The Zapata Times 6/29/2016

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Woman pleads not guilty

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ZAPATA

5-year-old’s body recovered

Faces immigrant smuggling charge

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

A woman was recently indicted for transporting undocumented immigrants through Zapata County, according to court documents.

A grand jury indicted Yvette Michelle Benavides on June 21 on charges of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants and attempt to transport undocumented people for financial gain.

Benavides faces up to 10 years in prison if she’s convicted. She has pleaded not guilty to the allegations.

Federal authorities alleged that on June 1, a white Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Benavides parked at a Stripes in Zapata. Benavides Pleads continues on A11

FEDERAL COURT

Woman indicted on smuggling charge

Courtesy photo

Authorities search for a 5-year-old boy who went missing Saturday after he fell into Falcon Lake on Saturday afternoon.

Boy from Bruni drowned in Falcon Lake on Saturday

By Judith Rayo THE ZAPATA TIME S

Search crews have recovered the body of a 5-year-old boy from Bruni who went missing over the weekend after he fell into Falcon Lake in Zapata.

The Zapata County Sheriff's Office said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens found the body late Sunday. He was pronounced dead at 10 p.m.

During a news conference Monday in Zapata, the Sheriff’s Office identified the boy as Noah Perez. Rick and Rhonda

Perez were his parents.

Local, state and federal law enforcement had been searching for Noah Perez Perez since 1 p.m. Saturday. The Sheriff's Office said Perez, who was on a family outing, fell into the lake when the inflatable raft he was on flipped over.

High winds caused the raft to drift away from the shore and his family, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Drowned continues on A11

Danny Zaragoza / The Zapata Times

Zapata County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Del Bosque discusses new information received Monday afternoon at the Zapata County Sheriff's Office. The body of 5-year-old Noah Perez was recovered on Sunday evening after the boy had gone missing when an inflatable raft flipped over in the water on Saturday afternoon at Twin Coves Fishing Camp.

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

A woman who picked up illegal immigrants at the Webb and Zapata County line has been indicted in a Laredo federal court, an affidavit states.

On June 21, a grand jury charged Elizabeth Navarro with conspiracy to transport undocumented people and attempt to transport undocumented people for money. If convicted, Navarro could serve up to 10 years in prison.

She has arraignment June 30.

Navarro is out on bond.

The case dates back to May 30, when a concerned citizen called U.S. Border Patrol regarding an attempted smuggling incident.

The caller told authorities that a blue GMC Yukon was picking up people from the brush, off U.S. 83 near the Webb and Zapata County line. Agents said they observed the Yukon stopped behind the Exxon Mobile in Rio Bravo.

Several people exited the vehicle and ran to surrounding properties.

Agents caught up to 10 people, who were later determined to be immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, according to court Smuggling continues on A11

ESCOBARES, TEXAS

A border rancher explains the art of survival

By Jay Root TEXAS TRIBUNE

Todd Wiseman / Texas Tribune

Ruperto Escobar is shown on his south Texas ranch along the Rio Grande in April 2016. For generations, smugglers have used his family's ranch to move people and product across the border, and Escobar doesn't see that changing anytime soon.

ESCOBARES — There are two good hours of sunlight left when Ruperto Escobar points his Ford Super Duty pickup toward the Rio Grande and begins driving down his bumpy ranch road. It’s bumpy on purpose, from strategic neglect, because Escobar doesn’t want to make things easier for the smugglers. It’s already easy enough.

On the way down he explains his ancient ties to this land, extending a sun-beaten hand toward his late grandmother’s stucco house off to the right, then to his cousin’s on the left. Escobar’s forebears founded the town that’s named after them, and he can trace his ancestors back to a 1767 Spanish land grant. Basically every-

thing on this side of Escobar Elementary is theirs.

As the maroon truck moves past fields of hay and alfalfa, Escobar notices the crops could use a little attention, but the truck doesn’t slow down. It dips and rises a few times until, suddenly, a swift and muddylooking river, fat with spring rain, comes into view.

A smile appears beneath the white cowboy hat. Escobar’s twinkling eyes stare at the watery divide between the United States and Mexico.

“Wow, we’ve got some water on the Rio Grande now,” he says before the truck comes to a stop near his irrigation pump.

“That’s good.”

The Rio Grande remains the ranch’s lifeblood, without which his crops would wilt and wither away. It also happens to Border continues on A11

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

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 3263663.

Today is Wednesday, June 29, the 181st day of 2016. There are 185 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On June 29, 1956, actress Marilyn Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller in a civil ceremony in White Plains, New York. (The couple also wed in a Jewish ceremony on July 1; the marriage lasted 4 1/2 years).

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 3263663.

1 Spanish Book Club. 6–8 p.m.

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

FRIDAY, JULY 1 Billy B. Brown / AP

1

Photography exhibit. 5–9 p.m.

Organic Man Coffee, 1002 Iturbide St. Photography by Seth Avant.

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.

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 or email hmedellin@mrgbahec.org 1 Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group. 7 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1st Floor, Tower B in the Community Center. Meetings are open to individuals who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as family, friends and caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients. For more information, call Melissa Guerra at 956-6939991.

THURSDAY, JULY 7 1

Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m.

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

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

FRIDAY, JULY 8 1

Sister Cities Festival. Opening ceremony: 9 a.m. Expo: 11 a.m.–8 p.m.

Laredo Energy Arena. The LEA is transformed over the three-day event to hold such exotic items as beautiful artisan produced and hand-crafted wooden furniture, leather goods, jewelry, pottery and home goods and accessories, clothing for the whole family and food from across the Mexican republic. Information on the Sister Cities Festival may be obtained by calling the Laredo Convention and Visitors Bureau at 795-2200 or 800361-3360 or by logging onto www.visitlaredo.com.

SATURDAY, JULY 9 1

Sister Cities Festival. 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Laredo Energy Arena. The LEA is transformed over the three-day event to hold such exotic items as beautiful artisan produced and hand-crafted wooden furniture, leather goods, jewelry, pottery and home goods and accessories.

In this photo provided by Billy B. Brown, two freight trains are on fire Tuesday after they collided and derailed in the Texas Panhandle.

3 MISSING IN TRAIN COLLISION DALLAS — Three crew members were missing and one was hurt Tuesday after a head-on train collision in the Texas Panhandle that caused several box cars to erupt in flames and led authorities to evacuate residents in the area.

The two BNSF Railway freight trains were on the same track when they collided near the town of Panhandle, about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo. Each train carried two crew members; one man jumped before the collision, according to BNSF spokesman Joe Faust. The man was being treated at a hospital and the extent

of his injuries was unknown.

It’s not clear how fast the trains were traveling when they collided, but the speed limit in that area is 70 mph, Faust said. It also wasn’t clear why the trains were on the same track. The rail cars were holding a variety of consumer goods, Faust said.

“I don’t know how anyone survived,” said Billy Brown, a farmer in the area who saw a fireball after the collision. “It’s terrible. I’ve seen a number of train wrecks but I’ve never seen one like this.”

— Compiled from AP reports

3 more women join lawsuit against Baylor University

Volkswagen to pay Texas $50 million in civil penalties

Dimmit County rejects proposed immigration facility

WACO — Three more women have joined a federal lawsuit against Baylor University accusing the school of doing nothing to help them after they reported being sexually assaulted on or near campus.

The former Baylor students are identified only as Jane Doe. On Tuesday, they joined a lawsuit filed by three other women on June 15.

AUSTIN — State Attorney General Ken Paxton says Texas will get $50 million in civil penalties from Volkswagen as part of a multi-state settlement with the German automaker over allegations it cheated on emissions tests. While the state settled civil penalties, Texas is still pursuing claims the company violated environmental protection laws.

CARRIZO SPRINGS — Officials in a South Texas county have voted against a contract to open a new immigrant family holding center there.

Dimmit County commissioners voted Monday against the contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the 1,000-bed facility in Carrizo Springs.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Gunman shoots 1 at downtown Denver building; kills self DENVER — A gunman walked into a busy downtown Denver office building and shot a person multiple times before turning the gun on himself, police said Tuesday.

The gunman was found dead when SWAT officers arrived, police spokesman Doug Schepman said. The female victim was critically injured and was undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital.

Schepman said the gunman targeted the victim, and detectives are trying to determine the connection between the two. Police have not released any names.

Officers went floor-by-floor to clear the Alliance Center, a building that houses several environmental organizations and provides shared workspaces. Other buildings were locked down, and people were asked

MARRAKECH, Morocco — Michelle Obama told Moroccan teenage girls that her parents knew the value of education, her brother set an example “and I thought if he can do it, then I can do it, because I know I am smarter than him!”

Actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto joined the U.S. first lady’s encounter Tuesday

Ten years ago: The Supreme Court ruled, 5-3, that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law. The government announced it had recovered a stolen laptop computer and hard drive with sensitive data on up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel, and that the data was not accessed or copied.

Five years ago: In the first ruling by a federal appeals court on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, a panel in Cincinnati handed the administration a victory by agreeing that the government could require a minimum amount of insurance for Americans. Greece fended off bankruptcy as lawmakers backed austerity measures in the face of riots that left more than 100 injured.

One year ago: A deeply divided Supreme Court upheld the use of a controversial drug, midazolam, in lethal-injection executions. (Executions that employed midazolam took longer than usual and raised concerns that the drug did not perform its intended task of putting inmates into a coma-like sleep.) A car bomb killed Egypt’s chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, in the country’s first assassination of a senior official in 25 years.

Stanley Cup winners Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger and Sergei Fedorov and former NHL star Phil Housley were among the seven newcomers in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

David Zalubowski / AP

Denver Police Department officers investigate near the scene of a shooting in a lower downtown business Tuesday, in Denver.

to stay away from the area.

Nicole Arnone, who works for the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute on the third floor of the building, said she was listening to a conference call with earbuds when a co-worker tapped her on the shoulder and said, “We just heard a few loud bangs and some screaming, and I think we need to go.”

“We debated whether to hide in the corner or run,” Arnone said, and they decided to flee.

She smelled smoke and thought it was either a fire or gunpowder, she said. Arnone spotted a shell casing in the stairwell as she fled. Once outside the building, she ran away and flagged down an officer.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD US first lady promotes learning to Moroccan girls

On this date: In 1767, Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal the duties — except for tea.)

In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, which became a French colony on December 30, 1880.

In 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out as Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece, its former allies from the First Balkan War. In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed as Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.

In 1941, Polish statesman, pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski died in New York at age 80.

In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission voted against reinstating Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer’s access to classified information.

In 1966, the United States launched airstrikes on fuel storage facilities near the North Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a trio of death sentences, saying the way they had been imposed constituted cruel and unusual punishment. (The ruling prompted states to effectively impose a moratorium on executions until their capital punishment laws could be revised.)

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Morrison v. Olson, upheld the independent counsel law in a 7-1 decision (the sole dissenter was Justice Antonin Scalia).

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station linked in orbit, beginning a historic five-day voyage as a single ship. A department store in Seoul (sohl), South Korea, collapsed, killing at least 500 people. Actress Lana Turner died in Century City, California, at age 74.

In 2003, actress Katharine Hepburn died in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, at age 96.

with two dozen young women in Marrakech to discuss the challenges girls around the world face in getting educated.

In the North African kingdom of Morocco, only 36 percent of girls continue school beyond the primary level.

“We have to change those notions that girls are only valuable for their reproductive capacity or their ability to do manual labor,” Obama said, adding that 62 million girls worldwide do not have access to education for an array of

Today’s Birthdays: Movie producer Robert Evans is 86. Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 76. Actor Gary Busey is 72. Comedian Richard Lewis is 69.

Actor-turned-politician-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 68. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 59. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 55. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 53. Producerwriter Matthew Weiner is 51. Rap DJ Shadow is 44. Actress Zuleikha Robinson is 39. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 38. Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 34.

Actress Lily Rabe is 34. Rhythm-andblues singer Aundrea Fimbres is 33.

Thought for Today: “Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.” — Phyllis McGinley, American poet and author (1905-1978).

CONTACT US reasons, from a lack of resources to cultural norms.

The “Let Girls Learn” initiative, launched in 2015 by President Obama and the first lady, is to be extended to Morocco, the White House announced Tuesday. It said the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government foreign aid agency working in partnership with the Moroccan government, is investing nearly $100 million to transform secondary education in the country.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 |

A3

STATE

Texas may not restore lost abortion clinics despite ruling

By Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — Long wait times for abortions and lengthy drives to clinics are likely to continue in Texas for months and maybe years despite the U.S. Supreme Court striking down restrictions that since 2013 have drastically reduced the number of providers statewide.

Texas lost more than half of its 41 abortion clinics in the three years since former Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a sweeping anti-abortion law that justices largely dismantled in a 5-3 ruling Monday. The decision amounted to the Supreme Court’s strongest defense of abortion rights in a generation and could imperil similar restrictions in other states.

The Texas laws required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and forced clinics to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.

But even with those mandates now gone, Planned Parenthood and others providers are not yet making promises about breaking ground on new facilities in Texas.

And any openings, they cautioned, could take years, meaning that women in rural Texas counties are still likely to face hours-long drives to abortion clinics for the foreseeable future.

Buildings need to be leased. Staffs need to be hired. Clinics must still obtain state licenses and funds for medical equipment must be raised.

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled Leg-

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Reagan Barklage of St. Louis, center, and other anti-abortion activists demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, as the justices struck down the strict Texas anti-abortion restriction law known as HB2.

islature is all but certain to remain hostile to abortion providers that try to expand.

“We really have a daunting task to determine whether and how we can reopen our health centers,” said Whole Woman’s Health founder Amy Hagstrom Miller, whose chain of abortion clinics in Texas includes the state’s only provider on the southern border with Mexico.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards also would not immediately commit to the nation’s largest abortion provider opening more Texas clinics, but she expressed hope.

“Just to re-establish services in a community and get the licensures is just not something that is going to happen overnight,” said Richards, who is the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

For now, providers are celebrating because it could have been far worse: Had the law that

former Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis once temporarily blocked with an 11-hour filibuster been found constitutional, only 10 would have remained open in a state of 27 million people.

The bill propelled Davis, at the time a state senator who ran for governor in 2014, to national stardom when her filibuster packed the Texas Capitol with raucous protesters whose shouts deafened the Senate floor as time ran out on the measure.

More than 40 abortion clinics in Texas were open at the time, but neither Richards nor abortion rights groups would predict whether Texas would ever reach that number again. Davis said the expectation for now is that areas without a nearby clinic will at least see one reopen within the next six months, and that the goal may not necessarily be getting back above 40 facilities.

“The benchmark is more closely aligned with

geographic proximity,” Davis said. “If women are able to geographically access that care without tremendous costs or burdensome travel then we’ll be back to where we need to be.”

Monday’s ruling now gives Texas abortion providers the go-ahead to continue offering abortions in smaller facilities that are akin to doctor’s offices. Many clinics had faced multimillion-dollar renovations to comply with the law, such as upgrades to air ventilation systems and hallways wide enough to accommodate hospital beds.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott rebuked the justices for taking away rules that he says protect the health and safety of women, and Republican leaders in states including Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania have used similar arguments while enacting nearly identical laws. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing in a concurring opinion, said it was “beyond rational belief” that the Texas law looks after women.

The landscape of abortion in Texas changed drastically over the last three years: Most remaining clinics are concentrated around the major cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, leaving many women in vast rural swaths of the state facing long drives to the nearest provider. The result was that wait times at some Texas abortion clinics started exceeding 20 days, Davis said, while opponents of the law also warned about women seeking out abortions in Mexico instead.

Texas A&M unveils border-focused Hispanic health institute

By Will Weissert ASSOCIATED PRE SS

AUSTIN — Texas A&M announced Tuesday the creation of a Hispanic health institute aiming to boost Latino participation in clinical research trials — increasing its footprint in the Rio Grande Valley as rival University of Texas inaugurates a new medical school there.

Unveiled at the state Capitol, the program will be the only one of its kind in Texas, is starting with $2 million in initial funding and will be housed at the Driscooll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi. But it will also work through the hospital’s specialty clinics along the TexasMexico border, including in Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen and Laredo.

Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said Hispanics disproportionately suffer from hypertension, diabetes and cancer, but are some of the world’s most underrepresented people in clinical trials that help doctors test the effectiveness of medications and treatments. An oftencited, 2011 Food and Drug Administration study found that while Hispanics represented 16 percent of the country’s then-population, they made up just 1 percent of clinical trial participants.

“We are going to save a bunch of lives right here,” Sharp said.

About 19 percent of Texans lack health insur-

ance, the highest rate in the nation. And having limited access to quality health care is an acute problem in heavily Hispanic South Texas, where poverty rates remain high and a booming population has outpaced medical infrastructure.

Dr. Scott Lillibridge, Texas A&M’s director of health initiatives, said clinical trials help show how the effectiveness of treatments can vary greatly for different segments of the population.

He said that, after being advised by a physician, patients are statistically twice as likely to participate in clinical trials — but a lack of health care access means many South Texans never get that advice.

“The impact of clinical trials is absolutely and fundamentally necessary for the advancement of medicine and bringing new therapies to populations,” Lillibridge said.

Tuesday’s announcement came as orientation begins for medical students at UT-Rio Grande Valley, which combined the existing schools of UT-Pan American and UT Brownsville. But Lillibridge said there’s no rivalry when it comes to making people healthier.

“The expansion of health care anywhere is a plus for the population,” he said. “We’d like to be part of the fabric of increasing access to health care, and it’s going to require a lift by all of us.”

Zopinion

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A4 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Revolt of the masses Anybody who spends time in the working-class parts of America (and, one presumes, Britain) notices the contagions of drug addiction and suicide, and the feelings of anomie, cynicism, pessimism and resentment.

Part of this pain arises from deindustrialization.

Good jobs are hard to find. But hardship is not exactly new to these places. Life in, say, a coal valley was never a bouquet of roses.

What’s also been lost is the social institutions and cultural values that made it possible to have selfrespect amid hardship — to say, “I may not make a lot of money, but people can count on me. I’m loyal, tough, hardworking, resilient and part of a good community.”

We all have a sense of what that working-class honor code was, but if you want a refresher, I recommend J.D. Vance’s new book “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Vance’s family is from Kentucky and Ohio, and his description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history.

He describes a culture of intense group loyalty.

Families might be messed up in a million ways, but any act of disloyalty — like sharing personal secrets with outsiders — is felt acutely. This loyalty culture helps people take care of their own, but it also means there can be hostility to those who want to move up and out.

And there can be intense parochialism.

“We do not like outsiders,” Vance writes, “or people who are different from us, whether difference lies in how they look, how they act, or, most important, how they talk.”

It’s also a culture that values physical toughness.

It’s a culture that celebrates people who are willing to fight to defend their honor. This is something that progressives never get about gun control. They see a debate about mass murder, but for many people guns are about a family’s ability to stand up for itself in a dangerous world.

It’s also a culture with a lot of collective pride. In my travels, you can’t go five minutes without having a conversation about a local sports team. Sports has become the binding religion, offering identity, value, and solidarity.

Much of this pride is nationalistic. Vance’s grandparents, he writes, “taught me that we live in the best and greatest country on earth. This fact gave meaning to my childhood.”

When I lived in Brussels, this sort of intense personal patriotism was simply not felt by the people who ran the EU, but it was felt by a lot of people in the member states.

This honor code has been decimated lately.

Conservatives argue that it has been decimated by

“

DAVID BROOKS

cosmopolitan cultural elites who look down on rural rubes. There’s some truth to this, as the reactions of smug elites to the Brexit vote demonstrate.

But the honor code has also been decimated by the culture of the modern meritocracy, which awards status to the individual who works with his mind, and devalues the class of people who work with their hands.

Most of all, it has been undermined by rampant consumerism, by celebrity culture, by reality-TV fantasies that tell people success comes in a quick flash of publicity, not through steady work. The sociologist Daniel Bell once argued that capitalism would undermine itself because it encouraged hedonistic shortterm values for consumers while requiring selfdisciplined long-term values in its workers. At least in one segment of society, Bell was absolutely correct.

There’s now a rift within the working class between mostly older people who are self-disciplined, respectable and, often, bigoted, and parts of a younger cohort that are more disordered, less industrious, more celebrity-obsessed, but also more tolerant and open to the world.

Trump (and probably Brexit) voters are in the first group. They are not poor, making on average over $70,000 a year. But they perceive that their grandchildren’s world is quickly coming apart.

From 1945 to 1995, conservative and liberal elites shared variations of the same vision of the future.

Liberals emphasized multilateral institutions and conservatives emphasized free trade. Either way, the future would be global, integrated and multiethnic.

But the elites pushed too hard, and now history is moving in the opposite direction. The less-educated masses have a different conception of the future, a vision that is more closed, collective, protective and segmented.

Their pain is indivisible: economic stress, community breakdown, ethnic bigotry and a loss of social status and selfworth. When people feel their world is vanishing, they are easy prey for fact-free magical thinking and demagogues who blame immigrants.

We need a better form of nationalism, a vision of patriotism that gives dignity to those who have been disrespected, emphasizes that we are one nation and is confident and open to the world.

COLUMN

Supreme Court restores balance to contentious abortion debate

By Margaret Carlson BL OOMBERG

Thanks to the Supreme Court, the pro-life movement lost its major weapon to deprive women of legal abortions.

The pro-lifers thought they had found a way around their inability to get Roe v. Wade overturned even with Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Their strategy was to whimper about “women’s health

and safety,” as if either were jeopardized or as if the pro-lifers cared; get GOP-controlled legislatures to pass hard-to-meet regulations; and then cheer as abortion clinics and doctors couldn’t meet those rules. Texas shut down half its clinics, and the other half were threatened by regulations that would require operating rooms to be capable of performing brain surgery, and hospital-admitting privileges for doctors who

worked there.

That all ended Monday.

The court majority exposed the rules for what they were: “undue burdens” or, in layman’s language, ridiculous.

The 5-3 decision was the court’s most sweeping ruling on abortion rights since 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which said states couldn’t place undue burdens on a legal procedure. In saying that Texas’ provisions were undue, the case will

COLUMN

What kind of news do you like? — Blood and gore?

In more than half a century in the news business (and still counting), it seems inescapable that the general public is drawn to “bad news.” It just seems to be in our nature to gawk and almost revel at scenes of misery and tragedy.

One of the best arguments showing folks propensity for “blood and gore,” is a car wreck on a busy, major thoroughfare.

Naturally, the traffic on the side where the accident occurred is either stopped or crawling along.

On the opposite side of the road, for no apparent good reason, traffic is creeping its way past the scene.

Why? It is my contention that most of us are, if not downright bloodthirsty, drawn to “bad news.”

That is, I believe we seem to thrive on someone else’s troubles.

And, that, brothers and sisters, is why the news media will almost always go with the most horrific news as the headline lead story. Morbid curiosity.

It’s in every one of us.

However, there are other factors that slow us

down through the site of a drastic traffic accident.

One good effect is that often the slow traffic on the opposite side of the roadway has “sobered” us for safer driving. Even we news hawks who’ve raced to the scene to get pictures and the story for what we feel is a waiting, somewhat-bloodthirsty public.

We all — the general public — like bad news; that’s why you’ll see your favorite newspaper’s lead story is likely some tale of woe. And, if it’s got a little blood and gore, then you’re probably going to sell a few more newspapers on the newsstands that week.

An example that comes to mind is my coverage of a wreck more than half a century ago.

As was pretty normal for me, I was working late one night in Rosenberg in the 1960s. The principal highway ran right through the middle of town. My paper — The

Fort Bend Mirror — owned a multipurpose van. It was used to haul newspapers from the printing plant to the post office and to the news racks.

The second purpose was to be a rolling billboard. The white van had the name of the paper in big red letters on each side of the vehicle. (A third purpose: it was my principal mode of transportation.)

While I was pounding away on the keyboard in my office that night, a Texas Department of Public Safety (Highway Patrol) car came flying down the street, emergency lights flashing and siren blaring.

I grabbed my camera, ran for the van and took up pursuit of the emergency vehicle out U.S. Highway 90A toward East Bernard. The accident was about 10 miles out and flying low with the Highway Patrol got me there in no time at all. I did notice at one point I was pushing it at near 100 miles per hour.

It was a god-awful scene. A young man who, officers later told me, was

David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU LETTERS POLICY Laredo Morning Times does not publish anonymous letters.

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

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

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Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication.

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strike down similar regulations in other states and may well curtail other unnecessary but burdensome restrictions such as rules on the width of hallways and waiting times.

The politically potent Christian right was forged when Roe was decided in 1973. For some, abortion is the only issue that matters. Today’s decision may reinvigorate them.

For their part, Democrats can do more to move back to the middle.

obviously drunk, had struck an oncoming vehicle head-on, killing all four passengers. The passengers were two elderly sisters and their two teenaged nephews. All four bodies were still in the car when I arrived.

I wound up taking a lot of photos because, in those days, the DPS was not equipped with their own camera(s). They wanted copies of pictures from all possible angles.

So, I obliged the officers, a not uncommon practice in those more informal times.

After shooting from every possible angle, I got back in my rolling billboard and headed back to Rosenberg. It seemed it was taking forever to get there. I looked at my speedometer and I was doing 45.

It’s amazing the effect of seeing such a horrendous scene can have on you.

Y’all drive careful now, you hear.

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

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 |

A5

NATIONAL Benghazi report: No ‘smoking Trump blasts trade deals, departing from GOP orthodoxy gun’ pointing to Clinton

By Jill Colvin and Lisa Lerer

By Matthew Daly ASSOCIATED PRE SS

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

MONESSEN, Pa. — Donald Trump called for a new era of economic “Americanism” Tuesday, promising to restore millions of lost factory jobs by backing away from decades of U.S. policy that encouraged trade with other nations — a move that could undermine the country’s place as the dominant player in the global economy.

The speech marked a significant break from years of Republican Party advocacy for unencumbered trade between nations, and drew immediate condemnation from GOP business leaders.

In his 35-minute speech, Trump blamed former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton for the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs.

He threatened to exit the more than two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement and vowed to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations that has yet to take effect.

He pointed to China as a source of many of America’s economic woes, promising to label that country a currency manipulator and slap new tariffs on America’s leading source of imports, a decision with the potential to dramatically increase the cost of consumer goods.

“This wave of globalization has wiped out totally, totally our middle class,” Trump said, standing in front of pallets of recycled aluminum cans on a factory floor. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can turn it around, and we can turn it around fast.”

Delivered in a hard-hit Pennsylvania steel town, the speech underscored the central message of Trump’s campaign: that policies aimed at boosting international trade — and America’s intervention in wars and disputes abroad — have weakened the country.

It’s an argument that found support among Republican primary voters, especially white, working class Americans whose wages have stagnated in recent years.

Trump hopes it will yield similar success among the wider electorate that will decide the general election.

“I promise you, if I become president, we’re going to be working again. We’re going to have great jobs again,” he said. “You’re going to be so happy.”

But he drew a quick

Cliff Owen / AP file

In this June 10 photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up in Washington.

and scathing response from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a traditional Republican ally and leading business lobby.

“Under Trump’s trade plans, we would see higher prices, fewer jobs, a weaker economy,” the Chamber said on its Twitter feed, directing readers to a blog post that said Trump’s policies would lead to millions of job losses and a recession.

Many economists have dismissed Trump’s promise to immediately restore manufacturing jobs as dubious at best, given the impact of automation and the many years it typically takes to negotiate trade agreements.

While renegotiating tougher deals with America’s foreign trading partners might help some businesses, manufacturing as a share of total U.S. jobs has been slipping for several decades. The number of such jobs has risen slightly since the end of the Great Recession, but the introduction of robotics and access to cheaper foreign markets has reduced U.S. factory employment to a total last seen around 1941.

Indeed, the National Association of Manufacturers slammed Trump’s logic on Tuesday, with the organization’s president, Jay Timmons, writing on Twitter: “(at)realDonaldTrump you have it backward. Trade is GOOD for (hash)mfg workers & (hash)jobs.

Let’s (hash)MakeAmericaTradeAgain.”

In making his case for a new approach to trade, Trump recounted economic policies in place at the founding of the country — a time when goods traveled by horseback and schooner, the invention of the telegraph was still decades away and the advances of the Internet and broadband communication hardly imaginable.

The billionaire real estate mogul then skipped ahead to the 1990s, blaming the Clinton administration for negative impacts of globalization. He cited Bill Clinton’s support of NAFTA, which aimed to reduce barriers to trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday concluded their $7 million, two-year investigation into the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, with fresh accusations of lethal mistakes by the Obama administration but no “smoking gun” pointing to wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state and now the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee.

After the long investigation, filled with partisan sniping by panel members, none of the new revelations highlighted by the House Benghazi committee in its 800-page report pointed specifically to Clinton’s actions before, during or after the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. diplomatic outpost and CIA annex in the eastern Libyan city.

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, died in the attacks. Allegations against Clinton were a main impetus behind the House Republicans’ creation of the politically charged, Watergate-style select committee. Clinton testified before the panel for nearly 11 hours last fall.

While the panel’s GOP members took shots at Clinton on Tuesday, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman, summed up the document by asking “the American people to read this report for themselves, look at the evidence we have collected and reach their own conclusions.”

In Denver, Clinton dismissed the report as

an echo of previous probes with no new discoveries. “I think it’s pretty clear it’s time to move on,” she said during a campaign stop.

Hardly — especially in the heat of an election.

Republican rival Donald Trump, although silent on the subject Tuesday, has frequently lashed out at Clinton over Benghazi.

Nearly four years ago, the Libya attacks became immediate political fodder, given their timing in the weeks before President Barack Obama’s re-election, and that has not abated despite seven previous congressional investigations. There has been finger-pointing on both sides over security at the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi and whether Clinton and the White House initially tried to portray the assault as a protest over an offensive, anti-Muslim video, instead of a calculated terrorist attack.

Republican insistence that the investigation was not politically motivated was undermined last year when House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested that the committee could take credit for Clinton’s thenslumping poll numbers.

His statements helped dash his chances of becoming House Speaker.

The committee interviewed more than 100 witnesses and reviewed some 75,000 pages of documents, but an almost accidental discovery by the panel last year has shadowed Clinton’s candidacy. The committee disclosed that she had used a private email server to conduct government business while serving as secretary of state, a prac-

tice that has drawn widespread scrutiny, including an FBI investigation.

Already bitterly partisan, Tuesday’s release of the report exposed divisions within Republican ranks.

Reps. Mike Pompeo of Kansas and Jim Jordan of Ohio issued a separate report slamming Clinton and the Obama administration, with Pompeo telling reporters that the former first lady and senator was “morally reprehensible.” Clinton’s public comments casting the attack as a possible protest over the antiMuslim video differed sharply from her private assessments to family members and diplomats, Jordan and Pompeo said.

Gowdy, however, deflected questions about her, saying the report “is not about one person.”

The GOP report severely criticizes the military, CIA and administration officials for their response as the attacks unfolded, and their subsequent explanations to the American people.

On the night of Sept. 11, a large group of men rushed into the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, firing guns and setting fires. Visiting Ambassador Stevens and computer specialist Sean Smith were killed despite taking cover in a safe room.

Hours later, before dawn, mortar fire hit the CIA roof nearby, killing security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

The report found that Libyan military officers loyal to former leader Moammar Gadhafi had taken part in rescuing the remaining Americans.

Sports&Outdoors A6 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

Pat Summitt, winningest coach in D1 history, dies at 64

By Steve Megargee ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images file

Former Bulls and Lakers center/forward Pau Gasol is expected to be a “priority” in free agency for the Spurs as they retool in the offseason for another playoff run in 2016-17.

Spurs expected to make center Pau Gasol a 'priority' in free agency

By Nick Moyle SA N A N TONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS

As expected, center Pau Gasol declined his $7.7 million player option with the Chicago Bulls for the 2016-17 season, as first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein.

Gasol, who turns 36 next week, had no desire to remain in Chicago on a team that is unlikely to contend for a title in the immediate future.

Chicago's loss could become the Spurs' gain, according to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski.

"I'm told that Pau Gasol is a real priority for them," Wojnarowski said during an appearance on The Vertical podcast with Chris Mannix. "They tried to get him before he signed with Chicago. The Bulls were able to offer him a little bit more than the mid-level that year, I think the Spurs had a mid-level for him. They can maneuver in San Antonio and probably be able to offer him market value. We'll see what that's going to be." (Wojnarowski's complete comments on the Spurs' offseason plans begin at the 35:35 mark.)

After 15 seasons in the NBA, Gasol has remained remarkably effective on offense. Since coming to Chicago in 2014, the smooth 7-footer has averaged 17.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and two blocks. He's coming off two consecutive AllStar appearances, though his on-court success never translated to a deep postseason run on a Bulls roster that seemed to

splinter with each passing week.

The future of Spurs center Tim Duncan, who has to make a decision on his $5.64 million player option by Wednesday, remains a mystery. He is expected to travel to New York with coach Gregg Popovich in an attempt to lure free agent Kevin Durant to the San Antonio, but has given no indication that he plans to return for a 20th season.

Should Duncan retire, Gasol could serve as an effective, cost-efficient replacement, although not one that would inject the youth Popovich harped on following the Spurs' second-round loss to the Thunder.

Despite averaging two blocks per game last season, Gasol's defense is suspect, especially as he continues to age. But playing in a Spurs system featuring two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard could hide some of Gasol's weaknesses while amplifying his strengths.

Offensively, he'd provide a considerable upgrade over Duncan, who averaged a career-low 8.6 points last year. Gasol is also a phenomenal passer for a big, a trait that makes him particularly attractive to Popovich.

Gasol has never hidden his esteem for the Spurs, calling the organization an "interesting option" in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca.

It seems the feeling is mutual. nmoyle@expressnews.net Twitter: @NRmoyle

KNOXVILLE — Pat Summitt put women’s basketball on her back, breaking down barriers with her indomitable spirit and demanding respect for female athletes on her way to becoming the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history.

The woman who lifted the sport to national prominence staring down players and officials with her icy glare will be remembered for far more than the impressive numbers she piled up over 38 seasons, including eight national titles.

Summitt, 64, died peacefully Tuesday morning at Sherrill Hill Senior Living in Knoxville surrounded by those who loved her most, according to her son, Tyler. Her death, five years and two months after being diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type, resulted in an outpouring of reactions from the president to people who never played for Summitt.

“Pat started playing college hoops before Title IX and started coaching before the NCAA recognized women’s basketball as a sport,” President Obama said. “When she took the helm at Tennessee as a 22-year-old, she had to wash her players’ uniforms; by the time Pat stepped down as the Lady Vols’ head coach, her teams wore eight championship rings and had cut down nets in sold-out stadiums.”

Obama added Summitt’s Hall of Fame career tells of the historic progress toward equality in American athletics the coach helped advance.

“Her legacy, however, is measured much more by the generations of young women and men who admired Pat’s intense competitiveness and character, and as a result found in themselves the confidence to practice hard, play harder, and live with courage on and off the court,” Obama said.

Summitt helped grow college women’s basketball as her Lady Vols dominated the sport in the late 1980s and 1990s, winning six titles in 12 years.

Tennessee — the only school she coached — won

Suzy Allman / NYT file

Former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt talks with player Shannon Bobbitt at the Final Four in 2007.

Summitt died at 64 on Tuesday. She won eight national championships at Tennessee and more games than any other Division I college coach in history.

NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996-98 and 2007-08.

Summitt had a career record of 1,098-208 in 38 seasons, plus 18 NCAA Final Four appearances.

Former Lady Vols forward Candace Parker said Summitt’s impact went way beyond Knoxville.

“She’s changed the way women’s basketball is played,” Parker said.

“She’s changed the nature of women’s basketball.”

Summitt announced in 2011 at age 59 that she’d been diagnosed with early onset dementia. She coached one more season before stepping down. At her retirement, Summitt’s eight national titles ranked behind the 10 won by former UCLA men’s coach John Wooden.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma passed Summitt after she retired.

When she stepped down, Summitt called her coaching career a “great ride.”

Tyler Summitt said Tuesday that his mother had battled her toughest opponent with fierce determination.

“Even though it’s incredibly difficult to come to terms that she is no longer with us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this disease,” Tyler Summitt said in a statement.

Peyton Manning, who sought Summitt’s advice about returning to Tennessee for his senior season or going to the NFL, said it would have been a great experience to play for her.

“She could have coached any team, any sport, men’s or women’s.

It wouldn’t have mattered because Pat could flat out coach,” Manning said in a statement. “I will miss her dearly, and I am honored to call her my friend. My thoughts and prayers are with Tyler and their entire family.”

Summitt was a tough taskmaster with a frosty glower that could strike the fear of failure in her players. She punished one team that stayed up partying before an early morning practice by running them until they vomited.

She even placed garbage cans in the gym so they’d have somewhere to be sick.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed such an intimate relationship with her players that they called her “Pat.” Summitt never had a losing record and her teams never missed the NCAA Tournament. She began her coaching career at Tennessee in the 1974-75 season, when her team finished 16-8. She became the first millionaire coach

in women’s basketball in 2006 and was paid $1.5 million in her final season in 2011-12.

Summitt won 16 Southeastern Conference regular season titles, as well as 16 conference tournament titles. She was an eight-time SEC coach of the year and seven-time NCAA coach of the year.

She also coached the U.S. women’s Olympic team to the 1984 gold medal.

Her greatest adversary on the court was Auriemma. The two teams played 22 times from 1995-2007.

Summitt ended the series after the 2007 season.

“Pat set the standard for which programs like ours dreamed of achieving, both on and off the court,” Auriemma said.

“Our sport reached new heights thanks to her success, which came from an incomparable work ethic and a larger than life, yet, compassionate personality.”

In 1999, Summitt was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame a year later.

She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Summitt was such a competitor that she refused to let a pilot land in Virginia when she went into labor while on a recruiting trip in 1990. Virginia had beaten her Lady Vols a few months earlier, preventing them from playing for a national title on their home floor.

But it was only in 2012 when being honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award that Summitt shared she had six miscarriages before giving birth to her son, Tyler.

Born June 14, 1952, in Henrietta, Tennessee, Summitt graduated from Cheatham County Central High School just west of Nashville. She played college basketball at the University of Tennessee at Martin where she received her bachelor’s degree in physical education. She was the co-captain of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team, which won the silver medal.

After playing at UT Martin, she was hired as a graduate assistant at Tennessee and took over when the previous head coach left.

Hawks trying to get meeting with Durant Magic hire Spurs’ Forcier as lead assistant

By Chris Vivlamore TH E ATL ANTA JOURNAL -CONSTITUTION

By Nick Moyle The Hawks are trying to procure a meeting with Kevin Durant, the Thunder star who will become an unrestricted free agent, according to a person familiar with the situation.

ESPN first reported the Hawks’ efforts.

The Hawks are in position where they must balance their desire to re-sign both Al Horford and Kent Bazemore, who with also be unrestricted free agents on July 1. However, the Hawks do have the salary cap space to resign Al Horford and another max player. Following the trade of Jeff Teague, the Hawks have $25 million in available cap space after a deal for Horford. That means there all but there at the $26 million yearly salary it would take to sign Durant to a max deal.

Durant, a small forward, would figure to be a perfect fit to the Hawks’ space-and-pace style of play and would surely make them a title contender.

It is not certain that Durant will

SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

J Pat Carter / AP file

Atlanta is pursuing star free agent forward Kevin Durant trying to get a meeting with him. Durant is reportedly going to meet with the Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Celtics, Heat and Clippers.

agree to a meeting with the Hawks. He will reportedly meet with the Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Celtics, Heat and Clippers.

The Knicks and Lakers are also reported to be interested in meeting with Durant.

Durant is a seven-time all-star, six-time All-NBA and won the league’s MVP award in 2014. He also was won the league scoring title four times. He has averaged 27.4 points per game over his nine NBA seasons.

Spurs assistant Chad Forcier has accepted a position with the Orlando Magic as head coach Frank Vogel's top aide, league sources confirmed to the Express-News.

Forcier will go from the second row of the Spurs' bench to No. 2 man in Vogel's new regime.

None of this comes as much of a surprise — in a photo released by the Magic, a "Chad Forcier" nameplate can clearly be seen in their draft day "war room."

Forcier came to the Spurs in 2007 after four seasons in Indiana, becoming a key part of coach Gregg Popovich's staff.

He played a critical role in player development during his nine-year tenure in San Antonio. The

program he created has been crucial to the evolution of players like Kawhi Leonard, this year's Defensive Player of the Year and MVP runner-up, and Cory Joseph, who signed a four-year, $30 million deal with the Toronto Raptors after spending four years with the Spurs and Forcier.

Popovich's staff was expected to stay intact after assistants Ettore Messina and James Borrego, who each crisscrossed the country for several head-coaching interviews, remained in San Antonio, but Forcier's exit will shake things up a bit.

The promotion is a long time coming for Forcier, who began his career as an unpaid 19-year-old intern with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1992. nmoyle@express-news.net Twitter: @NRmoyle

Zfrontera THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 |

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE 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 inscrito 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.

MENOR MUERE AL VOLTEARSE BALSA

TEXAS

Derogan restricciones al aborto

Tragedia en Lago Falcón

Por Paul Weber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

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, extensión 3517.

Foto de cortesía

Elementos de diversas agencias realizan una operación de búsqueda y rescate de un menor de 5 años de edad que cayó al Lago Falcón el sábado por la tarde cuando la balsa en la que estaba se volcó por los vientos fuertes.

Cuerpo es recuperado el domingo Por Judith Rayo TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Autoridades dieron a conocer la identidad del niño que falleciera ahogado después de caer a las aguas del Lago Falcón en Zapata, durante el fin de semana.

El menor fue identificado como Noah Pérez, de 5 años de edad, originario de Bruni.

Equipos de búsqueda recuperaron el cuerpo de Pérez alrededor de las 10 p.m. del domingo.

Autoridades buscaban a un niño de 5 años quien habría caído al Lago Fal-

cón, el sábado.

(Foto de cortesía) Oficiales del Alguacil del ConPérez dado de Zapata dijeron que agentes del Departamento de Parques y Vida Salvaje de Texas fueron quienes encontraron el cadáver.

Agencias locales, estatales y federales habían estado buscando al niño desde la 1 p.m. del sábado.

La Oficina del Alguacil dijo que Pérez, quien estaba en una reunión

A7

familiar, cayó al lago cuando la balsa inflable en la que viajaba se volteó. Las autoridades dijeron que los fuertes vientos causaron que la balsa se alejara de la orilla del lago y de su familia.

“Estoy profundamente entristecido con esta situación y oramos por el pequeño niño y por su familia”, dijo Raymundo Del Bosque Jr., Comisario en Jefe de la Oficina del Alguacial del Condado de Zapata, vía Facebook.

“Quiero agradecer a todas las agencias del orden que están participando en la búsqueda de este niño”.

AUSTIN — Los proveedores de abortos que celebran el fallo de la Corte Suprema que derogó el lunes grandes restricciones al aborto en Texas, también enfrentan una dura realidad: El daño está hecho, y las mujeres que esperaban ver nuevas clínicas para reemplazar a las docenas que han cerrado desde 2013, tendrán que esperar mucho tiempo.

Las restricciones frenadas en una votación de 5-3 ya han obligado a más de la mitad de las clínicas de aborto en Texas a cerrar sus operaciones: de 41 instalaciones existentes antes de la aprobación de la ley, a tan solo 19.

En caso de que se hubiera decretado como constitucional la ley que alguna vez la senadora estatal demócrata, Wendy Davis, bloqueó temporalmente durante 11 horas con prácticas dilatorias, sólo hubieran permanecido abiertas 10 clínicas en un estado con una población de 27 millones de habitantes.

Pese a que el mayor decreto de la Corte Suprema respecto al aborto en una generación permite que Planned Parenthood y otras organizaciones en Texas, abran clínicas más modestas y pequeñas en Texas, los proveedores no prometieron la construcción de nuevas instalaciones. Y advirtieron que cualquier apertura podría tomar varios años, lo que significa que en el futuro cercano, las mujeres de los condados rurales de Texas posiblemente deban manejar largas distancias para llegar a las clínicas

para abortos.

Se necesitan arrendar edificios. Se necesita contratar personal. Las clínicas necesitan obtener permisos estatales y fondos para equipamiento médico. En tanto, la legislatura controlada por los republicanos, con toda certeza se mantendrá hostil hacia los proveedores de abortos que intenten expandirse.

La presidenta de Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, tampoco se comprometió de inmediato a que la mayor proveedora de abortos a nivel nacional abriera en un futuro más clínicas en Texas, pero expresó su esperanza.

Las leyes de Texas requerían que los doctores que realizan abortos tengan privilegios de admisión en hospitales cercanos y obligan a las clínicas a cumplir con estándares casi hospitalarios para cirugía ambulatoria. Davis, en ese entonces senadora estatal que aspiró a la gubernatura en 2014, acaparó los reflectores a nivel nacional, cuando como parte de sus prácticas dilatorias, llenó el Capitolio estatal con estruendosos manifestantes cuyos gritos ensordecieron el pleno del Senado, mientras se agotaba el tiempo para votar la medida.

En ese entonces había más de 40 clínicas de aborto en Texas, pero ni Richards ni los grupos a favor del aborto predicen que Texas vuelva a contar con esa cifra. Davis dijo que, por ahora, las expectativas son que las áreas en las que no exista una clínica cercana, cuenten con una en los próximos seis meses.

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

Día de Independencia 1 La Cámara de Comercio del Condado de Zapata anuncia que el día 4 de julio las oficinas permanecerán cerradas por la celebración del Día de la Independencia .

1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a su celebración del 4 de julio en la Plaza Histórica de Roma desde las 7 p.m. Habá música en vivo y diversión para toda la familia. Exhibición de juegos pirotécnicos a partir de las 11 p.m. Entrada gratuita.

Caminata/Carrera 1 La Cuarta Caminata/Carrera y Competencia Infantil Anual de 5K PFC Ira “Ben” Laningham IV se realizará el sábado 16 de julio desde las 8 a.m. con salida del Palacio de Justiciadel Condado de Zapata.

Habrá trofeos para ganadores en cada categoría. Cuota de participación 15 dólares, si se inscriben con anterioridad visitando active.com o 20 dólares el mismo día. Precio especial para estudiantes y niños.

COLUMNA

USDA

A zapatear un huapango

Apoyan áreas rurales afectadas por clima E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

El autor relata una anécdota del ex presidente de México Emilio Portes Gil según lo narró José Vasconcelos Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Emilio Portes Gil, desempeña el puesto de Presidente de México desde el 1 de diciembre de 1928 al 5 de febrero de 1930. Nativo del estado de Tamaulipas, acababa de retirarse de la gubernatura de ese estado en forma anticipada.

Tras relevarlo Plutarco Elías Calles, intenta Álvaro Obregón repetir en el cargo. Y aunque consigue reelegirse, antes de iniciar su nuevo periodo muere en violento ataque. Esto vuelve a Portes Gil residente de México, con rango de provisional. Sin embargo, convertido en “Jefe Máximo”, retiene el poder hasta 1934.

Aquella mañana, las funciones del cargo sorprenden a Portes Gil algo indispuesto. Con jaqueca, sediento e inapetente, padece espantosa cruda.

“El presidente gordo y menguado, ancho y oscuro –narra José Vasconcelos--, había llegado un poco tarde a su despacho de Palacio Nacional”. Según esto, cabía esperarse cierto retraso, pues “la noche anterior” ven al político tamaulipeco “en francachela”.

En pleno clímax, acontece que “entre copas y risotadas de ebrios y mujerzuelas”, piden al también líder fundador del Partido Socialista Fronterizo “bailar un huapango”, negándole cual-

quier margen para negativas o excusas. “A ver, ese presidente, que baile; que baile el presidente”, le exigen voces groseras en repetidas ocasiones.

No obstante, tiene “que ceder” por último. “Su figura adiposa y negra […] sin gracia” intenta “el zapateado” típico de Tamaulipas.

En la cara le corre el sudor, “de despecho, más que del esfuerzo” realizado.

Algunas horas después concurre “al despacho— presidencial como si nada indecoroso o molesto hubiera ocurrido. “El toque de honor de la guardia … le daba una impresión de incredulidad y timidez”.

Con esta incredulidad y timidez el protagonista del huapango se pregunta: “¿Sería verdad que él, el abogadillo de título improvisado, el lidercillo obrero de Tampico, el fiscal sin honra que Victoriano Huerta puso a dar fe de documentos falsos relacionados con el asesinato de Madero, estuviera ahora resolviendo en el Palacio de los Virreyes asuntos pertenecientes al orden público, en nombre de la Revolución?”

Vasconcelos omite la fecha del suceso y ni siquiera insinúa el año. Probablemente no presenció el evento, si bien como extitular Secretario de Educación Pública conservaba contactos en círculos oficiales. Los fragmentos provienen de “La flama”, libro póstumo del oaxaqueño, impreso en 1959.

Con autorización del autor, publicado en La Razón el 24 de junio.

COLLEGE STATION - La Directora Ejecutiva de la Agencia de Servicios de Granjas del Estado de Texas (FSA por sus siglas en inglés), dependientes del Departamento de Agricultura de EU (USDA por sus siglas en inglés), recuerda a los granjeros y ganaderos, a las familias y a los peque1os negocios afectados por las inundaciones, vientos y granzo en Texas que USDA tiene varios proogramas los cuales proporcionan asistencia antes, durante y después de los desastres. El personal de USDA en las oficinas regionales, estatales y en los condados se encuentran listos para proporcionar ayuda.

FSA administra muchos programas de red de seguridad para ayudar a los productores a crecuperarse de pérdidas elegibles, incluyendo el Progrma de Indemnización de Ganado, La Asistencia de Emergencia por Ganado, Abejas y el Programa de Granjas Piscícolas, Programa de Restauración Forestal de Emergencia (EFRP) y el Programa de Asistencia a Árboles. El Programa de Conservación de Emerencia proporciona financiamiento y asistencia técnica para granjeros y ganaderos para rehabilitar las tierras de labor dañadas por los desastres naturales.

Los productores ubicados en condados que han recibido la designación de desastre primario o contiguo son elegibles para préstamos de emergencia de bajo interés para ayudaros a recuperarse de pérdidas físicas y de producción.

La compensación también está disonible a los productoes que han comprado cobertura a través del Programa de Asistencia de Desastre de Cosechas no Aseguradas, la cual protege las cosechas no aseguradas de desastres naturales que resultan en una baja cosecha, pérdida de cosechas o que impiden plantar semillas. USDA exhorta a los granjeros y a los ganaderos para que contacten a su oficina local de FSA para que conozcan qué documentos pueden ayudar a que su oficina local expida la ayuda, como los registros de granja, recibos y fotografías de los daños o las pérdidas.

Los productores deben utilizar la forma FSA-576, Aviso de Pérdida, para reportar que no se puede plantar y los acres para establecer o retener la elegibilidad al programa de FSA. Los acres que no pueden ser plantados deben reportarse en no menos de 15 días calendarios después de la fecha de plantación final establecida por FSA y la Agencia de Manejo de Riesgo (RMA) de USDA. Los productores deben presentar una Aviso de Pérdida de cosechas incluyendo pastizales en un tiempo pertinente, a menudo dentro de los 15 días de la ocurrencia o cuando se vuelve aparente la pérdida.

Para información sobre los detalles y los requerimientos de elegibilidad con respecto a los programas de asistencia de desastres de USDA, contacte a su oficina local del Centro de Servicio de USDA o visite (http:// offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/ app).

A8 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Game of Thrones,’ ABC’s games dominate Sunday

Legend, Pitt among stars taking new power role: TV producer

By Lynn Elber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

By David Bauder A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — On an unusually busy summer night of television, viewers turned out Sunday for game shows, “Game of Thrones” and a BET awards show stuffed with tributes to the late Prince.

HBO drew a record audience of 8.9 million for the sixth season finale of the fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” besting the 8.1 million for the previous season-ender, the Nielsen company said Tuesday.

That’s usually only a fraction of the number of people who catch an episode once DVR playbacks, reruns and HBO Go viewings are added in. Viewership more than doubles, and gets close to tripling, with time-shifting taken into account, according to the research firm Samba TV. ABC may be growing as a family favorite by bunching remakes of classic game shows on Sunday. The first edition of its game night featured “The $100,000 Pyramid,” “Celebrity Family Feud” and “Match Game,” and each program landed among Nielsen’s 10 most-watched programs of the week.

Viacom’s decision to televise Sunday’s BET Awards across 12 of its networks, including Nickelodeon and MTV, may have saved the program from an embarrassing ratings story. The show was seen on Sunday by 7.2 million viewers, with 4.5 million watching on BET. Last year, when it was shown on BET and its Centric offshoot, the viewership was 6.3 million, Nielsen said.

The BET event had its share of memorable moments, from multiple performances of Prince numbers to Justin Timberlake attracting some Twitter hate for saying

on social media that he liked an attention-getting speech on black culture by actor Jesse Williams.

That attracted the notice of “senior black-skinned correspondent” Roy Wood Jr. on “The Daily Show,” who said Timberlake deserved credit.

“He was watching the BET Awards when every other white person was watching ‘Game of Thrones,”’ Wood said.

CBS narrowly won the week in prime time, averaging 4.64 million viewers. NBC had 4.59 million viewers, ABC had 4.46 million, Univision had 3 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 920,000.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, as it celebrated the news of having its best halfyear ratings in its 20-year history. Fox News averaged 1.93 million viewers last week, the Disney Channel had 1.73 million, HGTV had 1.54 million, USA had 1.53 million and Discovery had 1.46 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts for the fifth time in the past six weeks. It averaged 7.8 million viewers to the 7.7 million for NBC’s “Nightly News” and 6.4 million for the “CBS Evening News.”

For the week of June 20-26, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.73 million; “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 8.89 million; “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 8.09 million; “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 7.98 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.56 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 7.21 million; “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 7.05 million; “Match Game,” ABC, 6.64 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 6.58 million; “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 6.54 million.

LOS ANGELES — The actor’s classic mantra: “What I really want to do is direct.” The revised version: “I want to produce.”

More entertainers are getting the chance to play the role of producer as the expanding universe of cable channels and, especially, online platforms make for big opportunities on small screens.

With motivations ranging from passion projects to career advancement, stars — and even their journeymen counterparts — are getting into the game.

“Actors need to produce because they need to control material and be ahead of the business,” said Roy Ashton, the Gersh Agency’s head of TV. “With the Netflixes and Hulus and everything else, it’s really about owning content, controlling it and controlling your destiny.”

The flashiest examples remain theatrical releases from heavyweights such as Brad Pitt, who’s dabbled in TV but largely used his clout to help produce films including the Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” and “Selma.”

Pitt is making serious TV forays as a producer for the upcoming miniseries “Lewis and Clark” and the limited series “Feud.” Actress and film producer Reese Witherspoon (”Wild,” “Gone Girl”) is producing and starring in the announced limited series “Big Little Lies.”

While individual responsibilities vary depending on the project, a producer or production team’s tasks

Evan Agostini / AP file

In this Nov. 23, 2015 photo, actor Steve Carell attends the premiere of "The Big Short" in New York.

include obtaining financing and supervising casting, writing and the director who will guide filming.

Amid the crush of outlets and shows jockeying for viewers, a celebrity’s behind-thecamera involvement may be seen as a way to build a project’s buzz.

Actors who have a way with words can become sought-after producers, the result of TV’s traditional reliance on writer-showrunners in contrast to filmdom’s worship of directors.

Tina Fey (”Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) and Amy Poehler (”Broad City”) are among the examples.

“People like Amy and Tina are being given production deals by networks looking for these people to expand on their voice,” said Steve Carell, who wears a producer’s hat for “Angie Tribeca,” TBS’ police parody series.

Music star John Legend is an increasingly active producer with projects for TV (”Underground”) and the big

screen (filmmaker Cary Fukanaga’s in-development “The Black Count”).

He dismisses any notion he’s in it for the so-called vanity credit which, with a monetary bonus, can be a lure for some.

“People find out pretty quickly I don’t just do it to slap my name on things,” Legend said. “I care about the kinds of stories being told under my name, so I try to interact with writers and directors as much as possible.”

In 1919, Charlie Chaplin joined with director D.W. Griffith and other actors to found United Artists studio. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s Desilu Productions launched in TV’s early days with “I Love Lucy” eventually grew into a leading independent studio with credits including “Mission: Impossible” and original “Star Trek” series episodes.

Although today’s biggest names can’t ensure success — HBO reversed its decision to

renew the drama series “Vinyl” for a second season despite the involvement of producercreators Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese — “Survivor’s Remorse” is returning July 24 for its third season on Starz with Mike O’Malley, a veteran actor (”Glee,” “Yes, Dear”) and writer ("Shameless”), in charge as creator and executive producer.

O’Malley describes producing as a non-stop challenge.

“There are 100 to 200 people you have to deal with, you have to make sure all the scripts are done and written on time, and you’re in charge of the casting and the tone of the show,” he said. “You really have to be ready to be in charge, and if you don’t like it, you have to learn to like it.”

The talent — as the entertainment industry collectively labels performers — may produce to ensure their own juicy roles. But as performers themselves tell it, other motivations can be equally or more compelling.

The changing world of TV offers more opportunities for stories told by and about people of color and other minorities — especially notable given this year’s all-white slate of Oscar acting nominees.

“What’s great about television right now is there are so many different avenues for content.

It allows television to have real diversity,” Legend said.

“Any of us who have power should try to use that power to tell great stories that reflect what’s happening in the world and reflect the audience that’s out there,” he said.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 |

A9

BUSINESS

US stocks rebound as anxiety over British vote eases

By Alex Veiga ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Gilead Sciences, Inc. / AP

This photo provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc. shows the drug Epclusa.

FDA approves first pill to treat all forms of hepatitis C

By Matthew Perrone A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Federal health officials on Tuesday approved the first pill to treat all major forms of hepatitis C, the latest in a series of drug approvals that have reshaped treatment of the liver-destroying virus.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the combination pill, Epclusa, from Gilead Sciences for patients with and without liver damage.

The new drug’s broad indication could make it easier to use than five other hepatitis drugs recently approved by the FDA, which are each tailored to different viral strains or stages of liver disease.

Gilead’s previous two hepatitis drugs have raked in billions of dollars by replacing an older, less effective treatment that involved a grueling pilland-injection cocktail. But the company’s aggressive approach to pricing has drawn scorn from patient groups, insurers and politicians worldwide.

The company said Epclusa will cost $74,760 for a 12-week course of treatment, or roughly $890 per pill. That’s less than the initial price for company’s previous drug, Harvoni, which cost $1,125 per pill. Gilead’s first hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi, cost roughly $1,000 per pill, touching off a national debate about escalating drug costs.

Since 2014, the FDA has approved rival medications from AbbVie Inc., Merck & Co., and BristolMyers Squibb Co. that have helped curb prices.

Hepatitis C affects at least 2.7 million people in U.S. and caused more than 19,000 deaths in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. The virus develops slowly over decades and many people don’t realize they are infected until signs of liver damage emerge, including yellowish skin, dark urine and fatigue.

Some develop liver cancer or cirrhosis and require a liver transplant, but many die before a match is available. Baby boomers are five times more likely to have the virus than people in other age groups.

Gilead’s new pill combines Sovaldi with a new drug that attacks the virus using a different mechanism. The daily pill can treat all six genetic subtypes of the virus and cures 95 percent of patients in three months, according to clinical trial data reviewed by the FDA. The drug is designed to be used in combination with ribavirin, an older antiviral drug.

The most common side effects with Epclusa included headache and fatigue, according to the FDA. Although professional medical societies recommend Gilead drugs as first-line treatments for anyone with hepatitis C, a Senate investigation last year found that high costs resulted in less than 3 percent of the potentially eligible Medicaid beneficiaries getting treatment in 2014. Medicaid is the federal-state health program for low-income people.

In 2015, Harvoni was the top-selling prescription drug in the world with over $18 billion in global sales, according to IMS Health. Sovaldi ranked eighth, pulling in $6.6 billion in sales.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc., which is based in Foster City, California, rose $4.06, or 5.2 percent, to $82.31 on Tuesday.

U.S. stock indexes mounted a broad comeback Tuesday as investors set aside their anxiety over Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and snapped up shares following a two-day rout.

Encouraging data on the U.S. economy and housing market helped put traders in a buying mood. The broad rally followed even bigger gains in Europe, which also bounced back from the steep losses triggered

by Britain’s “leave” vote last Thursday.

Oil and gas companies led the rally as energy prices rose. Banks and other financial companies, which took the heaviest losses in the sell-off, also surged.

Health care, consumer and technology stocks also notched gains. Bond prices fell, sending yields

higher.

“We were due for a bounce heading into the morning; we had a couple of tough days there,” said Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “Investors are stepping up and seeing some areas that may have been oversold the past couple of days and redeploying some of their cash.”

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 269.48 points, or 1.6 percent, to 17,409.72. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 35.55 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,036.09.

The Nasdaq composite added 97.42 points, or 2.1 percent, to 4,691.87.

Despite the rebound, the three indexes remain on track to end June in the red. They’re also down for the year.

European benchmarks had an even better day than U.S. indexes. Brit-

ain’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 each gained 2.6 percent. Germany’s DAX added 1.9 percent.

The euro and the British pound recovered somewhat, though the pound remained near the 30-year lows it plunged to immediately following the British “leave” vote.

Uncertainty and anxiety over the economic fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union had roiled global financial markets since Friday and prompted ratings agencies to slash their top-shelf credit rating for the U.K. Investors appeared to shake off their some of their jitters Tuesday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron signaled he might not trigger a clause setting in motion the U.K.’s exit from the EU before October.

In the U.S., investors got a batch of encourag-

ing economic data to consider.

The Commerce Department raised its estimate of U.S. economic growth in the first three months of the year. Separately, a key gauge of home values showed U.S. home prices climbed in April, hitting record highs in several cities. In addition, the Conference Board said its measure of U.S. consumer confidence increased this month to the highest level since October.

“Obviously, the market isn’t very receptive to uncertainty, but in some ways this uncertainty is providing the possibility and the consideration that what happened in the U.K. isn’t necessarily reflective of, or an indicator of, a recession, especially here in the U.S. as well as globally,” said W. Janet Dougherty, a global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

Volkswagen settles emissionscheating cases for up to $15.3 billion

By Michael Biesecker, Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Volkswagen will spend up to $15.3 billion to settle consumer lawsuits and government allegations that it cheated on emissions tests in what lawyers are calling the largest auto-related class-action settlement in U.S. history.

Up to $10 billion will go to 475,000 VW or Audi diesel owners, who thought they were buying high-performance, environmentally friendly cars but later learned the vehicles’ emissions vastly exceeded U.S. pollution laws. VW agreed to either buy back or repair the vehicles, although it hasn’t yet developed a fix for the problem. Owners will also receive payments of $5,100 to $10,000.

The settlement also includes $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation and another $2 billion for research on zero-emissions vehicles. The German automaker also settled claims with 44 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico for about $603 million. It still faces billions more in fines and penalties as well as pos-

J. David Ake / AP

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, right, announces the settlement with Volkswagen during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, as EPA Administrator Gina McCarty listens at center.

sible criminal charges.

Volkswagen has admitted that the cars, equipped with 2-liter diesel engines, were programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn them off while on the road. Investigators determined that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans. The company got away with the scheme for seven years until independent researchers discovered the scheme and reported VW to the Environmental

Protection Agency.

“Using the power of the Clean Air Act, we’re getting VW’s polluting vehicles off the road and we’re reducing harmful pollution in our air — pollution that never should have been emitted in the first place,” said Gina McCarthy, administrator of EPA. “It should send a very clear message that when you break the laws designed to protect public health in this country, there are serious consequences.”

The settlement still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who has set a

hearing for preliminary approval on July 26. Final approval is expected in October.

If the settlement is approved, owners who choose to have VW buy back their cars would get the National Automobile Dealers Association clean trade-in value from before the scandal became public on Sept. 18, 2015.

That would be $12,500 to $44,000, depending on the model, age, mileage and options on their car, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Models covered by the settlement include the 2009-2015 Jetta and Audi A3, the 2010-2015 Golf, and the 2012-2015 Beetle and Passat, all with 2-liter diesel engines.

Owners can also have VW repair the cars for free — assuming it comes up with a fix. According to court documents filed Tuesday, there currently is no repair that can bring the cars into compliance with U.S. pollution regulations. When VW eventually proposes a repair, it must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. VW has to submit proposed fixes to the EPA by October 2017.

A10 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

EU leaders push Britain to leave amid post-vote turmoil

By Raf Casert and Lorne Cook A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

BRUSSELS — EU leaders pressed British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday for a quick and clear plan for Britain’s exit from their union, saying there’s no turning back from last week’s vote to leave despite worldwide uncertainty about the continent’s future.

As leader after leader rejected Cameron’s pleas for favorable conditions for Britain once it leaves, he frustrated them by refusing to initiate the divorce proceedings immediately. After what’s probably his last dinner with EU counterparts, Cameron insisted he would leave the departure negotiations to his successor, saying London needs time to formally trigger the start of negotiations “Everyone wants to see a clear model appear” for Britain’s future relations with the bloc, he said, adding that he “can’t put a time frame on that.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed suggestions that Cameron’s successor might not start the formal EU withdrawal process because of the financial turmoil prompted by the vote and wide confusion about how to extract a country from the EU. “I see no way to reverse it,” Merkel said after Tuesday’s meetings. She said this is not the time for “wishful thinking.”

EU Council President Donald Tusk said the bloc’s leaders want UK exit plans “to be specified as soon as possible.”

Earlier, he said “Europe is ready to start the di-

Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP

British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses the media during an EU summit in Brussels on Tuesday.

vorce process, even today.”

During the earlier meeting, Cameron sat at one end of the oval summit table in blue shirt sleeves, arguing for the best possible exit conditions for his island nation. Around the table, other EU leaders refused to negotiate, seemingly eager to kick Britain out as soon as possible to avoid further political and economic turmoil after the shock and emotion of the British vote to leave last week.

“We are not on Facebook, where things are complicated. We are married or divorced but not something in between,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel added.

Outside the Council room, markets were still in upheaval as they sought to recover from the unexpected exit vote, which will rob the EU of its biggest military power, its second economy and a diplomatic giant.

In a special session of the EU parliament hours earlier, there had been cries of campaign “lies” from legislators regretting the loss of Britain, and taunting by “leave”

campaigner Nigel Farage.

“You as a political project are in denial,” declared Farage, leader of the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party. “When I came here 17 years ago and said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well, you’re not laughing now, are you?”

When the traditional family photo of the leaders at the summit was taken, few were smiling.

Realizing the threat of a rift further tearing at the unity of a bloc of more than 500 million people, Tusk said he was planning a special meeting of the EU leaders in Slovakia in September to chart a way ahead. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to use “all her strength” to prevent the EU from drifting apart.

The leaders of Britain’s “leave” campaign hope the nation can still enjoy many perks of the EU internal market for business, while being able to deny EU citizens entry to the U.K. to address concerns about unlimited EU immigration.

The leaders of Germa-

ny and France, the bloc’s biggest economies, made clear that isn’t an option.

French President Francois Hollande said Britain will have to meet strict conditions if it wants to continue to be part of the single market.

Merkel said “Whoever wants to leave this family cannot expect to have no more obligations but to keep privileges.”

Unshackled from Britain, the other EU members need to plot a common way ahead. Yet differences between founding nations in the west and newer members in the east are increasingly tough to reconcile.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban railed against EU migration policies, which played a major role in the British referendum.

“If the EU cannot solve the migration situation, then the challenges we experienced now in the case of the United Kingdom will grow,” he said.

Central European nations led by Hungary refuse to accept the imposition of EU refugee quotas. Further north, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Denmark have all tightened border controls in response to the arrival of more than 1 million migrants last year. Their entry overwhelmed Greece and Italy.

First, though, the EU needs to get rid of Britain.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other European leaders insist they won’t begin any talks until Britain invokes the Article 50 of the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon, which sets in motion a two-year process to split from the group designed to unify Europe after the horrors of World War II.

Yemeni officials say Saudi-led airstrike has killed 25 people

By Ahmed Al-haj A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SANAA, Yemen — An airstrike early on Tuesday by a Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels in Yemen’s southern province of Taiz killed 25 people — 15 fighters and 10 civilians, security officials said.

The airstrike also wounded eight civilians, the officials said. Most of the victims were shoppers or storekeepers in the area that was hit, a commercial road that lies between two villages.

The Taiz attack came amid an uptick in coalition airstrikes Monday night and early Tuesday, the officials said, adding that the fighting also raged east of the capital, Sanaa. The

officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

Yemen’s conflict pits rebels known as Houthis and their allies against the internationally recognized government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition of mainly Arab states. The conflict has killed an estimated 9,000 people and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.

Meanwhile, senior military commander Maj. Gen. Farag al-Bohsony said the death toll from a series of attacks Monday night in the southern city of Mukalla rose to 48. He said the attacks, blamed on Yemen’s Islamic State affiliate, also wounded 30 people.

The attacks targeted intelligence offices, army barracks and checkpoints.

In one of the attacks, a bomb was concealed in a box of food brought to soldiers at a checkpoint to break their dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast. In another, a group of militants stormed a police station.

Al-Bohsony said the victims included two colonels and three civilians, one of them a child.

The violence came as the government and the Houthis were said to be planning to suspend talks on ending the conflict after failing to reach a breakthrough in two months of negotiations in Kuwait.

Two negotiators representing the Houthis and their allies, and one from

the government, said the two sides were drafting a joint statement to announce the talks’ suspension until mid-July.

The announcement came a day after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon visited Kuwait, where the two sides have been meeting since April, to encourage them to reach a peace deal.

He also called for the release of prisoners, including journalists and other political detainees, as a goodwill gesture ahead of the holiday.

The government has demanded the implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on the rebels to withdraw from all cities, including Sanaa.

Emrah Gurel / AP

People gather at the entrance to Istanbul's Ataturk airport, early Wednesday.

Suspected IS attack kills dozens at Istanbul’s airport

By Zeynep Bilginsoy, Suzan Fraser and Dominique Soguel ASSOCIATED PRE SS

ISTANBUL — Suspected Islamic State group extremists have hit the international terminal of Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, killing dozens of people and wounding many others, Turkish officials said Tuesday.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 31 people were killed in the attack while another senior government official told The Associated Press it could climb much higher.

The senior official at first said close to 50 people had already died, but later said that the figure was expected to rise to close to 50.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol, said as many as four militants may have been involved in the attack.

Turkey’s NTV television earlier quoted Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin as saying some 60 people were wounded.

Roads around the airport were sealed off for regular traffic after the attack and several ambulances could be seen driving back and forth. Hundreds of passengers were

flooding out of the airport and others were sitting on the grass, their bodies lit by the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles.

Twelve-year-old Hevin Zini had just arrived from Dusseldorf with her family and was in tears from the shock.

She told The Associated Press that there was blood on the ground and everything was blown up to bits.

South African Judy Favish, who spent two days in Istanbul as a layover on her way home from Dublin, had just checked in when she heard an explosion followed by gunfire and a loud bang.

She says she hid under the counter for some time.

Favish says passengers were ushered to a cafeteria at the basement level where they were kept for more than an hour before being allowed outside.

Another Turkish official said attackers detonated explosives at the entrance of the international terminal after police fired at them.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol, said the attackers blew themselves up before entering the x-ray security check.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 |

A11

FROM THE COVER DROWNED From page A1 Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. said the boy’s mother went after him but was overcome by shock.

His father then pulled the mother to safety and attempted to rescue his son. The strong waves and winds flipped the raft over, causing the family to lose sight of Noah, officials reported.

He was not wearing a life jacket.

Del Bosque said the raft drifted about 100 yards from the shoreline.

His body was recovered about 3 ½ miles from where he was last seen.

According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 70 percent of people who died in a boating accident would be alive if they had worn a life jacket.

PLEADS From page A1 allegedly exited, went inside the store and bought several drinks. She was also talking on the phone, states the criminal complaint filed June 6.

Benavides continued traveling north.

An agent alleged the vehicle was swerving and driving below the posted speed limit of 65 mph. Agents pulled over the vehicle about 6 miles north of Zapata, according to court documents.

Authorities discovered that Benavides had four passengers who did not have proper documentation to be in the country, records alleged. Benavides allegedly expected $450 per immigrant smuggled.

“Benavides admitted that she knows what she was doing is wrong but needed the money,” the complaint states.

SMUGGLING From page A1 documents.

Meanwhile, the Yukon drove north on U.S. 83. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper allegedly observed the Yukon committing several traffic violations.

The driver of the Yukon failed to yield when the trooper tried pulling the vehicle over, states a criminal complaint filed June 1.

The Yukon eventually stopped at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 2320 Bob Bullock Loop. Authorities identified the driver as Navarro. In a post-arrest interview, Navarro allegedly stated she was to be paid per immigrant successfully smuggled, according to court documents.

BORDER From page A1 be a crossing point for drug traffickers, human smugglers and other assorted contraband pushers seeking uninspected passage between Mexico and the United States.

For generations, the Escobars have made their uneasy peace with it. Tequila went north during Prohibition. Today, it’s mainly cocaine, pot and cheap labor.

Tomorrow, it may be something else.

“It’s mostly the disturbances at night, early hours in the morning, that’s when they do their stuff, waking you up because you hear these sounds or the dogs are constantly barking,” he says. “Wherever there is a border, there are problems.”

Escobar is standing only a few feet from the water as he says this, at the rear of his parked truck. He motions to the spot where the National Guard set up camp two years ago to help deal with a surge of immigrant crossings. Then he points down to the fresh tracks left almost daily by the U.S. Border Patrol or, increasingly, the Texas Department of Public Safety — flush with cash now from a state Legislature that promises to secure the border because Washington won’t.

Here, at this precise moment on this April day, Escobar believes all the ramped-up security has paid off. Lately, he says, things seem to have calmed down on the borderland piece of his 600-acre ranch.

“I haven’t seen any traffic here in the last two years or so,” he says. “The highway patrol and border patrol are out here constantly.”

Armed confrontation Escobar has a head full of stories about the unpredictable and sometimes startling nature of border living. Fully naked women have made the short swim from Mexico to his ranch.

Boats of every kind have ferried people north through here. In the southbound traffic, he’s seen everything from television sets to tractor parts.

Escobar has quit counting how many times traffickers have rushed through his ranch to-

Amnesty Int’l says Mexican women victims of sexual torture

By Christopher Sherman ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MEXICO CITY — Claudia Medina Tamariz was asleep in her home in the Gulf coast port of Veracruz with her husband when Mexican marines burst in and arrested them both in August 2012.

Blindfolded and handcuffed, Medina believes she was taken to a local navy base where her captors accused her of working with organized crime. Over a period of hours, she says, she was beaten, sexually assaulted, jolted with electric shocks and subjected to simulated drowning — two independent medical examinations found evidence consistent with her version.

She was forced to bathe in front of her captors.

Eventually Medina and others were paraded in front of television cameras along with weapons and drugs and slapped with a raft of organized crime charges. Later she discovered that the statement she gave, but was not shown before signing, had been altered into a confession in which the marines said they arrested Medina and her husband when they were caught driving a vehicle with weapons and drugs.

“The authorities when they exhibit you do it with the purpose of keeping you quiet as a woman,” Medina said Monday. “They know how to injure you as a woman.”

The human rights group Amnesty International says Medina’s experience is common among women arrested in Mexico. In a report released early Tuesday, the group said that in interviews with 100 incarcerated Mexican women, 72 reported sexual torture during

ward Mexico with the law in hot pursuit. The last time, they bailed out of a Suburban fully loaded with marijuana. It landed in the Rio Grande and sat there for a day, with only the roof protruding from the water, before authorities could pull it out with giant cranes. His gate was run over by the traffickers, and then re-run over by the cops.

“I stopped fixing gates. I stopped putting them up,” he says. “They ram into them.” He’s also told his county commissioners to quit fixing his road, to just leave it in a state of disrepair.

“I climb real slow,” he says, grinning mischievously. “But the smugglers, when they come through here, they come in doing 50 miles an hour and they’ll bust their axles, they’ll bust their wheels.”

It’s one of the only ways Escobar can fight back. He’s pretty realistic about that. He doesn’t like the smugglers and the dopers. He wishes they didn’t use his property like it was their personal harbor. He wishes he didn’t have to feel so violated, so ripped off every time he pays his taxes. But what are his options?

He tells the story of an armed confrontation on his ranch — one of two he can remember.

This one happened about two or three years ago, not long before the National Guard came and temporarily restored order. One night, his workers came to him and reported trouble down by the pump. They were trying to shut it off by 10 p.m. to meet state water-use regulations.

Two armed men told them to “forget it” — to leave and not come back that evening.

Escobar flashes a knowing look. He says one of the armed men told his workers, “get out of here, this is ours tonight.”

What were they to do? What about the pump? Escobar says he told his workers to just let it go until the diesel ran out. The next day his fields were covered in water, but everyone was still alive, and whatever operation the armed men had conducted was over and done with.

This is the dilemma Escobar fervently wants his interviewers to contemplate.

“What do you do? Do I run to the police and tell them, ‘Hey, go

Rebecca Blackwell / AP

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director for Amnesty International, speaks during a press conference presenting an Amnesty report on female survivors of sexual torture at the hands of Mexican authorities, in Mexico City, Tuesday.

their arrests. Ninety-seven had been beaten or received some kind of physical abuse. All 100 reported at least harassment or psychological abuse.

“What we see is that women are often targeted because of their gender, their bodies are often used in a certain way and targeted in a certain way, and we often see women from disadvantaged backgrounds are the ones that are the easiest targets for authorities,” said Madeleine Penman, a researcher with Amnesty International.

Amnesty International showed the report to the government Monday, but the Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press before the paper was released.

Penman said Amnesty International decided to focus a report on female survivors of sexual torture

catch them, they’re there?'”

Escobar asks. “They’re going to know who did it. They’re going to know who fingered them.”

Casting your lot with the bad guys doesn’t make much sense, either. Were he to agree to work with them — and he’s been asked plenty of times — the police would figure it out eventually. He’s got that speech down pat.

“You’ll get caught one of these days and then that’s it,” Escobar tells them. “I don’t want you to be telling the cops that I used to be in cahoots with you on this.”

He figures the system is working. No one in his family has ever been harmed despite years of living next to a patch of Mexico where mafia shootouts happen nightly and thousands have vanished without a trace.

He knows the code. It’s the code his ancestors used, and the one future Escobars will no doubt employ: “You just have to swallow your pride, sort of, and say, well you know what, just don’t bother us. Just leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone.”

Escobar admits it “may not sound too brave,” but who is going to come rescue him if he tattles?

Growing pensive, the rancher stops to let the words sink in.

He swats at the incessant gnats that also find the river a big draw.

“What do you do?” he asks again. “Yeah we curse them, but that’s about as far ...”

He doesn’t get to finish the sentence. He is interrupted by a sudden disturbance on the water: A shout. Movement.

Escobar turns his head and looks upriver.

“Mira,” he says, lapsing into the language he learned from his parents. “Look.”

‘We are not policemen’ There is a large inflatable raft behind Escobar now. It is filled with people and they’ve just made an illegal landing on the U.S. river bank — his river bank, as far as the property rolls are concerned — perhaps a football field away. Escobar, 72, finds himself walking briskly through the brush with a reporter and photographer from The Texas Tribune. And with every step, the idea that ramped-up “border security” is denting the flow of

because it had not received much attention. She said researchers would have liked to interview even more women, but Mexican authorities placed obstacles in their way.

Much of the abuse has been tied to Mexico’s war against drug cartels, with women often being swept up when authorities arrest men or are simply looking to show results to the public, the report said.

It said the sexual nature of the torture and the stigma makes it less likely women will speak out.

Medina, a mother of three children who had worked selling natural products, is free and isn’t one of the 100 women interviewed for the report. But she and the group said her experience mirrored those collected in the report.

When the marines turned Medina over to federal investigators, she initially did

illegal traffic here becomes more illusory.

The woods are thick in this direction, not like the clearing where the water pump sits. The immigrants seem to have been swallowed up in a thick grove of Carrizo cane, the tall, bamboolike reeds that thrive in shallow waters. But they can’t be far.

They didn’t just disappear.

The rancher stops and listens.

They are on the move now.

And as they rustle through the thick brambles and thorny mesquite trees, the crunching sound beneath their feet gives them away.

There are roughly 15 in all.

There are heading north, moving through the trees and brush as fast as they safely can. All appear to be adult men. One pulls his black shirt up to hide his face. Others don’t seem to notice, or maybe just don’t care, that they’re being watched.

There’s a flash of white — from a small plastic grocery bag one is carrying. Otherwise they all appear to be traveling with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the ball caps on their heads. They are gone in seconds.

Two of the men stay behind, though. And now both are standing 35 feet away from Escobar in a grassy clearing between the cane-choked riverbank and the woods where the immigrants just disappeared.

One of the men in the clearing is dressed in camouflage. The other is wearing a green shirt and cap that match the tropical vegetation. They have on life vests, and both are looking warily, uncertainly, at Escobar and his media friends. The rancher and his guests are looking just as warily back at them.

These are the coyotes — smugglers.

“Don’t take video,” the one in camouflage says to the owner of the property, not that ownership means anything in a moment like this.

Escobar responds in a conciliatory tone.

“We are not policemen,” he says in Spanish.

“Ah, good,” the smugglers answer. “Thank you.”

They visibly relax and take a few steps toward Escobar. They both look to be in their late teens or early 20s.

not tell about the torture. “I was scared, because they had threatened that if I talked about what had happened during those 36 hours they would find my children,” she said.

But the day after she was taken to a women’s prison, Medina told a judge that she had been tortured. Three days later the judge threw out the most serious organized crime charge.

After 23 days in prison, Medina was able to get bond and fight her case. All but one charge — weapons possession — were tossed out. She filed a complaint with Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission about her treatment and began speaking out, but to date the body has had not published a recommendation in the case.

A year and a half after her arrest, prosecutors issued a new arrest warrant for Medina listing all the old charges. She saw it as a clear threat and message to stay silent. After another year of challenges, a judge exonerated Medina of all charges.

Her husband remains imprisoned awaiting a judge’s ruling on his charges.

“I consider it already routine for military authorities,” Medina said of the use of torture and other abuse. “I have always said I feel like (torture) is like a cancer that is growing and growing and growing.”

Amnesty International’s report points out that Mexican lawmakers are debating new torture legislation and the Attorney General’s Office has created a special unit to investigate torture.

But of thousands of complaints of torture since 1991, only 15 have resulted in federal criminal convictions.

Escobar speaks again.

“They are just reporteros,” he says. Reporters. The word seems to give them reason to pause again and the one in camouflage repeats his demand, more politely this time, that the filming cease. And so it does.

With the cameras turned off and lowered, a brief conversation ensues. They want to know why they were being filmed.

Escobar explains that he is the subject of an upcoming news feature story. They don’t seem to understand.

“I’m the rancher here.”

“Oh, the one with the pump?” the lead smuggler says.

“Yes, the one with the pump.

They are here to do a story about me,” he responds.

Satisfied, they nod and start again toward the river. But before they disappear into the Carrizo cane, the camouflaged one can't resist the temptation to shape the narrative. He turns and says he wants Escobar and his friends to know that they’re moving Mexican workers through here, not drugs.

“It’s not the same thing. It’s people,” he says. “If it were drugs, we wouldn’t be talking to you.” Escobar promises to make that clear to the reporters, and the men turn and vanish into the thick reeds.

A smart plan “The one with the pump” makes his way back to the clearing, to the rear of the truck, where he stood when the raft landed on the river bank. Before the sun goes down, the Border Patrol and two DPS troopers show up, but the immigrants and their coyotes are nowhere to be seen by then. Escobar tells the Border Patrol agent, who says his name is Serge, that he welcomes any and all law enforcement onto his ranch.

The rancher is equally adamant that he won’t be doing any law enforcement himself — just like he told the smugglers in person less than an hour earlier.

It’s the code you follow around here if you want to stay alive.

“I’m not going to stand in their way and try to stop them,” he tells the agent.

Serge shakes his head back and forth.

“No,” he responds. “Smart plan.”

A12 | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES