The Zapata Times 7/4/2018

KEEPING AN EYE ON THE FUTURE CONCACAF BOSS TARGETS THE 2026 WORLD

WEDNESDAYJULY 4, 2018

FREE

CUP FOR BETTER RESULTS, A13

2018 MEXICO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Hope for NAFTA voiced by new leader Local officials optimistic about future under AMLO

By Julia Wallace LA R ED O MORNI NG T IME S

With its precarious position on the U.S.-Mexico border, elections in both countries carry significant weight in Laredo.

And as the backbone of the city’s economy, any mention of NAFTA by either country’s leader tends to send alarm bells ringing around the Gate-

way City.

Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is described as a nationalist and populist who has set out to end corruption in Mexico. He is also an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, and has said that he wants Mexico to be less economically dependent on the U.S. After his election win on

Conchas

Cuellar

Sunday night, he spoke of reducing Mexican immigration to the United States through economic development.

“Mexicans will be able ... to work and be happy where they were born,” he said.

However, Lopez Obrador said he also wants to keep the

North American Free Trade Agreement intact. Trump and the presidentelect even exchanged cooperSaénz ative messages with each other after the race was conceded.

“Congratulations to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on becoming the next President of Mexico. I look very much forward to working with him.

There is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!” Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Lopez Obrador said Trump’s tweet was “very respectful.”

“We are never going to disrespect the U.S. government, because we want them to respect us,” Lopez Obrador said in an interview Monday with the Televisa news network. “At the appropriate moment, we are going to get in touch, to reach an understanding” with the Trump administration.

Representatives of Laredo and local business leaders said they hope Lopez Obrador governs in line with his more recent centrist rhetoric.

AMLO continues on A11

ZAPATA, TEXAS

CHIEF DEL BOSQUE HONORED

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Shown are the damages made to the concession stand.

Courtesy photo

A ceremony was held last week in Zapata to recognize Zapata County Sheriff’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. being named president of the Texas Chief Deputies Association for the 2018-19 year. Del Bosque has been a member since 2013. He has previously served in the association as director, sergeant at arms, second vice president and first vice president.

WEBB, ZAPATA, JIM HOGG, LASALLE, DIMMIT AND DUVAL COUNTIES

AHEC welcomes public health officials ZA PATA T I ME S

The Mid Rio Grande Border AHEC Board of directors and staff recently welcomed Tammy Mayo-Blake, U.S. Department of Health Resources & Services administration project officer, Janna Lesser, AHEC of South Texas program director, and other UT health staff members.

The Area Health Education Center Program was created

by Congress under the Com-

prehensive Health Manpower Training Act of 1971. The Mid Rio Grande Border AHEC was established in 1993 and since then has served thousands of community residents through its menu of programs specifically designed to linking students to health careers, professionals to educational resources and citizens to healthy living. The purpose of the visit was to obtain information about ways that the AHEC program has improved com-

munities throughout the nation.

The visit initiated with a tour of the community, which included visiting partner agencies that continue to support Mid Rio Grande Border AHEC projects. Although there are numerous agencies, the time was limited and those visited included Volunteers Serving the Need, Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center, Texas A&M Colonias Program and Gateway Community Health Cen-

ter. The group concluded the tour with a formal presentation offered by Board Chair Mercurio Martinez, Jr., and board members Elmo Lopez Jr., Miguel Trevino Jr. and Hector Gonzalez.

Each member highlighted the numerous projects that have served the communities of Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, LaSalle, Dimmit and Duval counties since the inception of the Mid Rio Grande Border AHEC continues on A11

Little League Park damaged Cash reward offered for info ZAPATA TIME S

The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office and the Zapata Crime Stoppers are requesting the community’s assistance in locating those responsible for the damages made to the concession stand in the Little League Park.

A $500 cash reward is offered to the person that provides information that will lead to the arrest of those responsible for the damages.

All callers will remain anonymous.

To provide information on the case, call the Sheriff’s Office at 956-765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 956-765-TIPS (8477)

In Brief A2 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

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

SATURDAY, JULY 7 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

1220 McClelland Ave. Hard cover $1, paperback $0.50, magazines and children’s books, $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

Habitat For Humanity Golf Tournament. 8 a.m. Max Mandel Golf Course, $125 per player, sponsorships: $5,000, 2,500, 1,500, 1,000, 750 and $500. Proceeds will assist local veterans with home repairs. Other events scheduled that day. For more information call Cindy Liendo, 956724-3227 or email resource@habitatlaredo.org.

MONDAY, JULY 9 AHEC Summer Biomedical Enrichment Program. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 Bustamante St. A three-day workshop for high school students to explore opportunities in health care professions. To register: https://summerbio2018.eventbrite.com.

First United Methodist Church Vacation Bible School Raging River Rampage. 9 am – 1 pm. 1220 McClelland Ave. Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Bible stories, singing, dancing and crafts. Refreshments will be served.

For children in kindergarden through sixth grade.

TUESDAY, JULY 10 First United Methodist Church Vacation Bible School Raging River Rampage. 9 am – 1 pm. 1220 McClelland Ave. Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Bible stories, singing, dancing and crafts. Refreshments will be served.

For children in kindergarden through sixth grade.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 First United Methodist Church Vacation Bible School Raging River Rampage. 9 am – 1 pm. 1220 McClelland Ave. Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Bible stories, singing, dancing and crafts. Refreshments will be served.

For children in kindergarden through sixth grade.

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

THURSDAY, JULY 12 First United Methodist Church Vacation Bible School Raging River Rampage. 9 am – 1 pm. 1220 McClelland Ave. Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Bible stories, singing, dancing and crafts. Refreshments will be served.

For children in kindergarden through sixth grade.

Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times / AP

Paper straws sit at Duke's Restaurants and bar in Seattle. Businesses that sell food or drinks wont be allowed to offer the plastic items under a rule that went into effect Sunday.

CITY BANS PLASTIC STRAWS, UTENSILS SEATTLE — Looking for a plastic straw to sip your soda? It’s no longer allowed in Seattle bars and restaurants.

Neither are plastic utensils in the latest push to reduce waste and prevent marine plastic pollution. Businesses that sell food or drinks won’t be allowed to offer the plastic items under a rule that went into effect Sunday.

Seattle is believed to be the first major U.S. city to ban single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service, according to Seattle Public Utilities. The eco-conscious city has been an environmental leader in

3-year-old dies after being stabbed at own birthday party BOISE, Idaho — A 3-yearold Idaho girl who was stabbed at her own birthday party died Monday, two days after a man invaded the celebration and stabbed nine people, authorities said.

Timmy Kinner is accused of attacking a group of children and the adults who tried to protect them at the party at an apartment complex that is

the U.S., working to aggressively curb the amount of trash that goes into landfills by requiring more options that can be recycled or composted.

The city’s 5,000 restaurants - including Seattle-based Starbucks outlets - will now have to use reusable or compostable utensils, straws and cocktail picks, though the city is encouraging businesses to consider not providing straws altogether or switch to paper rather than compostable plastic straws. Proposals to ban plastic straws are being considered in other cities. — Compiled from AP reports

home to many refugee families.

Word of the child’s death came at Kinner’s first court appearance, where a judge told him that he was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the Saturday night attack.

Kinner is American, and the victims are members of refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia. Boise Police Chief William Bones said the evidence does not suggest the attack was a hate crime.

The suspect had recently stayed at the apartment com-

plex but was asked to leave Friday over bad behavior, Bones said.

The 30-year-old, who is being held without bond, said he wanted to represent himself in court. But the judge ordered that he be appointed a public defender anyway.

Kinner had recently been a guest at the complex but was asked to leave Friday over bad behavior.

He returned the next evening and began attacking people, police said. — Compiled from AP reports

FRIDAY, JULY 13 6th U.S. – Mexico Regional Binational Health Conference. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo. 1937 Bustamante St. For more information, call the Area Health Education Center at 956-712-0037.

First United Methodist Church Vacation Bible School Raging River Rampage. 9 am – 1 pm. 1220 McClelland Ave. Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Bible stories, singing, dancing and crafts. Refreshments will be served.

For children in kindergarden through sixth grade.

MONDAY, JULY 16 Youth Health Service Corps. 9 a.m. 2 p.m. UT Health Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 Bustamante St. A leadership and service learning/ethical and legal issues. To register: http:// yhsc2018.eventbrite.com

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

AROUND THE WORLD Doubts about North Korean denuclearization shadow visit by Mike Pompeo SEOUL, South Korea — Three weeks after the U.S.North Korea summit and ahead of an impending trip to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a leaked U.S. intelligence report and an analysis of satellite data suggest the North may be continuing its nuclear and missile activities despite a pledge to denuclearize.

North Korea has been showering the United States and South Korea with goodwill gestures in recent months, including the shutdown of its main nuclear testing site and the releases of three American detainees. But many experts say nothing it has done is consequential enough to be seen as a sign that the country is will-

Korea News Service / AP

This undated photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, at an undisclosed location in North Korea.

ing to fully surrender its nukes.

The State Department said Pompeo is to visit North Korea from Friday in his third visit to the country in the past three months. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said Sunday that Pompeo and North Korean officials will discuss a U.S. plan that would lead to the dis-

mantling of the North’s nuclear and missile programs in a year.

But it’s still unclear whether Pyongyang would agree to that.

Also, many question if Trump has the persistence to see through a lengthy and expensive process to fully eliminate North Korea’s nuclear threat. — Compiled from AP reports

Today is Wednesday, July 4, the 185th day of 2018. There are 180 days left in the year. This is Independence Day. Today's Highlight in History: On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

On this date: In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, New York.

In 1817, ground was broken for the Erie Canal in Rome, New York. The middle section of the waterway took three years to complete; the entire canal was finished in 1825.

In 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died.

In 1831, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York City at age 73.

In 1872, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was born in Plymouth, Vermont.

In 1917, during a ceremony in Paris honoring the French hero of the American Revolution, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles E. Stanton, an aide to Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing, declared: "Lafayette, we are here!"

In 1939, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees delivered his famous farewell speech in which he called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

In 1942, Irving Berlin's musical revue "This Is the Army" opened at the Broadway Theater in New York.

In 1947, the small central California town of Hollister was overrun by thousands of motorcycling enthusiasts, dozens of whom ended up being arrested, most for drunkenness, in what came to be called the "Hollister Riot."

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the following year.

In 1987, Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison (he died in September 1991).

In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars, inaugurating a new era in the search for life on the red planet. CBS newsman Charles Kuralt died in New York at age 62.

Ten years ago: Former Sen. Jesse Helms, an unyielding champion of the conservative movement who'd spent three combative and sometimes caustic decades in Congress, died in Raleigh, North Carolina, at age 86.

Dara Torres completed her improbable Olympic comeback at age 41, making the U.S. team for the fifth time by winning the 100 freestyle at the trials in Omaha, Neb. Actress Evelyn Keyes died in Montecito, California, at age 91.

Five years ago: Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, was sworn in following the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist leader overthrown by the military after just one year in office. The Statue of Liberty reopened on the Fourth of July, eight months after Superstorm Sandy shuttered the national symbol of freedom. Bernadette Nolan, 52, a member of the singing sister act the Nolans who had a worldwide hit in 1979 with "I'm In The Mood For Dancing," died in Surrey, England.

One year ago: The United States confirmed that North Korea had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, as the North had boasted and the U.S. and South Korea had feared.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it a "new escalation of the threat" to the U.S. Joey Chestnut gulped down 72 dogs and buns in 10 minutes to beat his own record and hoist the Mustard Belt for a 10th time at the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Eva Marie Saint is 94. Actress Gina Lollobrigida is 91. Playwright Neil Simon is 91. Country singer Ray Pillow is 81.

Singer Bill Withers is 80. Actor Ed Bernard is 79. Actress Karolyn Grimes is 78. Rhythm and blues singer Annette Beard (Martha and the Vandellas) is 75. Broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera is 75. Vietnam War veteran and peace activist Ron Kovic is 72. Rhythm and blues musician Ralph Johnson (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 67. Rock musician Domingo Ortiz (Widespread Panic) is 66. Singer John Waite is 66.

Rock musician Kirk Pengilly (INXS) is 60. Country musician Teddy Carr is 58. Rock DJ Zonka is 56. International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver is 56. Rock musician Matt Malley is 55.

Thought for Today : "Intellectually, I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." — Sinclair Lewis, American author (1885-1951).

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

SATURDAY, AUG. 4 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

1220 McClelland Ave. Public is invited.

Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 8 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Public is invited.

AROUND THE STATE Pharmacy owner gets five years in chiropractor case AUSTIN — A Houston pharmacist must serve five years in federal prison and repay $5.3 million in a health care kickbacks scheme linked to a chiropractor.

Nermin Awad El-Hadik, of Hope Pharmacy Inc., was sentenced Friday in Austin. She pleaded guilty in 2016 to willful offer and payment of illegal

remuneration in a federal health care program.

Prosecutors say El-Hadik paid kickbacks to chiropractor Garry Wayne Craighead for workers’ compensation referrals. Craighead had clinics in Dallas, Fort Worth, Killeen, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Weslaco and Beaumont and mainly treated U.S. Postal Service workers.

Man with 5 DWI convictions arrested

CONTACT US on another charge ODESSA — A West Texas man with five prior convictions for drunken driving has been arrested again on a charge of driving while intoxicated after a woman was seriously hurt when she fell out of his moving vehicle.

Forty-seven-year-old Luis Ortega Anzures was arrested early Monday and also charged

by Odessa police with evading arrest. — Compiled from AP reports

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The Zapata Times

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

A3

LOCAL

Summer Field Day offers fun activities for children SPECIAL TO THE TIME S

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Zapata’s Better Living for Texans program gets donation from Medina Electric Zapata County’s Better Living for Texans program received a generous donation from Medina Electric Cooperative Inc. that will go toward the “Growing and Nourishing Healthy Communities” lesson series, which will build a community garden next to the local Boys and Girls Club.

Looking for something different for your kids to do over the summer?

Have your kids join Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Zapata County - Healthy South Texas this Friday for a Summer Field Day with plenty of fun activities.

You can ask any of the Healthy South Texas youth ambassadors for tickets or stop by the Healthy South Texas office to buy a ticket.

The Summer Field Day will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the Precinct 4 Park, located behind the Catholic church.

The 2018-19 Health South Texas youth ambassadors will be having the

Courtesy photo

A woman uses a bike blender at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Zapata County - Healthy South Texas’ Walk Across Texas kickoff event last month.

Summer Field Day to raise money to attend their Youth Summit on July 31 and for future activities throughout the school year.

Activities at the Summer Field Day will include

nutrition activity, seedling activity, hydration station, physical activity and a water balloon game.

Tickets are $10. A snack is provided and a consession stand will also be available.

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

A4 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Young voters have their say at ballot box

By Pankaj Mishra B L OOM BE RG NEWS

The landslide victory of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico’s presidential elections comes two months after the startling return to power in Malaysia of Mahathir Mohamad and, on a smaller scale, a week after the wholly unexpected triumph in a New York Democratic primary of Alexandria OcasioCortez, a 28-year-old novice politician.

What’s strikingly common to the rise of Obrador, Mohamad, OcasioCortez and many other disparate figures is their fervent support among young voters. Many youth today feel cheated of a better future by their leaders. And their frustrations are sparking a massive generational renewal in politics — if one largely ignored so far by a mainstream media that’s unable to see that the suave, globally networked, technocratic leaders it has supported are viewed as failures or hoaxes by many young people.

Lecturing at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City earlier this year, I heard of the furious student protests there in 2011, which forced then-presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto to seek shelter in a bathroom. Hailed by the Economist as a “charismatic reformer,” and praised by Tony Blair for putting Mexico on the right path, Peña Nieto turned out to be his country’s most unpopular president in decades.

The student movement against inept politicians like him developed into Wikipolitica, a coalition of young men and women striving for accountability in electoral politics. Likewise, political energies imperceptibly built up in Malaysia, where in May young people — 40 percent of the electorate — helped unseat their outrageously sleazy prime minister, Najib Razak.

Shadowed by public suspicion since 2006, when two of his bodyguards murdered a Mongolian model, Najib was still being described in 2010 by the Economist as “a British-educated economist”’ who was supposedly a “more sure-footed, and less scandal-prone, leader than many expected.” Najib is now accused of purloining nearly $700 million from the state exchequer, spending part of it on Hermes bags for his wife. (He denies the charges.)

The general loathing of venal, nepotistic and unaccountable elites grew so intense in Malaysia that it overcame even the country’s entrenched loyalties and patronage networks that had, as in Mexico, kept the same party in power for decades.

Disaffected with established parties, young people have suddenly emerged as a potent force capable of pulling off extraordinary political upsets. Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated a heavily favored 19-year incumbent in New York, was an activist in Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, which itself seemed almost entirely driven by young Americans.

Indeed, Hillary Clinton’s failure to bring enough young voters to the polls contributed to her defeat by Donald Trump. At the same time, people under the age of 30 made the far-left JeanLuc Melenchon a credible presidential candidate in the French presidential election.

Young people in Britain also turned out to vote in the 2017 U.K. general election in greater numbers than at any other point in recent decades; they helped transform Jeremy Corbyn from a marginal activist into a potential prime minister.

There’s no question that disillusionment with a socioeconomic system that distributes its benefits very narrowly has been driving the young to seek remedies found on the left of the political spectrum. In a 2016 poll conducted by Harvard University, 51 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 rejected capitalism, and a third came out in support of socialism.

Of course, what people mean by socialism in the U.S. is what many capitalist societies in the West, and some in the nonWest, already have: high taxes on the rich, universal healthcare, public education and tuition-free college. Burdened with debt, many young people are simply seeking an end to the financial insecurity that makes even immemorial human practices — raising a family, for instance — so arduous. Elsewhere, the young are looking for efficient administrators who use public funds to invest in infrastructure rather than private bling.

Blaming socialism for Stalin’s gulag won’t help anyone understand the subjective experience of a generation coming of age in grossly unfair and unequal societies. Nor will conventional ideological divisions explain why so many voters in their 20s have invested their faith in grandfatherly leaders: Obrador (64), Corbyn (69), Sanders (76), Melenchon (66) and Mahathir (a sprightly 92).

These outspoken men are seen by their followers as incorruptible, untainted by the compromises of slick politicians beholden to special interests and dominant lobbies. But, though invested with great hopes, they are unlikely to be allowed to become despots. Mohamad, an autocrat during his previous stint in power, now insists on the “rule of law.”

The politicized young men and women that brought Corbyn out of obscurity are now pushing him to reverse his pro-Brexit policy.

The gerontocrats knows the youthful dynamic that has empowered them could just as easily turn against them.

Contrary to many of its obituaries, democracy is being revitalized by the young — infused with a contrarian energy after decades of a complacent consensus among the middle-aged and the well-off. Political-party mechanisms will have to grow more responsive to it, or risk becoming rapidly obsolete.

Pankaj Mishra is a Bloomberg News columist.

COLUMN

Not long ago, it was a crime for someone like me to fall in love

By Michael A. Lindenberger DALLAS MORNING NEWS

It still seems surreal to say so, but not long ago it was illegal in Texas for someone like me to fall in love. For gays and lesbians in Texas and 13 other states, no matter how private or intimate two partners chose to be, sex itself was a crime. That was still true when I first moved to Dallas in 2000.

The crime was rarely prosecuted then, but it hung like an unlit fuse over every relationship a gay person might consider.

That was so even though Dallas was by far the most gay-friendly place I’d ever lived. I had never even imagined a place like the city’s Oak Lawn neighborhood existed, certainly not in a state as red as Texas. And when I moved here that first time, there was no chance that I’d live anywhere else. Bars, bookstores, coffee shops — gay, gay, and gay. I’d later learn how hard neighborhood residents had worked, and against such blatant bias, to create that haven. But to a newcomer from Kentucky in his late 20s, it looked like heaven itself.

I never lost my affection for Oak Lawn, even long after I’d learned that being gay in Dallas in those days wasn’t much different than being gay in Kentucky. In both places it marked you as an outsider — suspect and saddled with a kind of permanent noncompliance.

That began to change in this country when the Supreme Court ruled 15 years ago this week that laws criminalizing gay sex were themselves illegal and could never again be enforced. In the years after the ruling, gays began winning other legal rights, and over time it has become easier to talk about homosexuality without whisper or apology. Even so, a wave of suicides and reports of abuse against gays show we have much more work to do.

One of the few people who saw immediately the impact the Lawrence vs.

Texas decision would have on society was also one of its biggest critics. Justice Antonio Scalia read his dissent from his chair in the high court the morning of June 26, his words dripping with fury. The ruling had invalidated mere moral disapproval as a basis for criminal laws, and he said in his dissent that it had left laws against

gay marriage "on pretty shaky grounds." Those laws were rooted in "the state’s moral disapproval of same-sex couples" and if that wasn’t enough to make them illegal, then nothing would be.

The Supreme Court decision would have farreaching consequences in other ways for me and my career. I had quit Texas nine months before the decision to go back to Kentucky to work as a state correspondent for my hometown paper and attend school at night.

In fact, there was another piece of gay history in Kentucky that unfolded that same week that the Lawrence decision came down, and for a long while it would be this other court case that seemed to send the loudest message about being gay in America, at least to me.

I was working in my tiny office on the courthouse square in the Hardin County seat, not far from where Abraham Lincoln was born and raised. A call came in and I learned that two fishermen had found a waterlogged suitcase that had washed up in the shallows of a lake in the even more rural county next door.

Inside that suitcase was the bloated body of 36year-old hairdresser Guin Richard Phillips. He had been missing for six days when he was discovered, time enough it turns out for his killer to have already confessed to two of his aunts. "It’s over; he’s gone," he told one, according to testimony I later heard at his murder trial.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for the killer, a handsome, trim young man named Joshua Cottrell, a convicted car thief who had recently moved to town and been introduced through a mutual friend to Phillips. I can see him now in my mind’s eye, sitting forward in his chair on the witness stand, dressed in white shirt and dark tie with a scrubbed face that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a sophomore homecoming dance or among Mormon missionaries knocking on doors. He was ever so polite when his lawyer asked him on the stand why he had killed Phillips.

"Ma’am," he told his attorney, "he touched me where no man should ever touch another man." He claimed Phillips then tried to initiate oral sex and he had panicked. Cottrell said he had leapt up off the bed and began punching the elfin Phillips

"again and again," and then began choking him until he stopped struggling. He testified that he left the room thinking he was still alive and only found him dead when he returned.

After he killed Phillips, Cottrell stuffed his body in the suitcase he had bought a week before — for a trip, he explained — and carried the bag out of the motel room and loaded it into Phillips’ parked pickup truck. Then he took it to Rough River and dumped it.

Almost two years had passed between that week in June 2003 and the trial.

The nationwide backlash against Lawrence, and against the gradual movement toward gay marriage, had been in full swing. It swept through the Commonwealth that year, when re-election campaigns for both President George W. Bush and the state’s junior senator, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, made fears about gay marriage into potent campaign issues.

Not far from the motel room where Cottrell had killed Phillips the previous year, Bunning stood by as surrogates used slurs to hint that his bachelor (but, as it turns out, fully heterosexual) opponent had a "limp wrist" and was not quite a man.

Meanwhile, Karl Rove had helped put on the ballot an amendment outlawing (already illegal) gay marriage, a development that had kept anti-gay campaigners working all season. Did all that anti-gay noise influence the jury that was called a few months after the election to hear Cottrell’s case? Or was it more likely that generations of gay animus were at play? What’s certain is that the trial took place amid a surge in the use of the so-called "gay panic defense" across America, in which murder defendants rationalized their actions by a deep revulsion to homosexuality. It didn’t often work.

But it did sometimes. It worked for Cottrell.

The jury acquitted him of murder, ruling out the death penalty. Instead they found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He got 20 years for that and for stuffing the body in the suitcase (tampering with evidence) and stealing his truck (unlawfully taking more than $300). The prosecutor told me afterward that the message was clear: In Kentucky, at least in his county, killing a gay man was not murder, not if he

had hit on the killer. The next time, he said, he’d make a plea offer rather than take a similar case to trial.

Kentucky appeals courts rejected his bid for a new trial the following year, the same year I finished law school and began writing for Time as a contract national legal affairs reporter, a role that put me in close contact with the ins and outs of the gay rights movement over the next decade. In 2007, I moved back to Dallas and to The Dallas Morning News. I didn’t settle in Oak Lawn this time, perhaps no longer feeling a need for the protective cocoon that neighborhood had offered seven years before.

As a legal affairs writer, I watched change take place across the country as Scalia’s predictions came true. Things happened so fast that, in retrospect, it can seem like after Lawrence it was just one steady movement toward progress, toward marriage and equality. But there were as many setbacks as victories for gay rights activists. As late as 2010, I remember listening to a teleconference among leading gay activists and hearing one speaker after another express dismay about the legal push for marriage. "Marriage is not our issue," said one man, an openly gay city council member from West Palm Beach.

He wanted the focus to remain on adoption rights, workplace protections and housing discrimination, and not the unpopular push for marriage. It’s hard to imagine, but at that time, not a single Democratic politician of national stature had come out for gay marriage. Even in liberal California, voters in 2008 banned gay marriage by passing Proposition 8. Voters in Maine followed suit in 2009.

But Scalia was right.

Lawrence had set the table for what now seems like inevitable victory. Arguments succeeded first in state courts and then later federal courts, and along the way state legislators and the public slowly began changing their views. That it all happened in 15 years is remarkable to me, and Lawrence deserves a great deal of the credit. Things have gotten better for gay people. But it’s important to note how much didn’t change, and still hasn’t.

Michael A. Lindenberger is a Dallas Morning News colunist.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

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Frontera A6 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE SERVICIOS DE GENEALOGÍA 1 ¿Quiere conocer sobre sus raíces familiares? Visite el centro Roma Birding Center/ Computer Lab en Roma, cada martes a las 6:30 p.m., para obtener información.

ESCUELA DE VERANO 1 Escuela de Verano: Destino descubriendo a Dios, del 26 al 28 de junio en Bethel Mission Outreach Center, 206 Bethel St. en Roma.

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

CLASE DE ZUMBA 1 El Departamento de Bomberos del Condado de Zapata invita a la Clase Maestra de Zumba para gastos médicos y de viaje de Ike Gutiérez, el 14 de julio, en Muscle & Fitness Center, 5500 Tesoro Plaza en Laredo, de 10 a.m. a 12 p.m.

VERANO SOCIAL 1 Sabor de verano en Dairy Queen, Hwy 83 N., disfrute de un sundae gratis en Zapata DQ el jueves 9 de agosto de 3 a 5 p.m. todas las edades están invitadas. Habrá estaciones para hacer tu propio sundae, premios, souvenir bowls y diversión familiar.

ELECCIONES MÉXICO 2018

Líderes locales reaccionan Retórica centrista y moderada mantiene a laredenses optimistas Por Julia Wallace TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Con su precaria posición sobre la frontera de México con Estados Unidos, las elecciones en ambos países tienen un peso significativo en Laredo.

Como la base de la economía de la ciudad, cualquier mención del TLCAN por cualquiera de los líderes de ambos países tiende a sonar las campanas de alarma en toda la Ciudad Fronteriza.

El Presidente Electo de México Andrés Manuel López Obrador es descrito como nacionalista y populista que ha sido enviado a terminar con la corrupción en México.

También es conocido crítico del Presidente de los Estados Unidos Donald Trump, y ha dicho que quiere que México sea económicamente menos dependiente de los EU. Después de su elección el domingo por la noche, él habló sobre reducir la inmigración mexicana a los EU a través del desarrollo económico.

“Los mexicanos po-

drán trabajar y ser felices en el país en que nacieron”, él dijo.

Sin embargo, Lopez Obrador también dijo que quiere mantener intactico el Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norteamérica. Trump y el presidente electo intercambiaron mensajes cooperativos entre ellos después que se concediera la elección.

“Felicidades a Andrés Manuel López Obrador por convertirse en el próximo Presidente de México. Espero trabajar con él. Hay mucho por hacer que beneficie a los Estados Unidos y ¡México!”, escribió Trump en Twitter el domingo por la noche.

López Obrador dijo que el tuit de Trump había sido muy respetuoso.

“Nunca vamos a faltar el respeto al gobierno de los Estados Unidos, porque queremos que nos respeten”, dijo López Obrador en una entrevista el lunes en Televisa.

“En el momento apropiado, vamos a estar en contacto, para alcanzar un acuerdo” con la administración de Trump.

POLICIACA

AVIARIO 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero. Mayores informes al 956849-1411 BOTES DE BASURA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Informes al 849-1411 PAGO DE IMPUESTOS 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St.

Nuevo Laredo a México, y que era importante continuar invirtiendo aquí. Parecía que veía la luz sobre el TLCAN, y sonaba mas moderado, dijo Conchas.

Así que en general, estoy tratando de mantener los dedos cruzados.

Espero que la comunidad de negocios prevalezca en ambos lados”, dijo Conchas.

El Representante de Laredo Henry Cuellar accedió que, aunque él se diga a si mismo de izquierda, el presidente electo parece moverse mas al centro político, lo cual es mejor para la economía de Laredo.

Esta es la primera vez desde 1929 que México ha elegido a un presidente que no sea ni del PRI ni del PAN, lo cual significa que el público mexicano quería un cambio, dijo Cuellar. López Obrador tendrá un largo periodo de luna de miel con el público si hace todo correctamente, dijo Cuellar.

El congresista cree que López Obrador hablará con mas fuerza en defensa de México que el actual Presidente Enrique Peña Nieto, quien es

mucho más diplomático, dijo Cuellar.

Pero si López Obrador continúa diciendo lo que está diciendo sobre el TLCAN, Laredo continuará siendo el puerto terrestre más grande, dijo Cuellar.

El alcalde de Laredo Pete Sáenz dijo que la gente de México habló muy claro: quieren un cambio abundante y profundo. Ellos quieren desarrollo económico para todos, incluidos los pobres.

López Obrador conoce la frontera, y conoce el valor que le da a EU y México, dijo Sáenz. Él dijo que fue alentado por lo que ha leído, que López Obrador esta dispuesto a respetar derechos personales y de propiedad, que no habrá una toma de control del gobierno, y que parece paciente en cuanto al TLCAN. Con un poco de reservas, Sáenz dijo que espera que los dos países puedan avanzar hacia algo positivo y beneficioso a pesar de la retórica de guerra comercial que continuamos escuchando.

GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION PROGRAM

CHICAS APRENDEN A CODIFICAR

ZAPATA HS CLASE DE 1993 1 Reunión de la generación de 1993 de Zapata High School, celebrarán su 25 aniversario en Patno’s Patio Bar & Grill, 313 Lake Shore Dr., el sábado 11 de agosto a las 8 p.m. Solo estudiantes y sus parejas.

Representantes de Laredo y lideres locales dijeron que esperaban que López Obrador gobierne en línea con la retórica centrista reciente.

Miguel Conchas, presidente de la Cámara de Comercio de Laredo, dijo que él y la comunidad de negocios local ha estado esperando los resultados de las elecciones presidenciales de México.

Habrán algunos cambios en esta administración, pero espera que al final no vayan a ser muy drásticos, y el comercio continuara como lo ha hecho durante muchos años, dijo Conchas.

Los presidentes de EU y México ahora representan los extremos de dos lados opuestos, dijo Conchas, pero las comunidades de negocios en estos países siempre han trabajado bien juntas. Él espera que esto continúe.

Conchas también indicó que López Obrador visitó Nuevo Laredo un par de veces durante su campaña. Puede que haya sido retorica de campaña, dijo Conchas, pero López Obrador habló sobre el valor de

Courtesy photo

Foto muestra daños realizados al stand de conseción de Little League Park.

Buscan al responsable de daños a parque TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

La Oficina del Alguacil de Zapata y Zapata Crime Stoppers se encuentra pidiendo la ayuda de la comunidad para localizar a los responsables de los daños realizados al stand concesionario en el Little League Park.

Una recompense de 500 dólares será ofrecida a la persona que proporcione información que pudiera llevar al arresto de los responsables por los daños.

Todas las llamadas permanecerán anónimas.

Para proporcionar información sobre el caso, llame a la Oficina del Alguacil al 956-765-9960 o a Zapata Crime Stoppers al 956-765-TIPS (8477).

Foto de cortesía

El programa de ZCISD Gifted and Talented Education Program realizó un campamento de verano de STEM y Robótica en Zapata High School. Ricki Johnson fue el coordinador e instructor del campamento. Los estudiantes se divirtieron aprendiendo a programar en robots Dash and Dot. Aprendieron las bases de codificación mientras diseñaban comportamientos e interactuaban con Dash. Estos robots proporcionan una manera divertida de aprender las habilidades esenciales de colaboración, comunicación y alfabetización digital.

COLUMNA

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.

Semillas de la alternancia mexicana

LLENADO DE APLICACIONES

Bastante familiarizado parece hoy México con la alternancia política. Nada sencillo resulta alcanzarla.

Está forjada en tenaces luchas que la ciudadanía protagoniza al paso del siglo XX. Tan legítimos anhelos emergen a comienzos de la etapa posrevolucionaria. Aspirante crítico, José Vasconcelos disputa en 1929 la primera magistratura del país y despierta simpatías populares. El

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.

Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

grupo hegemónico responde con mano dura y fraude, elementos que adquieren permanencia.

“La votación fue controlada por la policía y el ejército, dándole el triunfo al candidato oficial”, dijo Librado Rivera. Desaseos similares enturbian posteriores relevos a este nivel.

En consecuencia, son expedidas las normas federales de 1946. Largo trecho vigentes en aspectos medulares, afianzan el manejo autoritario de los respectivos procesos. El gobierno establece al efecto férreo control del organismo electoral, sin

margen de imparcialidad ninguna. Las entidades federativas hacen lo propio.

En forma complementaria, quedan reducidos a cuatro los partidos políticos. De ellos, dos sirven de comparsa al Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), instrumento del oficialismo. A través del Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), la derecha guarda distancia y repunta en sectores inconformes, carentes de otras vías opositoras. Porque la izquierda comunista permanece mientras perseguida e ilegalizada.

Por su parte, el PAN gana en 1967 el ayuntamiento de Mérida, Yucatán; al siguiente año se declara vencedor en Tijuana y Mexicali, Baja California, sin reconocerlo las autoridades.

En los setentas, el PRI registra descalabros en importantes plazas. Tras discriminarlo el oficialismo, Fernando San Pedro Salem obtiene la jefatura edilicia de Tampico en 1971.

Con parecida trayectoria, por el Partido Auténtico de la Revolución Mexicana (PARM) dos años después Carlos Enrique

Cantú Rosas sale electo diputado federal de Nuevo Laredo; continúa ahí mismo con el cargo de alcalde en 1974. Valido del PARM, un bienio adelante San Pedro Salem repite el triunfo, volviéndose esta vez representante tampiqueño en la cámara baja.

Pugnas intraoficialistas aparte, dejaba verse el hartazgo ciudadano ante la cerrazón del viejo régimen.

Las referidas alternancias tienden entonces a generalizarse, abarcan distintos órdenes administrativos e incluyen en 2000 la silla presidencial.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

STATE Crystal City ex-mayor gets 8 years plus a month in prison A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DEL RIO — The former mayor of the South Texas town of Crystal City has been sentenced to eight years and a month in federal prison for corruption.

Besides the 97-month prison term, Ricardo Lopez was sentenced in Del Rio on Monday to pay $24,000 in restitution and spend three

years under federal supervision upon release.

In June 2017, a federal jury in Del Rio found Lopez and William James Lopez Jonas III, Crystal City’s former city manager and city attorney, guilty of bribery, wire

fraud and theft counts from a corruption probe.

Trial testimony revealed that Jonas, Lopez and other city officials used their official positions to enrich themselves by seeking and taking bribes from persons doing business in Crystal City.

Jonas was sentenced on May 16 to 35 years in prison.

DPS increases traffic enforcement through July 4 A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — Texas troopers have increased traffic enforcement through Wednesday to help keep all travelers safe during the July Fourth holiday period.

The Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday stepped up patrols with troopers on the

lookout for intoxicated drivers, vehicles speeding, failure to use seat belts and other violations.

Texas law requires everyone in a vehicle to buckle up.

Texas troopers, during the 2017 Fourth of July enforcement period, issued more than 98,000 tickets and warnings, including 1,658 seat belt

and child safety restraint citations.

Officers made 529 arrests for driving while intoxicated. Troopers also arrested 374 fugitives and made about 300 felony arrests.

DPS figures show 1,033 people were killed in traffic accidents last year when a driver was under the influence of alcohol.

Health officials eye 56 cases of people sick from parasite A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — Texas health officials are trying to determine whether 56 cases of people getting sick from the parasite Cyclospora are related.

The Texas Department of State Health Services on Monday announced the public health investigation in a review of illnesses since May. State

officials are working with local health departments to determine if there’s a common source for the intestinal infections.

Cyclospora is a parasite commonly found in developing countries.

The intestinal illness is caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the microscopic parasite. The

main symptom is watery diarrhea lasting a few days to a few months.

Past U.S. outbreaks have been associated with people eating imported fresh produce.

Experts recommend thoroughly washing all produce.

Cooking will kill the parasite.

A7

A8 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT Lawyer says Keya Morgan did not abuse Marvel’s Stan Lee

By Andrew Dalton ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Universal Pictures / AP

This image shows Chris Pratt in a scene from, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom." The film fended off newcomers at the box office again this weekend with an additional $60.9 million in its second weekend in theaters.

‘Jurassic World’ is No. 1 again at the box office A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

LOS ANGELES — “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Incredibles 2” fended off newcomers to top the box office again this weekend.

The “Jurassic World” sequel took first place again with an additional $60.9 million in its second weekend in theaters.

“Incredibles 2” landed second with $46.4 million.

In its first weekend, another sequel, the action thriller “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” exceeded expectations with $19 million, as did the basketball comedy “Uncle Drew,” which launched with $15.2 million.

“Ocean’s 8,” in its fourth weekend in theaters, rounded out the top five with $8.3 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore: 1. “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” Universal, $60,912,195, 4,485

locations, $13,581 average, $265,699,530, 2 Weeks.

2. “Incredibles 2,” Disney, $46,417,761, 4,410 locations, $10,526 average, $440,601,275, 3 Weeks.

3. “Sicario: Day Of The Soldado,” Sony, $19,007,566, 3,055 locations, $6,222 average, $19,007,566, 1 Week.

4. “Uncle Drew,” Lionsgate, $15,242,781, 2,742 locations, $5,559 average, $15,242,781, 1 Week.

5. “Ocean’s 8,” Warner Bros., $8,332,661, 3,426 locations, $2,432 average, $115,004,842, 4 Weeks.

6. “Tag,” Warner Bros., $5,880,731, 3,176 locations, $1,852 average, $41,133,539, 3 Weeks.

7. “Deadpool 2,” 20th Century Fox, $3,574,451, 2,094 locations, $1,707 average, $310,474,309, 7 Weeks.

8. “Sanju,” Fox International Productions, $2,723,349, 356 locations, $7,650 average, $2,723,349, 1 Week.

9. “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Disney, $2,687,670, 1,654 locations, $1,625 average, $207,673,785, 6 Weeks.

10. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” Focus Features, $2,421,975, 654 locations, $3,703 average, $7,619,057, 4 Weeks.

11. “Hereditary,” A24, $2,286,811, 1,424 locations, $1,606 average, $39,406,564, 4 Weeks.

12. “Avengers: Infinity War,” Disney, $1,542,704, 890 locations, $1,733 average, $672,625,416, 10 Weeks.

13. “Superfly,” Sony, $1,403,058, 1,157 locations, $1,213 average, $18,382,177, 3 Weeks.

14. “Book Club,” Paramount, $671,039, 505 locations, $1,329 average, $66,124,671, 7 Weeks.

15. “Rampage,” Warner Bros., $601,162, 201 locations, $2,991 average, $98,401,264, 12 Weeks.

16. “Adrift,” STX Entertainment, $536,930, 508 locations, $1,057 average, $30,151,781, 5 Weeks.

17. “RBG,” Magnolia Pictures, $415,979, 185 locations, $2,249 average, $11,550,341, 9 Weeks.

18. “Hearts Beat Loud,” Gunpowder & Sky, $388,442, 170 locations, $2,285 average, $1,295,309, 4 Weeks.

19. “American Animals,” The Orchard, $368,999, 292 locations, $1,264 average, $2,132,004, 5 Weeks.

20. “Gotti,” Vertical Entertainment, $316,692, 331 locations, $957 average, $3,964,979, 3 Weeks.

LOS ANGELES — A man who until recently was managing the affairs of Marvel’s Stan Lee pleaded not guilty Monday to calling 911 to report that authorities conducting a welfare check on Lee were burglars who may be out to harm him.

Attorney Alex Kessel entered the plea on behalf of Keya Morgan, 42, in a Los Angeles court to two misdemeanor counts of reporting a false emergency.

Kessel also addressed a police investigation of whether the 95-year-old Lee has been abused by Morgan.

“Mr. Morgan always had Mr. Lee’s best interest at heart and did

everything he could to help Mr. Lee and not put him in danger and not jeopardize any type of financial situation for Mr. Lee,” Kessel said outside court.

Morgan, who says he is Lee’s longtime friend, surged to the forefront of Lee’s affairs as a personal adviser and manager in a power struggle over the Marvel Comics mastermind that began when Lee’s wife died last year.

Lee’s former attorney Tom Lallas, who is working with Los Angeles police detectives, sought and received a restraining order against Morgan on June 13.

Lallas stood up in court Monday and attempted to serve the order to Kessel, saying it had yet to be served to Morgan, who is

in New York. Kessel refused to accept the order and the judge said the civil matter was not her concern.

The restraining order is set to expire on Friday, when a hearing is scheduled. Kessel said he and Morgan intend eventually to fight the order, but the Friday hearing is likely to be delayed and the order automatically extended.

“Mr. Lee never, never asked for a restraining order himself,” Kessel said. Prosecutors in court Monday asked the judge to issue a separate protective order keeping Morgan away from Lee. Kessel argued that “Mr. Lee is not the victim,” and that “Mr. Lee has indicated he has full and complete trust in Mr. Morgan.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

A9

BUSINESS

US construction spending rises

By MATT OTT A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects edged up 0.4 percent in May, while April’s figure was revised down significantly — signs that new building is still uneven despite a growing economy.

The uptick in May brought total construction spending to a seasonally adjusted all-time high of $1.31 trillion, 4.5 percent higher than a year ago, the Commerce Departments said Monday. April’s figure was revised down to 0.9 percent from what was originally reported as 1.8 percent gain, which would have been the largest increase in 24 years. That came on the heels of 0.9 percent drop in March, the first monthly drop since July of 2017.

Total private construction rose 0.3 percent, with residential projects up 0.8 percent in May. New single-family home construction rose 0.6 percent and the volatile apartment building sector jumped 1.6 percent. Private, non-residential

Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal / AP

Construction workers set bundles of tile on the roof of an under-construction house in Las Vegas. On Monday, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. construction spending in May edged up 0.4 percent in May.

building fell 0.3 percent.

Economists are forecasting that construction spending will contribute to overall growth this year even though interest rates are rising. A lack of inventory has stymied homebuyers and pushed home prices higher as demand for existing and new homes has surged.

Last month the Commerce Department reported that housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million, the strongest pace since July 2007, thanks to a surge of building in the Midwest.

Even as government

budgets have tightened, construction of public projects in May rose 0.7 percent to $304.1 billion, the highest since October 2010. That gain was fueled by a 0.6 percent rise in state and local construction, which accounts for more than 90 percent of total government activity. State and local government construction spending was $282.1 billion, the most since September of 2009.

Spending on the power grid increased nearly 11 percent on a monthly basis, and is up more than 25 percent over a year ago.

American factories report faster-than-expected growth

By Paul Wiseman ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — American factories expanded at an unexpectedly fast pace in June, another sign of strength for U.S. industry. But U.S. manufacturing will have to contend in coming months with uncertainty over trade and a strengthening dollar.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchase managers, says its manufacturing index rose last month to 60.2. That’s the highest level since February and up from 58.7 in May. Anything over 50 signals growth, and U.S. factories are on a 22-month winning streak.

Production and new export orders grew faster in June. Hiring and new orders overall grew, but more slowly than they did in May. Seventeen of 18 manufacturing industries reported growth last month, led by textile mills and makers of wood products.

Factories registered growth despite shortages of labor and material, said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s manufacturing survey committee.

But survey respondents expressed worries about the Trump administration’s trade policies. The

Jeff Roberson / AP

A senior melt operator watches a giant ladle pours its contents into a vessel as part of the process of producing steel at the U.S. Steel Granite City Works facility in Granite City, Ill. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management reported that American factories expanded at an unexpectedly fast pace in June.

United States has slapped tariffs on imported steel, drawing retaliatory taxes from the European Union and Canada, among others. Moreover, an uptick in the value of the dollar against other currencies risks making U.S. goods more expensive in foreign markets.

“For now at least, the strength of the domestic economy is more than

offsetting any increased uncertainty on trade policy,” Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a research note. “However, with the dollar appreciating by 6 (percent) since April, global growth slowing and retaliatory tariffs just beginning to bite, the sector looks unlikely to fare so well for long.”

Tech companies lead stocks higher

By Alex Veiga A S S OCI AT E D PRE SS

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday after a last-minute market rally erased the losses from a daylong slump.

Technology companies led the market rebound. Banks and health care stocks also notched gains. Energy took the biggest losses as crude oil prices declined. Big department store chains and consumer goods companies also declined.

The stock market, which was coming off two weekly losses in a row, was in the red for most of the day following disappointing economic data out of Asia that left global indexes sharply lower.

Trading volume was lighter than usual ahead of Tuesday, when U.S. markets are scheduled to close early for the Independence Day holiday the following day.

“We opened very low and then, during the course of the day, the market started to basically gain some momentum,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “The volume in the

market typically comes down markedly in a holiday week, and moves can be exaggerated to the upside as well as to the downside by events, headlines or data.”

The S&P 500 index rose 8.34 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,726.71.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 35.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 24,307.18. The Nasdaq composite jumped 57.38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,567.69. The Russell 2000 index of smallercompany stocks picked up 12.02 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,655.09.

A slump in global markets weighed on U.S. stocks from the get-go Monday, after new economic reports out of China and Japan disappointed traders. A German government crisis also weighed on markets in Europe, which closed lower.

“You saw some of the more tariff-sensitive stocks a little bit weaker on the opening,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist for TD Ameritrade. “It’s all headline news trading.”

U.S. stocks gradually pared their losses as the day went on, led by gains in technology stocks.

Investors continued to focus on global trade tensions. The European Union warned the Trump administration Monday that it might slap tariffs on $300 billion of U.S. exports in retaliation for Trump’s threatened tariffs on European cars. On Sunday, Canada started imposing tariffs on billions of dollars of U.S. goods in response to the Trump administration’s duties on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The U.S. is set to impose a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion of Chinese products starting this Friday. In response, China has said it will raise import duties on $34 billion worth of American goods.

“We’re just not sure what’s going to happen with that,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist with U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “We don’t think a lot of the July 6 tariffs have yet to be fully priced into the market.”

Technology companies led the market rebound. Micron Technology led the sector, gaining 3.9 percent to $54.48.

“You’re getting a reaction to last week, when technology did

so poorly and now they’re getting a bounce here,” Haworth said.

Tracking shares in computer maker Dell vaulted 9 percent to $92.20 after it announced it would go public again after five years as a private company.

Meanwhile, shares in VMware jumped 10.2 percent to $162.02 on speculation that Dell may buy the rest of the business software company, which will also issue a special dividend to shareholders.

Wynn Resorts sank 7.9 percent to $154.14 after June revenue growth at the casino operator’s resorts in Macau fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Shares in several department store chains declined. Nordstrom fell 2.1 percent to $50.71, while Macy’s lost 2.4 percent to $36.54. Kohl’s gave up 2.2 percent to $71.33.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.87 percent from 2.86 percent late Friday.

The increase in bond yields helped lift bank shares. Interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans tend to move

along with bond yields. Rising rates translate into bigger profits for banks from credit cards, mortgages and other consumer loans. Capital One Financial gained 2.1 percent to $93.78.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 21 cents to settle at $73.94 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost $1.93, or 2.4 percent, to close at $77.30 in London. The decline in oil prices weighed on energy stocks. Cimarex Energy lost 4 percent to $97.66.

The dollar fell to 110.86 yen from 110.88 yen on Friday. The euro weakened to $1.1610 from $1.1669.

Gold fell $12.80, or 1 percent, to $1,241.70 an ounce. Silver dropped 36 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $15.84 an ounce. Copper lost 2 cents to $2.94 a pound.

In other energy futures trading, heating oil dropped 5 cents to $2.16 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline also fell 5 cents to $2.11 a gallon. Natural gas slid 6 cents to $2.86 per 1,000 cubic feet.

U.S. stock markets will close early at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday.

A10 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

LOCAL

Border Patrol agents seize 685 pounds of pot ZAPATA TIME S

Courtesy photo

ZCISD students learn the basics of coding at STEM/Robotics summer camp The ZCISD Gifted and Talented Education Program held a summer STEM/Robotics camp at Zapata High School. Ricki Johnson was the camp coordinator/instructor. The students enjoyed learning to program with Dash and Dot robots. They learned the basics of coding while designing behaviors and interacting with Dash. These robots provide a fun way of learning essential skills of collaboration, communication and digital literacy.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Zapata Station recently seized over 685 pounds of marijuana after responding to suspicious activity near the Rio Grande in Zapata.

Agents successfully seized one vehicle and 31 bundles of marijuana while the driver was not located at the scene. The marijuana had an estimated value of $548,960.

The marijuana was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. “The Border Patrol is always vigilant in trying to prevent the flow of

Border Patrol / Courtesy photo

Border Patrol agents seized 31 bundles of marijuana with an estimated value of $548,960.

illegal drugs into the United States. It is only through the hard work and dedication of our agents that we do continually and successfully do so,� said Laredo Sector Acting Deputy Chief

Patrol Agent Anthony S. Good.

To report suspicious activity, such as human and drug, contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll-free telephone number at 1-800-343-1994.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

A11

FROM THE COVER

Headstrong leaders begin with a ‘good conversation’

By Michael D. Shear and Ana Swanson N EW YORK T I ME S

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump reached out to Mexico’s new populist president-elect on Monday in an early, but potentially shortlived, show of détente, saying the two leaders engaged in a “good conversation” about border security and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The two countries remain locked in a heated dispute over the fraught issues of immigration and trade, areas that may face difficult complications from the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a leader known for being as strongheaded and nationalist-minded as Trump — and just as willing to engage in a public clash of ideas.

López Obrador, who has said Mexico will not be a “piñata” for foreign governments, has said he will stand up to Trump to protect his country’s interests. And he may find himself under pressure by an electorate that, weary of Trump’s hectoring and disparaging comments about Mexico, will demand that he cede no ground, leaving little room to manage the relationship.

“There are going to be so many opportunities for this to go wrong,” said Duncan Wood, the director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute.

“If there are too many provocations, if there are too many insults against Mexico, López Obrador will not be able to just sit back and take it. His character shows that he will respond, and that could lead us down a dark path.”

Relations between Mexico and the United States are already tense, particularly over trade and the future of NAFTA, which has enabled companies to create critical supply chains across North America. Talks to revise the trade pact among Mexico, the

AHEC From page A1 AHEC. The afternoon program included formal presentations offered by South Coastal Area, Southwest Border and Lower Rio Grande Valley area health education centers.

“Words cannot express how appreciative we feel to know that Ms. Tammy Mayo-Blake is in our community learning about the outstanding service that our MRGBAHEC gives to every resident throughout the six counties,” Martinez said.

The Area Health Edu-

United States and Canada have stalled over dramatic changes proposed by the Trump administration, including altering protections for investors and rules for manufacturing automobiles in North America.

López Obrador has been a longtime critic of the 1994 trade pact and has given no indication he will be more willing to accommodate Trump’s demands than the current Mexican government.

Among other things, López Obrador has blamed NAFTA for triggering an influx of grain from the United States that ultimately forced Mexican farmers off their land.

But López Obrador has pledged to continue to renegotiate NAFTA — a promise that could ultimately put him in the position of defending the trade agreement against the frequent criticisms of Trump, who has called it the “worst” trade deal in history and blamed Mexico for siphoning off U.S. jobs. López Obrador’s advisers have said they will start working with the current NAFTA negotiators soon to ensure a smooth transition when the new administration takes office on Dec. 1.

The president-elect has also taken a far more critical view than his predecessor of corporations — which have among the most to win or lose with a revised NAFTA. He has long criticized the role of multinational corporations in Mexico and once promised to turn the presidential palace into a public park. He has promised to review dozens of outstanding oil and gas exploration contracts for corruption, potentially delaying hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign investment. His election has put the value of the peso and Mexican government bonds on a more volatile path.

During the campaign, López Obrador and his advisers worked to reassure voters and industry that he would provide continuity for the private

cation Center of the Mid Rio Grande Border Area is an outreach program under the UT Health San Antonio and is a nonprofit organization with a mission to enhance the quality of life in our communities by increasing the number of welltrained health care workers; enhancing academic resources; and fostering a healthy lifestyle through community education programs.

For additional information about AHEC and the menu of programs, visit www.facebook.com/AreaHealthEducationCenter or www.mrgbahec.org or call 956-712-0037.

sector.

Known as an anti-establishment candidate, López Obrador is a divisive figure with Trump’s flair for capturing attention. After a failed bid for the presidency in 2006 against Felipe Calderón, López Obrador held a faux inauguration ceremony, appointed a shadow Cabinet and protested in the middle of the capital for weeks.

Trump and López Obrador spoke for 30 minutes Monday morning after the latter’s landslide victory Sunday night.

The call came just hours after Trump congratulated López Obrador in a rare, friendly tweet that said: “I look very much forward to working with him.”

The incoming Mexican president in turn pledged never to “disrespect” the U.S. government. In a tweet of his own, López Obrador said there was “respectful treatment” on the call.

Any period of gracious talk may be short lived, however, with Trump almost certain to continue his tirade about the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, and López Obrador virtually guaranteed to fire back in ways that his predecessors did not.

López Obrador “has committed to a louder, more combative posture with the U.S.,” said Carlos M. Gutiérrez, the former secretary of commerce under President George W. Bush. “He’s getting ready to take it up a notch.”

Trump campaigned for the presidency by demanding a wall across the southern border and suggesting that people being “sent” from Mexico into the United States are “bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime.

They’re rapists.”

More recently, Trump has escalated his language against Mexico, accusing Democrats in a tweet of wanting “illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like

MS-13.”

Enrique Peña Nieto, the outgoing Mexican president, has objected to the construction of a wall — and insisted that Mexico would not pay for one if it was built — but repeatedly tried to avoid messy diplomatic confrontations with his U.S. counterpart. López Obrador is sure to be less restrained. In a speech last year, he railed against Trump’s government.

“When they want to build a wall to segregate populations, or when the word ‘foreigner’ is used to insult, denigrate and discriminate against our fellow human beings, it goes against humanity, it goes against intelligence and against history,” López Obrador said.

“López Obrador’s initial reaction will be to try to find a way to work with Trump rather than attacking Trump,” said Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican diplomat who served in the United States and China.

“If there’s a chill cast on the relationship, it will be on Trump. If he does, López Obrador will easily run away from the United States.”

Diplomatic and financial relations between Mexico and the United States run deep, and the two have quietly continued to work closely together on a range of matters critical to their mutual well-being, including security, trade and migration. That is expected to continue despite the seismic shift in Mexican leadership.

Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister, was also optimistic about the ongoing negotiations on NAFTA on Friday, saying that talks would “really be moving into high gear” now that the Mexican election was concluded.

But with major obstacles remaining and no time left for the sitting Congress to pass a deal, trade experts say negotiations seem likely to drag into 2019. In an interview broadcast Sunday on Fox News, Trump

Courtesy photo

The Mid Rio Grande Border AHEC Board of directors and staff welcomed several officials from various public health organizations.

AMLO From page A1 Miguel Conchas, president of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, said he and the local business community had been expecting this outcome in Mexico’s presidential election.

There will be some changes in this administration, but he’s hoping in the end they won’t be very drastic, and that trade will continue as it has for many years, Conchas said.

The presidents of the U.S. and Mexico now embody the extremes of two opposite ends of the spectrum, Conchas said, but the business communities in these countries have always worked very well together. He hopes that will continue.

Conchas also noted that Lopez Obrador visited Nuevo Laredo a couple of times during his campaign. It may have been campaign rhetoric, Conchas said, but Lopez Obrador spoke about Nuevo Laredo’s value to Mexico, and that it was important to keep investing here. He seemed to see the light on NAFTA, and he sounded more moderate, Conchas said.

“So overall, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I am hopeful the business community will prevail on both sides,” Conchas said.

said he wanted to wait to conclude the deal until after the midterm elections.

“I could sign it tomorrow, but I’m not happy with it,” Trump said. “I want to make it more fair, OK?” The fate of the pact could be further complicated if Democrats gain congressional seats in November, given longstanding concerns by many in the party about the pact and its effect on U.S. jobs and wages.

The finer points of López Obrador’s views on NAFTA remain to be seen, but analysts say he is likely to toughen Mexico’s defense of its agriculture — an issue that he sees as linked to migration from Mexico to the United States.

Manuel Pérez-Rocha, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, said López Obrador believed that failed economic policies championed by the United States but also Mexican elites were one of the main causes of Mexicans being pushed off farms and on the path to immigration to the United States.

“He really doesn’t want to criticize NAFTA too much, because that would put him at odds with the business community and investors,” PérezRocha said. “But what he’s all about is strengthening the internal economy to focus on Mexico’s jobs and the countryside.”

The leaders may also find more room for compromise on the need to raise salaries in the Mexican auto industry, an area where the Trump administration has concurred with Democrats, but clashed with the current government of Mexico.

Rep. Sander M. Levin, DMich., called the election “an opening to address the key flaw in NAFTA.” There is an opportunity to improve conditions for workers and communities in all three countries,” he said.

Moises Castillo / AP

President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivers his victory speech in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo, late Sunday. Angry and frustrated over corruption and violence, Mexican voters delivered a tidal wave presidential election victory to Lopez Obrador, giving him a broad mandate to upend the political establishment and govern for the poor.

Laredo’s Rep. Henry Cuellar agreed that although he calls himself a leftist, the presidentelect seems to be moving to the political center, which will be better for Laredo’s econo-

my.

This is the first time since 1929 that Mexico has elected a president from neither the PRI nor PAN party, which means the Mexican public wanted

change, Cuellar said. Lopez Obrador will have a long honeymoon period with the public if he does everything correctly, Cuellar noted.

The congressman said he

believes Lopez Obrador will speak more forcefully on behalf of Mexico than their current President Enrique Peña Nieto, who is much more diplomatic, Cuellar said.

But if the Lopez Obrador keeps saying what he’s saying about NAFTA, Laredo will continue as the No. 1 inland port, Cuellar said.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz said the Mexican people spoke very clearly: they want abundant, profound change. They want economic development for everyone, including the poor.

Lopez Obrador knows the border, and knows the value it provides for the U.S. and Mexico, Saenz said. He said he was encouraged from what he has read, that Lopez Obrador is willing to respect personal and property rights, that there won’t be a so-called taking over by the government, and he appears to be patient regarding NAFTA. With some reservation, Saenz said he hopes the two countries can move toward something more positive and beneficial in spite of the trade war rhetoric they continue to hear.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A12 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Richard Vogel / AP

Protesters display a sign that reads "Abolish ICE" during a rally in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.

Federal court blocks ICE treatment of asylum seekers

By Ashraf Khalil A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday determined the U.S. government is violating its own rules regarding the treatment of people seeking asylum.

Judge James Boasberg issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to stop what opponents called the arbitrary detention of legitimate asylum seekers. The case in question continues, but the injunction opens up yet another legal front in the multi-directional battle being waged by the Trump administration over immigration.

“This ruling means the Trump administration cannot use indefinite detention as a weapon to punish and deter asylum seekers,” said Michael Tan, senior staff attorney

with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

All immigrants seeking asylum must initially pass a “credible fear” screening to determine if they face a threat of persecution in their home countries.

Those who fail that standard are deported immediately. Previously, those who passed were usually given humanitarian parole while awaiting an immigration hearing, provided they were not considered flight risks or dangers to the public.

Under former President Barack Obama’s administration, ICE granted humanitarian parole to more than 90 percent of asylum seekers.

Lawyers for the ACLU and other groups argued in May that since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration, the number of people granted such parole has dropped to almost zero in

five key ICE field offices: Detroit; El Paso, Texas; Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; and Philadelphia.

Those denied parole have instead been detained; in one case, a former ethics teacher from Haiti has spent more than 18 months in prison.

Judge Boasberg, in a 38-page memorandum opinion, concluded that “the numbers here are irrefutable,” and ordered a case-by-case review of all asylum seekers awaiting parole. Meanwhile, the lawsuit will continue with a status hearing July 10.

“The denial letters that they were issuing were just boiler-plate — deny deny deny,” said Hardy Vieux, legal director for Human Rights First.

“This is the court saying, ‘I’ve seen enough to tell (the government) to stop what you’re doing and we’ll talk later.”’

Sports&Outdoors

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 |

A13

INTERNATIONAL SOCCER: WORLD CUP

CONCACAF targets 2026 World Cup for better results North America hosts in 8 years

By Graham Dunbar A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

MOSCOW — The head of North American soccer says the region’s teams need until 2026 at a home World Cup to reach their full potential.

Mexico’s traditional round of 16 loss this week left the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) without the quarterfinals place it got four years ago from Costa Rica.

“All in all, I think it’s par for the course,” CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani said Tuesday of the region’s performance in Russia.

With just three teams at this World Cup compared to four in 2014, Costa Rica was last in a tough group and newcomer Panama lost all

three games.

“I think you will see an improvement in four years,” Montagliani told The Associated Press in an interview, though suggesting “eight years is more realistic.”

Elected to lead CONCACAF in 2016, the Canadian official acknowledged the soccer body had too often let down its 35 FIFA member nations.

“Quite frankly, over the last 40 years CONCACAF as a confederation has not really done much to help the federations try to compete at a world level,” Montagliani said of an era tainted by corruption, and leaders indicted by the U.S. Justice Department.

Now moved from Manhattan to Miami, CONCACAF has reformed its business practices and revamped competitions

for national and club teams.

A Nations League kicks off next year, designed to raise competitive standards by giving smaller national teams more fixtures and revenue in a two-year cycle.

Four places were added to the marquee Gold Cup, which the United States will host next year with 16 teams.

“Then we will see what we look like eight years from now when we host a World Cup in our backyard,” Montagliani said.

Though Mexico beat Germany 1-0 in a stunning group-stage opener in Moscow, CONCACAF had a bigger win in the Russian capital. Five days earlier, FIFA members picked the joint United States-CanadaMexico bid over Morocco to host the 2026 tourna-

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: HOUSTON ASTROS

Right knee soreness sends Astros' McCann to disabled list again

By Chandler Rome H OUSTON CHRONICLE

ARLINGTON — For the second time in two months, and third time since August 2017, Astros catcher Brian McCann is heading to the disabled list with right knee soreness.

Tim Federowicz will be added to the roster from Class AAA Fresno in McCann’s absence.

The 34-year-old catcher had fluid drained from his right knee in early June after

“struggling” to make it through all nine innings of a 5-1 win against the Yankees on May 28. He was placed on the disabled list one day later.

A seven-time All-Star acquired from the Yankees before last season, McCann is mired in one of the worst offensive seasons of his career.

He goes to the disabled list with a .206/.283/.323 slash line and a .606 OPS. He’s never finished his career with an OPS lower than .690.

NBA: HOUSTON ROCKETS

Chris Szagola / Associated Press file

Guard Michael Carter-Williams is on the move again, this time to the Rockets to add some backcourt depth behind MVP James Harden and Chris Paul. He agreed Tuesday to a one-year minimum deal.

Rockets add guard Carter-Williams A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

Michael Carter-Williams is on the move again, this time to the Houston Rockets to add some backcourt depth behind MVP James Harden and Chris Paul.

A person involved in the negotiations says CarterWilliams agreed Tuesday to a one-year minimum deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condi-

tion of anonymity because the deal is unsigned.

Houston will become Carter-Williams’ fifth team in six seasons. He was a backup in Charlotte last year, averaging 4.6 points per game.

He was the NBA’s rookie of the year for Philadelphia in 2013-14 when he averaged 16.7 points per game. But his scoring average has dropped each year since.

Eduardo Verdugo / Associated Press

Brazil's Neymar celebrates as Mexico teammates Miguel Layun and Hirving Lozano embrace at the end of their round of 16 match at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Samara Arena, in Samara, Russia on Monday. Brazil won 2-0.

ment.

That 48-team edition will give CONCACAF six guaranteed places — likely with automatic entry for all three hosts — plus two more chances in an intercontinental playoff round in November 2025. Two of six teams will advance, with Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America all sending one entry.

In Russia, CONCACAF was understrength after Honduras lost its intercontinental playoff last November, going down 3-1 in Australia after drawing 0-0 in the

home leg.

“It’s really important we get a fourth team (in 2022),” Montagliani said.

“I think this year it was disappointing Honduras didn’t take advantage of their home field advantage.”

Four years ago, Mexico grabbed a fourth place for the region when it surprisingly fell into the playoffs as Honduras advanced directly with the U.S. and Costa Rica.

This time, the U.S. slumped in the final qualifying group, letting in Panama which was overmatched in Russia.

“Like most debutants they saw how tough it is at this level,” Montagliani said. “The team that probably should have qualified four years ago was here this year and a little bit old in the tooth.

You’re going to see a different Panama now in the next four years.”

So too will CONCACAF on and off the field, the FIFA vice president insisted.

“Our confederation will look differently by the time we get to ’22 and definitely look different by the time we host in ’26.”

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

CHATTANOOGA SITE OF OWENS’ SPEECH T.O. will give HOF speech at his college ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Terrell Owens has decided to celebrate his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Chattanooga, where he played college football.

The former NFL All-Pro receiver, who has said he was not attending the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, released a statement on Tuesday saying he would give his acceptance speech at his alma mater.

“I have decided to give my Hall of Fame speech at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in McKenzie Arena on Saturday, August 4,” Owens posted on Twitter. “The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 3:17 p.m.”

Owens added that he is “proud to be a Moc, and I’m honored to be able to share this experience with my family, friends, teammates and fans at the place that provided me an opportunity beyond high school and where I truly began to find myself as an athlete.”

The 44-year-old Owens said he is looking forward to the event, and “Getcha popcorn ready.”

Owens was a three-sport athlete at Chattanooga, where he played football from 1992-95.

He also played basketball and ran track for the Mocs. Owens said he “realized just how much I want to celebrate what will inevitably be the best weekend of my life at a place that means so much to me.”

He was voted into the hall in February after being denied in his first two years of eligibility.

His announcement last month that he was skipping the Aug. 4 induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is unprecedented by an enshrinee.

Jordan Strauss / Associated Press file

Former NFL player Terrell Owens has decided to celebrate his induction into the Hall of Fame at Chattanooga, where he played college football.

In a statement released last month by his publicist, Owens said: “While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton.

“After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere,” Owens added. “At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.”

Owens entered the league as a third-round pick by San Francisco in 1996 and developed into a star known for some memorable playoff appearances, including his winning 25-

yard TD catch to beat Green Bay in 1999; his 177 yards in a comeback win against the Giants in 2003; and his nine catches for 122 yards in the 2004 Super Bowl against New England just seven weeks after breaking his leg.

He ranks second to Jerry Rice with 15,934 yards receiving and is third on the all-time touchdowns receiving list with 153.

Owens heavily criticized the voting process when he failed to be elected in 2016 and 2017.

Among the reasons he fell short were his being considered a divisive teammate and negative presence in the locker room.

A14 | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

A women holds an edition of the Capital Gazette during a candlelight vigil to honor the 5 people who were shot and killed in Annapolis, Maryland.

Shooter wanted to kill everyone at Maryland newsroom

By David Mcfadden A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

BALTIMORE — A man charged with slaying five people at a Maryland newspaper sent three letters on the day of the attack, police said, including one that said he was on his way to the Capital Gazette newsroom with the aim “of killing every person present.”

Sgt. Jacklyn Davis, a spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County police, said the letters were received Monday. They were mailed to an attorney for The Capital newspaper, a retired judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and a Baltimore judge.

The letter Jarrod Ramos sent to the Annapolis newspaper’s Baltimore-based lawyer was written to resemble a legal motion for reconsideration of his unsuccessful 2012 defamation lawsuit against the paper, a columnist and then-publisher Tom Marquardt.

Marquardt shared a copy of the letter with The Associated Press.

“If this is how the Maryland Judiciary operates, the law now means nothing,” Ramos wrote.

He quoted a description of the purpose of a defamation suit, saying it was intended for a defamed person to “resort to the courts for relief instead of wreaking his own vengeance.” “’That’ is how your judiciary operates, you were too cowardly to confront those lies, and this is your receipt,” Ramos wrote.

He signed it under the chilling statement: “I told you so.” Below that, he wrote that he was going to the newspaper’s office “with the objective of killing every person present.”

In a letter attached to what appeared to be the faux court filing, he also directly addressed retired special appeals court Judge Charles Moylan, who decided against Ramos in his defamation case. Ramos sued the paper after pleading guilty to harassing a high school classmate.

“Welcome, Mr. Moylan, to your unexpected legacy: YOU should have died,” he wrote. He signed it: “Friends forever, Jarrod W. Ramos.”

Douglas Colbert, a University of Maryland law professor, described the letters as “very powerful” evidence of intent that the state will make full use of at trial. Colbert said as long as it’s established in court that Ramos authored the letters, they will be used to show his “planning and deliberate actions” on the day of the attack.

The apparent admissions by the defendant will weaken a defense lawyer’s strategy of suggesting that he was “suf-

fering from a mental disease or defect” that would impair his ability to understand the consequences of his actions, Colbert said.

Ramos, 38, has a welldocumented history of harassing the paper’s journalists. The defamation suit was thrown out as groundless, and he often railed against current and former Capital staff in profanity-laced tweets. Police found him hiding under a desk after Thursday’s attack and jailed him on five counts of first-degree murder.

At a memorial service Monday night for one of those killed, editor Rob Hiassen, Marquardt said he once slept with a baseball bat by his bed because he was so worried about Ramos. He also said that they “stepped up security” at the newspaper years ago, and posted Ramos’s photo around the office. “But then he went dormant for about two years and we thought the problem has been solved. Apparently, it was just building up steam,” he said.

The mourning in Annapolis continued Tuesday, marked by a lowering of U.S. flags to honor the victims. President Donald Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff on federal property through sunset.

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said Monday that Trump, who has repeatedly called journalists the “enemy of the people,” said he had been told his request to lower the flags had been denied. The White House said Tuesday that Trump ordered the flags lowered as soon as he learned of the mayor’s request.

Buckley expressed frustration Monday afternoon when he was told by a Maryland congressman’s office the

request had not been granted. He said he considered lowering flags on his own, but decided to follow protocol. He said he received a call from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders just after 11 p.m.

Monday, asking him for confirmation if he personally was making the request.

“She was very sympathetic,” Buckley said in an interview. “She felt for our community. She said ‘I’ll get back to you in the morning,’ and she called me 7:16 this morning to say the president had issued a proclamation, and we’re very grateful for that.”

Hiaasen was remembered Monday evening in stories, poems, prayers and songs at the “celebration of life” ceremony Monday evening. He was fatally shot last week at the Capital Gazette along with colleagues Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters.