated herself to public service.

From advocate for children to senator, she has pursued her vocation tirelessly. It’s not the “what” that explains her unpopularity; it’s the “how” — the manner in which she has done it.

But what exactly do so many have against her?

I would begin my explanation with this question: Can you tell me what Hillary Clinton does for fun? We know what Obama does for fun — golf, basketball, etc. We know, unfortunately, what Trump does for fun.

But when people talk about Clinton, they tend to talk of her exclusively in professional terms. For example, on Nov. 16, Peter D. Hart conducted a focus group on Clinton. Nearly every assessment had to do with on-the-job performance. She was “multitask-oriented” or “organized” or “deceptive.”

Clinton’s career appears, from the outside, to be all consuming. Her husband is her co-politician. Her daughter works at the Clinton Foundation. Her friendships appear to have been formed at networking gatherings reserved for the extremely successful.

People who work closely with her adore her and say she is warm and caring. But it’s hard from the outside to think of any non-career or pre-career

“

DAVID BROOKS

aspect to her life. Except for a few grandma references, she presents herself as a resume and policy brief.

For example, her campaign recently released a biographical video called “Fighter.” It’s filled with charming and quirky old photos of her fighting for various causes. But then when the video cuts to a current interview with Clinton herself, the lighting is perfect, the setting is perfect, her costume is perfect. She looks less like a human being and more like an avatar from some corporate brand.

Clinton’s unpopularity is akin to the unpopularity of a workaholic. Workaholism is a form of emotional self-estrangement.

Workaholics are so consumed by their professional activities that their feelings don’t inform their most fundamental decisions. The professional role comes to dominate the personality and encroaches on the normal intimacies of the soul. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones once put it, whole cemeteries could be filled with the sad tombstone: “Born a man, died a doctor.”

At least in her public persona, Clinton gives off an exclusively professional vibe: industrious, calculated, goal-oriented, distrustful. It’s hard from the outside to have a sense of her as a person; she is a role.

This formal, careeroriented persona puts her in direct contrast with the mores of the social media age, which is intimate, personalist, revealing, trusting and vulnerable.

It puts her in conflict with most people’s lived experience. Most Americans feel more vivid and alive outside the work experience than within.

So of course to many she seems Machiavellian, crafty, power-oriented, untrustworthy.

There’s a larger lesson here, especially for people who have found a career and vocation that feels fulfilling. Even a socially good vocation can swallow you up and make you lose a sense of your own voice. Maybe it’s doubly important that people with fulfilling vocations develop, and be seen to develop, sanctuaries outside them: in play, solitude, family, faith, hobbies and leisure.

Even successful lives need these sanctuaries — in order to be a real person instead of just a productive one. It appears that we don’t really trust candidates who do not show us theirs.

David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.

COLUMN

Every town has its shame Small Texas towns are great. There’s almost enough of everything to go around — except money, food and morals.

Morals!?

One town in which I published a paper had an undertaker that also freelanced as a bootlegger.

Another had a prostitute that was widely known and recognized and to my knowledge, never arrested.

The term bootlegger may need some explanation. It’s not a term as frequently heard in the Lone Star State as it once was. A bootlegger is someone who sells alcoholic beverages without any of the federal or state stamps, tax and otherwise, and/or someone who peddles the illicit booze in areas where it is forbidden by local statute.

Our liquor laws are such that the state has wet and dry areas that, if indicated on a map with a different color for each of the two designations, would provide something resembling the product of a quilting bee.

There was a major change in Texas a couple of generations ago when, in addition to bars that served beer and package

stores that sold wine, whiskey and all manner of strong spirits, liquor by the drink was approved.

That created a whole new set of alcohol selling establishments, mostly bars and “night clubs,” which were previously merely “private clubs” for “members only” to get around the liquor-by-the-drink barriers.

Texans tend to make fun of themselves. However, if you have an abovethe-Mason-Dixon-Line accent, don’t you dare open your mouth. You will have stopped preaching and started meddling.

Back to illicit whiskey and the aforementioned bootlegging undertaker.

Years ago, in the days before liquor by the drink, undertakers-funeral homes also provided ambulance service in their town/county. That’s how the bootleg booze was brought into town, lights flashing and siren screaming. Oh, and the undertaker was a member of the clergy as well. You might

say, The Right Reverend Digger Dunn.

You understand, of course, that in an “expose’” such as this no one’s real name (except mine) is used. I could prove what I’m saying but at considerable expense with no guarantee any court “winnings” would cover it. Additionally, between retirement benefits from a previous employer, Social Security, Medicare and this kolyum, we manage to eat regularly, live in a modest house and drive a paidfor, nine-year-old SUV. Back to business. Illicit booze is only one segment of the “small town shame to bear.”

Sin and shame includes (gasp!) prostitution.

In one place where I lived, wrote and published, the local bootlegger Calvin and the reigning hooker Minnie lived together, in sin I’m sure.

Seems they had a monopoly — ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum.

One day, after football practice, a bunch of us players were hanging at the local drug store. Actually, we were propping up the concrete posts that held up the front part of the building, sipping on

COLUMN

The twin tests Donald Trump presents

By Scot Lehigh THE B O STON GL OBE

Donald Trump’s ascension presents two tests in one candidacy: a public-affairs exam for the American public and a Rorschach test for the commentariat.

Move beyond nationalist slogans and demeaning nicknames, and what Trump is peddling is a collection of contradictions, a glop of gallimaufry, a hodgepodge of impossibility.

He can’t, for example, pass his tax plan and balance the budget. It just won’t happen. Deficits are already on the upswing again. His huge tax cuts would only accelerate that — and at a time when the retiring baby boomers are putting increasing budgetary pressure on entitlements.

“There is no plausible plan there,” notes Bob Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan fiscal

watchdog. “He is recycling myths that fiscal experts have been refuting for years.”

He’s just as nonsensical on trade. Take his call for slapping a 35 percent tariff on Ford vehicles coming from Mexico as a way to prevent that company from relocating any automobile production there.

“He can’t do it,” says Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute and a former trade negotiator

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chocolate malts and trying to muster enough energy to walk home when who should come strutting down Main Street but Minnie. She looked like Ronald McDonald with about 18 pounds of makeup. Her considerable posterior was moving in ways most mortals have never seen.

A rather dipstick high school junior, who’d apparently had all his brains dashed out on the football practice field, yelled at Minnie as she wiggled by: “Hey, Minnie, $5.”

Minnie stopped, threw both hands straight up and shook as she yelled, “$25 little boys, $25!”

I broke the handle on the drug store door as the first one inside to the soda fountain.

And, Dipstick was left alone on the sidewalk with egg all over his very red face.

It seems shame sometimes comes with a side of humor. That’s only one of any number “laughs” prostitution produced in my hometown.

Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper publisher with more than 50 years experience. He can be reached by email at wwebb1937@att.net.

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

for Ronald Reagan. “It would be a violation of NAFTA.” So why, then, is Trump gaining on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton?

Have faith in democracy. It, after all, has made us what we are: a country that was great long before Donald Trump came on the scene — and will remain so long after he’s gone the way of every other dime-store demagogue.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 |

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Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Feria de Salud 1 La oficina del alguacil del Condado de Zapata informa que el domingo 29 de mayo se realizará una feria de salud gratuita de 2 p.m. a 5 p.m. en el pavilion, 2301 Fresno. Participarán médicos, nutriólogos, consejeros para adolescentes, cuidado infantil, prueba de diabetes y presión arterial. También estará presente personal del Consulado Mexicano.

Academia Roma FC Soccer 1 Se invita a participar en la escuela infantil Academia Roma FC Soccer para niños de 3 años a 10 años de edad. Cuota de 40 dólares que incluye uniforme.

Registro es martes y jueves de 6 p.m. a 8 p.m. en el Roma Park Soccer Field. Participan en juegos de fin de semana y torneos.

Informes en el 956437-2700 o 956-4379112.

Walk Across Texas 1 El mercado agrícola y artesanal de Zapata y Texas A&M University invita al arranque del evento Walk Across Texas, el sábado 4 de junio, de 10 a.m. a 1 p.m., que consta de un reto de ocho semanas para mantenerse físicamente activo a través de carrera/caminata.

El evento es gratuito y lleno de actividades.

Regístrese en walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu o el día del evento en Zapata County Plaza (junto a la Oficina del Alguacil). Asista, ejercítese y adquiera productos frescos, saludables y locales.

Informes en (956) 750-6600 y (956) 750-1120, o bien escriba a zapatafarmersmarket@gmail.com

Memorial Day 1 La Cámara de Comercio del Condado de Zapata anuncia que el lunes 30 de mayo las oficinas permanecerán cerradas por la celebración de Memorial Day. 1 Se le invita a participar en la conmemoración por Memorial Day a partir de las 9:30 a.m. en el V.F.W. Memorial Post 9175 en Roma.

TAMAULIPAS

EDUCACIÓN

Mejoraría región

Texas: libro provoca debate

Gobernador podrá ser fronterizo Por Steve Taylor RIO GRANDE GUARDIAN

MCALLEN, RGV – Es probable que el próximo gobernador de Tamaulipas sea... alguien nacido en el Sur de Texas.

Al menos eso dice Mike Myers, un integrante del consejo INDEX Reynosa, la asociación de comercio para maquiladoras en Reynosa.

Durante una reunión de la Corporación para el Desarrollo Económico de McAllen (MEDC, por sus siglas en inglés), Myers dijo que los dos principales candidatos en la elección gubernamental este año nacieron en el Rio Grande Valley. Dijo que Baltazar Manuel Hinojosa Ochoa, el candidato del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), nació en Brownsville, y ahora radica en Matamoros. El candidato del Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, nació en McAllen y ahora radica en Reynosa.

“Es una locura pero el próximo gobernador del estado de Tamaulipas nació en el estado de Texas”, dijo Myers al consejo MEDC. “El hombre del PAN es de Matamoros y nació en Brownsville y el hombre del PAN es de Reynosa y nació en McAllen. Ambos tienen la doble ciudadanía”.

Myers dijo a líderes del INDEX Reynosa que se ha reunido tanto con Cabeza de Vaca como con Hinojosa. Dijo que tener un gobernador de la frontera será grandioso para el Sur de Texas.

“Las buenas noticias es que ellos deben estar sensibilizados acerca de la región fronteriza. Eso es afortunado. Es como si el gobernador de Texas

fuera de McAllen. No será un hombre de (Ciudad) Victoria o un hombre de Altamira. El próximo gobernador será de nuestra área, por lo que las cosas deberán mejorar para nuestro bienestar”, dijo Myers.

Robert Lozano, integrante del consejo MEDC, consideró que fue bueno saberlo. “Como sueles escuchar a Keith decir, somos dos países pero una sola comunidad. A mejor podamos comunicar eso, tanto hacia el norte de nosotros, como hacia el sur, estaremos aún mejor”.

Keith Patridge es el presidente del MEDC. Entrevistado al concluir la reunión, Myers dijo: “Tendremos a un gobernador de la frontera, lo cual son muy buenas noticias. Obviamente, como ciudadanos de EU, no podemos tomar partido, México es muy estricto acerca de evitar la interferencia. Pero, quien sea que gane, tendremos a alguien que entiende igualmente la región fronteriza”.

Boom En su reporte al consejo del MEDC, Myers también brindó una actualización sobre cómo le está yendo a la industria maquiladora en Reynosa.

Más de 100.000 personas trabajan actualmente para las maquiladoras en la ciudad. Myers dijo que el actual clima económico le recuerda al 2005, cuando los trabajadores estaban en gran demanda.

“Durante los pasados cuatro o cinco meses hemos visto un alza en el crecimiento de nuestras maquiladoras. Por tanto, hemos tenido que ponernos las pilas para contratar personas. Colocación de pancartas, atraerlos, no es suficiente.

Cabeza de Vaca

Ahora, tenemos que anunciarnos para la gente, pagar bonos, colocar anuncios en periódicos. Hemos regresado al 2005 cuando enloquecimos (por contratar a trabajadores adicionales)”, dijo Myers.

Myers dijo que la semana entrante la asociación nacional INDEX tendrá su reunión mensual con el gobierno federal en Nuevo Laredo, México. “Estamos tratando de regresar los incentivos que solíamos tener por parte del gobierno federal. Existían cuando teníamos excedentes. Perdimos los incentivos cuando el gobierno realizó las reformas económicas. Hablaremos con el gobierno federal para que regrese los incentivos” Myers dijo que un programa de incentivos es necesario porque los trabajadores en las fábricas de maquiladora son vitales. “Estamos hablando de nuestra sangre para poder vivir, los operadores que construyen nuestros teléfonos celulares, nuestras televisiones. Probablemente necesitamos darles un poco más de dinero, reducir la rotación que tanto dinero nos cuesta.

Bievenidos a nuestro mundo. Es mejor que desconocer qué hacer con nuestros trabajadores (cuando existe una crisis)”.

En su reporte al consejo MEDC, Patridge dijo que los negocios en el área metropolitana de McAllen han empezado a mejorar.

“Ha llegado al punto en donde hemos empezado a quedarnos sin edificios, literalmente. En la Zona de Comercio Extranjero, tuvimos que rechazar a un par de compañías por rentas potenciales debido

a que estamos llenos al 100 por ciento. Los espacios grandes ya no existen”, dijo Patridge. “Durante el último cuarto absorbimos 700.000 metros cuadrados en el área metropolitana”.

Tejanos pueden dar sus opiniones ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Foro Patridge también reportó que Andrés Alcantar, presidente de la Comisión para la Fuerza Laboral de Texas, había pedido al MEDC ser anfitrión de un foro para educación y entrenamiento de la fuerza laboral.

Patridge dijo que el evento se realizará en el campus de tecnología del South Texas College (STC) en McAllen el 25 de mayo. Dijo que asistirán los tres líderes de la Comisión de la Fuerza Laboral de Texas, junto con el Comisionado para la Educación en Texas, Mike Morath, y el Comisionado para Educación Superior en Texas, Ray Paredes.

Carlos Margo, decano adjunto para entrenamiento industrial y desarrollo económico del STC, dijo que espera las empresas que Patridge ha invitado hablen en favor de un cambio en cómo los fondos para desarrollo de habilidades pueden ser utilizados.

“Entendemos que este foro ha sido diseñado para escuchar cuáles son las necesidades locales en cuanto al entrenamiento de trabajadores. Bien, tenemos necesidades singulares de nuestra fuerza laboral”, dijo Margo al Rio Grande Guardian.

“Debido a nuestra cercanía a México, mucho de nuestro personal en la mano de obra tienen al inglés como segundo idioma. ”, dijo Margo.

HOUSTON — Un libro de texto propuesto para ayudar a enseñar la historia cultural de los mexicano-estadounidenses en las escuelas públicas de Texas está bajo escrutinio.

The Houston Chronicle reportó que el libro describe a los mexicanoestadounidenses como personas que “adoptaron una narrativa revolucionaria que se opuso a la civilización occidental y querían destruir esta sociedad”.

El libro, titulado “Herencia Mexico Estadounidense”, también vincula a este grupo con la inmigración no autorizada.

La Junta de Educación del estado votó para incluir libros de texto sobre el tema después de que activistas pidieron el año pasado que los estudios mexicano-estadounidenses fueran incluidos formalmente en el currículo estatal.

Tony Díaz, director de Iniciativas Interculturales en el colegio Lone Star College-North Harris, dijo que “en lugar de un texto que sea respetuoso de la historia mexicano-estadounidense, tenemos un libro racista, pobremente escrito y preparado por inexpertos”.

Los tejanos tienen hasta septiembre para presentar sus opiniones sobre los materiales educativos propuestos.

ZAPATA

RESCATE DE RAÍCES

Aseguramiento 1 El Grupo de Coordinación Tamaulipas informó que el domingo, personal de la Secretaría de Marina aseguró en la carretera estatal Río BravoValle Hermoso un camión con tres contenedores de plástico, dos de los cuales contenían 1.800 litros de hidrocarburo.

El chofer, identificado como Ignacio Gutiérrez García, fue detenido después de que intentara evadir el arresto. De acuerdo al reporte, Gutiérrez primero trató de huir a toda velocidad, pero al no lograrlo bajó del camión y se arrojó a un canal de aguas, donde fue rescatado por los marinos.

El camión de cinco toneladas que conducía Gutiérrez García tenía reporte por robo.

En la cabina del camión se ubicó una bolsa de plástico conteniendo 150 gramos de marihuana, 12 bolsitas pequeñas con droga vegetal y dos radios de comunicación.

Hinojosa

Foto de cortesía | SGNS

Del Shumway de la Iglesia de los Santos de los Últimos Días, Viqui Uribe y Flores Burford, el sábado en el Museo de Historia del Condado de Zapata.

Shumway mostró la forma de digitalizar fotografías o documentos en Family Search, mientras que Uribe presentó su árbol genealógico, Flores Burford, que incluyó fotografías que han permanecido en su familia por generaciones. Tanto Shumway como Uribe son miembros de la sociedad genealógica.

COLUMNA

Indígenas eran conocidos como bárbaros Nota del Editor: Los grupos indígenas de Tamaulipas llegan a ser reducidos o exterminados durante la Colonia, sin embargo los apaches y los comanches resultaron difíciles de controlar.

Por Raúl Sinencio E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

México vivía conflictos bélicos durante gran parte del siglo XIX. En Tamaulipas, se sufría el ataque de indígenas a los que llamaban bárbaros del norte.

Corría el siglo XVIII cuando se cristaliza el

proyecto de colonizar Tamaulipas. Numerosas etnias prehispánicas quedan ahí reducidas o exterminadas. Otros grupos nómadas e insumisos, merodean en las praderas pero las fuerzas virreinales consiguen mantenerlos a raya.

En 1803, el virrey Félix Berenguer Marquina informó al respecto: “Tranquilizados por ahora sus enemigos interiores de la [sierra de] Tamaulipas, lo están asimismo los […] exteriores”.

Formalizada la independencia nacional, el imperio de Agustín de

Iturbide y los comanches dirigidos por el jefe Guonique suscriben un insólito tratado. El 13 de diciembre de 1822 convienen “la paz y amistad perpetuas”.

Sin embargo, continuos desencuentros políticos y conflagraciones empañaron largo tiempo la escena mexicana. Ante dichas circunstancias, los destacamentos norteños se movilizan al interior.

Con motivo del expansionismo gringo, perderíamos de Texas a California. Hostigados en forma simultánea por estadounidenses, los

aborígenes del área suelen huir a México, donde perpetran cruentos golpes. De los pobladores originarios, sometidos otrora a España, se distinguen por el hábil uso del caballo y de modernos fusiles, que EU fabrica.

Tamaulipas sufre embestidas sobre todo en las márgenes del Río Bravo. Y marcan profundamente la vida cotidiana. Al visitar Matamoros, en 1839 Manuel Payno recoge que antaño la comunidad ocupaba “casitas de troncos de palma y zacate […] con cercados de espinos y

fuertes empalizadas para resguardarse de las incursiones de los salvajes”.

Al poniente ribereño está Ciudad Guerrero.

Conforma la municipalidad el rancho de Los Moros, que en 1844 registra espantoso asalto.

Entre Brownsville y Matamoros de 1850 a 1852, Emmanuel Domenech narra el rapto de cierta “joven mexicana” por “indios bárbaros”, amancebándola.

Con permiso del autor, publicado en La Razón, Tampico, Tamps., 20 mayo del 2016

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 |

A7

NCAA ATHLETICS: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Mounting pressure at Baylor Starr still president as governing board reviews report

By Jim Vertuno A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — Baylor University and its president faced mounting pressure Tuesday over how the school has handled reports of rape and assault by football players, and the Texas university said its governing board was still considering the results of an internal investigation into the matter.

Asked about reports that the board of regents had voted to fire school President Ken Starr, university spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said in an email, “Ken Starr is president and chancellor of Baylor University.” Fogelman did not elaborate.

In a separate statement issued by the university, Baylor said its board has not finished reviewing the report by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton “and we anticipate further communication will come after the board completes its deliberations.” The statement said the private university wouldn’t comment on the reports about Starr, which cited unnamed sources. HornsDigest.com was the first to report that the board had decided to

fire Starr.

“We will not respond to rumors, speculation or reports based on unnamed sources, but when official news is available, the University will provide it. We expect an announcement by June 3,” the school said.

Starr did not immediately respond to a telephone message left at his office or email requests sent to university media relations.

Starr and football coach Art Briles have faced sharp criticism on whether Baylor ignored allegations of assaults by players, two of whom were later convicted of sexual assault. It was unclear whether the regents were considering any action against Briles and the school’s statement did not mention the coach.

Starr has been Baylor president since 2010. He was the special prosecutor who investigated President Bill Clinton’s sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewisnky.

The school hired Pepper Hamilton in 2015 for the internal review. Regents were given a private presentation of some of the firm’s findings earlier

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Cavaliers lose invincible aura

By Tom Withers A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Upon their return from Canada, the Cavaliers had nothing to declare at U.S. Customs.

Their lead in the Eastern Conference finals had already been confiscated.

Cleveland was stripped of its dominance and a 2-0 advantage during a long weekend in Toronto, where the growing-confident-by-the-shot Raptors, propelled by a crowd and city that believes they can make the NBA Finals, won two straight games.

“They flipped the script on us,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.

After being throttled by a combined 50 points in Games 1 and 2, the Raptors turned a series that began with blowouts into a best-of-3, winnertake-all slugfest. There wasn’t supposed to be a Game 5, and now there will be a Game 6 as well.

Unable to contain Toronto All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan from scoring or keep Raptors super sub Bismack Biyombo off the boards, the Cavs have put themselves in a predicament.

Gone is their entire margin for error, some of their swagger and any aura of invincibility that surrounded them after reeling off 10 straight wins to open the post-

season.

And as the teams prepared for Game 5 on Wednesday night, the pressure has swung back on superstar LeBron James and the Cavs, who spent Tuesday in film sessions breaking down went wrong during their visit to Toronto.

There was plenty to process from Monday’s 105-99 loss.

Cleveland came out flat, falling behind by 16 in the first half and relying too much on its 3point shooting, which has suddenly gone as cold as a Saskatchewan winter.

The Cavs fought their way back using a smaller lineup that didn’t include the suddenly struggling Kevin Love, but they didn’t have enough down the stretch as costly defensive lapses — and terrific shot-making by Lowry and DeRozan — helped the Raptors even the series.

No offense to rapper Drake and Toronto’s rowdy fans, but Lue was happy to escape “We The North.”

“Now it’s our chance to come back, get some home cooked meals and have a chance to play in front of our home crowd,” he said.

James, who logged 46 minutes in Game 4, did not speak to the media on Tuesday, choosing to stay far from the view of reporters and cameras.

LM Otero / AP

Regents at Baylor are still reviewing an investigation into how the school handled reports of rape and assault by football players. The university issued a statement Tuesday saying Ken Starr is still the president amid reports of him being fired.

this month, but those details have not been made public. Baylor is the nation’s largest Baptist university.

Speculation that regents will fire any Baylor officials have focused on Starr, not Briles, who has built the football program from one of the Big 12’s worst into a conference and national powerhouse in his nine seasons.

The Bears have won two Big 12 championships since 2013, a wave of success that reaped financial rewards as well. In 2014, Baylor opened a new state-of-the-art football

stadium on campus.

Starr enjoyed the public relations that came with a successful football program. He often ran onto the field with student fans in pregame ceremonies before home games and had become one of the leading voices in the Big 12 as the league considers whether to expand.

But the university has been stung by the assault scandal that exploded in 2015 when former football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting a former Baylor soccer player.

That was followed by

media reports that Baylor ignored repeated allegations of assault against former football player Tevon Elliott, who was convicted of sexual assault in 2014. Other reports of assault allegations followed and more than 200 Baylor students, faculty and alumni staged a candlelight vigil outside of Starr’s Waco residence in February.

The school is also facing a federal lawsuit from a former student claiming the school was “deliberately indifferent” to rape allegations levied against Elliott before he was

ultimately convicted of assaulting her.

Starr has stayed mostly silent on the assault reports outside of a couple of statements issued by the school.

In a February statement issued by university, Starr said, “Our hearts break for those whose lives are impacted by execrable acts of sexual violence.” At a prayer breakfast last month, Starr told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “I am in favor of transparency.

Stand up, take your medicine if you made a mistake.”

NCAA BASEBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS

Garrido won’t resign

By Jim Vertuno ASSOCIATED PRE SS

AUSTIN — Texas heads into the Big 12 tournament after a disappointing regular season and the winningest coach in college baseball history finds himself pleading to keep his job.

That’s what it’s come to for Augie Garrido in his 20th season with the Longhorns as his two national titles with Texas (2002 and 2005), and five overall, fade into the distance.

Garrido has one year left on a contract that pays him nearly $1.1 million per year and a losing record in the Big 12 over the last five seasons.

Texas is 22-30 this year and seeded No. 7 heading into Wednesday night’s tournament opener against No. 2 Oklahoma State.

Texas will need to win the Big 12 tourney to make the NCAA postseason. That seems a long shot considering Texas hasn’t put together four straight wins all season.

Garrido’s status after this season has become an open question among Texas fans. And Garrido, who has 1,972 career victories in a college coaching career that dates to 1969, has said he won’t resign.

“I want to finish next year and I will do all I can to convince the powers that be that I’m capable of turning it around, because I have five times in the past and I’ll do

Rodolfo Gonzalez / AP

Augie Garrido is the winningest coach in college baseball history and wants to return for a 21st season with the Longhorns after a disappointing regular season.

whatever it takes and make any adjustments I need to make to turn it around,” Garrido said after Texas beat Baylor on Saturday.

“I’m not going to resign,” Garrido said. “If they give me a chance, I’ll fix it. I’d like to go out on my own terms, and I’d like to go out a winner.”

Texas hasn’t been so patient in recent years.

National championshipwinning coach Mack Brown was pushed out in 2013 after four seasons without a Big 12 title.

Basketball coach Rick Barnes got similar treatment in 2015 even though his teams made the NCAA Tournament in 16 of his 17 seasons.

But those decisions were made by previous administrations. First-

year President Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin have been quiet on whether they plan to fire Garrido or bring him back. Texas could buy out Garrido’s final contract year for about $300,000.

Garrido has fought through tough times at Texas before.

He was hired away from Cal-State Fullerton in 1997 to replace Cliff Gustafson, who had won two national titles and 17 conference titles with the Longhorns. And it took some time for Garrido to win over Texas fans.

His first team failed to qualify for the Big 12 Tournament. In 1998, Garrido had the program’s first losing season since the 1950s. Texas showed signs of life

when the Longhorns went 36-26 in 1999 and made it the postseason but finished sixth in the Big 12.

By then, some fans were calling for his job.

Those didn’t last long.

Texas went back to the College World Series in 2000. Garrido guided the Longhorns to the two national titles and three more CWS bids in a seven-year span. From 2002-2010, Texas had six 50-win seasons.

But now the Longhorns could miss the NCAA Tournament for the third time the last five years.

“If they’ve decided it’s now, I still have a million ‘thank yous’ for all the excitement this has created and brought to my life,” Garrido said.

A8 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

POLITICS

In two-front war, Hillary Clinton targets Trump’s housing crash gain

By Ken Thomas and Lisa Lerer A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — Hillary Clinton and her Democratic allies dove deeper into Donald Trump’s record Tuesday, launching a new round of attacks designed to paint the billionaire businessman as profiting off the housing crisis that hurt millions of Americans.

As she has for weeks, Clinton avoided all mention of primary challenger Bernie Sanders, even as both campaigned in California ahead of the state’s June 7 primary.

Instead, she focused on Trump, trying to use the presumptive Republican nominee’s words against

him.

“You know what happened in the great recession. Donald Trump said when he was talking about the possibility of a housing market crash before the great recession, he said, ‘I sort of hope that happens,”’ Clinton told union workers in Los Angeles.

“He actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard-working families in California and across the country to lose their homes.”

Trump shot back in a statement, saying he’s “made a lot of money in down markets.”

“Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs, understanding how to get a

good result out of a very bad and sad situation.”

Clinton’s attacks were echoed by her campaign and Democrats across the country, who highlighted comments Trump made in 2006 saying he “sort of hopes” the housing bubble would burst because “people like me could make a lot of money.”

The new assault comes as Democrats try to hone their most powerful lines of attacks against Trump.

More than half of Clinton’s address in Los Angeles was devoted to criticizing Trump’s foreign policy record, economic policies and personal finances, including his unwillingness to release his tax returns.

Clinton is attempting to

turn her attention to Trump even as she continues to face a two-front war against both Trump and Sanders.

Sanders’ campaign launched a $1.5 million ad buy in California on Tuesday and announced it would seek a recanvass in last week’s Kentucky primary, where he trailed Clinton by less than onehalf of 1 percent. The recanvass, which is not a recount, involves reviewing the election results but is unlikely to change the results or the awarding of delegates.

In California, Clinton hopes to make a statement in a contest that will effectively end the primaries and encourage the party to coalesce around

Justin Sullivan / Getty

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign event on Tuesday in Commerce, California.

her candidacy. Clinton is targeting Latino and black voters, who have typically backed her candidacy in high numbers, as she campaigns across the state. Sanders, meanwhile, hopes that winning a large share of the state’s 475 delegates will give him momentum heading into the party’s Philadelphia convention in July.

He is barnstorming the state, holding multiple rallies a day in hopes of connecting directly with

grassroots supporters.

“If we win big in California, we’re going to go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum,” Sanders said to cheers at a rally. “And if we go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum, we’re going to march out with the Democratic nomination. And if we march out with the Democratic nomination, Donald Trump is toast.”

In final drive, Obama seeks better relations with US foes

By Josh Lederman A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — In his final stretch as president, Barack Obama is driving the United States toward friendlier relations with longstanding adversaries, working to consign bitter enmities with Vietnam, Iran, Cuba and Myanmar to the history books.

Though the reconciliations have been years in the making, Obama hopes he can prove the benefits of his softer approach before he hands control to an uncertain successor in January. Defiant cries of naivety his opponents have only strengthened his conviction that the U.S. must release itself from an us-versus-them mentality forged during

wars that ended decades ago.

The quest for resolution was on display this week in Hanoi, where Obama lifted an arms sales embargo that had stood as one of the last remnants of the Vietnam War and the deep freeze that persisted until the two nations restored relations in 1995.

Obama’s next gesture will come Friday in Hiroshima, Japan, where he’ll become the first sitting president to visit the site where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb — helping end World War II but sowing resentments.

Seven decades later, those have mostly fallen away.

Though his move has rankled some U.S. veterans and some Japanese, Obama’s visit will be a powerful reminder of the

Carolyn Kaster / AP

President Barack Obama is given flowers as he is greeted by Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam as he arrives on Air Force One at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tuesday.

intimate alliance between two nations that now view China more warily than they do each other.

Speaking to the Vietnamese people Tuesday, Obama dismissed calls for keeping the communistrun country at a distance, the stance of those fecklessly nursing long-forgotten rivalries. He noted that he’s the first president to

come of age after the war, telling his young audience that his own daughters had grown up knowing only peace between the U.S. and Vietnam.

“When the last U.S. forces left Vietnam, I was just 13 years old,” Obama said. “So I come here mindful of the past, mindful of our difficult history, but focused on the future:

the prosperity, security and human dignity that we can advance together.”

For Obama, the belief that his youth uniquely positions him to turn the page took root long before he was elected president.

In his 2006 book “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama wrote that American politics suffered from a case of arrested development, or what he dismissively referred to as “the psychodrama of the baby boom generation — a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago.”

Elsewhere, in recent years few countries have seen as dramatic a shift in U.S. relations as Myanmar, also known as Burma. With the country’s transition away from

decades of oppressive military control, the administration rewarded Myanmar for reforms by easing sanctions against state-run companies and banks earlier this year while continuing to call for more economic and political changes.

Though the party of longtime opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi swept into power in Myanmar in March, Suu Kyi herself is still barred from holding the presidency due to a constitutional rule believed to have been written specifically for her. Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser and an architect of his Myanmar policy, said the rapprochement reflected dual goals of acknowledging history but not becoming imprisoned by it.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 |

A9

BUSINESS

Goodbye empty nest: Millennials staying longer with parents

By Christopher S. Rugaber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Many of America’s young adults appear to be in no hurry to move out of their old bedrooms.

For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found.

And the proportion of older millennials — those ages 25 to 34 — who are living at home has reached its highest point (19 percent) on record, Pew analysts said.

Nearly one-third of all millennials live with their parents, slightly more than the proportion who live with a spouse or partner. It’s the first time that living at home has outpaced living with a spouse for this age group since such record-keeping began in 1880.

The remaining young adults are living alone, with other relatives, in college dorms, as roommates or under other circumstances.

The sharp shift reflects a long-running decline in marriage, amplified by the economic upheavals of the Great Recession. The trend has been particularly evident among Americans who lack a college degree.

The pattern may be a contributing factor in the sluggish growth of the U.S. economy, which depends heavily on consumer spending. With more young people living with their parents rather than on their own, fewer people need to buy appliances, furniture or cable subscriptions. The recovery from the 2008-09 recession has been hobbled by historically low levels of home construction and home ownership.

Jennifer Post, 26, has been living with her parents in Villas, New Jersey, since dropping out of law school two years ago.

A law career wasn’t a good fit for her, Post decided, and now she’s seeking a job in digital media or marketing. There aren’t many opportunities in Villas, a beach town.

Even living at home, she said it’s been hard to save for a move to a bigger city after she was laid off from a baking job in March.

Tech companies take the lead as US stocks surge

By Marley Jay ASSOCIATED PRE SS

John Amis / AP

In this May 31, 2014, file photo, members of the graduating class and faculty attend the Savannah College of Art and Design commencement in Atlanta.

Post spends her days on her laptop, sending resumes and refreshing LinkedIn and other job sites. To her parents, it looks as though she’s slacking off.

“It’s definitely a generation gap,” she said. “I think they literally think I just sit down and watch Netflix all day.”

As recently as 2000, nearly 43 percent of young adults ages 18 to 34 were married or living with a partner. By 2014, that proportion was just 31.6 percent.

In 2000, only 23 percent of young adults were living with parents. In 2014, the figure reached 32.1 percent.

The proportion of young adults living with their parents is similar to the proportions that prevailed from 1880 through 1940, when the figure peaked, Pew found. Yet in those decades, the most common arrangement for young adults was living with a spouse rather than with parents.

“We’ve simply got a lot more singles,” said Richard Fry, lead author of the report and a senior economist at Pew. “They’re the group much more likely to live with their parents.”

The typical U.S. woman now marries at 27.1 years old, the typical man at 29.2, according to census data. That’s up from record lows of 20.1 for women and 22.5 for men in 1956.

“They’re concentrating more on school, careers and work and less focused on forming new families, spouses or partners and children,” Fry said.

The shift may also be disrupting the housing market. One mystery that’s confounded analysts is why there aren’t more homes for sale. The lack of available houses has driven up prices and made it less affordable for

many would-be purchasers to buy.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at real estate brokerage Redfin, says one explanation for the sparse supply is that many baby boomers aren’t able to sell their family homes and downsize for retirement because they still have adult children living with them.

Redfin surveyed homeowners ages 55 to 64 and found that one-fifth still have adult children at home.

“It’s having a big effect on the housing market,” Richardson said.

Among young men, declining employment and falling wages are another factor keeping many 18-to-34-year-olds unmarried, Fry said. The share of young men with jobs fell to 71 percent in 2014 from 84 percent in 1960 — the year when the proportion of young adults living outside the home peaked.

Incomes have fallen, too: Wages, adjusted for inflation, plunged 34 percent for the typical young man from 2000 to 2014.

Other factors contributing to more millennials living with parents range from rising apartment rents to heavy studentdebt loads to longer periods in college.

Many analysts had expected that as the economy improved, younger adults would increasingly move out on their own.

That hasn’t happened. Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, says soaring rents are discouraging some from leaving their parents’ homes.

Kolko’s research has found that the share of young adults living with parents in the first quarter of 2016 was essentially unchanged from two years earlier.

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks made their biggest gain since March on Tuesday as technology companies like Apple and Microsoft soared. Homebuilders also climbed after the government said sales of new homes reached an eight-year high last month. That was a sign the housing market and the broader economy are still in pretty good shape.

Stocks opened higher following hefty gains in Europe. Tech stocks made their biggest gain in almost three months, which erased their losses from earlier this year. Banks rose as interest rates continued to inch higher, which lets banks make more money on lending.

Stocks have alternated between gains and losses in recent days following a four-week-long string of losses.

“A little bit of good data has reminded people that things are actually OK,” said David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist at UBS Wealth Management.

“It’s almost like a rubber band. When things get too stretched they snap back.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 213.12 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,706.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 28.02 points, or 1.4 percent, to 2,076.06. The Nasdaq composite index surged 95.27 points, or 2 percent, to 4,861.06.

Tech stocks led the market higher with their biggest jump since March 1. Apple picked up $1.47, or 1.5 percent, to $97.90 and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, added $15.78, or 2.2 percent, to $733.03.

Microsoft rose $1.56, or 3.1 percent, to $51.59.

Home building stocks jumped after the Commerce Department said sales of new homes reached their highest level since January 2008. Sales of both newly-built and previously-occupied homes grew as job gains and low mortgage rates encourage Americans to keep buying homes. Toll Brothers also reported better first-quarter results than analysts expected, and the company raised its annual projections for

Richard Drew / AP

Trader Michael Urkonis, foreground, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday.

home prices and sales.

The stock gained $2.36, or 8.7 percent, to $29.46.

Beazer Homes USA added 66 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $7.86 and PulteGroup rose 91 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $18.73.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.86 percent from 1.84 percent.

When interest rates go up, as they have been doing recently, banks can make more money from lending.

JPMorgan Chase climbed $1.08, or 1.7 percent, to $64.54 and Bank of America gained 21 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $14.68.

Agribusiness giant Monsanto rejected an offer from German conglomerate Bayer worth $62 billion, or $122 per share.

However Monsanto said it’s open to talks with Bayer about a possible sale. As investors hoped for a richer offer, Monsanto stock rose $3.30, or 3.1 percent, to $109.30.

Streaming video company Netflix jumped after it said it struck deal with Disney. Starting in September, Netflix will have exclusive U.S. rights to new movies from Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar. Netflix stock jumped $3, or 3.2 percent, to $97.89.

Fertilizer maker CF Industries ended a deal to buy OCI’s distribution networks for about $8 billion. CF planned to reincorporate in the U.K. as part of the deal, which would have reduced its tax bill, but the company said new Treasury Department rules made the combination less appealing. CF Industries will pay OCI $150 million for calling off the deal. CF Industries shed $2.24, or 7.5 percent, to $27.61.

Oil is trading at its highest price since early October, and benchmark U.S. crude picked up 54 cents,

or 1.1 percent, to $48.62 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $48.61 a barrel in London.

Retailers continued to struggle. Electronics chain Best Buy said its quarterly sales kept falling and its outlook was weak. That made Best Buy the latest retailer to disclose disappointing quarterly results. Its stock lost $2.45, or 7.4 percent, to $30.55.

Shoe and accessories retailer DSW cut its outlook, saying it expects weaker sales this year.

That came after the company reported disappointing results for its first fiscal quarter. The stock gave up $2.53, or 11.6 percent, to $19.20.

Athletic apparel maker Under Armour rose after it announced a deal with UCLA worth $280 million over 15 years. The stock jumped 95 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $38.22.

Twitter announced a series of format changes that make its 140-character limit a bit more flexible.

While that might make Twitter more appealing to new users, Twitter did not abolish that limit entirely, as some had expected.

Already trading around all-time lows, the stock declined 38 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $14.03.

France’s CAC 40 added 2.5 percent while Germany’s DAX gained 2.2 percent. In Britain the FTSE 100 rose 1.3 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent as the yen continued to strengthen, hurting Japanese exporters. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.9 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.1 percent.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline gained 1 cent to $1.65 a gallon.

Natural gas fell 8 cents to $1.98 per 1,000 cubic feet.

A10 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Born deaf, 11-year-old is among nation’s top spellers

By Ben Nuckols A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Making it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee is an amazing achievement for any kid, but for 11-yearold Neil Maes, being born deaf made his journey especially unlikely.

After receiving cochlear implants in both ears as a baby, he had to train his brain to understand spoken words. It took countless hours of speech therapy.

“We didn’t even know that he’d be able to talk. It wasn’t a guarantee,” his mother, Christy Maes, said Tuesday.

Now the soft-spoken kid from Belton, South Carolina is officially one of the nation’s top young spellers. He earned the right to take the stage with 281 others in Wednesday’s preliminary rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The only assistance Neil requires is that the bee’s pronouncer will speak into a microphone that transmits an FM signal directly into his cochlear implants. Similar to the technology he uses in school, it allows him to filter out background noise and focus on each word.

Neil’s parents have

given him another tip, coaching him to always ask the pronouncer for the definition of a word, so that he can be sure he heard it correctly. Most contestants do this anyway.

Peter and Christy Maes had no experience with deafness in their families.

It turns out they’re both carriers for a genetic mutation that causes hearing loss. Neil got his first implant at 11 months old.

One of his two younger sisters was also born deaf, and has implants as well.

“My goal was for him to meet his potential, no matter what it was,” his mother said. “It turned

out to be pretty good!”

Cochlear implants bypass the non-functioning parts of the ear by sending an electrical signal directly to the hearing nerve. While speech, music and other noises don’t sound exactly like they do to a person with normal hearing, the brain can, over time, learn to process those sounds in a similar way, said Dr. Michael Hoa, a surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital who performs cochlear implantations.

But these implants are merely a tool, the doctor said: Neil’s intelligence and work ethic get credit

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Neil Maes, 11, of Belton, S.C., holds up his National Spelling Bee badge in Washington, Tuesday. Maes was born deaf and now hears with the help of cochlear implants. The boy will participate in his first National Spelling Bee on Wednesday.

for the rest.

“He’s able to handle very complex words. You tell him, ‘Spell this word,’ and he’s able to actually visualize what that sounds like in his head and spell the word. It’s actually quite impressive,” Hoa said. “There’s a lot that goes into training your brain to do that.”

Christy Maes gave up her nursing job to help Neil through speech ther-

apy. Now she works as a preschool teacher.

Neil’s parents didn’t know he was participating in a spelling bee with his third-grade class — until he came home and told them he had won. He made it all the way to his regional bee that year, finishing second. Now a fifth-grader, Neil is naturally shy and already worn out from the hectic bee-week schedule.

Bill Cosby is ordered to stand trial in sex case

By Maryclaire Dale and Michael R. Sisak A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — She called him “Mr. Cosby” and considered him a trusted friend and mentor.

But 20 minutes after Bill Cosby offered her three blue pills and told her to take them with the wine he had set out, Andrea Constand’s legs began to wobble “like jelly,” her eyes went blurry and her head began to throb.

Cosby helped her to a couch in his living room, where she later realized he violated her as she lay helplessly in a stupor, she told police in 2005.

On Tuesday, a judge ordered the 78-year-old Cosby to stand trial on sexual assault charges on the strength of Constand’s decade-old police statement, sparing the former Temple University employee the need to testify

at the preliminary hearing.

Cosby could get 10 years in prison if Cosby convicted in the case, the only criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the barrage of allegations that he drugged and molested dozens of women over five decades. He is free on $1 million bail.

A trial date was not immediately set.

Cosby, looking less frail than he did when he was arrested five months ago, seemed unfazed by District Judge Elizabeth McHugh’s decision.

“Mr. Cosby is not guilty of any crime, and not one single fact presented by the commonwealth rebuts this truth,” his lawyers said in a statement afterward.

The hearing was not the face-to-face confrontation between accuser and accused that some had anticipated: Constand, who is now a massage therapist in Toronto, was not in the courtroom, and the judge ruled that she did not have to testify at this stage. Instead, prosecutors had portions of her 2005 police statement read into the record.

While authorities in recent months have paraphrased her account and quoted fragments, this was apparently the first time that large sections of her statement — or Cosby’s, for that matter — were made public.

Constand told police that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers and fondled her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004 after giving her what he said was herbal medication.

After taking the pills, she

said, “everything was blurry and dizzy.”

“I told him, ‘I can’t even talk, Mr. Cosby.’ I started to panic,” she told police.

She said she awoke with her bra askew and did not remember undoing it.

Cosby’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that having a police officer read Constand’s statement instead of putting her on the stand would be thirdhand testimony and would deprive him of his right to confront his accuser. But reading a police statement into the record is common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania.

The defense also argued that Constand was having a relationship with a married man and that they had engaged in “petting” during her two or three earlier visits to his home.

In his own 2005 state-

ment to police, excerpts of which were also read in court, Cosby said Constand never said “no” as he put his hand down her pants. He told police the pills were over-the-counter Benadryl that he takes to help him sleep.

Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle also questioned why Constand continued to see the comedian and even returned to the house to meet with him after the alleged assault.

In addition, the defense seized on discrepancies in the three police statements Constand gave, including her shifting memory of precisely when the encounter occurred.

Cosby settled with Constand for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying behind closed doors about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce wom-

en and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

But prosecutors reopened the criminal case last year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosby’s sealed testimony in Constand’s lawsuit was made public.

Cosby’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that a previous prosecutor made a binding promise a decade ago that the comic would never be charged.

He is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and is trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.

The Associated Press does not normally identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes unless they agree to be named publicly, which Constand has done.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 |

A11

FROM THE COVER

Cuba to legalize small and medium-sized private businesses

By Michael Weissenstein A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

HAVANA — Cuba announced Tuesday that it will legalize small- and medium-sized private businesses in a move that could significantly expand private enterprise in one of the world’s last communist countries.

Cuban business owners and economic experts said they were hopeful the reform would allow private firms to import wholesale supplies and export products to other countries for the first time, removing a major obstacle to private business growth.

“This is a tremendously important step,” said

BISON From page A1 to around 500,000, there still aren’t that many places to see the American Bison, which was named the national mammal of the United States earlier this month.

Few are wild, and most are now part of private herds, including one at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, just off Jacksboro Highway near Lake Worth.

“It is our signature attraction,” Rob Denkhaus, the Nature Center’s natural resource manager, told the Fort Worth StarTelegram. “There is a bison head on our logo.”

On a recent afternoon the herd of a dozen bison, including a newborn calf, was attracting its share of admirers.

The 3,621-acre refuge, which dates back to 1964, hugs the West Fork of the Trinity River and includes 20 miles of trails, forests and wetlands. Yet for many, the bison are the reason to make the trip.

“If you were to ask an average visitor what’s their first thought when they think of this place, they would probably say bison,” Denkhaus said.

“We’ve had them from as close as 5 miles to as far away as 5,000 miles come here. They just can’t get enough. I think my favorite was when we had a family from Russia that was in town and drove out here to see the bison.”

The herd began with a donation of three bison from Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains Wildlife Ref-

VOTER From page A1 a district judge’s finding that the law was illegally discriminatory in its effect. But a majority of the full court decided to re-hear the case.

The three-judge panel’s ruling wasn’t a full victory for the law’s opponents. It rejected parts of the district judge’s ruling, finding, for instance, that the law didn’t amount to an illegal “poll tax.” And the panel told the lower court to reexamine the question of whether the bill was passed to purposely discriminate against minority and low-income voters.

Such questions were back on the table at Tuesday’s hearing, with Janai Nelson, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, saying the law was passed during a legislative session rife with race-tinged debate on illegal immigration and that it resulted in a bill that requires IDs that black and Latino voters

Desmond Boylan / AP

Alfonso Valentin Larrea Barroso, director-general of Scenius, a cooperatively run economic consulting firm in Havana. “They’re creating, legally speaking, the non-state sector of the economy. They’re making that sector official.”

While the government offered no immediate further details, the new business categories appear to be the next stage in reforms initiated by President Raul Castro after he took over from his brother Fidel Castro in 2008. While those reforms have allowed about half a million Cubans to start work in the private sector, the process has been slow and marked by periodic reversals.

The government has

regularly cracked down on private businesses that flourish and compete with Cuba’s chronically inefficient state monopolies.

The latest backlash came after President Barack Obama met private business owners during his March 20-22 visit to Cuba, prompting hard-line communists to warn that the U.S. wants to turn entrepreneurs into a tool to overturn the island’s socialist revolution.

The Communist Party documents, published in a special tabloid sold at state newsstands Tuesday, said a category of small, mid-sized and “micro” private business was being added to a master plan for social and economic development approved by

last month’s Cuban Communist Party Congress.

The twice-a-decade meeting sets the direction for the single-party state for the coming five years.

The 32-page party document published Tuesday is the first comprehensive accounting of the decisions taken by the party congress, which was closed to the public and international press. State media reported few details of the debate or decisions taken at the meeting but featured harsh rhetoric from leading officials about the continuing threat from U.S. imperialism and the dangers of

international capitalism.

That tough talk, it now appears, was accompanied by what could be a major step in Cuba’s ongoing reform of its centrally planned economy.

“Private property in certain means of production contributes to employment, economic efficiency and well-being, in a context in which socialist property relationships predominate,” reads one section of the “Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development.”

Vanessa Arocha, a 56-year-old architect who

makes hand-made purses and bags at home under a self-employed worker’s license, said she dreamed of forming a legally recognized small business that could import supplies and machinery and hire neighbors looking for extra income.

“I could import fittings, zippers, vinyl,” she said.

“Being a small business would be a new experience, one we know little about, but something very positive.”

The government currently allows private enterprise by self-employed workers in several hundred job categories.

uge in 1973. The Nature Center’s first bison calf, a heifer, was born on May 21, 1974.

The size of the herd has varied, climbing as high as the 30s. The refuge occasionally sells off some of the herd to keep it manageable for the 210acre range.

To Denkhaus, the national mammal designation is well deserved.

“I can’t put my finger on what it does, but it pays respect,” Denkhaus said. “It gives the animal its due.”

The animal was integral to the American prairie, Denkhaus said.

“You can’t have a fully functioning prairie without the bison,” Denkhaus said. “And you can’t have the bison without the prairie.”

Early explorers often referred to bison as buffalo for their resemblance to the Asian and African buffalo.

At the Nature Center, they have seen native grasses, which are drought resistant, take over where the bison have grazed. After buying hay-bailing equipment during the last drought, they can now feed the bison without buying hay no matter how dry it gets.

The bison’s “big flat bulldozer of a head” was designed to push the snow away during North Dakota winters, permitting them to reach the grass underneath. Unlike sheep, the bison’s teeth nip off the tops of grasses rather than pulling out the roots.

And that’s not all.

“The fur that’s on them

is used by birds for nesting once it falls off,” Denkhaus said. “Their hooves cut the surface of the soil, allowing water to infiltrate the soil. They’re also great for carrying seeds. If they were wild, those seeds might be dropped 10-15 miles away.”

Since their near-extinction, the bison have been an object of fascination and curiosity.

At Yellowstone National Park, visitors who tour the park often come to a standstill when bison block the roadways.

On May 9, the plight of a baby bison at the park became national news when some park guests loaded the animal in the back of a Toyota Sequoia and drove it to a park ranger station. The park guests apparently thought the bison was cold.

The bison was eventually euthanized when the herd rejected the animal.

Locally, a domesticated bison named Bullet living inside an Argyle home was recently sold on Craigslist.

Across Texas, herds can also be seen on private property, where ranchers are raising bison for their meat, which is considered a healthy alternative to beef. The Texas State Bison Herd can also be seen at Caprock Canyons State Park, where it represents one of the last remaining Southern Plains variety of the species.

The bison’s range once included North Texas, though Denkhaus said they weren’t a mainstay like in other parts of the

Great Plains.

“We were certainly part of their full range,” Denkhaus said. “Historically, their range went into the far east as Kentucky, but we didn’t have a resident herd. They probably moved in and out. Our native prairies wouldn’t have (withstood) the abuse.”

Fort Worth played a dubious role in their slaughter.

In 1874, which “marked the seeming end of the great southern herd,” auctions in Fort Worth sold 200,000 bison hides “every day or two,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with one railroad company shipping “nearly 7 million pounds of buffalo bones.”

Fort Worth historian Quentin McGown said Cowtown’s role as distribution center cannot be ignored. Bison hides were stacked as high as two stories on the southern end of downtown.

“The sad part of the bison story is Fort Worth’s role, for a brief period, as the buffalo hide shipping center of the region,” McGown said.

“It’s astonishing to think of how short a time it took to slaughter millions of animals to the brink of extinction.”

But attitudes have definitely changed.

“Bison is one of those species that people have a connection to without ever having seen it,” Denkhaus said, “Then, there are people who come here and have never thought about them and once they see them, they’re hooked.”

That’s also true of the Nature Center, where Denkhaus said they have their cadre of loyal volunteers and supporters through Friends of the Nature Center who have helped the place thrive.

Then they have those who have driven by the place for decades and never been inside.

During the last fiscal year, the Nature Center

saw 52,755 visitors. Officials are hoping for a slight “bump” in attendance from the national mammal designation.

“I’m a mammal guy,” Denkhaus said. “If you look at our cultural history, if you look at our natural history — North America does not exist in any way like it does today without the existence of bison.”

VETERANS

public-private partnerships to help pay the costs of construction and upkeep of new cemeteries.

“Our veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice by fighting for their country, so we should make sure that they are well taken care of after they return home,” Congressman Cuellar said.

“Making it easier to choose to be buried close to home and close to their loved ones is the least we can do for our area’s veterans. With the passage of this bill by the full House, we are closer to making that happen.”

In addition, Congressman Cuellar included language that would direct the VA to report on how it is reducing the number of veterans without reasonable access to burial.

are less likely to have.

Texas’ solicitor general, Scott Keller, said there is no proof of any discriminatory intent in the law’s passage, or that it has affected voter registration or participation.

Chief Judge Carl Stewart said there is evidence that some individual voters’ rights were abridged, but Keller said that the evidence was insufficient to warrant overturning the law.

A recurring issue in the hearing was whether the law could be saved if judges find that there was no discriminatory intent behind the law, but that it nevertheless had some discriminatory effect. Although several states’ voter ID laws have been upheld by the courts — arguments Tuesday often centered on Indiana’s — opponents of the Texas law, and some of the judges, noted that the other states allow use of a wider variety of IDs, including college student IDs and federal and state employee cards, among others.

“Why didn’t the Leg-

islature just do that in the first place?” Judge Catharina Haynes asked at one point during discussions on whether the law should more closely follow laws upheld in other states.

Lawyers for Texas argued in briefs that the state makes free IDs easy to obtain, that any inconveniences or costs involved in getting one do not substantially infringe upon the right to vote, and that the Justice Department and other plaintiffs have failed to prove that the law has resulted in denying anyone the right to vote.

Opponents countered that trial testimony indicated various bureaucratic and economic burdens associated with the law — for example, the difficulty in finding and purchasing a proper birth certificate to obtain an ID. A brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union cites testimony in other voter ID states indicating numerous difficulties faced by people, including burdensome travel and expenses to get required docu-

mentation to obtain IDs. Despite being struck down by a federal district judge in 2014, the law has been enforced in recent elections. The initial decision came so close to Election Day that a 5th Circuit panel allowed it to be enforced that year to avoid voter confusion.

Just last month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to stop Texas from enforcing the law pending the current appeal. But the court said it could revisit the issue as the November election approaches.

The three judges who ruled on the law last year were chief Judge Carl E. Stewart, nominated by President Bill Clinton; Haynes, nominated by President George W. Bush; and U.S. District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown, an appointee of President Barack Obama who was on temporary assignment to the appeals court.

The full 15-member court includes 10 judges nominated by Republican presidents and five nominated by Democrats.

A private entrepreneur who sells house and kitchen supplies waits for customers at his home in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday.

From page A1

by the state to be converted into veterans cemeteries, the process could be long and cumbersome. Designating a plot of land as a satellite of an existing cemetery would eliminate this problem.

Aside from the distance issue, cost is another factor. Currently, the VA has a priority list of $247 million worth of projects pending to establish new cemeteries or rehabilitate existing ones, but only $46 million was allocated in FY 2016. Areas in Texas with the largest veteran populations have been prioritized, so Congressman Cuellar has also included language that encourages the use of

ROLLOVER From page A1 north on the west access of Interstate 35. The driver did not yield to authorities when agents activated their units’ emergency lights in an attempt to make a vehicle stop, according to reports.

“Border Patrol agents attempted to bring the

vehicle to a stop through the use of a controlled tire deflation device, but as the subject attempted to avoid the device, the driver lost control of the vehicle, subsequently causing it to roll over,” reads a statement.

The vehicle had six people from Honduras, one from Mexico and one from El Salvador. One person’s nationality was not known, reports state.

A12 | Wednesday, May 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES