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BUSTAMANTE
BLACK BASS SUBDIVISION
Suspects sought for stealing ranch equipment
Locals’ help needed in burglary case
Gas tanks, cutting torch and toolbox were stolen
Computer equipment missing
By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
Authorities need help from the community in finding the people responsible for a burglary that occurred at a ranch, the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office said Monday. On June 11, a burglary was
By César G. Rodriguez
reported at Los Dos Leonardos Ranch located in Bustamante. A complainant stated that someone broke into the storage trailer and stole oxygen and acetylene tanks with 100 feet of hose and a cutting torch. The complainant also stated Ranch continues on A11
THE ZAPATA TIME S
The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office needs the community’s assistance to solve a burglary that occurred in the Black Bass Subdivision, authorities said Mon-
day. On Sept. 12, deputies responded to the 100 block of Illinois Street. The complainant reported that two COMPAQ computer hard drives and a Peavey speaker were taken from the residence. People with in-
formation on the case are asked to call the Sheriff ’s Office at 956-765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 765-TIPS (8477). Calls made through Crime Stoppers leading to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward. Callers may remain anonymous.
Courtesy
Shown is the speaker allegedly stolen during the burglary.
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
EX-COP PICKED FOR RACIAL PROFILING ANALYSIS
Robert McLeroy / Special to the Express-News
This 2009 photo shows several organizations protest alleged activities of the Balcones Heights Police Department that include "local law enforcement terrorizing and racial profiling...and acting as immigration agents."
Karen L. Shaw / San Antonio Express-News
Cinnomin Brothers, 15, of Houston, speaks out in Travis Park in San Antonio on April 5, 2002, during a rally against racial profiling and police brutality.
Study: Minority drivers are searched twice as often as white drivers By Sean Collins Walsh COX N EWSPAPE RS
AUSTIN, Texas — Following reports showing that state troopers search black and Latino drivers at higher rates than Anglos, the Texas Department of Public Safety last year promised a broad examination of racial profiling issues and committed to hiring an outside consultant to review its data on traffic stops. That review, however, is being conducted by an expert handpicked by top DPS officials, who altered the hiring process and avoided a competitive bid, according to internal agency emails obtained by the Austin AmericanStatesman through a public records request. DPS Deputy Director Robert “Duke” Bodisch suggested hiring Eric Fritsch,
who chairs the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas, in an August 2016 email that included a bio saying Fritsch is a “former police officer and has worked extensively with law enforcement agencies for the past 20 years.” “Dr. Fritsch seems to have the credentials, background and experience necessary to conduct an objective review of our data,” Bodisch wrote to David Baker, another DPS deputy director. “Since he is with a state university we should be able to enter into an inter-agency contract instead of a long drawn out solicitation and procurement. Just a thought.” “Sounds promising. We’ll look into it,” Baker replied. DPS has never disciplined an officer for racial profiling. The agency’s commitment to more fully examine racial
profiling issues was prompted in large part by the research of Frank Baumgartner, a University of North Carolina professor who analyzed DPS data and found wide disparities in how often troopers search motorists of different racial groups. Baumgartner worked with the American-Statesman on an investigation last year that found that 35 percent of Texas’ more than 1,100 state troopers search minority drivers at least twice as often as they do white drivers. “We’re going to commission someone to look at the data in more detail,” DPS Director Steve McCraw said after being questioned by state lawmakers about Baumgartner’s findings. “And when I say in more detail, it means all minorities, it means all demographics across the state, and it includes gender. We
want to make sure we look at all of it to see if there’s any disparities and address it.” Baumgartner said he’s unfamiliar with Fritsch’s work but is sometimes skeptical of research commissioned by police agencies. “There is a community of consultants who are interested in protecting the reputations of police departments,” Baumgartner said. “You can really tell what the incentive is if you want to keep the contracts coming.” Baumgartner said he does not work for the agencies he studies. “There’s no financial relationship whatsoever with anyone involved in my research, and I think that’s the definition of independence,” he said. Fritsch, who did not respond to an Ex-cop continues on A11
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS
Immigration hard-liners want Donald Trump’s hand on program By James Barragan TH E DALLAS MORNI NG NEWS
AUSTIN, Texas — As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to "immediately terminate" two Obamaera immigration programs that granted temporary deportation relief to immigrants who were in the country illegally, saying
they "defied federal law and the Constitution." Last month, Trump did away with one of those programs: Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, which granted a two-year protection from deportation to unauthorized immigrants who were parents of U.S. citizens or lawful residents.
But former President Barack Obama’s original 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, which shields unauthorized immigrants who came to the country as children and gives them work permits, remains intact. That’s to the chagrin of many of Trump’s most fervent supporters, who have criticized
the president for waffling on the issue. "We are upset that it has remained. This was very clearly a pledge," said Dave Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for a reduction in immigration. "This was the crown jewel of illegal executive
orders - amnesty for illegal aliens. It doesn’t get any more blatant than that." Last week, a 10-state coalition led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions threatening to sue the federal government over DACA if Trump does not rescind it by DACA continues on A11
Zin brief A2 | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
CALENDAR
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5 The Alzheimer's support group meeting. 7 p.m. Meeting room 2,
A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S
building B of the Laredo Medical Center. The support group is for family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer's. For information, call 956-693-9991.
Today is Wednesday, July 5, the 186th day of 2017. There are 179 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On July 5, 1947, Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. In the game against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park, Doby, pinch-hitting for Bryan Stephens, struck out in his first at-bat during the seventh inning; Chicago won 6-5.
FRIDAY, JULY 7 Sister Cities Festival opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. 10 a.m. - 11
a.m. Laredo Energy Arena. Sister Cities Festival. 11 a.m. - 8
p.m. LEA. Summer Reading Program Celebration. 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. McKen-
drick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco. Free and family friendly event. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Priscilla Garcia at 956-795-2400, ext. 2402.
SATURDAY, JULY 8 No Mud No Glory Mud Run 5. 7:30 a.m. North Central Park, 10202 International Boulevard. Register by July 7 at https://nomudnoglory4.itsyourrace.com/register/ Sister Cities Festival. 10 a.m. - 7
p.m. LEA.
SUNDAY, JULY 9 Sister Cities Festival. 10 a.m. - 5
p.m. LEA.
SATURDAY, JULY 15 Harry Potter Book Club. 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco. Book club will discuss Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Children and adults are welcome. For more information, contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at 956-795-2400, ext. 2401.
MONDAY, JULY 17 Ray of Light Anxiety and Depression Support Group Meeting in Spanish.
6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Holding Institute, 1102 Santa Maria Ave., classroom #1. Recurring event. Spanish group meets every third Monday of the month. People suffering from anxiety and depression are invited to attend this free, confidential and anonymous support group meeting. While a support group does not replace an individual’s medical care, it can be a valuable resource to gain insight, strength and hope. The support group welcomes adults suffering from anxiety and/ or depression to participate in free confidential support group meetings and social events. Contact information for a representative: Anna Maria Pulido Saldivar, gruporayitodeluz@gmail.com, 956-307-2014.
SATURDAY, JULY 22 Laredo and South Texas Weather. 2 p.m. TAMIU Student Center, Room 236. Presented by Richard ‘Heatwave” Berler, Chief Meteorologist, KGNS-TV. Free and open to the public. For more information, email: brushcountrychapter@gmail.com Homebuying 101 Class. 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. McKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco. Free class. Registration required. For more information, call Angelina York or Patricia Ayala at NeighborWorks 956-7129100 or email nwl@nwlaredo.com.
THURSDAY, JULY 27 Spanish Book Club. 6 - 8 p.m. Joe
A. Guerra Public Library. For more information, call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.
FRIDAY, AUG. 18 South Texas Food Bank Empty Bowls XI. Laredo Energy Arena.
Tex-Mex power rock trio Los Lonely Boys will perform. The event includes a dinner, a benefit concert and a silent auction featuring artworks from local and regional artists. Sponsorship tables of 10 that include dinner and access to silent auction items are available. There are different levels of sponsorship available: Diamond $20,000, Platinum $10,000, Gold $5,000, Silver $2,500 and Bronze $1,500. Individual table tickets are $150. Table tickets are available at the food bank, 1907 Freight at Riverside. Concert only tickets are $10, $15 and $25. Tickets are available at the LEA box office, Ticketmaster.com, select Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.
SATURDAY, AUG. 26 Football Tailgating Cook-Off. 2 p.m.
- 11 p.m. Uni-Trade Stadium. Event will feature cook-off competitions, brisket tasting/sampling for People's Choice from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., car show, live music, food vendors, arts & crafts and merchandise vendors and much more. For more information, contact LULAC Council 14 at 956286-9055 Submit calendar items by emailing editorial@lmtonline.com with the event’s name, date and time, location, purpose and contact information for a representative. Items will run as space is available.
Eric Gay / AP
In this April 12 photo, Dr. Tim Gocha uses dental records as he works to help identify the remains of immigrant who died along the U.S-Mexico border, at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State, in San Marcos, Texas.
IDENTIFYING IMMIGRANT REMAINS HOUSTON — Rolando Arriaza has visited hospitals, morgues and even the harsh, mesquite-covered terrain in South Texas that his brother trekked nearly two years ago after illegally crossing into the U.S. — all as part of an ongoing effort to find his sibling’s remains and bring his family closure. How big is the problem, and how somber are the findings? More than 2,900 immigrants have died while crossing the Texas-Mexico border alone since 1998. But it’s unclear how many remain unidentified.
Officials: Texas girl found dead kidnapped over drug theft DALLAS — Court records indicate that a 13-year-old girl who was found dead in a house over the weekend was kidnapped after the boyfriend of one of her relatives stole
Since 2003, 222 of 879 cases of unidentified human remains sent from Texas border counties to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification have led to identifications. But the center cautions there’s no way to definitively say if the identified remains belong to immigrants. A review of reports on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System’s database shows more than 320 unidentified remains found along the Texas-Mexico border since 2007 are likely immigrants. — Compiled from AP reports
about 22 pounds of marijuana. The body of Shavon Randle was discovered at the Dallas house late Saturday night after being reported abducted Wednesday from a home in Lancaster, located south of Dallas. A 19-year-old man was also found dead in the house. Two men are charged with aggravated kidnapping in the case. A City of Lancaster
spokeswoman says the investigation continues. Laquon Wilkerson, charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom/reward, was jailed Monday on $1 million bond. Devontae Owens, charged with aggravated kidnapping, was jailed on $500,000 bond. Wilkerson’s attorney had no comment. It wasn’t clear who was representing Owens. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD CT scans find possible tunnel in Mexico’s Teotihuacan ruins MEXICO CITY — Archaeologists at Mexico’s Teotihuacan ruins have found evidence that the city’s builders dug a tunnel beneath the Pyramid of the Moon and researchers said one of its purposes may have been to emulate the underworld. The National Institute of Anthropology and History said researchers used a kind of computerized tomography scan to discover the apparent tunnel about 30 feet below the surface of the plaza in front of the pyramid. The CT scan suggests the tunnel may have been filled in antiquity. Other tunnels have been discovered at Teotihuacan, and one at Temple of the Plumed Serpent has been explored. Experts say the tunnels may
Victor R. Caivano / AP
In this 2000 file photo, tourists walk down the Pyramid of the Moon in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Archaeologists said Tuesday they found evidence that the citys builders may have dug a tunnel beneath the Pyramid of the Moon.
be associated with sacred flows of water and the underworld. “The discovery would confirm that the inhabitants of Teotihuacan followed the same pattern in their large-scale temples, and that their function would be to emulate the underworld,” said INAH archae-
ologist Veronica Ortega. More studies are needed to determine whether the apparent tunnel should eventually be excavated. The ruins north of Mexico City remain shrouded in mystery. — Compiled from AP reports
On this date: In 1687, Isaac Newton first published his Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy. In 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain. In 1865, the Secret Service Division of the U.S. Treasury Department was founded in Washington, D.C. with the mission of suppressing counterfeit currency. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. In 1940, during World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke off diplomatic relations. In 1946, the bikini, created by Louis Reard, was modeled by Micheline Bernardini during a poolside fashion show in Paris. In 1954, Elvis Presley's first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee; the song he recorded was "That's All Right." In 1962, independence took effect in Algeria; the same day, civilians of European descent, mostly French, came under attack by extremists in the port city of Oran. In 1977, Pakistan's army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seized power from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1984, the Supreme Court weakened the 70-year-old "exclusionary rule," deciding that evidence seized in good faith with defective court warrants could be used against defendants in criminal trials. In 1991, a worldwide financial scandal erupted as regulators in eight countries shut down the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. Actress Mildred Dunnock died in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, at age 90. In 2011, a jury in Orlando, Florida, found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Ten years ago: In a setback for President George W. Bush, GOP stalwart Sen. Pete Domenici withdrew his support for the president's Iraq war policy and embraced a proposal to bring home most troops by March 2008. French opera soprano Regine Crespin died in Paris at age 80. Five years ago: Trucks carrying NATO supplies rolled into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months, ending a painful chapter in U.S.-Pakistan relations that saw the border closed until Washington apologized for an airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years for a systematic program to steal babies from prisoners who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the military junta's so-called "dirty war" on leftist dissidents. (Videla died in prison in May 2013.) Jockey Jorge Herrera, 33, died after falling from his horse during a race at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in California. Today's Birthdays: Actress Katherine Helmond is 88. Actress Shirley Knight is 81. Singer-musician Robbie Robertson is 74. Julie Nixon Eisenhower is 69. Rock star Huey Lewis is 67. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rich "Goose" Gossage is 66. Country musician Charles Ventre is 65. Singersongwriter Marc Cohn is 58. Actor John Marshall Jones is 55. Actor Dorien Wilson is 55. Actress Edie Falco is 54. Actress Jillian Armenante is 53. Actor Dale Godboldo is 42. Rapper Bizarre is 41. Rapper Royce da 5'9" is 40. Rock singer Jason Wade (Lifehouse) is 37. Actor Ryan Hansen is 36. Country musician Dave Haywood (Lady Antebellum) is 35. Rock musician Nick O'Malley (Arctic Monkeys) is 32. Actor Jason Dolley is 26. Thought for Today: "The real drawback to 'the simple life' is that it is not simple. If you are living it, you positively can do nothing else. There is not time." — Katharine Fullerton Gerould, American writer (1879-1944).
CONTACT US AROUND THE NATION Oregon becomes first state to allow gender-neutral licenses SALEM, Ore. — Oregon has become the first state in the U.S. to allow residents who don’t identify as male or female to mark their gender as “not specified” when they
apply for a driver’s license, learner’s permit or identity card. The rule went into effect Monday. It comes after the mayor of Washington, D.C., said the district was the first jurisdiction to offer the option late last month. Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services said the new rule emerged after a judge last year allowed a Portland resi-
dent to legally change to “nonbinary” gender. The DMV said it studied state laws, updated computer systems, worked with law enforcement and the courts, and changed administrative rules to comply with the court order. California lawmakers also are considering adding a third gender option on state IDs. — Compiled from AP reports
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SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Wednesdays and Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata and Jim Hogg counties. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times in those areas at newstands, The Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas, 78044. Call (956) 728-2500.
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 |
STATE CPS finds more beds for foster children A S S O CIAT E D PRE SS
DALLAS — Child Protective Services is finding more emergency beds for foster children previously forced to sleep in CPS offices. Associate State Protective Services Commissioner Kristene Blackstone tells The Dallas Morning News that CPS housed just one foster child at a CPS office during one recent weekend. That’s after having been known to sleep a dozen foster children or more nightly in state buildings and hotels until new foster homes could be found for them. Blackstone credits increased reimbursements for foster-bed providers, pay raises for caseworkers and the hiring of more caseworkers to find and place foster children for the decrease. That has helped lift much of the load from overburdened caseworkers. In December, nearly 150 investigators carried caseloads of more than 35 families. Blackstone says seven have caseloads that big now.
Army band at Fort Sam Houston to be deactivated A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
SAN ANTONIO — A historic Texas military band is preparing to play its final note. The 323rd Army Band at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio is one of four bands nationwide being deactivated next year. The band called Fort Sam’s Own performs roughly 350 times a year at military funerals, command changes and parades. The San Antonio Express-News (http:// bit.ly/2sJLejf ) reports the band will continue to play for months, but the 30year-old unit will end its tour with San Antonio’s Fiesta festival in April 2018. The unit’s 54 members will then be scattered to army posts across the country. Army bands have decreased from 99 to 91 in recent years amid cost cutting. Fort Sam’s Own is the last in a continuous line of Fort Sam bands stretching back to the 1890s.
A3
House speaker didn’t want suicide over ‘bathroom bill’ By Paul J. Weber ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AUSTIN, Texas — The driving force in Texas behind a “bathroom bill” pushed back Monday after the Republican House speaker was quoted as saying he didn’t want a “suicide” on his hands over efforts to restrict which restrooms transgender people can use. LGBT rights groups and other opponents, meanwhile, praised House Speaker Joe Straus over comments published in The New Yorker that signaled a moral opposition to a “bathroom bill” alongside his repeated condemnation of the measure as bad for the Texas economy. In the story published Monday, author Lawrence Wright wrote that Straus told him about a senator coming to his office with a proposed compromise just before the bill collapsed in May. “I’m not a lawyer, but I am a Texan,” said Straus, according to the magazine. “I’m disgusted by all this. Tell the lieutenant governor I don’t want the suicide of a single Texan on my hands.” Aides to Straus did not return emails Monday. The comment appeared to echo concerns raised by LGBT rights groups that efforts to restrict which bathrooms transgender people can use further marginalize a group of people who at least one recent survey has shown attempt suicide at a higherthan-average rate. Republican Lt Gov. Dan Patrick has spearheaded the push for a North Carolinastyle “bathroom bill” in Texas, and a spokeswoman said Monday he did not send any senators to Straus’ office. She said the bill has never been about discrimination and
Jay Janner / AP
In this Jan. file photo, Brad Kent, Chief Sales and Services Officer for Visit Dallas, holds at sign a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, to oppose Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's bathroom bill.
that if Straus’ comments were accurate, it would be “the latest of his reasons” for opposing the bill. “The Lt. Governor hopes the Speaker did not make these comments. Obviously no one wants to see harm to anyone as a result of any legislation that is passed,” Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said in an email to The Associated Press. Straus is the powerful leader of the GOP-controlled House and for months has gone against Abbott and Patrick — as well as most Texas Republican lawmakers — in his public rejection of efforts to impose bathroom restrictions on transgender people. Patrick has blamed Straus for sinking the measure and forcing a special legislative session that will begin July 18. In December, the largest survey of transgender Americans painted a grim picture of pervasive discrimination and harassment, finding that 40 percent of respondents said they had attempted suicide at some point. The survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality assessed input received in 2015 from 27, 715 respondents in all
50 states. Researchers have estimated that the overall attempted suicide rate in the U.S. is less than 5 percent. Leaders of Equality Texas, an LGBT right group, and Texas Competes, which says it has gathered signed opposition from more than 1,000 companies including Amazon and American Airlines, said they were glad to see a leading Republican share concerns that opponents have voiced for months. “I’m pleased to see he said that. It’s true that literally people’s lives are at stake here,” said Chuck Smith, executive director of Equality Texas. Abbott made what he calls “privacy protection legislation” part of a lengthy special legislative session agenda. He said last week that Texas needs bathroom regulations for “protecting the privacy of women and children” to avoid what he described as a patchwork of conflicting regulations across the state. Some of Texas’ biggest cities, including Dallas and Austin, have anti-discrimination ordinances that extend protections to transgender people in public spaces.
Rob O'Neal / AP
Referee Buck Montgomery, left, hoists the arm of Trey Bergman, right signaling Bergman's victory in the Mile-High Key Lime Pie Eatin' Contest on Tuesday in Key West, Florida.
Texan wins key lime pie-eating contest ASSOCIATED PRE SS
KEY WEST, Fla. — An attorney from Texas won a Key lime pie-eating contest in the Florida Keys. Trey Bergman of Houston devoured a 9-inch pie smothered with whipped cream in 51.92 seconds during Tuesday’s MileHigh Key Lime Pie Eatin’ Contest in Key West. The rules prohibit contestants from using their hands. Bergman wore a yellow bathing cap,
saying it helped him cut through the whipped cream and pie to get to the crust faster. The competition drew 21 competitors and highlighted Key West’s annual Key Lime Festival. Other festival events included an offbeat Key Lime Pie Drop and tasting strolls featuring Key lime cocktails and pie. Key lime pie was designated Florida’s official pie in 2006 by state legislators.
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A4 | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
COMMENTARY
OTHER VIEWS
Could an energy boom save Trump and the GOP? By Ed Rogers WA S H INGT ON P O ST
Could the energy boom save President Donald Trump and the GOP in the 2018 midterms? Answer: No. But it could go a long way toward producing the kind of robust economy that will help incumbent Republicans a year from November. The energy boom is real and it is here to stay. Energy production produces good jobs and low gasoline prices pump billions of dollars in cash into the economy, in real time. And with Trump directing large-scale deregulation, the antibusiness climate in Washington is coming to an end - and the resulting energy boom is certain to make a difference in today’s economy. Remember, at the end of the day, it is the economy that affects elections. Despite the recent wave of seemingly endless distractions and showstopping unforced errors, Trump and the Republicans in Congress still do not have any problems that 4 percent GDP growth would not go a long way toward solving. The good news is the benefits of robust American energy production are just beginning to be realized. As Stephen Moore explains, “Since 2015 when Republicans and Congress passed a law ending the oil and gas export ban, the U.S. has exported more than 150 million barrels of crude.” And due in part to Trump’s outlook for U.S. energy dominance, “we are now building liquefied gas terminals that will lead to sharp increases in exports of our abundant natural gas.” Let’s not forget, the entire fracking revolution occurred while President Barack Obama wasn’t looking. Had he been paying attention, he would have been against it. After all, Democrats hate oil and gas. They even make a point of advertising that much on the campaign trail. And today, as the Democrats march even further to the left, they continue to call for the “decarbonization” of the American economy despite the obvious benefits resulting from explosive energy production and exports and oil- and gas-related jobs. In December 2016, the Obama administration went so far as to publish a report, “United States Mid-Cen-
tury Strategy for Deep Decarbonization,” calling for “increasingly ambitious decarbonization policies” and “economywide net (greenhouse gas) emissions reductions of 80 percent or more below 2005 levels by 2050.” Remember, as a presidential candidate, Obama famously declared that he wanted energy prices to go up. “Under my plan of a cap and trade system,” Obama argued, “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Thankfully, Obama never envisioned cheap American natural gas. For his part, Trump has tried to highlight what his administration is doing to usher in a new era of energy development that stands in stark contrast with the Democrats’ delusional taxpayer-subsidized fantasy of wind and solar, but those announcements have been mostly smothered by bizarre tweets and disinterested mainstream media outlets who have always been hostile to oil and gas development. Even so, Trump deserves some credit for trying. Speaking at a Department of Energy event last week alongside the able, energy-friendly former governor of Texas - and now secretary of energy - Rick Perry, he announced six new initiatives that will help strengthen America’s energy sector and “propel this new era of American energy dominance.” As the president noted, “This vast energy wealth does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people of the United States of America. Yet, for the past eight years, the federal government imposed massive job-killing barriers to American energy development.” Well said. And oh, by the way, I’ve been traveling in Europe this week and have received an earful about Trump. Business people and political leaders wonder if he really means what he says. While that may be true on energy development, more challenges are on the horizon where he has less authority but ultimate responsibility. North Korea is on the brink, Russia is on the rise and our allies are nervous. This week’s Group of 20 meeting, combined with the latest missile launch in North Korea, could make July 2017 pivotal in the Trump presidency.
COLUMN
What’s the matter with Republicans? By David Brooks NEW YORK TIME S NEWS SERVICE
Over the past two months the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress have proposed a budget and two health care plans that would take benefits away from core Republican constituencies, especially working-class voters. And yet over this time Donald Trump’s approval rating has remained unchanged, at 40 percent. During this period the Republicans have successfully defended a series of congressional seats. What’s going on? Why do working-class conservatives seem to vote so often against their own economic interests? My stab at an answer would begin in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many Trump supporters live in places that once were on the edge of the American frontier. Life on that frontier was fragile, perilous, lonely and remorseless. If a single slip could produce disaster, then discipline and self-reliance were essential. The basic pattern of life was an underlying condition of peril, warded off by an ethos of self-restraint, temperance, self-control and strictness of conscience. Frontier towns sometimes went from boomtown to Bible Belt in a single leap. They started out lawless. People needed to impose codes of respectability to survive. Frontier religions were often ascetic, banning drinking, card-playing
and dancing. And yet there was always a whiff of extreme disorder — drunkenness, violence and fraud — threatening from down below. Today these places are no longer frontier towns, but many of them still exist on the same knife’s edge between traditionalist order and extreme dissolution. For example, I have a friend who is an avid Trump admirer. He supports himself as a parttime bartender and a part-time home contractor, and by doing various odd jobs on the side. A good chunk of his income is off the books. He has built up a decent savings account, but he has done it on his own, hustling, scrapping his way, without any long-term security. His income can vary sharply from week to week. He doesn’t have much trust in the institutions around him. He has worked on government construction projects but sees himself, rightly, as a small-business man. This isn’t too different from the hard, independent life on the frontier. Many people in these places tend to see their communities the way foreign policy realists see the world: as an unvarnished struggle for resources — as a tough world, a no-illusions world, a world where conflict is built into the fabric of reality. The virtues most admired in such places, then and now, are what Shirley Robin Letwin once called the vigorous virtues: “upright, self-
sufficient, energetic, adventurous, independent minded, loyal to friends and robust against foes.” The sins that can cause the most trouble are not the social sins — injustice, incivility, etc. They are the personal sins — laziness, self-indulgence, drinking, sleeping around. Then as now, chaos is always washing up against the door. Very few people actually live up to the code of selfdiscipline that they preach. A single night of gambling or whatever can produce life-altering bad choices. Moreover, the forces of social disruption are visible on every street: the slackers taking advantage of the disability programs, the people popping out babies, the drug users, the spouse abusers. Voters in these places could use some help. But these Americans, like most Americans, vote on the basis of their vision of what makes a great nation. These voters, like most voters, believe that the values of the people are the health of the nation. In their view, government doesn’t reinforce the vigorous virtues. On the contrary, it undermines them — by fostering initiative-sucking dependency, by letting people get away with their mistakes so they can make more of them and by getting in the way of moral formation. The only way you build up self-reliant virtues, in this view, is through struggle. Yet faraway government experts want
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letter. Laredo Morning Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. This space allows for public debate of the issues of the day. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Also, letters longer than 500 words will not be accepted. Via email, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
to cushion people from the hardships that are the schools of self-reliance. Compassionate government threatens to turn people into snowflakes. In her book “Strangers in Their Own Land,” sociologist Arlie Hochschild quotes a woman from Louisiana complaining about the childproof lids on medicine and the mandatory seatbelt laws. “We let them throw lawn darts, smoked alongside them,” the woman says of her children. “Andem> they survived/em>. Now it’s like your kid needs a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads to go down the kiddy slide.” Hochschild’s humble and important book is a meditation on why working-class conservatives vote against more government programs for themselves. She emphasizes that they perceive government as a corrupt arm used against the little guy. She argues that these voters may vote against their economic interests, but they vote for their emotional interests, for candidates who share their emotions about problems and groups. I’d say they believe that big government support would provide short-term assistance, but it would be a long-term poison to the values that are at the core of prosperity. You and I might disagree with that theory. But it’s a plausible theory. Anybody who wants to design policies to help the working class has to make sure they go along the grain of the vigorous virtues, not against them.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 |
A5
CRIME
Authorities seek help in motor vehicle theft case By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
Authorities said Monday they need the community’s assistance regarding a theft of a motor vehicle. The incident happened Nov. 17. A man reported to the Zapata County Sheriff’s
Man charged in death of infant A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
MIDLAND, Texas — Authorities say a 28-yearold Midland man has been charged with capital murder in the death of a 5-month-old baby. Midland police say Timothy Allen Penn was charged with capital murder Monday after the baby died Sunday. The baby had been hospitalized since June 21. Police have said Penn was arrested June 22 after telling officers he struck the child multiple times. At that time, he was charged with injury to a child with intent to cause serious injury. He remained in Midland County jail Tuesday. Bond on the injury to a child charge was set at $250,000. Bond hadn’t been set yet for the capital murder charge. A message could not be left at a number listed for his attorney.
Office that his white 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe was stolen from the 5300 block of Grande Lane in the Siesta Shores Subdivision. “Zapata Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the recovery of the vehicle and, or the
arrest of the subjects responsible for the crime,” sheriff’s officials said. People with information on the case are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 956-765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 765TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous.
79-year-old woman found slain in Houston home ASSOCIATED PRE SS
HEDWIG VILLAGE, Texas — Authorities in a small Houston-area city say a 79-year-old woman was found slain inside her home. Hedwig Village police say Janeil Bernard’s maid found her body after arriving at the home Monday afternoon. Police wouldn’t comment on Bernard’s suspected
cause of death, but did confirm foul play. Sgt. Marvin Collins says, “The homeowner had been brutally murdered.” Authorities say the woman’s wallet and car were missing. Hedwig Village police say police in Houston later located the vehicle. Bernard, who lives alone, was last heard from Sunday afternoon.
Funeral set for slain San Antonio officer ASSOCIATED PRE SS
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police that the funeral service for the 32-year-old officer who was killed in a shootout with a suspect will take place Friday. Officer Miguel Moreno was shot in the head as he stepped out of his patrol car on Thursday to question a man about a vehicle break-in. Moreno died the next day. During the shootout, Moreno’s partner was injured and the gunman died of a selfinflicted gunshot wound. On Friday, a funeral procession of emergency vehicles will go to Com-
munity Bible Church in San Antonio, where a service will be held. A private burial will follow. The night before, a viewing will be held at a funeral home, followed by a Moreno service there. Moreno was a 9-year veteran of the department.
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Zfrontera A6 | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
RIBEREÑA EN BREVE INSCRIPCIONES PARA PORRISTAS 1 El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent District invita a los padres de alumnos de tercero, cuarto y quinto de la primaria Zapata North Elementary a las inscripciones para porristas el jueves 13 de julio. Para mayores informes llame al 956-765-6917.
FESTIVAL DE CIUDADES HERMANAS 1 Del 7 al 8 de julio habrá más de 200 expositores de artesanía mexicana en Laredo Energy Arena, 6700 Arena Blvd., de 10 a.m. a 7 p.m. Entrada libre.
TEMPORADA VACACIONAL
Brindan atención a paisanos Diversas organizaciones asisten con trámites, asesoría y capacitación E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
NUEVO LAREDO, México —En el marco de la celebración del cuatro de julio de Estados Unidos, se han atendido una gran cantidad de connacionales en trámites aduaneros y se han brindado asesorías de operaciones comerciales, anunció la Asociación de Agentes Aduanales de Nuevo La-
redo en conjunto con el Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), ambos parte del Programa Operativo Paisano Verano 2017. El Presidente del organismo, A.A. Edgardo Pedraza Quintanilla, comentó que han tenido una excelente coordinación con el Instituto Nacional de Migración y su delegado Segismundo Do-
guín en los operativos paisanos, donde además se han realizado entrega de “guías paisano” para orientarlos directamente hacia un Agente Aduanal. “Es importante estar informando a los paisanos, dar atención, asesorarlos y capacitarlos, estar de la mano con ellos y que no tengan inconvenientes en su paso por nuestro territorio” expre-
só el presidente. Por su parte el organismo Association of Laredo Forwarding Agentes (ALFA), dependiente de la Asociación de Agentes Aduanales de esta ciudad, en Laredo, también recibe a los connacionales que deseen realizan algún trámite comercial al ingresar a México y los canaliza con un experto aduanero.
El INM a través del Operativo de Verano 2017 ha instalado 183 módulos de atención y 238 puntos de observación en 158 ciudades, 245 municipios, aeropuertos internacionales, centrales de autobuses, carreteras, casetas de peaje, Centros de Importación e Internación Temporal de Vehículos (CIITEV), así como establecimientos comerciales.
4 DE JULIO
CELEBRAN DÍA DE LA INDEPENDENCIA
PAGO DE IMPUESTOS 1 Desde diciembre, los pagos por impuestos a la propiedad de la Ciudad de Roma deberán realizarse en la oficina de impuestos del Distrito Escolar de Roma, localizado en el 608 N. García St.
PAGO EN LÍNEA 1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a sus residentes que a partir de ahora el servicio del agua puede pagarse en línea a cualquier hora las 24 horas del día.
LLENADO DE APLICACIONES 1 La Ciudad de Roma ofrece el servicio de llenado de aplicaciones para CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Chip, Prenatal y otros. Contacte a Gaby Rodríguez para una cita en el centro comunitario o en su domicilio al 956246-7177.
LABORATORIO COMPUTACIONAL 1 La Ciudad de Roma pone a disposición de la comunidad el Laboratorio Computacional que abre de lunes a viernes en horario de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en Historical Plaza, a un lado del City Hall. Informes en el 956-849-1411.
MUSEO EN ZAPATA 1 A los interesados en realizar una investigación sobre genealogía de la región, se sugiere visitar el Museo del Condado de Zapata ubicado en 805 N US-Hwy 83. Opera de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. Existen visitas guiadas. Personal está capacitado y puede orientar acerca de la historia del Sur de Texas y sus fundadores. Pida informes en el 956-765-8983.
GRUPOS DE APOYO 1 Grupo Cancer Friend se reúne a las 6 p.m. el primer lunes del mes en el Centro Comunitario de Doctors Hospital. Padecer cáncer es una de las experiencias más estresantes en la vida de una persona. Sin embargo, los grupos de apoyo pueden ayudar a muchos a lidiar con los aspectos emocionales de la enfermedad. 1 Grupo de Apoyo para Ansiedad y Depresión Rayo de Luz se reúne cada primer lunes del mes de 6:30 p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en Centro de Educación del Área de Salud, ubicado en 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430.
Foto de cortesía
Estudiantes y personal de Apple Bee Math and Science Academy celebraron su desfile anual del Cuatro de Julio el lunes por la mañana mostrando los colores de la bandera de los Estados Unidos.
CONDADO DE ZAPATA
Reportan robo de vehículo Por César G. Rodríguez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Las autoridades dijeron el lunes que necesitan la ayuda de la comunidad en relación con el robo de un vehículo.
El incidente ocurrió el 17 de noviembre. Un hombre reportó a la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata que su vehículo Chevrolet Tahoe blanco modelo 2015 fue robado de la
cuadra 5300 de Grande Lane en la Subdivisión Siesta Shores. "Crime Stoppers de Zapata está ofreciendo una recompensa en efectivo a cualquier persona que propor-
cione información que conduzca a la recuperación del vehículo y la detención de los sujetos responsables del crimen", dijeron funcionarios del alguacil. Se pide a las personas
que tengan información del caso que llamen a la Oficina del Alguacil al 956-765-9960 o a Crime Stoppers Zapata al 765TIPS (8477). Las llamadas se mantendrán anónimas.
GUERRERO AYER Y HOY
Se adhieren al Plan de Ayutla Por Lilia Treviño Martínez TIEMP O DE ZAPATA
Nota del editor: Esta serie de artículos sobre la historia de Ciudad Guerrero, México, fueron escritos por la guerrerense Lilia Treviño Martínez (1927-2016), quien fuera profesora de la escuela Leoncio Leal. En 1854 Juan N. Álvarez
proclamó el Plan de Ayutla, que desconocía al gobierno de Santa Anna y apoyaba las ideas liberales. Los tamaulipecos, acaudillados por Juan José De La Garza y Mariano Escobedo, se declararon a favor del Plan de Ayutla; la ciudad de Matamoros fue tomada por los liberales y De La Garza, activista del bando liberal, fue
nombrado gobernador de Tamaulipas. Las Leyes de Reforma tuvieron aplicación inmediata en Tamaulipas, y por lo tanto, en Guerrero. La lucha entre liberales y conservadores continuó, dando lugar a la Guerra de Tres Años y, como consecuencia de los intereses en pugna, el país sufrió la intervención francesa en 1862.
Durante ella y en nuestra región se libró la batalla de Santa Gertrudis (municipio de Camargo), el 16 de junio de 1866, donde los soldados republicanos derrotaron a los invasores y se apoderaron de un numeroso convoy que éstos llevaban con destino a la ciudad de Monterrey. La República fue restaurada con la derrota de
los conservadores y Juárez asumió el poder. Hubo levantamientos en contra del gobierno de Juárez, quien murió en 1872, y Porfirio Díaz con el apoyo político de los tamaulipecos, entre otros muchos, llegó a la Presidencia de la República. En 1876, por mandato de este gobernante, se estableció la aduana fronteriza en Ciudad Guerrero.
Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 |
A7
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS
Texans have high hopes for nose tackle D.J. Reader Last year as a rookie Reader recorded 22 tackles By Aaron Wilson H OUSTON CHRONICLE
As a rookie, Texans nose tackle D.J. Reader built a reputation for versatility, toughness and a willingness to accept coaching. Besides being mentored by five-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork, Reader soaked up knowledge from defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and defensive ends J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. Reader flashed enough ability to shed blocks as a runstopper and pass rusher that the Texans have no concerns about his ability to replace
Wilfork in the middle of the NFL's top-ranked defense. At 6-3, 335 pounds, Reader is capable of providing a stout presence clogging up the interior of the defense and occupying double-team blocks to keep the linebackers clean. He's athletic enough to line up at defensive end and bull his way into the backfield. Reader started seven games as a rookie and finished with 22 tackles and one sack. How Reader continues to develop is a critical element for a front seven headlined by Watt, Clowney and linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Whitney Mercilus.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS
"We have very high expectations of D.J.," said Weaver, a former defensive end for the Texans and Baltimore Ravens." I think you saw just a glimpse of what he's capable of a year ago. He's another guy that since he's been back, you can tell he's, and I think I speak for the whole defense, they all have a little bit of a chip (on their shoulders). "Everybody that walks into this building, they come with the mindset of like, 'How are we going to get over this hurdle? How are we going to get to where we want to be?' And D.J., I think, he epitomizes that every time he walks in.
Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images file
Houston nose tackle D.J. Reader started seven games as a rookie and finished with 22 tackles and one sack.
PGA TOUR: JORDAN SPIETH
SPIETH WANTS REPUTATION AS BEING A GOOD CLOSER
LM Otero / Associated Press
Outside linebacker Jaylon Smith is preparing to debut for the Cowboys this season after sitting out his rookie year with a knee injury.
Big year looms for Cowboys linebacker Smith By Jan Hubbard FOR THE E XPRE SS-NEWS
FRISCO — The difference between baffling and brilliant is often a matter of opinion. For example, there is no doubt the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to draft offensive guard Zach Martin instead of quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2014 was the correct one. Manziel has won two games as a starting quarterback and is out of the NFL. Martin has made All-Pro teams four times. Others have not been so great — like defensive end Randy Gregory, who was taken with the 60th overall pick in 2015. Gregory has been suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy three times, including for the entire 2017 season. Gregory had failed the draft combine drug test and his problems were known before the Cowboys selected him. For linebacker Jaylon Smith, judgment day has not yet arrived. But it is coming soon and the Cowboys will know if their decision to take him in the second round of the 2016 draft was enlightened or ill-advised. When he was drafted, Smith was less than four months removed from a horrific knee injury that could have prevented him from playing football again. The Cowboys had been only 4-12 in 2015 with a defense that was average at best.
A high second-round pick should be a starter. Using it on a player who had one healthy leg and no shot of playing as a rookie did not seem to make a lot of sense. But Smith, 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, had been a special player during his three years at Notre Dame. As a junior in 2015, he was a consensus first team All-American and winner of the Butkus Award, which is given to the best linebacker in college football. He planned to leave college a year early to enter the NFL draft. Some projections had him as the No. 1 pick. There was little doubt that he was, at minimum, a top-five talent. Cowboys management — owner Jerry Jones, executive vice president Stephen Jones and head coach Jason Garrett — were confident their team was better than the record had indicated. Because of injuries, quarterback Tony Romo had played only four games. The Cowboys were 3-1 with him and 1-11 without him. The benefit of the bad record was getting the fourth pick in the first round, which Dallas used to draft running back Ezekiel Elliott. With the explosive rookie and a healthy Romo, they felt they could gamble with the second-round pick, which was No. 34 overall. So far, the plan appears to be solid.
Maddie Meyer / Getty Images file
Jordan Spieth chipped in for birdie from a bunker on the 18th green to win the Travelers Championship in a playoff against Daniel Berger.
The 23-year-old has logged 10 career wins By Doug Ferguson ASSOCIATED PRE SS
The club throw. The body bump. Those are the indelible images from Jordan Spieth’s victory in the Travelers Championship, where he holed a 60-foot bunker shot in a playoff to defeat Daniel Berger and capture his 10th title on the PGA Tour a month before his 24th birthday. Not to be overlooked was a more serene snapshot — Spieth posing with the trophy. It was the most comfortable he looked all day, even though he never trailed. This did not appear to be a case of enjoying the journey. “I wanted the holes to go by quickly,” Spieth said. “That’s the only time I could say that about my wins.” At the heart of such uneasiness was the uncertainty with his putting stroke on the greens of the TPC River Highlands. A normal putting round, at least by his standards, and there would have been no drama, no playoff and no
celebration that ended with Spieth slinging his sand wedge with his left hand (he’s a natural southpaw), running out of the bunker and colliding with caddie Michael Greller. The fact that Spieth had the 54-hole lead by one shot only exacerbated the tension he felt on the back nine. At stake was more than just a victory, but the chance to build on his reputation as a closer. That’s what Tiger Woods did better than anyone else. Winning is winning. Comebacks are cool. But great players take pride in closing. “I take more pride in it because I feel totally different,” Spieth said. “I’m a lot more uncomfortable in the closing scenario, playing with the lead. It’s more uncomfortable and makes it more challenging. The expectation is as long as I play the same as these guys, I win. If I’m not leading and I don’t win, then it wasn’t my day.” Don’t get the idea Spieth is a nervous wreck when leading a tournament. He talks
about chasing a ghost when he has the lead, which is a target score, and that can be more difficult than having to make up a deficit. “By uncomfortable, I don’t mean that in a negative way,” he said. “I mean that in an added, rapid heart rate from when you wake up, which is uncomfortable. But I don’t want that to seem negative, because that’s the position to be in.” He already has been there 13 times. Spieth isn’t big on comparisons with anybody, least of all Woods. That’s a good thing when it comes to closing, because there is no comparison. Woods won at a 92 percent clip (57-5) when he had at least a share of the lead going into the final round on the PGA Tour. That includes a 3-1 mark for Match Play, which effectively is the same as being tied for the lead with one round to play. With his victory at Hartford, Spieth improved to 8-5. And what would he call that?
“A phenomenal rate,” he said. “I think 50 percent is an awesome rate — 50 percent is fantastic.” Spieth knows all about Woods and his records, and many of them would seem to be out of reach. What made him curious were the closing marks of other Hall of Fame players, such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. It would make him feel better about his own mark. Mickelson was 24-14 when he had at least a share of the lead going into the final round, a rate of 63 percent. Singh was 18-14 (56 percent), which included a streak of converting 11 straight times over three years (2002-04) when the big Fijian was at the top of his game. Els had the best rate (75 percent) with the fewest opportunities of those three. His record is 12-4, though that’s only on the PGA Tour. And as a testament to Woods as the consummate closer in golf, Jack Nicklaus had a 38-25 record in his career. That’s 60 percent.
A8 | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
ENTERTAINMENT Joey Chestnut defends title at Review: ‘Snowfall’ is compelling and believable Nathan’s hot dog eating contest By Maylan L. Studart By Hank Stuever
ASSOCIATED PRE SS
WA S H INGT ON P O ST
From left, Malcolm Mays as Kevin, Damson Idris as Franklin, Isaiah John as Leon in the FX series, "Snowfall."
(because surely, to some, it was). Of “Snowfall’s” three parallel story lines, the one most in need of a disclaimer, I think, is a plot that all but connects the emergence of crack to a supposed CIA effort to sell drugs to raise money to buy arms for Central American rebels trying to overthrow communist regimes. That’s an old — and largely debunked — claim, which “Snowfall” presents in great detail as an openended matter of controversy. In addition to in-
troducing viewers to an entrepreneurial young man in South Central named Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) who will go from small-time marijuana dealer to becoming the neighborhood’s first crack kingpin, “Snowfall” zeros in on a semi-rogue CIA agent, Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), who is still stinging from an earlier mission failure and now acts on indirect orders to deliver arms to Nicaraguans, using a cocaine surplus to raise cash.
Bebeto Matthews / AP
Joey Chestnut wins the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, marking his 10th victory in the event on Tuesday in the Brooklyn borough of New York. He downed 72 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
Landing, New Jersey, who ate 60 franks and buns on his 24th birthday. Miki Sudo notched a fourth straight win in the
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Mark Davis/FX / TNS
NEW YORK — Joey “Jaws” Chestnut gulped, chomped and powered his way to a 10th title on Tuesday, continuing his record-setting reign as the chowing champion at the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest. Shoving water-soaked buns and wriggling franks into his mouth on a hot, sunny day on the Coney Island boardwalk, he downed 72 dogs and buns in 10 minutes to beat his own record and hoist the Mustard Belt for a 10th time. The San Jose, California, man bested up-and-comer Carmen Cincotti, of Mays
UN
Billed as a story about the L.A. origins of crack cocaine, FX’s engaging yet depressing 10-episode drama “Snowfall” is really about the many ways in which the drug trade recalibrates and eventually rots the morals of the people who engage in it. This is a theme that “Snowfall” and nearly all such drug-supply sagas in film and television have in common, asking a viewer to relate to the conflicted, all-too-human and ultimately murderous choices that get easier and easier to make when the deals go down, the money flows and the triggers are pulled. John Singleton, the “Boyz N the Hood” director who is “Snowfall’s “ co-creator (with Dave Andron and Eric Amadio), opens the series with a Technicolor paean to his South Central neighborhood as he remembers (or imagines) it to be in the summer of 1983, before the rise of crack: a tranquil setting serenaded by R&B and early rap songs that pulse from boomboxes, a world filled with boundless sunshine, good neighbors and ice-cream trucks. It’s here, with this blissful “before” shot, that “Snowfall” could most use a disclaimer or some sort of helpful caution that you should view the series entirely as a work of fiction. Not “based on.” Not “almost true” and often not anywhere near truth, except in the way that make-believe can achieve a convincing verisimilitude. “Snowfall” needs to come clean as a story, and not because it treats South Central as a paradise on the precipice of being lost
women’s competition. The Las Vegas woman ate 41 hot dogs and buns to beat Michelle Lesco of Tucson, Arizona, who downed 32 franks and buns. During the men’s competition, five people were taken into custody for trying to disrupt the event, police said. The people appeared to be attempting to unfold a black banner before police stopped them and took them away. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals members had been giving away free vegan hot dogs outside the event, but spokeswoman Tricia Lebkuecher said the people arrested inside weren’t affiliated with PETA.
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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 |
A9
BUSINESS
Shale gas drillers begin to show signs of life By Michael Rubinkam A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
Pennsylvania’s moribund drilling industry, which has struggled with persistently low prices and a dearth of infrastructure to get its product to market, is showing signs of life. Natural gas producers drilled 397 shale wells through the first six months of 2017, more than twice the number they sank in the same period last year. About 20 additional drilling rigs are exploring for natural gas. Fracking crews are suddenly in short supply. While the pace remains much slower than it was during the industry’s boom years earlier this decade, when a drilling frenzy transformed sleepy towns and rural areas into economic hotbeds, 2017 has produced a modest rebound and hope of better days ahead in the Marcellus Shale, the nation’s largest natural gas field. “There’s a cautious optimism out there right now,” said David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group. One big reason is that natural gas prices have recovered from 20-year lows, nearly doubling since last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Drillers had been battered by several years of rock-bottom prices caused by oversupply and inadequate pipeline capacity. The low prices were good for consumers, and businesses and manufacturers that use gas, but they cost energy companies billions and prompted some of them to stop drilling altogether. Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co., one of the most active producers in the Marcellus, drilled only two wells through the first six months of 2016. That has ramped up to 38 so far this year. “Markedly better prices, thus more cash flow and more capability to invest,” said Jack Bergeron, Southwestern’s senior vice president of operations. Drillers have also been encour-
By Morgan Lee ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Alex Brandon / AP
In this 2011 file photo, a drilling rig is set up to tap gas from the Marcellus Shale gas field, near a barn in the Susquehanna County township of Springville, Pennsylvania.
aged by the development of big pipeline projects like Rover, Mariner 2, Atlantic Sunrise and PennEast that will provide access to key markets. Power companies, meanwhile, are rushing to build new plants to take advantage of cheap Marcellus gas, providing another outlet. The nascent turnaround hasn’t extended to all corners of the vast gas field. Drillers are narrowly focusing their efforts on areas with the richest deposits of shale gas, in Pennsylvania’s extreme southwest and northeast. Three counties — Washington, Greene and Susquehanna — account for more than 60 percent of the wells drilled so far this year. Other counties remain quiet. “We’re in the first inning of a nine-inning game,” said Spigelmyer, who has long complained that Pennsylvania’s regulatory climate hinders growth and now worries about surging competition for investment dollars from the Permian Basin in Texas. “It’s not where it needs to be long-term to grow the play significantly and to grow all of the Marcellus, not just
part of it.” While the 2017 numbers are signs of an industry turning the corner, well counts and drilling rig numbers aren’t the measure of financial health they once were. Drillers have greatly improved efficiency, coaxing more gas out of each well by dramatically extending the wells’ horizontal lengths. That raises the economic value of the wells and reduces the number that producers need to drill to make money. “Longer laterals dramatically improve our returns,” Steve Schlotterbeck, chief executive of Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., told investors last month. EQT, Pennsylvania’s busiest driller, recently positioned itself to become the nation’s largest natural gas producer by announcing plans to acquire Rice Energy Inc. of Canonsburg, the state’s No. 3 producer, for $6.7 billion. In announcing the deal to investors, the company said it was bullish on the Marcellus, which Schlotterbeck called the “most economic natural gas basin in the country.”
Oil heads for longest gain in seven years By Grant Smith B L OOMBE RG NEWS
Oil advanced for a ninth day in New York, the longest gain since 2010, before U.S data forecast to show a further pullback in crude stockpiles. Futures added 0.5 percent in New York after advancing almost 11 percent the previous eight sessions. OPEC production in June climbed to the highest level this year as Libya and Nigeria ramped up output, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In the U.S., crude in-
Students caught in crossfire over school meal debts
ventories probably fell by 2.5 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg survey showed before a government report Thursday. While prices have surged in the past week, oil in New York and London posted a monthly loss in June after tumbling into a bear market on concerns that rising global supply will counter curbs from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners. U.S. crude inventories remain more than 100 million barrels above the five-year average.
“Supply growth will lag behind demand growth in the third quarter, and with that we should see large inventory draws,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG based in Zurich. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery was at $47.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 23 cents, at 3:29 p.m. local time. Total volume traded was about 64 percent below the 100-day average. The contract gained $1.03 to $47.07 on Monday. Brent for September settlement added 20
cents at $49.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.37 to September WTI. OPEC output rose by 260,000 barrels a day to 32.55 million a day in June, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. Half of the increase came from Libya and Nigeria, which aren’t bound by the group’s accord to cut, while Saudi Arabia boosted production by 90,000 barrels a day.
SANTA FE, N.M. — Teaching assistant Kelvin Holt watched as a preschool student fell to the back of a cafeteria line during breakfast in Killeen, Texas, as if trying to hide. “The cash register woman says to this 4year-old girl, verbatim, ‘You have no money,”’ said Holt, describing the incident last year. A milk carton was taken away, and the girl’s food was dumped in the trash. “She did not protest, other than to walk away in tears.” Holt has joined a chorus of outrage against lunchroom practices that can humiliate children as public school districts across the United States rethink how they cope with unpaid student lunch debts. The U.S. Agriculture Department is requiring districts to adopt policies this month for addressing meal debts and to inform parents at the start of the academic year. The agency is not specifically barring most of the embarrassing tactics, such as serving cheap sandwiches in place of hot meals or sending students home with conspicuous debt reminders, such as hand stamps. But it is encouraging schools to work more closely with parents to address delinquent accounts and ensure children don’t go hungry. “Rather than a hand stamp on a kid to say, ‘I need lunch money,’ send an email or a text message to the parent,” said Tina Namian, who oversees the federal agency’s school meals policy branch. Meanwhile, some states are taking matters into their own hands, with New Mexico this year becoming the first to outlaw school meal shaming and several others weighing similar laws. Free and reduced-price meals funded by the Agriculture Department’s National School Lunch Program shield the nation’s poorest children from so-called lunch shaming. Kids can eat for free if a family of four earns less than about $32,000 a year or at a
Morgan Lee / AP
In this May photo, third-grade student Lucas Jameson taps in his student identification number to deduct a meal payment at Gonzales Community School in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
discount if earnings are under $45,000. It’s households with slightly higher incomes that are more likely to struggle, experts on poverty and nutrition say. Children often bear the brunt of unpaid meal accounts. A 2014 federal report found 39 percent of districts nationwide hand out cheap alternative meals with no nutritional requirements and up to 6 percent refuse to serve students with no money. The debate over debts and child nutrition has spilled into state legislatures and reached Capitol Hill, as child advocacy groups question whether schools should be allowed to single out, in any way, a child whose family has not paid for meals. “There’s no limit to the bad behavior a school can have. They just have to put it in writing,” said Jennifer Ramo, executive director of New Mexico Appleseed, an advocacy group on poverty issues. “We live in a credit society. I think schools should handle debt like everybody else does: You don’t take away food from children. You feed them and you settle the bill later.” Spurred by Appleseed and others, New Mexico in April passed its antimeal-shaming law, which directs schools to work directly with parents to address payments and requires that children get a healthy, balanced meal regardless of whether debts are paid on time. Elsewhere, the California Senate in May unanimously approved a bill that prevents schools from denying lunch if a parent or guardian has not paid.
A10 | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 | THE ZAPATA TIMES
NATIONAL
Arizona won’t give Trump Parents of student voter registration info sue University of Alabama over suicide ASSOCIATED PRE SS
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The parents of a Texas woman who said she was raped while attending the University of Alabama have sued the alleged attacker, school officials and others, claiming the episode led to her suicide last year. A federal wrongful death lawsuit filed over the weekend by Michael and Cynthia Rondini of Austin, Texas, claims the alleged assault and officials’ subsequent mishandling of the allegations prompted Megan Rondini to kill herself. The lawsuit says Rondini, then a 20-year-old junior who planned to go to medical school, met a man at a popular Tuscaloosa bar in July 2015. She was later sexually assaulted at his home, possibly after being drugged, the
suit contends. Police investigating the sexual assault were sympathetic toward the man and wrongly focused on Rondini’s actions, which including taking a handgun and $3 for cab fare from his home, the lawsuit claims. “Megan ultimately was treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,” the suit said. The young woman withdrew from Alabama and returned home to Texas, where her mental condition deteriorated, according to the complaint. The man wasn’t charged, and the lawsuit claims investigators and university officials mishandled her allegations. The suit contends Rondini afterward suffered depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress
disorder, which her parents say led to her suicide. The lawsuit names the man, but The Associated Press is not using his name since he was not charged with a crime. It also names Beth Howard, Title IX coordinator at Alabama; Cara Blake of the school’s Women and Gender Resource Center; Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy; and two county officers, investigator Adam Jones and deputy Joshua Hastings. In a statement, the university declined comment on specifics of the lawsuit but said school officials were “deeply saddened” by Rondini’s death and are trying to raise community awareness and support victims of sexual assault. A lawyer for the man named in the lawsuit denied that he had sexually assaulted her.
Federal court blocks EPA on air pollution By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson WA S H INGT ON P O ST
WASHINGTON — An appeals court Monday struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s two-year suspension of new emission standards on oil and gas wells, a decision that could set back the Trump administration’s broad legal strategy for rolling back Obama-era rules. In a 2-to-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia concluded that the EPA had the right to reconsider a 2016 rule limiting methane and smog-forming pollutants emitted by oil and gas wells but could not delay the effective date for two years while it sought to rewrite the regulation. “The court’s ruling is yet another reminder, now
in the context of environmental protection, that the federal judiciary remains a significant obstacle to the president’s desire to order immediate change,” Richard Lazarus, an environmental law professor at Harvard Law School, said in an email. “The D.C. Circuit’s ruling today makes clear that neither the president nor his EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt can by fiat unilaterally and instantaneously repeal or otherwise stay the effectiveness of the environmental protection rules put into place during the Obama Administration,” he added. The EPA, along with the American Petroleum Institute, had argued that the stay Pruitt imposed last month was not subject to judicial review because it did not constitute final action on the
rule. In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Pruitt said, “Just because you provide a time for implementation or compliance that’s longer doesn’t mean that you’re going to necessarily reverse or redirect the rule.” But the court rejected that interpretation, writing, “EPA’s stay, in other words, is essentially an order delaying the rule’s effective date, and this court has held that such orders are tantamount to amending or revoking a rule.” The ruling could affect a myriad of agencies that have delayed the Obama administration’s regulations, some for long periods. And it underscores the extent to which activists are turning to the courts to block Trump’s most ambitious policy shifts.
PHOENIX — Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan has done an about-face and now says the state won’t provide extensive voter registration information to the Trump administration. In a statement Monday evening, Reagan said the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s request raises privacy concerns. Last Friday, Reagan said Arizona would hand over voter data to a commission looking into allegations of voter fraud. However, the state planned to withhold voters’ birth dates and Social Security numbers. Now, Reagan said the request for extensive voter information is not in the state’s best interest. Arizona joins a growing number of states that have balked at aiding President Donald Trump’s commission. Even some conservative states, such as Texas, say state laws only allow for partial responses. Numerous state resi-
Jarod Opperman / New York Times
This 2014 file photo shows an Arizona State University freshman, registering to vote at a campus event in Phoenix, Arizona.
dents reportedly sent emails to Reagan’s office over the weekend stating their objection to her handing over voter information. In a letter formally responding to the Trump administration’s request, Reagan wrote that “under normal circumstances, limited voter registration records could be provided to a member of the public upon payment of the requisite fee under Arizona law along with a statement of non-commercial use. But this appears to be no normal
request.” “Centralizing sensitive voter registration information from every U.S. state is a potential target for nefarious actors who may be intent on further undermining our electoral process,” she added. “Without any explanation how Arizona’s voter information would be safeguarded or what security protocols the Commission has put in place, I cannot in good conscience release Arizonans’ sensitive voter data for this hastily organized experiment.”
Off-duty officer kills man who was stabbing a woman ASSOCIATED PRE SS
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says an off-duty police officer has shot and killed a man who was stabbing a woman. Authorities tell Florida news outlets that Brunswick Officer Aldrid
Spaulding III was in the area Monday evening, and someone alerted him to a domestic dispute outside an apartment. The bureau says David Leon Bell was stabbing the woman when Spaulding arrived and the officer shot him. Brunswick police said
Tuesday that Bell had died at a hospital. The woman was reported in stable condition. Spaulding is on administrative leave during the bureau’s investigation, which is standard procedure. Brunswick is about 60 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida.
THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, July 5, 2017 |
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FROM THE COVER DACA From page A1
Roberty McLeroy / San Antonio Express-News
Jim Willett, warden of the the Walls unit of the Texas Department of Corrections, in Huntsville, rest his hands on the gurney used for lethal injection on death row.
Executions decline in Texas, nation By Keri Blakinger H OUSTON CHRONICLE
The death penalty is on the downswing - not just in Texas, but nationwide. A mid-year review by the Death Penalty Information Center found that the use of capital punishment is likely to hover near historic lows in 2017, with just 13 executions completed and 12 more slated to occur. Last year, just 14 executions had been carried out by mid-point in the year. Even the Lone Star State, which has typically been a heavy user of capital punishment, has seen a long-term drop in executions. In 2016, the state executed the fewest inmates it had in two decades, as the Chronicle reported in December. “The numbers show that the long-term historic decline in the use of the death penalty in the U.S. appears to be continuing,” said Robert Dunham, DPIC executive director Monday. Some of the factors at play in the changing trend could include legal uncertainties, moratoriums, and death penalty drug shortages. On top of those logistical issues, public opinion has slowly shifted away
from executions. A Pew Research Survey in 2016 found that support for the death penalty had fallen below 50 percent for the first time in almost half a century. “People feel much more comfortable with that alternative because if you make a mistake, you can fix it later,” ACLU senior staff attorney Brian Stull said last year. “That is certainly lurking in the background.” But the current dip may not be record-setting; as of now, 2017 execution figures look to be slightly above the 26-year-low seen in 2016. But, that could change depending on whether Ohio is able to carry out the five executions scheduled between now and December. Recent changes in Florida and Alabama that also have an impact on nationwide death penalty numbers. Both states’ legislatures repealed parts of their death penalty statutes. While Florida - with a push from the courts - eliminated the use of non-unanimous jury verdicts for death sentences, Alabama repealed the portion of its law that allowed judges to override juries on life sentence recommendations, Dunham said.
“We have to add on top of that that fewer counties are pursuing the death penalty, period, and the counties in which prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty are pursuing it less frequently and are obtaining death verdicts even less frequently than that,” he said. As a result, it’s possible 2017 could see a new low in death sentences handed out. So far, states have only doled out 16 death sentences. Last year saw just 31 by the end of the year. But even though Texas has witnessed a marked decrease in the use of capital punishment, it’s still near the head of the pack for the remainder of the year, with five executions scheduled for the second half of 2017. That could mean a slight overall increase over last year’s total death sentences nationwide. “When it comes to the number of executions, the key number is actually that longer-term trends remain intact,” Dunham said. “Three-year and five-year execution trends continue to go downward. Historically, executions continue to decline and when we look at the longterm picture, 2017 will continue that historic decline.”
US Army responds to North Korea’s launch with missile exercise By Dan Lamothe WA S H INGT ON P O ST
The U.S. Army and South Korean military responded to North Korea’s launch with their own exercise of missiles, launching them Tuesday into South Korean territorial waters along the country’s eastern coastline, U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement. The launches were directly in response to “North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions,” Pacific Command said. The Army used its Army Tactical Missile System and South Korea used its Hyunmoo Missile II, which can be deployed rapidly and provide “deep strike precision capability, Pacific Command said. The South Korean-U.S. military alliance “remains committed to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Asia-Pacific,” Pacific Command said. “The U.S. commitment to the defense of the [Republic of Korea] in the face of threats is ironclad.” Earlier Tuesday, North Korea launched a missile that flew higher and remained in the air longer than previous attempts,
The Army used its Army Tactical Missile System and South Korea used its Hyunmoo Missile II, which can be deployed rapidly and provide “deep strike precision capability, Pacific Command said.
enough to reach all of Alaska, experts said, in a milestone for North Korea’s weapons program. The Army describes the missiles it used as long-range, all-weather guided missiles. They are designed to be precise in nature, and can be used beyond the range of artillery and rockets. The U.S. missile system can be used to take out ground combat units, surface-to-surface missile units, air-defense units, helicopter re-arming and refueling systems or communications sites, according to an Army fact sheet. Some of the missiles in the system are designed to deliver a single, 500pound warhead on a target through the use of satellite guidance, while others distribute hundreds of smaller bomblets over a larger distance, according to the Army. Dana White, a Penta-
gon spokesperson, confirmed in a statement Tuesday night that the missile North Korea used was an intercontinental ballistic, and described it as a “escalatory launch.” “The launch continues to demonstrate that North Korea poses a threat to the United States and our allies,” White said. “Together with the Republic of Korea, we conducted a combined exercise to show our precision fire capability.” White said that the United States remains prepared to defend itself and allies and to use “the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea.” The United States seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korea Peninsula, and its commitment to its allies is ironclad, she added.
September. That increased the pressure on a president who campaigned on a tough-on-immigration platform to shutter what strict-enforcement advocates see as the most blatant flaunting of immigration law by the Obama administration. Now, Trump, who backpedaled on his promise to nix the program immediately and told potential recipients to "rest easy," has little more than two months to fulfill one of his fundamental campaign promises or continue the program and face a legal battle over a program he has called unconstitutional, which would lead to almost certain backlash from his base. "This is a question that everyone is asking," said Jessica Vaughan, policy director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration enforcement. "What is the president’s plan on DACA?" Trump supporters, many of whom backed him because of his promises to crack down on illegal immigration, are baffled by his inaction on the immigration program. "This was a promise made by President Trump in a clear and unambiguous way," Ray said. "It’s the one real soft spot that still remains in his immigration enforcement portfolio, which has been exemplary." On other immigration
RANCH From page A1 that a white toolbox was also stolen. “Zapata Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
EX-COP From page A1 interview request from the American-Statesman, is regularly hired by smaller police departments to conduct staffing analyses and to produce required annual reports on racial profiling. A page on the University of North Texas website advertising Fritsch’s services says reports “generally cost $1,500.” In 2015, a Midland City Council member questioned whether a Fritsch report that found the city’s police department does not engage in racial profiling fully addressed the issue. “Racial profiling is narrowly defined. It’s only when a citation is issued or an arrest made. So it doesn’t take into consideration all those times that people were stopped and a citation was not issued and an arrest not made,” Council Member John B. Love III said. “We might want to look at possible surveys from citizens on how they feel they are being treated. I can tell you the results would be alarming.” DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said Fritsch is a “highly qualified and experienced expert in racial profiling studies.” “It was important to enlist the services of someone in academia who has a demonstrated expertise and impeccable credentials in conducting comprehensive data analyses of police traffic stop data to detect racial profiling,” Vinger wrote in an email. “It was also important for the expert to fully understand law enforcement protocols and national best practices, and be capable of assessing an agency’s existing internal controls to prevent biased-based policing.” Contract change A September 2016 planning document shows that the agency originally planned to issue a request
issues like a border wall or a halt on travel and immigration from countries with ties to terrorism, Trump has shown strong initiative, if only relative success. But on DACA, immigration enforcement advocates say, Trump has been inexplicably reserved. "It’s sticking out like a sore thumb," said Ray, whose organization gave Trump the highest rating it’s ever given a president on immigration. Even more frustrating for immigration hardliners, Trump’s administration has not only continued renewing applications for people already participating, it’s also continued processing new applications. In the first three months of this year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services renewed 107,524 applications for the program. It also granted protection to 17,275 new applicants for the first time. Trump took office in late January, but the processing of applications has continued into his administration. "There’s no need to continue a program that was improper," Vaughan said. "The president could get rid of it with the stroke of a pen." For whatever reason, Trump has let the program remain. But Paxton’s letter has put the president on notice, forcing him to make a decision on an issue that’s important to his immigration hard-line base. "They’re absolutely exerting pressure," said
Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political science professor at the University of Texas. "Trump and DACA, it was always a gray area. One day he’d say he wouldn’t touch (them); the next, everyone is gone. The pressure from the base will be felt." And there are politics involved. Some Beltway insiders conjectured that Trump was holding on to the program as a bargaining chip to offer Democrats on other legislative actions important to him. Paxton’s threat has now thrown a wrench in those possibilities. "It definitely complicates any plans he had to keep it in place or to try to use it as leverage against Democrats to get concessions he is looking for on immigration," said David Bier, an immigration analyst for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington. "Congress isn’t going to be in session all throughout August, so there’s not much time to consider this and incorporate it into a strategy." Even if there were time, it would be a politically risky move. "I think the president’s failure to take action on DACA could become a serious problem for the White House," Vaughan said. "Trump supporters were willing to give him time to take action, but that time seems to have expired." Since the program’s implementation in 2012, about 800,000 unauthorized immigrants have received deportation relief.
reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the recovery of items and, or the arrest of the subjects responsible for the crime,” the Sheriff ’s Office said.
Those with information on the case are asked to call the Sheriff ’s Office at 956-765-9960 or Zapata Crime Stoppers at 765-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous.
for proposals, the first step in a competitive bidding process. But after Bodisch’s suggestion, the agency instead entered into a $194,000 ninemonth inter-agency agreement with Fritsch and his team of UNT researchers that began in December 2016. “DPS has the authority to contract directly with a state institution of higher education for subject matter expertise and services, which saves both time and taxpayer dollars,” Vinger said. “Contracts awarded under the Interagency Cooperation Act are exempt from the competitive procurement process.” The contract includes money for the researchers to present their work to the Legislature, but Fritsch, whose contract goes through Aug. 31, hasn’t yet completed his work and or shared it with state lawmakers. Rep. Garnet Coleman, who chairs a House committee that has looked into Baumgartner’s research, said he would have preferred for DPS to include researchers from different backgrounds in the project by including Baumgartner or another expert without police ties. “They could’ve brought both of them in to provide a more balanced analysis that wouldn’t be tainted or biased,” said Coleman, D-Houston. “I wish that it had been done with a search outside of Texas, too, to add more eyes to the study. That would make for a better outcome than to self-select.” Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said it is the right time for a deep dive on racial profiling in Texas due to the passage of Senate Bill 4, the new law banning so-called sanctuary cities that decline in some way to assist federal immigration enforcement. Democrats and immigrant advocates contend it will lead to increased racial profiling because it allows all state
and local police officers in the state to question the immigration status of pulled-over motorists. “I just don’t see how you can implement S.B. 4 without racial profiling. We expect it to happen even more,” said Garcia, who chairs the Senate Hispanic Caucus. “I’m glad that they hired someone. It shows that they’re taking some responsibility,” Disparities persist McCraw has maintained that DPS does not engage in or tolerate racial profiling, which is prohibited by law. But the agency has been reluctant to acknowledge that the stark disparities between how troopers treat Anglo drivers and minorities are a problem, despite dozens of cases in recent years in which motorists have filed formal complaints. In one 2013 case, the DPS inspector general determined that a trooper had engaged in racial profiling during a traffic stop, but McCraw overturned the decision. Because disparities in the rates at which minorities are searched exist in jurisdictions across the country, Baumgartner said he hopes that agencies will become less defensive when racial profiling issues arise. “The racial disparities are not only enormous, but they’re ubiquitous. The Texas DPS is not out of line by national norms, and that should make us all more concerned, not less concerned,” he said. “We shouldn’t be arguing about whether there is a disparity. ... Hopefully we’ll move to a new stage of it, which is explaining the disparities and coming up with proposals for how to reduce them.” Sean Collins Walsh writes for the Austin American-Statesman. Story Filed By Cox Newspapers For Use By Clients of the New York Times News Service
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