NO SECURITY FOR NO. 1
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2013
FREE
TOP TEAMS TUMBLE AS PARITY TAKES CENTER STAGE IN AP TOP 25, 1B
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
FALCON LAKE
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sheriff IDs dead man
Claims police abuse Local bank CEO Ramirez alleges trooper misconduct By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A prominent Texas political donor and IBC Bank executive said Friday that state troopers harassed his
family during routine traffic stops, and has now secured a meeting with the state’s top law enforcement executive over those and other allegations of trooper misconduct statewide.
RENATO RAMIREZ: Banker accuses DPS trooper of abusing family. IBC Bank Zapata CEO Renato Ramirez said his
own experiences are emblematic of larger problems at the Texas Department of Public Safety. Earlier this week, the department fired a female trooper near Dallas whose videotaped body
cavity search of two women went viral on the Internet. “These guys feel empowered to do what they want to do,” said Rami-
See BANKER PAGE 10A
He wanted to join aunt in California By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County sheriff ’s officials have identified a man whose body was recovered Jan. 28 from Falcon Lake. Sgt. Mario Elizondo identified him as Milton O. Rodriguez-Gonzales, 26, of Honduras. Investigators are waiting for the autopsy report from the Webb County medical examiner’s office. Elizondo told The Zapata Times last week “there was no foul play that investigators can tell.” Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens retrieved Rodriguez-Gonzales’ body from the Roca Real area in Falcon Lake at about 11:20 a.m. Jan. 28. Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Fernando Muñoz pronounced him dead at noon and ordered an autopsy. A Honduran consular official in Houston said the consulate is currently working on paperwork to repatriate Rodriguez-Gonzales. He was the oldest of five siblings, his aunt Delmy Hernandez said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, Calif. According to Hernandez, RodriguezGonzales began his trek from his native Valle de Ángeles, a municipality in Francisco Morazán, Honduras, early January with intentions of meeting Hernandez in California. She said the man’s mother, Marina Rodriguez, misses Rodriguez-Gonzales dearly. Both Hernandez and Rodriguez hoped the body recovered would not have been that of Rodriguez-Gonzales. Hernandez said her nephew did not have relatives other than Hernandez’s family in United States. “The last time I saw him, he was a boy,” Hernandez said.
A FANTASY COMES TO LIFE
Photo by Joel Martinez/The Monitor | AP
Fernando Cruz, 5, pretends to drive a custom classic car as part of a Make-a-Wish Foundation wish at the Edinburg Children’s Hospital in Edinburg.
Cancer-stricken 5-year-old gets his hot-car wish By JACQUELINE ARMENDARIZ THE MONITOR OF MCALLEN
EDINBURG — The engine of a black 1971 Monte Carlo revved
while hydraulics made the classic car jump as 5year-old Fernando Cruz sat in the driver’s seat Tuesday evening. The McAllen boy diag-
nosed with leukemia in November couldn’t see over the steering wheel, but his joyful shouts were heard from across the parking lot. Several
area car clubs — owners of Corvettes, Mustangs and other muscle cars — joined with the Make-AWish foundation at the Edinburg Children’s Hos-
pital to support Cruz. Louie Mendez, of Traditionals Car Club, sat with the boy bouncing in
See FERNANDO PAGE 10A
See LAKE PAGE 10A
RECREATION
County park allows for closer family fun By RICARDO R. VILLARREAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
Nestled along the shores of Falcon Lake, beyond the stately homes and manicured landscapes of Falcon Estates, lies Falcon Lake County Park, allowing families and individuals to enjoy all the lake has to offer without having to make a longer trip to the state park located further south. Falcon Lake County Park opened in April and was built next to the existing public boat ramp. It incorporates the area wilderness in its design and features a huge pavilion,
benches, children’s playscapes and several covered picnic sites. Trails wind through approximately five acres that lead to lake’s edge. Falcon Lake Tackle is located nearby. Owner James Bendele said his store sponsored a tournament soon after the park opened. “I think we were some of the first to use the facilities there. It’s very nice. I know people take their kids down there and they enjoy the barbecue areas and play areas,” Bendele said. Zapata County Precinct 3 Commissioner Eddie
“
We want to make it into a pedestrian-type bridge with benches and park lights.” PRECINCT 3 COMMISSIONER EDDIE MARTINEZ
Martinez said the park was built with state funds. He credited Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Texas Rep. Ryan Guillen and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar with working to secure funding for the project.
He said that although the new county park project was started before he became a commissioner, he ensures it is maintained and improvements have been added. “We had to install some
steel pipe barriers to prevent vehicles from driving into the pavilion and the landscape,” Martinez said. He said the commissioners have been working on improving the several parks in the area and beautifying the community, especially with declining revenues from oil companies. Martinez believes the parks will make Zapata attractive to tourists. Martinez said that together with Precinct I Commissioner Jose Vela, Texas Rep. Tracy King and Zaffirini, he is hoping for approval of a new project. “One of the other things
we’re working on, now that TxDOT is building a new highway, we’re requesting that they turn over the old Veleño Bridge to us,” Martinez said. He said original plans were to destroy the bridge, but the commissioners court has presented a resolution to the state legislature to retain the bridge. “We want to make it into a pedestrian-type bridge with benches and park lights. It would be something really nice for Zapata,” Martinez said. (Rick Villarreal may be reached at 728-2528 or rvillarreal@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, FEB. 9
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium will show “Planets Quest” at 3 p.m.; “Extreme Planets” at 4 p.m.; and “Stars of the Pharoahs” at 5 p.m. Matinee show is $4. General admission is $4 for children and $5 adults. For more information, call 956-326-3663. A free workshop for high school students preparing to take the SAT/ACT exam takes place at the UT Health Science Center Regional Campus, 1937 E. Bustamante St, from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Space is limited. A Mass will be officiated by Bishop Tamayo for couples celebrating 25 or 50 years of sacramental marriage at San Agustin Cathedral, 200 San Agustin Ave., starting at 11 a.m. Couples will receive a commemorative medal and a signed certificate by Tamayo. Student attorneys from the Center for Legal and Social Justice at St Mary’s University School of Law will offer legal advice, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at San Luis Rey Church, 3502 Sanders Ave. Topics include Social Security, IRS/tax issues, identity theft, debt collection, property, consumer issues and family law. Bring any documents dealing with the issue. For more information, contact Sister Susan Skidmore at 210-431-2596 or sskidmore@stmarytx.edu. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program will freely prepare tax returns for those with income of $55,000 or less, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at San Luis Rey Church, 3502 Sanders Ave. No appointment is necessary, as walk-ins are welcome. Bring the following documents: All W-2 and 1099 Forms, and other tax documents; information for other income received in 2012; proof of property taxes paid on home in 2012; copy of last year’s tax return, if available; bank account information for direct deposit or refund (e.g., voided check); Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification (ITIN) cards for all persons to be listed on tax return; photo identification for primary person to be listed on return; If filing jointly, a spouse must be present. Free tax help from VITA will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road. The service is available to taxpayers who make less than $54,000 a year. Those interested should bring income documents from all jobs worked throughout the year, as well as their Social Security card and a valid photo ID. For more information, visit vitalaredo.org.
Today is Saturday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2013. There are 325 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 9, 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces. On this date: In 1773, the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison, was born in Charles City County, Va. In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America at a congress held in Montgomery, Ala. In 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau was established. In 1933, the Oxford Union Society at Oxford University debated, then endorsed, 275153, a motion “that this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country,” a stand widely denounced by Britons. In 1942, daylight-saving “War Time” went into effect in the United States, with clocks turned one hour forward. In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, W.Va., Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged the State Department was riddled with Communists. In 1963, the Boeing 727 went on its first-ever flight as it took off from Renton, Wash. In 1964, The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” broadcast from New York on CBS. In 1971, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California’s San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives. The crew of Apollo 14 returned to Earth after man’s third landing on the moon. In 1983, in a dramatic reversal from fifty years earlier (see above), the Oxford Union rejected, 416-187, a motion “that this House would not fight for Queen and Country.” In 2002, Britain’s Princess Margaret, the high-spirited and unconventional sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died in London at age 71. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush told congressional Republicans at a policy conference in West Virginia that Iraq had fooled the world for more than a decade about its banned weapons and the United Nations was now facing “a moment of truth” in disarming Saddam Hussein. The U.S. Navy ended its last bombing exercises on Puerto Rico’s Vieques (vee-AY’-kehs) Island. The West beat the East 155-145 in the first double overtime game in NBA All-Star history. Today’s Birthdays: Television journalist Roger Mudd is 85. Singer-songwriter Carole King is 71. Actor Joe Pesci is 70. Author Alice Walker is 69. Actress Mia Farrow is 68. Former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is 67. Singer Joe Ely is 66. Former Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe is 56. Rock musician Richard On (O.A.R.) is 34. Actress Ziyi Zhang is 34. Olympic silver and bronze medal figure skater Irina Slutskaya is 34. Actor David Gallagher is 28. Actress Marina Malota is 25. Actress Camille Winbush is 23. Actor Jimmy Bennett is 17. Thought for Today: “Modesty is the conscience of the body.” — Honore de Balzac, French author and dramatist (1799-1850).
SUNDAY, FEB. 10 Laredo Theatre Guild International presents “Romeo and Juliet” at the TAMIU Center for Fine and Performing Arts Theater at 8 p.m. The play sets a new-age ambiance in its own world. Regular admission is $15 and senior citizens or students with IDs get in for $10. For more information, call 3198610.
MONDAY, FEB. 11 The Jazz Band I: South Texas Tour will perform at 7 p.m. at UISD’s Bill Johnson Student Activity Center, 5208 Santa Claudia Lane. As part of the Texas A & M University Kingsville Department of Music, the band will be in Laredo highlighting a wide array of music. Fore more information, contact Elia H. Martinez at 956-473-6286 or eliahm@uisd.net.
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, and his wife, Anita, arrive for his state of the state address in the house chambers at the state capitol on Jan. 29 in Austin. Perry is traveling to California to persuade businesses there to relocated to Texas.
Perry woos businesses By CHRIS TOMLINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry plans to visit California next week to follow up on a small buy of radio ads intended to persuade businesses to relocate to Texas. Perry is scheduled to fly to the West Coast on Sunday and will meet with executives in San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County. A marketing company, using private money, bought $24,000 worth of radio time to air an ad in which the Republican governor says, “I hear building a business in California is next to impossible.” The governor’s office said he will meet with business leaders in the high tech, biotechnology, financial, insurance and film industries. California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, earlier this week dismissed the ad buy as in-
significant in a state where millions are needed to saturate the market. His office released a statement citing data that shows business relocations have no significant impact on either state’s economy. Brown’s spokesman, Gil Duran, did not immediately return an email Thursday seeking a response to Perry’s planned visit. A Republican lawmaker in California, though, said his state should work to keep jobs in the state. “I am frustrated that Governor Perry and governors from other states continue to see California as fertile ground to steal businesses,” said Assembly member Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo. “We must thwart their efforts by creating a better business climate.” Perry prides himself on keeping taxes low, limiting regulations and restricting lawsuits to create a better business climate.
Runoff to fill Houston Senate seat set
Inmate pleads guilty in DA-judge affair case
Waste services truck driver run over, dies
AUSTIN — A Houston runoff between two Democrats vying to replace the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos will be March 2. Former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and state Rep. Carol Alvarado received the most votes in an eightcandidate special election last month. But neither captured a majority, resulting in the March runoff set by Gov. Rick Perry on Friday.
DALLAS — A Texas death row inmate whose conviction was complicated by revelations that his trial judge and the prosecutor had been involved in a romantic relationship has pleaded guilty and agreed Friday to a life sentence to settle his case. Charles Dean Hood — who has insisted he was innocent — will not receive credit for the 23 years he spent on death row.
LA MARQUE — Police say a waste services company truck driver who apparently had some type of medical problem died after being run over by his vehicle. Reports Friday said a medical examiner will rule on whether the death was due to injury or a medical condition. La Marque police did not immediately release the victim’s name.
Ex-DA denies misconduct in wrongful conviction GEORGETOWN — A former Texas district attorney whose prosecution led to an innocent man spending 25 years in prison for his wife’s murder said Friday "the system obviously screwed up" but offered no apology. Ken Anderson said he couldn’t imagine doing anything differently in the case of Michael Morton.
Judge revokes lawyer’s bond for violations BROWNSVILLE — A judge has revoked the bond of an Austin lawyer on trial on racketeering charges in Corpus Christi. At a hearing in Brownsville on Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ordered Marc Rosenthal jailed for violating terms of his releaseRosenthal had been free on $100,000 bond since his 2011 indictment. His trial began Monday in Corpus Christi.
Staples publishes border security book AUSTIN — Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has published a book on border security as the Republican prepares a 2014 run for lieutenant governor. "Broken Borders, Broken Promises" was released Friday. Staples has made border security an issue, saying he was urged by landowners. who came to him worried about cartels moving drugs through their properties. — Compiled from AP reports
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13 The Laredo Toastmaster, a public speaking and leadership club, meets from noon to 1 p.m. at Laredo Chamber of Commerce, 2310 San Bernardo Ave. For more information, contact Humberto Vela at 956-740-3633 or humbertovela@sbcglobal.net.
THURSDAY, FEB. 14 Laredo Theatre Guild International presents “Romeo and Juliet” at the TAMIU Center for Fine and Performing Arts Theater at 8 p.m. Regular admission is $15 and senior citizens or students with IDs get in for $10. For more information, call 319-8610. Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge Club will meet at the Laredo Country Club from 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 727-0589.
FRIDAY, FEB. 15 The WBCA Comedy Jam for George features two shows, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., at the Laredo Little Theatre, 4802 Thomas Ave. General admissions is $25, and the show is for mature audiences only. Tickets are available online only at http://laredolittletheatre.showclix.com/.
AROUND THE NATION Ohio Amish beard-cutting ringleader gets 15 years CLEVELAND — Denying he ran an Amish cult, the ringleader of hair- and beard-cutting attacks on members of his faith was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison, while family members convicted of carrying out his orders got one to seven years. The judge said the defendants had violated the constitutional rights protecting religious practice. Authorities had prosecuted the attacks as a hate crime. Before his sentencing, Samuel Mullet Sr. said that if his community is seen as a cult, "Then I’m going to take the punishment for everybody." The 10 men and six women were convicted last year in five attacks in Ohio Amish communities in 2011. The government said the attacks were retaliation against Amish who had defied Mullet’s authoritarian hold over the group he started in 1995.
CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Managing Editor, Mary Nell Sanchez........... 728-2543 Sports Editor, Adam Geigerman..................728-2578 Spanish Editor ........................................ 728-2569 Photo by Tony Dejak | AP
Amish men and women leave the Federal courthouse Friday in Cleveland. Amish leader Sam Mullet Sr. was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison on Friday.
More Marines charged over urination video RALEIGH, N.C. — Two more Marines face criminal charges over a 2011 YouTube video show-
ing members of a platoon urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The U.S. Marine Corps announced Friday that Sgt. Robert W. Richards and Capt. James V. Clement face charges. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
Zlocal THE BLOTTER
ASSAULT Vicente Gonzalez Jr., 25, was arrested and charged with assault at about 7 a.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of Del Mar Street. He had a $10,000 bond at the Zapata Regional Jail. Jose Rodolfo Bravo Jr., 33, was arrested and charged with assault at about 11 p.m. Tuesday in the 3000 block of Encino Road. He had a $10,000 bond at the Zapata Regional Jail. Deputies detained and charged a 15-year-old female juvenile with assault at about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 5300 block of Carrizo Lane. She was taken to the Webb County Youth Village.
BURGLARY A burglary of a habitation was reported at 8:28 a.m. Jan.
31 in the 300 block of Gonzalez Street. A burglary of a habitation was reported at 10:14 p.m. Jan. 31 in the 1900 block of Miraflores Avenue.
DUI Gabriela Ramirez, 17, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and minor in possession of an alcoholic beverage at about 1 a.m. Feb. 2 at Fourth Street and Ramireño Avenue. Deputies also arrested Jose D. Cuellar, 19; Milagro D. Garcia, 19; Armando A. Gomez, 18, and Luis D. Peña, 19, on charges of minor in possession of an alcoholic beverage. They were all released for future court appearance. Javier O. Treviño, 18, was arrested and charged with driving
under the influence at about 3:30 a.m. Feb. 3 at Seventh Street and Zapata Avenue. He was released for future court appearance.
DWI San Juanita Gonzalez-Ramirez, 54, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated at about 1 a.m. Sunday at Seventh Street and Zapata Avenue. She had a $3,000 bond at the Webb County Jail.
THEFT A 48-year-old woman reported at about 5 p.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of Miraflores Avenue that someone stole an 8-foot ladder. The stolen item had an estimated street value of $120. A theft was reported at 9:43 p.m. Tuesday in the 5100 block of Cuellar Lane.
PAGE 3A
Commissioners to hear tax report By RICARDO R. VILLARREAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
Reports on delinquent tax collections for 2012, the status of the Zapata County Museum of History, discussion of a resolution in support of comprehensive immigration reform and a discussion on the submission of an application for the installation of highway marker are among some of the items on the agenda for a regular Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting to be held Monday. The law firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair and Sampson, LLP has a success rate of collecting 97 percent of delinquent accounts, according to Precinct 1 Commissioner Jose Vela. The firm is expected to have its contract renewed for the task by the court,
which is also on the agenda. The request for authorization to apply for the highway marker to the Texas Department of Transportation was placed on the agenda by Vela. He explained that securing a marker is not a simple effort. It involves a series of steps which Vela said he will proceed with if he gets approval from the court. “In 1995, Highway 83 was designated as ‘Texas Vietnam Veteran Memorial Highway,’ but we have no marker in Zapata County identifying it, and I have been approached by several Vietnam veterans that it would be a good idea to have a sign in Zapata, so I placed the item on the agenda,” Vela said. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the Zapata County Courthouse. (Rick Villarreal may be reached at 7282528 or rvillarreal@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Abbott talks about his talking dog AUSTIN — Let us give thanks for humor-enabled politicians, especially those willing to venture out onto the comedy ledge with a columnist who, tasked with filling 70 inches of space a week, might put the pol’s funny business in the newspaper. Everyone knows that Ann Richards was Borscht Belt funny. Fewer people might be aware that ex-pols Kent Hance (now Texas Tech University System chancellor) and John Sharp (now Texas A&M University System chancellor) are funny. I’m thinking it helps to have a sense of humor if you’re running a college system. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who one day could grow up to be Gov. Greg Abbott, recently was funny enough to use humor in an artful dodge of a legitimate and important question. Abbott is a frequent tweeter and was doing so recently on the day Gov. Rick Perry claimed he and Abbott have an agreement in which Abbott won’t run for governor next year if Perry seeks re-election. I asked Abbott about it that evening after I saw he was Twitter active. “Hanging out with Diana Ross,” he had tweeted. (I’m not really sure what that was about. Could have been a concert. Could have been a misunderstanding about a Supremes reunion and whether it was for the Motown kind or ex-Texas Supreme Court justices like Abbott.) Anyway, at the risk of interrupting Abbott’s quality time with Ross, I tweeted this message to him: “Is Perry correct about the deal with you?” Two minutes later, this from the AG: “Ken, Oreo has a bone to pick with you.” Here’s where I have some explaining to do. I noted in a recent column that Oreo, the Abbotts’
“
KEN HERMAN
dog, was on the cover of their 2011 Christmas card but was banished to the back of their 2012 card. By bringing up the canine controversy, Abbott, a crafty litigator, successfully had changed the topic on me. I knew I’d have to deal with the dog before trying to navigate back to the Perry deal. “How come Oreo got banned to the back of the card?” I asked. “She demanded her own page,” Abbott replied. “What can I say, she’s a teenager now.” At that point, I was ready to transition back to the original question. “Does she have college plans?” I asked about Oreo. “And what about the Perry deal?” The top lawyer in all of state government replied thusly: “Oreo says, and I quote, ‘Leave my Paw alone.’” Undeterred, I countered with an implied threat to divulge a potentially embarrassing and careerending matter about Abbott: “Headline: Texas AG: My dog talks to me.” The next morning I awoke to find Abbott’s reply to my threat to tell people that he thinks his dog can talk. “I guess you haven’t heard this conversation,” Abbott wrote, including a link to a funny YouTube video in which a dog (not Oreo) appears to speak. I’ve moved on from my curiosity about whether Perry and Abbott indeed have a deal about the 2014 gubernatorial race. I’m now more concerned about this: Did Abbott do a quick search to come up with the talking dog YouTube video? Or, and this would be more troubling, does he have it bookmarked?
WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON
Downhill for former aide By CHRIS CILLIZZA THE WASHINGTON POST
Dick Morris has had a rough 15 years or so. Since playing an influential behind-the-scenes role in helping Bill Clinton win reelection in 1996, Morris has become something between a pariah and a punch line. His latest indignity came when Fox News Channel decided not to renew his contract as an onair political analyst. No official reason was given, but Morris’s tendency to make wild (and wildly incorrect) predictions about the election had to have a something to do with it. Parting ways in the world of cable television is, of course, not uncommon. And many people who have been dropped over the years have come back to much success. But rather than simply taking his medicine, Morris decided that going on Piers Morgan’s show on CNN to explain himself
was a good idea. It was not. Introducing Morris, Morgan said: “We begin tonight with a political fail heard around the world.” And it only got worse from there. Morgan repeatedly showed clips of Morris making boldly wrong predictions and then asked him for explanations, while interjecting things like, “Look, to be honest to you, I feel painful listening to that.” Morris tried to defend himself, noting that he had forecast the 60-plus seats House Republicans gained in 2010 and then ticking off his resume: “I have gotten 30 senators and governors elected, 14 presidents and prime ministers.” But the fight had already been ruled a technical knockout. Dick Morris, for continuing a long losing streak on national television, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
COLUMN
FDA rejects new drug for immune disease sufferers By LLEWELLYN KING HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — A man you have never heard of is on a hunger strike in Reno, Nev., in a desperate petitioning of the government to do something to help bring a drug you have never heard of to some very sick people. The man is Robert Miller, a former miner and bartender, who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. And the drug, which stimulates the immune system, is Ampligen. Miller and the drug are at the heart of a perfect storm involving bureaucratic procedures, corporate ineptitude and a community of patients who have no Washington presence and therefore no strident voice. Instead of a lobby, there are individuals — many of them very sick — who form a rag-tag pressure group, a small irregular army, who speak out on behalf of what is believed to be a million CFS sufferers in the United States. The problems start with the disease itself, which like AIDS is a dramatic compromise of the immune system. It is hard to diagnose: There are no biological markers; there is
The problems start with the disease itself, which like AIDS is a dramatic compromise of the immune system.
no way to quickly identify it. Instead, it is what doctors call a waste-basket diagnosis: If it is not any of a list of ailments, then it must be CFS. Some sufferers report flu-like symptoms at the onset, building to a total collapse. Others simply collapse after exercise. Recovery is very rare — and only men. The disease undulates; good days and bad days, good years and bad years. In bad days and years, the victims are bedridden with intolerance of light and sound; restricted to bed and darkened rooms. Suicide is common, the suffering endless and severe. I have talked to dozens of sufferers — the most heartrending are the teenage girls who are denied schooling, social life and the prospect of marriage by their ghastly affliction. Enter Ampligen. It is an anti-viral compound developed in the 1970s and ad-
ministered intravenously. Every patient is not helped by Ampligen, but many are restored to mobility after being bedridden. Robert Miller is one of these. Last December, the Food and Drug Administration heard from more than 700 patients praising Ampligen, with accounts of the choice it presented for them between functioning or being dependent on others. Yet this month, the FDA rejected certification of the drug. The agency acknowledged the patient support, but castigated the company that makes Ampligen for incomplete data, a lack of scientific evidence of its efficacy and the way that it had handled the clinical trials. There is a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone in the FDA’s rejection of application for the drug by its maker Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. of Philadelphia. The FDA said: ”As evi-
denced by the hundreds of letters, emails, and testimonies submitted to FDA, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a devastating disease with a serious impact on quality of life. We are acutely aware of the seriousness of this disease, that no FDA approved treatments are available, and of the community’s strong desire to see rintatolimod injection (Ampligen) approved.” The bottom line is that the patients are to be denied a drug which helps some of them. Dr. Daniel Peterson of Simmaron Research in Incline Village, Nev., estimates that 70 percent of his patients are helped. Dr. Nancy Klimas of Nova Southeastern University in Florida, a dedicated supporter, puts the success rate lower. For the patients, the dispute of methodology is irrelevant. What is relevant is that methodology has triumphed over humanity — and medicine. Miller is continuing his hunger strike in the hope that the National Institutes of Health can be persuaded to conduct its own trials as they can and do sometimes. But even if they do, it will be years before the FDA will rule again. (Email: lking@kingpublishing.com.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY The Zapata Times does not publish anonymous letters. To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last names as well as a phone number to verify identity. The
phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-call-
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
ing or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
2 jailed after pot, cocaine seizure By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A narcotics investigation landed two people in jail, including a convicted felon, and yielded an array of drug paraphernalia and drug money last week. Zapata County sheriff ’s investigators executed search warrants Friday on Bravo and Falcon avenues in the Medina Addition area. Sheriff ’s officials said investigators seized small amounts of marijuana and cocaine consistently wrapped for street level distribution. Sgt. Mario Elizondo added that deputies also seized two pistols — a .40 caliber and a .357 caliber. One suspect was identi-
fied as Mauro Navarro Jr., 32. He was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. All three crimes are felonies. Deputies identified a second suspect as Joel Medina Jr., 32, and arrested and charged him with possession of a controlled substance, a first-degree felony. Both men were taken to the Zapata Regional Jail, where they remained in custody as of Friday night. Navarro had a $150,000 bond, while Medina had a $75,000 bond. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Bank donates funds to UT ensembles SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
A local bank presented a $40,000 donation to The University of Texas Butler School of Music on Wednesday in support of its mariachi and conjunto music ensembles. The bank initiated the fundraiser, with the bulk of donations coming from South Texans who believe in the cultural importance of furthering mariachi and conjunto music. IBC Bank-Austin CEO Bob Barnes and IBC Bank-Zapata CEO Renato Ramirez presented the check to Butler School of Music Director Glenn A. Richter at the branch at 816 Congress Avenue in Austin. “IBC Bank is committed to education and we believe the mariachi and conjunto ensembles at The University of Texas further the cultural aware-
ness of the contributions Hispanic citizens make to this great state and nation,” Ramirez said. The UT Butler School of Music mariachi ensemble was present at the unveiling of the Tejano Monument on the state capitol grounds in March. That’s when bank officers came to understand the needs of the ensemble, in particular with regard to uniforms and instruments, and helped to rally individuals in South Texas to raise funds for this culturally important program. The University of Texas Mariachi, known as The Mariachi Paredes de Tejastitlán, was founded in 1977. The ensemble was named in honor of Américo Paredes (1916-99), a faculty member who served as a sponsor and inspiration for the group.
Game wardens arrest four Several hunters accused of road hunting SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Game wardens detained four people for road hunting along FM 2687 in Zapata County, according to game warden field notes released Wednesday. Officials did not release the names of the people. The game warden pulled up on a night set when he observed a vehicle traveling in his direction on FM 2687. The warden hadn’t been on the set long before he saw a vehicle shining a spotlight from the road. When the vehicle approached his location, the warden saw the vehicle towing another vehicle. The two trucks kept spotlighting when they drove past the warden’s position and stopped approximately 75 to 100 yards from his position. Two individuals exited the rear truck and ran over and grabbed a buck they had just shot earlier and threw it in the back of the truck, according the game wardens. The two vehicles were stopped shortly after, and all four admitted to road hunting, according to the wardens. When asked why they were towing the other vehicle, they said that after they shot the deer, they sped off and blew the transmission, according to reports.
Photo by Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News | AP
Patriot Gurard Riders prepare to form a procession for Chad Littlefield during his funeral at the First Baptist Church of Midlothian, on Friday.
Victim’s family defends shooting range visit By DAVID WARREN ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIDLOTHIAN — The man killed alongside a former Navy SEAL sniper at a Texas shooting range was helping his friend work with a troubled war veteran, and the outing was intended to be a “therapeutic situation,” his relatives said Friday following his funeral. Hundreds of people attended the service for Chad Littlefield, who along with his friend, “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle, was fatally shot last weekend. Authorities have said the former Marine they were trying to help suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and turned on the two men. Littlefield’s father-in-law, Tom Montgomery, defended the notion of helping troubled war veterans through target practice. He said Kyle regularly took veterans to the shooting range, and that Littlefield often assisted in efforts to help veterans. “As a gesture of friendship, that’s the only way I can describe it, he was asked to help Chris in this endeavor,” Montgomery said. “I think this was a form of relaxation, a form of therapy.” Police say the suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, shot Littlefield and Kyle multiple times on Feb. 2 before fleeing. He later told his sister and brother-inlaw that the men “were out shooting target practice and he couldn’t trust them so he killed them before they could kill him,” according to a search warrant. Routh is jailed on $3 million bond. The men could not have anticipated Routh’s actions, Montgomery said, adding that Littlefield enjoyed assisting
Kyle with his nonprofit, which provided in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans. Kyle, 38, established the nonprofit after leaving the Navy in 2009 following four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military’s most lethal snipers. His wartime account, “American Sniper,” was a bestseller. “I have to believe that Chris Kyle with all his military background and specialized training was quite capable of reading people,” Montgomery said. Hundreds turned out Friday to honor Littlefield at First Baptist Church in Midlothian, near Dallas. Although Littlefield wasn’t a member of the military, Patriot Guard Riders led the procession as a tribute to his efforts on behalf of veterans and formed a ring around the parking lot and church entrance. Hundreds of other people lined local streets to watch the procession pass. Littlefield, who had a 7-year-old daughter with his wife Leanne, was remembered for his bedrock character. “He was a man of deep commitment and character,” the Rev. Kenny Lowman said during the service. Montgomery said Littlefield and Kyle bonded a few years ago as soccer dads watching their children play, and that their families occasionally vacationed together. “People develop these ethics over a lifetime,” he said. “I think Chad was the type of person who developed them and did what was right, even when no one was looking.” A memorial service for Kyle is planned for Monday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
State
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
Deaf athletes find arena at Dallas school By TAWNELL D. HOBBS THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS — The constant clanging of iron weights used by student athletes sounded throughout a workout room at Woodrow Wilson High School. But for varsity football player Montray Roberts, there was silence. The 17-year-old is deaf, as are some other students who were lifting weights that day at the Dallas ISD campus. The East Dallas school doubles as a regional school for the deaf, and the staff and students are probably among the most accepting when it comes to those with hearing difficulties. Many of the kids have had deaf classmates since attending regional elementary and middle schools for the deaf that feed into Woodrow. But now public schools throughout the country are getting the message that disabled students must be included in sports programs at all education levels. The U.S. Department of Education issued a directive last month that public schools ensure disabled students can participate in extracurricular athletics. If that’s not possible, the schools should provide them with equal alternative options, such as wheelchair basketball. The directive doesn’t guarantee a spot on the team for disabled students, who must compete against their classmates. But schools must make reasonable modifications to aid the students, unless it jeopardizes safety or fundamentally alters the sport. At Woodrow, interpreter Brian Hutson does the hearing for deaf athletes. Last week, he stood just feet away as Montray took turns with other students on a weightlifting bench. Montray said, through Hutson, that he’s enjoyed playing football at Woodrow and has had no problems. The junior running back and defensive back paused in his workout to answer a few questions. What would he tell students with learning disabilities about playing sports? “I will tell them that they could play just as equal as the other hearing kids. I would tell them they could play just the
Photo by Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News | AP
Montray Roberts, center, a deaf football player at Woodrow Wilson High School spots Caleb Vallet, front, as they work out with weights in Dallas. The U.S. Department of Education’s issued a directive requiring schools to include disabled students in sports programs, something that Woodrow Wilson has been doing for years. football coach, said the school has had deaf students play various same.” sports, including volleyball and Is it harder to play football bebasketball. He said it’s no obstaing deaf ? cle, just an extra step of under“No. Not really.” standing — such as knowing that Was he scared of what other deaf students are more expressive people might think? because they use a visual lan“The first time I was a little bit guage. nervous, because it’s more physiEstes told The Dallas Morning cal. I didn’t know if it was going News that he was so in tune with to hurt, or not, to get tackled.” one student who had played footIs he treated like everyone ball for three years that he didn’t else? really need an interpreter to com“Oh, yeah. A lot of people are municate with him. interested to learn sign language “He knew football language, because I’m deaf.” and I knew football, so we develHas he taught anyone sign lanoped our own little Woodrow footguage? ball sign language,” he said. “It’s “Yeah, a little bit.” not a hindrance; it’s just another Any football plays he doesn’t Photo by Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News | AP step. And it takes some coordinafeel comfortable doing? “No.” Montray Roberts, left, and Lanoris Webb, right, two of the deaf football players at tion; you just have to figure out His mother, Lasheka Jones, Woodrow Wilson High School talk to interpreter Brian Hutson, center, as they how they learn.” Estes said there’s only one adsaid Montray was born deaf but worked out with weights in Dallas. justment he’s made to accommoit wasn’t discovered until he was that’s good that they’re letting date Montray: He uses a substi11/2 years old. She said she has velopment. “They need to be competitive kids with disabilities participate.” tute during punt returns because raised her son to be independent Bobby Estes, Woodrow’s athlet- the play requires a verbal and and believes that playing a com- to deal with the life issues they petitive sport has helped his de- will face,” Jones said. “I think ic director and longtime head physical cue.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A
National
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
Snowstorm covers northeast By JAY LINDSAY ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — A storm that forecasters warned could be a blizzard for the history books began clobbering the New York-toBoston corridor on Friday, grounding flights, closing workplaces and sending people rushing to get home ahead of a possible 1 to 3 feet of snow. From New Jersey to Maine, shoppers crowded into supermarkets and hardware stores to buy food, snow shovels, flashlights and generators, something that became a precious commodity after Superstorm Sandy in October. Others gassed up their cars, another lesson learned all too well after Sandy. Across much of New England, schools closed well ahead of the first snowflakes. “This is a storm of major proportions,” Boston Mayor Thomas Menino warned. “Stay off the roads. Stay home.” The wind-whipped snowstorm mercifully arrived at the start of a weekend, which meant fewer cars on the road and extra time for sanitation crews to clear the mess before commuters in the New York-to-Boston region of roughly 25 million people have to go back to work. But it could also mean a weekend cooped up indoors. Rainy Neves, a mother of two in Cambridge, just west of Boston, did some last-minute shopping at a grocery store, filling her cart to the brim. “Honestly, a lot of junk — a lot of quick things you can make just in case lights go out, a lot of snacks to keep the kids busy while they’d be inside during the storm, things to sip with my friends, things for movies,” she said. “Just a whole bunch of things to keep us entertained.” In heavily Catholic Boston, the archdiocese urged parishioners to be prudent about attending Sunday Mass and reminded them that, under church law, the obligation “does not apply when there is grave difficulty in fulfilling this obligation.” Halfway through what had been a mild winter across the Northeast, blizzard warnings were posted from parts of New Jersey to Maine. The National Weather Service said Boston could get close to 3 feet
Photo by Jacqueline Dormer/The Republican-Herald | AP
A man walks on South Centre Street in downtown Pottsville, Pa., as the snow begins to accumulate Friday night. of snow by Saturday evening, while most of Rhode Island could receive more than 2 feet. Connecticut was bracing for 2 feet, and New York City was expecting as much as 14 inches. By Friday evening, the New York-to-Boston corridor was getting blowing, swirling snow and freezing rain. Early snowfall was blamed for a 19-car pileup in Cumberland, Maine, that caused minor injuries. The snow was expected to be at its heaviest Friday night and into Saturday. Forecasters said wind gusts up to 75 mph could cause widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts. Flooding was expected along coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, which hit New York and New Jersey the hardest and is considered Jersey’s worst natural disaster. Meteorologist Jeff Masters, of Weather Underground, said the winter storm was a collision of two storms and may end up among the Boston area’s Top 5 most intense ever.
“When you add two respectable storms together, you’re going to get a knockout punch with this one,” he said. It could break Boston’s all-time snowstorm record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003, forecasters said. The storm also comes almost 35 years to the day after the Blizzard of ’78, a ferocious storm that dropped 27 inches of snow, packed hurricane-force winds and claimed dozens of lives. Masters said the region could get a break from warmer air trailing behind that is expected to push temperatures up to the 40s by Monday. “It’s going to be not that difficult to dig out, compared to maybe some other nor’easters in the past, where it stayed cold after the storm went through,” he said. Drivers were urged to stay off the streets lest their cars get stuck, preventing snowplows and emergency vehicles from getting through. New York City ran extra commuter trains to help people get
home before the brunt of the storm hit. Amtrak stopped running trains in cities around the Northeast on Friday afternoon. Airlines canceled more than 4,300 flights through Saturday, and New York City’s three major airports and Boston’s Logan Airport shut down. Interstate 95 was closed to all but essential traffic in Rhode Island, where the governor said outages remained the biggest threat. “With tree branches laden with heavy, wet snow, the winds picking up and the temperatures plunging all at the same time, it’s a bad combination,” Gov. Lincoln Chafee said. In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick enacted a statewide driving ban for the first time since the Blizzard of ‘78. Hours before the ban went into effect at 4 p.m., long lines formed at gas stations, some of which were almost out of fuel. James Stone said he was saving the remaining regular gas at his station in Abington, south of Boston, for snowplow drivers. “It hasn’t snowed like this in two years,” Stone said. “Most people are caught way off-guard.” In New York, Fashion Week, a series of designer showings with some activities held under tents, went on mostly as scheduled, though organizers put on additional crews to deal with the snow and ice, turned up the heat and fortified the tents. The snow did require some wardrobe changes: Designer Michael Kors was forced to arrive at the Project Runway show in Uggs. For Joe DeMartino, of Fairfield, Conn., being overprepared was impossible: His wife was expecting their first baby Sunday. He stocked up on gas and food, got firewood ready and was installing a baby seat in the car. The couple also packed for the hospital. “They say that things should clear up by Sunday. We’re hoping that they’re right,” he said. Said his wife, Michelle: “It adds an element of excitement.” The snow was too much of a good thing in some places. In New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut’s Skiing Carnival was canceled because of the snowstorm. In Maine, the National Toboggan Championships in Camden were postponed to Sunday. CAUSE NO. 7,788 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF CHARLES A. WEAVER, DECEASED IN THE 49TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT WEBB COUNTY, TEXAS NOTICE TO CREDITORS Notice is hereby given that original Letters of Administration for the Estate of CHARLES A. WEAVER, Deceased, were issued on June 25, 2012, in Cause No. 7,788, said cause pending in the 49th Judicial District Court of Zapata County, Texas, in favor of: 1.Mark Brian Weaver 603 Old Sayers Road Elgin, Texas 78621 All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being administered are required to present them within the time and in the manner prescribed by law to MR. MARK BRIAN WEAVER, Independent Administrator of the Estate of CHARLES A. WEAVER, Deceased.
Photo by Will Lester/The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/Pool | AP
A San Bernardino County Sheriff SWAT team returns to the command post at Bear Mountain near Big Bear Lake, Calif. after searching for Christopher Jordan Dorner on Friday.
Hunt for man continues By GREG RISLING AND TAMI ABDOLLAH ASSOCIATED PRESS
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — All that was left were footprints leading away from Christopher Dorner’s burned-out pickup truck, and an enormous, snowcovered mountain where he could be hiding among the skiers, hundreds of cabins and dense woods. More than 100 officers, including SWAT teams, were driven in glass-enclosed snow machines and armored personnel carriers to hunt for the former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a deadly rampage to get back at those he blamed for ending his police career. With bloodhounds in tow, officers went door to door as snow fell, aware to the reality they could be walking into a trap set by the well-trained former Navy reservist who knows
their tactics and strategies as well as they do. “The bad guy is out there, he has a certain time on you, and a distance. How do you close that?” asked T. Gregory Hall, a retired tactical supervisor for a special emergency response team for the Pennsylvania State Police. “The bottom line is, when he decides that he is going to make a stand, the operators are in great jeopardy,” Hall said. As authorities weathered heavy snow and freezing temperatures in the mountains, thousands of heavily armed police remained on the lookout throughout California, Nevada, Arizona and northern Mexico. Police said officers still were guarding more than 40 people mentioned as targets in a rant they said Dorner posted. He vowed to use “every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordinance and survival
training I’ve been given” to bring “warfare” to the LAPD and its families. At noon, police and U.S. Marshals accompanied by computer forensics specialists served a search warrant on his mother’s house in the Orange County city of La Palma. Dorner’s mother and sister were there at the time, and a police spokesman said they were cooperating. The manhunt had residents on edge. Unconfirmed sightings were reported near Barstow, about 60 miles north of the mountain search, at Point Loma base near San Diego and in downtown Los Angeles. Some law enforcement officials speculated that he appeared to be everywhere and nowhere, and that he was trying to spread out their resources. For the time being, their focus was on the mountains 80 miles east of Los Angeles.
Dated the 6th day of February, 2013. MARK BRIAN WEAVER, Independent Administrator of the Estate of CHARLES A. WEAVER, Deceased. L- 71
Kerry: Pipeline decision is forthcoming By MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday promised a “fair and transparent” review of a Canadian company’s plan to pipe oil from western Canada to refineries in Texas. In his first comments about the controversial Keystone XL pipeline since becoming secretary of state, Kerry said he is waiting for a review begun by his predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and hopes to make a decision in the “near term.” The State Department has jurisdiction over the $7 billion pipeline because it crosses an international border. Kerry, who met with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird on Friday, praised Canada as a close ally and the largest energy supplier to the U.S. He declined to comment on the pipeline’s merits, but he said the review process begun under Clinton is well under way. “I can guarantee you that it will be fair and transparent, accountable, and we hope that we will be able to be in a position to make an announcement in the near term,” he said. Calgary-based TransCanada has proposed the 1,700-mile pipeline to carry oil derived from tar sands in Alberta to refineries in the Houston area.
The pipeline plan has become a flashpoint in the U.S. debate over climate change. Republicans and business and labor groups have urged the Obama administration to approve the pipeline as a source of muchneeded jobs and a step toward North American energy independence. Environmental groups have been pressuring President Barack Obama to reject the pipeline, saying it would carry “dirty oil” that contributes to global warming. They also worry about a spill. Kerry said he pays “great respect” to the importance of the U.S. energy relationship with Canada and the overall relationship between the two neighbors. “Canada is our largest energy supplier, and our shared networks of electrical grids keep energy flowing both ways across the border. As we move forward to meet the needs of a clean energy future on this shared continent we are going to continue to build on our foundation of cooperation,” he said. Baird said he and Kerry had a good discussion on energy policy. “Obviously, the Keystone XL pipeline is a huge priority for our government and the Canadian economy, and I appreciated the dialogue we had about what we could do to tackle environmental challenges together,” he said.
SÁBADO 9 DE FEBRERO DE 2013
Agenda en Breve LAREDO 02/09— El equipo de béisbol de TAMIU recibe a Oklahoma Panhandle State University, a la 1 p.m. en Uni-trade Stadium. Más información en http://GoDustdevils.com 02/09— The Bazaar es de 2 p.m. a 6 p.m. en The French Quarter, 1605 E. Del Mar Blvd. 02/09— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta “Planets Quest” a las 3 p.m.; “Extreme Planets” a las 4 p.m.; “Stars of the Pharaohs” a las 5 p.m. Costo 4 y 5 dólares. 02/09— El equipo varonil de baloncesto de TAMIU recibe a University of Arkansas Fort Smith, a las 4 p.m. en el Edificio de Kinesiology and Convocation de la Universidad. Más información en http://GoDustdevils.com 02/09— El equipo femenil de baloncesto de TAMIU recibe a University of Arkansas Fort Smith, a las 5:30 p.m. en el Edificio de Kinesiology and Convocation de la Universidad. Más información en http://GoDustdevils.com 02/09— La banda de Rock Papa Roach, famosos por sus canciones “Last Resort” y “Scars”, viene por primera vez a Laredo Energy Arena a las 8 p.m. con el grupo Stone Sour. Los precios son de 45 dólares para planta baja y 28 dólares en planta alta. 02/09— La exhibición “Algorithm”, con obras de David Berrones, se presenta en On The Rocks Tavern, 1102 calle Iturbide, a partir de las 8 p.m. Música en vivo con Archer Crab y Jewels in the Sky. 02/10— “Say Yes to Avon Beauty Tour” (Gira de Belleza Di Sí a Avon) se presenta de 11 a.m. a 6 p.m. en “Walgreens”, 1119 calle Guadalupe. Aurora Gonzalez, representante de Avon en Laredo, compartirá su historia, mientras se observan los autobuses de la Gira Avon. 02/10— LTGI presenta “Romeo y Julieta”, dirigida por Marco Gonzalez y producida por Joe Arciniega, a las 3 p.m. en el Teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Costo: 15 dólares, general; y 10 dólares, estudiantes y adultos mayores. 02/11— El Departamento de Bellas Artes de UISD presenta a la Banda de Jazz de Texas A&M University’s – Kingsville en Concierto, a las 7 p.m. en el Auditorio del Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex, 5208 Santa Claudia Lane con el Jazz Band I - South Texas Tour. Evento gratuito. 02/12— El equipo de Softball de TAMIU recibe a Texas A&M University-Kingsville, a las 12 p.m. en el Dustdevil Field. Más información en http://GoDustdevils.com 02/12— El equipo de Béisbol de TAMIU recibe a Arlington Baptist College, a las 12 p.m. en el Uni-Trade Stadium. Más información en http://GoDustdevils.com 02/12— TAMIU expondrá el retrato original de “Billete de Dolar” de George Washington por Gilbert Stuart Athenaeum, a las 6:30 p.m. El retrato seguirá siendo exhibido de 8 a.m. a 8 p.m. hasta el jueves, 14 de febrero. 02/13— Estreno de “Retrato de un patriota” del Teatro Americano de la Historia, patrocinado por WBCA en el Centro de Bellas Artes y Artes de la Interpretación de TAMIU a las 7 p.m. John Lopes interpretará a George Washington y Bob Gleason interpretará al retratista Gilbert Stuart. Entrada gratuita.
Zfrontera
PÁGINA 9A
VENTA DE ARMAS
Buscan acuerdo POR ALAN FRAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Un grupo bipartidista de cuatro senadores intenta calladamente encontrar una solución negociada para hacer más amplio el requisito de las revisiones de los antecedentes a quienes pretendan comprar un arma de fuego. De los cuatro legisladores, dos pertenecen a la Asociación Nacional de Portadores de Armas (NRA, por sus siglas en inglés), y dos tienen categoría “F” —lo que significa que están a favor de la portación de armas, pero son menos radicales_, según una clasificación en esa poderosa organización de cabildeo. Un acuerdo, al que diversos participantes y cabilderos dan buenas oportunidades de concretarse, podría aportar un formidable impulso político a uno de los principales elementos en el plan
En la actualidad, las revisiones a los antecedentes sólo son obligatorias para los 55.000 establecimientos que cuentan con autorización federal de venta en el país. del presidente Barack Obama para el control de armas. En la actualidad, las revisiones a los antecedentes sólo son obligatorias para los 55.000 establecimientos que cuentan con autorización federal de venta en el país, pero no para las exposiciones de armas, ventas de persona a persona ni para otras transacciones privadas. Las conversaciones de los senadores han incluido discusiones sobre formas para alentar a los estados a que pongan más expedientes disponibles sobre salud mental en el sistema nacional y sobre el tipo de transacciones que
podrían exentarse de las revisiones de los antecedentes, como las ventas entre parientes o a aquéllos que tienen permiso para portar armas ocultas, dijeron personas que solicitaron el anonimato porque no están autorizadas a detallar públicamente las negociaciones. En las discusiones privadas participan el senador liberal Chuck Schumer, el tercer líder demócrata en rango en el Senado; el senador Joe Manchin, integrante de la Asociación Nacional de Poseedores de Armas y uno de los demócratas más moderados en la cámara; el senador republicano
Tom Coburn, también integrante de la asociación y uno de los legisladores más conservadores en el Congreso; y el senador republicano moderado Mark Kirk. “El proyecto que se pretende no limitará que se pueda pedir al tío el rifle para ir de cacería o compartir un arma con el amigo en un campo de tiro"”, dijo Schumer la semana pasada en una de las pocas declaraciones públicas de los senadores sobre el conjunto de medidas que pretende concertar el grupo. Schumer consideró posible la concertación de un acuerdo bipartidista. Según encuestas, el requisito de que se verifiquen los antecedentes en casi todas las compras de armas tiene más apoyo público que la propuesta de Obama de prohibir las ventas de armas de asalto y de cargadores de gran capacidad, y figura entre las medidas que tiene las mejores probabilidades de ser aprobadas.
COMUNIDAD
TEXAS
FELIZ 105
Detallan logros contra fraudes al Medicaid ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
AUSTIN — El Procurador General de Texas, tras haber tomado medidas por una década contra el fraude al Medicaid recientemente alcanzó dos logros históricos. Desde 2002, la cantidad recuperada por la División de Fraude Civil al Medicaid en nombre del Estado de Texas ha rebasado 400 millones de dólares, mientras que la cantidad total recuperada para los gobiernos del estado y federal ahora supera los 1.000 millones de dólares. Debido a que el programa Medicaid es conjuntamente pagado por el Estado y el gobierno federal, los sobrepagos fraudulentos recuperados por la Procuraduría General son compartidos con la tesorería federal. La gran mayoría del 1.01 mil millones de dólares recuperados desde 2002 resultaron de acciones legales de denunciantes, las cuales inicialmente fueron presentadas bajo sello por personas privadas. Tras examinar los reclamos de los denunciantes para determinar su veracidad, la División de Fraude Civil al Medicaid (CMF) intervino en estos casos en nombre del Estado bajo un esfuerzo por recuperar los sobrepagos a proveedores de Medicaid. Bajo la Ley de Prevención de Fraude al Medicaid de Texas, se requiere que CMF comparta un porcentaje de la recuperación con el denunciante que inicia el caso.
Antecedentes
Foto de cortesía | Ciudad de Laredo
Margartiza Sánchez Uribe celebró 105 años de vida. Ella creció en San Ygnacio, y trabajó como asistente del administrador de correos de la pequeña comunidad; su esposo, Ernesto Uribe, era el administrador de correos. Estuvieron celebrando con ella, cinco de sus seis hijos Manuel Uribe, Victor Uribe, Socorro Cavazos, Ernestina Martinez, y Ernesto Uribe Jr; y sus nietos Patty Uribe Houston, María Cavazos Gonzalez, Rebecca Garza, y Alma Cavazos (en la fotografía). En la semana, el Alcalde de Laredo, Raúl G. Salinas la visitó en su residencia, donde le hizo entrega de un pastel y un corsage con una rosa roja, cortesía de Narvaez Flower Shop.
Inicialmente lanzado como una pequeña sección de otra división de la Procuraduría General en 1999, CMF fue expandido y establecido como una división separada en 2007 cuando la Legislatura de Texas, reconociendo el valor de CMF por su rendimiento, dramáticamente aumentó su presupuesto. En el año fiscal 2012, los 137 millones recuperados por CMF para el Estado fueron 23 veces mayor que el costo de operación de la división. Reconocida nacionalmente por sus esfuerzos para recuperar fondos indebidamente tomados del programa Medicaid, CMF es responsable de dar seguimiento a reclamos de fraude a través de acciones de cumplimiento de derecho civil. Otra división separada de la Procuraduría General, la Unidad de Control de Fraude al Medicaid, maneja investigaciones penales en base a casos remitidos por otras agencias del estado tal como la Oficina del Inspector General de la Comisión de Salud y Servicios Humanos.
ARTE
Grupo de mariachi escolar recibe apoyo económico ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
La Escuela de Música Butler de The University of Texas, en Austin, recibió una donación para sus grupos de mariachi y conjunto musical el 6 de febrero, de manos de representantes de IBC Bank. Se trata de una campaña para recaudación de fondos iniciada por la institución bancaria, que se logra con las donaciones de tejanos residentes en el Sur de la entidad, quienes creen en la importancia cultural al impulsar al mariachi y conjunto musical, según un comunicado de prensa. La entrega del cheque por 40.000 dólares fue lle-
vada a cabo en la sucursal ubicada por 816 avenida Congress en Austin. Glenn A. Richter, Director del Butler School of Music recibió la donación de manos de Bob Barnes, CEO de IBC Bank-Austin, y Renato Ramirez, CEO de IBC Bank-Zapata. “(Esto) hará posible que nuestros programas de verano expandan sus ofertas para incluir el rápido crecimiento de la cultura musical del mariachi”, dijo Richter. Ramírez, por su parte, dijo que “creemos que los grupos de mariachi y conjunto en la Universidad de Texas, impulsarán la atención cultural que las contribuciones de ciudadanos
hispanos hacen al estado y nación”. El mariachi del UT Butler School of Music participó en la presentación del Monumento Tejano en la capital del estado, en marzo del 2012. El banco y el Sur de Texas apoyaron ampliamente el monumento. En ése momento destacó la necesidad del grupo, en relación a uniformes e instrumentos, y IBC Bank coordinó la idea para recaudar fondos en el Sur de Texas para el programa cultural. The University of Texas Mariachi, conocido como The Mariachi Paredes de Tejastitlán, nació en 1977. El grupo lleva el nombre del Dr. Américo Paredes
Foto de cortesía/Mark Langford | IBC
IBC Bank donó 40.000 dólares a los grupos de mariachi y conjunto del University of Texas Butler School of Music en Austin. De izquierda a derecha, IBC Bank-Austin CEO, Bob Barnes; IBC BankZapata CEO Renato Ramirez; Director Interino de UT-Butler School of Music, Glenn Richter; y, UT VP de Diversidad y Participación Comunitaria, Greg Vincent. (1916-99), un catedrático que ayudó como patroci-
nador e inspirador del grupo.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
Acapulco rapes cloud tourist season By BERTHA RAMOS AND MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ACAPULCO, Mexico — The tourism world turned its eyes on Mexico after six Spanish women were raped by masked gunmen during a vacation in the longtroubled Pacific coast resort of Acapulco. While there has been talk of reviving the golden era of the ‘40s and ‘50s, international tourists have long steered away from Acapulco, even before the drug violence of recent years, as the city fell into disrepair and glitzier Cancun and Los Cabos gained favor. The question now is whether the attack will affect other resorts as Mexico prepares for its annual spring break onslaught and peak season. The hours-long assault was carried out by a gang of masked gunmen who burst into the beachfront home before dawn on Monday and tied up the six men inside, then raped the women. A seventh Mexican woman was unharmed. “We are really sorry about what happened with the Spanish tourists because ... it is something that affects Mexico’s image,” said Juan Carlos Gonzalez, tourism secretary of Quintana Roo, the Caribbean coast state where Cancun is located and which hosted about 17 million tourists last year. But, he added, “we are definitely not as contaminated with the crime issue as other states in Mexico.” Acapulco barely registers on U.S. tourists’ radar anymore, said Kathy Gerhardt, a spokeswoman for Travel Leaders, a network of independently owned and operated travel agencies in the U.S. “Those individuals trying to lump Acapulco into the list of top Mexico destinations for U.S. travelers are simply misinformed,” she said. In a recent survey of over 1,000 travel agency owners, managers
Photo by Bernandino Hernandez | AP
State police check a taxi at a roadblock due to stepped up security after masked armed men broke into a beach home, raping six Spanish tourists who had rented the house in Acapulco, on Tuesday. An estimated 50,000 Spaniards travel to Mexico each year, but mostly to the Caribbean coast, not Acapulco. Mexicans and Spaniards living in Mexico like the victims, however, flock to Acapulco during Easter week and other long holiday weekends, such as Monday, when the country celebrated its Constitution Day. Local tourists believe they can distinguish unsafe areas of the city, and even foreign travel warnings say it’s safe for those who don’t wander far from the beach. “For us, this is an incredibly safe zone,” said Rafael Gallego Nadal, president of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies. “This was a terrible attack, but it’s not the first time that something bad has happened in that part of Mexico.” He said there has been no talk of travel agencies reducing package tour prices. Some press reports Wednesday
and agents, “not a single individual chose Acapulco as a top international destination they are booking for their clients,” Gerhardt said. “We do not see any spillover effect,” she added, for areas like Cancun, which Travel Leaders lists as the No. 2 foreign destination for U.S. travelers, after Caribbean island cruises. From a 2009 shootout that killed 18 near Acapulco’s fabled Flamingo Hotel to this week’s attack, the resort once celebrated in Frank Sinatra songs and Elvis Presley movies has been the scene of body dumpings, beheadings and taxi-driver killings as gangs vie for drug transport routes once controlled by the now-decimated Beltran Leyva cartel. Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises — some of the last lines making port calls in Acapulco — canceled those in December, before the latest attack.
suggested a drug purchase could have played a role in Monday’s rapes, but Marcos Juarez, the chief investigator for Guerrero state prosecutors, said there was no evidence of that. Still, the attack exposed a dangerous security situation in areas that had been considered safe, such as the laid-back stretch of beach dotted with restaurants, small hotels and homes southeast of the city’s center, where the Spaniards had rented a villa. The five attackers held the group at gunpoint, tying up the six men with phone cords and bathing suit straps, then raping the six women over a three-hour period, authorities said. The manager of a hotel near the house said he heard shouting just after midnight Monday, but did nothing because he felt it would be too dangerous. The man did not want to give his name for safety reasons. It was unclear whether the vic-
tims had been targeted because of their nationality. Guerrero state Attorney General Martha Garzon told local media that the attackers’ motive was robbery and that they drank mescal they found at the house. The Mexican woman, who is married to one of the Spaniards, “was saved by the fact that she is Mexican,” Garzon said. “She says she identified herself to the (attackers) and asked not to be raped, and they told her that she had passed the test by being Mexican and they didn’t touch her,” Garzon told Radio Formula. While some Mexicans harbor resentment against Spaniards dating to colonial times, the victims may have been targeted for other reasons, such as appearance or possessions. Mayor Luis Walton rushed to apologize Wednesday for his comment the day before that “this happens everywhere in the world, not just in Acapulco or in Mexico.” “Of course, this worries us and we don’t want anything like this to happen in Acapulco or anywhere else in the world,” he said. “We know this is going to affect our tourism.” Billionaire business magnate Carlos Slim, ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s richest man, proposed a plan last year to rescue Acapulco by building parks and recreational centers there. Still, it would be a long way from the city’s heyday, when Elizabeth Taylor was married in Acapulco, John F. and Jackie Kennedy spent their honeymoon there and Howard Hughes hid out in a suite at the Princess Hotel, a pyramid-shaped icon in the exclusive Punta Diamante, or Diamond Point. Gallego said it’s important to make arrests soon to prove that those responsible will be punished. State prosecutor Garzon said authorities have strong evidence leading to the culprits.
US knocked for using Mexican recyclers By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
U.S. companies are sending spent lead batteries to recycling plants in Mexico that do not meet U.S. environmental standards, according to an environmental agency created under the North American Free Trade Agreement, putting Mexican communities at risk. In a blistering report submitted this week, the agency, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, notes that the United States does not fully follow procedures common among developed nations that treat international battery shipments as hazardous waste. It faults environmental agencies on both sides of the border for lapses in regulation and enforcement. Cross-border trade in lead batteries increased by as much as 525 percent from 2004 to 2011, the report said. The report, which has been circulating in draft form, has been forwarded to the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico, which have 60 days
to object to its publication. An estimated 20 percent of lead acid batteries from the United States go to Mexico for recycling, according to trade statistics. “There needs to be better coordination between government agencies and better cross-border tracking,” said Evan Lloyd, who was the agency’s executive director until late last year and oversaw the yearlong study. The report highlighted a number of shortcomings: Customs data on the number of batteries crossing the border did not mesh with counts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although the EPA requires notice of batteries leaving the United States, there was no effort to make sure that they had arrived at qualified recyclers in Mexico. The data that battery companies sent to the EPA about exports consisted of “piles of paper,” Lloyd said, and it was never amassed into an electronic database that would be “useful to regulators.” Almost all lead acid batteries used in the United
“
There’s a pretty consistent pattern suggesting that exports are the direct result of U.S. emissions standards.” PERRY GOTTESFELD
States are recycled to extract the lead for reuse because lead is a dangerous pollutant and because it is a valuable commodity. Lead batteries are used in vehicles, cellphone towers and wind turbines. Since 2008, new U.S. limits on lead pollution have made domestic recycling complicated and costly. That has helped propel the recycling trade to Mexico, both legally and illegally, environmental groups say, because that country has less stringent limits for lead pollution and far less vigorous enforcement. “There’s a pretty consistent pattern suggesting that exports are the direct result
LAKE Continued from Page 1A She described her nephew as a humble man who thought he could help his mother by coming to the States. “It’s sad,” Hernandez said of how her nephew ended his journey. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
of U.S. emissions standards,” said Perry Gottesfeld, executive director of Occupational Knowledge International, which has led the campaign against lead poisoning internationally. Gottesfeld noted that a Mexican plant owned by a major U.S. recycler, Johnson Controls International, puts out more than 30 times as much lead emissions as its newest plant in the United States. “What Mexico needs to do is to get its recycling up to U.S. standards, and the U.S. needs to do a much better job of tracking batteries overseas,” he said. In an email, Johnson Controls, based in Milwaukee, said it was “moderniz-
ing and reinvesting” in the Mexican facility, acquired in 2005, “to reduce its environmental footprint.” The report was initiated in response to a report by Occupational Knowledge International and Fronteras Comunes, a Mexican environmental group, as well as to an investigative article in The New York Times, Lloyd said. Soil collected by The Times in a school playground near a recycling plant outside Mexico City was found to have lead levels five times those allowed in the United States. Lead poisoning causes high blood pressure, kidney damage and abdominal pain in adults, and serious developmental delays and behavioral problems in young children. When batteries are broken for recycling, the lead is released as dust and, during melting, as leadlaced emissions. In the United States, recyclers operate in highly mechanized, tightly sealed plants, with smokestack scrubbers and extensive monitors to detect lead release. Plants in Mexico vary
greatly in safety standards, and in some, the recycling process is little more than men with hammers smashing batteries and melting their contents in furnaces. In recent months, there have been new efforts to curb the flow of batteries south of the border, although many battery-makers have fought that. In response to a draft of the report released late last year, Battery Council International, an industry group, said it opposed “the creation of additional burdensome certification programs.” Last year, the U.S. General Services Administration, which is responsible for federal vehicles, asked ASTM International, an independent standards agency, to explore a voluntary standard for battery recycling. But that effort came to naught after the proposal was voted down at an open meeting attended by representatives from industry, government and environmental groups in December. Of the 103 people at the meeting, 49 worked for Johnson Controls.
FERNANDO Continued from Page 1A the front seat of his car. “It felt great,” he said. “It was awesome. It hit me in the heart to see him so happy there turning the steering wheel. He got excited when I hit the motor.” Cruz lost his eyesight after he underwent an operation recently, making part of his wish to hear one of his favorite things — cars. The Monitor of McAllen reports that another part of the 5-yearold’s wish came true when he was
allowed to go outside once again and feel sunshine. Brought out by hospital staff, the boy’s body hardly filled the wheelchair he sat in while wearing a medical mask. Daniel Sanchez — a former member of Intocable, one of the boy’s favorite groups — also sang to him as he stood swaying to the music. The child, who will undergo several rounds of chemotherapy, tested out nearly all 20 of the cars
on display as he held his mother’s hand. Maria Cruz works two jobs, only seeing him during her free time, while his great-grandmother Margarita Cruz Rodriguez spends time with him at the hospital. Through tears, his great-grandmother said the moment, and his happiness, were important as he continues to fight for his life. “Who knows,” she said of why he loves cars so much. “He’s al-
ways been like that since he was small.” Ava Sandlin, executive director of the foundation’s Rio Grande Valley chapter, said the boy’s fragile health called for the quick organization of his wish. Plans were finalized within a week, she said. With a fleet waiting to rev their engines at his command, the boy yelled in Spanish to kick off his wish: “Start your cars!”
BANKER Continued from Page 1A rez, who said he came forward as a board member of the Texas Civil Rights Project. The allegations made by Ramirez, 73, surfaced Thursday when Democratic state Sen. Judith Zaffirini asked DPS Director Steve McCraw about trooper conduct during a public hearing. She brought up dashcam video in July of trooper Kelly Helleson giving body cavity searches to two women, ages 38 and 24, who say in a lawsuit they were pulled over for flicking cigarette butts
out the window and were searched with the same glove. Zaffirini told McCraw a “very prominent citizen” had raised other misconduct allegations, meaning Ramirez. McCraw said he wanted to see dashcam video. “I would love to be able to talk to him and review those tapes to see if we have acted inappropriately,” McCraw said during his testimony. “I’m not saying we have. Believe me, we make mistakes.” Ramirez and McCraw are
scheduled to talk next week. Records show Ramirez has given more than $50,000 to state Republican and Democratic candidates since 2000, including Zaffirini. He has been active with the Texas Civil Rights Project for the past decade, and his high public profile includes being a key fundraiser for the Tejano Monument on the lawn of the state Capitol that was unveiled last year. Ramirez said he has been personally pulled over “8 to 10
times” over the past few years for violations he described as mundane. But he said he was most angered by a September 2011 incident in which his son and 13-year-old granddaughter were pulled over on their way to the dentist. According to an affidavit provided to The Associated Press by his father, Ricardo Ramirez said a trooper pulled him over for driving in a turn-only lane. Ricardo Ramirez, who is president of IBC Bank Zapata, said
the trooper made him stand behind his truck and questioned his daughter over how they paid for the $52,000 vehicle. “Even after I identified myself as President of a $500 million bank, his hostile and aggressive demeanor persisted,” Ricardo Ramirez wrote. “His interrogation is a violation of my civil rights as an American citizen.” DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the department reviews audio and video tapes of any complaints made against a trooper.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
MARCELINA CADENA DE LOZANO SAN YGNACIO — Marcelina Cadena de Lozano, 80, passed away Feb. 2, 2013, at her residence. Visitation hours were Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 9 pm with a wake at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home and Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 9 am. Chapel services were held Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013 at 10 a.m. Committal services followed at Martinez Cemetery in San Ygnacio. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata.
By MARCIA DUNN ASSOCIATED PRESS
JORGE MARTINEZ Jorge Martinez, 40, passed away Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo. Jorge was preceded in death by his brother, Andres Martinez; and a nephew, Armando Martinez. Jorge is survived by his parents, Martin and Elvia L. Martinez; brothers, Jose Jesus Martinez, Gilberto Martinez (Deborah Paredez), Gabriel Angel Martinez and Juan Luis (Eva Angela) Martinez; sisters, Victoriana (Rogelio) Martinez and San Juanita (Rogelio) Rodriguez; and by numerous nephews, nieces and friends. Visitation hours were Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home and Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The funeral procession departed at 9:30 a.m. for a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. 83, Zapata.
JOSE LUIS GARCIA Jose Luis Garcia, 49, passed away Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo. Mr. Garcia is preceded in death by his mother, Maria de Jesus Garcia; sister, Maria Teresa Garcia; paternal grandparents, Alfonso and Barbara Garcia; and his maternal grandparents, Manuel and Maria Guadalupe Almaguer. Mr. Garcia is survived by wife, Maria Olga Garcia; sons, Jose Luis Garcia Jr. and Roberto Carlos Rendon; daughters, Keyiris (Abelardo) Caballero and Xiomara (Alfredo) Flores; grandchildren, Luis Javier Caballero, Jose Abelardo Caballero, Brianda Flores and Itzel Flores; father, Agustin Garcia; brothers, Rolando Agustin (Yadira) Garcia, Jesus Lauro (Cari) Garcia and Gerardo Manuel (Marla) Garcia; sisters, Ana Luis (Juan Enrique) Alvarado, Maria de Jesus (Diego) Velasquez, Olga Lydia (†Juan Ramon) Guzman and Sonia Isabel (Rogelio) Gonzalez; and by numerous nephews, nieces and friends. Visitation hours were Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary
Asteroid won’t hit Earth CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A 150-foot-wide asteroid will come remarkably close to Earth next week, even closer than high-flying communication and weather satellites. It will be the nearest known flyby for an object of this size. But don’t worry. Scientists promise the megarock will be at least 17,100 miles away when it zips past on Friday. “No Earth impact is possible,” Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said Thursday. Even the chance of an asteroidsatellite run-in is extremely remote, Yeomans and other scientists noted. A few hundred satellites orbit at 22,300 miles, higher than the asteroid’s path, although operators are being warned about the incoming object for tracking purposes. “No one has raised a red flag, nor will they,” Yeomans told reporters. “I certainly don’t anticipate any problems whatsoever.” Impossible to see with the naked eye, the asteroid is considered small as these things go. By contrast, the one that took out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was 6 miles wide. Yet Asteroid 2012 DA14, as it’s known for its discovery date, still could pack a wallop. If it impacted Earth — which it won’t, scientists were quick to add Thursday — it would release the energy equivalent of 2.4 million tons of TNT and wipe out 750 square miles. That’s what happened in Siberia in 1908, when forest land around the Tunguska River was flattened by a slightly smaller asteroid that exploded about five miles above ground. The likelihood of something this size striking Earth is once in every 1,200 years. A close, harmless encounter like this is thought to occur every 40 years. The bulk of the solar system’s asteroids are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and remain stable there for billions of years. Some occasionally pop out, though, into Earth’s neighborhood. The closest approach of this one will occur next Friday afternoon,
Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech | AP
This shows a simulation of asteroid 2012 DA14 approaching the Earth-moon system next Friday. The 150-foot object will pass within 17,000 miles of the Earth. Eastern time, over Indonesia. There won’t be much of a show. The asteroid will zip by at 17,400 mph. That’s roughly eight times faster than a bullet from a highspeed rifle. The asteroid will be invisible to the naked eye and even with binoculars and telescopes will appear as a small point of light. The prime viewing locations will be in Asia, Australia and eastern Europe. Observers in the U.S. can pretty much forget it. Astronomers using NASA’s deep-space antenna in California’s Mojave Desert will have to wait eight hours after the closest approach to capture radar images. Scientists welcome whatever pictures they get. The asteroid offers a unique opportunity to observe something this big and close, and any new knowledge will help if and when another killer asteroid is headed Earth’s way. The close approach also highlights the need to keep track of what’s out there, if for no other reason than to protect the planet. NASA’s current count of nearEarth objects: just short of 10,000, the result of a concentrated effort for the past 15 years. That’s thought to represent less than 10 percent of the objects out there. No one has ruled out a serious Earth impact, although the probability is said to be extremely low. “We don’t have all the money in the world to do this kind of work” for tracking and potentially deflect-
RAYMOND LEE VAUGHN
at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. U.S. 83, Zapata.
Raymond Lee Vaughn, 65, passed away Feb. 1, 2013, at his residence. Mr. Vaughn is preceded in death by his parents, James Lee and Amelia Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn is survived by his wife, Nery Vaughn; sons, Alfredo V., Raymond Jr., Johnny, Pete, Fabian and Armando Vaughn; daughters, Ana and Aleysi Vaughn; and numerous grandchildren, brother, sisters, and friends. Visitation hours held on Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at 11 a.m., followed by a chapel service at noon at Rose Garden Funeral Home. Graveside services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. Funeral arrangements
ing asteroids, said Lindley Johnson, an executive with the NearEarth Object observations program in Washington. Indeed, when asked about NASA’s plans to send astronauts to an asteroid in the decades ahead, as outlined a few years ago by President Barack Obama, Johnson said the space agency is looking at a number of options for human explorations. One of the more immediate steps, planned for 2016, is the launch of a spacecraft to fly to a bigger asteroid, collect samples and return them to Earth in 2023. As for Asteroid 2012 DA14 — discovered last year by astronomers in Spain — scientists suspect it’s made of silicate rock, but aren’t sure. Its shape and precise size also are mysteries. What they do know with certainty: “This object’s orbit is so well known that there’s no chance of a collision,” Yeomans repeated during Thursday’s news conference. Its close approach, in fact, will alter its orbit around the sun in such a way as to keep it out of Earth’s neighborhood, at least in the foreseeable future, Yeomans said. Johnson anticipates no “sky is falling thing” related to next week’s flyby. He and other scientists urged journalists to keep the close encounter in perspective.
Actress leaves ‘Up All Night’ ASSOCIATED PRESS
were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata.
LOS ANGELES — Christina Applegate says she’s bowing out of NBC’s “Up All Night.” In a statement Friday, the actress says the show has taken a “different creative direction” and she’s decided to move on to other projects. She called the sitcom a great experience and says she’ll miss her co-workers. “Up All Night” starred Applegate and Will Arnett as a couple with a new baby. The show has struggled in the ratings and has seen several changes in its producer ranks. It also was set to change formats, shifting from a single-camera to a multi-camera approach when it returned for the rest of its second season. NBC declined to comment on the future of “Up All Night,” which last aired in December. The sitcom isn’t currently in production.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NFL: SUPER BOWL XLVII
NCAA BASKETBALL: MEN’S AP TOP 25
Cut down to size
Photo by Mark Humphrey | AP
A Superdome power outage in Super Bowl XLVII delayed the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Raven.
Power-outage plan backfires Device to prevent outage actually causes Super Bowl blackout delay Photo by Darron Cummings | AP
By KEVIN MCGILL
No. 1 ranked Indiana and its star Cody Zeller (40) will surely fall from the No. 1 spot again, after losing on Feb. 7 to unranked Illinois.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
No top-ranked team is safe in today’s game By JOHN MARSHALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Indiana’s latest run as No. 1 didn’t last long, abruptly halted by a loss to unranked Illinois. Duke was bumped from the top spot twice in three weeks. Michigan and Louisville went one and done when their turns came. It’s not lonely at the top, it’s getting crowded. With the Hoosiers’ expected
tumble in the next poll, that’ll be six straight weeks with a new No. 1, the second-longest streak since the first Associated Press poll in 1949. The way things have gone this season, coaches might start lobbying voters to not put their teams atop the ballot. “I do think there will be a revolving door or chairs that we will have a new No. 1 or new top fives moving forward because anyone
can beat anyone,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Friday. “There is no dominant team, but there are a lot of really good ones.” Oddly enough, this season of jumbling started with stability at the top. Indiana was the preseason No. 1 and held there for the first five weeks before a 5-foot-11 walk-on from Butler — named Alex, not Da-
See TOP 25 PAGE 2B
NEW ORLEANS — An electrical device that had been installed expressly to prevent a power outage caused the Super Bowl blackout, the stadium’s power company said Friday as it took the blame for the outage that brought the game to a halt for more than a half-hour. Following the announcement, the manufacturer of the device, known as a relay, released a statement implying that the problem was not with the part but with how it was used.
Officials of Entergy New Orleans, a subsidiary of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., said the device, called a relay, had been installed in switching gear to protect the Superdome from a cable failure between the company’s incoming power line and lines that run into the stadium. The switching gear is housed in a building known as “the vault” near the stadium that receives a line directly from a nearby Entergy power substation. Once the line reaches the vault, it splits into two cables that
See SUPER BOWL PAGE 2B
NCAA FOOTBALL: NATIONAL SIGNING DAY
SEC SECURES STARS Top recruits ink letters By ZACH SCHONBRUN Photo by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle
Texas A&M signee Hardreck Walker and his brother Chris Hall, right, laugh as Hardreck shows off an Aggies t-shirt during a national signing ceremony at Westfield High School on Feb. 6 in Houston.
Texas schools sign shiny class By SCHUYLER DIXON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — Traylon Shead, one of three 10,000yard rushers in Texas high school history, is back at the highest level of college foot-
ball. He will be joined at SMU by Deion Sanders Jr. The prolific back who signed with Texas out of tiny Cayuga in 2010 spent a year at a junior college not
See TEXAS PAGE 2B
NEW YORK TIMES
There is always talk about inroads and pipelines, coaching staffs that reshuffle and conferences that realign. But on national signing day, the Southeastern Conference, as it has for nearly a decade, ruled the national recruiting scene. By Wednesday night, the SEC had 11 of the nation’s top 25 recruiting classes, according to Rivals.com. Even Auburn, which went 0-8 in conference play last season, was ranked as having the 10thbest recruiting class in the nation. While conference realignment has gained plenty of attention in recent years, it seems to have barely registered in prospects’ minds. Teams like
Photo by Johnny Hanson | Houston Chronicle
Hightower High School’s Maurice Smith talks to the media as he made his commitment to play football at Alabama during a signing day ceremony at the Buddy Hopson Field House on Feb. 5 in Missouri City. Rutgers, Syracuse and Louisville — each of which has announced it will leave the Big East — seemed to receive little perceivable lift in recruiting this year. The Rutgers Scarlet
Knights, who announced in November they were joining the Big Ten, hauled in 22 prospects for a class ranked between 40th and 45th by most analysis websites. Eleven players were from New Jersey; only
one, linebacker Lester Liston, who is from Michigan but attended boarding school in Virginia, came from what is considered Big Ten territo-
See NATIONAL SIGNING PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
Wallace, more to be inducted By JENNA FRYER ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rusty Wallace will headline the fourth class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and his famed car “Midnight” will be part of his induction. Wallace, winner of 55 races and the 1989 Cup championship will be inducted Friday night along with champions Buck Baker and Herb Thomas; championship car owner Cotton Owens; and innovative crew chief, mechanic and engine builder Leonard Wood. Part of Wallace’s display in the Hall of Fame will be the car he dubbed Midnight and drove to 13 victories from 1992-94. Wallace led for more than 5,000 laps in the car, which was raced as both a Pontiac Grand Prix and a Ford Thunderbird out of Penske Racing South. “Back then, it was Dale Earnhardt and I racing for the win all the time,” Wallace said. “I remember every week when we got to the track, he’d come up and ask me, “What car you got? It’s not that darn Midnight is it?” If it was, he knew he had his work cut out for him.” Known as the “King of the Modifieds” for more than 100 victories, Owens
was part of the post-World War II racing scene around Spartanburg, S.C., and was close friends with NASCAR Hall of Famers Bud Moore and David Pearson, and 1960 NASCAR champion Rex White. He won nine of 160 races at NASCAR’s top level, and finished second in the 1959 championship to Hall of Famer Lee Petty. After transitioning to a car owner and engine builder, his cars won 38 races. Pearson was one of his drivers, hooking up with Owens after stopping by his garage in 1962. Wood, part of the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford team, is considered with his older brother to be a NASCAR pioneer. As crew chief of the No. 21 for 990 races, Wood’s drivers won 96 races. His cars won 117 poles and revolutionized the pit stop. Baker won 46 Cup races and was the series’ first back-to-back champion. His career spanned portions of four decades and began in part because he honed his skills running alcohol after he couldn’t find a job following his discharge from the Navy. His final victory came at age 44 in the 1964 Southern 500, and Baker was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
TOP 25 Continued from Page 1B vid — knocked Goliath from the top spot with a floater in overtime. Duke got the bump to No. 1 after that and stayed in place for four polls until North Carolina State’s fans stormed the court after a Blue Devil dumping in Raleigh on Jan. 12. Since then, No. 1 teams have perched on a precarious pedestal. After Duke’s first loss, Louisville moved to No. 1. The Cardinals responded to prosperity with not just one loss, but three in a row and tumbled out of the top 10 within two weeks. The Blue Devils reclaimed the top spot in the Jan. 21 poll and promptly made Louisville’s lapse forgettable with a 90-63 crushing by Miami, the thirdworst loss by a No. 1 ever. Next up, Michigan. The Wolverines actually managed to win a game as No. 1, beating Northwestern. The downward pull of parity punched Michigan in its next game, a road loss to Indiana that sent the Hoosiers back to the top. Indiana followed by getting caught up in the topranked turmoil in Champaign, inexplicably leaving Tyler Griffey open for an uncontested layup at the buzzer that sent hundreds of Illini fans streaming onto the floor and the Hoosiers toward a likely tumble down the poll. “That’s a hard question. I’m not sure,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of No. 1 teams struggling to stay on top. “We played at a
Photo by John Dixon | AP
Illinois’ Tyler Griffey (42) is hoisted onto his teammates’ shoulders after hitting the winning basket, giving Illinois a 74-72 win over No. 1-ranked Indiana at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill., on Feb. 7. trouble. Top 25 teams all over the country are getting knocked off by unranked opponents. According to STATS, Top 25 teams lost to unranked teams 36 times from Jan. 17 to Feb. 6 this season, most in at least 17 years. And some were quite ugly. Indiana was firmly in control Thursday night before allowing Illinois, a team that had lost six of its previous seven games, to close with a 13-2 run to pull off the upset. Florida would have been poised to take over the top spot, but bumbled its way through a game against Arkansas a day after moving up to No. 2 in the poll, losing by 11 to the unranked Razorbacks.
high level most of the game.” The current string of No. 1 swapping is the longest since 1994, when Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Duke alternated at the top seven straight weeks — the longest streak since Saint Louis debuted as No. 1 in the initial AP poll. Top-ranked teams have lost six times this season overall, which isn’t quite as rare; No. 1s lost nine times in 2008-09 and at least six times in a season since 1996-97, according to STATS INC. The top-ranked team also has lost to an unranked team twice this season, which has happened 10 times in that span. But it isn’t just the teams at the top that are having
Self ’s Jayhawks were No. 2 in the poll two weeks ago, then lost to Oklahoma State at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since 1989. Kansas followed that up with a real stinker, scoring 13 points in the first half of a loss to TCU that had Self calling his team the worst Kansas had put on the floor since Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball. And even though Miami was at No. 25 when it beat Duke on Jan. 23, the voraciousness with which the Hurricanes attacked the Blue Devils was surprising, making it look like the players had swapped jerseys before the game. Parity is here and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
SUPER BOWL Continued from Page 1B go into the Superdome. Company officials said the device performed with no problems during January’s Sugar Bowl and other earlier events, but has been removed and will be replaced. All systems at the Superdome are now working and the dome will host a major Mardi Gras event Saturday night, said Doug Thornton, an executive with SMG, the company that manages the stadium for the state. The power failure at Sunday’s big game cut lights to about half of the stadium for 34 minutes, halting play between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. The FBI had ruled out cyberterrorism as a cause. Entergy’s announcement came shortly before officials appeared before a committee of the City Council, which is the regulatory body for the company, to answer questions about the outage. Not long after the power company’s announcement, the manufacturer, Chicago-based S&C Electric Company, released a statement saying that the blackout occurred because the so-called trip setting on the device, “as set by the system operators,” was too
low to allow the device to handle the electric load that was coming in. The statement did not name the “system operators,” but the equipment was owned and installed by Entergy New Orleans. “Based on the onsite testing, we have determined that if higher settings had been applied, the equipment would not have disconnected the power,” said Michael J.S. Edmonds, vice president of strategic solutions for the company. In a follow-up statement, Entergy said that “tests conducted by S&C and Entergy on the two relays installed at the Superdome shows that one relay functioned as expected and the other relay did not.” Entergy spokesman Mike Burns, who released the statement, did not have an immediate answer when asked if both relays had the same trip setting. During the morning committee hearing, City Council member Susan Guidry asked Entergy executives whether they were “fairly certain” that the relay device was faulty. “That is correct,” said Dennis Dawsey, an Entergy vice presi-
dent. However, when asked if the outage was caused by the design or a defect in a part of the equipment, Entergy New Orleans CEO Charles Rice said that had not been determined. “The equipment did not function properly,” Rice said. “At this particular time, based upon our analysis, we cannot say definitively that there was a defect in design. What we do know is that the equipment for some unknown reason at this particular time, did not react the way that it should have.” Asked if Entergy and SMG still plan to hire a third-party investigator to get to the bottom of the cause, Rice said that possibility remains open. “We’ll work closely with SMG and if there is a need for a thirdparty investigation, we will do that,” Rice said, adding that Entergy was also working with the manufacturer. Shabab Mehraeen, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Louisiana State University, said the relay device is a common electrical fixture in businesses and massive facilities such as the Su-
perdome. “They are designed to keep a problem they sense from becoming something bigger, like a fire or catastrophic event,” said Mehraeen, who holds a doctorate from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. The devices vary in size, and while Mehraeen noted he was not familiar with the specifics of the relay at the Superdome, he added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was bigger than a truck.” Mehraeen said the reasons the devices fail are the subject of much academic research into the interaction of relays with the complex electrical systems they regulate. “It’s not unusual for them to have problems,” he said. “They can be unpredictable despite national testing standards recommended by manufacturers.” Entergy and SMG had both upgraded lines and equipment in the months leading up to the Super Bowl. Rice said the new switching gear, with the faulty relay, was installed as part of a $4.2 million upgrade by Entergy, including the installation of a new
NATIONAL SIGNING Continued from Page 1B ry. The notion that teams would instantly enhance their recruiting simply by changing their conference appears to be unfounded. Missouri, which joined the SEC last year, dropped in its overall ranking from a year ago, as did Syracuse and Louisville, which are moving to the ACC. Coaches and staff members said establishing inroads and marketing a brand in unfamiliar areas took time. “I think it’s more just about where your kids are coming from,” said Mike Sanford Jr., the recruiting coordinator at Stanford. “When you change a conference, you start changing a little bit of the demographic of your kid and the geographic regions they’re coming from.” Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said he used the Big Ten brand in recruiting, but at this point, he said, he felt it had helped only in in terms of providing prospects with better assurance for the long term. “Before that, I think we had to answer some questions about what was going to happen in the fu-
ture,” Flood said. “All of those questions have been eliminated.” No amount of conference reorganization seems enough to disrupt the SEC’s magnetic force. Defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, the top prospect in the country, could have altered that landscape if he had stuck with Clemson, his original commitment. But at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday, during a news conference at his high school in Loganville, Ga., Nkemdiche threw on a red University of Mississippi hat, and the SEC was off and running. Mississippi, which has not finished higher than third in the SEC West since 2008, reeled in a top class under coach Hugh Freeze. Along with Nkemdiche, they added the bluechip offensive linemen Laremy Tunsil and Austin Golson, receiver Laquon Treadwell and safety Antonio Conner, all before lunchtime. Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State also corralled highly regarded classes, and Florida, Alabama and Louisiana State collected their usual share
of vaunted prospects. “The difference is the bottom schools are all doing great,” Tom Lemming, a CBS Sports Network recruiting expert, said. “Now the Southeast Conference looks like a conference with no weaknesses.” Urban Meyer, with his first full recruiting class at Ohio State, also did not disappoint. He hauled in 24 prospects from 11 different states, headlined by defensive backs Eli Apple and Vonn Bell and linebacker Mike Mitchell. Penn State had a moderately ranked recruiting class of 17 signees. (Rivals.com rated it No. 43 overall.) The Nittany Lions lost out on offensive tackle Dorian Johnson, defensive tackle Greg Webb and wide receiver Zach Bradshaw, each of whom committed elsewhere — indications that the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal and NCAA penalties continue to take their toll. Still, Lemming said he thought “they’ve stemmed the tide.” There were some memorable gaffes Wednesday, like the fax machine mal-
functions that momentarily hindered Nkemdiche’s signing. Alex Collins, a running back out of Florida, was prepared to send his signed letter of intent to Arkansas — until, ESPN reported, his mother grabbed the paperwork and fled, apparently because she did not want him going so far from home. And Alabama managed to get the linebacker prospect Reuben Foster to sign — despite his having the Auburn logo tattooed on his arm. How widely traveled was that news? President Barack Obama, in a conference call with Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome, an Alabama alumnus, referred to it Tuesday. “You guys just got another draft pick — a guy who already tattooed Auburn on his arm and then decided to go to Alabama instead,” Obama said, according to a recording of the call released by the Ravens. “It happens all the time down there,” Newsome said. “It only counts on signing day.”
power line dedicated solely to the stadium. In a separate project, SMG replaced lines coming into the stadium after managers expressed concerns the Superdome might be vulnerable to a power failure like the one that struck Candlestick Park during a 49ers Monday Night Football game in 2011. That outage was blamed at least partly on a transformer explosion. Thornton stressed Friday that the dome was drawing only about two-thirds of its power capacity Super Bowl night, and said typical NFL games in late August or September can draw a little more. City officials had worried that the Super Bowl outage might harm New Orleans’ chances of getting another NFL championship game. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed that possibility after the outage, saying the NFL planned to keep New Orleans in its Super Bowl plans. Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the city intends to bid for the Super Bowl in 2018. Earlier Friday, Entergy said the device was the cause of the power outage.
TEXAS Continued from Page 1B far from his hometown. Shead and the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders signed early with the Mustangs and are already on campus. Their signings were announced Wednesday, national signing day. “We think as coaches this is our best-looking class physically, along with our best athletically at all positions, since coming to SMU,” said coach June Jones, who is going into his sixth season at the Dallas university. Shead rushed for 10,298 yards at Cayuga, which at the time was second to the hallowed state record of 11,232 by Sugar Land’s Kenneth Hall in the 1950s. He redshirted at Texas in 2010 and played sparingly the next year before deciding to transfer after ending up behind a pair of freshmen in Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron. After leading Navarro College with 1,194 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2012, Shead could be in the backfield with former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who is coming off a 7-6 season that included a Hawaii Bowl win over Fresno
State. The Mustangs have to replace Zach Line, a converted linebacker who had three straight 1,000-yard seasons. Sanders Jr. played high school football in the Dallas area before spending last year at Atlanta Sports Academy, a prep school. He’s listed as a wide receiver but also played cornerback, his dad’s position, in high school. North Texas added four Football Bowl Subdivision transfers among 23 signees. All will be eligible to play in 2013. Texas State coach Dennis Franchione went heavy on California junior college players in preparation for the Bobcats’ first Sun Belt Conference season. UTSA coach Larry Coker signed 17 defensive players in a 25-player class that will take the Roadrunners into their first Conference USA season. There were 10 defensive backs on the list. New UTEP coach Sean Kugler signed 18 players, the same number as Rice. Owls coach David Bailiff ’s list includes 17 players from Texas. The only non-Texan is Canadian offensive lineman Peter Godber.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
HINTS | BY HELOISE A DOG’S LIFE IS SAVED Dear Heloise: Just wanted to say “Thank you!” I read your column daily in the Amarillo (Texas) Globe-News, and in a past column, you suggested ADOPTING SHELTER DOGS. My husband and I recently adopted a 10-yearold poodle mix from our local shelter; she is absolutely the sweetest dog we have ever had. The day we adopted Molly May was to be her last day in the shelter, and I am so glad we were able to save a doggie life. Please keep asking your readers to check out their local shelters to adopt and to spay or neuter their pets. Thank you for a wonderful column, and keep up the good work. — Emily Sargent, Borger, Texas PET PAL Dear Readers: Alice Ladd of Waterville, Maine, sent a photo of best buddies Zoe the cat and Kaiser the German shepherd. Alice says: “Zoe adopted us,
“
HELOISE
as she was hungry and needed a home. She and our other cat do not get along, but, as you can see, she loves Kaiser.” To see Zoe and Kaiser, visit my website, www.Heloise.com, and click on “Pets.” — Heloise TWISTED ANKLE Dear Heloise: I have a hint that I feel will assist your readers. A couple of years ago, we were hiking in a forest, and I fell and twisted my ankle. We had limited supplies and no ice available, but in our cooler were cold-drink sleeves (coozies). I slid the cold sleeve over my foot and onto my ankle. It helped address the swelling quickly and provided comfort to my ankle without slipping off. Thank you for all your good and useful tips. — Bobbie Ann, Girard, Ohio
DENNIS THE MENACE
FAMILY CIRCUS
PEANUTS
GARFIELD
DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it:
DILBERT
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013