The Zapata Times 8/20/2016 by The Zapata Times

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MISS GALAXY 2017 CROWNED

Program faces an uncertain future DACA supporters, recipients eye initiative in Nov. election By Julián Aguilar THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Though still smarting from a June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that kept President Obama’s 2014 immigration program from being implemented, the undocumented population in Texas is taking a glass-half-full approach as it celebrates the four-year anniversary of another initiative that has benefited hundreds of thousands. But supporters and recipients of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, are also eyeing this November with full knowledge that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has DACA continues on A11

Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News file

Jennifer Ramirez from the Rio Grande Valley area joins hundreds during the immigration detention march and protest in Dilley, Texas on May 2, 2015.

JOAQUIN ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN

Son could be used as leverage By Christopher Sherman ASSOCIAT ED PRE SS

Courtesy photo

Vielka Belén Gutierrez, of Zapata, is crowned the International Title of Miss Teen Galaxy 2017 at the Galaxy International Pageant held in Orlando, Florida

Local teen wins international pageant title S P ECIAL T O T HE T IME S

iss Teen Texas Galaxy 2016, Vielka Belén Gutierrez, 16, of Zapata, has won the International Title of Miss Teen Galaxy 2017 at the Galaxy International Pageant, which was held in Orlando, Florida, from August 10 to 14. Vielka represented Zapata County as Miss

Teen Zapata County Galaxy 2016 at the Texas Galaxy Pageant, held May 28, 2016 in Edinburg, TX. She walked away with the state title of Miss Teen Texas Galaxy 2016 and the honor of representing the great state of Texas at the Galaxy International Pageant in Orlando. While in Orlando for the 2016 Galaxy International Pageant, Vielka competed against young ladies from around the world (AustraGalaxy continues on A11

MEXICO CITY — For the ambitious Jalisco New Generation cartel, it must have seemed like a gift: Imprisoned Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, partying at a gourmet restaurant deep in their territory. Seven gunmen swept into La Leche restaurant in Puerto Vallarta’s hotel district early Monday, taking the 16 people gathered there by surprise. Without firing a shot, they marched six men out. In a flash, 29-year-old Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar became a valuable potential bargaining chip — or a high-profile casualty — in the cartel turf battles that are wreaking havoc

in large swaths of Mexico. Analysts say Jalisco New Generation could try to use him as leverage to win territory or other gains from what has been the country’s dominant gang. “They can use him, if they’re astute ... to get concessions from the Sinaloa cartel and expand their moneymaking enterprise,” said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Jalisco New Generation formed from a splinter of the Sinaloa cartel after the death of Sinaloa boss Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel in 2010, and has rapidly expanded from its home base in the western state of Jalisco to the Gulf coast state of Leverage continues on A11

MEXICO

Human rights agency says police killed 22 at ranch By Lulu Orozco and Christopher Sherman A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

MEXICO CITY — Federal police killed at least 22 people on a ranch last year, then moved bodies and planted guns to corroborate the official account that the deaths happened in a gunbattle, Mexico’s human rights commission said Thursday. One police officer was killed in the confrontation in the western state of Michoacan on May 22, 2015. The government has said the dead were drug cartel suspects who were hiding out on the ranch in Tanh-

uato, near the border with Jalisco state. The National Human Rights Commission said there were also two cases of torture and four more deaths caused by excessive force. It said it could not establish satisfactorily the circumstances of 15 others who were shot to death. “The investigation confirmed facts that show grave human rights violations attributable to public servants of the federal police,” commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said. Mexico’s national security commissioner, Renato Sales, who oversees the federal police, denied the accusations, holding

his own news conference before the rights commission had finished its own. Sales said federal police ordered the suspects to drop their weapons and surrender, but were answered with gunfire. “The use of weapons was necessary and proportional against the real and imminent and unlawful aggression,” Sales said. “That is to say, in our minds they acted in legitimate defense.” The lopsided death toll had led to suspicions that officers might have arbitrarily killed people during the operation against suspected members of Police continues on A11

Refugio Ruiz / AP file

In this May 22, 2015 photo, Mexican state police stand guard near the entrance of Rancho del Sol, where a shootout with the authorities and suspected criminals happened near Vista Hermosa, Mexico.

Zin brief A2 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

MONDAY, AUGUST 22

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Today is Saturday, Aug. 20, the 233rd day of 2016. There are 133 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 20, 1866, months after fighting in the Civil War had ended, President Andrew Johnson issued Proclamation 157, which declared that “peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America.”

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 1

Spanish Book Club. 6–8 p.m. Laredo Public Library on Calton. For more information, contact Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27 1

Doctors Hospital at Renaissance 11th Annual “Fishing for Hope” Tournament. Louie’s Backyard, 2305 Laguna Blvd., South Padre Island.

MONDAY, AUGUST 29 1

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 1

Book sale. 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. No admission charge. Everyone is invited.

Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News file

A San Antonio man puts gas in his truck from a pump on October 15, 2015. The statewide gas price average in Texas is now $1.97 for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel.

GAS PRICE STAYS AT $1.97 AVERAGE

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 1

Chess Club. 4–6 p.m. Every Monday. Inner City Branch Library, 202 W. Plum St. Compete in this cherished strategy game played internationally. Free. For all ages and skill levels. Instruction is offered. 1 Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m. Every first Monday of the month. Doctors Hospital at the Community Center. Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call Nancy Santos at 956-285-5410. 1 Ray of Light anxiety and depression support group meeting. 6:30–7:30 p.m. Area Health Education Center, 1505 Calle del Norte, Suite 430. Every first 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.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 1 New Urbanism Film Festival. 7:30 p.m. In front of Plaza Theater, 1018 Hidalgo St. Block party hosted by City of Laredo’s Plan Viva Laredo and Plaza Partners.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 1

9th Annual Football Tailgaiting Cook-Off. 2–10 p.m. El Metro Park & Ride, 1819 E. Hillside. Admission is $2. There will be a finger ribs cook-off. The first place winner will get $1,500 in prize money. There will also be a fajita and beans cook-off as well as live music, a car show, food vendors, merchandise booths and more. The Animal Care Facility will be on site with pets up for adoption. For more information, call 286-9055.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 1

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 1

Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m. Every third Thursday of the month. Laredo Medical Center, A.R. Sanchez Cancer Center, Tower A, 1st Floor. Having cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life. However, support groups help many people cope with the emotional aspects of cancer by providing a safe place to share their feelings and challenges and learn from others who are facing similar situations. For more information, call Nancy Santos at 956-285-5410.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 1

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

The statewide gas price average in Texas is now $1.97 for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel, according to the AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch. That price is the same as last week and 40 cents less per gallon than last year. Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in the state, drivers in El Paso and Fort Worth are paying the most on average at $2.03 per gallon while drivers in San Antonio are paying the least at $1.91 per gallon. The national average price for a gallon

Unclear how end of private prison use will impact Texas HOUSTON — It was not clear on Friday how the Obama administration’s decision to phase out its use of some private prisons will affect five such facilities currently operating in Texas as well as the communities where they are located. But some of the private prison companies that operate these facilities said they are

of regular unleaded is now $2.13 which is the same as last week and 53 cents less per gallon than last year. As is frequently the case, the Midwest features the most dramatic pump price movement in the nation, including the only five states posting a weekly price change of more than a nickel. This past week’s direction was not uniform as prices in Michigan and Ohio have dropped at the same time prices in Kentucky, Indiana and Minnesota have jumped. Motorists in the Midwest are used to these sorts of price swings.

hopeful the federal government contracts up for renewal in the next few months will be approved and allow them to continue running several of the prisons. In a memo to the Bureau of Prisons that was made public Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told it to start reducing “and ultimately ending” the Justice Department’s use of private prisons. The federal prison population is now at 193,299. Private prisons hold about 22,100 of these inmates. Texas

has more than 9,300 of those— more than any other state in the U.S. These inmates in Texas are housed at five facilities — four in West Texas and one in Central Texas — that are run by three companies. During separate conference calls on Friday, officials with two of these companies — Corrections Corp. of America and the GEO Group Inc. — expressed disappointment with Thursday’s announcement and defended themselves. — Compiled by AP reports

Scars showing on youngest victims of Louisiana floods

Michael Kunzelman / AP

Amanda Burge looks at flood damage with two of her three children at her home in Denham Springs, La.

six children, ages 6 to 17, have slept in cars, a shelter and a hotel room in the week since they had to be rescued by boat. The flooding wrecked their home in Livingston Parish, where one official has estimated that three-quarters of the residences are a total loss after more than 2 feet of rain fell in three days.

Ten years ago: Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship, closing with a 4-under 68 for a 5-shot victory over Shaun Micheel and his 12th career major. Five years ago: Israel issued a rare apology for the deaths of three Egyptian soldiers who were killed during a cross-border attack blamed on Palestinians. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived in Russia’s Far East on a nearly weeklong visit. Jordyn Wieber won her first title at the U.S. gymnastics championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, in a rout, finishing with 121.30 points, 6.15 points ahead of McKayla Maroney. One year ago: With a broad smile and an upbeat attitude, former President Jimmy Carter told a news conference in Atlanta that he had cancer in his brain, and felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” (In March 2016, Carter announced that recent scans had shown no signs of cancer and that he no longer needed to receive doses of an immune-boosting drug.)

AROUND THE NATION

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. — Michelle Parrott’s children hear thunder when there is no storm. When rain does fall, they ask their mother if the floodwaters are rising again. In flood-ravaged pockets of south Louisiana, mental scars are already showing on the youngest victims of a disaster that prompted more than 30,000 rescues and left an estimated 40,000 homes damaged. Children who endured harrowing rescues are returning home to a jarring landscape that even their parents can scarcely grasp: Homes filled with ruined possessions need to be quickly gutted. Scores of damaged schools and daycare centers are closed indefinitely. Parents juggling jobs and cleanup work must also line up caretakers for their kids. Parrott, her husband and her

On this date: In 1833, Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio. In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow. In 1914, German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I. In 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force before the House of Commons, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Coyoacan, Mexico by Ramon Mercader. (Trotsky died the next day.) In 1953, the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure. In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive. In 1972, the Wattstax concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 1977, the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature. In 1986, postal employee Patrick Henry Sherrill went on a deadly rampage at a post office in Edmond, Oklahoma, shooting 14 fellow workers to death before killing himself. In 1989, entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik. Fifty-one people died when a pleasure boat sank in the River Thames in London after colliding with a dredger. In 1994, Benjamin Chavis Jr. was fired as head of the NAACP after a turbulent 16-month tenure.

“The emotional toll on the kids has been heavy. They’re all in a bit of shock and stress and having meltdowns and tantrums,” Parrot said. “Trying to get back into their routine is going to be difficult when we don’t know what the future holds for us.” — Compiled from AP reports

Today’s Birthdays: Writer-producerdirector Walter Bernstein is 97. Boxing promoter Don King is 85. Former MLB All-Star Graig Nettles is 72. Broadcast journalist Connie Chung is 70. Musician Jimmy Pankow (Chicago) is 69. Actor Ray Wise is 69. Actor John Noble is 68. Rock singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 68. Country singer Rudy Gatlin is 64. Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 64. Actor-director Peter Horton is 63. TV weatherman Al Roker is 62. Actor Jay Acovone is 61. Actress Joan Allen is 60. Movie director David O. Russell is 58. TV personality Asha Blake is 55. Actor James Marsters is 54. Rapper KRS-One is 51. Actor Colin Cunningham is 50. Actor Billy Gardell is 47. Rock singer Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) is 46. Rock musician Brad Avery is 45. Actor Jonathan Ke Quan is 45. Actor Misha Collins is 42. Rock singer Monique Powell (Save Ferris) is 41. Jazz/pop singer-pianist Jamie Cullum is 37. Actor Ben Barnes is 35. Actress Meghan Ory is 34. Actor Andrew Garfield is 33. Actor Brant Daugherty is 31. Actress-singer Demi Lovato is 24. Thought for Today: “Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything.” — Floyd Dell, American writer (1887-1969).

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 1

Spaghetti lunch. Noon–1:30 p.m. Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church. No admission fee. Free-will donations accepted.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 1

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 1

Book sale. 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Widener Book Room, First United Methodist Church. No admission charge. Everyone is invited.

AROUND THE WORLD Haiti welcomes UN admission, plans to assist victims PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A U.N. acknowledgment that it played a role in introducing cholera to Haiti and vows to aid victims were welcomed Friday in the Caribbean nation, which has experienced the worst outbreak of the disease in recent history. While the number of cholera cases has been significantly

reduced from the initial outbreak in 2010, the fact that the preventable disease is still routinely sickening and killing Haitians is galling to many. “The U.N. brought this sickness to Haiti so they need to pay the country back. A lot of people got sick, a lot have died,” said Michelle Raymond, who said her young son nearly died of the waterborne disease in 2013. This week, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq acknowledged the United Nations’ “own involvement” in the

CONTACT US introduction of cholera to impoverished Haiti and pledged that “a significantly new set of U.N. actions” will be presented in the next two months. On Friday, Haq added that “the United Nations has a moral responsibility to the victims.” He said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is developing a package that would provide “material assistance” to cholera victims in Haiti, indicating for the first time that people affected will get financial help from the U.N. — Compiled from AP reports

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

STATE

State prisons forced to hit target cuts Man charged in By Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ already understaffed prisons would need to cut 1,200 guards from the largest state correctional system in the U.S. if forced to fully implement budget cuts suggested by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, prison officials said Thursday. Losing more than $200 million would also reduce health care for about 147,000 inmates statewide, cut money for their meals and eliminate hundreds of beds starting in 2018. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said those are the consequences of

slashing 4 percent of its budget — a target Abbott wants all agencies to consider amid Abbot sagging oil prices that signal a tighter Texas budget is looming. Identifying cuts are only a starting point for now, and while Texas prisons may ultimately not lose a dime, competition for funding will likely be fierce once the Legislature reconvenes in January. Prison officials unveiled what a budget squeeze would look like at an Austin meeting that included a moment of silence for cor-

rectional officer Mari Johnson, who was killed by an inmate at a maximum security, all-male facility in July. Texas prisons currently have thousands of guard vacancies, but criminal justice department Executive Director Bryan Collier said lockups would still operate safely even if forced to shed more positions. “They’re safely operated right now with 2,000 less,” Collier said. “We always meet our priority positions.” State prisons are currently operating within about 2 percent of capacity, agency spokesman Jason Clark said. The prison population has dropped by about 9,000 inmates since 2011 amid new

diversion efforts and sentencing reforms. A slumping energy sector has Republican lawmakers warning that tough budget choices are on the horizon. Texas’ comptroller last fall shaved $3 billion off revenue projections during the oil bust, and sales tax revenues are down compared to last year. State leaders maintain, however, that Texas will not be socked with massive budget shortfalls that have upended other energy-producing states. But Abbott still ordered state agencies this summer to come forward with budget proposals that are 4 percent lighter for 2018-19.

shop owner’s beating and decapitation ASSOCIATED PRE SS

HOUSTON — A 62-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in the beating and decapitation of a Houston auto-parts shop owner. A Houston police statement says Raymond Jackson was arrested Friday in the death of 58-year-old Enayatolah Khorsand at his shop in southern Houston. Homicide detectives say passers-by reported shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday that Khorsand’s decapitated body was found lying on the floor of his shop. Investigators determined that Jackson was a regular visitor to the shop, but no motive for the killing has been determined.

Texas court halts the execution of man who didn’t pull trigger By Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN, Texas — A court on Friday halted the execution of a Texas man who was scheduled to die for a fatal 1996 robbery in which he wasn’t the person who pulled the trigger. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 7-2 to put Jeffery Wood’s execution on hold. Wood, 43, was scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday. The case has drawn highly unusual opposition from Republican lawmakers. It has captured attention across the U.S. over his culpability in the shooting of a convenience store clerk, Wood’s mental competence and criticism surrounding his

original trial. In a two-page opinion, the appeals court said Wood the death sentence was based on false testimony and false scientific evidence. Those claims were based on the testimony of a since-discredited psychiatrist that Wood would certainly pose a future risk to public safety. Wood’s attorney, Jared Tyler, who had sought the stay last month, said “the court did the right thing” in halting the execution and returning the case to a state district court in Kerrville, Kerr County, to have the claims resolved. Wood and his friend

Wood and his friend Daniel Reneau were convicted in the shooting death of a 31-year-old store clerk during a robbery in the Texas Hill Country. Wood waited in a car while Reneau shot the clerk in the face. Wood was convicted of capital murder under what’s known as the Texas law of parties, which makes a participant in a capital murder case equally culpable. Daniel Reneau were convicted in the shooting death of a 31-year-old store clerk during a robbery in the Texas Hill Country. Wood waited in a car while Reneau shot the clerk in the face. Wood was convicted of capital murder under what’s known as the Texas law of parties, which

makes a participant in a capital murder case equally culpable. Reneau was executed in 2002. “Justice is not served by executing Mr. Wood, who was outside the building when it happened and who had no criminal history,” Tyler said in a statement Friday. “Three

former jurors have said they feel the government’s presentation to them of a discredited psychiatrist who predicted with certainty, and without evaluating Mr. Wood, that Mr. Wood would be criminally violent in the future was unfair. ... The jurors no longer support a death sentence.” One Republican legislator already had formally asked the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles to recommend commuting Wood’s death sentence to life imprisonment, and GOP state Rep. Jeff Leach had said before the ruling that he was collecting a bipartisan set of signatures for a similar letter to be sent this weekend. Leach, who said he still supports capital punish-

ment, is part of a Republican-controlled Legislature that has long made efforts by Democrats to abolish the death penalty a non-starter in Texas. But he says Wood doesn’t deserve to die. Leach, however, said that’s not what troubles him. He instead pointed to concerns about Wood’s mental competency and the handling of his trial. A federal judge halted the original execution date in 2008 so that Wood — who was once found to have been mentally incompetent to stand trial — could be tested to determine whether he understood why he would be put to death. Tests showed Wood was competent, and courts have upheld those findings.

Zopinion

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A4 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

I’ll vote for someone, just not either of those two By Christine M. Flowers P H ILA D E LPHI A DAI LY NEWS

On the whole, I’m an imperfect Catholic, but there is one particular area of my Christian identity in which I excel: guilt. Jews talk a lot about the concept, and have even built some cultural traditions around it, but, to my knowledge, no one else has actually created an entire sacrament devoted to cleansing your culpable soul. Again. And again. And, my mea maxima, again. I can feel guilty about stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk (my mother’s back was quite fragile,) guilty about killing the mosquito that is harpooning my upper arm, guilty, even, about the homeless person who looks at the sandwich I’ve offered and says, "I don’t eat meat." If guilt were quantum physics, I’d be Stephen Hawking. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my father, and, if you bear with me, you will see the seamless symmetry of my introduction. Daddy wasn’t the sort of person to wallow in guilt, although I’m quite certain he was well acquainted with this shadow friend. He just didn’t talk much about it. Instead, he internalized his feelings and manifested whatever penance he thought he owed through action. My father was not a privileged man, and he didn’t have a privileged childhood, but he did understand that even the hardships of living with alcoholic parents on the wrong side of West Philadelphia were still less than the hardships suffered by young blacks down south during Jim Crow. So when he graduated from law school, he took time off before joining that whiteshoe law firm and went to Mississippi to register blacks for voting, and public office. I’ve written about that before, many times, and I don’t have to go into much detail about the run in with the Ku Klux Klan or the young Philadelphia lawyer’s horror at being called a "white n - " by little children. Daddy did his job, came home, and didn’t say much more about it until the year he spent dying. That’s when he started to write his memoir, never finished, and put those flashes of sad and bitter remembrance to yellow onionskin. Reading them after his death, I realized two things: (1) Daddy was a gutsy man and (2) his highest religion was the Constitution and its imperfect, but unequivocal promise of equality. But as I said before, his daughter’s religion is Catholicism (as was his) and along with the majesty of the Mass and the glory of

the Trinity comes the obligation of guilt. And now I’ll tie my father and my faith together for you. Daddy risked his life to make sure other Americans not as blessed as he was could vote. He could have spent the summer of 1967 enjoying his new baby boy or making serious 1960s money at the firm, or even yawning his way through an extra year as a Nationwide Insurance adjuster. He could have gone to baseball games (although in 1967 the Phillies finished a mediocre fifth in the National League standings), could have taken a road trip with some buddies, could have rented a hut somewhere in Seaside Heights, one without plumbing. But instead, he went to Mississippi one year before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and three years after young civil-rights workers were murdered in that other Philadelphia. Voting meant that much to him. It means that much to me, because of him. I never walked across my own Edmund Pettis bridge, and I never had to fight to get to a polling place. No one ever tried to deprive me of my birthright, which, had I been born in 1861 and not 1961 would have been unthinkable. In this country, voting is the most precious incident of citizenship, and when I see how my immigration clients fight to earn it for themselves, I wonder how anyone could ever take it lightly. But then, this year happened. I was presented with the most mediocre candidates this country could extract from its bowels, a man and a woman who reflect the basest and most troubling aspects of our identity. The man wants to use false labels to turn foreigners into criminals and terrorists, while the woman lies and says that abortion is "health care." The man ridicules war heroes, and the woman calls Republicans and other political opponents "terrorists." I could go on, and I have in other columns, where I’ve lamented the putrid quality of the candidates, but I don’t really have the stomach. It has gotten to the point that I’ve said I will not vote for either of the horror shows presented for daily inspection. That has elicited the usual partisan flame-throwing from both sides, and I now expect that no one will be happy with whatever I say about anything, anytime, anyhow. But that’s not the point. I don’t really care what other people think about my "non-choice." Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.

COLUMN

Is the US as great as US athletes?

“

DAVID BROOKS

Pessimism has flavored this election campaign. America is in decline. The country is on the wrong track. We’re getting our clocks cleaned in global trade deals. We’re still suffering from the humiliation of Iraq. The share of Americans who say that democracy is a “fairly bad” or “very bad” system of government is rising sharply. A quarter of young Americans feel that way, according to data drawn from the World Values Survey. A majority of young Americans believe that the United States should stay out of world affairs, according to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs report. Yet when you watch the Olympics, we don’t seem like some sad-sack country in terminal decline. If anything, the coverage gets a little boring because we’re always winning! And the winners have such amazingly American stories and personality types (Biles, Ledecky, and, yes, Lochte). American Olympic performance has been astoundingly consistent over the recent decades. With rare exceptions, we can be counted on to win between 101 and 110 medals Olympiad after Olympiad. The 2016 team seems on pace to win at least that many. We’re not great when measured by medals per capita (New Zealand, Denmark, Hungary, Australia and Britain are the big winners there), but America does have more medals than any other nation in history, and that

But America’s economic success is like our Olympic success, writ large. The nation’s troubles are evident, but our country has sound fundamentals. The American dollar is by far the world’s currency. The Food and Drug Administration is the benchmark for medical standards. The American patent system is the most important in the world. lead is widening. Moreover, America doesn’t win because we have better athletes (talent must be distributed equally). America does well because it has such great systems for preparing athletes. Medals are won by institutions as much as by individuals. The Germans have a great system for training kayakers, equestrians and throwers — the discus or javelin. The U.S. has amazing institutions to prepare jumpers, swimmers, basketball players, gymnasts, runners and decathletes. The big question is: Is the greatness of America’s sports institutions reflective of the country’s strong institutions generally, or is it more like the Soviet Union’s sports greatness, a Potemkin show masking national rot? Well, if you step outside the pall of the angry campaign rhetoric, you see that America’s institutions are generally quite strong. Over the past decades, some developing countries, like Brazil, India and China, posted glitzy economic growth numbers. But those countries are now all being hampered by institutional weakness and growth is plummeting. But America’s economic success is like our Olympic success, writ

large. The nation’s troubles are evident, but our country has sound fundamentals. The American dollar is by far the world’s currency. The Food and Drug Administration is the benchmark for medical standards. The American patent system is the most important in the world. Nine of Forbes’ 10 most valuable brands are American (Apple, Google, IBM and so on). The U.S. is the leading energy producer. We have 15 (at least!) of the world’s top 20 universities, while Hollywood is as dominant as ever. America is also quite good at change. The median age in the U.S. is 37.8, compared with 46.5 for both German and Japan. The newer a technology is the more the U.S. is likely to dominate it — whether it’s the cloud or the sharing economy. According to The Economist, 91 percent of online searches are done through American companies’ services, and 99 percent of smartphones run on Americanmade operating systems. Some American industries have declined, but others are rising. American fund managers handle 55 percent of the world’s assets. American businesses host 61 percent of the world’s social media users. On the campaign circuit, global trade is por-

LETTERS POLICY Laredo Morning Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer's first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the

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.

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

trayed as this great national disaster. We’re being destroyed by foreigners! The Trans-Pacific Partnership was the central dominating boogeyman at the Democratic National Convention, especially among people who have no clue what’s in it. In fact, America succeeds in global trade about as well as at the Olympics. We rank third, behind Switzerland and Singapore, in global competitive rankings put out by the World Economic Forum. When trade is leveled by international agreements, American firms take advantage and win customers. As Robert B. Zoellick noted recently in The Wall Street Journal, in the first five years after the U.S. has concluded freetrade agreements, the country’s exports to those places have risen three times faster than overall export growth. Over the past five years, Zoellick wrote, the U.S. has run a $320 billion trade surplus in manufactured goods with its freetrade partners. The country’s farmers and ranchers boosted exports to free-trade partners by 130 percent between 2003 and 2013. In one important way sports is not like economics. In Rio there are only three medals in each event. Global trade is not zero-sum. It spreads vast benefits across societies, while undeniably hurting some businesses in narrow fields along the way. Of course, we have to take care of those who are hurt, but the biggest threat now is unmerited pessimism itself, and the stupid and fearful choices that inevitably flow from it. David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION OFFICE PUBLIC INFORMATION | CHILD FIND/CHILD SERVE Do you know a child or a student ages 0-21 who shows signs of developmental delay, on-going learning problems, behavioral or medical problems that interfere with learning? Do you suspect the presence of a disability?

¿Conoce Ud. algùn niño o algùn estudiante entre la edad de 0 a los 21 años que demuestre retraso del desarrollo, problemas de aprendizaje, problemas de salud o problemas de comportamiento que se interponen con su aprendizaje? ¿Sospecha Ud. la presencia de algùn impedimento?

Zapata County Independent School District hasw an on-going process in identifying locating, and evaluating any children/students residing within the district who are in need of special education and related services. Please contact any of of the following for referral information:

El distrito escolar del condado de Zapata tiene un proceso para identificar, localizar y evaluar niños o alumnos dentro del distrito escolar que tienen necesidad de educaciòn especial o de servicios relacionados. Para màs informaciòn avor de comunicarse con alguna de las siguientes personas:

Gerardo Garcia

Elsa Martinez

Carmen G. Zavala

Diana Brandon

Dahlia Garcia

Juanita Lovejoy

Marlen Guerra

Elma Almaraz

Ana Perez

Principal Zapata High School Box 3750 Zapata, Texas 78076 956-765-0280 Principal A.L. Benavides Elementary P.O. Box 219 San Ygnacio, Texas 78067 956-765-5611 Principal Fidel & Andrea R. Villarreal Elem. Box 3637 Zapata, Texas 78076 956-765-4321

Principal Zapata Middle School Box 3636 Zapata, Texas 78076 956-765-6542

Director of Special Instructional Services P.O. Box 158 Zapata, Texas 78076 956-765-6130

Principal Zapata South Elementary Box 2030 Zapata, Texas 78076 956-765-4332

Child Find Specialist Region One ESC 1900 West Schunior Edinburg, Texas 78539 1-800-274-7346

Principal Zapata North Elementary Box 3224 Zapata, TX78076 956-765-6917

ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION OFFICE CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS AS A PARENT OF A STUDENT WITH A DISABILITY OR ADULT STUDENT WITH A DISABILITY (18 YEARS OR OLDER OR MARRIED), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: 1. RECEIVE A LIST OF THE TYPE AND LOCATION OF YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATIONAL RECORDS WHICH ARE COLLECTED, MAINTAINED, OR USED BY THE SCHOOL (34 CFR 300.565); The student’s records are maintained at the Special Education Office located at 17th & Carla Street and at the school the student attends. The referral information, the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee reports, the related service reports, assessment reports, and any correspondence pertaining to the student is kept in the main folder at the Special Education Office. The school folder contains the copies of the Admission, Review, or Dismissal (ARD), and Individual Educational Plan. 2. INSPECT AND REVIEW ALL OF YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATIONAL RECORDS WITHOUT UNNECESSARY DELAY AND BEFORE ANY IEP MEETING OR DUE PROCESS HEARING AND IN NO CASE MORE THAN 45 DAYS AFTER YOUR REQUEST (34 CFR 300.562). When you and/or a student makes the request, the Director of Special Instructional Services will ensure that before records are made available, identification will be required when the request is received from an individual of the specified classification who is not personally known. Each request will be honored as soon as possible, but the time will be no longer than fortyfive days. The superintendent of schools will be notified if a request cannot be honored in time. A suitable place for record inspection will be provided by the Director of Special Instructional Services. The Director will see that a notification is placed in the student record folder indicating date of access, name of individual obtaining access, and reason for inspection. 3. SEE A LIST OF THOSE PERSONS, BESIDES YOU OR AUTHORIZED SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, WHO HAVE SEEN YOUR CHILD’S EDUCTIONAL RECORDS AND WHY THEY SAW THEM. (34 CFR 300.563) The district will not honor requests for personally identifiable information or records unless authorized by written consent by the parent/guardian or eligible student unless requested by responsible school officials needing the information to provide educational services to the student. Responsible school officials are considered to be representatives of the school listed in Texas Education Agency, Region One Education Center, and the United States Government. The Director will be responsible to determine that representatives of the agencies listed above have a legitimate need to the information to carry out an audit or monitoring function. The list of the persons who have seen your child’s records will be maintained in the individual student folder for seven consecutive years. The Director of Special Instructional Services assumes the responsibility for ensuring the confidentiality of any personally identifiable information.

Project Niño Director 5709 Springfield Laredo, Texas 78041 956-728-1769

DISTRITO ESCOLAR INDEPENDIENTE DEL CONDADO DE ZAPATA OFICINA DE EDUCACION ESPECIAL DERECHOS CONFIDENCIALES USTED, COMO PADRE DE UN ESTUDIANTE CON IMPEDIMENTOS, O ESTUDIANTE ADULTO CON IMPEDIMENTOS DE 18 ANOS EN ADELANTE O CASADO TIENE EL DERECHO DE: 1. RECIBIR UNA LISTA DONDE SE LOCALIZA LOS ARCHIVOS Y TIPO DE EDUCACION QUE RECIBE SU HIJO(A) QUE SE CONSERVAN, O QUE SE UTILIZAN EN LAS ESCUELAS (34 CFR 300.565); Los archivos de los estudiantes se conservan en la oficina del Departamento de Educaciòn Especial ubicada en 17th & Carla asì como en la escuela a la que asiste el estudiante. La informaciòn de referencia, el reporte del comitè de Admisiòn, Repaso, y Retiro (ARD), reporte de servicios relacionados, reportes de evaluaciòn, y correspondencia que estè relacionada con el estudiante se conservan en el archivo principal en la oficina del Departamento de Educaciòn Especial. El archivo que permanece en la escuela contiene copias del reporte de Admisiòn, Repaso y Retiro (ARD), reportes del comitè, y El Plan Individual de Educaciòn (IEP). 2. REVISAR Y REPASAR TODOS LOS ARCHIVOS EDUCATIVOS DE SU HIJO(A) SIN TENER QUE ESPERAR MUCHO TIEMPO, Y ANTES DE CUALQUIER JUNTA DE IEP O AUDIENCIA, Y POR NINGUN MOTIVO ESPERAR MAS DE 45 DIAS DESPUES DE HACER SU SOLICITUD (34 CFR 300.562). Cuando usted o el estudiante hace la solicitud, el Director del Programa de Instrucci ón Especial, deberà solicitar, ya sea por escrito o verbalmente, que estos archivos le sean proporcionados. El Director se reserva el derecho de pedir identificaciòn al solicitante, si este no es ampliamente conocido. Cada solicitud serà atendida lo màs pronto posible, y siempre antes de los 45 dias. Se darà aviso oportunamente al Superintendente de las escuelas si por algun motivo la solicitud no puede ser atendida dentro de los 45 dìas. El Director del Programa de Instrucci ón Especial asignarà un lugar apropiado para el repaso de los archivos. El Director anotarà en el archivo del estudiante la fecha en que se llevò a cabo el repaso del archivo, el nombre de la persona que hizo la solicitud, y la razòn por la cual se hizo el repaso. 3. TENER ACCESO A L A LISTA DE PERSONAS, ADEMAS DE USTED O PERSONAL AUTORIZADO DE LAS ESCUELAS, QUE HAN TENIDO ACCESO A LOS ARCHIVOS EDUCATIVOS DE SU HIJO(A) Y LA RAZON POR LO CUAL FUERON REVISADOS (34 CFR 300.563). El distrito no atenderà la solicitud para la revisiòn de archivos con informaciòn personal si no està autorizada por escrito por los padres/tutores o estudiante elegible y solamante se està autorizado por algùn oficial responsable de la escuela que necesite la informaciòn para prestar servicios educativos al estudiante. Oficial responsable de la escuela se considera a aquellas personas que se considera sean representantes de la escuela segùn la lista del Boletìn de la Agencia de Educaciòn de Texas, Centro Educativo Region I, la Agencia de Educaciòn de Texas, y el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. El Director tendrà a su cargo la responsibilidad de verificar que las razones de los representantes de las agencias arriba mencionadas sean legìtimas y necesarias para llevar acabo una auditorìa o para supervisar las actividades. Una lista de las personas que han revisado el archivo de su hijo(a) se mantendràn en el archivo personal del estudiante por un perìodo de siete años consecutivos. El Director del Programa de Instrucci ón Especial es responsable de mantener informaciòn confidencial y no podrà dar ninguna informaciòn a la persona sin presentar propia identificaciòn y consentimiento de los padres o tutor.

If you have any concerns regarding the confidentiality rights, feel free to write or call:

Si tiene alguna duda sobre sus derechos confidenciales, puede llamar o escribir a:

CARMEN G. ZAVALA DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES 1302 Glenn Street / P.O. BOX 158 ZAPATA, TEXAS (956) 765-6130 (956) 765-3967 Fax

CARMEN G. ZAVALA DIRECTOR DEL PROGRAMA DE EDUCACION ESPECIAL 1302 Glenn Street / P.O. Box 158 Zapata, Texas 78076 (956) 765-6130 (956) 765-3967 Fax

A6 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Buses collide, killing 2 and injuring 17 By David Porter A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEWARK, N.J. — Two commuter buses slammed into each other in downtown Newark on Friday morning, killing a veteran driver and a passenger and injuring 17 others, including several critically, authorities said. A New Jersey Transit bus just starting its route and carrying no passengers slammed into the side of another NJ Transit bus carrying about 20 passengers at around 6 a.m. at a downtown intersection. Joseph Barthelus, the driver of the bus carrying no passengers, was killed. He had worked for NJ Transit for 27 years, the agency said. A female passenger on the other bus died later

Friday, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County prosecutor’s office. “This is a tragic day for New Jersey Transit,” interim Executive Director Dennis Martin said Friday. “Our organization is in mourning today.” Martin said the driver of the bus carrying passengers, 35-year-veteran James Roberts, was treated and released from the hospital. Martin said both drivers were in good standing with the agency. At an afternoon news conference, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said University Hospital reported one person in critical condition, five in serious condition, four in fair condition and four in good condition. Jennifer Petrain was opening up a Starbucks

about 100 yards from where the accident occurred. She said she heard a crash “like an explosion” and ran outside. She said she and a co-worker brought ice water, rags and a first aid kit. “We were there before anybody was on the scene,” Petrain said. “It was terrible. We saw people with head injuries, leg injuries.” Investigators were trying to determine if Barthelus ran a red light, Baraka said. “We’re praying for all of those in the hospital,” Baraka said. The intersection where the crash occurred was the first in the state, in 2009, to feature a surveillance camera designed to catch people running red lights. Then-Mayor Cory

Bryan Anselm / The New York Times

Firefighters on hand at the scene where one New Jersey Transit bus T-boned another in downtown Newark on Friday morning, killing a veteran driver and a passenger and injuring 17 others.

Booker conducted a demonstration in which he purposely rode through a red light. The red light camera program ultimately expanded to about two dozen towns and cities in New Jersey before it was discontinued in 2014 amid controversy and lawsuits. Officials in Newark and other towns claimed the red light cameras reduced accidents. Critics

disputed that and said the cameras were mainly used to rake in cash for cities and towns. The force of Friday’s crash left Barthelus’ bus embedded in the side of the other bus, which had come to rest on a traffic median tipped at a 30degree angle. Firefighters pulled passengers through a side window and loaded them onto waiting stretchers and into ambulances.

The crash occurred as Barthelus’ bus began its route between Newark and Dunellen; the other bus was traveling between Irvington and Clifton, NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said. The Essex County prosecutor is investigating the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board said it wasn’t involved in the investigation.

Zika found in South Beach, spraying not possible By Jennifer Kay ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

A buildup of natural gas caused an explosion and fire that killed seven people and injured dozens.

Natural gas blamed in apartment explosion that killed 7 people By Matthew Barakat A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SILVER SPRING, Md. — A buildup of natural gas caused an explosion and fire that killed seven people and injured dozens of others at a Maryland apartment building last week, investigators said Friday. The exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation, but Daniel Board, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Baltimore field division, said at a news conference that authorities have found no evidence that anyone intentionally caused the explosion or fire. But he also declined to officially classify the incident as accidental. The Aug. 10 explosion at the Flower Branch apartments shook homes more than a mile away. Some residents reported smelling natural gas before the explosion; officials also had been called to the building July 25 by residents who reported smelling gas. Board said Friday that the explosion occurred in the meter room in the basement of the fourstory, garden-style apartment building, and natural gas then fueled the fire that spread quickly and also damaged an adjacent building. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents involving gas pipelines, is now leading the investigation. Ravi Chhatre, a senior pipeline investigator, said it will likely be a year before the board issues a full report on the exact cause of the explosion. Brian Geraci, the Maryland state fire marshal, said the apartment complex did not have any devices in place to detect leaks of natural gas, and wasn’t required to under state or local fire codes. Board said that nearly 300 personnel from a variety of federal, state and local agencies have provided assistance at the scene of the explosion,

including 85 ATF agents. Also Friday, Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill said he does not expect the death toll to rise beyond seven. It took several days for searchers to find the seven bodies that have been recovered; their conditions made it difficult to positively identify them. Hamill said Friday that the bodies of three victims have been positively identified, with help from family members who provided DNA samples to aid the identifications. The three identified Friday were Augusto Jimenez Sr., 62; Maria Auxiliadorai CastellonMartinez, 53; and Saul Paniagua, 65. Four other bodies have not been positively identified, but police have identified four occupants of the building who remain unaccounted for: Saeda Ibrahim, 41; Aseged Mekonen, 34; Deibi “David” Samir Lainez Morales, 8; and Fernando Josue Hernandez Orellana, 3. Mekonen’s cousin, Getahun Admasu, expressed frustration at the slow pace of the identification process. He showed up Friday at the Long Branch Community Center, where the news conference was held, hoping to make arrangements for the body on behalf of the family. “If he’s dead, tell us he’s dead. Send us the body or something,” Admasu said. “It’s very agonizing.” Hamill said he appreciates the frustration of family members and promised that “we will continue to work long hours until we can investigatively put this matter to rest.” In addition to the dead and injured, authorities estimated that roughly 100 people were displaced. Paul Carden, regional disaster director for the American Red Cross, said Friday that more than 30 people a night are continuing to stay at the shelter established at the community center, nine days after the explosion.

MIAMI — South Beach has been identified as a second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland, and containing it there will be difficult because high-rise buildings and strong winds make it impractical to spray the neighborhood from the air, officials said Friday. Five cases of Zika have been connected to mosquitoes in Miami Beach, bringing the state’s caseload to 36 infections not related to travel outside the U.S., Florida’s governor and health department announced Friday. The discovery prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce that it was expanding its travel warning for pregnant women to include an area in Miami Beach known for nightclubs, pedestrian thoroughfares and beaches. Zika infection can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including a dangerously small head, if women are infected during pregnancy. The virus’s apparent spread from a Miami neighborhood popular for day trips to the South Beach streets where many tourists sleep has rattled the tourism industry, even in the slower summer season. Gov. Rick Scott has

directed Florida’s health department to offer mosquito spraying and related services at no cost to Miami-Dade County’s hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CDC previously warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood arts district in Miami. In its statement Friday, the agency said pregnant women may also want to consider postponing nonessential travel throughout Miami-Dade County if they’re concerned about potential exposure to the mosquito-borne virus. “We’re in the midst of mosquito season and expect more Zika infections in the days and months to come,” said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden. “It is difficult to predict how long active transmission will continue.” Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, Frieden told reporters Friday. “The mosquitoes are persistent and we won’t know for a couple of weeks whether these

C.M. Guerrero / AP

Miami Beach Sanitation workers clean up any sort trash that could hold water which allows mosquito larvae to grow, as another workers sucks up debris with mobile vacuum mobile in the alleyways of South Beach on Friday.

aggressive measures have worked,” Frieden said. Aerial spraying isn’t practical over South Beach because of the height of its buildings and strong winds over the narrow island city, Frieden said. Officials will be limited to spraying for mosquitoes at ground level in the highly populated area. “Miami Beach does have a series of characteristics that make it particularly challenging,” Frieden said. Two of the people infected in Miami Beach are Miami-Dade County residents, and three are tourists, including one man and two women, Scott said. The tourists are residents of New York, Texas and Taiwan. The new area of infection in South Beach is roughly 1.5 square miles between 8th and 28th streets, according to Florida’s Department of Health. Three vacuum trucks purchased to help Miami Beach fight rising sea levels have been used since the beginning of the

year to drain water in low-lying areas where mosquitoes could breed, said Roy Coley, the city’s infrastructure director. The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the area’s many construction sites and floodprone residential streets, Coley said. “Our call volume has increased significantly,” Coley said. Officials at Art Basel Miami Beach and other upcoming events cautiously expressed confidence in the region’s mosquito control efforts. Organizers of the Americas Food and Beverage Show will add mosquito repellent to goody bags at the late September event at the Miami Beach Convention Center. “We’re taking extra precautions,” said Yendi Alvarez, the show’s media coordinator. “This wasn’t even a thought last year. We put this in place once the news started getting crazy.”

Wisconsin girl pleads mental illness in ‘Slender Man’ attack By Todd Richmond ASSOCIATED PRE SS

MADISON, Wis. — One of two girls accused of trying to kill a 12-yearold classmate to please horror character Slender Man two years ago pleaded not guilty Friday by reason of mental disease or defect. Morgan Geyser, 14, entered her plea to one count of attempted firstdegree intentional homicide during a status conference in Waukesha County Circuit Court. Judge Michael Bohren appointed two doctors to examine her. Her attorney, Tony Cotton, said in a telephone interview after the conference ended that he felt the facts of the case fit a mental illness plea. Experts have testified already that Geyser suffers from schizophrenia

and oppositional defiant disorder and maintains relationships with imaginary characters. Bohren said he will look to schedule a trial in March or as soon as prosecutors and Cotton are ready. If Geyser is convicted, the mental illness plea necessitates another trial to determine her mental state at the time of the crime, Cotton said. If she’s found mentally deficient, she would be ordered confined to a mental hospital. If she’s deemed mentally fit, she would serve up to 40 years in prison and 20 years on extended supervision. The other girl in the case, who is now 14 as well, also faces one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. She pleaded not guilty last year. Bohren on Thursday said he would look to schedule her trial for

March as well. Assistant District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz, who is leading the prosecution of both girls, didn’t immediately return a voicemail message Friday. Anyone 10 or older charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide is automatically considered an adult under state law. The Associated Press hadn’t previously named the girls because their attorneys had been seeking to move their cases into juvenile court, where they could be incarcerated for three years and then supervised under age 18. A state appeals court, however, ruled last month that both girls’ cases should remain in adult court, saying the crime was planned and violent. That leaves the state Supreme Court as the girls’

last hope of being moved into juvenile court, but Cotton said Friday he won’t ask the high court to take Geyser’s case because it doesn’t present a novel question of law. The other girl’s attorney, Maura McMahon, didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail asking if she planned to appeal to the Supreme Court. According to court documents, the girls invited their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a birthday sleepover in May 2014. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. The next day they lured Leutner into some woods at a Waukesha park, stabbed her repeatedly and then fled. Leutner suffered 19 stab wounds, including one that doctors said narrowly missed a major artery near her heart.

Zfrontera THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE CAMBIO DE DOMICILIO 1 La Extensión Educativa de Texas A&M Agrilife Extension en el Condado de Zapata ha cambiado sus oficinas a 200 E. 7th Avenue, Suite 249, Zapata County Courthouse. Tel.: (956) 765-9820. Fax (956) 765-8627. TORNEO DE PESCA 1 La Cámara de Comercio del Condado de Zapata invita al tradicional “Torneo anual de pesca para niños por el regreso a clases”, que se llevará a cabo hoy en Bravo Park de 7 a.m. a 3 p.m. El registro inicia a las 7 a.m.. Evento dirigido a menores de 3 a 12 años. Mayores informes en 956-765-4871 INICIO DE CLASES 1 Zapata County ISD informa que el primer día de clases para todos los grados escolares será el lunes 22 de agosto. El horario de entrada para primaria y secundaria será a las 7:45 a.m., mientras que para preparatoria será a partir de las 8 a.m. El horario de salida para los estudiantes de cada institución será como sigue: primaria, 3:15 p.m; secundaria, 3:23 p.m; y, preparatoria, 3:35 p.m. El desayuno será servido a partir de las 7: 15 en los tres niveles escolares. CLÍNICA VACUNAS CONTRA RABIA 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a sus residentes a Clínica de Vacunas contra Rabia proporcionadas por Margo Veterinary Clinic. Las vacunas se aplicarán en J.C. Ramírez Store, el 24 de agosto de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m.. Costo de vacunas: 17 dólares. Otras vacunas y desparasitación estarán disponibles para las mascotas. Informes al 487-3623. BAILE PARA RECAUDACIÓN DE FONDOS 1 La corporación de IBC Bank invita a un baile en beneficio del UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. El evento titulado “Give Cancer The Boot!” se desarrollará el 27 de agosto a partir de las 8 p.m. en Zapata Community Center. Patrocinios son de 1.500 dólares, 1.000 dólares y 500 dólares. Boleto individual a 50 dólares. Música a cargo de Vidal y La Mafia. Informes en el 956-765-8361. CONFERENCIA 1 La Diócesis de Brownsville y Evangelización Activa invitan a la conferencia El Amor Conyugal impartida por el sacerdote Ernesto María Caro en el Performing Art Center de la preparatoria Roma High School de la ciudad de Roma, el jueves 1 de septiembre a las 7 p.m. Se les invita a llevar su Biblia. Costo: 15 dólares. Boletos en parroquias de Roma, Escobares y Río Grande. Informes a los teléfonos: 956-849-1455 y 956-687-9983.

INMIGRACIÓN

MÉXICO

Futuro de DACA es incierto

Nuevo cártel podría negociar secuestro

Defensores: programa es benéfico para economía Por Julián Aguilar THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Aunque todavía recuperándose de una decisión emitida por el Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos en junio, que mantuvo el programa de inmigración de 2014 del presidente Obama, la población indocumentada en Texas está adoptando un enfoque positivo, ya que celebra el cuarto aniversario de otra iniciativa que ha beneficiado a cientos de miles de personas. Pero los defensores y beneficiarios de la iniciativa de 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Acción diferida para los llegados en la infancia), también conocido como DACA, ven hacia la elección de noviembre con el pleno conocimiento que el nominado republicano para la presidencia Donald Trump ha prometido terminar con la política si derrota a Hillary Clinton. DACA aplica a inmigrantes indocumentados que llegaron al país antes de que tuvieran 16 años y

que tuvieran 30 años o menos en junio de 2012. El programa permite a los beneficiarios no ser deportados y les otorga un permiso de trabajo de dos años. Precede al programa de 2014, DAPA. Más de 220.000 inmigrantes indocumentados en Texas han solicitado esta acción del 2012 o renovado sus permisos y cerca de 200.000 de ellos han aprobado, de acuerdo a las estadísticas del gobierno —el segundo estado con mayor número de solicitantes detrás de los 387.000 solicitudes estimadas en California con 359.000 aprobados. Los defensores dicen que es un beneficio para la economía de EU y ha permitido a los inmigrantes indocumentados sin recursos permanecer conectados con sus familias en este país. Un estudio de julio de 2015 publicado por el Centro para el Progreso Americano, encontró que el 45 por ciento de los beneficiados con DACA reportaron mayores salarios después de recibir el beneficio , mientras que

cerca del 90 por ciento dijeron que se les ofrecieron mayores oportunidades educativas con DACA que sin ella. Como parte de su estrategia para reforzar la inmigración, que incluye deportaciones masivas y construir un muro en la frontera sur, Trump ha prometido terminar con el programa si es elegido. Eso ha llevado a los demócratas a utilizar el éxito del programa para advertir a los defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes lo que pasaría si se quedan en casa en noviembre sin salir a votar. Grupos conservadores están utilizando el aniversario del programa para destacar que DACA no solo es un problema político sino también acerca de aplicar la ley. En una opinión publicada en The Hill en junio, Jon Feere, el analista político del Centro de los Estudios de Inmigración, una organización de investigación conservadora, dio las razones del por qué el Portavoz de la Cámara Paul Ryan debe luchar por repeler esta política. “En este momento, la administración de Obama está entregando permisos, cuentas de Seguro Social

y otros beneficios a miles de inmigrantes indocumentados. En el último recuento, 700.000 inmigrantes indocumentados se habían beneficiado. Y el Congreso no ha hecho nada para detenerlo”, escribió. Faye Hipsman, una analista política del Instituto de Política de Migración, dijo que mientras Trump es conocido por lo que hará si es elegido, una presidencia con Clinton muestra una ligera diferencia. Hipsman dijo que Clinton apoya a DACA y aboga por continuar con ella. Pero Clinton también pujaría por una acción legislativa antes de usar su poder ejecutivo como Obama en el 2012 y el 2014. Mientras tanto, cerca de 177.000 tejanos son elegibles para solicitar la acción, seguida de otros 37.000 cuando cumplan 16 años. “Escuchas que puede ser de dos maneras, que dadas las posiciones de los candidatos la gente esperará para aplicar a la acción”, dijo Hipsman. “Por otro lado, la postura de ambos candidatos, podría animar a otras personas a aplicar para obtener el alivio de DACA antes de la elección”.

TAMAULIPAS

UNIVERSIDAD RECIBE CAPACITACIÓN EN CALIDAD

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Personal de la Universidad Politécnica de la Región Ribereña se capacitó recientemente en el taller Definición de procesos del sistema de calidad ISO 9001:2015. El taller tuvo el objetivo de elaborar el diseño del Sistema de Gestión de Calidad con el fin de obtener la certificación en ISO 9001:2015.

Institución busca certificación ISO 9001:2015 E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, México— Con el propósito de contribuir a una educación de calidad, el personal de la Universidad Politécnica de la Región Ribereña se capacitó con el taller Definición de procesos del sistema de calidad ISO 9001:2015. “Asistieron al curso – taller los Jefes de Oficina

de Programas Académicos, Directivos y Jefes de Departamentos, así como personal administrativo y académico”, señaló Sonia Mercado Rodríguez, Rectora de la Universidad Politécnica de la Región Ribereña. El evento se realizó en la sala de maestros de la institución, impartida por el instructor Jonathan Cortés Briseño. Por su parte, Mercado Rodríguez

destacó que el taller tuvo el objetivo de elaborar el diseño del Sistema de Gestión de Calidad con el fin de obtener la certificación en ISO 9001:2015. “La implantación de este sistema de gestión de calidad permitirá a la Universidad alcanzar sus objetivos y metas de manera eficaz y eficiente, impulsar la mejora continua de los procesos y de esta manera brindar un servi-

cio educativo satisfactorio a los estudiantes”, finalizó la Rectora de la Universidad Politécnica de la Región Ribereña. La Rectora Mercado Rodríguez, agradeció al personal de la Universidad por su disposición y compromiso por lograr las metas institucionales, además comentó que continuarán con estas actividades para lograr la certificación.

CULTURA

Visitan sitios para cinta Nota del editor: Artículo basado en el documento escrito por Enrique T. de la Garza en relación a la filmación de película en Laredo. Por Enrique T. de la Garza TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

En 1981, se filmó en Laredo la película Eddie Macon's Run. El filme está basado en un libro escrito por James McLendon.

Lou Stroller, productor ejecutivo del filme, me contrató para fungir Douglas como scout (explorador) para la película. Entre mis funciones estaba conseguir locaciones para filmar algunas escenas. Para esto, primero visitamos al Juez del Condado de Webb Alfredo San-

tos. Le presenté a Stroller y a Jeff Kanew, director del filme así como a Billy Kenney, director artístico. Stroller le agradeció que nos recibiera sin avisar y le hizo saber el interés que tenían en filmar en LIFE así como en conocer la cárcel y si cumplía con sus requerimientos, podrían hablar de firmar un contrato. Fuimos escoltados a la cárcel. La cárcel, que se encontraba junto a la

corte, ya no existe; ahora es un estacionamiento. Al caminar de regreso, se maravillaron con la belleza del edificio de la corte debido a su riqueza y antigüedad y surgió la idea de convertir a la corte en la cárcel para la película. Entonces procedimos a discutir sobre el hotel donde se filmaría la llegada de Eddie a Laredo. Entonces les sugerí el Hotel Hamilton.

Por CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRE SS

CIUDAD DE MEXICO — Podría parecer un regalo para el ambicioso cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación: el hijo del encarcelado líder del cártel de Sinaloa, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, de fiesta en un lujoso restaurante en medio de su territorio. Siete hombres armados irrumpieron en el restaurante La Leche en la zona hotelera de Puerto Vallarta la mañana del lunes, Guzmán agarrando por sorpresa a las 16 personas ahí reunidas. Sin disparar un solo tiro, sacaron a seis hombres. En un instante, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, de 29 años, se convirtió en una posible pieza de negociación, o una muerte de alto perfil, en las batallas territoriales del cártel que han causado estragos en grandes extensiones de México. Los analistas dicen que Jalisco Nueva Generación podría intentar utilizarlo como ventaja para ganar territorio u otros beneficios de lo que ha sido la organización criminal dominante del país. "Pueden utilizarlo, si son astutos... para conseguir concesiones del cártel de Sinaloa y expandir su lucrativo negocio", dijo Mike Vigil, exdirector de operaciones internacionales de la Administración de Control de Drogas de Estados Unidos. Jalisco Nueva Generación se creó de un grupo escindido del cártel de Sinaloa tras la muerte del jefe de Sinaloa, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, en 2010, y se ha extendido rápidamente de su base natal en el estado occidental de Jalisco, hacia el estado en la costa del Golfo de México de Veracruz, entre otros. En parte lo ha logrado a través del excesivo uso de violencia. En una serie de ataques del año pasado, los seguidores del cártel mataron a 20 policías en dos emboscadas y utilizaron una granada propulsada por cohete para derribar un helicóptero militar, matando a las 10 personas a bordo. Lo que Jalisco Nueva Generación no tiene son sus propios corredores de tráfico a lo largo de la frontera con Estados Unidos, la mayoría de ellos controlados por el cártel de Sinaloa, el beneficiario de las debilitadas pandillas regionales desde el Golfo hasta el Pacífico. La violencia ha aumentado en meses recientes en el estado de Baja California Sur, mientras Jalisco Nueva Generación lucha por una posición en el territorio del cártel de Sinaloa. Las muertes también han aumentado en las ciudades fronterizas clave de Tijuana y Ciudad Juárez, lo que indica que el control de Sinaloa también se ha visto desafiado en esos lugares.

A8 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

INTERNATIONAL Puerto Rico reports 1st death from paralysis linked to Zika

Syria’s first responders: ‘Most dangerous job in the world’ Philip Issa ASSOCIATED PRE SS

By Danica Coto A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico on Friday reported its first death from a paralysis condition that developed from a Zika infection as the U.S. territory fights an epidemic of the mosquitoborne virus. The victim was a man between 35 and 45 years old from the San Juan metro area who died from Guillain-Barre, according to state epidemiologist Brenda Rivera. The condition can cause temporary paralysis and in rare instances, death. Rivera noted that it’s unusual for the victim to be so young. “What does this tell us? That all of us are susceptible,” Rivera said as she urged Puerto Ricans to protect themselves from the mosquito-borne virus. The man, who died last month, was obese but did not have any other health conditions, she said. No further details about the victim were provided. The U.S. territory has a total of 13,186 confirmed Zika cases, with a total of 102 hospitalizations and 34 cases of Guillain-Barre. The number of Zika cases is believed to be much higher because eight of 10 people have no symptoms and many do not go to the doctor. Those infected include 1,106 pregnant women, which is a concern because Zika has been linked to severe birth defects. “We are not going to see the effects of Zika today,” Rivera said. “We are going to see them in the next couple of months, in the next several years.” Puerto Rico reported the first Zika-related microcephaly case acquired on U.S. soil in May, involving a dead fetus that a woman turned over to health authorities. Since then no microcephaly cases have been reported, but federal officials say it is only a matter of time. A study published Friday in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that up to 10,300 pregnant women in Puerto Rico could be infected with Zika and that between 100 to 270 babies could be born with microcephaly through mid-2017. In addition, some babies infected with Zika may present other type of problems such as eye abnormalities, hearing loss and inflexible joints, said Dr. Peggy Honein, chief of the birth defects branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We are very concerned about these often devastating outcomes,” she said in a phone interview. Honein, who was involved in the study, said that one of the major challenges of the Zika outbreak is the time delay in babies being born with severe defects. “It doesn’t mean that it’s not happening because we don’t see the effects yet,” she warned. The U.S. government last week declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico because of Zika, and federal officials have warned that up to 25 percent of Puerto Rico’s nearly 3.5 million people could become infected. The CDC recently urged Puerto Rico fight Zika with the insecticide naled through aerial spraying, but the governor rejected that proposal and instead authorized the use of Bti, an organic larvicide.

BEIRUT — It took Mahmoud Fadlallah and the team of seven rescue workers 30 minutes to reach the middle-aged couple trapped beneath the rubble of their apartment building in the contested Syrian city of Aleppo. They had been notified a rocket had struck the building, and they had to wait for the debris to fall and the dust to settle. “We called out: ‘We are the Civil Defense, is anyone able to hear us?”’ Fadlallah said of the rescue operation earlier this summer. “They were on the first floor, with four floors above them, but they were protected by the ceiling, which had collapsed at a slant.” It was routine work for the 3,000-strong Syrian Civil Defense, which mounts search-and-rescue operations under the unforgiving atmosphere of war in the shattered country’s opposition areas, and whose supporters have nominated its first responders for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. Their rescuers were among those who pulled 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh and his family from the rubble of their apartment building Wednesday night. A photo of little Omran, sitting alone in an ambulance, confused and covered in debris and blood, has become the haunting image of the battle for

Aleppo. The group’s global following, which includes dozens of Syrian civil society groups operating in opposition areas as well as international organizations, says the Civil Defense rescuers — known as the White Helmets for their trademark headgear — is engaged in “the most dangerous job in the world.” “People are dying, and we run toward death,” said Fadlallah, whose team was able to rescue the trapped couple in June and also pulled four corpses from the rubble, including one whose limbs had been blown off by the force of the blast. He has since lost two of his colleagues from that rescue mission. Rescue workers are targeted with such regularity by government forces that they have come up with a name for the tactic: “double tap” attacks. After an initial strike, government warplanes circle around and hit the target a second time, or lay siege to the area with overwhelming artillery fire. It was in such circumstances that Fadlallah lost a teammate last week. Khaled Omran Harrah had earlier captured international media attention for his dramatic 2014 rescue of a 10-day-old infant trapped in rubble for 16 hours. Harrah was on the job again last week, called along with Fadlallah and

Greek coast guard rescues dozens of migrants stuck on islet By Elena Becatoros ASSOCIATED PRE SS

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s coast guard on Friday rescued dozens of migrants whose boat ran aground on a deserted islet off southwestern Greece, while another boat landed on the Aegean Sea resort island of Mykonos, well west of the normal migrant route. The coast guard said the first vessel appeared to have been carrying migrants trying to clandestinely reach Italy from Greece. It hit rocks on Sapientza, off the southwestern tip of the Peloponnese, and took on water. All 67 people on board the nine-meter (27-foot) wooden craft were picked up safe. Another 36 people, including seven children, landed Friday on a remote beach on Mykonos. The coast guard said all were in good health. Separately, government figures showed 261 migrants or refugees arrived on eastern Greek islands in the 24 hours from Thursday morning to Friday morning — a jump compared to recent fig-

ures, which had ranged from a few dozen to about 150 per day. Of those who arrived in the last 24 hours, 139 people reached Lesbos. The rest arrived on Chios, Samos, Leros and Karpathos. The new arrivals brought the official count of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece to just over 58,000. Many have officially applied for asylum. Last year, Greece was the main point of entry into the EU for hundreds of thousands of people seeking better lives in northern and central European countries. A March deal between the EU and Turkey, combined with Balkan border closures to migrants, has led to a dramatic drop in new arrivals. Those now arriving on Greek islands from Turkey face deportation back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. While the deal has limited the flow, people still arrive and around 11,000 are stranded on a handful of eastern Aegean islands.

Feras Domy / AP file

In this Sept. 16, 2015 photo, comrades carry Ilias Mahmoud al-Taweel, a member of Syrian Civil Defence, or White Helmets, during his funeral in in Douma.

five other White Helmet rescuers to the scene of a blast. The men were working to extract a survivor from the rubble when they came under second attack. “They must have seen us coming, and they started striking us with a tank, mortars, and airstrikes,” Fadlallah said. The group cowered in a building that could not provide enough cover, and Harrah was killed. Five others, including Fadlallah sustained shrapnel wounds. They were stuck for two hours, and the man they came to rescue died. The next day was a scheduled day off for Fadlallah. He returned to his duties for a standard 24-hour shift the day after that, his wounds still unhealed. The White Helmets have lost 134 rescuers in the line of duty, says director Raed Saleh, while participating in rescues the group says saved 60,000 lives. The figures could not be independently verified. Government sympathizers accuse the group of aiding “terrorists,” a catch-all term the government uses to describe its armed opponents. Such associations are inevitable, however, in the Syria war, where after

more than five years of fighting practically all sides have been fingered for war crimes. In many opposition-held areas where the White Helmets operate, they come under the jurisdiction of unsavory rebel factions, including the al-Qaidalinked Jabhat Fatah alSham in northwestern Idlib province. But civilians — 1.5 million by the pre-war population estimate — live there, too. The White Helmets grew out of networks of volunteer first responders who were rescuing victims from government shelling and bombardment in opposition areas. Since 2013, the group has grown to operate 119 centers across Syria, receiving substantial organizational support from Mayday Rescue, a Turkey-based NGO that grew alongside the White Helmets to organize training and deliver equipment to the first responders. Against the backdrop of the stalemated Syrian war, the group’s international following says it’s time it receives the recognition it deserves. “Honoring a group of brave, and for the most part, anonymous humanitarians represents the true values of the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Wendy Chamberlain, president of

the Washington-based Middle East Institute, who nominated the group to the Nobel committee, which will announce its selection in October. Saleh says winning the Peace Prize would be a “morale boost,” though greater priorities loom. “Whether or not we win, we call for an end to the killing of civilians through indiscriminate attacks in any area in Syria,” he said. Politicians around the world have praised the group’s courage. Still, Saleh was denied entry to the United States to receive a humanitarian award in April, an incident supporters blame on a social media smear campaign connecting the group to al-Qaida. After that incident, the U.S. State Department said the U.S. government provides, through USAID, $23 million in aid to the White Helmets. Fadlallah was a construction worker before the war, but now nearly every able-bodied Syrian has become a rescuer. The White Helmets come from diverse walks of life; there are among them carpenters, students, lawyers, and doctors. “God watches over us,” Fadlallah said. “And the best organization there is, is the Civil Defense.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

BUSINESS

Crude oil in bull market caps biggest weekly gain since March By Rachel Adams-Heard BL O O MBE RG

Oil capped its strongest weekly increase in five months after entering a bull market as investors weighed speculation that OPEC talks next month could lead to an output freeze, and U.S. inventories dropped. Futures rose 0.6 percent in New York. While OPEC is unlikely to reach a deal to freeze production, its plans to hold informal talks in Algiers next month “were the spark” behind oil’s rally, according to Morgan Stanley. U.S. crude inventories dropped the most in five weeks through Aug. 12, while fuel stockpiles slid a third week, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday. Oil has climbed more than 20 percent since it dipped below $40 a barrel earlier in the month, meeting the common definition of a bull market. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the nation was open to discussing a freeze after his Saudi counterpart Khalid Al-Falih said that informal talks in September may lead to action to

Michael Stravato / The New York Times

Oil rigs stacked for storage near Midland, Texas. Oil capped its strongest weekly increase in five months after entering a bull market.

stabilize the market. While money managers increased wagers on rising oil prices by the most since January during the week ended Aug. 9, bearish bets on crude remained at record-high levels, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “It’s kind of a perfect storm that has rallied this market, but on the other hand it has nothing to do with fundamentals,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York. “It’s really a short-covering rally that’s been fueled by OPEC rumors.” West Texas Intermediate for September delivery advanced 30 cents to settle at $48.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 9.1 percent this

week, the most since March. Total volume traded was in line with the 100-day average. Output freeze Brent for October settlement slipped 1 cent to close at $50.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract advanced $1.04 to close at $50.89 on Thursday, also entering a bull market after climbing more than 20 percent from its early-August low. The global benchmark crude settled at a $1.77 premium to WTI for October. U.S. oil drillers added 10 rigs this week, extending the biggest and longest increases since April 2014, Baker Hughes Inc. data show. Technical analysis shows the relative strength index, or RSI, for WTI is approaching the

70-point threshold that shows prices have risen too quickly. The dollar rebounded after its longest slump since April. A stronger dollar weakens investor appetite for commodities. “One has to be impressed that the dollar’s recovery is strong and it’s impacting commodities like gold, but oil is fine,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “The momentum is still very bullish.” An agreement to freeze output is within reach as Saudi Arabia, Iran and non-OPEC member Russia are producing at, or close to, maximum capacity, Chakib Khelil, former OPEC president and Algerian energy minister, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Aug. 17. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh hasn’t decided yet whether to participate in the talks in Algiers next month, a spokesman said on Aug. 16. Iran’s refusal to join the April talks in Doha ultimately prompted the Saudis to block a deal. “After Doha you can never say never, but I think a lot of people see this deal coming through,” said Flynn.

Government fails to study ethanol’s impact A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has failed to study as legally required the impact of requiring ethanol in gasoline and ensuring that new regulations intended to address one problem do not actually make other problems worse, the Environmental Protection Agency inspector general said Thursday. The conclusion in the new audit confirmed findings of an Associated Press investigation in November 2013. The AP said the administration never conducted studies to determine whether air and water quality benefits from adding corn-based ethanol to gasoline. Such reports to Congress were required every three years under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Charlie Riedel / AP file

The government failed to study as legally required the impact of requiring ethanol in gasoline.

The AP investigation described the ethanol era as far more damaging to the environment than the government predicted. As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, polluted water supplies and destroyed habitat. The EPA agreed with the inspector general’s findings that it had failed to produce studies as

legally required. It said it will produce the first report — on the impacts of biofuels — by December 2017, and investigate whether ethanol requirements made other environmental problems worse by September 2024. That will be 17 years after Congress passed a law requiring oil companies to blend billions of gallons of ethanol into their gasoline. President George W.

Bush signed the law, but it fell to President Barack Obama to implement it. The EPA said the 2024 study will require investigations about air quality, emissions and how renewable fuels have and might be produced, distributed and used, which it said will be timeconsuming and resourceintensive. The EPA told the inspector general that it produced one congressional report about the effects of ethanol on the environmental and conservation in December 2011, at a cost of $1.7 million, then ran out of money for future reports. It also said it never received input from Congress on its first report and asserted that three years was too short a period for any significant scientific advances that would have mattered.

David Goldman / AP file

A worker leaves a Georgia Department of Labor career center. Hiring has been strong in the past year in many presidential campaign swing states.

Hiring in swing states healthy in past year By Christopher S. Rugaber ASSOCIATED PRE SS

WASHINGTON — Hiring has been strong in the past year in many presidential campaign swing states, a possible hurdle for GOP candidate Donald Trump, who has sought to capitalize on economic distress. Employers have added jobs in the past 12 months at a faster pace than the national average in Colorado, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina, the Labor Department said Friday. Job gains have been solid but slightly below the national rate in other battleground states, such as Ohio and Virginia. On a monthly basis, hiring rose significantly in 15 states in July compared with June, the government said. The biggest percentage gains were in North Dakota, Vermont and Maine. The only state to lose a large number of jobs in July was Kansas, which shed 5,600. Hiring was healthy nationwide in July, with employers adding 255,000 jobs, following a gain of 292,000 in June, the most in eight months. The U.S. unemployment rate is 4.9 percent. Nationwide, total jobs rose 1.7 percent in July from a year earlier. That is down from a 2 percent pace in 2015 and 2.2 percent in 2014, which was the healthiest two-year increase since 1998 and 1999. In Florida, traditionally a close-fought state in presidential campaigns, employers have added 250,200 jobs in the past year, an increase of 3.1 percent. In Colorado, payrolls have grown 74,200, or 2.9 percent. Michigan’s job totals rose 2.5 percent and North Carolina’s, 2.2 percent.

There has been extensive debate among economists and analysts in recent weeks over the extent to which economic hardship is driving Trump’s support. In the Republican primaries, Trump won strong majorities in hardhit counties in Appalachia and the deep South, particularly parts of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky that were devastated by a sharp downturn in the coal industry. Yet an analysis earlier this month by Jonathan Rothwell, a senior economist at Gallup, found that Trump supporters nationwide aren’t worse off than the rest of the country, based on household incomes and employment. Rothwell found that the economy may still be an indirect factor. Those without college degrees, working in blue collar occupations and living in areas with limited economic mobility were more likely than other Americans to support Trump. But voters living in mostly white areas were also more likely to back Trump, suggesting that cultural anxieties over issues such as immigration are also a key factor, Rothwell found. Overall, standard economic models suggest a healthier economy is mostly beneficial for an incumbent political party. Other swing states have also seen solid job gains. Employers added 78,800 jobs in Ohio in the past 12 months, a gain of 1.5 percent. Virginia’s total employment grew 1.5 percent in the past year. In Pennsylvania, hiring was weaker that the national pace, increasing 58,000 or just 1 percent. The report also showed that South Dakota currently has the lowest unemployment rate at 2.8 percent.

A10 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

City to honor Tony Bennett with statue, festivities

Natalie Portman tells ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ By Lindsey Bahr

By Kristin J. Bender A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

SAN FRANCISCO — Legendary singer Tony Bennett arrived at a San Francisco hotel shortly before noon Friday to a standing ovation and a jazz combo wishing him a very “Happy Birthday.” Bennett looked sharp in a blue suit as he shook hands with the crowd. Hundreds of people are gathered outside the Fairmont Hotel to celebrate Bennett’s 90th birthday with the unveiling of an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of the singer atop Nob Hill. “He’s San Francisco,” said Marty Jewett, standing in the front row with her friend, also a huge Bennett fan. “I think he keeps all the generations within his repertoire. I love his voice and his longevity. For as long as anyone can remember, the New Yorker has been giving to the city where he first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the Fairmont Hotel in 1961. And now, the city is set to pay him back. In recognition of the internationally renowned singer, painter and civic treasure the city is honoring him with several tributes marking his birthday, starting with a public dedication and unveiling of the statue. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee declared Aug. 19 Tony Bennett Day. The celebration will continue Friday evening at AT&T Park when the San Francisco Giants will honor Bennett in a pregame ceremony and throughout the game.

Bennett will also perform “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” for Bennett the fans. “When the cable cars broke down and were closed down for two years and we brought them back, he came. When we had the earthquake and we put the Bay Bridge back together, he came. He’s always here for us so we thought, ‘What can we do for him?’ And we thought of the statue,” said Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, the chief of protocol for San Francisco and the State of California. In addition to the fanfare Friday and a gala dinner on Saturday night, Bennett is getting his own ice cream flavor. Created by the city’s Humphry Slocombe ice cream shop, the flavor “Duet” will feature vanilla ice cream swirled with limoncello sorbet and fennel biscotti to honor Bennett’s Italian heritage. But the centerpiece of the celebration will be the statue, which San Francisco Bay Area sculptor Bruce Leslie Wolfe began creating a few months ago after Bennett sat for him for three days. During that time, Wolfe said they laughed, played music and Bennett sketched his likeness, giving him a new appreciation for the crooner. “Tony Bennett is probably the best vocal singer that I’ve ever heard. He can do anything with words,” Wolfe said. “He’s just like a poet, he’s just good.”

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — “It’s like, I guess you caught me! I’m a nerd!” Natalie Portman says, laughing. She’s talking about frenzied internet responses to a recent interview that she did with author Jonathan Safran Foer. The New York Times Style Magazine asked Foer to interview Portman about her directorial debut, “A Tale of Love and Darkness .” They weren’t in the same city, and thus did the interview over email, which the magazine then coyly presented as actual emails between the two friends. The internet was confused. Onlookers smirked at the literary and occasionally pretentious words and thoughts exchanged between the two as though they’d stumbled on something private and deeply embarrassing. “It was clearly for an interview,” Portman said. “I can understand that it would seem funny if those were our normal ‘hey Jonathan, what’s going on’ emails, which is not the case at all ... It’s not what we write on a Tuesday afternoon. Obviously.” Portman, seated on a couch in the sun soaked living room of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel’s Royal Suite, tries not to pay attention to all of that. She knew it had become a thing when friends told her about it, but she’s not concerned. For one, it did what it was supposed to do: get some attention for “A Tale of Love and Darkness.” And the only semi-

Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images

Natalie Portman discusses her new film.

real discovery she can think of is that, well, she’s a “nerd.” This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with Portman, who gracefully transitioned from precocious child star into Oscar-winning adulthood, while still prioritizing intellectual pursuits and maintaining a healthy remove from the celebrity of it all. Now 35 and a mother, Portman lights up discussing the evolution of the Hebrew language as much as she does her recent films. This is one of those moments, too, when she suddenly has a handful of projects being released, even though many were shot years ago, like “Knight of Cups” and “Jane Got a Gun.” She’s also got the forthcoming Jacqueline Kennedy biopic “Jackie,” which will have a festival debut this fall, and there are even more on the docket for 2017, including Alex Garland’s “Annihilation” and Xavier Dolan’s next project. But the one closest to her heart is “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” in

theaters now. It’s a passion project if there ever was one. Portman’s been working this adaptation of Amos Oz’s memoir for the better part of a decade, about the author’s childhood in the 1940s and 50s, the birth of the Jewish state and the loss of his depressive mother, who Portman plays. “(Amos) was very encouraging to me,” she said. “He said ‘please make your own film. The book exists. You don’t need to just film the book.”’ For years, she would come back to the script every so often, a little older and with more perspective on life to add. Then her husband, the French dancer Benjamin Millepied, got a job in Paris. Knowing that a move was imminent, it became a now or never moment for Portman. So they packed up their lives, moved to Israel for five months and just did it. “I had heard so many stories my whole childhood of my grandparents coming from Eastern Europe to Israel and then Palestine and the creation of the state. It’s such a crazy moment in history,” Portman said. “It colored my imagination so much growing up, hearing those stories and thinking about what that must have been like to come from cold dark Europe to the bright, dusty, hot desert of the Middle East.” She made the edgy decision to do the film entirely in Hebrew to create a sense of authenticity with the period. On set, Portman tried

to create a family energy. She was 11 when she got her first role in “The Professional.” Amir Tessler, who plays the young Oz, was eight. “I’ve been working on sets my whole life,” she said. “I was a kid on set, and we had a kid starring in the film so I really wanted it to be a positive environment.” She felt lucky, too, that she made the film in Israel, where she thinks because both men and women serve in the army, that they’re used to having both genders in positions of authority and respect that. With over 25 years working in front of the camera, Portman behind the camera drew on learnings from directors she’s worked with — Darren Aronofsky’s eagerness to hear ideas from anyone and Terrence Malick’s unconventional “paint from life” methods among them. But in the end, she knew she had to make this her own. Portman has just moved back to Los Angeles with her husband and son, Aleph, and is looking forward to this new chapter where she’ll continue acting and hopefully directing. She’s become more invested in having a connection with the filmmakers she’s choosing to work with than she was earlier in her career. “You’re taking time away from your family instead of like just going away to work and otherwise you’d be home reading a book,” she said. “The stakes are a lot higher.”

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

A11

FROM THE COVER

Ballinger theater offers food, entertainment and community By Ronald W. Erdrich A BILENE RE P ORTE R-NEWS

BALLINGER, Texas — Things have been up and down for the Old Texas Theater over the years. Now, the venue is coming back once again. Originally known as The Palace, the neon sign was moved from across the street after the original Texas Theater burned down in 1962. Since the blaze had started in the back of the building, only the sign had been spared. The Texas continued to show movies for about a decade and a half until closing in the late 1970s. It stood idle for decades until 2012, when it was by bought Paul and Katy Morrow. “The owner, he re-did this thing for Ballinger residents to have something to do,” Brian Hallmark, the manager of the

LEVERAGE From page A1 Veracruz, among others. It has done so in part through liberal use of violence. In a series of attacks last year, cartel henchmen killed 20 police officers in two ambushes and used a rocket-propelled grenade to down an army helicopter, killing 10 aboard. What Jalisco New Generation does not have is its own trafficking corridors along the U.S. border — most of which are controlled by the Sinaloa cartel, the beneficiary of weakened regional gangs from the Gulf to the Pacific. Violence has surged in recent months in Baja California Sur state as

theater, told the Abilene Reporter-News (http:// bit.ly/2bcaeJU). “Because there are a lot of small towns — you’ve got Miles, Winters, Paint Rock — that don’t have a whole lot to do and they don’t want to go to the big city.” A major renovation of the theater was undertaken. The accumulated trash of 40 years was removed, along with the seats, and the walls were taken down to the exposed limestone rock. The stage was extended and a kitchen was installed. The original history of the theater is on display around the former auditorium. Spanish movie posters dot the wall, and old movie reels and lengths of film can be seen in cabinets beside the stage. Originally, the plan was to have a private club in the balcony area for those

wishing to have alcohol, and then to serve food on the main floor. Box seating and tables allowed diners to eat and watch movies or other entertainment. But the concept didn’t work out as well as hoped. The theater closed briefly, then reopened in January with a new plan. “We’d done the movie thing but everybody’s got Netflix they can watch at their house in bed,” Hallmark said. “So we show sporting events; Rangers, football games, possibly the Olympics. Stuff like that.” Live entertainment is still a cornerstone of the venue, however. A big challenge after the renovation was installing an audio system that would work well within the historical building. “Achieving that was very difficult with all the

hard surfaces,” Hallmark said. “It took some ingenuity, a lot of scratching our heads and trial-anderror, but we did it.” It’s an honest observation that Americans seem to have forgotten about everything else there was to do before the advent of movies and television. Comedians, plays, musicians, skits and all kinds of other entertainment also meant a chance to get out of the house and join the community. Reinforcing a sense of community is part of why the Old Texas Theater was renovated in the first place. “On Friday nights, after our home football games, we’re going to have a Fifth Quarter,” Hallmark said. “After the football game we’re going to have live music and then at 11 we’ll show (local television) scores and highlights, and

then the music will go back on.” Getting a restaurant off the ground is a difficult endeavor, especially when you’re in a small town. Hallmark said word-ofmouth has been their greatest ally, but so has social media. “We’re steady,” he said of their business. “You don’t want to go fullspeed-ahead and spend 10 grand on marketing and stuff.” Yelp is an online service where users can find businesses and share ratings. It’s free for business owners who can add photos, upload menus and respond to inquiries. For travelers looking

for a good place to eat, it’s the internet equivalent of driving past all the cafes and seeing whose parking lot has the most cars. Hallmark said a large portion of their customers have come from folks passing through using that service, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and others. Currently, the Texas is open Friday and Saturday for lunch, and then again in the evening. Joe Fuentes, who runs the kitchen, might be remembered as Smokey Joe, who was invited to American Royal KC Masterpiece Invitational Contest in Kansas City, Missouri, known as the World Series of Barbecue.

Jalisco New Generation fights for a foothold in Sinaloa cartel territory. Killings have also risen in the key border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, suggesting that Sinaloa’s control is being challenged there as well. “Now they’re starting to move northward because they want to control some of the principal drug-smuggling routes along the U.S.-Mexico border,” Vigil said. “So they know that in order to expand, they have to control some of these pipelines into the U.S. consumer market.” Enter the young Guzman. Jalisco state Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer said this week that authorities have no reason to believe he or the

other abducted men have been killed. But his kidnapping is a huge blunder by Sinaloa regardless of whether responsibility lies with Jesus Alfredo himself or with “El Chapo” associate Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is believed to be running the cartel’s operations following the elder Guzman’s recapture earlier this year. “It’s a grave error that is going to cost them a lot, either in life or in a very costly negotiation,” said Guillermo Valdes, former director of Mexico’s intelligence services. “If you’re in a fight with these gentlemen of the Jalisco New Generation, you don’t go to their territory without bodyguards.” Valdes also called Jesus

Alfredo Guzman’s abduction the latest sign that rivals see “El Chapo” as weakened following his third arrest, in January, after two brazen prison escapes in 2001 and 2015. Fed-up Mexican officials now appear willing to grant a U.S. request for his extradition, and the case is currently wending its way through the courts. Authorities have tightened the drug lord’s prison conditions this time, and since May he’s been in a federal penitentiary near Ciudad Juarez — far from his lawyers and apparently less able to communicate with underlings. Earlier this year Mexican media reported an attack on Guzman’s mother’s home in the

state of Sinaloa, and in July two of his wife’s nephews were killed, both events signaling that rivals are less afraid to tangle with the man long known as Mexico’s most notorious drug lord. “This perception of weakness that ‘El Chapo’s’ adversaries have speaks to a process of realignment and reorganization of drug trafficking in the country,” Valdes said. There have been rumors that Guzman’s older son Ivan Archivaldo was also kidnapped in the Puerto Vallarta incident, but authorities have not confirmed that and Valdes said he, too, does not know if that’s true. But, he said, “kidnapping the sons could lead to, ‘I’ll trade you the

life of your sons for the Manzanillo port or for Tijuana.”’ If there are no negotiations, or if there are and Guzman’s son is killed anyway, it would likely bring the full wrath of “El Chapo” and the Sinaloa cartel to bear on Jalisco New Generation. “It is going to unleash a very violent war,” Valdes said. On Friday, National Security Commissioner Renato Sales announced the arrest of a man believed to handle finances for Jalisco New Generation, but he said it was unrelated to the kidnapping. Asked if Guzman had been told of his son’s abduction, Sales said, “he found out through his lover.”

GALAXY From page A1

DACA From page A1

lia, Canada, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean), as well as, competitors from other U.S. States (Ohio, Illinois, Rhode Island, & South Carolina). Contestants were judged in the following categories: Personal Interview, Photogenic, Swimsuit, Fashionwear, and Evening Gown. After an exceptional performance, Vielka was awarded Highest Score in Photogenic, Tied for Highest Score in Personal Interview, and ended the pageant by winning the International title of Miss Teen Galaxy 2017. Vielka is the daughter of Jorge and Nina Gutierrez of Zapata, TX. She is a Junior at Zapata High School, is a second year Varsity Member of Mariachi Halcón, and is currently a professional print and runway model. She is also a huge advocate of community service and is the Co-Founder of Time of My Life, a Volunteer and advocate for Be the Match, and a Youth Ambassador for PILLAR. Also bringing home International Titles are Nola Maresh of Edinburg, TX, who was crowned Little Miss Galaxy 2017 and Miranda Jasso of Edinburg, TX, who was crowned Miss Pre-Teen Galaxy 2017. The Texas Galaxy Pageant was well represented at the International Pageant. These young ladies will reign a full year with their titles — the main goal being community service and involvement, while also building their self-confidence and serving as a mentor to their peers.

promised to end the policy should he defeat Hillary Clinton. DACA applies to undocumented immigrants that came to the country before they were 16 years old and were 30 or younger as of June 2012. The program awards recipients a renewable, two-year work permit and a reprieve from deportation proceedings. It preceded the more-encompassing but ill-fated 2014 program, known as DAPA. More than 220,000 undocumented immigrants in Texas have applied for the 2012 policy action or a renewal of their permits, and nearly 200,000 of those have been approved, according to government statistics — the secondhighest total behind California’s estimated 387,000 applications and 359,000 approvals. Supporters say it’s a boon to the U.S. economy and has allowed undocumented immigrants with no other recourse to stay connected with their families in this country. A July 2015 study published by the Center for American Progress, a pro-

POLICE From page A1 the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The rights commission questioned the government’s explanation of what led to the clash in the first place. Federal police had said they encountered a truck and took fire from its passengers before being led to the ranch. The commission’s report said the government did not produce evidence supporting that account and it said witness statements suggested 41 federal police had sneaked onto the ranch as early as

6 a.m. Officers started their assault at least an hour earlier than they maintained in reporting on the incident, the commission said. According to the agency’s report, after the federal police officer was shot, police called for backup. Fifty-four more federal police officers arrived along with a helicopter. The helicopter fired some 4,000 rounds at the ranch house and a nearby warehouse, which caught fire. The helicopter was also hit by gunfire, the report said. One victim died of burns that the commission believes

gressive Washington-based think tank, found that 45 percent of DACA recipients reported a higher wage after receiving the benefit, while about 90 percent said they were able to get a state-issued ID. Another 90 percent said they were offered more educational opportunities with DACA than without. As part of his hardline immigration-enforcement strategy, which also includes mass deportations and building a wall on the country’s southern border, Trump has promised to end the program if elected. That’s led Democrats to use the program’s successes to warn immigrant rights advocates what could happen if they stay home in November. “Unfortunately, instead of heeding the lessons of their 2012 GOP autopsy report and embracing immigrants and immigration reform, the Republican Party has nominated Donald Trump, one of the most anti-immigrant candidates in our nation’s history,” Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile, DNC Hispanic Caucus Chair Iris Martinez and DNC Vice Chair Maria Elena Durazo said in a joint statement. “Trump wants to end DACA and deport all

came after he was shot but still alive. In total, five people were killed by the helicopter, the commission found. One victim was hit by a bullet that entered around his left pectoral muscle and exited his groin, but there were no bloodstains on the jeans he was found wearing, the commission said. Thirteen of the 22 people the commission said were killed had been shot in the back, it said. Two witnesses interviewed by the commission said federal police officers told one heavily tattooed man to run outside the ranch house and

Ronald W. Erdrich / AP

Tony Martinez performs during a sound-check at the Old Texas Theater in Ballinger, Texas.

undocumented immigrants regardless of their circumstances or their contributions to our country.” Conservative groups are using the anniversary to call out some of their own, saying that repealing DACA isn’t just a political issue but is also about the rule of law. In an opinion piece published in The Hill in June, Jon Feere, the legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative immigration research organization, laid out the reasons why U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan should fight to repeal the 2012 policy. “At this very moment, the Obama administration is handing out work permits, Social Security accounts and other benefits to thousands of illegal aliens. At last count, over 700,000 illegal aliens have benefited. Yet Congress has done nothing to stop it,” he wrote. “Ryan clearly feels that Obama's DAPA program and the extended version of DACA exceed the powers of the presidency and run afoul of the Constitution. Logically, he must feel the same way about the 2012 DACA amnesty.” Faye Hipsman, a policy analyst at Migration Policy

then the witnesses heard gunshots. By the time investigators from the state Attorney General’s Office arrived at the scene, “the Federal Police had approximately four hours to manipulate the scene,” the report said. Eighteen of the victims were found barefoot and one just in his underpants, leading the commission to conclude most were asleep when police arrived. The commission’s investigation said 40 civilians were killed by bullets, one died in the fire and one was run over. The government had initially refused to release

Institute, said that while it’s known what Trump will do if elected a Clinton presidency is a slightly bit more nuanced. Hipsman said Clinton is on record as supporting DACA and vowing to keep it in place. But Clinton would also push for legislative action before using executive power like Obama said he was forced to do in 2012 and 2014. “What’s initially likely is instead of resorting to executive action, a legislative push is likely. If that fails, there will undoubtedly be pressure to create a similar deferred action program,” Hipsman said. “There are few ways that President Clinton could try to create a similar program that doesn’t get struck down.” Meanwhile, about 177,000 more Texans are currently eligible to apply, followed by another 37,000 when they turn 16. Whether they wait until after November is the big question. “You hear that it can cut two ways, one being that, given the two candidates’ stances, people are waiting to apply,” Hipsman said. “On the other hand, the two candidates’ stances could encourage other people to apply in order to get DACA relief before the election.”

autopsy reports on those killed. The commission criticized the autopsies performed by the Michoacan Attorney General’s Office as being sloppy and incomplete and said the morgue turned over the wrong body to one family. The case is reminiscent of a 2014 incident in which the commission found that soldiers killed at least a dozen suspected criminals after they surrendered in a warehouse in Tlatlaya west of Mexico City. The army’s version was that 22 suspects died in a gunfight in which only one soldier was wounded.

But The Associated Press found evidence at the scene did not match that account. The warehouse wall showed signs that suspects were lined up and shot. In that case, three women who survived were tortured by agents of the state prosecutor’s office to corroborate the army’s version. On Thursday, the commission said two survivors of the bloodshed in Tanhuato had been forced to watch three slayings and were then tortured. Police threatened their lives and the lives of their families, it said.

A12 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

Sports&Outdoors THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

RIO OLYMPICS: US SWIMMING

Ryan Lochte issues an apology Questions loom about future By Beth Harris A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

RIO DE JANEIRO — U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte apologized Friday for his behavior surrounding an incident at a Rio de Janeiro gas station, saying he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened after a night of partying with his teammates. But he didn’t explain why he embellished details of an encounter with armed security guards and called it a robbery, and why he omitted to say that he and three teammates had vandalized a gas station restroom.

“Regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry,” Lochte said in a lengthy post on his Instagram account. “This was a situation that could and should have been avoided. I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons.” Whatever they were, for now, he’s keeping them to himself. The situation raises questions about the future for Lochte, who is planning to take time off from swimming but wants to return to compete in the 2020 Tokyo

Olympics. Usually known for his party boy image and love of the limelight, he now is facing a line of nervous sponsors, the possibility of legal charges in Brazil and sanctions from USA Swimming and the International Olympic Committee. The robbery flap deeply hurt Brazilians, who were eager to prove they could get street crime under control and host a safe Olympics. And it overshadowed the efforts of U.S. Olympians, who have dominated the medal count. Swimmers alone piled up 16 golds and 33 medals total at the games. Known for his outsizLochte continues on B2

Martin Bureau / Getty Images

US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, who had falsely claimed he and three teammates were robbed in Rio, apologized Friday for his behavior.

RIO OLYMPICS: UNITED STATES 82, SPAIN 76

UNITED STATES GOES FOR GOLD

Eric Gay / AP

DeAndre Jordan had nine points and a game-high 16 rebounds Friday in the United States’ 82-76 win over Spain in the semifinals.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Sue Bird is expected to be available for the United States on Saturday after missing the semifinals with a sprained right knee capsule.

Men’s team advances with 82-76 win over Spain US women a win from 6th straight title By Brian Mahoney A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

RIO DE JANEIRO — Gone was the all-offense, all-action play that turned the last two gold-medal games into classics. To get by Spain again, the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team would have to win ugly, so unusual it’s practically unAmerican. “It was just a real different game today,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Same result, though. The U.S. advanced to its third straight goldmedal game win an 82-76 victory Friday, another

tight matchup between the teams that met in the last two championship games. Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the Americans, who will play Australia or Serbia on Sunday for their third consecutive Olympic title. “This is where we wanted to be,” Kevin Durant said. “We talked about it all summer and to be here for the final game, to win the gold, for all the marbles, we like our chances.” The Americans pulled away to win 118-107 in 2008 and held on for a 107-100 victory in London,

but the defenses made their mark in this one. The U.S. was just good enough again against Spain, with bodies falling more than shots and several technical fouls keeping the teams from finding an offensive flow. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but Olympic gold never loses its luster. “It’s an amazing feeling now,” center DeAndre Jordan said. “We really want to accomplish this.” It was the lowest-scoring game for the Americans in the Olympics since the 2004 semifinals, when they managed 81 in Men continues on B2

By Doug Feinberg ASSOCIATED PRE SS

RIO DE JANEIRO — There was a calm, relaxed atmosphere at the final practice for the U.S. women’s basketball team. Maybe it’s because injured guard Sue Bird was able to participate. Or maybe because many of the players have been in this position before — a win away from another Olympic title. “I understand it’s a gold medal game, we’ve approached it like any other game,” said Bird, who has helped the U.S. win the last three golds at the

Olympics. “At the start of this entire month, every single practice and game we approached it like it was a gold medal game. Today’s no different.” The Americans will play Spain on Saturday in search of a sixth consecutive gold. Spain has already guaranteed itself of a first-ever Olympic medal in women’s basketball. It looks like the U.S. will have Bird back for the title tilt. She missed the semifinal win over France as she was recovering from a sprained right knee capsule. She said she felt much better

Friday and it showed. After taking part in practice, Bird went through a hard workout when it was finished to test the right knee. She stopped short of saying she definitely would play Saturday. “I can’t give you an answer for tomorrow,” Bird said smiling. “I can be happy with the way things have been going. Long term is great, short term is getting better.” Bird said the pain is down to about a “one or two out of 10.” But she isn’t going to push it if she doesn’t feel comfortable Women continues on B2

NCAA ATHLETICS: BAYLOR BEARS

Starr resigns as Baylor law professor, severs school ties By Will Weissert ASSOCIATED PRE SS

LM Otero / AP file

Former Baylor President Ken Starr severed all ties with the school Friday resigning his post as a law school professor.

AUSTIN — Former Baylor University President Ken Starr resigned his post as a law school professor Friday, severing his last tie with the faithbased campus still reeling from a sexual assault scandal involving its football team.

Starr, an ex-prosecutor best known nationally for zealously pursuing charges against former U.S. President Bill Clinton in a 1990s White House sex scandal, had in more recent years been a high-profile face of Baylor. But he lost his job as president in May and later stepped down as chancellor amid allega-

tions the school in the central Texas city of Waco mishandled several cases in which football players were accused of attacking women. Successful football coach Art Briles also was ousted. Baylor, the nation’s largest Baptist university, said in a joint statement issued with Starr that he

“will be leaving his faculty status and tenure” with the law school in a separation that was mutually agreed upon. It was Starr’s final remaining Baylor positon. “Baylor wishes Judge Ken Starr well in his future endeavors,” the statement said. “Judge Starr expresses his Baylor continues on B2

B2 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

SPORTS MEN From page B1 a loss to Argentina. But Jordan made his presence felt in the middle with 16 rebounds and four blocked shots to go with his nine points. Durant added 14 points on the day he moved past LeBron James into second place on the U.S. Olympic career scoring list. Kyrie Irving had 13 for the U.S. Pau Gasol scored 23 points for Spain, which made it tough on the Americans for the third straight Olympics, but again had to settle for coming close against the world’s No. 1 team. “I think the key of the game was their defense,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “Their athleticism, their size, they made our offense get difficult during most of the possessions.” Gasol said after he believed Spain missed its best chance to beat the U.S. “They are not playing as well as other times they’ve played, but they are still a very talented team individually,” Gasol said. “I just (feel) like if we had been a little sharper with our shots, if we would have moved the ball a little better, if we would have boxed out

more, and make it a twoor three-possession game, then you’re talking about a whole different story.” Spain shot just 39 percent and couldn’t get any consistent option other than Gasol, who played with a wrap covering his sore right calf. It was the kind of defense the Americans thought they could play but hadn’t much in the tournament. Serbia and France both surpassed 90 points against them and Australia scored 88, as the team with 10 Olympic newcomers took longer than hoped in grasping international offenses. This time they contained a team that was as explosive as themselves over the last four games, as Spain had averaged 97.3 points and won by more than 25 per game after dropping its first two in Brazil. The Americans finally built a comfortable lead when they opened the fourth quarter with six straight points to go ahead 72-57. But Spain was able to keep the gap from getting any bigger and chipped away at it in the final minutes, the margin ending up smaller than in the previous matchups. Spain came to the Olympics an aging team without one of its top

players, Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, who couldn’t make it back from a broken right foot sustained during the season. But the Spanish, as they had in the previous two Olympics, found their stride just in time to run into the Americans. Thompson scored 17 in the first half, including a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left that made it 45-39 at the break. Both teams were called for multiple technical fouls in the tense first half. One of them, on Durant, gave him a third foul, as technicals also count as personal fouls in international play. Nikola Mirotic then picked up a personal and technical on the same play later in the period, sending him to the bench with four after he led Spain with 23 points in its quarterfinal rout of France. The Americans were far off their usual offensive play, shooting only 42 percent for the game and complaining about a wet ball in the first half. But they grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in their 24 straight Olympic victory. Now they need one more to stay on top. “You want to get there,” two-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony said. “You want to have that feeling.”

Eric Gay / AP

Klay Thompson scored a team-high 22 points Friday in the United States’ 82-76 win over Spain in the semifinals.

routinely stretch longer than anyone else’s. As hard as he plays, Lochte works hard, too. His 12 Olympic medals are second only to Michael Phelps among U.S. male Olympians. This time Lochte was only a small part of the

show. He finished fifth in his only individual event and swam on the victorious 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Instead, the biggest memory of the 32-year-old swimmer in Rio will be the grainy security video of him and teammates Gunnar

Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen exiting the gas station restroom and sitting on the ground, some with hands up. Like other pro swimmers, Lochte is reliant on sponsors to foot his bills so he can focus on yearround training and travel

to meets without having to hold a regular job. His sponsors, including Speedo, Ralph Lauren and airweave premium bedding, have been in no hurry to cut ties with him, though have said they are monitoring the situation.

The incident feeds a lot of American cliché of the bad-boy athlete, and while it was relatively minor, it is “unsavory,” says Thomas Ordahl, chief strategy officer at the brand consulting firm Landor. Ordahl believes it’s probably a good idea for companies to hold off on making decisions until the issue surrounding the dispute is sorted out. But he suspects that eventually, sponsors will probably drop Lochte. “The truth is that there are enough celebrities to be attached to without bringing that kind of baggage with you,” said Robert Passikoff, president and founder of the research firm Brand Keys. USA Swimming is expected to convene its executive board to discuss likely punishment, as it did when Michael Phelps was arrested for a second DUI two years ago. Technically, the four could be fined, suspended or expelled. In the Phelps case, the board announced a week after the arrest that it was suspending the sport’s biggest star for six months, banning him from competing in the 2015 world championships and taking away six months of his funding stipend.

good team. I’m not going to do anything stupid.” Coach Geno Auriemma, who has worked with Bird for four years at UConn and now eight with USA Basketball, said the decision is up to Bird whether she plays. “She’ll wake up tomorrow morning and tell us how she feels and we’ll go with that,” he said. “Whatever Sue says, just having her on the floor,

regardless the amount of time we can call on her, believe me the comfort level with our team and coaches went up 100 percent.” The U.S. dominated Spain in the preliminary round, beating the Spaniards by 40 points. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship title game. Still, the U.S. isn’t taking anything for granted.

“They are really, really good,” Diana Taurasi said. “It’s going to be a hard fought battle and they have been playing really well since we beat them.” The test for Spain will be to do what no team has been able to do in Rio: put together a full game against the U.S. France trailed by four at the half on Thursday and still lost by 19. This version of the U.S. women’s

Olympic team has been simply incredible. They’ve kept the streak started by the 1996 team going and now the Americans have won 48 consecutive contests. They’ve won the seven games in the Olympics by an average of nearly 40 points and are putting up 102.3 points a contest — just a hair behind the record set by the ‘96 squad. Saturday’s contest will

be the last Olympic game for Tamika Catchings, who is retiring at the end of the WNBA season next month. Bird and Diana Taurasi have also hinted this will probably be their Olympic finale as well. “That’s the elephant in the room that no one is talking about,” Taurasi said. “We’re really focused on the game at hand and not what lies ahead after that.”

took over as the university’s president in 2010, about a decade after he investigated Clinton’s sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Starr’s demotion from all but the law school professorship followed the law firm’s scathing 13-page summary report that found Baylor, under Starr’s leadership, did little to respond to accusations of sexual assault involving football players. Investigators said football coaches and athletics administrators at the school had run their own

improper investigations into rape claims and that, in some cases, they chose not to report such allegations to an administrator outside of athletics. By mounting their own “untrained” investigations and meeting directly with a complainant, football staff “improperly discredited” complainants’ claims and “denied them a right to a fair, impartial and informed investigation.” Investigators also found that Baylor was too slow to enact federally required student-conduct processes, and that ad-

ministrators failed to identify and eliminate a “potential hostile environment” for victims. The football team nonetheless enjoyed unprecedented success recently, including two Big 12 championships in the last three years. In 2014, Baylor opened a new, $250 million on-campus football stadium. Starr had been a highprofile fan and often ran on the football field with Baylor students in pregame ceremonies. But as sexual assault investigations began, Starr provided only brief comments

— even as criticism began to intensify.

Acting coach Jim Grobe told the Waco TribuneHerald that Zamora is “going to be disciplined by a bunch of people.” He promised sanctions from the university and says “we’ll do some things” in the athletic department. Grobe said Zamora, who is expected to be among Baylor’s top receivers this season, could lose some playing time. Grobe was hired to replace Art Briles, who lost his job over allegations that the program mishandled complaints of sexual assault by its players.

LOCHTE From page B1 ed personality and regular ‘bro’ behavior, Lochte has always been about having fun. This is the guy who gleefully admitted eating McDonald’s three times a day while winning four medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. For Rio, he dyed his dark hair white, not realizing the pool’s chlorine would turn it light green. His memorable props — diamond grills on his teeth on the medal podium, crazily colored hightops, sunglasses bearing his favorite made-up expression of “Jeah!” — and easygoing, goofy nature has made him a popular and relatable star with the public and his teammates. “I think that is why I do so many different things with the hair, the grills, the crazy shoes,” he said in Rio, “It’s just my personality coming out there.” Lochte’s success led to his own 2013 reality TV show called “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” It had a short run and left some viewers with the impression that its star was nothing more than a good-looking dim bulb. Still, lines for his autograph sessions at meets

WOMEN From page B1 and has the utmost confidence in her teammates if she can’t play. “I’m not going to be dumb about it. Our team isn’t built around one person, it’s built around 12,” she said. “As they showed yesterday it doesn’t matter who’s out there we have a really

BAYLOR From page B1 thanks to the Baylor family for the opportunity to serve as president and chancellor and is grateful for his time with the exceptional students of Baylor University who will lead and serve around the world.” Last year, Starr ordered an investigation by the Pepper Hamilton law firm to review Baylor’s handling of sexual assault cases after months in which he stayed mostly silent on the issue. Starr

Doug Mills / NYT

Ryan Lochte, right, is pictured with teammates Michael Phelps, left, and Tommy Haas on Aug. 9 at the Olympics Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Coach: Receiver Ish Zamora to be disciplined for dog beating WACO — Baylor is promising disciplinary action against sophomore receiver Ish Zamora after a video surfaced of him beating his dog with a belt this summer. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton says Zamora was cited for molesting an animal July 5 after the beating during house-training. The misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Saturday, August 20, 2016 |

Dear Readers: It's still hot in many parts of the country, and MOSQUITOES are out there! Here is a good plan for limiting or eliminating these summertime and potentially disease-carrying insects. Think Zika! The American Mosquito Control Association, www.mosquito.org, suggests the Three D's: >> Drain standing water from roof gutters, tires and tarps. Change birdbath water often. Water is necessary for mosquitoes to breed. >> Dress in baggy white or light-colored clothing. Even though it's hot out, covering arms and legs is best. >> Defend your skin by using a repellent. Here are the suggestions from the Environmental Protection Agency: 'BIRD' IS THE WORD Dear Readers: Pet birds are lovely but delicate creatures. Their systems can handle only specific foods. You may be giving

your bird the wrong food. From the files of Heloise Central, here are foods to avoid feeding your feathered friend: >> Dairy (although a tiny bit of cheese may be fine) >> Sugary and salty snacks >> Undercooked eggs >> Alcohol >> Raw onion or raw potato >> Raw red meat, poultry and fish. Check with your veterinarian or avian specialist for more information. -Heloise ZING'S THE THING Dear Heloise: Instead of store-bought croutons, I crumble spicy tortilla chips on my lettuce salad for a delicious zingy flavor. -- Mary J. in Los Angeles

B4 | Saturday, August 20, 2016 | THE ZAPATA TIMES