The Zapata Times 7/26/2017

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SAN ANTONIO

Official: Driver part of smuggling group 10 who crossed border illegally were found dead in tractor-trailer

By Frank Bajak, Nomaan Merchant and Juan A. Lozano A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN ANTONIO — Investigators believe a truck driver

accused in the deaths of 10 people found inside a packed, sweltering tractor-trailer is just one member of a larger organization involved in human smuggling that they are looking to identify and dismantle, a U.S. immigration official said

Tuesday.

Some of the 29 identified survivors have told authorities they hired smugglers who brought them across the U.S. border, loaded some of them onto trucks that took them to the tractor-trailer, and marked

AUSTIN, TEXAS

them with different colored tape to identify them to various smugglers who would be picking them up after the tractortrailer reached its destination.

“We’re certainly not stopping at looking at the driver.

We’re trying to investigate and

identify the different cogs, the stash houses, the other members, where the money came from,” Shane Folden, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Smuggling continues on A9

ZAPATA COUNTY

LGBT activist targeted, beaten

RESIDENTS FEARFUL OF BORDER WALL Government could take land like it did in the 1950s

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — Police say a Texas transgender activist beaten in a carjacking was targeted because of her gender identity, further raising tensions as state lawmakers advance revived legislation critics call an anti-LGBT “bathroom bill.”

Court documents filed Monday show 17-year-old Rayshad Deloach and his 26-year-old brother, Raymond, are charged with beating and pulling a gun on Stephanie Martinez before stealing her car in Austin last week.

Raymond Deloach told police the brothers targeted Martinez because she was transgender.

Martinez has vocally opposed a bill requiring transgender Texans to use public restrooms according to their birth-certificate gender that’s nearing passage in the Senate.

It failed during Texas’ regular LGBT continues on A8

By Jason Buch SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News

During an interview on April 18, Jaime Gonzalez, 83, holds a photograph of residents evacuating old Zapata.

ZAPATA COUNTY — The proposed border wall, and the expectation the federal government will condemn private property for its construction, is an uncomfortable reminder here of a massive land taking by the federal government more than 60 years ago that displaced most of the residents of this sparsely populated county.

To create the Falcon International Reservoir in the 1950s, the federal government used eminent domain to take 85,000 acres in Zapata County. The condemnations included a string of communities along the Rio Grande, home to the majority of the Zapata continues on A9

CAPITOL HILL

Senate opens ‘Obamacare’ debate

By Erica Werner A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Prodded by President Donald Trump, a bitterly divided Senate voted at last Tuesday to move forward with the Republicans’ long-promised legislation to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

There was high drama as Sen. John McCain returned to the Capitol for the first time after being diagnosed with brain cancer to cast a decisive “yes” vote.

The final tally was 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie after two Republicans joined all 48 Democrats in voting “no.”

With all senators in their seats and protesters agitating outside and briefly inside the chamber, the vote was held open at length before McCain, 80, entered the chamber. Greeted by cheers, he smiled and dispensed hugs — but with the scars from recent surgery starkly visible on the left side of

his face.

Despite voting “aye,” he took a lecturing tone afterward and hardly saw success assured for the legislation after weeks of misfires, even after Tuesday’s victory for Trump and Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

“If this process ends in Debate continues on A8

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, with Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY IN HISTORY

THURSDAY, JULY 27

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Spanish Book Club. 6 - 8 p.m. Joe A. Guerra Public Library. For more information, call Sylvia Reash at 7631810.

Today is Wednesday, July 26, the 207th day of 2017. There are 158 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On July 26, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

SATURDAY, JULY 29 Habitat for Humanity LaredoWebb 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 San Antonio ISD on-site interviews for teachers. 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel, 110 Calle Del Norte. San Antonio ISD is coming to Laredo to conduct on-site interviews for teacher candidates. The district will be interviewing for Texas-certified teachers in the following areas: bilingual, math and science. Applicants can apply in advance online at www.saisd.net. For more information call SAISD’s Department of Human Resources at 210-554-8500.

SATURDAY, AUG. 5 Brightwood College Back to School Event. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 6410 McPherson Road. Event is free and open to the public. Will feature refreshments, a moonwalk, face painting, a bike show, a Taekwondo exhibition, a photo booth, a variety of food booths, campus tours, program demonstrations and a school supplies drive for which everyone is invited to bring and donate supplies.

Attendees will be entered to win prizes such as Amazon gift cards and backpacks filled with school supplies.

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

Oded Balilty / AP

Palestinian women pray at the Lion's Gate following an appeal from clerics to pray in the streets instead of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday.

THOUSANDS PROTEST OVER JERUSALEM SHRINE JERUSALEM — Thousands of Palestinian Muslims prayed in the streets near Jerusalem's most contested holy site Tuesday, heeding a call by clergy to not enter the shrine despite Israel's seeming capitulation when it removed metal detectors it installed there a week earlier.

Muslim leaders said they would only call off the protests once they made sure Israel had restored the situation to what it was before the latest crisis.

Some Muslim officials alleged that Israel used the absence of Muslim clerics from the walled compound in the past

Blast damages offices of Mexico Catholic Bishops Council MEXICO CITY — An explosive device damaged a door at the headquarters of Mexico’s Roman Catholic Council of Bishops early Tuesday, church officials said, but there were no injuries.

In a statement the council said the device was left outside the building in Mexico City

week of protests to install new security cameras.

The continued standoff highlighted the deep distrust between Israel and the Palestinians when it comes to the shrine — the third-holiest in Islam and the most sacred in Judaism.

The 37-acre esplanade, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been a lightning rod for rival religious and national narratives of the two sides. It has triggered major confrontations in the past.

— Compiled from AP reports

around 2 a.m. Video of the fiery blast shows it blowing the door open.

There was no immediate word on possible suspects or motive, and both the council and Mexican secular authorities were investigating.

“Apparently this is not the first such incident to occur in this neighborhood of Mexico City,” read the statement, which was attributed to spokesman Armando Cavazos and appealed for patience in clarifying the matter.

Bishop Ramon Castro of the

Cuernavaca diocese said via Twitter he believes the incident “reflects the situation in Mexico,” where homicide rates are on the rise amid a drug war that’s over a decade old.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a council representative called for “serenity, prudence and respect” in the face of the violence. “The events of today should invite us to reflect upon the necessity of rebuilding our social fabric,” he said.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION California knocks Trump as it extends climate change effort SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Jerry Brown and his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, stood side by side Tuesday to cheer the extension of one of the most ambitious programs in the U.S. to reduce fossil fuel pollution, while condemning President Donald Trump's failure to see climate change as a deadly threat.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican, joined Brown, a Democrat, for a sunny outdoor ceremony overlooking San Francisco where the governor signed legislation to extend a program limiting emissions of climatechanging carbons that both have urged the world to emulate.

Within view of the city's skyscrapers on Treasure Island, a man-made low-lying

Eric Risberg / AP

California Gov. Jerry Brown, right, shakes hands with former Gov. Schwarzenegger, left, after signing a climate bill.

island threatened by rising seas from climate change, the signing was full of open rebukes for President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the global Paris accord to cut carbon emissions.

"America is fully in the Paris agreement. There's only one man that dropped out," Schwarzenegger said of Trump

on Tuesday. "America did not drop out."

Schwarzenegger also pointed to the bipartisan support that lawmakers in the Democraticdominated Legislature gave to extending the cap-and-trade program by 10 years.

"This is a very important message. A message that we have a functional government

in California where Democrats and Republicans work together," he said.

The program puts a limit on carbon emissions and requires polluters to obtain permits to release greenhouse gases. It had been due to expire in 2020.

Both governors have hailed the cap and trade as a successful way to reduce emissions that hasn't taken the steam out of the economy of the nation's most populous state.

Brown repeatedly evoked the darkest of scenarios Tuesday, calling the rapidly changing climate from the pollution of coal, gas and other fossil fuels second only to nuclear programs as a global threat.

"If we don't do something about it, it is the end of the world," Brown said.

The signing follows a frenetic push by Brown and his legislative allies to craft a plan that businesses and environmentalists would find acceptable.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND TEXAS At least three drown trying to cross Rio Grande EL PASO, Texas — Authorities in Texas say they’ve recovered the bodies of at least three people who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico.

The El Paso Fire Department spokesman Carlos Briano says its water rescue team recovered the bodies of a 14year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy

On this date: In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.

In 1788, New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1847, the western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declared its independence.

In 1887, the artificial language Esperanto, intended as a universal form of communication, was published by its creator, Dr. L.L. Zamenhof.

In 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1945, the Potsdam Declaration warned Imperial Japan to unconditionally surrender, or face "prompt and utter destruction." Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America's armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1952, Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33.

King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America's fourth successful manned mission to the moon.

In 1986, Islamic radicals in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. American statesman W. Averell Harriman died in Yorktown Heights, New York, at age 94.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 1992, singer Mary Wells died in Los Angeles at age 49.

Ten years ago: The Senate passed, 85-8, a package of security measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission. Wall Street suffered one of its worst losses of 2007, closing down 311.50 or 2.26 percent, to 13,473.57.

Five years ago: The White House said President Barack Obama would not push for stricter gun laws, one day after his impassioned remarks about the need to keep assault weapons off the streets. With the Olympics Games as a backdrop, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney held a day of meetings with Britain's most powerful people; however, Romney rankled his hosts with comments he'd made upon his arrival calling London's problems with the games' preparation "disconcerting."

One year ago: A man armed with a knife killed 19 disabled people at a care home in Japan. Youree Dell Harris, the actress who became famous for playing the Jamaican psychic Miss Cleo, died in Palm Beach, Florida, at age 53.

Today's Birthdays: Jackson Five patriarch Joe Jackson is 89. Actor Robert Colbert is 86. Rock star Mick Jagger is 74. Movie director Peter Hyams is 74. Actress Helen Mirren is 72. Rock musician Roger Taylor (Queen) is 68. Actress Susan George is 67. Olympic gold medal figure skater Dorothy Hamill is 61. Actor Kevin Spacey is 58. Rock singer Gary Cherone is 56. Actress Sandra Bullock is 53. Actor-comedian Danny Woodburn is 53. Rock singer Jim Lindberg (Pennywise) is 52. Actor Jeremy Piven is 52. Rapper-reggae singer Wayne Wonder is 51. Actor Jason Statham is 50. Actor Cress Williams is 47. TV host Chris Harrison is 46. Actress Kate Beckinsale is 44. Actor Gary Owen is 44. Rock musician Dan Konopka (OK Go) is 43. Gospel/Contemporary Christian singer Rebecca St. James is 40. Actress Eve Myles is 39. Actress Juliet Rylance is 38. Actress Monica Raymund is 31. Actress Caitlin Gerard is 29. Actress Francia Raisa is 29.

Christian rock musician Jamie Sharpe (Rush of Fools) is 28. Actress Bianca Santos is 27. Actress-singer Taylor Momsen is 24. Actress Elizabeth Gillies is 24.

Thought for Today: "Government is too big and important to be left to the politicians." — Chester Bowles, American diplomat, businessman, author — and politician (1901-1986).

CONTACT US and a 20-year-old woman on Tuesday.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Jose Romero says the two females were part of a group of at least five people who tried crossing the border illegally from Mexico. Federal agents have the other three in custody.

Romero says the boy is believed to have been part of another group of five people swept away by the river current Monday. The other four were rescued.

— Compiled from AP reports

GOP Sen. Collins mocks Texan who challenged her WASHINGTON — Maine Republican Susan Collins has been captured on a live microphone making fun of GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold.

That’s the Texas congressman who a day earlier blamed “some female senators from the Northeast” for blocking health care legislation and said

he wished he could challenge them to a duel “Aaron Burrstyle.”

Making small talk at a hearing on Tuesday, Collins was overheard telling a colleague about Farenthold: “I don’t mean to be unkind but he’s so unattractive it’s unbelievable.”

Collins also mentioned to Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed a widely circulated picture of Farenthold wearing pajamas posing next to a scantily clad woman.

— Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 |

A3

STATE

Eric Gay / AP

Eric Gay / AP

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, left, and San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, right, stand with other law enforcement in the rotunda at the Texas Capitol as they wait to speak against a proposed "bathroom bill" at a public safety event Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Texas vote set on ‘bathroom bill’ despite police opposition

By Paul J. Weber A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — Police chiefs from Texas' largest cities rallied outside the state Capitol Tuesday in opposition to a "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people, just as Senate Republicans inside lurched toward a new vote on restrictions similar to those approved in North Carolina.

The chances of the bill ultimately reaching the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott remain tenuous despite overwhelming GOP control of the Legislature.

Abbott summoned lawmakers back to sweltering Austin for a special legislative session, largely because the first efforts to put bathroom restrictions on transgender people collapsed in May. The bill has ripped clean open a rancorous split in the Texas GOP between moderates who stand with high-profile opponents — including Apple and the NFL — and social conservatives who drive the state's political agenda.

The Senate is again poised to overwhelmingly approve the bill, but Dem-

ocrats were trying to stall a vote with procedural challenges and drawn-out debate.

State troopers removed a few protesters in the mostly empty Senate gallery who shouted "This is a farce!" and unfurled a banner that read "Y'all means all" over the second-story railing.

Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst described the bill as an "opportunity to shut down predators and voyeurs" upon bringing the measure to the floor. She spoke just as police chiefs and top commanders from the four biggest cities in Texas — Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin — stood on the Capitol steps and told reporters they had not found examples of restroom-related sexual assaults.

They said forcing police to combat non-existent crime will increase discrimination, make Texas more dangerous and waste their time.

"Folks will feel emboldened, they will feel that they can discriminate, they can target and they will feel they can have vigilante justice out there because of this law,"

Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said. "Please don't put another handcuff, another burden on the overburdened law enforcement community in the state of Texas."

On Monday, police in Austin filed court documents alleging that a Texas transgender activist beaten in a carjacking was targeted because of her gender identity. Two brothers were charged with beating and pulling a gun on Stephanie Martinez before stealing her car last week.

Court documents show that one of the suspects allegedly told police they targeted Martinez because she was transgender. The day after her attack, Martinez was among hundreds who packed the Capitol to testify against the bill before a Senate committee.

The bill is the second time this year that police leaders from Texas' biggest cities, which are also some of the largest in the U.S, are at odds with a marquee piece of Republican legislation. The same chiefs also unsuccessfully railed against a "sanctuary cities" ban signed by Abbott in May that lets

police ask people during routine stops whether they're in the U.S. legally.

Asked about police opposition by a Democratic colleague, Kolkhorst said her bill is about privacy and protection. She pointed toward a male senator and said it was meant to stop him from "saying today I feel like a female and I have the right to go into these intimate spaces."

The Senate first approved a proposal mandating transgender Texans use public restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate during the regular legislative regular that ended Memorial Day. Business groups complained it would wreak havoc in Texas similar to one approved last year by North Carolina, which has since partially repealed its law following political and economic backlash.

The Texas House eventually approved a weakened version applying only to public schools, which the Senate rejected.

Abbott, who is up for re-election in 2018, called a special session to revive the bill and 19 other pieces of conservative legislation.

James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Florida, center, is escorted out of the federal courthouse following a hearing Monday in San Antonio.

Fiancee: Driver in truck trafficking case helped people

By Claire Galofaro and Jim Anderson ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When a lifelong truck driver called his fiancee Sunday from a jail more than 1,000 miles from home, he had only a few minutes to describe the gruesome events that led to him being charged with a crime in which he could face the death penalty.

Darnisha Rose said James Matthew Bradley Jr. claimed he had no idea how so many people — maybe 90 or more — came to be crammed inside his pitch-black trailer boiling in the Texas heat, taking turns to breathe through a hole in the wall. Ten of the immigrants died.

Bradley, whose criminal history includes a conviction in a felony domestic violence case, told Rose that he’d stopped his truck at a Walmart in San Antonio and went inside to use the bathroom. The 60year-old claimed that when he returned to his truck, he noticed the trailer rocking back and forth.

He said he’d heard nothing before that, though the people in the back later

told police they’d been frantically banging on the walls.

Bradley opened the door.

“He said he saw the people in there, laying everywhere,” Rose said Monday from her home in Louisville, Kentucky. “He said he didn’t know what to do, which way to go. He was crying, distraught. He was scared. You could tell it in his voice.”

Court documents say Bradley did not call 911 after discovering the suffering immigrants in the trailer. At least one of them was already dead and others were in such grave condition they had to be hospitalized for dehydration and heatstroke.

He now faces charges of illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain resulting in death, possibly punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.

Rose defended her fiance as a good man who would always try to help people in need, though she acknowledged he has a criminal history. She said he often used the nickFiancee continues on A8

Zopinion

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

A4 | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COMMENTARY

OTHER VIEWS

GOP support for Trump starts cracking

By David Leonhardt N EW YORK T I ME S NEWS S ERVIC E

Again and again over the past year, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have had to decide what kind of behavior they are willing to tolerate from Donald Trump. Again and again, McConnell and Ryan have bowed down to Trump.

The capitulation of McConnell and Ryan has created an impression — especially among many liberals — that congressional Republicans stand behind the president.

McConnell and Ryan, after all, are the leaders of Congress, and they continue to push for the legislation Trump wants and to permit his kleptocratic governing.

But don’t be fooled: Republican support for the president has started to crack.

Below the leadership level, Republicans are defying Trump more often, and McConnell and Ryan aren’t always standing in their way. You can see this defiance in the bipartisan Senate investigation of the Russia scandal. You can see it in the deal on Russian sanctions.

And you can see it in the Senate’s failure, so far at least, to pass a health care bill.

It’s true that we still don’t know how these stories will end. If the Senate passes a damaging health care bill or lets Trump halt the Russia investigation, I will revisit my assessment. For now, though, I think many political observers are missing the ways that parts of Trump’s own party have subtly begun to revolt.

Just listen to Trump himself. “It’s very sad that Republicans,” he wrote in a weekend Twitter rant, “do very little to protect their President.” In a historical sense, he is right. Members of Congress usually support a new president of their own party much more strongly than Republicans are now.

They typically understand that a young presidency offers the rare opportunity for sweeping legislation — like the Reagan tax cut, the George W. Bush tax cut, the Clinton deficit plan and the Obama stimulus, health bill and financial regulation.

Some intraparty tensions are unavoidable, and defectors kill some legislation — as happened with the Clinton health plan and the Obama climate plan. But partisan loyalty is the norm.

Congress members tend to echo White House talking points fulsomely.

They find the votes to pass bills. They defend the president against scandal. And the loyalty doesn’t stop in the first year. During Watergate, as the political scientist Jonathan Bernstein has noted,

most Republicans stood

by Richard Nixon until almost the bitter end.

Matt Glassman, another political scientist, is one of the sharper observers of the White House-Congress relationship, and I asked him to put the current situation in context.

Glassman said that many progressives have made the mistake of comparing how em>they/em> want Congress to treat Trump with what it is doing. The more relevant yardstick is how Congress’s treatment compares historically.

“The current congressional GOP seems less supportive and more constraining of the Potus than basically any in history,” Glassman wrote to me, “save the unique circumstances of Andrew Johnson (who wasn’t really a Republican) and John Tyler (who bucked his party aggressively), neither of whom were elected.”

Many of today’s Republicans avoid going on television as Trump surrogates. They mock him off the record, and increasingly on the record, too. In recent weeks, eight senators have publicly stood in the way of a health care bill. Republican senators are also helping to conduct an investigation of Trump’s campaign and have backed the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel.

One reason is that they don’t fear Trump. About 90 percent of Republican House members won a larger vote share in their district last year than Trump did, according to Sarah Binder of George Washington University.

Since he took office, Trump’s nationwide net approval rating has fallen to minus 16 (with only 39 percent approving) from plus 4.

So it’s not just Republican politicians who are inching away from Trump. Republican voters are, too.

None of this is meant to suggest that congressional Republicans have been profiles in courage. They have mostly stood by as Trump has lied compulsively, denigrated the rule of law and tried to shred the modern safety net. But they have put up just enough resistance to keep him from doing far more damage than he otherwise would have.

In the months ahead, unfortunately, that level of resistance is unlikely to be sufficient. Trump has made clear that he isn’t finished trying to take health insurance away from millions of people or trying to hide the truth about his Russia ties.

“The constitutional crisis won’t be if Trump fires Mueller,” as the ACLU’s Kate Oh put it. “The constitutional crisis is if Congress takes no real action in response.” For now, anxious optimism seems the appropriate attitude.

COLUMN

$55 for two people to see a hit movie?

By Terri Akman THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

A Wonder Woman fan as a kid, I couldn’t wait to see the movie. My husband reluctantly agreed to join me for a late-afternoon show. When I asked for two tickets, the clerk rung up $34.56. I thought she was mistaken. Alas, it was after 3 o’clock and it happened to be in 3-D, which is an upcharge.

Of course, we couldn’t cheer on Wonder Woman without some snacks to munch on. We chose a small bag of popcorn to share, a bottle of water, and a medium seltzer water. Ka-ching . an additional 20 bucks.

When did the cost for

two people to see a movie hit $55? How do the parents who also need to pay a baby sitter, or who choose to get dinner with their movie, afford the night out?

After throwing in a few commercials, the coming attractions started. I’m not against a few coming attractions, but when they come rapid fire - I think there were seven it became excruciating.

For me, though, it’s about the customer experience. You get cozy in your seat, excited for the movie, but then realize you have to pay to play.

First it’s the ads, then the coming attractions - by now you’re a half-hour in and the movie hasn’t even

started. And I hate when I’ve finished my popcorn before the opening credits. When the movie finally did play, it was on the longer side at 2 hours and 21 minutes. That’s a long time to sit in one place.

On the positive side, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I loved cheering on a female superhero and the story kept my attention despite the movie’s length.

I’m not sure the 3-D at $4 or $5 more per ticket was necessary. Maybe the thrill of 3-D has worn off, or I’m just no longer impacted by arrows that seem to shoot right at me.

I would have thought that with so much action, 3-D would have added a lot to

COMMENTARY

Democrats can’t hide their anti-business bias

By Ed Rogers WASHINGTON P O ST

With the constant confusion and noise coming from the Trump administration, I am surprised the Democrats think they need to attempt a serious messaging initiative right now. Maybe it is the polling data, which says voters don’t think Democrats stand for anything beyond being anti-Trump, or maybe they are just impatient, but watching Democratic leaders announce their new economic plan - “A Better Deal” - was awkward and embarrassing. Sometimes, I almost feel bad for them.

Democrats are antibusiness. And they can’t be anti-business and pro-jobs at the same time.

We know what the Democrats’ economic formula produces. They had eight years of the Obama economy, which was low-

growth, slowed job creation, and mostly benefited billionaires and coastal elites. Pelosi, Schumer, et al. were just fine with that.

Democrats are more concerned with social tinkering and accommodating their liberal coalition than they are with doing anything that would foster real economic growth. And notwithstanding the usual homilies Democrats issue about needing an economy that works for the American people, all they offer are calls for more burdensome regulation, more handouts and more mandates from Washington. They simply can’t help themselves. Their anti-business bias comes through no matter how hard they try.

My favorite example from “A Better Deal” comes from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., via an

op-ed in The Post. Pelosi writes: “We will demand that proposed mergers meet tough new standards to protect competition before approval, and will institute post-merger reviews to ensure that consolidated companies keep their promises to American consumers.”

What? Can you imagine what the “post-merger reviews” would entail?

We all know what the Democrats really want to do. They want every business to be a “safe space” with gender-neutral bathrooms and HVAC systems that meet the artificial standards set forth by their global climate crusaders. They want to impose more diversity grievances on businesses, and they want private businesses to be just viable enough so that trial lawyers and unions can suck the life out of them.

Remember, at a certain level, macroeconomics is

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

the experience, but I think the plot was strong enough that the special effects weren’t necessary.

I suppose there are options. I could go to a pre-3 p.m. matinee or surreptitiously smuggle in my own snacks. Or I could wait a few months and pay $5.99 for the whole family to watch the movie on-demand on my big-screen TV from the comfort of my couch.

But I know the popcorn wouldn’t taste quite as good, and the fun of going to the movies is getting out of the house.

And what would I talk about at the water cooler when everyone else is raving about or dissing the latest blockbuster?

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

pretty simple. You can raise taxes or lower taxes.

You can increase regulation or decrease regulation. Government can be friendly to business or government can be hostile to business.

The Democrats have made clear exactly what they are interested in higher taxes, more regulation and government that is suspicious and downright contemptuous of business.

Nothing has changed; Democrats haven’t learned anything from their losses at the ballot box. Their “A Better Deal” campaign is a sham. In order to perpetuate themselves in office, Democrats want Americans to accept government dependency, not free-market opportunity. The last thing the Democratic Party wants is a robust business environment and a thriving, job-creating private sector.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 |

A5

CRIME & MORE

Two injured in plane crash A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

BRECKENRIDGE, Texas — Authorities say two people were injured, one critically, when a Korean War-era plane crashed and its fuselage broke apart in West Texas.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says preliminary information indicates the single-engine Hawker Sea Fury lost power as it came in to land Tuesday morning at Stephens County Airport in Breckenridge, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Fort Worth. Lunsford says the fuselage broke apart on impact.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Fred Biddle says the plane was on a test flight when it crash-landed about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the airport.

Biddle says one person was critically hurt, but didn’t say if that was the pilot or passenger. Both were taken to a Fort Worth hospital.

Condemned inmate denied clemency ASSOCIATED PRE SS

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted unanimously against recommending clemency for a convicted killer set to die this week for the slaying of a woman in San Antonio in 2004.

The panel’s 6-0 vote Tuesday follows the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and a federal judge’s refusal to stop the lethal injection of Taichin Preyor scheduled for Thursday. He

Preyor

was condemned for killing 24-year-old Jami

Tackett at her apartment.

Tackett is described in court documents as a drug dealer and the 46year-old Preyor as a customer and dealer.

Preyor’s attorneys contend his trial lawyers didn’t properly investigate his abusive childhood and that an earlier inexperienced appeals attorney relied on a disbarred lawyer for guidance.

Preyor’s attorneys say they’re appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Dentist indicted for child’s injury ASSOCIATED PRE SS

HOUSTON — A grand jury in Houston has indicted a former dentist who authorities say failed to provide medical attention after a 4-yearold patient suffered a seizure that led to permanent brain damage.

Bethaniel Jefferson was indicted Monday on a count of causing serious bodily injury to a child.

Harris County prosecutors allege the child was given sedatives during a January 2016 office

visit that led to the seizure and hypoxia — a deficiency marked by a lack of oxygen to the body.

Authorities say Jefferson waited more than four hours before calling for medical assistance to treat the girl.

The Texas Board of Dental Examiners had previously reprimanded Jefferson in 2005 and 2012. The board revoked her license in November.

A public phone listing for Jefferson could not be found.

Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE REGRESO A CLASES 1 El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent District invita a los padres de familia a inscribir a sus hijos para el ciclo escolar 2017-2018 del 1 al 3 de agosto de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m. y de 2 p.m. a 4 p.m. Las inscripciones se realizarán en cada campus; evento de arranque del año escolar, el 10 de agosto y el primer día de clases se realizará el 28 de agosto.

FERIA DE SALUD COMUNITARIA 1 El Condado de Zapata junto con organismos y entidades públicas invita a la Primera Feria Anual de Salud Comunitaria, el 16 de agosto, de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m.; Club Boys & Girls, 302 6th Avenue. Habrá regalos para los primeros 500 niños.

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. 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 956246-7177.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

NUEVO LAREDO

Mueren 10 inmigrantes Zetas habrían organizado logística Por Jason Buch SAN ANTONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS

Los contrabandistas les aseguraron que el tráiler estaría refrigerado.

Pero cuando las puertas se cerraron el sábado, dejando a docenas de inmigrantes en la oscuridad para iniciar el viaje mortal a San Antonio, el interior del contenedor ya se estaba calentando. El conductor después dijo a la policía que el sistema de refrigeración del tráiler estaba descompuesto y las cuatro ventilas del tráiler probablemente tapadas.

La gente empezó a desmayarse poco después de una hora. Un migrante dijo que 70 personas habían sido hacinadas dentro del tráiler. Otro dijo que pudieron haber sido tantos como 200.

Para cuando la policía llegó al tráiler el domingo por la madrugada, ochos personas estaban muertas. Dos más fallecieron durante el transcurso del día.

Los detalles de las condiciones que soportaron los inmigrantes en su camino hasta San Antonio fueron revelados en una demanda criminal contra el conductor de 60 años de edad, James Matthew Bradley Jr. Bradley, de Florida, se enfrenta a cadena perpetua e inclusive pena de muerte por el cargo de transportar inmigrantes que están ilegalmente en el país. Bradley dijo a los investigadores que él no sabía que había personas en el tráiler y se había detenido en el estacionamiento de un Walmart

para usar el baño. Cuando salió del tráiler, el vehículo se movía y personas adentro estaban golpeando las paredes.

“Bradley dijo que fue a abrir las puertas y se sorprendió de ser atropellado por personas ‘de habla española” y tirado al piso. Bradley dijo que entonces notó los cuerpos tirados en el piso como carne. Bradley dijo que él sabía que al menos uno de ellos estaba muerto”, escribió la agente de ICE Jame Lara en la demanda.

Los inmigrantes dijeron que la parada en Walmart no era casualidad, sino la siguiente parada en un esfuerzo altamente coordinado de contrabando.

Un inmigrante de Aguascalientes dijo a los investigadores que él ya había pagado 11.000 pesos, poco más de 600 dólares, como protección al cártel de los Zetas y 1.500 pesos, alrededor de 80 dólares para cruzar el río. Le

dijeron que tenía que pagar otros 5.500 pesos cuando llegara a San Antonio, donde planeaba quedarse.

Cuando llegaron a San Antonio, el inmigrante de Aguascalientes dijo a investigadores que seis camionetas negras estaban esperando y se fueron minutos después llenas de inmigrantes. Los traficantes habían entregado cintas de diferentes colores a cada grupo, para saber con quién se irían al llegar a San Antonio.

Este sistema de contrabando “no es para nada inusual”, dijo Julián Calderas, ex oficial de ICE en San Antonio.

“Son muy sofisticados”, dijo Calderas. “Es un proceso de varios pasos, desde que cruzan la frontera a pie, los envían a casas de seguridad y los dividen para su posible transporte. Hay gente involucrada en cada una de estas etapas, y requiere mucha logística”.

TAMAULIPAS

CELEBRAN ANIVERSARIO 250

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 al 956-849-1411.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán

MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 Visite el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83. Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m.

Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Informes al 956-765-8983.

GRUPOS DE APOYO 1 El grupo de apoyo para personas con Alzheimer se reúne el primer martes del mes a las 7 p.m., en el Laredo Medical Center, primer piso, Torre B en el Centro Comunitario. Las reuniones se realizan el primer martes de cada mes.

1 El grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital.

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. En Centro de Educación del Área de Salud, ubicado en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. El grupo se reúne de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430, cada primer lunes de mes.

La alcaldesa de Miguel Alemán Rosa Icela Corro Acosta encabezó el recorrido en bicicleta por las calles de Los Guerra como parte de los festejos del aniversario 250 del poblado.

Festejan con coronación y callejoneada TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

El poblado de Los Guerra cumplió su aniversario número 250 y como parte de los festejos se realizaron distintas actividades durante el fin de semana pasado.

Una gran callejoneada recorrió las calles del poblado al ritmo de música banda. Además del tradicional desfile y cabalgata, también se organizó un recorrido en bicicleta por las calles de la comunidad.

Por la noche del sábado, la alcaldesa de Miguel Alemán Rosa Icela Corro Acosta coronó como

reina a Galilea I ante cientos de personas que disfrutaron del segundo día de los festejos. Corro Acosta asistió acompañada de integrantes del Cabildo y funcionarios de su gabinete.

En la emotiva ceremonia también fueron investidas Wendy Yarelin como princesa y Andrea Yulisa como duquesa de las festividades. La alcaldesa felicitó a cada una de las jovencitas, así como a la corte saliente y las convocó a dar lo mejor de sí por su comunidad en cada una de las actividades que realicen.

Posteriormente, la alcaldesa y

la nueva corte real realizaron un recorrido por los stand de antojitos mexicanos y artesanías así como por el área de juegos mecánicos. La noche terminó con el baile popular que amenizó el grupo “Con Garra”, que puso a bailar a los asistentes con su música.

Durante el último día de festejos se llevo a cabo un cuadrangular de fútbol y un triangular de sóftbol. Las festividades fueron clausaradas el domingo por la noche con la presentación de los grupos Talismán Norteño y Sentimiento 74.

GUERRERO AYER Y HOY

Pocos regresan a Guerrero tras Revolución 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

Cuando Carranza triunfó y se restableció la paz, pocas familias regresaron a sus hogares, y las que lo hicieron, encontraron un cuadro de destro-

zos y desolación. Las pasiones políticas que desataron la Revolución dañaron gravemente al pueblo, pues los odios de partido tuvieron como consecuencias que numerosas familias no volvieran más a sus viejos lares: Guerrero es el Alma Mater de numerosos pueblos entre ellos Laredo y Zapata, donde encontramos numerosísimos descendientes de aquellos guerrerenses que tuvieron necesidad de exiliarse.

Tomando a la historia

como la gran maestra que es, no nos queda más que esperar que de los errores de ayer aprendamos para el presente; deseamos que la desunión no dañe más a nuestro pueblo; ojalá todos sepamos comprender que los hombres somos pasajeros, que los funcionarios son solamente personajes circunstanciales, que todos pasamos, pero queda la huella de los que hicimos, y por el bien de nuestro pueblo, por amor a nuestros hijos y para legarles un futuro sin odios ni

resentimientos, debemos dejar constancia de nuestra nobleza, siendo, como lo pide la oración del Padre, dignos en la derrota cuando nos toque, y magnánimos en la victoria cuando nos sonría.

Guerrero vivió años de zozobra, pero siguió adelante, pues nuestro pueblo siempre ha sido valiente, y manifestaba el sentido del humor hasta burlándose de los protagonistas de la refriega, para restarles importancia a los funestos días que se estaban viviendo.

Anuncian mejoras a carretera nacional E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

NUEVO LAREDO, México— En respuesta a los diversos organismos productivos que durante años solicitaron al gobierno federal la rehabilitación de la infraestructura de la Carretera Nacional, se construirá una vialidad completamente nueva de concreto hidráulico, con dos metros de acotamiento hacia ambos lados, con pasos de desnivel y eliminación de curvaturas, en la entrada a Nuevo Laredo.

Además de acortar tiempos de traslado tanto para vehículos ligeros como de Abdala carga, ayudará a eliminar en 90 por ciento los accidentes carreteros, explicó la diputada federal por Nuevo Laredo, Yahleel Abdala Carmona.

“Las especificaciones técnicas con las que se hacen ahora las nuevas carreteras, no las establece México, sino son normas internacionales”, dijo Abdala. “Por ejemplo la carretera que vamos a tener, ya existe en otros estados, es de cuota y de dos sentidos”.

“Es prácticamente la que tenemos actualmente, unida en una sola, pero con la alta especificación va a medir 12 metros, con el compromiso del concesionario que si la afluencia sobrepasa los 7.000 vehículos diarios, se construirán carriles adicionales”, informó la diputada.

Abdala señaló que esto sería la primera etapa de una nueva carretera, con mayor amplitud, más segura y completamente gratuita para los automovilistas, y se le obligará al concesionario a mantenerla en óptimas condiciones.

Refirió que carreteras con altas especificaciones como Puebla - Oaxaca; Torreón - Saltillo; Zacatecas; Cuernavaca; Tuxtla Villahermosa. Todas ellas categoría A 2, como la que se construirá en Nuevo Laredo, son de cuota.

Destacó que aunado a la carretera libre, se suma el proyecto del puente internacional IV - V, anunciado ya por el Secretario de Hacienda y Crédito Público José Antonio Meade Kuribreña y es necesaria para el desarrollo de este proyecto.

La diputada explicó que la actual carretera no desaparecerá, se mantendrá funcionando y los ciudadanos y comerciantes que deseen continuar transitándola, son libres de hacerlo.

“Este nuevo proyecto no afectará en nada la circulación vehicular”, dijo Abdala.

Abdala hizo una invitación a los funcionarios públicos, empresarios y a la ciudadanía en general, a que conozcan el proyecto, pues es una carretera que no tendrá costo para el municipio de Nuevo Laredo. La carretera estará a cargo de un concesionario privado, no generará aumentos a los costos de servicios y beneficiará al municipio en las participaciones federales, gracias al comercio que circulará por la citada arteria.

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 |

QUARTER HORSE RACING: RAINBOW FUTURITY

A7

NFL

TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO Whitehead

Ex-Cowboys receiver misidentified in heist ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Courtesy photo

Eagle Jazz won by three-quarters of a length Sunday in the Rainbow Futurity staying alive for a shot at the second ever triple crown in quarter horse racing.

Zapata’s Medina, Eagle Jazz a win away from historic triple crown

By Jason Mack LA R ED O MORNI NG T IME S

Zapata’s Juan Medina and his horse Eagle Jazz are one victory away from the second ever triple crown in the history of quarter horse racing after winning Sunday in the 54th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs.

Eagle Jazz entered the race as the top ranked 2-year-old quarter horse in the nation in a poll

by the American Quarter Horse Association. He earned the ranking by finishing in a dead heat with Uptown Dynasty to earn the first leg of the triple crown last month at the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity. They renewed their rivalry Sunday and Eagle Jazz had a definitive edge winning by three-quarters of a length.

Eagle Jazz had an even bigger edge of 3 ¼ lengths as the fastest qualifier on the first day of trials. The horse was trained by

Judd Kearl and ridden by Rodrigo Vallejo. Eagle Jazz finished Sunday’s 400-yard track in 19.82 seconds and the victory netted Medina $420,000. He also earned $480,449 at the Rainbow Futurity setting up a chance for Eagle Jazz to be the all-time leading money earning quarter horse. Winning the next race would secure an All American Triple Crown bonus raising his total earnings to approximately $6.4 million.

The focus now turns to the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity Sept. 4 as Eagle Jazz attempts to become the second ever triple crown winner and the first since Special Effort in 1981. The trials for the All American Futurity run Aug. 18-19.

Medina also has 3-year-old mare Teller Baja racing at Ruidoso Downs. Teller Baja won the Remington Futurity last year. She had the fourth-fastest qualifying time at the Rainbow Derby, but a malfunction at the race caused another gate to open early and she rammed the closed gate with her nose. The malfunction caused her to bleed profusely and finish 10th.

However, Teller Baja was sprinting again the next day and showed no lingering issues, and she is expected to contend for a title at the All American Derby.

Follow @JMackLMT on Twitter for the latest news on all local sports.

Email: JMack@LMTOnline.com

OXNARD, Calif. — Police in Lucky Whitehead’s home state of Virginia say the former Dallas Cowboys receiver’s identity was falsely used in a shoplifting arrest.

Prince William County police said Tuesday they were confident the man charged in a case involving $40 worth of stolen food and drink from a convenience store in June wasn’t Whitehead. The Cowboys released him Monday after reports that he was arrested and subsequently cited for missing a court hearing.

Whitehead’s agent, Dave Rich, contended that his client wasn’t in Virginia at the time of the reported arrest. Police said they are seeking the person who used the identity of Whitehead, whose given name is Rodney Darnell Whitehead Jr. The release of Whitehead came on the first day of training camp after a tumultuous offseason for the Cowboys, including the arrests of two defensive players.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

QB Dak Prescott takes control of Cowboys at camp

By Schuyler Dixon A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

OXNARD, Calif. — Dak Prescott climbed the stairs to the VIP tent that once served as Tony Romo’s perch for interviews at training camp, facing a phalanx of cameras similar to the one his predecessor and the longtime Dallas starter used to see.

It’s Prescott’s job now, and the second-year star quarterback has the attention to prove it.

“Last year I came in and I was just trying to figure every-

thing out,” Prescott said on the opening morning of camp in California.

“Everything I do (now) they’re watching. Not just you guys but my teammates, the coaches as well. But that’s fun to me. That’s something that I embrace.”

An afterthought this time a year ago as a fourth-round pick and third-teamer behind Romo and Kellen Moore, Prescott’s outlook first changed when Moore broke an ankle in a training camp practice. Then Romo went down with a back injury in

the third preseason game.

Prescott answered with one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history, leading the Cowboys to the top seed in the NFC at 13-3 before a divisional playoff loss to Green Bay. Romo was relegated to the backup job when he was healthy again, and is now preparing for his debut in the TV booth as the lead analyst for CBS after Dallas released him. The Cowboys went 1-11 without an injured Romo in a last-place 4-12 season the year before Prescott arrived.

“A lot more comfortable than

I ever thought I would be this time last year or beyond not having Romo,” said owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who gave Romo the first $100 million contract in franchise history four years ago. “So that has everything to do with the year that Dak had and more importantly the way Dak is approaching this year.”

Last year, Prescott bristled at the idea of “vanilla defenses” when he was coming off two strong preseason showings — the week before Romo got hurt.

This year, he figures to hear the

term “sophomore slump.” He’ll shrug at that, too.

Prescott won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors over backfield mate and NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott because he led the Cowboys to a franchiserecord 11 straight wins.

The former Mississippi State standout, the first drafted quarterback in seven years for Dallas, tied Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie record of 13 wins and set rookie marks in passer rating (104.9) and fewest interceptions (four, to go with 23 touchdowns).

A8 | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER Trump administration Celgene Corp. to FIANCEE From page A3 cuts short anti-teen pay $280M to settle name “Bear,” which is as his middle pregnancy grants cancer drug fraud suit reflected name in some court docuBy Carolyn Thompson A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dozens of teen pregnancy prevention programs deemed ineffective by President Donald Trump's administration will lose more than $200 million in funding following a surprise decision to end five-year grants after only three years.

The administration's assessment is in sharp contrast with that of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which credited the program with contributing to an all-time low rate of teen pregnancies.

Rachel Fey of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy said Tuesday that grantees under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were given no explanation when notified this month their awards will end next June. The program, begun under President Barack Obama's administration,

DEBATE From page A1 failure, which seems likely, then let’s return to regular order,” McCain said as he chided Republican leaders for devising the legislation in secret along with the administration and “springing it on skeptical members.”

“Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio, TV and internet. To hell with them!” McCain said, raising his voice as he urged senators to reach for the comity of earlier times.

At the White House, though, Trump wasted no time in declaring a win and slamming the Democrats anew.

“I’m very happy to announce that, with zero of the Democrats’ votes, the motion to proceed on health care has just passed. And now we move forward toward truly great health care for the American people,” Trump said. “This was a big step. I want to thank Senator John McCain — very brave man.”

At its most basic, the Republican legislation is aimed at undoing Obamacare’s unpopular mandates for most people to carry insurance and businesses to offer it.

The GOP would repeal Obamacare taxes and unwind an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor, the disabled and nursing home residents The result would be 20 million to 30 million people losing insurance over a decade, depending on the version of the bill.

The GOP legislation has polled abysmally, while former President Barack Obama’s health care law itself has grown steadily more popular.

Yet most Republicans argue that failing to deliver on their promises to pass repeal-and-replace legislation would be worse than passing an unpopular bill, because it would expose the GOP as unable to govern despite controlling majorities in the House, Senate and White House.

Tuesday’s vote

receives about $100 million a year.

"We know so little about the rationale behind cutting short these grants," said Fey, who said the teen birth rate has fallen by about 40 percent nationally since the program went into effect in 2010. The focus of the program is on evidence-based interventions aimed at preventing teen pregnancy.

A Health and Human Services spokesman said late Tuesday that an evaluation of the first round of grants released last fall found only four of 37 programs studied showed lasting positive impacts.

Most of the other programs had no effect or were harmful, the department said. "Given the very weak evidence of positive impact of these programs, the Trump administration, in its ... 2018 budget proposal, did not recommend continued funding for the TPP program," the department statement said.

LOS ANGELES — A New Jersey pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $280 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging it committed fraud by promoting a drug for leprosy and another therapy for unapproved cancer treatments, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The agreement settled claims made in Los Angeles federal court by a former sales manager who said Celgene submitted false claims to Medicare and health care programs in 28 states and Washington, D.C., which were all parties to the settlement.

Beverly Brown had worked as an "immunology specialist" who was trained to aggressively promote Thalomid and Revlimid drugs for cancer treatments that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Thalomid, another

amounted to a procedural hurdle for legislation whose final form is impossible to predict under the Senate’s byzantine amendment process, which will unfold over the next several days.

Indeed senators had no clear idea of what they would ultimately be voting on, and in an indication of the uncertainty ahead, McConnell said the Senate will “let the voting take us where it will.” The expectation is that he will bring up a series of amendments, including a straight-up repeal and fuller replacement legislation, to see where consensus may lie.

Yet after seven years of empty promises, and weeks of hand-wringing and false starts on Capitol Hill, it was the Senate’s first concrete step toward delivering on innumerable pledges to undo the Obama-era law.

It came after several near-death experiences for earlier versions of the legislation, and only after Trump summoned senators to the White House last week to order them to try again after McConnell had essentially conceded defeat.

“The people who sent us here expect us to begin this debate, to have the courage to tackle the tough issues,” McConnell said ahead of the vote.

Democrats stood implacably opposed, and in an unusual maneuver they sat in their seats refusing to vote until it was clear Republicans would be able to reach the 50-vote margin needed to get them over the top with Pence’s help.

“Turn back,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York implored his GOP colleagues before the vote. “Turn back now, before it’s too late and millions and millions and millions of Americans are hurt so badly.”

Schumer’s pleas fell on deaf ears, as several GOP senators who’d announced they would oppose moving forward with the legislation reversed themselves to vote “aye.” Among them were Dean Heller of Nevada, the most vulnerable Republican senator in next year’s midterm elections, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

Johnson has recently accused McConnell of

By Brian Melley ASSOCIATED PRE SS

SEEKING BILINGUAL, MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS for the San Antonio Independent School District Interviews will be held on

SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017 from 8:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel (110 Calle Del Norte Dr., Laredo, TX 78041)

Please schedule an interview by contacting the SAISD Human Resources Department at (210) 554-8500 The starting salary for bilingual, math and science teachers is $51,500 + $2,000 bilingual, math and science stipend Interested applicants apply online at: www.saisd.net Employment application, transcripts, résumé, letter of interest, must be on file to receive full consideration during the screening process. Not all applicants will be interviewed.

LGBT From page A1 legislative session but was revived for an ongoing special session.

The day after her attack, Martinez testified against the bill before a Texas Senate committee.

Come Teach Our Minds. Come Touch Our Hearts.

San Antonio ISD does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or any other basis prohibited by law.

name for thalidomide, a drug prescribed for morning sickness in the 1950s and 1960s that caused severe birth defects, was approved in 1998 for treating about a fraction of the few hundred leprosy cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year, according to court filings. Revlimid is derived from thalidomide and was a successor to the earlier drug.

While the two drugs were later approved for limited cancer treatments, the company promoted them widely to doctors for multiple kinds of cancer years in advance of approvals, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claimed Celgene used false and misleading statements and paid kickbacks to doctors to prescribe the drugs.

A judge threw out the kickbacks allegation, but allowed the lawsuit to move forward. Celgene denied wrongdoing and settled to avoid uncertainty, distraction and expensive litigation, the company said in a statement.

operating in bad faith on the bill and stood in intense conversation with him on the Senate floor before finally becoming the 50th Republican senator to vote affirmatively, immediately following McCain.

Democratic campaign groups immediately announced they would be targeting Heller and others with ads. The two Republicans voting “no” were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

U.S. Capitol Police said 31 demonstrators, many of whom shouted “Kill the Bill” and “Shame,” were arrested and charged with disruption of Congress.

ments that show his record dates back until at least the 1990s and spans multiple states.

In 1997, Bradley pleaded guilty in a felony domestic violence case in Colorado and was sentenced to two years’ probation, said Rich Orman, chief deputy district attorney for the 18th Judicial District in suburban Denver. Records indicate supervision of Bradley’s probation was transferred to Gainesville, Florida.

Then in 1998 he was arrested in Ohio and extradited to Colorado for violating his probation, Orman said. Records show that at that time, Bradley also was wanted by a Texas agency for an unknown charge. Another probation violation complaint came in 1999, but Bradley wasn’t arrested and returned to Colorado until 2003. He was sentenced to three years in a halfway house, but he violated terms of that sentence — apparently walking away from the facility — and in 2005 was sentenced to one year in a Colorado prison, Orman said.

He was released in 2007, according to the Department of Corrections, and remained on parole until 2009.

Authorities list Bradley as being from Clearwater, Florida. Rose said Bradley has been staying mostly in Louisville for a couple of years as his health worsened. Bradley had diabetes that he hadn’t properly treated and had to have a series of amputations, most recently the removal of his leg this spring.

He had worked for Pyle Transportation, a trucking company in Iowa, for several years, and was preparing to strike out on his own once he got a prosthetic this month.

In February, he pur-

chased a custom Peterbilt truck for $90,000 from a company called Outlaw Iron in Wisconsin, according to Justin McDaniel, the company’s owner. He said he had never before met Bradley, who responded to an advertisement for the truck. Bradley came to Wisconsin to buy the truck, paid $50,000 cash and financed the remaining $40,000. The truck did not come with a trailer, McDaniel said.

“It’s hard to believe it, just from meeting the gentleman, he was a super nice guy, very stand-up guy,” McDaniel said. “I’m sure there’s more to the story than what we’re seeing.”

He showed a Florida driver’s license when making the purchase, McDaniel said.

Rose said Bradley grew up in Florida and moved around, spending most of his time on the road.

His commercial driver’s license was through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which originally issued it in 2004, according to state records.

McDaniel said he and Bradley texted each other a few times as they were wrapping up paperwork, and Bradley told him about his medical conditions.

Rose said he was finally able to leave Louisville on July 14 for his first trip in the new truck, and headed for Iowa to pick up a trailer from Pyle. She expected him to be gone about two weeks. Rose said she was sleeping when she missed a call from him around midnight eight days into the trip.

Rose said she tried calling him back, but didn’t reach him. The next time she heard from him was Sunday morning, when he called from jail.

She said he did not explain during their brief conversation how the immigrants might have been loaded into his trailer without him knowing about it.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 |

A9

FROM THE COVER ZAPATA From page A1 county’s 4,400 residents who were moved to new town sites on higher ground.

Unexpected rains in 1953 caused the communities of Lopeño and Falcon to flood before the new town sites were completed. Families pulled belongings out of their homes and loaded them into trucks and boats as the rising floodwaters covered the floors.

The county seat of Zapata was not inundated for another year, but fear of what happened downstream caused many residents in the summer of 1953 to pack up and leave to the new town site 4 miles west.

The surprise flood left the government unprepared for the relocation, and many residents ended up in tents on unpaved streets without sewer lines.

“We were angry because these things were happening to us,” said Humberto Gonzalez, 85, a retired principal in Zapata. “The government told us it would be years before we would have to move.”

Resentment lingers not only over the forced relocation and the period of living like refugees in their own country, but also over what many here say was inadequate compensation for condemned property. Along with their homes, farmers lost the fertile lands they owned in the river vega, the floodplain, and their water rights — land owned by the International Boundary and Water Commission now sits between private property and the waterline.

For those like Jaime Gonzalez, 83, Humberto Gonzalez’s brother, President Donald Trump's talk of building a wall reopens the wounds caused by the loss of Old Zapata, Lopeño and the other small communities along the Rio Grande.

Gonzalez’s family was able to relocate some commercial buildings they owned in Old Zapata but lost their farmland along the river.

“What we’re doing is … giving Mexico our land,” Gonzalez said. “We need the water for our cattle, and we have a lot of game that, you know, they go to the river and a lot of endangered species that need to go to the river. It’s a very difficult situation and I hope the government really thinks this out.”

“It’d be the second time that they punched you. The Bible says that when they slap you on one cheek, you turn the other one. Well this would be the other one,” he added with a laugh.

The location of the wall, and how much

SMUGGLING From page A1

Investigations office in San Antonio, told The Associated Press.

The driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Florida, is facing charges of illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain, resulting in death. Bradley could face the death penalty. Authorities allege he drove a trailer full of immigrants from South Texas that was discovered in the parking lot of a Walmart in San Antonio early Sunday morning.

Folden said charging Bradley is just the first step in the case as investigators work to find others involved in the scheme, including those responsible for facilitating money transfers and bringing the immigrants

money Trump will get to build it, remains unclear.

Congress denied his request for wall funds in this year's supplemental budget request, but he's asked for $1.6 billion as well as money to hire 20 new attorneys and staff to pursue eminent domain claims in 2018.

The wall isn't the only piece of border security infrastructure that requires land condemnation. In April, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to take a plot of land near Brownsville to construct a surveillance tower. In May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, released a request for proposals to build a radar tower on private land just on the other side of the Webb-Zapata county line.

Zapata County Judge Joe Rathmell said opposition to the border wall is strong among the county’s current population of 14,000. He's met with Homeland Security officials and was told "nothing is on the table and nothing is off the table."

“We’ve sacrificed plenty, our residents of Zapata,” Rathmell said. “Most of our good farmland is below the lake. My mom’s 92. She remembers them having to leave their homes in Old Zapata and move to New Zapata, which was basically a bulldozed site with no streets, and live in tents for many months while they built their homes.”

Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News

Water flows out of a hydroelectric power station on the Mexican side of Falcon Dam on April 19.

Rising waters Jaime Gonzalez was going through Army training at Fort Bliss in El Paso in August 1953 when he heard about the flooding back home. He and two friends took a taxi from El Paso to San Antonio, then another from San Antonio to Old Zapata.

His father grew up in Lopeño, the community nearest to the dam, and had left Old Zapata to help with the evacuation.

Trucks rushed to the flood line to load up people and their belongings and boats launched downstream and approached the partially submerged town to help.

“Water was filling up the houses,” said Hector Lopez Jr., a retired educator whose father, a well-known justice of the peace, was from Lopeño.

“So what do you do? You grab your most valued possessions and you leave. A lot of people lost a lot of their belongings.”

Upstream in Old Zapata, residents began scrambling to move their belongings. The government eventually dynamited Spanish colonialera homes in the town.

Newer pier and beam buildings were lifted onto trailers and transported to the new town site.

The construction of the dam had been longanticipated. In 1944, the

U.S. and Mexican governments agreed to a series of dams on the Rio Grande to control flooding, a perennial problem at the time. Zapata was represented in Congress

by Lloyd Bentsen, a Valley native who went on to become a well-known U.S. senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee, and many who remember the creation of Falcon Lake believe residents here suffered to improve irrigation for the farmers downstream.

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower came to dedicate the dam a month later, he was met by Zapata County residents holding signs that said “We lost our homes to the Falcon Dam.” The government had agreed to rebuild some communal buildings, like the school and the courthouse, but construction, along with compensation for those who lost land, dragged on.

“As of the early part of 1955, five years after the relocation process started, many of the projects were only partially completed,” Laredo native J. Gilberto Quezada wrote in his book “Border Boss: Manuel B. Bravo and Zapata County.”

“The elementary school, albeit finished, had no furniture; the proposed middle school was still in the blueprint stages; the courthouse remained unfurnished; exchange of irrigable lands was on the back burner; the old roads that gave landowners access to their property needed repairs; and of course, the question of replacement value of homes was still unresolved.”

Many people in Zapata County became migrant workers after losing their farms, said Quezada, who is from Laredo but married the granddaughter of Bravo, a former Zapata County judge.

“It must have been a very traumatic experience, having to learn a new way of putting bread on the table,” he

said. “It must have been a very horrific experience, right, to make a living, when you have a family of three or four or six, trying to provide for all of them. That must have been very tough.”

Over at the Zapata County Museum of History, director Hildegardo Flores, a self-proclaimed “child of the river,” is raising money for a replica of the kiosko that once stood in the Old Zapata town square.

“It was the center of town, and any activities that were going that were important to the community would center around the kiosko,” Flores said.

“It was a beautiful structure.”

Fair compensation Even those who resent how the government treated them in the 1950s agree that they’re more likely to get a fair shake today.

The mostly poor and almost exclusively Mexican-American residents of Zapata County had little political clout in the mid-20th century, said Jaime Gonzalez.

At the time of the land condemnation for Falcon Lake, the federal government “would offer very little over here,” he said.

“So you don’t accept what they wanted to pay, and their answer to that would be, ‘You don’t like it, take us to court.’ Well heck, we were very few professional people over here. We were farmers and ranchers. We didn’t have, like now, we have attorneys, we have doctors, we have engineers.

Our kids are educated, but at that time we didn’t even have money.”

Lopez notes that the county is now represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo who has familial ties to Zapata.

“Things have changed in 65 years,” he said.

“Back then, the mentality was, ‘Those people are Mexican-Americans.’

Now things are different.”

Although he thinks the region has more clout

Cutting off access The existing Texas border fence ends in Hidalgo County, 65 miles southeast of Zapata. The Rio Grande winds mostly unfenced for nearly 1,000 miles before the border wall picks up again outside El Paso.

Department of Homeland Security officials haven’t said how much new border wall they plan to build, but they have said the first stretches will go in the Rio Grande Valley, likely in Hidalgo County and Starr County, where Falcon Lake begins.

Construction of a fence or wall in Zapata County faces unique hurdles.

The dam creates a floodplain that extends miles up the arroyos feeding Falcon Lake. The International Boundary and Water Commission owns the floodplain, but tracing the contours of the lake would be difficult. Building a wall in a straight line would mean cutting across private property.

The county for decades has relied on oil and gas production to drive its economy, but as the wells have dried up, Falcon Lake has become important for local businesses. Despite highprofile border security incidents – in 2010 tourist David Michael Hartley was killed while jet skiing on the lake in the ruins of Guerrero Viejo; 13 people, one of them a Mexican marine, were killed in a 2011 shootout on the lake; and last year 26-year-old fisherman Oscar Garza was shot and killed — Falcon Lake, known for its prized largemouth bass, still draws tourists de-

spite the negative publicity.

“Cutting off access to the lake would really do a lot of harm to our county,” Rathmell said.

“The fishing in the lake is so good that fishermen want to come back.”

The IBWC leases for grazing land that’s uncovered when the lake is low, and ranchers, including Rathmell, run cattle down to the water’s edge. Lopez’s brother-in-law does the same with horses on their family plot near old Lopeño, letting them water at the lake.

“Most of us are ranchers,” Rathmell said. “We still work the land. I can’t imagine being able to raise cattle if they took our water source away.”

Rathmell said the county supports border security – he floated the idea of putting surveillance equipment on county infrastructure – but he said the idea of the wall is unpopular.

“As far as the wall, the court and I would say all the residents in Zapata feel it’s not practicable or feasible to build a wall in Zapata County,” he said.

Not everyone in the county is opposed to the wall. Adrian Ramirez, the 66-year-old former head of the Zapata County Waterworks, lives just above the condemnation line. When the lake is low, he looks over acres of undeveloped brush land. He grew up on the property and remembers residents of Old Zapata standing near his house to watch the town finally flood.

His property is also on a favorite trafficking route. Drug smugglers have killed 12 of his dogs, Ramirez said. Border Patrol has increased their presence and installed sensors, but he still sometimes feels unsafe.

“I can think of 100 reasons” why the wall wouldn’t work, Ramirez said. Still, he said, “I hope it does.”

“I’m very anti-trafficker,” he added.

across the border.

“The ultimate goal is to dismantle the complete organization. You don’t get there by only focusing on one aspect.

You have to look at potential targets and potential related locations, both north and south,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar from Texas said he was informed by law enforcement the tractortrailer had cleared a Border Patrol checkpoint 29 miles north of the border on Interstate 35 near Laredo. Cuellar said he didn’t know whether the immigrants were loaded into the truck before or after it crossed the checkpoint.

U.S. authorities are still trying to determine how many people were inside the tractor-trailer because some fled before police arrived, Folden said.

Thirteen people who rode in the trailer remained hospitalized Tuesday in San Antonio, said ICE spokesman Greg Palmore. He declined to say how many were critical or in lifethreatening condition.

Officials say at least 29 people survived the smuggling attempt.

Delmin Darío López Colomo, 23, a Guatemalan survivor who remains hospitalized, said the migrants in the tractor-trailer were delivered by various different smugglers, according to Cristy Andrino, the consul of Guatemala in McAllen, Texas.

Adan Lara Vega, 27, a migrant from Mexico who survived the smuggling attempt, told the AP on Monday that they boarded the truck on a Laredo street Saturday night for the two-hour trip to San Antonio. He

said the trailer was already full of people, but it was so dark he couldn’t tell how many.

At least some of the survivors are likely to become witnesses and receive consideration to remain in the United States to testify, Folden said.

It’s likely that most if not all of the survivors will be allowed to stay in the country to help authorities in their investigation, said Jeff Vaden, a former federal prosecutor who helped oversee the prosecution of a 2003 smuggling attempt in Victoria, Texas, in which 19 people died.

Many of the more than 50 immigrants who survived that attempt “were able to identify the people who harbored them or transported them or to whom they paid or spoke. That’s what enabled the government to

put together the larger smuggling case above just the driver. Just like in any crime, the victims are critical witnesses,” said Vaden, who now is a partner at the Houston law firm of Bracewell LLP. Jacob Monty, an immigration lawyer in Houston, said the help the survivors give to authorities could “lead to permanent residency.”

The driver, Bradley, remained jailed on Tuesday. He had his commercial driving privileges for a truck driver suspended

by Florida three months before Sunday’s deadly smuggling attempt, officials said Tuesday.

Court records show that Bradley had been cited repeatedly for violating federal motor carrier safety regulations in Iowa dating back to 1995.

At least two of the tickets were for logging more

hours than allowed.

Federal regulators said they are also conducting an investigation into an Iowa trucking company whose name was on the trailer. Brian Pyle, owner of Pyle Transportation, said the trailer had been sold on May 10 to an individual in Mexico and Bradley was working as an independent contractor to drive it to Brownsville, Texas, to carry out the sale.

It’s unclear what will happen to one of the migrants who died, identified as 19-year-old Frank Guisseppe Fuentes.

His parents, who live in Maryland and are in the U.S. illegally, haven’t yet told Guatemalan officials what they want done with his body, and may fear agents could come after them if they claim their son, Andrino said.

in Congress, Lopez said he doesn’t think Trump has the region’s best interests at heart.

“He doesn’t know anything about the region,” Lopez said. “He’s got no sense of reality about what’s going on over here. He’s got no sense of reality about building a wall.”

A10 | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES