SATURDAY
WINNING WAYS Junior high gives Lady Hawks a boost
FEBRUARY 7,2009
FREE
SPORTS 1B
The Zapata Times DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
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)
Zin brief
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7,2009
AROUND TEXAS | IN BRIEF
WHAT’S GOING ON
MONDAY,FEB.9
The Zapata County Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. at the Zapata County Courthouse for their regular monthly meeting.
TUESDAY,FEB.10
A photography exhibit showcasing the abandoned city of Guerrero Viejo,lost to the waters of the Falcon Reservoir, which was constructed in 1953, continues on display at the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum in Laredo at 810 Zaragoza St., throughout February. The exhibit features the work of noted architect W. Eugene George and Everardo Castro Medellin. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call the Webb County Heritage Foundation at (956) 727-0977.
WEDNESDAY,FEB.11
The Zapata County Independent School District board of trustees meets today at 6 p.m. at the Professional Development Center,17th Avenue and Carla Street. American Historical Theatre presents the premiere of “The Constitution – Behind Closed Doors,” a one-act play featuring actors portraying George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In their roles, the characters will interact with the audience. It begins at 7 p.m. at the Texas A&M International University Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. For tickets, visit www.lmtonline.com.
THURSDAY,FEB.26
The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce will celebrate Winter Texans and local elders with an event at the Community Center. Planning is underway for a dinner, refreshments, music, activities and door prizes. To become a sponsor, call the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce at 765-4871.
THURSDAY MARCH 12
The Zapata County Fair kicks off today at county fair grounds today at 8 a.m. Events include a livestock show, musical performances, a carnival and a street dance. The fair will run through Saturday. Don’t miss out on this year’s fun. For more information call 765-9920
FRIDAY,MARCH 13
Today is the first day of Spring Break. No classes will be held at Zapata CISD through March 20. The Zapata County Fair resumes today at 8 a.m. For more information, call 765-9920
SATURDAY,MARCH 14
Today is the last day of the Zapata County Fair.The annual parade begins at 10 a.m. There is a variety of entertainment throughout the day at the fairgrounds.
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2501 Business Manager Dora Martinez.. . . . (956) 500-4748 Chief Accountant,Thelma Aguero . . . . . . .728-2553 Controller,Joe Vied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2502 General Manager,Adriana Devally . . . . . . .728-2510 Retail Adv. Manager,Alice Arce . . . . . . . . . .728-2511 Classified Manager, Sandra Valderrama . .728-2525 Adv. Billing Inquires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2531 Circulation Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2550 Creative/Production Director, Raul Cruz .728-2596 MIS Director, Michael Castillo . . . . . . . . . . .728-2505 Editor, Diana Fuentes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2581 City Editor,Julie Daffern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2565 Sports Editor, Dennis Silva II . . . . . . . . . . .728-2579 Business Journal Editor,Joe Rutland . . . .728-2529 A&E Editor, Kirsten Crow . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2543
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of Laredo Morning Times and those who buy LMT at newstands.The Zapata Times is inserted inside. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, PO Box 2129, Laredo,Texas 78044. Phone (956)728-2500 The Zapata office is at 1309 N. US Highway 83 at 14th Avenue,Suite 2; Zapata,TX,78076.Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes@att.net
The Zapata Times
Vermont nearing legal gay marriage
Report: Speed caused deadly tunnel inferno
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Nine years after becoming the first state to permit civil unions, Vermont moved a step toward legalizing gay marriage Friday. A bill that would allow samesex unions was introduced in the Legislature, causing a crowd of about several hundred supporters to gather at the Statehouse in celebration. A similar bill is expected to be introduced later in the state Senate. The House legislation has 59 sponsors, none of them Republican, though some GOP lawmakers have said they’ll vote for the bill, Larson said.
LOS ANGELES — A truck driver speeding on a rainslicked interstate in 2007 lost control and crashed into a median barrier, setting off chain-reaction collisions that turned a tunnel into an inferno and left three people dead, investigators concluded Friday. A report by the California Highway Patrol provides the most detailed account yet of what led to a fiery tangle of more than two dozen vehicles on Interstate 5 — the major West Coast route between Mexi co and Canada. The pileup closed the busy highway for two days and cost $17 million to clean up and repair.
Regulators close failed banks in Ga.,Calif. Photo by Harry Cabluck | AP
Recent DNA tests in a 1985 rape case point to inmate JerryWayne Johnson,who is escorted into a court hearing Friday, in Austin. The hearing was held in the case of Timothy Cole, whose photo is on the right. Cole died in prison while serving 25 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Johnson spoke in the legal hearing that seeks to clear Cole’s name 10 years after he died.
Man gets posthumous exoneration of 1985 rape conviction By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A Texas judge has exonerated a man who died in prison while serving time for rape after recent DNA tests showed another man committed the crime. State District Judge Charles Baird on Friday also ordered Timothy Cole’s record expunged. Cole was convicted of raping a Texas Tech University student in Lubbock in 1985 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He died in 1999 from asthma complications. He was 38. DNA tests in 2008 connected the crime to Jerry Wayne Johnson, who is serving life in prison for separate rapes. Johnson testified in court Friday that he was the rapist in Cole’s case and asked the victim and Cole’s family to forgive him. The Innocence Project of Texas said Cole’s case is the first posthumous DNA exoneration in state history. “I have his name,” Cole’s mother, Ruby Cole Session, tearfully said after the hearing. “That’s what I wanted.”
DNA samples may ID missing Americans SAN ANTONIO — The FBI will collect DNA from more than 100 unidentified bodies found in Mexico in hopes of matching them to Americans who went missing in the country plagued by drug violence. Mexican prosecutors in Tamaulipas have given the FBI permission to the DNA samples, which could help solve 35 open cases of missing Americans in the area from Brownsville to Del Rio. The samples from Mexico will be compared with a DNA database in Washington.
2A
AROUND THE NATION | IN BRIEF
SATURDAY,FEB.7
The annual Boys & Girls Club of Laredo Wine Tasting Gala fundraiser is tonight.The event begins at 8 p.m.at Paseo Real, behind the Laredo Entertainment Center.For more information,call 723-1051. Abook sale will be held in the Widener Room of the First United Methodist Church in Laredo at 1220 McClelland Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The public is invited,and admission is free.Donated books and magazines are accepted. Clark Elementary School and the Laredo Chess Club will have a chess tournament for all students K-12 today in the school cafeteria in Laredo, located at 500 W. Hillside Road. Students may play in either the advanced USCF-rated division or in the non-rated beginners’ division. Registration is from 11 a.m.to noon,with the first round starting at 12:30 p.m. The entry fee is $5 if pre-registered or $8 at the door.Trophies, medals and certificates will be awarded by A&E Office Products. For more information,visit www.geocities.com/laredotxchess or call tournament director Dan Navarro at 722-4600.
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Baird called it the “saddest case I’ve ever seen.” Cole and his relatives for years claimed he was innocent, but no else believed them until evidence the original rape kit was tested for DNA last year. The Innocence Project of Texas took on the case and pressed for a hearing to start the process of clearing Cole’s name. Armed with Baird’s ruling, Cole’s family now wants Gov. Rick Perry to also issue a formal pardon. Also testifying in the hearing was the rape victim, Michele Mallin, who originally identified Cole as her attacker. The Associated Press does not typically identify rape victims but Mallin, who is now 44, has come forth publicly to help clear Cole’s name. In dramatic testimony Friday, Johnson read a prepared statement apologizing for the rape and the damage to Mallin and Cole and his family. “I’m responsible for all this. I’m truly sorry for my pathetic behavior and selfishness. I hope and pray you will forgive me,” Johnson said.
Conservative back on education board
Big-city mayors address homelessness
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Friday reappointed Republican Don McLeroy as chair of the State Board of Education, which sets policies for the Texas public school system. The College Station dentist is known as a conservative voice on the board, which is in the middle of adopting new science curriculum standards. As chairman, McLeroy helps set the board’s agenda. The appointment, which is subject to Senate confirmation, expires Feb. 1, 2011.
DALLAS — The mayors of Texas’ largest cities said Friday they want the state to provide $25 million annually to help them provide housing and other support services for the homeless. In a Friday letter to Gov. Rick Perry asking for the funds, the mayors said that about 44,000 Texans are homeless. Since many of the chronically homeless are dealing with mental health issues, the mayors said they support increased funding for mental health services. — Compiled from AP reports
WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday closed FirstBank Financial Services in Georgia and two California b anks, Alliance Bank and County Bank, marking nine failures this year of federally insured institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the three banks. FirstBank Financial, based in McDonough, Ga., had $337 million in assets and $279 million in deposits as of Dec. 31. Alliance Bank, based in Culver City, Calif., had about $1.14 billion in assets and $951 million in deposits as of year’s end. Merced, Calif.-based County Bank had around $1.7 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in deposits as of Feb. 2.
Accused ex-transit cop posts $3 million bail OAKLAND, Calif. — The former California transit officer charged with fatally shooting an unarmed man was freed Friday on $3 million bail as protesters gathered outside City Hall railed against his release. Johannes Mehserle, 27, was released from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, according to Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson. Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the Jan. 1 shooting of Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform. Prosecutors said Mehserle shot Grant, 22, in the back while the man lay facedown and restrained on the ground. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE WORLD | IN BRIEF Chinese insurer head arrested on bribery charge
Officials: Fire danger extreme in Australia
BEIJING — The general manager of China’s state-owned trade insurance company has been arrested on charges he took bribes and caused heavy losses by abusing his position, a state news agency reported Friday. Tang Ruoxin was fired from the China Export and Credit Insurance Corp. following an investigation into improper lending, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing an announcement by the country’s insurance regulator. Xinhua said Tang was stripped of his Communist Party membership.
SYDNEY — Crews battled to contain dozens of wildfires across southeastern Australia on Saturday as temperatures soared to record levels. At least 40 fires were blazing in New South Wales state, and more burned in Victoria and South Australia. Most were in parks and bush land away from residential areas. Forecasters said a heat wave that has stewed millions of people in the southeast in the past two weeks would peak at the weekend with temperatures of up to 117F. — Compiled from AP reports
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER
TODAY IN HISTORY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Today is Saturday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2009. There are 327 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 7, 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk, which lasted nearly six hours. On this date: In 1812, author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. In 1857, a French court acquitted author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel “Madame Bovary.” In 1904, a fire began in Baltimore that raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized a flag for the office of the vice president. In 1943, the government announced the start of shoe rationing, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person for the remainder of the year. In 1948, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff; he was succeeded
by Gen. Omar Bradley. In 1964, The Beatles began their first American tour as they arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 1971, women in Switzerland gained the right to vote through a national referendum, 12 years after a previous attempt failed. In 1974, the island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain. Ten years ago: Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah. NASA launched the Stardust spacecraft on a mission to chase a comet in hopes of collecting a sample of comet dust. Five years ago: John Kerry won the Washington state and Michigan Democratic presidential primaries. One year ago: John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his campaign. Fourteen refinery workers were killed in a sugar dust explosion near Savannah, Ga. A gunman opened fire at a Kirkwood, Mo., council meeting, killing two police officers and three city officials before being fatally shot by law enforcers. In
Los Angeles, a man who claimed responsibility for the deaths of three relatives opened fire on a SWAT unit, killing one officer; the gunman was killed by a police sniper. After two months of delay, shuttle Atlantis blasted into orbit with Europe’s gift to the international space station, a $2 billion science lab named Columbus. Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Wilma Lee Cooper is 88. Author Gay Talese is 77. Actor Miguel Ferrer is 54. Reggae musician Brian Travers (UB40) is 50. Comedy writer Robert Smigel is 49. Actor James Spader is 49. Country singer Garth Brooks is 47. Rock musician David Bryan (Bon Jovi) is 47. Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard is 47. Actor-comedian Chris Rock is 44. Actor Jason Gedrick is 42. Actress Essence Atkins is 37. Rock singer-musician Wes Borland (Black Light Burns) is 34. Actor Ashton Kutcher is 31. Actress Tina Majorino is 24. Thought for Today: “A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run.” — Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee), English writer (18391908).
Photo by Julie Jacobson | AP
Kindergarten teachers Jane Schumer, left, and Connie Levin pose for a photo with their students holding up a collage they made in reference to the work of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai at Daniel Warren Elementary School in Mamaronek, N.Y. Schumer and Levin incorporate famous figures from different cultural backgrounds, to teach their students a sense of community.
Zlocal
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
Two men jailed in separate pot seizures
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
3A
AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
By NICK GEORGIOU THE ZAPATA TIMES
Sheriff’s deputies made a surprising discovery Jan. 29 after a 17-year-old man lost control of his vehicle and landed in the lake near the Veleno Bridge and Redwood Lodge at 178 U.S. 83. Inside the halfway-submerged Chevy Tahoe, sheriff’s deputies said, was about 484 pounds of marijuana. Also, later that day at about 5 p.m., sheriff ’s deputies seized about 148 pounds of marijuana following a vehicle pursuit. The seizures were not related, the Sheriff’s Office said. According to the offense report, authorities responded to a person drowning at about 2 p.m. When they arrived on scene, deputies found a partially submerged Chevy Tahoe. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said two deputies jumped in the lake and rescued the vehicle’s lone occupant who was trapped inside. “This is a heroic effort,” he said. “The water was very cold and they just swam in there and got him out of the car.”
According to the offense report, authorities responded to a person drowning at about 2 p.m. When they arrived on scene, deputies found a partially submerged Chevy Tahoe. The driver was identified as 17-year-old Amada Ricardo Martinez, of the 800 block of Laredo Street. During the rescue attempt, the deputies noticed numerous bundles floating in and around the submerged Tahoe. Upon further investigation, there were 38 bundles containing the 484 pounds of marijuana. Martinez was charged with second-degree felony possession of marijuana and later booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail. A few hours after the rescue attempt and seizure, deputies responded to a chase in progress, where a man was evading authorities in a vehicle.
The man ended up crashing the vehicle into a creek at a dead end near the corner of Carla Street and West 11th Avenue, the offense report stated. He continued fleeing on foot into the brush, but was soon apprehended by deputies giving chase. Upon searching the vehicle, deputies found 12 bundles of marijuana weighing about 148 pounds, the report stated. The man, identified as 29-yearold Miguel Angel Santos-Rodriguez, of the 1000 block of Bravo Avenue, was charged with second-degree felony possession of marijuana. He was later booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail.
IRS commissioner urges people to e-file returns SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is offering an expanded IRS e-file program for 2008 federal tax returns, highlighted by new features that will allow expanded access to electronic filing and help people looking for faster refunds. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman encouraged taxpayers to explore e-file this year as the best
option to file accurate tax returns and get fast refunds during the current economic downturn. The e-file program also includes new improvements to the Free File program that will allow nearly all taxpayers to e-file for free. “These are tough times, and efile is the best way for people to get cash in their pocket quickly,” Shulman said. “Filing electronically with direct deposit can get refunds to taxpayers in as few as
10 days. Combined with important changes in the Free File program, we believe e-file is a better option than ever before for the nation’s taxpayers.” Last year the average refund was $2,429. The IRS realizes people need their refunds quickly. Shulman urged people who haven’t e-filed before to consider the e-file option this year. IRS e-file totaled nearly 90 million tax returns in 2008.
Courtesy photo/Benavides Elementary | Special to the Times
Jose Antonio “Joe” Lopez of San Antonio, author of “The Last Knight,” talks with fourth- and fifth-grade students at A.L. Benavides Elementary School on a recent Friday. Lopez presented a PowerPoint presentation on the Texas Hero Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe. Teachers said the students had a wonderful time listening to him and getting his autograph.
Zopinion
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
4A
OTHER VIEWS
EDITORIAL
Banker pay cap more than fair NEW YORK TIMES
resident Barack Obama’s decision to cap senior executives’ pay at bailed-out banks addresses one of the most outrageous weaknesses of the Bush administration’s financialrescue package. If anyone is feeling bad for the bankers, don’t. The banks can pay more than the figure Obama chose — $500,000 a year — but only in restricted stock that cannot be cashed in until the government has been repaid. That sounds more than fair to us. The White House also announced that it is beginning a review of executive-pay policies in the entire financial industry to see if there are ways to better align long-term risk and reward. That, too, is overdue. The administration and Congress should move quickly to determine whether new rules could be applied, using the tax code or securities regulations, to encourage all banks to pay their executives in a way that tempers the destructive lust for risk that has brought the financial system to this cataclysm. Critics of pay caps and other restrictions claim they will make it much harder to find talented executives. But it is clear that the economy has not been well served by the arms race in bankers’ pay. The country needs bankers whose remuneration is tied to the long term, multi-year success of their strategies — not just the immediate payoff of their latest risky bet. The new rules also broaden
P
the terms of the original bailout to ban a larger number of executives from receiving golden parachutes and subject more to the “clawback” provisions designed to recover bonuses based on fraudulent information. They also demand that corporate boards establish explicit policies to guide expenditures on things such as entertainment and renovations — including corporate bathroom remodelings — and make them public on their Web sites. The new rules contain some potentially worrying exceptions that will have to be monitored carefully. Banks that don’t get a custom-made bailout — like those doled to Citigroup and Bank of America — can get a waiver from the caps if they disclose the salary publicly and subject it to a shareholder vote. Lower-level bankers, like traders, face no remuneration limit and could still reap millions. All top bankers getting taxpayer money could be remunerated in other “long-term incentive arrangements.” That might open the door to opaque financial engineering. Under certain circumstances, they might be allowed to cash in their bonuses before the government is paid back. Still, the new rules are a sound move in the right direction. If the country is lucky, the rules might instill a modicum of caution, if not shame, in the banking industry. Perhaps they can even keep some banks from having to return to the public trough in the future.
COLUMN
Moving love story through the years By YVONNE ABRAHAM THE BOSTON GLOBE
ROCKTON, Mass. — They met in 1947, at the Kresge’s store on Main Street. Joe Norek managed the restaurant. Dot Whiting waited tables. She’s kind of attractive, he remembered thinking. He’d just spent five years as a Navy cook. He was done with war and boats and being alone. They were both 37. Neither of them was getting any younger. At first, they used a girl who worked at the counter as a go-between, sending messages back and forth, flirting like kids. One day, a man came to see Dot at the restaurant. Who’s that? Joe asked. My fiance, Dot said. Him or me, Joe told her. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy. She told her fiance she couldn’t go with him anymore. Within three months, Joe proposed. Let me think it over, Dot told him. She was cautious. They married a few months later. He was Catholic and she was Episcopalian, and neither was interested in going over to the other side. So they said “till death do us part” twice: first in a Protestant church, then in a Catholic one. And every Sunday, Joe went to Mass at St. Patrick’s and Dot attended services at Trinity Episcopal in Stoughton. They made a good life together. Even on sweltering summer days, the house filled with the smell of Dot’s beef stews and turkey dinners. Joe was always up on ladders, fixing things. Dot liked to go out to eat sometimes. Not Joe: The son of Polish immigrants, he’d had a hard childhood, and he was careful with money. Besides, no restaurant could come close to Dot’s cooking. Dot was crazy about bowling and bingo. Joe loved to park himself in his beat-up turquoise recliner, listening to the Red Sox and Benny Goodman. They saw Niagara Falls and Amish country together — strictly bus tours. You couldn’t get Joe on a plane, and forget about a boat. They loved salty food, and Lawrence Welk, and “Guiding Light.”
B
In their 40s and 50s, they raised their daughter, Laurie, her arrival a miracle after a string of miscarriages. In their 70s and 80s, they helped raise their grandson Brian, after Laurie’s marriage ended and she moved into the apartment upstairs. The decades piled up, and still Joe and Dot were walking around the neighborhood, holding hands, leading Brian’s dog, Desaray, around Edgar Playground. Their 90th birthdays came and went. Longevity made their sweet, unremarkable relationship into something miraculous. Joe knew how lucky he was that his wife had chosen him, but, apart from a video Brian made for school in which they recalled their early days, Laurie had never heard him say it out loud. Not until a few years ago, when Dot got frail. It began with a broken hip, then came strokes, then heart congestion. Dot moved to a nursing home. Joe went to see her every day. I love you, he told her, again and again. A year ago, Joe got frail too: he was in and out of hospitals, recuperating in the same nursing home as his wife, his bed a room away from hers. A few weeks ago, as Dot’s life was ebbing away, Joe contracted pneumonia. He died on Monday at 6.p.m. He was 98. Laurie and Brian went to see Dot the next day. She had pneumonia, too. It’s OK to go be with Pop, Laurie told her. And so, on Tuesday at noon, Dot died, too. Maybe Dot was just waiting for Joe to go before she did, as her minister said at the service, where both Catholic and Episcopal clergy prayed. Maybe Dot wanted to spare her family the suffering of grieving twice, as Laurie believes. Maybe the way they left this world, just 18 hours apart, is a miracle, as Brian sees it. Two coffins draped in white sat side by side at St Patrick’s church Sunday morning. Not even in death did they part. (To reach Yvonne Abraham, a Globe columnist, send e-mail to abraham@globe.com)
COLUMN
Texans deserve to breathe smoke-free S
econdhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Every year, secondhand smoke kills 53,000 Americans, more than three times as many people as drunk drivers. The U.S. Surgeon General concluded in 2006, “There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.” No longer is there a debate regarding the dangers of secondhand smoke, and Texans are catching on. More than twothirds of Texans — 68 percent — support a comprehensive ban on smoking in public facilities and indoor workplaces, according to a recent poll by Smoke-Free Texas. This includes eliminating secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants, where workers are 50 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than the general public. This year, just as we did in 2007, we have filed bills to make public facilities and indoor workplaces smoke-free. This legislation will save thousands of lives, improve public health, reduce state spending, boost business and support tourism. It is no wonder that 24 other states already have passed similar legislation.
RODNEY ELLIS
MYRA CROWNOVER
We are proud to author House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 544 that give all Texans strong, comprehensive protection from hazardous secondhand smoke in the workplace. When this legislation becomes law, Texas workers no longer will have to choose between their health and their paycheck. We have spent the last three years working on this issue and so have our opponents. Big Tobacco would like everyone to believe two things. First, the overwhelming body of scientific evidence linking secondhand smoke to heart attack and cancer deaths is “junk science.” Second, the right to smoke is an individual liberty second to none. The science is not in doubt. Big Tobacco would have you believe it is, but consider the source. In 1994, tobacco executives testified under oath before Congress and stated that “nicotine is not addictive.”
Fool me once… Now consider this. There have been nine comprehensive studies on the effects of secondhand smoke and the positive effects of comprehensive smoke-free laws. Every study conclusively linked these laws to significant reductions in heart attack deaths. These studies were conducted by well-respected institutions such as the Harvard School of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Surgeon General, and they were published in peer-reviewed medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association. Some opponents invoke the cause of liberty. They are correct to do so, but wrong in to whom the liberty belongs. All Texans deserve to breathe smoke-free air, and no one should have to choose between their job and their health.
Texas government requires businesses to spend billions to clean the air outside. Texas government also requires businesses to expend thousands of dollars to comply with a litany of health and safety code regulations. Legislators make decisions all the time that limit the liberty of individuals and business owners so that the health and safety of the patrons and workers are protected. This legislation does not take away anyone’s right to smoke. All we are asking is that smokers respect the rights and health of Texas workers. In Texas, it is not illegal to drink alcohol, but we all understand the dangers involved with drunk driving. However, it is a shock for most people to realize that secondhand smoke kills more than three times the number of people as drunk drivers. How do we rationalize that? The debate is truly over. Secondhand smoke kills. As Lance Armstrong recently stated, in 10 years we will look back at this debate and wonder, “What were we debating, and why did it take Texas so long?” (State Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, and State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, are the authors of HB 5 and SB 544.)
YOUR OPINION Showyour heart some love this Valentine’s Daywith healthful eating habits To the editor: Show your heart some love this Valentine’s Day. February is American Heart Month, and as a dietitian, I think it’s the perfect time to get in shape and boost heart health. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women, and men in the United States — but it doesn’t have to be that
way. Simple dietary and lifestyle choices can play a major role in preventing and reversing heart disease. Studies by Dean Ornish, VID, have repeatedly shown that even people with advanced heart disease who adopt a lowfat vegetarian diet, stop smoking and engage in mild daily exercise can substantially improve
their cardiovascular health. Dr. Ornish’s patients experienced dramatic improvements in their cholesterol levels, and some actually reversed their disease. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans can help fight this deadly disease — and they can help reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity and cancer.
This Valentine’s Day, have a heart-to-heart with your loved ones about protecting your health by following a nutritious and welt-balanced plant-based diet. Signed, Susan Levin, M.S., R.D. Staff Dietitian Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
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. The identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication.
The Zapata Times doesn’t publish letters with just an initial and a last name. People who want to air their opinions publicly must do so openly. 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. In general, a maximum of 600
words is allowed. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. This space allows for public debate of the issues of the day. We do publish “thank you” letters, but due to limited space, we ask writers to list no more than 10 names in such letters. Letters with more than 10 names will not be published. Send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Let-
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
ters to the Editor; 111 Esperanza Drive; Laredo, TX 78041. Letters also may be dropped off at The Zapata Times office, 1309 N. US Highway 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2. Letters that are provided in hard copy must be hand-signed. Letters sent by e-mail don’t require a signature, but the first and last names of the letter writer must be included along with a contact phone number.
Zlife
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
5A
MISS MANNERS | BYJUDITH MARTIN
Opt out of the hook-up scene
Courtesy photos
Left to right, Steven Edenbo portrays Thomas Jefferson, Ian Rose portrays James Madison and Dean Malissa portrays George Washington in the American Historical Theatre’s one-act play,“The Constitution Behind Closed Doors.”
Historical play to premiere By KIRSTEN CROW LAREDO MORNING TIMES
ecoming George Washington is no easy task — and certainly not one that unfolds overnight. For Dean Malissa, a historical interpretive actor from the American Historical Theatre, it’s been a lifelong process of getting to know the enigmatic man who he so aptly portrays. Many consider him the premier “George Washington.” “It’s endless,” Malissa said of researching his character, noting that Washington had written about 20,000 pieces of correspondence in his lifetime. “It really is a daunting case … there is a vast sea of information.” Regardless, it’s of utmost importance for him to delve deeply into his character — to know not only what Washington wrote, but what others wrote about him, from his personal and public thoughts to having firsthand knowledge of his classical education and how he carried himself.
B
Although Malissa has graced the Gateway City on several occasions with his solo portrayal of the father of our country as part of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration, this year he represents one-third of the players in a new, original one-act play, “The Constitution Behind Closed Doors,” by William A. Sommerfield. It will be the premiere of the hour-long re-enactment of some of the events that unfolded among Washington; James Madison, played by Ian Rose; and Thomas Jefferson, played by Steven Edenbo.
The setting Set during the summer of 1787 against the backdrop of the Constitutional Convention, “The Constitution Behind Closed Doors” is a peek at “an interesting time in the nation’s history,” Malissa said. “The American troops had defeated the British and they were trying to figure out what kind of
country they were going to be … (at the time) they were held together by the Articles of Confederation,” he said. “(The articles) were written and devised by Congress during the war (1777), and they were — really, truth be told — nothing more than a firm league of friendship. There was no taxing authority given by Congress. It was really almost a benign document.” The essential criticism, Malissa said, was that the 13 states operated almost as sovereign countries with separate militaries and economies, and “were strangers to each other.” Thus, the delegates grouped in Philadelphia for a convention in 1787 to cobble together a more solid document — the Constitution.
The play The play follows the discussions and the correspondence among Washington, Madison and Jefferson, who was at the time stationed in Paris, regarding
what direction the country ought to go in. Washington, Malissa said, was “gravely concerned … because the interests of the individual states seemed to be taking precedent over the interests of the country,” while Jefferson believed there should be less of a central government and more of an emphasis on states’ rights. Madison, at the time, agreed with Washington, but later changed his mind, Malissa noted. “What you’re doing is you’re hearing the correspondence between Jefferson and Madison delivered during the play, and the conversations and thoughts of Madison and Washington in Philadelphia in what would become known as the Constitutional Convention,” he said. “It’s an accurate depiction of the events that would become a constitutional compromise or a constitutional settlement.”
See PLAY | PAGE 6A
DEAR MISS MANNERS — Do you have any “rules” for online dating that pertain to determining the person’s character and integrity before continuing the relationship? I got very badly burned by someone recently who seemed to be of sterling character, treated me well, then dumped me without a word, and I had to MARTIN confront him about it. (The precipitating issue was he wouldn’t get an HIV test.) The whole Internet dating thing is scary to me (I’m in my 50s and divorced), and this incident makes me feel like my BS detector is broken. What is the real deal anymore? So many men seem to be just looking to hook up. GENTLE READER — So Miss Manners has been told for the last millennium or two. Hardly something she can be expected to reverse with a few pithy words. Let us therefore address only the aspects of the situation that relate to Internet dating. While undeniably making it easier to meet great numbers of people looking for romance, it has, as you say, made an alwaysrisky venture even scarier. Before this method, people met through other people, whom they both knew. No, wait. Miss Manners has skipped an era, possibly because she prefers to forget. Before the Internet, determined people were meeting in singles bars. And complaining that these were, as they so elegantly put it, “meat markets.” What they meant was that an awful lot of people were there looking for something a bit quicker (and
more quickly over) than romance. And sadly, there were some ladies who misunderstood the concept of the one-night stand, believing that the traditional timeline could be reversed and that courtship would follow. Meeting through introductions from those who knew both people never precluded such unfortunate misconnections. But it does offer certain protections. One is reputation. The go-between, knowing something of each person’s character and history, is able to vouch for them — and, if wrong, to damage the reputation of anyone who behaved badly. The online equivalent requires accepting the testimony of people who are equally unknown, and being able to warn only other prospects, without reaching the offender’s own circle. The other protection is deniability. People who frankly declare themselves to be looking for romance are bound to encounter different interpretations of what may loosely be termed romance. But those who meet socially need not seem ridiculously — if not fraudulently — coy if they make up their minds about prospects slowly under the guise of mere acquaintanceship. They may plausibly become indignant at crude advances. As a bonus, they lack the paradoxically unattractive aspect of someone who is “looking.” Miss Manners is well aware that all this is little help to those who feel that long work hours and a demise in strictly social entertaining have given them no choice but to turn to strangers. She offers it only with the slim hope that it will encourage everyone to develop and cherish circles in which romance will flourish naturally, as it always has.
6A | THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
WBCAYouth Dance Festival For anyone who is young — or young at heart — the WBCA presents the Youth Dance Festival from 2 to 5 p.m. today at the Laredo Civic Center. Each year, the festival brings the best and brightest talent to the stage in this dance and cheerleading extravaganza. Admission is free to this Macy’s-sponsored event.
Noche de Cabaret Prepare for an evening of music, dance and recognition when the League of United Latin American Citizens Council No. 7 hosts its Noche de Cabaret from 7 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday at the Laredo Civic Center Ballroom. The event includes a gala dance to the tunes of Energy Band, as well as a ceremony honoring philanthropist Fernando A. Salinas as the organization’s Higher Education Award recipient. Tickets are $17.50 per person or $175 for a table of 10. Proceeds benefit scholarships. For more information, call Jose Gonzalez at 693-7853.
Carnival crazy The WBCA Carnival Sponsored By Pocket Smart Wireless opens its gates to a ride-ready crowd in the Laredo Entertainment Center at 5 p.m. Thursday, the first of its 10-day run. The carnival will be open from Feb. 12 through Feb 22. Monday through Friday, gates open at 5 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday, gates open at 1 p.m. Admission is $2 per person, while individual tickets at 75 cents.
Laugh out loud Laredo Little Theatre officials have confirmed Comedy Central regular Aaron Aryanpur as part of the official lineup of performers for this year’s WBCA Comedy Jam for George, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Also performing will be the
ever-popular Paul Varghese,and last, but certainly not least, Mark Agee rounds out the trio. All shows will be at the Laredo Little Theatre, 4802 Thomas Ave. Presale tickets for $25 are available at Laredo Paint and Decorating, 5919 San Dario Ave., and at the WBCA Kiosk inside Mall del Norte.
Tasty time Tickets are on sale for one of the tastiest events of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration — Taste of Laredo. The popular food sampling extravaganza will take place Thursday at the home of the event, the Laredo Entertainment Center. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. This year’s live music will be provided by local country music band Mick Cruz and Diamond Back. Taste of Laredo will again feature a chef competition, a bartender showdown and a blazing wing-eating contest that will be open to all who dare to compete. Tickets for Taste of Laredo are $22 for adults and $12 for children 12 and younger. They are available now through all Ticketmaster locations, including select H-E-Bs, Macy’s at Mall del Norte, www.ticketmaster.com and the LEC box office.
Love transcends language A Texas A&M International University alumna from Taiwan, Republic of China, has returned to her alma mater, and she’s bringing a rare opportunity to enjoy traditional sign language opera Sunday at 4 p.m. in the TAMIU Center for the Fine and Performing Arts’ Recital Hall. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public. A group discussion will follow the performance. Through a performance project funded by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, Tsai will bring a 17member performance troupe and staff for a one-time-only presentation at TAMIU of “Love Transcends the Skyline,” a sign language opera.
Sentiment mutual for ‘Not That Into You’ By CHRISTY LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS
“He’s Just Not That Into You” isn’t exactly a romantic comedy — at least, not in the most traditional sense. Yes, the characters work themselves into the same sorts of tizzies over falling in and out of love — or even finding love in the first place — but frequently mixed in with the fizziness is an unexpected seriousness, an attempt at injecting honesty, realism and even failure. All those A-list stars in the ensemble cast (Jennifer Aniston! Scarlett Johansson!) are smiling in the movie’s posters, but don’t let that fool you. Some heavy stuff falls upon their pretty heads. But while it’s admirable that director Ken Kwapis’ film tries to shake up a typically frivolous formula, too many other elements undermine his intentions. Based on the best-selling relationship advice book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, the script from Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (“Never Been Kissed”) follows nine intertwined characters struggling to make sense of their love lives. The women, especially Ginnifer Goodwin’s hopeless romantic Gigi, tend to be needy and demanding; the men, like Bradley
Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures | AP
In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Kevin Connolly, left, and Scarlett Johansson are shown in a scene from the New Line Cinema film “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Cooper’s cheating Ben, are caddish and evasive. And their stories are broken up with title cards taken from the source material’s chapters (“... if he’s not calling you,” for example)
that make “He’s Just Not That Into You” feel an awful lot like episodic television. Maybe that’s fitting, since the title comes from a line uttered on “Sex and the City,” for which Behrendt and Tuccillo were writers.
PLAY | Continued from Page 5A While in character, Malissa frequently refers to the Constitution as “an imperfect document, but the most perfect we could come up with. An imperfect something is better than a perfect nothing.” The play features a soliloquy from each character, giving the “audience a glimpse into each gentleman’s deep, personal thoughts at the time.” Toni Ruiz, who has been collaborating with Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association representatives to bring the play to Laredo, said it was fascinating to see “the intricacies, the debates, the power struggles” behind the Constitution’s construction.
The intention, she said, is to “bring history back to the celebration.”
The actors All three of the actors have “a fairly unique profession,” Malissa said. “We are a curious and interesting mix between being scholars and being actors,” he said. As Malissa continues to educate himself further about his character, so do Rose and Edenbo. But despite the never-ending material at their proverbial doorsteps to learn from, there is a very real frustration in the task. “We’ll never really know them or be able to walk in their
shoes and understand their beliefs,” Malissa said. “We’ll never really know. That’s the sting of the whole thing.”
Getting ‘Behind Closed Doors’ “The Constitution Behind Closed Doors” will be performed for the general public at 7 p.m. Wednesday at TAMIU’s Center for Fine and Performing Arts. Admission is free, but tickets are required. For tickets, fill out the coupon inside Laredo Morning Times and bring it to the office, 111 Esperanza Drive. Up to four tickets may be requested per person.
Audience members must be seated by 6:45 p.m. the day of the performance. If not, the seats will be given to the general public. In addition to the performance, the occasion will also serve to announce the LMT and Jefferson Awards for Public Service’s 2009 Jefferson Award honoree, handed out annually to an individual who has made a difference in the community. “The Constitution Behind Closed Doors” is sponsored by TAMIU, Laredo Morning Times and individual benefactors, including Ruiz, Julia Ruhlman, Fernando Zuñiga III, Ana Galo, Fred Santos, Robert Laurel, Tina Cerda, Rick Valls, Tony Treviño and Memo Benavides.
Zentertainment
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
7A
Grupo Fantasma heads to the Grammys By KIRSTEN CROW LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Latin-funk rockers Grupo Fantasma plan to head to Los Angeles for the 51st Grammy Awards ceremony in style — meaning they’ll be shedding the stage gear for some suits, said Beto Martinez, guitarist and one of the four Laredo natives who founded the Austin-based group. “That’s actually on the Grammy invitation,” he said. “It says it’s a black-tie affair. Obviously, you always see some of the rock stars come in and dress however they dress … but we decided we’re going to look good.” Up for music’s most prestigious award, the Grammy, Fantasma beat out about three dozen other bands to secure a nomination for Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album category for its most recent release, “Sonidos Gold.” The band will be competing against Los Jaguares, Locos Por Juana, Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich & Fussible and Ximena Sariñana on Sunday.
The nomination In previous interviews, Martinez said the band hadn’t expected to get the nomination, noting that “it was cool enough” to even get on the short list. “This is pretty exciting,” Martinez said. “This is recognition by your peers. The Recording Academy is made up of industry professionals, and it means a lot to be recognized in that sense. Obviously, these are the biggest awards as far as music goes, and it means a lot to us. It’s a huge honor. “Win or lose, it’s amazing.” The group boasts 10 members, and the four founders of the superband are originally from Laredo and graduates of St. Augustine High School and United High School: Martinez; Johnny Lopez, drums; Greg Gonzalez, bass; and Adrian Quesada, guitar. Rounding out the troupe are
Jose Galeano, vocals and timbales; Gilbert Elorreoga, trumpet; Kino Rodriguez, vocals; Joshua Levy, saxophones; Matthew “Sweet Lou” Holmes, congas; and Mark “Speedy” Gonzales, trombone. While the band members have long been considered hometown heroes, they gained nationwide attention when they backed Prince during the 2007 ALMA Awards and spent two months serving as the house band for Prince’s Las Vegas nightclub, Club 3121. The group has won plenty of Austin Music Awards and Premios Musica Latino Awards, but this is its first Grammy nomination.
The album “We’re proud of all our albums,” Martinez said, “They represent a particular period and time and sound of the band’s growth. “But by the time we did the live album, I thought we’d outgrown the sound of ‘Movimiento.’ We really wanted to do something that was more representative of what we’re doing now. … We really wanted to get a definitive studio album out.” That album, he said, was “Sonidos Gold.” Spending three intense months working on it in the studio, the band was able to use its experience and knowledge of home recordings to make it sound “exactly how we wanted it.” “We walked away very happy about it,” he said. “I think we’ve matured as a band — our skill level, our increased understanding of the music and the ability to perform it.” As opposed to “Movimiento,” which Martinez described as “overproduced,” “Sonidos” instead focuses on a more organic sound. “(For “Movimiento”) I feel like we tried to be ultra-modern at that time with the hope of it being a hit,” he said. “With ‘Sonidos,’ we
Photo by Daniel Perlaky | Special to the Times
The 10-member Grupo Fantasma boasts four founding members from Laredo: Beto Martinez, guitar; Johnny Lopez, drums; Greg Gonzalez, bass; and Adrian Quesada, guitar. were able to get a live, really roomy sound to it, even though there is production. (It) gets into the textures and sounds.”
The ceremony Traveling with about a dozen people, Martinez added, can make travel arrangements a little difficult. “There’s a bunch of us, and we have to pay our own way,” he said. “Being such a large band, travel costs are pretty high. … It can add up.”
To offset the costs, Fantasma planned to play at a “Grammy send-off” concert in Austin on Thursday, and also booked several gigs to play while in Los Angeles, Martinez said. As for the actual ceremony, little is known about how it will work other than the fact that the group will be sitting together, Martinez said. “On Sunday, there’s a pretelecast ceremony and then a telecast ceremony; we don’t what part we’ll be involved in,” he said. “I’m sure our name will be
mentioned, but I’m not sure how it will work (as far as walking) across the stage.” They are, however, looking forward to some of the little luxuries associated with the award ceremony. “We’re supposed to be getting a list of parties that we’re invited to that we’ll go to, and there’s the infamous swag you get to pick up at these things, and we hope to partake in that,” he said. As for any predictions, Martinez isn’t making any. “We would be really, really sur-
prised (if we won) because we’re not going over there expecting to win,” he said. “We’re the underdog. We’re the only independent band in our category.” Win or lose, Martinez said Fantasma appreciates Laredo’s support and love. “It means a lot to have hometown support,” he said. The Grammy Awards are scheduled for broadcast on CBS beginning at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. (Kirsten Crow may be reached at 728-2543 or by e-mail at kirsten@lmtonline.com)
ZFrontera AGENDAEN BREVE Entretenimiento
LAREDO — El sábado 7 de febrero salen a la venta los boletos para el espectáculo de Disney On Ice: Disneyland Adventure,que se presentará en el Laredo Entertainment Center del jueves 30 de abril al domingo 3 de mayo. Más información en www.disneyonice.com.Puede comprar sus boletos en la taquilla de LEC yen ticketmaster.com.Los boletos varían de 13.25, 18/25 y 26.25 dólares. LAREDO — Pase la tarde del sábado 7 de febrero en el Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de Texas A&M International University, explorando “The Zula Patrol”a las 5 p.m.; “Black Holes”a las 6 p.m.y“U2: Fulldome Experience”a las 7 p.m.La entrada general es de 5 dólares; los niños, estudiantes, personal y ex alumnos de TAMIU pagan 4 dólares.Más información llamando 326-2444. LAREDO — El Departamento de Parques y Servicios de Entretenimiento de la Ciudad de Laredo invita a practicar ‘Rock Climbinb’ en el East Hachar Recreation Center,cada martes yviernes de 4 p.m. a 5 p.m. El programa es para niños y niñas de 6 a 12 años.Personal del centro auxilia a los asistentes. LAREDO — El evento Taste of Laredo,dentro de las festividades de la WBCA, será el jueves 12 de febrero a partir de las 6:30 p.m. en el Laredo Entertainment Center. Este evento tiene costo. LAREDO — El Comedy Jam for George será el viernes 13 de febrero en el laredo Little Theatre.Habrá dos eventos, el primer programado para las 7 p.m. Este evento tiene costo.
Cultura
LAREDO — El sábado 7 de febrero es el concierto de Ballet Folklórico de Texas A&M International University a las 7 p.m. en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall.Los boletos tienen costo de 10 dólares. La actuación es parte de una serie de talleres de fines de semana patrocinado por el Ballet Folklórico de TAMIU para maestros de danza y estudiantes de Laredo,en Texas yMéxico.Más información llamando al 326-2649. LAREDO — El sábgado 7 de febrero será el WBCAYouth Dance Festival de 2 p.m. a 5 p.m. en el Auditorio del Laredo Civic Center. La entrada es gratuita pero se requiere vestimenta casual. LAREDO — El evento anual de recabación de fondos Wine Tasting Gala del Boys & Girls Club of Laredo el sábado 7 de febrero a partir de las 8 p.m. en Paseo Real,detrás del Laredo Entertainment Center.Más información llamando al 723-1051. El evento tiene costo. LAREDO — American Historical Theatre presenta a una actuación nocturna de George Washington, el miércoles 11 de febrero. El evento “The Constitution Behind Closed Doors” es un acto de una hora por William A. Sommerfield, el cual presenta a un actor con un extraño parecido al primer presidente de la nación,inicia a las 7 p.m.en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de Texas A&M International University. Vea a George Washington, Thomas Jefferon y James Madison interactuar en esta obra. La entrada es gratuita, pero se requieren boletos. LAREDO — La Noche de Cabaret de los LULAC Concilio 7,rindiendo homenaje a Fernando A.Salinas será el sábado 7 de febrero de 7 p.m.yhasta al 1 a.m.del domingo. Se realizará en el Laredo Civic Center Ballroom. El evento tiene costo.
Servicio Social
LAREDO — Una venta de libros se realizará en el Widener Room de la First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave., de 8:30 a.m. a 1 p.m. el sábado 7 de febrero. El público en general está invitado y la entrada es gratuita.Se acepta donación de libros y revistas.
Deportes
LAREDO — El equipo de hockey, Junior Bucks, estarán jugando un encuentro de liga el sábado 7 de febrero al mediodía contra los Rio Grande Valley Penguins. Esa noche, en el juego de los Laredo Bucks, también será una noche de Junior Bucks, donde los jugadores serán reconocidos. El juego de los Laredo Bucks, donde reciben a los Tulsa Oilers será a las 7:30 p.m. en LEC. LAREDO — El equipo de softból de Texas A&M International University estará jugando el sábado 7 de febrero contra Texas Wesleyan en el campo de TAMIU a las 11 a.m.y 1 p.m.Nuevamente el domingo 8 de febrero los dos equipos volverán a enfrentarse en el campo de TAMIU a las 12 p.m. y 2 p.m. La entrada general es de 5 dólares,a 3 dólares para estudiantes y gratis para cualquiera con identificación de TAMIU. LAREDO — El equipo de baloncesto femenil de Texas A&M International University estará jugando el sábado 7 de febrero contra la University of Incarnate Word en canchas de la universidad a las 2 p.m.
Para informar acerca de eventos y actividades envíe el nombre, fecha, hora y dirección, y un número de contacto a tiempo@lmtonline.com
EN INTERNET: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
SÁBADO 7 DE FEBRERO DE 2009
8A
Decomisan armas y equipo Se acerca Feria
de Zapata
Por MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
El Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego y Explosivos alertaron a su oficina en Monterrey, México, acerca de un decomiso de armas y equipamiento ocurrido cerca de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, el fin de semana, dijo Francesca Perot, una vocera del buró. Perot dijo que ella no tenía particulares sobre el caso. “Puedo decir que sabemos que las armas recuperadas en México y rastreadas a través del laboratorio de armas de la ATF que 90 por ciento de las armas confiscadas de México vienen de los Estados Unidos”, dijo ella. El fin de semana, elementos del Ejército Mexicano descubrieron un cargamento de armas, municiones, chalecos antibalas y diverso equipamiento bélico en Nueva Ciudad Guererro. En comunicado de prensa de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA, por sus siglas) se dio a conocer que el equipo fue descubierto en el interior de un tinaco de plástico durante un reconocimiento por las riberas del Río Bravo. No se reportaron personas detenidas en el operativo de personal del 21 Batallón de Infantería perteneciente al Primer Regimiento de Caballería Motorizado con sede en Nuevo Laredo. Entre el decomiso hay armas de asalto y cortas, así como lanza granadas, silenciadores, miras telescopias con rayos infrarrojos y chalecos antib alas, informó el comunicado. Una camioneta pick-up de reciente modelo también fue asegurada, según el reporte. El vehículo tenía reporte de robo en los Estados Unidos. Igualmente se informó que se observó una lancha de fibra de vidrio, con motor fuera de borda, flotando en el río, misma que fue recuperada. En una presentación en instalaciones del Cuartel Militar, se mostraron los radios de comunicación, además de una planta de energía eléctrica, así como una bomba de agua de diesel con compresora, dos portafolios, 10 cargadores de baterías para radio, básculas, esposas y juegos de placas de Texas. El total del decomiso es el siguiente, según reporte de la SEDENA: 9 armas largas de diferentes calibres 6 armas cortas de diferentes calibres 1 lanza granadas 1 silenciador, calibre 9 Milímetros 27 cargadores de arma de grueso calibre 45 cargadores para arma corta 1 mil 405 cartuchos de diferentes calibres 1 mira telescópica 1 chaleco antibalas y 1 aparato de visión nocturna. El equipamiento quedó a disposición del Ejército Mexicano en el Cuartel Militar Macario Zamora, para después quedar a disposición de la Procuraduría General de la República, quien dará
Avanza proyecto del relleno
TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | SEDENA
El martes, el Ejército Mexicano mostró a medios de comunicación el cargamento de armas, municiones, chalecos antibalas y diverso equipamiento bélico descubierto el fin de semana en Nueva Ciudad Guererro. continuidad a la investigación. En el comunicado se informó que estas acciones son en el marco de la Campaña Permanente contra el Narcotráfico y la aplicación de la Ley Federal de Armas
de Fuego y Explosivos. (Puede localizar a Miguel Timoshenkov llamando al (956) 7282583 o escribiendo a timo1@lmtonline.com. El reportero Jason Buch contribuyó en este artículo).
Laredo
ND AN D RA GR G OPENIN G!
Join the Celebration
Grand Opening Specials Start February 9th
Ceramics, Pottery & Polyresin
Scrapbooking Categories Shown %
50 Off
All “Spare Parts” Embellishments by The Paper Studio
INCLUDES GLASS WITH DECORATIVE METAL ACCENTS. ITEMS $1.99 & HIGHER
Garden Lights & Electrical
Boxes, Frames & Shapes
Crafts
All Craft Glitter & Glitter Glue
Jewelry Shoppe Base Metal Jewelry Findings FEATURING SMALL PACKS, VALUE PACKS & SUPER VALUE PACKS. EXCLUDES STERLING SILVER.
All Art Brushes & Brush Sets FEATURING WINSOR & NEWTON, MASTER’S TOUCH, LOEW CORNELL, ROBERT SIMMONS & MORE! OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
Packaged Craft Feathers INCLUDES MASKS & MASK KITS
50 Off %
EXCLUDES STERLING SILVER
Traditions™
INCLUDES SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES & NATURAL GALLERY
INCLUDES SWAROVSKI, COLOR GALLERY, CZECH BEADS & MIXES AND MAGNETIC HEMATITE
54" Home Dec Fabric Prints, Solids & Sheers PREVIOUSLY REDUCED
30% Off OUR EVERYDAY LOW 2.99 - 8.99 P/YD.
Dritz
®
Sewing & Quilting Notions
Broadcloth • ASSORTED COLORS • 45” POLY/COTTON
50% Off 1.87 OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
P/YD. IS OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICE
30% Off INCLUDING SOLID WOOD, METAL WITH WICKER, STORAGE, TABLES, BAKER’S RACKS, CORNER RACKS, CHAIRS, STOOLS, BENCHES, PLANT STANDS, SCREENS AND BISTRO SETS.
INCLUDING PANELS, ROLLS AND STRETCHER BARS. FEATURING MASTER’S TOUCH, FREDRIX & MORE!
INCLUDES EVERYDAY, DESIGNER STEMS, FEATHERS AND ALL STYLES & VARIETIES IN OUR STEM DEPARTMENT. PREVIOUSLY REDUCED ITEMS NOT INCLUDED.
INCLUDES INDIVIDUAL ENGINES
All Train Accessories
• YOUTH - S, M, L • ADULTS - M, L, XL & 2XL
50% Off OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
2.79 IS OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICE
SOLIDS, PRINTS, SEASONAL & LICENSED PRINTS
PRICES GOOD FEBRUARY 9 THROUGH FEBRUARY 14, 2009 • SALES SUBJECT TO SUPPLY IN STOCK • SELECTION MAY VARY BY STORE • THIS AD DOES NOT APPLY TO PRE-REDUCED ITEMS
Laredo
Bob Bullock (Loop 20) at McPherson Independence Plaza Shopping Center 956-722-0247 REGULAR STORE HOURS: 9-8 MONDAY - SATURDAY • CLOSED SUNDAY
www.hobbylobby.com
FEATURING BOYE, BATES, LION, CLOVER, Etc.
40% Off
OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
• ASSORTED COLORS • OUR EVERYDAY LOW 3.99-6.99
Yasutomo Fabric Markers & Marker Sets
EXCLUDES CUSTOM MADE WEDDING ITEMS & RENTALS
All Knitting Needles & Accessories, Crochet Hooks & Accessories
Needle Art
Boas
Bridal Event!
Ribbon By-The Roll INCLUDES ALL RIBBON BY THE ROLL IN OUR WEDDING, SEASONAL, FABRIC & FLORAL DEPARTMENTS.
Love This Yarn! Youth & Adult Short ISOLIDS, STRIPES & Sleeved T-Shirt Sale OMBRES • 5 & 7 OZ.
50% Off
Marbles, Gems, Riverstones, ITSY-BEAD-SIES & Dazzlers
Flowering & Greenery
Garlands, Swags & Wreaths
FEATURING LIFE-LIKE, BACHMANN, LIONEL, MODEL POWER & WOODLAND SCENICS
Bandanas
EXCLUDES POTTED TREES.
50% Off
All Boxed Science Kits & Telescopes
Wearable Categories Shown Home Décor Trim, Cords, Tassels, Fringes, Braids & Beaded Trim
Including Plants & Ferns
Floral Categories Shown
Glamour Glitz Iron-on Crystal Transfers
OUR EVERYDAYLOW 2.99-59.99 P/YD.
Flowering & Greenery Bushes
Floral Stems
All Rocket Kits & Starter Sets
30% Off
INCLUDES TOTES, APRONS & MORE!
30% Off
Fashion Fabrics
Cake, Cookie & Candy Making Supplies
Canvas Wear & Blank Purses
ITEMS NOT INCLUDED
• INCLUDES APPAREL COTTON PRINTS
Furniture
Hobbies Categories Shown
All
Beads, Wilton® & Pendants Make n Mold & Kits
Bead Treasures™ Beads, Glass Pendants & Kits
Entire Stock of
Entire Stock of
All Artist Canvas
Plastic Models & Die Cast Model Kits
Base Metal Jewelry Beads
Entire Stock of
Calico Prints & Solids • 45" WIDE • 100% COTTON
Art
30 Off
50% Off
Jewelry Tools
INCLUDES SETS & INDIVIDUALS
%
Jewelry Categories Shown
Metal Gallery
INCLUDES STEPPING STONES
All Artist Easels, Drawing Boards & Tables
Categories Shown
50 Off INCLUDES ALL SHAPES
Polystone & Ceramic Garden Decor & Statuary
Robert Stanley Gazing Balls & Glass Garden Decor
24x36
FEATURING STRATHMORE, CANSON, CAROLINA PAD & MORE!
%
Crafting Mirrors
Decorative Birdhouses, Feeders & Cages
50% Off
Artist Pads & Art Pencils & Sheet Paper Art Markers
Paper Maché
Categories Shown
Wind Chimes & Garden Mobiles
Categories Shown
Aloha! Hawaiian Decor
Poster Frames Shadow Box & Wall Frames Frames, Display with Glass Cases & Flag Cases
Fuzzy Posters
OVER 70 TO CHOOSE FROM!
Garden
Collage Frames
50% Off
EXCLUDES CUSTOM MATS OUR EVERYDAY LOW 1.57-7.99
Garden Pedestals & Gazing Ball Stands
BY THE PAPER STUDIO
OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
Categories Shown
Chenille Stems & Pom-Poms
FEATURING STICKABILITIES, DOODLEBUG, KAREN FOSTER, PEBBLES, 7 GYPSIES, SEASONAL & MORE. EXCLUDES 3D EMBELLISHED STICKERS.
30 % Off
All Matboard & Pre-Cut Mats
Scrapbook Page Kits
Stickers
Spring Splash
& Outdoor Dining Themes
Document Frames with Glass
Entire Stock of
Entire Stock of
30% Off
Framing
Open Back Readymade Frames
INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF EYELETS, BRADS, BUTTONS, CLIPS & MORE!
ASSORTED STYLES
Photo Frames Portrait Frames & INCLUDES OUR ENTIRE SELECTION OF TABLE TOP AND NOVELTY PHOTO FRAMES AS WELL AS ALL WOODEN PHOTO STORAGE
Photo Storage Boxes
Candles, Candle Holders & Reed Diffusers
Decorative Glassware
FEATURING STAMPABILITIES, PRINTWORKS, STAMPENDOUS, PENNY BLACK, PAPER INSPIRATIONS & MORE! INCLUDES STAMP SETS, INDIVIDUALS, CLEAR MOUNTING BLOCKS & SEASONAL.
INCLUDES SEASONAL. EXCLUDES ART DEPARTMENT. OVER 1000 TO CHOOSE FROM!
Decorative Lamps
EXCLUDES TEALIGHTS, VOTIVES & CANDLE VALUE PACKS
Rubber Stamps, Foam Stamps & Clear Stamps
Packaged & Single Sheets
INCLUDES NITE LIGHTS, LAMP SHADES, FINIALS & CORD COVERS
Decorative Pillows, Tassels & Rugs
Entire Stock of
All Scrapbook Papers
OVER 200 STYLES TO CHOOSE FROM. EXCLUDES EK SUCCESS, SANDYLION, K & COMPANY AND PHOTO ALBUMS.
Decorative Clocks
50 Off
INCLUDES MIRRORS, ART, SHELVES & MORE!
Scrapbook Albums & Refill Pages
WITH DECORATIVE BEADED ACCENTS. EXCLUDES FURNITURE & GARDEN
Home Accent Categories Shown %
Wall Decor
STORE HOURS: 9-8 MONDAY - SATURDAY • CLOSED SUNDAY
Metalware INCLUDES ITEMS
INCLUDES TABLE TOP, BLUE & WHITE, ORIENTAL, SOUTHWEST & MUCH MORE!
ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
TAMAULIPAS — Están por iniciarse la construcción de por lo menos siete proyectos de rellenos sanitarios regionales a lo largo del Estado. El titular de la Agencia Ambiental para el Desarrollo Sustentable Salvador Treviño Garza, dijo que uno de los primeros rellenos que está por arrancar con los servicios de acopio de desechos es el de la Frontera Ribereña cuya primera etapa de construcción está ya culminada. Los siete rellenos sanitarios son: Frontera Ribereña, Rio Bravo, San Fernando, Victoria, Mante, Gonzales-Aldama y Zona conurbada de Tampico. Con una inversión total de 132 millones de pesos para los rellenos sanitarios, la Agencia Ambiental sirve como puente para acercar presupuestos de diferentes órdenes desde el Gobierno Federal a través de SEDESOL, como de organismos internacionales como el NADBANK.
La Feria del Condado de Zapata, una de las más grandes ferias en pueblos pequeños en Texas se realizará del 22 de febrero al 14 de marzo. El evento se extiende durante tres fines de semana y presenta a los favoritos de la feria del condado tales como la cabalgata, el concurso de Miss Zapata County Fair, y el siempre competitivo concurso de ganado. Los participantes en los varios eventos para calificar animales vienen de tan lejos como Amarillo para competir por el codiciado Blue Ribbon (Listón Azul). Inclusive los más jóvenes se divierten en la popular competencia de bovinos, y concursos para el ZCF Little Cowboy, Little Miss ZCF y Jr. Miss ZCF. La feria también atrae a
grandes estrellas en el mundo Tejano, como Los Palominos, Jaime de Anda y Los Chamacos, Siggno, El Poder del Norte y Sonny Sauceda and the Stampede, el grupo country de Zapata. Por cierto, será Sonny Sauceda and the Stampede quien actúe el sábado 28 de febrero a las 9 p.m. en la feria y corresponderá cerrar las festividades a El Poder del Norte. Por supuesto, no hay feria completa sin la comida, y la Feria del Condado de Zapata tiene mucho de ello. La feria sirve lo s favorito s tradicionales como piernas de guajolote, fajitas, elote desgrabado y pasteles. También hay con curs o s de co cina donde lo s p arti cip antes muestran sus herramientras culinarias p ara ver quien será coronado como el mejor cocinero de la feria.
Special Savings! Dilly Dally 5 OZ. Moda Dea Ticker Tape 1.76 OZ. Yarn Bee Beguile Ribbon 3.5 OZ.
1.99
Your Choice...
OUR EVERYDAY LOW 5.27 - 9.81
Fairfield® Poly-Fil & Soft Touch Fillings • 8 OZ. SOFT TOUCH • 12 OZ. POLY-FIL • (LIMIT 6)
1.99
OUR EVERYDAY LOW 2.99 - 3.19
All Sil-o-ette Foam Products CHAIR PADS, PILLOW FORMS, COT PADS, SHREDDED FOAM & MORE!
50% Off OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
$ Coupon Code:
649 5
$
Coupon
One Regu Any lar Priced Item
Redeemable Coupon Offer may be used One coupon per cust for any item at regular price only . omer per day. Mus at time t present original coup on Coupon discoun of purchase. Offer is not valid with any other coupon, t or previous purc floral, gift cards, spec hase. Excludes custom framing, cust products, online orde ial orders, CRICUT products, SLIC om E rs, No duplicates perm rentals or class fees. Cash Value 1/10 itted. Valid only Feb. ¢. 9 - Feb. 14, 2009
$
$
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
THE ZAPATA TIMES | 9A
TOP STUDENTS
BENAVIDES HONORS TRUSTEE
Courtesy photo/Villarreal Elementary | Special to the Times
Villarreal Elementary recently honored its Students of the Week for Jan. 30. Bottom row, left to right,Jacob Siordia, Natalee Guerra, Jose Gonzalez, Apolonio Vallejo, Elizabeth Angeles, Elaine Lopez, Amairany Rios and Karim Alvarado; second row, left to right, Fernando Navarro, Odalys Valadez,Valerie Ramirez, Christopher Araiza,Jennifer Gonzalez and Marc Garcia Vasquez; third row, left to right,Jorge Perez, Laura Garza,Joel Hernandez,Julie Sanchez and Victor Gonzalez; top row, left to right, Dulce Banda,Juan Carlos Garcilazo and Jennifer Yanez.
Courtesy photo/Benavides Elementary | Special to the Times
Veronica Gonzalez, Zapata County Independent School District school board vice president, was selected to be the A.L. Benavides Elementary School honoree for school board appreciation month. Here, Gonzalez talks with students, encouraging them to attend school every day and to respect their teachers. The trustee was the parade marshal for the school’s 100th day celebration. She presented students who had perfect attendance with a plaque and certificate.
More co-worker couples losing jobs at once By MELISSA NELSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
It is a well-known risk to lack diversity in an investment portfolio. Now, couples employed by the same company are learning a similar lesson, the hard way. As layoffs mount across the country and in all sectors, couples who are co-workers are increasingly vulnerable to losing their families’ twin sources of income at once. The lack of variety in job skills can also make it difficult to bounce back, especially in a struggling industry. Such hard times have befallen Clarkston, Mich., high school sweethearts Victor and Lauri Cox, who married in 1976 and soon took jobs at the General Motors plant; Pam Podger and John Cramer, who met as reporters at The Fresno Bee in California in 1991; and Chad and Lindsey Lewis, who prospered while selling homes for a Tampa builder but now face a more than 60 percent drop in their combined income. Chad Lewis said the experience “hit us really hard,” forcing them to dip into savings in order to afford health insurance and other necessities. But they have found a silver lining: “There is someone there to rely on, to go through this with you.” It may seem harsh for an employer to lay off both spouses simultaneously. But companies risk lawsuits and union contract violations if they consider workers’ family status in determining who to eliminate. And whatever the financial risks, it is simply unrealistic to expect couples who fall in love on the job or while studying the same field in school to be thinking about revenue diversification, said Stephanie Coontz, a family studies professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. “I imagine that people will try to be more thoughtful about not putting all their economic eggs in the same basket, but I doubt if they will start trying to meet people outside their field just for economic reasons,” Coontz said. People searching for a lifetime partner say the idea of choosing
mates based on their careers would add too much complication to an already difficult process. “Most of the single people I know are happy just to find another single person they get along with let alone worry about what kind of job they have,” said Margaret Warren, 45, a Pensacola artist and computer consultant who dates a restorer of antique automobiles. It was a shared love of journalism that helped spark romance between Pam Podger and John Cramer. When the Roanoke Times in Virginia began cutting costs and offering early retirements last year, the couple thought they had found safe harbor and a fresh start out West at The Missoulian, a 28,000-daily and 32,000-Sunday circulation newspaper in Missoula, Mont. Less than 10 months later, the publisher laid them off, unsettling the new life they had begun with their two toddlers. “Do I wish one of us had a sudden yen to go into medicine, law, business? Sure, some days,” Podger said. Podger now freelances and teaches part time, while her husband has a part-time job at a smaller paper owned by the same publisher. Such double layoffs would have been extremely rare just a couple of generations ago. Before the 1970s, families weathered economic downturns by sending the non-working spouse, typically wives, into the work force. But today roughly 53 percent of all married couples, and 64 percent of married couples with children under age 18, rely on two incomes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In theory that should have increased financial security. Instead, couples often use the extra income to buy bigger homes, nicer cars and other luxuries, said Rick Harper, director of the University of West Florida’s Haas Center for Business Research. “In the 1980s, both spouses worked and the savings rate for families went from 12 and 14 percent to essentially zero,” Harper said. “In this decade, households
smoothed over the rough spots by taking equity out of their homes. Now there is no equity left to take.” There are no statistics on the number of couples who have both lost jobs. Nearly 3 million jobs were eliminated last year alone. On Friday, the Labor Department said 11. 6 million were unemployed in January. Meeting at work is among the top three ways people find spouses, along with being introduced through friends or at school. But workplace relationships have inherent risks, such as awkward breakups, and many companies discourage co-workers from dating. Large companies often have policies that separate spouses into different departments. But this deep and lengthy recession is revealing a pitfall that could not have been foreseen when high school sweethearts Victor and Lauri Cox married in 1976. They very soon landed jobs at the General Motors plant in their hometown of Clarkston, Mich., and figured they had found financial security. For three decades, that was true. Victor Cox made good money pulling parts for shipment to dealerships worldwide. Lauri worked at a GM supplier and later at the plant. But last August they were both laid off. GM has since found positions for the couple at an Ohio plant, but they are the among the lowest in seniority and will be the first laid off if that plant cuts production. The stakes are considerable: the Coxes are still paying a mortgage on their Michigan home, renting a town house in Ohio and worried about their children — ages 23, 20, 17 — who are back in Michigan trying to finish school and find jobs in uncertain times. Victor said he occasionally thinks it would might have been easier financially if his wife were a nurse or a teacher — something other than an auto worker. Carmen Ramirez - Rathmell, D.D.S.
“Let your smile be a sign of happiness & good health”
1520 Corpus Christi Street Telephone (956) 726-0160
Photo by Michael Albans | AP
Pam Podger, center right, and John Cramer, center left, two journalists who moved cross country to start jobs at the Missoulian newspaper and were laid off at the same time less than 10 months later, pose for a photo with their children Jack, right, and Luke at their home in Missoula, Mont.
Zbusiness
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
10A
Senators announce deal on stimulus bill By DAVID ESPO ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with key Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama’s plan for combatting the worst recession in decades. “The American people want us to work together. They don’t want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country,” said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of two GOP senators who signaled support for the bill. Officials put the cost of the measure at $780 billion in tax cuts and new spending combined. No details were immediately available, and there appeared to be some confusion even among senators about the price tag as floor debate continued late into the night. The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60vote majority. In addition to Collins, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would vote for the bill. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, remained uncommitted. Democrat Edward M. Kennedy, who is battling a brain tumor, arrived in Washington in case his vote turned out to be needed. The Massachusetts senator has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago. Democrats hold a 58-41 majority in the Senate, including two
independents, but it takes 60 votes to pass the stimulus bill because it would raise the federal deficit. At $780 billion, the legislation would be smaller than the measure that cleared the House on a party-line vote last week. It also would mean a sharp cut from the version that has been the subject of Senate debate for a week. That measure stood at $937 billion. Beyond the numbers, though, any agreement would mark a victory for the new president and would keep Democratic leaders on track to fulfill their promise of delivering him a bill to sign by the end of next week. Obama said further delay would be “inexcusable and irresponsible” given Friday’s worst monthly unemployment report in a generation — 598,000 jobs lost in January and the national unemployment rate rising to 7.6 percent. And late Friday, federal regulators announced the closures of two banks, First Bank Financial Services in Georgia and Alliance Bank in California, the seventh and eight failures this year of federally insured banks. “The world is waiting to see what we’re going to do in the next 24 hours,” said Reid who has spent much of the week trying to balance demands among moderates in both parties against pressure for a larger bill from liberals in his own rank and file. By midday, the majority leader had spoken once with Obama by phone and five times with Emanuel. He met with Collins and Specter as well as Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Nebraska Democrat who had long advocated cuts in the House-passed bill. “We’re clearly not there yet,” Collins said at one point. She spoke with Obama at the White House earlier in the week, though, and told reporters as she shuttled between meetings in the Capitol, “I’m still hopeful that we can
Photo by Susan Walsh | AP
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Friday, following a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. and Republicans on the economic stimulus legislation. achieve a compromise because the stakes are high and the goal is important.” One Republican-proposed document that circulated earlier called for cuts of $60 billion from money Democrats want to send to the states. That money is targeted to avoid budget cuts for schools as well as law enforcement and other programs. Talk of cuts in proposed education funds triggered a counterattack from advocates of school spending as well as unhappiness among Democrats. One, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, told reporters he and others hoped that some of the funds on the chopping block would be restored next week when negotia-
tions open on a House-Senate compromise. At its core, the legislation is designed to ease the worst economic recession in generations, and combines hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending with tax cuts. Much of the money would go for victims of the recession in the form of food stamps, unemployment compensation and health care. There are funds, as well, for construction of highways and bridges. But the administration also decided to use the bill to make a down payment on key domestic initiatives, including creation of a new health technology industry and so-called green jobs designed to make the country less depend-
ent on imported oil. And Democrats in Congress decided to add additional huge sums for the states struggling with the recession, as well as billions more for favored programs such as parks, the repair of monuments in federal cemeteries, health and science research and more. With Obama enjoying post-inauguration support in the polls and the economy shrinking, Democratic leaders in Congress have confidently predicted they would have a bill to the president’s desk by mid-February. But Republicans, freed of the need to defend former President George W. Bush’s policies, have pivoted quickly to criticize the bill
for its size and what they consider wasteful spending. The entire Republican rank and file voted against the measure in the House, effectively prodding senators to take up the same cause. In the intervening days, Republicans have appeared to catch the administration and its allies off-guard, holding up relatively small items for ridicule and routinely seizing on comments from Democrats critical of the Housepassed bill. At the same time, they have stressed a desire to help the economy but have said they prefer tax cuts and spending that would have a more immediate impact on job creation. Privately, Democrats in Congress have been critical of Obama and his aides for failing to counter the Republicans more effectively. In recent days, the president has sharpened his rhetoric against unnamed critics of the bill whom he accused of trying to reestablish the “failed policies” of the past eight years. As Reid struggled to nail down the necessary votes, the White House announced Obama would travel to Florida and Indiana next week to campaign for a stimulus measure. Both states have Republican senators. The president also is scheduled to hold a prime-time news conference on Monday where questions about the economy are likely to dominate. Despite the struggle, some Republicans seemed to sense the White House would ultimately prevail, and sought political mileage. Obama “could have had a very, very impressive victory early on,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who heads the Senate Republican campaign committee. “But this is not turning out to be an impressive victory. it is turning out to be a little bit of a black eye.”
Tighter conditions on TARP recipients seen By MARTIN CRUTSINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will impose tighter conditions on banks receiving money under the $700 billion financial rescue program but for now is not expected to ask Congress for more money in its sweeping overhaul of the bailout, industry and congressional officials said Friday. The decision not to request more money would be a relief to lawmakers, given that the administration is unveiling its changes in the midst of a debate over an economic recovery package that’s expected to cost around $800 billion. The program Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is scheduled to unveil in a speech Monday could cost more than the $350 billion still unspent in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. But officials said the administration would have room to overhaul how the program works before determining whether to seek more money from Congress. “Some of the reforms can be paid for
without a new appropriation,” one official familiar with the plan said. The industry and congressional officials who spoke did so on condition of anonymity because the administration had not yet publicly released details of the program. Key members of Congress had urged the administration not to request more money for the rescue program. Congress approved the $700 billion program last fall, but since then, many lawmakers have complained that the Bush administration implemented a confused and ad hoc strategy. “Until they are successful in showing the average American that the money is being used reasonably, there’s no point in asking for it, because they won’t get it,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said this week. The administration declined Friday to provide any specifics of what will be in Geithner’s new plan to address the worst financial crisis to hit the country in seven decades. But the Treasury Department said the revamped plan would offer a comprehensive way to stabilize the fi-
nancial system, while strengthening accountability, oversight and transparency to protect taxpayer money. Industry and congressional officials said they thought the administration would continue to stress government purchases of bank stock as a way to bolster banks’ balance sheets and to try to get them to resume more normal lending. But these officials said they believed the administration would impose tougher terms on the banks receiving money than in the first round of spending. One official said the new terms will include requirements that banks that accept the next round of money work to get bad assets off their books. The industry and congressional sources said they believed the new plan would also make broader use of government guarantees of bad assets that banks are carrying on their books. Those bad assets are helping to stifle lending. The Bush administration used government guarantees in November when it agreed to limit Citigroup’s losses on a portfolio of $301 billion of troubled assets. It used the same approach last month,
when it agreed to provide increased support to Bank of America by covering $118 billion of that bank’s troubled assets. The administration’s new plan is likely to include at least a limited effort to buy banks’ bad assets. One possibility is to use a new lending facility the Federal Reserve is developing called the Term AssetBacked Securities Loan Facility, these officials said. The Fed on Friday announced new terms and conditions for this program and said a date for it to begin would be announced later this month. But the program to buy bad assets is expected to be much smaller than the socalled “bad bank” the administration had considered creating to take some toxic assets off banks’ books. Industry and congressional officials said the administration felt such an approach would be too costly and could prove harmful if the purchase of toxic assets forced other banks to revalue similar assets being carried on their books. Some estimates said it could cost more than $1 trillion. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., an influential voice on banking matters, had
said this week that he did not support the bad bank approach. He instead favored having the government provide guarantees for troubled assets. The Bush administration committed the first $350 billion from the rescue fund that Congress approved on Oct. 3, leaving the second $350 billion for the new administration. Obama’s team has said it would devote up to $100 billion of the remaining money to help combat a wave of mortgage foreclosures. That could leave only $250 billion to pursue further efforts to bolster banks’ balance sheets and get them to resume more normal lending. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, said he thinks the administration will eventually need to request another $350 billion from Congress — on top of the $700 billion that’s already been approved, given the scope of the bad assets banks are carrying. He said the new administration may find that financial markets are not reassured by its new program without the commitment of additional money.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
THE ZAPATA TIMES | 11A
OBITUARIES KENNETH J. HAYES Kenneth J. Hayes 78, passed away Friday, Jan. 30, 2009, at Laredo Medical Center. Ken is preceded in death by his wife Rhoda Ballew Hayes and siblings Lloyd Hayes, Francis Hayes, Eudene Hayes and Thelma Callen. Ken is survived by his siblings Levon Thompson, Pauline Clendenen and Arvida Jones; son J Dee (Rosalyn) Hayes from Lubbock, grandchildren Jennifer M. Hayes of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Bryan M. Hayes of Milwaukee, and many friends. A memorial service will be
held Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, at 10 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfimeralhome. com. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 Hwy. 83 Zapata.
AMALIA ‘MOLLY’ DIXON Amalia “Molly” Dixon, 80, passed away Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, at a hospital in San Antonio. Amalia is preceded in death by her parents Agustin (Juanita) Martinez; sons Juan Antonio (Paca) Martinez, Johnny Dixon, Ruben Dixon and Jimmy Dixon; daughter Blanca Estela Martinez; brothers Jose Maria Martinez, Juan Antonio Martinez and a sister, Macaria Bustamante. Amalia is survived by her son Billy Dixon; daughters Nelda Gonzalez, Rosie Salazar, Eva Dixon and Brenda (Mike) Kohler; 18 grandchildren; 42 great-grandchildren; brothers Felipe Martinez and Santiago Martinez; sister Maria (Donicio) Jaramillo; cousins Luisa Creel and Maya Guzman and by numerous nephews, nieces and many
friends. Visitation hours were Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, at 8 a.m, with a rosary at 9 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, at 9:45 a.m. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfimeralhome. com. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 Hwy. 83 Zapata.
WILLIAM PAUL WESTFALL William Paul Westfall 80, passed away Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, at bis residence in Zapata. Mr. Westfall is preceded in death by his wife Virginia E. Westfall; parents Ray (Francis) Westfall; brother Bob Westfall and a granddaughter, Dixie. Mr. Westfall is survived by his son Harold (Beverly) Elmore of Sweet Home, Iowa; daughter Sandra (Jerry) Clute of West Point, Iowa; four grandchildren;two great-grandchildren and by numerous nephews, nieces and many friends. A memorial Mass was held at
10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfimeralhome. com. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 Hwy. 83 Zapata.
Propane gas efficient but care needed SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
AUSTIN — The Texas Railroad Commission is offering safety tips for Texans enjoying the cozy warmth of a propane gas log set this winter. As the state’s chief energy agency, the Railroad Commission has been in charge of propane safety in Texas for more than 50 years. “More and more Texans are fueling their fireplaces with cleanburning propane gas,” said Railroad Commission Chairman Michael L. Williams. “And it’s easy to see why. Gas logs don’t smoke up the neighborhood, and they turn on at the flip of a switch. But they don’t turn off by themselves like a wood fire, so remember to switch off your gas log when you leave the room for an extended period and before you go to sleep.” Even though gas log owners
“Have a trained technician install the units and schedule a regular maintenance checkup at the start of the heating season.” COMMISSIONER VICTOR G. CARRILLO
no longer have to split and stack firewood or haul ashes out of the fireplace, gas-fired logs do require some maintenance. “Have a trained technician install the units and schedule a regular maintenance checkup at the start of the heating season,” said Commissioner Victor G. Carrillo. “The checkup should include cleaning the control compartments and burner as well as checking all the components for proper operation.” Gas logs may be vented or unvented. Unvented units do not
have a chimney or flue. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, unvented gas heaters are gaining in popularity because they are relatively inexpensive, easy to install and efficient. “Consumers should know whether their gas logs are vented or unvented,” said Commissioner Elizabeth A. Jones. “If they’re vented, make sure the fireplace where the logs are installed is designed for actual use, not just for decoration. Inspect it to see that it has adequate protective linings and smoke ducts, and that the
chimney is clear and in good repair.” Vent-free models are easier to install, but they can pose a health hazard becaus e they draw their combustion air from inside the room, which can deplete the room’s oxygen level and may produce some carbon monoxide (CO). They also produce water vapor, which can cause problems when they are operated often or for a long time, especially in a “tight” home. Newer models of vent-free appliances come with an oxygen depletion sensor that will automatically turn off the unit if the oxygen drops below a specified level. For more information on how to stay warm safely with propane this winter, visit www.propane.tx.gov or call the Railroad Commission’s Alternative Fuels Division at (800) 64CLEAR.
Feds offer Brownsville a fence compromise By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
McALLEN — The Department of Homeland Security has offered a compromise to Brownsville that would erect a temporary border fence in its downtown until a planned riverwalk project moves ahead with a permanent combined levee-border wall, the city said Friday. If the proposal, the product of more than a year of negotiations, is approved, it would be a notable thaw in the government’s deadlock with a city that has presented some of the fiercest opposition to the border fence. Brownsville Mayor Pay Ahumada once called the government’s short-lived proposal to offer property owners money for access to survey their land for the fence “blood money.” And when U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, was booed at a border fence discussion in the city, he snapped back that if people in Brownsville oppose the fence, they should build it around the north side of the border
“If they can work it out, the commission agrees and DHS follows through, it is a good compromise for the city.” CAMERON COUNTY JUDGE CARLOS CASCOS
city — in effect, leaving the city on the Mexican side of the fence. The city commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote Thursday on the proposal that has been months in the making. Ahumada, who was traveling in Mexico Friday and did not immediately return a call to his cell phone, opposed a similar compromise proposal in July. The city commission voted to table the offer and it was never taken up again. But Ahumada said at the time he did not want a fence under any circumstances. Peter Goodman, Brownsville’s Historic Downtown District director, said the proposal has improved for the city since last summer, but he believes the mayor
remains opposed. “It’s my understanding that he still feels the same way,” Goodman said. After hours calls to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is the part of Homeland Security overseeing the border fence project, were not immediately returned Friday. Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos has pushed for months for a compromise similar to one Hidalgo County reached with DHS last year to combine a border barrier with needed levee improvements. While this proposal only covers a couple short stretches of the planned fence in the county, he said it would be positive. “If they can work it out, the com-
mission agrees and DHS follows through, it is a good compromise for the city,” Cascos said. On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., Cascos said he asked Customs and Border Protection officials if the new administration had signaled any willingness to postpone or stop the border fence and the answer was no. Cascos said two city commissioners he spoke with Friday were in support of the proposal. Rather than build an 18-foot fence above the banks of the Rio Grande where downtown runs into the river, the government would install a temporary, but permanent-looking wrought-iron style fence, Goodman said. That fence would stay in place for an unlimited period until the city installed a concrete wall into the river side of the levee that would provide flood protection and be an imposing obstacle for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The proposal, which was just finalized this week, also includes temporary fencing that would save the city’s Hope Park and allow for a planned future bypass road called the East Loop.
STIMULUS | Continued from Page 1A At the top of the list is a center for higher education. It would cost about $2 million and is planned to take 24 months to complete. It is “shovel-ready.” Another priority is the Zapata County Museum, which would cost about $3.5 million over a 12-month period. However, the county has already budgeted $1.8 million for the project. Sewage and drainage projects make up a large portion of the requests, such as Zapata
County sewer improvements and sewer improvements for the Las Palmas colonia. One project is a planning-ready loop to allow truck traffic on Highway 83 to circumvent Zapata. “We mostly depend on gas production in Zapata, and we have a lot of heavy equipment trucks that go down Highway 83,” said County Judge Rosalva Guerra. “We want to see if we can have them detour.” The largest project is ready for design,
suggesting that it might not be a priority, as many members of Congress have suggested that only projects that are ready to be started in three months after the money is received will get priority. It is $38.38 million to pave six roads in the county. The county aims to pave 38.38 miles worth of road. All the projects are projects that the county has already envisioned as needs over the next 10 years.
“Whatever funds are available we’ll prioritize those projects,” Vela said. At the meeting, individual commissioners will have the option of adding more items to the list that they think are important. In regards to the operation of the Zapata County Medical Group, Sands suggested at the last meeting he would need to alter the contract, but the court tabled the item for research. “He’s not making it with the amount of
money we’re paying him on the contract,” Vela said. “He’s going to be requesting some additional funds for his operation.” The contract was tabled at last meeting because the contract calls for doctors to earn a certain amount, but that number would be affected by changes. Also on the agenda is a request by Vela to table the purchase a one-acre tract of land near Chihuahua to build a park because the only bidder has less than an acre to give.
SHERIFF | Continued from Page 1A be a multi-dimensional approach to protecting the borders that includes law enforcement agencies at all levels, including sheriffs, police, the Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and Border Patrol. “Let’s work together because even though this is more of a federal responsibility, we understand that some of our local law enforcement are burdened by the need that we see at the border area,”
Cuellar said. While Zapata has seen some funding over the past couple of years — the county received $1.71 million for Operation Stone Garden and additional funding was split between the Texas Border Coalition members — Gonzalez said it’s not enough. Gonzalez said the border has received attention from Cuellar and other congressmen, such as John Culberson, RHouston, and Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
“But they have to convince 430something more,” he added. “We’re tired of our federal legislators not paying attention to what’s happening on the border. “We’re not talking about immigration stuff, we’re talking about border security,” Gonzalez said. “We’re not too interested in people that come across to work at a hotel or a restaurant.” The economic stimulus package cur-
rently under review by Congress could aid some of the border needs, according to Cuellar. The package currently includes $4 billion for law enforcement — $3 billion for equipment and $1 billion funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The federal government’s COPS program helps fund additional law enforcement personnel. Cuellar said funding for the program was cut under the Bush ad-
ministration and it’s now being restored. Cuellar stressed, however, the additional funding is not based on earmarks or formulas. Law enforcement agencies must apply for the funds when they become available. “We have to be very aggressive,” Cuellar said. “It is a tremendous amount of money.” (Julie Daffern may be reached at 7282565 or jdaffern@lmtonline.com)
FAIR | Continued from Page 1A Fair offers that opportunity. “(Fair prices) are not out of this world — our prices are very affordable,” said Mendoza. “We keep them that way so that everyone can afford to come and have a good time.” Opening ceremonies begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, with the traditional trail ride and breakfast starting in Bustamante. That night, there’s the official kick-off dance with music by Sonny Sauceda and Stampede at 9 p.m. The annual queen contest is March 1, and the livestock exhibi-
tions and judging starts Thursday, March 12. There will be plenty of good food and dancing that weekend. The county fair is in its 36th year, and has had community support since its inception. “I’ve been attending the fair for as long as I can remember,” said Mendoza, adding this an event that everyone can attend, old and young alike. Local children create items in school that are later auctioned off, with proceeds going to their college funds, Mendoza added. That
auction takes place Saturday, March 14, the last day of the fair. The fair plays an “important role in the lives of these kids (and is) an opportunity for them to learn responsibility and make money for their college careers,” Mendoza said. “Our county fair is always a lot of fun,” said Anna Holcomb, this year’s fair president, in a news release “But, this year, it’s even more of a special treat because Zapata County is celebrating the 150th anniversary of our founding.” Mendoza and Holcomb invited
visitors to check out the Web site at www.zapatacountyfaironline.com to get complete information on the
fair and a detailed schedule of events. There’s also a collection of photos and a blog.
(To reach Erika Lambreton, call 728-2567 or e-mail erika@lmtonline.com)
12A | THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
COLUMN
A GRATEFUL TRIBUTE
Local school board gets recognition By DORA MARTINEZ The Zapata County Independent School District Board of Trustees is appreciative of their students, employees and their county, according to Angel Garza, a retired elected official. Garza said they have seen a lot of progress when it comes to capital improvement. These people dedicate themselves without any personal gain, he notes. The trustees do not get a salary of any type — no car allowance, no mileage and no credit cards. They don’t use school vehicles. He said this is true love for the
students and for education, and he thanks them for reducing unnecessary administration and other positions that produce a balanced accountability. The retired county commissioner also says he is happy to see what County Judge Rosalva Guerra and the County Commissioners have produced and approved for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Garza, who remains active in the community, said officials followed the 2006 ZCISD-approved policies to freeze all new positions and enforce the attrition system for all departments. These two
mechanisms are essential to controling excessive spending, Garza said. Zapata residents can expect the county judge and commissioners to again approve a balanced budget for 2009-2010. We appreciate the daily dedication of the school trustees and the county’s elected officials to the people of Zapata County in providing the goods and services they so clearly deserve. (Dora Martinez is a native of Zapata who was publisher of Hispanic News in San Antonio for 21 years. She can be reached at thezapatatimes@att.net)
THE BLOTTER UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OFA FIREARM BYA FELON „Aman was charged Jan.29 with driving while intoxicated, a Class-B misdemeanor, and possession of a firearm by a felony, a third-degree felony, after being pulled near the corner of 2nd Street and Texas 16. The man, identified as Kenneth Alan Rich, of the 300 block of Riverside Drive, was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail. According to the offense report,a deputy pulled over Rich at about 1:45 a.m. for driving 53 mph in a 35 mph speed zone on Texas 16.The deputyfound Rich,a convicted felony, to be intoxicated and in possession of a black handgun, the report stated.
DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED „ A man was charged with DWI at about 12:45 a.m. Jan. 31 after being pulled over for a traffic violation near the corner of U.S. 83 and 21st Street. Juan Carlos Garcia,of the 5300 block of Carrizo Lane, was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail. „ A man was charged with DWI at about 11:45 p.m. Jan. 31 after being pulled over near the corner of Guerrero and 13th. Roberto Carlos Lopez-Romero was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail. „ A man was arrested for DWI (collision) at about 1 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of Carla Street. Feliciano Angeles-Lobaton, of the 400 block of Zapata Street, was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail.
„ Sheriff’s deputies at about 3 a.m. Sunday arrested a woman for DWI and another for public intoxication, according to the offense report. The two women were arrested after a traffic violation near the corner of Davis Lane and U.S. 83. Belinda Luebano was charged with public intoxication and Elia Lamar Mercado was charged with DWI. „ A man was arrested for DWI being pulled over at about 1 a.m.Monday near 3rd and Zapata Street. Rene Ricardo Solis, of Quadrangle Circle in Laredo,was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail.
ASSAULT „ A man arrested Jan. 31 for Class-C misdemeanor assault was later found to be in possession of cocaine while being processed at the Zapata County regional jail, the offense report stated. Edgar Alaniz, of the 400 block of Miraflores Street, was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance. „ A man who allegedly assaulted his girlfriend at about 5:30 a.m. Monday was arrested shortly thereafter. Francisco Torres, of the 300 block of Valle Verde, was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail.
PUBLIC INTOXICATION „ Five people were arrested for public intoxication at about 2:10 a.m.Jan. 31 near the corner of Jackson Street and 16th Avenue. Those charged were Armando Velazco, Osiel Jasso, Robert Carlos Flores, Orlando
Courtesy photo/Villarreal Elementary | Special to the Times
Guerra Jr. and Eric Jasson. The offense report stated that the five were arrested after sheriff’s deputies responded to a loud noise complaint near the intersection.
POSSESSION OFA CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
Villarreal Elementary School recently welcomed ZCISD trustee Diego Gonzalez to the campus to celebrate School Board Appreciation Month. Gonzalez was given a tour of the campus by Student Council President Andrea Garza and Vice President Delisa Rodriguez. Later he was escorted to the library where the staff came during their lunch time to visit with him. Shown kneeing are Adrian Bugg, Pricilla Elizondo and Daniel PeĂąa; standing are Yheyny Ledezma, Ms. Martinez, Kaitlyn Ramirez, Laura Garza, Principal Gracie Zavala, Delisa Rodriguez, Trustee Gonzalez, Rene Vargas, Andrea Garza, Rebecca Villarreal and Monique Hurtado. Each grade level presented Gonzalez with a token of appreciation; for example, Student Council officers and fifth-grade representives gave him a “survival packâ€? that he can use to successfully overcome any obstacles.
„ A man was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana Jan. 30 after being pulled over for a traffic violation near the corner of the Roma Avenue and 7th Street. David Alvarez,who resides near the corner of West 17th Avenue and Elm Street, was booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail. The offense report stated Alvarez had in his possession about 0.1 grams crams of crack cocaine and approximately 1 gram of marijuana. „ A man was arrested at about 11 p.m. Sunday after being pulled over for allegedly running a stop sign near 7th and Laredo Street. Upon searching the vehicle and driver, Jesus Guadalupe Navarro,sheriff’s deputies said they found about 0.2 grams of marijuana and approximately 0.1 grams of cocaine. He was charged with the drug offenses and later booked and processed at the Zapata County regional jail.
BURGLARY OFA HABITATION „Aresidence in the 1700 block of Roma Avenue was reported burglarized Jan. 29. The male complainant told the Sheriff’s Office at about 10 a.m. that unknown subjects broke into the home and stole several items.
4&&,*/(
.JOPSJUZ 8PNFO and Veteran Owned Businesses for Construction and other procurement opportunities. CALL TODAY!
Texas Department of Transportation presents
Small Business BrieďŹ ngs TxDOT is open for business and we are looking for your services and products. Make plans to join us to ďŹ nd out how your business can provide services for TxDOT and other state agencies.
Small Business Briefings Texas Department T p of Transportation Business Outreach and Program Services Branch
-BSFEP t 'FC t -B 1PTBEB )PUFM 4"7& 5)& %"5& '03 '6563& #3*&'*/(4 )PVTUPO t .BS 0EFTTB t "QS
For more information call: 1-866/480-2518, Option 2 or click to visit the registration site: http://tti.tamu.edu/conferences/sbb08/
The Zapata Times SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors Hawks focus on playoffs By NINO CARDENAS THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Theresa Najera/The Brownsville Herald | AP
Domingo Santoyo has learned to swim without the use of his arms. He is now part of the Rivera High School swimming team in Brownsville.
Armless swimmer faces challenges By ROY HESS THE MONITOR
BROWNSVILLE — Domingo Santoyo doesn’t shy away from challenges. The determined junior at Brownsville’s Rivera High School didn’t let the fact that he has no arms keep him from joining the swim team. “I don’t think of myself as limited,” Santoyo, 16, said. “I was born like this, and sometimes, I think it was better this way because there are some people who lose their arms in accidents and I think that makes it harder.” Already a national-level competitor in chess as a middle-school student, Santoyo decided it was time to learn to swim last summer. It was a short trip from learning to swim to joining the high school swim team. “Domingo always wants to do the most he can,” said Astrid Santoyo, Domingo’s mother. “He wanted to get into sports because he needed credits for (physical education) at school, and he didn’t want to take adaptive P.E. He was thinking about trying out as a kicker for the football team, but he had knee surgery and a dislocated hip when he was younger and I wasn’t convinced about that idea.
“He tried swimming and found out that he really liked it,” she added. “Since the first day, he’s been all excited about being in the pool. I’m happy because he doesn’t give up. He doesn’t mind if he’s the last one, although he’s very competitive. I think the coaches would say that he’s improved a lot.” Santoyo’s event is the 50-meter freestyle — the stroke most people learn when they swim. For the return trip, he does a flip turn and pushes off the wall with his feet, then finishes the race by touching a pad at the opposite wall with his head. He competed in his first meet for the Raiders a couple of months ago at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center. He swam at a meet in McAllen last month and will compete in the District 32-5A meet on Saturday in Brownsville. “I thought it was a good idea, and I wanted to help him out as much as I could,” Rivera swim coach Ryan Shea said. “He started from scratch a little bit because he just began to swim in the summer. It’s been sort of an adventure. “At both meets he’s swam in, he’s received about a three- to fiveminute ovation after he’s done,”
last night’s game against La Feria (7-3) with a 10-0 record. On Friday they welcome Rio Grande (7-3) in another tough matchup. The top three teams in the district advance to the playoffs. “It’s going to be a big week; hopefully, we can end up on top on both days and be playoff hopefuls,” Villarreal said. If L a Feria beat Hidalgo then the district title is up for grabs — setting up a key contest on Tuesday. The Hawks are hoping to make the home court advan-
tage count. “My mom, wife and sisters are trying to get the drill teams to go to the game in order to have a bigger crowd,” Villarreal said. The Hawks were coming off a 66-40 victory over Port Isabel heading into last night’s game. The win featured a healthier Andrew Magee, who is nearing 100 percent just in time for the next two contests. “Magee is back to being himself, not 100 percent, but he’s doing well,” Villarreal said.
See PLAYOFFS | PAGE 2B
Middle school court stars
See SWIMMER | PAGE 2B
TE Gonzalez wants to play for contender By JAYMES SONG ASSOCIATED PRESS
KAPOLEI, Hawaii — All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez is feeling uncertain about his future with the Kansas City Chiefs. “Do I want to be there? Of course I do. I started my career there and I’m going on year 13 there,” he said after Pro Bowl practice Thursday. “The only reason I would want to leave is because I only have a couple years left (in the league).” He said the Chiefs are a young team but headed in the right direction. However, he wonders how soon the team can, “turn the corner and get to the Super Bowl.” The Chiefs, who recently fired coach Herm Edwards after three seasons, are coming off the worst two-year span in team history with a record of 6-26. “I have to be realistic about it,” he said. “If it doesn’t make sense for me to be there, maybe it would be best for both sides where they can trade me, get something for me, and I can go somewhere and try and get a championship.” Gonzalez isn’t the only Chiefs player that has indicated a desire to leave. Running back Larry Johnson told 610 Sports Radio on Wednesday he thinks it’s time for him and the Chiefs to “break ties.” “They can go on and find what they want. And I can try to go on and rebuild my career and find what I want,” said Johnson, coming off a problem-filled season. Johnson expressed concern about his role as the Chiefs are overhauled. For Gonzalez, selected to his 10 Pro Bowl, he’s bothered by the fact he’s never won a playoff game in his illustrious career.
Crunch time in District 32-3A is nearing, and the Zapata Hawks aren’t planning to throw away everything they have worked for. The basketball revival has placed the Hawks at 8-2 in district play, and a postseason berth is a viable possibility. A district title, although tough to get, is not out of the question, either. Today will tell if the Hawks were caught looking ahead toward their playoff-deciding week.
They played Progreso on the road and host the district’s top two opponents in their next two games at home. “Some are kinda looking past this game (Progreso),” Zapata coach Juan Villarreal said. “I overheard some talking about it, but I let them know that we can’t do that. We have to take care of business and take it one game at a time.” Hidalgo comes calling on Tuesday, and was heading into
Courtesy photos
Zapata Junior High eighth-grade team
Zapata JH: Part of the Lady Hawk’s success By CLARA SANDOVAL SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
very high school coach knows the success of his or her program starts with a strong junior high program. When coach Clyde Guerra Jr. took over the girls basketball program seven years ago he comprehended the importance of his junior high program to his overall success at the high school level and quickly moved to involved the junior high school. “At the junior high level is where they develop the skills needed to be successful at the high school level and learn to compete under pressure situations,” Guerra said. He credits the recent success they are experiencing at the high school in recent years to a successful junior high program and its coaching staff. “Our junior high basketball program has made great strides in recent years, and the girls develop the fundamentals of basketball in a very competitive setting. Our junior high coaches do a great job of keeping our girls focused and competitive,” Guerra said. Guerra also noted the role the Boys and Girls Club of Zapata summer league plays. “Every summer, our Boys and Girls Club has a very suc-
E
Photo by Ronen Zilberman | AP
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez runs with the ball during AFC practice for the Pro Bowl, in Kapolei, Hawaii, on Tuesday. “I want to make sure before this thing is all said and done, I want to be a part of a team that can make it all the way to the Super Bowl and win,” he said. “I don’t want to just get to the playoffs.”
Lucky No. 92 When Pittsburgh Stealers James Harrison joined Pro Bowl practice for the first time Thursday, he joined two other players wearing No. 92, creating confusion among some of the photographers. The other 92 are Tennessee Titans’ Albert Haynesworth and Cleveland Browns’ Shaun Rogers.
See GONZALEZ | PAGE 2B
Zapata Junior High seventh-grade team
“At the junior high level is where they develop the skills needed to be successful at the high school level and learn to compete under pressure situations.” COACH CLYDE GUERRA JR.
cessful basketball league where our youth are developing crucial skills needed to be successful basketball players,” he said. The seventh and eight grade teams coached by Adreana Valadez and Gaby Montes finished successful seasons. The seventh grade team finished the season with a 4-3 in district record (7-8 overall) while the eighth grade team finished in second place in district with a 5-2 district record (11-4 overall record). The Zapata Junior High
teams have to hit the road for the majority of the games, and usually involve much travel for outof-town district games. Guerra also notes the importance parents play in their daughter’s success. “I want to give special thanks to all junior high and high school parents for supporting their daughters through this long season, Guerra said. “In district, every out-of-town trip is between 2-and-one-half to 3and-one-half hours long. And our athletes are expected to at-
tend school and be effective the following day.” Another part of Zapata’s success is the number of athletes that are part of the junior high program. Thirty-six athletes are involved. Guerra sees a bright Zapata future as a strong crop of eighth graders are set to join the high school program next year. “They have only lost four games all season long. The eighth-grade girls are a great group of athletes and are involved in many other sports besides basketball. They are simply very good athletes. I’m excited about the future of our Lady Hawk Basketball Program,” Guerra said. “I’m very proud of all our Lady Hawk and Lady Merlin athletes for their commitment to our program. It takes a very special person to be and student athlete. They demonstrate ‘Hawk Pride’ on a daily basis.”
Zscores CHL NORTHERN CONFERENCE Northeast Division W L OTL Pts GF GA Bossier-Shreveport28 13 3 59 139 117 Oklahoma City 26 12 5 57 139 105 Mississippi 27 14 2 56 152 109 Tulsa 12 25 6 30 112 185 Northwest Division W L OTL Pts GF GA Colorado 34 7 2 70 192 126 Rocky Mountain23 19 4 50 150 151 Rapid City 14 22 7 35 118 155 Wichita 14 27 3 31 111 146 SOUTHERN CONFERENCE Southeast Division W L OTL Pts GF GA 30 10 4 64 157 120 Texas Laredo 25 14 4 54 150 125 Rio Grande Valley 21 19 4 46 149 145 Corpus Christi 18 23 4 40 136 158 Southwest Division W L OTL Pts GF GA Odessa 30 10 4 64 183 126 Arizona 20 22 3 43 158 179 New Mexico 15 26 2 32 144 180 Amarillo 12 28 1 25 117 180 NOTE: Two points are awarded for a win, one point for loss in overtime or shootout. Overtime or shootout losses are only denoted in the OTL column, not the loss column. Thursday’s Game Laredo 7, Corpus Christi 1 Friday’s Games Oklahoma City at Bossier-Shreveport Laredo at Corpus Christi Odessa at Mississippi Colorado at Texas Rocky Mountain at Wichita Tulsa at Rio Grande Valley Amarillo at Arizona Rapid City at New Mexico Saturday’s Games Texas at Bossier-Shreveport Odessa at Wichita Colorado at Oklahoma City Tulsa at Laredo Corpus Christi at Rio Grande Valley Amarillo at Arizona Rapid City at New Mexico Sunday’s Game Rocky Mountain at Mississippi
NFL Playoff Glance All Times EST Wild-card Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 3 Arizona 30, Atlanta 24 San Diego 23, Indianapolis 17, OT Sunday, Jan. 4 Baltimore 27, Miami 9 Philadelphia 26, Minnesota 14 Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 10 Baltimore 13, Tennessee 10 Arizona 33, Carolina 13 Sunday, Jan. 11 Philadelphia 23, N.Y. Giants 11 Pittsburgh 35, San Diego 24 Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 18 NFC Arizona 32, Philadelphia 25 AFC Pittsburgh 23, Baltimore 14 Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1 Tampa, Fla. Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23 Pro Bowl Sunday, Feb. 8 At Honolulu AFC vs. NFC, 4:30 p.m. (NBC)
NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic W L Pct GB Boston 41 10 .804 — Philadelphia 24 24 .500 15½ New Jersey 23 27 .460 17½ New York 21 27 .438 18½ Toronto 19 32 .373 22 Southeast W L Pct GB Orlando 37 11 .771 — Atlanta 28 20 .583 9 Miami 26 22 .542 11 Charlotte 19 29 .396 18 Washington 10 39 .204 27½ Central W L Pct GB Cleveland 39 9 .813 — Detroit 26 21 .553 12½ Milwaukee 24 28 .462 17 Chicago 22 28 .440 18 Indiana 19 31 .380 21 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest W L Pct GB 33 15 .688 — San Antonio New Orleans 28 18 .609 4 Houston 30 20 .600 4 Dallas 29 20 .592 4½ Memphis 13 35 .271 20 Northwest W L Pct GB Denver 33 16 .673 — Portland 30 18 .625 2½ Utah 28 22 .560 5½ Minnesota 17 31 .354 15½ Oklahoma City 11 38 .224 22 Pacific W L Pct GB L.A. Lakers 40 9 .816 — Phoenix 26 21 .553 13 Golden State 16 34 .320 24½ Sacramento 11 39 .220 29½ L.A. Clippers 10 39 .204 30 Thursday’s Games
Philadelphia 99, Indiana 94 L.A. Lakers 110, Boston 109, OT Utah 115, Dallas 87 Friday’s Games Orlando at Indiana, 7 p.m. Atlanta at Charlotte, 7 p.m. Boston at New York, 7:30 p.m. Denver at Washington, 8 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Memphis, 8 p.m. Toronto at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Portland at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. Utah at Sacramento, 10 p.m. Golden State at Phoenix, 10:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Miami at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Denver at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m. Toronto at Memphis, 8 p.m. Detroit at Milwaukee, 8:30 p.m. Chicago at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Minnesota at Houston, 8:30 p.m. Sunday’s Games San Antonio at Boston, 1 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Cleveland, 3:30 p.m. New Jersey at Orlando, 6 p.m. Indiana at Washington, 6 p.m. Charlotte at Miami, 6 p.m. New York at Portland, 6 p.m. Sacramento at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m. Minnesota at New Orleans, 7 p.m. Phoenix at Detroit, 8 p.m. Utah at Golden State, 9 p.m.
NHL All Times EST EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L OT Pts GF GA New Jersey 32 16 3 67 159 130 N.Y. Rangers 29 18 5 63 133 136 Philadelphia 26 15 9 61 160 148 Pittsburgh 25 23 5 55 163 164 N.Y. Islanders 16 30 5 37 128 173 Northeast Division W L OT Pts GF GA Boston 39 8 6 84 185 117 Montreal 29 16 6 64 158 145 Buffalo 27 20 5 59 156 143 Toronto 19 24 9 47 152 191 Ottawa 17 25 8 42 119 147 Southeast Division W L OT Pts GF GA 33 16 4 70 175 154 Washington Florida 25 18 8 58 145 143 Carolina 26 22 5 57 135 154 Tampa Bay 17 24 11 45 133 164 Atlanta 18 29 5 41 150 182 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division W L OT Pts GF GA Detroit 33 11 7 73 188 151 Chicago 29 13 8 66 169 126 Columbus 24 22 5 53 138 146 Nashville 24 24 3 51 125 144 St. Louis 21 24 6 48 146 160 Northwest Division W L OT Pts GF GA 30 17 4 64 160 153 Calgary Minnesota 26 21 3 55 131 114 Edmonton 26 22 3 55 141 155 Vancouver 23 20 8 54 147 149 Colorado 25 26 1 51 145 159 Pacific Division W L OT Pts GF GA San Jose 36 7 6 78 170 116 Anaheim 26 24 5 57 154 155 Dallas 24 19 7 55 148 161 Phoenix 24 24 5 53 134 157 Los Angeles 22 21 7 51 131 141 Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss or shootout loss. Thursday’s Games Boston 4, Ottawa 3, SO Los Angeles 5, Washington 4 Florida 3, N.Y. Islanders 2 Nashville 4, Anaheim 2 Edmonton 2, St. Louis 1, SO Colorado 3, Dallas 2 Chicago 5, Calgary 2 Carolina 4, San Jose 3, SO Friday’s Games Montreal at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Columbus at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. Nashville at Minnesota, 8 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Philadelphia at Boston, 1 p.m. Anaheim at Calgary, 3 p.m. Edmonton at Detroit, 3 p.m. Buffalo at Ottawa, 7 p.m. Toronto at Montreal, 7 p.m. San Jose at Columbus, 7 p.m. Florida at Washington, 7 p.m. Los Angeles at New Jersey, 7 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Colorado at St. Louis, 8:30 p.m. Carolina at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Sunday’s Games Detroit at Pittsburgh, 12:30 p.m. Edmonton at Minnesota, 3 p.m. Philadelphia at Atlanta, 3 p.m. Nashville at Dallas, 6 p.m.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Schedule All Times EST Saturday, Feb. 7 EAST Cincinnati at Georgetown, Noon Towson at Hofstra, Noon Syracuse vs. Villanova at the Wachovia Center, Noon Fordham at George Washington, 1 p.m. Holy Cross at Lafayette, 1 p.m. Boston U. at New Hampshire, 1 p.m. UNC Wilmington at Northeastern, 1 p.m. Siena at Rider, 1 p.m. N. Illinois at Buffalo, 2 p.m. Army at Colgate, 2 p.m. Marist at Iona, 2 p.m. Bryant at Quinnipiac, 2 p.m. Robert Morris at Cent. Connecticut St., 4 p.m.
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
SATURDAY,FEBRUARY 7,2009 Long Island U. at Sacred Heart, 4 p.m. Binghamton at Stony Brook, 4 p.m. St. Francis, Pa. at Wagner, 4 p.m. Providence at West Virginia, 4 p.m. Michigan at Connecticut, 6 p.m. Columbia at Princeton, 6 p.m. Vermont at Albany, N.Y., 7 p.m. Navy at Bucknell, 7 p.m. Yale at Dartmouth, 7 p.m. Old Dominion at Drexel, 7 p.m. Xavier at Duquesne, 7 p.m. Mount St. Mary’s, Md. at Fairleigh Dickinson, 7 p.m. Brown at Harvard, 7 p.m. American U. at Lehigh, 7 p.m. Manhattan at Loyola, Md., 7 p.m. UMBC at Maine, 7 p.m. St. Francis, NY at Monmouth, N.J., 7 p.m. Cornell at Penn, 7 p.m. La Salle at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m. SOUTH Coppin St. at S. Carolina St., Noon Tennessee at Auburn, 1 p.m. Stetson at S.C.-Upstate, 1 p.m. Longwood at Savannah St., 1 p.m. Gardner-Webb at VMI, 1 p.m. Mississippi at Vanderbilt, 1 p.m. Miami at Duke, 1:30 p.m. George Mason at James Madison, 2 p.m. South Alabama at W. Kentucky, 2 p.m. Arkansas at Mississippi St., 3 p.m. Texas-Arlington at Northwestern St., 3 p.m. Texas-San Antonio at SE Louisiana, 3 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast at ETSU, 4 p.m. Chattanooga at Furman, 4 p.m. Delaware at Georgia St., 4 p.m. Md.-Eastern Shore at Howard, 4 p.m. Jacksonville at Mercer, 4 p.m. Florida A&M at N. Carolina A&T, 4 p.m. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Nicholls St., 4 p.m. Virginia at North Carolina, 4 p.m. Appalachian St. at Elon, 4:30 p.m. Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, 4:30 p.m. E. Kentucky at Jacksonville St., 5 p.m. Tulane at Marshall, 5 p.m. Georgia at South Carolina, 5 p.m. Ark.-Pine Bluff at Alabama St., 6 p.m. Coll. of Charleston at Davidson, 6 p.m. Delaware St. at Hampton, 6 p.m. Bethune-Cookman at Norfolk St., 6 p.m. UAB at Southern Miss., 6 p.m. Morgan St. at Winston-Salem, 6 p.m. MVSU at Alabama A&M, 7 p.m. Florida St. at Clemson, 7 p.m. UCF at East Carolina, 7 p.m. Troy at Florida Atlantic, 7 p.m. Coastal Carolina at High Point, 7 p.m. Presbyterian at Radford, 7 p.m. The Citadel at W. Carolina, 7 p.m. Samford at Wofford, 7 p.m. Arkansas St. at Fla. International, 7:30 p.m. UNC Greensboro at Georgia Southern, 7:30 p.m. North Florida at Kennesaw St., 7:30 p.m. William & Mary at Va. Commonwealth, 7:30 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Jackson St. at Alcorn St., 8:30 p.m. Murray St. at Austin Peay, 8:30 p.m. Grambling St. at Southern U., 8:30 p.m. Tenn.-Martin at Tennessee St., 8:30 p.m. Morehead St. at Tennessee Tech, 8:30 p.m. Winthrop at Liberty, 9 p.m. MIDWEST Kent St. at Ball St., 2 p.m. Pittsburgh at DePaul, 2 p.m. Texas at Nebraska, 2 p.m. Miami (Ohio) at Toledo, 2:30 p.m. Oklahoma St. at Kansas, 3:30 p.m. Oral Roberts at IPFW, 4 p.m. Cleveland St. at Loyola of Chicago, 4 p.m. Indiana at Michigan St., 4 p.m. S. Illinois at Missouri St., 4 p.m. Valparaiso at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. E. Michigan at Ohio, 5 p.m. Missouri at Iowa St., 6 p.m. Centenary at Oakland, Mich., 6 p.m. Northwestern at Iowa, 6:05 p.m. Bowling Green at Cent. Michigan, 7 p.m. N. Dakota St. at IUPUI, 7 p.m. Butler at Wright St., 7 p.m. SE Missouri at E. Illinois, 8 p.m. Youngstown St. at Ill.-Chicago, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Ohio St., 8 p.m. S. Dakota St. at W. Illinois, 8 p.m. Wis.-Milwaukee at Wis.-Green Bay, 8 p.m. Bradley at Drake, 8:05 p.m. Wichita St. at Evansville, 8:05 p.m. SOUTHWEST Colorado at Oklahoma, 1:30 p.m. CS Bakersfield at SMU, 3 p.m. Kansas St. at Texas A&M, 4 p.m. Sam Houston St. at Cent. Arkansas, 5 p.m. Lamar at Stephen F.Austin, 7 p.m. Denver at Ark.-Little Rock, 8 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas, 8 p.m. Prairie View at Texas Southern, 8 p.m. Baylor at Texas Tech, 8 p.m. Chicago St. at Texas-Pan American, 8 p.m. Middle Tennessee at Houston Baptist, 8:05 p.m. UTEP at Tulsa, 8:05 p.m. Rice at Houston, 9 p.m. FAR WEST Notre Dame at UCLA, 1 p.m.
Arizona at Oregon, 3:30 p.m. Utah at Wyoming, 4 p.m. UNLV at New Mexico, 8 p.m. UC Davis at UC Riverside, 8 p.m. Arizona St. at Oregon St., 8:30 p.m. TCU at Colorado St., 9 p.m. Memphis at Gonzaga, 9 p.m. UMKC at S. Utah, 9 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 9 p.m. Cal Poly at Cal St.-Fullerton, 9:05 p.m. Montana at Montana St., 9:05 p.m. Idaho St. at N. Colorado, 9:05 p.m. Louisiana Tech at Utah St., 9:05 p.m. Air Force at San Diego St., 10 p.m. Boise St. at San Jose St., 10 p.m. N. Arizona at E. Washington, 10:05 p.m. Pacific at Long Beach St., 10:05 p.m. Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount, 10:05 p.m. New Mexico St. at Nevada, 10:05 p.m. UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 10:05 p.m. Washington St. at California, 10:30 p.m. Saint Mary’s, Calif. at Santa Clara, 11 p.m. Idaho at Hawaii, 11:05 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 EAST St. Peter’s at Canisius, 11:30 a.m. Seton Hall at Rutgers, Noon Louisville vs. St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, 1:30 p.m. Fairfield at Niagara, 2 p.m. Rhode Island at Temple, 2 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at Massachusetts, 3 p.m. Wisconsin at Penn St., 3 p.m. SOUTH Dayton at Charlotte, 1 p.m. Alabama at LSU, 1 p.m. N.C. State at Virginia Tech, 1:30 p.m. Saint Louis at Richmond, 2 p.m. Boston College at Wake Forest, 4 p.m. Maryland at Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m. Texas St. vs. McNeese St. at the Lake Charles (La.) Civic Center, 8 p.m. MIDWEST Purdue at Illinois, 1 p.m. W. Michigan at Akron, 2 p.m. Creighton at N. Iowa, 2:05 p.m. Indiana St. at Illinois St., 7:05 p.m. FAR WEST Sacramento St. at Portland St., 4:05 p.m. Washington at Stanford, 5:30 p.m.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Schedule All Times EST Friday, Feb. 6 EAST Dartmouth at Brown, 7 p.m. Penn at Columbia, 7 p.m. Princeton at Cornell, 7 p.m. Niagara at Manhattan, 7 p.m. Fairfield at Rider, 7 p.m. Loyola, Md. at Siena, 7 p.m. Iona at St. Peter’s, 7 p.m. Harvard at Yale, 7 p.m. Canisius at Marist, 7:30 p.m. SOUTH Idaho at Louisiana Tech, 8 p.m. MIDWEST Detroit at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. Drake at Wichita St., 8:05 p.m. Creighton at Missouri St., 8:35 p.m. Wright St. at Butler, 9 p.m. FAR WEST Boise St. at New Mexico St., 9:05 p.m. Fresno St. at Nevada, 10 p.m. California at Washington, 10 p.m. Stanford at Washington St., 10 p.m. San Jose St. at Hawaii, Mid Saturday, Feb. 7 EAST Bryant at Quinnipiac, Noon Colgate at Army, 1 p.m. Robert Morris at Cent. Connecticut St., 1 p.m. Lafayette at Holy Cross, 1 p.m. Fordham at La Salle, 1 p.m. Boston U. at Vermont, 1 p.m. Georgetown at Rutgers, 2 p.m. Maine at Hartford, 2 p.m. Long Island U. at Sacred Heart, 2 p.m. Villanova at Seton Hall, 2 p.m. St. Francis, N.Y. at Monmouth, N.J., 3 p.m. Lehigh at American U., 4 p.m. Chicago St. at N.J. Tech, 4 p.m. Binghamton at Albany, N.Y., 4:30 p.m. Mount St. Mary’s, Md. at Fairleigh Dickinson, 4:30 p.m. Dartmouth at Yale, 6 p.m. Harvard at Brown, 7 p.m. Princeton at Columbia, 7 p.m. Penn at Cornell, 7 p.m. Bucknell at Navy, 7 p.m. St. Francis, Pa. at Wagner, 7 p.m. SOUTH Xavier at Richmond, Noon Belmont at Campbell, 1 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast at ETSU, 1:30 p.m. Duquesne at Charlotte, 2 p.m. Davidson at Elon, 2 p.m. Md.-Eastern Shore at Howard, 2 p.m. West Virginia at Louisville, 2 p.m. Florida A&M at N. Carolina A&T, 2 p.m. Coppin St. at S. Carolina St., 2 p.m. Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, 2 p.m. Georgia S. at Chattanooga, 3 p.m. Radford at Gardner-Webb, 3 p.m. E. Kentucky at Jacksonville St., 3 p.m. Coll. of Charleston at Samford, 3 p.m. Longwood at Savannah St., 3 p.m. Furman at Wofford, 3 p.m. Ark.-Pine Bluff at Alabama St., 4 p.m. Delaware St. at Hampton, 4 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at High Point, 4 p.m. Jacksonville at Mercer, 4 p.m. Bethune-Cookman at Norfolk St., 4 p.m. Stetson at S.C.-Upstate, 4 p.m. Appalachian St. at W. Carolina, 4 p.m. Morgan St. at Winston-Salem, 4 p.m. North Florida at Kennesaw St., 4:30 p.m. MVSU at Alabama A&M, 5 p.m. Arkansas St. at Fla. International, 5 p.m. Troy at Florida Atlantic, 5 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m. SMU at UCF, 6 p.m. Murray St. at Austin Peay, 6:15 p.m. Jackson St. at Alcorn St., 6:30 p.m. Grambling St. at Southern U., 6:30 p.m. Tenn.-Martin at Tennessee St., 6:30 p.m. Morehead St. at Tennessee Tech, 6:30 p.m. Memphis at UAB, 7 p.m. Presbyterian at Winthrop, 7 p.m. MIDWEST N. Illinois at Kent St., Noon Oral Roberts at IPFW, 1:30 p.m. E. Michigan at Akron, 2 p.m. Massachusetts at Dayton, 2 p.m. Cent. Michigan at Miami (Ohio), 2 p.m. Kansas at Missouri, 2 p.m. Bowling Green at W. Michigan, 2 p.m. Indiana St. at Illinois St., 2:05 p.m. S. Utah at UMKC, 3 p.m. Cleveland St. at Wis.-Green Bay, 3 p.m. Youngstown St. at Wis.-Milwaukee, 3 p.m. N. Iowa at S. Illinois, 3:05 p.m. Centenary at Oakland, 3:30 p.m. SE Missouri at E. Illinois, 4 p.m. N. Dakota St. at IUPUI, 4:30 p.m. Bradley at Evansville, 5 p.m. Loyola of Chicago at Ill.-Chicago, 5:30 p.m. S. Dakota St. at W. Illinois, 5:30 p.m. Connecticut at Marquette, 8 p.m. SOUTHWEST Kansas St. at Baylor, Noon Stephen F. Austin at Lamar, 3 p.m. Cent. Arkansas at Sam Houston St., 3 p.m. SE Louisiana at Texas-San Antonio, 3 p.m. McNeese St. at Texas St., 3 p.m. Northwestern St. at Texas-Arlington, 5 p.m. Rice at Houston, 6 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas, 6 p.m. Colorado St. at TCU, 6 p.m. Prairie View at Texas Southern, 6:30 p.m. Nicholls St. at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 8 p.m. FAR WEST Oregon at Arizona, 2 p.m. San Diego St. at Air Force, 4 p.m. Iowa St. at Colorado, 4 p.m. Montana at Montana St., 4 p.m. N. Colorado at Idaho St., 4:05 p.m. Santa Clara at Saint Mary’s, Calif., 5 p.m. San Diego at San Francisco, 5 p.m. UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara, 5 p.m. Portland St. at Sacramento St., 5:05 p.m. Oregon St. at Arizona St., 6 p.m. New Mexico at UNLV, 6 p.m. Cal St. Fullerton at Cal Poly, 7 p.m. Long Beach St. at Pacific, 7 p.m. Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount, 7:30 p.m. E. Washington at N. Arizona, 8:35 p.m. Houston Baptist at CS Bakersfield, 10 p.m. UC Riverside at UC Davis, 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 EAST Saint Louis at Temple, Noon William & Mary at Drexel, 1 p.m. Niagara at Fairfield, 1 p.m. Md.-Baltimore County at New Hampshire, 1 p.m. St. Bonaventure at Saint Joseph’s, 1 p.m. Ball St. at Buffalo, 2 p.m. Va. Commonwealth at Delaware, 2 p.m. Rhode Island at George Washington, 2 p.m. Loyola, Md. at Marist, 2 p.m. Canisius at Siena, 2 p.m. Rider at St. Peter’s, 2 p.m. Hofstra at Towson, 2 p.m. Cincinnati at St. John’s, 4 p.m. South Florida at Syracuse, 4 p.m. SOUTH Wake Forest at Clemson, 1 p.m. Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 1 p.m. Tulsa at Southern Miss., 1 p.m. Georgia St. at George Mason, 2 p.m. N.C. State at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m. UNC Wilmington at Old Dominion, 2 p.m. Virginia Tech at Virginia, 2 p.m. Arkansas at Georgia, 2:30 p.m. Auburn at Alabama, 3 p.m. Boise St. at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m. Florida St. at Miami, 3 p.m. LSU at Mississippi St., 3 p.m. Mississippi at South Carolina, 3 p.m. East Carolina at Tulane, 3 p.m. South Alabama at W. Kentucky, 3 p.m. Northeastern at James Madison, 3:30 p.m. Tennessee at Florida, 5 p.m. MIDWEST Illinois at Indiana, 12:30 p.m. Detroit at Butler, 2 p.m. Ohio St. at Michigan St., 2 p.m. DePaul at Notre Dame, 2 p.m. Ohio at Toledo, 2 p.m. Wright St. at Valparaiso, 2:35 p.m. Iowa at Minnesota, 3 p.m. Drake at Missouri St., 3:05 p.m. Creighton at Wichita St., 3:05 p.m.
Wisconsin at Purdue, 5 p.m. SOUTHWEST Oklahoma at Oklahoma St., 1:30 p.m. Texas Tech at Texas, 3 p.m. Nebraska at Texas A&M, 3 p.m. Marshall at UTEP, 3 p.m. Denver at Ark.-Little Rock, 5 p.m. FAR WEST Stanford at Washington, 3:30 p.m. Portland at Gonzaga, 4 p.m. Utah St. at Nevada, 5 p.m. UCLA at Southern Cal, 5 p.m. Wyoming at Utah, 5 p.m. California at Washington St., 5 p.m. Idaho at New Mexico St., 7:05 p.m. Fresno St. at San Jose St., 10 p.m.
Fight Schedule National TV in parentheses Feb. 6 At Wicomico Civic Center, Salisbury, Md. (ESPN2), Yusaf Mack, New York, vs. Chris Henry, Houston, 10, for Macks’ NABA light heavyweight title and Henry’s NABF light heavyweight title. At The Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Lemoore, Calif. (SHO), Andre Ward, Oakland, Calif., vs. Henry Buchanan, Chesterfield, S.C., 12, for Ward’s NABO super middleweight title. Feb. 7 At Rostock, Germany, Andriy Kotelnik, Germany, vs. Marcos Rene Maidana, Argentina, 12, for Kotelnik’s WBA light welterweight title; Ruslan Chagaev, Germany, vs. Carl Davis Drumond, Costa Rica, 12, for Chagaev’s WBA heavyweight title. At Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif. (SHO), Vic Darchinyan, Australia, vs. Jorge Arce, Mexico, 12, for Darchinyan’s IBF-WBC-WBA junior bantamweight title; Antonio DeMarco, Mexico, Almazbek Raiymkulov, Las Vegas, 12, for the vacant NABO lightweight title; Vanes Martirosyan, Glendale, Calif. vs. Billy Lyell, Youngstown, Ohio, 10, light middleweights. Feb. 13 At the Roseland Ballroom, New York (ESPN2), Alexis Camacho, Austin, Texas, vs. Carlos Molina, Chicago, 10, welterweights. Feb. 14 At St. Quentin, France, Cristobal Cruz, Mexico, vs. Cyril Thomas, France, 12, for Cruz’s IBF featherweight title; Osman Aktas, France, vs. Guillaume Frenois, France, 10, for Aktas’ French featherweight title. At BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Fla. (HBO), Nate Campbell, Tampa, Fla., vs. Ali Fuenka, South Africa, 12, for Campbell’s IBF-WBO lightweight titles; Sergio Martinez, Spain, vs. Kermit Cintron, Redding, Pa., 12, for the interim WBC light middleweight title; Francisco Palacios, Puerto Rico, vs. Lawrence Chapman, Atlanta, 12, for Palacios’ WBA Fedlatin cruiserweight title; Alfredo Angulo, Coachella, Calif., vs. Danny Perez, San Diego, 10, middleweights; Ray Austin, Cleveland, vs. Alex Gonzales, Puerto Rico, 10, heavyweights. Feb. 20 At Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (ESPN2), Jesus Gonzales, Phoenix, vs. Richard Gutierrez, Miami, 10, light middleweights. Feb. 21 At Madison Square Garden, New York (PPV), Miguel Cotto, Puerto Rico, vs. Michael Jennings, England, 12, for the vacant WBO welterweight title. At Youngstown, Ohio (PPV), Kelly Pavlik, Youngstown, Ohio, vs. Marco Antonio Rubio, Mexico, 12, for Pavlik’s WBC-WBO middleweight titles. Feb. 27 At Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Fla. (ESPN2), Glen Johnson, Miami, vs. Daniel Judah, Brooklyn, N.Y., 10, light heavyweights. At the Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. (SHO), Tomasz Adamek, Jersey City, N.J., Johnathon Banks, Detroit, 12, for Adamek’s IBF cruiserweight title; Dionisio Miranda, Miami, vs. Giovanni Lorenzo, New York, 12, IBF middleweight eliminator. Feb. 28 At the Toyota Center, Houston (HBO), Juan Manuel Marquez, Anaheim, Calif., vs. Juan Diaz, Houston, 12, for Diaz’s IBO lightweight title; Chris John, Indonesia, vs. Rocky Juarez, Houston, 12, for John’s WBA featherweight title. At Oaxaca, Mexico, Roman Gonzalez, Nicaragua, vs. Francisco Rosas, Mexico, 12, for Gonzalez’s WBA minimumweight title. At Toluca, Mexico, Cesar Canchilla, Colombia, vs. Giovanni Segura, Bell Gardens, Calif., 12, for the interim WBA light flyweight title. March 6 At Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Conn. (ESPN2), Delvin Rodriguez, Danbury, Conn., vs. Shamone Alvarez, Atlantic City, N.J., IBF welterweight title eliminator. March 7 At HP Pavilion, San Jose, calif. (HBO), Victor Ortiz, Oxnard, Calif., vs. Mike Arnaoutis, Atlantic City, N.J., 12, for Ortiz’s WBO-NABOUSBA light welterweight titles; James Kirkland, Austin, Texas, vs. Joel Julio, Miami, 10, light middleweights; Robert Guerrero, Gilroy, Calif., vs. Daud Cino Yordan, Indonesia, 10, super featherweights. March 12 At Tokyo, Oscar Larios, Mexico, vs. Takahiro Aoh, Japan, 12, for Larios’ WBC featherweight title. At Hyogo, Japan, Hozumi Hasegawa, Japan, vs. Vusi Malinga, South Africa, 12, for Hasegawa’s WBC bantamweight title. March 13 At Bell Centre, Montreal (SHO), Lucian Bute, Canada, vs. Fulgencio Zuniga, Colombia, 12, for Bute’s IBF super middleweight title. March 14 At Kiel, Germany, Arthur Abraham, Germany, vs. Lajuan Simon, Philadelphia, 12, for Abraham’s IBF middleweight title. At Palms Casino, Las Vegas (HBO), Chad Dawson, New Haven, Conn., vs. Antonio Tarver, Tampa, Fla., 12, for Dawson’s IBF-IBO light heavyweight title. At Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico, Cristian
2B
Mijares, Mexico, vs. Nehomar Cermeno, Panama, 12, for the interim WBA bantamweight title; Jorge Linares, Japan, vs. Josafet Perez, Mexico, 12, for Linares’ WBA super featherweight title. March 20 At TBA, Panama, Celestino Caballero, Panama, vs. Jeffrey Mathebula, South Africa, 12, for Caballero’s WBA-IBF super bantamweight titles. March 21 Kempton Park, South Africa, Zolani Marali, South Africa, vs. Fahsai Sakkreenin, Thailand, 12, for the vacant IBO super featherweight title; Jake Els, South Africa, vs. Thamsanqa, Zimbabwe, 12, for the vacant WBA Pan African heavyweight title; Hekkie Budier, South Africa, vs. Charitt Mukondeleli, South Africa, 12, for the vacant African Boxing Union light flyweight title. At Stuttgart, Germany (ESPN), Vitali Klitschko, Los Angeles, vs. Juan Carlos Gomez, Germany, 12, for Klitschko’s WBC heavyweight title. At Dublin, Ireland, Ricardo Cordoba, Panama, vs. Bernard Dunne, Ireland, 12, for Cordoba’s WBA super bantamweight title. March 22 At Manila, Philippines, Nonito Donaire, San Leandro, Calif., vs. Raul Martinez, San Antonio, 12, for Donaire’s IBF-IBO flyweight titles; Ulises Solis, Mexico, vs. Brian Viloria, Waipau, Hawaii, 12, for Solis’ IBF light flyweight title. March 27 At Milan, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, Poland, vs. Giacobbe Fragomeni, Italy, 12, for Wlodarczyk’s WBC cruiserweight title. March 28 At Tamaulipas, Mexico, Edgar Sosa, Mexico, vs. Kompayak Porpramook, Thailand, 12, for Sosa’s WBC light flyweight title. April 4 At Bell Centre, Montreal (SHO), Timothy Bradley, Palm Springs, Calif., vs. Kendall Holt, Paterson, N.J., 12, for Bradley’s WBC light welterweight title and Holt’s WBO light welterweight title; Librado Andrade, La Habra, Calif., vs. Vitali Tsypko, Ukraine, 12, super middleweights. April 10 At Morongo Casino Rresort & Spa, Cabazon, Calif. (ESPN2), Julio Diaz, Coachella, Calif., vs. Michael Katsidis, Australia, 10, cruiserweights. April 11 At Osaka, Japan, Nobuo Nashiro, Japan, vs. Konosuke Tomiyama, Japan, 12, for Nashiro’s WBA super flyweight title. At Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas (HBO), Paul Williams, Augusta, Ga., vs. Ronald Wright, St. Petersburg, Fla., 12, for the interim WBO light middleweight title. April 18 At Johannesburg, South Africa, Yonnhy Perez, Santa Fe Springs, Calif., vs. Silence Mabuza, South Africa, 10, IBF bantamweight eliminator. April 25 At TBA, Puerto Rico (HBO), Juan Manuel Lopez, Puerto Rico, vs. Gerry Penalosa, Philippines, 12, for Lopez’s WBO super Bantamweight title. May 2 At the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Ricky Hatton, Britain, vs. Manny Pacquiao, Philippines, 12, for Hatton’s IBO junior welterweight title. June 20 At London, Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine, vs. David Haya, Britain, 12, for Klitschko’s IBFWBO-IBO heavyweight titles.
Transactions BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX—Signed C Jason Varitek to a one-year contract. TORONTO BLUE JAYS—Signed LHP Ken Takahashi to a minor league contract. American Association EL PASO DIABLOS—Released RHP-OF Brandon Hudson. Signed RHP David Whigham. FORT WORTH CATS—Signed C Kelley Gulledge. SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CAPTAINS— Named Vince Moore bench coach. Can-Am League BROCKTON ROX—Released C Josh VanderHey, C Joe McGhee and OF Josh Womack. Signed RHP Jeff Long. FOOTBALL National Football League INDIANAPOLIS COLTS—Named Larry Coyer defensive coordinator and Ray Rychleski special teams coordinator. Promoted wide receivers coach Clyde Christensen to assistant head coach. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS—Named Todd Haley coach. HOCKEY National Hockey League COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS—Recalled G Dan LaCosta from Syracuse (AHL). DALLAS STARS—Reassigned F Tyler Shelast to Hamilton (AHL) from Idaho (ECHL). Assigned G Tobias Stephan to Bridgeport (AHL). Recalled G Brent Krahn from Chicago (AHL). EDMONTON OILERS—Recalled D Theo Peckham from Springfield (AHL). Assigned C Ryan Potulny to Springfield. PHOENIX COYOTES—Recalled RW Steven Goertzen from San Antonio (AHL). Reassigned RW Kevin Porter to San Antonio. WASHINGTON CAPITALS—Recalled D Karl Alzner from Hershey (AHL). Claimed D Staffan Kronwall off waivers from Toronto. American Hockey League ALBANY RIVER RATS—Announced C Bobby Hughes has been reassigned to Florida (ECHL) by Carolina (NHL). SYRACUSE CRUNCH—Signed G John Murray. SOCCER Major League Soccer SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES—Signed F Davide Somma. COLLEGE VIRGINIA—Named Chad Wilt defensive line coach.
GONZALEZ | Continued from Page 1B The trio not the only ones that share the same number. There’s several including the No. 51 worn by Steelers’ James Farrior and Baltimore Ravens’ Brendon Ayanbadejo.
Pro Bowl blackout The NFL on Thursday extended the local TV blackout deadline to Friday. About 3,000 tickets re-
main for the game that has sold out every previous year, usually weeks in advance. Asked about removing the NFL’s blackout rule because of the slumping economy, commissioner Roger Goodell defended the policy, saying it has been good for the game and fans. Goodell said the NFL has made other moneysaving measures that worked well, like reducing ticket prices in the postseason.
“I know we have economic factors here, but you don’t change all your policies in light of that,” he said. “You still continue to operate a business.”
Idol at Aloha Stadium The NFL announced “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta will sing the National Anthem before Sunday’s Pro Bowl, while Grammy-award winner En-
rique Iglesias and Ciara will perform at halftime. Local recording artist Hoku Zuttermeister will perform “Hawaii Pono’i,” the state’s song. The halftime show will include 600 dancers, drummers and acrobats from across the country. Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, will participate in the coin toss and will be joined by members of the Purple Heart Wounded Warriors organization.
SWIMMER | Continued from Page 1B Shea added. “While he’s swimming, everyone is cheering loudly and when he gets out of the pool, it gets kind of emotional. “Coaching Domingo and seeing how he’s progressed, it’s been an enjoyable thing to watch.” Rivera swimmer Kiley Vera, also a junior, said Domingo’s presence on the team has been a big plus for everyone. “He motivates us to work harder because he really works hard,” she said. “At the meets, everybody’s there, cheering him on, including the whole crowd. It’s just really nice. I was a little surprised when I first heard he was com-
ing out for swimming, but it’s a good sport to be in. He’s improved a lot. He’s dropped like 30 seconds in his event. “Domingo is always there encouraging you to do better, even in school because he’s very smart,” she added. “He’s someone you want to compete with to get better. That’s how he helps all of us.” Long before Santoyo ever jumped into the pool, he was striving to achieve high marks in the classroom. He ranked fifth in his class academically as a freshman and ninth last year as a sophomore. “My top two choices for college are MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Rice (University),” he said. “I
Domingo Santoyo a junior at Rivera High School swims at the Margaret Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville. Santoyo learned to swim a couple years back and will now be competing with the swim team without complete use of his arms.
think I have the grades to get there.” For now, college can wait because Santoyo is enjoying his time as a Rivera student and member of the school’s swim team. “This just shows me that I’m not that different,” he said. “Yes, I know I’m different, but just being with the rest of the swimmers in the pool shows me that I can do it, too.” Astrid Santoyo believes participation in swimming has been a mutually beneficial experience for her son and his teammates. “I think it’s a good thing for Domingo and also good for them because they can feel his spirit,” she said.
Photo by Theresa Najera/ The Brownsville Herald | AP
PLAYOFFS | Continued from Page 1B The key to Hawks success has been the players are managing to have fun on the court. Despite being disciplined they get to feel at ease. “We are gelling right now, and everybody is enjoying the ride we are on,” Vil-
larreal said. “Most are enjoying playing basketball, so they are more relaxed and fluid on the court.” That wasn’t always the case for the first-year coach, who came in having to learn about each of his payers and his
players having to adjust to their new coach. “When we started it was a struggle,” Villarreal said. “I was trying to find the identity of every player. Some I knew as football players or students, but not as
basketball players. I though I would’ve grown grey hairs by now.” Luckily for the coach the “Just for Men” product hasn’t come into the picture, just yet. “Next week we’ll see if we end up in the
playoffs and start making plans,” Villarreal said. “But we are not looking into that yet, as I’ve said before its one game at a time.” The Hawks finish the regular season on the road against Lyford and after that, it is totally up to them.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
THE ZAPATA TIMES | 3B
HINTS BY HELOISE Dear Heloise: I have both of my dogs, some of my cats and my horses MICROCHIPPED. The dogs wear collars with only my cellphone number and the word “microchipped.” In the event that your animal has not been chipped, I strongly urge you to get it done. By putting the microchip tag on an animal’s collar, that gives instant HELOISE access to the animal’s ID number, owner’s name, etc. I love my animals and have taken steps to ensure that they remain mine. — Brooke Dahart from Texas Brooke, our Cabbie (a silver mini schnauzer) agrees! Many a beloved pet has returned safely home because of that little chip! — Heloise PET PAL Dear Readers: Terri Jean Kuss of Wanatah, Ind., sent a photo of 10year-old cat Cuddles snuggled in the blankets in the blanket basket. It’s her way of saying, “Turn up the heat!” To see Cuddles, visit www.Heloise.com. — Heloise WARM BED Dear Heloise: My whippet, Sophie, gets really cold in the winter, so I use an old flannel sheet in her bed. One cold night, I put the sheet in the dryer for five minutes before putting it in her bed. She jumped in, snuggled down and went right to sleep. We’ve started a nightly winter ritual. — Patti, via e-mail
HOROSCOPES | BY FRANCIS DRAKE ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Many of you are enjoying new electronic toys or high-tech additions to your household today. Expect the unexpected! Surprise company might drop by. TAURUS (April 20 to May 2 0 ) Communication will be interrupted today. Computer crashes, power outages or changes to your schedule are likely. Be ready to jump in either direction. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) If shopping today, keep your receipts. You might find money; you might lose money. Something unpredictable with your possessions or your cash flow could occur. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) You feel excited today. It’s as if there’s more electricity in the air. New faces, new situations and new ideas keep popping up! Be ready for anything, because it could be a sweet opportunity. LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) You’re restless today. You’ve got lots of ideas that are cooking on the b ack burner in your mind. In fact, some of these ideas could be very valuable for you in the future.
VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Discussions with someone, possibly a female friend, could lead to surprising results. You might make a new friend today. Possibly, someone you already know does something bizarre. LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Some aspect of your private life will suddenly be made public today. Bosses, parents, teachers and VIPs will notice. You’re feeling a bit independent and cocky, aren’t you? (Don’t quit your day job.) SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) Surprise opportunities to travel could fall in your lap today. Similarly, unexpected chances to do something in publishing, the media or higher education could arise. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to D e c . 2 1 ) If someone wants to suddenly give you something today, accept it. It’s OK to be the object of someone else’s generosity. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 1 9 ) A partner or close friend might express an interest in more freedom in a relationship. “I need more space!” Or perhaps you feel this way? Just go with the flow.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) Computer crashes, power outages and interruptions at work are likely today. Staff shortages or surprises with your daily schedule keep you on your toes! PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 2 0 ) A flirtation with someone surprising might make your heart go pitter-patter today. Parents and teachers should keep an eye on children. It’s an unpredictable day, and possibly accident-prone for little ones. Y O U B O R N T O D A Y You have a strong social conscience and social vision for society. You will always do whatever you can to right the wrongs of the world. You are unpretentious, natural and spontaneous in your approach to life. Your caring idealism often promotes a biting satire in you. This year is a powerful year. You might teach or guide others. Partnerships will be a big focus.
DILBERT
Birthdate of: Miguel Ferrer, actor; Charles Dickens, author; Ashton Kutcher, actor.
Zclassified REAL ESTATE
LOTS FOR SALE
70
4730 Madera (Los Obispos), 45 x 113, $22,000 Call 286-7486 Lot in exclusive area behind LCC South 5515 Portugal $10,000dwn/ $300mo 754-1408, 724-1951
HOMES FOR SALE
61
1316 O’Kane 2Bd/1Ba, $54,000 including trailer in backyard. 251-0071 727-7843 2bd Condo in San Antonio Med area, High Ceiling, FP, W/D. $80,900.Call 210-378-1163 4bd/3ba/1cg 2story, 2 living areas, 1,850 sqft located @ Lomas Del Sur, corner lot $145,000 call 645-8298 Beautiful Brick Home in Cuatro Vientos 3603 Aguanieve Dr. 4bd/2ba, 1531sq.ft. LA, 6326sq.ft Lot. Alarm system, block fence, w/beautiful gates. Motivated seller! MUST SEE! Reduced $145,000 Neogtiable Call 286-5015 For sale or rent, 4 year old home,3/2.5/1cp, 1,600 sqft., 2 story stucco,new paint, huge backyard,wool insulation, Concord Hills. $145,000. Call:(210)559-9457. Lake front lodge, 240 Retama 14’x70’, fully furnished, mobile home. 3bd/2ba, front porch 12’x40’, 16’ awning, 2 lake front lots, 35’ barn w/ RV size doors, 2 boats, fruit trees, & palm trees, $100,000 956-765-5624; 806-965-2387 or 806-727-4141
Now you can make the news come to you. Start your subscription now by calling 728-2555
ACREAGE FOR SALE 76 5 acres @ Rancho Las Lomas for $35,000.00 Owner finance with $10,000 down. Call:(956)645-9664
10ac. Las Lomas Fenced HWY 59 $8000 p/ac 712-4205; 774-6976
RENTALS
PETS & SUPPLIES
128
Jack Russell pure bread puppies 5wks, 1st shots, dewormed, tail docked, $250 call 727-9889 Jack Russell Terriers Pups 2 Female/ 1 Male CKC Reg. $250ea Call 956-235-1150
Lab puppies for sale, 7wks old 1st shots , chocolate/black 5 male 1 female pups $200 ea. good homes only! Call 956-220-9996 or 712-8277 after 5 pm
MINI PINCHER’S $100 each call 635-6819
All sizes available lowest rentals in Laredo move in today first month free mucho parking 4100 San Bernardo 237-5946
PETS & SUPPLIES
Pure Breed Blood Hound Puppies w/ 1st shots & dewormed. $300ea. Call 768-2136 ; 774-2623 Schnauzers 6wks old, dewormed, 1st shots, tailed clipped. 2F/2M Great for Valentine’s! $300 call 285-4671
LIVESTOCK & SUPPLIES 130 128
Adorable Puppies Female 9wks. First shots, dewormed shi-tzu Registered/parents $250 call 744-7560 Adorable Purebreeds Yellow Labradors, Mom & Dad on site. $250ea. Call 324-9577
Chihuahua Puppies for sale 6wks,dewormed, 2M/1F $100ea. Call 337-6567 Dwarf Rabbits $35 each. 1820 Corpus, Call 726-0883
Hay For Sale,large net wrapped,Round Bales,located in Alice, $40 and up.Delivery available.(361)219-4545
MISCELLANEOUS
Beautiful, Gentle Registered Paint horse stallion for sale. 8 mths old w/perfect conformation. $1,000 Call 722-8187 or 645-1655 Registered Paint Horse Stallion for sale. 1.5yrs old,sorrel overo w/ blue eyes. Very gentle and halter broken. Champion blood lines, $2000 Call 722-8187 or 645-1655
GARAGE SALES
134
Sat 8-12, Baby, Kid, Adult clothes. Desks, Toys, PC Aces. 9005 Cornell Dr, University Pk Sun Only 8am-?, 4618 Rio Plata, Mattress, Dresser, Bed Frames, Crib, Comforters, Misc
ARTICLES FOR SALE 136 “MARIACHI POPULAR”. All Occasions. Starting @ $400 Hector Caballero 236-8905
GARAGE SALES
134
Garage Sale Sat. Feb. 7 8am-1pm 216 Esperanza, MWC clothes, toys & more Garage Sale Sat-Sun 9am-4pm 11146 Salado (Villas De San Agustin) 956-242-7762 http://salado.uuuq.com/gs/
Precious Valentine Labs, 6 weeks old, dewormed, 1st shots, $250 ea. 7 yellow, 1 chocolate, 285-7537
Se vende cachoros, Blue Healers, $125 cada uno. 2915 Chesnut, 333-8836
PETS & SUPPLIES
FARM & RANCH SUPPLIES 132
Jack Russell Terriers, CKC Registered, 3M, 3F, 6 weeks, 1st shots, tailed, de wormed, $300ea. (956)401-7857
Minature Duchshunds, minature Schnauzer, Poodles, Chihuahuas, Pugs, Labs. $250 & up. Call:(956)753-0118.
OFFICE SPACES FOR RENT 118
BY PHONE: (956) 728-2527
* Dell Laptop, Windows XP, wireless internet ready $250 Call: 220-9654 *Dell Desktop, Windows XP Pro PC, internet ready $160 Call: 220-9654 70 Cinder block $1ea/ $70 cash for all. Call 723-2209
27” Sony TV $100 Call 333-1799 or go by 128 Catalina HELP WANTED
122
Bakery showcase, 8ft.x 24inches, $100. Call:(956)763-8226 ; 723-2116
San Isidro Ready Mix, Ltd. Looking for full time Concrete Mixer Driver’s Must have class A or B License & Experienced Diesel Mechanic. Apply in person at 9901 McPherson Ste. 203 No Phone Calls Please.
ARTICLES FOR SALE 136 Blue Ray movies & HD, paid $30 will sell for $15ea. Many to choose from! Call:(956)645-9650 after 3pm. Caminadora manual para ejercicio nueva $100 857-1095
JEWELRY
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM 144
Laredo Country Club Full Membership $3500 Call 727-7779 Office Equipment for sale. Desks, chairs, cubicles, computers, etc. Starting at $25. Call 727-7779
Ping Pong Table, Excellent Condition $50 Call 489-0769 Rustic wood book shelf. $150 Call:(956)712-9062 Solid Wood Dining Room Table 4 chairs $275 Call 796-9108 Television 52 pulgadas, Mitsubishi. $700omo. Call:(956)206-1531.
SPORTING GOODS 142 Electric stove & refrigerator, $40ea. obo. Call:(956)285-2724.
SKS 7.62 x 39 Riffle, $400 Call 489-0769 Treadmill, good condition, like new, $275 obo. Call:(956)285-2724.
196
‘07 Kawasaki Ninja 250 Low Miles, Good Cond. New tires MUST SELL $2,400 Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3
TRANSPORTATION
Italica 150CC ‘08, scooter, 2 passenger, $1,350. Call:(956)401-6510 Nextel ID # 145*3*46526
Country Club Membership for Sale $4,000. Call 235-8654 Desk & PC Acces. $40/ea. OBO Good Cond. Call 206-6595 or 337-3607 Dining table, beveled glass top, six chairs, perfect condition, $750. Call:(956)763-9823 Doors for sale, $25ea. wood or metal. Call:(956)220-9654 Former rustic iron dining set, w/ rustic wood china. $900 Call:(956)712-9062 Genuine beads,pearls, brass, some silver. etc. Lots of variety. Must sacrifice $400. Call:(956)645-0720 Hamburger grill combine with two burners. $200 Call:(956)763-8226 ; 723-2116
MOTORCYCLES
Almost 6kt.(5.07kt) princess cut diamond, stone set in platinum setting with 2 kts of round cut diamonds $25,000 235-8654
TRUCKS FOR SALE 198 1999 XL Classic Freightliner 60 Series Detroit, Super 10 Speed $15,000 Call 791-9986
BOATS
190
‘93 Blue Wave, center consil, Yamaha 140hp, Good runing condition $6,000 obo call 334-4411 Skeeter Bass Boat ‘84, 15ft., 40hp., trolly motor, $2,850 OBO Call:(956)220-7665.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT 192 Back hoe 480 B Case, Good machine $7,500 call 830-370-7204 Freightliner Century ‘99, new rebuilt engine with 150,000 miles, geenuine Cummins parts, new rebuilt transmission, 13 speed, good rubber & aluminum wheels. $16,500.00 or best offer. (956)857-4144 Gooseneck flatbed trailer ‘08, 40ft., double 12,000lbs. tandum axle, 17,000 ibs. max cap. w/extras. $11,000 obo. Call:(956)645-5099 Wells Cargo Utility trailer ‘90, , $1,200 obo. Call:(956)744-0220
AUTOMOTIVE PARTS194 15” thru 20” Original Tires & Rims, Different Styles Available. Starting @ $10. Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3 17” wheels, very sharp, factory wheels off a 2008 Nissan Maxima, $425 or best offer. (956)857-4144 Diesel engines Chevy 6.6 Ford 7.3 & Cummins 5.9 Remanufactured w/warranty will deliver, $2,950. 713-918-5811.
2001 FLD120 Freightliner 60 Series Detroit, 10 Speed $15,000 call 791-9986 ‘06 Ford 500 SE, Mint Cond., 52K miles, New Tires & Rims, $10700 795-0261, 857-1123 ‘07 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 SLT, 5.9 H.O. Cummings, 6 spd man. 46K mi. H.D. bumpers, rack, steps silver, 4dr. $26,500 Call 740-0959
‘88 Ford Bronco IT XLT, New pumps, $800 Call 724-4240 Chevy Cobalt 2007, like new, only 13k miles, 4cyl., 2dr. $5,500 w/TTL. Call:(956)324-4224 Chevy Silverado 1500 LS 2005, 2wd, crew cab,26,500 miles, $12,500 1 owner. Call:(956)723-9027, 286-7213 Chrysler Seabring 2003, great condition, silver, 4 cyl., 71k mi., w/TTL $3,950. Call:(956)324-4224 Dodge Durango 2002, great condition, 3rd seat, leather, w/TTL $4,500 obo. Call:(956)324-5589 Dodge Van ‘03, 6 door, excellent condition, auto. $3,900 obo. Call:(956)726-0066 Mercury Mountaineer ‘02, 6cyl.,3rd seat, 40K mi, auto, all power, alarm $5,950 OBO. Call 324-1738
TRUCKS FOR SALE 198 Dodge Ram ‘03, 4dr., a/c, 20 in. rims, good condition, $4,800 Call:(956)949-6076 Ford Aerostar ‘96, 6cyl., new tires & battery, good working condition, $2,400 obo. Call:(956)285-2724. Mercury Montaineer ‘98, v8, $3,000 obo. Call:(956)237-4328. Moving truck, 26ft. box, ‘96, Ford F-series, runs great, $10,000. Call:(956)857-8480 Nissan Murano ‘04, 82k mi., blue title, leather seats, loaded, $14,200 obo. Call:(956)220-9155 Nissan Xterra ‘01, 4cyl,5 speed, $5,500, great condition, Call:(956)235-2204 Toyota Tacoma ‘04, 4dr., 6cyl., 42,670 mi., pwr. windows & locks, excellent condition, $14,750 Call:(956)324-0002
CARS FOR SALE
200
2001 Acura 3.2 CL Type-S: 2dr., A/T, 3.2L VTEC, headers, intake, rims, exhaust! Black leather interior, power everything, moon roof, H.I.D.’s and much more! $5,500 obo. Call:(956)251-5909 2007 Jeep Wrangler, Black with 4WD, 4 doors. Only 4500 miles $25,400 or take over pmts. Call 744-2343 ‘01 PT Cruiser leather, limited edition, $3500 Call 857-1095 ‘87 Ford Thunderbird V8, Auto, A/C, 56K miles, new 18” rims and tires, $3400 Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3 ‘96 Acura TL 5cyl., reliable, 86K mi, A/C, beige interior, $2,700 OBO Call 645-5093 Chevy Malibu ‘04, 4cyl., excellent clean car. $3,250.00 Call:(956)645-7072. Dodge Neon SXT ‘02, yellow, a/c, 4dr., auto, good condtion, $3,600 Call:(956)285-8474 ; 62*15*11172. Honda Accord ‘99, a/c, 4dr., auto, good condtion, $3,600 Call:(956)285-8474 ; 62*15*11172.
Mustang V6, 96K Mikes, $4100 Call 956-723-1354
4B | THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
83045631
2/6/2009
8:05 PM
Page 1
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
LAREDO MORNING TIMES | 1B
Zapata Classified
REAL ESTATE
LOTS FOR SALE
70
4730 Madera (Los Obispos), 45 x 113, $22,000 Call 286-7486 Lot in exclusive area behind LCC South 5515 Portugal $10,000dwn/ $300mo 754-1408, 724-1951
HOMES FOR SALE
61
1316 O’Kane 2Bd/1Ba, $54,000 including trailer in backyard. 251-0071 727-7843 2bd Condo in San Antonio Med area, High Ceiling, FP, W/D. $80,900.Call 210-378-1163 4bd/3ba/1cg 2story, 2 living areas, 1,850 sqft located @ Lomas Del Sur, corner lot $145,000 call 645-8298 Beautiful Brick Home in Cuatro Vientos 3603 Aguanieve Dr. 4bd/2ba, 1531sq.ft. LA, 6326sq.ft Lot. Alarm system, block fence, w/beautiful gates. Motivated seller! MUST SEE! Reduced $145,000 Neogtiable Call 286-5015 For sale or rent, 4 year old home,3/2.5/1cp, 1,600 sqft., 2 story stucco,new paint, huge backyard,wool insulation, Concord Hills. $145,000. Call:(210)559-9457. Lake front lodge, 240 Retama 14’x70’, fully furnished, mobile home. 3bd/2ba, front porch 12’x40’, 16’ awning, 2 lake front lots, 35’ barn w/ RV size doors, 2 boats, fruit trees, & palm trees, $100,000 956-765-5624; 806-965-2387 or 806-727-4141
Now you can make the news come to you. Start your subscription now by calling 728-2555
ACREAGE FOR SALE 76 5 acres @ Rancho Las Lomas for $35,000.00 Owner finance with $10,000 down. Call:(956)645-9664
10ac. Las Lomas Fenced HWY 59 $8000 p/ac 712-4205; 774-6976
RENTALS
PETS & SUPPLIES
128
Jack Russell pure bread puppies 5wks, 1st shots, dewormed, tail docked, $250 call 727-9889 Jack Russell Terriers Pups 2 Female/ 1 Male CKC Reg. $250ea Call 956-235-1150
Lab puppies for sale, 7wks old 1st shots , chocolate/black 5 male 1 female pups $200 ea. good homes only! Call 956-220-9996 or 712-8277 after 5 pm
MINI PINCHER’S $100 each call 635-6819
All sizes available lowest rentals in Laredo move in today first month free mucho parking 4100 San Bernardo 237-5946
PETS & SUPPLIES
Pure Breed Blood Hound Puppies w/ 1st shots & dewormed. $300ea. Call 768-2136 ; 774-2623 Schnauzers 6wks old, dewormed, 1st shots, tailed clipped. 2F/2M Great for Valentine’s! $300 call 285-4671
LIVESTOCK & SUPPLIES 130 128
Adorable Puppies Female 9wks. First shots, dewormed shi-tzu Registered/parents $250 call 744-7560 Adorable Purebreeds Yellow Labradors, Mom & Dad on site. $250ea. Call 324-9577
Chihuahua Puppies for sale 6wks,dewormed, 2M/1F $100ea. Call 337-6567 Dwarf Rabbits $35 each. 1820 Corpus, Call 726-0883
MISCELLANEOUS
Beautiful, Gentle Registered Paint horse stallion for sale. 8 mths old w/perfect conformation. $1,000 Call 722-8187 or 645-1655 Registered Paint Horse Stallion for sale. 1.5yrs old,sorrel overo w/ blue eyes. Very gentle and halter broken. Champion blood lines, $2000 Call 722-8187 or 645-1655
GARAGE SALES
134
Sat 8-12, Baby, Kid, Adult clothes. Desks, Toys, PC Aces. 9005 Cornell Dr, University Pk Sun Only 8am-?, 4618 Rio Plata, Mattress, Dresser, Bed Frames, Crib, Comforters, Misc
ARTICLES FOR SALE 136 “MARIACHI POPULAR”. All Occasions. Starting @ $400 Hector Caballero 236-8905
GARAGE SALES
134
Garage Sale Sat. Feb. 7 8am-1pm 216 Esperanza, MWC clothes, toys & more Garage Sale Sat-Sun 9am-4pm 11146 Salado (Villas De San Agustin) 956-242-7762 http://salado.uuuq.com/gs/
Precious Valentine Labs, 6 weeks old, dewormed, 1st shots, $250 ea. 7 yellow, 1 chocolate, 285-7537
Se vende cachoros, Blue Healers, $125 cada uno. 2915 Chesnut, 333-8836
PETS & SUPPLIES
Hay For Sale,large net wrapped,Round Bales,located in Alice, $40 and up.Delivery available.(361)219-4545
Jack Russell Terriers, CKC Registered, 3M, 3F, 6 weeks, 1st shots, tailed, de wormed, $300ea. (956)401-7857
Minature Duchshunds, minature Schnauzer, Poodles, Chihuahuas, Pugs, Labs. $250 & up. Call:(956)753-0118.
OFFICE SPACES FOR RENT 118
FARM & RANCH SUPPLIES 132
* Dell Laptop, Windows XP, wireless internet ready $250 Call: 220-9654 *Dell Desktop, Windows XP Pro PC, internet ready $160 Call: 220-9654 70 Cinder block $1ea/ $70 cash for all. Call 723-2209
27” Sony TV $100 Call 333-1799 or go by 128 Catalina HELP WANTED
122
Bakery showcase, 8ft.x 24inches, $100. Call:(956)763-8226 ; 723-2116
San Isidro Ready Mix, Ltd. Looking for full time Concrete Mixer Driver’s Must have class A or B License & Experienced Diesel Mechanic. Apply in person at 9901 McPherson Ste. 203 No Phone Calls Please.
ARTICLES FOR SALE 136 Blue Ray movies & HD, paid $30 will sell for $15ea. Many to choose from! Call:(956)645-9650 after 3pm. Caminadora manual para ejercicio nueva $100 857-1095
JEWELRY
144
Laredo Country Club Full Membership $3500 Call 727-7779 Office Equipment for sale. Desks, chairs, cubicles, computers, etc. Starting at $25. Call 727-7779
Ping Pong Table, Excellent Condition $50 Call 489-0769 Rustic wood book shelf. $150 Call:(956)712-9062 Solid Wood Dining Room Table 4 chairs $275 Call 796-9108 Television 52 pulgadas, Mitsubishi. $700omo. Call:(956)206-1531.
SPORTING GOODS 142 Electric stove & refrigerator, $40ea. obo. Call:(956)285-2724.
SKS 7.62 x 39 Riffle, $400 Call 489-0769 Treadmill, good condition, like new, $275 obo. Call:(956)285-2724.
196
‘07 Kawasaki Ninja 250 Low Miles, Good Cond. New tires MUST SELL $2,400 Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3
TRANSPORTATION
Italica 150CC ‘08, scooter, 2 passenger, $1,350. Call:(956)401-6510 Nextel ID # 145*3*46526
Country Club Membership for Sale $4,000. Call 235-8654 Desk & PC Acces. $40/ea. OBO Good Cond. Call 206-6595 or 337-3607 Dining table, beveled glass top, six chairs, perfect condition, $750. Call:(956)763-9823 Doors for sale, $25ea. wood or metal. Call:(956)220-9654 Former rustic iron dining set, w/ rustic wood china. $900 Call:(956)712-9062 Genuine beads,pearls, brass, some silver. etc. Lots of variety. Must sacrifice $400. Call:(956)645-0720 Hamburger grill combine with two burners. $200 Call:(956)763-8226 ; 723-2116
MOTORCYCLES
Almost 6kt.(5.07kt) princess cut diamond, stone set in platinum setting with 2 kts of round cut diamonds $25,000 235-8654
TRUCKS FOR SALE 198 1999 XL Classic Freightliner 60 Series Detroit, Super 10 Speed $15,000 Call 791-9986
BOATS
190
‘93 Blue Wave, center consil, Yamaha 140hp, Good runing condition $6,000 obo call 334-4411 Skeeter Bass Boat ‘84, 15ft., 40hp., trolly motor, $2,850 OBO Call:(956)220-7665.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT 192 Back hoe 480 B Case, Good machine $7,500 call 830-370-7204 Freightliner Century ‘99, new rebuilt engine with 150,000 miles, geenuine Cummins parts, new rebuilt transmission, 13 speed, good rubber & aluminum wheels. $16,500.00 or best offer. (956)857-4144 Gooseneck flatbed trailer ‘08, 40ft., double 12,000lbs. tandum axle, 17,000 ibs. max cap. w/extras. $11,000 obo. Call:(956)645-5099 Wells Cargo Utility trailer ‘90, , $1,200 obo. Call:(956)744-0220
AUTOMOTIVE PARTS 194 15” thru 20” Original Tires & Rims, Different Styles Available. Starting @ $10. Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3 17” wheels, very sharp, factory wheels off a 2008 Nissan Maxima, $425 or best offer. (956)857-4144 Diesel engines Chevy 6.6 Ford 7.3 & Cummins 5.9 Remanufactured w/warranty will deliver, $2,950. 713-918-5811.
2001 FLD120 Freightliner 60 Series Detroit, 10 Speed $15,000 call 791-9986 ‘06 Ford 500 SE, Mint Cond., 52K miles, New Tires & Rims, $10700 795-0261, 857-1123 ‘07 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 SLT, 5.9 H.O. Cummings, 6 spd man. 46K mi. H.D. bumpers, rack, steps silver, 4dr. $26,500 Call 740-0959
‘88 Ford Bronco IT XLT, New pumps, $800 Call 724-4240 Chevy Cobalt 2007, like new, only 13k miles, 4cyl., 2dr. $5,500 w/TTL. Call:(956)324-4224 Chevy Silverado 1500 LS 2005, 2wd, crew cab,26,500 miles, $12,500 1 owner. Call:(956)723-9027, 286-7213 Chrysler Seabring 2003, great condition, silver, 4 cyl., 71k mi., w/TTL $3,950. Call:(956)324-4224 Dodge Durango 2002, great condition, 3rd seat, leather, w/TTL $4,500 obo. Call:(956)324-5589 Dodge Van ‘03, 6 door, excellent condition, auto. $3,900 obo. Call:(956)726-0066 Mercury Mountaineer ‘02, 6cyl.,3rd seat, 40K mi, auto, all power, alarm $5,950 OBO. Call 324-1738
TRUCKS FOR SALE 198 Dodge Ram ‘03, 4dr., a/c, 20 in. rims, good condition, $4,800 Call:(956)949-6076 Ford Aerostar ‘96, 6cyl., new tires & battery, good working condition, $2,400 obo. Call:(956)285-2724. Mercury Montaineer ‘98, v8, $3,000 obo. Call:(956)237-4328. Moving truck, 26ft. box, ‘96, Ford F-series, runs great, $10,000. Call:(956)857-8480 Nissan Murano ‘04, 82k mi., blue title, leather seats, loaded, $14,200 obo. Call:(956)220-9155 Nissan Xterra ‘01, 4cyl,5 speed, $5,500, great condition, Call:(956)235-2204 Toyota Tacoma ‘04, 4dr., 6cyl., 42,670 mi., pwr. windows & locks, excellent condition, $14,750 Call:(956)324-0002
CARS FOR SALE
200
2001 Acura 3.2 CL Type-S: 2dr., A/T, 3.2L VTEC, headers, intake, rims, exhaust! Black leather interior, power everything, moon roof, H.I.D.’s and much more! $5,500 obo. Call:(956)251-5909 2007 Jeep Wrangler, Black with 4WD, 4 doors. Only 4500 miles $25,400 or take over pmts. Call 744-2343 ‘01 PT Cruiser leather, limited edition, $3500 Call 857-1095 ‘87 Ford Thunderbird V8, Auto, A/C, 56K miles, new 18” rims and tires, $3400 Call 337-0509 or 145*131543*3 ‘96 Acura TL 5cyl., reliable, 86K mi, A/C, beige interior, $2,700 OBO Call 645-5093 Chevy Malibu ‘04, 4cyl., excellent clean car. $3,250.00 Call:(956)645-7072. Dodge Neon SXT ‘02, yellow, a/c, 4dr., auto, good condtion, $3,600 Call:(956)285-8474 ; 62*15*11172. Honda Accord ‘99, a/c, 4dr., auto, good condtion, $3,600 Call:(956)285-8474 ; 62*15*11172.
Mustang V6, 96K Mikes, $4100 Call 956-723-1354