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FEDERAL COURT
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Lopeño man found guilty
A trillion in the hole
Jury: Second suspect was also a smuggler
Administration: 2012 budget deficit will be $1.2 trillion By ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The White House predicts this year’s federal budget deficit will end up at $1.2 trillion, marking the fourth consecutive year of trillion dollar-plus deficits during President Barack Obama’s ad-
U.S. economic growth has slowed to an annual rate of just 1.5 percent. ministration. The bleak figures, while expected, are sure to add fuel to the already heated presidential
campaign, in which Obama’s handling of the economy and the budget is a main topic. Friday’s release came as the gov-
ernment announced that U.S. economic growth slowed to an annual rate of just 1.5 percent in the second quarter of this year, as consumers cut back sharply on spending. The White House budget office also predicts for this year
See DEFICIT PAGE 9A
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
After a two-day trial and a two-hour deliberation, a legal permanent resident of Lopeño was found guilty in McAllen for three counts of transporting 10 undocumented people, federal authorities announced Wednesday. Enrique Gonzalez-Cavazos, 41, faces up to five years in federal prison on each count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sentencing has been set up for Oct. 4. Gonzalez-Cavazos remains in federal custody. Co-defendant and U.S. citizen Julian Cisneros Jr., 48, of Falcon, had previously pleaded guilty in April. Cisneros will be sentenced Aug. 20. During trial, witnesses identified Gonzalez-Cavazos as the driver of a red truck. Cisneros was identified as the passenger. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the defense attempted to convince the jury that GonzalezCavazos was “extremely intoxicated” and he did not know what he was doing. On March 19, U.S. Border Patrol agents walking a trail at about 9 p.m. near Fronton in Starr County observed several people traveling north from the Rio Grande. Agents requested assistance. An agent responding to the scene saw a red pickup heading north on FM 650 toward U.S. 83 in Roma. Agents received information that several people came out of the brush and got into a red pickup. A criminal complaint states the vehicle fitted the description of a suspected truck an agent had seen earlier. Authorities caught up to the truck. As an agent turned on the emergency lights and attempted a vehicle stop, the truck driver accelerated.
HEALTH CARE
TAKING CARE OF HEALTH
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Javier Jimenez of Zapata undergoes a medical exam by a Texas Guards member Thursday morning during Operation Lone Star at Zapata Middle School.
Operation Lone Star saw more than 250 people By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
B
everly Jimenez recently moved to South Texas from Indiana seeking a better quality of life and better health care. On Thursday, she said she
found just the kind of program she was looking for in Zapata. As of Thursday morning, Jimenez was one of more than 250 people, according to City of Laredo public health technician Dr. Manuel Ramirez, to receive free medical
services during Operation Lone Star, a weeklong program that ended here Friday. It was held at Zapata Middle School. “I just hope there are more programs out there for people like us, people in the community like us who need
it,” Jimenez said. Jimenez and others were able to receive medical exams, immunizations, sports physicals, vision and hearing screenings, behavior health evaluations, blood pressure
See LONE STAR PAGE 9A
See COURT PAGE 9A
SERVING CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN NEED
Policing underage drinking said difficult Workshop discusses ways lawmen can detect teen drinkers By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Eddie Torres, agent with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commision, conducts a session on preventing underage drinking on Thursday afternoon at the Texas National Guard Armory in Laredo.
Curtailing underage drinking is tough, according to state and local authorities. “It’s truly impossible to completely curtail underage drinking because the manpower is not there,” said Senior Agent Eddie Torres of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission enforcement division, during an underage drinking prevention workshop Thursday in Laredo. The event was hosted by the Webb County Community Coalition of Serving Children and Adolescents in Need. Torres said the session was to inform law enforcement officers how better to
detect underage drinking, with an emphasis at clubs and bars. TABC will sanction these clubs for allowing minors in their clubs to possess and consume alcoholic beverages, Torres said. If a business violates the law, the establishment could face a few days of suspension or a $300 a day fine for the first offense. But Torres said if problems persist, a business can face cancellation of its alcohol-selling permit. “If you are a bar, you’re out of business. If you’re a store, you can sell eggs and milk, everything except alcohol,”
See WORKSHOP PAGE 9A