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SAN YGNACIO MEMORIAL DAY
Battle RECALLING over the THEIR wall SACRIFICES
Disagreement between landowner, county could lead to courtroom fight By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Michael Dwyer | AP
John DeFruscio, 7, of Collegeville, Pa., walks on the edge of a field of flags on Boston Common ahead of Memorial Day, on Friday, in Boston.
A land controversy involving San Ygnacio landowner Joel Ruiz and the county may lead to the courtroom, after Ruiz refused to move a wall that the county claims is encroaching on public property. Ruiz rejects the county’s claim, saying he has a survey showing that the wall is on his property, not the county’s. According to Zapata
County officials, Ruiz’s wall is encroaching on county property by 7 feet 4 inches. It’s property the county wants to use in building a new road that could lead to a new boat ramp some time in the future. Ruiz was given 30 days to tear down the brick wall or face a lawsuit. “I don’t know his intentions,” Zapata County Attorney Said Alfonso Figueroa said Friday. “The ball
See WALL PAGE 10A
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Marine Corps veteran William Uecker reacts during the 2010 Memorial Obeservance held at the Laredo Community College Washington Street campus on Wednesday.
This tombstone features a U.S. Air Force jet at the Zapata County Cemetery.
Vets to be honored with flags on graves By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A
merican Legion Auxiliary together with the Marine Corps League and the Veterans of Foreign Wars will gather at the Zapata County Cemetery today to place small U.S. flags on veterans’ graves to
honor them in observance of Memorial Day. “Memorial Day is a tradition where we honor our departed comrades,” veteran Alberto Arambula said. This traditional event will take place today at 9 a.m. with the organizations and families meeting at the American Legion Auxiliary building,
where small U.S. flags will be distributed to the participants and later travel to the cemetery where a flag will be placed on each veteran’s grave. On Memorial Day, the American Legion Auxiliary, Marine Corps League, and VFW along with the families of veterans will be gathering
for a flag-raising ceremony at the Zapata County Cemetery at 8:30 a.m. Immediately following will be a speech by Gerardo Gutierrez, a veteran and past commander of VFW, member of American Legion and incoming commander of VFW, in July. A 21-gun
See VETERANS PAGE 10A
ZAPATA COUNTY
Grants may help build library By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Olga V. Figueroa Zapata County Public Library officials met with the county’s project coordinator
Tuesday to begin the grant search process for possible construction of a new library facility. The advisory board together with library director Aida Garcia thought it
was time to plan the construction of a new library since the problems the library has been experiencing. “The current library has been in existence
since the early ’80s and for several years has been experiencing major problems,” board member Patricia Ramirez said.
See LIBRARY PAGE 10A
Violence cuts Mass attendance By MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV THE ZAPATA TIMES
NUEVO LAREDO — Concern over the deadly drug-trafficking violence plaguing the Mexican side of the “frontera chica” has caused attendance at Sunday Mass to drop by as much as 70 percent, according to church officials. “The towns of Ciudad Mier, Nueva Ciudad Guerrero and Miguel Alemán are dangerous,” said Bishop Gustavo Rodríguez Vega of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo. “Our faithful have abstained from attending evening Mass altogether so we have suspended it.” Such is the extent of the fear that all evening Masses – even for such traditional events such as weddings, quiciañeras and baptisms – have been cancelled. Rodriguez said it’s tragic that officials have found
no way to overcome this reign of terror, which has cost the life of a PAN candidate for mayor of Valle Hermoso and, despite the fact that it’s the middle of the election season, has resulted in little or no public campaigning. The bishop noted, however, that despite the lack of security, priests and others assigned to the parishes in Guerrero, Miguel Alemán, Mier, Camargo, Díaz Ordaz and Valle Hermoso continue to perform their spiritual duties. He admitted that there is fear, but they seek to overcome it as spiritual role models. “They will not leave their parishes. They remain at the side of their flock,” Rodriguez said. “We are not going to close the churches in the cities where the risk is the highest.”
See MASS PAGE 8A