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SAN YGNACIO, TEXAS
Foundation preserves rich history The restoration of Treviño Uribe Rancho to be completed by Dec. By Julia Wallace TH E ZAPATA T IME S
In 1830, Jesus Treviño built his regiment headquarters a little ways up the river from Guerrero Viejo, Mexico. This fort, built of sandstone walls and mesquite ceilings, became a place of refuge for Treviño’s family against semi-annual raids from Comanches. And this marks the genesis of San Ygnacio — its first per-
manent structure. A few rooms made up the property, and in 1851 and 1854, Treviño’s sonin-law added bedrooms, a kitchen and a courtyard surrounded by nine-foot walls. The structure still stands almost 200 years later. It represents one of the most important examples of the largelyextinct Mexican Ranch Vernacular style architecture. When Falcon Dam was erected in the
1950s, the lake it created flooded over Guerrero Viejo, destroying many homes constructed in this style. In fact, Chris Rincón, executive director of the River Pierce Foundation, said the Treviño-Uribe property is the last and largest example of its kind in the country. “This was a rancho,” he said. The River Pierce Foundation exists to preserve Rancho continues on A10
Cuate Santos / The Zapata Times
Architectural conservator, Frank Briscoe, in foreground, explains the process of the resotarion underway at the Treviño Uribe Rancho in San Ignacio.
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
SETTLEMENT REACHED
EUROPEAN UNION
Anxiety hits as Britain exits EU By Frank Jordans ASSOCIATED PRE SS
moved from the Alamo grounds to the Texas A&M-San Antonio campus. It had been at the Alamo more than 70 years. “We are all pleased to resolve this issue in a manner that allows the DRT to continue to manage this important collection,” said Mark Havens, general counsel for the General Land Office. The Land Office would be working on its “primary goal of conserving this treasured his-
LONDON — On its face Britain looked the same on Friday: The White Cliffs of Dover gleamed, the clamor of construction rumbled across London and bathers in the Hampstead Heath park took a dip in a murky pond while the rare sun lasted. Yet Britons woke up to a different country, after a historic referendum which is set to upend the island’s relationship with Europe. The question raised for this kingdom of 65 million with a long and proud history: Who are we, and who do we want to become now? Slightly over half of voters backed a call to leave the European Union, and their delight spilled onto the streets in a display of emotion usually reserved for football victories. Some waved Union Jack flags, while others sported more discreet badges and stickers signaling their pleasure. At Billingsgate market, Allen Laurence, said the result was “absolutely wonderful. Best news ever.” “We want England — or Great Britain — to come back how it was years ago,” the 65-
Lawsuit continues on A10
Britain continues on A10
Eric Gay / AP file
In this file photo, Dan Phillips, a member of the San Antonio Living History Association, patrols the Alamo during a pre-dawn memorial ceremony to remember the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and those who fell on both sides, in San Antonio.
Agency’s lawsuit over Alamo library artifacts ends By Michael Graczyk A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
HOUSTON — A group that served as guardian of the Alamo for more than a century and the Texas General Land Office reached a settlement Friday in a dispute over ownership of about 38,000 books and artifacts that had been kept at the Texas shrine. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas filed suit in March 2015 after the agency headed by
George P. Bush declared the state owned the organization’s private library collection. Bush also had announced he was ending the group’s management of the downtown San Antonio landmark. The Daughters began caring for the Alamo in 1905, raised money in 1945 to build the library and then donated it to the state. Under terms of the agreement, the state agency drops any ownership claims to the library collection and pays
$200,000 to cover legal fees of the Daughters. “The Daughters held fast and our prayers were answered,” said Betty Edwards, president general of the organization. “With this behind us, we can refocus on our mission to ensure the next generation of Texans understand and appreciate our unique history as a sovereign republic.” The collection of books, maps, flags and other artifacts used by researchers is being
SUPREME COURT
With tears and resolve, immigrants vow to keep fighting By Deepti Hajela ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Jay Janner / AP
Janney Olvera, 3, hugs her mother, Alejandra Olvera at a vigil at the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Texas in response to the Supreme Court decision about President Obamas immigration executive order.
NEW YORK — After learning the Supreme Court deadlocked on an immigration plan that would protect her from being deported, Marta Gualotuna could barely speak through her tears. “This decision is very, very painful for me,” Gualotuna, 57, said in Spanish through a
translator. The Ecuadorian immigrant had hoped the court would uphold President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order, which was designed to reduce the threat of deportation for certain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Despite her sadness, Gualotuna, a New York City resident who’s been in the country for more than 20 years and has three American-born children,
was also determined. “The only thing I know is we’re going to keep fighting,” she said. It was a sentiment expressed by other immigrants and their advocates Thursday after the high court’s deadlock left intact a lower court ruling blocking Obama’s order. “For me, living in the shadows, it’s like I don’t have a life. I’m like nobody. I feel like noCourt continues on A10
Zin brief A2 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, JUNE 25
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
1 Music Health Fest. 11 a.m.–4 p.m. City of Laredo Health Department, 2600 Cedar Ave. In observance of National HIV Testing Day, which is June 27, the health department is throwing a festival with live music, food vendors, free health screenings, health education, games and more. For more information, call 795-4905. 1 Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. The Little Star That Could at 2 p.m., Origins of Life at 3 p.m., A Starry Tale at 4 p.m. and Space Next at 5 p.m. General Admission is $4 for children, TAMIU students, faculty and staff, and $5 for adults. For more information, call 326-DOME (3663).
Today is Saturday, June 25, the 177th day of 2016. There are 189 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: On June 25, 1906, architect Stanford White was shot to death atop New York’s (second) Madison Square Garden, which he had designed, by millionaire Harry K. Thaw, who was apparently enraged over what he viewed as White’s defilement of his wife, Evelyn Nesbit, when Nesbit was a teenager. (Thaw was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity.)
MONDAY, JUNE 27 1 Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally. Free. For all ages and skill levels. Instruction is offered. 1 Laredo Parkinson’s Disease Support Group. 6:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1st Floor, Tower B in the Community Center. The meeting is open to anyone with Parkinson’s disease, a friend or family member of a PD patient, and primary care givers of patients with PD who are interested in learning more about the disease. Pamphlets with more information in both English and Spanish are available at all support group meetings. For more information, call Richard Renner at 645-8649 or 237-0666.
TUESDAY, JUNE 28 1 Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Fun exercise for all ages and it's free. Must sign release form. For more information call 956-795-2400 x2520. 1 It’s Dine to Donate fundraiser for the South Texas Food Bank. 3 p.m.–10 p.m. Texas Roadhouse, 5722 San Bernardo Ave. Dine in and 20 percent of your check will be donated to the South Texas Food Bank. Also, bring a non-perishable item and receive a free appetizer card for your next visit to Texas Roadhouse. For more information call Salo Otero at 324-2432 or the South Texas Food Bank at 726-3120. 1 Adoption Orientation. 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Upbringing Foster in Texas Laredo Office, 102 E. Calton Road, Suite 4. This orientation is for those who want more information about the process of becoming a foster or adoptive family.
THURSDAY, JUNE 30 1 Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. TAMIU. “Zula Patrol: Under the Weather” at 3 p.m., “Cosmic Adventure” at 4 p.m. and “A Starry Tale” at 5 p.m. General admission is $3. For more information, call 326-3663. 1 Spanish Book Club. 6–8 p.m. Laredo Public Library – Calton. For more information, contact Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.
Tom Fox / AP file
The Craig Ranch pool where McKinney Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt was seen on video pinning a 14-year-old African-American girl to the ground and pointing his gun at other teenagers.
NO CHARGES AGAINST OFFICER By Christine Hauser NEW YORK TIME S
A grand jury decided Thursday not to charge a Texas police officer who was shown on a cellphone video throwing a black teenage girl to the ground outside a pool party last year, the authorities said. The footage of the white officer, Cpl. David Eric Casebolt, tackling the teenager in June 2015 was posted to YouTube, becoming part of a nationwide debate over how white officers treat African-Americans. Tom Mills, a lawyer for Casebolt, who resigned from the McKinney Police
Supreme Court sidesteps key home schooling issue AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court sided Friday with a family accused of not teaching its children anything while waiting to be “raptured,” but failed to answer larger constitutional questions about whether home-schooled students must be properly educated. The 6-3 decision by the allRepublican court on technical grounds means nothing was
Department in the wake of the encounter, said Friday that the officer was “very relieved” by the grand jury’s decision. Kim Cole, a lawyer for Dajerria Becton’s family, said it intended to file civil rights and personal injury lawsuits, according to The Dallas Morning News. Casebolt was among the officers who responded to a call about a disturbance about 7 p.m. that day at a community pool in a racially diverse subdivision north of Dallas The video showed him chasing some of the young partygoers, cursing at them and shouting for them to go home.
decided regarding a showdown between religious liberties and educational requirements in America’s largest conservative state, though it will live on in lower Texas courts. Texas doesn’t require parents who home-school their children to register with state authorities. While families must meet “basic educational goals” in reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and citizenship, they don’t have to give standardized testing or otherwise prove student progress is made.
Problems for Laura and Michael McIntyre, who once educated their nine children in an empty office at the family’s motorcycle dealership in El Paso, arose after an uncle told the school district that he never saw the children do much of anything educational. According to court filings, he also overheard of the children tell a cousin “they did not need to do schoolwork because they were going to be raptured,” or blessed by the second coming of Jesus Christ. — Compiled from AP reports
MONDAY, JULY 4 1 Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally. Free. For all ages and skill levels. Instruction is offered. 1 Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m. Every first Monday of the month. Doctors Hospital at the Community Center. Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call Nancy Santos at 956-285-5410.
TUESDAY, JULY 5 1 Take the challenge and climb the Rock Wall. 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Fun exercise for all ages and it's free. Must sign release form. For more information call 956-795-2400 x2520. 1 Community conversation on teen and young adult mental health. 6 p.m.–8 p.m. Border Region Behavioral Health Center, 1500 Papas St. Everyone is invited to attend. The purpose of this event is to encourage the community to voice concerns, ask questions and share information on available resources to help those afflicted with a mental illness or a substance abuse problem. Join others in the community for an informal conversation on mental health presented by Area Health Education Center, Border Region Behavioral Health Center and Texas Department of State Services Office of Border Health. For additional information, call 712-0037.
AROUND THE NATION Officer critical but stable; convicted felon arrested PHILADELPHIA — A police officer was shot several times Friday as he approached people suspected of smoking marijuana behind an apartment building, prompting a threehour manhunt near Philadelphia that halted a dozen Amtrak trains, authorities said. Folcroft Officer Christopher Dorman, 25, sustained injuries that required at least two surgeries, officials said. He was in critical but stable condition Friday, and police had a suspect in custody. Police chief Robert Ruskowski wondered aloud at a news conference how somebody “just hanging out, smoking grass at 10 o’clock in the morning ... is willing to take your life.” Donte Island had served about nine years in federal prison on a gun conviction before his release in 2013. His
Matt Rourke / AP
Law enforcement detain people in the aftermath of a shooting of a police officer on Friday in Folcroft, Pa.
parole officer requested an arrest warrant and revocation hearing in September after Island repeatedly tested positive for marijuana, which he said he used for stress, court records show. But the officer then had trouble finding Island at his listed Folcroft address, and there’s no sign the hearing occurred.
Island was arrested at the same address, an apartment house near the railroad tracks, Friday afternoon after police who had surrounded the building for several hours entered the unit. Island was being charged with two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated assault. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD Bermuda voters reject same-sex marriage HAMILTON, Bermuda — A strong majority of voters in Bermuda have opposed samesex marriage in a non-binding referendum in the British island territory. Results showed large majorities voting against same-sex marriage and civil unions in separate questions, but the referendum was invalidated because turnout was
below 50 percent, officials said Friday. Premier Michael Dunkley said his government was evaluating the results of Thursday’s vote, in which 69 percent opposed same-sex marriage and 63 percent rejected civil unions. He said the results mean those supporting same-sex marriage in Bermuda will likely go to court to challenge the ban on its recognition. “This has been and will continue to be a highly sensitive matter,” he said. “Despite our
Ten years ago: Palestinian militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, after tunneling under the border and attacking a military post, killing two other soldiers. (Shalit was eventually freed in a prisoner exchange.) An al-Qaida-linked group posted a Web video showing the killings of three Russian Embassy workers who’d been abducted in Iraq; a statement from the group said a fourth worker had also been slain. Actress Nicole Kidman married country singer Keith Urban in Sydney, Australia. Five years ago: A suicide car bomber blasted a small clinic in eastern Afghanistan, causing the building to collapse and killing some three dozen people. What’s believed to be the only surviving authenticated portrait of Billy the Kid sold at auction in Denver for $2.3 million. One year ago: Univision’s UniMas network announced it was dropping its Spanish-language coverage of the Miss USA pageant in a spiraling controversy over comments made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a part owner of the Miss Universe pageant, about Mexican immigrants.
SATURDAY, JULY 2 1 Book sale. 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. No admission charge. Everyone is invited. 1 Laredo Northside Farmers Market. 9 a.m.–1 p.m. The market will be held at the playground behind the trailhead facility at North Central Park on International Boulevard. The market will feature the usual vendors plus two new vendors. Local yoga instructor Beverly Boling will make a presentation on yoga.
On this date: In 1788, Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution. In 1876, Lt. Col. Colonel George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was enacted. In 1950, war broke out in Korea as forces from the communist North invaded the South. In 1959, spree killer Charles Starkweather, 20, was put to death in Nebraska’s electric chair. Eamon de Valera was inaugurated as president of Ireland. In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that recitation of a state-sponsored prayer in New York State public schools was unconstitutional. In 1975, the government of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency aimed at cracking down on political opponents. (The state of emergency was lifted in March 1977.) In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that male-only draft registration was constitutional. In 1995, Warren Burger, the 15th chief justice of the United States, died in Washington at age 87. In 1996, a truck bomb killed 19 Americans and injured hundreds at a U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia. The science-fiction thriller “Independence Day,” about an alien attack on Earth, had its world premiere in Los Angeles. In 2009, death claimed Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” in Los Angeles at age 50 and actress Farrah Fawcett in Santa Monica, California, at age 62.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress June Lockhart is 91. Civil rights activist James Meredith is 83. Rhythm-andblues singer Eddie Floyd is 79. Actress Barbara Montgomery is 77. Actress Mary Beth Peil (peel) is 76. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Willis Reed is 74. Singer Carly Simon is 71. Rock musician Ian McDonald (Foreigner; King Crimson) is 70. Actor-comedian Jimmie Walker is 69. Actor-director Michael Lembeck is 68. TV personality Phyllis George is 67. Rock singer Tim Finn is 64. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is 62. Rock musician David Paich (Toto) is 62. Actor Michael Sabatino is 61. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is 60. Actor-writer-director Ricky Gervais is 55. Actor John Benjamin Hickey is 53. Rock singer George Michael is 53. Actress Erica Gimpel is 52. Retired NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo is 50. Rapper-producer Richie Rich is 49. Rapper Candyman is 48. Contemporary Christian musician Sean Kelly (Sixpence None the Richer) is 45. Actress Angela Kinsey is 45. Rock musician Mario Calire is 42. Actress Linda Cardellini is 41. Actress Busy Philipps is 37. Thought for Today: “Jealousy is the grave of affection.” — Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader (18211910).
CONTACT US differences we must progress forward. And my hope is that as we move forward as a country, we move ahead with greater tolerance, understanding and respect and appreciation for one another?” Dunkley’s government scheduled the non-binding referendum after it considered legalizing samesex marriage in May 2015 amid strong opposition in the Atlantic Ocean island territory. Officials held public meetings ahead of the referendum. — Compiled from AP reports
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
A3
Zopinion
Letters to the editor Send your signed letter to editorial@lmtonline.com
A4 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Time for Trump to put up or shut up By Jonah Goldberg TR IB UN E NEWS SE RV ICE
Donald Trump should put his money where his mouth is. The real estate mogul says he’s worth "in excess" of $10 billion. I think he’s lying, as does pretty much every expert and financial journalist who has looked into the question. Forbes has put his net worth at $4.5 billion. Bloomberg says it’s below $3 billion. Billionaire Mark Cuban has cast doubt on whether Trump is even a billionaire at all. I’ve read the analyses, but common sense always told me he was full of it. Actual multi-billionaires tend not to waste their time recording videos hawking steaks in the Sharper Image catalog. They don’t bother with snake oil schemes peddling dietary supplements. They don’t claim under oath that much of their net worth depends on how good a mood they’re in. And they don’t threaten to sue anyone who suggests they aren’t as rich as they claim. This last point is especially significant. Trump’s business model is to exploit his brand as a super-successful Manhattan real estate mogul. The fact that he is, in reality, a "relatively minor player" in that world, as economics writer Adam Davidson recently noted in the New York Times Magazine, is entirely beside the point. He’s selling the sizzle, not the steak (clearly, not the steaks). That’s especially true overseas, where he does a large share of his business (he’s in Scotland for some grand opening right now). He’s nowhere near the richest man in America, but he’s arguably the American most famous for being rich. That opens doors in Eastern Europe and Asia. It also improves his mood, which apparently can be a real windfall. I’ve talked to numerous political pros and quite a few actual billionaires, and the totally uncorroborated theory most of them hold is that Trump never expected to do this well. It was a P.R. stunt that got out of hand. The dog caught the car and now he doesn’t know what to do with it. Circumstantial evidence for this can be found in Trump’s latest fundraising report. It was, by any objective measure, a disaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if RNC Chair Reince Priebus reacted to it the way that German guy did when he looked inside
the Ark of the Covenant at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie. In short, the alleged decabillionaire’s campaign is broke. In May, which should have been a boffo fundraising month, the campaign raised $3.1 million (Mitt Romney during the same period had raised $78 million). The Trump Train went into the crucial month of June with just under $1.3 million cash on hand. That is a pretty good number - for a congressman. Only 78 representatives and 43 senators have more cash on hand than the GOP’s presumptive nominee. Perhaps more tellingly, the failed steak and vitamin mogul spent nearly a fifth of the money he raised on his own businesses and salaries for himself and his family. One of his biggest outlays was renting out the Mar-a-Lago club - which he owns. Odd. During the primaries, Trump routinely insisted that he was turning down millions in donations from fat cats eager to board the Trump train. "The week before last, a lobbyist . offered $5 million, ’Please. I want to give you $5 million for the campaign,’ " Trump recounted to reporters last August. "I said ’I have no interest in taking that.’ In fact, I think it’s the first time he’s ever been turned down." That was back when Trump’s was the great self-funder. But he changed his mind a while ago. He wants help now, but it’s not forthcoming. It seems strange that all of those super-rich friends would be eager to donate during the primaries but now have empty pockets. Perhaps such offers never happened. Or, maybe, no one wants to hand money to a guy who insists he could easily self-fund the whole thing with a fraction of his alleged wealth. And that’s the thing. If Trump’s worth $10 billion, spending $1 billion is no great sacrifice. He could still cover the bills for his private jet. OK, maybe he’d have to sell something. Is that really too much to ask? The founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Surely he could pawn Trump Tower. So, I ask you, Mr. Trump, just do it already. Put your money where your mouth is. You say you’re the only one who can save America. Henry IV said, "Paris is well worth a mass." Surely America is worth a tenth of your alleged fortune.
OP-ED
Democrats go too far with gun control By Ben Boychuk THE SACRAMENTO BEE
Once upon a time, Democrats would sit in to press for civil rights. Today, they sit in to take civil rights away. How else to describe the goal of this week’s 24-hour sit-in by House
Democrats? They took to the floor Wednesday demanding a vote on gun control legislation in the wake of last week’s terrorist attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Gun ownership is a right. Due process of law is a right. The government needs to meet a
very high threshold before denying citizens either one. Rep. John Lewis led the protest, which devolved into screaming matches early Thursday. The Georgia Democrat is an undisputed hero of the civil rights movement. He marched with Martin
COLUMN
The great unraveling in Europe By Trudy Rubin THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
It’s a strange time to be visiting London, Berlin and Paris. The ties that bound Europe together for decades in an unprecedented era of peace are coming loose. Britain holds a referendum Thursday on whether to "Brexit" - quit the European Union. If that happens, it may trigger similar referendums in other European countries. And even if the British islanders choose to stay, the very idea of a united Europe - a union of 28 countries that are America’s closest allies and share Western values of democracy and rule of law - is losing steam. Yet waiting in the wings are no energetic reformers who want to address the EU’s genuine flaws, but rather fearmongers on the far right who fan ethnic nationalism and blame immigrants for every ill. And the European parties of the center seem unable to counter the rise of radicalism on the right and the left. Sound familiar? That’s why Americans should pay attention to the Brexit vote and what’s happening to the idea of Europe. In a world where China is rising and authoritarianism is touted as an alternative to democracy, where a revanchist Russia uses force to recreate past glories, the EU is a crucial counterweight. It is also a crucial ally in fighting international
scourges such as terrorism. So here’s what you should be watching for, in Britain and on the continent, and what I will be looking for myself. In Britain, the "Leave" campaign played on fears of immigration, with a far-right party campaign poster featuring a photo of an endless winding horde of dark-skinned refugees. Never mind that the Brits have accepted almost none of the recent flood of Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans; half their migrants arrive legally from other EU countries and do much of the country’s scutwork and many of the rest are from former British colonies. The Leave campaign presents the restoration of Glorious England with a moat as the solution to all. So watch to see whether this mirage leads to a Brexit that will have dire economic consequences, not just for England, but for global markets. A Brexit will also undercut America’s special relationship with a crucial democratic ally, since a Little England will have much less international clout as a loner. Most importantly of all, watch to see whether British voters take to heart the symbolism of Jo Cox’s murder. Cox was a dynamic new Labor member of Parliament and former aid worker with refugees who had campaigned strongly for remaining in Europe. In her forceful maiden
speech she said of her multicultural district: "We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than the things that divide us." Her alleged killer, who shot her on the street, reportedly shouted, "Britain first" and proclaimed in court: "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain." Cox’s husband has expressed the hope that her murder will impel Britons to fight against such hatred. We’ll see if the shock of her death convinces undecided voters to back "Remain," or whether false nationalist promises win the day. On the continent I will be asking about the impact of the Brexit vote on Europe’s future. Even if it fails, the vote has sounded a warning to the EU’s bureaucrats in Brussels that voters no longer understand the meaning of a united Europe. The concept once stood for democratic values but now is tarred with the euro and refugee crises. Brussels stands warned. I will head for Berlin, because Germany is at the heart of the European experiment. The EU was designed to keep a postWWII Germany firmly rooted in democratic Europe, but now other states gripe that Germany has become too powerful. They blame Chancellor Angela Merkel for her humanitarian decision to accept one million refugees, which critics say accelerated the flow to the
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Luther King Jr. and suffered a fractured skull on "Bloody Sunday" on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. "It took us three times to make it all the way from Selma to Montgomery," Lewis told reporters Thursday. "We have other bridges to cross."
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
whole continent. The Germans are embarked on a massive experiment to see if they can integrate this huge refugee influx, and prevent the emergence of new Muslim refugee ghettos. They are also debating whether imams trained in Germany can promote a new European strain of Islam. Moreover, a dicey deal with Turkey to stop the refugee flow may well fail. I will be looking at these questions. In France, I will also be examining whether the continental crisis has produced new ideas on assimilating long-standing immigrant communities from North Africa and preventing radicalized elements from turning to terror. In both Germany and France, radical right parties are on the move, with France’s Martine Le Pen likely to become a top candidate for president again in 2017. Until this year, America had not fallen prey to the populist lure at the national level but a look across the Atlantic can show where this path could lead us. As William Butler Yeats so memorably warned in his 1919 poem "The Second Coming": Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. In Europe, I’ll be asking whether the center can be put back together again.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
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LOCAL & STATE
Federal review finds funds wasted at Waco VA By Jeremy Schwartz AUSTIN A M ER ICAN-STAT E SMAN
AUSTIN, Texas — The $3.6 million machine was supposed to revolutionize our understanding of traumatic brain injury and other war injuries by studying the brains of Fort Hood troops before and after deployments to Iraq. The Austin AmericanStatesman reports that never happened. Nearly a decade after the Department of Veterans Affairs bought the once cutting-edge, mobile MRI system, internal investigators have concluded that research efforts at the VA Waco Center of Excellence represented “a waste of taxpayers’ funds” and were an example of “poor stewardship.”
In a report released Thursday, the VA’s Office of Inspector General detailed years of research inactivity at the Waco center, where officials spent more than $200,000 in annual maintenance while the MRI machine largely sat unused. The internal inspectors’ report confirmed the findings of a 2014 AmericanStatesman investigation, which found the VA had squandered a historic opportunity for combatrelated research by purchasing the mobile scanner without a clear plan for success, failing to recruit enough brain imaging experts to make it work and allowing internal squabbles to paralyze the project. VA inspectors found the agency spent about $1.1 million on maintenance
for the nearly five and a half years that the machine went unused between 2008 and 2015. Inspectors confirmed that the scanner had not contributed to any published research studies as of 2015. The report, however, didn’t assign blame to any specific VA employees for the debacle. The VA has since hired new leadership at the center and in April 2015 restarted brain scanning research with the machine. In a response to the inspectors’ findings, VA Undersecretary of Health David Shulkin conceded that the machine was “underutilized” in the past, but that the department was “proud that our efforts have been successful in turning this program around in a
relatively short period of time.” Shulkin said the VA has started a redesign of the entire VA supply chain and changed how it manages such high-tech medical equipment as the Waco MRI system. “Although this device has had a troubled history, I view this overall as a success story, in that new leadership has revitalized this program and put the Center on a productive pathway,” Shulkin wrote. The Statesman investigation, published in September 2014, found that six years after the brain scanner’s debut not a single study based on the machine’s scans had been published. By 2013, center officials suggested that the machine be returned because the VA didn’t know how
Speaker Robbins’ coal walk burns more than 30 people A S S OCI AT E D PRE SS
DALLAS — More than 30 people who attended an event with motivational speaker Tony Robbins have been treated for burns after Robbins encouraged them to walk on hot coals as a way of conquering their fears, Dallas fire officials said. Five people were taken to a hospital Thursday night, while the rest were treated at the scene for burns to their feet and lower extremities, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said. The hot coals were
spread outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as part of a Robbins four-day Robbins seminar called “Unleash the Power Within.” Representatives for Robbins didn’t immediately return messages Friday, but in a statement provided to KTVTTV organizers said about 7,000 people walked across the coals and only five “requested any examination beyond what was readily available on
site.” “Someone not familiar with the fire walk observed the event and called 911 erroneously reporting hundreds of people requiring medical attention for severe burns,” according to the statement. Tad Schinke, an event trainer, told WFAA-TV: “We always have a few people that have some discomfort afterwards and we do our best to take care of them.” Such fire walks are not uncommon at Robbins’ seminars: More than 20 people were treated for foot burns
after a similar event in 2012 in San Jose, California. One participant, Jacqueline Luxemberg, told WFAA that some people were not concentrating on walking across the coals because they were taking selfies and asking others to take video of them. Fire officials used a city bus to hold many of the injured people; others were carried to ambulances or back inside the convention center to be evaluated.
Jay Janner / AP file
Nickolos Chevalier, an MRI research specialist for the Center of Excellence, works in the Center of Excellence mobile MRI trailer that is parked at the Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Texas.
to properly use or fix it. One suggestion from staffers for the MRI’s support vehicle: housing for lab rats. After the Statesman investigation was published, the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee launched its own inquiry into the VA’s overall mental health research effort. Committee officials said Thursday afternoon that investigation into overall research is ongoing. Former committee member Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, who previously suggested that research
should be moved out of the Center of Excellence, told the Statesman last year he had changed his view after visiting the revitalized center. The Waco MRI system is currently being used to research neurological disorders and collect data for treatment studies, VA spokeswoman Jessica Jacobsen said Thursday. The Waco center has also started collaborating with the University of Texas to evaluate patients and provide them with realtime feedback on their neurological activity, Jacobsen said.
Man charged for shining laser at BP helicopter ASSOCIATED PRE SS
MCALLEN, Texas — A south Texas man has been arrested and charged with shining a laser at a Border Patrol helicopter. A federal affidavit alleges Juan Peralez pointed the laser at the helicopter about 1 a.m. Monday, prompting the pilot to take evasive action to avoid being blinded. Another member of the aircraft crew directed Border Patrol agents on the ground to the source of
the laser, where Peralez was seen aiming the laser at the helicopter. The 57-year-old La Joya man was arrested late Thursday and made an initial appearance before a federal magistrate Friday in McAllen. If convicted, he could get up to five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines. Peralez is free on bond. He has no published telephone number and no attorney listed in jail records.
A6 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
NATIONAL
Lead levels higher in Flint kids after water switch By Jeff Karoub A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
DETROIT — Flint children under the age of 6 had significantly higher blood-lead levels after the city switched its water source in 2014 to save money, according to report released Friday by U.S. disease experts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report said the likelihood a child would have a concerning bloodlead level — at least 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood — was about 50 percent higher after the April 2014 switch from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River. Flint used the water for 18 months, during which lead leached from old pipes in homes, businesses and schools because the water wasn’t treated to control corrosion. The city switched back to Detroit’s system in Octo-
ber. “This crisis was entirely preventable, and a startling reminder of the critical need to eliminate all sources of lead from our children’s environment,” Patrick Breysse, director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, said in a statement. About 9,600 children younger than 6 years old lived in homes served by Flint’s water system, the report said. Among them, about 7,300 received nearly 9,700 blood lead tests before, during and after the water source switch. Children can develop learning disabilities and behavior problems from lead exposure, even in low levels. According to the CDC, blood-lead testing in Michigan is targeted toward children at or below the poverty level and those enrolled in Medicaid. All children
on Medicaid are required to receive blood-lead screenings when they’re 1 and 2 years old, or 3 and 6 years old if previous screenings weren’t done. The lead-level test periods were: the year leading up to the initial switch; between April 2014 and the January 2015 release of a water advisory because of high levels of disinfectant byproducts; between the advisory and return to Detroit water; and after the return to Detroit. After last fall, children’s blood-lead levels dropped to what had been found before the switch to the Flint River. The study underscores the need for a “big, public health discussion” about lead, Breysse told The Associated Press. A recent national health survey estimated that a half-million children under 6 have elevated blood-lead levels in the area of concern and 4
Carlos Osorio / AP file
Registered nurse Brian Jones draws a blood sample from a student at Eisenhower Elementary School in Flint, Mich. The students were being tested for lead after the metal was found in the city's drinking water.
million U.S. households have lead-paint hazards. “We have concerns being raised across the country,” he said. Officials noted some limitations with the Flint findings: They couldn’t account for all factors that might have contributed to a child’s lead exposure, such as whether lead-based paint was present in the children’s homes or whether a decline in blood-lead levels post-return to Detroit water was at least partly because of the increased consumption of bottled water. Still, the authors say the analysis suggests
18-year-old, youngest killed in club shooting, mourned A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
PHILADELPHIA — Some mourners are remembering the youngest of the 49 victims of the Florida nightclub massacre by wearing red, her favorite color. Funeral services were held Friday in Philadelphia for 18-year-old Akyra Murray. A single red rose was pinned inside the roof of her white casket. Members of the high school basketball team Murray played on came in their jerseys.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a friend who was with Murray the night of the June 12 shooting arrived on crutches at the Monument Baptist Church. Patience Carter was shot in the leg. Murray graduated a week before her family’s vacation in Orlando, and was to attend college this fall. Her mother has said her terrified daughter called her from a bathroom stall at the Pulse nightclub begging for help.
Scott McIntyre / The New York Times
Tiara Parker, center, who was among those shot at Pulse nightclub, speaks about her cousin Akyra Murray, who was killed in the attack, with Akyra's brother Alex Murray, right, and Sherry Grace.
By Jason Keyser A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
The report comes a day after federal officials announced filtered tap water was safe for everyone in Flint, lifting a recommendation that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 6 drink bottled water to avoid lead exposure. The announcement was based on tests of filters that have been distributed for months for free by the state of Michigan. In March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded that it was a “case of environmental injustice” in a poor, majority black city.
New Hampshire woman drops defamation suit against Cosby ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Lucas abandons plan to build museum CHICAGO — “Star Wars” creator George Lucas announced Friday that he has abandoned plans to build his art museum in Chicago, blaming delays over a lawsuit from a parks group opposed to development along the city’s prized lakefront. The filmmaker said in a statement he would take his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to his home state of California, but he did not name a specific location. He blamed Chicago’s Friends of the Parks group for suing to stop construction on what is currently a parking lot for the NFL football stadium Soldier Field. “No one benefits from continuing their seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot,” Lucas said. Friends of the Parks said it was unfortunate that Lucas wouldn’t consider an alternate Chicago site away from the lake. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and members of the city’s cultural and business communities had backed the director’s plans to bring the museum to a lakefront area that is already home to a natural history museum, planetarium and aquarium. But it set off an impassioned fight with Friends of the Parks, which argued the museum plans violated laws restricting development along Lake Michigan. Emanuel released a statement Friday calling it
increased lead exposure related to consuming contaminated water in Flint. Marc Edwards, an environmental engineering expert at Virginia Tech who helped uncover the lead scandal, said the study corroborates his work and that of Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. “It’s a solid report confirming the veracity of our warnings of adverse health effects from water lead exposure in Flint (in) August 2015, as well as Dr. Mona’s studies of elevated blood lead in September,” he wrote in an email to the AP.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A 72-year-old New Hampshire woman who says Bill Cosby raped her in 1965 withdrew her civil defamation lawsuit against the comedian on Friday, a day after a federal judge had allowed the case to move forward. Kristina Ruehli’s lawyer told The Associated Press her client had decided not to pursue the case because the legal landscape has changed since she first filed suit in November. Cosby now faces criminal prosecution in Pennsylvania and similar civil actions are in play in Massachusetts and elsewhere by dozens of other accusers. “Ms. Ruehli is 72 and her husband just celebrated his 79th birthday,” Megan Deluhery, Ruehli’s lawyer, said. “She will watch the pending cases proceed in solidarity with other survivors, those known and unknown, while returning her focus, if she can, on her daily life and trying to put behind her all the pain this ordeal has caused her.” Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt responded
that the comedian hopes more lawsuits are dropped or dismissed and that Cosby Cosby looks forward to fighting the rest before a jury in court. Wyatt also noted Ruehli’s is the second defamation case against his client to be dismissed this year. In January, former teen actress Renita Hill’s civil suit was dismissed by a federal judge in Pittsburgh who ruled that the Cosby camp’s comments were protected by the First Amendment. “For those in the media who accepted every allegation raised without question or evaluation, they need to answer the well-known question with respect to Mr. Cosby, ‘Which office do I go to get my reputation back?’,” Wyatt said in a statement. Deluhery countered that Ruehli’s dismissal, unlike Hill’s, was voluntary and had “nothing to do” with the merits of the case. Ruehli filed a notice to voluntarily dismiss the suit without prejudice.
Charles Sykes / AP file
Filmmaker George Lucas attends the Tribeca Film Festival. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Lucas has abandoned plans to build his art museum in Chicago after a legal challenge from a parks group.
a “missed opportunity” that would cost the city millions of dollars in economic investment, thousands of jobs and educational opportunities for the city’s youth. “Unfortunately, time has run out and the moment we’ve consistently warned about has arrived - Chicago’s loss will be another city’s gain,” Emanuel said. The city’s official tourism organization, Choose Chicago, called it an “enormous loss.” The 17-acre site just south of the Chicago Bears’ home stadium would have erased a parking lot and added 4.5 acres of new parkland, according to designs released in September. Supporters defended it as an improvement that would have transformed
an asphalt expanse into green space with dazzling landscape design by renowned Chicago architect Jeanne Gang. They said the museum’s futuristic building — a sloping dune-like form topped with an observation deck resembling a floating disc —would have added to Chicago’s tradition of bold architecture. Friends of the Parks, which is committed to preserving open space, fought the location out of concern it would open the way for more construction on the valuable ribbon of public, open land along the Lake Michigan shoreline. In a federal lawsuit, it said the city had no authority to hand over the land, citing a legal principle known as the public trust doctrine, which
requires the state to ensure open spaces are preserved and accessible to the public. Before Lucas had settled on Chicago, where his wife is from, he had considered locating the museum in San Francisco. The museum, wherever it ends up, will showcase popular art Lucas has collected since college, including illustrations by Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth, as well as works by Lucas’s visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic. It will also feature digital media arts and film industry art, including props, costumes, set pieces and story boards. Museum officials say the vision is to highlight art that tells a story.
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Zfrontera THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE Acción Diferida 1 Se invita al evento Feria de Acción Diferida de 10 a.m. a 2 p.m. en las oficinas del Consulado General de México en Laredo, 1612 calle Farragut. La organización RAÍCES ayudará a determinar si la persona es elegible para Acción Diferida. Más informes en el (844) 322-2669. 1 En vísperas del Día Nacional del Examen del VIH se ofrecerá un festival de la salud y musical en el Departamento de Salud de la Ciudad de Laredo, 2600 avenida Cedar, de 11 a.m. a 4 p.m. Habrá revisiones gratuitas de la salud, educación en la salud, comida, juegos, entre otras cosas.
A7
FUNDACIÓN RIVER PIERCE
Tesoro de Texas
Convención JW 1 La Convención de los Testigos de Jehová, con el título “Remain Loyal to Jehovah!” se celebrará del 24 al 26 de junio (en español) en el American Bank Center, 1901 N Shoreline Blvd de Corpus Christi. El domingo se presentará la película del Rey Ezequías. Entrada gratuita.
Foto por Jerry Lara | San Antonio Express-News
Christopher Rincón, del River Pierce Foundation, abre la puerta del fuerte Don Jesús Treviño en San Ygnacio, en esta imagen de archivo 2009. La fundación se está haciendo cargo de la restauración del fuerte.
Beneficio veteranos 1 La Procuraduría General de Texas dio a conocer que la Corte Federal de Apelaciones para el Quinto Circuito ratificó la Ley de Hazlewood de Texas, que concede el derecho a veteranos con licenciamiento honroso a ser exentos de la colegiatura en universidades estatales públicas. Para calificar para el crédito de 150 horas de colegiatura gratuita, los veteranos deben haberse inscritos en el servicio militar en una localidad en Texas, haber sido residentes de Texas al inscribirse, o haber declarado el estado como su lugar de residencia en sus documentos militares.
Conferencias 1 La asociación South Texas’ Property Rights Asssociation (Asociación de Derechos de Propiedad del Sur de Texas) está convocando a sus socios y público en general a una junta regional el martes, en IBC Bank ubicado por la Carretera US 83 y la avenida 10, de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m. en Zapata.
Próximos deportistas 1 Estudiantes interesados en participar en deportes en Zapata Middle School y Zapata High School deberán acudir al examen físico de atletismo el martes 28 de julio. Para el nivel preparatoria será a la 1 p.m. en el gimnasio de ZHS. Para el nivel secundaria (7o y 8o grados) será a las 3 p.m. en el gimnasio de ZHS. El costo es de 20 dólares. Para cualquier información llame a Roni Arce en el Departamento de Atletismo de ZCISD en el 956-765-0280.
Laboratorio Computacional 1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en Historical Plaza.
Foto por Jerry Lara | San Antonio Express-News Foto de archivo | The Zapata Times
Un anuncio indica la casa en el Rancho Treviño Uribe en San Ygnacio.
Rescatan Rancho Treviño-Uribe TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
SAN YGNACIO — La Fundación River Pierce dio inicio a la preservación/rehabilitación del Rancho Treviño-Uribe en San Ygnacio. Esto se ha hecho posible gracias al subsidio por 269.130 dólares de parte del Servicio Nacional de Parque, el Departamento del Interior a través del programa de subsidio Salva los Tesoros de Estados Unidos (SAT), así como por apoyo del Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation de Laredo y el Brown Foundation, Inc. de Houston, la Comisión Histórica de Texas, y patrocinadores privados. “Con estos fondos, organizaciones y agencias conservan tesoros culturales e históricos significativas de EU, los cuales ilustran, interpretan y están asociados con los grandes even-
tos, ideas y personas que contribuyeron a la historia y cultura de nuestra nación”. indica un comunicado de prensa. El complejo fue designado como un Punto de Referecia Histórico Nacional por el Servicio Nacional de Parque en 1998, lo que lo coloca en importancia para la historia del país como a la Estatua de la Libertad, el Alamo, el Puente Golden Gate y Mount Rushmore. Además, es uno de los tres Puntos de Referencia Histórico Nacional en la frontera Texas-México. Durante más de 21 años, la Fundación River Pierce ha desarrollado programas especiales (talleres) utilizando los edificios históricos de San Ygnacio como recursos educativos, incluyendo estudios arqueológicos, certámenes navideños, un Campamento Patrimonial anual, el documental “Cultura, Agua y Din-
El fuerte Don Jesús Treviño se encuentra en San Ygnacio. Adquirido por el artista local Michael Tracy, el área fue designada como Marca Histórica Nacional en 1998.
ero: La Pasión de la Frontera”, y el libro “The River Pierce: Sacrifice II, 13.4.90”. El Rancho Treviño-Uribe representa la última colección de pie en los Estados Unidos de su arquitectura vernácula asociada con los asentamientos de rancherías del México Colonial, de acuerdo con la fundación. Pero además se destaca que “representa un modelo de comunidad escalada de forma sostenible con un ecosistema particular el cual ha permanecido sin cambios durante siglos”. Aunque algunos asentamientos a lo largo del Río Grande se perdieron con el levantamiento de la Presa Falcón en 1953, por lo que el Rancho Treviño-Uribe se distingue porque aún detalla la historia y esfuerzos de sus colonizadores, agrega el comunicado. “La parte más significativa de este sitio es cómo un grupo de colonizadores llegaron a interactuar con un medio ambiente
Crónicas porfirianas Nota del Editor: El autor relata las descripciones de ciudades tamaulipecas en guías y revistas de la época porfiriana Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Del porfiriato se desprenden muchos mitos y a pesar del progreso que impulsa dicho régimen dictatorial, existen crónicas de época, incluso acríticas, que matizan esta percepción como se deja ver en los principales municipios de Tamaulipas. Hacia 1899, J. Figueroa Domenech publica la “Guía general descriptiva de la República Mexicana” y habla de Tampico como el “Centro comercial e industrial más importante de Tamaulipas… en 1895 contaba con 12 mil habitantes y hoy pasa mucho de ese número”. Sube a 17 mil 569. Él destaca la infraestructura portuaria. Además, “los ferrocarriles Central Mexicano [a San Luis Potosí) y Monterrey
al Golfo le prestan gran importancia”. También hace referencia a “la (nueva) Aduana (Marítima), que aún no está” lista. Sin embargo, encuentra contrastes como que “Sus calles son regulares, bien empedradas” y suma “dos plazas notables, un buen templo y un mercado soberbio”. “La ciudad” adolece empero de “feo aspecto”, debido a “sus antiguas casas con techos de paja y algunos barrancos” sucios, aunque las élites “construyen viviendas modernas”. En el tramo postrero de la dictadura Adolfo Dollero en 1907 dice que “Ciudad Victoria no es …de mucha importancia”; y que “por su” céntrica ubicación “ha sido …cabecera del estado”. Calcula que “tiene aproximadamente 17 mil habitantes”. Destaca las mejoras del periodo: “Una línea buena es la del Ferrocarril Central que une Tampico a Ciudad Victoria, Monterrey y Torreón”. Impreso hasta 1910, su libro “México al día” dice que “En Ciudad Victoria
hay muy poco movimiento; hoteles …malos y poco de interesante”, salvo “algunas casas que … casi han monopolizado el comercio. “Creo que más tarde” la capital tamaulipeca “pueda ser un centro regular”. En las orillas del río Bravo, Matamoros reúne 18.440 vecinos, la segunda comunidad de mayor tamaño en Tamaulipas. “Conserva los esplendores de pasados días. Contiene bonitos jardines … y su comercio es de alguna importancia”, reseña también en 1907 la Pan-American Magazine. La revista desliza que “Rafael Solís …ha servido como presidente municipal …desde 1892 …con recesos”, manteniéndose “en proyecto la pavimentación de la plaza y la compostura de las calles”. Resalta asimismo la falta de “seguridad en propiedades rurales, porque los gobiernos …no han creído oportuno … dictar las leyes” requeridas. Con autorización del autor, publicado en La Razón el 17 junio
natural el cual no ha cambiado quizá por miles de años. Por medio de estudiar las condiciones sociales de esta comunidad en el Siglo XIX, uno puede observar un importante intercambio cultural entre las tradiciones de rancherías mexicanas y la tecnología indígena”, dijo Christopher Rincón, director ejecutivo. Existen puertos y torretas para armas, así como un reloj solar. Éste reloj solar se encuentra en listado en el directorio de la Sociedad de Relojes Solares de Norteamérica. Conservado ampliamente en su condición original, el complejo representa la experiencia MéxicoTejana y demuestra el cuidadoso pensamiento que se consideró en el diseño de los edificios lo que permitió a los colonizadores sobrevivir en un clima desértico severo e implacable, señala el comunicado. Para mayores detalles, se puede visitar riverpierce.org
Property Rights Association convoca junta regional de bienes y raíces Por Malena Charur TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
La asociación South Texas’ Property Rights Association (Asociación de Derechos de Propiedad del Sur de Texas) está convocando a sus socios y público en general a una junta regional el martes, en IBC Bank ubicado por la Carretera US 83 y la avenida 10, de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m. en Zapata. La junta tratará temas que conciernen a propietarios de bienes raíces y administradores y que serán expuestos por conferencistas destacados en diferentes ámbitos. Entre los temas que abordarán se encuentra una actualización sobre la fiebre de la garrapata, que será impartido por el médico veterinario Andy Schwartz, de la Comisión de Salud Animal de Texas; también se hablará de la Conservación y Reg-
ulación del Agua, a cargo del abogado Judon Fambrough del Centro de Bienes de Raíces de Texas de la universidad Texas A&M University. Durante la junta regional se tratará el tema de Reforma Migratoria y Seguridad en la Frontera, conferencia que estará a cargo de Manuel Padilla, Jr., comandante de campaña del sur de Texas para la Patrulla Fronteriza, además se discutirá una actualización sobre el programa de erradicación del carrizo, por parte de Aaron Wendt, analista de política de recursos naturales de Conservación de Agua y Suelo del Estado de Texas. El registro iniciará a las 9 a.m. y las conferencias serán dictadas desde las 9:45 a.m. hasta la 1:30 con un receso para la comida. Para mayores informes llame al 210-355-0292
A8 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
INTERNATIONAL US Embassy in Mexico warns about travel to Oaxaca state Foreign tourists were scarce in the capital this week. Hotels complained of cancelled bookings, sidewalk cafes that grace the city’s central square were empty. Members of a radical teachers’ union have taken over the square and closed many of the state’s highways to commercial traffic.
MEXICO CITY — The United States Embassy in Mexico has warned its citizens about travel to Oaxaca, a southern state convulsed by protests in recent weeks. The message was issued after eight people were killed in a weekend clash between protesters
and police in Nochixtlan. The embassy tells government employees they may only travel by air to the beach resort towns of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido. That excludes the state’s scenic capital, also named Oaxaca, popular among tourists who flock to its rich culinary and craft offerings.
Airstrikes hitting Afghan Taliban
US hopes for talks between Venezuela government
By Amir Shah and Lolita C. Baldor
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
CARACAS, Venezuela — A top U.S. diplomat is calling his visit to Venezuela productive and says he hopes international players will be able to facilitate dialogue between the country’s socialist government and its opposition. U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon visited Venezuela this week as the South American nation sinks deeper into a social and economic crisis. Venezuela has been wracked by protests over food shortages, inflation is soaring, and the opposition is pushing for recall election to remove President Nicolas Maduro this year. Shannon met with both
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military has launched its first airstrikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan since President Barack Obama’s decision earlier this month to expand America’s involvement against the insurgents, U.S. officials said Friday. Officials said the strikes began in the last week and were against Taliban targets in the southern part of the country. But Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook declined to provide any details, citing “operational security.” One senior U.S. official said there have been “a couple” of airstrikes, but the U.S. does not want to provide more information because there may be more strikes in that area, including missions with Afghan forces who could be accompanied by U.S. advisers. The official was not authorized to discuss the operations publicly, so spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, said U.S. forces “have conducted a limited number of strikes under these new authorities” but it is “too early to quantify the effects achieved.” The strikes “are only being used where they may help the Afghans achieve a strategic effect,” Cleveland said. U.S. officials made it clear when they announced the new authority to hit Taliban targets once again that they would only be used in selective operations that were deemed to have a strategic and important effect on the fight. Cook said the strikes “hit their intended targets.” He added the strikes were “part of an ongoing operation that, again, the goal of which would be a strategic effect on behalf of the Afghan forces that we are enabling, and that’s exactly what they were intended to be used for.” Pressed for more details, Cook refused, saying “these are ongoing operations” and he does not want to be “telegraphing what’s to come to the enemy.” The war in Afghanistan began in 2001, and the U.S. has been conducting a broad range of operations there ever since. Obama decided in early June to expand America’s involvement with more airstrikes against insurgents, giving the U.S. military wider latitude to support Afghan forces, both in the air and on the ground. Since all foreign combat troops pulled out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014, leaving only an advisory and training contingent of international forces behind, the Afghan military has struggled in leading the fight against the Taliban and other militants.
Julio Cesar Aguilar Fuentes / Getty Images
Teachers from the state of Nuevo Leon are confronted by law enforcement officers during a protest march in solidarity with colleagues from Oaxaca state. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
Federico Parra / Getty Images
Venezuelans shout slogan during a spontaneous demonstration after the closure of centres to authenticate their signatures for a recall referendum before the National Electoral Council in Caracas.
Maduro and opposition leaders. In a Friday statement from Washington,
Shannon said he thought the visit was a good “first step.”
He says he hopes all sides will work together to address “some of the
very significant crises that Venezuela faces now.”
Diplomat’s death reignites debate over China’s role in the world By Jane Perlez and Yufan Huang NEW YORK TIME S
BEIJING — From his start as an aspiring diplomat in China’s Foreign Ministry in 1959 to his days as an ambassador in Paris and Geneva, Wu Jianmin represented the best of his country’s diplomacy: firm but reasonable, gracious but not unctuous. In retirement, he became an unusually outspoken advocate for China’s remaining open to the outside world, warning that the nationalism that had grown under President Xi Jinping should be kept in check. Wu, 77, was killed in a car accident last weekend, and his death has reignited a debate over how China should conduct itself abroad. At his funeral in Beijing on Friday, a delegation of more than 20 officials from the Foreign Ministry,
led by the executive vice foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, paid their reWu spects. The foreign minister, Wang Yi, would have been there had he been in the country, a ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said. “I have never seen a public figure whose death made so many people sad and made so many people euphoric,” said Liu Yawei, director of the China program at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Liu described Wu as a diplomat who could stand up to “the accusations that he was a coward because he advocated peace.” Liu was at a conference at Peking University about China’s news media and its relations with the world when participants were told that Wu had been killed in a crash after
his driver struck a median strip in Wuhan, in Hubei province, on June 18. The sponsor of the conference was Global Times, the state-run newspaper that Wu had criticized for its stridently nationalistic views. Murmurs of shock rippled through the audience at the news of his death. Wu had been candid about his distaste for the publication, saying editorials that urged the military to show more spine and take more action in the South China Sea, where Beijing is embroiled in territorial disputes with its neighbors, were wrongheaded. Wu had taken on the newspaper’s editor-inchief, Hu Xijin, accusing him in a speech in March of making a “mess talking about the world” and of not understanding how the world worked. In return, Hu called Wu a dovish diplomat who did not know what was good
for China. Soon after Wu’s death, hawks in the debate flooded Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter. An air force senior colonel, Dai Xu, wrote that the former ambassador was “ignorant, arrogant, bad mannered and grumpy.” Dai, who teaches at the National Defense University, also criticized Wu for being “like a pet dog to foreigners” but “like a wolf dog’’ when dealing with Chinese. Wu was a familiar figure to Americans involved in China policy. In 1971, after serving as an interpreter in French for Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, Wu arrived in New York in the first batch of Chinese diplomats assigned to the United Nations when China took the seat previously held by Taiwan. “He is the epitome of an excellent public intellectual: deeply committed to his country, yet extremely
thoughtful and nuanced in his analysis of it,” said Jan Berris, vice president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, who knew Wu from those early days. Wu gradually moved up through the ranks of the Foreign Ministry and after several ambassadorships became president of the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, retiring in 2008. Then, unrestricted by the confines of government and academia, he spoke out, a rare act in a time of decreasing tolerance for those who dissent, colleagues said. “He had the moral courage to speak out,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. At Wu’s funeral, a reporter for Phoenix Television who was live streaming from outside the hall interviewed a man in civilian clothes who said he was in the military.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
A9
BUSINESS
US stocks tumble amid global selloff after U.K. Brexit vote By Dani Burger and Eric Lam B L OOMBE RG NEWS
U.S. stocks tumbled the most since January, joining a selloff in global risk assets on speculation that the the U.K. decision to leave the European Union will hamper worldwide growth. Equities sank to session lows in afternoon trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding more than 600 points. The S&P 500 Index extended losses after falling below the 2,050 level, an area where other pullbacks during the prior two months found a floor. Banks and industrial shares were on the way to their worst single-day declines in more than four years. “Market participants are right to be concerned,” said Dean Maki, chief economist of investment firm Point72 Asset Management. “This is a legitimate risk-off event. We’re likely to see weaker growth as a result of this, and it’s appropriate that markets are reacting to this. Exports are likely to be weaker and earnings are a function of exports. U.S. exporters are going to have to deal with a stronger dollar again.” The S&P 500 fell 3.6 percent to 2,037.76 at 3:38 p.m. in New York, the most in five months. The benchmark erased its gain for the year, which
reached as much as 3.7 percent earlier this month. The Dow dropped 601.28 points, or 3.3 percent, to 17,409.79, also the biggest retreat since January. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 4.2 percent, on pace for the worst in almost five years. Trading volume in S&P 500 shares was 79 percent above the 30-day average for this time of day. The victory of the “Leave” campaign stunned many investors who’d put wagers on riskier assets over the past week as bookmakers’ odds suggested the chance of a so-called Brexit was less than one in four. The pound plunged the most in 30 years and European equities dropped as investors weighed the implications for the global economy. The day’s turbulence was accompanied by a chorus of central-bank assurances that policy makers stand ready to intervene. Governor Mark Carney said the Bank of England could pump billions of pounds into the financial system, while the European Central Bank said it will give banks all the funding they require to counter market turmoil. The Federal Reserve said it was “carefully monitoring” financial markets. As if results of the U.K. vote wasn’t enough, today is also the date of the annual rebalancing of FTSE Russell’s stock
Michael Nagle / Bloomberg
Journalists work in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. U.S. stocks tumbled, joining a worldwide selloff with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 375 points, as the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union fanned speculation that a divided Europe would put another brake on already fragile global growth.
indexes, a procedure that reliably exacerbates trading. In 2015, the reconstitution helped fuel a jump in volume to more than 10 billion shares, the seventh-highest total of the year. Overnight, stock futures on the benchmark fell far enough to reach trading curbs that blocked further losses. Declines Friday also came after markets had rallied during the past week on optimism the U.K. would vote to remain in the EU, with the S&P 500 rising 1.7 percent in four sessions. Banks battered Banks plunged after rallying the most in five weeks Thursday, with Citigroup Inc. down 8.9 percent, the most in 10 months. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. lost more than 6.7 percent. Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing Co. sank at least 5.1 percent after pacing the Dow’s biggest gain in three months Thursday. Energy shares fell 3.4 percent as crude decreased more than 4 percent. “Fundamentally, this probably doesn’t impact many U.S. companies that aren’t invested in the U.K., though it impacts sectors like financials because it looks like there won’t be a Fed rate hike for a little bit longer, though even they don’t really know,” said Tim Ghriskey, who oversees $1.5 billion as managing director and chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management. Traders abandoned bets on future interestrate increases well into
2017, after expectations for higher borrowing costs this year had crept up yesterday on optimism the U.K. would remain in the EU. Odds of a Fed move by February plunged to 17 percent from 52 percent Thursday, while probability of an actual rate cut before the December meeting rose to 13 percent. In Friday’s session, nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries slid, with financials reversing their strongest climb since April with the biggest drop in four years. Seven groups sank at least 2.7 percent, with industrials and raw-materials on track for the worst oneday drop since 2011. Utilities were little changed. Automakers slide Ford Motor Co. lost 6.9 percent, on pace for the most since September 2014, after saying the Brexit will have an “adverse impact” on its operations. Parts makers Delphi Automotive Plc and BorgWarner Inc. slumped more than 9.7 percent. General Motors Co. slid 5.2 percent toward a fourmonth low. JPMorgan published a list last month of 22 stocks with the highest sensitivity to the Brexit outcome. The group is down an average 6.5 percent today. Among the companies identified by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, JPMorgan’s chief U.S. equity strategist, Penske Automotive
Group Inc. slumped 11 percent, headed for the most since October 2009, while Invesco Ltd. has tumbled 14 percent on the way to the lowest in seven years. The vote comes at a time when uncertainty already plagues U.S. stocks, with questions around the Fed’s ability to stoke growth after the worst month for hiring since 2010, a four- quarter decline in corporate profits, price-earnings ratios that are close to a decade high and a presidential election looming in the fall. The S&P 500 plunged 11 percent in its worst-ever start to a year before recovering through April. It’s virtually been stuck in place since, struggling to hold above the 2,100 level that has capped three rallies since November. It fell from that perch again after closing above it Thursday for the first time in two weeks. Fallout from the U.K.’s secession vote leaves global investors as reliant on their hedges as any time since the selloff that rocked markets in January and February. Trading of options and derivatives over the last week has risen in instruments that gain in times of market turbulence, among them futures on the CBOE Volatility Index. The measure of turmoil known as the VIX jumped 48 percent Friday, the most since August.
Spill went undetected due to pipeline work A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
VENTURA, Calif. — The operator of a pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a Southern California ravine said Friday it didn’t detect the leak because the line was undergoing maintenance. Crimson Pipeline said the remotely monitored line was emptied on Wednesday to replace valves. Oil was flushed back in, but the pipeline wasn’t at full capacity when the spill occurred and there wasn’t enough oil in the line to detect a drop in pressure, company spokeswoman Kendall Klingler said. Workers shut down the
line after receiving a call from a resident who was in his Ventura backyard when he noticed a noxious odor and rode his motor scooter through the ravine until finding the source of the leak.. At least 25,000 gallons of crude flowed Thursday into a brush- and treefilled arroyo. Firefighters were able to stop the crude before it could reach the ocean by building a dirt dam. The cause of the spill is under investigation. It occurred near a valve on the underground line that runs from Ventura to Los Angeles. The spill was the 11th for Denver-based Crimson since 2006, according to
records filed with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. A total of 313,000 gallons of crude were released, causing $5.9 million in property damage. Crimson has said most of the previous spills were caused by third parties. The Ventura leak came a year after a pipeline rupture from another owner spilled 120,000 gallons of oil, marring the coast and killing wildlife in neighboring Santa Barbara County. The operator, Plains All American Pipeline, was indicted on 46 criminal counts, including four felonies involving polluting state waters.
Jae C. Hong / AP
Cal State Channel Islands professor Sean Anderson and his son, Gabriel, right, make their way down to the bottom of a ravine to study oil from a spill on Thursday in Ventura, California.
A10 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
FROM THE COVER COURT From page A1 body,” said Betty Jaspeado, a mother of three in Los Angeles. The Mexican immigrant described her working life in the United States as one devoid of hope, one where she constantly watched her back in fear of deportation. The possibility of protection offered by Obama had given her something to hold onto. “I was thinking I could feel human again,” Jas-
RANCHO From page A1 this historic structure and San Ygnacio as a whole. Five years ago the foundation was awarded $269,130 from the National Park Service through the Save America’s Treasures grant program. In that time this money has been matched by the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation of Laredo, the Brown Founda-
BRITAIN From page A1 year-old vendor said, between boxes of freshly caught seafood. But many Londoners, usually accustomed to ignoring each other, stood huddled in earnest discussion or stared anxiously at their smartphones for news of what would come. Commuters at the main train station in the well-heeled southwest London borough of Richmond, which voted overwhelmingly to remain, expressed their anger and frustration. Olivia Sangster-Bullers, 24, called the result “absolutely disgusting.”
peado said. In November 2014, Obama proposed Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA, and he expanded the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, to effectively shield up to 4 million immigrants. His executive orders to this effect were put forth in a political climate where the chances for a legislative overhaul of the nation’s broken immigration system were remote at best.
But 26 states filed suit against those orders, and a divided Supreme Court had no definitive answer. Stuck in the middle were people like the parents of Giselle Gasca, 22, of Fresno, California. Gasca said her parents, whose names she did not reveal, were eligible for DAPA through her sister, a U.S. citizen. She had hoped they would get a chance to experience the opportunities she has been able to get through the original DACA program, such as the ability
to travel outside the United States with the right permits. The travel limitations, Gasca said, prevented her mother from returning to Mexico to visit her own parents. “That’s something that my mom was hoping for, and I was hoping for her,” Gasca said. “When her dad passed in 2009, she wasn’t able to go back to Mexico and say her final goodbyes.” Obama said the ruling was “heartbreaking.” He tried to offer assurances, saying his administra-
tion’s priorities for deportations would continue to be new arrivals and those with criminal records. “As long as you have not committed a crime, our limited immigration enforcement resources are not focused on you,” Obama said. That wasn’t reassuring to many immigrants and their advocates, who have long criticized Obama for tightening enforcement of current laws at the border. Many of them call him the “deporter in chief,” and some didn’t
waste any time making their unhappiness known. In Phoenix on Thursday, more than 60 people blocked a major thoroughfare outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, carrying signs in sweltering heat and chanting in Spanish and English. Protester Eduardo Sainz, of the nonprofit advocacy group Mi Familia Vota, said the Supreme Court’s deadlock brought tears to his eyes.
tion of Houston, the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Historical Foundation and H-E-B, among other private sponsors. And last week, reconstruction began at the Treviño Uribe Rancho. The integrity of the structure will be preserved to match the home’s reality in 1936. This is what the foundation decided is the property’s “period of interpretation.”
Frank Briscoe, an architectural consultant who has been working for the River Pierce Foundation for 15 years, said they don’t want to try to revert the structure to earlier version and risk destroying its historic fabric. In the five years between receiving the grant and the work that just began, Briscoe, Rincón and other members of the foundation conducted extensive research on the
property, resulting in a 225-page document. Rincón said that by December, the conservation project should be completed. “It’s going to be a pilgrimage site, open for the public for ceremonial reasons,” Rincón said. It will be open by appointment and for special occasions. The foundation also plans to install a sound system that will evoke tones of the region’s ranching history.
LAWSUIT From page A1 toric site and enhancing the visitor experience at the Alamo, the cradle of Texas Liberty,” Havens said. The suit argued the items were donated to the Daughters and that the donors wanted the items maintained under the group’s stewardship, not the state’s. The case had been set for trial earlier this
month in San Antonio but had been postponed amid settlement talks. The Land Office became involved with the Alamo in 2011 at the behest of the Texas Legislature. Lawmakers had grown concerned about the care of the landmark amid accusations of mismanagement and financial incompetence by the Daughters, who had continued day-to-day management even after the Land Office took control.
“I’ve just seen that the pound’s crashed so good luck to all of us, I say, especially those trying to build a future with our children,” she said, before heading to catch a train to work. While the momentous change seemed to happen overnight, in reality it has been creeping up on Britain for years. Issues of identity have bubbled under the surface even as Britain reveled in its image as a modern, multicultural society fizzing with aspiration and cool. Years of austerity coupled with mass immigration have kindled resentment, particularly among the white working class, against elites in London
— and by extension the EU’s headquarters in Brussels seen as responsible for an influx of Europeans to Britain. Despite a growing income gap, a Credit Suisse report found that the number of million-dollar-wealth households rose 30 percent between 2013 and 2014 alone. “I think it’s basically a class thing in England,” said Timothy Batchelar, 63, a violin maker. The outcome was also a somber reminder that the capital, where votes were strongly skewed toward remain, is at odds with much of the rest of the country. The city’s economy, strongly linked to international trade and
banking, is now expected to take a hit as markets face years of uncertainty over Britain’s ties with Europe. But that possibility wasn’t enough to deter English voters outside the capital from backing what has become known as “Brexit.” “Make no mistake: this is an English nationalist revolution,” columnist Fintan O’Toole wrote in the Irish Times. “At its heart are all of the things the English used to see as the province of other, less rational, nations: identity, difference, the deep passions of belonging and resentment.” In what is perhaps an irony, the vote raises the
same issues of identity for other nations within the United Kingdom today, such as Scotland, where a majority wanted to remain in the EU. Nationalist leaders in both Scotland and North Ireland have suggested holding plebiscites that could unravel the United Kingdom. The campaign was bitterly fought, with both sides accusing the other of lying about the consequences of quitting the EU. Nowhere was this more apparent than on social media, where Britain’s lively tradition of political debate frequently descended into vitriol. Commentators have blamed
last week’s killing of Labour lawmaker Jo Cox — who had backed Britain to remain in the EU — in part on the angry mood whipped up by the rhetoric of some in the “leave” camp. On Friday, some “leave” voters urged their opponents to consider emigrating if they didn’t like the result. Others reveled in the promise that billions of pounds sent to Brussels each year would now be spent on bolstering Britain’s ailing health and education systems. Time will tell whether the joy expressed by those who backed Britain’s exit was justified and what its new role in the world will be.
Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
B1
2016 NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION DRAFT
Spurs, Rockets build in NBA Draft
Frank Franklin II / AP
Timothy D. Easley / AP file
The Spurs selected guard Dejounte Murray of Washington with the 29th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night.
Louisville's Chinanu Onuaku was selected 37th overall by the Houston Rockets in Thursday night’s NBA draft.
Spurs take Washington guard Dejounte Murray 29th overall
Houston Rockets add pair of big men in second round
By Raul Dominguez A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs realized they needed to get younger and more athletic when a historic season ended in a disappointing early exit from the playoffs. Dejounte Murray is ready to help. San Antonio selected Murray, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Washington, with the 29th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night as they enter another uncertain offseason. The Spurs lost to Oklahoma City in the West-
ern Conference semifinals after winning a franchise-record 67 regular-season games, including matching a league record with a 40-1 home record. The Thunder’s backcourt of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook exposed San Antonio’s age and lack of athleticism, especially on the wing. “With the age of our team, adding a young kid with some pretty extensive athletic ability and the ability to grow (is of great help),” San Antonio general manager R.C. Buford said. “I don’t think there are expecta-
tions that he’s going to come in and catch our world on fire, but we like the opportunity to grow.” Murray averaged 16.1 points and 4.5 assists in his lone season with the Huskies. He shot just 29 percent on 3 pointers and 42 percent from the field. He can play either point guard or shooting guard, but is projected as a point guard in the NBA. “I feel like I have the ability to play point guard, big, long, athletic,” Murray said. “I love defense. That’s why I feel like I fit right in with their program, organizaSpurs continues on B2
By Kristie Rieken ASSOCIATED PRE SS
HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets added a pair of big men in the second round of the NBA draft on Thursday night in Louisville’s Chinanu Onuaku and Chinese center Zhou Qi. The 6-foot-10 Onuaku was selected 37th overall and Zhou was selected 43rd on a night where Houston didn’t have a first-round pick because of a past trade. The Rockets will need some depth at center with Dwight Howard likely to opt out of the last year of
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: SONOMA RACEWAY
his contract and become a free agent this summer. But draft analyses of these players indicate that it would be unlikely for them to be ready to contribute in meaningful ways as rookies. “We look at the draft as sort of a multi-year thing and most of our guys that we draft don’t contribute in Year 1,” general manager Daryl Morey said. “We hope they surprise us, but usually there’s a little time in the D-league to get used to the NBA and the systems.” Even though Howard hasn’t officially opted out, Rockets continues on B2
VCG via Getty Images
Zhou Qi of China was selected 43rd overall by the Houston Rockets in Thursday night’s NBA draft.
NFL: PED INVESTIGATION
Gene J. Puskar / AP file
James Harrison will be interviewed next month by NFL officials in connection to a media report that linked them to the use of performance-enhancing drugs along with Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers.
NFL to Larson eyes Sonoma for 1st victory interview trio in PEDs probe Chuck Burton / AP
Kyle Larson believes his recent momentum could translate into his long overdue first career Sprint Cup series win this weekend at Sanoma.
By Jenna Fryer A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
SONOMA, Calif. — Over the last 20 days, Kyle Larson went to victory lane in NASCAR’s second tier Xfinity Series and picked up a pair of wins in his sprint car. He knocked off several podium finishes during Ohio Sprint Speedweek and finished third in NASCAR’s main event at Michigan. Now it’s time for Larson to produce in his full-time job. He wouldn’t mind doing it at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Larson is riding a wave of momentum into NASCAR’s first road course race of the season, and he believes it could translate into his long overdue first career Sprint Cup series win. It
Nick Wass / AP
Kyle Larson went to victory lane in the Xfinity Series, had a pair of podium finishes during Ohio Sprint Speedweek and finished third at Michigan.
may seem odd that Larson would choose a road course as the potential site of his breakthrough win considering his lack of experience on anything other than an oval. But Larson is quite comfortable on the picturesque 10-turn, 1.99mile course in California wine country. “I really enjoy road course racing, especially here with friends and
family,” said Larson, who grew up less than two hours away from the track in Elk Grove, California, and was a regular fan in attendance every time NASCAR came to town. Yet, Larson is the first to admit, “I don’t have hardly any road course experience,” and his first real experience turning left and right on a race track came in 2013 when
he made the full-time move to NASCAR. But he’s progressively improved and was a road-course best fourth at Watkins Glen, the only other road course on the Cup schedule, in 2014. Some of his experience comes from running the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car event with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, and he went from an overwhelmed rookie in 2014 to winner in 2015. He likens the feel of racing on a road course to the sensation he’s used to in a sprint car, where Larson honed his racing skills. “I’m getting more experience, but still I probably ran only a little over 10 road course races in my life,” Larson said Friday. “But I like them because you can feel the
NASCAR continues on B2
By Barry Wilner ASSOCIATED PRE SS
NEW YORK — Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and James Harrison will be interviewed next month by NFL officials in connection to a media report that linked them to the use of performanceenhancing drugs. A letter from NFL executive Adolpho Birch that was obtained Friday by The Associated Press says Green Bay linebackers Matthews and Peppers and Pittsburgh linebacker Harrison will be interviewed when training camps open. The Packers begin practicing on July 26, the Steelers on July 29. The letter also mentions defensive lineman
Mike Neal, a free agent who will be interviewed. It does not mention the now-retired Peyton Manning, who also was cited in Al-Jazeera’s doping report in December. But USA Today, citing an unnamed source, reported that an investigation into Manning’s possible involvement also is progressing. The NFL first notified Matthews, Peppers, Harrison and Neal about its investigation into the report on Jan. 11. That investigation has proceeded, but Birch wrote that the NFL Players Association hasn’t responded to “multiple requests” to schedule the interviews, which would be conducted with a union reprePEDs continues on B2
B2 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
SPORTS
Djokovic seeks next step toward Golden Slam By Howard Fendrich A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
Novak Djokovic has accomplished so much in his career — and, indeed, already this year. He owns 12 Grand Slam singles titles, a total eclipsed by only three men in the long history of tennis. He has won four consecutive major tournaments, something only two other men ever did. He leads the tour in wins (44-3 record) and titles (six) in 2016. Now, with Wimbledon starting Monday, there is something more for Djokovic to pursue, something never achieved by a man and only once by a woman: a Golden Slam, consisting of winning all four major singles titles, plus an Olympic singles gold medal, in one season. As it is, Djokovic is halfway to a true Grand Slam, collecting championships on the hard courts of the Australian Open in January, then the red clay of the French Open earlier this month. Among men, only Don Budge in 1938, and Rod
ROCKETS From page B1 Onuaku mentioned Howard’s likely departure and said he’s excited about getting a chance to take his position. The 19-year-old Onuaku, who played two seasons at Louisville, averaged 9.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and two blocks a game last season to earn a spot on the All-ACC Defensive team. There was some concern about his health after
NASCAR From page B1 car kind of move around a lot more. You can feel the suspension, so it feels more similar to kind of a dirt track. “I don’t know if it’s the dirt track, but just sprint cars and stuff the suspension moves around a lot and you can feel the balance of the car. On this stuff you can, too, where on the ovals our cars are so stiff and rigid you can’t really feel a whole lot with them. I think that is why I can feel a little bit better, and these tracks get really slick and you have to hit your marks every lap, which is something I feel like I’m OK (doing).” He wasted no time showing how comfortable he’s become by leading the field after Friday’s first practice session, followed by Ganassi teammate Jamie McMurray. Both Ganassi drivers are competing this week under the watchful eye of
SPURS From page B1 tion.” Murray was projected to be drafted up to 10 spots earlier, but dropped to the five-time NBA champion Spurs. Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James, who shares an agent with Murray and was talking with the youngster as he spoke with Texas reporters on a conference call, told the 19-year-old: “You might not feel like you landed where you wanted, but you’re with the best organization in the NBA.” The Spurs have previously found an All-Star late in the draft, selecting Tony Parker with the 28th pick in 2001. Parker developed into one of the league’s elite players after being reduced to tears in his
broadcast team at the All England Club, “(and) to see the astronomical level of consistency he’s had, incredible success week in and week out.” Djokovic has participated in the past six Grand Slam finals, a run surpassed only by Roger Federer in the Open era. Djokovic also is gaining on another, more revered, mark: Federer’s 17 Grand Slam titles. Next on the all-time list are
Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras, with 14 apiece. “He’s there, for sure — one of the best now,” said Marian Vajda, who cocoaches Djokovic alongside Boris Becker. “Hard to say who’s the greatest. But according to the Grand Slams, he is getting close to Federer and Nadal.” At Wimbledon, Djokovic won’t see Nadal, out with an injured left wrist. Federer is finally, at 34, showing signs of age, including missing the French Open to end a record streak of 65 consecutive majors. This is also the first time since 2000 that Federer heads to the All England Club without having won any ATP title all season. At this point, the topranked Djokovic’s most serious challenger has to be No. 2 Andy Murray, the man he beat in the finals at both the Australian Open and French Open this year. Murray has reached 10 Grand Slam finals, winning only two, but both victories did come against Djokovic.
Murray also has reunited with Ivan Lendl, his coach when he won an Olympic gold medal (at the All England Club) and the U.S. Open in 2012, and Wimbledon a year later. Still, Djokovic has the momentum and ability to take aim at a truly historic season, including the chance to win his first Olympic gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August. Steffi Graf collected the only Golden Slam in 1988, and the world saw in 2015 just how much pressure and attention Serena Williams dealt with as she came within two match wins of the first calendar-year Grand Slam since then. Williams hasn’t won a major since getting her fourth in a row at Wimbledon last year to raise her career count to 21, one short of Graf’s Open-era record. “Something is holding her back,” said 18-time major champion Chris Evert, now an ESPN analyst, “and it could be nerves.”
tigue and got winded during games. He’s noticed a change since the surgery. “I feel like I have more energy on the basketball court,” he said. Onuaku began shooting free throws underhanded this season at the suggestion of Louisville coach Rick Pitino and improved his free throw percentage from 46.7 percent to 58.9. “It shows he’s the most compliant kid in the history of college basketball because I bet coach Pitino
has told about 500 kids to do that and he’s the first one that said, ‘OK, I’m going to try it,”’ Morey said with a laugh. Onuaku thinks to move reflects well on his character as a player. “I think it told them that I’m a coachable person and whatever I need to get better at the game of basketball I’m going to do it,” he said. Zhou comes to the NBA after a two-year career with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association.
He joins a team that drafted Yao Ming first overall in 2002 and Morey said that Yao was on a conference call Thursday night to help translate and welcome Zhou to the team. He averaged 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in his two seasons with the Flying Tigers. He also averaged 3.3 and 3.2 blocks in his two seasons there to lead the CBA. “He has as high an upside as anyone in the draft,” Morey said. “He’s a skilled, high basketball IQ player who can shoot the
ball, rebound the ball, block shots. Very mobile for his size.” The 20-year-old Zhou is 7-2 and has a wingspan of almost 7-8, but he’ll need to add some weight to compete in the NBA since he weighs just 210 pounds. Zhou is a rare 7-footer with outside shooting ability. He has a solid mid-ranger jumper and began to hone his 3-point shooting skills this season when he made nine of 15 from long-range after sinking just one of 10 as a rookie.
team owner Chip Ganassi, who celebrated his first entries at Le Mans with a class victory in the prestigious 24-hour event last weekend. Ganassi’s teams went first and third at Le Mans in a dominating performance for the newcomers. So Larson is certainly feeling some pressure to deliver in his third full season in Cup, even though Ganassi doesn’t lay it on his young driver. “I don’t think I put any pressure on him,” Ganassi said. “He knows what’s up, he knows he has to win. He knows what it takes and what is expected of him.” Larson is the longesttenured driver from a current crop of young talent that is chipping away at the veterans in what is developing to be a changing of the guard. Although he’s shown bursts of promise, Larson has yet to string together any consistency, and he’s currently being challenged by Austin Dillon and rookies Chase Elliott
and Ryan Blaney to become the newest face in victory lane. “It would be nice to be the next new person to win a Cup Series race. It’s been a long time since a new person has won,” he said. “There are a crop of us young guys in our early 20s that would like to get a win. Chase is probably realistically got the best chance. He has been so close week after week now. Austin started the year out really strong, but I like road courses a lot. So, we will try and get it this week.” A win would lock Larson into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which teammate McMurray made last year. There are 16 slots available in the field, and Larson thinks he’s got a shot at qualifying on points even if he doesn’t get a win. He was penalized 15 points by NASCAR for failing post-race inspection at Michigan, a race which crew chief Chad Johnston missed because
of suspension for a different infraction. That leaves Larson 22nd in the standings with 11 races remaining to set the Chase field. Larson thinks Johnston, in his first season at Ganassi, is helping him hit his stride. “I haven’t had any experience with a new crew chief coming in before Chad,” Larson said. “It’s hard for them to come in and make all the changes that they want right away. It’s kind of a process. It took some time, a couple of months, and now we are building racecars the way Chad wants them built, the bodies, all that stuff. “It has made our level or speed in the racecars get quicker. I think that has been the main thing is Chad’s influence has been key the last couple of months and we have been building the cars how he wants them. I just think it takes a little bit of time to get working together right, and now we seem to be clicking.”
PEDS From page B1
day it had contacted Birch about the nature of the investigation. “The NFLPA represents its players in conjunction with any investigation by their employer,” the union said in a statement. “On behalf of its players, the NFLPA made numerous inquiries of the NFL through Adolpho Birch asking whether the basis of the NFL’s investigation of players is entirely predicated upon recanted statements to a person used by Al Jazeera to make secret recordings. The NFL has not provided any other evidence, nor has it informed the NFLPA or players that any such evidence exists. “As of today, the only additional response from the NFL has been to demand interviews, and apparently to provide correspondence to the media. The NFLPA will continue to represent and advise its players of their rights, and to communicate the players’ decisions to the NFL.”
rookie season under San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich’s coaching. Murray is expecting similar treatment from the veteran coach. “He’s a tough coach, that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Murray said. “I don’t want nothing given to me, I want to earn everything I get. I’m looking forward to them pushing me.” The Spurs are hoping Murray can provide some depth on the wing, especially defensively, alongside Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. “You know, high motor, like Kawhi Leonard,” Murray said. “A dude that’s willing to work, and I’ll never settle for less, never get comfortable. I love working on my game, and I feel I can help them out in anything. I feel like my potential of doing everything and my faith and
the heart I have for the game and the love I have for the game. I feel like I’ll help them out really well.” Murray, who has a 6-foot-9 1/2 wingspan, averaged 1.8 steals and 0.3 blocks. San Antonio traded its second round pick, No. 59 overall, to the Sacramento Kings last season for Ray McCallum. The Spurs waived McCallum on Feb. 29 to sign Andre Miller in hopes the veteran point guard would provide depth for a deep postseason run that never materialized. The unexpected early ouster and possible retirements of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili leave the Spurs unsure of next season’s roster for the season straight year after nearly a decade of stability. Ginobili declined his $2.9 million player option
for the 2016-17 season, allowing him more time to mull retirement or free agency. The 14-year veteran is expected to return to the Spurs for another season if he opts not to retire. San Antonio has nine players under contract, but Duncan has until June 29 to pick up the option on his contract and the Spurs have a team option on Boris Diaw. If they do not waive Diaw by June 30, his $7 million contract becomes guaranteed. San Antonio owns the rights to 11 draft picks that are playing overseas, including last year’s 26th pick, Nikola Milutinov of Serbia, and Davis Bertans of Latvia. Bertans, a 6foot-10 forward with 3-point range, has expressed interest in coming to the NBA next season to play with the Spurs.
Laver in 1962 and 1969, managed to win all four Grand Slam tournaments within a calendar year (none of those were Summer Games years and, anyway, tennis was not part of the Olympics in those days). “There’s going to be a lot of pressure on him,” Laver said about Djokovic, adding: “For me, I think it’s very possible he can pull it off.” When he won his first French Open title this month to become the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to even get halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam, Djokovic certainly did not try to play down the possibility of equaling Laver’s achievement. “Well, I don’t want to sound arrogant,” Djokovic said after extending his Grand Slam winning streak to 28 matches, “but I really think everything is achievable in life.” Why shouldn’t he feel that way? At 29, he is probably at his peak, as close to unbeatable as there is these days, possessing the best
return of serve in the game, an unparalleled ability to contort his body and track down opponents’ apparent winners while going from defense to offense in a blink, and an improving serve. And from match to match, surface to surface, Djokovic rarely wavers. “People are starting to respect him more and more,” said seven-time major champion John McEnroe, part of ESPN’s
he had a procedure to fix a heart rhythm issue in May after it was detected during physicals at the NBA combine. The condition is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and the surgery to fix the problem has been described as minor. Onuaku said it took him about two to three weeks to recover from the procedure. “I’m great,” he said. “It’s no problem at all.” During his career at Louisville, Onuaku sometimes struggled with fa-
Scott Heavey / AP file
With a win at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic would complete the Golden Slam which consists of winning all four major singles titles, plus an Olympic singles gold medal, in one season.
sentative present. Al-Jazeera America reported allegations by Charlie Sly, who worked as an intern at an antiaging clinic. But Sly later recanted his claims. In his letter, Birch wrote that “the players were further advised that, with their full and timely cooperation, the investigation would be conducted expeditiously and with minimal disruption.” “While the investigation has proceeded,” he continued, “we have yet to interview the players. We have attempted since early April to work through the NFLPA to schedule them, but despite multiple requests the NFLPA has failed to respond, except to seek reconsideration of the basis for the investigation. This continuing delay and avoidance has obstructed our ability to conduct and conclude the investigation.” The NFLPA said Fri-
Frank Franklin II / AP
New Spurs guard Dejounte Murray averaged 16.1 points and 4.5 assists in his lone season with the Huskies.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, June 25, 2016 |
Dear Readers: How does your DOG BEHAVE when you're not at home? Is he or she anxious? Do the neighbors complain that the dog is barking all day? Do you come home to pillow fluff and toys everywhere? When you're not home, some dogs become stressed and may show destructive behavior, called separation anxiety. Here are some ways to help your dog: Start with short absences. Be gone for only a few minutes, and work up to longer periods. Stay calm when leaving and returning. If the dog is VERY stressed, see about "doggie day care." Tell your veterinarian everything that is going on. He or she may have some recommendations. Medication may help, but this usually is a last resort. - Heloise CAUTION FOR CHILDREN Dear Readers: Here is
some lifesaving information from my friends at the American Cleaning Institute. Please read this and take heed: Plastic containers that hold the individual laundry packs usually are large, with a BIG opening. Don't use them as storage for children's toys, crayons, anything similar, etc. This can send the WRONG message to kids. Young kids need to know that the laundry pods are detergent, and that they are not toys, and certainly are not candy! - Heloise P.S.: Remind grandparents, too! NO WET ITEMS Dear Heloise: An easy way to keep personal items dry and free of sand at the beach: Wash out a peanut-butter, mayonnaise or other jar and stow your wallet, phone and keys in there. You can bury it in the sand to keep others from spotting it. - Kelly in Rockport, Texas
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B4 | Saturday, June 25, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES