The Zapata Times 5/28/2016

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HIDALGO AND ZAPATA COUNTIES

Man arrested in alleged kidnapping Authorities state that a second suspect remains at large

By César G. Rodriguez THE ZAPATA TIME S

Zapata County Sheriff’s Office / Courtesy photo

Hidalgo and Zapata County authorities held a news conference this week regarding the arrest of a man accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl.

A man was arrested this week in Hidalgo County for allegedly kidnapping a 15-year-old girl, authorities said.

The girl also accused the suspect of sexually assaulting her.

Hidalgo and Zapata County authorities identified the suspect as Ricardo Mata, 36. He was charged with aggravated kidnapping.

Martinez Lopez

Mata

Authorities allege Mata called the mother of the girl demanding $300 for her release.

A second suspect identified as Erick Martinez Lopez, 37, remains at

FILM PREMIERE

‘CHASING THE DRAGON’

large.

To report his whereabouts, call Zapata authorities at 765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 765-8477.

People can also call Hidalgo authorities at 668-TIPS (8477).

Melva Valadez never lost faith in God while her daughter was missing.

“First, thank God that my daughter is safe. ...

Thanks to the Sheriff ’s Arrest continues on A11

U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION

38,000 migrants detained It’s the largest number since 2014 surge

By Aaron Nelsen SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

César G. Rodriguez/ The Zapata Times

Members of the audience watch the documentary, “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Webb County Community Coalition of Serving Children and Adults in Need recently held a private premiere screening in Laredo.

Organizations hold screening of drug documentary

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Webb County Community Coalition of Serving Children and Adults in Need held a recent private premiere screening of the docu-

mentary “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict.”

The documentary showed how drug addiction, specifically heroin, affects people. Viewers heard testimonies of heroin addicts.

Some of the viewers were from Zapata County.

People also heard testimonies

from mothers who discovered their children dead due to an overdose.

“It doesn’t get more realistic than what we saw in that video,” said Rodolfo Paez, a licensed chemical dependency counselor.

District Attorney Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz said as a prose-

cutor, he started seeing drug cases filed against people he was around with when growing up. Many played sports. Others had a good upbringing until they fell prey to drug addiction.

“I was shocked,” Alaniz said.

When it comes to drug abuse, parents are in denial, saying, Film continues on A11

OIL AND GAS

Those reliant on energy industry wait for a rebound

By Michael Bradwell and Rick Shrum WA S H I NGTON O B S ERVE R-RE P ORTE R

WASHINGTON, Pa. — When two professionals in the oil and gas industry spoke April 19 to 100 people at South Franklin Township fire hall about the future of the Marcellus and Utica

shales, the crowd was particularly attentive.

The audience included many landowners, some bankers and attorneys, and representatives from the area’s philanthropic community, waiting with anticipation to learn when the industry — in a downturn since early 2015 — might return.

Dave Spigelmyer,

president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and Nathan Snyder, a certified financial analyst with Snow Capital Opportunity Fund, who follows the oil and gas industry, told the group they believe the industry is poised for a comeback in the region in the third quarter of 2017.

Rebound continues on A11

Michael Bradwell / Associated Press

John Bruno, co-owner of Mickeys Mens Store in Waynesburg, PA., says the business is sticking with its strategy of selling work clothes almost exclusively, despite the downturn of natural gas drilling and the loss of a coal mine.

FALFURRIAS — The number of immigrants caught entering the country illegally last month reached its highest level since the spring of 2014, when an unprecedented surge of families and children overwhelmed authorities at the border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

More than 38,000 immigrants were picked up along the U.S.Mexico border, from Texas to California, in April, the highest monthly total since March 2014.

Of those, nearly 11,000 were immigrant families and unaccompanied children, compared with 6,360 a year ago. The continued upward trend has officials in deep South Texas bracing for the hottest months of summer.

The Rio Grande Valley sector is the busiest along the Southwest border and, in recent weeks, Border Patrol Sector Chief Manuel Padilla Jr. has emphasized the dangers that immigrants face when they entrust their lives to smugglers.

Since October, the start of the fiscal year, authorities in the Valley have recovered the bodies of 68 immigrants, compared with 69 immigrant deaths for all of fiscal year 2015. Meanwhile, rescues of immigrants have surged to 546 through May, up 6 percent compared with a year ago.

“All of us can understand immigration, both legal and illegal,” Padilla said. “What is not understandable, and definitely not acceptable, is allowing smugglers to commit these atrocities on the people that they prey upon.”

On two separate occasions in the past month, Border Patrol agents have found a 2-year-old left by a smuggler near the Migrant continues on A11

Zin brief A2 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

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 333-5096. 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.

A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S

Today is Saturday, May 28, the 149th day of 2016. There are 217 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On May 28, 1934, the Dionne quintuplets — Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne — were born to Elzire Dionne at the family farm in Ontario, Canada.

NOAA Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana / Associated Press

This photo provided by NOAAs Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana shows a massive sponge photographed at a depth of about 7,000 feet.

SCIENTISTS FIND LARGE SPONGE

SUNDAY, MAY 29

By Caleb Jones 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.

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

HONOLULU — Researchers in Hawaii have been absorbed by a sea creature they discovered last summer, and their findings are pretty big.

The team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition in the waters off Hawaii discovered what they say is the world’s largest known sponge.

The creature, roughly the size of a minivan, was discovered about 7,000 feet down in a marine conservation area off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian

Parents of woman killed sue city and federal agencies SAN FRANCISCO — The parents of a woman killed on a San Francisco pier have sued the city and two federal agencies, accusing them of contributing to her death because the man charged in the slaying was in the country illegally.

Kate Steinle’s parents filed the wrongful death lawsuit Friday, accusing the Sheriff’s Department of failing to notify

Islands. The rare sponge, with a bluishwhite color and brain-like appearance, stunned scientists when it appeared in the remote cameras attached to their underwater rover.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii studied the sponge for about a year before releasing their findings.

“The largest portion of our planet lies in deep waters, the vast majority of which has never been explored,” said research specialist Daniel Wagner.

federal immigration officials that it was releasing Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez from jail.

They also are suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. A BLM ranger reported that a gun was stolen from his car while it was parked in downtown San Francisco.

Lopez-Sanchez says he found the gun and it fired when he picked it up, striking Steinle, 32, in the back. He has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge.

Steinle’s shooting death in July thrust San Francisco into the national debate over immigration.

Lopez-Sanchez was transferred to the city jail to face a marijuana sales charge after he completed a nearly four-year federal prison sentence for illegal re-entry into the country in March. The district attorney dropped charges and the sheriff’s department released Lopez-Sanchez, ignoring an ICE request to keep him behind bars.

— Compiled from AP reports

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. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400 x2403.

1 Rock wall climbing. 4–5 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Free. Take the challenge and climb the rock wall! Fun exercise for all ages. Must sign release form. For more information, contact John Hong at 795-2400 x2521.

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

TAMIU. “Extreme Planets” begins at 6 p.m. and “Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’” begins at 7 p.m. General admission is $5 and $4 for children and TAMIU students, faculty and staff. For more information, call 326-3663.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 1 Rabies VACUNA Clinic. 7–8 p.m.

McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St. Rabies shots for pets: $12. Microchip: $10.

Registration cost: $5. For Laredo residents only.

AROUND TEXAS At least 1 dead, 3 missing in flooding BRENHAM, Texas — At least one person has died in Texas and three are missing after torrential rain caused floods that closed roads and schools, prompted evacuations, damaged homes and forced dozens of students to spend the night on campus, officials said Friday as they braced for more rains later in the day.

“It’s not going to take very much rain to get us in those flood stages again,” said Washington County Judge John Brieden.

Brieden said that in Washington County, located between Austin and Houston, one person has drowned and another person was missing after their vehicle was swept away. An Austin-area official has said two people were missing from a vehicle there.

Brieden, who didn’t release details on the circumstances of

Mary Huber / Associated Press

Homes along Hawea Street in the Tahitian Village neighborhood in Bastrop, Texas are surrounded by floodwaters.

the drowning, said they had not yet determined if a second person who died in Washington County had died from drowning or a heart attack.

Mobile homes washed away in the flooding and multiple houses had water inside, he said. Brieden said there have been more than 50 water rescues from houses and vehicles

since the rains started Thursday morning. He said that at one point officials had nine boat teams out rescuing people.

“We had one guy that got out of his vehicle and managed to hang on to a tree while the vehicle washed away,” Brieden said, adding the man was in the tree for a couple of hours.

— Compiled from AP reports

On this date: In 1533, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid.

In 1892, the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco.

In 1912, the Senate Commerce Committee issued its report on the Titanic disaster that cited a “state of absolute unpreparedness,” improperly tested safety equipment and an “indifference to danger” as some of the causes of an “unnecessary tragedy.”

In 1929, the first all-color talking picture, “On with the Show!” produced by Warner Bros., opened in New York.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington signaling that vehicular traffic could begin crossing the just-opened Golden Gate Bridge in California. Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain.

In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces.

In 1945, the novel “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh was published in London by Chapman & Hall.

In 1959, the U.S. Army launched Able, a rhesus monkey, and Baker, a squirrel monkey, aboard a Jupiter missile for a suborbital flight which both primates survived.

In 1961, Amnesty International had its beginnings with the publication of an article in the British newspaper The Observer, “The Forgotten Prisoners.”

In 1977, 165 people were killed when fire raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky.

In 1985, David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, was abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers (he was freed 17 months later).

In 1998, comic actor Phil Hartman of “Saturday Night Live” and “NewsRadio” fame was shot to death at his home in Encino, California, by his wife, Brynn, who then killed herself.

Ten years ago: Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in right behind Hank Aaron’s long-standing record of 755.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama praised Poland’s transition to democracy following a meeting in Warsaw with President Bronislaw Komorowski. After a four-year blockade, Egypt permanently opened the Gaza Strip’s main gateway to the outside world.

One year ago: A federal grand jury indictment handed up in Chicago revealed that former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert had agreed to pay $3.5 million in hush money to keep an unidentified person silent about “prior misconduct” by the Illinois Republican.

Today’s Birthdays: Rockabilly singer-musician Sonny Burgess is 87.

Actress Carroll Baker is 85. Producerdirector Irwin Winkler is 85. Actor John Karlen is 83. Basketball Hall-ofFamer Jerry West is 78. Actress Beth Howland is 75. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is 72. Singer Gladys Knight is 72. Actress-director Sondra Locke is 72. Singer Billy Vera is 72. Actor Jean-Pierre Leaud is 72.

Singer John Fogerty is 71. Country musician Jerry Douglas (Alison Krauss and Union Station) is 60. Actor Louis Mustillo is 58. U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.., is 56. Actor Brandon Cruz (TV: “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”) is 54. Country singer Phil Vassar is 52.

Actress Christa Miller is 52. Singermusician Chris Ballew (Presidents of the USA) is 51. Rapper Chubb Rock is 48. Singer Kylie Minogue is 48. Actor Justin Kirk is 47. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is 45. Olympic gold medal figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva is 45. Television personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck is 39. Actor Jake Johnson is 38. Actor Jesse Bradford is 37.

Actress Monica Keena is 37. Actress Alexa Davalos is 34. Actress Megalyn Echikunwoke (eh-cheek-uh-WALK’ay) is 34. Pop singer Colbie Caillat is 31. Actress Carey Mulligan is 31. Actor Joseph Cross is 30.

Thought for Today: “The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly.” — Corra May Harris, American writer (1869-1935).

THURSDAY, JUNE 2 1 Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m.

Laredo Medical Center, A.R. Sanchez Cancer Center, Tower A, 1st Floor.

Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call the A.R. Sanchez Cancer Center at 956-796-4725.

1 Pints for Puppies Beer Tasting.

6:30 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse, 11210 East Point Dr. This fundraiser invites ticket holders to sample an array of specialty craft beers and watch a surprise special feature.

AROUND THE WORLD Court sentences ex-dictator for Operation Condor BUENOS AIRES — Reynaldo Bignone, the last military president in Argentina’s dictatorship, was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison for the forced disappearance of more than 100 people during the Operation Condor conspiracy.

The covert program was launched in the 1970s by six South American dictators who

used their network of secret police agencies in a combined effort to hunt down their political opponents across the region and eliminate them.

Bignone, 88, was charged with being part of an illicit association as part of the Operation Condor and abusing his powers in office. The former general who ruled Argentina in 1982-1983, is already serving life sentences for multiple human rights violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

The trial, which began in

CONTACT US 2013, involves 16 other former military officials and 105 victims from at least four countries. A key piece of evidence is a declassified FBI agent’s cable, sent in 1976, that described in detail the conspiracy to share intelligence and eliminate leftists across South America.

Operation Condor was launched by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet who enlisted other South America’s dictators.

— Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

A3

LOCAL & STATE

‘Affluenza’ mom indicted on charges she helped son flee A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

FORT WORTH, Texas — The mother of a Texas teenager who used an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck has been indicted on charges accusing her of helping her son flee to Mexico.

The Tarrant County district attorney’s office said Thursday that Tonya Couch was indicted on charges of hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering.

Attorney Don Carter said he had no comment on the indictments because he’d just started representing Couch.

Authorities say Couch took $30,000 and fled to Mexico with Ethan Couch in December after a video showed him at

Chief deputy speaks at annual jail conference SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

David Kent / Associated Press file

In this Jan. 11, 2016 photo, deputies escort Tonya Couch to the defense table before her bond reduction hearing in Fort Worth. Couch has been indicted on charges accusing her of helping her son flee to Mexico.

what appeared to be a party with alcohol.

Drinking alcohol would be a violation of his initial sentence of probation

for the 2013 wreck.

A judge last month ordered Ethan Couch to serve nearly two years in jail.

Chief Deputy Raymundo del Bosque Jr. was the closing speaker at the Texas Jail Association’s 30-year anniversary conference recently held in Austin.

Del Bosque spoke about Border Violence.

His awareness presentation consists the human trafficking issues, drug issues and violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

His efforts have led him to create awareness movements regionally and statewide. He focuses

in providing information on the latest crime trends because he believes in empowering communities by creating awareness.

“As the chief deputy for the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office and working alongside Sheriff Alonso M. Lopez, we stand together in providing the upmost safety and security for every citizen.

Our community stands to benefit a great deal as we accomplish each objective with a positive and productive manner by implementing the latest and

best quality services in our jail system,” del Bosque stated in a news reDel Bosque lease.

Jr. “It is a great honor to have been the closing speaker of the 30th Annual Texas Jail Association Conference in Austin, Texas. I commend The Texas Jail Association, its Officers, Directors, and The CMIT of Sam Houston State University for providing great training and making this a record breaking conference.”

The association was created to serve Texas jail personnel with a mission to advance professionalism through training, technical assistance, publications, peer interactions, and conferences and to provide leadership in the development of professional standards, management practices, programs and services.

Zopinion

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

A4 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

A Latin American woman for UN secretary general?

By Andres Oppenheimer MIAM I HE RALD

When Argentine President Mauricio Macri recently blessed his foreign minister Susana Malcorra’s candidacy for secretary general of the United Nations, the joke in Argentina was that the country already has a Pope (Francis) and the world’s best soccer player (Lionel Messi) so it was only natural that it should seek the top U.N. job.

But judging from what Malcorra told me in an interview earlier this week, her candidacy for the top U.N. job is a serious matter.

It means that a highly qualified and well-liked Latin American woman will join more than half a dozen other candidates for the U.N. job scheduled to be left vacant by Ban Ki-Moon at the end of the year. But it also raises possible conflictof-interest questions regarding Malcorra’s stands on the Venezuelan crisis at a time when she needs Venezuela’s support to get the U.N. job.

Granted, right now Malcorra is not a frontrunner for the job because, under the U.N. practice of granting the secretary general’s position to every region of the world on a rotating basis, it’s Eastern Europe’s turn to occupy the top U.N. position.

Malcorra’s candidacy would have a chance if Eastern European countries can’t reach a consensus to propose a candidate from their own region, diplomats say.

Latin America is one of the few regions that has had only one U.N. secretary general, Peru’s Javier Perez de Cuellar, in the 1980s.

Malcorra has great credentials for the top U.N. job: An electrical engineer by training, she worked for many years as an IBM executive in Argentina, then joined the United Nations 12 years ago and became Ban Ki-Moon’s chief of staff in 2008. She was appointed Argentina’s foreign minister in December.

But critics say Malcorra has a conflict of interest in her current U.N. campaign, because she needs the support of Venezuela — a member of the U.N. Security Council — at a time when Argentina is a key player in the Organization of American States’ discussions to press the Venezuelan regime to comply with regional democratic agreements.

Human Rights Watch director Jose Miguel Vivanco has said that

Malcorra’s participation in a recent OAS debate about Venezuela was "very disappointing."

Others say she has softened her stance because she needs Venezuela’s support at the U.N. Security Council.

Asked about that criticism, Malcorra told me: "I continue to have a very firm position" on Venezuela. She added: "We do not think that Venezuela’s crisis can be solved without the two sides (the government and the opposition) sitting at the table and finding a common way out."

I asked her whether she supports the Venezuelan opposition’s plan to convene a recall referendum to oust President Nicolas Maduro, and whether she will back the opposition’s petition that the OAS apply its democratic charter on Venezuela, a measure that could lead to Venezuela’s suspension from the organization.

"On the recall referendum, it’s part of the democratic instruments that are part of the Venezuelan Constitution," she said. "So we think that this process must go forward, with all guarantees provided for by the (Venezuelan) institutions."

As for the OAS applying its democratic charter on the Venezuelan regime, Malcorra said the focus right now should be on the recall referendum. "We believe that the OAS Democratic Charter is an instrument that should be used if there are certain conditions, and from our perspective, these conditions are not there," she said.

Asked whether she shouldn’t step aside temporarily as foreign minister while she campaigns for the U.N. job, Malcorra said her rivals have not taken a leave from their respective jobs either.

My opinion: Malcorra would make a superb U.N. secretary general, but it’s hard to believe that she can follow Argentine President Marci’s campaign vows to support democracy in Venezuela while she seeks the support of the Venezuelan regime and its allies for her U.N. candidacy.

Malcorra is right in pointing out that other candidates have not taken a leave of absence, and that it would be unfair to ask that only she do that. But perhaps all U.N. candidates should step aside, because there are legitimate questions on whether they can conduct their countries’ foreign affairs or U.N. responsibilities fairly without trying to woo the countries whose votes they need to win.

COLUMN

What Latinos know about America and Trump doesn’t

By Mary Sanchez THE KANSAS CITY STAR

News from the campaign trail has Latinos across America cringing.

It happens every time a scene like this splashes across the news: Protesters went plumb loco outside a Donald Trump rally in Albuquerque, N.M. Waving Mexican flags, they lobbed rocks at police, set fires, pushed aside barriers and generally acted like little hooligans.

The outburst was followed by the inevitable. Cable news talking heads, as they always do, wondered why the protesters were so angry.

Really? The United States is veering shockingly close to electing as president a man whose version of "making America great again" includes scapegoating some of the very people who helped make the country so incredible — Latino immigrants.

That’s the problem.

That this has to be explained. And, no, this is not an excuse for the riotous behavior of a few.

Most Hispanics know such out-of-control displays of emotion will not help. Decapitating a Trump piñata might feel good - a symbolic display of cultural fury. But when it’s televised, such an act merely lends credibility to Trump’s innuendo that Latinos are interlopers intent on mayhem and criminality.

Nothing could be further from the truth even for those who arrive here without all the legal paperwork. If you want to find someone willing to literally die to become

In a nation that so prides itself of being created from immigrant stock, an awful lot of Americans are naive about migration. Many of Trump’s supporters are unaware that their own forefathers did not arrive here with documents in hand, not like what is required now, a system that didn’t even exist until recent decades.

Nor did their ancestors instantly master English. an American, find a recent Latino immigrant.

Talk to the Central Americans who risked their lives to cross through multiple countries, hoping to gain asylum in the U.S. They can tell you about yearning for the dignity and freedoms America, privileges that so many third-, fourthor nth-generation Americans take for granted.

Latinos have some of the highest rates of service in the U.S. military.

They are highly entrepreneurial, creating businesses wherever they settle.

In a nation that so prides itself of being created from immigrant stock, an awful lot of Americans are naive about migration. Many of Trump’s supporters are unaware that their own forefathers did not arrive here with documents in hand, not like what is required now, a system that didn’t even exist until recent decades.

Nor did their ancestors instantly master English. Rather, they followed the same patterns of language assimi-

lation that we observe among Latinos today.

Adult immigrants rarely become proficient in English, but their children become bilingual.

Following generations are monolingual - in English.

The process of assimilation is a blessing and a curse. It helps bind us together as a nation: one people from many sources. But as we lose our accents and the stigma of origins in another country, we tend to lose contact with a certain historical truth: Not everybody is welcomed in America. America might admit them for their cheap labor, but if these immigrants want to get a piece of the American dream they’re going to have to fight for it.

When you’re ignorant of what previous generations went through to become Americans, it’s easy to believe the sort of isolationist screeds that Trump preaches.

Following the New Mexico melee, Trump headed to the heavily Latino Anaheim, Calif., for another rally. The Los Angeles Times reported that warm-up

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DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

speakers told stories about loved ones who had been murdered by immigrants not legally in the U.S. Trump followed up by leading his supporters in a chant of "Build that wall!" the Times reported.

Never mind that much of border control is better managed by drones and high-tech sensors and the dull monotony of paperwork. Also ignore the fact that so many of the workers who keep California’s agriculture and restaurant industry humming crossed that border at some point.

Trump has a simple, effective message for the ignorant of America: Immigrants are murderers and rapists, and my wall will keep you safe from them.

By the week’s end, Trump had reached the threshold of enough delegates to clinch the GOP nomination. Latinos have taken notice.

Reports from around the country are of an increase in Latino migrants moving from legal permanent residency to full U.S. citizenship.

They are registering to vote. And many cite Trump’s obnoxious antiimmigrant slogans as the impetus.

Wouldn’t it be rich if these new Americans proved to be the voting bloc that shut Trump out of the White House?

These novice voters embody a truth: Donald Trump not only lacks presidential credentials; he fails to understand what makes America great. Latino immigrants do, and that’s why so many proudly become Americans.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

A5

Zfrontera A6 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Encuesta para padres 1 Zapata County Independent School District está solicitando a los padres de familia con hijos que ingresarán al grado de “pre-k 4” que respondan una encuesta. La encuesta puede ser accesada visitando http:// tinyurl.com/zkcrahr

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.

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.

CONDADO DE HIDALGO

Lo acusan de secuestro Niña asegura fue agredida sexualmente Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Ha sido arrestado un hombre en el Condado de Hidalgo por supuestamente secuestrar a una niña de 15 años de edad, dijeron autoridades.

La adolescente también acusó al sospechoso de violarla.

Autoridades del Condado de Hidalgo y Zapata identificaron al sospechoso como Ricardo Mata, de 36 años. Él fue acusado con secuestro con agravantes. Autoridades sostienen que Mata llamó a la madre de la niña demandando 300 dólares para poder dejarla libre.

Un segundo sospechoso identificado como

Erick Martínez López, de 37 años, sigue prófugo.

Para reportar acerca de su paradero, se pide llamar a las autoridades de Zapata al 765-9960 o al Zapata Crime Stoppers en 765-8477. Las personas también pueden llamar a las autoridades en Hidalgo marcando el 668-TIPS (8477).

Autoridades de Zapata informaron que el caso se reportó al inicio como una fuga de casa. El 19 de mayo, la Oficinal del Alguacil del Condado Starr distribuyó información en relación a la fuga de casa de una mujer a la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado Zapata y otras agencias.

Alrededor de la media noche del martes, in-

vestigadores en Zapata notificaron a la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Hidalgo que habían recibido una llamada de parte de la madre de una niña de 15 años de edad, diciendo que estaba en peligro. Reportes indican que un hombre llamó a la hermana de la niña solicitando un pago por dejarla libre.

“A nuestros investigadores se les dijo que la persona llamando estaba en el área de Mission.

Durante el curso de la investigación, investigadores del alguacil obtuvieron información la cual los llevó al poniente del Condado Hidalgo”, de acuerdo con un comunicado de prensa de la

Oficina del Alguacil del Condado Hidalgo.

Mientras realizaban una vigilancia, investigadores de Hidalgo dijeron que vieron un vehículo, un modelo reciente de un Chrysler 300, saliendo del lugar. Se realizó un alto vial y autoridades identificaron al conductor como Mata.

“Mata se implicó a sí mismo como la persona quien realizó la llamada a la madre de la víctima y quien solicitó 300 dólares para dejar en libertad a su hija”, informaron autoridades de Hidalgo en un comunicado de prensa.

“Mata llevó a los investigadores a una segunda ubicación, en la cuadra 800 de Ramona Bou-

Martinez

Mata

levard en el área rural de Mission, donde la víctima de 15 años de edad estaba siendo retenido por un amigo de nombre Erick Martínez López”.

Martínez logró eludir a las autoridades.

Investigadores rescataron a la niña. Ella alegó que Mata y Martínez la habían violado.

“Investigadores interrogaron a Mata quien admitió haber agredido sexualmente a la víctima de 15 años de edad. La víctima fue trasladada a un hospital local para un exámen por agresión sexual”, dijo la Oficina del Alguacil de Hidalgo.

El caso permanece abierto.

TEXAS

LA VOZ KIDS

DESDE ROMA MIDDLE SCHOOL

Tema del ID vuelve a corte

Rescate 1 El miércoles, elementos de la armada de México rescataron a nueve personas migrantes que estaban privadas de su libertad en el 956 de calle José Zorrilla en la colonia Lomas de Jarachina Sur, en el municipio de Reynosa. Cinco de las víctimas eran de El Salvador, tres de Guatemala y uno e Honduras.

Del grupo, tres eran menores de edad.

Ellos dijeron que habían sido secuestrados por integrantes de un grupo delictivo cuando llegaron a Reynosa y que estaban negociando un rescate económico con familiares de EU. Los migrantes recibieron atención y fueron puestos a disposición del Instituto Nacional de Migración.

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.

Laboratorio Computacional 1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956-849-1411.

Pregúntele al Cónsul 1 “¡Pregúntele al Cónsul!” es un programa del Consulado de México en Laredo a través de Facebook.

Se responden dudas de trámites. Será el 9 de junio de 3 p.m. a 4 p.m. en http://tinyurl.com/jsr3nla

Por Kevin McGill ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Foto de cortesía | Francisco García Jr.

Francisco García Jr., estudiante en Roma Middle School, es visto junto al panorámico que promueve los votos del público para que continúe dentro de La Voz Kids. García Jr. radica en Roma, Texas, y es parte del equipo de Natalia Jiménez (Team Natalia) en la cuarta temporada del programa de canto. Las personas pueden votar por Francisco García visitando el sitio oficial de la cuarta temporada en http://tinyurl.com/gqw9o9f El programa La Voz Kids se transmite cada domingo a las 8/7c por la cadena Telemundo.

INVESTIGACIÓN

Venta evita expropiación Por Guillermo Contreras y Jason Buch SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS NEWS

El dueño de 46 acres cerca del área de La Cantera en San Antonio, que autoridades federales aseguraron había sido comprada para el ex gobernador de Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, casi a finales de abril llegó a un acuerdo con el gobierno de Estados Unidos, cuando éste trató de tomar la propiedad por medio de procedimientos de decomiso civil.

Alberto Berlanga Bolado accedió a entregar un millón de dólares a fiscales federales después de que venda su propiedad por 10 millones a un comprador que aún no ha sido identificado. A cambio, el gobierno descartará la demanda de decomiso contra la propiedad y

Berlanga

Yarrington

aceptará que Berlanga nunca fue acusado.

Berlanga fue Secretario de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda en Tamaulipas con el Gobernador de Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernández Flores, sucesor de Yarrington. Berlanga, de 51 años de edad, radica en San Antonio, y encabeza la compañía Cantera-Parkway Development Partners LP mientras que se encarga de otras cinco compañías en México. Él sostiene que no hizo nada ilegal y que fue representado erróneamente

por negocios pasados con un ex socio de negocios, Fernando Cano, a quien Berlanga conoce desde 1989.

Yarrington y Cano se encuentran acusado en Brownsville por crímenes financieros, y ambos son fugitivos de la justicia. El gobierno de EU ha pedido a México sus arrestos y extradiciones.

Los fiscales han dicho que las 46 acres cerca de Six Flags Fiesta Texas y el centro comercial Shops at La Cantera y el Hotel y Spa Éilan fue adquirido por Cano para Yarrington, aunque el abogado de Yarrington lo niega.

“No creo nada de lo que los federales dicen sobre eso”, dijo el abogado Joel Androphy de Houston, en abril. “Su palabra no significa nada sin pruebas”.

El acuerdo fue alcanzado poco antes de que el

Juez de Distrito de EU, Xavier Rodríguez, estuviera a punto de iniciar un juicio donde Berlanga debía explicar cómo adquirió la propiedad, pero cuando el Juez fue notificado de la existencia de un comprador, se retomó la alternativa de que las ganancias por la venta serán usadas para el acuerdo.

El abogado de Berlanga, Rolando Ríos dijo que los 2,7 millones de dólares que Berlanga perderá representan pagos de intereses a PlainsCapital Bank.

“Han pasado cuatro años”, dijo Berlanga después de la audiencia. “De hecho, ayer fueron cuatro años exactamente desde la incautación de la propiedad. Llegamos a un acuerdo que aunque no es ideal para mí, es lo mejor para todos los involucrados”.

NEW ORLEANS — Que una estricta ley que solicita la identificación para votar en Texas sea eliminada, retenida, o quizá, ajustada, actualmente está en manos de 15 jueces del tribunal federal de apelaciones en pleno.

El martes, el 5o Circuito de la Corte de Apelaciones en su totalidad escuchó argumentos acerca de la ley, la cual requiere a los votantes presentar una de siete formas específicas de identificación con foto para poder emitir un voto.

El estado y otros simpatizantes de la ley dicen que evita el fraude. Opositores, incluyendo el Departamento de Justicia de EU y grupos de derechos humanos, aseguran que el fraude electoral en persona es extremadamente raro y que la ley de Texas es discriminatoria al requerir formas de identificación que son más difíciles de obtener para votantes de bajos ingresos, afro-americanos y latinos.

Era incierto cuando el tribunal en pleno emitiría su dictamen. El año pasado, un panel de tres jueces de la corte ratificó el veredicto de un juez de distrito acerca de que la ley era ilegalmente discriminatoria en su significado. Pero una mayoría del tribunal en pleno decidió volver a escuchar el caso.

Pese a haber sido derribada por un juez federal de distrito en 2014, la ley ha sido aplicada en recientes elecciones. La decisión inicial estuvo muy cerca al Día de Elecciones por lo que un panel del 5o Circuito permitió que se aplicara ése año para evitar que el votante se confundiera.

Tan solo en abril, la Corte Suprema de EU rechazó una apelación de emergencia para evitar que Texas aplicara la ley pendiente de la actual apelación. Pero la corte dijo que pudiera retomar el tema conforme se acerquen las elecciones en noviembre.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

A7

NATIONAL

Police react to expressway violence

By Don Babwin ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Michael Kirby Smith / New York Times

A study concluded that cellphone radiation increased the risk of rats developing cancers.

New study links tumors in rats to cellphones

By Andrew Pollack N EW YO RK T I ME S

A new federal study has preliminarily concluded that radiation from cellphones appears to increase the risk that laboratory rats will develop certain cancers, a finding that could revive questions about the safety of the devices.

But there are many caveats to the results released online, and some experts are debunking the study’s early findings.

The release, by the National Toxicology Program, an interagency federal group, found that male rats exposed to the type of radiation that cellphones emit had a somewhat higher risk of developing brain and heart tumors. The authors of the report concluded that lesions in the rats were “likely the result” of exposure to the radiation.

Among the caveats: The same risk was not seen in female rats. And in many cases, the differences in cancer rates between groups of rats exposed to the radiation and the control group were not statistically significant.

Moreover, the rats exposed to the radiation lived longer on the whole than the ones not exposed.

In a statement, the National Institutes of Health said: “This study

in mice and rats is under review by additional experts. It is important to note that previous human, observational data collected in earlier, large-scale population-based studies have found limited evidence of an increased risk for developing cancer from cellphone use.”

Still, the new study could reignite a debate about cellphone radiation.

While many public health authorities say there is little reason to worry, some say the matter is not completely settled.

“Given the extremely large number of people who use wireless communication devices, even a very small increase in the incidence of disease resulting from exposure to the RFR generated by those devices would have broad implications for public health,” the new study says. RFR refers to radio-frequency radiation.

Experts at the NIH who reviewed the new report differed in their opinions but several criticized the statistical analysis in the report.

“I am unable to accept the authors’ conclusions,” said one reviewer, Michael S. Lauer, deputy director for extramural research at the NIH, whose comments were included in an appendix of the report. He said it was likely that the findings represented false positives.

CHICAGO — The violence gripping many Chicago neighborhoods is apparently spilling onto its roads, and police will be out in force over Memorial Day weekend amid a spike in expressway shootings.

There have already been 20 shootings on area expressways this year, compared with 12 over the same period of 2015. Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz said at a news conference Thursday that he would be

sending out more troopers in marked and unmarked vehicles over the holiday weekend and would have planes overhead ready to radio down about signs of gun violence.

The Chicago Police Department said it will dispatch detectives to every expressway shooting scene to assist state troopers in their investigations — an acknowledgment that gangs are taking their violent clashes from the city streets to the expressways.

“A lot of these expressway shootings go from verbal confrontations that

happen inside the city and then the folks involved get on the expressways and go after each other,” said Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

Schmitz, who said the two departments will step up efforts to exchange information about their investigations, agreed that the rise in shooting incidents on the expressways is tied to the gang violence that plagues parts of the city. And the numbers mirror what has gone on in Chicago, where the police department had registered 232 homicides and 1,167 shooting in-

cidents in 2016 as of Thursday, compared to 153 homicides and 772 shooting incidents over the same period of last year.

The rise in expressway shootings isn’t unique to Chicago. Just this week, five Northern California mayors called on the governor to install surveillance cameras on freeways after a spate of more than two dozen shootings since November in which four people were killed and 12 were injured.

This weekend will be a test for the state police and Johnson, who was sworn in last month.

Iowa Indian burial site possibility stalls oil pipeline

By David Pitt ASSOCIATED PRE SS

DES MOINES, Iowa — The possibility of an American Indian burial site in northwest Iowa may require relocation of a crude oil pipeline route and delay the beginning of construction in Iowa, the only one of four states where work hasn’t begun.

The Dakota Access pipeline passes through the Big Sioux Wildlife Management area in Lyon County, traditional homeland for the Dakota Sioux where Standing Rock Sioux Tribal leaders say there is a burial site.

“The site has been identified by the tribe as of historical and cultural significance with associated burial activity,” said State Archaeologist John Doershuk.

Under Iowa law, Doershuk must now study the area to determine whether it is more than 150 years old. If so, it is considered ancient burial

Nati Harnik / Associated Press file

The discovery of a possible American Indian burial site in northwest Iowa may require relocation of the Dakota Access oil pipeline route.

grounds and he is obligated under Iowa law to protect it from disturbance.

The Sioux ceded land in the region to the U.S. government by treaty in 1851, according to a history of Lyon County, Iowa, posted on the county’s website.

The wildlife area is managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns the property.

The federal agency in March granted Iowa permission to issue a permit for the pipeline to run through the area but on Wednesday informed the state agency the permit was revoked due to the discovery.

“We did send a letter to the DNR stating to please stop all clearing and ground disturbing activities within that pipeline corridor on the Big Sioux pending further investigation,” said Mara Koe-

nig, a spokeswoman for the agency’s Midwest region. “We’ll work with state archaeologist to review evidence that is collected from that site so we can determine the next course of action.”

On Thursday the state sent a “stop work order” letter to the Dakota Access contractor.

Houston-based Dakota Access LLC wants to build the 1,150-mile pipeline — designed to carry a half-million barrels of oil a day — from northwest North Dakota to a storage facility in south-central Illinois. Construction on the $3.8 billion project has begun in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not yet authorized work to begin.

A spokeswoman for Dakota Access said the project isn’t affected because work has not yet begun in Iowa.

A8 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

In historic visit to Hiroshima, Obama calls on the world to morally evolve

By Christi Parsons and Julie Makinen TR IB UN E WASHINGT ON BUR EAU

HIROSHIMA, Japan — President Barack Obama came face to face with the horror of nuclear war Friday in a somber visit to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to tour the site of the atomic bombing 71 years ago that killed tens of thousands in an instant and ushered in the nuclear age.

In a sweeping address that reflected on the obligations of humankind, Obama wrestled with the inherent contradiction that centuries of technical advancement has both made it easier to bind people together and given them the capacity for the carnage seen in this city.

And he confronted the cold reality that his own goal of a world without nuclear firepower remains frustratingly out of reach.

Speaking slowly and solemnly, a tempo that seemed intended to underline his reach for history, the president noted that as battlefield weapons and tactics evolve, accompanying norms about whether to use them advances only in fits and starts.

"Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us," Obama warned. "The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well. That is why we come to this

place."

Obama did not apologize for the nuclear attacks here and in the city of Nagasaki, strikes he believes ended the perils of Japanese aggression and brought about the end of World War II. But as the leader of the only country ever to have deployed nuclear weapons, Obama said it is the duty of those who hold terrible power to accept the consequences of its use.

"We have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again.

Someday the voices of the ’hibakusha’ will no longer be with us to bear witness," he said, using the Japanese term for survivors of the nuclear blasts.

The Peace Memorial park he visited Friday afternoon marks the darkest days of Hiroshima, where about 350,000 Japanese civilians and military personnel were living on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the bomb fell.

An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people were killed instantly and tens of thousands more died from the effects of radiation in the months and years that followed. Among the dead were thousands of junior high school students mobilized to clear fire breaks in preparation for conventional bombings like those that had hit other Japanese cities in the weeks leading up to Aug. 6.

When the Enola Gay deployed the uranium

Doug Mills / New York Times

President Barack Obama speaks as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan looks on during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, on Friday.

bomb known as Little Boy over the city, though, it unleashed a blast thousands of times more powerful. Though only a fraction of its 110 pounds of fissile material actually underwent fission, its force nevertheless was equal to about 16,000 tons of more typical explosives.

Within a three-quartermile radius, virtually everyone died. Glass bottles melted and only a few concrete buildings remained standing.

On Friday, the president spent only a few minutes inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which features disturbing relics of the bombing, including singed and torn clothing worn by students burned in the bombing, and even nails and skin of a junior high school boy that were kept as relics by his mother after he died.

There he viewed a display for Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the bombing and, while battling the leukemia she contracted as a result of radiation exposure, would fold paper cranes, a symbol of longevity in Japan.

A long-held belief

among some Japanese is that by folding 1,000 paper cranes, one can achieve long life. Children present wreaths of paper cranes in the park in Hiroshima in Sadako’s memory; Obama gave two of his own to local schoolchildren, and then left two more alongside his inscription in the museum guest book.

"We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons," he wrote.

In his address, Obama acknowledged that he would fall short of his goal of nuclear nonproliferation that he declared in 2009 at the start of his presidency in a speech in Prague.

Even then, he said he knew it may not be done in his lifetime. But nonetheless, he renewed his call in Hiroshima for a nuclear-free world, this time with the soberness of a president who will end his two terms with the nation still at war.

"We may not realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of

catastrophe," he said. "We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles. We can stop the spread to new nations, and secure deadly materials from fanatics."

Even eliminating the world’s nuclear arsenal "is not enough," he said.

"We must change our mindset about war itself, to prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after they’ve begun," he said.

"To see our growing interdependence as a cause for peaceful cooperation and not violent competition. To define our nations not by our capacity to destroy but by what we build. And perhaps, above all, we must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race."

After he spoke, Obama spent several moments with Sunao Tsuboi?, a survivor whose experience was chronicled in John Hersey’s landmark book, "Hiroshima."

Tsuboi was a college student on his way to class when the bomb was dropped. He was knocked unconscious by the force

of the blast and did not awaken until the next month. Like other survivors, he was a victim of discrimination because of poor knowledge about the long-term effects of radiation. He also suffers from aplastic anemia and must receive blood transfusions every other week, according to the White House.

Tsuboi, now grayhaired and using a cane, went on to become a math teacher and an antiwar activist, eventually becoming chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization.

As Obama arrived in Hiroshima, residents lined the streets around the park in the city center, hoping for a glimpse of him. But those who watched Obama’s remarks had mixed reactions.

"I respect his courage to come here," said Akira Kawasaki of the organization Peace Boat. But, he said, Obama shouldn’t conflate the idea of ending wars and abolishing nuclear weapons "Talking about both at the same time makes both more complicated."

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

A9

BUSINESS

McDonald’s CEO says company is making changes customers want

By Candice Choi A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — McDonald’s, under intense pressure in a competitive industry, sought to reassure its shareholders Thursday that it is making changes to its food and service that customers want.

CEO Steve Easterbrook recounted adjustments he’s overseen since taking the job early last year, such as improving order accuracy, toasting buns longer to improve the taste of burgers and the launch of an all-day breakfast menu in the U.S. He also said the company is working on more convenient ways for customers to get food, whether with ordering kiosks or table service and delivery in select markets.

McDonald’s Corp. is “fundamentally changing perceptions,” he said at the annual meeting in Oak Brook, Illinois.

His remarks come as the world’s biggest burger chain is fighting to revitalize its business after

conceding that it failed to keep up with changing tastes and sales slumped.

It’s not clear whether the efforts will pay off over the long term, but in April, the company reported its third straight quarter of sales growth for restaurants open at least 13 months in its flagship U.S. market.

Globally, sales at established locations rose 6.2 percent in the first three months of the year.

Still, McDonald’s expects to shrink its U.S. store base of more than 14,000 stores this year, marking the second straight year of retrenchment after decades of expansion.

McDonald’s is also trying to improve its image as an employer amid a campaign by labor organizers for pay of $15 an hour and a union for fast-food workers. Demonstrators calling for higher pay again protested outside this year’s shareholder meeting.

The issue came up inside the meeting as well, when a shareholder asked whether the com-

pany would turn to kiosks and “automatic pancake machines” to replace workers if the government were to mandate a $15-an-hour wage.

Easterbrook said the company would always have “an important human element” because it’s in the service business.

He said the kiosks and other technology options are being embraced by customers, and aren’t intended as labor replacement.

“I don’t see it being a risk to job elimination,” he said.

In his remarks, Easterbrook also noted a tuition assistance program the company announced last year for workers.

As with past annual meetings, shareholders posed a mixed bag of questions and comments including whether the company could bring international menu items to U.S. restaurants, complaints about its new electronic menu boards and criticism over its marketing practices to children.

Crowd thins slightly at NC furniture market after LGBT law

By Emery P. Dalesio ASSOCIATED PRE SS

RALEIGH, N.C. — Attendance dipped slightly for North Carolina’s world-renowned furniture market this year in an early test of business reaction to the state’s new law limiting protections for LGBT people.

According to numbers released Friday by the High Point Market, this year’s registered attendees — including buyers, exhibitors, media and students — totaled slightly more than 79,000. That represents a decrease of 1,000 from the previous year, and a reversal for the market.

Attendance at last year’s spring event rose 2.5 percent from 2014.

The twice-a-year High Point Markets bring an estimated $5 billion a year in economic activity to North Carolina.

April’s event was the biggest economic activity in North Carolina since House Bill 2 was adopted, defining which bath-

rooms transgender people may legally use and limiting legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Buyers for WilliamsSonoma Inc. retail outlets, including Pottery Barn and West Elm, were among those boycotting the five-day event. But none of the dozens of furniture makers and importers contacted by The Associated Press before the April market said they would miss the opportunity to show off their updated products. Many spend millions of dollars and work for months to prepare sprawling display showrooms and entertainment for their customers.

The market authority had predicted after the law passed in March that hundreds would skip the market. No mention of the law was made in Friday’s release; neither would representatives of the market say why it took more than a month to release this year’s figures, more than twice

as long as last year.

The next market takes place in late October, days before the fall election in the closely contested governor’s race that could hinge partly on voters’ reaction to House Bill 2.

The non-profit group supporting the market received 57 percent of its funding from state and local governments, according to its 2014 financial statement. State legislators last year decided to increase funding for the authority by 40 percent to $1.2 million a year, not including state transportation money.

One frequent participant, Currey & Company Vice President Cecil Adams, said his unscientific perception was there were fewer buyers and observers jamming the corridors this April.

“It felt soft as far as traffic,” said Adams, the creative director for the Atlanta-based interior lighting specialist. “In terms of the quantity of folks, we might have had a few less.”

Banks making it easier to split the tab

By Ken Sweet A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Splitting the bill for those pizzas you shared with your buddies or that utility bill that is suddenly due is going to get easier and faster even if you don’t all use the same bank.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and other big banks are upgrading their online payment services to let customers make instant transfers of money to others who bank elsewhere, often at no cost.

The move comes as traditional banks face pressure from payment companies like Venmo and Square Cash that offer ways to split the bill.

Banks developed online services that allow their customers to send money to anyone with a phone number or email address several years ago. But the services were considered overly complicated. Until last year, bank customers could only send money to another customer the same bank. The only option bank customers often had to send money instantly to another person was a wire transfer, which can cost upward of $30 at

Mark Lennihan / Associated Press file

In this file photo, a customer uses an ATM at a branch of Chase Bank. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and other big banks are upgrading their online payment services to let customers make instant transfers of money to others who bank elsewhere.

a branch, or to use a service like Western Union, which also charges a fee.

When the option to send money to person at a different bank became available, the service would take upward of three days to complete.

Silicon Valley startups Venmo and Square Cash, on the other hand, promised person-to-person transfers that were open to anyone with a debit card and would be com-

pleted in as little as one business day.

The banks don’t want to lose more customers and are trying to top Silicon Valley.

“This is what our customers have been asking for,” said Jason Alexander, head of digital platforms for Chase, in an interview.

Chase, the nation’s largest bank by assets and the largest bank operator of person-to-person payment services, is rolling

out its upgrade to Chase QuickPay next month.

Wells Fargo is launching its service in July. Bank of America customers have had the ability since March, but only between them and U.S. Bank — they were the only two with the necessary software upgrades at the time.

Capital One plans to roll out real-time transfers later this year, a spokeswoman said.

The instant payments

between these big banks come with a limitation: the instant payments will only occur between banks on the same network, called clearXchange. The network includes Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA and U.S. Bank, as well as Capital One and Coloradobased FirstBank. That network represents 60 percent of all U.S. mobile banking customers, according to a Chase spokesman.

ClearXchange is expected to grow in the coming years, said Gareth Gaston with U.S. Bank.

“It’s about connecting all the banks together to make our customers’ lives a little simpler,” Gaston said.

Acceptance of mobile payments has accelerated in recent years. About 46 percent of U.S. consumers have made a mobile payment, according to a study

by The Pew Charitable Trusts released this week, with most of those users being millennials or members of Generation X. “It will take some time for customers to adopt this, but we want to be there and be ready when our customers are ready,” Gaston said.

Users of Venmo sent $1 billion in payments in the month of January this year, up from $100 million in the same month in 2014.

In comparison, Chase customers now send $20 billion a year using QuickPay. Wells Fargo customers send $10 billion over its service SurePay. Mobile payments, particularly when people are splitting a bill, reached a level where Venmo users are using the pizza emoji every 20 seconds when sending money to each other.

“Whether they use Venmo, or use a bank, this growth wraps around the same issue: the awkwardness of cash and how it’s going away,” said to Anuj Nayar, PayPal’s director of global initiatives.

The banks in the clearXchange network are not charging a fee for the instant transfer of funds, with the exception of U.S. Bank, which will charge a fee up to $6.95 for instant delivery. Venmo and Square Cash are for the most part free as well, although there is sometimes a fee of up to 3 percent on Venmo transfers where the customer uses a credit card.

A10 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT Police test bullets Judge orders Johnny from shooting at T.I. Depp to stay away concert in NYC from estranged wife Rich Fury / Associated Press file

By Jake Pearson A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Police conducted ballistic tests Friday to determine whether more than one gun was used in a shooting inside a hip-hop concert featuring artist T.I. that killed one person and injured three others.

Among those tests was an analysis of a bullet removed from the leg of rapper Troy Ave, who remained hospitalized following his arrest on attempted murder and weapons charges in the Wednesday night shooting, a police spokesman said.

No weapons have been recovered, though tests have found that five 9-mm shell casings discovered at the scene belong to the same gun, according to Stephen Davis, the department’s top spokesman.

Troy Ave, whose real name is Roland Collins, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. One of his security guards, 33-year-old Ronald McPhatter, was killed in the shooting.

Two others were shot and injured.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan prosecutors said she didn’t know when Collins would be arraigned.

An eight-second video clip released by police shows a limping gunman — identified by the police as Collins — burst through a VIP room door, stop and scan the room, then raise his gun and fire a single round.

There were nearly 1,000 concertgoers in the building at the time of the shooting and witnesses described a chaotic scene as people ducked under counters and clutched one another.

By Anthony McCartney ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — A judge ordered Johnny Depp to stay away from his estranged wife after she accused the Oscarnominated actor of repeatedly hitting her during a recent fight and leaving her face bruised.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H. Moor also ruled that Depp shouldn’t try to contact Heard until a hearing is conducted on June 17.

Heard said in a sworn declaration that Depp threw her cellphone at her during a fight Saturday, striking her cheek and eye. She submitted a picture of her bruised face when she applied for a restraining order Friday.

She also wrote that the actor pulled her hair, screamed at her and repeatedly hit her and vio-

lently grabbed her face.

She appeared at a Los Angeles court on Friday and had a bruise on her right cheek below the eye.

Los Angeles police responded to the Depp and Heard’s residence on Saturday, but were asked by the person reporting domestic violence not to take a report and did not provide evidence. “Officers’ investigation determined that a crime did not occur,” Los Angeles police officer Aareon Jefferson said Friday.

Heard’s filing Friday said the actor was high and drunk when the incident occurred.

“I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorize me, physically and emotionally,” Heard wrote in a sworn declaration.

She also submitted a declaration from a friend

In this Jan. 9, 2016 photo, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp arrive at The Art of Elysium's Ninth annual Heaven Gala at 3LABS, in Culver City.

who wrote that she shot pictures of Heard’s bruised face shortly after Depp left.

Moor rejected Heard’s request that Depp attend a year’s worth of anger management classes and the protective order extend to her dog, a Yorkshire terrier named Pistol.

Heard’s filing states the May fight was preceded by an incident in April in which the actor skipped her birthday party and showed up later high and drunk and pushed her to the floor. After that incident, Heard wrote she did not see the actor for another month.

The filing came five days after Heard filed for divorce.

Depp’s attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to com-

ment. Depp is in Portugal for a performance with his band Hollywood Vampires.

Wasser wrote in a court filing that Depp was out of the country and would agree to a mutual stayaway order. She contended that Heard’s filing, along with requests for financial assistance from the actor “appears to be in response to the negative media attention she received earlier this week after filing for divorce.”

Heard’s divorce filing cited irreconcilable differences and said the pair separated the day before.

She is seeking spousal support from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, but Depp’s response filed Wednesday asked a judge to deny the request.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

A11

FROM THE COVER FILM From page A1 “That’s not my child.”

In 2009, Alaniz and his office got involved in the Drug Court Program.

“Overwhelmingly, a majority of people there are good people wanting to get out of addiction.

The Drug Court gives them that hope,” Alaniz said.

Alaniz said his office has seen a large number of cases where people steal electronics to pawn them, get money and pay for their addiction.

“It’s not the end of the road when you end up at the DA’s office. Getting arrested may save your life,” Alaniz said.

Paez, a strong believer in treatment and recovery, agreed with Alaniz that an arrest might be the best thing that can happen to an addict.

With an arrest comes compliance with court dates, restrictions and regular checkups.

“It can literally save your life,” Paez said.

The most common

drugs seen within the Drug Court unit are marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

Heroin can be sold as cheap as $10 per 0.2 grams, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“We want to hold offenders accountable for their actions including probation with restitution and, or necessary treatment and jail time for repeat offenders,” Alaniz said.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rob Saale said drug addiction affects all.

He said he was once involved in a case where students in a high school in northern Virginia were sold heroin.

Six students died over a 4-month period, he recalled.

“It was gut wrenching,” Saale said.

“This isn’t a problem we can arrest our way out.”

Educators and parents play a role in prevention, he said.

‘Weakest link’

Organizers then opened up the session to questions.

Cynthia L. Villarreal, Zapata County Independent School District AtRisk Coordinator, voiced her concerns to the audience.

“The weakest link is our parents,” Villarreal said.

Villarreal recently invited about 2,000 parents to parenting sessions but only 41 attended. Parents are afraid of their children, she said.

Parents pick a fight with school administrators saying they’re nitpicky rather than standing up to their children, she said.

Villarreal asked the presenters what can be done to get more parent involvement. Presenters suggested organizing more awareness events to bring parents to light about the reality of drug abuse.

For help or assistance, people can call SCAN in Laredo at 724-3177 or SCAN in Zapata at 7653555.

ARREST From page A1 Office,” she posted on Facebook.

Zapata authorities said the case first started as a runaway report.

On May 19, Starr County Sheriff ’s Office disseminated information regarding a female runaway to the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and other agencies.

At about midnight Tuesday, investigators in Zapata notified the Hidalgo County Sheriff ’s Office that they had received a call from the mother of the 15-year-old saying she was in danger.

Reports state a man called the girl’s sister requesting ransom for her release.

“Our investigators

were told the caller was from the Mission area.

Through the course of the investigation, sheriff ’s investigators obtained information which led them to western Hidalgo County,” states a news release from the Hidalgo Sheriff ’s Office.

While conducting surveillance, Hidalgo investigators said they saw a vehicle, a late model Chrysler 300, leave the location.

A traffic stop was conducted and authorities identified the driver as Mata.

“Mata implicated himself as the person who called the mother of the victim and requested $300 for the release of her daughter,” Hidalgo authorities said in a

news release.

“Mata then led investigators to a second location, the 800 block of Ramona Boulevard in rural Mission where the 15-year-old victim was being held by a friend of his named Erick Martinez Lopez.”

Martinez eluded authorities.

Investigators rescued the girl. She alleged that Mata and Martinez had sexually assaulted her.

“Investigators interviewed Mata where he admitted to sexually assaulting the 15-year-old victim.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for a sexual assault exam,” the Hidalgo Sheriff ’s Office said.

The case remains open.

Apprehensions keep climbing The number of apprehensions of families and unaccompanied minors by the U.S. Border Patrol continues to increase.

Rio Grande Sector apprehensions 10,000 7,184

7,145

8,000

REBOUND From page A1 Mostly missing from the audience that night were the people who have staked a portion of their businesses on the fortunes of oil and gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shales — those who make up the supply chain for an industry that extends across Pennsylvania and into West Virginia and eastern Ohio.

Spigelmyer acknowledged the supply chain has suffered with the downturn. He noted MSC, which represents drillers and their suppliers, has seen its membership shrink from around 300 to 220 since drillers began announcing what he said has amounted to a $12 billion cutback in capital investment since early 2015. Rig counts in the region have plummeted from 111 to just a handful in the past 18 months, as producers wait for natural gas prices — depressed to just over $1 per thousand cubic feet in the Appalachian Basin — to reach a point where drilling again makes economic sense.

Spigelmyer and Snyder believe drilling could be profitable at between $3.50 and $4 per mcf. But the Marcellus now has a capacity of more than 16.3 billion cubic feet per day, a tall order for a region that doesn’t yet have the complementary capacity to move a supply glut of that magnitude.

Those in the area’s supply chain are convinced that natural gas production will return, and most of those interviewed by the Observer-Reporter said they’re diversifying, pursuing business in other industries or making other defensive moves while they wait for the resurgence of gas.

Alex Gonzalez liked Western Pennsylvania for a number of reasons.

Marcellus Shale was prominent among them.

Two years ago, he launched Neptune Solutions, a company that would treat water used by oil and natural gas drillers for hydraulic fracturing. It was based in West Texas, but after partnering with Pittsburghbased EQT Corp., Gonzalez, a Texan, moved the company headquarters to South Strabane Township a little more than a year ago. He envisioned great potential and opportunity in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Instead, the downturn caused Gonzalez to abandon the industrial complex off Route 136 for a “less expensive” — his words — location in Washington County, along the Monongahela

River near Brownsville.

Neptune’s biocide water treatment operation there is bare bones. Gonzalez, the company president, said there is one contract employee working there, and most of the firm’s equipment has been returned to Texas. In the case of an upswing, “we can move it back,” he said. “But that won’t happen by 2017.”

“Pretty much every bit of operation in the Appalachian Basin is on hold,” Gonzalez said. “No one is doing anything.

“Everyone is operating at break-even or a loss.

You don’t see anyone making a profit. And this (downturn) has been holding on for a long time. Every day, you hear about another company closing its doors.

“A lot of vendors are gone. There is equipment stacked everywhere, which means banks have loans on default. We don’t have loans on default.

We’re staying alive.”

Neptune operates in the United States, Canada and South America. But these days, Gonzalez said his firm does 65 to 70 percent of its work in the Permian Basin, which stretches from West Texas into New Mexico.

“It is far less expensive to get oil and gas out of ground there than it is up here,” he said. “You can make money at $4 for oil and $2 for gas, but it’s tight.”

Mark Caskey is the founder of South Strabane Township-based Steel Nation, which provides sound-dampening buildings for midstream and gas transmission plants. He said his company, which builds the structures in the tri-state area, has weathered the downturn because it began doing more business with the transmission end of the natural gas business.

Since starting his business in 2008, Caskey made the shift from building structures for the coal-mining industry to the same type of work for the natural gas industry.

Today, Steel Nation, which employs 23 inhouse and about 90 subcontractors, is doing work for Energy Transfer Partners as it works on the Rover Pipeline, as well as “a ton” of projects for EQT in Virginia, Dominion, Spectra Energy in Susquehanna County and Mark West Energy in West Virginia.

“We’re not setting the world on fire, but it’s not all doom and gloom out there,” Caskey said.

‘A long haul’ When told of the projected return of drilling activity in the third quarter of 2017, Paul Battista of Sunnyside Supply in

Slovan was direct in his response.

“Eighteen months is a long time; it’s a long haul” he said. “No, we couldn’t continue to survive just on the gas industry for revenues.”

While he still sees some demand from the pipeline construction side of the gas industry, Battista said he’s also noticed the entry of large, national supply companies bidding for business.

“Larger companies are lowering prices” to get business, he said of the squeeze created when suppliers of all sizes compete for shrinking demand.

“We’re looking at other industries,” said Battista, adding that the product focus is on “safety and efficiency” in the workplace.

For now, the centerpiece of the diversification effort is the marketing of a portable, yet expandable set of aluminum steps that can be used in a variety of work situations.

Battista and an employee have hit the road to demonstrate the versatile product, recently traveling to sales appointments in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Ohio.

“We’ve chosen a product that gets us into other industries,” he said.

Like others in the supply chain, Battista is optimistic about the return of natural gas in the region.

“I think it will come back,” he said.

That’s also the feeling at McCutcheon Enterprises Inc., a family-run business that also is working a diversification strategy while it waits for the return of gas drilling.

In April, the Apollobased company, which has been in the industrial water-treatment business there for decades, opened an 8,500-square-foot equipment showroom and offices in Houston Borough on April 13, after renting space in an adjacent building for a couple of years.

“We’re committed to being here. We’re going to weather the storm,” said Chad McCutcheon, who, with his brother, Nathan, represent the fourth generation of the company operated by their father, Calvin McCutcheon.

The MEI showroom offers all types of equipment, chain saws, trimmers and other power tools that can be used by everyone from those working in construction to landscapers and homeowners. There is also a hydraulic hose repair center that serves the heavy equipment industry. MEI also rents front-loaders and other construction equipment that can be used by a variety of industries.

6 -201 2015

6,000 3,882 4,000

2,000

3,106 15 2014-20

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

March

April

San Antonio Express-News

MIGRANT From page A1 banks of the Rio Grande.

The dangers are especially acute in Brooks County, a rural county made up of vast ranchland. Smugglers lead immigrants around the Border Patrol checkpoint through rugged areas with little or no water.

Border officials staged an immigrant rescue Wednesday, offering a

glimpse of the harsh terrain in Brooks County, where hundreds of immigrants have died in recent years trying to evade capture.

The calls from the families of missing immigrants flood the office of Eddie Canales, who runs the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias. He coordinates with authorities, using the information he gleans from family mem-

bers to locate immigrants who likely disappeared in the area.

Still the calls from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico come pouring in.

“I think it’s going to get worse this summer,” Canales said. “If I had GPS coordinates for every call that I got Border Patrol would be swamped, because they don’t have enough resources.”

A12 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

B1

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: HOUSTON ROCKETS

Source: Rockets agree with D'Antoni Houston to name D’Antoni next coach

By Jon Krawczynski A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

Mike D'Antoni is taking his "Seven Seconds or Less" offense to Houston, where James Harden is waiting to give his new coach the kind of weapon that could be a perfect fit for his system.

D'Antoni reached agreement with the Rockets on a four-year deal on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the hiring, which was first reported

by Yahoo! Sports.

In some ways, both D'Antoni and the Rockets are looking for redemption.

The 65-year-old D'An-

toni has long been thought of as one of the most innovative offensive minds in basketball. He led the Phoenix Suns to two Western Conference finals appearances in five seasons, with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire spearheading a breakneck scoring machine that put the entire league on its heels.

He wasn't as successful in ensuing stints with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, going a combined 188-255 in six seasons and 0-8 in two trips to the playoffs.

He returned to the bench as an associate head coach in Philadelphia this season in hopes of getting another chance to run the show.

D'Antoni inherits a Rockets continues on B2

Rob Carr / Getty Images file

The Rockets have tabbed Mike D'Antoni as the team’s next head coach, according to an AP source. The veteran has experience coaching teams such as the Suns, Knicks and Lakers.

NCAA FOOTBALL: BAYLOR BEARS

HS FOOTBALL

UNCERTAINTY LEAVES BAYLOR IN DANGER

AT&T Stadium to host state title games UIL will play in Arlington next 2 years COURTE SY OF UIL

school offered defensive coordinator Phil Bennett the position of interim head coach. But there was no formal announcement planned, and leadership of the program remained in limbo.

AUSTIN — All University Interscholastic League football state championship games will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the next two years, the UIL announced Thursday.

The 11-man and sixman football championship games will be played at AT&T Stadium, with a new schedule placing all 12 games in a four-day span. The 2016 championship games will take place December 14-17.

“The UIL Football State Championships will be bigger and better than ever this year at AT&T Stadium, with all 12 games in the same week in one location,” said UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt. “The UIL is excited

Baylor continues on B2

UIL continues on B2

LM Otero / AP file

Baylor will look to rebuild its reputation and perhaps its football program after an outside review found administrators mishandled allegations of sexual assault and the team operated under the perception it was above the rules.

Powerhouse Bears face possible return to losing ways before Briles’ tenure

By Ralph D. Russo A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

Enveloped by uncertainty, Baylor football is facing the possibility of a lost season, NCAA sanctions and the program slipping back to-

ward the losing ways that predated Art Briles’ tenure as coach.

The university board of regents began the process of firing Briles on Thursday as it released some of the findings of a scathing report

that accused the coach and other university leaders of not responding or inappropriately handling allegations of sexual assault.

Kenneth Starr was also demoted from his role as university presi-

dent, and athletic director Ian McCaw was put on probation. But the ramifications of the scandal will linger at Baylor, possibly for years.

The first task is finding a coach. On Friday, ESPN reported that the

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: STANLEY CUP FINAL

Speed rules in Sharks-Penguins final

By Stephen Whyno ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Gene J. Puskar / AP file

The Penguins and Sharks will meet in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final with San Jose making its first trip to the championship.

It will be speed vs. speed in the Stanley Cup final between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

San Jose got through the Western Conference the same way Pittsburgh got through the East: with plenty of depth and speed to kill. The final will feature the three top playoff scorers in the Sharks’ Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns

against Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

“It’s going to be fast hockey,” Crosby said after the Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the East final Thursday night. “Two teams that want to play the exact same way, that want to get their D involved (and) their power play is really dangerous. ... It’s going to be quite the series.”

The Sharks are in the Cup final for the first time

in their 24-season franchise history and in Peter DeBoer’s first year as coach. The Penguins are back for the first time since winning it all in 2009 and made it after Mike Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston as coach in December.

In his first meeting with them, Sullivan challenged his players to be great and told them that’s how they win in the NHL. They’ve won in the playoffs on the strength of

scoring from Crosby and speedy wingers Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Game 7 hero Bryan Rust, not to mention the goaltending of 22-year-old rookie Matt Murray.

Kessel is Pittsburgh’s leading scorer with 18 points on nine goals and nine assists after coming over from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade last summer.

“I don’t think you could dream about that. You never could expect this,” NHL continues on B2

B2 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

SPORTS

Thunder look to close out Warriors

By Cliff Brunt A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Thunder won’t say they have to win Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday to win the Western Conference finals.

The alternative is less than ideal.

Win at home on Saturday and Oklahoma City will advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. Lose and the Thunder will be forced to play Game 7 in Oakland. The defending champion Warriors have lost three home games all season.

Thunder coach Billy Donovan said his players don’t need to get ahead of themselves worrying about results.

“We’ve got to play the 48 minutes tomorrow night,” Donovan said Friday. “That’s really what it comes down to.

You can get caught up in thinking about the future and what the results mean at the end of the game. But the bottom line is the result at the end of the game will happen, and what you don’t want to do is be focused on the result and forget to do your job during the course of 48 minutes.”

Oklahoma City has done the job at home in the series. The Thunder won Game 3 133-105, tying a franchise record for points scored in a playoff game. The Thunder came back with more of the same in Game 4, a 118-94 blowout that put the defending champion Warriors on the brink of elimination. The Warriors know it’s going to take something special to produce a different result at the arena known as

NHL From page B1 Kessel said. “This is a huge moment in my career and my life.”

San Jose is also rolling along thanks to a summer pickup in goaltender Martin Jones, who was the Los Angeles Kings’ backup when they won the

ROCKETS From page B1 team in turmoil with the Rockets. They were one of the NBA's biggest disappointments this season, with discord in the locker room leaking on to the court and making the talented roster an incredibly frustrating team to watch.

With his ability to shoot from the outside, score in transition and get to the free throw line, Harden puts as much pressure on an opposing

BAYLOR From page B1 The recent history of schools that have had coaching upheaval at this time of the year suggests Baylor, which was expected to contend for another Big 12 title, could be in for a tough go on the field.

After Ohio State dismissed coach Jim Tressel in May 2011 for lying to NCAA investigators, defensive coordinator Luke Fickell was made interim head coach and the Buckeyes went on to finish 6-7.

A scandal involving assistant coaches and agents led to Butch Davis being fired by North Carolina in July 2011, and the Tar Heels finished 7-6 under interim coach

Jose Carlos Fajardo / TNS

Golden State won 120-111 at home in Game 5 but needs to win the next two games to advance to the NBA Finals as they head to Oklahoma City Saturday for Game 6.

Loud City on Saturday.

“It will take all of our IQ, all of our gamesmanship, and just 48 great minutes to get a win down there, considering how the last two games have gone,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said.

The Warriors saved their season with a 120-111 win Thursday night in Oakland. There’s still hope that they can defend their title.

“Our guys have had a spectacular run here the last two years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

“They’ve loved every second of it. They don’t want it to end, and no matter how you look at it, if you’re not the last team standing, it’s tough.

It’s a disappointing way to go out. So we want to hang in there. We want

to win the next two and get back to the finals.”

Rebounding has been the best indicator in the series. In Oklahoma City’s three wins, the Thunder have outrebounded the Warriors.

Golden State has won or tied in that category in both of its wins. The Thunder, the league’s top rebounding team in the regular season, need to take advantage of their size and depth.

“There have been some games in this series where we’ve done a really good job, and there are some games we need to do a better job,” Donovan said. “I’ve said this during the course of the season — you’ve got to be intentional about what you’re doing. We’ll have to go back and start over and understand that

that’s really — and has always been in this series — a very, very important ingredient for both teams.”

Golden State got a more typical effort from Curry on Thursday night after two subpar games in Oklahoma City. He scored 31 points on 9for-20 shooting to fuel the victory. The Warriors believe they have figured out at least part of their problem.

“We play better when we’re having fun,” Curry said. “We played like we were really stressed in OKC, and it showed. Got to bottle up that joy and take it with us on the plane to OKC and be ready on Saturday. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere, and I think we’re ready for the challenge.”

Golden State forward Draymond Green escaped a suspension for the second time this series as the NBA ruled his trip of Enes Kanter was not a flagrant foul, which would have seen him exceed the league limit for playoff flagrant penalty points.

Cup in 2014. Couture, Pavelski and Burns are piling up the points, but this run is about aging veterans Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau finally breaking through.

Thornton and Marleau, the top two picks in the 1997 draft, made the playoffs together with the Sharks in nine of 10 previous seasons but had yet to

make the Cup final until now.

Crosby and Malkin made it twice, losing in 2008 to the Detroit Red Wings before winning the following season. At the time, it looked like the young core that also featured defenseman Kris Letang would challenge for the Cup every year.

Now they have a chance

to add to their legacy, but it won’t be easy even with home-ice advantage in the series that starts Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Sharks are the Penguins’ deepest opponent yet.

“The Penguins should expect a team that’s deeper, quicker than Tampa, and a team that’s playing with a lot of confidence,” NBC Sports analyst Ed

Olczyk said.

Confidence isn’t lacking for either team. The Sharks knocked off the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues to get here, while the Penguins beat the New York Rangers, Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals and defending East-champion Lightning.

defense as any player in the league. But his balldominant approach and an inability to fully mesh with center Dwight Howard added a level of tension to the attack that was palpable.

After making the Western Conference finals in 2015, the Rockets barely made the playoffs this year and were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in the first round.

Coach Kevin McHale was fired early in the season as GM Daryl Morey desperately tried to find the right buttons to

push to get the team going. Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff went 37-34 in McHale's place.

The Rockets conducted an exhaustive coaching search. Charlotte assistant Stephen Silas, Orlando assistant Adrian Griffin, San Antonio assistant James Borrego and TNT analyst Kenny Smith were among the candidates interviewed by Morey and owner Leslie Alexander.

D'Antoni is 455-426 in 12 seasons as a head coach, including a 50game stint with the Den-

ver Nuggets in 1998-99.

He has led his team to the playoffs six times.

His offensive expertise should align well with Harden, the bearded face of the franchise known for his scoring and volume shooting. Like D'Antoni, Harden is occasionally chided for a perceived aversion to defense, but he remains so much more than a shot hunter. He averaged 7.5 assists this season to go with his 29.0 points and has served as the Rockets' primary ball-handler and playmaker ever since he was

acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City in 2012.

There is also a familiarity between the two stemming from their time together with the U.S. Olympic team in 2012.

Howard is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.

It will be up to D'Antoni and Morey to find the right mix of players to surround Harden with, and D'Antoni is expected to bring in a coaching staff with experience on the defensive end to help balance his acumen on the offensive side.

to showcase the best high school football in Texas at AT&T Stadium during the football finals for an outstanding championship experience.”

The UIL has determined the site of the largest conference state championships since 2006, and all conferences have played at pre-determined locations since 2010. AT&T Stadium hosted all 11-man championship games from 20112014.

“For more than four decades the Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the UIL and high school football teams all over the state of Texas,” said Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones. “We are proud to have the games coming back to the city of Arlington and AT&T Stadium where many more memories will be made.”

Everett Withers.

Then-Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was fired for lying to his boss about an affair he was having with a member of the football staff after getting into a motorcycle accident in April 2012. A Razorbacks team with high hopes ended up finishing 4-8 under interim coach John L. Smith.

Bill Carr of CarrSports Consulting, a firm that works with schools on coaching searches, said Baylor is best off taking a short-term approach for the 2016 season.

“Baylor was unlikely to find a long-term remedy in the next 30 days,” said Carr, the former athletic director at the University of Houston and the University of Florida.

Retaining Bennett and other Briles assistants

could be seen as a curious choice. The law firm Pepper Hamilton, in its report on Baylor’s handling of sexual assault allegations, stated football staff members other than Briles were involved in inappropriate investigations and withholding information from the university.

But trying to bring an entirely new staff into such a volatile situation at this time of the year would be an almost impossible task.

“Extraordinarily difficult situation,” Carr said.

While it is conceivable Bennett could do well enough to earn the head coaching job permanently, it’s more likely Baylor will re-enter the market in November or December. Then, more candidates are available, the

school leadership has been replaced and more of the fallout from the scandal is known.

That could include NCAA involvement.

Baylor regents said school officials have been in contact with the NCAA, and that the law firm Bond, Schoenech & King has been hired to handle potential NCAA matters.

“I think at this point in time, I’m not seeing any outward NCAA violations,” said David Ridpath, a professor at Ohio University with experience in NCAA compliance.

Ridpath said the NCAA might be able to deem players received extra benefits in the form of special treatment by the athletic department or law enforcement.

However, Ridpath said he can’t recall a similar past NCAA investigation.

The NCAA sanctioned Penn State after the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, but in a way that was unprecedented and far removed from its usual procedures. The NCAA eventually rolled back massive sanctions against Penn State, reducing a four-year bowl ban to two years and restoring dozens of scholarships that were docked.

“My initial guess is the NCAA won’t get involved because of Penn State, because that turned out to be such an issue for them,” Ridpath said. “I think most everyone agrees that they shouldn’t have gotten involved — at least not to the extent that they did

— by exercising executive authority.”

Even if Baylor avoids NCAA sanctions, turmoil and uncertainty are obstacles on the recruiting trail. The coaching turnover alone will put the Bears at a serious disadvantage against their competitors this year.

Before Briles took over in 2008, Baylor had languished through 12 losing seasons in the Big 12 as a small-town private school that couldn’t come close to Texas and Oklahoma. Under Briles, Baylor upgraded facilities, recruited more talented players and re-energized the fans.

But the days of routinely reaching double-digit victories — four times in the last five seasons — could be coming to an end in Waco, Texas.

Jose Carlos Fajardo / TNS

UIL From page B1

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, May 28, 2016 |

Dear Heloise: I've been using those COLORING BOOKS FOR ADULTS lately. The designs allow you to create beautiful pictures. It's relaxing, with my only thought being, "How do I get color in that little space without going over the line?"

My handwriting has even improved!

But the thought of these pictures stored away doesn't appeal to me; displaying them in a bright spot in a nursing home or hospital does.

I trim the picture, glue it to card stock and donate it. I share the happiness!

These books are sometimes used for rehab when a hand is damaged, or if a person needs to use the other hand. -Roberta S., Fairborn, Ohio The coloring books are readily available at large retailers. Grab some, and some colored pencils, too!

This would be a great donation project for a

“

HELOISE

youth or scouting group to give to a retirement community. -- Heloise MEMORY MAKER Dear Heloise: My friend, who has lost her sight, enjoyed my gift of wind chimes. It makes a lovely gift for all occasions. When you hear the pretty tones, you think of the person who gave it to you. -- Carol H., Cortland, Ohio ONLINE DIRECTIONS Dear Heloise: Printing travel directions on the computer is easy, helpful and convenient, but I always write the phone number of the place I am going to at the top of the page in case I need to contact the company anyway. Saves time and fumbling! -- Amy V., via email

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B4 | Saturday, May 28, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES