The Zapata Times 6/2/2018

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NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Talks drag on longer than expected President Trump’s push to revamp trade deal stokes ‘unease’ in Lone Star State

By Tom Benning DA LLAS MORNING NEWS

Texans in Congress are growing ever more anxious over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement as the Trump administration’s halting deliberations with Mexico and Canada drag on

longer than many had hoped.

That worry is not altogether new, given that President Donald Trump has long threatened to withdraw from an agreement he’s called the "worst trade deal ever made."

But top Texas lawmakers felt compelled in recent days to urge the White House’s trade

team to remain at the negotiating table with America’s neighbors, especially as the highstakes discussions bear the helter-skelter hallmarks of Trump’s broader trade agenda.

Self-imposed deadlines that come and pass. Bargaining positions that change by the day or even by the hour. In-

stability that is forcing some Texas businesses to put off expansion plans.

"There’s some unease with regard to the administration’s philosophy and policy on trade," said Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican.

"NAFTA is a good thing. . Why would we want to ruin this great economic recovery we’ve seen by creating more uncertainty and havoc?"

Such discomfort is all the more magnified in Texas.

Trade - and NAFTA, in par-

ticular - is rare among major political issues in uniting many of the state’s Republicans and Democrats. The reason is obvious: Texas is home to about 1 million jobs supported by trade with Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Lawmakers in both parties agree that NAFTA could be improved. Some remain optimistic about that kind of outcome.

But Trump tests that resolve NAFTA continues on A10

SCRIPPS NATIONAL

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO

Texans win big at Spelling Bee finals

A LAREDOAN IS AMONG THE DISAPPEARED

By Ben Nuckols A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

OXON HILL, Md. — The end of the biggest Scripps National Spelling Bee in history came abruptly, and it wasn't the conclusion that many expected.

Naysa Modi, a poised and charismatic four-time participant whose long spelling career seemed to be building toward triumph, sat next to a newcomer whom she had already beaten this year — at the county level.

But 12-year-old Naysa blinked immediately, mixing up the single and double "s'' in the German-derived word "Bewusstseinslage" — a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components — and 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani seized an opportunity that he wouldn't have had before this year.

"I didn't really think I'd be able to do it," the soft-spoken winner said. "I had confidence that I could do it, but I honestly didn't realistically think it could happen."

Karthik's victory Thursday night put the spotlight back onto the story of this bee week — the new wild-card program that Scripps launched to give a chance to spellers like him, who have to compete against some of the nation's best spellers at the local level. The field was expanded to 515 spellers to accommodate the wild cards — there had never been more than 300 competitors previously — and four of the 16 primetime finalists got in through the new program, known as "RSVBee." When only three spellers remained, all were from the Dallas area, which has long been a hotbed of spelling talent.

Karthik is from McKinney, Texas — his family moved there specifically so Bee continúa en A5

Eduardo Verdugo / Associated Press

FILE - In this May 10, 2018 file photo, women carry a banner calling attention to the cases of people who have gone missing in the fight against drug cartels and organized crime, demanding authorities locate their loved ones, as they mark Mother's Day in Mexico City. According to federal data, there have been more than 6,000 registered disappearances in Mexico's Tamaulipas state alone since 2006, more than any other state. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

UN group documents 23 people who went missing in border area

By Christopher Sherman ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MEXICO CITY — Jessica Molina has not seen or heard from her husband since March, when Mexican marines broke through their door in Nuevo Laredo and took him and a friend away.

Molina, a U.S. citizen, said Wednesday that her 41-year-

old Mexican husband, Jose Daniel Trejo Garcia, is a mechanic with an established business in Laredo, Texas, where they live. They were only in Nuevo Laredo because she had recently had surgery in Monterrey and was returning to have stitches removed.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights on Wednesday called on the Mexican government to “take urgent measures to stop the wave of forced disappearances in Nuevo Laredo and surrounding areas” and said “there are strong indications” that they were committed “by a federal security force.”

The U.N. office documented the disappearance of 23

people since the start of February in Nuevo Laredo and said there could be many more. While it did not name those missing, Trejo Garcia is among those counted by the non-governmental Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee.

“We have documented 56 forced disappearances from Missing continues on A10

In Brief A2 | Saturday, June 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, JUNE 2

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

MONDAY, JUNE 4 AHEC College Academy. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 Bustamante St. A free one-week summer program to prepare students for the high school to college transition. To register: https:// aheccollege2018.eventbrite.com.

Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in English. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Westcare Foundation, 1616 Callaghan St. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/or depression to participate in free and confidential support group meetings.

Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014

TUESDAY, JUNE 5 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group Meeting. 7 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1700 East Saunders, Tower B, 1st floor. The meeting is open to persons who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as family, friends and caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease patients. For more information, call Melissa Guerra at 956-6939991 or Laredo Medical Center at 796-3223.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

Lacey Young / Associated Press

Archbishop Bernard Hebda speaks during a press conference regarding the settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis outside the Archdiocese Offices in Saint Paul, Minn.

VICTIMS OF CLERGY ABUSE GETTING $210M ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced a $210 million settlement Thursday with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of its plan for bankruptcy reorganization, making this the second-largest payout in the scandal that rocked the nation’s Roman Catholic Church.

Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson said the money, a total of $210,290,724, will go into a pot to pay survivors, with the amount for each survivor to be determined.

Anderson said a formal reorganization plan will now be submitted to a bankrupt-

cy judge for approval, and then it will be sent to the victims for a vote. Anderson expected they will approve it.

“We changed the playing field,” said Jim Keenan, who was sexually abused as a child in the 1980s by a Twin Cities-area priest. “They have to listen to victims now, and that is huge.” Marie Mielke, who was sexually abused from 1997 to 2000 by a St. Paul seminarian who later became a priest, urged fellow survivors to have the courage to stand up. Archbishop Bernard Hebda said he was grateful to victims who came forward. — Compiled from AP reports

MONDAY, JUNE 11 Laredo Stroke Support Group Meeting. 7 p.m. San Martin de Porres Church, Family Life Center. The meeting is open to all stroke survivors, family and caregivers. For more information, call 956-286-0641 or 763-6132.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Tiny Toes Super Milk Class – English. 6-7 p.m. This class offers mothers-to-be all the information they need before their baby’s birth to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Public’s help sought in finding suspect in deputy’s killing NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities appealed for the public’s help Thursday in finding a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy. The man they said they’re looking for has a lengthy arrest record and was charged just the day before with hitting a woman and stealing her car.

That woman was in the car

with the suspect when he pulled the trigger and she is now jailed on a murder charge in the death of sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Baker, according to court documents.

The deputy’s body was found in his patrol car in a wooded area several miles (kilometers) from where he had stopped a suspicious car on Wednesday.

Rewards totaling $46,000 have been offered for information leading to the arrest of Steven Joshua Wiggins, 31, a white male with balding brown hair. Officials said they believe

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13

AROUND THE STATE

First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

Complaint targets separation of immigrant families

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 Tiny Toes Super Milk Class – Spanish. 6-7 p.m. This class offers mothers-to-be all the information they need before their baby’s birth to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

MONDAY, JUNE 18 Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in Spanish. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Holding Institute, 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom #1. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/ or depression to participate in free and confidential support group meetings.

Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders.

Tower B, 1st floor. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – English.

6-7:30 p.m. This class gives mothersto-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, fullterm baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Public is invited.

Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

Domestic Violence Coalition Meeting. 12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders. Tower B, 1st floor.

HOUSTON — Immigration advocates accused the U.S. government on Thursday of “effectively disappearing” hundreds of children in a complaint over the widespread separation of families crossing the southern border.

The groups filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which investigates alleged human rights abuses in North and South America.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced May 7 that the Justice Department would begin to prosecute every person accused of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Hundreds of families have been separated since then. An official from U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently told Congress that 638 adults had been referred for prosecution between

he is armed and dangerous.

“It’s very imperative for everyone to keep their eyes, their ears open for this individual,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Niland said at a news conference Thursday. “He could be in Dickson County. He could be in a neighboring county. But the fact is, we don’t know where he is.”

Federal, state and local authorities have joined the search.

They are checking into hundreds of tips. — Compiled from AP reports

Carolyn Cole / TNS

A young boy is detained along with his family members in Texas.

May 6 and May 19, bringing with them 658 children.

By comparison, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which shelters unaccompanied immigrant children, said in April that it had approximately 700 cases since October in which the parents were believed to be in federal custody.

Immigration lawyers and advocates say parents are being held in jail without knowing where their children are.

Efren Olivares, a lawyer with the Texas Civil Rights Project, which filed the complaint, said the U.S. government’s separating of families is “clearly in violation of international law.”

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD Trudeau declines to meet with Trump due to precondition TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he offered to go to Washington this week to complete talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade agreement but that Vice President Mike Pence called and told him a meeting with the U.S. president would only happen if Trudeau agreed to put a five-

year sunset clause into the deal.

Trudeau said he refused to go because of the “totally unacceptable” precondition. He made the comment while outlining Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Late Thursday, President Donald Trump responded in a statement released by the White House, “Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United State (sic) will agree to a fair deal, or

Today is Saturday, June 2, the 153rd day of 2018. There are 212 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On June 2, 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in London's Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI. On this date: In 1863, during the Civil War, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman wrote a letter to his wife, Ellen, in which he commented, "Vox populi, vox humbug" (The voice of the people is the voice of humbug).

In 1886, President Grover Cleveland, 49, married Frances Folsom, 21, in the Blue Room of the White House. (To date, Cleveland is the only president to marry in the executive mansion.)

In 1897, Mark Twain was quoted by the New York Journal as saying from London that "the report of my death was an exaggeration." (Twain was responding to a report in the New York Herald that he was "grievously ill" and "possibly dying.")

In 1924, Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.

In 1941, baseball's "Iron Horse," Lou Gehrig, died in New York of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; he was 37.

In 1966, U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.

In 1976, Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles was mortally wounded by a bomb planted underneath his car; he died 11 days later.

(Prosecutors believed Bolles was targeted because he had written stories that upset a liquor wholesaler; three men were convicted of the killing.)

In 1983, half of the 46 people aboard an Air Canada DC-9 were killed after fire broke out on board, forcing the jetliner to make an emergency landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

In 1986, for the first time, the public could watch the proceedings of the U.S. Senate on television as a sixweek experiment began.

In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. (McVeigh was executed in June 2001.)

Ten years ago: Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy underwent 3 1/2 hours of risky and delicate surgery to cut out as much of his cancerous brain tumor as possible. The space shuttle Discovery linked up with the international space station, and the 10 space travelers immediately got ready to install the Japanese lab Kibo (KEE'boh). Bo Diddley, 79, a founding father of rock 'n' roll, died in Archer, Florida, at age 79. Actor-director Mel Ferrer died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 90.

Five years ago: Egypt's highest court ruled that the nation's interim parliament was illegally elected, though it stopped short of dissolving the chamber immediately. Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert was fined $75,000 by the NBA for using a gay slur and profanity during his news conference after Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals; Hibbert apologized for the comments.

Today's Birthdays: Actress-singer Sally Kellerman is 81. Actor Ron Ely is 80. Filmmaker and movie historian Kevin Brownlow is 80. Actor Stacy Keach is 77. Rock musician Charlie Watts is 77. Actor Charles Haid is 75.

Rhythm and blues singer Chubby Tavares is 74. Movie director Lasse Hallstrom is 72. Actor Jerry Mathers is 70. Actress Joanna Gleason is 68. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is 66.

Actor Dennis Haysbert is 64. Comedian Dana Carvey is 63. Actor Gary Grimes is 63. Pop musician Michael Steele is 63. Rock singer Tony Hadley is 58. Actor Liam Cunningham is 57.

Actor Navid Negahban is 54. Singer Merril Bainbridge is 50. TV personality-producer Andy Cohen is 50.

Rapper B-Real is 48. Actress Paula Cale is 48. Actor Anthony Montgomery is 47. Actor-comedian Wayne Brady is 46. Actor Wentworth Miller is 46. Rock musician Tim Rice-Oxley is 42. Actor Zachary Quinto is 41. Actor Dominic Cooper is 40. Actress Nikki Cox is 40. Actor Justin Long is 40.

Actor Deon Richmond is 40. Actress Morena Baccarin is 39. Rhythm and blues singer Irish Grinstead is 38. Rock musician Fabrizio Moretti is 38. Olympic gold medal soccer player Abby Wambach is 38.

Thought for Today : "Only the man who finds everything wrong and expects it to get worse is thought to have a clear brain." — John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006).

CONTACT US there will be no deal at all.”

In a call to Trump last Friday, Trudeau offered to meet Trump because he felt they were close to an agreement that only required a “final dealmaking moment.”

Trudeau said Trump seemed agreeable before Pence called him. Trudeau has long said he wouldn’t agree to a sunset clause because businesses need certainty when they make longterm investments and the clause would create uncertainty. — Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 2, 2018 |

A3

STATE

Suspect in deadly church Jury convicts man in death bus crash pleads no contest of Border Patrol agent A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

UVALDE — Prosecutors in Texas say the driver of a pickup truck that struck a church minibus on a rural highway last year, killing 13 people, is not contesting manslaughter charges.

Jack Dillon Young will face up to 270 years in prison when sentenced in

November.

Uvalde County District Attorney Daniel Kindred told the San Antonio Express-News on Thursday that Young pleaded to 13 counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault. Only one person on the bus carrying members of First Baptist Church in New Braunfels

survived.

Federal investigators have said the 21-year-old Young told them he had been taking prescription drugs and was checking his phone for a text message before the March 2017 crash near San Antonio.

Young’s attorney didn’t immediately return a phone message Thursday.

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

BROWNSVILLE — A jury has convicted a 34year-old Mexican national of capital murder in the 2014 killing of an off-duty Border Patrol agent.

Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval could face the death penalty in the killing of Javier Vega Jr., who was fatally shot during a fami-

ly fishing trip in southeast Texas. Sentencing is set for Thursday afternoon.

According to the Brownsville Herald , Tijerina-Sandoval was also convicted Wednesday of attempted capital murder for shooting and wounding Vega’s father.

Prosecutors say the shooting happened as

part of an attempted robbery, but TijerinaSandoval’s attorney argued that his client was acting in self-defense.

A Border Patrol chiefs’ panel initially rejected Vega’s death as in the line of duty. The decision later was changed after authorities determined Vega pulled his gun trying to protect others.

Seminary Woman saved from bridge Land Office audit critical of Alamo oversight terminates Baptist leader ASSOCIATED PRE SS

A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

FORT WORTH — A former head of the Southern Baptist Convention has been terminated from a Texas seminary over his handling of a sexual abuse case at another institution.

The Star-Telegram reports that the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary released a statement Wednesday saying that Paige Patterson will be removed from all of his positions and won’t receive compensation.

The move follows allegations that Patterson made sexist and demeaning comments to women who he’s accused of suggesting should tolerate abuse.

The Fort Worth seminary named Patterson president emeritus on May 23 after pushing him out of his position as president. The board had also said that he and his wife could continue to live on campus as theologians-in-residence.

The executive committee revoked the former decision after confirming new information on how he handled a sexual abuse allegation against a student.

LA PORTE, Texas — Police have saved a woman perched on the guardrail of a Texas highway bridge across the Houston Ship Channel amid concerns she might jump.

La Porte police posted patrol car video online showing the May 25 rescue by officers responding to a 911 call about a woman on the cable-stayed Fred Hartman Bridge.

Video released Thursday

shows an officer walking toward the woman as she dangles her feet over the edge and at times appears to look at the water, about 175 feet below.

Two other officers approach from behind and the pull the woman from the chest-high railing. She was transported to a mental health facility for evaluation.

La Porte police didn’t immediately provide additional details on her Friday.

PD: Student fatally shoots self at school ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MCKINNEY — Authorities in Texas say a high school was locked down after a student died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

The McKinney Independent School District said Friday that McKinney North High School was placed in lockdown after reports of a gunshot. Police and school officials responded and learned the student was dead. They didn’t release any information about the student, including the student’s name, age and

sex.

The district, located north of Dallas, said no other students were harmed and police secured the location.

Officials say students who drove to school could leave campus and others will be taken to another campus where they can be picked up.

The shooting in McKinney comes two weeks after a gunman fatally shot eight students and two teachers at Santa Fe High School near Houston. A 17-year-old student identified as the shooter is being held on capital murder charges.

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas General Land Office has released an internal audit criticizing the Alamo's accounting practices.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the audit findings are consistent with a September draft report Land Commissioner George P. Bush had called "doctored."

The internal audit released Thursday questions the use of a nonprofit to manage Alamo operations using public money but without public scrutiny. The

document recommends that the office reconsider its structure and funding model for the Alamo.

The newspaper released the draft report's nearly identical findings in February while Bush was campaigning in the Republican primary for Texas land commissioner. His campaign scrutinized the story.

He won the March 6 primary and faces Democrat Miguel Suazo this fall.

Suazo says the audit shows Bush "lacks the competence to manage our state's most historic landmark."

School district gets grant ASSOCIATED PRE SS

SANTA FE, Texas — The Southeast Texas school district where a high school student went on a deadly shooting rampage, killing 10 teachers and students, is getting a $1 million federal grant to help with recovery.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced the grant Thursday for the Santa Fe Independent School District. The grant comes from Project School

Emergency Response to Violence managed by the department’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students.

Eight students and two substitute teachers were killed during the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18. Authorities have charged a 17-yearold student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, with capital murder in the May 18 attack at Santa Fe High School. Pagourtzis is accused of using a shotgun and .38 revolver that belonged to his father.

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

A4 | Saturday, June 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Immigration policy veers from abhorrent to evil

By Nicholas Kristof N EW YORK T I ME S

We as a nation have crossed so many ugly lines recently, yet one new policy of President Donald Trump’s particularly haunts me. I’m speaking of the administration’s tactic of seizing children from desperate refugees at the border.

“I was given only five minutes to say goodbye,” a Salvadoran woman wrote in a declaration in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the government, after her 4and 10-year-old sons were taken from her. “My babies started crying when they found out we were going to be separated.”

“In tears myself, I asked my boys to be brave, and I promised we would be together soon. I begged the woman who took my children to keep them together so they could at least have each other.”

This mother, who for her protection is identified only by her initials, J.I.L., said that while in El Salvador she was severely beaten in front of her family by a gang, and she then fled the country to save the lives of her children.

Who among us would not do the same?

J.I.L. noted that she had heard that her children might have been separated and sent to two different foster homes, and added: “I am scared for my little boys.”

Is this really who we are? As a parent, as the son of a refugee myself, I find that in this case Trump’s policy has veered from merely abhorrent to truly evil.

Family separations arise in part because of the new Trump administration policy, announced last month, of “zero tolerance” for people who cross the border illegally.

That means that parents are jailed (which happened rarely before), and their kids are taken away from them.

“That’s no different than what we do every day in every part of the United States when an adult of a family commits a crime,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen told NPR this month. “If you as a parent break into a house, you will be incarcerated by police and thereby separated from your family.”

Yet Mirian, a Honduran woman who arrived in the U.S., broke no law. She simply followed the established procedure by presenting herself at an official border crossing point and requesting asylum because her life was in danger in Honduras — nevertheless, her 18month-old was taken from her.

“The immigration officers made me walk out with my son to a govern-

ment vehicle and place my son in a car seat in the vehicle,” Mirian said in a declaration accompanying the ACLU suit. “My son was crying as I put him in the seat. I did not even have a chance to comfort my son, because the officers slammed the door shut as soon as he was in his seat.”

Likewise, Ms. G, a Mexican in the ACLU suit, went to an official border crossing point and requested asylum with her 4-year-old son and blind 6-year-old daughter. None of them had broken U.S. law, yet the children were taken from their mother.

“I have not seen my children for one and a half months,” Ms. G wrote in her declaration. “I worry about them constantly and don’t know when I will see them.”

Granted, this does not happen to all who present themselves at the border and do not cross illegally; it seems arbitrary. But even for those parents who commit a misdemeanor by illegally entering the U.S. — because they want to protect their children from Central American gangs — the U.S. response seems to be in effect to kidnap youngsters.

If you or I commit a misdemeanor, we might lose our kids for a few days while we’re in jail, and then we’d get them back. But border-crossers serve a few days in jail for illegal entry — and after emerging from criminal custody, they still don’t get their kids back soon, said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU lawyer. In one case, he said, it has been eight months and the child still has not been returned.

It’s true that immigration policy is a nightmare, we can’t take everyone and almost no one advocates open borders.

Some immigrants bring small children with them and claim to be the parent in hopes that this will spare them from detention.

Yet none of that should be an excuse for brutalizing children by ripping them away from their parents. I was at times ferociously critical of President Barack Obama’s handling of Central American refugees, but past administrations managed these difficult trade-offs without gratuitously embracing cruelty. One fruitful step has been to work with countries to curb gang violence that forces people to flee.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly hails family separation as a “tough deterrent” and shrugs that “the children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever.”

Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist.

COLUMN

All roads lead to Medicaid expansion

By Jonathan Bernstein BL OOMBERG NEWS

Medicaid expansion is still going strong. And Virginia may have just given us a preview of another wave.

The Virginia Legislature on Wednesday, despite very narrow Republican majorities in both chambers, voted for the piece of Obamacare that the Supreme Court had made optional for the states. After Virginia, there are only 17 holdouts — including Texas and Florida.

What’s really important is that no state has gone in reverse, even those states that switched from Democratic to Republican governments after implementing expanded Medicaid. I’m going to take a short victory lap on my prediction from five years ago: "The future of this is now pretty clear: It’s going

to work just as the original Medicaid roll-out did.

That was also optional for states, and many of them declined the first time around, but eventually all 50, no matter how conservative, found themselves participating. The key — and I expect this to be true of the ACA Medicaid expansion as well — is that the decisions were one-way. Over time, some of the decliners decided to join, but no state walked away."

Why? For one thing, it’s always very difficult to take government benefits away from large groups of citizens. They tend to notice! And, for another, the Affordable Care Act set out a pretty good deal for the states, so it doesn’t make much financial sense to drop out (or, for that matter, to resist in the first place). It’s true politicians don’t always do what’s in a state’s fiscal

interests, but it’s a pretty big factor making it hard to drop out.

It is true that the Donald Trump administration has granted looser waivers for state variations — the idea of waivers were part of the original law, which was designed to allow state experimentation — that have, in the eyes of Obamacare supporters, undermined Medicaid expansion to some extent. Still, those who follow this closely don’t think it’s equivalent to actually shutting down the program.

Virginia had a unified Republican government when the Supreme Court set up these rules. Democrats elected governors in 2013 and 2017 and sharply narrowed the Republican majority in the lower chamber of the state Legislature last year. This was the result.

And if this fall’s elec-

letter. Laredo Morning Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms.

This space allows for public debate of the issues of the day.

Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Also, letters longer than 500 words will not be accepted.

Via email, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg News columnist.

EDITORIAL

Abbott looks to improve school safety DALLAS MORNING NEWS

In the melee that is the debate over mass shootings, we can’t help but return to a singular thought: There are a great many reforms that could make a meaningful difference and win broad support, if only they could get a fair hearing.

So we were encouraged last week to see Gov. Greg Abbott respond to the shooting at Santa Fe High School by holding a series of roundtable discussions with important stakeholders. With the governor now announcing proposals out of those discussions, we are both heartened by what we are hearing and cautious about what is not being said.

First the encouraging news. Abbott’s 40-page plan includes ideas school districts can implement

immediately and proposals the Legislature will have to act on down the road. There is no magic elixir among the proposals, but these ideas are substantive and could, in many cases, interrupt the series of events that lead to the murder of so many students in America.

The governor’s proposals include the following: Expanding the existing School Marshal Program as well as providing funding for increasing police presence at schools.

Creating mental health protection orders, which would enable officials to remove guns from the reach of people deemed dangerous.

Increasing a parental responsibility law so parents can be held responsible if they allow a 17-yearold to have access to a firearm.

Carving out money for

more security measures at schools, such as metal detectors.

Installing new activeshooter alarms in schools that would enable students to respond differently than they would during a fire.

Expanding the Telemedicine Wellness, Intervention, Triage and Referral Project at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

The program, referred to as TWITR by Abbott, seeks to identify students at risk of committing violence and intervene before they can do so.

Abbott deserves credit for not kicking the can down the road on this issue. Each of these ideas would make it a little harder for a would-be mass shooter to act out his evil intentions. What the gun debate has long needed is leaders who

LETTERS POLICY Laredo Morning Times does not publish anonymous letters.

To be published, letters must include the writer's first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity.

The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary.

Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the

tions go the way they appear to be headed, Democrats are going to pick up plenty of state legislative seats, including a handful of chamber majorities, and perhaps another handful of governorships. Health-care policy will likely follow in at least a few of those 17 holdouts. There are also at least two states, Idaho and Utah, that have ballot measures on the subject in November.

It’s possible that if Republicans retain their unified government at the federal level and pick up a few Senate seats, they could actually manage to eliminate the Affordable Care Act after all. But so far, it looks like Medicaid expansion is a one-way street, and if so, eventually the whole nation will get there.

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

could identify worthwhile ideas and then avoid getting bogged down in the usual political quagmires.

What we didn’t hear from the governor was much on the issue of guns more broadly. We’ve favored a range of restrictions for a simple reason: One crucial step in stopping the next school shooting is restricting access to weaponry that can be used for mass violence.

Abbott says he is open to a special legislative session, if he can build consensus for actionable ideas. In the wake of Santa Fe, where we lost another 10 lives, we hope the Legislature recognizes what is at stake here and is ready to embrace ideas that can save lives.

Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 2, 2018 |

A5

NATIONAL

Kendrick Lamar accepts Pulitzer Prize for ‘DAMN’

By Kate Feldman N EW YORK DAI LY NEWS

NEW YORK — Kendrick Lamar has another trophy to add to his collection.

The 30-year-old rapper accepted his Pulitzer Prize on Wednesday for his 2017 album "DAMN" at Columbia University.

"It’s an honor," Lamar said while accepting his award.

"Been writing my whole life, so to get this type of recognition is beautiful."

With the recognition, which also comes with a $15,000 cash prize, Lamar became the first nonclassical or jazz musician to win a Pulitzer for music.

The award committee called

"DAMN," which was released last April and won a Grammy for best rap album in January, "virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life."

Lamar hasn’t spoken much about his award, but a backdrop on stage during his current tour declares him "Pulitzer Kenny" in stark black handwriting font on a white background.

Reporters Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Ronan Farrow also picked up their awards for their work on the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations, joined by accusers Rosanna Arquette and Annabella Sciorra.

Tom Brenner / The New York Times

President Trump speaks a campaign-style rally in Nashville. Mexico was quick to response to the steel tariffs levied by the Trump administration.

President Trump’s tariffs on allies draw retaliation threats

By Ken Thomas and Paul Wiseman ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Bebeto Matthews / AP

Pulitzer Prize winner for music Kendrick Lamar, left, accepts his award from Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, right, for the album "DAMN," during the 2018 Pulitzer Prize awards luncheon at Columbia University on Wednesday in New York.

BEE From page A1 he could go to a school that takes part in the Scripps program. Naysa is from Frisco, less than 15 miles to the west. And third-place finisher Abhijay Kodali lives in Flower Mound, another 40 miles west.

Naysa knocked off Abhijay in the Dallas regional bee after topping Karthik in their county bee. The region is one of a few that sponsors two spellers for a trip to nationals. The wild cards had to pay their own way — a $750 entry fee, plus the costs of travel to Washington and lodging.

"I don't care," said Karthik's father, Krishna Nemmani. "I know his caliber."

Like many top spellers, Karthik was a precocious preschooler — he arranged block letters to spell "horse" at age 3 and won his first spelling bee at 4½, his dad said.

His winning word was "koinonia," which means Christian fellowship or communion. He knew

that one. He also knew the word Naysa missed.

But he didn't pretend to be infallible, saying there were about eight or nine words in the prime-time finals he didn't know — a rare admission for a champion.

"She's a really, really good speller. She deserved the trophy as much as I did," Karthik said of Naysa. "I got lucky."

Karthik is the 14th consecutive IndianAmerican champion, and 19 of the past 23 winners have had Indian heritage.

He takes home more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.

His win was also a triumph for the burgeoning industry of spelling coaches — highschoolers who've aged out of competition but share their wisdom with younger competitors, for a steep fee. He thanked his coach, 16-year-old Grace Walters, who had her own star-crossed history of never quite getting to the Scripps stage.

Karthik also used study materials compiled by two well-regarded

WASHINGTON — Already under fire for his combative trade policies, President Donald Trump on Friday intensified pressure on Canada, demanding that America’s neighbor and close ally “open their markets and take down trade barriers.”

Trump’s tweet came a day after he ignited global condemnation by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and two other key U.S. allies — the European Union and Mexico.

The United States had sought use the tariff threat as cudgel to win concessions from Canada and Mexico in talks to renegotiate the North Amer-

former Scripps spellers and fellow Texans, Shobha Dasari and her younger brother, Shourav, who finished fourth last year and won nearly every other bee he competed in. Six of the 16 top finishers, including Naysa, studied the Dasaris' hand-picked lists of more than 100,000 words.

"It definitely makes us feel great," 17-year-old Shobha said.

Naysa, who does taekwondo and performs stand-up comedy, will have to regroup after a bitter defeat and try again next year. She'll be in eighth grade, which is the final school year that spellers are eligible. She first competed in the bee as a cherubic 9-year-old.

After her defeat, she was swarmed by dozens of current and former spellers who wished her well, smiling throughout.

"She was just as graceful as she could be," bee program manager Corrie Loeffler said.

Her close friend, Jashun Paluru of West Lafayette, Indiana, finished fourth, spelling with flair and spending most of his

ican Free Trade Agreement.

But the NAFTA talks sputtered anyway, and the Trump administration imposed the tariffs at midnight Thursday.

The president took to Twitter Friday to accuse Canada of treating U.S. “farmers very poorly for a long period of time.” And he repeated his inaccurate claim that Canada runs a trade surplus with the United States. In fact, U.S. Commerce Department numbers show, the United States recorded a trade surplus with Canada for each of the past three years.

Trump’s antagonistic trade policies — and specifically the steel and aluminum tariffs — drew international denunciation. French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that he told Trump in a phone

call that the new U.S. tariffs on European, Mexican and Canadian goods were illegal and a “mistake.”

And Macron pledged the retaliation would be “firm” and “proportionate” and in line with World Trade Organization rules.

Germany’s Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, warned that the decision could start a trade war that no side would win.

The European Union and China said they will deepen ties on trade and investment as a result.

“This is stupid — it’s counterproductive,” Francis Maude, a former British trade minister, told the BBC. “Any government that embarks on a protectionist path inflicts the most damage on itself.”

Carolyn Kaster / AP

Karthik Nemmani, 14, from McKinney, Texas, holds the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship Trophy after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., on Thursday.

time in between words chatting animatedly with Naysa.

Karthik, for his part, took no pleasure in vanquishing a familiar foe.

"I wouldn't say it was revenge," he said. "We weren't against each other. We were against the dictionary."

Frontera A6 | Saturday, June 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE 4 DE JULIO 1 Celebración del 4 de julio en el Distrito Histórico de la Ciudad de Roma, el 4 de julio de 6 a 11:30 p.m.

TORNEO DE PESCA 1 Border Chapter API Fishing Tournament del 7 al 9 de junio en Beacon Lodge Falcon Lake, 313 Lakeshore Dr. Habrá concurso de BBQ. JUEZ PARA GANADO 1 Zapata County 4-H Ag & Natural Resourses, extensión de Texas A&M AgriLife el 7 de junio a las 6 p.m. en 200 E. 7th Ave. para interesados en ser parte del equipo de jueces de ganado 4-H en el Condado de Zapata.

ARCHERY 101 1 Aprenda los principios de tiro al blanco en el Parque Estatal Falcon el 9 de junio de 9 a.m. a 11:30 p.m.

Se proporcionarán arcos y flechas. Reserve al 848-5327.

AVIARIO 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero. Mayores informes al 956-8491411 BOTES DE BASURA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Informes al 849-1411 PAGO DE IMPUESTOS 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St. PAGO EN LÍNEA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día.

LLENADO DE APLICACIONES 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez para una cita en el centro comunitario o en su domicilio al 246-7177.

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 849-1411.

MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83.

Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Informes 7658983.

MÉXICO

Desaparecen 56 ONU denuncia ola de desapariciones en Nuevo Laredo Por Christopher Sherman ASSOCIATED PRE SS

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO — Jessica Molina, una ciudadana estadounidense, y su marido, José Daniel Trejo García, viven en Laredo, Texas, pero en marzo cruzaron la frontera para que él se sometiera a una intervención quirúrgica. Estaban en la ciudad mexicana de Nuevo Laredo a la espera de que le quitaran los puntos cuando miembros de la Marina de México se lo llevaron a él y a un amigo.

Molina no ha vuelto a saber absolutamente nada de su esposo, un mecánico de 41 años.

Naciones Unidas urgió el miércoles a México a detener “la ola de desapariciones forzadas” que, como la de Trejo, están teniendo lugar en esa ciudad fronteriza y sus alrededores. La oficina en México del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos ha documentado la desaparición de 21 hombres y dos mujeres en Nuevo Laredo, entre febrero y el 16 de mayo pero asegura que el número puede ser mucho mayor.

Lo más preocupante, agrega la oficina en un comunicado, es que “hay fuertes indicios de que estos crímenes habrían sido cometidos por una fuerza federal de seguridad”.

La ONU no señala a un cuerpo concreto pero Raymundo Ramos, presidente del Comité de Derechos Humanos de Nuevo Laredo, sí: la Marina.

“Hemos documentado 56 desapariciones forzadas desde el 20 de enero al 21 de mayo, la mayoría de ellas atribuidas a personal de operaciones especiales de la Secretaria de la Marina”, afirmó.

Este cuerpo de élite de las fuerzas armadas mexicanas es la principal fuerza de choche contra los cárteles en las zonas más violencias del país y desde que el expresidente Felipe Calderón inició en

Foto de cortesía

Manifestantes de Nuevo Laredo, México cerraron el Puente del Comercio Mundial el lunes 21 de mayo en protesta por sus familiares que supuestamente habrían sido secuestrados por la marina mexicana.

2006 la guerra frontal contra el crimen organizado y sacó el ejército a las calles, se han sucedido las denuncias por uso excesivo de la fuerza, detenciones arbitrarias y hasta ejecuciones extrajudiciales cometidas por militares o marinos.

Ni la Marina ni la Secretaría de Gobernación, encargada de la seguridad, respondieron de inmediato a la solicitud de comentarios hecha por AP. La situación en Nuevo Laredo —donde la mayor presencia criminal es del cártel del Noreste, una escisión de Los Zetas— era especialmente tensa el 27 de marzo, el día que desapareció Trejo.

El 25, un grupo de marinos fueron emboscados tres veces. Uno de ellos murió y varios resultaron heridos. En el tercer choque, un helicóptero llegó a apoyarles pero una familia que iba en coche por ese mismo lugar se metió sin darse cuenta en el fuego cruzado y fue alcanzada por el aparato.

Una mujer y sus dos hijos murieron.

La Marina en un primer momento negó estar involucrada pero posteriormente, después de un peritaje de la fiscalía federal, reconoció su responsabilidad en los hechos, un gesto poco habitual.

Dos días después del suceso, unos marinos

llegaron al lugar donde Medina y Trejo se estaban quedando, irrumpieron en la casa, y les preguntaron si sabían algo del incidente. La pareja les explicó que no y que estaban ahí por una cuestión médica. Trejo les enseñó sus tarjetas de visita para demostrar que era solo un mecánico, pero no valió de nada y se lo llevaron sin orden de detención ni nada, explicó la mujer.

Ella cree que buscaban a otra persona.

“Nos estuvieron apuntando todo el tiempo a la cabeza”, dijo Medina.

“Ellos pueden negar los hechos pero lo que yo vi fue personal bien entrenados, bien uniformados” A la mañana siguiente, la mujer fue a poner una denuncia en la sede de la fiscalía federal y otra ante la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos. Después fue a la base de la Marina y allí le negaron cualquier participación en los hechos.

Ahora Molina se ha unido a otras familias que buscan fosas clandestinas entre los caminos menos transitados que rodean Nuevo Laredo. Esta semana, por primera vez, les han acompañado agentes de la Policía Federal.

De acuerdo con testimonios recibidos por Naciones Unidas, el patrón de esta oleada de desapariciones es que las person-

as habrían sido detenidas por personal uniformado, generalmente por la noche o al amanecer, cuando caminaban, hacían sus quehaceres diarios o iban en coche, dejando en este último caso los vehículos quemados y baleados.

“Es particularmente horrible que al menos cinco de las víctimas sean menores, tres de ellas muy jóvenes, tan sólo de 14 años”, dijo el Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein.

La ONU lamentó que, además, testigos de estos hechos hayan sido amenazados y uno de ellos estuvo dos días desaparecido y que, a pesar de la evidencia existente, las autoridades mexicanas hayan avanzado poco en la localización de los desaparecidos mientras que las familias han encontrado hasta la fecha los cuerpos de al menos seis víctimas.

Tamaulipas es un estado con amplia presencia de distintas bandas del crimen organizado que luchan entre sí. Es también la región del país con mayor número de desaparecidos —más de 6.000 desde 2006 según el recuento del gobierno federal— y donde en 2011 se descubrieron las primeras fosas clandestinas masivas de México.

El 10 de mayo la Comisión Nacional de Derechos

Humanos emitió medidas cautelares, entre otras, a la Secretaría de Marina, para proteger a la población civil de Tamaulipas. Sin embargo, al menos tres desapariciones han ocurrido desde entonces, agregó el comunicado de la ONU. La Comisión ha recibido quejas por la desaparición de 31 personas, entre ellos siete menores, desde febrero a la actualidad, según un comunicado del miércoles en el que pidió a la fiscalía federal que tomara cartas en el asunto y se investiguen posibles violaciones a los derechos humanos.

Este mismo mes, familiares de desaparecidos bloquearon el principal puente fronterizo por el que pasan vehículos de carga que comercian entre Tamaulipas y Texas.

La semana pasada, Molina y otros familiares de desaparecidos tuvieron una reunión con un mando de la Marina que se comprometió a dejarles acceder a su base y a ayudarles en la búsqueda pero, hasta el momento, no se ha concretado nada.

“Si el personal de la Marina están aquí para cuidarnos, ¿qué están haciendo para evitar estas desapariciones?”, se preguntó Molina. “¿Cómo es posible que a pesar de su presencia esté pasando todo esto?”

GANADERÍA

COLUMNA

Realizan sesiones

‘Los olvidados’ de Buñuel

E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

El miércoles el Congresista Henry Cuellar (TX-28) y la Agencia de Servicios Agrícolas (FSA por sus siglas en inglés) llevaron a cabo sesiones informativas del Programa de Asistencia de Emergencia Ganadera (ELAP) en los condados de Hidalgo, Starr y Zapata. Estas sesiones reunieron a ganaderos, y miembros de la comunidad para aprender más sobre ELAP y cómo puede ayudar a los ganaderos a combatir las garrapatas de la fiebre y mantener su ganado sano.

Estas sesiones fueron organizadas por la oficina del Cuellar en conjunto con la FSA. ELAP proporciona asistencia financiera a aquellos productores de ganado, abejas melíferas y peces criados en granjas que califiquen con compensaciones por pérdidas debido a enfermedades, ciertos eventos climáticos adversos u otras condiciones de pérdida. En el distrito 28 de Texas, ELAP reembolsará a los ganade-

ros que residen en cada uno de los cuatro condados en cuarentena (Zapata, Hidalgo, Webb y Starr) por redondear el ganado para transportarlo a sitios de tratamiento de inmersión.

Durante años, Cuellar ha ayudado a asegurar millones de dólares para la salud del ganado en áreas como los condados de Starr, Hidalgo, Zapata y Webb en el sur de Texas.

En los proyectos de ley de asignaciones de los años fiscales 2018 y 2019, el congresista obtuvo 96,5 millones de dólares para la salud del ganado, los cuales incluyeron 6 millones específicamente para las garrapatas de la fiebre.

"Nuestros productores de ganado contribuyen en gran medida a la economía y la forma de vida en el sur de Texas. Merecen nuestra ayuda frente a las amenazas a su vitalidad.

El Programa de asistencia de emergencia de FSA es crítico para ayudar a controlar la población de garrapatas, detener la propagación de su enfermedad y mantener al ganado sano”, dijo Cuellar.

Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

A mitad del siglo XX en la Ciudad de México se anuncia que “Los olvidados”, filme de Luis Buñuel, está por estrenarse. Aparte de que dura poco en cartelera, genera comentarios desalentadores. Yéndole mejor en lejanas tierras, de regreso al fin arranca el aplauso nacional. Hoy merece el reconocimiento de la UNESCO. Con el Presidente Miguel Alemán Valdés las élites permanecen eufóricas. Dineros públicos alientan sostenido crecimiento económico.

Cobijadas por el oficialismo, prosperan fortunas de políticos vueltos empresarios y de empresarios metidos en la política. El reverso de la moneda deja ver el agravamiento de problemas sociales.

Buñuel arriba en 1946 al país. Talentoso cineasta español, de inmediato le confían “Gran casino”. Puesto que hasta 1949 llega “El gran calav-

era”, siguiente encargo, Buñuel acude mientras a los arrabales capitalinos, hacia Nonalco, donde predomina la pobreza.

Niños y adolescentes, cuya marginalidad favorece conductas delictivas, ahí despiertan su interés.

Visto el catálogo de aquellas fechas, el séptimo arte doméstico aborda tal problemática en forma reiterada. Abundan evidencias. Por ejemplo, tan sólo durante 1950 aparecen entre las realizaciones alusivas “El papelerito”, “Víctimas del pecado” y “Vagabunda” , dirigidas por Agustín P. Delgado, Emilio Fernández y Miguel Morayta, respectivamente. Sobran tramas facilonas, moralizantes, paralelas al paternalismo del régimen político en boga.

Adultos Buñuel, que rehúye clichés, prefiere narrar algo distinto. Complementa las visitas a las barriadas paupérrimas con el cuidadoso estudio de casos atendidos por autoridades metropolitanas. Lo auxilia Luis Alcoriza, parte del elenco

y adaptador en la cinta previa.

“Mi historia se basó en hechos reales”, comenta el propio Buñuel. Al efecto –añade–, entre 1947 y 1949 “pude recorrer de un extremo a otro la Ciudad de México, y la miseria de muchos de sus habitantes me impresionó”. “Decidí centrar” el relato en “la vida de los niños abandonados y para documentarme consulté […] los archivos de un reformatorio […]

Traté de” abordar “la triste condición de los humildes, sin embellecerlos, porque odio la dulcificación del carácter de los pobres”.

El rodaje ocurre también al transcurrir 1950.

La fotografía queda a cargo de Gabriel Figueroa. Declinante ya el sexenio alemanista, la plaza Romita enmarca las secuencias exteriores, cercanas varias a la antigua capilla de Santa María de la Natividad, en la colonia Roma Norte.

Con escasos años encima, los protagonistas son Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes y Alfonso Mejía.

Sports&Outdoors

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 2, 2018 |

A7

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

A weird night at Oracle, where Golden State got every break

By Tim Reynolds A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

OAKLAND, Calif. — The ending was weird.

The postgame was weird.

At least Game 1 of what was supposed to be a lopsided NBA Finals was anything but boring.

It had a little of everything: A player stumbled and buckled Klay Thompson’s knee to send the Warriors’ sharp-shooter limping to the locker room in the opening minutes; let Stephen Curry get loose for a 30footer at the halftime buzzer; grabbed a rebound in the final seconds of regulation with the score tied and inexplicably ran toward midcourt as if he thought the game was over.

And all that was just J.R. Smith.

The opener of this ClevelandGolden State series should have been memorable for other reasons — LeBron James scoring a playoff career-high 51 points, the Warriors having three players score at least 24 and Draymond Green nearly getting a tripledouble. Instead, this game’s legacy is an overturned charge call late in regulation, Smith’s gaffes, contradictory explanations from Cleveland and hot tempers in the final seconds.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s assessment? “Lucky.”

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue’s assessment? “Robbed.”

Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114, overtime. That’s what the box score says and will forever say, and the defending champions are now one step closer to winning their third title in four years. Golden State left Oracle Arena relieved. Cleveland left angered. Those emotions will likely remain in place all the way until Game 2 tips off on Sunday night.

James wants the Cavs to put it behind them.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press

In a wild finish to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors claimed a 124-114 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night.

“We’ve got to move on,” James said. “This game is over and done with.”

Easier said than done, particularly with two full off days to now deal with, two full off days to replay everything over and over and over and over and over again.

Let’s be clear: The Warriors aren’t here because of luck.

They have a coach who has won 80 percent of his career games.

They have four All-Stars in the same lineup. They have two NBA MVPs. But they got every break in Game 1. Every break.

Start in the beginning, when Smith slipped and stumbled

into Thompson’s knee. It had all the makings of some sort of knee structural disaster — the hit came from the side, Thompson twisted awkwardly, went down in a heap and was obviously in immediate, intense pain. Thompson limped away to the Warriors’ locker room for evaluation.

He was back in a few minutes. Big break No. 1.

“I’m happy it’s just a muscle that got strained,” Thompson said.

Then came the final seconds of the first half, Cleveland having a foul to give. Smith would have been best served hugging Curry to make sure no shot got

off. Instead, Smith went for a steal — he didn’t get it — and Curry turned and coolly buried a 30-footer and sent the teams into intermission tied. Big break No. 2.

“The Finals, man, anything is liable to happen,” Curry said.

From his perspective, good things.

From Cleveland’s perspective, bad things.

Cleveland led by two in the final minute, poised to steal Game 1, when James stepped up and tried to take a charge against Kevin Durant. Referee Ken Mauer called an offensive foul, but it was overturned after replay review.

“We had doubt as to whether or not James was in the restricted area,” Mauer said.

James was well outside the area, and the Cavs didn’t buy the explanation.

“I read that play just as well as I’ve read any play in my career, maybe in my life,” James said.

Durant tied the game with a couple of free throws awarded on the call reversal. Big break No. 3.

And with about 4 seconds left in the fourth, George Hill went to the line with Cleveland down by one for two shots. Made the first. Missed the second. Smith got the rebound, and ran away from the basket. Overtime. Big break No. 4.

“He thought we were up one,” Lue said.

“I knew it was tied,” Smith insisted.

The extra session was all Golden State. The home team left happy. The fans that packed Oracle Arena went home happy.

James went back to his hotel to deal with blurred vision (courtesy of what appeared to be an unintentional first-half eye poke

by Green), and the Cavaliers were further angered by Shaun Livingston following Golden State policy by taking a shot in the final seconds of a decided game instead of just getting charged with a shot-clock turnover.

“Tonight we played as well as we’ve played all postseason, and we gave ourselves a chance possession after possession after possession,” James said.

“There were just some plays that were kind of taken away from us. Simple as that.”

Many onlookers thought this series would be a rout, a Golden State coronation.

If the Warriors keep getting every break, they’ll certainly be right.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Cowboys back to basics with young roster

By Clarence E. Hill Jr. FO RT WORT H STAR-T E LE GRAM

FRISCO, Texas — Sure, the Dallas Cowboys are in need of new leaders in 2018 following the departures of Jason Witten and Dez Bryant. But the biggest impact on their success may be the addition of new coaches and a back to the fundamentals approach with a decidedly newer and younger team than they have had in years.

How new?

Per vice president Stephen Jones, 45 of the 90 players on the roster were not on the team last year.

How young?

"Our team is really young," coach Jason Garrett said. "We have three guys on our roster right now who are 30 years or older, we have a 30, a 31 and 37. That means we have 87 guys who are in their 20s and a lot of those guys in the 20s are 22, 23, 24."

And of those three guys are over the age of 30, two are deep snapper L.P. Ladouceur (37) and kicker Dan Bailey (30).

The other elder statesman is linebacker Sean Lee at 31.

How different?

Just ask grumpy defensive end Tyrone Crawford, who feels very old at 28 with all the noise from the millennials in the locker room, including nine rookie draft picks and 24

undrafted rookie free agents.

"We got a lot young guys, a lot of rookies as well," Crawford said. "It’s the biggest change as far as going young that I have seen since I have been here. It’s a lot of energy. A lot of talking. It’s a big gap between what they do and how they talk. We have to adapt to and get rolling again. I look around all the time. I see guys on the phones doing different things and listening to weird music I would never listen to."

But Crawford respects them because they work on the field before coming back inside and getting on their phones and listening to weird music again.

The players are working hard but the youth, inexperience and an influx of newcomers have put more importance on coaching, teaching and fundamentals, especially during organized team activities than past years as they to get them up to speed in the Cowboys way of doing things before mini-camp and training camp.

"Well I think coaching is always important," Garrett said. "We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think it was important. But there’s some different challenges you have when you have younger players. Again you’re trying to introduce to them how we do things and what we do and then

how we want them to do it. That’s a daily pursuit for us as coaches, position coaches making sure their guys are getting it done the right way."

The team is especially young on offense where the oldest projected starter is tackle Tyron Smith, 27, and quarterback Dak Prescott, 24, is the undisputed leader.

But it also makes them fun, energetic and exciting.

"I wouldn’t say I’m one of the vet guys, but for Tyron to be our oldest guy on offense is pretty amazing and that’s pretty young in itself right there," Prescott said. "It brings that energy, though. It allows us to come out there with a lot of juice, just having fun.

Getting to know each other and getting more comfortable being with each other."

"But we’re definitely a team that we got a lot of new things to us, a lot of new weapons, a lot of new guys. We’re a young and excited team as I said earlier. We’re all excited about it. We’re coming in, we know we have a long way to go, but that’s the fun part about it. It’s knowing that and coming in each and every day trying to get one percent better."

That puts the onus back on the coaches to get them where they want to go, which is also why the

Ron Jenkins / Associated Press

At 31, Sean Lee is the second-oldest player on the Cowboys roster with 87 of their 90 players under 30 years old.

additions of receivers coach Sanjay Lal, offensive line coach Paul Alexander and secondary coach Kris Richard are most important.

All are considered technicians in the fundamentals at their position and key additions to a Cowboys staff with a young team in transition.

"Young that is a pretty good description of us," offensive coordinator Scott

Linehan said. "Jason Witten wanted to be coached 15 years into it. It’s not like we didn’t coach those guys. But there are some things we probably feel we unintentionally took for granted But this feels like you got to be on it from day one with those guys and they are so receptive and open to it. It’s a lot of fun."

Jones agreed with Linehan and said having new

coaches and new blood was good for the young Cowboys and old ones as well.

"Sometimes, it’s great to have new voices in terms of the players who have been here to learn some new fundamentals, new system, if you will," Jones said. "It’s all a positive.

The players have taken to it. I don’t see any pushback. So all this is exciting in my opinion."

A8 | Saturday, June 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Mentor of chefs, Ella Brennan dies at 92

By Janet Mcconnaughey A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW ORLEANS — Ella Brennan, who couldn’t cook but played a major role in putting New Orleans on the world’s culinary map, died Thursday. She was 92.

“Tonight, the iconic Commander’s Palace sign will not be lit,” said a statement emailed from the Commander’s Family of Restaurants. It said Brennan died with family and friends by her side, and services will be private.

Ella Brennan was credited with creating nouvelle Creole cuisine, was the matriarch of a family that owns nearly two-dozen restaurants — more if you count every outlet of a local pizza and po’-boy chain — and, at Commander’s Palace, cultivated many of the city’s top chefs, including Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. She won the James Beard Foundation’s lifetime achievement

award in 2009.

“Ella Brennan was an icon in the culinary industry, and she graciously shared her passion for New Orleans and our cuisine with the world,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards in an emailed statement. “She was a trailblazer with a tenacious spirit who made it her mission to learn everything possible about the restaurant business from the ground up ... she set a standard of excellence that was unmatched.”

Or, as Brennan summed up her life’s experience in October 2015, “I had a barrel of fun and if anybody calls that work they’re crazy.”

Her speech when Commander’s Palace won the second James Beard award for outstanding service was equally succinct and self-deprecating: “I accept this award for every damn captain and waiter in the country.”

“The entire auditorium rose to its feet for a standing ovation as my mother

endeared herself to anyone who has ever set a table or taken an order,” her daughter, Ti Adelaide Martin, wrote in the introduction to their book “Miss Ella of Commander’s Palace.”

Brennan didn’t inherit her mother’s talent for cooking. “She can’t really boil water,” Lagasse said days before Brennan’s 90th birthday in November 2015. But, he said, “She’s one of the greatest restaurateurs I’ve ever met. She has an incredible palate and an even more incredible mind. And she just has this way with people, of leading and showing the way of exceptional hospitality.”

Brennan started in the restaurant business as a high school kid working in her oldest brother Owen’s bar and restaurant.

After graduating, she took a few secretarial classes but happily dropped out in the 1940s to work fulltime for her brother. Mostly, she taught herself, reading books and maga-

zines and asking questions of vendors, butchers, and just about anyone else who crossed her path.

Her mentoring took many forms: weekly “foodie meetings” to discuss any and all aspects of food and the restaurant business; trips to New York and abroad to learn from restaurants and stores; comments and notes.

Lagasse recalled one note handed to him during his early years at Commander’s Palace: “When you come to work tomorrow, do me a favor and leave your ego at home.”

They’d often sit at her desk together on Saturdays to thumb through menus and cookbooks, discussing their experiences and how to “creolize” dishes for Commander’s customers.

Lagasse said Brennan also taught him his philosophy: “getting up every day and trying a little harder than the day before.”

One of Brennan’s mottos was “If it ain’t broke,

Gerald Herbert / AP

Ella Brennan poses for a photo during a 2015 interview in her home in New Orleans. Brennan, who couldn't cook but played a major role in putting New Orleans on the world's culinary map, died Thursday. She was 92.

fix it anyway.”

Brennan grew up with two sisters and three brothers, children of a shipyard supervisor and a woman who loved to cook and entertain.

Her first full-time job was at the Vieux Carre, the predecessor to Brennan’s Restaurant. Owen Brennan was in the middle of planning for Brennan’s when he died in 1955 at age 45. Plans for a bank loan fell through. The family took out new mortgages, borrowed from in-laws and friends, and the restaurant opened.

In 1969, Ella and younger brother Dick Brennan bought Commander’s

Palace, then 96 years old.

They began managing it in 1974, about the time Owen Brennan’s widow ousted the rest of the family from Brennan’s. Dick and Ella Brennan brought in Prudhomme — the first American chef at a major New Orleans restaurant — a year after buying Commander’s Palace.

The American Culinary Federation’s New Orleans chapter named an annual award for her. Its website states, “Her talent for teaching and coaching young people with a passion for the restaurant business has led to a legion of chefs who named her as their mentor.”

US jobless rate falls to an 18-year low

By Christopher Rugaber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Courtesy photo / Cavender's

James R. Cavender died Tuesday at a Tyler hospital.

He was 87. The founder of the iconic western wear chain Cavender's Boot City. The company currently has more than 80 locations across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado and New Mexico.

James Cavender, retail chain founder, dies at 87 A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

TYLER, Texas — James Cavender, the founder of the Cavender’s western wear retail chain, has died in East Texas.

Company Chief Financial Officer Jim Thompson says Cavender died Tuesday at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler.

He was 87.

Thompson said Wednesday that Cavender, over the past few years, had health issues that left him hospitalized at various times. Thompson did not elaborate.

The company was founded in 1965 in Pittsburg, Texas, where Cavender still lived with his wife, Pat. Thompson says Cavender about 20 years ago turned over day-to-day business operations to his three sons.

The company, now based in Tyler, operates more than 70 stores in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and Nebraska.

WASHINGTON — Another month of strong hiring drove the nation’s unemployment rate down to 3.8 percent — tantalizingly close to the level last seen in 1969, when Detroit still dominated the auto industry and the Vietnam War was raging.

Employers added 233,000 jobs in May, up from 159,000 in April, the Labor Department reported Friday. And unemployment fell to an 18-year low.

The report shows that the nearly 9-year-old economic expansion — the second-longest on record — remains on track and may even be gaining steam.

Employers appear to be shrugging off recent concerns about global trade disputes.

“The May jobs report revealed impressive strength and breadth in U.S. job creation that blew away most economists’ expectations,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West.

With the unemployment rate so low, businesses have complained for months that they are struggling to find enough qualified workers. But Friday’s jobs report suggests that they are taking chances with pockets of the unemployed and under-

employed whom they had previously ignored.

Roughly an hour before the employment data was released, President Donald Trump appeared to hint on Twitter that a strong jobs report was coming.

“Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning,” he tweeted.

The president is normally briefed on the monthly jobs report the day before it is released, and he and other administration officials are not supposed to comment on it beforehand.

Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser, downplayed Trump’s tweet.

“He didn’t give any numbers,” Kudlow said. “No one revealed the numbers to the public.”

Investors welcomed the report. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 227 points, or 0.9 percent, in afternoon trading.

Other indexes also moved higher.

The healthy jobs data makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates this year — two and possibly three more times, after doing so in March.

Unemployment dropped from 3.9 percent in April. When rounded to one decimal, as the

Labor Department typically does, the official jobless rate is now the lowest since April 2000.

But the unrounded figure is 3.75 percent, the lowest since December 1969. Unemployment remained below 4 percent for nearly four straight years in the late 1960s, but it rose to 6.1 percent during a mild recession in 1970. It didn’t fall below 4 percent again until the dot-comfueled boom of the late 1990s.

Businesses desperate to hire are reaching deep into pools of the unemployed to find workers. Unemployment among high school graduates fell sharply to 3.9 percent, a 17-year low. For black Americans, it hit a record low of 5.9 percent.

And the number of part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs is down 6 percent from a year ago. That means businesses are converting some part-timers to full-time work.

Companies are also hiring the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work for six months or longer.

Their ranks have fallen by nearly one-third in the past year.

That’s important because economists worry that people who are out of work for long periods can see their skills erode.

Those trends suggest that companies, for all their complaints, are still able to hire without significantly boosting wages. Average hourly pay rose 2.7 percent in May from a year earlier, below the 3.5 percent to 4 percent pace that occurred the last time unemployment was this low.

The number of involuntary part-time workers is still higher than it was before the 2008-09 recession.

Martha Gimbel, director of economic research at Indeed, the job-listing site, said some of the fastest-growing search terms on the site this year are “full-time” and “9-to-5 jobs,” evidence that many people want more work hours.

“That suggests there is still this pool of workers that employers can tap without raising wages,” Gimbel said.

Debbie Thomas, owner of Thomas Hill Organics, a restaurant in Paso Robles, California, said that finding qualified people to hire is her biggest challenge. She has raised pay by about a dollar an hour in the past year for cooks and dishwashers but is reluctant to go much higher.

“You don’t want to price yourself out of the market,” Thomas said.

Trump welcomes North Korean

By Zeke Miller, Josh Lederman and Jonathan Lemire ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — The U.S.North Korea summit is back on, President Donald Trump announced Friday, ending weeks of uncertainty about a historic meeting with Kim Jong Un, to discuss ending the North Korean leader’s nuclear program.

Trump made the announcement, just a week after he had said he was canceling the Singapore summit, following a more than hour-long meeting with a top North Korean official who delivered a letter from the North Korean leader. The official, Kim Yong Chol, posed for photos with Trump outside the Oval Office, and they talked amiably at Kim’s car before he was driven away.

“We’re going to deal,” Trump told reporters after Kim left. He also said it was likely that more than one meeting would be necessary to bring about his goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula but “I think you’re going to have a very positive result in the end. We will see what we will see.”

In the latest sign of hostility cooling down but hopes kept in check, Trump said he’s unilaterally put a hold on new sanctions against the North “until the talks break down.”

“I don’t even want to use the term ‘maximum pressure’ anymore,” Trump added, referencing his preferred term for the

punishing U.S. economic sanctions against North Korea.

Trump told reporters he hadn’t yet read the letter from Kim and added with a smile, “I may be in for a big surprise, folks.” But minutes earlier he had described the note as “a very interesting letter,” and teased journalists about revealing its contents.

Plans for the high-stakes sit-down in Singapore had been cast into doubt. Trump suddenly withdrew from the meeting last week, only to announce a day later that it could still get back on track. White House officials cast the roller-coaster public statements as reflective of the hard-nosed negotiation by the two nations.

Three teams of officials in the U.S., Singapore, and the Korean demilitarized zone have been meeting this week on preparations for the summit.

After North Korean officials delivered a series of bellicose statements last month, Trump announced he was withdrawing from the summit with a strongly worded letter. He cited “tremendous anger and open hostility” by Pyongyang but also urged Kim Jong Un to call him. By the next day, he was signaling the event could be back on after a conciliatory response from North Korea.

Trump has refused to publicly acknowledge whether he’s spoken directly with Kim Jong Un ahead of the talks.

Kim Yong Chol was greeted at the White House by chief of

staff John Kelly and then whisked into the Oval Office. He is the most senior North Korean to visit in 18 years, a symbolic sign of easing tensions after fears of war escalated amid North Korean nuclear and missile tests last year.

Questions remain about what a deal on the North’s nuclear weapons would look like, though Trump said Friday he believed Kim Jong Un would agree to denuclearization. Despite Kim’s apparent eagerness for a summit with Trump, there are lingering doubts about whether he will fully relinquish his nuclear weapons, which he may see as his only guarantee of survival.

U.S. defense and intelligence officials have repeatedly assessed the North to be on the threshold of having the capability to strike anywhere in the continental U.S. with a nucleartipped missile — a capacity that Trump and other U.S. officials have said they would not tolerate.

Kim Yong Chol left his hotel in New York City early Friday for the trip to Washington in a convoy of SUVs. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the former CIA chief who has traveled to North Korea and met with Kim Jong Un twice in the past two months, said he believed the country’s leaders are “contemplating a path forward where they can make a strategic shift, one that their country has not been prepared to make before.”

Yet he also said a news con-

ference that difficult work remains including hurdles that may appear to be insurmountable as negotiations progress on the U.S. demand for North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

“We will push forward to test the proposition that we can achieve that outcome,” he said.

Despite the upbeat messaging in the United States, Kim Jong Un, in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister on Thursday, complained about the U.S. trying to spread its influence in the region, a comment that may complicate the summit. “As we move to adjust to the political situation in the face of U.S. hegemonism, I am willing to exchange detailed and in-depth opinions with your leadership and hope to do so moving forward,” Kim told Sergey Lavrov.

North Korea’s flurry of diplomatic activity following an increase in nuclear weapons and missile tests in 2017 suggests that Kim is eager for sanctions relief to build his economy and for the international legitimacy a summit with Trump would provide.

Trump views a summit as a legacy-defining opportunity to make a nuclear deal.

Kim Yong Chol is the most senior North Korean visitor to the United States since Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok visited Washington in 2000 to meet President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 2, 2018 |

A9

BUSINESS

Sears to close another 72 stores, including Laredo Kmart

By Anne D’innocenzio and Michelle Chapman

Stocks skid as US imposes tariffs

By Marley Jay

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

NEW YORK — Sears will close another 72 stores as sales shrink and losses grow, an announcement that has become a familiar refrain as the company retrenches.

The beleaguered retailer, which operates Kmart and Sears stores, said it has identified about 100 stores that are no longer turning a profit, and the majority of those locations will be shuttered soon, including the Kmart store in Laredo, Texas.

After this round of closures, the company will have about 800 stores, down from about 1,000 at the end of last year and far below the 2012 peak of 4,000 stores.

Sears also posted a quarterly loss of $424 million and said store closings already underway contributed to a drop of more than 30 percent in revenue. That marks the more than five years of straight quarterly sales drop, according to FactSet. Sales at established stores, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, tumbled nearly 12 percent, down 9.5 percent at Kmart stores and 13.4 percent at Sears.

The latest closings underscore the deep-rooted problems at Sears, which was once a one-time powerhouse retailer that survived two world wars

Mary Altaffer / AP

Pedestrian walk past the Kmart store on Wednesday in New York. Sears has identified about 100 stores that are no longer turning a profit, and the majority of those locations will be shuttered soon, including the Kmart store in Laredo.

and the Great Depression but has been calving off pieces of itself as it burns through money.

Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert, who combined Sears and Kmart in 2005 after helping to bring the latter out of bankruptcy, has long pledged to save the famed retailer, which started in the 1880s as a mail-order catalog business.

But the stores have remained an albatross. And Kenmore, the retailer’s renowned appliance brand, became the latest potential sale

after ESL Investments, the company’s largest shareholder, headed by Lampert, said it might be interested in buying it.

Sears also has made deals with Amazon. The company announced recently that shoppers could buy any brand of tires on Amazon.com, have them shipped to a Sears Auto Center and then bring in their car to get them installed. Amazon began selling Sears’s Kenmore brand of ovens, washers and other appliances last year.

For the period that ended

May 5, Sears lost $3.93 per share. It earned $245 million, or $2.29 per share, a year earlier, a quarter that included a $492 million gain tied to the sale of the Craftsman brand.

The weak financial results stand out amid higher consumer confidence and a solid economy. Other chains like Walmart, Best Buy and even other department stores like Macy’s have posted rosier results.

Shares of Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, fell 11 percent, or 36 cents, to $2.86 on Thursday.

US consumer spending up

By Martin Crutsinger A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Americans boosted their spending by 0.6 percent in April, the biggest increase in five months and a strong indication that the economy is reviving after a winter slowdown.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that last month’s increase in consumer spending was the largest increase since a 0.7 percent rise last November.

The better-than-expected April gain, which followed a strong 0.5 percent March increase, caused some economists to boost expectations for economic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, in the April-June quarter.

“The first two months of the year were downers on the consumer spending front, but spending came back to life in March and April despite rising gasoline pump prices,” said Chris G. Christopher Jr., senior economist at IHS Market.

He said his forecast for second quarter economic growth, is now at 4 percent.

David Zalubowski / AP

A line of Mini Cooper models sits at a dealership in Colorado.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending was up 0.6 percent in April, the biggest increase in five months.

That would be the strongest quarterly growth in four years and a significant rebound from a modest 2.3 percent gain in the first quarter.

An inflation measure closely watched by the Fed rose by 2 percent in April, compared with a year ago, the second month it has achieved the Fed’s target for inflation after years of chronically low in-

flation.

The Fed seeks to manage the economy to achieve moderate annual gains in inflation of around 2 percent. However, for the past six years it has failed to achieve that goal as the fallout from the country’s worst recession in seven decades depressed wages and made it hard for businesses to raise prices.

Now that inflation is finally rising to the Fed’s target level, the expectation is that the central bank will continue to gradually raise its benchmark interest rate to make sure the economy does not overheat.

The Fed is expected to boost rates for a second time this year when it meets in June.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 13,000 last week to 221,000.

Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, have been below 300,000 for more than three years, evidence of the strength in the labor market.

The government will release its report on May employment on Friday. Unemployment fell to a 17-year low of 3.9 percent in April.

The 0.6 percent rise in consumer spending reflected a 0.3 percent increase in purchases of durable goods such as cars and a 0.9 percent jump in spending on non-durable goods, an increase that was heavily influenced by the recent rise in gasoline prices.

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks skidded Thursday after the Trump administration said it is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Europe, Canada and Mexico. Canada and Mexico responded with tariffs of their own, and the European Union is expected to follow suit.

American steel makers mostly rose, while industrial companies fell as they face the prospect of paying more for metals they use to make aircraft and machinery.

Companies that make household items took some of the worst losses, as products including orange juice and peanut butter might be hit with European tariffs.

Mexico is planning duties on U.S. exports including steel, pork products and sausages, while Canada said it will put reciprocal tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The European Union also said it will dispute the U.S. tariffs with the World Trade Organization, which could take years.

Meanwhile the parties will likely keep negotiating, and contentious talks between the U.S. and China are continuing as well.

And while experts say a trade war remains a remote possibility, all of those disputes have been weighing on the market for months, and the uncertainty that is creating has real effects.

David Kelly of JPMorgan Funds said the dragged-out process is discouraging businesses from investing because they don’t want to build a product only to see it targeted by tariffs.

“You can do great harm to an economy just by leaving people up in the air about what the final deal is going to be,” said Kelly, the chief global strategist of JPMorgan Funds. He said the uncertainty is undoing some of the effects of the recent corporate tax cut.

The S&P 500 index lost 18.74 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,705.27.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 251.94 points, or 1 percent, to 24,415.84.

The Nasdaq composite dipped 20.34 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,442.12 as technology companies like Alphabet and Facebook bucked the market’s decline. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of smaller companies that tend to do more business in the U.S., slipped 14.38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,633.61. It closed at a record high Wednesday.

The U.S. tariffs go into effect Friday. The Trump administration had announced them earlier but delayed their implementation to allow for talks with the EU. U.S. Steel jumped 1.7 percent to $36.87 and Century Aluminum gained 3.4 percent to $17.72. They made larger gains earlier in the day, but slipped after Canada announced reciprocal tariffs.

A10 | Saturday, June 2, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER NAFTA From page A1 with every trade thunderbolt, the latest featuring the prospect of a 25 percent tariff on imported cars. A hotly contested presidential election in Mexico looms on the horizon, as do midterm elections in the U.S. that could flip partisan control of Congress.

Some key Texas are wondering if Congress is doing enough to protect a deal they consider vital.

"Why are we being so reactive?" said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose hometown of Laredo depends on NAFTA in a big way. "I know the administration is supposed to work this deal out. But I wish that Congress would assert itself more."

NAFTA is but one moving part in the White House’s sprawling trade program.

The overall trend toward a more protectionist bent thrills some important components of Trump’s base, such as those who work in the struggling steel industry.

Trump relishes the global fight, often taking to Twitter to tout his battles against "bad trade deals."

"Funny to watch the Democrats criticize Trade Deals being negotiated by

MISSING From page A1 Jan. 20 to May 21,” said Raymundo Ramos, president of that group. “The majority are attributed to personnel from special operations of the navy.”

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission said it had received complaints concerning the disappearance of 31 people since February, seven of them under 18, and was investigating those cases.

Neither Mexico’s navy, which has contributed marines to the country’s fight against drug violence, nor the Interior Department, which is in charge of domestic security, immediately responded to requests for comment.

Tensions were high in Nuevo Laredo when Trejo disappeared on March 27.

On March 25, marines had been ambushed three times by gunmen.

One marine was killed and several wounded.

During the third clash, a helicopter was called in.

A family’s car driving through a shootout was hit and a mother and two of her children were killed. The father and one boy were wounded, but survived.

The navy initially denied responsibility, but after an expert concluded the fatal shots came from above, it admitted its helicopter accidentally killed the civilians.

me when they don’t even know what the deals are and when for 8 years the Obama Administration did NOTHING on trade except let other countries rip off the United States," he wrote last week.

But the president’s approach riles even some of his biggest GOP supporters, with the likes of Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling saying that he’s "very, very worried about the trade agenda."

"The threat of a global trade war can undo all of his other good work in the area of regulation and in the area of tax," the Republican said this month at an event hosted

by Politico. "I fear that there are some in the administration who feel like trade is a zero-sum game. And it’s not."

The White House’s inability to stick to a position on any given trade issue only adds to the consternation.

Trump has imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum, while also temporarily exempting some key allies. He’s pledged up to $150 billion in import levies on Chinese goods, while also moving to roll back tough penalties against a sanctions-violating Chinese phone maker. He’s trashed free trade agreements like NAFTA, while also sometimes warming

to them.

"The administration’s trade policy generally, if it has one, is very conflicted and confusing," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.

That characteristic is not just a feature of Trump, who can claim all sides of a debate in a single tweet. Coppell Rep. Kenny Marchant pointed, for example, to the role of White House trade advisor Peter Navarro and U.S. trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer in NAFTA negotiations.

"Cooler heads prevail.

They get near an agreement. Then Lighthizer and Navarro step in," said Marchant, a Republican who also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. "They seem to be the ones who say, ’No, we need to go back and discuss this.’ " The most recent reset on NAFTA came this month as the U.S., Mexico and Canada stalemated over some contentious Trump demands.

Those stumbling blocks include detailed automobile provisions including tougher requirements on how much of a car must come from North America to qualify for free trade - but also big picture ideas like a sunset clause that would

Molina said the marines who interrogated her and her husband at 1:30 a.m. on March 27 asked if they knew about what had happened in the helicopter incident.

The couple explained why they were in Nuevo Laredo. Her husband showed them the business cards for his auto repair shop, but they took him away without any search warrant or arrest order, she said.

“They were aiming at our heads the whole time,” she said. “They can deny what happened, but what I saw were well-trained, uniformed personnel.”

The next morning she filed a report with the Attorney General’s Office and the National Human Rights Commission. She went to the marine base, but they denied knowing anything about the incident.

Now Molina has joined with other families to search for hidden graves along the dirt roads surrounding Nuevo Laredo.

This week they were accompanied by Federal Police for the first time, she said.

Among the cases documented by the U.N., were the disappearances of 21 males and two females, including at least five minors.

According to statements to U.N. investigators, the disappearances typically occur at night while the victims are walking along or driving on roads. Sometimes

their burned and bulletriddled vehicles are found on roadsides.

“Many of these people would have been detained arbitrarily and disappeared while going about their daily lives,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

“It is particularly horrific that at least five of the victims were minors, three of them very young, only 14 years old.

These crimes, perpetrated during four months in only one municipality, are outrageous.”

According to federal data, there have been more than 6,000 registered disappearances in Tamaulipas since 2006, more than any other state. Earlier this month, protesters demanding government action about disappearances blocked a major commercial bridge connecting Nuevo Laredo with Texas.

Last week, Molina and other families met with a captain from the navy who promised to give them access to the marines’ base and help them in their search, but there has not been any follow-up, she said. The navy is the primary security presence in Nuevo Laredo where the Northeast cartel, an offshoot of the Zetas, dominates.

“If the navy is here to protect us, what are they doing to avoid these disappearances?” Molina said. “How can this be happening in spite of their presence here?”

terminate NAFTA every five years.

It’s not that Texas lawmakers necessarily agree on every point. Consider a push to raise wages for Mexican autoworkers.

Hensarling said he was "just dumbfounded" by that effort, saying Americans would pay more for cars as a result. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, countered that higher pay and better rights in Mexico would juice the border economy while also boosting standards for American workers.

But the latest impasse put key Texas officials on high alert since negotiators blew past an informal deadline meant to ensure that Congress could OK a new deal by the end of the year and instead moved even closer to a contentious election season.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin

Brady, R-The Woodlands, was quick to tell the White House to "stay at the table with Canada and Mexico." Cornyn joined with Sen. Ted Cruz and other GOP senators to urge the administration against a "take-it or leave-it strategy." Cruz warned Trump against using NAFTA negotiations to "erect barriers to the U.S. market."

Whether lawmakers take a more aggressive tack going forward remains to be seen, though Trump likely needs Congress’ blessing to take any major action on NAFTA. Lighthizer, among other Trump aides, have stressed that the administration is simply pursuing the best deal possible.

Many Texans have pledged to keep making the case that the deal is an economic necessity.

O’Rourke said Texas has "more to gain or lose

in these negotiations than just about any state."

Marchant said he’s hearing from businesses in his district that are holding back on "big-time planning for the future" because of uncertainty over NAFTA and other trade issues.

Cuellar, the Laredo Democrat, said a real impact is already being felt in his district.

Businesses directly involved in cross-border trade are "afraid to invest in a new warehouse and new equipment," while hotels and restaurants are seeing fewer customers from Mexico due to increased hostility toward the country by the Trump administration, he said.

"Unless you live on the border, you don’t understand the damage that they are doing to us," he said.