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ELECTION 2012
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT
Primary ready
Organization teaching work skills
Democratic Party hopefuls prepare for vote By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Outgoing Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez held his post for 18 years before deciding to retire this year and not pursue another term. Three candidates with law enforcement experience in the county are vying to replace Gonzalez.
The race will come to a head May 29, when the Zapata County Democratic Party primary election will be held. Alonso Lopez, who serves as an administrator in the sheriff ’s office; Joaquin Solis, a veteran in Zapata County law enforcement who retired late last year; and Raymond Moya III, an investigator in the
county attorney’s office, will look to win the party nomination. The race will be uncontested in the general election. Lopez, who serves as captain of administration under Gonzalez, started his law enforcement career as a dispatcher and jailer in 1982. Lopez feels his administrative experience quali-
fies him to be sheriff. He said his knowledge of the budget and rapport with the treasurer’s office give him an upper hand. The 54-year-old Lopeño resident said he would talk to the Commissioners Court about improving salaries of dispatchers if he is elected. He also hopes to
See PRIMARIES PAGE 9A
RANCH LIFE
LIFE AS A COWBOY CHEF IN TEXAS
By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County Independent School District is partnering with Junior Achievement to prepare its students for life after school. The international nonprofit organization works with schools, businesses and organizations. In collaboration with these institutions, it provides hands-on instruction to students — kindergarteners to seniors in high
George Ranch chef Nick “Cookie” Castelberg looks at a chuck wagon lunch for a group of foreign journalists Thursday, in Richmond. Castelberg is head chef — the only chef — at Richmond’s George Ranch Historical Park.
Briton cooks up chow, memories of Old West By ALLAN TURNER HOUSTON CHRONICLE
RICHMOND — Nick Castelberg was a jolly English lad, trailing his granny to her garden patch in rural Kent, then perching in the fragrant
farmhouse kitchen, snapping beans and studying the old woman as she stirred the pots. On spring days, he trekked the greening woods with his granddad, looking to tap the perfect birch, one whose clear, sweet sap
would make the grandest wine. Castelberg’s mind drifts back to those boyhood days sometimes. He’s 45 now, and everybody knows him as “Cookie,” a regular feller with dinged-up boots, a born-again cow-
boy with callouses on his hands and cookin’ in his heart. Castelberg is head chef — the only chef — at Richmond’s George Ranch Historical Park. King of the
See COWBOY PAGE 9A
See PROGRAM PAGE 9A
THE BORDER
No charges in BP shooting ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by James Nielsen/Houston Chronicle | AP
school — to improve financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. The organization, which has a satellite office in Laredo, began a pilot program this school year at the district. Select classes in elementary, middle and high schools have been receiving instruction from the organization’s volunteers, which include 14 IBC Bank employees.
EL PASO — Federal prosecutors said Friday there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges against a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Mexican national in 2010. The agent didn’t act inconsistently with Border Patrol policy or training regarding the use of force in the death of Sergio Hernandez-Guereca, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement announcing the decision, which was quickly denounced by the Mexican government. U.S. authorities have said the agent shot Hernandez while trying to arrest illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande on June 7, 2010. Some witnesses said people on the Mexican side of the river, including Hernandez, were throwing rocks at the agent. Border agents are allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers. The shooting occurred under one of the border bridges in El Paso, and it was recorded by an eyewitness with a cellphone. The Mexican government issued a statement saying it “profoundly regrets and expresses its strong opposition to the decision” and was considering its next step. Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan had a similar reaction to the decision, tweeting: “Mexico
strongly rejects it.” The U.S. Justice Department also concluded that no federal civil rights charges could be pursued, saying that “accident, mistake, misperception, negligence and bad judgment were not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.” The department said it conducted a thorough investigation, including interviews with more than 25 civilian and law-enforcement witnesses. “This review took into account evidence indicating that the agent’s actions constituted a reasonable use of force or would constitute an act of self-defense in response to the threat created by a group of smugglers hurling rocks at the agent and his detainee,” the department’s statement said. Last year, a judge in West Texas threw out a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government over the fatal shooting. But the judge allowed a civil case against the agent to move forward. Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones in El Paso dismissed the lawsuit because the teen was on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande when he was shot. U.S. law gives the government immunity when such claims arise in a foreign country, Briones noted, and the “harm that the Plaintiffs allege ... was felt in Mexico.”