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ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
OIL & GAS
Murder charge
Company plans to cut workforce
Mother could face life sentence if convicted By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
DEL BOSQUE-SALDIVAR
An 18-year-old woman has been charged with the death of her 1-year-old son, the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office said late Monday. Identified as the suspect, Irene Yamiles Del BosqueSaldivar was charged with capital murder in the death of her 22-month-old son Roberto Saldivar III. Her charge constitutes a capital felony, which could be punishable with life in prison or the death penalty.
Investigators arrested Del Bosque-Saldivar on Friday. She remained behind bars Tuesday at the Zapata County Regional Jail on a $1 million bond. Sheriff ’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. said the case remains under investigation as other people could be arrested for failure to report a felony. The case unfolded July 25, when deputies responded to reports of an unre-
ConocoPhillips will cut 1,810 jobs, 500 of which will be out of Houston By MARLEY JAY ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALDIVAR III
See MURDER PAGE 9A
NEW YORK — Energy company ConocoPhillips, which has already cut 1,000 jobs this year, says it will eliminate around 1,810 more positions following a plunge that took oil prices to their
lowest levels in years. The company said Tuesday it is eliminating 10 percent of its workforce. The biggest proportion of the job cuts will be in North America. ConocoPhillips plans to eliminate more than
See JOBS PAGE 9A
GUADALUPE RIVER
NEW FLOOD WARNING TECHNOLOGY System can identify and react to potentially dangerous river rises By ZEKE MACCORMACK SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
NEW BRAUNFELS — The tranquil gurgling of Guadalupe River rapids was broken only by bird calls and occasional inner-tube floaters as Sylvia and Robert San Miguel relaxed in lawn chairs on its banks. “We used to come here as kids,” Sylvia, 65, recalled Thursday. “It’s beautiful. We love it,” said Robert, 69, waking from a nap at a River Road campground. The San Antonio Express-News reports the San Antonio couple know that heavy rains can quickly transform this idyllic waterway and
others in the Hill Country into a life-threatening nightmare, as evidenced by major flooding here in 1998, 2002 and 2010 and as recently as May 24 on the Blanco River in Wimberley, one county to the north. A new flood alert system, using solar-powered gauges and sirens, has been installed along the Guadalupe in Comal County upstream from New Braunfels. The $308,000 project, tentatively set for dedication Sept. 10, was underwritten by Comal and Guadalupe counties, the city of New Braunfels and a local recreation district. “We’re running tests right now to make sure everything is working the
way it’s supposed to,” said Mike Dussere of the Water Oriented Recreation District of Comal County, which covered $119,000 of the cost. Eight gauges installed between Spring Branch and New Braunfels have transmitters designed to provide real-time data on the water’s height. “That’s something we didn’t have before,” said Dussere, noting that the two U.S. Geological Survey gauges in that stretch of river have a lag time in reporting flow data. The new system will expand the ability to identify and react to potentially dangerous river rises before they reach low-lying campgrounds and houses. Five of the instal-
See RIVER PAGE 9A
Photo by Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News | AP
Campers enjoy the cool waters at the KL Ranch Camp as new flood warning systems are in place on the Guadalupe River downstream from Canyon Dam and just upstream from New Braunfels.
Photo by Tom Reel/San Antonio-Express News | AP
In this photo taken Aug. 28, a pair of tubers enjoy the tranquil water near the First Crossing, along the Guadalupe River, downstream from Canyon Dam and just upstream from New Braunfels, Texas. A new flood alert system, using solar-powered gauges and sirens, has been installed along the river in Comal County upstream from New Braunfels. The $308,000 project, tentatively set for dedication Sept. 10, was underwritten by Comal and Guadalupe counties, the city of New Braunfels and a local recreation district.
GOP
Non-Texans may have Cruz defending home turf By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Cheryl Senter | AP
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, participates in a business round table at Draft Sports Bar & Grill in Concord, N.H., Monday.
AUSTIN — In tea party friendly Texas, no political star has burned brighter in recent years than Ted Cruz. He rode a grassroots groundswell to an upset Senate victory in 2012, further solidified his conservative credentials by helping lead a government shutdown and has built his presidential campaign
around wooing the Republican Party’s far right wing. But Cruz may soon be finding himself defending his home turf. The first-term senator addressed a hometown crowd in Houston on Tuesday and will hold three campaign events statewide Thursday — altogether his first public Texas visits since a pre-July 4 tour for his new book. He’s coming back just as Donald Trump has shot to the top of state-
wide polls, mirroring a national rise. Other rivals, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker among them, have come to Texas more frequently or at least more recently. They are mounting a challenge to Cruz that had been expected to come from home-state rival Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who instead is barely making an impact
See CRUZ PAGE 9A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society will meet from 3 to 5 p.m. at St. John Neumann to discuss the state conference. Call Sanjuanita-Martinez Hunter at 722-3497 or visit vsalgs.org for conference info. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
Today is Wednesday, September 2, the 245th day of 2015. There are 120 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II. On this date: In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out. In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces occupied Atlanta. In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, “Speak softly and carry a big stick” in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair. In 1924, the Rudolf Friml operetta “Rose Marie” opened on Broadway. In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives. In 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent republic. (Ho died on this date in 1969.) In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable. In 1986, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced Cathy Evelyn Smith to three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter for her role in the 1982 drug overdose death of comedian John Belushi. (Smith served 18 months.) In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard. Ten years ago: A National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. Scorched by criticism about sluggish federal help, President George W. Bush toured the Gulf Coast and met with state and local officials, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; at one point, Bush praised FEMA Director Michael Brown, telling him, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” Five years ago: Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged in a first round of renewed peace talks in Washington to keep meeting at regular intervals. One year ago: Islamic State group extremists released a video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff, and warned President Barack Obama against further U.S. airstrikes on the group. Today’s Birthdays: Dancer-actress Marge Champion is 96. Actor-comedian Chuck McCann is 81. Singer Joe Simon is 72. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 67. Actor Mark Harmon is 64. International Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 63. Actor Keanu Reeves is 51. Actress Salma Hayek is 49. Actor-comedian Katt Williams is 42. Actor Michael Lombardi is 41. Actress Tiffany Hines is 38. Thought for Today: “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” — Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978).
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 Martin High School Class of ’75 40th year reunion from 7 p.m. to midnight at 105 Regal Drive. Contact Yolanda Gonzalez-Robbins at 286-4627 or yolandarobbins@hotmail.com.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 Martin High School Class of ’75 40th year reunion from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at The Mirage, 5411 McPherson Rd. Contact Yolanda Gonzalez-Robbins at 286-4627 or yolandarobbins@hotmail.com. RSVP required. Used book sale at First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave. Hardcovers $1, paperbacks $.50, magazines and children’s books $.25. Open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Public is welcome. 8th Annual Football Tailgating Cook-Off at L.I.F.E. Downs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cook-off teams in finger ribs (money prizes and trophies), chicken thighs (jackpot prize) and spare ribs (jackpot prize). Also, a showmanship contest for best decorated team (truck, tent and members), live music, food vendors, a car show, Webb County Trail Riders, Ranch Rodeo and Team Roping and more. $2 per person at gate, age 12 and under free. Call 956-286-9055 to participate in cook-off or as a vendor. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut*; 3 p.m.: Cosmic Adventures; 4 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 5 p.m.: Led Zeppelin. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. *Matinee Shows are $1 less. Call 956-326-DOME (3663). The Laredo Northside Market Association is hosting its September 2015 market day at North Central Park’s parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be games with prizes for children.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center continues with the UT Kids-Pediatric Orthopedics Clinics at the center, 1220 N. Malinche Ave. Dr. John Faust and Dr. Sekinat McCormick hold clinics every second Tuesday of the month. Prior registration and $5 processing fee. Orthopedic clinics benefit children with cerebral palsy, club foot, scoliosis, spina bifida and more. Contact Norma Rangel at 956-722-2431. TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 LCC Fall Student Art Show at the Visual and Performing Arts Center, West End Washington Street, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Creations by Laredo Community College art students in the Martha Fenstermaker Memorial Visual Arts Gallery.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 6 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs. General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 7 p.m.: Stars of the Pharaohs; 8 p.m.: Live Star Presentation (Observing will occur after if weather permits). General Admission is $4 for children and $5 for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIU students, faculty and staff. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium shows. 2 p.m.: Accidental Astronaut*; 3 p.m.: Cosmic Adventures; 4 p.m.: Extreme Planets; 5 p.m.: Led Zeppelin.
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, left, asks a question during oral arguments in Texas’ latest school finance case at the state Supreme Court, Tuesday, in Austin. Attorneys for more than 600 school districts suing Texas argue that the funding is inadequate and unfairly distributed, making it hard for students and schools to meet stringent academic standards.
School finance debated By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Attorneys for 600-plus school districts suing Texas told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday that the GOP-controlled Legislature doesn’t provide enough funding for classrooms and distributes it unfairly, especially given ever-tougher academic curriculum standards and a population boom pushing enrollment to record levels. The state countered that, while not perfect, the system meets standards set in the Texas Constitution of 1876 mandating a “general diffusion of knowledge” — and that the allRepublican court shouldn’t take the job of distributing money away from lawmakers. “We want to do better, we are not where we want to be, but the system is constitutionally adequate,” Assistant Solicitor General Rance Craft said. He and others arguing
for Texas said repeatedly that “more money doesn’t necessarily guarantee better-educated students” and pointed to federal data showing high school graduation rates have steadily risen and are among the country’s highest. With no state income tax, school districts rely heavily on money from local property taxes and a “Robin Hood” system mandating that districts in wealthy areas share tax levies with poorer counterparts. The case is the latest in nearly 30 years of Texas school finance legal fights, and started in 2011, when the Legislature cut $5.4 billion from public education and grant programs. Those cuts have made it impossible to meet state academic standards set by lawmakers, according to the suing districts, which are responsible for educating more than threequarters of Texas’ 5.2 million students.
Man given maximum sentence for grenades
Regulator clears oil company for quakes
Dallas officers to begin wearing body cameras
McALLEN — A Mexican man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for delivering grenades to undercover agents. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas said Monday that 45-year-old Mario Alberto Garcia-Balderas was ordered to serve the statutory maximum after a federal jury convicted him of being in the U.S. illegally and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
AUSTIN — The regulatory agency overseeing Texas’ oil and gas industry says a series of small earthquakes in North Texas likely wasn’t caused by drilling operations by an Exxon Mobil subsidiary. The preliminary findings mark the first decision by the Texas Railroad Commission since the agency was authorized to consider whether injection wells cause earthquakes.
DALLAS — Police officers in select parts of Dallas are set to start wearing body cameras. According to Deputy Chief Andrew Acord, body cameras will be given to about 55 officers in the central patrol division, 11 officers in the northeast patrol division, as well as 8 officers with multiple types of complaints against them regardless of their division. Officers have been trained on the camera’s use.
Racing commission suspends operations
Man dies, shot in dispute at university parking lot
Retail gas prices drop 8 cents before Labor Day
AUSTIN — The Texas Racing Commission has suspended operations — meaning horse and dog racing tracks cannot take bets — amid legislative funding squabbles. In a statement, Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie said the commission had ceased operations. The park added that it was closing racing and simulcast operations “until further notice.”
HOUSTON — Houston police say a man has died after being shot during a disturbance at a Texas Southern University dormitory parking lot. Police on Tuesday announced an upgraded murder charge against 20-year-old Darrius Nichols, the suspect in last week’s gunfire, which also left a woman wounded.
COPPELL — Retail gasoline prices have dropped 8 cents across Texas to settle at $2.23 per gallon going into the Labor Day holiday weekend. AAA Texas on Tuesday reported that compares to the nationwide average price of $2.46 per gallon, down 12 cents from last week. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION Obama buys out cinnamon rolls at Anchorage cafe ANCHORAGE, Alaska — How many cinnamon rolls does it take to feed a presidential entourage? If you’re President Barack Obama and you’re unsure, you err on the safe side and take the whole bunch. Obama paid a surprise visit Tuesday to Snow City Cafe, a hopping brunch spot in downtown Anchorage with a bit of hipster flair. He strolled past throngs of cheering crowds into the cafe, where it took just a few seconds before the cinnamon rolls caught his eye. “How many of those do you guys have?” the president asked a bemused barista. “I’m going to take all of those.”
Town organizes designated driver shuttle MARLTON, N.J. — A southern New Jersey town hopes to end
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Account Executive, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 765-5113 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Sports Editor, Zach Davis ..........................728-2578 Spanish Editor, Melva Lavin-Castillo............ 728-2569 Photo by Andrew Harnik | AP
President Barack Obama looks at a pastry display during a stop at Snow City Cafe in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday. Obama is on a historic three-day trip to Alaska aimed at showing solidarity with a state often overlooked by Washington. drunken driving by being its residents’ designated driver. Evesham Township will operate a shuttle system to take people home from bars on weekends as part of a 30-day pilot program. NJ.com reports the shuttle will make five stops near nine
drinking establishments around the Burlington County town. A company called Sober Sam that drives people and their vehicles home from bars also will provide free rides for township residents. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
Local & State
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
Man arrested for sexual assault By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man wanted for sexual assault in Zapata was arrested recently in Laredo, authorities said. On Tuesday, The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office identified the suspect as Ruben Campos, 21. Chief Raymundo del Bosque Jr. said the office had received information about Campos be-
CAMPOS
ing in Laredo. Sheriff ’s officials then requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task
Force. Marshals located Campos in the 100 block of Ceniso Loop in South Laredo. “We established surveil-
lance and observed the subject outside the residence and took him into custody,” said Deputy Marshal Evan Salinas, a spokesman for the agency. “This is a joint effort between the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and the U.S. Marshals in Laredo working together to safeguard our children and the public.” Marshals arrested Campos on Aug. 18 on a warrant
issued for aggravated assault of a child, a first-degree felony punishable with up to life in prison. The warrant was issued Aug. 7. The victim is 13 years old. Campos remains detained at the Zapata County Regional Jail on a $200,000 bond. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
2nd video of shooting emerges By SETH ROBBINS AND DAVID WARREN ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — A second video has emerged that gives authorities a “very clear view” of a confrontation between deputies and a Texas man who had his hands raised before he was shot and killed, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood described the new video and one broadcast earlier as “dis-
turbing,” but cautioned against a rush to judgment as authorities investigate the shooting that FLORES killed 41-yearold Gilbert Flores northwest of San Antonio. An initial video recorded by a motorist from some distance was posted online by a San Antonio TV station. It shows Flores outside a resi-
dence Friday facing two deputies when he raises his hands. The deputies fired multiple times. Sheriff’s officials say Flores was armed, though didn’t specify with what, and that nonlethal efforts to subdue him, including a Taser, were unsuccessful. LaHood declined to say Tuesday whether Flores’ arm motion was surrender. “I don’t know what his intent was,” he said. “All I can tell you is the video is dis-
turbing. But my encouragement to everyone is to press the pause button.” The most recent video was recorded by a witness closer to the incident, LaHood said, but he declined to provide further information about what it reveals or when authorities acquired it. Flores’ death is the country’s latest law enforcement shooting to draw heavy scrutiny for using deadly force in a situation where it may not have been necessary.
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
Wildlife program set for today SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University–Kingsville is hosting a wildlife program and lunch today at 10 a.m. at the IBC Community Suite, 908 U.S. Hwy 83. The program itinerary is as follows: 10–10:15 a.m.: CKWRI Overview (Dr. Fred Bryant) 10:15–10:30 a.m.: White-tailed deer management (Dr. Dave Hewitt) 10:30–10:45 a.m.: Quail management (Dr. Fidel Hernandez) 10:45–11 a.m.: Break 11–11:15 a.m.: Wild turkey management (Dr. Bill Kuvlesky)
11:15–11:30 a.m.: Wild cats (Dr. Mike Tewes) 11:30–11:45 a.m.: Wildlife and cattle-fever ticks (Dr. Poncho Ortega) 12–1 p.m.: Lunch (sponsored by IBC Bank) The Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University–Kingsville is the leading wildlife research organization in Texas and one of the finest in the nation. Its mission is to provide science-based information for enhancing the conservation and management of wildlife in South Texas and related environments. For more information, call 956-765-8361.
Flood pool in Cameron County to be drained ASSOCIATED PRESS
LA FERIA — A low-lying flood pool in South Texas will be drained after causing high-water problems during Hurricane Dolly in 2008. Improvements are in store for Tio Cano Lake, where storm water for years has accumulated in the natural basin just north of La Feria, the Valley Morning Star reported Monday. The situation became worse after Hurricane Dolly, flooding the area for
several months and leaving a roadway inundated. The La Feria irrigation district had regularly pumped water out of the basin, but the floodwaters became too much to pump. Officials say the stagnant water will soon be funneled out of the basin, to help prevent flooding, as part of six projects totaling $6.5 million in drainage projects. La Feria is using state grant money to drain the area. La Feria City Manager Sunny Philip said two projects will pump the water
and carry it about three miles north to a regional floodway. Four projects will funnel water about five miles south to the Arroyo Colorado, he said. He said as part of the projects, crews are raising canal banks, placing concrete lining along earthen canals and eliminating bottlenecks. The projects are a part of a $21.5 million program that includes 15 projects aimed at curbing flooding in the lowest-lying areas in western Cameron County.
Photo by Jason Hoekema/Valley Morning Star | AP
Reeds grow along the edge of Tio Cano Lake in this image taken on Monday in La Feria, Texas. The city is planning improvements in drainage of the lake bed to prevent disastrous flooding.
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Baylor’s abysmal response By JOE NOCERA NEW YORK TIMES
On Aug. 21, a Baylor University football player named Sam Ukwuachu was sentenced to six months in the county jail and 10 years’ probation for sexually assaulting a freshman soccer player two years ago. Although Ukwuachu pleaded not guilty to the charges, there wasn’t much doubt that “Jane Doe,” as she is referred to in court documents, had been raped. When she went to the hospital after the encounter, the examining nurse found “vaginal injuries, including redness, bleeding and friction injuries,” according to a powerful account in Texas Monthly. Jane Doe had been a virgin. Her testimony during the short trial was nothing short of chilling. “He was using all of his strength to pull up my dress and do stuff to me,” she testified. “He had me on my stomach on the bed and he was on top of me.” Her head caught between the bed and a desk, she was “screaming ‘stop” and ‘no”” as Ukwuachu raped her. The day of Ukwuachu’s sentencing, Baylor’s president, Ken Starr — yes, the same Ken Starr who 17 years ago authored the lurid Starr Report about President Bill Clinton’s dalliance with Monica Lewinsky — issued a letter to the Baylor community denouncing “this unspeakable tragedy.” He insisted that Baylor works “tirelessly” to provide a safe environment and that perpetrators of sexual violence “will find no shelter on our campus.” And then on Friday, Starr issued another statement, in which he announced the university would hire outside counsel to conduct an investigation. He also said Baylor would hire a full-time official to oversee “all studentathlete behavior.” I will address the absurdity of the latter role shortly. But first, it’s worth taking a closer look at the case, which says a lot about the relationship between Baylor and its football team, very little of it good. The importance of having a good football team — and many prognosticators believe Baylor will be very good indeed this season — may help explain why it was willing to accept Ukwuachu in the first place. A talented defensive end, he had been dismissed from the Boise State team for undisclosed reasons, and conflicting accounts over the past two weeks have failed to clarify what Baylor knew about Ukwuachu at the time of his transfer.
During the trial, Ukwuachu’s former girlfriend at Boise State testified that he had been violently abusive with her, and records recently obtained by ESPN show Boise State officials were alarmed by Ukwuachu’s erratic and even suicidal behavior. According to the records, three days after he was given a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder, Ukwuachu was dismissed from the team. (Boise State insists it had no knowledge of the domestic abuse allegations at the time of Ukwuachu’s move to Baylor.) In October 2013, while sitting out a year as a transfer, as required per NCAA rules, Ukwuachu raped Jane Doe. To be blunt, Baylor seemed mainly interested in protecting its football player. According to Texas Monthly, after conducting a few cursory interviews, and not even asking to look at the hospital rape kit, the school “cleared” Ukwuachu, as his lawyer later put it. Not that anybody knew this, because Baylor said nothing publicly, not even after Ukwuachu’s indictment. In fact, when he failed to suit up for the 2014 season — and reporters began asking why — Baylor said only that he had “some issues.” Even with the indictment hanging over him, Ukwuachu was allowed to do conditioning work with the team. As recently as this June, just two months before the trial, Baylor’s defensive coordinator said he expected the defensive end to play during the 2015 season. It was only as the trial was about to begin that The Waco Tribune-Herald reported Ukwuachu’s “issues” included a rape accusation. Starr was as complicit in the two-year-long silence as anybody in the Baylor athletic department, which makes his current “anguish” seem like little more than PR posturing. But it’s at moments of crises like this one when people discover how a university, and its president, prioritizes athletics. Baylor, a Baptist school that professes to adhere to Christian principles, appears to have “sheltered” a “perpetrator,” to use Starr’s own words, because this particular perp might be able to help the team win a few games. It happens way too often. As for the idea that someone has to be hired to monitor the behavior of the school’s 500 athletes — how, exactly, does Baylor propose to do that, send chaperones on their dates? — shouldn’t the real issue be who the school admits in the first place, and how forthrightly it acts when problems emerge?
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata 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. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
COLUMN
Respected men called ‘Uncle’ When I was just a tad, elderly men in our little country community of Luna, near Teague, were given the respectful title of ‘Uncle.’ Generally, a generation or two before me had applied the kinship label. Sometimes they were actually, as I am wont to say, left-handed kin, but usually it was an honorary appendage. Two in particular stick out in my memory — Uncle Edward Ezzell and Uncle Gus Mandeville. Each was a bit, er, uh, ahem, quirky. Both men lived in this community of family origin for both the Webbs and Thorntons (my mother’s maiden name). Uncle Edward Ezzell was a widower and, if you do a little digging, has some kinship to my family. But, almost everyone called him “Uncle Edward” as a matter of respect. To say he was a bit odd might be accurate, but out of respect let’s say he was eccentric. He lived in a large old, unpainted house about a mile off the “road to Teague.” He’d been a widower for several years. Uncle Edward wore the “uniform” of that day — either a khaki shirt or a plaid
shirt with khaki pants. And galluses. To young folks (under 50 maybe) who’ve never heard the term, that’s suspenders. Generally, there was no belt, but as the saying goes, if they were very conservative, they wore both. Uncle Edward wrote “The Luna News” for The Teague Chronicle and when I say “wrote,” I mean he used a pencil and paper and that’s the way it came to the paper. I know, because as the paper’s news editor for a year at age 20, it fell my lot to “edit” it every week. We found that people who’d never been to Texas much less to Teague subscribed to the paper just to get Uncle Edward’s weekly report. Most of those had been exposed to his “report” via being friends of some Luna or Teague native in the military. His report often began, “Well, I must lay down pencil and paper and go gather the news …” And, he’d get out and walk around the
Luna community to the scattering of homes left there after the days of cotton gins ended and killed the “town of Luna.” And we all called him “Uncle Edward,” or as his generation said: “Eddard.” Respect. Uncle Gus Mandeville was a bit of different kind of “uncle” for my family. My maternal grandmother — Cora Thompson Thornton Mandeville (she outlived two husbands) — was Gus’s sister-in-law by virtue of her second marriage. Gus was a lifelong bachelor who, by all accounts, had not only never been married, but it was said that he’d never had a romantic relationship with any woman. Of course, Gus loved the title “uncle” and my mother, whose father died when Mom was three, never really knew another paternal uncle. That appendage was a given for youngsters of that time, left-handed kin or not. Plus, poor old Gus craved that title. I have written about him putting me (and countless other kids in all his octogenarian lifetime) on his knee and telling me about “fighting Injuns” as a young man.
Later, when I learned math, I knew he hadn’t even been born when Texans were actually fighting Indians such as the Comanches. Out of respect for that sweet old “uncle,” and his love of children, I would have never challenged him on that fact. For all of Gus’ adult life he lived with one or another of his brothers. The majority of the time was spent with younger brother Bill, until cancer claimed him. Then, Gus packed all of his meager belongings in a large paper grocery sack and moved “off to Wortham,” perhaps 25 miles away to live with another brother, Park. Men in their 70s with merely farm labor skills and no “old age pension” depended on the love and charity of relatives to exist in those times. But, he earned and deserved that title he craved so — Uncle — from any with enough generosity of heart to bestow it upon him. Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper editor-publisher of more than 50 years experience. He can be reached by email at wwebb1937@att.net.
EDITORIAL
The senselessness of a slaying THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
So this is our world? A 47-year-old man pumping gas in suburban Houston is ambushed and assassinated, for no apparent reason beyond his Harris County sheriff ’s deputy uniform? Another day, another slaying. Today, a criminal suspect is killed; tomorrow, a police officer falls. Moral equivalency isn’t the issue, as much as the numbing drumbeat of death. Deputy Darren Goforth was doing what any of us
might have been doing Friday night. Investigators say a lone suspect approached from behind and shot into the back of his head. Goforth went down; the gunman kept shooting, 15 times before fleeing into the darkness. Investigators soon arrested Shannon J. Miles, 30, of Houston and found a .40caliber handgun at his home. He faces a capital murder charge and is jailed without bail. He has said little about why he might have targeted an officer.
Authorities say he has a lengthy criminal record, including resisting arrest and weapons violations. Whatever more we learn, nothing will bring back Goforth, a 10-year veteran who leaves a wife and two young children. Bullets fired do not return. In another part of Texas, a sheriff held his head. Dee Anderson of Tarrant County is the son of a newspaperman and a former sportswriter himself, yet he struggled for words. It’s one thing to read about the
cowardly ambush slayings of two New York City police officers. It’s something else entirely to hear of a Texas deputy dying this way. "I am fully aware of all the arguments on both sides of how we arrived to where we are today," Anderson writes. "Like many, I am weary of the arguments, but I do know one thing — now has to be the time to say ‘enough.’" We can only hope he’s right. The alternative is too miserable to contemplate.
CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
Nation
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Fiorina could appear in next GOP debate By STEVE PEOPLES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Andrew Harnik | AP
President Barack Obama pauses to view the Exit Glacier in Seward, Alaska, Tuesday, which according to National Park Service research, has retreated approximately 1.25 miles over the past 200 years.
Obama sounds alarm on climate change By JOSH LEDERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEWARD, Alaska — President Barack Obama stared down a melting glacier in Alaska on Tuesday in a dramatic use of his presidential pulpit to sound the alarm on climate change. From a distance, Exit Glacier appears as a river of white and blue flowing down through the mountains toward lower terrain. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The 2-mile-long chock of solid ice has been retreating at a faster and faster pace in recent years — more than 800 feet since 2008, satellite tracking shows. “This is as good of a signpost of what we’re dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,” Obama said with the iconic glacier at his back. Obama trekked up to the glacier with photographers in tow in a carefully choreographed excursion aimed at calling attention to the ways human activity is degrading cherished natural wonders. The visit to Kenai Fjords National Park, where the glacier is located, formed the apex of Obama’s three-day tour of Alaska, his most concerted campaign yet on climate change. The president, dressed for the elements in a rugged coat and sunglasses, observed how signposts along the hike recorded where the glacier once stood and now only dry land remains. “We want to make sure that our grandkids can see this,” Obama said, describing the glacier as “spectacular.” Obama is counting on Alaska’s exquisite but deteriorating landscape to elicit a sense of urgency for his call to action on climate change. He opened the trip on Monday night with a speech painting a doomsday scenario for the world barring urgent steps to cut emissions: entire nations submerged underwater, cities abandoned and refugees fleeing in droves as conflict breaks out across the globe. Exit Glacier has been receding for decades at an alarming rate of 43 feet a year, according to the National Park Service, which has been monitoring its retreat for decades using photography and, more recently, by satellite. Glaciers ebb and flow due to normal fluctuations in the climate, and even without human activity, Exit Glacier would be retreating. But the pace of its retreat has been sped up thanks to heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, said Deborah Kurtz of the National Park Service. “Climate is the primary driver for the retreat of glaciers and for ice loss,” Kurtz said. Obama’s trip was more about visuals than words,
and the White House has put a particular emphasis on trying to get the message across to audiences who don’t follow the news through traditional means. To that end, Obama planned to tape an episode of the NBC reality TV show “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” putting his survival skills to the test while in the national park. He also planned to board a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to tour the park by boat before returning to Anchorage later Tuesday. Obama’s first glimpse of a glacier on the trip came as Marine One whisked him about 45 minutes south of Anchorage to tiny Seward. As he flew past snow-capped peaks and sprawling forests, the sheet of ice emerged, snaking its way through mountains toward a teal-tinged lake. Although Obama’s trip hasn’t entailed new policy prescriptions or federal efforts to slow global warming, Obama has said the U.S. is doing its part by pledging to cut carbon dioxide emissions up to 28 percent over the next decade. Obama set that target as America’s commitment to
a pending global climate treaty that Obama hopes will be a capstone to his environmental legacy. Obama has urged fellow leaders to make similarly ambitious pledges as the talks near a close. Despite his efforts, the U.S. isn’t a shining example when it comes to greenhouse gases. Each American emits more than twice as much carbon dioxide as a Chinese and 10 times that of someone from India, Energy Department figures show. China, the U.S. and India are the world’s top three polluters. The U.S. has cut its carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels by about 8 percent since 2000, and around 7 percent since Obama took office in 2009. But some industrialized European nations have made even steeper cuts, including Britain, Spain and Denmark. Glaciers are formed when the weight of accumulated snowfall causes ice to “flow” and extend over land. Some 700 square miles in the Kenai Mountains are blanketed by glacier ice, remnants of the Ice Age, when roughly a third of the Earth was covered with sheets of ice.
WASHINGTON — CNN on Tuesday amended its criteria for the next Republican presidential debate, giving former technology executive Carly Fiorina a better chance at appearing in the Sept. 16 primetime affair. The news network announced the change following weeks of public pressure from Fiorina and her supporters. Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP field, likely would not have been among the top 10 candidates on the debate stage as determined by the original terms, which relied on national polling conducted between July 16
and Sept. 10. The new terms add any candidate who ranks in the top 10 in polling between Aug. 6 and Sept. 10 — a period that better reflects Fiorina’s rise in the polls. The shift raises the possibility of more than 10 candidates on the stage for the GOP’s second formal debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library later in the month. “We now believe we should adjust the criteria to ensure the next debate best reflects the most current state of the national race,” CNN said in a statement. The Fiorina campaign and the Republican National Committee praised the move. “I applaud CNN for rec-
ognizing the historic nature of this debate and fully support the network’s decision to amend their criteria,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. In a message posted on Twitter, Fiorina aide Sarah Isgur Flores thanked “the thousands of grassroots supporters and conservative activists around the country who weren’t afraid to take on the political establishment and challenge the status quo to make this happen.” “We look forward to watching (Fiorina) debate the other front-runners at the Reagan Library,” Flores said. While Fiorina has been rising in the polls, her place on the debate stage is not assured.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: 2024 SUMMER GAMES
LA gets U.S. Olympic bid
File photo by AP
The U.S. Olympic Committee selected Los Angeles as the replacement candidate for Boston for the 2024 Olympic Games Tuesday. Los Angeles last held the Games in 1984, pictured.
U.S. Olympic Committee names LA as its candidate for 2024 Games By MICHAEL R. BLOOD ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Olympic Committee on Tuesday named Los Angeles as its candidate for the 2024 Games, replacing Boston’s soured bid and marking a comeback for LA’s dream of becoming a three-time host of the global sports competition. The announcement by USOC CEO Scott Blackmun came under a summer sun at Santa Monica Beach, where the city’s plan calls for staging beach volleyball on the site where it was founded. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city was inspired to bring the games back to the U.S. for the first time in 28 years. “This is a quest Los Angeles was made for,” the
SCANDRICK PLACED ON IR
mayor said. “This city is the world’s greatest stage.” Earlier Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council cleared the way for Garcetti to strike agreements for a 2024 bid. The 15-0 vote came about a month after Boston was dropped from contention amid shaky public support and questions about taxpayer spending and liability. Garcetti has said Los Angeles, home to the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, would stage games that are both spectacular and profitable. The city’s selection as the U.S. nominee marks the start of a long competition. The International Olympic Committee will pick the host city in 2017, and Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, are also
in pursuit of the 2024 Games. A key issue has been whether approval of the resolution by the City Council would saddle Los Angeles with potential cost overruns for an event that historically runs over budget. Council members were assured repeatedly that the approval starts a negotiation with Olympic officials and does not commit taxpayers to future spending to stage the Games. “This is the engagement, not the wedding,” Council President Herb Wesson said. The council’s vote authorizes Garcetti to execute agreements related to the bid, which outlines over $6 billion in public and private spending. The city’s 2024 plan calls for staging events from vol-
leyball on Santa Monica Beach to mountain biking in Griffith Park, one of the nation’s largest urban green spaces. The vote comes after council members received assurances from city lawyers that the resolution would not expose taxpayers to unchecked spending or debt. A socalled host city contract, which essentially sticks the city and state — not the IOC — with the burden of any cost overruns, became an obstacle in Boston. For Los Angeles, striking a host city contract would come later, if the city is selected to stage the 2024 Games. For now, that temporarily pushes aside looming questions about costs. “We are in this to win it, and I think we will,”
said Councilman Paul Krekorian. “We can’t do that at the risk of exposure to our taxpayers.” Over the years, the Olympics have been notorious for cost overruns, and studies have questioned whether host cities benefit economically. Russia has been struggling with costs from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which have been called the most expensive Olympics of all time. Many financial details of the Los Angeles plan remain vague. The bid calls for building a $1 billion athletes village on a rail yard the city doesn’t own, and government analysts have warned that developing the site could significantly exceed the projected
cost. A private developer would invest most of the $925 million to build the village, but who would build the site, how the company would be selected and what type of financing would be used is unclear. The plan refers to necessary environmental and planning studies, but no cost estimates are given. City analysts last week said they didn’t have enough information to verify the overall 2024 budget or determine the financial risk. The IOC had set a Sept. 15 deadline for cities to enter the race for the 2024 Games. The U.S. hasn’t hosted the Summer Games since 1996 in Atlanta.
Rio Grande Valley Beefmaster Sale Saturday, August 29, 2015 R.Y. Livestock Sales, Inc. • Rio Grande City, TX
Selling 56 Lots Mature Breeding Age Bulls • Young Herd Bull Prospects Three-In-One’s & Pairs • Bred Heifers Breeding Age Open Heifers Weaned Show Heifer Prospects
Schedule of Events: Friday, August 28, 2015 All day viewing Nolan Ryan Steak Dinner and Social 6:30 p.m. at Casa de Adobe Restaurant & Bar 101 N. Avasolo, Rio Grande City, TX 78582 Phone: (956) 487-8216 Sponsored by Texas Farm Credit
Saturday, August 29, 2015 File photo by Brandon Wade | AP
Dallas officially lost cornerback Orlando Scandrick for the remainder of the season Tuesday as he was placed on the injured reserve list. The team’s top corner tore both his ACL and MCL in practice this offseason. Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne are the top remaining corners.
8 a.m. - 10a.m. Breakfast Taquitos and Cattle Viewing 11 a.m. - Sale Begins For additional information: Sam Rodriguez (956) 534-0284
R.Y. Livestock Sales, Inc. Rio Grande City, Texas www.rylivestock.com (956) 487-5551 • (956) 534-0284
Nation
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
Home detention for white police chief Officer killed, 3 suspects sought By JEFFREY COLLINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A white former police chief will have to spend a year under home detention but won’t have to serve any prison time in the 2011 shooting death of an unarmed black man. Prosecutors agreed Tuesday to drop a murder charge against 38-year-old Richard Combs, the former police chief of the small town of Eutawville, in exchange for his guilty plea to misconduct in office. The murder charge carried a penalty of 30 years to life. Circuit Judge Edgar Dickson suspended a 10year prison sentence for Combs as long as he completes his home detention and five years of probation. Combs stood trial twice on the murder charge, but both cases ended with hung juries. Defense attorney Wally Fayssoux said Combs was ready to end a four-year ordeal.
“My client is financially and emotionally exhausted,” Fayssoux said. Bernard Bailey’s family told the judge he was a good man who stayed out of trouble and was targeted for arrest by an officer who was on a power trip, which set the tragedy in motion. “We have been on a mission of justice. We know the outcome of this trial will not help Walter. But perhaps it will help some other family, some other young man,” said Bailey’s sister, JoAnn Bailey-Lawton. Eutawville suspended Combs after the shooting and dismissed him several months later. The town reached a $400,000 wrongful death settlement with Bailey’s family. Combs shot Bailey in May 2011 as he tried to arrest him on an obstruction of justice charge weeks after he argued about his daughter’s traffic ticket on the side of a highway. Eu-
tawville is a town of 300 people about 50 miles southeast of Columbia. Bailey came to Town Hall to discuss the ticket and Combs told him he was under arrest. Bailey stormed out and got in his pickup truck and Combs followed, authorities said. Bailey was shot three times as he backed his truck out. Prosecutors said Combs was trying to arrest Bailey on a trumped up charge, was not threatened and could have stepped out of the way. Combs testified he was leaning into Bailey’s pickup and had just seconds to react. They said he had no pepper spray or stun gun, which left him no option but his gun. He was the only officer in the town. Combs had been a police officer for several jurisdictions for 10 years after serving time in the Marines. He won’t be a law officer again, Fayssoux said. “He has to completely start over. He was branded
Yahoo CEO to give birth in December By MICHAEL LIEDTKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is going to give birth to twins while trying to deliver a long-promised turnaround at the struggling Internet company. The identical twin girls are expected to be born in December, according to an announcement Mayer posted on her blog late Monday. As she did after having a son nearly three years ago, Mayer plans to take a brief break from her Yahoo job instead of taking full advantage of a company benefit providing 16 weeks of paid leave for mothers. The circumstances
around Mayer’s pregnancy this time are much different than her first one. Mayer, 40, had only been at Yahoo for a few months back then, and there were still high hopes that she would be able to revive Yahoo’s revenue growth. The confidence stemmed from her past experience as a long-time Google executive who helped build that company into a powerhouse. Now, there are doubts looming over Mayer. The reason: Yahoo’s ad sales have barely budged since her arrival, even though marketers have been steadily increasing the amount of money they are spending on the Internet. Most of those dollars, though, have been flowing to Google and Facebook.
“It has to be frustrating if you are an investor, and it’s not about the kid she had before or the kids that are coming,” said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Martin Pyykkonen. “It’s because she hasn’t managed the advertising business very well.” As she has done throughout her reign, Mayer reiterated she believes Yahoo is on the comeback trail in a post on Tumblr — a blogging service that Yahoo acquired for $1.1 billion in 2013. “I’m extremely energized by and dedicated to both my family and Yahoo and will do all that is necessary and more to help both thrive,” Mayer wrote. “The future looks extremely bright on both fronts.”
a racist,” Fayssoux said after the hearing. “All of that wasn’t true.” Combs’ guilty plea to the lesser charge was a good outcome because it punishes him for “a totality of poor judgment,” Solicitor David Pascoe said. The jury in the first case voted 9-3 to convict Combs. The jury in the second case voted 8-4 to convict, with four jurors wanting to convict Combs of murder, four wanting to convict him of voluntary manslaughter and four who thought he was not guilty, Pascoe said in a hearing at the Orangeburg County courthouse. Fayssoux said he thought the juries were leaning even closer to an acquittal for Combs, but didn’t give numbers. Combs was one of four South Carolina police officers charged with felonies for on-duty shootings in the past year. The officers in the other three cases are awaiting trials.
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS
FOX LAKE, Ill. — Police in helicopters, with dogs and armed with rifles were conducting a massive manhunt in northern Illinois on Tuesday after an officer was fatally shot while pursuing a group of men. An emotional Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit described the slain officer, Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, as a personal friend, a three-decade member of the department and a father of four sons. “We lost a family member,” Schmit said of the 52-year-old officer known around town as “GI Joe.” “His commitment to the people of this community has been unmatched and will be dearly missed.” Authorities said Gli-
niewicz radioed in to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot in the village of Fox Lake, 55 miles north of Chicago. Communication with him was lost soon after, said Lake County Sheriff ’s Office spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli. “His backup arrived shortly thereafter and found him injured with a gunshot wound,” Covelli said. “The officer has succumbed to his injuries and passed away.” Undersheriff Raymond Rose told the Chicago Tribune that the officer had also been stripped of his gun and other equipment. Less than an hour’s drive from Chicago, the area is popular with boaters and for other outdoor pursuits because of its forest preserves and a chain of lakes that partly encircles Fox Lake.
PÁGINA 8A
Zfrontera
Ribereña en Breve CONVENCIÓN El programa CKWRI Wildlife del Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute en Texas A&M University-Kingsville, tendrá una serie de conferencias el 2 de septiembre, a partir de las 10 a.m. en IBC Community Suite, en 908 de U.S. Hwy 83. El evento es patrocinado, en colaboración con el instituto, por IBC Bank.
FIT TAMAULIPAS El Festival Internacional Tamaulipas 2015 contará con la República Argentina como país invitado de honor. La música, danza, literatura y artes plásticas estarán representados a través de sus mejores embajadores artísticos. Los tamaulipecos podrán conocer los ritmos suramericanos a través del rock y el tango; las danzas tradicionales y disfrutarán de la literatura hecha por argentinos. En la plástica, un colectivo ha desarrollado una muestra para exponer su arte contemporáneo.
MIÉRCOLES 02 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2015
CARGO DE HOMICIDIO CAPITAL
Acusación formal POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Una mujer de 18 años de edad fue acusada por homicidio capital en relación con la muerte de su hijo de 1 año de edad, anunció la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata, el lunes por la tarde. La mujer, Irene Yamiles Del Bosque-Saldivar, enfrenta cadena perpetua a pena de muerte, de ser encontrada culpable. Investigadores arrestaron a Del Bosque-Saldivar el viernes. Ella continuaba en la Cárcel Regional del Condado de Zapata hasta el martes por la tarde, con fianza fijada en 1 millón de dólares. El Jefe de la Oficina del Alguacil, Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. dijo que el caso continúa siendo investigado, ya que otras personas pu-
DEL BOSQUE-SALDIVAR
SALDIVAR III
dieran ser arrestadas por la felonía de fallar en realizar el reporte. El caso se desarrolló el 25 de julio, cuando oficiales respondieron
a reportes de un bebé inconsciente. Reportes indican que el niño fue trasladado vía aérea al Hospital Regional Rio Grande en McA-
llen. El menor, posteriormente identificado como Roberto Saldivar III, falleció cinco días después, el 30 de julio. Autoridades dijeron que el médico forense les dijo que el niño no había fallecido por causas naturales. En una entrevista previa, del Bosque dijo a que investigadores sospechaban se tratara de un acto criminal. Detalles acerca de la causa y forma de muerte no estuvieron disponibles el martes. Del Bosque recientemente etiquetó al caso como un “crimen muy grave”. La acusada, Del Bosque-Saldivar, y el oficial Del Bosque no son familiares. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmotnline.com)
REGRESO A CLASES
TORNEO DE PESCA
TEMPORADA DE CAZA Tamaulipas comenzó con la temporada de caza de la Paloma Ala Blanca, anunciaron autoridades del Estado. La temporada concluirá el 18 de octubre. Igualmente, de acuerdo al calendario aprobado para la práctica de ésta actividad deportiva, también inició el periodo de caza de la Paloma de Collar y la temporada de caza de la Paloma Huilota. La temporada de caza de la Paloma Collar termina el 18 de octubre, mientras que la temporada de la Paloma Huilota, terminará el 8 de noviembre.
ARRESTO Elementos policiacos del Estado de Tamaulipas, arrestaron a Jorge Julián Vera Juárez, de 29 años de edad y Miguel Ángel Vázquez Montelongo, de 40 años, como sospechosos de participar en un grupo delictivo, señala un comunicado de prensa. De acuerdo con reportes, durante el arresto, oficiales aseguraron cinco granadas, cuatro armas largas, 841 cartuchos útiles, 31 cargadores, cuatro fornituras y una bolsa con 11 credenciales a nombre de diferentes personas. También se les decomisaron dos vehículos, un Dodge Charger blanco sin placas de circulación y una camioneta Dodge Journey blanca, ambos con reporte de robo. Los acusados, las armas, vehículos y demás objetos fueron puestos a disposición del Ministerio Público correspondiente. Oficiales arrestaron a dos sospechosos vinculados a Roberto Saavedra Santana Delgado, conocido también con el sobrenombre de “El Chiricuas”, jefe de plaza del grupo delincuencial que opera en Miguel Alemán, México. Los sospechosos fueron identificados como Juan Carlos Aguilar, de 28 años y Fernando Flores García, de 42 años. Durante el arresto se decomisaron dos vehículos y 11 paquetes de marihuana con un peso de 56.8 kilogramos. El arresto tuvo lugar en la ciudad fronteriza, en calles de la Colonia Barrera, cuando los oficiales vieron a Aguilar, salir de una casa con una bolsa de plástico negra. Flores García salió de la casa para encarar a los policías estatales, señala un comunicado de prensa. En el interior de la casa, la policía aseguró una camioneta Buick Rendezvous, color guinda, con placas de Texas y un coche deportivo Corvette rojo, sin placas, donde supuestamente había 11 paquetes con marihuana.
Fotos de cortesía
El sábado tuvo lugar el Back to School Kids Fishing Tournament, en Bravo Park, tras la inscripción de 543 personas, entre ellas niños y adultos, señaló la Cámara de Comercio de Zapata. Entre las actividades realizadas en el evento estuvieron pesca, toro mecánico, juegos de agua, entre otros. Los tres primeros lugares de pesca fueron obtenidos por Johnny Lee Vaughn (2.44), Tanner Moreno (2.1) y Cynthia Vaughn (1.66).
CLUB DE LEONES
SITUACIÓN PELIGROSA
Buscan éxito de jóvenes Sujeto origina TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Erradicar el acoso escolar, mantener a los niños y jóvenes en la escuela y alejados de los narcóticos, fueron los puntos focales en un evento organizado por el Club de Leones de Zapata, durante el mes de febrero, dio a conocer el organismo recientemente. Los integrantes del club, en colaboración con comerciantes locales y organizaciones cívicas, organizaron un evento de dos días, el 4 y 5 de febrero, enfocado a todos los estudiantes de Zapata. El Club de Leones decidió organizar un evento enfocado en la diversión familiar,
por lo que contactó a la organización Harlem Ambassadors, cuyo objetivo es ofrecer un espectáculo de baloncesto de calidad a audiencias de Estados Unidos y fuera de la nación, señala un comunicado de prensa. La organización se ha asociado con más de 300.000 organizaciones sin fines de lucro en los 50 estados y además 20 países, añade el comunicado. El evento de Harlem Ambassadors tuvo lugar en el gimnasio de Zapata High School, el 5 de febrero a las 7 p.m. Un día antes, embajadores visitaron escuelas primarias y secundarias, donde animaron a los estudiantes a tener una vida es-
tudiantil y personal exitosa. “Uno de los momentos más emotivos fue en Middle School Assembly cuando se tuvo a todo el cuerpo estudiantil vítorear ‘libre de drogas-título universitario’”, dijo León Aurelio Villarreal, quien estuvo involucrado en la organización. El evento, continuó con más de 1.500 asistentes, en el gimnasio de la preparatoria. “Fue un magnífico ejemplo de lo que los Leones pueden hacer cuando se unen con las escuelas locales, el gobierno y los comerciantes de la comunidad para dedicar sus esfuerzos de cooperación para ayudar a los niños”, dijo Villarreal en un comunicado.
COLUMNA
Detallan obras de R. Gómez Nota del Editor: Este es el segundo artículo de dos en el que el autor nos presenta influencia y decisiones de Marte R. Gómez en la legislatura de Tamaulipas.
POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZ ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Hombre culto, ligado al cacicazgo portesgilista, Marte R. Gómez alcanza la gubernatura de Tamaulipas. Desde ahí promueve normativas que provocan el asombro de los entendidos. . Inspirándose en la Italia de Benito Mussolini, promulga hacia fines de 1937 una ley que impone gravámenes a los adultos solteros, aun tratándose de viu-
dos o divorciados, en casos específicos. Siéndole por completo adversos varios juicios de amparo, se deroga poco después. Sin embargo, en su código punitivo de 1938 parece el mandatario regirse por análogos criterios, que traslucen la homofobia del periodo. A cuenta de lo anterior, prohíbe el “ayuntamiento carnal con personas” de idéntico género. A quienes “habitualmente [lo] tengan”, les reserva cuantiosas multas y hasta tres años de cárcel. El propio código ofrece mayúsculo contraste al permitir la interrupción del embarazo conforme a ciertas hipótesis. Lo autoriza previa anuencia de la mujer y en manos de “mé-
dico […] autorizado”. Esto, “si […] el producto es menor de tres meses o cuando de no provocarse el aborto la […] embarazada corra peligro de muerte”. El ordenamiento ofrece una sorpresa extra. Porque leído y releído de la primera a la última página advertimos que nada prescribe sobre el adulterio. O sea que lo excluye de las conductas merecedoras de castigo por ser capaces de poner en riesgo la seguridad y la integridad del sujeto ofendido. Claro está, con independencia de que el adulterio pueda alegarse para demandar el divorcio. (Con permiso del autor, según fuera publicado en La Razón, Tampico)
cierre en I-35 POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Una situación peligrosa que provocó el cierre de Interestatal 35 por alrededor de 10 horas, concluyó con autoridades disparando a un sospechoso armado, de acuerdo con autoridades. El sospechoso, Adam Vielta, de 25 años de edad, fue transportado vía aérea a un hospital de San Antonio “en condiciones desconocidas”, se lee en una declaración de la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de La Salle. Vielta, de Atascosa, tenía una orden de arresto pendiente en el Condado de Bexar por agresión con agravantes con un arma mortal. “El desafortunado incidente (del lunes) sobre (I-35) en La Salle… causó congestión de tráfico por varias millas en ambas direcciones por alrededor de nueve horas”, dijo Raúl Leal, portavoz del Departamento de Transportes de Texas. “Nuestras disculpas por cualquier inconveniente de tráfico, pero la seguridad del público viajero es la principal prioridad de TxDOT”. La Oficina del Alguacil dijo que el caso tuvo lugar a las 4:30 a.m. El Departamento de Policía de Encinal solicitó asistencia por parte de oficiales de La Salle y agentes de Patrulla Fronteriza en relación a una persecución a alta velocidad. El vehículo supuestamente se detuvo cerca del marcador de la milla 80. A las 7:46 a.m., la Oficina del Alguacil de La Salle publicó en su página de Facebook que la carretera fue cerrada debido a “un incidente que continúa desarrollándose”. Autoridades de La Salle confirmaron la situación peligrosa, a través de redes sociales a las 9:21 a.m. “En este momento, confirmaremos que una situación peligrosa con un sospechoso armado está entrando a su (quinta) hora cerca del marcador de la milla 80, sobre (I-35). Negociadores se encuentran en la escena. No se revelarán más detalles en este momento”, se lee en una publicación de Facebook. Reportes señalan que Vielta estaba armado, y se rehusó a soltar su arma. “Negociadores del Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas trabajaron por varias horas intentando llegar a una resolución pacífica a esta situación”, dijeron oficiales de La Salle. “La situación peligrosa concluyó cerca de las 2 p.m., cuando el sospechoso disparó a un oficial (de DPS) forzando a un oficial del Condado de La Salle y un oficial de policía de Encinal a disparar”, dijeron autoridades de La Salle. Vielta recibió varios disparos y fue transportado vía aérea a San Antonio. Ningún oficial resultó herido. Autoridades abrieron I-35 alrededor de las 2:15 p.m. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
Freed after 20 years
Clerk defies courts
By SUMMER BALLENTINE
By CLAIRE GALOFARO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A man sentenced to life without parole on a marijuana-related charge was freed Tuesday from a Missouri prison after being behind bars for more than two decades — a period in which the nation’s attitudes toward pot steadily softened. Family, friends, supporters and reporters flocked to meet Jeff Mizanskey as he stepped out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center into a sunny morning, wearing a new pair of white tennis shoes and a shirt that read “I’m Jeff & I’m free.” “I spent a third of my life in prison,” said Mizanskey, now 62, who was greeted by his infant great-granddaughter. “It’s a shame.” After a breakfast of steak and eggs with family, Mizanskey said, he planned to spend his post-prison life seeking a job and advocating for the legalization of marijuana. He criticized sentencing for some drug-related crimes as unfair and described his time behind bars as “hell.” His release followed years of lobbying by relatives, lawmakers and others who argued that the sentence was too stiff and that marijuana should not be forbidden. Mizanskey was sentenced in 1996 — the same year California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, and recreational marijuana has been legalized in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington, D.C. “The reason he’s getting out is because the public clearly has changed its opinion about marijuana, and it’s just one of many ways in which that has been reflected in recent years,” said Mizanskey’s attorney, Dan
MOREHEAD, Ky. — Invoking “God’s authority,” a county clerk denied marriage licenses to gay couples again Tuesday in direct defiance of the federal courts, and vowed not to resign, even under the pressure of steep fines or jail. “It is not a light issue for me,” Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis said later through her lawyers. “It is a Heaven or Hell decision.” April Miller and Karen Roberts, tailed by television cameras and rival activists, were there when the doors opened Tuesday morning, hours after the Supreme Court rejected the clerk’s last-ditch request for a delay. They were hopeful Davis would accept that her fight was lost and issue the licenses, ending the months-long controversy that has divided Rowan County, where the seat of Morehead is considered a progressive haven in Appalachian Kentucky. Instead, Davis once again turned them away. On their way out, Miller and Roberts passed David Ermold and David Moore, 17 years a couple. “Denied again,” Roberts whispered in Moore’s ear. Ermold said he almost wept. They demanded to talk to Davis, who emerged briefly on the other side of the counter. “We’re not leaving until we have a license,” Ermold told her. “Then you’re going to have a long day,” Davis replied. Davis, an Apostolic Christian, stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June rather than comply with the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage nationwide. Gay and straight cou-
Photo by Justin L. Stewart/Columbia Missourian | AP
Jeff Mizanskey smiles as he walks away from cameras after being released from the Jefferson City Correctional Center, Tuesday. Viets. Such “extreme” cases could further fuel changing perceptions of nonviolent drug crimes, said Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Austin at Texas. “These cases really become exhibit A in the need for sentencing reform,” said Deitch, an attorney and expert in criminal-justice policy. Just last year, the heavily Republican Missouri Legislature passed a law to allow certain people with epilepsy to seek treatment with a marijuana extract containing little of the chemical that causes users to feel high and larger amounts of a compound called cannabidiol, or CBD. The patients can include children, Viets said. “Nobody saw that coming,” he said. “That is a pretty radical statement.” Police said Mizanskey conspired to sell 6 pounds of marijuana to a dealer connected with Mexican drug cartels. At the time, the lifewith-no-parole sentence was allowed under a Missouri law for repeat drug offenders. Mizanskey already had two drug convictions — one for possession and sale of
marijuana in 1984 and another for possession in 1991. He was the only Missouri inmate serving such a sentence for a nonviolent marijuana-related offense when Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon agreed in May to commute his sentence. The commutation allowed Mizanskey to argue for his freedom before a parole board, which granted the request in August. Nixon’s actions are “a reflection of political confidence in changing norms around marijuana use,” said Cecelia Klingele, a criminal justice policy expert at the University of Wisconsin Law School. The governor cited Mizanskey’s nonviolent record, noting that none of his offenses involved selling drugs to children. The law under which he was originally sentenced has been changed. Other states are re-evaluating punishments for drug possession, motivated in large part by the high cost of imprisoning low-level, nonviolent offenders. In Connecticut, a new law will make possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, a misdemeanor for a firsttime offense, rather than an offense carrying up to seven years in prison.
MURDER Continued from Page 1A sponsive child. Reports state the child was flown out to Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen. The child, later identified as Saldivar, died five days later on July 30. Authorities said the medical examiner told them the boy did not die of natural causes. In a previous interview, del Bosque said investigators suspected foul
play. Details on the cause and manner of death were not available Tuesday. Del Bosque recently labeled the case as a “very serious crime.” Del Bosque-Saldivar is not related to Sheriff ’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmotnline.com)
The installations will complement a downstream alert system of eight sirens, four of which can also function as loudspeakers, erected in 2011 in New Braunfels. “The new gauges will enhance our ability to make critical decisions that much faster, if they need to be made,” said Steve Harris, emergency management coordinator for the city, which provided $59,000 for the project. Comal County contributed $115,000 and Guadalupe County, farther downstream, pitched in $14,000 for the system, which had a planned debut in May that was delayed by bad weather. “Getting good real-time data is essential to knowing what’s going on and what action we may need to take next,” said Jeff Kelley, Comal County’s emergency management coordinator. The county already has a system to automatically monitor water levels at 19 low water crossings on local roads, he said, noting that motorists can see on the county website (its county engineer page) if the crossings are passable or flooded. Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher called the expenditure a prudent public safety investment. “It’s imperative to have real-time information as soon as we
ples sued, saying she should fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her personal religious faith. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered her to issue the licenses, an appeals court affirmed that order, and the Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene, leaving her no legal option to refuse. And yet, she did. “Stand firm,” Davis’ supporters chanted as a tense standoff erupted in the lobby. “Do your job,” marriage equality activists shouted back. Davis retreated into her inner office, closed the door and shut the blinds. The sheriff moved everyone outside, where demonstrators lined up to shout and sing at each other. Davis knows she faces stiff fines or even jail if the judge finds her in contempt, her lawyer said. Her supporters compared her Tuesday to the Biblical figures Paul and Silas, imprisoned for their faith and rescued by God. But the couples’ lawyers asked that she not be sent to jail, and instead be fined, since she currently collects her salary — $80,000 a year — while fail-
ing to perform her duties. They asked the judge to “impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous” to “compel her immediate compliance without delay.” Bunning ordered Davis and her six deputy clerks to appear before him Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Ashland. Davis also faces a potential state charge of official misconduct, a misdemeanor meant for public servants who refuse to perform their duties. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, now running as the Democratic nominee for governor, is studying a complaint filed by a couple she turned away, and will decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor. Davis said she never imagined this day would come. “I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will. To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God’s Word,” her statement said. Her critics mock this moral stand, noting that Davis is on her fourth husband after being divorced three times.
JOBS Continued from Page 1A 500 jobs in Houston, where it is based. In a statement, ConocoPhillips said it’s making the cuts because the energy industry is in a “dramatic downturn.” ConocoPhillips had 18,100 employees on June 30. Oil prices have plunged because of a supply glut that built up as production increased and growth in the global economy slowed. The health of China’s economy, the second-largest in
RIVER Continued from Page 1A lations below Canyon Lake are equipped with large sirens. Of particular concern is nighttime flooding, which, without some kind of warning, could catch sleeping campers and residents unaware. “In a flash flood, the river can come up quick. You saw what happened in Wimberley,” said Eddie Gillespie, manager of Camp Huaco Springs, referring to deadly flooding on the Blanco River in Hays County over Memorial Day weekend this year. “The same has happened here and could again.” Gillespie said his River Road campground was wiped out by the 2002 Guadalupe River flood, pointing out the water’s crest near the top of a light pole. The new alert system will replace more than 20 small sirens that were installed by the recreation district in 2011, mostly in riverside campgrounds, but proved to be undependable and insufficiently audible. “The new ones are going to be much louder and much better,” said Jennifer Bretzke, a WORD board member who manages a campground called KL Ranch Cliffsides. “We want everyone to wake up.” Data from the new gauges will be posted for public access on a yet-tobe-identified website.
Photo by Timothy D. Easley | AP
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis listens to a customer following her office’s refusal to issue marriage licenses in Morehead, Ky.
can get it,” he said. Kerr County officials recently began discussions with the Upper Guadalupe River Authority about installing such a system on the river there. “We don’t have anything like that, but that’s one of our goals. We’ll look to Comal County to see what they’re doing,” said Ray Buck, UGRA general manager. After deadly flooding in Kerr and Kendall counties in the 1980s, the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority installed a series of rain gauges along the Guadalupe from Kerr to Guadalupe counties, but without sirens, to help predict flooding, said GBRA spokeswoman LaMarriol Smith. The authority is looking to develop a similar system on the Blanco River. Besides the sirens, emergency responders utilize reverse-911 calls and door-to-door notifications, if needed, to spread flood alerts. But experience shows that those getting such notifications don’t always heed evacuation warnings. Longtime River Road resident David Hammond said the siren system will mostly benefit campers and visitors, not local homeowners. “We know when it’s flooding, and we know what to do,” said Hammond, 55. “When they blow, we won’t go.
the world, is a dominant concern. In response to falling oil prices almost all energy companies have either cut spending on exploration or cut jobs, often both, and many have seen big drops in their stock prices. Oil and gas and drilling services companies have said they’ll cut tens of thousands of positions. The biggest oilfield service company, Schlumberger, is eliminating 20,000 jobs.
ConocoPhillips said in July that it lost $179 million in the second quarter because of the drop in oil prices. It said it was preparing for a period of lower and more volatile prices and also pared its spending forecasts. The company said Tuesday it is reducing spending and paring back deep water exploration work, but job cuts were also needed to make it stronger and more competitive.
ConocoPhillips stock declined $1.40, or 2.9 percent, to close at $47.75 Tuesday as the markets slumped. The company’s shares have fallen 41 percent over the last year and fell to their lowest prices in almost five years in August. U.S. oil is trading around six-year lows. After a big three-day rebound, the price of U.S. oil fell 8 percent on Tuesday to close at $45.41 on weak manufacturing data from China.
CRUZ Continued from Page 1A in the state. For Cruz, said Austinbased Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, “Texas is not a guarantee.” Cruz will hold a rally in Fort Worth on Thursday and tea party events in Tyler and back in Houston. His wife, Heidi, addressed a San Antonio crowd recently. Cruz relishes being a political insurgent. But since Trump has cranked up the campaign’s outlandishness, primary voters who might have looked to Cruz to shake up the status quo could gravitate to his reality-TV star competitor. “Nobody will outwork Ted on the ground,” said JoAnn Fleming, Cruz’s Texas tea party chairwoman and organizer of the Tyler event. But Fleming also acknowledged Trump’s appeal. “The GOP establishment created a Donald Trump-size vacuum,” she said, “because they have failed to do anything they promised the American people they would do.” Cruz has been conspicuously careful not to criticize Trump. Indeed, he plans to appear with him at a Capitol Hill rally against the nuclear agreement with Iran. But Trump’s ascension in Texas hasn’t gone unnoticed. “It’d be very difficult for (Cruz) to explain to people of other states how he should be the nominee if his hometown Republicans don’t give him a first-place finish,” said former Texas Republican Party chairman Steve Munisteri, who left his post to
work for Rand Paul’s presidential campaign. Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier shrugged off suggestions Cruz has to shore up his Texas flank. She said the home-state swing was planned before Trump’s surge in polling: “We’re focused on our own campaign.” Cruz says he’s building a campaign structure and grassroots support in areas with primaries beyond the states that open presidential voting: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. That’s why he toured the South by bus and visited states such as Wyoming. Texas moved up its primary to March 1, meaning it will vote right after the opening three states and Nevada. It’s now one of 12 states in the “SEC primary,” so dubbed because many have college teams in the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference. But with 150-plus delegates at stake, Texas is the biggest prize, though it won’t be winner-take-all. Cruz “will RARELY be in Texas for the presidential race,” Fleming warned supporters in an invitation to the Tyler event. “He has 49 other states to visit.” Before the race began, Texas looked to be a CruzPerry showdown. But Perry has struggled since leaving office in January as the longest-serving governor in state history. Most focused on Iowa, Perry hasn’t held Texas campaign events since entering the race in June.
Cruz’s campaign raised about $6 million in Texas through June, compared with less than $700,000 for Perry, according to Federal Elections Commission data. Bush, who was born in the West Texas oil patch and whose son George P. is the state’s land commissioner, got more than $1 million from Texas donors. Bush, the Florida governor, also campaigned on the Texas-Mexico border last week and used his fluent Spanish, which Cruz doesn’t speak, though his father’s from Cuba. Walker, the Wisconsin governor, is coming this week for fundraising and political events in Dallas, San Antonio and Midland in West Texas. He’s “not ceding anything to anyone in Texas,” said spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. He also visited the Mexico border, in March, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who didn’t participate when Cruz, Trump or Bush toured the border. Paul, a Kentucky senator, campaigned in Texas in July and got help from relatives — his father was a longtime Texas congressman. Mackowiak, the GOP operative, said the challenge for Cruz’s campaign is to win the most Texas delegates possible without spending any more time or money than necessary. “They need that money and that time to spend on the other states,” Mackowiak said, “where he’s less wellknown.”
International
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
Pope eyes ‘sin of abortion’ Guatemalan president’s By FRANCES D’EMILIO
immunity lifted
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is applying his vision of a merciful church to women who have had abortions, easing their path toward forgiveness and saying he realizes some felt they had no choice but to make “this agonizing and painful decision.” In a letter published Tuesday by the Holy See, Francis said he was allowing all rank-and-file priests to grant absolution during the Holy Year of Mercy he has proclaimed, which runs Dec. 8, 2015 until Nov. 20, 2016. The Roman Catholic Church views abortion as such a grave sin that it put the matter of granting forgiveness for an abortion in the hands of a bishop, who could either hear the woman’s confession himself or delegate that to a priest who is expert in such situations. Now, Francis is making it possible for women to bypass this formalized process in the approaching special Year of Mercy while putting the stress on “contrite” hearts. In a statement after the pope’s letter, the Vatican made clear that “forgiveness of the sin of abortion does not condone abortion nor minimize its grave effects. The newness is clearly Pope Francis’ pastoral approach.” In the United States, many bishops already allow priests to absolve women who have had abortions, while in other dioceses, bishops have reserved the decision for themselves, said the Rev. James Martin, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America. The pope’s directive on Tuesday “reminds priests of the need for mercy, and it also takes a very pastoral tone toward woman who have had an abortion,” Martin said. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who will be hosting Francis in the city later this month during the
By SONIA PEREZ D. AND ALBERTO ARCE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Riccardo De Luca | AP
Pope Francis leaves at the end of a prayer on the occasion of the World Day of the Creation’s care at the Vatican, Tuesday. papal U.S. pilgrimage, noted that priests in his diocese have had the authority to forgive the sin of abortion for about three decades. “I hope that this announcement by the Holy Father will encourage many people to come forward to find the true peace and healing through this beautiful and tender Sacrament of Reconciliation,” Dolan wrote on his blog. Francis made clear he isn’t downplaying the gravity of abortion, which the church essentially views as equivalent to murder. But he emphasized that abortion is an intensely personal, often anguished choice for women. “The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realizing the extreme harm that such an act entails,” Francis wrote. “Many others on the other hand, although experiencing this moment as a defeat, believe that they have no other option.” Francis drew on decades of pastoral experience with faithful in his native Argentina, including as Buenos Aires archbishop. “I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision,” the pope wrote. “I am well aware of the pressure that led them to this decision,” Francis said. “I know that it is an existential and moral or-
deal.” “The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the sacrament of confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father,” the pope said. That is why he has decided to concede to all priests “the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it,” Francis said. His words found welcome on his home continent. In Brazil, which counts more Catholics than any other nation and where abortion is permitted only when a woman’s life is endangered, polls routinely show well over two-thirds of Brazilians think their abortion laws should stay strict. But Renata Maia, a 36year-old mother of two, welcomed the pope’s move as she walked up the steps of a church in Rio de Janeiro. “While I’m against taking a life, I also know that women who have had abortions need forgiveness,” Maia said. Rosangela Talib, a coordinator at the Sao Paulobased group Catholics for the Right to Decide, welcomed the development, but said “it would be far more important if it didn’t have an expiration date.”
GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s Congress lifted President Otto Perez Molina’s immunity of office on Tuesday, opening him up to possible prosecution in a widening customs corruption scandal that has rocked his administration and the country’s political system. With all 132 lawmakers present in the 158-seat assembly voting to approve the historic measure, prosecutors are now free to file criminal charges against Perez Molina just like any other citizen, and a judge would be able to order his detention. About 200 people outside the capitol hugged each other, cheered, waved Guatemalan flags and set off firecrackers as news of the vote reached them, an echo of earlier massive street protests calling for his removal for office. Drivers honked horns, and people recorded the moment with selfies. “Excellent! It is a step forward for Guatemala,” said Gerardo Corzo, a 71year-old retiree. Perez Molina, 64, has said he is innocent of corruption and has vowed to face the legal process against him. “The president is aware of the new scenario, which was not the most desirable but was very probable,” his spokesman, Jorge Ortega, told The Associated Press. “He has said he will be very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law.” Those voting against Perez Molina included members of his own ruling party. “The party gave us permission to vote and with-
Photo by Moises Castillo | AP
Demonstrators wave Guatemalan flags as they celebrate that Congress voted to withdraw the president’s immunity. draw the president’s immunity,” lawmaker Luis Fernandez Chenal said. “He who owes nothing, fears nothing.” There was no immediate word on when any charges may be filed against the president, but prosecutors say they have reason to believe he was involved in the customs scheme. Uncovered by prosecutors and a U.N. commission probing criminal networks in Guatemala, it involved a ring known as “La Linea,” or “The Line,” in which businesspeople paid bribes to avoid import duties through the customs agency. The ring is believed to have defrauded the state of millions of dollars. The scandal has already claimed the job of Perez Molina’s former Vice President Roxana Baldetti, whose ex-personal secretary was named as the alleged ringleader. Baldetti resigned May 8 and is currently in jail awaiting trial on accusations she took millions of dollars in bribes. A number of Cabinet officials have also left office. Adriana Beltran, a
Guatemala analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the investigations and Tuesday’s vote send a “remarkable” message to Guatemalans about political reform and the rule of law: “That you can make it work following due process and respecting human rights, and that those that at one point were considered untouchable can be brought to justice.” Protesters have demanded not only that Perez Molina step down but that Sunday’s presidential elections be postponed. He says delaying the vote would be against the law. Perez cannot run for reelection and is set to remain in office until a handover in January. Under Guatemala’s constitution, the president is immune from prosecution and it requires a twothirds majority from Congress to strip it. Earlier Tuesday, civilians formed a wall of bodies to let lawmakers into Congress, protecting them from dozens of presidential loyalists who had blocked access to the building since the morning in a bid to delay the proceedings.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
Comcast targets millennials McDonald’s eyes By TALI ARBEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Comcast, which became a TV powerhouse by signing up Generation Xers, baby boomers and their parents, now is fighting for millennial eyeballs. The TV giant is investing in online media outlets like BuzzFeed and Vox that attract young viewers. It’s setting up a streaming TV service for millennials who don’t watch a boob tube. And it’s developing a YouTube-like video app and website. It’s the latest effort by the TV industry to attract younger customers at a time when ratings are sliding and more millennials are becoming “cord cutters” by ditching traditional cable entirely. People ages 18 to 34 spent on average nearly 109 hours a month watching live TV in the first quarter of this year, according to Nielsen. That’s by far the largest amount of time spent on any device, but the number is down from more than 131 hours a month during the same period in 2011. Meanwhile, time spent watching video on the Internet, though far smaller, is growing to about 17.5 hours per month. That’s up from just over 7 hours four years ago.
Photo by Richard Vogel | AP
The BuzzFeed website is displayed on an iPad held by an Associated Press staffer in Los Angeles, on Tuesday. As a result, companies are trying to beef up their video and Internet offerings to appeal to millennials. They hope to capture what makes digital companies successful with younger viewers, says Ken Doctor, a media analyst. “They want to import some of the digital DNA,” he says. Cablevision, a New Yorkarea cable company, sells HBO Now, the streaming version of the premium channel, to its Internet customers. It also has a package aimed at cord cutters that offers Internet service only and a digital antenna to pick up local broadcast networks like NBC and CBS. Satellite TV company Dish Network has an Internet live TV service, Sling TV, which costs $20 a
month. And Verizon has a mobile video service, which is expected to come out this year, and will stream sports and music with other content. For its part, Comcast already is a cable giant, serving 22 percent of traditional U.S. TV customers and almost a quarter of Internet customers, according to data provider SNL Kagan. Now, it’s trying to expand that reach to include more millennials. That includes: — A $15-a-month TV service called Stream, which is expected to begin in Boston in September, will include broadcast networks and HBO for its Internet customers. It will work on computers and devices inside a home network, but it’s currently limited outside of the house to mainly TV episodes that are avail-
able on-demand or that are recorded. — Its NBCUniversal arm, like other entertainment conglomerates, is investing in new media. In August, it spent $200 million to add to Comcast’s stake in Vox Media, the media hub behind millennial-oriented news blog Vox, tech sites Re/code and The Verge, and other properties. It also invested $200 million in quiz-and-list site BuzzFeed. NBCUniversal wants to work on video and ads with the companies — like collaborating on the Olympics with BuzzFeed. Both have visitors that are more likely to be ages 18 to 34 than do traditional news sites and apps from CNN and the New York Times, according to website tracker comScore. “What you’re doing is seeking to engage the viewers where they are rather than seeking to get them to come somewhere they don’t want to go,” said Colin Dixon, a digital media analyst for nScreenMedia, talking about NBCUniversal’s investments. They’re working on putting together a YouTubelike set-top box app this fall for its customers and a free website and mobile app for anyone, according to a person familiar with Comcast’s plans who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
all-day breakfast ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — If you’re one of those people who hates missing the end of breakfast hours at McDonald’s, hang on just a little longer: the chain says its breakfast menu will be available all day starting Oct. 6. Items like Egg McMuffins, hotcakes, sausage burritos, fruit ‘n yogurt parfaits, hash browns and biscuits will be available anytime, although the exact menu will vary in different markets. The company said core items like the Big Mac, McNuggets and fries will still be available at all of its locations. The Oak Brook, Illinoisbased company has been testing an all-day breakfast menu in San Diego for months. It has been looking for a boost, as sales at established U.S. stores have fallen for seven straight quarters and the company hasn’t replaced its Dollar Menu with anything equally compelling. McDonald’s is also working to improve its food by toasting buns longer and searing burgers to improve taste, and it’s looking for a way to shake up its image. Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands, launched a breakfast menu in 2014 and has
said the “biscuit taco” and other items have lifted its sales. Earlier this year Taco Bell ran an advertising campaign that depicts McDonald’s and its Egg McMuffins as boring. Mike Andres, president of McDonald’s U.S. acknowledged the company has struggled with an overcomplicated menu, and that restaurants would remove some items to make room for the breakfast offerings throughout the day. Core menu items such as Big Macs will remain national. But in Nashville, for instance, restaurants remove all McWraps and the Clubhouse burger. The items that are removed will vary by region. In test markets, Andres said customer visits increased. “We’re very excited — we think this could be the next big thing,” Andres said. LeAnn Richards, a franchisee who led the task force on all-day breakfast, said restaurants need to get some new equipment, including a separate egg cooker and toaster, to offer allday breakfast. Shares of McDonald’s Corp. fell $1.55 to $93.47 Tuesday while the markets tumbled. The stock rose 33 cents to $93.80 in aftermarket trading.
Stocks plunge after report from China By KEN SWEET ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Stocks plunged again Tuesday, continuing a rocky ride for Wall Street, after an economic report out of China rekindled fears that the world’s second-largest economy is slowing more than previously anticipated. The sell-off adds to what has been a difficult few weeks for U.S. and international markets. U.S. stocks just closed out their worst month in more than three years. Tuesday’s drop also dashed hopes that, after some relatively calm trading Friday and Monday, the stock market’s wild swings were coming to an end. “This market remains fragile,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. “There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the U.S. economy, but we are going through this correction process. We’ve got a rocky road ahead of us.” Stocks started the day sharply lower and never recovered, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling as much as 548 points. No part of the mar-
ket was spared. All 10 sectors of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell more than 2 percent. Just three stocks in the S&P 500 closed higher. “Monday’s relatively peaceful markets are a distant memory as Chinese data and shares sparked another severe ... reaction from the developed world,” said John Briggs, head of fixed income strategy at RBS. In the end, the Dow lost 469.68 points, or 2.8 percent, to 16,058.35. The S&P 500 fell 58.33 points, or 3 percent, to 1,913.85 and the Nasdaq composite fell 140.40 points, 2.9 percent, to 4,636.10. As it’s been for the last several weeks, the selling and problems started in Asia. An official gauge of Chinese manufacturing fell to a three-year low last month, another sign of slowing growth in that country. The manufacturing index, which surveys purchasing managers at factories, dropped to a reading of 49.7 in August from 50.0 in July. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction. China’s stocks sank on
Photo by Richard Drew | AP
Specialist Thomas Facchine, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday. the news, with Shanghai Composite Index closing down 1.2 percent. The index has lost 38 percent of its value since hitting a peak in June. The Chinese economy has been a focus for investors all summer, and the concerns have intensified in the last three weeks. China devalued its currency, the renminbi, in mid-August. Investors interpreted the move as a sign that China’s economy was not doing as well as previously reported. Investors moved into traditional havens like bonds and gold Tuesday. Bond prices rose, pushing the
yield on the benchmark 10year Treasury note down to 2.16 percent from 2.22 percent on Monday. Gold rose $7.30, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $1,139.80 an ounce. Faced with the possibility of slowing demand in China, the commodity markets once again took the brunt of the hit. U.S. crude oil fell $3.79 to close at $45.41 a barrel in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $4.59 to close at $49.56 in London. Energy stocks were once again among the biggest decliners. Exxon Mobil fell nearly 4 percent and Chev-
ron fell 2.5 percent. Exxon is down 22 percent this year, Chevron 30 percent. In a sign of how battered energy companies have been this year, ConocoPhillips announced it was laying off 10 percent of its workers, roughly 1,800 workers, as a reaction this year’s plunge in oil prices. Along with worries about China, speculation about whether or not the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as this month continues to weigh on markets. Traders say a lot hinges on the August jobs report, which will be released this Friday. Economists are forecasting that U.S. employers created 220,000 jobs in the month and that the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent. The Federal Reserve meets September 16 and 17. Some economists are predicting that policymakers will be confident enough in the U.S. economic recovery to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. While Fed officials are mostly focused on the U.S. economy, they cannot ignore problems in the global economy. “China’s problems are to-
tally a concern for the Fed,” said Tom di Galoma, head of rates trading at ED&F Man Capital. “With inflation remaining low here, I just don’t a reason why they would raise rates.” Markets in Europe were broadly lower. Germany’s DAX fell 2.4 percent, France’s CAC-40 lost 2.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index declined 3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also volatile, dropping 3.8 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.2 percent. Stocks also fell in South Korea and Australia. The dollar fell to 119.68 yen from 121.20 yen on Monday. The euro rose to $1.1307 from $1.1225. In other energy markets, wholesale gasoline fell 10.3 cents to close at $1.396 a gallon, heating oil fell 12.3 cents to close at $1.578 a gallon and natural gas rose 1.3 cents to close at $2.702 per 1,000 cubic feet. Copper lost 4 cents to $2.30 a pound and palladium slumped $23.05 to $578.50 an ounce. The price of silver edged down four cents to $14.61 an ounce and platinum edged down $2.10 to $1,008.40 an ounce.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015