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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
SHERIFF’S OFFICE
$85 billion cut
Men accused of home thefts
Gridlock: No budging at the deadline By DAVID ESPO ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Gridlocked once more, President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders refused to budge in their budget standoff Friday as $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts bore down on individual
Americans and the nation’s stillrecovering economy. “None of this is necessary,” said the president after a sterile White House meeting that portended a long standoff. Even before Obama formally ordered the cuts required by midnight, their impact was felt thousands of miles away. In Seattle,
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
the King County Housing Authority announced it had stopped issuing housing vouchers under a federal program that benefits “elderly or disabled households, veterans, and families with children.” The president met with top
Authorities identified the men as Joshua Eli Gonzalez, 28, and Juan Luis Quezada, 31. Initially, both men had been identified as people of interest in the case. But Sgt. Mario Elizondo said the two
See BUDGET PAGE 11A
See SHERIFF PAGE 11A
JOSHUA GONZALEZ: Faces several charges including burglary of a vehicle.
JUAN QUEZADA: Faces misdemeanor and felony charges.
ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR
QUEEN AND COURT
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Cassandra Peña, Leandra Saenz, Crystal Lozano and Celia Rathmell participate in the Zapata County Fair Queen Pageant at the Zapata High School auditorium last week.
Fair continues today with annual ride By RICARDO R. VILLARREAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Zapata County Fair Queen Leanna Saenz is seen after winning the 2013 Zapata County Fair Queen Pageant at the Zapata High School auditorium.
The 41st Annual Zapata County Fair kicked off last Saturday and Sunday with the Youth Pageant and Queen’s Contest and continues today with the traditional trail ride.
Judging in all categories begins Thursday. The Youth Pageant added two new categories this year, the Pre-teen and Teen divisions. “We have six categories, including one category for boys, called the Lil’ Cowboy, and which is only for boys in kinder
and 1st grade. The girls’ divisions include kinder to 8th grade and are divided into five categories, the Lil’ Tiara, the Lil’ Miss, the Jr. Miss, the Preteen and the Teen,” said pageant committee chairperson Ni-
See FAIR PAGE 11A
FEDERAL COURT
Agents arrest man in town for smuggling By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Federal agents in Zapata arrested an Edinburg man for transporting four illegal immigrants to Laredo, a federal criminal complaint filed Friday states. Noe Margarito Zuñiga, a U.S. citizen, was charged with bringing
in and harboring illegal immigrants. He remained in federal custody. At 10 a.m. Tuesday, U.S. Border Patrol agents manning a tactical checkpoint in Zapata conducted an immigration inspection on the occupants of a white Chevrolet Impala. Agents identified the driver as Zuñiga.
Zuñiga told agents he did not know the citizenship for four people traveling with him and said he did not know them. “During secondary inspection Zuñiga freely admitted to agents that he was smuggling the four passengers to Laredo,” a complaint states. Zuñiga and the four illegal immigrants were taken into
custody for further investigation. Zuñiga stated he had met a man at a bar last weekend. The man asked Zuñiga if he wanted to make “some easy money.” Zuñiga stated he was offered $800 to drive the four illegal immigrants to Laredo. Court records alleged Zuñiga picked up the immigrants at a
stash house. The location is not mentioned. One illegal immigrant held as a material witness stated he paid $3,000 to be smuggled to Houston. A second material witness told agents he paid $6,500 to be smuggled onto U.S. soil. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, MARCH 2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Zapata County Fair Association’s Trail Ride will start at 7 a.m. at the Bustamante Roping Arena and will end at 5 p.m. at the county fairgrounds. For more information, call Dora Martinez at 285-7794. The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium will show “Laser Beatles” at 6 p.m.; “iPOP” at 7 p.m.; and “Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon Laser” at 8 p.m. General admission is $5 for children/TAMIU Community (with ID) and $6 adults. For more information, call 956-326-3663. St. Mary’s University School of Law will hold a legal clinic from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fernando A. Salinas Community Center, 2600 Cedar Ave. Topics covered include Social Security, IRS/tax issues, identify theft, debt collection, consumer issues and family law. For more information, contact 956-722-1458 or rsepulveda@webbcountytx.gov. The “Understanding Credit and Budgeting” seminar will take place at the Zapata County Courthouse from 9:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. The seminar is free.
Today is Saturday, March 2, the 61st day of 2013. There are 304 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 2, 1943, the threeday Battle of the Bismarck Sea began in the southwest Pacific during World War II; U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy. On this date: In 1793, the first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, was born near Lexington, Va. In 1836, the Republic of Texas formally declared its independence from Mexico. In 1861, the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy. In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote. In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act. In 1933, the motion picture “King Kong” had its world premiere at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy. In 1939, Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (puhCHEL’-ee) was elected pope on his 63rd birthday; he took the name Pius XII. In 1942, the original Stage Door Canteen, a wartime club for U.S. servicemen, officially opened its doors in New York’s Broadway theater district. In 1951, the East beat the West, 111-94, in the first NBA All-Star Game, which took place at Boston Garden. In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a game against the New York Knicks, an NBA record that still stands. (Philadelphia won, 169147.) In 1972, the United States launched the Pioneer 10 space probe, which flew past Jupiter in late 1973, sending back images and scientific data. In 1989, representatives from the 12 European Community nations agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) by the end of the 20th century. Ten years ago: Iraq crushed another six Al Samoud II missiles, as ordered by U.N. weapons inspectors. Landlocked Switzerland became the first European country to win the America’s Cup as Alinghi swept Team New Zealand in five races. Today’s Birthdays: Actor John Cullum is 83. Author Tom Wolfe is 83. Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 82. Actress Barbara Luna is 74. Author John Irving is 71. Singer Lou Reed is 71. Actress Cassie Yates is 62. Actress Laraine Newman is 61. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is 60. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is 58. Singer Jay Osmond is 58. Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 57. Tennis player Kevin Curren is 55. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 51. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 50. Actor Daniel Craig is 45. Thought for Today: “Just as we are often moved to merriment for no other reason than that the occasion calls for seriousness, so we are correspondingly serious when invited too freely to be amused.” — Agnes Repplier, American essayist (1858-1950).
MONDAY, MARCH 4 The TAKS test will be administered at Zapata High School.
TUESDAY, MARCH 5 The TAKS test will be administered at Zapata High School. The Alzheimer’s support group meets at 7 p.m. at Laredo Medical Center, Building B, Room 2. The support group is for family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 The TAKS test will be administered at Zapata High School. Students and job seekers are invited to explore career opportunities during the Laredo Community College Expo, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Maravillo Gym at the Ft. McIntosh campus. The expo will feature more than 20 employers from local, state and federal businesses and agencies, as well as educational institutions. Admission is free to students and the public. For more information, call 7215135.
THURSDAY, MARCH 7 The TAKS test will be administered at Zapata High School. Today is the first day of the three-day 41st Annual Zapata County Fair, which begins at 8 a.m. at the Zapata County Fairgrounds. A battle of the bands will be featured. For more information, contact the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce or www.zapatacountyfaironline.com. Students and job seekers are invited to explore career opportunities during the Laredo Community College Expo, which continues today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Maravillo Gym at the Ft. McIntosh campus. Admission is free to students and the public. For more information, call 721-5135.
FRIDAY, MARCH 8 Performances by Zamoralez, Solido and Kevin Fowler highlight Day Two of the Zapata County Fair.
Photo by Kye R. Lee/The Dallas Morning News | AP
In this Feb. 21 photo, Scott Lindsey poses in front of his fence where he has a camera and lighting mounted at his home in Richardson. If any suspicious activity happens in his neighborhood, Scott is willing to volunteer the footage from his video cameras and share it with Richardson police.
Video could aid police ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — Suburban Dallas resident Scott Lindsey is joining a growing group of homeowners collaborating with police by providing home-surveillance footage that may help nab criminals prowling their neighborhoods. “If criminals understand that the entire city is wired with surveillance, they may be a little more hesitant,” said Lindsey, who has several cameras at his Richardson home. The Dallas Morning News reported Friday that police departments in the Dallas suburbs of Richardson and Sachse last month launched separate efforts in which residents sign up with authorities, submitting information about their camera systems. Police then can contact volunteers near crime scenes, asking residents to review
their footage to see if the cameras caught anything. Alex del Carmen, chair of the University of Texas at Arlington’s criminology and criminal justice department, said such cameras are more symbolic than useful, but people can benefit by feeling safer. “It allows the resident to be a stakeholder,” del Carmen said. “The community comes together to fight crime.” But the use of these cameras also raises questions about civil rights and privacy, del Carmen said. “Where do you draw that line between the usage of video cameras to protect us from crime and the expectation of privacy that citizens should have?” he said. But such concerns appear to lag behind a prevailing belief that communities must remain vigilant against crime.
Lawsuit: Girl told to pledge to Mexico
7 indicted in counterfeit DVD, CD cases
Water supplier set to cut off rice farmers
MCALLEN — The family of a teen who says she was punished by her school for refusing to recite the Mexican pledge of allegiance has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her constitutional rights were violated. The lawsuit says Brenda Brinsdon was a high school sophomore in 2011 when her teacher told students to stand for the pledge of allegiance and to sing the Mexican national anthem.
CORPUS CHRISTI — Seven South Texas residents have been indicted in an investigation of counterfeit DVDs and CDs that led to the seizure of more than 58,000 fake items. Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrest of six people from Corpus Christi. A seventh defendant remains at large.
AUSTIN — It appears the drought will keep most rice farmers in three counties from getting water to flood their fields for a second year. LCRA officials said that if by Friday the combined storage in lakes Buchanan and Travis was below 850,000 acre-feet, then most downstream rice producers won’t get water.
Former housing director indicted for theft
State adoption agency cleared after boy’s death
BASTROP — A grand jury has indicted the former director of a Central Texas housing authority who’s accused of diverting more than $200,000 in taxpayer money to family members. State authorities say Brenda D. Schroeder is charged with felony theft by a public servant, submitting fraudulent credit applications and engaging in organized criminal activity.
AUSTIN — State authorities say they found no violations at a Fort Worth agency that processed a family’s adoption of a Russian boy who later died. A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman said Friday an investigation of the Gladney Center for Adoption showed the agency followed state rules in the adoption of 3year-old Max Shatto. — Compiled from AP reports
Nancy L. Bass, matriarch of prominent family, dies FORT WORTH — Nancy Lee Bass, philanthropist and matriarch of Fort Worth’s leading family, has died a week before her 96th birthday. The widow of oil billionaire Perry R. Bass died at her Fort Worth home Thursday night after a brief illness.
SATURDAY, MARCH 9 The Bass Champs South Region Fishing Tournament will take place from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m. Performances by the battle of the bands winner, Los 5 De Zapata, Siggno and Pesado highlight Day Three of the Zapata County Fair.
MONDAY, MARCH 11 The Zapata County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. at the Zapata County Courthouse.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 The I Can Cope class is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Doctors Hospital’s Cancer Treatment Lobby. The program gives participants an opportunity to share their concerns with others and to design ways to cope with the challenges of a cancer diagnosis. The class is free and open to the public. For more information, call Diana Juarez at 956-319-3100.
AROUND THE NATION Obama issues pardons to 17 for minor offenses WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday issued pardons for 17 people, largely for minor offenses. Those receiving pardons came from 13 states and had been sentenced for crimes that included falsely altering a money order, unauthorized acquisition of food stamps, drug violations, and possession of an unregistered firearm. The White House offered no details on why these particular people were selected by Obama, who has issued relatively few pardons since taking office.
THURSDAY, MARCH 21
Police: Video shows 2 cars during Vegas attack
The four-day Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament – Falcon Slam – begins at 7 a.m. at the Zapata County Public Boat Ramp. For more information, go to www.zaspatachamber.com.
LAS VEGAS — A video camera on a taxi dashboard captured a Range Rover and a Maserati sports car weaving around each other during a shooting that left
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The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday. The rocket is transporting the Dragon capsule containing food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments to the International Space Station. three people dead in a spectacular crash on the Las Vegas Strip, a police report states. The report was released after Ammar Harris, 26, a self-described pimp, was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles, ending a multi-state manhunt that be-
gan after the Feb. 21 shooting. The police report says video, audio and witness accounts show that Harris briefly spoke with Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. at the Aria resort minutes before the shooting. — 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, MARCH 2, 2013
THE BLOTTER
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A
READING DR. SEUSS BOOKS
ANIMAL CRUELTY Deputies responded to an animal cruelty call at 11:30 a.m. Monday in the 4100 block of South U.S. 83. An incident report states animal control reported two malnourished horses. An investigation is underway.
ASSAULT Manuel Garcia-Peña, 70, was arrested and charged with assault at about 8 p.m. . 24 at Salvador and Weslaco lanes. Garcia-Peña allegedly struck a woman related to him in the face, head and neck. He’s out on a personal recognizance bond. Jose Luis Guerra, 18, was arrested and charged with assault of a public servant at about 12:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at 18 Bustamante Lane after deputies responded to a fight in progress. An incident report states the deputy had to seek medical attention. Guerra had a $25,000 bond. Juan Manuel Salas, 20, was arrested and charged with assault of a public servant and resisting arrest at about 6:45 p.m. Feb. 23 at Fifth Street and Mier Avenue. He had a $42,000 bond at the Zapata Regional Jail. Mario Orlando Garcia, 24, was arrested and charged with assault at about 4:30 a.m. Feb. 23 in the 600 block of Laredo Avenue. He was released from jail for future court appearance.
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Photo by Sam Craft/The Paris News | AP
Emmalee Michael, center, and classmates try on Dr. Seuss hats at their Paris, Texas, school on Friday, while taking a break from reading Dr. Seuss books.
BURGLARY A 33-year-old man reported at 3:17 p.m. Wednesday in the 5300 block of Rio Lane that someone stole $1,500 worth of property from his home.
DWI Rodolfo Valadez-Sanchez, 31, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving at about 2:30 a.m. Feb. 23 at Seventh Street and Villa Avenue. He had a $10,000 bond at the Zapata Regional Jail.
Cuts could cost state about $1.7 billion By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
THEFT A representative of Conoco Pump N Shop, 1824 U.S. 83, reported at 2:53 p.m. Monday that someone drove off without paying for $30.57 worth of gas.
POSSESSION Martha Veronica Lagos, 40; Jose Guadalupe Lagos-Martinez, 38, and Erik Verver, 23, were arrested at about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 900 block of Medina Avenue. All three suspects were charged with possession of a controlled substance. An incident report states investigators seized 8.7 grams of crack cocaine. Lagos and Verver are out on bail. Lagos-Martinez remained on a $25,000 bond at the Zapata Regional Jail. Rafael Victor Cardenas, 19 and Jesus Genaro Ortiz, 19, were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana at about 9:45 p.m. Feb. 21 in Lopeño along U.S. 83. Each man had a $2,500 bond. Daniel Aguilar-Morales, 55, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance at about 9 p.m. Feb. 21 at Seventh Street and Roma Avenue. He had a $5,000 bond. Federico Reyes, 58, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance at about 8:15 p.m. Feb. 20 at Second Street and Texas 16. He had a $5,000 bond.
Career fair set at TAMIU
AUSTIN — Automatic government spending cuts could see military operations across Texas lose at least $1.7 billion before the end of the fiscal year, the U.S. Defense Department said late Friday. In a letter to Gov. Rick Perry obtained by The Associated Press, the department said that no deal in Congress to stave off $85 billion in federal budget reductions means $41 billion will evaporate from the Defense Department budget by Sept. 30. That means the Army would lose $233 million in base operations funding across Texas, including cuts at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Killeen’s Fort Hood and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the department said. But Army weapons depot operations in Red River and Corpus Christi may lose as much as $1.4 billion. The cuts may also cost the Air Force $92 million statewide, with reductions hitting facilities at San
Antonio’s Lackland and Randolph bases, as well as Sheppard Air Force Base. All told, that’s an estimated impact of $1.725 billion. Perry spokesman Josh Havens responded that “this is the result of President Obama’s refusal to work with Congress to find ways to responsibly rein in the federal government’s spending habits.” “Instead of taking the easy way out by arbitrarily cutting areas like national defense,” Havens said, “there need to be thoughtful, efficient and common sense spending cuts to begin balancing the federal budget.” The letter said Navy and Marine Corps. operations in Texas will also face reductions, though no dollar amount as officials are still assessing the full impact. The letter was signed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter. Not included in the direct funding losses were that the Defense Department’s 52,000 civilian employees would be forced to take 22 days of unpaid furloughs.
The Texas A&M International University Office of Career Services Business and Hospitality Fair is Thursday, from 1–4 p.m., in the Student Center Ballroom. It is an opportunity to network with employers and learn about possible internships or employment vacancies. TAMIU students and alumni are encouraged to participate, but the community is also welcome to attend. Registration is not necessary. “Those attending the fair should come prepared with their résumé and dressed in casual business attire. Employers have told us time and again they are far more impressed with students when they come prepared for a potential job interview, which means having a résumé ready to turn in and dressed in appropriate business attire,” said Laura Martínez, director, employer relations, Office of Career Services. “We encourage students and alumni interested in beginning or advancing their career to stop by the Fair for a chance to meet with potential employers. We also strongly recommend coming by the Office of Career Services for help with résumés and to learn more about networking,” Martínez added. Walk-ins are welcome to visit the Office of Career Services on Tuesday from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. for assistance in developing or revising their resumes. There will also be opportunities to polish networking skills at the “Network and Elevator Pitch Workshop,” noon–1 p.m. and 5–6 p.m. in SC 114, Career Café. At the fair, participants will have the chance to meet with recruiters from: TAMIU Office of Graduate Studies; International Bank of Commerce; Texas Department of Public Safety; TAMIU Office of Human Resources; Laredo Independent School District; Association of Laredo Forwarding Agents, Inc.; Entravision; Texas Department of Family and Protective Services; TAMIU A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business; C.H. Robinson; Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; Wells Fargo Bank; Sames Motor Company; Rush Truck Center; R + L Truckload Services; State Farm Insurance; Verizon Wireless; Del-Tex Marketing Group; Doctor’s Hospital; and McDonald’s. For more information, contact Martinez at 956-326-2264, laura.martinez@tamiu.edu or visit offices in SC 114D.
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Zopinion
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
COLUMN
OTHER VIEWS
Bureaucrat speaks like we speak AUSTIN — Because some of us have behaved and because some of us have eaten our vegetables, we’ve been rewarded with a state employee who eschews the usual parlance of official governmentdom in favor of real-person English. Please meet Michael Shea, 42, your manager of the State Records Center, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s 144,500-squarefoot facility that now holds 388,000 cubic feet of paper records as well as records in other formats. Shea blogs on The Texas Record, an informative publication about the center. See it at www.tsl.state.tx.us/slrm/ blog/. The headline on a recent entry — “The State Records Center Ain’t Full” — is all you need to realize this is not your standard state agency publication. And for that we should be thankful. The entry is invitingly lighthearted and importantly informational. The salient point is kind of a strange one. For six months about eight years ago, for some reason tied to the then-ongoing state lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the State Records Center temporarily suspended accepting records from state agencies because it had to temporarily stop destroying old records. And, oddly enough, Shea told me that some state agencies, to this day, incorrectly still think the State Records Center isn’t accepting records. Because he does it better than I could, I’ll quote from his blog: “At some point ... we were banned from destroying any records while the lawyers duked out something related to tobacco. I hear they deduced it may be, hold on to your hats, bad for you or children or pets? Frankly, my hyperactive adopted dog could probably use a cigarette to wind down after a tough day of being mocked by squirrels. “When we were in the midst of that destruction ’freeze,’ we had to turn away state agency records. Unfortunately, I still encounter agency employees who are surprised they can store their hard copy, microfilm, microfiche and disaster recovery materials here today,” Shea wrote. He also wants state agency folks to know that last December the State Records Center lifted a ban on accepting permanent paper records (defined as those destined for more than 50 years of storage), allowing the storage of those
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KEN HERMAN
records in addition to film and fiche. To make it even easier to do so, the center relaxed its requirements on the type of boxes it would store. “If you aren’t sure if your boxes are acceptable, snap a few pictures and sent them my way,” Shea wrote. ”I’m happy to make a quick ruling for you before you get into un/reboxing.” He still thinks the formerly required boxes are best, “but budgets don’t always allow for more expensive options, or my drivers would have couture uniforms.” “The bottom line is we’re here (with space) if you need us,” Shea concluded. “However, we will not store your dog’s dead squirrels.” His first blog entry came back in November, several months after he was promoted into his current job. He offered a State Records Center FAQ that included general information. How does an agency send stuff to the center? “It works like the bat signal. We send you a special flashlight. Wait, no. How about a link?” Does the center still microfilm records and isn’t that kind of old school? “Yes, we do still offer filming services, and yes it is old school,” Shea wrote. “The good news is the old school was correct in understanding this was a media that will last a very long time when stored properly (like in our environmentally controlled and fireproof vaults) which only requires a means of magnification to read. “How long will that hard drive last or that CD? Well, I bought my first CD in 1989 and I can tell you it is no longer with me. (RIP Richard Marx CD).” Why, some might ask, should an agency pay to store records at the center when it can be stored for free in its office? Shea answers that question with questions about the perils of amateur storage: “Does a mop keep hitting the side of the box? Does Steve keep spilling things on them? ... Will the next person in your position know what’s in the boxes and be able to understand your method of indexing them by zodiac symbols?” (Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. Email: kherman@statesman.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 namecalling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
EDITORIAL
Yahoo values office work SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
First, let’s just stipulate that CEO Marissa Mayer’s decision to decree the end of the work-at-home option for Yahoo employees as of June was, oh, excessively abrupt? Insensitive? Raw meat to a sharklike blogosphere? All of the above? But there’s something refreshing about identifying real value in personal connections and even chance interactions that occur without the filter of an electronic device. Not just social value,
but dollar value to a company. Back in the 1990s, some Silicon Valley commentators thought by now offices would be obsolete and traffic jams would be history as tech workers toiled from home, communicating with colleagues efficiently online. Telecommuting is certainly more common, especially for moms and dads. Some tech companies encourage it. But how fascinating that the industry stars today — Google, Facebook, Apple — do the opposite, lavishing free
meals and massages on employees to keep them at the office. And that struggling Yahoo now sees this as a competitive advantage it must somehow match — though the sudden mandate might not have been the best strategy.
Not a surprise The shift will be no surprise to product managers in valley companies that have offshored development work. Chance meetings in the hall used to nip problems in the bud or
raise useful ideas. Now, with communication by prescheduled phone calls or video conferences across multiple time zones, the serendipity is gone. Not to mention the good night’s sleep. We revel in our 24/7 digital connections. We email, tweet, post our every move on Facebook, carefully create our circles on Google+. But friending someone isn’t the same as being a real friend. That takes a human touch. Often, so does creativity — which is why it turns out to be of value in tech.
COLUMN
Just 1 week left for milestone AUSTIN — It might not sound like it, but that noise coming from your state Capitol is a good noise. It’s the sound of deep thinking as we approach the first key deadline of the 83rd biennial gathering of Texas’ best and brightest. Yes, it seems like they just got here (they didn’t, the 140-day session began Jan. 8), and, yes, it seems like they haven’t passed anything (they haven’t, other than congratulatory and memorial resolutions, but that’s because of constitutional restrictions on what can transpire during the first 60 days). The cause of the deep thinking at the Capitol is the fact that Friday is the deadline for turning great, and other, ideas into proposed legislation. After next Friday, bill filing is pretty much limited to emergency appropriations and measures carrying the gubernatorial emergency tag. Because we’re better than most states, we have no current emergencies, or least none Gov. Rick Perry knows about. So far this session he has not tagged anything as an emergency.
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KEN HERMAN
(Quick, uncalled-for, possibly disrespectful joke for which I may have to apologize: Perry, looking to upgrade to another lifetime job, enters the race for pope. All goes well until a debate at which, during a Trinityrelated question, he can remember only the Father and the Son.) So, reviewing here, next Friday is the last day bills can be filed. It’s a hard, cold deadline, except, of course, when legislators don’t want it to be. It’s a fact of legislative life that, deadlines be damned, there’s almost always a way to get things done. The hurdles get higher, but all kinds of procedures are in place to override deadlines. And all kinds of lobbyists are in place to guarantee legislators know all about all those kinds of procedures. With enough votes (fourfifths of legislators present and voting — and aren’t those the best kind of legis-
lators?), bills can be filed after next Friday. In fact, there are procedural workarounds for most every rule, law, constitutional mandate and generally accepted standard of adult behavior. I don’t have the rulebook in front of me, but I believe it takes a seven-eighths vote of legislators present and not drinking to suspend the laws of gravity. That happens only periodically, but it’s great fun when it does. In addition to rules suspension, there’s the amendment process that can miraculously raise bills from the dead by Velcroing them onto living, breathing measures. Praise the Lord, it’s something to behold. Texas legislative sessions, by law, rule and tradition, are back-end heavy. (Does this process make our back end look fat?) The real action comes as the session’s end (May 27 this year) draws nigh. Think of the Texas Legislature as a gas. Both fill their containers. Through Wednesday, 4,050 pieces of legislation, including 1,034 of the memorial or congratulatory variety, had been filed. A total of 743 had
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
won final approval, all of the glad-you-did-something or sorry-you-died variety. The House churned through a long list of congratulatory and memorial resolutions Thursday. As a result, the House now officially has honored Notre Dame for beating Miami in the 2010 Sun Bowl and Petra Valdez on her retirement after 60 years of owning downtown Robstown’s Ideal Beauty Shop. (”Whereas,” that resolution says, ”for six decades Petra Valdez has helped to keep Robstown beautiful ... .”) Overall, it looks like we’re trending down in bill filing, which peaked in 2009 when 12,238 measures (including 4,629 memorial or congratulatory resolutions) were submitted and 5,910 were approved (including 4,442 memorial or congratulatory resolutions). So please, for this next week, if at all possible, don’t bother your legislators as next Friday’s bill-filing deadline approaches. Shhh, they’re thinking. (Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: kherman@statesman.com.)
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
State
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
Court reverses conviction By MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — A divided federal appeals court panel has thrown out the capital murder conviction of a former Fort Worth street gang leader sentenced to die for gunning down a Dallas father of four during an attempted robbery in 2001. Nelson Gongora’s constitutional rights were violated by a Tarrant County assistant district attorney who told jurors at Gongora’s 2003 trial that his refusal to testify implied he was guilty, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday in a 2-1 decision. “The extraordinarily extensive comments on Gongora’s failure to testify resulted in actual prejudice,” the judges found. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a defendant’s silence can’t be treated as evidence of guilt. The 5th Circuit majority panel called it a “cornerstone of rights upon which our criminal justice system rests.” “Single episodic violations will creep in, but repeated and direct violations are both inexplicable and inexcusable,” Judges Carl Stewart and Patrick Higginbotham wrote. In a dissent, Judge Priscilla Owen said the majority opinion “seriously misapprehends what constitutes actual harm.” “At the very least, Gongora was guilty as a party to capital murder,” she wrote. Gongora was convicted of killing Delfino Sierra, 36, outside a quinceanera party Sierra was attending with his family in Fort Worth. The appeals court gave Tarrant prosecutors six months to retry Gongora, 33, resolve the case with a plea agreement or some other action or release him from death row, where he’s been imprisoned since June 2003. He has not had an execution date set. Tarrant County District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Melody McDonald said Friday it was too early to say how prosecutors
would respond to the court order. Attorneys for Gongora did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated GONGORA Press. Authorities said Gongora was a leader in a Fort Worth street gang called Puro Li’l Mafia, or PLM, and was in a van with several friends when they saw Sierra, who had left the party to get some air, and decided to rob him. According to court records, Gongora, then 21, and one of his friends jumped from the van, ran toward Sierra and demanded his money. Sierra started running and was fatally shot in the head. Court records show the assailants returned to the van and drove away with Gongora saying he did what he “had to do” and warning his companions to be quiet about it. Then they went to his house for a cookout. An anonymous tip to police led to the van owner and then to Gongora. In a written statement to police, he acknowledged participating in the attempted robbery but said he didn’t know who fired the shots that killed Sierra. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2006 upheld his conviction and death sentence and the U.S. Supreme Court later that year refused to review the case. A federal district judge denied new appeals in 2007, which then were taken to the New Orleansbased 5th Circuit. Court records show Gongora’s trial lawyer objected to prosecution remarks during closing arguments of the guilt-innocence phase about Gongora’s failure to testify. The district attorney subsequently told jurors he wanted them to understand that Gongora had a 5th Amendment right to not testify. Gongora’s appeals lawyers argued the damage was done even though the trial judge instructed jurors that the fact Gongora had not testified could not be considered in their deliberations.
Photo by Bell County Sheriff’s Department/file | AP
Before his murder trial this summer Nidal Hasan may admit to and describe in detail, for the first time, the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 dead. His attorneys say he wants to plead guilty.
Suspect may plead guilty By ANGELA K. BROWN ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT HOOD — More than three years after the deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, an Army psychiatrist may soon describe details of the terrifying attack for the first time, if he’s allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges. Maj. Nidal Hasan would be required to describe his actions and answer questions about the Nov. 5, 2009, attack on the Texas Army post if the judge allows him to plead guilty to the lesser charges, as his attorneys have said he wants to do. Any plea, which could happen at the next hearing in March, won’t stop the much-anticipated court-martial set to begin May 29. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder. Under military law, a judge can’t accept a guilty plea for charges that carry the death penalty. Hasan’s lawyers have said he is ready to plead guilty to charges of unpremeditated murder, which don’t carry a possible death sentence, as well as the 32 attempted premeditated murder charges he faces. If the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, allows him to plead guilty, she will hold an inquiry in which Hasan must discuss the attack. If he says anything that isn’t consistent with what happened or indicates he isn’t truly ac-
knowledging his guilt, the judge would stop the hearing and not accept his guilty plea, according to military law experts. He is not required to apologize or say that he is remorseful. Some military law experts say it’s a legal strategy designed to gain jurors’ sympathy so that they might not sentence him to death if he’s convicted later. “The judge has to make sure he’s pleading guilty willingly and that this isn’t a ploy,” Jeff Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said Friday. A Senate report released in 2011 said the FBI missed warning signs about Hasan, alleging he had become an Islamic extremist and a “ticking time bomb” before the attack at Fort Hood. Addicott said the judge will be even more thorough during the inquiry because Hasan is a psychiatrist who is “highly intelligent and knows how to manipulate human thinking.” Witnesses have said that after lunch on Nov. 5, 2009, a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — “God is great!” in Arabic — and opened fire in a crowded medical building where deploying soldiers get vaccines and other tests. He fired rapidly, pausing only to reload, even shooting at some soldiers as they hid under desks and fled the building, according to witnesses. When it was over, investiga-
tors found 146 shell casings on the floor, another 68 outside the building and 177 unused rounds of ammunition in the gunman’s pockets. Authorities and several witnesses identified the gunman as Hasan, an American-born Muslim who was to deploy to Afghanistan soon. Greg Rinckey, a former military defense attorney not involved in Hasan’s case, said pleading guilty without a deal may signal to the judge that the government is being unreasonable by proceeding with a trial. He also said Hasan’s attorneys have few, if any, options for a defense. “His attorneys know he’s going to be convicted at trial, so why not get some brownie points?” said Rinckey, a New York attorney who specializes in military law. “But once they admit to it, it’s harder to appeal.” Hasan’s trial is expected to last through September. Prosecutors have nearly 300 witnesses, including a terrorism expert who will testify that Hasan is a homegrown terrorist. Among the mounds of evidence is a transcript of a telephone call between Hasan, while in jail, and Al-Jazeera in which he allegedly apologized for being part of “an illegal organization” — the U.S. Army. Prosecutors are expected to show emails that Hasan exchanged with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born Islamic cleric killed in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike.
SÁBADO 2 DE MARZO DE 2013
Agenda en Breve ZAPATA 03/02— Feria del Condado de Zapata presenta su Cabalgata anual, con salida a las 7 a.m. en Arena Bustamante para concluir en los terrenos de la Feria del Condado de Zapata. Evento concluye a las 5 p.m. 03/07— Feria del Condado de Zapata presenta “Batalla de las Bandas” a las 7 p.m. en los terrenos de la Feria del Condado de Zapata. Durante el día, de las 7 a.m. a 7 p.m., habrá el pesaje de distintos animales; de 4 p.m. a 5 p.m. habrá concurso de manualidades y fotografía. 03/08— Feria del Condado de Zapata presenta de las 8 a.m. a las 5 p.m. exhibiciones de animales; a partir de las 5 p.m. presentaciones de grupos escolares y de danza, así como de Zamorales; a las 9 p.m. se presenta “Solido”; y, a las 10:30 p.m., presentación de Kevin Fowler. 03/09— Feria del Condado de Zapata presenta el Desfile del ZCFA a las 9:30 a.m. iniciando en 3rd. Ave. Posteriormente en los terrenos de la feria, presentaciones artísticas, premiaciones, manualidades, fotografía, subasta de ganado a las 4 p.m.; presentación del Ganador de la Batalla de las Bandas a las 6 p.m.; Concurso de Jalapeño a las 7:30 p.m.; “Los 5 de Zapata” a las 8 p.m.; “Signno” a las 10 p.m.; y, “Pesado!” a las 11:30 p.m.
Zfrontera
PÁGINA 7A
MIGUEL ALEMÁN, MX
Se fugan 12 reos POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Un comando armado liberó a 12 convictos estatales de una prisión en Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, frontera con Roma, a primera hora de la madrugada del martes. La mayoría de los prisioneros rescatados fueron identificados como “halcones” y, al menos dos purgaban condena por homicidio, según comunicado de prensa de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública y la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado. Quince hombres armados llegaron en varias camionetas a la prisión y sometieron a los seis custodios, informó una fuente del gobierno federal, a condición de anonimato. Aclaró que no se repor-
taron disparos ni personas lesionadas. Los custodios (guardias) están siendo investigados por la Procuraduría de Justicia de Tamaulipas, reveló una fuente del gobierno estatal. El Gobierno de Tamaulipas informó a través de un comunicado de prensa que a la 1:40 a.m. del martes, civiles armados ingresaron a las instalaciones del Centro de Ejecución de Sanciones (CEDES) de la ciudad de Miguel Alemán y se llevaron a 12 internos. El documento agrega que las personas que escaparon son: Horacio Puente Alfaro, Daniel Alberto Solís Trejo, Enrique de la Peña Sáenz, Alberto Campos Gordillo, José Ramírez del Ángel, Jaime Rodríguez Hernández, Patricio Gerardo Álvarez Sánchez, Víctor Hugo
Alonso Alvarado, Miguel Ángel González Malpica, Roberto y/o Rodolfo López Cortés, Juan Carlos Coronado Vázquez y Mario Esteban Urbano Vázquez. Puente Alfaro y Solís Trejo estaban presos por homicidio. Los otros delitos de los prófugos son halconeo, abuso sexual y robo de vehículo.
Trienio En casi tres años, 369 convictos se han escapado de las prisiones en Tamaulipas. El 26 de marzo del 2010, un grupo de 40 presos se fugaron del penal de Matamoros (frontera con Brownsville). El 5 de abril del 2010, un comando liberó a 13 prisioneros de la cár-
cel en Reynosa (frontera con Hidalgo/McAllen). En septiembre del mismo año, otros 85 convictos escaparon de la misma cárcel. En esa ocasión fallecieron tres reos. La madrugada del 17 de diciembre del 2010, 153 prisioneros escaparon del penal de seguridad de Nuevo Laredo. Aunque la fuga ocurrió a la 1 a.m., el reporte se difundió hasta las 9 a.m. El 14 de julio del 2011 un grupo de 66 internos se fugó del penal de Nuevo Laredo, después de una aparente riña que dejó 7 reos muertos. En ésa fecha se arrestó al personal administrativo y custodios del penal, donde se fincaron responsabilidades por su aparente participación. La más reciente es la ocurrida el martes en Miguel Alemán, con la fuga de los 12 reos.
ENTRETENIMIENTO
FERIA DE ZAPATA
NUEVO LAREDO, MX 03/02— Segundo Encuentro de Escritores en Estación Palabra de 12 p.m. a 5 p.m. 03/02— Festival Infantil en Estación Palabra, con el tema: “Poesía y la primavera”, a las 2 p.m. Entrada Libre. 03/02— “Grupo Por Amor al Arte” presenta literatura narrada en cuentos “El baúl de la casa de la abuela” por parte de Seyde García y Julio Silva, en Paseo Reforma a las 5 p.m. Entrada gratuita. 03/05— Colectivo Moviendo Conciencia presenta la exposición artística “Esencia de nostalgia” de 6 p.m. a 9 p.m. en el lobby del teatro del IMSS, Belden y Reynosa. Expositores: Miguel Angel Cedano, Diana Ordaz, Miguel Fernández, Diana Loredo, Norma Johnson, Roberto Teniente, Danny Summers, Mark García; Lisandro Baltazar, Osvaldo Cruz, Pedro Velazco y Tony Barraza. Entrada gratuita. 03/05— Proyecto Teatro presenta “Esencia de nostalgia” de Miguel Angel Cedano, a las 7 p.m. en el Teatro del IMSS, Belden y Reynosa. Costo: 20 pesos.
LAREDO 03/02— Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU presenta, “The Little Star that Could” a las 3 p.m.; “Seven Wonders” a las 4 p.m.; “Laser Beatles” a las 5 p.m.; “iPOP Laser a las 6 p.m.; y, “Pink Floyd Laser” a las 7 p.m. Costo es de 5 dólares y 4 dólares. 03/02— El Taller de Ópera de LCC presenta “Viva la Mamma!” (o Las Tradiciones del Teatro No Convencional) de Gaetano Donizetti, a las 7:30 p.m. en el teatro del Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center del Campus Fort McIntosh. Costo: 10 dólares. Ganancias se destinarán a becas y futuras producciones. Última presentación el 3 de marzo a las 3 p.m. 03/02— “Encanto Español” se presenta en el Teatro del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU, a las 8 p.m. Costo: 15 dólares. Informes llamando a Bede Leyendecker al 326-2625.
Foto por Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times
Fotos por Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
IZQUIERDA: Niños corren hacia el carro alegórico del Brush Country Home Health durante el Desfile de la Feria del Condado de Zapata. SUPERIOR DERECHA: Leslie Álvarez observa a Alejandro Guzmán y Heryberto Reyes alimentar a un cordero. INFERIOR DERECHA: Hoy sábado la Cabalgata es el principal atractivo de la Feria del Condado de Zapata.
Anuncian días de fiesta; cabalgata sale hoy de Bustamante POR RICARDO VILLARREAL TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
C
onocida como la Feria más Grande de un Pueblito en Texas, la Feria del Condado de Zapata está lista para su Cabalgata este fin de semana, y para el cierre de la fiesta del 7 al 9 de marzo. Entre los artistas anunciados se encuentran Kevin Fowler, Pesado, Solido, Siggno, y Zamoralez. “La cabalgata es una gran tradición y una parte importante de la feria”, dijo José F. “Paco” Mendoza Jr., Presidente de la Feria del Condado de Zapata 2013. Explicó que la cabalgata inicia en Bustamante en el ‘Bustamante Roping Arena’ alrededor de las 8 a.m. del sábado 2 de marzo, y se dirige a Zapata. La cabalgata es de aproximadamente 15 millas y concluye en el Zapata County Fair Pavilion. “Unos cuantos de los cabalgantes son locales, pero tenemos muchos que vienen de fuera de la ciudad”, dijo Mendoza. “Probablemente tendremos entre 100 a 150 personas a caballo”. Pesaje de animales, exhibiciones y concursos iniciarán el jueves 7 de marzo en el Zapata County Pavilion. El viernes 8 de marzo, los
Sábado 2 de marzo
“
7am — Cabalgata con salida de Bustamante Roping Arena
La cabalgata es una gran tradición y una parte importante de la feria”. JOSÉ F. ‘PACO’ MENDOZA JR., PRESIDENTE DE LA FERIA DEL CONDADO DE ZAPATA 2013
eventos y competencias continuarán y la feria culminará el sábado 9 de marzo, con el gran desfile, subasta y bailes, entre otros eventos. Mendoza dijo que algo nuevo este año será el entretenimiento con música country. “Siempre hemos tenido música Norteña o Tejana”, dijo Mendoza, agregando que el cantante de música country Kevin Fowler será la estrella la noche del viernes 8 de marzo. Este año la Feria Anual del Condado de Zapata celebra su 41 aniversario y, a decir de Mendoza, promete ser la mejor de todas. “Les esperamos para un fin de semana lleno de música, comida y emociones”, dijo Mendoza. Adquiera su boleto por 10 dólares.
Jueves 7 de marzo 7 a.m. — Pesaje de animales 5 p.m. — Competencia de animales 7 p.m. — Batalla de las Bandas
Viernes 8 de marzo 8 a.m. — Competencia de animales 5 p.m. — Escuelas locales 7:30 p.m. — Zamorales 9 p.m. — Solido 10:30 p.m. — Kevin Fowler
Sábado 9 de marzo 9 a.m. — Desfile del Zapata County Fair Association en 3rd Ave. 10:30 a.m. — Rodeo 4 p.m. — Subasta animales 6 p.m. — Ganador Batalla de las Bandas 7:30 p.m. — Concurso de Jalapeño 8 p.m. — Los 5 De Zapata 10 p.m. — Siggno 11:30 p.m. — Grupo Pesado
TAMAULIPAS
Hacen obligatorio uso de asiento infantil TIEMPO DE LAREDO
El uso del auto-asiento infantil será obligatorio en Tamaulipas, se anunció esta semana. Cada año se presentan más de 10 muertes de niños entre 0 y 5 años de edad a causa de los accidentes de tránsito y sólo en el 2012 fallecieron 14 menores en Tamaulipas. La modificación a la Ley General de Salud indi-
ca que el auto asiento infantil será obligatorio para niños de hasta 5-años de edad. La Cámara de Diputados aprobó por unanimidad las reformas a la fracción II del artículo 163 de la Ley General de Salud. “La aplicación del decreto podría prevenir entre un 50 y 90 por ciento las lesiones graves y fallecimientos ocasionados por accidentes vehiculares”, dijo el Secretario de Salud
de Tamaulipas, Norberto Treviño García-Manzo. “El objetivo es evitar muertes”. Los asientos infantiles proveen protección a los niños no sólo en accidentes frontales y posteriores, sino también en volcaduras e incluso gran parte de los modelos cuentan con diseños y materiales que protegen de impactos laterales. Treviño sostuvo que el
gobierno de Tamaulipas está comprometido a disminuir la morbilidad y mortalidad por accidentes en todos los grupos de edad, lograr en la población una cultura de auto cuidado en la prevención de accidentes y reforzar las seis acciones básicas recomendadas por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) encaminadas a mejorar la seguridad vial. Entre estas recomenda-
ciones destacan el uso del cinturón de seguridad; utilizar los sistemas de retención infantil; el uso del casco protector de motociclistas; respetar los límites de velocidad; evitar el uso de equipo de comunicación móvil (celulares, radios, etc.) al manejar, evitar el consumo de alcohol y drogas al conducir; disminuir la inseguridad peatonal, entre otras de igual importancia.
National
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
WikiLeaks admission boosts supporters By BEN NUCKOLS ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — While it may be a curious legal strategy, an Army private’s decision to admit in court that he sent hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks has energized his supporters around the world. Pfc. Bradley Manning, 25, has been called by some a whistleblowing hero, a political prisoner and a symbol of the misplaced priorities of the U.S. military and the Obama administration. Others, particularly in the United States, view him as a traitor. He appears likely to spend many years in a military prison. At the very least, Manning likely ended speculation that he leaked the
largest trove of classified material in U.S. history wantonly or unknowingly. At a court hearing Thursday, Manning read a 35-page statement describing his internal deliberations about whether to send the first batch of hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he was trying to expose the American military’s disregard for human life and provoke a public debate about U.S. military and foreign policy. “I felt this sense of relief by them having it,” Manning said Thursday of WikiLeaks. “I felt I had accomplished something that allowed me to have a clear conscience.” Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network, which has raised
more than $900,000 for Manning’s legal defense, said the statement confirmed MANNING what supporters have long thought of him. “We’ve been defending this person as a heroic whistleblower for 2 1/2 years now, and it was inspiring and it was motivating to finally hear in his own words why he made this life-changing and possibly history-changing decision,” Paterson said. Besides the battlefield reports, he sent WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of State Department diplomatic cables, detainee records from the prison at Guantanamo Bay and other classified records. He also re-
leased a 2007 combat video of a U.S. helicopter assault that killed 11 men, including a news photographer. Manning said he didn’t think the material would harm the United States, although the diplomatic cables would be embarrassing. The Obama administration has said it threatened valuable military and diplomatic sources and strained relations with other governments. Gabriel Schoenfeld, a fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute and the author of “Necessary Secrets,” said Manning made a brash decision to release the State Department cables and should be punished for it. “He said nothing he put out, he thought was damaging to the United States. I would beg to differ with
that,” Schoenfeld said. “He wasn’t in a position to evaluate the damage.” But Schoenfeld doesn’t think Manning was guilty of his most serious charge, aiding the enemy. “I don’t think that was his intention,” he said. Manning’s supporters say the documents exposed war crimes. They also credit a State Department cable indicating that the U.S. would not back former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with helping spark the pro-democracy Arab Spring uprisings in 2010. “I think he really deserves great credit for his courage and for doing the right thing,” said Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers revealing that the U.S. had deceived the public about the Viet-
nam War. “I hope people will see these quotes and realize how well-motivated he was.” Military justice experts say it’s unclear whether Manning will derive any benefit from pleading guilty to offenses that carry a maximum 20-year sentence. He admitted guilt without the benefit of a deal with prosecutors — known in military parlance as a “naked plea.” After the judge accepted the plea, prosecutors announced that they would go forward with the remaining charges. Aiding the enemy, an offense that has not been brought to trial in decades, carries a maximum life sentence. Manning is also charged with violating federal espionage laws and theft counts that carry decades in prison.
No major objections to Canada pipeline By MATTHEW DALY AND DINA CAPPIELLO ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The State Department on Friday raised no major objections to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and said other options to get the oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries are worse for climate change. But the latest environmental review stops short of recommending whether the project should be approved. State Department approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline is needed because it crosses a U.S. border. The lengthy report says Canadian tar sands are likely to be developed, regardless of whether the U.S. approves Keystone XL, which would carry oil from western Canada to refineries in Texas. The pipeline would also travel through Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The report acknowledges that development of tar sands in Alberta would create greenhouse gases but makes clear that other methods to transport the oil — including rail, trucks and barges — also pose a risk to the environment. The State Department analysis for the first time evaluated two options using rail: shipping the oil on trains to existing pipelines or to oil tankers. The report shows that those other methods would release more greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming than the pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline, according to the report, would release annually the same amount of global warming pollution as 626,000 passenger cars. A scenario that would move the oil on trains to mostly existing pipelines would release 8 percent more greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide than Keystone XL. That would not require State Department approval because any new pipelines would not cross the U.S border. Another alternative that relies mostly on rail to move the oil to the Canadian west coast, where it would be loaded onto tankers to the U.S. Gulf Coast, would result in 17 percent more greenhouse gas emissions, the report said. In both alternatives, the oil would be shipped in rail cars as bitumen, a thick, tar-like substance, rather than as a liquid. The State Department was required to conduct a new environmental analysis after the pipeline’s operator, Calgary-based TransCanada, changed the project’s route though Nebraska. The Obama administration blocked the project last year because of concerns that the original route would have jeopardized environmentally sensitive land in the Sand Hills region. The administration later approved a southern section of the pipeline, from Cushing, Okla., to the Texas coast, as part of what President Barack Obama has called an “all of the above” energy policy that embraces a wide range of sources, from oil and gas to renewables such as wind and solar. 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 much-needed jobs and a step toward North American energy independence. Environmental groups have been pressuring the president to reject the pipeline, saying it would carry “dirty oil” that contributes to global warming. They al-
so worry about a spill. Industry groups and Republicans hailed the report, saying the Obama administration was moving closer to approving Keystone XL, which has been under consideration since 2008. “No matter how many times KXL is reviewed, the result is the same: no significant environmental impact,” said Marty Durbin, executive vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry. The report “puts this important, job-creating project one step closer to reality,” Durbin said. Environmentalists blasted the report. “This analysis fails in its review of climate impacts, threats to endangered wildlife like whooping cranes and woodland caribou, and the concerns of tribal communities,” said Jim Lyon, vice president of the National Wildlife Federation. If Keystone XL would not speed tar sands development, “why are oil companies pouring millions into lobbying and political contributions to build it?” Lyon asked. “By rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, President Obama can keep billions of tons of climate-disrupting carbon pollution locked safely in the ground.” The draft report begins a 45-day comment period, after which the State Department will issue a final environmental report before Secretary of State John Kerry makes a recommendation about whether the pipeline is in the national interest. Kerry has promised a “fair and transparent” review of the plan and said he hopes to decide on the project in the “near term.” Most observers do not expect a decision until summer at the earliest.
Photo by Damian Dovarganes | AP
Investigators search the apartment in Los Angeles where LAPD and an FBI task force arrested 26year-old Ammar Harris, who is accused in the Feb. 21 deaths of three people on the Las Vegas Strip.
Police detail 9 minutes By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — It took just nine fateful minutes for a valet stand dispute to escalate to a deadly Las Vegas Strip shooting, crash and fireball. Nearly every second was captured by video, audio and witness accounts and detailed in a Las Vegas police report made public after a weeklong manhunt led to the arrest of Ammar Harris in Los Angeles on Thursday. Investigators say Harris, a 26-year-old felon and self-described pimp, exchanged angry words with aspiring rapper Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. in a casino valet area. The shouting continued as the two men drove in separate cars along Las Vegas Boulevard, with tires squealing and a horn blaring. Police say it wasn’t long before Harris began shooting, Cherry was mortally wounded, and his Maserati careened into a taxi that exploded in a fireball. In the end, Cherry and two other people were dead, and five others were injured in a spectacular, multi-vehicle crash at one of the most famous neonlit crossroads in Las Vegas. Stunned tourists compared the carnage to a
Hollywood action film. The report said it was 4:11 a.m. Feb. 21 when Harris HARRIS stood for a moment in the valet area of the glossy and glassy Aria resort, talking with Cherry, who was in the driver’s seat of the dark gray Maserati. “What was said specifically, I can’t say,” Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones said Friday. “But it’s clear there was an exchange of words and a dispute that led to this senseless act.” Police found no gun in the Maserati and no evidence that Cherry had returned fire in the attack that ended just before 4:20 a.m. The SUV disappeared along Las Vegas Boulevard as cab driver Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Washington state perished in the taxi. A passenger in the Maserati, Freddy Walters, 26, was shot in the arm, and four people in four other vehicles were hurt, none seriously, in the chain-reaction crashes. Attempts to reach Walters have not been successful. Police say he cooperated with investigators. Cherry, 27, was buried
Thursday in Oakland, Calif., about the same time Harris was arrested, said Vicki Greco, a Las Vegas lawyer representing Cherry’s parents and family. Boldon and Sutton-Wasmund were mourned by friends and family members who were shocked by what Boldon’s younger brother called the “I don’t give a care attitude” of the crime. Sutton-Wasmund, a twotime breast cancer survivor, will be remembered at a funeral Saturday in Maple Valley, Wash., as a tireless catalyst for causes, activities and events in her school and business community, said Sue VanRuff, a friend and executive director of the Greater Maple Valley Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce. “Many people don’t know Sandi for one thing. They know Sandi for lots of things,” VanRuff said. “If she didn’t know you, she made it her mission to know you. To be your friend.” Boldon’s funeral was Wednesday in Las Vegas. “My brother was affected by a random, senseless act caused by machismo — a pimp or a tough guy trying to prove he was brazen and bad enough to shoot someone on the Las Vegas Strip,” Tehran Boldon said. He hailed the arrest of Harris. .
Shooting suspect may plead insanity By P. SOLOMON BANDA ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Attorneys for the suspect in the deadly Colorado theater shooting said for the first time that they’re considering entering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on behalf of their client. But they said in court papers made public Friday that they can’t make their decision about their defense of James Holmes until the judge rules on their motion challenging the constitutionality of the state’s insanity defense law. The attorneys say the law is unfair to defendants who invoke it because it requires the disclosure of potentially incriminating information, such as mental health records, while those who plainly plead not guilty are not required to turn over any evidence.
Prosecutors have not announced whether they will pursue the death penalty, but they have 60 days from when a defendant enters a plea to do so. Holmes’ hearing is March 12. A legal expert said the maneuvering may be part of a defense strategy to make sure prosecutors never get their hands on a notebook that was purportedly sent by Holmes to his psychiatrist and included descriptions of a possible attack. The notebook was the subject of court hearings in the months after the July shooting. Under state law, the notebook was protected because it was part of a doctor-patient relationship that Holmes had with the psychiatrist. “That’s why there’s a big issue there, there’s information that the prosecution may not be entitled to
the crime for which they’re accused.
Challenge
Photo by RJ Sangosti/Pool/Denver Post/File | AP
James E. Holmes is seen in a court appearance in Centennial, Colo., on July 23, 2012. unless they plead not guilty by reason of insanity,” said Karen Steinhauser, a Denver defense attorney. Representatives for the prosecution and the defense didn’t immediately return phone calls Friday. The judge has ordered at-
torneys not to speak publicly about the case. Under state law, defendants who plead not guilty by reason of insanity must reveal to prosecutors mental health records as well as psychiatric evaluations that may include details of
While the law has not been challenged before in cases involving the death penalty, determining whether it violates a defendant’s constitutional right against self-incrimination directly impacts their decisions about Holmes’ defense, his attorneys argue. Steinhauser said the defense had to file their motion challenging the insanity defense law before the plea is entered because they could not raise issues with the statute afterward. They could still, however, raises other trial-related issues later. Steinhauser said the judge can rule on the matter, which likely will be ap-
pealed to higher courts and possibly delay Holmes’ arraignment. Holmes’ attorneys have said their client is mentally ill and had sought the help of a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado, Denver, where he was a neuroscience graduate student. Holmes faces multiple charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the shootings at an Aurora theater during a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.” Holmes in January was ordered to stand trial following 2 1/2 days of testimony from police and federal agents who provided details about the attack. Holmes had been expected to enter a plea following that hearing, but defense attorneys requested a delay, saying they would not be ready until March.
State
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
Report: Death accidental By BETSY BLANEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
ODESSA — The death of a 3-year-old adopted Russian boy has been ruled an accident by West Texas authorities, but officials said Friday they are still investigating a case that has become a flashpoint in the debate over international adoption. Four doctors reviewed the autopsy report and agreed that Max Shatto’s death on Jan. 21 was not intentional, Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson and District Attorney Bobby Bland said. Preliminary autopsy results had indicated Max had bruises on several parts of his body, but Bland said Friday that those bruises appeared to be self-inflicted. He also said no drugs were found in Max’s system. “I had four doctors agree that this is the result of an accident,” he said. “We have to take that as fact.” Alan and Laura Shatto adopted Max, born Maxim Kuzmin, and his halfbrother, 2-year-old Kristopher, from an orphanage in western Russia last fall. Laura Shatto told authorities she found Max unresponsive outside their Gardendale, Texas, home while he was playing with his younger brother. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. Russian authorities have blamed the boy’s death on his adoptive parents and used the case to justify a recently enacted ban on all American adoptions of Russian children. Russia’s Investigative Committee has said it has opened its own investigation. It’s unclear whether the committee could charge the Shatto family or force their prosecution. Alexander K. Zakharov, the Russian consul general in Houston, said he wanted to see an official report from authorities before commenting on Friday’s announcement. The investigation into the boy’s death continues,
Photo by Juan Carlos Llorca | AP
El Paso lawyer and philanthropist Marco Antonio Delgado is escorted out of the El Paso County Jail in El Paso, in 2012.
US seeks $2.5M in lawyer’s case By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo by Mark Sterkel/Odessa American / AP
Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland, center, announces Friday the autopsy results for the death of Max Alan Shatto, the 3-year-old adopted-Russian youth who died Jan. 21 in Gardendale. Bland said. Once investigators complete their work, Bland will meet with them and decide whether to pursue charges such as negligent supervision or injury to a child by omission. He did not say when such a decision would be made. The Shatto family’s attorney, Michael J. Brown, said that Max’s death being ruled an accident “is not a surprise to me at all.” Three doctors from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Worth, which completed the autopsy, and another doctor agreed on the finding. Brown said Max suffered from behavioral issues and occasionally butted his head on objects or other people, which is how he got bruised. He also noted that Max was taking doctor-prescribed medication to treat hyperactivity but that his parents don’t believe the medication played a role in the child’s death. Donaldson, the sheriff, has said that Laura Shatto told investigators that she went inside to use the bathroom, and when she came back outside, she found Max near playground equipment outside the family’s home.
No one answered the phone at the Shatto home Friday, and a sign had been posted on the driveway: “No Comment.” The Russian government passed its ban on international adoptions in December in retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators. The ban also reflects lingering resentment over the perceived mistreatment of some of the 60,000 children Americans have adopted during the last two decades. At least 20 of those children have died, and reports of abuse have garnered attention in Russia. Chuck Johnson, CEO of the Virginia-based National Council for Adoption, said an agreement ratified last year would have prevented the conditions that led to many deaths and abuse cases. One change in particular would have required all adoptions to go through agencies licensed in Russia. “The deaths were terribly tragic, horrible,” Johnson said in a Feb. 19 interview. “But the frustrating thing has been that those cases have become the face of inter-country adoption, and they shouldn’t be.” The Texas Department
of Family and Protective Services said Friday it found no violations at the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, the agency that processed the Shattos’ adoption. The state’s Child Protective Services division is proceeding with a separate investigation into allegations that Max was subject to physical abuse and neglect, but has not determined whether those allegations are true. Russian state media have featured the boys’ biological mother, Yulia Kuzmina, who lost custody over negligence and serious drinking problems. In a tightly choreographed Feb. 21 interview on state television, Kuzmina insisted Russian custody officials seized her children unfairly and said she wanted to be reunited with her other son, born Kirill Kuzmin. She said she had given up drinking, found a job and pledged to fight to get the boy back. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said it is necessary “to temper emotions” over the case, and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has called for “sensational exploitations of human tragedy to end and for professional work between our two countries to grow, on this issue and many others.”
EL PASO — Federal prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $2.5 million in cash from a former Carnegie Mellon University trustee accused of money laundering. An indictment filed Wednesday in Texas alleges that El Paso lawyer and philanthropist Marco Delgado defrauded millions from a firm doing business with a Mexican utility and used that money to underwrite a lavish lifestyle that included a $250,000 contribution to Carnegie Mellon University. Delgado could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Authorities also have requested forfeiture of $2.5 million in cash, a house and furniture in El Paso and a New Mexico apartment, as well as two vehicles. Delgado is charged with 15 money laundering and two wire fraud counts. The indictment returned in El Paso alleges Delgado fraudulently instructed a bank in Mexico to move $32 million dollars from his client’s Mexican account to an account he controlled in the Turks and Caicos islands. The indictment says the El Paso lawyer then diverted part of that money to Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Delgado faces a separate indictment accusing him of conspiring to launder more
than $600 million for a Mexican drug cartel. He was arrested in November and charged with conspiring to launder drug profits from July 2007 through December 2008. Delgado obtained a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon in 1990 and in 2003 donated $250,000 to create a scholarship named after him to help Hispanic students. He was also a member of several charities and a regular contributor to the El Paso symphony orchestra. The investigation into Delgado started in September 2007 after a $1 million seizure was made in Atlanta. The man carrying the money told investigators that he, Delgado and other men had met in Mexico and agreed to transport money for the Milenio Cartel, a drug-trafficking organization based in the Mexican state of Colima. According to U.S. authorities, Delgado admitted to U.S. agents that he had been contacted by people in Mexico about slowing down extradition processes of alleged cartel members and about moving up to $600 million from the U.S. to Mexico. He told the agents the million dollars seized was “a trial run” to see if it was possible, according to the U.S. government. Calls to his attorney went unreturned Thursday. Delgado has maintained his innocence.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
Doolittle Raider navigator dies at 96 By DAN SEWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI — Maj. Thomas C. “Tom” Griffin, a B-25 bomber navigator in the audacious Doolittle’s Raid attack on mainland Japan during World War II, has died. His death at age 96 leaves four surviving Raiders. Griffin died Tuesday in a veterans nursing home in northern Kentucky. He was among the 80 original volunteers for the daring April 18, 1942, mission. When they began training, they were told only it would be “extremely hazardous,” coming in the aftermath of Japan’s devastating attack on Pearl Harbor and a string of other Japanese military successes. “We needed to hit back,” Griffin said in an interview a year ago in his suburban Cincinnati home. The attack on Tokyo, with a risky launch of 16 land-based bombers at sea from an aircraft carrier, shocked the Japanese and was credited with providing a major lift to American morale. The planes lacked fuel to reach safe bases after dropping their bombs. Griffin parachuted over China after the attack, eluded Japanese capture, and returned to action in bombing runs from North Africa before being shot down in 1943 and spending nearly two years in a German prison camp. Griffin died less than two months from what now will be the Raiders’ final annual reunion, April 17-21 in Fort Walton Beach, in the Florida Panhandle where the Raiders trained for the attack. “We kind of expected it, because he had gone downhill pretty quickly the last few weeks, but you can never really prepare yourself for when one of these guys goes,” said Tom Casey, manager of the Doolittle Raiders Association. Griffin took part in last year’s 70th reunion at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, which also included survivors and relatives of the USS
Photo by Al Behrman/file | AP
Maj. Thomas Griffin poses inside his home in Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 2011, next to a Time Magazine cover of Lt. Col. James Doolittle and a painting of a B-25B Mitchell bomber used in Doolittle’s raid on Japan in 1942. Griffin, a navigator on one of the planes used in the raid, died Tuesday in a VA nursing home at the age of 96. Hornet carrier and Chinese villagers who helped the Raiders elude capture. Eight Raiders were captured, and three were executed. A fourth died in captivity. Villagers suspected of hiding the Americans also were executed. “We had a lot of near-misses, when they (Japanese soldiers) raided places we had been the night before,” recalled Griffin, who had parachuted into a tree without major injury. Three Raiders died off China after the raid. Griffin had joked last year that he hoped to be one of the last two surviving Raiders who would share the final toast in a small gathering, which had been the
plan for decades. “It’s going to be special,” Griffin said before the Dayton reunion. “I can’t help but think it’s going to be our last one.” Instead, it will be Griffin’s turn to be honored at the reunion; a goblet with his name engraved on it will be turned upside down. The private ceremony will include only Raiders, the Raiders’ historian, Casey and two Air Force cadets. There will be a roll call of the names of all the Raiders. When Griffin’s name is called, Lt. Col. Richard Cole, at age 97 the oldest survivor, will give a report on Griffin, Casey said. At the end of the reading of
names, the white-gloved cadets will pour cognac into the goblets of the survivors, and they will drink their special toast: “To those who have gone.” Besides Cole, a Dayton native who lives in Comfort, Texas, the other survivors are Lt. Col. Robert Hite of Nashville, Tenn.; Lt. Col. Edward Saylor of Puyallup, Wash., and Master Sgt. David Thatcher of Missoula, Mont. Casey said Thursday that the Raiders have decided not to wait until there are two survivors to have the final toast. Instead, they plan to have a special gathering later this year to share what will be their final toast. He said be-
cause of the advancing ages of the remaining survivors, it was decided to allow all those still alive late this year to take part. Dates and details will be announced later. For their toast, they will drink from a bottle of 1896 cognac, the year their commander Lt. Col. “Jimmy” Doolittle was born. Griffin was a native of Green Bay, Wis., who settled in the Cincinnati area after the war and had an accounting business. He was preceded in death by his wife, and is survived by two sons. Services will be March 9 at the Green Township Veterans Park, with a B-25 flyover planned.
‘One Day’ actress Franklin dies at 69 By ADAM BERNSTEIN THE WASHINGTON POST
Bonnie Franklin, the spunky, ginger-haired stage performer who became best remembered as the independent-minded divorcee with two teenage daughters on the long-running sitcom “One Day at a Time,” died March 1 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 69. Franklin announced in September 2012 that she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Family members confirmed the death. “One Day at a Time,” which was produced by Norman Lear and aired on CBS from 1975 to 1984, resonated with audiences at a time when divorce rates were climbing and the stigma of divorce was diminishing. The show was a comedy, but it also touched on the emotion and economic toll of divorce in an era when women were beginning to have greater career opportunities. Franklin’s character, Ann Romano, struggles to raise two daughters (played by Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli) while working in the advertising business in Indianapolis. She tries with mixed success to console her daughters after their panic attacks and rash decisions involving boys. And she rolls her eyes at the farcically macho come-ons supplied by the seedy building superintendent (Pat Harrington). “Even though Ann Romano was not the first divorced woman on TV, she embodied that subject matter in a way that had not been done before,” said Syracuse University television scholar Robert Thompson. “The show focused on a young divorced woman who was getting by, but also she had a sense of being flustered and exasperated,” Thompson said. “She was by no means the perfect mother who had all the perfect answers and did everything right.” Franklin grew up in California, where her tap-danc-
ing prowess opened the door to television and movie appearances by the time she was 10. She landed a small part in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock drama “The Wrong Man,” starring Henry Fonda, and later appeared in TV shows such as “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Gidget” and “The Munsters.” She made her deepest early impression in the 1970 Broadway musical “Applause.” The show-business drama starred Lauren Bacall and was adapted from the 1950 Bette Davis film “All About Eve.” Franklin, as one of the background “gypsy” dancers who fluttered from show to show, drew acclaim for her rendition of the title song. In his “Applause” review, New York Times theater critic Walter Kerr described Franklin as a dervish-like scene stealer: “Shaggily red-headed, with a smile like the one they sometimes
paint on lollipops, slapping her chaps and tossing her neckerchief to the apparently high winds, she needs only to be turned loose to take over.” “Applause” — with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams and a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green — ran two years on Broadway and won the Tony Award for best musical. Franklin earned a Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical. Bonnie Gail Franklin was born Jan. 6, 1944, in Santa Monica, Calif. Her first marriage, to playwright Ronald Sossi, ended in divorce. Her second husband, film and television producer Marvin Minoff, died in 2009 after 29 years of marriage. Survivors include her mother, Claire Franklin; two stepchildren; and two grandchildren. For the past three dec-
Photo by Richard Drew/file | AP
Bonnie Franklin, of the 1970’s sitcom “One Day at a Time,” is seen in this Feb. 26, 2008, photo. Franklin, whom millions identified with for her role as divorced mom Ann Romano, died Friday. ades, Franklin staged onewoman cabaret shows in New York but mostly worked in regional theater. She was a vegetarian and once told the Kansas City Star that her greatest fear in performing at dinner
theaters was “that the smell of roast beef will hit my
nose while I’m performing.”
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
SARAH CRISTINA CONRAD Our beautiful little angel, Sarah Cristina Conrad, was born Feb. 10, 2013, and passed in our arms on Feb. 23, 2013, at the Albany Medical Center in New York. We had you in our lives for a few short days, but you will live in our hearts forever. It was long enough to hold you, kiss you, and love you. It was enough to know that your life was indeed a gift from God. Sarah is survived by her parents, Mark and Ana Conrad; grandparents, Dagoberto and Ana Ramirez, Mark Conrad, and Rebecca Clark and her husband Gary Clark; great-grandparents, Thelma Rippin, Waldene Geistle, and James Conrad; her aunts and uncles, Jennifer Conrad, Diana (Alex Maldonado), Jorge Ramirez and Adriana Ramirez; and her cousin, Brianna Maldonado. Visitation hours will be Friday, March 1, 2013, from 1 to 3 p.m. with a rosary at 2:30 p.m. at Rose Garden
Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 3:30 p.m. 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.
ALVARO SALINAS Alvaro Salinas, 70, passed away Feb. 22, 2013. He is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Julia Davila-Salinas; sister, Martha Valdez; children, Alvaro Salinas Jr., Norma Aultman and husband Randy and Daniel Salinas and wife Gisela; grandchildren Yvette, Chris, Stephen, Ben, Ashley, Jessica, Andrew, Alex, Patrick, Daniel Jay; and one great-grandchild, Alyssa. Visitation hours were Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, from 6 to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Friday, March 1, 2013, at 9:30 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.
SHERIFF Continued from Page 1A men being investigated were served with arrest warrants. On Feb. 22, deputies served Gonzalez with several arrest warrants. He was charged with two counts of burglary of a vehicle, Class A misdemeanors; two counts of burglary of a habitation, seconddegree felonies; burglary of a building, a state jail felony; and two counts of theft, Class a misdemeanors. Gonzalez had a combined bond of $115,000. He remained at the Zapata Regional Jail as of Friday evening. Authorities also served several warrants on Quezada. He’s facing charges of burglary of a vehicle, a Class A misdemeanor; burglary of a building, a state jail felony; burglary
of a habitation, a seconddegree felony; and three counts of theft, all Class A misdemeanors. Quezada was at the Zapata Regional Jail as of Friday evening. He had an $85,000 bond. “Investigators have contacted all victims in the thefts and burglaries that were located in the Siesta Shores subdivision area and investigators are still following leads into the rest of the missing items,” Elizondo said. People who feel they were victims related to this case are welcome to call the sheriff ’s office at 765-9960 to check if their property has been recovered. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
FAIR Continued from Page 1A na Gutierrez. “This year the Cowboy and Queen as well as the winners in each category will be part of our royalty throughout the year and at the parade,” she said. On Sunday, Leanna Marie Saenz was crowned as queen. Cassandra Michelle Peña was first runner-up. Krysta R. Lozano and Celia Andrea Rathmell were runners-up. The winner was chosen by a panel of three judges and was crowned by outgoing queen Sofia Regalado. The contestants were
judged based on western attire, talent, evening wear and answers to an impromptu question. Saenz and her court will participate in today’s trail rid. “The trail ride is a big tradition and a huge part of the Zapata County Fair,” said 2013 Zapata County Fair president Jose F. “Paco” Mendoza Jr. He said the trail ride starts in Bustamante, at the Bustamante Roping Arena, at around 8 a.m. and heads into Zapata. The ride is about 15 miles
long. “Quite a few of the riders are local riders, but we do have many of them coming from out-of-town. We will probably have between 100 to 150 people on horseback,” Mendoza said. Animal weigh-ins, exhibits and judging will begin on Thursday at the Zapata County Pavilion. On Friday, events and judging will continue and the fair will culminate on Saturday, with the grand parade, auction and street dance, among other events.
Mendoza said new at the fair this year will be country music entertainment. “We’ve always had Norteño or Tejano music,” Mendoza said, adding that Texas country music star Kevin Fowler will be the headliner for Friday. The Amarillo-born Fowler has released five studio albums and has hit the charts with three singles, so far, including the hit “Pound Sign (#?*!)” (Ricardo R. Villarreal can be reached at 728-2528 or rvillarreal@lmtonline.com)
BUDGET Continued from Page 1A lawmakers for less than an hour at the White House, then sought repeatedly to fix the blame on Republicans for the broad spending reductions and any damage that they inflict. “They’ve allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit,” he said, renewing his demand for a comprehensive deficit-cutting deal that includes higher taxes. Republicans said they wanted deficit cuts, too, but not tax increases. “The president got his tax hikes on Jan. 1,” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters, a reference to a $600 billion increase on higher wage earners that cleared Congress on the first day of the year. Now, he said after the meeting, it is time take on “the spending problem here in Washington.” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was equally emphatic. “ I will not be part of any back-room deal, and I will absolutely not agree to increase taxes,” he vowed in a written statement. At the same time they clashed, Obama and Republicans appeared determined to contain their disagreement. Boehner said the House will pass legislation next week to extend routine funding for government agencies beyond the current March 27 expiration. “I’m hopeful that we won’t have to deal with the threat of a government shutdown while we’re dealing with the sequester at the same time,” he said, referring to the new cuts by their Washington-speak name. Obama said he, too, wanted to keep the two issues separate. White House officials declined to say precisely when the president would formally order the cuts. Under the law, he had until midnight. Barring a quick deal in the next week or so to call them off, the impact eventually is likely to be felt in all reaches of the country. The Pentagon will absorb half of the $85 billion required to be sliced between now and the end of the budget year on Sept 30, exposing civilian workers to furloughs and defense contractors to possible cancellations. Said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, only a few days on the job: “We will continue to ensure America’s security” despite the challenge posed by an “unnecessary budget crisis.” The administration also has warned of long lines at airports as security personnel are furloughed,
“
I’m hopeful that we won’t have to deal with the threat of a government shutdown.” HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER
of teacher layoffs in some classrooms and adverse impacts on maintenance at the nation’s parks. The announcement by the housing agency in Seattle was an early indication of what is likely to hit as the cuts take effect. It said it was taking the action “to cope with the impending reduction in federal funding,” adding that it normally issues 45 to 50 vouchers per month. After days of dire warnings by administration officials, the president told reporters the effects of the cuts would be felt only gradually. “The longer these cuts remain in place, the greater the damage to our economy — a slow grind that will intensify with each passing day,” he said. Much of the budget savings will come through unpaid furloughs for government workers, and those won’t begin taking effect until next month. Obama declined to say if he bore any of the responsibility for the coming cuts, and expressed bemusement at any suggestion he had the ability to force Republicans to agree with him. “I am not a dictator. I’m the president,” he said. “So, ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say we need to go to catch a plane, I can’t have Secret Service block the doorway, right?” He also declared he couldn’t perform a “Jedi mind meld” to sway opponents, mixing Star Wars and Star Trek as he reached for a science fiction metaphor. Neither the president nor Republicans claimed to like what was about to happen. Obama called the cuts “dumb,” and GOP lawmakers have long said they were his idea in the first place. Ironically, they derive from a budget dispute they were supposed to help resolve back in the fall of 2011. At the time, a congressional Supercommittee was charged with identifying at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over a decade as part of an
attempt to avoid a first-ever government default. The president and Republicans agreed to create a fallback of that much in across-theboard cuts, designed to be so unpalatable that it would virtually assure the panel struck a deal. The Supercommittee dissolved in disagreement, though. And while Obama and Republicans agreed to a two-month delay last January, there was no bipartisan negotiation in recent days to prevent the first installment of the cuts from taking effect. It isn’t clear how long they will last. Of particular concern to lawmakers in both parties is a lack of flexibility in the allocation of cuts due to take effect over the next few months. That problem will ease beginning with the new budget year on Oct. 1, when Congress and the White House will be able to negotiate changes in the way the reductions are made. For his part, Obama suggested he was content to leave them in place until Republicans change their minds about raising taxes by closing loopholes. “If Congress comes to its senses a week from now, a month from now, three months from now, then there’s a lot of open running room there for us to grow our economy much more quickly and to advance the agenda of the American people dramatically,” he said. “So this is a temporary stop on what I believe is the long-term, outstanding prospect for American growth and greatness.” But Republicans say they are on solid political ground. At a retreat in January in Williamsburg, Va., GOP House members reversed course and decided to approve a debt limit increase without demanding cuts. They also agreed not to provoke a government shutdown, another traditional pressure point, as leverage to force Obama and Democrats to accept savings in benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Obama has said repeatedly he’s willing to include benefit programs in deficit-cutting legislation — as long as more tax revenue is part of the deal. “I am prepared to do hard things and to push my Democratic friends to do hard things,” he said at the White House on Friday. Republicans speak dismissively of such pledges, saying that in earlier negotiations, the president has never been willing to close a deal with the type of changes he often says he will accept.
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
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Sports&Outdoors NFL: DALLAS COWBOYS
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: SPRING TRAINING
Spring has sprung Photo by Richard Lipski | AP
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reacts to fans before a game against the Washington Redskins on Dec. 30 in Landover, Md.
Orsborn: Change must start at top By TOM ORSBORN SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Jerry Jones knows he’s made plenty of mistakes during his last two decades as owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, ones that have landed the franchise in what the former oilman calls a rut.
But Jones also believes he’s still capable of returning the team to the Super Bowl. And when it happens, he would like us all to give him a standing ovation. “I would grant you the decisions that have been made over the years have
See ORSBORN PAGE 2B
CYCLING: LANCE ARMSTRONG Photo by Charlie Riedel | AP
Texas slugger Lance Berkman skipped the first week of spring training games to avoid starting too soon on his injured calf with the extended preseason this year.
Early start to spring training has effects By GREG BEACHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX — Snow fell on the Valley of the Sun shortly after the major leaguers arrived in February, covering the cacti and turning the Diamondbacks’ diamond white. Hefty hailstones pelted the Giants’ cars in Scottsdale, and freezing winds howled outside the
Dodgers’ clubhouse in Glendale. Crazy things can happen when spring training starts before spring. With the latest World Baseball Classic taking dozens of players away from their teams in March, the majors again supersized their annual rite of renewal, adding a seventh week to spring training. Teams reported several days earli-
er than usual, and they began exhibition play well before the February calendar flipped to March. All of this extra time in camp is a blessing to some, a monotonous annoyance to others — and there’s still a month to go. “I can’t believe we’re already playing games,” new Dodgers
See SPRING TRAINING PAGE 2B
Suits stack up against Armstrong Disgraced doper sued for millions for defrauding former sponsors By JULIET MACUR NEW YORK TIMES
NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS A&M
Swope surprises By BRENT ZWERNEMAN SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
COLLEGE STATION — Ryan Swope wasn’t the first fast Texas A&M receiver from Austin Westlake High, and Swope’s eyes lit up Thursday at the mention of Chad Schroeder, who wrapped up his A&M career three years before Swope’s Aggieland arrival in 2009. “One of my good friends,” Swope said,
chuckling, of his fellow Chaparral. “Now that’s a fast white boy, too.” Much like when Schroeder was the fastest Aggie in these parts seven years ago, Swope has grown accustomed to the question he fielded for the past four years as an elite A&M receiver — and is now receiving from all over the country via instantly intrigued NFL
See SWOPE PAGE 2B
Photo by Dave Martin | AP
Texas A&M receiver Ryan Swope runs a drill during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Sunday.
In the wake of his doping confession, Lance Armstrong is facing another two lawsuits, including one filed by an insurance company that paid him $3 million in bonuses for his first three Tour de France victories. Acceptance Insurance Co., based in Nebraska, sued Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp., his former team’s management company, on Thursday, claiming that Armstrong committed fraud because he hid the fact that he doped when winning the Tour in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The lawsuit, filed in Travis County Court in Austin, said Armstrong’s lies voided the policy he had with the insurance company. Armstrong, the disgraced former seven-time Tour winner, also was
sued in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday. That class action lawsuit said ARMSTRONG that Armstrong and FRS, which makes nutritional supplements for which Armstrong served as a spokesman, engaged in false advertising when Armstrong said in advertisements that FRS was the “secret weapon” to his success. Mark Fabiani, a spokesman for Armstrong, declined to comment on the lawsuits. The cases add to Armstrong’s mounting legal woes after he admitted in January that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during most of his cycling career. Though Armstrong’s es-
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BOXING: SAUL “CANELO” ALVAREZ (41-0-1, 30 KOS) VS. AUSTIN TROUT (26-0, 14 KOS) TITLE BOUT AT THE ALAMODOME WHO: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) vs. Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KOs) WHEN, WHERE: April 20, Alamodome WHAT: 12 rounds for WBA and WBC junior middleweight titles TV: Showtime
Two of boxing’s best ALVAREZ: He’s only 22, but already the Mexican star has become one of the leading attractions in boxing. Part of that is because of his red hair, but mostly it’s because of his skills and punching power. TROUT: Another of the sport’s top under-30 attractions, the Las Cruces, N.M., southpaw will be making his fifth title defense. The 27-year-old dominated Miguel Cotto in December.
Unbeatens to fight By JOHN WHISLER SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
SAN ANTONIO — Ever since they hooked up with Oscar De La Hoya last summer to promote boxing in San Antonio, Mike Battah and his partner “Jesse” James Leija have been bu-
sy. They’ve staged numerous small- to mid-level fight cards around town, all with an eye on eventually snaring the big prize in the Golden Boy Promotions stable — Mexican sensation Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. “He’s the guy right now,
the fighter everyone wants to see,” Battah said. “James and I have been targeting him all along.” It’s taken some effort, but they finally got their man. Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) will face off against Austin
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Photo by Danny Moloshok | AP
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, right, will face off against Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KOs), not shown, in a battle of unbeaten junior middleweight champions April 20 at the Alamodome.
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Zscores
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
SPRING TRAINING Continued from Page 1B right-hander Zack Greinke said last week. “I feel like we just got to spring training. If we just pace ourselves out, it’ll be fine. But it’s definitely different. I don’t know what I think about it yet.” This early start has led to unusual occurrences, whether it’s that freak Cactus League snowstorm or Grapefruit League lineups loaded with minor leaguers and fringe prospects for much of February. Since many stars sitting out the WBC don’t want to peak too soon in their preseason preparation, they’ve got extra time to spend working on their golf swings, playing clubhouse pingpong or idly counting the days until March 31, when the Rangers and Astros open the regular season. “Everyone knows that spring training is at least a week too long, and probably two weeks too long just on a regular basis,” said Texas slugger Lance Berkman, who skipped the first week of games to avoid starting too soon on his injured calf. “And this year it’s even longer than that.” Indeed, the Dodgers will play a head-scratching 40 exhibition games this spring. The San Diego Padres are setting a franchise record with 38 games, and several other teams are clocking in with similar numbers. Managers have worked out detailed plans to pace their teams for the long haul to opening day. Many players are voluntarily holding back on their normal spring routines, particularly when they’re coming back from injuries or offseason surgery. “Basically it’s a week longer,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. “So those guys, it’s usually the last week or two of spring where we’re having the boredom, and those regulars want to start the season ... and now you’ve got to add another week onto that.” But that’s leaving fans holding tickets to spring games featuring watered-down lineups with almost no recognizable names. For instance, the Angels’ split-squad roster for its spring opener against the Giants had maybe
Photo by Charlie Riedel | AP
The Texas Rangers’ Lance Berkman bats during a spring training game against the Cleveland Indians om Thursday in Surprise, Ariz. one player with a chance to make the major league team — and certainly not Albert Pujols, who won’t play until mid-March to give extra rest to his surgically repaired right knee. While the Dodgers put Clayton Kershaw and Greinke into their first two exhibition games, the Angels, White Sox, Royals, Orioles and several other teams held back their starting pitchers for the first week or more, trying to keep their rotations on their typical ramp-up to opening day. “If you think about it, it’s basically a quarter of a full season in training camp,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who kept Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson and his other three starters on the shelf. “I think it’s counterproductive. It’s kind of a softer spring in how you’re going to step up. We’ve got more time, and we’re going to take advan-
tage of that. If we got to them earlier, it might ruin their edge for opening day.” Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte acknowledges the long spring schedule changed his approach. “It’s slowed me down in a big way,” the 40-year-old said. “It’s a long spring training, so they give a few days off in between my bullpens, stuff like that. You’ve got so much time down here, it’s like, ‘Why rush?’ We work backwards. You work from the opening day of the season and figure out what you need. It’s definitely impacted me.” Others are grateful for every extra week. Players returning from injury or surgery — everybody from Pujols and Detroit’s Max Scherzer to the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera and C.C. Sabathia — have all the time they need to get closer to full strength.
ORSBORN Continued from Page 1B not produced a Super Bowl, two Super Bowls or three Super Bowls that I would like to have been a part of,” Jones said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And the only thing I am going to do there is keep trying and then make sure I get the credit when we do get that one. You all are going to give it to me, aren’t you?” Jones can keep trying all he wants, but the credit he craves isn’t likely to come until he changes his thinking. About the offensive line. About Tony Romo. And about himself and how he runs the club. Let’s start with the offensive line and quarterback. Even after adding guards Mackenzy Bernadeau and Nate Livings in free agency and moving Tyron Smith from right to left tackle, the unit still yielded 36 sacks and was a major reason the Cowboys amassed a meager 1,265 yards on the ground in 2012, the team’s lowest total for a 16-game season. Yet there was Jones sitting aboard his luxury bus in Indianapolis suggesting Dallas can get by with a lousy line because of Romo’s elusiveness. “If you’re going to have a guy that can handle a porous offensive line, it’s Tony,” Jones said. “Tony has some of the best percentages operating in pressure situations of anyone in the NFL. If there was a place theoretically that you had to have a weakness with Tony Romo at quarterback, that might be a place to have it. You just can’t have it all.” Never mind that Romo will be 33 in April and should be losing some of his nimbleness any time now. Never mind that he’s the one player the Cowboys can’t af-
“We don’t want them to start too many games down here, because then you’re using innings that you would use during the season,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who’s limiting Sabathia in his return from elbow surgery. “You can control their pitch count easy. The key is to get them built up and just ready for the season.” And the teams that played deep into October last fall welcomed the extra time in spring. With a shorter offseason after sweeping the Tigers in the World Series last fall, many San Francisco Giants didn’t get as much work done during the winter, instead giving their bodies a needed break. “I’m glad that spring training (started) earlier so we can make sure these guys are ready,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said.
SWOPE Continued from Page 1B
ford to lose, a fact reflected in Jones’ desire to extend his contract. Never mind he has already suffered a season-ending injury (broken collarbone in 2010) thanks to a big hit. “All I’m saying to you is Tony is outstanding at understanding why it is you can’t have it all,” Jones said. “He really understands that. Had he rather have a little less pressure and a little more at receiver? What he would rather have is no pressure, give me a couple more great receivers, and, by the way, give me the best running game you got. I’ll take more all of that. “But nobody understands better that you just can’t have it all. You just don’t have it all.” What the Cowboys don’t seem to have is a GM capable of pulling them out of the muck of mediocrity they’ve been stuck in since they won three Super Bowls in the 1990s with a team built largely by Jimmy Johnson’s shrewd personnel moves. Since the start of the 1997 season, Dallas is 128-128 in the regular season and has only one playoff win in that span. The Cowboys have missed the playoffs the last three years and are 16-16 in the regular season the past two seasons. It’s a sorry showing that would have resulted in the firing of any other GM. Of course, any GM who suggested it was OK for his club’s franchise QB to play behind a porous line might not survive, either. If it is credit Jones wants, perhaps he should step down as GM and find a sharp, young mind to replace him. Such a move would be guaranteed to produce plenty of applause.
fans. Say, Ryan, how did you get ... so fast? It’s one he’s heard plenty after clocking an eye-popping 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the recent NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Swope tied for the second-fastest time of any player — behind only Texas receiver Marquise Goodwin’s 4.27 — in boosting his NFL draft stock from the middle rounds to potentially the second. “Race doesn’t matter,” Swope said of his typical answer. “You go out there on the field — black, white or whatever — and you’re competing with the guy across the field from you. Obviously there’s some God-given talent, but a lot of what it comes down to is how hard you’ve trained to get to that point. “If I had been in the 4.4s at the combine I would have left disappointed. I wanted to go there and turn heads.” He did, and NFL fans quickly will discover what A&M fans did in the fall of 2009: Swope, who stands 6 feet and
weighs 205 pounds, also is a load to bring down after the catch. That separates him from receivers who simply rely on their speed to blast past defenses. That’s where his Westlake teeth-cutting also helped: He primarily played running back in high school, and a fortunate NFL team will soon discover it drafted a combination of speed and toughness. “It’s good to have running back instincts after catching the ball,” said Swope, tops on A&M’s all-time receiving list with 252 grabs. “Playing running back in high school just helped me be an overall more fundamentally sound football player.” Swope’s name, too, has become familiar in the past couple of weeks outside of the combine. Based in part on the Aggies’ stunning 11-2 first swing through the powerful Southeastern Conference, Swope is a finalist — along with Denard Robinson of Michigan — to grace the cover of the EA Sports NCAA Foot-
BOXING Continued from Page 1B Trout (26-0, 14 KOs) in a battle of unbeaten junior middleweight champions April 20 at the Alamodome. The pair will meet to unify their title belts — Alvarez owns the WBC version, Trout the WBA crown — atop a card that could also include San Antonio bantamweight Raul Martinez in his first fight since undergoing surgery to his biceps late last summer. “This is a megafight,” said Leija, a former world champion who is teaming with Battah to promote a fight card Saturday at Our Lady of the Lake University. “Alvarez is a star, the king of Mexico. This is going to be great for the city. It’s during Fiesta. It’s exciting.” The fight will be televised on Showtime. The matchup was originally scheduled as the co-main event on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Robert Guerrero payper-view card May 4 in Las Vegas. But Alvarez reportedly wanted a
written guarantee he would get a showdown with Mayweather should both win. When Mayweather declined the request, Alvarez opted to headline his own date. Battah said Richard Schaefer, CEO of De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, began looking for another home for Alvarez-Trout and narrowed his choices to Los Angeles and San Antonio, before choosing the Alamo City. Nicknamed “Canelo,” Spanish for cinnamon, because of his red hair, freckles and light complexion, Alvarez has taken the boxing world by storm. Only 22, the Jalisco native is known for his aggressive style and raw punching power. A native of Las Cruces, N.M., Trout, 27, is a slick southpaw who sticks and moves but also can punch. Despite the risk, Alvarez reportedly took the fight to quiet critics who have
After the Tigers’ second straight trip to the postseason, manager Jim Leyland is balancing his concerns about Detroit’s long seasons against the demands of a seven-week spring. “We’re not going to baby them, but we’re not going to kill them, either,” Leyland said. Bochy thinks players who took part in winter ball had a head start going into spring training, particularly with a shorter gap between the dates when pitchers and catchers report and when position players arrive. Many pitchers had fewer bullpen sessions than normal before facing live hitting this spring. Oakland manager Bob Melvin also planned spring training to account for the extra time, but the A’s are more familiar with it than most teams. They opened with two games in Japan last season, forcing them to report early in 2012 as well, and Melvin knows how to make sure players are ready when needed. “Some will be just be slower into games,” Melvin said at the start of spring training. “So you might not see some our guys that were taxed a little more, certainly the relievers, in games early on.” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly thinks the extra-long schedule only exacerbates the baseball world’s tendency to read too much into spring training. With so many games to play, particularly without the WBC-bound players, Mattingly knows many teams will be forced to use lineups and pitching combinations that won’t matter much in the regular season. Mattingly and Toronto manager John Gibbons both urged their fans not to worry about what happens in March — and don’t draw too many conclusions about what’s waiting when these players finally escape the longest spring training of their lives. “These are our guys, regardless of how their spring goes,” Gibbons said of his starting pitchers. “When it’s all said and done, even if a guy has a bad spring, there’s a good chance he’ll still be with us.”
questioned his opposition. “This is not a gimme for Canelo by any means,” said Leija, who has seen Alvarez fight several times and has spoken to him often. “It’s going to be a good, tough fight. They’re both world champions for a reason.” Battah said he and Leija are flying to Los Angeles on Monday to finalize details of the fight card and begin preparation for what figures to be one of the major events of the year in boxing. A four-city tour to promote the show will include a stop in San Antonio and two in Mexico, Battah said. He said tickets likely will go on sale next week. Prices have not been determined. “We’re hoping to pack the dome, 60,000 fans,” Battah said of a figure that would match the turnout for Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker in 1993. “Why not? I’ve already had 50 ticket brokers calling me for tickets.”
ball 14 video game. Voting on the EA Sports Facebook page runs for another week. “I actually grew up playing that video game, so trying to be on the cover is a dream come true,” Swope said. “It’s incredible.” His 40-time, too, might seem incredible, but the coach who recruited Swope to A&M, Mike Sherman, once said it best when asked in 2010 what first caught his eye regarding the youngster. “Besides his 4.4 speed?” responded a grinning Sherman, who coached A&M from 200811. Sherman added that Swope’s passion for football also was immediately evident. Now, the sport’s top level is suddenly quite intrigued with that passion. And speed. “I have to go back and watch some more tape of him,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “That’s what I say when you see a guy you don’t expect to run in the mid 4.3s. It forces you to go back and watch the tape.”
LANCE Continued from Page 1B timated worth is about $125 million, his fortune appears to be in jeopardy, with potential legal payouts in excess of $106 million. The greatest threat to his bank account is a federal whistle-blower lawsuit unsealed last week in Washington. Last week, the government joined Floyd Landis, one of Armstrong’s former teammates, as a plaintiff in the case that says Armstrong defrauded the government because he was doping while on the team sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service. In whistle-blower cases, plaintiffs could be
awarded triple damages, which could mean Armstrong could owe the government about $90 million if he loses. Johan Bruyneel, his former team manager, and Tailwind Sports are also defendants. Armstrong is also involved in a lawsuit with an insurance company which paid him $12.1 million in bonuses for winning several Tours. Another lawsuit in which he is a defendant was filed by a British newspaper asking for him to repay the $1.5 million it gave him after he sued the paper for libel years ago, and won.
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013
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HINTS | BY HELOISE SOUND THE HORN ON DRAWER SAFETY Dear Heloise: My husband stumbled on a great way to keep our 13-monthold grandson from getting into the kitchen drawers without having to install drawer SAFETY LATCHES. He purchased 24-inch extra-long shoehorns. They were inexpensive and plastic. He slid the shoehorn with the hook so that it grabs the drawer handle on the first drawer and slides down through the rest of them. Depending on the number of drawers in a set we want to secure, he cuts the shoehorn to the desired length. I usually make sure the bottom drawers are safe ones so my grandson can get into them — his favorite place to play. Small downside: His little hands can sneak in on the sides, but he can’t really get into the drawer. — Lynda H., Boerne, Texas Lynda, this is an inexpensive solution, but it’s wise to invest in the right
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HELOISE
safety locks. You don’t want to take a chance that a little one could get into trouble. — Heloise PET PAL Dear Readers: J.P. McGiffin of Bedford, N.H., sent a photo of her cat, Armani. She says this handsome boy knows how to keep warm or cool because he always wears his gray suit. To see Armani in his suit, visit www.Heloise.com and click on “Pets.” — Heloise NEW PRESCRIPTION Dear Heloise: When I get a new prescription, I write on the bottle four days before the refill date as a reminder when to order the next refill. — Bruce Cammack, Lubbock, Texas HANDY CELLPHONE Dear Heloise: The lights were out in the men’s restroom at work recently, and the light from my cellphone saved the day. Hey, it worked! — E.G., via email
DENNIS THE MENACE
FAMILY CIRCUS
PEANUTS
GARFIELD
DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it:
DILBERT
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