The Zapata Times 7/12/2017

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WEDNESDAYJULY 12, 2017

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STAAR

Declining state test scores raises concerns Inconsistent school accountability contributed to lackluster scores ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Miguel Roberts / Associated Press

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle passes along U.S. 281 under the West Rail Bypass International Bridge in Brownsville. A House panel Tuesday unveiled legislation to begin building President Donald Trump’s long-promised wall along the U.S-Mexico border.

$1.6B eyed for building border wall

AUSTIN — Texas middle school students didn’t perform as well on state standardized tests this year as they did in 2016, concerning some education policy experts.

The percentage of students who passed the State of Texas

Assessments of Academic Readiness this spring was lower in all subjects except for math when compared with last year’s results, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Many Austin-area school districts said they haven’t analyzed the data and can’t draw conclusions about the scores

yet.

“As always, this is just one way we measure how our schools are doing,” Austin Independent School District officials said in a statement.

“We will continue to focus on the whole child as we equip them with the skills for success in college, career and life.”

Theresa Trevino is president of parent group Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment. Her group wants more grade-appropriate tests and an end to a policy holding students back a grade for not passing the assessment, she said.

STAAR continues on A11

TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO

OVER 2 TONS OF MARIJUANA SEIZED IN CIUDAD MIER

Mexico will not be footing the bill

By Andrew Taylor A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — A House panel Tuesday unveiled legislation to begin building President Donald Trump’s longpromised wall along the U.SMexico border. Mexico, however, will not be footing the bill.

The move by the House Appropriations Committee again puts the Trump administration and its allies on Capitol Hill on a collision course with Democrats who oppose the wall and succeeded in blocking a request by Trump to deliver the money when passWall continues on A11

ZAPATA COUNTY

Courtesy photo / Tamaulipas department of public safety Courtesy photo / Zapata County Sheriff’s Office

Zapata County authorities said someone broke into this vehicle on Saturday.

Tamaulipas recently seized over 2 tons of pot in Ciudad Mier in an enforcement action in June.

Two separate enforcement actions attributed in busts

By César G. Rodriguez THE ZAPATA TIME S

Help needed to solve burglary case

By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S

The Zapata County Sheriff's Office said Monday they need the community’s assistance to solve a burglary case.

Authorities want to identify the person or people responsible for allegedly breaking the font passenger window of a car to steal a woman’s wallet.

Zapata continues on A11

Tamaulipas authorities said they recently seized over 2 tons of marijuana and four pickup trucks in a town across the border from Starr County.

Police officers with the Tamaulipas department of public safety said June 28 that the seizures came as a results of two separate enforcement actions in Ciudad Mier.

Regarding the marijuana, police said they found an abandoned Dodge Ram 4000 while patrolling a rural road known as Las Peñas. Authorities inspected the vehicle and discovered 382 bundles of marijuana weighing 2.3 tons. The contraband had an estimated street value of $4,172,800.

A second enforcement action occurred near the riverbanks of Ciudad Mier in an area known as Desembocadura. Police said they found four pickup trucks: a maroon 1997 Chevy Silverado, gray 2009 Nissan Tamaulipas continues on A11

Courtesy photo / Tamaulipas department of public safety

This is one of four vehicles seized in a recent enforcement action in Ciudad Mier, a town across the border from Starr County. The lettering “CDG” can be seen on the side. “CDG” means Cartel Del Golfo.

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, JULY 15

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Harry Potter Book Club. 3 p.m. –

4:30 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco. Book club will discuss Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Children and adults are welcome. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at 956-795-2400, ext. 2401.

MONDAY, JULY 17 Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in Spanish. 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Hold-

ing Institute, 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom #1. Recurring event. Spanish group meets every third Monday of the month. People suffering from anxiety and depression are invited to attend this free, confidential and anonymous support group meeting.

While a support group does not replace an individual’s medical care, it can be a valuable resource to gain insight, strength and hope.

The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/ or depression to participate in free confidential support group meetings and social events. Contact information for a representative: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014.

Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters work on a smoldering hotspot as they fight towards containment Tuesday in Oroville, California. More than a dozen wildfires were raging across California.

DOZENS OF WILDFIRES RAGING IN THE WEST

SATURDAY, JULY 22 Laredo and South Texas Weather. 2

p.m. TAMIU Student Center, Room 236. Presented by Richard ‘Heatwave” Berler, Chief Meteorologist, KGNS-TV. Free and open to the public. For more information, email: brushcountrychapter@gmail.com Homebuying 101 Class. 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco. Free class. Registration required. For more information, call Angelina York or Patricia Ayala at NeighborWorks 956-7129100 or email nwl@nwlaredo.com.

THURSDAY, JULY 27

By Christopher Weber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — Timber and brush parched from a years-long dry spell and thick grass that grew after drought-busting winter downpours are making for early and unpredictable wildfire behavior that California officials haven’t seen for years, if at all. Dense layers of new grass are providing a “fine fuel” for flames that then gain speed and intensity by moving through “standing dead fuel” made up of vegetation and trees that shriveled during the state’s six-year drought, said Kathleen

Schori with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It’s difficult to remember a year quite like this one,” she said Tuesday. “There’s such a mix of fuels that these large damaging fires are starting at least a month earlier than usual.” The result, she said, could be a longer and more destructive fire season than California has experienced in a while. Crews were making progress against dozens of wildfires across California, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Authorities surveying the damage said Tuesday that at least 41 homes and 55 other buildings had been destroyed.

Spanish Book Club. 6 - 8 p.m. Joe

A. Guerra Public Library. For more information, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

SATURDAY, JULY 29 Habitat for Humanity Laredo-Webb County fundraiser The Hottest Golf Tournament in Texas two-man scramble. 8 a.m. Casa Blanca Golf

Course. $125 per golfer. Texas Community Bank is the title sponsor. Other sponsorships are available. Proceeds benefit local victims of May 2017 storm. For more information, call Carol Sherwood or Cindy Liendo at 724-3227 or email resource@habitatlaredo.org FRIDAY, AUG. 18 South Texas Food Bank Empty Bowls XI. Laredo Energy Arena.

Tex-Mex power rock trio Los Lonely Boys will perform. The event includes a dinner, a benefit concert and a silent auction featuring artworks from local and regional artists. Sponsorship tables of 10 that include dinner and access to silent auction items are available. There are different levels of sponsorship available: Diamond $20,000, Platinum $10,000, Gold $5,000, Silver $2,500 and Bronze $1,500. Individual table tickets are $150.

Table tickets are available at the food bank, 1907 Freight at Riverside. Concert only tickets are $10, $15 and $25. Tickets are available at the LEA box office, Ticketmaster.com, select Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

SATURDAY, AUG. 26 Football Tailgating Cook-Off. 2

p.m. - 11 p.m. Uni-Trade Stadium.

Event will feature cook-off competitions, brisket tasting/sampling for People's Choice from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., car show, live music, food vendors, arts & crafts and merchandise vendors and much more. For more information, contact LULAC Council 14 at 956-286-9055 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.

Soldier supported ISIS but remained in U.S. military HONOLULU — A U.S. soldier who was recently arrested on terrorism charges expressed support for the Islamic State group as early as 2011, but remained in the Army for years while the military and the FBI investigated to determine whether he posed a threat, authorities said. Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang was taken into custody over the weekend after

the 34-year-old veteran of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan declared his loyalty to the terrorist group and exclaimed that he wanted to “kill a bunch of people,” according to authorities. The case highlights the challenges investigators face with protecting the public from a potentially dangerous actor on one hand and gathering sufficient evidence to enable prosecution on the other.

Kang is on record making proIslamic State comments and threatening to hurt or kill other service members back in 2011,

according to an FBI affidavit filed Monday in federal court.

The Army revoked his security clearance in 2012, but gave it back to him the following year.

Last year, the Army called the FBI when it “appeared that Kang was becoming radicalized,” the affidavit said. Retired Army judge and prosecutor Col. Gregory A. Gross said he was perplexed that the Army allowed Kang to remain a soldier even after his favorable comments toward the Islamic State group. — Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS Harris County not joining lawsuit against ‘sanctuary cities’ law HOUSTON — The most populous county in Texas, home to Houston, won’t be joining a lawsuit trying to halt a state law that would crack down on so-called sanctuary cities.

Harris County commissioners on Tuesday declined to vote on a motion asking the county to join the lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Antonio. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said people shouldn’t interpret the county not choosing to join the lawsuit as an endorsement of the state law. The law, which takes effect in September, would let police ask people about their immigration status during routine stops. It also threatens elected officials with removal from office if they don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Gang member on Texas 10 Most

Jason Hoekema / AP

Cameron County officials voted in favor of joining a lawsuit filed against the State of Texas by the border-town of El Cenizo.

Wanted list caught AUSTIN — Investigators say a gang member and suspected armed robber on the Texas 10 Most Wanted list has been captured. The DPS on Tuesday announced 22-year-old Samuel Steel of Copperas Cove was

caught in Michigan. A DPS statement says Monday’s arrest near some apartments was the result of a tip, with a reward of up to $5,000 to be paid. Steel had been wanted since last September after allegedly being involved in an aggravated robbery. — Compiled from AP reports

Today is Wednesday, July 12, the 193rd day of 2017. There are 172 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On July 12, 1967, rioting erupted in Newark, New Jersey, over the police beating of a black taxi driver; 26 people were killed in the five days of violence that followed.

On this date: In 1543, England's King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.

In 1817, author, poet and naturalist Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts.

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authorizing the Army Medal of Honor.

In 1909, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing for a federal income tax, and submitted it to the states. (It was declared ratified in February 1913.)

In 1917, artist Andrew Wyeth was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

In 1948, the Democratic National Convention, which nominated President Harry S. Truman for a second term of office, opened in Philadelphia.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was flown by helicopter from the White House to a secret mountaintop location as part of a drill involving a mock nuclear attack on Washington.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter defended Supreme Court limits on government payments for poor women's abortions, saying, "There are many things in life that are not fair."

In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale announced his choice of U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running-mate; Ferraro was the first woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket.

In 1988, Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis tapped Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running-mate.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton, visiting Germany, went to the eastern sector of Berlin, the first U.S. president to do so since Harry Truman.

In 2001, Abner Louima (loo-EE'mah), the Haitian immigrant tortured in a New York City police station, agreed to an $8.7 million settlement with the city and its police union.

Ten years ago: Presidential hopeful Barack Obama drew the loudest cheers of the eight Democratic candidates at an NAACP civil rights forum in Detroit as he assailed the Bush administration's record on race relations. The House of Representatives voted 223-201 to withdraw U.S. troops by spring 2008 despite a veto threat from President George W. Bush.

British soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria (of Spice Girls fame), arrived in Los Angeles to begin their new lives in the United States.

Five years ago: Vice President Joe Biden rallied support for President Barack Obama at the NAACP's convention in Houston, declaring that Republican challenger Mitt Romney's election-year agenda would hurt — not help — working families in the black community. A scathing report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh said the late Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials had buried child sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky more than a decade earlier to avoid bad publicity.

Today's Birthdays: Movie director Monte Hellman is 88. Actor-comedian Bill Cosby is 80. Singer-musician Christine McVie is 74. Actress Denise Nicholas is 73. Singer-songwriter Butch Hancock is 72. Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 69. Actor Jay Thomas is 69. Singer Walter Egan is 69. Writer-producer Brian Grazer is 66.

Actress Cheryl Ladd is 66. Country singer Julie Miller is 61. Gospel singer Sandi Patty is 61. Actress Mel Harris is 61. Actor Buddy Foster is 60. Rock guitarist Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum) is 55. Actress Judi Evans is 53. Rock singer Robin Wilson is 52. Actress Natalie Desselle Reid is 50. Actress Lisa Nicole Carson is 48. Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is 46. Country singer Shannon Lawson is 44. Rapper Magoo is 44. Actress Anna Friel is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tracie Spencer is 41. Actress Alison Wright is 41. Actor Steve Howey is 40. Actor Topher Grace is 39. Actress Michelle Rodriguez is 39. Actress Kristen Connolly is 37. Country singermusician Kimberly Perry is 34. Actor Matt Cook is 33. Actress Natalie Martinez is 33. Actress Ta'Rhonda Jones is 29. Golfer Inbee Park is 29.

Actress Rachel Brosnahan is 27. Actor Erik Per Sullivan is 26. Olympic gold medal gymnast Jordyn Wieber is 22.

Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai is 20.

Thought for Today : "There is no remedy for love but to love more." — Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).

CONTACT US AROUND THE WORLD Honduran video journalist shot to death in Mexico XALAPA, Mexico — Authorities in Veracruz said Monday that they were investigating the killing of a Honduran video journalist who had sought refugee status in Mexico. In a statement, the state prosecu-

tor’s office said Edwin Rivera Paz was shot to death Sunday in the town of Acayucan. It said the body was identified by a relative. Raul Otoniel Morazan, Honduras’ consul general in Veracruz, called in an interview with local media outlet e-veracruz.com for all levels of the Mexican government to get to the bottom of the killing. A request for comment from the

Honduran Embassy in Mexico City was not immediately answered. Marta Sanchez Soler, coordinator of the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, a nonprofit group supporting migrants travelling through the region, said in a statement that Rivera fled Honduras after his colleague Igor Padilla was killed. Padilla was shot in January by four men in police uni-

forms in the northern Honduras city of San Pedro Sula.

Padilla had covered crime and also hosted a humorous television show, and Rivera was his cameraman. It was not immediately clear how long Rivera had been in Acayucan. The town lies on a heavily used route for Central Americans fleeing violence. — Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 |

A3

STATE

Death row inmate’s competency review granted A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — A federal appeals court has granted a Texas death row inmate’s request for a review of his mental competence to be executed.

Scott Panetti had been set for execution in December 2014. But it was put on hold after his attorneys sought a delay so Panetti could undergo new competency examinations.

By a 2-1 vote, a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday returned the case to a federal judge in Austin to conduct additional proceedings to determine competency.

Panetti has a long history of schizophrenia.

At his trial, Panetti was sentenced to death for the 1992 shooting deaths of his in-laws at their home in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.

5 officers treated for toxic fume exposure A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — Five Austin police officers have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning over a fourday period, raising concerns that their police vehicles could be exposing them to the deadly gas.

The Austin AmericanStatesman reports the vehicles involved are Fort Explorer sport utility vehicles. Assistant Police Chief Troy Gay says some

of the officers experienced dizziness, headaches and nausea. All were treated at an Austin hospital and discharged without being admitted.

A sixth officer also showed symptoms but needed no treatment.

While the Austin Police Department works with the Ford Motor Co. to resolve the problem, it is looking toward rending a fleet of vehicles to make sure officers are safe.

Woman sold fraudulent air fare vouchers A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AMARILLO, Texas — An Amarillo woman has been sentenced to almost two years in federal prison after admitting that she sold more than $400,000 in fraudulent vouchers for future airline travel.

A statement from the

U.S. Attorney’s Office says Ai Inthavong Lopez was sentenced Tuesday in Amarillo to 34 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to a mail fraud count. U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater also ordered her to pay more than $400,000 in restitution.

Social-Media online game urges youths to end their lives

By Claudia Lauer ASSOCIATED PRE SS

DALLAS — The family of a Texas teen who hanged himself says their son was involved in a ghoulish online game that calls on participants to complete a series of tasks before taking their own lives, and some schools are warning parents about the so-called Blue Whale Challenge.

Jorge Gonzalez told San Antonio television station WOAI (http:// bit.ly/2ufDDhG ) that he wanted to caution others after his son, Isaiah, was found hanging in his bedroom closet Saturday in the family’s home with his cellphone propped up on a shoe to record his death.

A report on the boy’s death from the San Antonio Police Department does not mention the challenge. But Gonzalez’ family said in the days after the teen died, they pieced together from his social media and communication with friends that he had participated in the game.

His sister, Alexis, told the TV station that a person behind the challenge had gathered personal information from Isaiah and had threatened to harm the family.

The police department did not return a message left by The Associated Press asking whether authorities were investigating the game as a factor in the case. Many parents and other authorities are skeptical that the game actually exists, citing a lack of suicides directly attributed to it.

Agent Michelle Lee of the FBI’s San Antonio office said the agency is

Parents allege that teens reach out to game administrators called curators through various social media platforms.

Those curators lead the players through 50 days of challenges including watching scary movie clips, cutting symbols into their arms and legs and taking pictures of themselves in dangerous high risk positions. not assisting in the investigation, but urged parents to monitor their children’s online activities.

“It’s a reminder of one of the many dangers and vulnerabilities that children face using various social media and apps online every day,” Lee said. “Parents must remain vigilant and monitor their child’s usage of the internet.”

Gonzalez is the second parent this week to tell news outlets about a child who died by suicide allegedly as a result of the game. A Georgia woman spoke Monday to CNN about her 16-year-old daughter killing herself as part of the challenge but asked that their names not be used.

Educators, law enforcement officers and parents across the country have reported rumors about the challenge for months. But until this week, there had been no allegations in the United States about a death directly linked to the game. Suicides in Russia, Brazil and a half dozen other countries were reportedly linked to the challenge in cases that usually involved teenagers or young adults.

Notes have been posted on school district social media pages and sent home to parents in school

districts across the country, including Vacaville, California; Baldwin County, Alabama; Warwick, Rhode Island; and Denver.

In Connecticut, Danbury Public Schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella sent a short note to parents around May after administrators from the district’s 19 schools started hearing about the challenge from kids as young as elementary schoolers.

“The elementary school principals started hearing their kids talk about this thing. Then the secondary principals started mentioning the same thing,” he said. “We discovered on our school network content about the challenge had been looked at on YouTube. ... I decided I would rather err on the side of information with parents.”

Parents allege that teens reach out to game administrators called curators through various social media platforms. Those curators lead the players through 50 days of challenges including watching scary movie clips, cutting symbols into their arms and legs and taking pictures of themselves in dangerous positions such as on the edge of a roof or on train tracks.

The participants are allegedly required to take

pictures of their challenges being completed and share them before being directed to end their lives on the 50th day. A search of related hashtags on Instagram shows users posting pictures of scars and cuts or memes that depict suicide, and a similar Twitter search shows users reaching out for curators to lead them through the game.

Instagram warns that some images tagged under some of the related phrases could be harmful and directs users to mental health resources. Twitter assesses reports of selfharm or suicide and also directs users to mental health or suicide-prevention resources.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children is aware of the challenge and encourages parents to report it and similar activity to the center’s cyber tip line even if they feel like they do not have enough information to go to police, said Eliza Harrell, the group’s director of education and outreach.

Harrell said she had not heard about the use of threats and intimidation, but said it was particularly concerning.

“That really adds another level to this,” she said.

“We do not tend to address specific apps or games when we give advice to parents.”

When parents talk to their children, “the underlying conversation needs to be about dealing with strangers online and putting themselves in a position of trust,” she added. “It’s an issue that a child is listening to someone anonymously and doing what they are told by a stranger to do.”

Zopinion

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A4 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Voter fraud commission runs into roadblocks

By Carl P. Leubsdorf DA LLA S MORNING NEWS

One of democracy’s best protections against blatantly preposterous proposals is that the perpetrators inevitably go too far. In the case of President Donald Trump’s fraudulent voter fraud commission, that didn’t take long.

Even before next week’s first official meeting, the panel Trump created to pursue his ridiculous claim that 3 million to 5 million Americans voted fraudulently last November, is running into roadblocks both federal and state.

On Monday, it temporarily suspended its request for reams of public and personal election data in the wake of multiple federal court suits from liberal groups contending it has failed to protect voters’ privacy.

But the principal resistance has come from the nation’s secretaries of state, many of them Republicans.

They have the most experience running elections, and they’re making clear their opposition to this misguided federal threat to their authority.

On Monday they unanimously passed a resolution at their annual meeting stressing the states’ role in administering federal, state and local elections.

The bipartisan rebuke came after many responded individually to the panel’s request by echoing Mississippi GOP Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann’s rejoinder that the panel chaired by Vice President Mike Pence "can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from."

Requested data included registrants’ full names, addresses, birth dates, political parties, voting history since 2006, felony convictions, military status and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

Though Pence officially chairs the panel, its driving force is Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, no stranger to controversy over his loud but so far ineffectual campaign to verify unproven claims of widespread voting by people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Kobach has fared poorly in court. Last month, a federal magistrate fined him $1,000 for misleading the court while challenging the Kansas law requiring new voters to show proof of citizenship, a requirement Kobach would like to see elsewhere.

The panel has given no indication yet how it proposes to cope with the non-existent problem it is investigating.

Richard L. Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California Irvine and one of the nation’s top elections experts, wrote in Slate he thinks it wants to roll back the 1993 Motor Voter Law, which re-

quires states to offer the opportunity to register to anyone applying for a driver’s license or public assistance.

Besides Kobach, Hasen noted, the panel includes "a rogue’s gallery of the country’s worst voter suppressors," including Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who sought in 2004 to reject voters on various specious grounds; Hans von Spakovsky, a former Bush 43 Justice Department official who has long argued without proof that widespread fraud requires a crackdown; and its newest member, J. Christian Adams, a von Spakowsky colleague in the Bush Justice Department.

In focusing on registration, the Pence-Kobach Commission is targeting the biggest current problem, the likely presence on voter rolls of many people who died or moved. But critics note that efforts in many states to purge their rolls often remove legitimate voters, including many minorities.

Besides, regardless of who is registered, there is no evidence of widescale illegal voting. A few cases often crop up, like a Dallas-area woman recently convicted of voting for years though not a citizen, and a Des Moines, Iowa, woman caught trying to vote twice last year for Trump. Organized efforts have generally produced minimal results, like Ohio Secretary of State John Husted’s probe last year that recommended prosecuting 52 possible voter fraud cases among the state’s 5.6 million voters.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are again pushing legislation automatically registering anyone who applies for a driver’s license, public assistance or a firearms permit; enrolls at a public university; or becomes a naturalized citizen.

Five states have adopted similar measures.

And the Democratic National Committee created its own commission, chaired by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who also formed a political action committee to fight restrictive efforts. Kander’s group plans a news conference next week when the Pence-Kobach panel meets.

As is often the case in Washington, the issue has created some interesting political subtexts. Kobach is running for governor of Kansas.

Kander, who narrowly lost a 2016 Senate race, is using the issue to pursue the kind of schedule presidential hopefuls follow.

But the underlying contrast is pretty clearcut. The Pence-Kobach Commission is trolling for ways to justify making voting harder, like expanding the voter ID laws in many states or extending Kansas’ questionable citizenship requirement.

Carl P. Leubsdorf is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News

COLUMN

The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree

By Frank Bruni NEW YORK TIME S NEWS

Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Sometimes the apple is also considerably dimmer than the tree. And sometimes the apple must be thrown under the bus so that the tree and a few of its most crucial limbs don’t tumble to the forest floor, where they’ll be chopped up and used as firewood

by Democrats.

Is that the fruity fate of Donald Trump Jr.?

On Tuesday morning, he released a chain of emails from June of last year that prove that he was eager to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from a representative of Russia, that the information was indeed characterized as “part of Russia and its government’s support” for his father’s presidential bid and that he held a meeting in the hopes of learning more.

It was, for my money, the most jaw-dropping development yet in an already-surreal presidency, and making sense of it requires some conjecture.

But evaluating the damage doesn’t. This erodes whatever credibility President Donald Trump and those in his inner circle had left (which wasn’t much).

Adamantly and incessantly, they have characterized questions about the Trump campaign’s possible cooperation with Russia as ludicrous — a “witch hunt,” in their preferred parlance.

And yet here is a document showing that the notion of such a concerted effort was dangled

before the eyes of Trump’s eldest son, who responded with glee — em>“I love it,” /em>he wrote — and hauled his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort, who was then the campaign’s chairman, into a meeting about it.

With the walls now closing in around Donald Jr., I wouldn’t be surprised if he says that he didn’t really believe the written claim that this was “very high level and sensitive information” from the Russian government itself.

But evaluate any and all spin from him through the lens of his evasions and empty grandstanding to date. When The New York Times first disclosed the meeting in an article on Saturday, he released a statement implying that the meeting’s purpose was to discuss Russian adoptions.

A day later, he significantly changed his story, admitting in a new statement that he had been led to expect material “helpful to the campaign” and that he cut the meeting off when the Russian lawyer who came to Trump Tower diverted the discussion toward adoptions. Read the statement: Bizarrely and hilariously, it’s so focused on the lawyer’s bait-andswitch and Donald Jr.’s disappointment that it boldly confirms how badly he’d craved dirt and how misleading his initial response to The Times was. Like I said: dim.

The emails released Tuesday make clear how incomplete em>both /em>of those versions were, and they appeared

to contradict his insistence in the second statement that Kushner and Manafort knew nothing about the meeting’s intent.

The release of the emails, at least, is no head scratcher: Donald Jr. apparently believed that The Times was about to publish them anyway and figured that if he beat us to the punch, he’d make it look as if he had nothing to hide. He tweeted that he wanted “to be totally transparent.”

Right. “Transparent” has as much to do with his last four days as “modest” does with his father’s entire 71 years.

And flash back to July 24 of last summer, which was just a month and a half after the meeting with the Russian lawyer, and Donald Jr.’s response when CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked him about the Clinton campaign’s assertion that Russians could be engaged in “a plot to help Donald Trump.”

“It just goes to show you their exact moral compass,” Donald Jr. said, in what will go down as one of the most priceless instances ever of the psychological phenomenon of projection.

He railed to Tapper about “lie after lie” from the Clinton camp, said they’d “do anything to win,” and — my favorite part — claimed that if a Republican were making the kinds of wild allegations of Russian meddling that they were, there’d be a call “to bring out the electric chair” for that person. The electric chair, no less!

Well, he’s on the hot

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

seat now, and the days — by which I mean 48 hours ago — when we were all worked up about Ivanka Trump’s presumptuous place at the G-20 table suddenly seem quaint. That actually em>is /em>a nothingburger in the context of this whopper.

Of course Papa poopoo’ed it, releasing a statement Tuesday afternoon that vouched, “My son is a high-quality person.” I can buy that Donald Jr. is too low-wattage a political operative to have understood that his Russia hugging was extraordinary and possibly treasonous, but not that he considered it virtuous.

I wonder whether Ivanka actually factors into this. Among the Trump children, she always sopped up the most lavish praise from Dad and drew the most media fascination. She was cast as his secret weapon. Such a designation eluded Donald Jr. When he met with the Russian lawyer, was he clumsily trying to maneuver his way to greater utility, favor and relevance?

Instead, in the grand tradition of ne’er-do-well namesakes, he brought his sire grief, and it will be interesting to watch the president’s next moves.

Enamored of loyalty and deaf to charges of nepotism and conflict of interest, he has kept his kids in a tight circle around him. But to survive, he may have to push this bad apple away.

Frank Bruni is a columnist with the New York Times.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 |

A5

CRIME Television set crushes 3-year-old child A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

TEMPLE, Texas — A 3-year-old child has died after a television set fell on him as he climbed a piece of furniture.

A Temple Police Department statement Tuesday says the child died at a Temple hospital shortly after the accident at his home late Monday night.

Police Sgt. Mike Bolton says evidence at the scene indicated the child was climbing the furniture to reach the television set when the set fell on him.

No identity has been released.

ZAPATA BLOTER ASSAULT

1 Francisco Manuel Rios, 29, was arrested June 25 and charged with assault, family violence, public intoxication and resisting arrest.

1 Julian Santana-Ramirez, 44, was arrested June 25 and charged with assault by contact.

CRIMINAL TRESPASS

1 Rolando Eduardo Sanchez, 53, was arrested June 20 and charged with criminal trespass.

DWI

1 Jose Juan Gomez Jr., 48, was arrested June 20 and charged with driving while intoxicated.

1 Selina Medel, 23, was arrested June 24 and charged with driving while intoxicated with child younger than 15 years old.

1 Jesus Rodriguez, 73, was arrested June 25 and charged with driving while intoxicated.

POSSESSION

1 Ruben Campos, 23, was arrested June 21 and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

1 Luis Daniel Peña, 23, was arrested June 22 and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

RECKLESS DRIVING

1 Michael Alexis Gonzalez, 23, was arrested June 25 and charged with reckless driving.

SMUGGLING OF PERSONS

1 Pedro Luis Lopez-Barrientos, 23, was arrested June 21 and charged with smuggling of persons.

THEFT

1 Oscar Carlos Prezaz, 40, was arrested June 22, and served with a warrant charging him with theft.

Fugitive, companion busted in Cotulla

By Taryn T. Walters LAREDO MORNING TIME S

A call regarding a shoplifting offense in Cotulla resulted in the arrest early Tuesday of a fugitive charged with multiple felony kidnapping, robbery, assault and weapons offenses in Webb County.

Ricardo Alberto Gonzalez, of Laredo, was approached by a La Salle County Sheriff’s deputy after staff at the Stripes truck stop and convenience store said they saw Gonzalez pocketing a phone charger he hadn’t paid for, La Salle County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Marc Robertson said in a release Tuesday.

Deputies said Gonzalez, 37, admitted to having

Gonzalez

Palestrant

forgotten to pay for the phone charger during a brief interview while he was refueling a black 2013 Toyota Camry sedan.

“Sheriff’s deputies examining the Toyota reported discovering a plastic bag containing crystal methamphetamine that appeared to have been wedged between one of the front seats and the car’s center console,” Robertson said.

2 ex-jailers get probation for inmate’s death ASSOCIATED PRE SS

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two former North Texas jailers have each gotten a year’s probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanors in the 2015 death of a restrained inmate.

Steven Schmidt and Pedro Medina were sentenced Tuesday in Fort Worth a day after their pleas.

Schmidt, who’s 58, and Medina, who’s 34, both worked at the Arlington City Jail when 42-year-old Jonathan Ryan Paul was jailed. Records show Paul

struggled after his March 2015 domestic disturbance arrest at his apartment complex. An autopsy found jail restraints, pepper spray and acute psychosis contributed to his death.

Schmidt and Medina were initially charged with criminally negligent homicide. Schmidt, who retired, pleaded guilty to official oppression. Medina, who was fired, pleaded guilty to assault with bodily injury.

Last year, Arlington reached a $1.25 million settlement with Paul’s relatives.

A pipe allegedly seen protruding from Gonzalez’s trouser pocket was later found to contain crystal methamphetamine.

Gonzalez was accompanied by a 34-year-old San Antonio man identified as Jacobo Palestrant.

Palestrant is listed as the owner of the Toyota, Robertson said. He allegedly denied ownership of the methamphetamine and drug-related paraphernalia in the vehicle, including a number of digital scales.

Gonzalez gave officers a false name and date of birth before he was correctly identified, according to a deputy’s report. He also allegedly claimed that the drugs and parapher-

nalia in the vehicle belonged to Palestrant.

Records show a long history of indictments in local county and state courts for Gonzalez, including ten open cases with both felony and misdemeanor charges.

“Both men were taken into custody Tuesday morning on state jail felony drug possession charges related to the crystal methamphetamine. Gonzalez was subsequently charged with theft and with failing to identify himself as a fugitive from justice. He is being held without bond on the outstanding felony warrants,” Robertson said.

Gonzalez is listed as being wanted on active

felony warrants in Webb County for aggravated kidnapping, three counts of aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and family violence assault causing bodily injury, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

He is also listed as wanted on a felony warrant in Bexar County for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1.

Court records indicate warrants were issued for Gonzalez’s arrest after he failed to appear in May in court for hearings in several cases.

Bond doubled for 2 charged in human smuggling case ASSOCIATED PRE SS

HOUSTON — A judge on Tuesday doubled the bond amounts for two women accused of helping smuggle a dozen people into the U.S. who were found in a locked, sweltering hot truck in Houston.

State District Judge George Powell raised each woman’s bond to $600,000 after Harris County prosecutors said Priscila Perez Beltran, 21, and Adela Alvarez, 26, were flight risks or would resume smuggling activities if released.

The women and a third person, Nelson Cortes Garcia, 27, were arrested Sunday and charged with two counts of human smuggling likely to cause

injury or death and one count of human smuggling involving a minor.

Ten men, a woman and a 16-year-old girl were inside the stifling truck, where temperatures topped 100 degrees.

Cortes Garcia, who is being held on $300,000, didn’t appear at the hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors said they would seek to increase his bond at his next court appearance.

Prosecutors believe all three defendants are from El Salvador. Court records show none is a U.S. citizen.

The three were arrested at a strip center construction site parking area where Houston police discovered the people inside the truck. Au-

thorities believe the people were from Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador.

Prosecutor JoAnne Musick said U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials already were aware of Beltran and Alvarez after a recent bust in Corpus Christi. Authorities have said they continue to investigate whether more people may be involved in the trafficking operation.

At a hearing late Monday for Cortes Garcia, prosecutors said Beltran told authorities that she previously helped him and Alvarez smuggle people into the U.S. and that Alvarez had acknowledged bringing an aunt and uncle into the country without documentation.

Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE INSCRIPCIONES PARA PORRISTAS 1 El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent District invita a los padres de alumnos de tercero, cuarto y quinto de la primaria Zapata North Elementary a las inscripciones para porristas el jueves 13 de julio. Para mayores informes llame al 956-7656917.

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

LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL

1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956849-1411.

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

Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas.

Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956-765-8983.

GRUPOS DE APOYO 1 Grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital. Padecer cáncer es una de las experiencias más estresantes en la vida de una persona. Sin embargo, los grupos de apoyo pueden ayudar a muchos a lidiar con los aspectos emocionales de la enfermedad.

1 Grupo de Apoyo para Ansiedad y Depresión Rayo de Luz se reúne cada primer lunes del mes de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en Centro de Educación del Área de Salud, ubicado en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430.

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.

CIUDAD MIER, TAMAULIPAS

Confiscan droga y vehículos

Foto de cortesía

Este es uno de los cuatro vehículos confiscados recientemente en Ciudad Mier, ciudad fronteriza vecina del Condado Starr. Las letras ‘CDG’ pueden ser observadas del lado contrario. ‘CDG’ significa Cartel del Golfo.

Camioneta tenía letras ‘CDG’ en un costado Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Autoridades tamaulipecas dijeron que recientemente incautaron más de dos toneladas de marihuana y cuatro camionetas pickup en un pueblo al sur del Condado Starr.

Oficiales de policía del Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Tamaulipas dijeron el 28 de junio

Foto de cortesía

El estado de Tamaulipas confiscó más de dos toneladas de marihuana en Ciudad Mier en junio.

que las incautaciones llegan como el resultado de dos acciones separadas en Ciudad Mier.

En cuanto a la marihuana, la policía dijo que encontraron abandonada una Dodge Ram 4000 mientras patrullaban un camino rural en Las Peñas. Las autoridades inspeccionaron el vehículo y descubrieron 382 paquetes de marihuana con un peso de 2.3 toneladas. Se estipula que

CONDADO DE ZAPATA

el contrabando tiene un valor en las calles de 4.172.800 dólares.

Una segunda acción de cumplimiento de la ley ocurrió cerca de la orilla del río en Ciudad Mier en un área conocida como la Desembocadura. La policía encontró cuatro camionetas pickup: una Chevy Silverado café modelo 1997, una Nissan Titan modelo 2009 gris, una Ford F-150 modelo 2009 blanca y una Chevy Silverado

modelo 1999 blanca.

Fotografías distribuidas por funcionarios tamaulipecos muestran que la Titan tenía las letras “CDG” en uno de los costados, las iniciales del Cartel Del Golfo. Es bien sabido que integrantes de bandas criminales utilizan camionetas pickup para actividades ilícitas.

Todas las incautaciones fueron entregadas a la fiscalía.

FRONTERA

Mejoran condiciones higiénicas en rastro E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Foto de cortesía

Autoridades del Condado de Zapata indican que alguien entró a este vehículo.

Reportan allanamiento de vehículo Por César G. Rodriguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

La Oficinal del Aguacil de Zapata dijo el lunes que necesitan la ayuda de la comunidad para resolver un caso de allanamiento.

Las autoridades buscan identificar a la persona o personas responsables por supuestamente romper la venta del lado de copiloto de un auto para robar la cartera de una mujer.

El caso fue reportado el

sábado en la cuadra 1700 de la calle Glenn.

Zapata Crime Stoppers pagará una recompensa en efectivo a cualquiera que proporcione información anónima que lleve a un arresto y la recuperación de los artículos robados.

Para proporcionar información, llame a la Oficina del Alguacil al 956-765-9960 o Zapata Crime Stoppers al 765TIPS (8477). Todas las llamadas permanecerán anónimas.

El Rastro Municipal de Nuevo Laredo, México es el más equipado de Tamaulipas, y próximamente contará con una lavadora de menudos y un cuarto para médicos en cumplimiento a lo establecido por las autoridades sanitarias, dice un comunicado del ayuntamiento.

José Luis Canales Bermea, Director de Desarrollo Rural de Nuevo Laredo, comentó que está por llegar la maquinaria que facilitará y finalizará el proceso de matanza de res, para lograr una mayor higiene y ofrecer mejores condiciones de salubridad a los consumidores de carne.

“La llegada de esta lavadora nos beneficia mucho, ya que ese proceso lo estábamos realizando manualmente en el rastro”, dijo Canales. “Agradecemos a la Comisión de Desarrollo Rural por el apoyo de otorgarnos la maquinaria necesaria que tiene un costo de casi 300.000 pesos, esto cierra el ciclo completo de lo que es toda la matanza del animal con las medidas de sanidad”.

Además, inició la construcción de un cuarto médico para facilitar la supervisión de los veterinarios en la matanza, se prevé que esta obra quede lista para septiembre de este año.

“El rastro se ha ido equipando poco a poco, ahora que tuvimos la visita de la Junta Binacional nos recalcaban unos puntos como la creación de un cuarto de médicos en la matanza, ya se está trabajando en su construcción, y para septiembre quedará listo para supervisar el proceso.”, dijo Canales Bermea.

Gracias a la remodelación del Rastro Municipal, ganaderos de Ciudad Guer-

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Nuevo Laredo

La maquinaria ofrecerá mejores condiciones de salubridad.

rero, Piedras Negras, Lampazos, Anáhuac acuden a la ciudad para realizar sus matanzas, ya que Nuevo Laredo les brinda las mejores condiciones sanitarias.

Cabe mencionar, que de octubre a la fecha las estadísticas en el rastro han incrementando, y ahora registra una matanza de 1.190 cabritos, bovino 913, ovicaprinos 294 y porcinos 216.

GUERRERO AYER Y HOY

Florece Antigua Ciudad Guerrero Nota del editor: Esta serie de artículos sobre la historia de Ciudad Guerrero, México, fueron escritos por la guerrerense Lilia Treviño Martínez (1927-2016), quien fuera profesora de la escuela Leoncio Leal.

Por Lilia Treviño Martínez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Durante la época de la dictadura del General Porfirio Díaz (1880-1910), aunque esto parezca un elogio a un régimen tan ex-

ecrado, es justo reconocer que Guerrero, como parte integrante de la región fronteriza del estado, estaba viviendo una etapa de gran bonanza, pues su desarrollo económico fue notable.

El proyecto del ferrocarril hacía más fuertes las esperanzas para continuar el auge de la población; desgraciadamente, varios hechos adversos al proyecto se conjugaron y los trabajos para la vía férrea fueron abandonados en 1882 por-

que el ramal se desvió a otras ciudades.

Este factor, unidos a los hechos ocurridos en Guerrero durante el movimiento constitucionalista (1913-1914) marcaron el estancamiento del desarrollo y el descenso de la población.

En los tiempos de florecimiento de la Antigua Ciudad Guerrero (1906) tuvo lugar la grandiosa celebración del Centenario del Natalicio del Benemérito Juárez. Porfirio Díaz, Presidente de la República dis-

puso que en cada ciudad mexicana se erigiera un monumento a Juárez para honrar su memoria.

En Guerrero, el Comité Organizador de este evento logró reunir la suma de 7089,19 pesos, suficientes, en aquella época, para adquirir la majestuosa estatus y su pedestal, que fueron trasladados a la Plaza “Vicente Guerrero”, frente al Palacio Municipal de la Nueva Ciudad, el 11 de octubre de 1953, en una ceremonia especial.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 |

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS

A7

NBA: SAN ANTONIO SPURS

Julién Davenport off to strong start Seth Wenig / AP file

San Antonio added Rudy Gay to help bolster its roster in the competitive Western Conference.

Road to Finals gets even tougher for Spurs following free agency

By Nick Moyle SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle file

Houston’s Julién Davenport was drafted by the Texans in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The rookie played his college ball at Bucknell

By Aaron Wilson H OUSTON CHRONICLE

Fanning his left leg out in a compact, practiced motion, Texans rookie offensive tackle Julién Davenport stonewalled pass rushers with solid footwork and blocking skills.

It was a snapshot of his potential as the 6-7, 318pound former Bucknell standout is making the transition to the NFL after excelling in the Patriot League.

"I like Julién," Texans coach Bill O'Brien aid.

"He's a rookie, so they're all learning. It's tough in

no pads. I think the true test for a lineman is when the full pads are on in camp, but so far he's smart, he works hard, he's got a good skillset for that position. So far, so good, but again the true test for lineman is when they put pads on."

Davenport is competing for playing time at right tackle while learning on the job. The Texans could use his size and strength at a position that's in flux after starting right tackle Derek Newton tore both patellar tendons last season and was ruled out for this season. Chris Clark returns as the replace-

ment for Newton, but struggled last season.

Drafted in the fourth round, Davenport was a two-time team captain and an All-American selection. He has 36 1/1 inch arms and an 87 1/2 inch wingspan. He scored a 34 on the Wonderlic exam.

The cousin of former Kentucky and NBA player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Davenport started 44 games at left tackle at Bucknell and was a fourtime all-conference selection.

His wingspan is the longest of any one in the draft.

"Definitely helps out because you have to keep those guys off of you and away from you in the pass pro," Davenport said.

"Just having very long arms and just keeping them that much further away from you. I feel I move very well.

"I'm able to stay low and I just have to keep that going. I just have to improve on technique issues along with the game and having the consistency in my play. I would say consistency with keeping my hands up and consistency staying low. Just little technique issues."

For years the East has been derided as the West's incompetent sibling. The only jersey that mattered to any team in the Varsity Division was the one LeBron James put on.

That still largely holds true – though Boston certainly looms as an interesting thorn, especially if it can parlay some of its assets into another bonafide AllStar.

But aside from Gordon Hayward's decision to reunite with Celtics coach Brad Stevens, most of the league's available talent has headed out west.

Oklahoma City now boasts a tandem of Russell Westbrook and Paul George; Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague joined the young Timberwolves; Paul Millsap departed Atlanta for Denver.

Even the league's other notable moves – Chris Paul to the Rockets;

Ricky Rubio to the Jazz; Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers; Rudy Gay to the Spurs – have been confined to its superior conference.

With some notable exceptions – Detroit in 2004 and Dallas in 2011 – serious star power is required for a title pursuit. Piecing together a "Big Three" is at the forefront of every general manager's mind, but the past few weeks have created a serious power vacuum in the East.

Using value over replacement player (VORP) as a barometer, eight of the league's top 12 threesomes play for Western Conference teams. From the East, only the Cavaliers, Celtics, Wizards and Bucks make the cut.

The talent chasm in the NBA has expanded at an alarming rate, setting up a season-long bloodbath out West.

Meanwhile, James can once again cruise through his toothless conference with little concern

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: HOUSTON ASTROS

NOT YET A WORLD SERIES CONTENDER Houston holds a commanding lead in the AL West

By Neil Greenberg WA S H INGT ON P O ST

The Houston Astros finished the first half of the season in style, crushing the Toronto Blue Jays, 19-1, to earn win No. 60 of the season. According to Elias, the Astros’ 18-run margin of victory is the largest by a team in its final game before the all-star game, breaking the previous record set in 1938, when the New York Giants defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers, 16-1.

Houston now enjoys a 16.5 game lead in American League West, the largest since the Seattle Mariners led by 19 games during the 2001 season, making the Astros a virtual lock to qualify for the playoffs.

Their future beyond that, however, is less certain.

Since 1996, the first full season with at least one wild-card team, 77 of 126 division champions (61 percent) held at least a share of that division lead at the all-star break, including all eight that had double-digit leads at the end of the first half of the season.

Yet those division winners

Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images

Houston currently enjoys a 16.5 game lead in American League West, the largest since the Seattle Mariners led by 19 games during the 2001 season.

haven’t had much playoff success. Five lost in the first round, two lost in the second round and just one, the 1998 New York Yankees, went on to win the World Series. That’s less optimistic than the 18.7 percent probability FanGraphs gives the Astros to win the 2017 World Series, the second mostlikely champion behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hitting isn’t likely to hold the Astros back. As a team, they are batting .289 with a .855 OPS. Three of their hitters - second baseman Jose Altuve,

shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer were will start in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Houston also has a league-leading run differential of 162, creating runs at a rate that is 28 percent higher than average after adjusting for league and park effects (128 wRC+). If that holds, it would be the highest rate since 1942, the end of the Lively Ball Era. The bullpen got recognition when reliever Chris Devenski was added to the American League all-star roster. The 26-year-old is second among

MLB relievers in strikeouts (74) with 51.2 innings pitched, while ranking ninth in context-neutral wins (1.29 WPA/ LI), measures how many wins a player contributes to his team without weighing how pressure-filled the situation was. By nature, pitchers put in clutch situations will have more impact on a team’s record, so this is a way to counter that and look solely at how well a pitcher performed, rather the circumstances surrounding him. According to wins above replacement, De-

venski (1.7 fWAR) is the fourth most valuable reliever in baseball this season.

Houston’s starting pitching, however, could be a problem.

The Astros have an ace in Dallas Keuchel - 9-0 with a 1.67 ERA, striking out 24.4 percent of batters faced before a pinched nerve in his neck put him on the 10-day disabled list in June - and a strong No. 2 in all-star Lance McCullers Jr., but after that, the rotation becomes shaky.

Brad Peacock’s 5-1 record is remarkable but starts to lose its luster when you look at the 8.93 runs in support he gets per nine innings, nearly three runs more than the average starter gets in the majors this season. Plus, Peacock struggles with his command, walking batters in 13.8 percent of their plate appearances this season, the third-highest among starters with at least 40 innings pitched in 2017, resulting in just three quality starts (six or more innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs) in nine outings. Mike Fiers, Charlie Morton and Joe Musgrove also struggle to go long into games, combining for 14 quality starts in 42 games pitched (33.3 percent). Overall, Houston has 36 quality starts at the all-star break, the seventhfewest in the league, with just 10 coming since Keuchel’s last start on June 2. That’s the same number as the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds, two teams with no chance at making the playoffs this season.

A8 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

New GOP health plan keeps Email shows Trump Jr. accepted help from Kremlin tax boosts on rich

By Chad Day And Eric Tucker

By Alan Fram ASSOCIATED PRE SS

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr. eagerly accepted help from what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid his father’s campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to emails he released publicly on Tuesday.

The email exchange posted to Twitter by Donald Trump’s eldest son represents the clearest sign to date that members of the president’s inner circle were willing to meet during the campaign with Russians who wanted Trump to prevail.

U.S. intelligence agencies have said the Russian government meddled in the election through hacking to aid Trump.

The emails show Trump Jr. conversing with a music publicist who wanted him to meet with a lawyer from Moscow. The publicist, Rob Goldstone, describes the lawyer as a “Russian government attorney” who has dirt on Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” The messages with Goldstone show that Trump Jr. was told that the Russian government had information that could “incriminate” Clinton and her dealings with Russia.

In one response, Trump Jr. says, “I love it.”

Trump Jr., who was deeply involved in his father’s presidential campaign, released the emails along with a statement describing the disclosure as an effort “to be totally transparent.”

Hours after the emails were released, the president rose to his son’s defense.

“My son is a high quality person and I applaud his transparency,” Trump said Tuesday in a statement read to reporters by White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Although Sanders declined to answer any questions about the emails, she said the White House stood by its insistence that no one in Trump’s campaign had colluded to influence the election.

Although Democrats in Congress voiced outrage and insisted the messages showed clear collusion, members of Trump’s party did not join in the condemnation. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he was confident Senate investigators would “get to the bottom of whatever happened,” while Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican on the intelligence committee, cautioned that the emails were “only part of the picture.”

The messages were the

Richard Drew / AP

Donald Trump Jr., left, is interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel in New York on Tuesday. Trump Jr. eagerly accepted help from what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to emails he released publicly on Tuesday.

latest disclosure to roil the ongoing investigation into Russia’s interference in the election and potential collusion with Trumps campaign. As congressional committees and Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigate, the emails will almost certainly be reviewed for any signs of coordination with the Kremlin, which the White House and Trump Jr. have repeatedly denied.

A spokesman for Mueller, the former FBI director, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

In the emails, dated in early June — soon after Trump secured the Republican nomination — Goldstone wrote to Trump Jr. that the information “would be very useful to your father.”

Goldstone was working to connect Trump Jr. to Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met with Trump Jr. on June 9 at Trump Tower in New York. Veselnitskaya has denied that she ever worked for the Russian government.

“If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr. replied to Goldstone in one of a series of email exchanges the younger Trump posted to Twitter.

The emails show Goldstone telling Trump that singer Emin Agalarov and his father, Moscowbased developer Aras Agalarov, had “helped along” the Russian government’s support for

Trump. The elder Agalarov was involved with Trump in hosting the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. The two men also had preliminary discussions about building a Trump Tower in Moscow that fell through.

Trump also appeared in a music video with the younger Agalarov.

In his email, Goldstone says that the “Crown prosecutor of Russia” offered to provide the information on Clinton to the Trump campaign in a meeting with Aras Agalarov. There is no such royal title in the Russian Federation, but Goldstone — who is British — may have been referring to the title given to state prosecutors in the United Kingdom. In Russia, the top justice official is Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, the equivalent of the attorney general in the United States. Chaika is longtime confidant of Vladimir Putin who was directly appointed by the Russian president.

Representatives for the Agalarovs didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Attempts to reach Chaika at his office Tuesday were unsuccessful.

In one of the emails, Goldstone said he could send the information about Clinton to Trump’s father first directly “via Rhona,” an apparent reference to the elder Trump’s longtime assistant, Rhona Graff, from his days at the helm of the Trump Organization.

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WASHINGTON — A revised Senate Republican health care bill will likely retain a pair of tax boosts President Barack Obama imposed on wealthier Americans that have helped finance his law’s expansion of coverage, a leading Senate Republican said Tuesday.

The two levies — one on investment income and another on the payroll tax that helps finance the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly — are among the biggest that Obama’s 2010 statute imposed. Some of the money would be used to increase a fund the GOP bill would disperse to states to help insurers contain consumers’ premiums and deductibles, said No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas.

Preserving those taxes “seems to be where we’re headed,” Cornyn told reporters. He said the reworked bill will also provide $45 billion over a decade to help states combat abuse of drugs including opioids, and make it easier for states to get federal waivers to decide how to spend money under their Medicaid health programs for the poor, elderly and nursing home patients.

Cornyn spoke after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he will introduce his party’s altered health care bill Thursday and begin trying to muscle it through the Senate next week. The effort

Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, center, is pursued by reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. A revised Senate GOP health care bill will likely retain a pair of tax boosts Obama imposed on wealthier Americans.

comes with the fate of the GOP measure in doubt, with internal divisions threatening to mortally wound their top-tier goal of repealing much of Obama’s overhaul.

“Hopefully everything we’re doing now helps another member get to ‘yes,”’ Cornyn said.

“There’s really no other reason to tweak this thing.”

In the face of unanimous Democratic opposition, the health care bill will crash if just three of the 52 GOP senators oppose it. McConnell suddenly canceled a doomed vote last month on an initial version of the legislation, and at least a dozen Republicans have said they oppose the initial package or distanced themselves from it.

Since his June retreat, McConnell has been reshaping the measure in hopes of winning GOP votes. Even so, no GOP leaders were yet predicting passage.

McConnell also said he will delay the chamber’s August recess for two weeks, a rare move he said would give lawmakers time to break logjams on health care, defense and executive branch nominations. Growing numbers of Republicans, chagrined at Congress’ failure to send any major bills to President Donald Trump, had called on McConnell to make that move.

The GOP bill would ease coverage requirements Obama’s 2010 statute placed on insurers, like paying for maternity services; erase his tax penalties on people who don’t buy policies and cut Medicaid. The measure will also eliminate most of Obama’s tax increases, including boosts on insurers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device makers.

Obama’s law has added around 20 million to the ranks of the country’s people with health insurance.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 |

A9

BUSINESS

Tesla adding service centers Takata as Model 3 goes on sale expands air

bag recall

By Dee-ann Durbin A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DETROIT — Electric car maker Tesla is expanding its service operations and hiring more than 1,000 technicians to meet expected demand for its new Model 3 sedan.

The Model 3, cheaper than Tesla’s existing cars, goes on sale this month and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of new customers to the brand.

To accommodate them, the company is adding 100 new service centers worldwide over the next year, bringing its total number of service centers to 250. The new service centers will be in areas that have the most reservation-holders for the Model 3.

Tesla also is adding 350 vans to its mobile service fleet, mostly in the U.S. The vans go to owners’ homes or offices and repair their cars. The vans are equipped with tools and replacement parts as well as an espresso machine, snacks and kids’ toys.

Until now, Tesla had around 30 mobile repair vans, which were used mostly in cases where the owner lived too far from a service center. About six months ago, the company began deploying the vans in the San Francisco area in order to ease the burden on its service centers and see if they could help meet anticipated demand for the Model 3. Customers were happy with the new ar-

By Tom Krisher ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Tesla Motors / AP

This image shows the Tesla Model 3 sedan. The Model 3 sedan is a highly anticipated car because it carries a relatively low sticker price.

rangement, so the company decided to roll out mobile service in more locations.

Tesla is hiring 1,400 new service technicians this year to staff the service centers and mobile repair vans At a starting price of $35,000, the Model 3 is about half the cost of Tesla’s two other models.

Tesla hasn’t said how many people hold refundable, $1,000 reservations for the car. It has said it expects to make 500,000 vehicles in 2018, up from 84,000 last year.

Like its stores, which are owned by the company and not by franchised dealers, Tesla’s service model is unusual. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said several years ago that unlike traditional dealerships, Tesla didn’t intend to make a profit on service and repairs, partly because electric cars

don’t need regular oil changes or other maintenance that gasoline-powered cars do. U.S. dealers made $110 billion in service and parts sales last year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Tesla said it’s charging the same amount for non-warranty repairs whether they’re done at service centers or through mobile vans. It hasn’t released details on the warranty plan for the Model 3, so it’s not yet clear if it will match Tesla’s other vehicles. The Model S and Model X have a four-year, 50,000mile vehicle warranty and an eight-year battery warranty with unlimited miles.

While other luxury brands like Lincoln and Genesis will pick up vehicles from customers and take them to a service center, Tesla doesn’t

want cars to go to a service center if repairs can be done remotely. The company says 80 percent of repairs to its cars, including replacing the tires or fixing electronic glitches, can be done without a lift, which means it’s just as easy to perform them out of a mobile repair van. That leaves service centers free to concentrate on more complicated repairs that require a lift, like motor or battery problems.

The system isn’t perfect. In online owner forums, some Tesla drivers have complained of long waits for service and inability to use trusted local repair shops because they aren’t certified

by Tesla. Tesla certifies some repair shops to do body work when the outside of the car is damaged, but shops have to go through special training to get certified.

Primewell tires recalled; sidewall can crack, lose air, increasing risk of crash A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DETROIT — A company that distributes Primewell brand tires is recalling more than 394,000 of them in the U.S. because the sidewalls can crack and lose air, increasing the risk of a crash.

The recall covers certain Valera Touring II replacement passenger car tires distributed by Californiabased Giti Tire USA and sold at Firestone stores.

The company says in documents posted Tuesday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a crack can develop in the lower sidewall after being in use for several months.

GITI says there have been no property damage or injury claims.

In most cases the crack happens

Autumn Driscoll / Hearst Connecticut Media

A Firestone Complete Auto Care Services and Tires center is shown in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

on the opposite side of the tire from the serial number, which normally is mounted on the inside.

That can make the cracks difficult to detect.

Tires sizes that are being recalled include 185/65R14 86H, 195/ 60R15 88H, 205/55R16 91H, 205/ 60R16 92V, 215/60R17 96H, and 235/60R17 102T. They were made by a company in Indonesia between April 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2016, according to the documents.

Sizes can normally be found on a tire’s sidewall.

GITI says in the documents that the problem was discovered through “continuous monitoring of market signals.” The company says 219 tires have been inspected to date and there have been no reports of air pressure loss.

Owners will be notified and the affected tires will be replaced for free. The recall is expected to start July 20. Owners can call Giti customer service at (866) 488-4737.

DETROIT — Takata is adding a new type of air bag inflator to the nation’s largest automotive recall.

The company filed documents with the U.S. government adding 2.7 million vehicles to the recall from Ford, Nissan and Mazda, all with a type of inflator that previously was thought to be safe.

The affected vehicles are from the 2005 through 2012 model years.

Takata inflators can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 17 people have died and more than 180 injured due to the problem. The inflators have caused the largest automotive recall in U.S. history with 42 million vehicles and up to 69 million inflators being called back for repairs.

Takata uses the chemical ammonium nitrate to inflate air bags. But it can deteriorate when exposed to high airborne humidity and high temperatures.

Previously the company believed that a drying agent called a desiccant stopped the chemical from degrading.

But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a statement Tuesday that tests done by Takata show that for the first time, a type of desiccated inflator “will pose a safety risk if not replaced.”

The agency says it has no reports of any inflators with the desiccant rupturing.

Nissan said the new recall affects just over 515,000 Versa subcompact hatchback and sedans from the 2007 through 2012 model years. Mazda said its recall covers about 6,000 B-Series trucks from 2007 through 2009. Ford, which has the most vehicles involved in the latest recall, is reviewing the information and will file a list of models within the five days required by law.

Takata said in documents filed with the safety agency that it tested inflators returned from Nissan and Ford vehicles which use calcium sulfate as a drying agent. Although none of the inflators blew apart, some

showed a pattern of deterioration in the ammonium nitrate propellant over time “that is understood to predict a future risk of inflator rupture.”

NHTSA said in a statement that not all Takata inflators with a desiccant are being recalled. Takata used different drying agents in other inflators, the agency said.

The latest recall raises doubts about the safety of other Takata Corp. inflators that use ammonium nitrate and drying agents. The company has agreed to recall all original equipment inflators without a drying agent in phases by the end of 2018.

NHTSA gave Takata until the end of 2019 to prove that inflators with the drying agents are safe, or they must be recalled as well.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Tuesday that NHTSA needs to move faster to figure out whether all remaining Takata inflators are safe.

“This recall now raises serious questions about the threat posed by all of Takata’s ammonium nitrate-based air bags,” Nelson said in a statement. “We certainly can’t afford to wait until the December 2019 deadline for that determination.”

Crushed by mounting recall and legal costs, Takata filed for bankruptcy last month in the U.S. and Japan, saying it was the only way to ensure it could keep supplying replacements for faulty inflators. Most of the company’s assets will be bought by rival Key Safety Systems for about $1.6 billion (175 billion yen). Remnants of Takata’s operations will continue to make inflators to be used as replacement parts for 19 affected automakers.

NHTSA said Takata has assured the agency that it will keep making parts available.

The agency is urging people whose inflators have been recalled to get them replaced as soon as possible. To find out if your car or truck is part of the recall, go to https:// www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and key in the 17-digit vehicle identification number. It may take a few days for models in the most recent recall to show up in the database.

A10 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Kermit the Frog will have a new voice

By Mark Kennedy A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — There’s a frog in a lot of throats across the country as news has circulated that Kermit the Frog is getting a new voice.

ABC News and The Hollywood Reporter report that Steve Whitmire has left his role giving life to the iconic green Muppet. Whitmire has voiced and made the character move since Muppets creator Jim Henson’s death in 1990.

A Muppets Studio spokeswoman told the outlets that longtime Muppets performer Matt Vogel will be taking over the role. Vogel has voiced such characters as Big Bird, Robin the Frog and The Count.

Joe Hennes, the coowner, senior contributor and editor of ToughPigs.com , a website for Muppet fans, said the reaction among fans has been cautiously optimistic.

“They’re obviously sad about the news but they’re excited to see what’s going to happen.

There’s a much larger sense of optimism about what’s coming up next for the Muppets,” he said.

Representatives for Disney, which owns Muppets Studio, didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday about the motivation behind the move.

The Muppets have been putting out short weekly YouTube videos called “Thought of the Week " and Hennes said the new Kermit will likely debut there next week.

In addition to Kermit, Whitmire had voiced grumpy critic Statler, Rizzo the Rat, the alwaysstartled Beaker and other characters for the Mup-

Tonya Wise / AP

This 2015 photo shows Kermit the Frog, left, and puppeteer Steve Whitmire. ABC News and The Hollywood Reporter reported Monday that Whitmire is no longer performing the character.

pets.

“For a lot of adults, Steve’s Kermit is the Kermit they grew up with,” Hennes said. “Although we see the voice being changed again or the baton is being passed once again, for a lot of people this is kind of the first time in their lives they’re aware of this happening to the character.”

Children’s TV shows have survived changes in key cast members before, most notably when Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from “Sesame Street” in 2012 amid allegations that he sexually abused underage boys.

Elmo is now performed

by Ryan Dillon.

Kermit made his debut in a 1955 television comedy called “Sam and Friends,” which aired locally in Washington, D.C., but he looked more lizardlike back then.

Kermit was fashioned from an old coat belonging to Henson’s mother and was named after one of Henson’s childhood friends.

Henson and his 2-foottall puppet joined “Sesame Street” in 1969. “The Muppet Show” followed in 1976 and ended its run

in 1982.

Whitmire and Kermit were inseparable for years, with the two making TV appearances on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live” and in films like “Muppets Most Wanted” and “The Muppets” in 2011.

But Hennes points out that when Whitmire took over from Henson, many believed that the new Kermit simply sounded wrong. After 27 years, most fans have reconciled.

Vogel took over voicing the Count when “Sesame Street” regular Jerry Nelson died in 2012 and soon took over many of Nelson’s characters. Hennes called Vogel “one of the best puppeteers in the world.”

“We’re going to be getting a new voice for Kermit but what will be much more important will be that performance,” he said. “For a lot of the fans, it will be a little jarring to hear a different performer’s voice. But just like we did with Steve, we’ll get used to it because it will be such a professional performance.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 |

A11

FROM THE COVER

Demo leaders to huddle with advocates to save DACA

By Franco Ordonez MCCLAT CHY WASHINGT ON BUREAU

WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders will secretly huddle with immigration advocates Wednesday to find out what measures they will — and won’t -support as the clock ticks down on immigration issues that must be decided in the next 50 to 90 days, including the Obama-era policy that grants temporary legal status to immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.

Knowing that the deferred action program known as DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — could be eliminated if it ends up in court, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other leaders are expected to hold a conversation with advocates on the realities of the political fight, pressing for unity and asking if the advocates will give in on any other parts of the immigration fight in order to save DACA. "Schumer is a good person to be meeting with right now because he has to hold his guys together to block some of this stuff that is coming from the House," said a congressional staffer who could not speak publicly about Democratic strategy.

The Trump administration has until Sept. 5 — the same day Congress returns from its August recess — to decide if the administration will phase out DACA or risk a court challenge

by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other states.

DACA is the biggest of a number of immigration decisions looming over the Trump administration, all with September deadlines — including whether to renew temporary protective status for nationals of Somalia and Yemen, whether to demand funding for the border wall and whether to continue an immigrant investor program that the sister of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, controversially used to court Chinese investors.

The Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t offer any clues into the decisionmaking, but Homeland Security spokeswoman Joanne Talbot said the DACA program is under review, reiterating that President Donald Trump has spoken of the need to "handle the issue with compassion and with heart."

Talbot added that Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also recognizes that Congress is the only entity that can provide a long-term solution for the issue through legislation.

Yet there’s little discussion between the parties on Capitol Hill, with Trump accusing the Democrats of being obstructionists and Democrats accusing the Trump administration and Republicans of creating an unworkable, toxic environment focused on removing people.

Members will be working over the next several weeks to develop a strategy before leaving for the August break, with

WALL From page A1 ing an omnibus spending measure earlier this spring.

Democrats objected to the funding and significant opposition surfaced among Republicans as well, many of whom have problems with the wall.

The administration and congressional Republicans took a pass on forcing the issue in May but vowed to fight for the wall this summer and fall.

During last year’s campaign, Trump bragged that Mexico would pay for the wall but he’s never come up with a serious plan to deliver on his boast.

Instead, the $1.6 billion down payment for the wall will be added to the government’s almost $20 trillion debt.

The wall money is embedded in a $44 bil-

Marie D. De Jesús / Houston Chronicle

YesPrep Gulfton student Claudio Canas, left, 15, and school teacher Vida Pascual, right, speak to other students as the "dreamer" club starts session in Houston. The "dreamer" club is a safe space for students who want to support immigrants and undocumented students during the current time of uncertainty in relation to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals also known as DACA.

a special focus this week and next on House Speaker Paul Ryan to see whether he’ll speak in favor of DACA recipients, as he has before.

Despite the administration’s assurances that those brought to the country illegally as children are not a priority for removal actions, Trump’s immigration directives have left little room for students and their families to feel safe.

Trump and Republican leaders have said the roughly 800,000 immigrants currently protected by the DACA program shouldn’t be concerned, but those statements appear inconsistent with Trump’s executive orders and implementation memos that dismiss the idea of protected classes of immigrants and expand the definition of who is considered a criminal.

Advocates point to recently leaked memos from U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement, obtained by ProPublica, that direct the nation’s 5,700 deportation agents to immediately "take enforcement action against all removable aliens encountered in the course of their duties."

Kelly likely will be pressed

lion homeland security funding bill released on Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee. A House Appropriations subcommittee is slated to give the measure a preliminary OK on Wednesday.

GOP leaders hope to pass the measure before adjourning for the August break.

The fight over funding the wall is a major obstacle to funding government agency operations for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 and some conservatives are threatening to shut the government down if the wall is not included. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., has raised the threat as part of his GOP primary campaign against appointed Sen. Luther Strange, threatening to filibuster any funding bill that fails to include money for the wall project.

Some Republicans have already threatened a budget shutdown if the border wall is not funded. But immigration advocates say Republicans are struggling to get support for funding for the controversial border wall from their own members.

on the issue Wednesday at a separate meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not been publicly announced.

Some Republicans have already threatened a budget shutdown if the border wall is not funded. But immigration advocates say Republicans are struggling to get support for funding for the controversial border wall from their own members. Advocates don’t see a need to make concessions on the wall to save DACA. Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice Education Fund, an immigration advocacy group, called it "polit-

And Trump himself reacted to news reports suggesting Democrats had bested him on the earlier catchall spending bill by taking to Twitter to complain about Senate filibuster rules and declaring that: “Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”

Democrats quickly signaled they’re eager for the fight.

“Once again, Republicans are trying to put American taxpayers on the hook for the multibillion dollar boondoggle President Trump swore Mexico would pay for,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Trump’s immoral, ineffective and expensive wall is strongly opposed by Democrats and by many Republicans as well. A wall of bipartisan opposition is the only thing House Republicans are trying to build here.”

ical suicide" for the Republican Party to target one of the most sympathetic groups of immigrants — children unknowingly brought here by their parents.

"There is absolutely no appetite for immigrants being traded off each other or issues being traded off each other," she said.

Fears that DACA could be eliminated by the courts grew after a district judge and an appellate court ruled that former President Barack Obama overstepped his executive authority when he tried to expand the eligible population via another program known as DAPA — Deferred Actions for Parents of Americans — that also

ZAPATA From page A1 The case was reported Saturday in the 1700 block of Glenn Street.

Zapata Crime Stop-

TAMAULIPAS From page A1

Titan, white 2009 Ford F-150 and a white 1999 Chevy Silverado.

STAAR From page A1 “This has me concerned that we are testing how well a student takes a test rather than the knowledge that they know, and that’s been our concern all along with the STAAR test,” Trevino said.

Policy consultant Sandy Kress said that an

lengthened the work permits to three years.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s decision in a split decision.

The Trump administration rescinded the DAPA policy last month, but said that DACA would remain in effect for the time being. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, pressed the administration to go further, warning that if the 2012 program isn’t ended, he and the other plaintiffs from the 2014 lawsuit would take the case back to court.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who as a senator was a staunch opponent of DACA, praised the states who threatened to sue the administration in a June 30 interview with "Fox and Friends."

"The DAPA law has already been withdrawn," Sessions said, when asked what changes could be coming. "That was a big victory, and we’ll be looking at that. But I’ve got to tell you, I like it that our states and localities are holding the federal government to account, expecting us to do what is our responsibility to the state and locals, and that’s to enforce the law."

pers will pay a cash reward to anyone who provides anonymous information that leads to an arrest and recovery of the items.

To provide informa-

tion, call the Sheriff ’s Office at 956-765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 765-TIPS (8477). Callers will remain anonymous.

Pictures released by the Tamaulipas officials show the Titan with the lettering “CDG” on its side. That means Cartel Del Golfo. It is well

known that organized crime members use pickups illicit activity.

All items seized were turned over to prosecuting authorities.

inconsistent school accountability system contributes to the lackluster scores. She said more resources and collaboration between education stakeholders will improve student performance.

Drew Scheberle, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce senior vice president for education and policy, said the Legislature’s cuts to pro-

grams such as the Student Success Initiative, which helps struggling students in small groups, has negatively impacted students.

“The first round of results of the STAAR test are disappointing, but indicative of what happens when commitment to academic standards and transformative education are lowered,” Scheberle said.

A12 | Wednesday, July 12, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

TV networks gave viewers few holiday programing options

File photo / AP

Amelia Earhart strides past her Lockheed Electra.

Question raised about Earhart documentary timeline

By Mark Kennedy A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — A Japanese military history buff has apparently undermined a new theory that Amelia Earhart survived a crash-landing in the Pacific Ocean during her historic attempted round-the-world flight in 1937.

The history blogger has posted the same photograph that formed the backbone of a History channel documentary that aired on Sunday that argued that Earhart was alive in July 1937 — but the book the photo was in was apparently published two years before the famed aviator disappeared. The History channel is looking into the matter but stands behind its documentary.

The undated blackand-white photo is of a group of people standing on a dock on Jaluit Atoll

in the Marshall Islands.

One of the people seems to be a slim woman with her back to the camera.

The documentary argued that it proved Earhart, along with her navigator Fred Noonan, landed in 1937 in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands, where they were picked up by the Japanese military and held prisoner. The two-hour show drew a strong 4.32 million viewers, the biggest audience on cable for the week, according to The Nielsen Company.

The History channel said Tuesday its investigators are “exploring the latest developments about Amelia Earhart and we will be transparent in our findings.”

“Ultimately, historical accuracy is most important to us and our viewers,” it said in a statement.

In the documentary, the photo is subjected to

facial-recognition and other forensic testing, such as torso measurements. Experts on the show claimed the subjects are likely Earhart and Noonan.

A retired federal agent said he discovered the image in 2012 in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The blogger said he found the same image digitized in Japan’s National Diet Library but it has not been authenticated.

The disappearance of Earhart and Noonan on July 2, 1937, in the Western Pacific Ocean has been the subject of continuing searches, research and debate.

A longstanding theory is that the famed pilot ran out of gas and crashed into deep ocean waters northwest of Howland Island, a tiny speck in the South Pacific that she and Noonan missed.

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AFP/Getty Images

People watch the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show from Queens, New York on Tuesday July 4, 2017.

By Frazier Moore ASSOCIATED PRE SS

NEW YORK — The nation’s birthday week was observed by the networks mostly by scripted repeats along with the usual slate of reality and game shows.

Although NBC’s twohour “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks” special ranked sixth and 16th for the week, the top-ranked prime-time shows were CBS’ “60 Minutes” rerun and, in second place, a “Big Bang Theory” repeat, according to Nielsen.

The week’s mosttalked-about show was likely “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” a two-hour investigation into the celebrated aviator’s mysterious disappearance on a round-theworld flight 80 years ago.

Although it wouldn’t have cracked the broadcast Top 20, the History documentary was by far the week’s most-watched cable program, drawing 4.32 million viewers.

Among broadcast networks, CBS won the week in prime time, averaging 8.92 million viewers. NBC had 7.73 million, ABC had 6.11 million, Fox had 5.34 million, Univision had 1.78 million, the CW had 1.73 million, Telemundo had 1.44 million, and ION Television had 1.26 million.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 1.96 million viewers in prime time. HGTV had 1.51 million, USA had 1.43 million and History was right behind with 1.42 million.

ABC’s “World News

Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.42 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.16 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.71 million.

For the week of July 3-9, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.43 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 7.13 million; “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 6.84 million; “Little Big Shots: Forever Young,” NBC, 6.72 million; “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 6.39 million; “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks,” NBC, 6.36 million; “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.15 million; “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 6.09 million; “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.50 million; “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 5.09 million.