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Sheriff urges awareness of border region By JULIE DAFFERN THE ZAPATA TIMES
With his latest appearance on CNN’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo “Sigi” Gonzalez said he is “restarting his campaign on making America aware of what’s happening on the border.” Gonzalez chairs the Southwestern Border Coalition, an organization comprised of 35 sheriffs of counties stretching from San Diego, Calif., to El Paso. The coalition is pushing for more funding for border sheriffs. Gonzalez said O’Reilly’s show producers first approached him to speak about the border fence. “But I wanted to speak more about what is happening on the border,” Gonzalez said, adding that the violence in Mexico had already spilled over into the U.S. The sheriff cited a grenade that was thrown into a bar outside of Pharr last week as an example, and said clean-cut, physically fit
men carrying duffel bags were seen crossing the river in 2005. “My deputies have seen people across, GONZALEZ coming 25 at the time, with machine guns,” Gonzalez told O’Reilly on the conservative host’s talk show Thursday night. “We’ve been telling the federal government about this, and the problem has been here for a long time.” Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said he’s aware of the border sheriffs’ needs and is continuing his efforts to obtain funding for local law enforcement. “In the last four years or so, there has been an increase in what the border sheriffs have gotten, and we cannot forget police,” Cuellar said, adding there should
Stimulus tops agenda By ZACH LINDSEY THE ZAPATA TIMES
The national economic stimulus package will be on the lips of the Zapata County Commissioner’s Court at Monday’s meeting. In other business, the court will hear a report from Dr. Larry Sands on the status of the Zapata County Medical Group. Sands says the clinic will require more funding than initially anticipated. In regards to the stimulus package, like requests across the country, the projects that will be a priority are “shovel-ready” projects. “The most important thing is
“If you want businesses to come to Zapata County and improve our tax base, our first priority is to expand our infrastructure.” COMMISSIONER JOSE VELA to improve our infrastructure, and I’ve been preaching this,” said Commissioner Jose Vela. “If you want businesses to come to Zapata County and improve our tax base, our first priority is to expand our infrastructure.”
That improvement includes additional water lines and sewer lines, so that the township of Zapata can be prepared for any big growth that comes. “If there was to be a development of new houses, we’d be
ready for the infrastructure to accommodate them,” Vela said. “Right now, we don’t have such preparation for expansion.” In all, the county is requesting $93.53 million in projects, including “shovel-ready” and design-ready projects. Competition for funding will be tough, and Vela said he’s not sure if Zapata will get nearly all the money it’s asking for. “We’d like to have everything, but it’s going to be competing with all the nation, and it’s going to be almost impossible to get all the funds,” Vela said.
See STIMULUS | PAGE 11A
LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL
See SHERIFF | PAGE 11A
Photos by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times
Zapata residents look at a PowerPoint presentation Friday morning on developing goals for the city’s future.
Presentations aid residents in planning city’s future By TARYN WHITE THE ZAPATA TIMES
File photo | Laredo Morning Times
Rodolfo Requena, a member of “La Grande”trailriders, takes a break after the trail ride kicking off the 2006 Zapata County Fair ended at the fairgrounds.This year’s trail ride is set to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.
Zapata County Fair nears BY ERIKA LAMBRETON THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Zapata County Fair, or the “Best Little Fair in Texas” as its commonly referred to, is gearing up for its first event of the year, a tea party Feb. 22 for the fair’s royalty: the Zapata County Fair Little Cowboy, Miss Zapata County Fair and Junior Miss Zapata County Fair. But that’s just the beginning. The fair’s trail ride and kick-off ceremony is Feb. 28, and events continue through March 14, when Zapatans and visitors alike will enjoy the annual parade and one of the liveliest street parties anywhere. “I think the fair seems to be getting better and better every year,” said Jose “Paco” Mendoza Jr., executive director of the Zapata County Chamber of Com-
merce. “The county officials and associations have worked very hard to make sure this event stays alive and continues for many generations to come.” The fair is a long-standing tradition that, over the years, has continued to grow in popularity, and its organizers have high hopes for this year’s attendance because, for the first time, the Zapata County Fair has its own Web site developed by Laredo ad agency Graphitiks. Zapata expects to be welcoming an estimated 10,000 people as a result of the Internet publicity, almost double the size of last year’s crowd, Mendoza said. With the tough economy, families are looking for quality entertainment that doesn’t break the budget and the Zapata County
See FAIR | PAGE 11A
apata is moving forward, and during a three-day workshop hosted by the Zapata Economic Development Council, community members heard speakers and participated in discussions on the potential growth and development of the city. “We want to adopt a vision plan with the public’s involvement,” Peggy Umphres-Moffett, workshop coordinator, said. “It will have ordinances and regulations that will be vital to the county’s growth.” People were treated to presentations given by city planners, historical researchers, architects and travel research specialists among many other professionals who all gave their take on Zapata’s potential. Robert Mezquiti, an Austin architect, graduated from high school in Zapata in 1998 and attended the workshop. “I feel like there is a big momentum to move forward here,” Mezquiti said. “I wish there was more people from the town in attendance but I think the EDC got a lot of great speakers to come and talk to us.” According to Umphres-Moffett, one of the main aspects in this new “vision plan” will be something called form-based zoning. “This is something being adopted by many cosmopolitan cities all over the country.” Umphres-Moffett said. The idea behind form-based zoning is to design a city based on how it will benefit people rather than a plan that is built around the needs of cars, according to Umphres-Moffett. “It will create livable neighborhoods that are more people oriented,” Umphres-Moffett said. “People will have the opportunity to
Z
Friday's session of the Zapata County Economic Development Conference included Winter Texans, architects, educators and representatives of the community. just walk down the street to get what they need.” Umphres-Moffett added this workshop is one of the first steps in implementing the plan. “We wanted to get people’s support and
let them know what we are planning and hear their feedback.” Umphres-Moffett said. “Hopefully we will be able to adopt the plan by March or April.” (Taryn White may be reached at 7282568 or at twhite@lmtonline.com)