The Zapata Times 6/6/2018

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28TH DISTRICT

Livestock session held in Zapata

MEXICO

TEAM STUDIES BONES TO ID THE DISAPPEARED

S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S

Congressman Henry Cuellar and the Farm Service Agency held Emergency Livestock Assistance Program informational sessions in Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata counties.

These sessions brought together ranchers, cattle owners, and members of the community to learn more about ELAP and how it can assist ranchers in combatting fever tick and keeping their livestock healthy.

These sessions were hosted by the office of Congressman Henry Cuellar in conjunction with FSA. ELAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions.

In Texas’ 28th District, ELAP will reimburse ranchers that reside in each of the four quarantined counties (Zapata, Hidalgo, Webb and Starr) for rounding cattle up to transport them to dipping treatment sites.

For years, Cuellar has helped secure millions of dollars for cattle health in areas like Starr, Hidalgo, Zapata and Webb counties in South Texas. In the fiscal year 2018 and 2019 appropriations bills, the congressman secured $96.5 million for cattle health, which included $6 million specifically for fever ticks.

Cuellar said, “Our cattle producers contribute greatly to the economy and way of life in South Texas.

They deserve our assistance in the face of threats to their vitality. The FSA Emergency Live Stock AssisCuellar continues on A8

Marco Ugarte / AP

In this March 23, 2018 photo, an Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team expert notes data at a lab in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, collected from recovered bone fragments of victims who were dissolved or burned in drums. Selected fragments are sent to the team's laboratory in Argentina and hoped to be used as trial evidence.

The bodies of the victims were dissolved or burned in drums

By Maria Verza ASSOCIATED PRE SS

BORDER PATROL

Rescues on the rise in Laredo Sector S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S

Over a recent six-day period, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 23 undocumented immigrants in 11 separate events.

The rescues were conducted by the Freer, Hebbronville, Laredo North, Laredo West, and Zapata Border Patrol stations with assistance from the Laredo Sector Border Patrol Special Operations Detachment and National Guard air support. Of all the individuals rescued, two were found in serious condition and required hospitalization.

“These events illustrate how the men and women of the United States Border Patrol not only serve to protect our borders, but are also committed to the preservation of life and assist anyone in need,” said Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel H. Acosta.

The Laredo Sector Border Patrol will continue to warn against the dangers of people crossing illegally into the United States through dangerous environmental conditions.

The Border Safety Initiative (BSI) is a humanitarian, bi-national strategy designed to reduce deaths, educate and inform potential immigrants of the dangers and hazards of crossing the border illegally, and to respond to those who are in life-threatening situations.

CIUDAD CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico — A pair of rubbergloved hands carefully separates the red "Evidence" tape from a paper bag and empties the contents onto a table. Hundreds of burnt bone fragments spill out.

The fragments look like bits of volcanic pumice. Yet for the hands that gently smooth them out over the table top, each one bears a name and holds a piece of a story that nobody knows, but that someone, somewhere is desperate to hear.

The fragments laid out by

investigators for the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team are among the remains of tens of thousands of people who have simply disappeared in Mexico's long and bloody drug war. These particular bones come from one of three isolated ranches in the city of Cuauhtemoc in the northern border state of Chihuahua, where bodies of victims were dissolved or burned in drums. Nearby stand boxes and bags of other evidence bearing the names of the places and conditions in which they were found, such as "Dolores Ranch" and "(Bone) Fragments stained with diesel."

As President Enrique Pena Nieto prepares to leave office later this year, another administration has come and gone with little progress in solving one of Mexico's biggest problems: the disappeared. Distrust of Mexican authorities runs deep, and many families see the Argentine experts as the only ones to offer any answers to suffering that has stretched on for a decade or more.

In January, Mexico passed a "very important" law that introduces good methods for conducting searches and classifying crimes, said Ariel Dulitzky, director of the Human Rights Clinic at the

University of Texas at Austin. But the law still needs funding and political will for enforcement, and it will only work together with a crackdown on corruption, he said.

Meanwhile, the disappearances continue: 21,286 during this administration so far since Dec. 1, 2012.

Cuauhtemoc, a rural hub that marks the entrance to the imposing Sierra Tarahumara mountains, has only 170,000 people, but is nicknamed "the capital of the disappeared" for its relatively high rate of abductions. The local state prosecutor's office has listed 676 disappearance cases in the region since 2008, and 395 are missing just within the city.

One of the largest cases is of the Munoz family, where eight people disappeared Bones continues on A10

ELECTION

For Mexican presidential hopeful 'AMLO,' 3rd time a charm?

By Mark Stevenson ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MEXICO CITY — While financial markets fret about left-leaning candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the man himself is calmly cruising toward what polls say is a likely victory in Mexico's July 1 presidential election, seemingly impervious to attacks — and without the angry tone that marked his previous two runs for the top job.

The graying, slow-spoken Lopez Obrador, known to devotees and detractors alike as AMLO, lights up when he

tells supporters at campaign rallies that they are about to make history.

"This is going to be a peaceful, orderly change, but at the same time, it will be radical," Lopez Obrador said recently, drawing cheers and cries of "Presidente! Presidente!" from a crowd in the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende.

Markets wonder whether a President Lopez Obrador would cause the Mexican peso to tank — experts say probably not — or reverse the openings to private oil compaAMLO continues on A3

Anthony Vazquez / AP

Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in Mexico City, Sunday, June 3, 2018.

In Brief A2 | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

MONDAY, JUNE 4

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

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

Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in English. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Westcare Foundation, 1616 Callaghan St. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/or depression to participate in free and confidential support group meetings. Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014

TUESDAY, JUNE 5 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group Meeting. 7 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1700 East Saunders, Tower B, 1st floor. The meeting is open to persons who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as family, friends and caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease patients. For more information, call Melissa Guerra at 956-693-9991 or Laredo Medical Center at 796-3223.

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

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

Luis Soto / AP

A youth cries over the coffin of Nery Otoniel Gomez Rivas, 17, whose body was pulled from the volcanic ash during the eruption of the Volcan de Fuego.

VOLCANO'S DEATH TOLL RISES TO 69 EL RODEO, Guatemala — People of the villages skirting Guatemala's Volcano of Fire have begun mourning the few dead who could be identified after an eruption killed dozens by engulfing them in floods of searing ash and mud.

Mourners cried over caskets lined up in a row in the main park of San Juan Alotenango on Monday evening before rescuers stopped their work for another night.

There was no electricity in the hardest hit areas of Los Lotes and El Rodeo, so

most searching continued only until sunset. As dawn broke Tuesday, the volcano continued to rattle, with what the country's volcanology institute said were eight to 10 moderate eruptions per hour — vastly less intense than Sunday's big blasts.

Guatemalan authorities put the death toll at 69, but officials said just 17 had been identified so far because the intense heat of the volcanic debris flows left most bodies unrecognizable.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

MONDAY, JUNE 18 Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in Spanish. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Holding Institute, 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom #1. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/ or depression to participate in free and confidential support group meetings. Contact information: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014.

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

Tower B, 1st floor. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – English.

6-7:30 p.m. This class gives mothers-to-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, full-term baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 Domestic Violence Coalition Meeting. 12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders.

Tower B, 1st floor. The Webb County Domestic Violence Coalition holds its monthly meeting. The luncheon is open to those interested in learning more about resources available to help victims and their children who find themselves in dangerous situations. For more information, call Sister Rosemary Welsh at 956718-6810.

Submit calendar items by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location, purpose and contact information for a representative.

Items will run as space is available.

2 killed in fall in Yosemite park were elite climbers YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — The two men who fell to their deaths while climbing El Capitan at Yosemite National park over the weekend were elite climbers who partnered on routes since their college days in San Diego, family and friends said.

Jason Wells, 45, and Tim Klein, 42, were about 1,000 feet (300 meters) up the so-called

Freeblast Route when they fell on Saturday, the National Park Service said.

Brady Robinson, a fellow climber and close friend of Wells, said that the pair last month scaled two El Capitan routes in one weekend. Each climb usually takes skilled climbers several days to complete, Robinson told the Washington Post in a story published Monday.

The two were "simul-climbing," a technique in which both climbers are attached by a rope and move at the same time to

go climb faster, he said.

Robinson, who is the executive director of the Access Fund, an organization that works to protect climbing access, said the pair had invited a third climber to join them on the ascent of the 3,000-foot (914-meter) granite formation and were not going as fast as they could have. "They were not pushing the envelope," Robinson said. Their friend, identified by Robinson as Kevin Prince, made his climb clipped to a separate rope and anchor.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION Students to make bus tour to register young voters PARKLAND, Fla. — A day after graduating, a group of Florida high school shooting survivors announced they'll spend their summer crisscrossing the country, expanding their grass-roots activism from rallies and schools walkouts to registering young voters to help accomplish their vision for stricter gun laws.

David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin and about two dozen other students who have become the faces and voices of bloodshed in American classrooms stood together Monday in matching black "Road to Change" T-shirts, holding placards at a park just down the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 were killed on Valentine's Day. In the months since the

Wilfredo Lee / AP

Cameron Kasky, center, speaks during a news conference Monday in Parkland, Fla.

shooting, the students have rallied hundreds of thousands across the country to march for gun reform.

But the young activists say rallies won't matter unless that energy is funneled into voting out lawmakers beholden to the National Rifle Association this November.

"This generation is the gen-

eration of students you will be reading about next in the textbooks. ... These are students who are changing the game," Kasky said. "It's not just my friends and I from Stoneman Douglas High School. We are part of something so much greater.”

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE STATE Senator refused entry to facility holding migrants' kids A U.S. senator said Monday he tried to enter a federal facility in Texas where immigrant children are being held, but police were called and he was told to leave.

The attempt late Sunday by Sen Jeff Merkley of Oregon came amid a national debate

over the practice of separating families caught crossing the border illegally.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced a "zero-tolerance policy" against all people crossing the border illegally. More children are expected to be separated from their parents as a result.

"The administration has started ripping these children out of the arms of their parents," Merkley said in a telephone interview. "That is completely outside the soul of our

Today is Wednesday, June 6, the 157th day of 2018. There are 208 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On June 6, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, 25 1/2 hours after he was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.

On this date: In 1523, Gustav Vasa became Sweden's new king, Gustav I. In 1654, Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated; she was succeeded by her cousin, Charles X Gustav.

In 1799, American politician and orator Patrick Henry died at Red Hill Plantation in Virginia.

In 1809, Sweden adopted a new constitution.

In 1918, U.S. Marines suffered heavy casualties as they launched their eventually successful counteroffensive against German troops in the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood in France.

In 1925, Walter Percy Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corp.

In 1933, the first drive-in movie theater was opened by Richard Hollingshead in Camden County, New Jersey. (The movie shown was "Wives Beware," starring Adolphe Menjou.)

In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on "D-Day" as they began the liberation of Germanoccupied Western Europe.

In 1966, black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.

In 1978, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, a primary ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes.

In 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to drive Palestine Liberation Organization fighters out of the country. (The Israelis withdrew in June 1985.)

In 1994, President Bill Clinton joined leaders from America's World War II allies to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. A China Northwest Airlines passenger jet crashed near Xian (SHEE'-ahn), killing all 160 people on board.

Ten years ago: The Dow industrial average dropped 394.64 points to 12,209.81, its worst loss in more than a year. Crude futures soared nearly $11 for the day to $138.54 a barrel. Actor Bob Anderson, who played young George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life," died in Palm Springs, California, at age 75.

Five years ago: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper moved to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of secret surveillance programs involving phone and Internet records, declassifying key details about one of the programs while insisting the efforts were legal, limited in scope and necessary to detect terrorist threats. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila Putina, announced they were divorcing after nearly 30 years of marriage. Esther Williams, 91, the swimming champion turned actress, died in Los Angeles. Longtime soap opera actress Maxine Stuart, 94, died in Beverly Hills, California.

One year ago: Bill Cosby's chief accuser, Andrea Constand, took the stand at his sexual assault trial to tell her story publicly for the first time, saying the comedian groped her after giving her three blue pills that left her paralyzed and helpless. (The jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, but Cosby was convicted in a second trial.) George and Amal Clooney welcomed twins Ella and Alexander.

Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, 81, once one of the world's richest men who was implicated in the Iran-Contra affair, died in London.

Scooter Gennett hit four home runs, matching the major league record, as the Cincinnati Reds routed the St. Louis Cardinals 13-1.

Today's Birthdays: Singer-songwriter Gary "U.S." Bonds is 79. Country singer Joe Stampley is 75. Jazz musician Monty Alexander is 74. Actor Robert Englund is 71. Folk singer Holly Near is 69. Singer Dwight Twilley is 67. Comedian Sandra Bernhard is 63.

International Tennis Hall of Famer Bjorn Borg is 62. Record producer Jimmy Jam is 59. Rock musician Steve Vai is 58. Rock singer-musician Tom Araya (Slayer) is 57. Actor Jason Isaacs is 55. Actor Anthony Starke is 55. Rock musician Sean Yseult (White Zombie) is 52. Actor Paul Giamatti is 51. Rhythm and blues singer Damion Hall (Guy) is 50. Country singer Lisa Brokop is 45. Actress Sonya Walger is 44. Actress Staci Keanan is 43. Actress Amber Borycki is 35.

Thought for Today: "To win without risk is to triumph without glory." — Pierre Corneille (KOHR'-nay-uh), French dramatist (born this date in 1606, died 1684).

CONTACT US nation, where virtually all of us have family history, in one branch or another, where somebody fled persecution to come to the U.S." Merkley said he was able to enter another facility used for processing migrants and run by the Department of Homeland Security. He said he saw men, women and children crowded in cages.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 |

A3

FROM THE COVER AMLO From page A1 nies — Lopez Obrador says he probably won't.

But it's hard to judge things based on his policy platforms, because they are prone to change, often seemingly overnight.

That distaste for policy details, along with Lopez Obrador's penchant for playing to his base and making big promises while keeping his own advisers guessing as to what he really means, has drawn parallels to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Analysts say both men view truculence and obstinacy as political virtues and as such could probably understand one another, though Trump once referred obliquely to some Mexican candidates as "not that good" in an apparent nod at Lopez Obrador.

"I think that both share a sense of popu-

lism," political scientist Jesus Silva-Herzog said.

"I think they both belong to this historic moment of the rise of populist politicians who are ... uninterested in the details of public policy."

But where the Trump brand is associated with brass name plates and glitz, Lopez Obrador's is endowed with a deep sense of history and destiny after a dozen years on the outside as a perennial opposition candidate.

After serving as Mexico City mayor in 2000-2005, he returned to his roots as the irreverent, man-ofthe-people rally leader that he was from 1988 to 2000 in the oil fields of his home state, the Gulf coast swamps of Tabasco.

Lopez Obrador, 64, sees his movement as changing the history of Mexico, touts himself as a savior of the poor and argues that corruption is the country's biggest problem. Beyond that,

policies come and go.

After losing to conservative Felipe Calderon by a razor-thin margin of just 0.56 percent in 2006, and coming in second again in 2012 behind current President Enrique Pena Nieto, this time around that formula may be enough to win.

His two main rivals, Ricardo Anaya and Jose Antonio Meade, are champions of the technocrats, the kind of market-oriented policy wonks who have run Mexico since at least 1982.

But the growth and economic stability they promised hasn't emerged, and violence has skyrocketed.

Fed up with those and other domestic ills such as corruption, the Mexican electorate is ripe for change, and Lopez Obrador has a way of explaining his vision for change with striking clarity and simplicity.

He likes to draw a

parallel to one of the most important transformations in Mexican history: Generations of dying Roman Catholics had willed their lands and fortunes to the church, tying up much of Mexico's wealth for perpetuity and strangling the economy. Then President Benito Juarez expropriated much of the church's holdings. Now, Lopez Obrador says, he wants to free up the economy by reducing the influence well-connected business magnates hold over the federal government.

"Just as Juarez separated the church and the state, so will I separate economic power from political power," he told a crowd in Mexico City recently.

Lopez Obrador's connection with his followers is deeply personal — something that has eluded Meade of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party and Anaya,

who heads a left-right coalition The other main contenders have campaigned in part on dire warnings about a Lopez Obrador presidency, and Anaya has tried to project the image of an optimistic and modern tech CEO a la the late Steve Jobs.

With his rumpled appearance and distinctive regional accent — think Bernie Sanders south — Lopez Obrador inspires those tired of slick, wellheeled politicians.

Javier Quijano, a lawyer who represented Lopez Obrador when then President Vicente Fox tried to prevent him from running in 2006, described Lopez Obrador as a "supremely frugal" man who often met him for breakfast or lunch at the candidate's tatty, middle-class apartment on Mexico City's south side.

"It was very humble, very simple, and he was

always attentive and wellmannered to people who work for him," Quijano recalled. "Just the very fact that an honest man with rectitude would win the presidency, that is enormous progress."

Lopez Obrador promises to regenerate the millions of small farms whose main output over the last 25 years has been a steady stream of migrants to Mexico's big cities and the United States. He would also need to reverse a severe decline in Mexico's oil industry, with the country now importing most of its gasoline from the U.S. Supporters say he is at least challenging what he considers a cruel neoliberal order that keeps Mexico down.

"You feel it at every rally, that on July 2 we are going to be celebrating.

You feel people are overflowing with emotion," AMLO continues on A8

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

A4 | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COMMENTARY

OTHER VIEWS

What happened to Roseanne, Kaepernick has zero to do with First Amendment rights

By Karin Klein TH E SACRAME NT O BE E

This era of political discontent has seemingly made us all experts on the First Amendment and freedom of speech.

Or at least, there’s a lot of complaining about one news event or another that provokes widespread sentiments that our constitutional right to express ourselves is being trampled from the left and the right, whether it involves Roseanne Barr’s unwillingness to control her behavior, or the NFL’s rules on taking a knee.

Occasionally, those complaints are valid.

There are legitimate concerns, for example, about the ability of conservatives to speak at public college and university campuses.

But the First Amendment has become a colorful flag to wave at all sorts of opportune moments. "So much for our First Amendment rights," people grumble on social media and the comments sections of news stories every time they don’t like the consequences that people faced for expressing themselves.

Clearly, we need to do a better job of teaching civics throughout the years of public school.

Freedom of speech doesn’t mean what most people obviously think.

A person is banned from Twitter for abusive tweets and suddenly the Bill of Rights is in deep trouble.

That’s what people claimed two years ago, when ultraconservative agitator Milo Yiannopoulos was thrown off Twitter for an abusive, racist campaign targeting comedian Leslie Jones. And nobody was complaining louder than Yiannopoulos himself. No surprise there.

"Some people are going to find this perfectly acceptable," he told the New York Times. "Anyone who believes in free speech or is a conservative certainly will not."

So mark him as yet another person who doesn’t get it. Yiannopoulos never had an inherent right to use Twitter to say whatever he wanted.

Free speech as defined by the U.S. Constitution covers only the relationship between the people and their government: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The wording invokes restrictions only on Congress, which has been read broadly by the courts to mean government in general. Twitter is a private enterprise and also one that has several stipulations to which people must agree in order to join, though there are probably about three people worldwide who actually read those agreements instead of just clicking the box next to the words "I agree."

Yiannopoulos’ right to free speech was com-

pletely intact. As far as the government was concerned, as long as he didn’t represent a threat of government overthrow or immediate danger to others, he was within his rights to act as foully as he chose - or generally chooses.

Twitter, however, owed him nothing. Nor any of the other people it has suspended or banned for abusive behavior during the past couple of years.

Two more recent events illustrate that the misunderstanding of free speech comes from both the right and the left: The NFL decision to essentially ban players from taking the knee during the national anthem, on penalty of being fined, and Roseanne Barr’s show being canceled because of an ugly, racist Twitter rant.

"This is a First Amendment issue," liberals darkly stated on social media about the NFL decision. "What happened to free speech?" cried conservatives about Barr.

But the NFL decision was, at least as far as we publicly know, a decision by a private organization.

It has the right to set rules for its teams and players, even if the rules stink. There are mutterings that the rule is a result of political pressure from the White House or its allies, but if that’s true, it’s the NFL’s job to stick up for its players - if it chooses to do so - and stand for its First Amendment rights.

If there was such pressure, and if the NFL had rejected it and stood up for its players, the government could not have stopped it. If there was government retaliation against the NFL, there would certainly have been a case for a violation of the First Amendment. But we’re many steps away from that.

Similarly, Barr is free to continue her indecent mouthiness. If she keeps doing it on Twitter, she might find herself shut off from her easy access to the public, but Barr was good at fomenting outrage over one mindless thing or another, long before Twitter existed, and she’s unlikely to stop now. The government won’t interfere with her, but ABC is a private entity that doesn’t have to go along.

Have people seriously thought that they had an absolute right to free speech without repercussions from the private sector? If they work for a widget company, though those have probably all been outsourced to a developing nation by now, they’d be ill-advised to start making public statements deriding the company’s widgets as inferior junk.

We give up our rights to free speech on a frequent basis. Non-disparagement clauses in contracts are common.

People who settle lawsuits out of court frequently sign non-disclosure agreements. Public lawsuits, but a private agreements.

We’re having enough trouble with the First Amendment these days without misunderstanding what it is in the first place.

COLUMN

Better Business Bureau gives tips to keeping kids safe this summer

By Miguel Segura SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

Summer is here and kids now have some extra time on their hands. This may mean hanging at home, surfing social media and maybe looking for a summer job. Regardless of your child’s age, there are scammers out there looking for an opportunity. The more we know about these scams, the better we can protect our families and ourselves.

Better Business Bureau serving the Heart of Texas wants to provide parents and children some tips to keep you safe from these popular schemes

that target our younger generation.

Social Media Don’t overshare. Also, think twice before sharing your plans away from home, or information that makes you vulnerable, as scammers and thieves could take advantage of you.

Door-To-Door Sales Don’t answer the door.

However, if you do answer the door, do not invite unsolicited salespeople into your home.

Ask for identification before you open the door.

If you do allow a salesperson inside and decide during the presentation that you are not interested

in making a purchase, simply ask him or her to leave. If the salesperson refuses to leave, threaten to call the police, and follow through if they don’t leave immediately.

Scam Calls Don’t answer. If you don’t recognize the number, don’t answer it. If it’s important, that person will leave a message. If you do answer, avoid giving out any personal information.

Summer Job Scams Be wary of the “perfect” offer.

Job seekers should be cautious of any posting advertising extremely high pay for short hours

or minimal required experience.

REMEMBER: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Student Loan Scam Only scammers promise fast loan forgiveness.

Before they know your situation, scammers might say they can quickly get rid of your loans through a loan forgiveness program. But they can’t.

Go directly to Department of Education’s website to learn about any repayment plans.

Segura is the regional director of the Better Business Bureau.

EDITORIAL

State ed board, call the Mexican-American studies course what it is and get it in schools ASAP THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Here’s the good news: The State Board of Education is making some headway on approving a long-sought MexicanAmerican studies course in Texas. It’s past time public school students, the majority of whom are Latino, learn more about their culture and history in this country.

That’s why it’s such a shame that a board member has picked a petty fight over what the course should be called, threatening to again derail progress and good will over an issue that’s been years in the making.

At least four years of stumbling and false starts finally culminated in preliminary approval of standards for the elective course in April. But not before conservative board member David Bradley came up with a last-minute amendment to name it "Ethnic Stud-

ies: An Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent" instead of Mexican-American studies.

Bradley says he doesn’t believe in "hyphenated Americanism" and finds it divisive. Would he also frown on how AfricanAmericans, Asian-Americans and other Americans identify themselves?

This board should be working to provide coursework that’s most beneficial to its students not carrying out individual personal preferences.

Advocates say the "Mexican-American studies" name is important to affirm the students’ identity and pay tribute to their ancestry.

It’s the last-minute name change that’s caused the division, they say.

Now, what should have been a celebration has turned into another confrontation. Protesters announced recently

they’ll be in Austin for an additional June 12 board vote to call for changing the name back.

A series of approvals is required before final adoption this fall. We encourage the board to drop opposition to the phrase "Mexican-American" and work to ensure there will be no delay.

Given the process, the earliest the course could be in schools is the 201920 school year.

There is no reason to wait any longer than that. We’ve had too many roadblocks already to getting this course underway.

In 2014, the board voted against a proposal to create the MexicanAmerican studies course.

It instead OK’d a measure to for the state to bid on textbooks and instructional materials for ethnic studies courses. Bradley voted against the textbook measure,

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

too, saying encouraging such courses would spur division among communities.

And no one wants a repeat of the 2016 mess over a controversial textbook the board was considering that was roundly criticized for promoting stereotypes of Mexicans as inferior.

This shouldn’t be this hard.

Some districts such as Houston and Fort Worth have built their own courses. But a standardized curriculum is critical to getting this coursework right across the state. And smaller districts can’t afford to go it alone.

We urge state board members not to lose the momentum to create this course. Call this Mexican-American studies course what it is and let’s not delay this effort to offer it to Texas students any longer.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 |

A5

NATIONAL Decision that allowed teen to obtain abortion thrown out

By Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow WA S H INGT ON P O ST

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a lower court’s decision that allowed an undocumented immigrant teenager to obtain an abortion over the protests of the Trump administration.

The action, which came in an unsigned opinion without noted dissents, wipes out the lower court’s ruling as precedent.

But attorneys for the teen said it does not immediately affect a court order in place that temporarily allows undocumented girls in federal custody to get abortions as a broader challenge to administration policy makes its way through the courts.

The case centers on a Central American teenager, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, who was being held in a government-funded shelter last fall. She had been seeking an abortion since learning, shortly after she crossed the border, that she was pregnant. But the administration said it would not “facilitate” abortions for undocumented minors in federal custody.

The five-page order issued Monday directs the lower courts to dismiss as moot the teen’s individual claim seeking access to abortion services. The girl was able to terminate her pregnancy before the high court got involved. She has since turned 18 and is no longer in federal custody.

The short, unsigned opinion obscured what

was likely a divisive behind-the-scenes disagreement. The court began to consider the Trump administration’s request in January, and it was continually rescheduled for the justices’ private conferences. In the end, the justices put aside what might have been dueling opinions for a more anodyne statement that drew no noted dissents.

The girl’s attorney, Brigitte Amiri of the American Civil Liberties Union, described the Monday ruling as narrow.

She said it does not affect the broader challenge to the government’s policy for pregnant teens in federal immigration custody that is pending in district court in Washington.

Moreover, a nationwide order issued by the judge in that case preventing the government from blocking

access to abortion services remains in effect. The administration has appealed the injunction.

“Now we can focus on going forward and continue to do everything we can to strike the policy down once and for all,” Amiri said.

Administration officials said in a statement Monday that the high court has repeatedly made clear “the federal government is

not obligated to help a minor get an abortion and may choose policies favoring life over abortion.”

“We look forward to continuing to press the government’s interest in the sanctity of life,” officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.

In its order, the Supreme Court did not agree

with a separate request by the Trump administration askingthat ACLU lawyers who represented the girl be disciplined for their actions in the case.

Justice Department lawyers accused the ACLU of reneging on a deal that would have given them time to appeal a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that allowed the abortion.

Frontera A6 | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

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

CONSULADO MÓVIL 1 El Consulado General de México en Laredo invita a la comunidad de Zapata y zonas cercanas para que acudan al Consulado Móvil que se llevará a cabo el 16 de junio en las instalaciones del centro Zapata County Technical and Advance Education Center, de 8 a.m. a 2 p.m. Se brindarán servicios de expedición de matrícula consular y pasaportes, así como expedición de copias certificadas de actas de nacimiento para personas que hayan sido registradas en México. Para hacer cita y para solicitar requisitos, pueden comunicarse a MEXITEL al 1-877-6394835 ó visitar el sitio oficial de MEXITEL ARCHERY 101 1 Aprenda los principios de tiro al blanco en el Parque Estatal Falcon el 9 de junio de 9 a.m. a 11:30 p.m.

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

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

AVIARIO 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero.

Mayores informes al 956-849-1411

LAREDO MEDICAL CENTER

Llegan médicos LMC anuncia su primer programa de residencias médicas Por Joana Santillana TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

El salón de conferencias de Laredo Medical Center se encontraba lleno de doctores, profesionales médicos y ejecutivos del hospital celebrando el anuncio oficial del primer programa de residencias médicas de la ciudad, el lunes por la tarde.

Un proyecto que tenía más de dos años y medio en construcción, de acuerdo con el CEO de LMC Enrique Gallegos, el programa de residencias en medicina familiar y medicina interna comenzará el 1 de julio.

Un total de 16 residentes, 10 hombres y seis mujeres, llegarán a LMC, un lugar al que llamarán casa por los siguientes tres años, la duración del programa. Ellos son médicos que ya se graduaron de la escuela de

medicina y ahora se estarán entrenando para convertirse en internistas, médicos familiares, u otra especialidad.

Los programas se finalizaron con la ayuda de la Facultad de Medicina Osteopática de la Universidad Incarnate Word. El programa está acreditado por la Asociación Americana de Osteopatía y el Colegio Americano de Educación de Posgrados Médicos.

Los dos programas de residencias son logros increíbles para LMC y la comunidad en general, dijo Gallegos.

“Estamos muy orgullosos y muy emocionados de ser el primer sitio de enseñanza para estos programas”, dijo Gallegos. “Para el hospital, trae una dimensión académica a nuestra institución, en la cual estaremos entrenando a las nuevas generaciones de doctores”.

“Creo que tener y propiciar ese tipo de intercambio colegial en el que residentes y otros doctores pueden interactuar de manera diaria tiene muchos beneficios en términos de cómo realizamos cuidados en esta institución para asegurar de mantenernos al corriente de los últimos descubrimientos en el cuidado de la salud y medicina”.

En Laredo faltan muchas especialidades, pero particularmente el cuidado primario. Gallegos dijo que el hospital conduce un análisis de oferta y demanda cada año. El año pasado, los resultados mostraron un déficit de 45 doctores en medicina familiar y 73 internistas, basándose en el tamaño de la población de la ciudad.

“Conforme la comunidad continúa creciendo, necesitamos mantener el paso con el crecimiento

poblacional y tener doctores adicionales y personas del cuidado de la salud para nuestra población”, dijo él.

Estas residencias también ayudarán a traer a nuevos doctores al área que esperemos hagan de Laredo su residencia permanente y practiquen aquí.

De acuerdo con Gallegos, estos nuevos residentes tendrán un efecto domino que dejará un impacto económico positivo en Laredo.

Estos individuos estarán reubicándose en la comunidad, donde posiblemente compren casas, renten departamentos, coman fuera en restaurantes locales y paguen impuestos— mejorando la economía local.

Dr. Enrique Martinez, jefe de medicina de LMC, dijo que la idea es eventualmente tener 48 residentes al año trabajando en LMC.

Los dos programas de residencias ofrecidos, medicina interna y medicina familiar, son campos del cuidado general primario. Los doctores de medicina familiar tratan a adultos, menores y mujeres y los doctores internistas realizan principalmente cuidados primarios para adultos, dijo Martinez. Él agregó que, aunque estudiantes de Laredo y el Sur de Texas son alentados a solicitar admisión, el programa participa en un sistema nacional para seleccionar a los residentes.

“Si traemos candidatos locales, tenemos mayores oportunidades de mantenerlos después de graduarse”, él dijo.

El Dr. David Garza, el doctor de medicina familia, y el Dr. Enrique Rincón, quien práctica medicina interna, serán los directores de los programas.

PATRULLA FRONTERIZA

RESCATAN INMIGRANTES Hallan 5 indocumentados de El Salvador y México TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Dos personas fueron arrestadas y cinco inmigrantes indocumentados fueron rescatados de una casa de seguridad localizada en Laredo, el lunes 4 de junio.

Ese día agentes del Sector Laredo de la Patrulla Fronteriza en coordinación con el Departamento de Policía de Laredo descubrieron la residencia que había sido usada para una operación de tráfico de inmigrantes indocumentados.

Se determinó que los inmigrantes eran de México y El Salvador.

Después del rescate todos los involucrados fueron procesados de

acuerdo al protocolo y se arrestó a dos ciudadanos estadounidenses por su involucramiento en la operación.

“Este rescate ilustra lo bien que trabaja la Patrulla Fronteriza con las fuerzas del orden locales, así como nuestra habilidad de disrumpir y degradar organizaciones criminales que constantemente ponen en peligro la vida de los demás”, dijo el jefe de la División del Sector Laredo Greg Burwell. “Continuaremos trabajando diligentemente para proteger a los Estados Unidos y prevenir que las personas sean sujetas a condiciones peligrosas y deplorables”.

Para reportar actividad sospechosa como tráfico

Foto de cortesía/CBP

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza y oficiales de LPD colaboraron para descubrir una casa de seguridad en donde se encontraban cinco inmigrantes indocumentados.

humano o de drogas, descargue la aplicación

móvil “USBP Laredo Sector” o contacte a la

Patrulla Fronteriza al 1800-343-1994.

BOTES DE BASURA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Informes al 849-1411 PAGO DE IMPUESTOS 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St. PAGO EN LÍNEA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día.

LLENADO DE APLICACIONES 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez al 956-246-7177.

‘ASÍ FUE MI PADRE’

NAFTA

México LCC invita a la obra musical de José Alfredo publica lista TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

La vida del famoso cantautor mexicano de rancheras cobrará vida en el escenario del colegio comunitario local este fin de semana.

El Colegio Comunitario de Laredo en asociación con José Alfredo Jiménez Medel, hijo del cantante y escritor José Alfredo Jiménez, traerá la obra “Así fue mi padre” a la ciudad. La producción debuta el viernes 8 de junio y continua hasta el sábado 9 de junio a las 8 p.m. en el teatro del Centro para las Bellas Artes Guadalupe y Lila Martinez.

La obra narra la historia del reconocido cantautor y todas las anécdotas de su vida, cómo fue que se compuso cada canción y muchos otros detalles que el público desconoce sobre la vida de Jiménez.

José Alfredo Jiménez fue un famoso cantautor de la industria mexicana y latinoamericana. Él compuso mas de 1.000 canciones entre

José Alfredo Jiménez

las que se incluyen: "Me equivoqué contigo", "Ella", "Paloma querida", "Tú y la mentira", "El rey", "El jinete", "Si nos dejan", "Amanecí en tus brazos", "Llegando a ti", "Tu recuerdo y yo", "El caballo blanco", "Que te vaya bonito", así como "Camino de Guanajuato”.

Muchas de sus canciones han sido grabadas por reconocidos artistas de todo el mundo de habla hispana, más notablemente por: Selena,

Enrique Bunbury, Antonio Aguilar, Lola Beltrán, Alejandro Fernández, Pedro Fernández, Vicente Fernández, Los Tigres del Norte, entre otros.

Ahora, su hijo José Alfredo revive esos momentos que su padre vivió y quiere compartirlos con el público. Él realizó una investigación de 20 años en donde varios artistas internacionales compartieron las experiencias que vivieron con su padre. Él disfrutó tanto de esas historias que decidió compartir estas emociones con el resto del mundo.

Música en vivo, teatro, y mucho más será mostrado en esta obra que ha viajado por todos los Estados Unidos, México y Sudamérica.

Los boletos de admisión general están disponibles en Taco Palenque, Palenque Grill, La Laguna y COSMOS Bar & Grill.

Para mayores informes contacte a Arturo Flores al 956-740-5983.

de aranceles a EEUU ASSOCIATED PRE SS

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO— México publicó el martes una lista de aranceles a importaciones estadounidenses, en respuesta a las tarifas establecidas por el gobierno del presidente Donald Trump al aluminio y acero mexicanos.

La lista mexicana incluye aranceles del 15% al 25% a una serie de artículos como manzanas, productos porcinos, papas, queso, bourbon y planchas de aluminio.

México importa tantos productos porcinos —casi un tercio de lo que consume— que el gobierno dicen que eliminará los aranceles de hasta 350.000 toneladas de puerco importado para no desestabilizar el mercado.

Trump anunció la semana pasada que los aranceles al acero y aluminio aplicarían a Canadá, México y la Unión Europea.

Estados Unidos, México y Canadá están en medio de una fuerte renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN o NAFTA, por sus siglas en inglés).

Sports&Outdoors

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 |

A7

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Inside story behind the Cowboys’ new route-guru wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal’s path to leading Dallas’ wideouts

By Brandon George TH E DALLAS MORNI NG NEWS

FRISCO, Texas - Sanjay Lal’s love for football began as innocently as any other junior high student, under the Texas sun in the backyards of Plano.

His passion for the Cowboys, however, didn’t start as innocuously.

Lal, the Cowboys’ new receivers coach tasked with rebuilding a unit without No. 1 target Dez Bryant, moved to the U.S. in the mid-1980s with his family to Plano.

One of the first NFL coaches of Indian descent, he was born in England and also lived in Iran, Kuwait and Mexico City before attending Haggard Middle School in Plano as a seventh-grader.

Lal said his first experience in the U.S. was quite the culture shock.

"Very much so," he

said, smiling. "You can imagine. I don’t need to tell you any stories."

Lal said he quickly grew fond of the Cowboys - despite the corduroy jeans misstep - and has long admired the franchise because it’s a familyrun organization.

Now, he’s a part of it all, hired in January to replace Derek Dooley, who left after five seasons to become Missouri’s offensive coordinator.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he’s less concerned about overhauling the club’s receiver corps this offseason because of Lal, who was hired with a reputation as one of the league’s top route gurus.

"He’s a real find for us," Jones said. "He was one of the most sought-after assistant coaches in the offseason that I’ve seen in a long time."

Lal’s father, a systems

analyst, was born in Tanzania and moved to India with his family when he was 17. His father met his mother - a Montessori teacher - in India, and they moved to London after they married. Lal’s extensive travels helped him become multilingual.

At different times, he spoke Hindi and Spanish and could understand Arabic.

"My family had no background in football," Lal said. "I don’t think they even knew what football was until I started playing it. When we got to Plano, we’d play in the backyards or the front lawns. We’d play football every day. I started reading about all the players and just loved football.

And I could catch, so they liked me."

After three years in Plano, Lal moved with his family to Northern Cali-

NBA: SPURS

fornia and finished high school there.

Lal knows the ins and outs of receiver because he played the position. He was a walk-on at UCLA and a member of the Bruins’ Cotton Bowl championship team in 1989. He then transferred to Washington, where he played for the Huskies from 1990 to 1992. He was part of Washington’s national title team in 1992 and played on two Rose Bowl teams en route to being inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame.

Lal graduated with a business administration degree from Washington in 1993 and was invited to the Raiders’ training camp. He also spent time with the St. Louis Rams before hamstring injuries derailed any chance of a pro career.

Lal spent 11 years coaching in the high school and

Jae S. Lee / Associated Press file

Sanjay Lal is tasked with rebuilding the Cowboys’ wide receivers unit without top target Dez Bryant.

college ranks before the Raiders gave him his first NFL opportunity in 2007 as the offensive quality control coach.

Two years later, the Raiders made Lal their receivers coach. From 2012 to 2014 he was the Jets’ receivers coach, from 2015 to 2016 the Bills’ receivers coach and then he became the Colts’ receivers coach in 2017 before joining the

Cowboys.

Lal’s cerebral approach to coaching is a mix of his parents’ paths, calculated and detailed, and he’s a teacher at heart.

Lal cares about the finer details of routes, from how to line up in a proper stance, to finding the right depth, to maximizing leverage, to camouflaging a forthcoming break, and so on.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: HOUSTON ASTROS

ASTROS SELECT 1B/OF BEER WITH NO. 28 PICK Clemson slugger coming to Houston after Day 1 pick

By Chandler Rome HOUSTON CHRONICLE Edward A. Ornelas / San Antonio Express-News file

The Spurs are projected as the team that could “blow up” the NBA draft as the drama continues with Kawhi Leonard.

Spurs tabbed as candidate to 'blow up' NBA draft

By Carter Karels SA N A NT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS

Almost two weeks from the NBA draft, the San Antonio Spurs are faced with a few tough decisions.

The Spurs possess their first top 19 pick since selecting Tim Duncan first overall in 1997. At No. 18, San Antonio is projected by most places to take a wing.

But if San Antonio does not offer Kawhi Leonard the supermax contract extension this summer, its strategy should change. For instance, the Spurs might decide to trade the small forward for more assets — like higher draft picks.

In a recent tweet from San Antonio Express-News writer Jabari Young, he alluded to Leonard’s spot potentially becoming available tweeting, “So word is... #Spurs are eyeing an athletic wing in the upcoming #NBA draft. We’ll see how that goes ...”.

Bleacher Report named the Spurs among the top five most likely teams to shake up the draft.

"Until we have resolution on the Leonard front, anything is possible," wrote Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal on Sunday. "And so far, we don't seem close to getting that longawaited resolution — an oddity for a franchise that has served as the league's model organization for well over a decade."

Leonard is eligible to receive a five-year, $219 million extension from the Spurs this summer. The small forward played just nine games this season, battling quadricep tendinopathy.

Seth Beer was all of 12 years old when it began.

His pal, Grayson, had a pretty famous dad — Paul Byrd, the 14-year Major League pitcher who readied himself for a final few seasons with the Red Sox. Seth accompanied Grayson to the baseball fields.

Paul stood on the mound and didn't let up.

"He would throw us live pitching all the time," Beer said. "At 12 years old, I was seeing changeups, splitfingers, different arm slots, all that kind of stuff. When I step into the box, I would just watch the pitches. And every pitch he threw, he would tell me if it was a ball or a strike."

"That taught me at a young age what the strike zone is."

Time has only refined the lesson. The Astros drafted Beer with the No. 28 overall pick in the MLB draft on Thursday, selecting a slugging, patient lefthanded hitter who produced a prolific college career at Clemson and profiles as either a Major League first baseman or corner outfielder.

Beer was ranked No. 45 in MLB.com's Draft Pipeline rankings and No. 46 in Baseball America's Top 500 Draft prospects. He hit 56 home runs in his three-year Clemson career, during which he produced a 1.137 OPS. Beer struck out only 98 times in 647 at-bats while coaxing 180 walks.

"For a hitter with as much power as he has — and he has a lot — to not swing and miss the way he does is very rare to find," Astros assistant

Bart Boatwright / Associated Press file

Clemson first baseman Seth Beer was selected in the first round of the MLB draft on Monday night. He projects to be either stay at first or move to become a corner outfielder in the major leagues.

general manager Mike Elias said. "We feel like it's a swing that will work on the Major League level in terms of the connection and the rotation and the body and his bat control. To find those things in a power hitter is pretty special."

A 6-foot-3, 195 pound junior from Suwanee, Georgia, Beer enrolled early at Clemson in 2016. Essentially, he forewent his senior high school baseball season to play early with the Tigers.

His exploits were almost otherworldly, slashing 369/ .535/.700 in 203 at-bats with 70 RBI and 18 home runs.

That year, Beer was the first freshman to ever win the Dick Howser Trophy and was a Golden Spikes Award finalist. "(He's) been one of the best run producers in college baseball," Elias said. "In addition to his accomplishments statistically, we've looked at his swing very carefully, we like what we see

mechanically from him, we like the power that he shows, we like the future projection in terms of the production translating to the pro game."

Beer grew up idolizing Chipper Jones — of little surprise considering his Georgia roots. He chuckled during a seven-minute teleconference with reporters on Monday night, recalling how "obnoxiously" high he used to hold his elbow in his batting stance as an ode to the Braves Hall of Famer.

"I wanted to play like him," Beer said. "Hardnosed, true grit kind of guy."

Beer played right field and left field in college, he said, and added he's open to first base exposure, too. The Astros think first base or either corner outfield spot is an option for him, according to Elias.

"He's used to moving around," Elias said. "But it may be that we decide to focus on one initially for the time being but in today's

game there's a lot of value being placed on positional versatility and certainly the ability to play some outfield and first base is something he wants to maintain in his skillset."

Beer was the Astros' lowest first selection since 2002, when they selected pitcher Derick Grigsby with the No. 29 pick.

Slot value for the No. 28 pick is $2,399,400. The Astros have a $5,492,900 bonus pool for all their Draft picks, trailing only the Dodgers for the smallest allotment in the league.

"It means everything," said Beer, who was congratulated by team owner Jim Crane at the end of his teleconference.

"Houston in the past couple years has been on the come up and to get the call from the World Series champs is just incredible. An incredible opportunity and I'm so excited that I just can't put it into words."

A8 | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER AMLO From page A3 30-year-old computer programmer Antonio Arroyo Ceron said at a recent campaign gathering in the capital. "We have a hope that the country will change its entire mentality."

Lopez Obrador's crowds tend to trend older — people like retired tailor Ruben Lopez who have lived all their lives under the longruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, except for a 12-year interval at the beginning of new century.

"During the 80 years of the PRI, they never did anything to improve the country," said Lopez, 74.

This election "will be the first moment of joy ever for this country," he added.

Beyond the enthusiasm, neither Lopez Obrador nor his challengers have yet put forth a credible plan to lower homicide rates that have reached levels unseen in decades.

Lopez Obrador has offered a vague plan to offer an amnesty for some criminal convictions, which apparently could mean anything from cancelling felonies after sentences have been served to sentence reductions for cooperating witnesses to freeing poor farmers jailed for growing drug crops.

Regardless, a Lopez Obrador victory would probably mean a large dose of symbolism and an even larger dose of pragmatism.

Antonio Sola, a Spanish political consultant who helped design the "Lopez Obrador is a dan-

ger" campaign that swung the 2006 election against him, now says that "this is not the Andres Manuel I competed against in 2006."

"This is a candidate who has evolved and moderated," Sola said, comparing Lopez Obrador to Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a one-time socialist firebrand who won election on his fourth try and proved a business-friendly president even while expanding social programs.

In 2006, Mexican business leaders sought to hurt Lopez Obrador's campaign by likening him to socialist President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. After the narrow loss to Calderon, Lopez Obrador responded angrily, claiming fraud and mounting a months-long blockade of Mexico City's main boulevard.

This time around he has been taking it all in stride, at least publicly.

Despite railing frequently against what he calls the "mafia of power," Lopez Obrador responds to even the most vicious political attacks by repeating what has become almost a mantra — "peace and love" — and by deflecting them with humor.

After some suggested without proof that he may have benefited from Russian election tampering, Lopez Obrador filmed a video by the side of a harbor in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz joking that his name was actually Andres Manuelovich and saying he was waiting for a Russian submarine bringing him gold from Moscow.

Even Meade called that a brilliant bit of politics.

Courtesy photo

Rep. Henry Cuellar and the Farm Service Agency Hold Emergency Livestock Assistance Program hold an informational session in Zapata.

CUELLAR From page A1 tance Program is critical in helping control the tick population, stopping the spread of their disease and keeping livestock healthy.

“I would like to thank FSA District Director Benny Cano and other representatives from FSA for helping put together these informational sessions throughout the district. I would also like to thank the South Texans’ Property Rights Association, Bor-

der Patrol Ranch, Landowner liaisons, the Chambers of Commerce, elected officials and other organizations in the district for their coordination in planning and promoting these events.

Additionally, I thank the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association for joining to combat this pest. These sessions are a critical step in providing our ranchers and cattle owners with the information and resources they need in order to eradicate the cattle fever tick.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 |

A9

BUSINESS Lawsuit filed in woman's death in Texas hotel during Harvey

By Jamie Stengle A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DALLAS — A woman whose body was found 11 days after she made a frantic cellphone call from a Houston hotel elevator as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey rushed in exited the elevator in the basement only to struggle against a strong waisthigh current strewn with debris, a lawsuit filed Monday says.

Jill Renick's family filed a civil lawsuit in district court in Dallas, saying there wasn't proper planning for flooding at the Omni Houston Hotel, where Renick worked and where flooding had occurred before. The lawsuit, which lists Omni Hotels and Resorts and Otis Elevator Company among the defendants, reveals new details of what happened in the moments leading up to the drowning of 48-yearold Renick.

Renick "suffered a terrifying and horrific death" that was "unnecessary and easily preventable," according to the lawsuit.

"It's just inexcusable for a hotel operation of this size to be that irresponsible," said Rob Crain, the lead attorney for the family.

The fate of Renick, who was the director of spa services at the hotel, was one of the most perplexing mysteries that came out of Harvey's devastating flooding. She disappeared in the early morning hours of Aug. 27 as floodwaters inundated Houston. Her body was finally discovered on Sept.

7 in the ceiling of the hotel's basement.

"I don't want this to happen to anybody again — employee or guest," said Renick's sister, Pam Eslinger.

Renick, who spent the night with her dog in a room on the hotel's third floor, was called by a staffer around 5:15 a.m. on Aug. 27 and told to "come downstairs," Crain said.

"We've asked for more specificity as to what she was told and we were told that that's pretty much it: that she was told to come downstairs," Crain said.

The lawsuit said there's no indication she was told the basement and elevator shafts were flooding, or that she was told to avoid the elevators. The lawsuit also adds that the elevators weren't disabled, nor were they barricaded to prevent passengers from entering.

Starbucks' Schultz mulling 'philanthropy to public service' ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Courtesy of the Renick family via AP

This undated photo shows Jill Renick.

"She was not given any indication that anything was remiss or dangerous for her to go downstairs," Crain said, adding, "There was not a coordinated plan that was being implemented."

About 5:40 a.m., Renick made the call for help.

The lawsuit says that according to the hotel, Renick said she was trapped in the basement service elevator and water was coming in. The lawsuit also says Renick "was heard screaming and clamoring for help by people on the first floor."

The lawsuit notes that the third floor, where she was staying, doesn't have access to the service elevator so she would have likely had to access it from the first or second floors.

According to the lawsuit, she was somehow able to exit the elevator into the basement. Video footage provided by the hotel to her family's attorneys shows her coming from the area of the service elevator at 5:44 a.m.

"We see her going against the flow of the floodwaters. We also see her shortly thereafter coming back with the flow of the water," said Crain, who added, "It is clearly somebody who is trying to find a way out of this horribly terrifying condition."

The video ends at 5:45 a.m. and Renick isn't seen alive again. "She desperately searched for a way out before climbing above the ceiling tiles and ceiling joists for the last pock-

ets of air," says the lawsuit, which adds that floodwaters eventually rose to the hotel's first floor.

The lawsuit says that before Renick was called in her room it was known that the basement and elevator shafts were flooding, noting that in that time period, people who appear to be hotel employees can be seen on the video walking through the accumulating water in the basement.

The hotel, located near the Buffalo Bayou, has a history of flooding and is located in a flood plain, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges that Otis Elevator, which had a contract with the hotel to maintain and service the elevators, should've installed flood sensors and warned users of the dangers of operating an elevator in flooding.

Spokeswomen for both Omni and Otis said they don't comment on pending litigation.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February fined the hotel for a violation, saying that the elevators being kept operational during flooding exposed employees to drowning.

The hotel is currently undergoing a $30 million renovation and is set to reopen in November.

Eslinger described her sister as the kind of person who "everybody gravitated to."

"She was wonderful and she's missed terribly every day," Eslinger said.

NEW YORK — Starbucks Corp.'s Howard Schultz is stepping down as executive chairman of the coffee company he helped transform into a global brand, and says public service may be in his future.

Schultz, 64, says he is considering a range of options. He had endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton before the last presidential election and had sometimes deflected questions about whether he would run for office.

Speculation has swirled for years that Schultz might run for president. While not addressing the question directly, he told The New York Times on Monday that he was considering public service and that "for some time now, I have been deeply concerned about our country — the growing division at home and our standing in the world."

Schultz's move comes after he ceded the day-today duties of CEO at

Starbucks last year to focus on innovation and social impact projects as executive chairman. As of June 26, Starbucks says Schultz will take the title of chairman emeritus.

The Seattle-based chain says he is writing a book about Starbucks' social impact moves and its efforts to redefine the role of a public company.

"Starbucks changed the way millions of people drink coffee, this is true, but we also changed people's lives in communities around the world for the better," Schultz said in a letter to Starbucks employees.

Schultz was known for aligning himself and Starbucks with social issues like race and jobs for underprivileged youth — even when those efforts fell flat, like the "Race Together" campaign that encouraged workers to talk about race with customers.

More recently, as the company tried to restore its reputation after the arrests of two black men at a coffee shop in Philadelphia, Schultz said he

didn't want people to feel "less than" if they were refused bathroom access.

Last week, the company closed its U.S. stores for several hours for bias awareness training, one of the measures it promised after the men were arrested as they waited for an associate but hadn't bought anything.

Schultz, who had returned as the company's CEO in 2008, was credited with turning around Starbucks' fortunes. He oversaw the expansion of the chain's food and beverage menu and the growth of its popular loyalty program and mobile app.

In his letter, Schultz also credited the company with "balancing profitability and social conscience, compassion and rigor, and love and responsibility."

Starbucks said Myron E. "Mike" Ullman would be the new chairman of the board upon Schultz's retirement. Shares in Starbucks dropped 1 percent to $56.50 in extended trading after the announcement.

Ted S. Warren / AP

In this March 18, 2015, file photo, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the coffee company's annual shareholders meeting in Seattle. Starbucks Corp. says Schultz is stepping down as executive chairman later this month of the coffee chain he joined more than 30 years ago. Schultz, who oversaw the transformation of Starbucks into a global chain with more than 28,000 locations, had left the CEO job at the company last year to focus on innovation and social impact projects. The Seattle-based chain says Schultz will have the title of chairman emeritus as of June 26, 2018.

Trump, facing pushback, vows US will be stronger on trade

By Ken Thomas A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump faced pushback Monday from Republican lawmakers, an influential GOP group and foreign leaders over his tough negotiations that are hitting China, Canada and Mexico with tariffs amid fears of a trade war.

But the president defended his actions saying the U.S. would soon be in a stronger position with its top trading partners.

Trump wrote in a series of tweets that his trade negotiations with China and a slew of U.S. allies would break down large trade barriers faced

by American farmers. He said that China "already charges a tax of 16% on soybeans. Canada has all sorts of trade barriers on our Agricultural products. Not acceptable!"

In a conference call later Monday with grassroots supporters, he said: "We will be in a very strong position very soon.

We don't want to be tak-

en advantage of anymore."

The president last week imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from top U.S. trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and the European Union. And he has threatened tariffs on up to $200 billion in Chinese imports, raising the potential for retaliation in a dispute involving the globe's two largest economies.

Senate Republicans have warned that the tariffs could dampen the economic gains from the GOP tax cuts and sour the mood among voters as lawmakers campaign to protect the Republican majority in Congress in November midterm elections.

Sen. Bob Corker, RTenn., said he met with senators Monday as they consider a legislative response, drawing interest from "both sides of the aisle" who are concerned about the tariffs.

The lawmakers were trying to draft a narrowly focused bill that would

require a vote in Congress to approve tariffs when the administration claims they're needed for national security, as it did for those on steel and aluminum from the top U.S. allies.

It's a longshot legislative strategy, but the group was working quickly to try to produce an amendment that could win support in time for debate on a separate, must-pass defense bill.

White House legislative affairs director Marc Short dismissed the chatter. "To suggest that it's news that Congress would want to reclaim powers that belong to the executive branch, I don't think is exactly newsworthy," he said on CNN. Many Farm Belt lawmakers worry that the trade disputes could make American farmers the target of retaliation.

Mexico, for example, has said it will penalize U.S. imports including pork, apples, grapes and cheeses.

At least one Republican, Sen. David Perdue

of Georgia, said he was not ready for Congress to intervene because, having just returned from Asia, he's confident Trump has gained China's attention and he wants to see the strategy "play out."

Groups backed by the influential Koch brothers' network announced Monday they were launching a new multimillion-dollar campaign to oppose tariffs and highlight the benefits of free trade. The groups — Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative — called on Congress to exert oversight by requiring House and Senate votes on any new tariffs and urged the lifting of the recent steel and aluminum tariffs as well as those being proposed on goods from China.

Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, said the tariffs amounted to "self-imposed barriers" to the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul that Trump signed into law in December. "The Trump

administration has taken some incredibly positive steps for the American economy, but tariffs will undercut that progress and needlessly hamstring our full economic potential," he said in a statement.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said senators would continue to try to talk the administration out of the plan and compared the tariffs to an "unguided missile" because "retaliation could occur" in vulnerable sectors.

Trump has also received blowback from world leaders. British Prime Minister Theresa May told Trump in a phone call that his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union was "unjustified and deeply disappointing." May's office said the two leaders would discuss "free and fair global trade" at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada.

Trump's hard-line rhetoric comes as Com-

merce Secretary Wilbur Ross returns from China as part of the ongoing trade discussions. The White House said the meeting focused on reducing the U.S. trade deficit by having China buy more agricultural and energy products.

But China said any agreements with Washington in their talks on settling a sprawling trade dispute "will not take effect" if threatened U.S. sanctions including tariff increases go ahead.

Trump pointed to progress under his watch during a Monday conference call with grassroots activists surrounding the 500th day of his administration.

"I have your back. You remember Hillary Clinton calling everybody deplorables?" Trump said, noting his 2016 opponent's description of his supporters. "We were the deplorables. Well, the deplorables, we're the hot ones right now. They're all trying to figure out: How do we get the deplorables on our side?"

A10 | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER BONES From page A1 seven years ago.

The family doesn't gather much anymore at the old, tree-shaded railway workers' house on the outskirts of Cuauhtemoc. They were holding a Father's Day celebration there on June 21, 2011, when their world came crashing down.

In the afternoon, some strangers came around and threw out insults, according to family members. A fight broke out, and the family called police. Officers came but didn't do anything. One of the Munoz men took a radio from a patrol car and threw it out the window, sparking angry threats from the police, the family said.

A few hours later, a dozen pickup trucks with armed, uniformed men wearing ski masks turned up at the house.

The men burst into the home and said they were looking for the radio.

"We all ran," said Emma Veleta, the family matriarch, standing next to a banner with the photos of her husband, four sons, a grandson and a nephew who were taken away that day.

"Some went in one direction, some in another."

One of her sons held onto her and pleaded, "Mom, don't let them take me!" But it was useless. The women were tossed to the floor.

"It was here that they grabbed them out of my hands," Veleta said. "I never saw them again, I just heard their shouts."

They took eight men in all. The authorities have made little progress since in finding out what happened.

"They have forgotten us," said Albino Cruz, whose son Oscar disappeared that day. "We are going to die this way."

Cruz and his wife, Maribel Munoz, still live in the house, and sadness hangs over the whole family like a disease. Their 3-year-old daughter shows a photo of the last collateral victim of the disappearances: the Cruz's other son, who hanged himself in despair.

Disappearances in Mexico are rarely solved because corruption complicates investigations and encourages impunity. And resources are scarce. Experts say Mexico's levels of violence are similar to those found in war zones, but its forensics capacity is that of a nation at peace.

The federal government says it is working on laws and helping states to improve technical methods of dealing with disappearances. It hopes to eventually draw up a national database of the missing that can be cross-referenced with

thousands of unidentified bodies.

Seven years after the Munoz disappearances, the only thing the family has found is a belt buckle that could have belonged to Toribio Munoz, Veleta's 61-year-old husband. A child recognized it among the thousands of charred fragments being analyzed by the Argentines. Local prosecutors wanted to close the case, but the family is still waiting for evidence, and the Argentine investigators are looking for a DNA match, or at least for some answers.

"Nothing has been proven," said Luisa Munoz, Toribio's sister and the mother of Luis Romo, then 21, who disappeared that day.

The family thinks the police were involved in the disappearances and that explains the state government's failure to act. Assistant state prosecutor Jesus Manuel Carrasco said the officers who were there that day have since left the force.

"We cannot dismiss the possibility that they directly participated, but there is no evidence for it," he said.

Disappearances in Mexico really started to take off in 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the drug cartels. Victims' families were afraid to report the crimes, and authorities looked the other way and sometimes even directly cooperated, said Dulitzky.

A veil of silence fell over much of Mexico, including Cuauhtemoc.

The otherwise unremarkable city was valued for its routes into the mountains, a prime drug-growing area, and the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels started fighting

Marco Ugarte / AP

In this March 24, 2018 photo, Emma Veleta, silhouetted in the doorway of her home on the outskirts of Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, holds out hope that Argentine investigators can help find the eight disappeared members of her family. Seven years after the Munoz men disappearances, the only thing the family has found is a belt buckle that could have belonged to Toribio Munoz, 61, Veleta's husband.

over it. The city's businesses and its location, just 140 miles (350 kilometers) from the U.S. border, made it all the more attractive to export drug proceeds.

The city was "a perfect laundering machine," said Carrasco.

Both cartels infiltrated every level of the city through money and threats. People didn't appear dead on the streets, they simply disappeared. The lack of a corpse made the possibility of prosecution — always unlikely — almost non-existent.

The families that did file crime reports were ignored, or harassed.

Some decided to leave.

Cartels are still fighting over Cuauhtemoc and people are still disappearing. But a federal law since January allows authorities to prosecute crimes even without a corpse.

The families hold out hope that the Argentine investigators can help, as they have done throughout Mexico for a decade.

Authorities are not always fond of the interna-

tionally recognized experts because their very presence is evidence of official failures. However, the team always works with official permission so its results will be accepted in court, and one member is on a new advisory body to deal with disappearances.

In Cuauhtemoc, the Argentines came in only after Gov. Cesar Duarte — now accused of several crimes and on the run — left office in December 2016. They are trying to make the bones speak.

State prosecutors had collected genetic samples to match fragments with several families, including the Munoz relatives, but the testing was never actually done.

The forensic team repeated the process with their own methods and standards, which included extensive interviews with families to find out any defining characteristics that could help in bone identification. They have made 13 identifications so far in the area, all from burned bone fragments found on

rural ranches at the end of 2011.

The first identification was of Amir Gutierrez, a 33-year-old mechanic who disappeared in 2011.

A vertebra turned out to be Amir's bone.

His mother, Idalia Gutierrez, talks about the moment the Argentine investigators told her they had a DNA match. It was difficult news to hear, but also a kind of relief.

"I wanted to find him, alive or dead," she said.

"In my mind, I was telling myself, I cannot cry, I have to be calm, because if you cry you don't understand what they are explaining to you."

Mercedes Doretti, the head of the forensic team for Mexico and Central America, said the investigators prepare carefully to deliver such news to families, because it is a "tremendously difficult moment."

She said the only way to get a family's trust is to speak the truth, no matter how hard it is.

The Argentines try to leave nothing unexamined, nothing to chance, so the family is left without doubts — even if there is nothing to bury.

"You don't want the identification to be an act of faith, but sometimes the bone fragments are so small, you can't physically give them anything," Doretti said.

"Then there is an issue of trust."

In that sense, Gutierrez is lucky. She has a vertebra — and the hope that something more, some other little piece of Amir may come to light.

When she has gathered all there is, she will bury it.

"He will have his funeral, as it should be," Gutierrez said. "After that, I will search no more."

In the last of the boxes from the Dolores Ranch, the gloved hands have chosen 109 fragments that may contain DNA or other useful information to be sent to a laboratory in Argentina.

The rest is carefully swept into an envelope, every last ash, and closed and sealed as evidence to be held safely.

Luisa Munoz doesn't want to lose hope, and will wait for the results of the latest round of testing. Her children in the United States want her to join them, but she doesn't want to leave her house and her little store in a dusty Cuauhtemoc neighborhood, in case one day Luis calls or returns.

Or in case one day, the Argentines give her a piece of bone that will make her cry.