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COUNTY BUDGET
CAPITAL MURDER CASE
$6M short
Man pleads not guilty By DENISE BLAZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
At a scheduled arraignment Tuesday, a Zapata man pleaded not guilty to killing his 6-month-old cousin. Gabriel Alvarez Briones was indicted for capital murder in June, accused of striking his infant second cousin, Carlos
Eduardo Gonzalez, in the head, causing his death. “We want the state to announce if they’re going to seek the death penalty,” said Eduardo J. Peña, attorney for Alvarez Briones. “We reserve the right to know.” After being transported to Laredo Medical Center on March 28, the baby was airlifted to Methodist
Appraiser’s error means more cuts By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County is facing an even deeper hole in next year’s budget after Chief Appraiser Amada Gonzalez discovered an error in her calculations, Commissioner Jose E. Vela and County Treasurer Romeo Salinas said Friday. “We’ve been having a lot of bad news,” Vela said. The result of the error is that instead of being $3 million short, the county is actually about $6 million short compared to last year, the two officials said. Gonzalez was not available for comment Friday; she is expected to return to her office Tuesday. On Friday, July 30, County Judge Rosalva Guerra submitted her proposed budget based on property valuation information given to her by Gonzalez. In the budget, Guerra had to deal with an expected shortfall of $3 million in the general fund. Gonzalez notified Guerra on Monday, Aug. 2, of an error in her calculations, Vela said, which resulted in the shortfall becoming $6 million for the next fiscal year. The specifics of the error were unclear Friday. Last year, the county’s budget was about $29 million. Guerra’s budget presented in late July cut that to $26 million. The county will now have to make do with $23 million under the revised appraisal figures.
Children’s Hospital in San Antonio in serious condition, where he was later pronounced dead. An autopsy performed by Webb County Medical Examiner Dr. Corinne Stern ruled the death a homicide. After becoming frustrated with the infant’s crying, Alvarez Briones admitted to hitting the ba-
by, according to Zapata Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez. Alvarez Briones is being held at the Zapata County Jail under a $1 million cash bond. An evidence exchange is scheduled in court for Sept. 9. (Denise Blaz may be reached at 728-2547 or dblaz@lmtonline.com)
HEALTH CARE
HELPING HANDS
See BUDGET PAGE 9A Photos by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times
EDUCATION
ZCISD, three schools get recognition By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County ISD is officially a recognized district and three of the district’s five schools also received recognized status when the Texas Education Agency released its final 2010 school accountability ratings late last month. “The other two acceptable schools missed the recognized status barely,” said Interim Superintendent Norma Garcia, Ph.D. “All schools showed much improvement, and the ZCISD recognized rating was the result of the synergy present in all schools.” The district and the three recognized schools met that status either with the help of the controversial Texas Projection Measure, which allows districts to gain higher ratings if its students are expected to improve in the future, and/or Required Improvement standards. “Our expectation has always been to be recognized through meeting absolute standards and will continue to do so,” Garcia added. Zapata High School, Fidel and Andrea R. Villarreal Elementary and A.L. Benavides were among the hundreds of schools in Texas with a recognized status. The high school and Villarreal earned recognized status for the first time
See SCHOOLS PAGE 8A
ABOVE: Belinda Garza, left, a nurse with the Texas Department of Health, assist as Sgt. Nick Perkins, with the Texas State Guard, prepares to administer an oral immunization to 3-moth-old Moses Cuellar as his mother Amarili holds him Friday afternoon at the Zapata Community Center. Zapata residents took advantage of free medical services provided as part of Operation Lone Star. BELOW: Sgt. Elvia Mendoza, left, of Zapata and a member of the Texas State Guard, looks on as Tony Mendoza undergoes a hearing loss exam by Judy Kurz, a representative of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center of Corpus Christi, on Friday afternoon at the Zapata Community Center.
Operation Lone Star aids 600 area residents By STEPHANIE M. IBARRA THE ZAPATA TIMES
Each summer with the combined efforts of Texas military forces, a multitude of agencies and civilian personal, Operation Lone Star brings free medical care to the under- and uninsured for South Texas, Zapata County included. More than 600 Zapata residents were served at this year’s week-long event at the Zapata Community Center. “We provided all the medical services to the extent possible,” said Dr. Robert McBroom, deputy incident commander. “Obviously for field missions like these there are limited things we can do, but basic health maintenance, diagnosis and treatment is provided.” The most common services sought after by attendees are dental health and immunizations, Operation Lone Star officials said. “We service areas that do not have local health departments. (People) from less than a year old to people bordering 90 – and everything in between, we saw them. It was an awesome turnout,” said Mary Lou Cortines, immunization staff mem-
ber and Department of State Health Service employee. “We see everybody for every reason, and we do what we can. I think probably one of the best things we can do is try to find additional resources for them. Indefinite medication without adequate follow up is not a good thing,” McBroom said. Short staffed and lack of general volunteers made aiding the community a somewhat daunting task, McBroom said. “We try to make do with the resources we have,” McBroom said. Meanwhile, Sylvia Garza, Zapata
Lone Star assignments coordinator, attributed the turnout to lack of advertisement. “When we got in I literally went around town to different businesses passing out flyers. Nobody had heard of it,” said Garza, noting that word of mouth made all the difference. Hearing of the event from a family member, Zapata resident Tony Mendoza was present Friday to take advantage of the hearing loss booth, set up by the Deaf and Hard of Hear-
See HELP PAGE 9A