The Zapata Times 4/24/2010

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EDUCATION

HUNGER

New chief for ZCISD

Food bank nears 43K pounds distributed

Interim superintendent expected to be named Tuesday

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

The Zapata County ISD board of trustees is expected to name an interim superintendent at a special meeting Tuesday to replace longtime leader Romeo Rodriguez.

“The district and I have reached a mutual agreement,” Rodriguez said. “I have been given an opportunity to work in another ar-

ea.”

He declined to go into details, saying he preferred to wait until after next week’s meeting, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Professional Development Center, 17th Avenue and Carla Street.

Trustees also will talk with the school district’s lawyer, Juan Cruz, about a separation agreement with Rodriguez and could approve it at the same meet-

ing.

Earlier this year, the board opted not to extend Rodriguez’s contract, saying instead that it would review the contract again in January 2011. His contract expires in June 2011.

At last week’s meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss modifying the superintendent’s employment contract but took no action.

Few details were available about the impending action on the superintendent’s contract.

“I’m not able to comment,” board member Norberto Lopez said.

Rodriguez is from Laredo.

He has extensive education credentials, and at one time was principal at Nixon High School. During his ten-

See SCHOOLS PAGE 9A

SISTER CITIES READY

By SALO OTERO SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The South Texas Food Bank distributed 42,499 pounds of product in Zapata during the month of March, board members were told at their monthly meeting earlier this week.

Over the first three months of 2010, the food bank has served 145,894 pounds in Zapata. The total includes 45,078 pounds through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for older Zapatans.

The food bank has more than 80 sites in its eightcounty area, including five pantries in Zapata.

With a population of 12,124, Zapata has an estimated 4,530 residents living below the poverty guidelines and more food bank distribution sites are needed.

“Our mission is to feed the hungry and the agencies are the life line,” said Alfredo Castillo, executive director of the food bank. “The need is so big, and more partners makes it easier for people to have access to the food.

“Different people have different needs at different times of the month,” he added. “With more sites, there are increased distribution locations and times.

Most pantries are operated by volunteers, and they tend to be open at the same time each month. So if we could get a larger variety of pantries, they could be open at different times, increasing the safety net for people in need.”

For information on becoming a pantry, call South Texas Food Bank agency coordinator Elia Solis at 726-3120. Solis is a native of San Ygnacio.

New pantries

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

Alicia Carrillo Castro arranges Huicol art work in preparation for the Sister Cities Festival on Friday morning at the Laredo Energy Arena. Carrillo Castro comes from Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. The festival continues through the weekend.

At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the food bank board approved four new distribution agencies, including three in Laredo and one in Eagle Pass.

Laredo’s three new agencies are Border Area Transitions Ministry at 2520 Lane; New Beginning House of Worship, 6414 McPherson No. 4; and Volunteers Serving the Need, 1202 Salinas. The Eagle Pass group is located at the Maverick County Self Help Center.

“The need it tremendous,” said board president Olga Maldonado, quoting from the Feeding America hunger study that was presented at last month’s Feeding America Summit in Lost Pines, near Austin. The South Texas Food Bank participated in the study. Maldonado and four food bank staff members

See FOOD PAGE 9A

INFRASTRUCTURE

DISCIPLINE

Library director says School under scrutiny plumbing still a problem Trustee questions program at district’s

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

After experiencing flooding last week, Zapata’s public library was closed a day, just for basic maintenance. The bigger plumbing problems

remain.

According to Aida Garcia, director of the Olga V. Figueroa Zapata County Library, the county’s waste water department cleaned up the sewer overflow in the library but the underlying prob-

lem has not been addressed.

The clean-up project to deal with the overflow turned into a three-day effort as another individual had to be hired an ad-

See LIBRARY PAGE 10A

alternative school

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A Zapata County Independent School District board member has questioned the Disciplinary Al-

ternative Education Program after a report given at a regular school board meeting last week.

ZCISD Trustee Norberto Lopez said DAEP is depriving students of a regular

school setting and he’s concerned that some students may be sent to the center for the wrong reasons.

“I want the best for them,” Lopez said. “Sometimes these kids are placed there because they (school officials) don’t want them.”

DAEP has had 44 stu-

See DAEP

PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

SATURDAY, APRIL 24 Margo Veterinary Clinic will be in Zapata at the Zapata County Fair Pavilion from 10 to 2 p.m. offering services which include rabies vaccinations for puppies 3 months or older, micro chipping, and de-worming. For more information, call the Zapata Animal Control at 765-6201.

Several Zapata families are banding together to hold a “Gigantic Multi Family Garage Sale” today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the IBC Bank, Highway 83 and 10th Avenue. All proceeds are set to go to The Relay for Life.

Join Laredo Community College for its eighth annual Earth Day observance from 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Paso del Indio Nature Trail, behind the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center. Help out with some maintenance and planting activities for the benefit of the trail. Volunteers receive a commemorative Earth Day T-shirt and a healthy snack.

The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce presents the Fishing Tournament for Life Extravaganza March of Dimes on Falcon Lake. Registration begins July 17 at 5 to 7 p.m. at the Oso Blanco Lodge Boat Ramp. For more information, call 765-4339.

Arts for the Earth, sponsored by the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts, is the school’s celebration of Earth Day. There will be performances by Creative Writing and Music students and a chalk art competition with monetary prizes. Attendees will be able to sign an Earth pledge. The event will take place today from 10 a.m.-noon at St. Peter’s Plaza in downtown Laredo.

SUNDAY, APRIL 25 Hundreds of horses will begin the trail ride at Las Lomas Community 14 miles outside Laredo on Highway 59 at 9 a.m., ending at Life Downs at 2:30 p.m. The festival, offering pony and hay rides, mechanical bulls, inflatable bouncers and face painting, is set from noon to 6:30 p.m. at Life Downs.

Admission is free.

FRIDAY, APRIL 30 From 8 p.m. to past midnight, Laredo Center for the Arts is throwing the Tequila Mocking Bird Street Fiesta, featuring live music by Ross & Friends, a cash bar and antojitos.

Tickets are $20 pre-sale and $25 at the gate. For more information, call 725-1715.

SATURDAY, MAY 1 Alpha Delta Kappa hosts its Golden Apple Banquet tonight at 7 p.m. at the Laredo Civic Center Ballroom. The organization annually honors local educators and proceeds go towards scholarships to local high school students. Admission is $25.

Habitat for Humanity hosts Women Build Day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Women Build is Habitat’s volunteer program for women who want to learn construction skills and make a difference by building homes. Builders will work in the construction. For more information, contact Habitat for Humanity.

SUNDAY, MAY 2 Holy Redeemer Church celebrates with its Annual Jamaica all day today at the corner of Davis Ave. and Garcia St. Come and enjoy a fun filled day of games, food and live entertainment. Loteria starts at 3:00 p.m. A 2010 Ford Ranger XL will be raffled, along with 4 other great prizes. For more information, call 286-3798.

Marine Corp League is hosting a BBQ Plate Sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marine Corp Building on 22nd and Hildago Street. In exchange of a $6 donation, plates include fajitas, sausage, macaroni salad, beans, jalapeno, and a drink. Monies go to fund upcoming community projects.

THURSDAY, MAY 20 American Legion meets tonight at 7 p.m. at the American Legion Building, 2213 North U.S. Hwy 83.

FRIDAY, MAY 28 The American Indian Council of Laredo will hold its 17th annual PowWow from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. today at the Laredo Civic Center Ballroom, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. The event will include arts and crafts, dancers and drummers. Admission is free. For more information, call Xavier Delapass at (210) 461-4796 or Robert Barrera at (956) 235-0848.

SATURDAY, JULY 17 The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce presents the Fishing Tournament for Life Extravaganza March of Dimes on Falcon Lake. Registration begins today at 5 to 7 p.m. at the Oso Blanco Lodge Boat Ramp. For more information, call 765-4339.

To submit an item for the calendar, send the name of the event, the date, time, location and contact phone number to editorial@lmtonline.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo by Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star | AP

Hundreds of mostly-student protesters rally against the signing of immigration bill SB1070 by Gov. Jan Brewer, outside the State of Arizona regional office complex in Tucson, on Friday. The sweeping measure would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally.

Immigration bill signed

By PAUL DAVENPORT AND JONATHAN J. COOPER ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the nation’s toughest legislation against illegal immigration Friday, a sweeping measure President Barack Obama said could violate people’s civil rights.

With hundreds of people surrounding the state Capitol, protesting that the bill would lead to civil rights abuses, Brewer said she wouldn’t tolerate racial profiling by police.

She said critics were “overreacting.”

“We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act,” Brewer said after signing the law. “But decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation.”

Obama said earlier Friday that he’s instructed the Justice Department to examine the Arizona bill to see if it’s legal, and said

the federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level.

“That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe,” Obama said.

The bill, sent to the Republican governor by the Republican-led Legislature, would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It would also require local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants.

The bill takes effect 90 days after the legislative session ends in the next several weeks.

Demonstrators have been camped outside the Capitol since the measure passed out of the Legislature on Monday.

Alabama court rejects challenge to Constitution

Ex-cop ‘never intended to lie’ in cyclist case

Alaska dog honored for leading troopers to fire

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit Friday claiming Alabama’s Constitution should be voided because it wasn’t properly ratified by voters in 1901.

The Supreme Court ruled the nine African-American citizens bringing the suit didn’t have legal standing because they weren’t around to vote when the Constitution was ratified 109 years ago.

It argued the ratification vote was manipulated in 1901 to show that 12 predominantly AfricanAmerican counties voted for the Constitution.

NEW YORK — A former police officer accused of knocking down a bike-riding demonstrator and lying about it told jurors Friday he was just trying to protect himself and never meant to misrepresent what happened in a clash caught on video.

Patrick Pogan said he’d told the cyclist, Christopher Long, to stop for a traffic summons. But Long kept pedaling and lowered his shoulder as though preparing to hit him, Pogan said.

It was the first time Pogan has publicly explained his version of the July 2008 encounter.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Buddy the German shepherd was hailed Friday as a hero for guiding Alaska state troopers through winding back roads to a fire at his owners’ workshop.

The dog, whose good deed was caught on a patrol car’s dashcam video, received a stainless steel dog bowl engraved with words of appreciation from troopers for his “diligence and assistance.”

The dashcam video shows Buddy meeting the trooper’s vehicle, then dashing to the Caswell Lakes property on April 4.

-- Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE STATE Woman charged with capital murder HOUSTON — A Houston woman who initially told investigators her 2-month-old son had been abducted but later led authorities to his body in a wooded area has been charged with capital murder.

Narjes Modarresi remained in the Harris County Jail on Friday with no bail.

The 28-year-old told Modarresi told police Wednesday she was pushing her son, Mosih Golabbakhsh, in a stroller when a man took him.

Hundreds attend vigil for boy found dead WYLIE — Hundreds of people gathered to attend a vigil for an unidentified boy found dead near a North Texas lake.

Authorities have been working to identify the boy believed to be about 6. His body was found April 15 in a park near Lavon Lake.

Investigators say the boy probably “had significant medical needs.”

Forensics commission to review Willingham case IRVING — A state forensics panel on Friday assigned four of its members to review the arson case that resulted in the execution of Cameron Todd Willing-

Today is Saturday, April 24, the 114th day of 2010. There are 251 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. (The United States responded in kind the next day.)

On this date: In 1792, the national anthem of France, “La Marseillaise”, was composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

In 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.

In 1877, federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North’s post-Civil War rule in the South.

In 1915, the Ottoman Empire rounded up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople at the start of what many scholars regard as the first genocide of the 20th century in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died.

In 1916, some 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising by seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by British forces almost a week later.)

In 1953, British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1960, rioting erupted in Biloxi, Miss. after black protesters staging a “wade-in” at a whites-only beach were attacked by a crowd of hostile whites.

In 1970, the People’s Republic of China launched its first satellite, which kept transmitting a song, “The East is Red.” In 1980, the United States launched an unsuccessful attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.

Ten years ago: Concerned about the disappearance of a laptop computer with highly sensitive documents, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced a five-point plan to help guard against such lapses in the future.

Today’s Birthdays: Film and drama critic Stanley Kauffmann is 94. Movie director-producer Richard Donner is 80.

Actress Shirley MacLaine is 76.

Author Sue Grafton is 70. Actor-singer Michael Parks is 70.

Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 68. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is 68. Country singer Richard Sterban (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 67.

Rock musician Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 65. Rock singer-musician Rob Hyman is 60. Actor-playwright Eric Bogosian is 57.

Rock singer-musician Jack Blades (Night Ranger) is 56.

Actor Michael O’Keefe is 55.

Rock musician David J (Bauhaus) is 53. Actor Glenn Morshower is 51. Rock musician Billy Gould is 47. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 46.

Actor Djimon Hounsou (JEYE’mihn OHN’-soo) is 46. Rock musician Patty Schemel is 43.

Rock musician Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) is 42. Actress Melinda Clarke is 41. Latin pop singer Alejandro Fernandez is 39. Country-rock musician Brad Morgan (Drive-By Truckers) is 39. Rock musician Brian Marshall (Creed; Alter Bridge) is 37. Actor Derek Luke is 36.

Thought for Today: “Never practice what you preach. If you’re going to practice it, why preach it?” — Lincoln Steffens, American journalist-reformer (1866-1936).

CONTACT US Photo by Eric Gay | AP

A marching band and refreshment wagon pass parade goers during the Fiesta Battle of the Flowers parade Friday, in San Antonio.

ham, who was convicted of killing his three children.

In a report prepared for the Texas Forensic Science Commission, expert Craig Beyler found fault in the investigation that led to Willingham’s conviction.

Businessman pleads guilty in tax case HOUSTON — A businessman has pleaded guilty to failing to truthfully account for and pay over the federal income taxes and FICA taxes from the wages of his company’s employees.

Gary C. Quintinsky pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in

Houston to failure to pay over the employment taxes from the wages of United Crane Inc. for the third quarter of 2003.

UT System recalls students from Mexico AUSTIN — The University of Texas System is recalling all students, faculty and staff in seven northern Mexico states.

UT System officials said violence in Mexico made necessary the recall from Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Baja California and Durango.

-- Compiled from AP reports

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SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

Zlocal

Regional water plan group plans meeting

PAGE 3A

Check kid seat safety today

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Even though the area has been inundated with heavy rains recently, and Amistad and Falcon reservoirs are nearly full, the time to plan for future water needs along the Rio Grande – especially during times of drought – is now.

The Rio Grande Regional Water Planning Group,which is one of 16 regional water planning groups around the state, will have a public hearing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Laredo Public Library, 1120 E. Calton Road, to receive public comments on a revised regional water plan.

The planning group represents a wide range of stakeholders, such as irrigation districts, water utilities, cities, counties, environmental groups, small businesses, and large industries. It has been working for the past year to up-

Chapter 4 is a key chapter because it outlines the recommended strategies to meet water demands for the next 50 years. date the 2005-06 regional water plan with new information. The revised and updated plan is known as the Initially Prepared Plan.

Physical copies of the IPP were distributed last month to county clerks’ offices and certain libraries in the 8-county region in order to give the general public an opportunity to read the plan.

The regional water plan is also available online at www.riograndewaterplan.org.

Chapter 4 is a key chapter because it outlines the recommended strategies to meet water demands for the next 50 years. Those

strategies include municipal and agricultural water conservation, acquisition of additional water rights from the Rio Grande, increased water recycling for non-potable use, and desalination of seawater and brackish groundwater.

The deadline to comment on the regional water plan is Monday, June 28. Comments received by the deadline will be incorporated into a new plan that will be submitted to the Texas Water Development Board on Sept. 1.

All meetings of the Rio Grande RWPG are open to the public and include opportunities for public comment.

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Certified child passenger safety technicians and volunteers will be conducting free child seat inspections for Webb and Zapata County residents today from 9 a.m. to noon at the Texas Department of Transportation Laredo District Office, 1817 Bob Bullock Loop, at the back of the building.

According to TxDOT officials, drivers will be allowed to start lining up at 8:30 a.m. Enter on Clark Boulevard, east of Bob Bullock Loop; turn right at the second employees entrance sign, go to the rear of the complex. It’s first come, first served.

TxDOT’s Laredo district is working with Doctors Hospital, Laredo Police Department, Office of the District Attorney of Webb and Zapata Counties and Texas Department of State Health Services Safe Riders on the event.

US Census jobs paying $10.50 now available THE ZAPATA TIMES

If hourly pay starting at $10.50 per hour is appealing, those looking for a job are in luck.

The U.S. Census is still hiring in the Zapata area, offering flexible hours, up to 40 a week.

Enumerator positions are also available.

Applicants have ranged from students to retirees looking to work extra hours on weekends or week nights.

While bilingual applicants are encouraged, all prospective applicants must be fluent in English, at least 18 years of age and be able to pass a background check.

For more information or to schedule a test to be taken at a later date, call (866) 861-2010.

There is no pass or

THE BLOTTER ASSAULT Deputies arrested Anthony Charo Flores, 52, on charges of assault family violence at about 7 a.m. Friday in the 300 block of Gonzales Street. An incident report states Flores allegedly grabbed the victim by the throat and threw her to the ground. Deputies booked Flores and transported him to Zapata Regional Jail, and held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

Simon Alberto Martinez, 22, was arrested on charges of assault family violence at about 11:30 a.m.

April 16 in the 1400 block of Ramireño Avenue. Deputies booked Martinez and transported him to Zapata Regional Jail, and held in lieu of a $500 fine.

Deputies arrested Jose Armando Lara Jr., 23, on charges of assault causing bodily injury family violence at about 12:16 p.m. on April 18 in the 100 block of Kens Way in the Rhoda Maria subdivision. An incident report states Lara slapped the victim. He was booked and taken to Zapata Regional Jail, and held on a $300 bond.

BURGLARY Deputies responded to a call at 8 a.m. Monday in the 100 block of Madison Street. The 83-year-old

female complainant stated someone stole money from her purse.

A 42-year-old man reported at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Diva’s Boutique, 1001 U.S. 83, someone broke into his store. The alleged offenders stole jewelry, clothes and other assorted items valued at $2,087.

Deputies responded to a criminal mischief call at about 11 p.m. April 16 at the China Buffet, Texas 16. The 24-year-old female complainant stated someone broke into her vehicle and stole a stereo and loosened the lug nuts on the right front tire.

DWI Fidel Rodriguez, 31, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated at 11:45 p.m.

April 16 about 1 mile west of Farm Road 496. An incident report states U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration check traffic stop. After talking to Rodriguez, agents noticed =he was intoxicated. Agents called in deputies who took custody of Rodriguez. Deputies booked and transported him to Zapata Regional Jail, held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

Deputies arrested Eulalio Sanchez Jr., 37, on charges of

driving while intoxicated at 3 a.m.

Tuesday on Seventh Street in the Medina Addition. According to an incident report, deputies conducted a traffic stop on a black pickup truck for a traffic violation. Sanchez was found intoxicated and arrested for said offense. Deputies booked and transported him to Zapata Regional Jail, and held on a $3,000 bond.

HIT AND RUN A 26-year-old man reported a hit and run accident at 8:30 p.m. April 16 in the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Villa Street in the Medina Addition. According to an incident report, the complainant stated a vehicle driving behind him collided with his 2002 GMC pickup truck while he was driving into his residence driveway.

POSSESSION Deputies arrested Ella Dora Salinas, 36, on charges of possession of controlled substance penalty group 1 at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 83, just north of Siesta Lane. An incident report states deputies conducted a traffic violation stop on a tan Chevrolet Malibu. Deputies said they found the female passenger, identified as Salinas, in possession of less than 1

gram (.9 grams) of cocaine. The woman was booked and transported to Zapata Regional Jail, where she was held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

THEFT Deputies responded to a theft call at about 10:30 a.m.

Monday at a ranch four miles east

of Texas 16. The complainant stated some unknown people stole 97 barrels of oil from a tank, valued at $7,760.

A 32-year-old man reported his horse stolen at about 11 a.m.

Monday near the intersection of Zapata Boulevard and 13th Street in the Medina Addition.

Applicants have ranged from students to retirees looking to work extra hours on weekends or week nights. fail for the exam, which is also available on the U.S. Census Web site at 2010censusjobs.gov.

After completion of the exam and acceptance of the applicant, paid training will commence. The Census is offering day and evening local training sessions.

PAGE 4A

Zopinion

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Dems shift battle into overdrive I

n these columns I try to give voice to a philosophy you might call progressive conservatism.

It starts with the wisdom of Edmund Burke — the belief that the world is more complex than we can know and we should be skeptical of handing too much power to government planners. It layers in a dose of Hamiltonian optimism — the belief that limited but energetic government can nonetheless successfully enhance opportunity and social mobility.

This general philosophy puts me to the left of where the Republican Party is now, and to the right of the Democratic Party. It puts me in that silly spot on the political map, the center, or a step to the right of it.

The center has been losing political power pretty much my entire career. But I confess that about 16 months ago I had some hope of a revival.

The culture war, which had bitterly divided the country for decades, was winding down. The war war — the fight over Iraq and national security — was also waning.

The country had just elected a man who vowed to move past the old polarities, who valued discussion and who clearly had some sympathy with both the Burkean and Hamiltonian impulses. He staffed his administration with brilliant pragmatists whose views overlapped with mine.

Yet things have not worked out for those of us in the broad middle. Politics is more polarized than ever. The two parties have drifted further to the extremes. The center is drained and depressed.

What happened?

History happened. The administration came into power at a time of economic crisis. This led it, in the first bloom of selfconfidence, to attempt many big projects all at once. Each of these projects may have been defensible in isolation, but in combination they created the impression of a federal onslaught.

One of the odd features of the Democratic Party is its inability to learn what politics is about. It’s not about winning arguments.

It’s about deciding which arguments you are going to have. In the first year of the Obama administration, the Democrats decided to put the big government-versus-small government debate at the center of American life.

Just as America was leaving the culture war and the war war, the Democrats thrust it back into the government war, only this time nastier and with higher stakes.

“

DAVID BROOKS

This war is like a social script. Once it was activated, everybody fell into their preassigned roles.

As government grew, the antigovernment right mobilized. This produced the Tea Party Movement — a characteristically raw but authentically American revolt.

As government grew, many moderates and independents (not always the same thing) recoiled in alarm. In 2008, the country was evenly split on whether there should be bigger government with more services or smaller government with fewer services.

Now, according to a Pew Research Center poll, the smaller government side has a 10-point edge.

Over the past year, the share of Americans who call themselves liberals (24 percent) has remained flat, but the share who call themselves conservatives (42 percent) has risen by as much as 10 percentage points, according to a Washington Post poll, as former moderates have shifted to the antigovernment side.

As government has seemed more threatening, moderates and independents have also fled from the Democratic Party.

Democrats are viewed less favorably than at any time in modern history.

These shifts in the electorate have had predictable effects on the two parties. During periods when the government war is at full swing, the libertarian/Goldwater-esque tendency in the Republican Party becomes dominant and all other tendencies become dormant.

That has happened now.

During periods of government war, the Democratic Party also reverts to its vestigial self. Democrats don’t want to defend big government, so instead they lash out at business. Over the past weeks, President Barack Obama has upped his attacks on Big Oil, Wall Street and “powerful interests,” sounding like an orthodox Reagan-era Democrat.

The government war is playing out just as you’d expect it to, strengthening those with pure positions and leaving those of us in the middle in the crossfire. This is a disappointing time. The Democrats have become the government party and the Republicans are the small government party. The stale, old debate is back with a fury. The war, as always, takes control.

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

Court right to protect privacy NEW YORK TIMES

T

he Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a case about the privacy rights of a California police officer who sent very personal text messages on a city-issued pager. This case brings the court to a new frontier. As people use newer forms of communication, the court must ensure that privacy protections keep up.

Sgt. Jeff Quon, a member of the SWAT team in Ontario, Calif., used his pager for official business, but also sent nonwork-related messages, including some sexually explicit texts, to his estranged wife and to a girlfriend.

Ontario had a policy that Internet usage and email on the city’s devices were not private, but it did not mention pagers. Quon was told by a lieutenant that as long as employees reimbursed the cost of nonwork-related messages that put them over the wireless company’s monthly limit, their messages would not be read.

The city decided in 2002 to review pager messages to see how many were work-related and whether the limit was too low. It asked the wireless company for transcripts. Quon and three people with whom he had messaged sued, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled in

their favor.

The appellate court said that the lieutenant was speaking for the department. And given his statement that text messages would not be audited, if the officers paid for their overages, the plaintiffs had a reasonable expectation of privacy. It ruled that the decision to search the messages was not unreasonable at the outset, but that its scope was unreasonable.

The 9th Circuit was correct. Quon had a reasonable expectation that his messages were private. Under the Fourth Amendment, the city had a duty to seek less-intrusive methods of searching, and as the court noted, those methods were available.

The city of Ontario could have had Quon and others request the transcripts and allowed them to redact anything personal.

The Supreme Court should affirm the appellate court’s well-reasoned decision. If it rules for the city, it should do so in a narrow way, closely tied to the specific facts of this case.

Courts across the country have been unclear about what privacy rights apply to e-mail and texting, which are fast eclipsing postal mail and conventional telephones. The Supreme Court should make clear that the Fourth Amendment’s robust privacy protections apply just as robustly to 21st-century communication.

COLUMN

Irrationalism is haunting state

By JONATHAN GURWITZ SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

S

AN ANTONIO — In January, the Texas State Board of Education unanimously moved to strike Bill Martin Jr. from a third grade social studies curriculum standard.

Martin had been included among U.S. authors and artists whose works are examples of America’s cultural heritage to the global community.

His award-winning book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” has sold more than 7 million copies and is loved by children around the world.

But as one SBOE member explained, Martin had written very strong critiques of capitalism and the American system. Another member of the board had informed her that Martin was the author of such scandalous books as “Ethical Marxism.”

The board passed the motion to ax Martin with

no dissent.

“Are there any objections to the deletion of Bill Martin Jr.?” SBOE chairwoman Gail Lowe jovially asked? “Hearing none, goodbye,” she said to great bipartisan laughter.

There was one problem.

Martin the children’s author who died in 2004 and Martin the Marxist philosopher who still teaches at DePaul University were not the same person.

Given this embarrassing error, you might think members of the state board might show a little humility with regard to the issue of accuracy. But when it came to the vote to remove Thomas Jefferson from a high school social studies curriculum standard, Lowe mounted an irrational attack against what she called “blatantly distorted” media coverage.

“Not only does the new standard erase Jefferson,” I wrote, “it also removes from examination the philosophic tradition of which

he was a part, one that produced a history-altering revolution based on Godgiven rights, limited government and the consent of the governed.”

That column earned a request for a correction from the Texas Education Agency’s director of communicationst.

For the record, the SBOE’s own video archive and draft publication of revisions confirm that the board altered the standard requiring study of “the impact of Enlightenment ideas from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Jefferson on political revolutions from 1750 to the present.” The amended standard deletes references to Jefferson, the Enlightenment and their impact on political revolutions.

A statement from Lowe defending the vote contends that Jefferson is mentioned more times in the overall public school curri-

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

culum than anyone but George Washington.

It was Jefferson’s refinement of Enlightenment ideas that produced the Declaration of Independence. And it was his Americanization of European thought that in turn had a profound impact on the French Revolution and all subsequent movements for representative democracy and limited government — which is what the standard would have had Texas high school students learn.

Like the fallacious red scare over “Brown Bear,” the foolish deletion of Jefferson and the Enlightenment is shameful for Texas and an embarrassment for conservatives. Rather than try to defend the indefensible, Lowe should be working with rational members of the board of education to restore Jefferson to his rightful place when a final vote is taken on the revisions next month.

(E-mail: jgurwitz@express-news.net)

Zlifestyle DINO-RAMA

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

PAGE 5A

MISS MANNERS

Say no with grace

Courtesy photo

A juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, represented with feathers, and an adult T-Rex are shown in the Witte Museum.

‘Terrible lizards’ take over the Witte

By KIRSTEN CROW LAREDO MORNING TIMES

I

n a lush, darkly shaded area resembling the jungles of an ancient past, the growls, shrieks and rumblings of prehistoric, 65million-year-old creatures signal the danger ahead.

And while the Witte Museum took great strides to create an atmosphere mimicking the thick of the jungle with its lighting, vegetation and shadows, there’s no question where the spotlight shines — on the dinosaurs.

In “Dinosaurs Unearthed,” the Witte’s newest exhibit, visitors are treated to an entirely different dino experience than ever before, as the museum employs fully articulated skeletons, dozens of fossils and—the real stars of the show — more than a dozen animatronic

dinosaurs that use the latest available technology to sound, look and move like the real thing.

“People just love dinosaurs,” said Jim Dalglish, vice president of communications for the Witte. “It’s a state-of-the-art exhibit — the animatronics, the modeling, the accuracy of detail and, of course, the new science.”

The exhibit Even before entering the exhibit, visitors are greeted upon arrival with a monstrous salutation: a 22-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex looming menacingly on Broadway.

“It’s been a real showstopper,” Dalglish noted about the museum’s largest occupant. “Everybody can see that for free, day and night.

It’s quite a spectacle in and

of itself.”

And while that memorable image is certainly a favorite, it can’t beat its moving, seemingly breathing competitors that lie in wait within.

Once inside the Kathleen and Curtis Gunn Gallery, visitors can check out the museums full skeletons of Agilisaurus, Gasosaurus, Toujiangosaurus, as well as the dozens of fossil specimens, which range from skulls and teeth to bony tail clubs, claws and eggs. Most impressive, though, might be the femur of Mamenchisaurus, which is easily about six feet tall, putting into perspective the enormity of some of the species.

With comprehensive “fast facts” accompanying each installation, the amount of information can be dizzying.

But the stars of the show are, without a doubt, the 15 animatronic dinosaurs, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Pterosaur and Baryonyx. Built to life size, the dinosaurs

growl, move their tails, bob their heads and claw the air with a dexterity that can be jaw-dropping. Some of the installations even allow the museum visitors to control their movements. “(It looks like) the dinosaurs’ muscles, skin is moving,” Dalglish said. “It’s exciting to see the dinosaurs as they (would have looked) full-skinned.”

Of the animatronics, though, the most fascinating is the juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is outfitted with feathers to reflect some scientists’ current belief that the dinosaurs are actually related to avians, not lizards as their names describe.

The scientists, the placards explain, say the fine, hairlike feathers were designed not for flight, but instead for body heat regulation. They believe the baby T-Rexes would eventually shed these feathers as they reached adulthood, attaining the look of what many commonly associate with the King of the Dinosaurs.

DEAR MISS MANNERS — My freshman daughter in high school, who is beautiful on the inside and outside, has received several offers to the homecoming dance at school. She said yes to the first offer although she knew another boy she liked had attempted to contact her.

She said she didn’t realize the conversation with the first boy would end in an invitation, and she didn’t want to hurt him. We know this boy’s family and agree that it would be best to go on the date she has accepted.

This may happen in the future. Would you have advice on how to decline an invitation to the school dance, which I think is different than a regular date because everyone wants to go and talks about?

If you say no to a potential date, does etiquette mean you should not go at all? My only advice was “don’t answer the phone three weeks before a dance and only call back who you want.”

There are a lot of limitations with this advice.

This is a situation where I think it is hard to juggle getting what you want with being kind.

Is 14 too old for her to say, “I have to ask my parents first”? This still doesn’t help enough because we wouldn’t want to hurt a boy’s feelings either, just to wait for another offer.

GENTLE READER — Your daughter is not too young to learn how to say no to someone who admires her. It will save you, as well as her, a lot of grief later.

And while Miss Man-

“

JUDITH MARTIN

ners commends your and her desire to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings, you both need to recognize that not all hurt feelings can be avoided.

Hurting someone’s feelings by making it clear that the young lady is waiting for a better offer would indeed be bad. But everyone, even vulnerable young gentlemen in high school, has to learn to deal with whatever hurt is felt.

The chief way to avoid rudeness when declining is not to give any excuse.

This is also a way to avoid easily detected falsehoods. If the petitioner’s mother has not taught him the danger, as well as the rudeness, of asking why not, she should say merely, “I’m sorry, but I have other plans.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS — During the processional, is it appropriate for the stepmom to get a personal escort to her seat by an usher along with the biological mother, or should she just take a seat like the other guests, but sit in the pews reserved for the parents and grandparents?

GENTLE READER — You have asked this question in a neutral enough way so that Miss Manners can’t tell if you are the biological mother or the stepmother.

The answer is that all ladies attending should be escorted by ushers, and that the stepmother should sit with her husband.

PAGE 6A

Zentertainment Can’t slow down

Randy Rogers Band headlines Casa Blanca Ballroom on Saturday

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

‘Oceans’ brings sea up close

By CHRISTY LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS

REVIEW

Fish that look like rocks — or scarves, or a jeweled brooch. or anything but fish — are among the fascinating underwater creatures that inhabit “Oceans.”

This stunningly beautiful documentary is the second in a series from the new Disneynature label, which gave us “Earth” exactly one year ago on Earth Day. Whereas that film followed wildlife across the globe, “Oceans” takes a plunge deep into its waters, with jaw-dropping results.

Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud provide a truly immersive experience, without the three-dimensional IMAX effects of the similar “Under the Sea 3D” from 2009.

Having spent seven years working on “Oceans,” including four years gathering footage, they’ve created countless how’d-theyget-that? shots. It took them 28 weeks of waiting, for example, to acquire their up-close-and-person-

al moments with a blue whale, a creature a halfblock long.

That’s among the nuggets of information narrator Pierce Brosnan provides in his soothing Irish tones. At times, the script veers toward the cutesy, but that’s probably to make “Oceans” as palatable as possible for the young viewers to whom the film is intended.

It’s not just the images themselves that are striking, but also the way in which they’re pieced together. Perrin and Cluzaud, who also directed the Oscar-nominated documentary “Winged Migration,” have crafted a nonfiction film that’s shot and edited like a feature.

They make us feel an emotional connection as we watch the intimacy of a female walrus delicately caring for her pup, or the heartbreaking sight of baby sea turtles scurrying across the sand for their tiny lives just moments after being hatched.

By KIRSTEN CROW LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Most bands in the business will tell you that there is no such thing as an “overnight success.”

And for the Randy Rogers Band, a five piece that got its start in San Marcos, the ideology should ring true: Although the group has been building a solid following throughout the Lone Star State over the last decade, it’s only been in the last two years that it has garnered the national attention that Rogers’ dogged fans have long felt the group deserved.

Dropping in on the Gateway City in May 2009, Rogers, who plays guitar and sings the soulful lead vocals, noted that when the group signed a major record deal, music magnates had a sense of “Where did these guys come from?”

“We have expanded more than just regionally, and I think that’s a testament to the movement that (Texas) music is spreading,” Rogers said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “This is April, and we’ve played 60 shows already.”

But many Laredo country enthusiasts already knew blasted well who these guys are. And for those who don’t — and those who can’t get enough — the group is returning to the Casa Blanca Ballroom at 8 p.m. Saturday.

“We try to have fun,” Rogers said. “Make you dance and make you spill on yourself and get a little rowdy.”

Climbing the charts As members of a new

THE RANDY ROGERS BAND generation of Texas country music artists, the band has made some big strides in the last two years. They’ve twice been nominated as the Top Vocal Group for the American Country Music Awards, and played their biggest gigs yet when they hit the sets of Late Night titans Jay Leno and David Letterman in 2009.

But the beginnings of the band are far more modest.

Rogers, who is originally from Cleburne, Texas, started out playing much smaller gigs, including the widely known shows at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos — the same spot that saw plenty of appearances of a burgeoning George Strait while he was a student at then-Southwest Texas State University.

By 2003, the group was solidified, with Rogers fronting the band, Brady Black on fiddle, Les Lawless on drums, Jon “Chops” Richardson on bass and Geoffrey Hill on guitar.

From the bluegrass-inspired “Wicked Ways” to the tongue-in-cheek “She’s Act-

ing Single, I’m Drinking Doubles,” the two-stepping synergist of “Buy Myself a Chance” and the aching longing of “In My Arms Instead,” the group has built a solid catalogue of music to draw from at its performances, which Rolling Stone magazine deemed as “must see” in 2007.

Within just a few years, they saw their self-titled album debut at No. 3 on Billboard’s country music chart, and found themselves opening shows for the likes of Willie Nelson. Rogers will see another “dream come true” when the band opens for the “King of Country,” George Strait, on May 1 in San Antonio.

“It’s definitely a dream come true, and something my family is very proud of,” he said. “It’s a big deal.”

Now, the group sets its sights on the upcoming release of a new album.

The new album The ascension of the Randy Rogers Band — which

combines traditional elements of country music, including a fiddle and Rogers’ made-for-music, raw, emotive vocals — with an ear and an eye for employing a younger generation of fans in its sensibilities, has no signs of stopping. Next up is the highly anticipated release of its sixth album, “Burning the Day,” in August.

“It’s the same band, the same songwriter,” Rogers said. “But we practiced (before recording) this time, which we’ve never done before.”

And for fans, the news is good: Not only is the Randy Rogers Band making its return to the Casa Blanca Ballroom at 8 p.m. Saturday, but they’ll be hauling in some of their new material, too, Rogers said.

Admission will be $20 at the door .

SÁBADO 24 DE ABRIL DE 2010

Agenda en Breve SÁBADO 24 DE ABRIL LAREDO — Hoy es el segundo día de la 8va Edición del Festival Internacional de Ciudades Hermanas de 9:30 a.m. a 6 p.m. en el Laredo Energy Arena. La entrada y el estacionamiento son gratis.

LAREDO — Pase la tarde en el Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU y explore “The Zula Patrol: Under the Weather” a las 5 p.m., “Seven Wonders” a las 6 p.m., y Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” a las 7 p.m. La entrada general es de 5 dólares y 4 dólares para niños y estudiantes, catedráticos, personal y ex alumnos de TAMIU. Más información en el 326-DOME. LAREDO — El College of Arts and Sciences Department of Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU presenta el Concierto de “Una Primavera Mexicana” en el Teatro CFPA a las 7 p.m. El concierto será presentado por el Ballet Folklórico de TAMIU y el Ballet Folklórico Juvenil. La entrada general es de 5 dólares en la puerta.

Niños menores de 10 años entran gratis.

Zfrontera

Salud: Habrá más casos de varicela ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CD. VICTORIA — La varicela es una enfermedad infecciosa de altísima transmisibilidad que regularmente se registra a fines del invierno y en primavera; habitualmente se presenta en todos los estados y en Tamaulipas su comportamiento epidemiológico es que cada dos años se generan números importantes de este padecimiento.

Juan Guillermo Mansur Arzola, Secretario de Salud en la entidad expuso que es durante los años pares cuando se presenta un número considerable de casos de varicela de hasta 18 mil pacientes al año, de los cuales el 70 por ciento son entre la población infantil y el resto en mayores de 15 años.

A la fecha la Secretaría de Salud registra 3 mil 161 casos de varicela en el estado, los cuales el mayor número se presenta en la Jurisdic-

“

Se pronostica que durante los meses de mayo y junio de este año, los casos de varicela se seguirán registrando”.

JUAN GUILLERMO MANZUR ARZOLA, SECRETARIO DE SALUD

ción Sanitaria de Reynosa con 796 casos, Matamoros con 789, Tampico 694 y Victoria registra un promedio de 340 pacientes.

Detalló que el 2004 fue el año en el que se ha presentado el mayor número de pacientes con varicela, registrando más de 18 mil, seguido del 2008 cuando se registraron un promedio de más de 14 mil 700 pacientes a diferencia del 2009 en donde disminuyó la incidencia hasta en un 50 por ciento con 7 mil

359 casos.

Ante este panorama epidemiológico, expuso el Secretario de Salud, se pronostica que durante los meses de mayo y junio de este año, los casos de varicela se seguirán registrando, por lo que es de suma importancia que adopten las medidas preventivas necesarias para evitar el contagio como lo es el evitar compartir objetos con la persona infectada, el esquema completo de vacunación fortalece la inmunidad

TERMINARÁN PROBLEMAS VIALES EN CRUCEROS CON VÍAS DEL TREN

MIÉRCOLES 28 DE ABRIL NUEVO LAREDO — Hoy se presenta Palabras en el Andén, Crónica, testimonio y memoria de viajes, en Estación Palabra a partir de las 7:30 p.m. Participarán 11 talentos de la escritura.

JUEVES 29 DE ABRIL NUEVO LAREDO — Hoy se presenta Palabras en el Andén, Crónica, testimonio y memoria de viajes, en Estación Palabra en dos mesas a las 6 p.m. y 7:30 p.m.

Participarán 11 talentos de la escritura.

Almanza es candidato del PRD El Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) anunció la semana pasada que su candidato a la gubernatura de Tamaulipas es Julio César Almanza Armas.

La decisión fue tomada por el pleno de

JULIO CÉSAR ALMANZA ARMAS: Declaró que el reto principal es la seguridad y que hará una campaña firme.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Nuevo Laredo

De izquierda a derecha, Humberto Treviño Landois de la SCT; Alfredo González Fernández de la Secretaría de Economía Estatal; el Alcalde Ramón Garza Barrios, la Diputada Local Imelda Mangín, el director de Relaciones Interinstitucionales de KCS de México Edgar Guillaumin Ireta y el Secretario de Obras Públicas Mario Salinas dan el banderazo de arranque a la obra en el Bulevar Canseco y las Vías del Ferrocarril en Nuevo Laredo.

Se construirán seis pasos a desnivel

LUNES 26 DE ABRIL LAREDO — Pase la tarde escuchando a los Cantantes de Cámara de TAMIU en su Concierto Anual de Primavera hoy a las 12 p.m. en la Veterans Memorial Chappel del Laredo Community College. La entrada es gratuita y abierta al público en general. Más información llamando a Dana Crabtree al 326-ARTS. LAREDO — Hoy se presenta en Wind Ensemble de TAMIU a las 7 p.m. en el Recital Hall del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. El evento es gratuito y abierto al público en general. Más información llamando a David Manuel Garcia al 326-2640.

de esta enfermedad.

Dijo que aún y cuando es uno de los padecimientos más contagiosos, generalmente presenta un cuadro benigno que no genera complicaciones; en los casos graves puede llegar a registrar dolor en los oídos y garganta y en cada 100 mil casos la complicación puede ser la encefalitis o hemorragia.

La transmisión de la varicela es por vía respiratoria en el contacto persona a persona y el contagio es desde unos días previos al brote, 15 a 20 días hasta la aparición de costras en las lesiones, es decir, hasta que todas las ampollas están secas; a partir de ese momento, ya no contagia más y se puede volver a la actividad normal.

Generalmente este padecimiento se contrae durante la infancia, en niños preescolares y escolares y la escuela es uno de los lugares donde más se transmite.

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

DOMINGO 25 DE ABRIL LAREDO — Hoy es el tercer y último día de la 8va Edición del Festival Internacional de Ciudades Hermanas de 10 a.m. a 4 p.m. en el Laredo Energy Arena. La entrada y el estacionamiento es gratis.

LAREDO — Música y estilos de EU, España, México, Alemania e Inglaterra se presentan hoy en el Sixth Annual International Guitar Concert en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall de TAMIU a las 4 p.m. Se presentará el Guitarra Ensemble de TAMIU. La entrada es gratuita y abierta al público en general.

PÁGINA 7A

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

NUEVO LAREDO — El fin de semana inició la Modernización Integral Ferroviaria en Nuevo Laredo.

El objetivo de la obra es poner fin a los problemas de inseguridad vial y peatonal registrados en las intersecciones de las vías del tren con calles altamente transitadas.

El proyecto es coordinado entre Gobierno Federal, Estatal, Municipal y Kansas City Southern de México, Las obras incluyen seis pasos a desnivel para el cruce vehicular, y en su totalidad sumarán una inversión tripartita de aproximadamente 600 millones de pesos. Éstos se encuentran en las intersecciones de la vía con Eva Sámano, Bulevar Carlos Canseco, avenida Mazatlán, Francisco Murguía, Yucatán y Carretera Anáhuac.

Como parte inicial del plan de modernización integral ferroviaria, se puso en marcha la construcción del paso vehicular en el crucero del Bulevar Canseco y las vías del tren, una obra que beneficiará a residentes del poniente de la ciudad, principalmente.

“Nos ayudó el municipio a

En las intersecciones de la vía con Eva Sámano, Bulevar Carlos Canseco, avenida Mazatlán, Francisco Murguía, Yucatán y Carretera Anáhuac. identificar los cruces más conflictivos de la ciudad”, dijo el Secretario de Desarrollo Económico y del Empleo Alfredo González Fernández. “(Con esta obra) se evitarán al 100 por ciento los accidentes en los cruces ferroviarios”.

El Subsecretario de Transporte de la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes Humberto Treviño Landois dijo que el proyecta transforma al ferrocarril haciéndolo más competitivo y además ilustra una visión integral, nacional, de las necesidades de desarrollo.

“Esta obra… es una muestra precisamente de esa colaboración que es importante tener entre los gobiernos federal, estatal y municipal, este último representando los legítimos intereses de los habitantes de una población”, dijo Treviño destacando también la colaboración de Kansas City Southern de México.

El Jefe de Gobierno Ramón Garza Barrios dijo que estas acciones son la mejor prueba de que cuando la voluntad política de los tres niveles de gobierno y la iniciativa privada se dan la mano, se traduce en grandes obras como la modernización ferroviaria.

El director de Relaciones Interinstitucionales de KCS de México Edgar Guillaumin Ireta enfatizó que con este puente, el de Carlos Canseco y las vías se agilizará el tránsito vehicular teniendo mayor seguridad vial para los usuarios.

Otros funcionarios presentes fueron el Secretario de Obras Públicas, Desarrollo Urbano y Medio Ambiente Municipal Mario Alberto Salinas Falcón, la diputada local Imelda Mangín Torre, síndicos, regidores, funcionarios municipales, transportistas, comerciantes, familias beneficiadas entre otros asistentes.

Realizan afiliación a seguro

VIERNES 30 DE ABRIL

POR YAHAIRA L. ZAMBRANO

LAREDO — El Laredo Heat Soccer Club recibe hoy a los Bravos de Rio Grande Valley en el Complejo de Soccer de Texas A&M International University a las 8 p.m.

NUEVO LAREDO — Hoy se presenta Palabras en el Andén, Crónica, testimonio y memoria de viajes, en Estación Palabra en una mesa a las 7:30 p.m. Participarán 11 talentos de la escritura. Hoy es también la ceremonia de clausura.

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD MIER — Fueron reactivadas las acciones de afiliación y renovación del Seguro Popular.

La Dirección del Regimen Estatal de Protección Social (Seguro Popular) de la Secretaría de Salud colocó módulos móviles a fin de garantizar la permanencia de más de 6 mil tamaulipecos en el programa federal.

El Seguro Popular les garantiza atención médica. “(Deseamos) que todos los tamaulipecos cuenten con servicios médicos de calidad”, dijo el Jefe de Gobierno José Iván Mancias Hinojosa. “Con este evento buscamos acercar los servicios de renovación y afiliación al Seguro Popular para las familias que no cuentan con este sistema”.

Autoempleo Mancias Hinojosa también invitó a los cursos de capacitación a la población desempleada, en la modalidad de autoempleo y práctica laboral.

“Nos interesa como una prioridad la reactivación de la economía y la apertura de nuevas fuentes de empleo para las familias del municipio”, dijo Mancias.

Este objetivo se logra con el apoyo del Servicio Nacional del Empleo.

La coordinadora municipal del SNE San Juanita Vela Rodríguez informó que se impartirán tres cursos con el objetivo de dar empleo a unas 80 personas.

Los talleres a impartirse son belleza, herrería y refrigeración, dijo Vela.

(Yahaira L. Zambrano es Directora de Comunicación Social del Gobierno de Nuevo Laredo)

la Comisión Política Nacional del PRD y fue el propio dirigente nacional Jesús Ortega Martínez quien levantó el brazo de Almanza.

“Sé que esta campaña va a ser muy difícil en el tema de la seguridad”, dijo Almanza. “Yo me voy a encomendar a Dios, me voy a encomendar a mi trabajo, a mi propuesta; voy a hacer una campaña de mucho respeto pero también muy firme y muy seria en el tema del narcotráfico”.

En declaraciones hechas a la prensa, Almanza además criticó la forma de conducirse de las fuerzas federales, de las cuales dijo “están siendo prácticamente un estorbo para la sociedad (…) y no vemos resultados”.

Almanza es un empresario con 41 años de edad En la ceremonia de presentación participaron el presidente del PRD en Tamaulipas Jorge Sosa y la Secretaria General del PRD Hortensia Aragón.

Las elecciones en Tamaulipas son el 4 de julio, y el PRD aún tiene pendiente oficializar candidatos a las presidencias municipales y las diputaciones locales.

Encuesta: PRI tiene delantera TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Si las elecciones para candidato a Gobernador en Tamaulipas hubieran sido en abril, Rodolfo Torre Cantú del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), hubiera ganado con 53.2%, seguido de José Julián Sacramento del Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) con 25%. Muy por debajo hubiera quedado Julio César Almanza Armas del Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) con 3.5%.

Estos resultados fueron presentados en encuesta realizada a 900 personas en ocho distritos electorales de Tamaulipas por la empresa Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica. La encuesta, indica el sitio de Internet, fue ordenada por Milenio Televisión y el Buffete de Proyectos, Información y Análisis.

En otras preguntas de la encuesta, el PRI y Rodolfo Torre Cantú se colocaron siempre adelante.

Por ejemplo, en preferencia de candidato Torre obtuvo 49.8 por ciento, Sacramento 31.4 y Almanza 3.8.

Hablando exclusivamente de partidos, el PRI obtuvo preferencia en la encuesta en el ramo de un cambio positivo para Tamaulipas con 45.9%, seguido del PAN con 22.1.

La encuesta del Gabinete de Comunicación y Estrategia fue realizada entre el 13 de abril y el 16 de abril, aplicada a personas mayores de 18 años que cuentan con credencial de elector vigente. El margen de error es de +/- 4.0

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

ZAPATA MARIACHI STUDENTS WIN BIG THE ZAPATA TIMES

Three of Zapata’s student mariachi groups won numerous honors at Coastal Bend College’s 8th Annual Dia Del Mariachi vocal and group competition last week.

Officials said more than 850 middle and high school students competed in the event, held at Alice High

courtesy photo/

The Zapata Junior High School 6th Grade Beginners Mariachi Juvenil Halcon won Best Rhythm Section, Best Violin Section and Best Overall Group Vocalist in their division at the Coastal Bend College’s 8th annual Dia Del Mariachi Vocal and Group Competition in Alice on April 17.

The Zapata Junior High School 7th Grade Mariachi Juvenil Halcon was named Best Trumpet Section for Division I Middle School 7th Grade in the annual Coastal Bend College Dia Del Mariachi Vocal and Group Competition, held at Alice High School on April 17.

The Zapata High School Mariachi Halcon won Best Rhythm Section and Best Violin Section in Division I 3A/2A Varsity at the 8th Annual Dia Del Mariachi Vocal and Group Competition held in Alice on April 17.

School on Saturday, April 17. There were 41 young mariachi groups and 37 individual vocalists in the competition.

Zapata High School Mariachi Halcon won Best Rhythm Section in Division I 3A/2A varsity. The group also was named Best Violin Section in its division.

Zapata Jr. High School

7th Grade Mariachi Juvenil Halcon took Best Trumpet Section honors for Division I Middle School 7th Grade.

Zapata Jr. High School 6th Grade Beginners Mariachi Juvenil Halcon won three titles: Best Rhythm Section, Best Violin Section and Best Overall Group Vocalist in the Best Beginner Ensemble Middle School Division.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Panel to review arson incident

By DANNY ROBBINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING, Texas — A state forensics panel on Friday assigned four of its members to review the arson case that resulted in the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was convicted of killing his three children.

In a report prepared last year for the Texas Forensic Science Commission, fire expert Craig Beyler found fault in the investigation that led to Willingham’s conviction. But in September, two days before the commission was to discuss the report and question Beyler, Gov. Rick Perry replaced members.

The new chairman, John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, canceled that meeting.

Without Beyler’s finding, prosecutors have admitted it would have been hard to win a death sentence against Willingham.

The investigative panel was confirmed Friday at a commission meeting in Irving. It will include Bradley, Fort Worth defense attorney Lance Evans, Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani and Sarah Kerrigan, a forensic toxicologist and director of a crime lab at Sam Houston State University.

Evans and Peerwani were appointed to the commission last year.

REV. FATHER GUSTAVO MACHUCA-RANGEL Rev. Father Gustavo Machuca-Rangel, 77, of Zapata passed away Saturday, April 17, 2010, at Laredo Medical Center.

Father Machuca-Rangel is preceded in death by his parents, Miguel Machuca-Gonzalez and Ernestina L. Rangel and a brother, Miguel Machuca.

Father Machuca-Rangel is survived by five sisters, Mercedes Rico, Luz Maria Machuca, Maria Del Carmen Vieyra, Eugenia M. (Trinidad) Cuellar and Ernestina Cano; and by numerous nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and many friends.

A funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at 6 p.m.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfuneral-

home.com.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home; Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata.

FOOD Continued from Page 1A attended the conference.

Good work Maldonado praised Castillo for his work, noting that he was a nominee for national executive of the year.

Castillo has been the food bank executive director for 10 years.

Maldonado encouraged board members to “go through the hunger statistics at your leisure.“ She did mention “some startling and eye-opening figures” including: 10,400 different people receive emergency food assistance in any given week 87.2 percent of food bank clients have household incomes of less than $1,500 per month Texas has the highest rate of childhood hunger in the nation at 22.1 percent with Laredo being a huge 41 percent.

“These are good stats, but it’s sad that so many children are hungry,” board member Goyo Lopez said.

Castillo agreed.

“This highlights what we already know,” Castillo said.

“That’s why we’re here helping people. We’ll be sharing the stats so more will join our mission and help us raise funds.”

Upcoming fundraisers are May 6 at Hal’s Landing, 6520 Arena Road next to the Laredo Energy Arena; June 28 to July 11, Border Media radio drive; and Aug. 25, Empty Bowls at the Laredo Energy Arena.

In Zapata In Zapata, there are five distribution points: Helping Hands, 8th and Del Mar; Norma Mendoza

“

These are good stats, but it’s sad that so many children are hungry.”

GOYO LOPEZ, STFB BOARD MEMBER

is the contact person, 7659327. Helping Hands also has a distribution site in San Ygnacio.

Boys and Girls Club, 6th and Lincoln; 765-3892.

Concilio el Buen Pastor, Hawk Street and Falcon Meza; Maria Hernandez is the contact, 765-1300.

Iglesia Pentecostes Emmanuel, 302 East Texas 16; 765-5440.

Shepherd’s Pantry, 305 Hawk St.; Mary Pulido is the contact person, 765-0123.

Overall, the food bank distributed 673,007 pounds of product in March to bring the 2010 total to 2,233,003 pounds, which is ahead of last year’s 1,979,124 pounds.

Through February the food bank has served 38,831 families, including 32,233 children, 62,739 adults and 77,420 meals.

The adopt-a-family program has 718 families on file and a waiting list of 345.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) USDA for older Laredoans served 6,176 individuals. It has 1,282 on a waiting list.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) signed up 450 households in March, which represents 649 adults, 549 children.

High numbers Applications for the year

are 1,150, including 1,587 adults, 1,48 children. The Kids Cafe program, with 12 sites and 530 children, served 11,795 meals for the month. Meals for the year 3total 1,875. The total of pounds per person in poverty was 70.65 pounds. The

Feeding America median is 55.85.

The food bank is a nonprofit 501 c-3 organization.

Tax deductible donations can be sent to PO Box 2007, Laredo, Tex., 78044.

For more information, call 726-3120 or visit www.southtexasfoodbank.org The entity also has a page on Facebook and is on twitter at www.twitter.com/ SoTxFoodBank The food bank, 1907 Freight and Riverside in west Laredo, is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.

(Salo Otero is director of development for the South Texas Food Bank)

WAYNE W. JAEGER Wayne W. Jaeger, 82, passed away Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at his residence in Zapata.

Mr. Jaeger is preceded in death by his wife, Velma Jean Jaeger; parents, Charles Benjamin and Clara Lessette Hermann Jaeger; daughter, Gladys Jean Brown; grandson, Michael Cunningham; daughter-in-law, Rebecca Lea Cunningham; brothers, Harl J. and Dallas J. and sisters, Charlene Jaeger and Pauline J. Mr. Jaeger is survived by his sons, Ron L. (Roberta) Jaeger, John Wayne Jaeger and James E. Cunningham; grandchildren, Wayne J. and Ashlee; great-grandchild, Paris J. Jaeger; brother, Delmer J., Rodger J. and a sister, Gladys J. Visitation was held Friday, April 23, 2010, from 9 to 11 a.m. with a chapel service at 10:30 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Cancer Society.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfuneralhome.com Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home; Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata.

SCHOOLS Continued from Page 1A ure as head of the Zapata County ISD, the district has seen its first exemplary school.

Rodriguez has been serving the district as superintendent for nine years, since he was chosen Sept. 26, 2001. His contract, which still had a year left to go, was extended another four years in a unanimous vote by the school board in 2006, setting the new expiration date as June 2011.

Early last year, Rodriguez surprised observers

by setting himself a challenge, asking that trustees not extend his contract unless he was able to raise the school district to “recognized” status. He hasn’t achieved that goal yet, but the district is rated academically “acceptable” and trustees praised Rodriguez’s rapport with the community and the financial health of the district at his review in January this year.

(Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be contacted at (956) 728-2557.)

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

Marines feel sting of error

By JULIE WATSON ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO — The overturning of a Marine’s murder conviction on a judicial mistake is a stinging setback for the government and comes after a string of defeats in its prosecution of U.S. troops accused of killing unarmed Iraqis.

The case of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III represented one of the most significant murder convictions for the U.S. military and was among the biggest criminal cases to come out of the war. But a military appeals court dismissed that conviction Thursday because a military judge agreed to relinquish one of the lead defense attorneys for Hutchins before his 2007 court-martial.

The government has to decide within 30 days whether to appeal or seek a new trial or the Camp Pendleton Marine will go free.

Prosecutors say Hutchins led a squad of six other Marines and a Navy corpsman that dragged a 52year-old man from his home in the Iraqi village of Hamdania in 2006, put him in a ditch and shot him, then planted a shovel and AK-47 to make it appear as if he were an insurgent planting an explosive. Hutchins was sentenced to 11 years.

The case was particular-

Photo by Denis Poroy | AP

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for his arraignment at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County. ly troubling because it demonstrated a serious breakdown in Marine Corps leadership and tied it to murder, said Lt. Col. Paul Hackett, a judge advocate in the Marine Corps reserve.

Hamdania was among three top Iraqi war crimes cases the government has tried to prosecute in recent years.

The other two highly visible Iraqi war crimes cases involved unarmed

people killed while Marines under attack were defending themselves.

“As an active reservist speaking to my peers, Hamdania is viewed as a very bad page in the Marine Corps,” Hackett said, adding that: “What’s really troubling is that there were multiple admissions to the general set of circumstances that spelled out an unlawful killing.”

While the reason the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps

Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the conviction may seem “hyper technical,” Hackett said it also shows the military justice system is working by adhering strictly to the rules of law.

“A trial judge erred, they may have to try it again, and that’s a real problem, but that is also a testament to the fortitude and competency of the Navy-Marine Court of Appeals,” he added.

Hutchins’ appellate defense counsel, Marine Capt. S. Babu Kaza, said the court determined the error denied Hutchins a fair trial by relinquishing a respected military attorney who had spent three years on the case and had knowledge that was critical to the outcome, which would have proven his innocence.

“As a matter of law, they have no basis to appeal,” Kaza said.

He said Hutchins already was found not guilty of breaking into the home of Hashim Ibrahim Awad or kidnapping him because he was not with the squad, which radioed Hutchins to tell him they had shot a man they believed to be an insurgent leader, Kaza said. Hutchins, he said, learned of the mistake later.

Hutchins, 26, has spent nearly four years in prison. The others in his squad served less than 18 months in jail.

DAEP Continued from Page 1A dents placed from the high school, 16 from the middle school, and 14 from the elementary level.

At the school board meeting, DAEP reported a shortage of staff including the lack of a permanent counselor. The program has six permanent teachers for all the students enrolled and are forced to have counselors rotate from the middle school and high school to counsel the students temporarily.

“The district should have a person,” Lopez said about the lack of a counselor at DAEP. Suzette M. Barrera, DAEP Director of Compensatory Education, said the program could improve by providing a permanent counselor because they service the most at-risk students in the district.

“My recommendation would be that if we are to remain open for the upcoming school year we need to make sure we have a counselor available 100 percent of the time,” Barrera said.

According to Barrera, although DAEP is currently experiencing a shortage of staff, they have served all the students’ needs to mimic a regular school setting by providing similar curriculum, TAKS tutoring, credit recovery and discipline.

“Our staff has done an excellent job from pulling different sources to meet the needs of our students,” Barrera said.

DAEP serves students needing credit recovery,

mandatory and discretionary placements.

The 49 teen mothers enrolled this school year are the primary students needing to recover credits. There have been 350 credits recovered, Barrera said.

At the school board meeting last week, Lopez questioned the due process students receive.

“What kind of due process are these kids getting?

Who is responsible for deciding who goes there and for what reason?” he asked.

According to Barrera, DAEP follows state policy and the principals of the schools are responsible for having a hearing for each student and deciding whether the student needs to be placed with DAEP and for how long.

DAEP aims to get the students return to regular school and to become active and successful students, Barrera said.

“We want them to go back once they are on track,” Barrera said.

(Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)

Garcia spoke about past failed efforts by the county to fix the problem.

“We haven’t been very successful,” Garcia said.

“Several things have been done and the problem hasn’t been solved.”

Garcia is convinced temporary fixes aren’t enough any more because the problem has continued

to occur over the years with no relief. She hopes something can be done promptly to move the library to a better location..

“I don’t think the problem can be fixed,” Garcia said. “So far we’re just going to deal with it.”

(Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)

At the school board meeting, DAEP reported a shortage of staff including the lack of a permanent counselor.

LIBRARY Continued from Page 1A ditional two days to clean and sanitize the library thoroughly.

“I had to hire another person to clean up after they came,” Garcia said.

Garcia said the waste water department employees did their job, but she believed more cleaning needed to be done.

Garcia and other library employees said the library is running as usual and it seems the problem the library experienced last week is bigger than they can handle.

What the problem requires is professional repair work, the director said.

“Hopefully in the future because it’s needed,” Garcia said.

The library’s plumbing issue and the request for the approval of a grant to help find a location for the construction of a new library will be brought up again at the next Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting.

“That’s our next step,” Garcia said.

According to Garcia, every time a storm occurs that brings strong winds and heavy rain, the plumbing gets plugged up and the flooding and sewer overflow soon appears inside the library.

“It will happen again,” Garcia said.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors WORLD’S NO. 1 SAYS GOODBYE TO HER GAME

Photo by Clara Sandoval | Special to the Times

Sophomore pitcher Estela Molina was a big contributor for the Lady Hawks this year and will be a key returning player next season.

Softball team ends ’10 season

Photo by Jamie Martin | AP

In this Oct. 4, 2009, file photo, Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa tees off on the second hole during the final round of the Navistar LPGA Classic golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Ala. Ochoa, the No. 1-ranked woman in world golf, announced her retirement on Tuesday and said Friday she will play in one more tournament before she leaves the game.

Ochoa reveals details of plan to retire

By STEPHEN WADE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lady Hawks will look for better finish, playoffs with many returning next year

By CLARA SANDOVAL SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Zapata Lady Hawk softball team concluded its 2010 campaign against Rio Hondo last Friday night.

Zapata will not be advancing to the state softball playoffs, but the future looks bright for the Lady Hawks, as they will return the bulk of the team, including sophomore pitcher Estela Molina, who has gone toe-to-toe with some of the district’s best teams.

Zapata coach Jaime Garcia is looking forward to next year with the team that he returns and some of the junior varsity players who look primed to get into the next level.

“Our expectations are very high for next year. I expect to contend for the district title or make the playoffs,” he said. “We are bringing back five starters and a great pitcher in Estela.”

The Lady Hawks will lose only four starters and will build its team for next year with a junior varsity team that was in the hunt for a district championship.

Close losses Zapata’s final district record does not indicate the hard work and effort they have put forth all season

long, as they lost many close games by two runs or less, keeping them home for the second consecutive postseason.

“We lost a lot of heartbreakers, and the ball did just not roll our way,” coach Garcia said. “We were in many games, and at the end, we wound up losing. I am very proud of the girls for never giving up and staying focused all season long.”

The Lady Hawks played in one of the state’s toughest 3A districts, with 32-3A boasting Lyford, the No. 1 team in the Rio Grande Valley, and La Feria, the No. 9 team in the Valley.

Despite their rankings, Zapata took them to the edge, but came up short against Lyford, losing 5-4.

M

EXICO CITY — Her voice breaking and eyes watering, Lorena Ochoa said good-

bye to golf.

She made her farewell Friday after a career in which she reigned as No. 1 for three years,

captured two majors and 27 tour victories and was honored for four straight years as the LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year.

She also was not alone in being swept up in the moment.

Her father, Javier, dabbed away tears with a tissue at the retirement news conference. Her brother and manager, Alejandro, broke down in his remarks.

See SOFTBALL PAGE 2B

See OCHOA PAGE 2B

Durant still proving he can do more NBA ROUNDUP

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Leading seniors The Lady Hawks will say goodbye to seniors, Ashley Martinez, Amanda Sanchez, Jessica Garcia, Priscilla Sanchez, and Clarissa Garcia.

The senior class continued to display its leadership every single day until the end of the season.

“They really stepped as a group,” Garcia said. “The seniors led the way for the younger girls, and I am ve-

The 28-year-old Ochoa has never forgotten her Mexican roots, her family and her friends. That grounded sense of self was not lost on those all across golf.

“We all know that Lorena’s golf has spoken for itself,” LPGA vice president Jane Geddes said,

Photo by Alonzo Adams | AP

Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant defends against Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY — There’s no doubting that Kevin Durant can score.

But it took some convincing for the NBA’s scoring champion to believe that he could really impact a game when his shots weren’t going in — a lesson that proved crucial to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 27-win improvement this season.

“A lot of coaches say — it’s something I didn’t believe but — ‘If you do other things, then your scoring’s going to come around.’ I’m like, ‘No, that’s not true because if you’re off, you’re off, right?”’ he said. “But it

does happen. It does help.

It gives you confidence that your next shot’s going to go down.”

Durant has been regarded as a potent scorer since he entered the league after being named college player of the year at Texas, then averaged 20 points during his Rookie of the Year campaign when the franchise was still in Seattle.

Defense was a different story.

The SuperSonics gave up the fourth-most points in the NBA in Durant’s

See NBA PAGE 2B

Goodell can add to Roethlisberger suspension Commissioner says conduct policy allows him to revisit ban if evidence against QB emerges

By BARRY WILNER ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — The NFL can increase the six-game suspension for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger if new evidence of misbehavior emerges that violates its personal conduct policy.

Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the punishment after prosecutors decided not to charge Roethlisberger in a case involving a 20-year-old college student who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Georgia nightclub last month. Roethlisberger also must undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaluation

ROGER GOODELL: NFL commissioner spoke to media on Friday in New York. by professionals.

Goodell said Friday at his annual session with Associated Press Sports Editors that the conduct policy allows him to revisit the ban, announced earlier this week. If evidence of other incidents is presented, “the penalty still has some flexibility,” Goodell said.

In explaining why he acted even though no criminal charges were filed against the quarterback, Goodell said: “It’s my responsibility to protect our reputation and our integrity. That’s what the personal conduct policy is; we all have to be held to a higher standard. It specifically states you don’t have to violate the law if there is a pattern of behavior.

“We go back through all the incidents and try to understand is there is any kind of pattern, and

we have enough information to believe he’s not making sound judgments at critical points.”

A two-time Super Bowl winner, Roethlisberger also is being sued by a woman who accused him of raping her at a Lake Tahoe hotelcasino in 2008. He denied the allegation and wasn’t charged. He is the first player suspended by Goodell under the conduct policy who hasn’t been arrested or charged with a crime.

See GOODELL PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B

Zscores

TRANSACTIONS BASEBALL American League TAMPA BAY RAYS: Agreed to terms with INF/OF Ben Zobrist on a three-year contract extension through 2013.

TEXAS RANGERS: Selected the contract of 1B Justin Smoak from Oklahoma City (PCL). Assigned 1B Chris Davis to Oklahoma City. Re-

called RHP Omar Poveda from Oklahoma City and placed him on the 60-day DL. National League WASHINGTON NATIONALS: Assigned RHP Jason Bergmann outright to Syracuse (IL).

American Association GRAND PRAIRIE AIRHOGS: Acquired RHP Jeff Williams from Southern Maryland (Atlantic) for future considerations.

LINCOLN SALTDOGS: Signed OF Justin Jacobs

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

and LHP Ryan Miller.

PENSACOLA PELICANS: Released OF Kevin Reynolds.

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CAPTAINS: Released RHP Gustavo Mata. Traded RHP Robert Romero to Evansville (Frontier) for future considerations.

Can-Am League BROCKTON ROX: Signed RHP Josh Papelbon, RHP David Erickson and OF Chris Valencia.

NEW JERSEY JACKALS: Signed RHP Mike Ponti-

us and LHP Evan Teague.

PITTSFIELD COLONIALS: Released OF Edward Ovalle and RHP Lucas Ledbetter.

WORCESTER TORNADOES: Traded INF Mark Minicozzi to Camden (Atlantic) for a player to be named.

United League EDINBURG ROADRUNNERS: Traded OF Selwyn Langaigne to Laredo for future considerations.

Signed RHP Aaron Guerra, INF Jeff Brewer and OF Ambiorix Concepcion.

FOOTBALL NFL CINCINNATI BENGALS: Signed PK Mike Nugent.

CFL CALGARY STAMPEDERS: Announced the retirement of OL Jeff Pilon.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS: Signed WR Chris Davis.

HOCKEY NHL

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: Signed G Jussi Rynnas to a two-year contract.

COLLEGE CORNELL: Named Bill Courtney men’s basketball coach.

FLORIDA STATE: Announced sophomore C Solomon Alabi will enter the NBA draft.

IOWA STATE: Named Jeff Grayer men’s assistant basketball coach.

SAN FRANCISCO: Named Jennifer Azzi women’s basketball coach.

kick the ball around.

“We have to be patient, make the extra pass. We have to rely on our defense to kick-start our offense.”

The Blazers have had trouble in the last two games after the Suns made fast starts and built big leads early. While Portland was able to slow Phoenix down in the opener, they haven’t found a way to readjust to the Suns’ adjustments in Game 2.

“He’s the key to them, in my opinion. Joe Johnson is Joe Johnson, but if Josh is playing at a real high level, flying around, rebounding the ball, doing all the things he’s done, they’re pretty tough to beat.”

That’ll be the Bucks’ challenge today night in Game 3. Milwaukee is in an 0-2 hole in their firstround series with Atlanta and have had three days off to think about it.

It’s driven players on both teams a little batty.

Smith started it Thursday by saying that there’s nothing to do in Milwaukee, something sure to raise the ire of Bucks fans who haven’t seen a home playoff game in four years.

“Who me? I don’t worry about that,” Smith said Friday. “I just play the game and hopefully we win.”

Smith, averaging 16.5 points and 12 rebounds so far in the series, said he’d ask teammates Joe Smith and Zaza Pachulia to give him some tips, since both players are former Bucks.

“They’ve been there so they know what’s crack-alackin’. They know what’s going down,” he said.

Center Al Horford and Joe Johnson both grinned about Josh Smith’s comments and the crowd’s probable reaction.

NBA Continued from Page 1B rookie year and little changed during the franchise’s first few months in Oklahoma City. The tide started to turn midway through last season but it wasn’t until Durant’s slow shooting start to begin this season that he really bought into all the aspects of the game outside racking up points.

By Game 3 of Oklahoma City’s first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant had developed enough on the defensive end that he was asking to guard Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter. He limited Bryant to 2for-10 shooting while rediscovering his offense to lead the Thunder to a 101-96 win.

“It’s not easy to make him miss shots, but Kevin has an impact just because of his length and his activity,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s hard to imagine us being a good defensive team without him. He’s been one of our better defenders, and it’s one of the reasons why we’ve improved this year is that he’s committed to playing defense.”

The only question now is whether it’ll work again.

“It won’t catch me by surprise, that’s for sure,” Bryant said. “Whether or

not it’s effective, we’ll see.”

Suns find success with Richardson PORTLAND, Ore. — There is no secret to the Phoenix Suns’ success so far against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Offensively, it essentially boils down to an effective screen-and-roll before kicking the ball out to the perimeter. In the Suns’ case, the perimeter is Jason Richardson.

For the past two games of their first-round playoff series against the Blazers, the Suns’ strategy has worked perfectly.

Richardson had a career playoff-best 42 points — including eight 3-pointers — in a 108-89 Phoenix victory in Portland on Thursday night, after a 29-point showing in the Suns’ 119-90 victory at home in Game 2.

Phoenix leads the series 2-1 headed into today’s game at the Rose Garden.

Coach Alvin Gentry broke down the Suns’ deceptively simple strategy following Game 3.

“If you’re going to trap the screen-and-roll with Steve (Nash), then you have to have an extra defender, the weak-side defender has to take the roll guy. And if

Wait almost over for Hawks, Bucks

Photo by Rick Bowmer | AP

Phoenix Suns forward Jason Richardson dunks during Game 3 of a series against the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday in Portland, Ore. he takes the roll guy, then, if we swing it to Channing (Frye), they either rotate to him or they’ve got to play halfway. Channing did a good job of swinging the ball immediately to J-Rich, and J-Rich had open shots,” Gentry said.

So — with no big mystery out there — the issue

for the Blazers is what to do about it.

“They are doing some things that they normally don’t do,” said Blazers guard Andre Miller, who had 31 points in the first game of the series but has struggled since. “Trapping the post, trapping the pickand-roll, and forcing us to

MILWAUKEE — Jerry Stackhouse expects to get a call from Josh Smith very soon, and the Bucks veteran will tell the emerging 24-year-old power forward just how proud he is.

Stackhouse worked out in the offseason with Smith and the other Hawks in Atlanta while trying to return to game shape. While Stackhouse’s career is winding down, he sees the potential in “J-Smoove.”

“I’m like a big brother to him and I’m real proud of him from what he’s been able to do, how he’s grown as player from where he was to the things he’s doing for that team to make them who they are right now,” Stackhouse said.

OCHOA Continued from Page 1B “It was fun, it was exhausting going from town to town,” Alejandro said. “Neither me or dad will ever drive so many miles again.

And dad will never again iron as many of your uniforms as he did in those days.”

sitting alongside Ochoa. “But what has always been the most impressive to the players is the way in which Lorena was able to balance her rise to greatness with such humility.”

Ochoa made her surprise announcement on Tuesday. On Friday she filled in the details.

All the details She will step away as an active player after next week’s Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico. She left the door slightly ajar to play a few more tournaments, including her own Lorena Ochoa Invitational each November in her hometown of Guadalajara.

But a full-blown return seems unlikely. She wants to raise a family — she was married in December to Aeromexico chief executive Andres Conesa — and run her charity foundation.

“What I am trying to say is that the door is open in a way,” she said. “The opportunities may come to play one or two tournaments in two years or three years but not a full season. No.” Ochoa said she had planned to play the entire 2010 season. Two tournaments in Asia earlier this season changed her mind.

“I realized maybe I didn’t have the necessary motivation and that I wanted to start a new life and come to Mexico and do different things with the foundation,” she said. “I have achieved all I needed to achieve in sports. Now is time

Staying true Chance Cozby, the director of tournament player relations for one of her sponsors — PING — recalled Ochoa visiting the company’s factory and befriending the workers.

“She said she wanted to go meet all the employees,” Cozby said. “We’ve never had a player ask that. She went up and down the factory floor and introduced herself to everyone and took picAP Photo tures. She came back a few Mexican golf player Lorena Ochoa waves during a news conference to announce months later and met for three hours with 1,000 employees. She the details of her retirement in Mexico City on Friday. took pictures and signed autoto change, I’m going to keep work- career has a beginning and an graphs for everyone. We were truing very hard, but at home.” ly amazed.” end. Ours has come.”

Her brother also recalled that Seconds later in the 12-minute farewell, she backed away from Lorena had failed her English exthe microphone to compose her- am for the University of Arizona, delaying her entry by a year. self.

“You had to wait another year “I can’t continue,” she said, With her husband seated in the front row, she spoke of the de- pausing before resuming and of- until you passed the test,” he said, mands of the game — the tough fering encouragement to her com- ribbing her slightly.

Over and over, Ochoa said the schedule, the difficulties of stay- patriots.

“If I did it, I am sure many oth- “time was right” for leaving, going No. 1. But she broke down when it came time to actually ut- er Mexican men and women can ing out on top and at home in Mexico. ter the words that she was leav- do it, too.”

“I took the decision because all Alejandro teared up in his ing.

“Today begins a new stage,” speech. He recalled traveling with the elements fell into place,” she she said, her voice choking, her his sister and their father on the said. “I wanted to retire as No. 1, eyes misting. “Today is the most LPGA’s Futures Tour, the develop- which I have been fortunate to be for three years. Secondly, I always special day of my career. Every mental circuit.

Demanding game

dreamed of saying goodbye in Mexico, at home with my people.

Finally, I want to live and enjoy the little things in life. I couldn’t do this if I kept playing.”

“I leave happy with what I have achieved and proud to be where I am,” she added. “I leave with my head high and with all the memories — of my tournaments, my friends, and the things I have done.”

Losing stars Ochoa leaves just two years after former No. 1 Annika Sorenstam stepped away from golf to start a family, again depriving the struggling LPGA of its top star.

Ochoa, who joined the LPGA Tour in 2003 after playing college golf at Arizona, falls short of the 10-year playing requirement to be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Geddes said Ochoa deserved to be in the hall and could still make it.

She said Ochoa could be considered by a veterans committee, which has less stringent requirements. Otherwise, she said Ochoa would need to play three more seasons — a minimum of 10 tournaments each season — to reach the 10-year requirement.

“If she doesn’t come back and play and finish up those 10 years — and she can still can do that — she would be eligible in the veterans category,” Geddes said. “The veterans is a little more open-ended and a little more flexible.

There is no doubt that she is a Hall of Fame player.”

SOFTBALL Continued from Page 1B ry proud of them.”

Garcia also noted that the team was dedicated all season long, even as the notion of not making the playoffs became real when they lost to Raymondville.

“I am very blessed to have a ve-

ry dedicated team that was has given a 100 percent every day,” he said. “As a coach, I could not have asked for more. Even when we were out (of the playoffs), they continued to show up and play hard.”

Helping hands A vital part of Garcia’s success was the coaching staff that he has assembled.

Varsity assistant coach Hector Garcia and junior varsity coach-

es Veronica Arce and Rosie Villarreal compose Garcia’s coaching staff.

“I just want to thank my coaching staff for all their work all season long,” Garcia said. “They put their part in this program.”

The parents were also vital in the team’s success.

“I have the best parents in the world,” Garcia said. They have been very supportive of their daughters, and they are very helpful in what ever I need.”

GOODELL Continued from Page 1B “First, as a league, we rely on our credibility for acceptance with our public,” Goodell said. “The integrity of the game and people participating in it is a critical element.

“Second, protection of our brand. It reflects poorly on our brand.

“That’s why everyone came together to strengthen our policy years ago to make certain we keep that

high standard.”

Roethlisberger, who stands to lose more than $2.8 million in salary, can’t attend team activities until he has been cleared by the league, based on the outcome of his evaluation.

Goodell also said: —A labor agreement with the players is essential for the sport to grow.

He cited the lack of new stadium projects since the

current collective bargaining agreement was reached in 2006, just before he replaced Paul Tagliabue as commissioner.

The owners opted out of that deal two years ago, and a work stoppage is possible in 2011; the contract expires in early March.

Any new CBA could include a salary cap or have a setup similar to this season, in which there is no

cap and free agency for veterans begins after six seasons.

—Expanded rosters have been discussed with the union should the regularseason schedule be stretched to 18 games. Two preseason games would be dropped. However, everything is dependent on a new contract.

—The league is considering developing better pads

for players. In recent years, he said players were wearing less padding and defensive lineman might be using quarterback pads, which are smaller and often not as protective. Goodell has spoken with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith about the issue.

He also expressed concern about properly fitting helmets, noting that the league addressed the issue

of improperly fastened chinstraps a few years ago because too many helmets were flying off players’ heads.

—The NFL will continue to be proactive in dealing with concussions, keeping a “very conservative approach” to when a player is allowed to return to action.

“Medical will always override competitive issues,” he said.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

THE ZAPATA TIMES | 3B

HINTS BY HELOISE Dear Readers: How do you FIND A VETERINARIAN if you move or have a new pet? According to our friends at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals -- and I agree -- ask friends, family and neighbors for a recommendation.

The other advice from the ASPCA? Try to make an appointment with a potential DVM without your pet. See how you feel about the front-counter personnel and vet techs, how clean the facility is, and if it has up-to-date equipment. Ask these questions: Does the vet have a partnership with other doctors?

What if your animal needs to stay overnight?

Is there a yard so that the dog can go outside?

Does the vet board animals for people on vacation?

Does the vet have a referral system if your dog needs to see a

REAL ESTATE

“

HELOISE

specialist?

How does the vet manage pain with your animal?

You will feel more at ease with your new vet if you ask the right questions. Or, take your pet for a visit or ‘meet and greet’ to see how well he or she adapts, and how you feel about the experience. -- Heloise COMFY FROG HOUSES Dear Heloise: We recycle our square clay pots into frog houses.

An overturned corner piece makes a nice frog house, and the frogs eat the slugs in my garden.

Much safer than using slug bait, which my dog might get into. -K. in Houston

ACREAGE FOR SALE

76

5 acre Commercial tract, frontage on Casa Verde Rd. $215,000 per acre. Contact (956)725-6641

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

HOMES FOR SALE

61

519 Palencia Ave 3bd/2ba $85,000 obo Call 956-727-9436 or 209-6277 1901 Costa del Sol, Los Presidentes Subd., 3bd/2ba/2cg, 1415sqft, built in 2007, Asking $104,850. $8,000 Stimulus before its too late! Call 220-7845; 285-6194 Del Mar C, 4bd/6ba, 5600 Sq. Ft., $650,000 For more info. call: 235-7272

82

Chiefs Foodmart & Restaurant, b u s i n e e s s for sale $150,000. Serious Inquires o n l y call 763-3132 Mrs. Garcia Genji Asian Cuisine For sale we are still open-Turnkey business prime location, open over 6yrs.with well established customers.$1000/mo.rent 7511 McPherson Rd.#3 956-523-0220; 956-220-7936

RENTALS

Del Mar Sub., 3bd, 2 full baths, 2cg., block fence, w/sprinkler system. 1800 Sq.Ft. $135,000 OBO Serious Inquiries call:285-8258

House for by owner,3bd,1ba, $28,000 1912 Marion Call 727-3798; CONDOS FOR RENT 103 237-6367 VENDO CONDOMINIOS EN NUEVO House for sale in San LAIsidro. Owner Finance REDO, 2/1.5, $47,000/$5,000 5/2.5/2 $30K down ENGANCHE Y $600 P/M. $1800/m Call 333-8403 INFORMES: Lakeside,4bd,3.5ba,2cg,2 Story, 237-2377 Granite counters,3,400sq.ft.,Pool, Palapa, complete landscape,$365,000, Call 847-6357 Owner Finance!

Owner Financing Home For Sale 3bd-2 & 1/2 bath 2 Car Garage 2405 sq. ft.

5,435 Lot Vista Nueva Sub. HELP WANTED 122 $8,000.00 Tax Credit Call Danny Herman Trucking Inc. for details (956) 324-0507 Now Hiring Owner Operators Remato casa en norte, 2400 pies, $169,500 Defined lanes Financiamos Inf: 100% Fuel Surcharge 956-436-5514; Excellent home time 956-229-8120 And mucho more!

Sell or Lease.

Openings for Singles & Teams Like New! North Laredo- 1819 Arctic Ct. Company Drivers Also Welcome 3bd/2.5ba/2cg lots of 2300sqft $149,000 benefits.

Call 237-8482 CONDOS FOR SALE 64 DHT 800-331-3725 Amistad Condo- Large 2bd/2.5ba, 956-235-3628 1290sqft, New appl., Patio, UISD, alonzo_dhl@hotmail.com Owner fin. $115,000 or $825/m www.dannyherman.com 754-4066

HELP WANTED

LOTS FOR SALE

70

PETS & SUPPLIES

“A get away lots”. only 30 minutes away! Next to Falcon Lake 307’. Irregular in San Ygnacio, TX.Trail to Lake/River, Paved, $32K 956-763-1320

Se vende terreno con monumento en panteon de Los Angeles en N.Laredo $1,800dlls 956-723-6481 o 956-285-2504

PETS & SUPPLIES

128

CKC Boxer Puppies for sale!

7m/3f,3wks old,accepting payments $400 call Abraham at 285-0489 or 727-3777 French Poodle (2f/1m), 2mths, black, $150 OBO Call 763-2594

German Shepherd Puppies, 6M $250ea./ 4F $225ea., AKC Parents on site, Call 251-2055

Great Dane Puppies, 1st shots, dewormed, 2mths old, $350ea. Call 791-6451 Jack Russell Terrier pups, declawed, tails docked, awesome markings, 1M/2F, $200 OBO call: 337-8838 Playful healthy & beautful French Poodle Mini Toys, parents on site, $250 Call: 795-0261; 857-1123 Pure Yellow Lab,parent on site, 2m/8f dewormd 1st shots, 3wks old, $200-$250ea. Call 333-1720 LIVESTOCK & SUPPLIES

130

6 Miniature Ponies for sale. Starting at $450 Call 401-3070

CABRITOS, Live/Vivos $50 ea.

Please Call 956/948-5218 Chivitos & chivitas $55 & up Call:645-7419; 286-2760 Goats. MUST SELL!! All herd, 5 females & 4 males, 1.5 yr. old. $535 Call 725-4524 Pony for sale, male, brown/white, asking $550 OBO Call: 206-0445; 251-2979

Reg. & Com. Red Brangus Bulls. 2yrs. & up Starting at $1500 & up 763-1116 & 763-7832

MISCELLANEOUS

136

1 NEW! RCA 5disc audio system w/ ipod deck;Home Surround Sound Speakers; Lemark Printer model X5650;19” TV VHS/DVD. $59ea. 401-7410 20.0 cu.ft. Refrigerator $135 Works Great! Call 334-8410

PETS & SUPPLIES

128

Boxer Puppies, 2F, tigerstriped, 6wks., dewormed $120ea.

Call 334-3721

Chihuahua Apple head puppies, 1M/1F,$175 Call: 723-7658 Chihuahua Puppy (F), 2mths, colored eyes, light brown & white, $180 OBO Go by 3108 Springfield

136

Bedroom set includes:mattress, desk & chair,pantry,couch.$700 for all Call 717-1395; 337-2283 Bolens lawn tractor, Great shape, $625 Call 645-8854 Bowling Ball $88 Men’s Red Call 334-8410

BOATS

190 1977 Angler Bay Boat, 90HP 16Ft., $3500 Call: 744-7429

1990 Searay Combo Ski & Fish, 16.9ft, 4cyl.,inboard engine,boat restored, complete w/ accesories,$6500 OBO Call Jerry 286-9502

Dining set extendible in Excellent HEAVY EQUIPMENT 192 c o n d i tion includes 6 chairs & china cabi- 2005 Freightliner,classic XL,blue, exceln e t lent cond., $34,800 Call $1,800.00 OBO 722-8570 Call (956) 286-9328 Elect. Dryer Sears $145 Call 334-8410 Estufa de gas, color beige, en $100 OMO Inf: 725-5472 Estufa de gas, color beige, en $100 OMO Inf: 725-5472 Full, Queen, & King Mattress set.

Starting $260 Call 645-2006

Hoshizaki 6ft Sushi display kitchen & restaurant equipt.for sale.$200 & up Call 956-754-0296 Kenmore heavy duty dryer, excellent cond., $150 OBO call: 727-0427 Kiosko for sale, approx.

10’ x 10’, has island in the middle, glass windows w/ light, panoramic sign w/ light. $2000 Call 337-6651 Massage by Licensed Therapists. MT101421 $45, Call 285-4286 or 286-2760 Pool Table for sale w/ accessories, 8/4 size $300 OBO Go by 3108 Springfield.

Pony for sale. $495 Call 645-7419; 286-2760

ARTICLES FOR SALE

ARTICLES FOR SALE

Rolex Submarine,2 tones,black face. $4000 OBO Call 333-2290; 210-865-1130 Sanyo 24” color tv & Large microwave $120 for both.

Call 729-0192 Television Magnavox 50”ecelente condiciones $395 Llamar 956-857-1874 Trailer BBQ Pit 6’x30” doble door w i t h disc for Tripas $1600 Call 337-1794 Vestidos para el “prom” fiesta. Tamano 3, 5, & 7.

USADOS UNA SOLA VEZ! Solamente $20 c/u.

Hablar al 744-4296 Wheelchair. Good cond. $50 Call 717-5174

White Pull up pampers for boy/gril 50-85lbs blue pads $20 per box, Call 728-7083

TRANSPORTATION

18,000 BTU Minisplit. LIKE NEW!! Bought for $1700 will sacrifice for $1000 OBO Call 764-9214; 764-0760 Almond Sears Washer $135 Call 334-8410

Antique classic wood pin ball & BOATS Y u c k 2 Jet skies. ‘07 Honda box from the 50’s, starting at $500 3 seater & ‘07 Yamaha C a l l 3 seater. $13,000 OBO 791-1626 Call 334-0047

190

AUTOMOTIVE PARTS

194

4 Tires Kum Ho 255-35ZR 20 ECTA-SPT- New $400 Call 956-251-5015 23”Rims w/ tires for Dodge truck, 5 lugs, $1600 OBO Call 774-2396 Camper for Ford short bed & P245/70R17 4Tires, starting prices at $100 & up Call: 723-6481; 285-2504

Diesel engines Chevy 6.6 Ford 7.3 & Cummins 5.9 Remanufactured w/warranty will deliver, $2,950.

713-918-5811.

MOTORCYCLES

196

2001 Hyosung 250 CC Cruiser $1500 Call: 744-7429 2008 Suzuki Motorcycle, loaded, like new, 480 miles, asking $7600 OBO call: 206-0445; 251-2979

Kawasaki Ninja 2X6R ‘99, 7Kmil., garage kept, great cond., $2400 OBO Call 764-9214 or 764-0760 LIKE NEW! Honda Forman5,red, Traxlok, 4x4,104hrs.,$3900 OBO Call Jerry 286-9502 NEW! Kawasaki ATVVF650 4x4 ‘2007, camo, $6,500 OBO Call Jerry 286-9502 TRUCKS FOR SALE

198

1990 Dodge Camion/Caja, 3/4 ton $2500 Call: 744-7429 2004 Dodge Quad cab, Hemi best engine, $7900 Call: 763-0862

2007 Jeep Wrangler x 2dr, black, 2 3 K miles, fully loaded, hard top, 4x4, g o o d cond., $17,500 OBO Call: 740-9090 2008 Chevy Silverado LTZ,Z-71,18K miles,$30,000 OBO Call:956-796-1515 Chevy ‘00 Crew cab, 3500 dully 4x4, $8,700, 85k mi., Diesel, Call 723-9755 or 754-0206 Chevy Avalanche 2003,58,000 mil.,originales,mantenimeiento de agencia,unico dueno, $12,000 dlrs.

956-235-7250.

Dodge Grand Caravan SXT ‘07, 43Kmil., elect.,sliding doors,TV,DVD,Dual A/C, $9700 Call 242-8814

TRUCKS FOR SALE

198

Dodge Caravan ‘01, perfect cond., A / C , stereo & cd, $3050 OBO Call 903-9289 Dodge Pickup ‘85,shortbed,excellent motor, $2100 Call 251-1296 Ford F-150 ‘08, cabina 1/4, auto., 6cyl., A/C, 14Kmil., $9500 Call 775-9650 Ford Pick-up ‘79, needs some work, $1200 OBO Call 220-9241 GMC Sierra ‘07, 4dr, 36Kmil., fully loaded, $31,000 Call 333-2290; 210-865-1130 Jeep Wrangler ‘91, Fully Loaded, $5300 OBO Call 333-5529; 705 Westgate Dr. Toyota Tacoma Prerunner ‘06, extended cab, v6, $12800 Call 744-5503 CARS FOR SALE

200

2000 Chevy Malibu A/C, good cond., $2000 OBO call: 401-1850; 763-6077 2000 Lexus ES 300 Excellent C o n d i t i o n FULLY LOADED,NEW TIRES, 118K A S K I N G 7500 OBO 956-337-5182 2006 Chrysler 300,56K miles, sound system,3 screen tv’s,great cond., A/C,22” rims,6cyl.,tint windows,$9,200 OBO call: 284-5132; 135*835*3411 ‘95 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, 4dr., $950 OBO Call SOLD Chev. Camaro Z28 ‘99, w/ t-top, 38K original miles, $12,000 OBO Call 645-2199 Chevrolt Cobalt 2006 std., A/C, good cond., $3700 OBO Call: 949-4264 Ford Focus ‘09, 4Kmil., Excellent cond.,leather int.,sunroof, $9500 OBO Call 337-6930 Ford Mustang LX ‘86, 306cu.in., Art Car, C6 Trans., 88Kmil., 2 owners, Many High Performance parts. $6800 Call 754-2178 Kia Rio ‘05, 4dr., 90Kmil., A/C, $3800 OBO Call 401-7356 Mazda 3 ‘2010, original title, 12,500 miles, one owner, 4cyl., $12,700 Call 337-6930 Nissan Maxima 08’, good Cond., 6 c y l . , charcoal grey, $12,800 call 956-635-2407 or 135*841*13871 Oldsmobile Cutlass ‘99,27Kmil., A/C, elect., $3800 Call 771-9162 after 3pm Pontiac G5 ‘07,std,2dr.,a/c,low miles, black,$4500 Call 771-3663;1807 Convent

Sports

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2010

JONES, COWBOYS TAKE A CHANCE ON DEZ BRYANT

Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle | AP

Houston Texans first-round draft pick Kareem Jackson holds up his new Texans jersey during a first news conference on Friday at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Texans made the junior cornerback from Alabama the 20th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Photo by Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News | AP

Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, left, owner Jerry Jones, center, and team president Stephen Jones look on in the war room during the first round of the NFL Draft at Valley Ranch in Irving on Thursday.

Owner happy he traded up for receiver

By JAIME ARON ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING — Once Dez Bryant was within reach, the Dallas Cowboys made sure they grabbed him.

Just three spots from taking him at No. 27, the Cowboys made a deal with New England to snag the Oklahoma State receiver with top-15 talent but questions about his character.

“I’m not disappointed at all,” said Bryant, who grew up two hours away in East Texas. “Me falling to the Cowboys, that’s the best thing that could ever happen to me. I’m so happy. I’m excited.

I’m ready to go to work.”

The Cowboys ranked Bryant among the 10 best players in the draft and used their home-field advantage to thoroughly research his background growing up and at college a few hours away. Team owner Jerry Jones said he got “real good information, and it got real consistent.” While he acknowledged “that doesn’t mean every bit of it was A-plus,” it obviously was enough to persuade them he was their guy.

They also knew other teams were likely to let him slide. So they waited for the best possible deal.

“We felt all along you can mitigate that risk the lower you go in the first round,” Jones said.

There were some nervous mo-

ments — like when Denver moved up to 22nd and took a different receiver. Dallas sweated out just one more pick, then made its move.

Bryant said that when he saw Dallas swap spots with New England, he was hoping it was for him. Soon enough, Jones called to confirm it, to the delight of everyone in the team’s draft room and at Bryant’s draft-watching party at the Dallas-area home of one of his advisers.

“They believed in me,” Bryant said. “They chose me. It’s a blessing.”

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Bryant was an All-American in 2008 when he turned 87 receptions into 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns.

His stock slid after his suspension for lying to the NCAA about his activities with former NFL cornerback Deion Sanders, a suspension that kept him off the field nearly all of last season. There were other questions about him, such as being late to meetings and even games.

Nobody questions his skills.

Bryant’s arrival means quarterback Tony Romo has another potentially dynamic receiver to go with returning Pro Bowler Miles Austin.

It also likely means a lesser role for Roy Williams, who has been pretty much a bust since Dallas gave up several draft picks and a $45 million extension to get him

from Detroit midway through the 2008 season.

Jones insisted this pick was “more about what Bryant is than what Roy isn’t.” Coach Wade Phillips added that some rookie receivers are slow to adjust to the NFL, but he and Jones believe Bryant will make an impact right away as a punt returner.

“He has a chance to be a gamechanger,” Jones said.

Bryant is looking forward to returning kicks.

“That was one of the things I love to do,” he said.

The Cowboys had bigger needs at safety and offensive line, and they targeted one of each — Texas safety Earl Thomas and Idaho guard Mike Iupati. Both went in the teens and it would’ve cost Dallas a second-round pick to move up that high. So they were fine with sitting back and targeting Bryant.

Beyond the value and the pizazz of adding a playmaker, Bryant’s ability to make an impact this season is huge because the Super Bowl is coming to Cowboys Stadium and Jones is obsessed with becoming the first host to also play for the championship. He also didn’t want to make the mistake he made in 1998, when he passed on Randy Moss because of character issues even though the Cowboys desperately needed a receiver.

Jackson ready to starting role with Texans

By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Kareem Jackson figures starting as a freshman at Alabama prepared him to start for the Houston Texans as a rookie.

Jackson, the 20th overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday, is expected to replace Dunta Robinson as Houston’s starting right cornerback. He was introduced in Houston on Friday.

“I think it will help a whole lot,” Jackson said of his early experience at Alabama. “I wouldn’t say (starting as a rookie) is pressure.

Playing football is something that I love so I’m going to put my all into it. I’m going to come in and I’m going to work hard.”

Still, his NFL debut will certainly be much tougher than any game he played in college. The Texans open the season against Peyton Manning and the Colts, a team they’ve beaten just once in franchise history.

“Someone told me that last night,” Jackson said of opening with the Colts. “It’s going to be a challenge. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t

back down from too many challenges. Watching Peyton Manning, he’s a great quarterback, but I’ll be out there and I’m going to make my presence known.”

Jackson had 49 tackles last season while starting each game for Alabama. In a three-year career, he appeared in all 41 games and finished with 159 tackles and 29 pass deflections.

The Texans hope he can upgrade an improving defense filled with young players. Houston ranked fourth in total offense last season and 13th in total defense, with the pass defense ranking 18th.

“We believe that he could be a piece to help us get over some of our humps throughout the National Football League,” defensive coordinator Frank Bush said. “We think his presence will make our defense a real physical defense. We need more physical presence on the edge and we think he’s going to bring that.”

Jackson believes his biggest asset is his physical play, so the Texans look to be getting just what they wanted.

Bradford already comfortable with the Rams ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. LOUIS — Before the St. Louis Rams took Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft he had a pretty good idea of what practices would be like.

A week earlier at his private workout, the Rams introduced the Oklahoma quarterback to a slice of the daily routine. He spent time in the huddle calling plays, barked out signals at the line, made defensive reads.

Coach Steve Spagnuolo says the workout differed from Bradford’s pro day in that there was more “spitting out verbiage.” Coaches also wanted to measure the quarterback’s retention of some plays he had been given.

The Rams, 1-15 last year and 6-42 the last three seasons, are pinning their long-term hopes on the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner. He held up a No. 8 jersey before a news conference Friday attended by his parents, Martha and Kent Bradford, and Lucia Rodriguez, one-half of the brother-sister ownership team.

Bradford hits the field for the first time next weekend at a three-day rookie minicamp.

Scholarly QB Tim Tebow is the fifth winner of the Campbell Trophy to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft.

The quarterback who helped Florida win two national titles was the surprise No. 25 pick of the

DRAFT NOTEBOOK Denver Broncos on Thursday night.

The William V. Campbell Trophy is awarded to the nation’s top scholar-athlete by the National Football Foundation.

“Tim Tebow is a once in a lifetime student-athlete,” NFF president Steve Hatchell said in a statement Friday. “Whether it’s his 3.66 GPA, his countless hours of community service or his Heisman Trophy, Tim has proven that he’ll be successful in any environment.”

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner “has all the traits you’re looking for in terms of toughness, competitiveness.

He’s intelligent. He’s won a lot of games. He’s a leader.

He works hard. He’s got all the intangibles you look for in a player at that position.”

Last year’s Campbell Trophy winner, center Alex Mack of California, was taken by the Cleveland Browns with the 21st pick of the first round. The other Campbell/first-round picks were QB Peyton Manning (No. 1, Colts, 1998); OT Matt Stinchcomb (No. 18, Raiders, 1999); and QB Chad Pennington (No. 18, Jets in 2000).

Say what?

A sampling of comments from coaches and GMs following their team’s firstround picks Thursday night:

Baltimore traded its first-round pick (No. 25) to Denver for the Broncos’ second- (No. 43), third(No.70), and fourth-round (No. 114) picks. Denver selected Tebow.

Minnesota traded its first- (No. 30) and fourthround (No. 128) picks to Detroit for the Lions’ second(No. 34), fourth- (No. 100) and seventh-round (No. 214) picks. Detroit selected California RB Jahvid Best.

Carolina and Chicago previously traded away their first-rounders.

Big night, Big 12

Photo by Jeff Roberson | AP

St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, center, holds up his new jersey along side Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, left, and general manager Billy Devaney, right, before speaking to the media during a news conference on Friday in St. Louis.

— “We’re addressing positions, not just with BandAids, but plugging them pretty good.” Lions coach Jim Schwartz on No. 2 pick, Ndamukong Suh, and No. 30 pick, RB Jahvid Best.

— “This guy has a tremendous motor. ... He’s very powerful, he’s productive, he’s explosive and he’s versatile.” — Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland on No. 28 pick, DL Jared Odrick.

— “As I made the comparison to basketball the other day, to me he’s like a 7-footer who can play.” — Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt on No. 26 pick, DT Dan Williams, who is 6-3, 327 pounds and will move to NT.

— “This guy wants to be the best left tackle in the NFL. He might want to be the best left tackle ever.

He’s got a presence about him.” — Seahawks GM John Schneider on No. 6 pick, OT Russell Okung.

— “We think the guy has the biggest upside of any player in the draft. That’s how we feel about this guy.

We feel the sky is the limit.” — Giants GM Jerry Reese on No. 15 pick DE Jason Pierre-Paul, who played one season at South Florida.

— “I was here when we drafted L.T., and I know how excited I was that day.

I’m equally excited to get Ryan here now.” — Chargers coach Norv Turner af-

ter team traded up for No. 12 pick and chose RB Ryan Mathews.

— “I’ve had a lot of questions about him at No. 10, and I completely understand it. I am not trying to win a popularity contest. I understand that people are going to have questions.

I’m about winning a Super Bowl.” — Jaguars GM Gene Smith on surprising No. 10 choice, DT Tyson Alualu.

No picks Baltimore and Minnesota joined Carolina and Chicago without first-round draft picks after trading them away Thursday.

With nine players taken in the top 24 picks, Thursday was a big night for the Big 12.

“It shows you that the Big 12 is legit,” Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said Wednesday.

“The Big 12 always has questions — ’Aw, they not tough enough. They don’t play football there.”’

In addition to the four Oklahoma players taken — McCoy (3), QB Sam Bradford (1), OT Trent Williams (4) and TE Jermaine Gresham (21), five other Big 12 players were picked Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh went second, offensive tackle Russell Okung of Oklahoma State went sixth to Seattle, which later picked Texas safety Earl Thomas at No. 14.

Atlanta took linebacker Sean Weatherspoon 19th, and wide receiver Dez Bryant of Oklahoma State went to Dallas at No. 24.

That’s over a third of the first 24 players.